"28mm Anglo-Saxon cavarly?" Topic

Hello,

I am looking for 28mm Anglo-Saxon Cavalry miniatures. They should fit Gripping Beasts Anglo-Saxons in style and size if possible.

I have put an order in for GB infantry (both plastic and metal) and could use some cavalry to support them but GB seem to have none in their range.

Thanks,

Burkhard

I kit bashed some using Conquest plastc Norman Knights with Gripping beast heads, weapons and shields. They seem to have come out ok

Here is one source

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link

Enjoy

Yes, conquest riders and horss with the round shields and some war games factory heads was my solution.

I think there is only one recorded instance of Angles (specifically if I remember correctly) fighting mounted. Fighting on foot in a shield wall was part of the culture they only rode to battle. So I guess that is why you can't get the figures !

Renegade Miniatures, Black tree design, and Tanatus (from North Star) all do mounted Anglo-Saxons.

Renegades are a nicely generic, middling size, and fit well with most others.

Black Tree's lads are mounted on BTD's trademark 'towering thoroughbreds', which dwarf other mfr's horses.

The Tanatus horse sculpts are lovely, but very flat, with their feet almost in-line, which makes them very weak at the ankles. (or fetlocks… whatever.)

Newline do some Northumbrian cavalry in their 'Arthurian' range which might do you.

Hope that helps!

Thank you guys!

@Green Tiger: Good point. I was thinkiing that under SAGA the combination of cavalry and large numbers of well trained and equipped Levies would be a great combination, but maybe a little more historical accuracy would not be a bad thing either.

Thanks,

Burkhard

I tried Anglo Saxons in Saga the other week, 6 pts with a unit of 4 mounted hearth guard. They didn't work great for me. So many of the battle board abilities are geared for big units.

One of the other players has done AS with 3 warriors and 3 levy in 5 big units. Which seems to work well. It is reliant on getting the Fyrd to get enough Saga dice.

As to historicity – at the level Saga is at a few mounted troops can hardly be regarded as impossible. Saga does emphasise the differences in factions to a very large degree to make them different.

The Northumbrian Angles seem to have had cavalry present at the battle of Nechtansmere. They could well have been the remnants/descendants of warriors from the British tribe of Gododdin. (Rather than conquest, the Angles seem to have taken over the role of political and military elite from the British in what came to be known as Northumbria).

The Battle of Hastings too powerfully dominates the imagination of the Anglo-Dane army of the 11th century. But considering the tactical and strategic challenges facing Harold his choice to dismount his huscarls and fight on foot makes total sense.

There is certainly sufficient evidence to suggest that the Anglo-Dane army had mounted elements and could go into battle with cavalry. Snorre Sturlason records that
Harold Godwinson used cavalry at Stamford bridge for instance. The real challenge to me is rating the cavalry.

It depends what you want to simulate.

They certainly were able to ride horses, to go hunting on horseback, etc. Many individuals amongst them could probably fight individually on horseback.

In battle they dismounted, probably because they were not really trained to fight as cavalry units. Riding a horse is one thing, riding and fighting as a unit is very different and needs much collective training; if you don't have it you would prefer to dismount and fight on foot in shield wall. Especially if facing the Normans who were rated as the best shock cavalry in Western Europe in that time.

I've been working on some Late Saxon cavalry.

My assumption is that the Saxons had the skills on an individual level, as Patrice and other point out, they were riding and hunting on horseback. They also had trade links (and at the later stages interlocking noble families) across the channel with the Normans. They knew it was feasible and could be effective. So, no technological reason why the couln't.

My other assumption is that the Saxons didn't emphasize fighting from horseback, and were nowhere near as good at it as Normans. Game wise, I'll be categorizing them as "heavy cavalry" as far as armour, but fighting with thrown or thrusting spears rather than as true "shock cavalry" such as the Normans. Maybe also as mounted infantry, so they can dismount and fight on foot if required. Also, reduced morale values when fighting on horseback to account for poorer co-ordination/training. This corresponds with Patrice's points.

So, Saxon cavalry suck compared to the Normans, but could be useful in certain situations where movement counts more than crunch-power. The commander in charge assesses the situation and makes a judgement call about how to employ the troops available.

Which, IMO, fits fairly well with the historical examples – in Northumbria and at Stamford Bridge having some 'fast movers' fit the tactical requirements on the day, but at Hastings the Saxons knew there was no way they were going to win in a cavalry match-up, and so dismounted everyone to maximize the shieldwall.

It isn't reflected in some army lists, but I suspect even the Saxons were capable of a degree of tactical flexibility!

Actually, the forces represented in SAGA are probably where mounted Anglo-Saxons and Anglo-Danes would be highly appropriate, since the forces are meant to be at man-to-man skirmish level anyway (raids, quick defenses against raids, that sort of thing).

The reduced training in cavalry fighting would show up by having far less special abilities on the battle-board compared to the Normans…. Heck with no cavalry-specific abilities on the Anglo-Dane battle board the only advantage the horse boys would have would be in mobility.

Huh, I just got off the Gripping Beast site, and was looking at their mounted Saxons. They have quite a few

Musketeer Miniatures are by far the best. I have about 60 and love them. Pricier than GB but much better figs.

I've just bought the Conquest Normans with the thought of doing the headswap.

And this is how they worked out.

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very good. I have just bought the Dux Bellorum rules, so I was glad to see your work.