Anglo-Saxon Characters

Finally, the characters and command for my Anglo-Saxon (Anglo-Danish) army.

The (Wessex) Wild Bunch

These are all actually Vikings from Crusader Miniatures' Dark Ages single figure range. I would (and have) argued that as Anglo-Danes the difference in appearance is negligible, and besides that they are really nice minis.

As expected from Crusader, these are good, solid figures, strong looking and well animated. The appearance is of well-equipped, well-dressed men which nicely fits the role I have for them. No flash and minimal joint lines as per usual made pre-paint preparation a doddle. Paint was quick and simple and because these are the focal point of the army I splashed out on shield transfers from Little Big Men Studios. If you haven't tried these before, give them a go. They're very easy to use and the results speak for themselves. Steven Hales at LBMS is a really helpful guy and their mail order service is exemplary.

This specimen is the Eorl acting as leader. The Eorl of where varies (see below). Irrespective, most of the time he's going to be with the standard bearer, close to the huscarl unit slap bang in the front and centre of the army.

I'm in charge!

These two are Eolderman, and would be expected to be at the front, attached to whichever of the units of thegns or ceorls needs bolstering at that moment.

Lastly, the other Eolderman acting as army standard bearer. This is where the comment about Eorl of where exactly comes in. By a bit of jiggery-pokery and drilling down into the base of the figure, I can remove the standard and replace it. This way, I can ring the changes between the armies of Wessex (see above), Mercia and Kent, all of which have small but significant differences that give them a range of strengths and weaknesses, making it that bit more fun. Wessex is at the top, and here are the other two.

Gimme me flag back!

So here they are as Mercians, with the eagle and saltire.

Lord have mercy!

And Kentish men. Or men of Kent. Or both...

Invicta!

Finally, here's a couple of group shots, from other angles, just for completeness.

Enjoy!