William, however, came against him unawares, ere his army was collected; but the king, nevertheless, very hardly encountered him with the men that would support him: and there was a great slaughter made on either side. There was slain King Harold, and Leofwin his brother, and Earl Girth his brother, with many good men: and the Frenchmen gained the field of battle, as God granted them for the sins of the nation.
-The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The huscarls, an Anglo-Saxon lord's best men. These were professional soldiers, but they also performed other roles for their lord as well. These are more
Footsore Miniatures from the Late Saxon army I picked up at the NOVA open. These were painted much the same way as the fyrd, except with more armor. I also made sure to add decorations to their clothing to represent their increased status and, therefore, increased wealth. My freehand isn't great so this decoration is mainly in the form of embroidery lines around the cuffs and the shirt bottoms. I also used some of the more intricate shields designs from the
Little Big Men Studios range for the same reasons. And, unlike their fyrd counterparts, the huscarls take proper care of their equipment, so their shields do not have the same weathering as the fyrd. Although if anyone has any tips for the transfers, I'm all ears as I can't quite match the colors or mask the edges as well as I would like!
