1066 Part 5: Odo of Bayeux

Companion to William the Conqueror, Bishop of Bayeux, Earl of Kent - Odo certainly collected many titles in his sixty-plus years but he his best remembered for the famous Tapestry housed at his bishopric, which he probably commissioned himself.

Odo was born around 1030, several years after his half brother, William. Their mother Herleva was not, as many claimed an believe, the daughter of a common tanner, but definitely not from high nobility.  After a youthful and unconsecrated relationship with Duke Robert I of Normandy resulted in the birth of William c. 1027, Herleva was married off to Herluin, Vicomte of Conteville. She bore him two sons, Odo and Robert, both of whom later played significant roles in the conquest of England. The date of Odo's birth is unknown, but when he was made bishop of Bayeux in 1049, his age was between 14 and 19. Very young to be sure, but not too surprising for one so well connected.

Being a bishop did little to suppress Odo's worldliness and greed, and in fact probably gave license to his corruption.  His wealth did allow him to patronize a variety of artistic and architectural endeavors. In 1066 William entrusted Odo with the task of raising ships and supplies.  He directed troops in the Battle of Hastings, though he probably did not personally engage in melee. After the conquest, Odo was given numerous estates in England and held the title of Earl of Kent.  Afterwards, William spent most of his time in Normandy, leaving Odo as his regent in England.  

On the Bayeux Tapestry, Odo is depicted wielding a club or mace.  Victorian historians attributed this to a supposed ban on religious leaders carrying swords and shedding blood in battle.  While early Medieval church reforms discouraged bishops from engaging in battle, no such proscription on swords exist.  In truth, Odo's club was a symbol of authority not piety.  Undoubtedly, this image and associated stories served as the inspiration for the requirement in Dungeons and Dragons that the Cleric class could only carry blunt weapons - because braining your enemy to death is much more compassionate that stabbing them!

Odo spent his later years out of favor with his brother. This was largely Odo's fault, for he was imprisoned for a variety of corruptions and plots. On William's deathbed, the king ordered the release of all his prisoners with the single exception of Odo. William's advisers, specifically their brother Robert, pressed for Odo's freedom and succeeded.  even attended Wiliiams funeral.  Later, Odo was forced to leave England for plots and remained an advisor to William's son Robert, who inherited Normandy, but not England. He joined his nephew on the First Crusade, but died en route in Italy in 1097.

Modeling and Playing Odo

Like William the Conqueror, the top Dark Age manufacturers Crusader and Gripping Beast sell figures for Odo. Gripping Beast's mounted Odo is very close to the depiction on the Tapestry with its triangular patterned quilted armor.

Below, Odo from the other side, leading a pair of Conquest Games plastic Normans. 

For an Odo on foot, Crusader makes a figure in padded armor.  I used one of Gripping Beast's Angry Monks, with chainmail and a sword, indicating a higher ranked official than just a lowly monk.  

From Crusader Miniature's website, William and Odo

For SAGA, Odo can only lead a Norman warband and may not employ any swords for hire.

Hero of the Viking Age—As a Norman Lord, Odo generates 3 SAGA dice per turn instead of the usual 2 for most Warlords.

Bishop— As a lord bishop, Odo benefit's from the Lord's protection. During melee, Odo can discard Attack Dice in exchange for an equal number of Defense Dice, rather than half as is normal.

Greedy —On the other hand, Odo was quite rapacious, seeking every advantage possible. At the start of each turn, Odo can roll seven SAGA dice instead of six, assuming his warband can generate that many dice. 

Two of his abilities have been used before for other SAGA heroes, and the Bishop ability was created to emphasize Odo's "lead from the rear" approach.  It makes him hard to kill, but less offensive.

click here for PDF download of this card

Varangians and upcoming plans

The Byzantine army continues to grow.  My work this week was a pack of Crusader Miniatures Varangians, a command pack and several plastic conversions.

Turned with the shields shown.  I generally prefer handpainted shields to transfers, even if the are a kittke too clean. A personal painting goal for this year is to work on weathering and damage.  However, it is a little hard psychologically to do a nice job on a shield, and then paint over it and intentionally ruin your work.  

