Normans - Which to get?

[Paul Richardson]

Koyote: thanks for mentioning Drabant. It's a new one on me. These figures look really nice. I'll have to try some Drabant - perhaps some of the Saxons. 

[redzed]

Drabant are wonderful, available in the UK from Old Glory UK

[Koyote]

Yeah, I'm loving those Drabant figures.
How do they scale next to Gripping Beast stuff?

The Drabant Vikings that I have are noticeably smaller than my GB minis.  Then again, I'm kind of particular about scaling issues, so noticeably smaller to me may not be noticeably smaller to someone else.

Crusader Miniatures also runs a bit smaller, so if you are going to mix manufacturers with Drabant, Crusaders Miniatures may be your best bet.

[Paul Richardson]

Humakt: Old Glory UK sell Drabant figures and they seem to sell the ranges in small packs - normally 2 cavalry or 3 / 4 infantry. I'm going to buy a small number to see what they look like in the 'flesh'.

[SteveBurt]

Those Drabant figures do look nice, but the proportions look odd. May just be the way they have been photographed but their top halves look too big for their bottom halves somehow.

[Legiocustodes]

I'm painting some drabant Normans at the moment. I actually find them to be marginally (and I mean marginally) on the large side compared to other makers. Also the metal they use is very soft; so drop them once and you might end up with some deformities; you also have to be careful removing the flash as the soft metal comes away easily and can result in a loss of detail. That being said they are lovely sculpts!!!

[armchairgeneral]

So all you chaps with Norman armies, planned, purchased and in the field, who do you pitch them against?

[Codsticker]

I have a Lion Rampant force I used to fight against Scots raiders during the Harrying of the North; lots of scope for smaller battles during that period.

[armchairgeneral]

The Normans had ding-dongs with themselves, or you could call them 'Bretons' or 'French' (all three pretty much looked the same and all three fought with each other).
The English is the obvious opponent. But they also fought against the Vikings/Norse/Danes/Whatever your preferred name is.
Post conquest you could use them against the Welsh, and for raids on the Scottish border (by the time they invaded Ireland their look had changed from the 'classic' Norman look).
You could use them as Spanish and fight other Spanish or Moors.
You could use them as first crusaders.
And not forgetting Italy and Sicily.

The point I was trying to get to is that the Normans are a really good army so unless the Vikings/Saxons are in a secure flanks/Hastings type scenario they aren't that well matched?

So Normans vs Normans is fine. I guess (as First Crusaders) Arabs and Byzantines are their best matched opponents?

Apologies for going a bit off topic here.

[armchairgeneral]

Some interesting points there.

I didn't mean though the Norman army is good due to a cavalry force being superior to an infantry one. I feel the Normans are a good army because of the all round arms it contained, i.e. reasonable quality heavy and light cavalry, heavy infantry and light/missile troops armed with crossbows for example.

[redzed]

So all you chaps with Norman armies, planned, purchased and in the field, who do you pitch them against?

King Stephen is a good one  wiki link
check out BTD for some really good kings and friends types.

get a few Arab types and do some El Cid.

The Barons were always fighting each other

[Paul Richardson]

My thanks to all those who recommended Drabant. My Saxons arrived this morning and I really like the look of them. I'll no doubt be buying some more....

[THE CID]

Just put an order in for some Saxon Miniatures Normans, I think their Dark ages stuff is some of the best on the market.