Black Tree Design Normans

Last month I had intended painting some Normans as a secondary objective. This month I abandoned the idea of defining a secondary objective and opted to let the muse take me where it would. Well, it took me to my Normans.

The figures are from Black Tree Designs, and are, for the most part, nicely animated, though not too much so to appear odd in units. There were casting defects on one of the horses that I received; it only had three legs! The rest of the figures were nicely cast with little flash. They come with cast on bases, but I have stuck them on plastic slottabases to fit in with the rest of my 28mm figures. In terms of size, these figures do not look out of place alongside my Foundry, Artizan and Gripping Beast Vikings, or beside my Crocodile Games Aegyptus figures.

I really quite like these figures with their characterful faces and I think that an army of them would like quite good. However, I ordered these from Black Tree Design on 4th August 2008 and it took three months for the figures to turn up. They were in the sale with 35% off, so the wait, had I been expecting it, would have been acceptable had I known that was how it would go. Also, when the figures turned up, two packs of figures were not available, apparently, and I received a note promising them to me when they became available. It is now February 2009 and I have still not received the remaining figures. BTD have not responded to any of my emails or to the letter I sent them, which means in essence that I have paid full price for the figures I received. Rest assured that Black Tree Design will never see any more of my money. Instead, I shall spend my money with companies that I know and trust, like Gripping Beast and Artizan.

The figures were painted using a simple process of blocking in the main colours and then dipping them, followed by simple highlights. It won't win any prizes but gets the job done to an acceptable wargames standard. I did use oils on the horses because I like the texture, but it is so long since I have used oils that I think I need to work on my technique a bit more. The figures are set out on a masterboard from the WorldWorksGames Villageworks set.

So, on with the show. Here we see the forces of the Lord of Harbottle parading in the village before moving out on patrol. The slingers are formed up to cover the spearmen while the knights ponse around in the background (Remember to click the pictures for larger images):