Harold Hardrada, center, with his command retinue.  I do not know why it wasn't obvious to me before, but Harold probably shouldn't be given the appellation Hardrada ("Hard Ruler") during his Byzantine service, because he had yet to rule.  Furthermore, according to most sources, that name does not appear in written records until well after his death at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. 

Several conversions are pictured above.  On the left is a Byzantine artisan or merchant, flanked by two Varangian in their more formal tunics.  The civilian is a Wargames Factory Numidian puttied up and painted according to this reference.  The Varangians are Conquest Games Normans with Gripping Beast Dark Age heads. The bases are from Happy Seppuku stamps.    

I plan a few more civilian conversions for some skirmishes using Byzantines in the recently released Song of Shadows and Dust.  It is a SBH variant for urban combat in the ancient world.  Most of the buildings and streets will be papercraft, which I enjoy using (see the pic above). Maybe next month...after some more 1066 stuff...

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors (Battlefield Obstacles)

My scenery project for the week was a couple of lengths of wattle fencing.  I experimented with several different materials.  I started by drilling some small holes in a strip of thick card and a strip of plastic.  I glued small craft sticks in the holes and wove the "wattle" material around the posts.

The fence in the foreground uses some packaging material from one my son's toys.  A few years ago, almost all packaged toys used plastic strips to secure the items inside.  The end result was a lot of extra plastic and parental frustration.  Lately, many companies have been switching to tying toys in with some sort of natural fiber material.  It is fairly thick, but wrapped easily around the posts and was held in place with white glue.  The fence in the background used sisal string as the wattle.  Again, weave it around the posts and coat heavily in white glue.

After the glue dried, I painted the pieces brown, dry brushed in highlights and added basing material: 

I almost ashamed to acknowledge the size of my painting backlog.  This particular item below is from Gripping Beast's baggage train.  My wife bought it for me last Christmas and I am just now getting to it.

The baggage train is a nice set, but a bit pricey for something that can be scratch built with a little effort.  You get two ponies, two carts and about a dozen barrels, bags and tools.  One cart is pulled by the animals, but the other is meant to be a fixed piece of scenery. Preferring mobility, I stumbled upon another use for Gripping Beast's plastic Dark Age Warriors - farmer.   

I wish I had painted him with a dark beard to look more like Topol so he could sing "If I Were a Rich Man."  One other conversion with these figures that I am curious about is making a longship rower out of one.  It would take a great deal of time and green stuff to make a small crew, but it would probably work.   

And finally this week, I finished my set of Conquest's Normans with this squad of mercenaries. Standardized shields and clothing were probably unheard of in the pre-heraldic era, but for a small group of swords for hire, it works on the table.  I think they will get some use in an upcoming Normans v. Welsh battle.    

The Russians are Coming!

With two Rus factions for SAGA forthcoming, I thought it would be a good idea to run through some of my Rus figures.  Most of them were purchased as a way to give an eastern focus to my Viking army, without the intention of building a separate Russian army.  As it turns out, I have a few figures from most of the manufacturers currently.

Below are some Magister Militum Rus. These are metal figures of average to good casting quality. The sculpts are well detailed, but not as good as the Gripping Beast figures. Shields are separate, and soft metal spears are included, which I chose not to use.

Gripping Beast's Jomsvikings are obviously modeled on early Rus from the Osprey books. These rank with the best of Gripping Beast's dark age line, and would do well for the early Pagan Rus. Additionally, shields are cast on and spears are not included. 

I am always looking for ways to convert figures from my second box of Conquest Normans.  Here's one that's been given a fur cloak and a higher peaked helmet.  He could work well as an eleventh century Rus from the Kievan princes era.  

WIP pictures

Below, a comparison shot of figures from each of the four manufacturers.  The Essex is obviously the smaller of the figures, but not so much that it is out of place.  It also has the least sharp features, and the square shield shows little texture compared to Gripping Beast and Magister.  

As far as I know, the only other manufacturer of Dark Age Rus is Old Glory.  I would expect their figs to be more in line with the Essex in terms of size and quality.  There website does not help very much with pictures. 

Conquest Normans into Andalusians

After a number of posts on my Castilians and El Cid armies, it is time to move to the other end of the peninsula, the Moors of Spain, or Al-Andalus.


