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Re: Collectors of Medieval Era Sets?

Same here. Someone on Benno's called that "sable" ("stock above life expectancy" ...:relaxed:). It just accumulates every time one of these "can't resist"-sets comes out (Zvezda Russians, Mongols etc.).

More specifically I've got a lot - mostly unpainted - dark age/medieval sets, beginning with late Roman/early Byzantines (mostly Hat and Orion), Crusades (Zvezda/Strelets/Italeri), Rus and Mongols (Zvezda, Strelets) and late Medieval (Zvezda/Mini Art/Revell/Italeri). Always had to have at least one set. Started to work on a MiniArt castle as well. Lots of work in progress ... Then I got distracted and bought some Games Workshop Knights, just because at the time there were no crested knights in 20mm. So it goes ...

Re: Collectors of Medieval Era Sets?

Cool! I am slowly working on a project myself; it is called "Ragnarok" and attempts to place the best quality sets from each era into their own regional pools (I call them "valleys") that individual commanders can draw troops from. Factions are determined by the command structures (standard bearers and especially musicians) which can be collected from current 1/72 scale sets. Historical accuracy is important for each individual group, but I mostly allow reasonable non-historical matchups. 1400 AD is my stopping point at the moment, although an expansion into 1400-1783 AD may be on the horizon, especially with the nice looking WoSS stuff for Queen Anne and King Louis XIV.

My current Medieval factions (this valley is known as "Midgard" after the Viking term for the world) are as follows:

1. Catholic Anglo-Saxon Gedriht- The core is STRM003 combined with Emhar's Saxons and a HaT Spanish Command monk.

2. Catholic Men-at-Arms, 11th-12th Century- STRM001, with some elements from the other Strelets Mini sets that are typically classified as "Norman."

3. Catholic Men-at-Arms, Late 12th-14th Century AD- STRM012's excellent set. The Strelets Mini Longbowmen and command would go here upon purchase. Thinking of making these guys more Scottish/English/etc. for the Scottish Independence Wars.

4. Hrothgar the Clever's Hirdmenn- STRM004's Vikings combined with about half of the archers from STRM002. Also threw in some dwarves and civilians from the Age of Mythology boardgame by Eagle Gales. Hrothgar is a more trade and domestic power focused Norseman.

5. Islamic Caliphate Successors- Mostly formed by HaT's Andalusians/Almoravids at the moment, although I eventually am hoping to acquire STRM013 for its backbone.

6. Rollo's Vikingr Warband- Zvezda's Viking set combined with a few Anglo-Saxons from STRM140. Rollo is more of a raider than Hrothgar, so tends to be quite aggressive.

7. Slavic Raiders- Orion's Slavic warriors set at the moment. They likely need an infusion of some Strelets Vikings or Anglo-Saxons (serving as Vikings) to compete with the rest.

Oh and pretty much all command is from STRM141, as it is important each group has its own standard bearer and musician in addition to the leader. Hoping to get around to adding some Orthodox Rus at some point too, with STRM027 being the focal point of that (command from Orion #72031). As you can see Strelets is basically the only reason why any of this system works, so thanks again! :sunglasses:

Re: Collectors of Medieval Era Sets?

"Ragnarok" sounds like an interesting and imaginative idea.

Personally I'd stick with 1400 as the cut-off point; gunpowder makes things much more complicated, and there is plenty of potential if you wish to create a completely separate 'gunpowder' scenario of imaginary warring states for the period, say, 1600-1783. If this takes your fancy you could even have a Japanese-style army from the C17th 'Age of Battles' up against an army looking somewhat like Frederick the Great's Prussians!!!

Nice to know that specific Strelets sets are critical to all this!

Re: Collectors of Medieval Era Sets?

Yea I agree. I tried to balance in Strelets Mini's Tecumseh warriors for a short time, but that DID NOT work at all and led to a bunch of restrictions being put in place. It was pretty funny seeing Tecumseh and the STRM035 Ancient Germans team up for a short time though! :joy:

Re: Collectors of Medieval Era Sets?

Yes I love medieval stuff from about 500 AD to 1500 AD.

The biggest omission is Byzantine stuff and I wish Strelets would take up the challenge particularly for 11th century as it would provide a beautiful enemy for their Normans and their Middle Eastern sets.

A personal hobby horse is some decent Picts and Irish for the latter part of the first millenium, very distinctive warriors from the Romano-Britons and Saxons of the time.

I liked the medieval militia sets that Strelets produced and would love to see well done pike armed sets to represent the forces of the city states of the Low Countries.

Re: Collectors of Medieval Era Sets?

Yaaay!! A full Byzantine roster would of course be most welcome, but even one command set with officers/standard bearers/musicians would be super useful, because the empire used so many mercenaries they could be placed onto the other Strelets Viking/Anglo-Saxon/Norman sets with ease to create believable armies pretty quickly. After all, the Battle of Dyrrhachium in 1081 featured a bunch of Harald Godwinson's former elites in the service of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, a trip they were regretting afterwards!

Re: Collectors of Medieval Era Sets?

TheBabylonian109
After all, the Battle of Dyrrhachium in 1081 featured a bunch of Harald Godwinson's former elites in the service of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, a trip they were regretting afterwards!
The fact that a few 'refugee' Houscarls of Harald II's retinue may have made it to Byzantium post-1066 is one of those things that sets the imagination going. It is indeed probable that elite Northern European infantrymen in the service of the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (and his predecessor(s)) would have been Viking/Rus in origin, but this does not preclude Saxons as well. The ability to wield a two-handed battle-axe with skill was clearly valued in the Byzantine military.

I'm sure that a decade or two as an elite soldier in the service of the Emperor in the relative luxury of Byzantium cannot have been that bad....certainly in comparison with a life of servitude to a Norman Lord in rainy Britain.