40 Knights in 40 Days (Part 2)

Here is the second conroi of Norman Knights. This time, the warriors are more heavily armoured but are still themed by keeping as many shields the same as possible - a cross motif. I have created these as milites - from the Latin/Roman term for foot soldier that morphed through the ages to represent any soldier when described in Latin. This second conroi is also a little short-changed in the manpower department due to the accident a few weeks back. As mentioned previously, two were damaged beyond repair but a few of the others that were broken in the fall were salvageable and have been re-glued, bent back into shape and then re-painted. Only a few of them are noticable.

First up is the commander of this conroi - a vavasseur. Vavasseur was really just another name for a squire or equivalent but I decided to use that rank as a leader type for a unit of milites. Rather than a spear or sword, I have put an axe into his hand to make him a little different. He is also unusual in that he has a cloak - not the normal attire of a Norman knight at war as cloaks could easily trap the sword arm, become entangled with a spear, or generally just get in the way of combat.

 Miniature by Gripping Beast

The second figure in this unit is the bannerman. I created the banner myself from an old bit of foil from around the top of a wine bottle. The wine was drunk a darn sight more quickly than it took to paint this figure! The motif on the banner is taken from the Bayeux Tapestry.

 Miniature by Gripping Beast

The third figure is a musician. It seems Normans would be most likely to have used horns to be heard over the din of battle rather than drums or cymbals that seem to have been used elsewhere by other armies of this period.

 Miniature by Gripping Beast

Before we get to the actual milites, here is another champion. As stated previously this was most likely not a formal position, but I like the idea of there being one particular hard nut in each unit.

 Miniature by Conquest Games

And here come the milites from the understaffed second conroi...

 Miniature by Crusader Miniatures

 Miniature by Crusader Miniatures

 Miniature by Crusader Miniatures

 Miniature by Perry Miniatures

 Miniature by Gripping Beast

Here is a group shot of the milites in action together...

And finally here are the command group...

Next week - the first conroi of Norman Knights.