Warriors of Al-Andalus

The peoples who made up the fighting forces of Muslim Spain were drawn from many places.  As many historians have noted,the Arab invasion of Spain by the Umayaad Caliphate in 711 AD was not entirely Arab or Muslim.  The initial invasion force was led by the Arabs, but the bulk of the troops were Berbers, who had in recent years been conquered by the Umayaad Arabs, and not completely converted in the early eighth century.   Tensions between Arabs and Berbers characterized the Spanish emirate throughout its existance, with open warfare first breaking out in the 740s.

The Arabs were disproportionately a urban population in Spain, with the countryside dominated by Berbers and native Christians, who slowly converted to Islam over the next two hundred years.  These Spanish Christians served in Andalusian armies, for reasons of both compulsion and loot, along with slave troops purchased from Christian lands, Africa and the Middle East.


Here is a group of four Conquest Normans beginning their conversion into Andalusian troops.  Tunics were extended into robes, and adding turbans and headgear.  The set's round shields were also used, as the heart shaped Arab shields did not come into popular usage until the twelfth century.

Finished and painted, the shield patterns on the two below were lifted from some Andalusian pottery designs of the time. 

Here are the conversions in the ranks with some Artizan Moors.  They fit in very well in terms of scale and heft.

Troops of Arab descent in Spain were most likely from the cities of Spain (which were some of the largest in Europe at the time), and functioned as an urban militia.  As such, these are depicted as wearing finer clothing in bright colors.

Overall, the conversion process was useful practice for my poor (but hopefully improving) sculpting skills.  For time reasons, I would not want to convert a whole box of Normans into Arabs, unless one needed a few extra Moors for a low cost.

Next time, Andalusian cavalry and commanders.

Conquest Norman Infantry, Completed

This week's update is a completed box of Conquest Normans.  Not pictured are four axe-bearers in service as Anglo-Dane huscarls and six figures converted into Breton skirmishers.

Ranked with the chain mail wearing knights at the front:

Pictured below are three of the four command figures.  The small banner is stock from the box, the large banner is from Little Big Man Studios.  

After having finished one box, I would suggest that the quality and variety of the finished product can be improved by having some bits from Conquest's cavalry on hand.  The cavalry box contains different helmets and sword arms that are compatible with the infantry.  This set was definitely a worthwhile addition. It is tempting to purchase another box, even though 44 infantry is more than enough for SAGA purposes.  

Norman Infantry and Recommended Reading

As I continue my work on my Conquest Norman Infantry, I am impressed with how useful they are in a variety of roles.

Here is a group of unarmored Normans set up as Breton skirmishers.  I shortened the spears to javelin length and added a few bare heads from other manufacturers.  

A unit of Normans 

Another option included in the box is a double handed axeman.  Paint him a mustache and you have an Anglo-Dane huscarl.


Non-Fiction:

Haskins, Charles Homer The Normans in European History.  Haskins deserves praise as one of the greatest medievalists of the early twentieth century, while he was less than successful as a close advisor to Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.  Although close to a hundred years old,  The Normans in European History is an excellent description of how the Normans evolved from Viking settlers (or extortionists of the Franks) into an organized medieval state in under two centuries.  Haskins' historical viewpoint is a product of his times, and he attempts somewhat unsuccessfully to view and define the duchy of Normandy in twentieth century nation-state terms. Available as a free ebook on Google Play and Amazon.com

O'Brien, Harriet Queen Emma and the Vikings. Popular history about a central, but often forgotten figure in the great game of pursuing the throne of England in the eleventh century.  Emma, a Norman princess, was married to two kings of England, Aethelred and Cnut, and mother to two as well, Harthacnut and Edward the Confessor, and finally, aunt to William the Bastard (Conqueror).

Fiction:

Duggan, Alfred. Knight in Armor. Finest piece of historical fiction on the Crusades that I have read.  The eponymous knight, a young Norman who joins the First Crusade, is not particularly likeable or intelligent.  Published in 1950, it rests both chronologically and spiritually between nineteenth century romanticism and late twentieth century revisionism.  The march across the Near East is shown as a bloody, sordid and mostly unholy affair, and yet the final few pages capture the elation, desperation and triumph of achieving such an unlikely conquest.

