Macbeth help!

[LeadAsbestos]

What I'd really like to do is a Macbeth project, firmly rooted in actual history, but veering off into the Scottish play. If money were no object, what manufacturers would be best? I'm familiar w the Crusader line, nice and practical, but not particularly interesting.

Any ideas?

[dadlamassu]

Northstar do a Macbeth - they also sell the Crusader Miniatures


Many of the Dark Ages ranges by Gripping Beast and these in particular  https://www.grippingbeast.co.uk/SAGA_Scots--category--39.html,
Footsore do an Irish range that yields some useful figures https://www.grippingbeast.co.uk/SAGA_Scots--category--39.html
Foundry and many others have generic Dark Age, Norman, Viking ranges that can be raided for useful troops, civilians and characters.

Reaper and other fantasy ranges will yield suitable Lady Macbeth, nobility and. of course, 3 witches.

[Captain Blood]

Nooooooooo! Don’t say... that name.
It’s The Scottish Play, luvvie.

Let’s hope you haven’t jinxed the entire forum 

[Bogdanwaz]

I used the Frostgrave plastic soldiers box to capture the look of the Michael Fassbender version but, of course, my game wasn't very historical:

http://bogdanwaz.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-complete-works-of-shakespeare_25.html

[frank xerox]

Pictish ranges work too and its worth checking out the likes of claymore for highland or brigand types, as long as they've got bare legs and aren't
  too obviously Lord of the isles looking.

[mithril]

Nooooooooo! Don’t say... that name.
It’s The Scottish Play, luvvie.

Let’s hope you haven’t jinxed the entire forum 

since the OP wants to base it on history as much as possible, the proper name is Mac Bethad mac Findlaích. Mormaer of Moray, King of Alba.

his predecessor as king was Donnchad mac Crínáin (called Duncan the 1st nowadays), and the one who replaced him was Máel Coluim mac Donnchada (generally called Malcolm III for simplicity and to separate him out from his Great Grandfather Máel Coluim son of Cináed., Malcolm the 2nd.)

interestingly the story of the Scottish Play seems to have been created almost whole cloth, as there is no evidence that Duncan had any appreciable rival to the throne during his reign, and while he died fighting the Army of Moray and MacBeth, it was Duncan that initiated the conflict, in some punitive expedition. which honestly seems to be the only suggestion that Macbeth was up to anything shady, given that Macbeth was Duncan's warleader. (the main reason that he was able to take over as king afterwards.) certainly there was no murdering of Duncan in bed (also Duncan was apaprently still fairly young.. not the aged man of the play)

Duncan's widow flees Alba (there is debate as to where) with her kids. Macbeth takes the throne. no resistance ever got recorded but you can bet there was probably a fair bit of friction going on. even if macbeth did have a fairly solid claim to the crown through ties to the old kings of Dal Riada. there are some records of fighting between scottish armies occurring near then (including one where Duncan's father Crínáin is killed) so you could probably justify some battles where macbeth has to defeat some Duncan loyalists within the body of Mormaers he's now High King of.

some of the Norse sources (the Orkneyinga Saga for example) suggesting that he or some of the areas under his kingship fought battles with the Norse earldom of Orkney, probably along their shared borders in northern scotland (orkney held much of caithness and sutherland at the time). odds are he was constantly having to fight off norse sea raids as well. which would generally be on a much smaller scale.
in 1052 he ended up embroiled in some of the english politics between Godwin of Wessex and Edward the Confessor. long stoiry (and interesting) but short version is he took in some normans, lost Starthclyde (to some apparently unrelated king from Cumbria named Máel Coluim, for extra confusion, who'd been backed by Siward, Earl of Northumbria).  though there are those who think this meant Malcolm III. which would certainly help explain where the heck Malcolm III killing Macbeth on the battlefield in 1057 came from. Macbeth's step-son Lulach (the son of Gille Coemgáin) was installed as king, but that didn't last long before Malcolm III assassinated him and took the crown.

[Shahbahraz]

And I wouldn't worry too much about figures that look 'Isles'ish'  - there's not a great deal of evidence for the appearance of early Scottish kings or nobles in this period, and most of what we have seems to be extrapolated from parallels in other places. Early books of the lives of the Saints are about it. You can assume the best of armour, bare legs, decorated helmets, and that's about it. If you want some acknowledgement of Pictish background then animal designs. As Mormaer of Moray that's well North, so furs etc wouldn't be out of place, as Thane of Fife that's much further south.

Viking raids would probably not have been a huge issue on the East Coast at this time, yes they happened, but generally speaking, the Vikings preferred targets further south where the plunder was richer and the fighting less. 

[FierceKitty]

Nooooooooo! Don’t say... that name.
It’s The Scottish Play, luvvie.

Let’s hope you haven’t jinxed the entire forum 

Beat me to it! Damn!

[Tarnegol]

Nooooooooo! Don’t say... that name.
It’s The Scottish Play, luvvie.

Let’s hope you haven’t jinxed the entire forum 

It'll be OK, it's only unlucky if you say it in a theatre...

[Silent Invader]

It'll be OK, it's only unlucky if you say it in a theatre...

I think he might know that 

[Inkpaduta]

Yes, But all the world is a stage...

[Captain Blood]

True enough 

It'll be OK, it's only unlucky if you say it in a theatre...

I think he might know that 

I did know that, but it serves me right for being flippant. Back to the topic!