One attraction of having a Norman army is its possible opponents. We are all aware of Hastings but the Norman’s also fought in Italy to Sicily against the Lombard’s, fought the post Manzikert Byzantines, if historical battles turned out different engagements against Vikings were possible not to mention post Hastings an Anglo/Saxon would have fought both the Irish and the Scots, plus Norman figures would not be out of place to be fielded as crusaders for the first crusade.
Painting the Norman’s: Fortunately, we have the Bayeux Tapestry which are paintings of the time of the battle of Hastings and we can get both colors used and examples of shield designs. It records 8 colors those being red, ochre, turquoise, yellow, 2 shades of green and 2 shades of blue. In addition we know that various shades of brown, grey and cream were common colors of the time. Bear in mind the colors on the red, green and blue were more muted colors so ideally they should not be in the bright side. As for shields crosses were often painted in both curved and straight lines and mythical beasts were likewise common. For inspiration for shields one can utilize samples from other peoples figures (why I post pics of figures so copy at will) or inspiration from shield decals is very doable or simply of course just use the decals themselves. Keep in mind most of the Norman forces would be armored either in mail or in leather padded coats. Personally, I utilize most mail for the mounted knights with a fair mixture for the foot with a few figures thrown in with no armor for visual appeal. It was not uncommon for the knight to dismount and fight on fought to anchor the Norman line so feel free to mix some of those in if one wishes.
3) Organization and size. For its time the Norman army was a very balanced force that invaded Saxon England and gives it a unique feature. If one reviews some of the other battles such as Civitate (1053) or Dyrrhachium (1081) the Norman’s comprised solely the mounted force while non Norman infantry were provided by local forces making the events of Hastings some what unique as it was the only battle of this period where Norman infantry played a specific role. Other battles post 1066 such as the battle of the standard (1138) against the Scots the Saxon shire-levy were used as infantry (some Norman knights did fight dismounted to help stiffen them) as well as the cross channel invasion at Tinchebrai (1106) when the the Anglo/Saxon force the foot were comprised of the Saxon shire-levy again with some of the Norman knights being dismounted to fight on foot. The point being outside of the 1066 campaign be aware that outside of your dismounted knights we don’t find any Norman infantry being used so for the purist who wants to use his Norman’s for the other conflicts you will need a variety of other foot figures to augment your Norman’s. Back to the campaign of 1066 Williams army probably comprised around 8000 or so troops with roughly 25 percent being mounted, 20 percent missile armed with either bow or crossbow, the other 50-55 percent being the footmen mostly armed spear (hence the reference to a well balanced force). It might well be lack of transportation kept Williams force from comprising a higher percent of cavalry or the possibility of having to establish a beachhead upon being disembark from the ship against immediate opposition. The Saxon army of course had to march north to oppose the Viking invasion at both Fulford and Stamford bridge ….and it was during this time the Norman’s landed. One final note would be Williams army would of been the best of the best….transportation limitations meant only his best troops would of been brought over so there was no general levying of the population for poorer quality manpower to be utilized.
3) Battles. I already previously listed 4 of them besides Hastings one can research for those who want to refight actual engagements…or build your own scenarios against their historical opponents or do as one wishes against non historical opponents. Turning to the events of the year of 1066 there are some variations of possibilities where that well balanced Norman army under William could be used instead of the same refight of Hastings. 1) William invasion preceded that of the Vikings under Harald and Harolds English army was 20 percent larger instead of being depleted from casualties sustained against the Vikings? 2) William was able to have a larger mounted force say perhaps 35 percent instead of 25 percent? 3) Harald was victorious against Harold and it was the Vikings that marched south to oppose the Norman’s? 4) A series of battles or a campaign could be drawn up perhaps…what if Harold was not killed at Hastings and the battle ended in a draw? Certainly, a second battle would have been fought with the Saxon having a better replenishment of additional forces for losses than that Williams Norman’s.
Lastly any questions feel free to ask I’ll try to answer….my hope is to eventually in time provide more in depth historical context and information to go along with photos of the various collections of painted armies.
