Normans for Dux Bellorum

Here are some recently painted Normans for (modified) Dux Bellorum. There are a few Bretons still straggling in and some foot reinforcements to come, but this is the bulk of the army.

The figures are Essex 15s, bar a couple of exceptions that we will note as we go, and they are all mounted on bases 60mm across.

First up, the light horse.

These are lovely figures to paint. Blocked basecoat and a dip is all I did with them.

Next, archers.

There are true Normans and some from the Breton DBA army.

More foot. This time heavy infantry, crossbow and levy skirmishers. The mailed chaps look to be Bretons and 9th/10th Century Franks rather than Normans, so I need two or three bases of heavy foot with kite shields to bring me up to 1066.

And to the big boys: knights!

Is the grandsire of Reginald Front-de-Boeuf amongst them, perhaps?

The standard bearer here and the chap with the Normans-in-Italy crisscrossed shield are not Essex. They came in a pack labelled Thistle and Rose and evocatively titled 'The Bastard'.

You can see the biggest bastard of them all above centre. He was a bit too chunky to mix with the Essex, so I put him on his own base.

Command base.

You might note a fourth imposter here. Although he came - black-undercoated and missing his lance - in the Thistle and Rose lot, he looks to me to be a Chariot figure. I should have got rid of the black undercoat because he doesn't quite match. Oh well, too late now!

I'm actually quietly chuffed with how these came out. The new wet palette did wonders in allowing me to easily mix colours for horse coats, so there is a lot of variety without the grief that ensuring such used to entail. I was a bit apprehensive about doing the shields at first, but using an ultrafine Gundam marker to outline the patterns beforehand made things very simple in the end. It was also pleasing to get to use up four figures from the bits and pieces box.

Can't wait to get them on the table.

But before I do that, I'll have to show off the Saxons...