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.

Robin Hood Project: Normans

A Robin Hood game needs Norman oppressors. Or the defenders of law & order if you side with the Sheriff of Nottingham.  Either way, Normans are an essential part of a Robin Hood game. I chose to use the Wargames Atlantic plastic sets Foot Serjeants & Foot Knights from their Barons' War range. I purchased mine from Spruedude. Each box has 24 miniatures and plenty of variety. The legs and torsos come separate but were easy to assemble and the parts are interchangeable between sets. This project is the first time I've used WA and there is enough detail without overdoing it.  They paint up well.

I painted all of the serjeants first. I primed them with white gesso, then I used a variety of colors but no green as I wanted to reserve it for Robin Hood's troops. I waited to paint the shields while I debated how to organize them for the 7TV rules I am using for this project.  Eventually I split them into 6 groups of 3 or 4 serjeants each. I added a knight to each group and gave the groups identical shields so I had the option of using them in small units. It would also make it easier for players to differentiate their models. I used the excellent decals made by DestroyCarthage. I went with an animal theme, selecting designs with animals such as fox, ram, lion, deer, & boar.

After using 6 knights in the units, and 3 as characters (to been seen in a future post), I had 15 of the box of 24 left.  So of course I painted them too.  I am not sure what I will do with all of them.  I could use them as elite foot in a Dragon Rampant army, or I might sell some of them at the upcoming Historicon flea market.

I already had 8 Crossbowmen that I painted in early 2025. I wanted 8 more, so made 3 from the WA serjeants and added 5 metal Footsore crossbowmen from my lead pile.

These are plastic WA crossbowmen, except for the one loading in the rear right, which is from Footsore.

These are all metal miniatures from Footsore's Barons' Wars range.

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The Sheriff of Nottingham's men assembled to hunt outlaws.

28mm Crossbowmen

 At the end of summer 2024, I was burned out on painting classical & dark age historical miniatures.  I had painted 7 armies for Saga over the previous 11 months and needed a change of pace.  I slowly worked on other periods throughout the fall.  In early January, I was looking for a small batch of miniatures to paint and looked through my list of unpainted miniatures.  I settled on this batch of 8 Norman crossbowmen by Crusader.  It was small enough that I could complete it quickly.  

I no longer have a Norman army, so they were not part of a larger project, just a one-off.  Will there be another Norman army in my future?   Perhaps, I do have a pack of 12 Victrix Norman heavy cavalry that I bought secondhand at a good price.  Not enough for an army, but who knows what I will find at a future convention flea matket?  And they did help me get interested in painting medievals, I have completed an English Hundred Years War army since January.

I am a fan of Crusader, their miniatures are comsistently well-sculpted and mix with most other manufacturers.  The pack of 8 followed the usual Crusader mix of 4 poses, 2 of each.  They were all in mail, and I didn't use any particular colors for their clothing, so it was a simple paint job.  

First group of four crossbowmen.

Second group of four crossbowmen.