"Fireforge foot sergeants -- best for Crusade spearmen?" Topic

I'm talking 1st through 3rd crusade here. I like Fireforge's products but I'm not sure if these guys represent Crusade era infantry well. They seem very well equipped, with mail and steel helms. And those kite shields, I expect to see those in the hands of knights, not peasant spearmen.

I'm sure many of you are familiar with these models. What do you think? Do those infantry accurately portray the rank and file of early Crusade soldiers? Are there other product lines that do it better?

Don't overthink it.

They are cool, just get them.

I think they are too late for 1st Crusade. Maybe okay for 3rd?

would you not be better off with Conquest games Normans especially for first and second crusade?

I don't think the fire forge foot sergeants have mail only gambeson.
The infantry works fine for 3rd crusade. Their cavalry on the other hand is more mid 13th century.

Do those Conquest Normans scale well with Fireforge? Aren't they a bit smaller?

I'd say Fireforge and Conquest go pretty well size wise myself (but everyone's mileage varies). There are some of the new Conquest knights and Fireforge knights in a mixed unit on my blog here.

link

And don't forget the Perry range of crusaders! Very 1st crusade.

Do those infantry accurately portray the rank and file of early Crusade soldiers?

Perhaps the earlist western kite shields in the Codex Aureus of Echternach, 1030-1050AD carried by armoured infantry & unarmoured infantry.
Infantry with almond shield in 'Charlemagne's chess set', Norman Southern Italy, end of the eleventh century
Armoured infantry with kite shield on the Archivolt carvings above the Leoni door of the church of San Nicola in Bari, Italy, early 12th century
David and Goliath in the 'Melisende Psalter', Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1131-43 AD
Spanish infantry with helmets but no shields in the Codex Calixtinus, 1135-1139AD
Armoured infantry with kite shields in Liber ad honorem Augusti, by Pietro da Eboli, Sicily, c.1197

Kite shields are the most common type for western infantry in the 12th century.
See also Frankish Infantry in Armies and Enemies of the Crusades 1096-1291 by by Ian Heath

Druzhina
12th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

I mix and match Fireforge, Conquest Games and Gripping Beast without much problems (though occasinally a good part of greenstuff).