Robin Hood Project: Norman Leaders

Following on from my last post with the Norman rank-and-file, this post focuses on the Norman leaders.

We start with the Sheriff of Nottingham. Or should that be Sheriffs?  Part of my plan is to run multiple scenarios simultaneously; for example I will be running 3 different scenarios at once at Historicon 2026. So for some of the characters I've painted multiple versions. The model on the left is from Crooked Dice's Robin Hood range which is based on the depictions in the 1980s British tv show Robin of Sherwood.  I'd heard of, but not watched it, until recently as part of my 'research' for this project.  The one on the right uses a body from Wargames Atlantic's Fantasy Villagers set.  I thought this body looked more like a nobleman so added arms, head & scabbard from their Foot Knights set. Blue seemed like a good color and was different from the other Norman characters. 

Sir Guy of Gisburne or Gisbourne features as the sheriff's right-hand man in many stories. These are all built from Wargames Atlantic's Foot Knight set, each with a different lower body (there are 6 different lower bodies in the set). As inspiration for the colors and shield design I used the 1938 'Adventures of Robin Hood' movie. Basil Rathbone plays Sir Guy in that movie and wears a black surcoat with a similar design to what I put on the shields  The decal is again from DestroyCarthage.  I used the heads in mail without a helmet so they would be easier to tell apart from the other knights.

Prince John (Crooked Dice) is on the right. The miniature on the left is a WA Peasant Levy body with arms from the Perry English HYW set. He represents the Sheriff's head archer, named Gill o' the Red Cap, who competes in an archery contest against Robin in Howard Pyle's Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (1883). This book is a great source for Robin Hood stories and I was glad my local library had a copy. Given his name red seemed an appropriate color and the black distinguishes him from the Merry Men.

Both of these villains are from Crooked Dice and based on the Robin of Sherwood show. Abbot Hugo de Rainult on the left is the Sheriff's brother.  He could be used for any of the numerous abbots in the stories. Baron Simon de Belleme on the right is a master of the occult. Both have lots of black highlighted with Vallejo Black Gray. The Abbot's robes are painted with Army Painter Purple Swarm speedpaint.

A fine collection of villains! Still to come: many Merry Men and more civilians.