Saxon Miniatures Royal Anglians

[THE CID]

Just ordered some Saxons and Vikings just in case.

[arget8]

I picked up some stuff out of fear as well. I'm sure that someone will buy it, I know that I would if I had the funds.

[Steel fist]

I really like his stuff, very characterful indeed.
But I know how he feels I hate running steel fist miniatures and often think of selling it... I like sculpting the minis but emailing customers posting miniatures and advertising plus sorting stock is not my thing at all. I don't even do the casting like he does... and the problem with a small business is there is not enough profit normally to employ people to do these things.
I hope it works out for him and he find the right buyer.

[Codsticker]

I really like his stuff, very characterful indeed.
But I know how he feels I hate running steel fist miniatures and often think of selling it... I like sculpting the minis but emailing customers posting miniatures and advertising plus sorting stock is not my thing at all. I don't even do the casting like he does... and the problem with a small business is there is not enough profit normally to employ people to do these things.
I hope it works out for him and he find the right buyer.

It really take two partners that are invested in the outfit to same degree, both financially and emotionally (for lack of a better term).

[THE CID]

I've got a bit of tittle tattle about this.
I can't really say in public, however much I really want to (and believe me - I REALLY want to) - but I daren't for fear of being identified.
It's not really juicy, nor salacious, just the sort of thing that will leave you face-palming and shaking your head like mad.
Maybe if someone bribes me with a bag of chips, a battered sausage, and a can of Coke...

Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on as Mrs Doyle would say.

[westwaller]

From what you have said, I would guess that someone has made an offer that has been turned down, or that you think the asking price is too high.

With all due respect, I think that a lot of this is nobodies business apart from the interested or involved parties, and I think it worth considering whether rumour and gossip could damage the business, after all it does that to other businesses.

Remember we are talking about people lives and livelihoods here and just because X doesn't believe Y is right about something it doesn't necessarily mean that X is right.

I have no interest in stirring the pot or inciting a spat, IMHO Colin sculpts lovely, reasonably priced miniatures that show his passion for the subject, which I have purchased and will purchase again and would like to be able to buy in the future. Apart from voicing a hope that Warlord don't buy on the grounds on their previous conduct regarding small businesses, what Colin does or doesn't do or say, is none of my or anyone's business.

[Captain Blood]

Yes indeed. Fair point Westwaller. Having started the speculation with my uncanny prescience ( ) I now have to don my moderator's hat and kindly request that we wait until there is firm news before indulging in speculation that might have an impact on someone's livelihood. Thanks folks.

I have just ordered a batch, mind you. If Colin hates casting, his announcement may well have had the opposite effect to what he intended!

And now friends, let us wait for the swirling Dark Age mists to clear, and enlightenment to occur  

[Paul Richardson]

I ordered a pack of Royal Anglians before I went away on holiday and they were waiting for me when I got back. I must say that they are extremely nice - the nicest Saxon Miniatures I've seen, not that I've seen that many. I'm very impressed. 

[Bindonblood]

How accurate are they?

It's those short sleeved jackets that worry me....

[Byrthnoth]

Bindonblood, do you mean the mail? I think the sleeves on mail coats tended to fall above the elbow until they got longer towards the end of the 11th century.

The short sleeve tunics over long sleeves on the unarmoured figures seem pretty common among early medieval miniatures and Osprey-style 'art for wargamers', but the only evidence for it that I'm aware of is a late Roman mosaic of a Vandal, and even that may just represent an embroidered design on a long sleeved tunic.

[Bindonblood]

Hi Byrthnoth,

No, the tunics on these guys as an example...

https://i0.wp.com/saxonminiatures.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/arts01.jpg?zoom=2&fit=3011%2C1208


http://saxonminiatures.com/product/arthurian-british-unarmoured-saxon-infantry/

I see a lot of Saxon miniatures wearing them but have never found a source for them and these seem an extreme example.

As far as I can work out,a single long sleeved tunic seems to be (probably) the correct dress for Saxons. That said, the more I have looked into it,the more it amazes me little we actually know about how they looked.

[Byrthnoth]

The Norman Knight 950-1204 AD Osprey mentions that the Normans sometimes wore short sleeved 'super tunics' over their long sleeved tunics, although I don't know what source that comes from. If accurate, it could be the case that later Anglo-Saxons did the same, but that doesn't have much bearing on what their ancestors were wearing in the 4th-6th centuries.

It seems like something where there was a lack of firm evidence either way, so someone (probably Angus McBride) drew what he though looked right/cool, and figure designers used those illustrations as a reference, and now it's a piece of wargamers' received wisdom on How Saxons Looked.

[THE CID]

Just received a big order from Saxon, including the Anglians. I'm very impressed, great figures, I've just put another order straight in for Normans and the Arthurian knights. Now I just need about 5 years un disturbed  time to paint them.
As with the Saxon dress code we will never find out exactly what they wore, unless somebody finds a preserved bog man somewhere.

[Duncan McDane]

It might be a seasonal/temperature thingie? As in, too hot for a cloak and too cold for a single tunic? Bodywarmers Dark Age style ftw  .
I think people are focussing too much on the few sources ( carvings, Bayeux ) that survived instead of using common sense. There wasn't a H&M around at the time and especially the common people used whatever they've got their hands on, and re-used that too, as far as it would go. And D.A. Britain wasn't that isolated, there were many contacts and there was a lively trade between the Anglo-Saxons/Anglo-Danes, the Franks and the Scandinavian peoples. And those latter people did have trade going eastwards too, there were mercenaries, the church etc. etc. so people came in contact with different people, different styles of clothing, armour and weapons.
Personally I have more trouble accepting wide-edged trousers with Dark Age professional warriors as seen on some GB/Saxon models. In battle you want cumberfree movement, especially in those days when the countries weren't that cultivated and nature went wherever it wished, so you wanted to be able to move freely instead of having your clothes teard out bij everything mama nature could throw at them. So I'd definately would use leg bindings in those days, if only to avoid Mrs. Dane having to mend my torn shorts every other day.
But feel free to contradict me; either way the Saxon miniatures are brill  .

[olyreed]

Saxon miniatures has found a new owner, as was announced on his Facebook page today, no news on who but I am hopeful the sculpts stay available