Normans

A long while back I said I'd put some comparisons of various Normans on here. Now that painting for Montaperti is out of the way, here are the Normans.

Two Dragons and Khurasan versions of Duke William

William Rufus from Two Dragons

 from the left: Two Dragons, Donnington and Khurasan.

They mix pretty well sizewise but the style is different enough that I would not mix them on a base. This has the advantage as well that I can tell which command each element is from. Two Dragons are the most idiosyncratic with a good variety of pose and lots of movement though there is a touch more caricature about them. The shields are rather thick but this doesn't stand out too much.

Donnington have a good range of poses though the sculpting isn't quite as sharp as the others.

Khurasan have a  bit more limited range of poses but these are designed to give the impression of a galloping mass. I'm slightly wary about the chance of some of the horses coming off their stands though. The figures are probably the easiest to pain of the three as the mail definition is very clear - this does of course mean it is exaggerated compared to real life but it helps the effect. It is also handy that the hands are ready to take the separate weapons - no drilling required.

This shows Two Dragons dismounted knights and Khurasan infantry. Again there is a difference in style but the size matches pretty well.

Lots of variety in the Two Dragons range

Two Dragons Scouts

Some more of my favourite figures from any range.

In DBMM, the Normans are allowed to dismount so it is handy to have the mounts ready.

More characterful figures from Two Dragons.

Two Dragons Normans

ANCAV2

I seem to have acquired a Norman army!
I started off buying a few Normans for using alongside some Byzantines and before I knew it I had enough to field a Norman or early Anglo-Norman army - or various others from the same period.

ANCAV12

I bought some 15mm Two Dragons Normans originally because I liked the look of the various scout figures. I thought I'd buy a couple of packs of knights to see how they looked and then ended up getting some more. The scout figures have a lot of character and I will post some pics soon. In the meantime, a couple of people have asked what the knights look like so I thought I would put up some photos. Once they are based I'll do a longer post and put up some comparisons between Two Dragons, Donnington, Essex and Khurasan.



ANCAV08

I like most of the poses of these figures - the energy and variety works well. The shields are fairly thick and this is most noticeable in ANCAV2. However, this is far more noticeable when unpainted and in larger pictures like these.  They are loose in most cases and have a variety of cast detail including the various rivet styles shown on the Bayeux Tapestry. Some have the crosses engraved on which is okay but I'd have preferred them without. Some of the shields may have come with infantry figures as I mixed and matched.


VIKCOM5 Standard Bearer

The figures come with moulded on lances. I normally remove them and replace with steel but in some cases this would have meant damaging the horses, especially where pennons are cast on. The pennons are a bit long but paint up well. The standard bearer from VIKCOM5 is a partner to their William I figure. He comes with a large moulded flag to use if you require. Incidentally, the personality figures for this period have a 'VIK' prefix so to find them in the catalogue go to the Vikings page.

ANCAV4

The range was fairly recently acquired by Caliver and is sold on their Minifigs page. They have just started selling the Dark Age range as individual figures which allows the most to be made of the variety available, especially for DBA players. It is also handy for getting the range of different figures available for the unarmoured scouts - the DBMM list allows up to three of these. I ended up with lots spare as I bought mine just before the individual figures went on sale. They have  gone to a good home though.


ANCAV7

ANCAV7



ANCAV3

ANCAV11

ANCAV11