Questions for the Dark Age/ Early Medieval experts

[carlos marighela]

Which figures would be best for the Danish Army of Sveyn II, circa 1074? I’m thinking of using the Victrix figures, with maybe something from Warlord or GB? Should I be going for the full on Viking look or would late Anglo-Danes be a better choice?

Thinking about doing some Lion Rampant like skirmishes around the post Conquest Danish expeditions and possibly Hereward the Wake on Ely.

[Ninefingers]

The Fireforge Scandinavian Infantry box might be useful?

[v_lazy_dragon]

For the 1000's your best bet is the 'Hastings 1066' look - so late Anglo-Danes. You can mix in some earlier figures for lower status warriors, but the spectacle helm look would be very out-of date.

Regia Angolorum's kit guides are a good keystone:
https://www.regia.org/members/documents.php

[Blackwolf]

Haha VLD I looked at your links,and as a chef ,downloaded the recipe book. Amazing what you can find on this forum sometimes.
Cheers!

[carlos marighela]

The Fireforge Scandinavian Infantry box might be useful?

Cheers, appreciate the reply but probably not, they appear to be for a later period (actually a mix of periods) and they got a shit review on this very forum:

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=96392.0

[carlos marighela]

For the 1000's your best bet is the 'Hastings 1066' look - so late Anglo-Danes. You can mix in some earlier figures for lower status warriors, but the spectacle helm look would be very out-of date.

Regia Angolorum's kit guides are a good keystone:
https://www.regia.org/members/documents.php

Cheers. Maybe I should clarify the question. What would be the best figures to represent Danes, from Denmark, for the 1070s? Should I go with the full on Viking look, as per the Victrix Vikings etc or would the Danes have looked a bit more like their Anglo Danish cousins?

If it’s the latter I might as well go with the Anglo Danish boxes, which with some appropriate Ceorls for domestic insurgents I could use for Hereward’s mob.

[Ninefingers]

Cheers, appreciate the reply but probably not, they appear to be for a later period (actually a mix of periods) and they got a shit review on this very forum:

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=96392.0

Yeah, to be fair they are a bit of a fantasy.

[Atheling]

Yeah, to be fair they are a bit of a fantasy.

As is the Fireforge set if I am to be completely honest. They art more fantasy than reality based on what we know from the archeology etc.

I have mentioned this before, probably in answer to a similar question; About 20 years ago, I was on my weekly chat on't phone to Darren Harding of Gripping Beast, discussing a future Fulford Gate game, when the subject of what the Norse would have actually looked like in the 11th CE came up. After about half an hour we both came to the conclusion that the army of Haadrada almost certainly would have looked not very different then their Anglo Saxon (and Norman) contenders (with the obvious exception Stamford Bridge where they would have been less well armoured). This probably included the use of Kite shields with the professional Norse troop types.

That all said, this argument is mostly based on archeology with some logical conjecture. Why would (the cream of) the army of Danish Army of Sveyn II (circa 1074) not utilised the latest military technology given that kite shields offered better protection and the trade routes with all three political entities (Normandy, England and Scandinavia) was thriving at the time?

Wargames  figures are often sculpted with certain national military "traits" woven into the sculpt to create an "ideal" of say, a Norse/Viking warrior. The odd thing is that we accept these stereotypes as a given. Granted, they do look a heck of a lot better on the wargames table if you can tell the protagonists apart if they were standing side by side, but apart from hairstyles etc would there really have been any discernible difference?

Food for thought anyway

[v_lazy_dragon]

Cheers. Maybe I should clarify the question. What would be the best figures to represent Danes, from Denmark, for the 1070s? Should I go with the full on Viking look, as per the Victrix Vikings etc or would the Danes have looked a bit more like their Anglo Danish cousins?

If it’s the latter I might as well go with the Anglo Danish boxes, which with some appropriate Ceorls for domestic insurgents I could use for Hereward’s mob.

Anglo Danes - the Vixtrix Vikings are for a couple of centuries earlier and would look somewhat out of date by 1073

[carlos marighela]

Thanks all! Anglo-Danes it is then. As Rogers & Hammerstein noted ‘there is nothing like a Dane’.*

* Except maybe an Anglo-Dane.

[Byrthnoth]

I bought a bag of the Victrix Vikings and have been pondering what to do with them. I was thinking of using them as a force from Shetland/Orkney in the second half of the 11th century, so similar period, slightly different location.

In my preliminary research, the impression I got was pretty much the same as what v_lazy_dragon and Atheling have said: Danish and Norse of the period would have looked very similar to the English and probably the Normans as well.

My sense is that the Victrix Vikings lean a little too hard into the wild and hairy Viking stereotypes to be ideal for the period, but there are enough options on the sprues that if you left off the really wild hairstyles (which probably don't work for any part of the Viking era if we're being picky) and early equipment (eg spectacle helms), you could put together some credible late 11th C. Danes.

One point about the Victrix Anglo-Saxon sets is the heads (almost?) all have moustaches or are clean shaven. I don't know what the norm was for Danish facial hair in the 1070s -- they may have still been bearded for the most part, or they might have been more likely to shave. I think there's a coin which seems to depict Sweyn II with a bare face. Depending on how you interpret things, you might want to sculpt beards or scrape off moustaches if you're using the Victrix Saxons.

In general as far as weapons and armour, I get the sense that swords were a pretty standard by this point -- they were no longer a weapon limited to high status warriors. Helmets and (to a lesser extent) mail also seem to have been pretty widely available.

[Atheling]

Miniatures of quality to represent the Danes on the Late 11th CE?

OK:

Gripping Beast (fab), Artizan Designs (Good but they all have the spears pointing at odd angles), Footsore miniatures (Fab), Saxon miniatures (now sold by Warlord Games), Victrix (Fab but could do with more poses IMHO), Dixon Miniatures (OK but have some excellent vignette pieces), Foundry (way too fantastical looking for my tastes- horned helmets anyone?). There are more but I seem to be having a senior moment!

Add shields to suit taste. I'd be tempted to throw a few Kite shields- you might be danger of getting some funny looks at your gaming group 

Out of the lot, Gripping Beast and Footsore are the stand outs for me. With Victrix scoring close in third place