Inspired by Prince Rupert's Somerled project of a few years back – I want to modify my Own Kingdom of the Isles army.
His pictures can be found here:
TMP link
I really like the look of the unit with multiple shield types. I think it well represents the fact that Somerled had troops of many "nationalities" (Norsemen, Irish, Scots & various mixes of all) in his army.
I imagine that many troops would have round shields, Would kite shields be in use too? I imagine so – it had been about 100 years since William conquered England – and I would think there would be some level of copying. How prevalent would they be for any army of this time (1150s) and place?
How about heater shields? Or at least chopped down Kites. I have read they originated about this time. Would they have made it to an area like this?
Which troop types would be more likely to have an eclectic combination like this? Men of the isles? Gallowegians? Irish mercs?
Or is this one of those situations where we don't really know, so you can pretty much do what you like and can't be proven wrong?