Duggan, Alfred. The Lady for Ransom.  This time Duggan follows a band of Italian Normans who become Byzantine mercenaries and are present as the empire fell apart in chaos after the Battle of Manzikert. If Duggan wrote a bad book, I have yet to come across it, and this is one of my favorites.

Ludlow, Jack - The Conquest Trilogy.  Ludlow's trilogy is comprised of Mercenaries, Warrior and Conquest and recounts the de Hauteville family's conquest of southern Italy. Obviously impressed with Norman military prowess, Ludlow begins book one with the practical eldest brother William Ironarm who sought his fortune in Italy as one of many Norman adventurers. The series finally finishes with the domination of Southern Italy by the youngest brother, Robert Guiscard. The dialogue is terse and efficient, and it captures the political and military machinations of the Normans, Lombards, Byzantines and the Papacy very well.  Stylistically however, Ludlow is dry and clinical, and almost never evocative, as the setting demands.  Having finished the series on audiobook, the excellent narration by Jonathon Keeble compensates for the lack of mood in the prose.

Painted Norman archers

Just a quick shot of the Conquest Norman infantry as archers:

Norman Infantry Review and Conversions

I have had a box of Conquest Games' new Norman Infantry for about a week.  A quick review: if you have their cavalry, buy this box. You will have more than enough troops for a SAGA warband, and you're more than halfway there for a decent sized non-skirmish game. I am currently leaning towards Clash of Empires - haven't tried Hail Caesar, though.  For about $30 USD, you get eight sprues with five bodies. Three bodies are unarmored, one is in a gambeson and one is in knee length chain mail.  Two command sprues contain a leader in chain and an unarmored musician/standard bearer, and a dead knight.  The models are crisp and well molded with a minimal amount of flash.  The line of flash going up the leg wrappings can be difficult to smoothly remove.

I have two small criticisms with the set.  Overall, the sculpting is excellent, though I do not really care for unarmored fellow who is in an awkward half-run pose.  He doesn't make a good spearman and with a sword in his hand he looks like he is about to trip.  And while the set contains plenty of weapon options (spears, swords, two handed axes, kite shields and round shields), it contains no bows or crossbows.  As levies are the weakest SAGA troops, it can painful to pay metal prices for 12 archers when there are plastic options available for warriors and hearthguard.  It's a disincentive to adding levy units to your warband.

My solution was to add in arms and bows from some bits left over from a box of Wargames Factory Saxons. Here are four Conquest Games infantry converted into archers, and given a black wash to highlight details.

The posing is not ideal for archers, but they might fill out the ranks behind a good set of dedicated metal Norman archers. Neither of those critiques should bar one from buying a box or two if a Norman army is your desire.  

Bretons

I just finished a unit of eight Breton warriors from SAGA.  In the few games that I played as a Welsh, I don't really think I found the full potential of the "run and shoot" style of play.  The Bretons are a bit more flexible than the Welsh, so I may supplement these with some Normans for a Breton army.

All of the figures are Conquest Games plastic Normans with some minor modifications - spears were shortened to a throwing length and extra javelins were clutched under the shield.

Playing around with the photo editor on the pic above reminds me of a silent era costume drama with a "cast of thousands"

Welsh Light Cavalry

Before starting SAGA, I had enough models to skirmish with Normans, Vikings and Saxons.  The Welsh faction was a notable hole in my collection.  I did stumble upon the idea of using Wargames Factory ancient German cavalry as a base for conversion.  

The bearded fellow in front is just a German painted in a late dark ages scheme.  Welsh at this time period were predominantly beardless, but that doesn't preclude a warrior with a shaggier personal preference: 

This is a conversion involved using a Gripping Beast Saxon head with a cape made from Green stuff:

A group shot of some Welsh priodaur:

Finally, a conversion that's a WIP for a Welsh warlord combines a Conquest Games Norman body with a WF Saxon head.  I love Conquest's Normans.  The extra bodies in each box have a great deal of conversion potential.

 

Although in hindsight, this one looks more like Charlton Heston in El Cid than a Welsh nobleman.  Hmm...next project:  Conquest Normans into El Cid Spaniards...