Breton Warlord Cavalry

off the desk this week another unit of Breton warlord cavalry, again from the footsore miniatures range. Should be quite flexible to be Alans, Goths, Franks and late Romans. A real pleasure to paint with LBM transfers.

Cheers
Matt

Goth-Alani 28mm cavalry

Next unit to join my Breton army are some Alani-Goth cavalry from the Footsore range. These. Will be for my later 5th century Armorican army, but I will possibly also use them for Goths, Visigoths or Burgundians.

The Vandals, Alani (including Sarmation confederation tribes) and other confederate Germans crossed the Rhine in 406AD pushing far into western Roman territory. Alan tribes settled along the Loire and up the Sarthe river beyond Le Mans and west to the Mayenne river. Many place names in the Pays de la Loire region still relate to this period of 40 odd years of occupation. This I believe also lead to the unique horse breeds in western Pays de la Loire

The Alani leader Goar agreed with the romans to ally with them and in 440 the Alan's were gifted Orleans and the lower And Upper Loire to act as a buffer in the west with the Bucaudae of Armorica, and to the south the Visigoths and Burgundians. The Alani also played in the internal politics of the western empire supporting Jovinus as emperor 411-13. The Alani had contingents in the Roman army at Chalons against the Huns and again at at Orleans against the Visigoths. Contingents were still with the Roman army at Soissons, and retreated to Armorica after the defeat, coming to terms with Clovis and the Franks, becoming part of the Merovingian and Carolingian empires.

Ammianus Marcellinus writes their military customs resemble the Huns "they enter battle drawn up in a wedge shaped masses, while their medley of voices make a savage noise". The Alans like the Huns disliked fighting on foot, and unlike the Huns they seemed to have utilised armour for themselves and their horses.

References
Alans in Gaul Bernard S Bachrach.
The History of the Alans in the West Bernard S Bachrach 
Long Haired Kings JM Wallac-Hadrill
Rerum Gestartum libri qui supersunt XXXI 2,21. Ammianus Marcellinus. 

28mm Armorican/Breton warriors

 I recently purchased a collection of dark age figures and a number were Footsore miniatures Welsh and Irish, while the remainder were gripping beast plastics.

Recently I have read some interesting articles about some of the early kings after the departure of the Romans, the spread of Christianity, the arrival of the Alans, then the Franks, the coming of the Viking invaders, then the Normans.

I had planned to build a Breton army so with a little thought I could build something to represent Breton Dark age army from the 5th century through to the 11th by swapping out a few units it could fight Alan's, Late Romans, Franks, Vikings and Normans. We have six major battlefield sites within a hours drive from late Roman through to the Norman conquest, and a further 11 battlefields within two hours. I plan to develop some tours and wargame events around these sites.

First off the desk some Domnomée skirmishers. The kingdom of Domnonée seemed to have major ties with Britain, even sharing the same king at one time. These figures represent the marshland people around currrent Mont Saint Michel to Dol de Bretagne.  11 bases to complete of heavy infantry and two bases of skirmishers, and possibly four heavy cav and five light cavalry will give me a good start. I have two more bases almost complete and two heavy infantry should be completed this weekend.

Cheers
Matt
French Wargame Holidays
L'Hotel de Hercé
Mayenne, France
"Walk the battlefield in the morning, Wargame it in the afternoon"