My most favorite gaming period is anything to do with armored knights, and I include the Normans of Italy and 1066 fame in this bunch. Hey, their First Crusade! In any case I have a batch of Third Crusade knights to run one of these days, not only the armored foot and horse but crossbows and peasants. Gotta have the bootless and unhorsed in there somewhere. Up to when Columbus was claiming real estate for Spain and slightly beyond there were armored knights on the battlefields of Europe. They had counterparts in Asia and Africa also, but we're are going to focus on Europe this post.
One of my first armies was a Third Crusade army, mostly done up as Hospitalers and Templars with a few Knights of St. Lazarus and a smattering of Lay Knights for color and flavor. Masses of crossbows and infantry, a few turcopoles, usually a nice mix. That army was sold off 40 years ago. Better figures were produced, and to buy them I had to sell what I already had. The "new" Hinchcliff figures hung around for many years, until someone offered me lots of money for them, and off they went. The current bunch of figures are Old Glory and others. I have never been a they-must-be-all-from-the-same-line sort of gamer; I see a figure I like, I buy it. I drive OCD gamers to distraction.
I like the big cavalry charge as well as the next guy, but I like to maneuver on the table also. When fighting Arabs and Tartars you need to be able to move about. Solid blocks of infantry are a slow but sure way to do this, and adding a few knights on foot is more than just window dressing. They add a hard edge to the mix. When you use them together they work pretty well.
For about 400 years of history or so, I get to paint cool figures and push knights around. It works for me.
Images to follow
What happened to the images?
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