i know the normans had trouble with a lombard revolt while away in the balkans fighting the byzantines.how different would the lombards look as opposed to the normans?

Certainly now that Bernard Cornwall's 'Lost Kingdom' seies has been televised. Saxons vs Danes should be considered. Certainly Afred his daughter Aethelflaed- the Lady of Mercia and his grandson Ethelstan have great potential. the great advantage of the so called dark ages is that armies of the combatants were not a large as in later periods.

As Graham Korn commented on the fryd is essential but like others commented mounted troops were also very common