Norman Army assembled.

 As the title says, here is the fully assembled Norman Army (minus 2 horses). Currently set up in 3 divisions representing how William the Conquer had his army arranged at Hastings.

Here is all the Cavalry and Infantry grouped together. Feels like a much smaller force then the Anglo-Saxons. I do have enough extras to make a 4th division of Infantry if I wanted.

Anglo-Saxon Army Update

 Felt like setting out the entire Anglo-Saxon army for a progress update. This time though I set it up on my Killing Fields Battle Mat and got some Normans out for some more interesting shots.

Here is the entire army as I have built it. 3 Divisions consisting of 4 infantry units, 1 command base, and 1 or 2 skirmish units. As they are set up here the 2 flanking divisions are identical. They have 2 units of armored Thagens with long spears, 2 units of unarmored Carols with long spears, 1 unit of bow skirmishers and 1 of javelins. The middle division has 2 units of armored Hauscarls with Dane Axes, 2 units of unarmored Carols with long spears, 1 unit of javelin skirmishers. 

Left to paint are 5 units of infantry, the 2 bow armed skirmish units, and 2 command bases. 

While the 1066 Battle of Hastings will certainly be the main big battle I'll fight with my two armies, I also plan to cover much more. It took 3-5 years for the Normans to bring all the Anglo-Saxons in line and quail several rebellions. This should offer me plenty of fodder for campaigns with engagements of skirmishes up to pitched battles. 

Since I had my Saxons out I grabbed what if had done of my Norman cavalry. I set up could be a small rebel Saxon force about to receive a charge of Norman knights. I think the photos came out quite good and really got me motivated. 

FIW Club Game

Game Narrative: Saturday, September 28th, 1758
A large force of French Soldiers, Canadian Frontiers Men, and their Indian Allies have been raiding deep into the Pennsylvania Frontier. They have already sacked and burned several homesteads and are believed to be heading for the small farming community of West Vernon. The call for help has been sent out but so far only a small force of local provincials with a unit of British Regulars arrived on Friday and set up camp. They assured the residents that the rest of the regional force would arrive sometime today. The question is, will they arrive in time?

French Forces:
-Indian Chief
- 3 units of 6 Indians
- Canadian Officer
- 3 units of 6 Frontiersmen
- French Officer
- 2 units of 9 marines

British Forces:
- British Officer
- 1 unit of 12 British Regulars
- 2 Provincials Officer
- 4 units of 12 Provincial Infantry

The British Regulars deployed in the center of the settlement with 1 unit of Provincials on their left.

The French line had the Frontiersmen deployed on the left with Marines in the center and Indians on the Right. 

 Sensing their right flank being exposed the Regulars shifted to their right to protect that flank. They took up a firing line position behind a fence.

The French and their allies advanced through the cover of the forest

When they drew too close, a unit of Marines fell to a withering volley of fire from the Regulars.

On the other flank the Indians got shots with their hunting rifles into the Provincials who took some casualties and where forced to fallback.

The Indians then took advantage of this and advanced quickly on the nearest house and set it alight. The surviving unit of Marines also tried to press the advantage and rush the next house down the line.

 However the Provincials found their aim and started picking off the Marines and slowing their progress.

 Eventually the Marines reached the building and got to work setting it alight.

However, with one final volley, the Provincials slew the last of the Marines. Only their officer was left. He bravely rushed the building and managed to finish setting it alight. Meanwhile the Indians had taken advantage of their distraction and charged into the few remaining Provincials. After a fierce and bloody melee the Indians where left standing

Furious with the loss of his men. the Provincial officer charged around the burning house and slew the Marine officer with his saber. Meanwhile his other unit of Provincials had finally arrived and their massed volley fire drove the Indians back.

At the other end, the Frontiersmen could barely step foot from the woods without falling to a hail of bullets from both the Regulars and a unit of Provincials that had arrived.

 With most of their force destroyed or fleeing the remaining French and their Allies decided to retreat.

Once in the safety of the woods, the remaining French force was able to get away. Both units of Marines had be killed or routed, including 1 unit of Frontiersmen and 1 unit of Indians. The remaining Indians and Frontiersmen had all suffered casualties. They also lost 1 officer.

One unit of Provincials had been slain to a man. Their only other casualty was a Provincial officer who had tried to pursue the Frontiersmen into the forest. Unfortunately for him, the prey turned and shot him from his horse.

In the end, half the settlement had been burned. Though they only managed to save half, the British force had taken relatively light casualties and in turn devastated the French raiding party. A minor victory for the English Crown.

Palisade Fort

I finally finished enough of my Palisade fort to get it on the table. Its not quite big enough to make a fort or moat and baily castle so i'm printing some more sections. It does make a great table edge piece when all stretched out. Perfect for a town walls where the defenders are sallying forth.

As for cost/time comparison. I estimate it cost about $40 worth of material, took 80+hrs to print, and about 3-4hrs of actual labor. While I could have done it all manually for a bit cheaper my current life situation would have meant the project would take a year instead of weeks. Working full time in the armed forces with a 4yr old and 2yr old boys, my hobby time is very limited. Printing allowed me to do other things while printing like spending time with family, at work, or painting other projects. Buying a resin kit would have the same time saving effect but would have cost well over $100USD.

Of course I had to get out some models to see how it would look.