Legends of Arthur: My Arthurians

My Sir Gareth concept

Previously mentioned in my 'Almost' post, my move into Arthurian wargaming has taken on a creative process for proof of concept. More precisely, I am sketching out the aesthetic I will be chasing in my depiction of the age of Arthur.

When I say 'age of Arthur' there is of course no specific age for what has always been a fictional or mythological character and tales. Well, I suppose they do need to be placed somewhere in the medieval period - broad as it is. I have so say that the wargaming industry's insistence of manufacturing and promoting Arthurian wargaming in the Romano-British early medieval period is consistent and curious. Actually, it's nothing short of bizarre to me. Of course, there are ranges of figures for Arthurian wargames which approach the subject from the high fantasy angle - but that's not for me. Anyway, if I'm not going to follow the ongoing and popular trends, where would I put my depiction?

The first true stories or legends of Arthur and his knights as we recognize them, sprang from the quills of the ecclesiastic Geoffrey of Monmouth and the troubadour Chretien de Troyes. Geoffrey started in the first half of the 12th century (living 1095-1155) and Chretien followed on, writing from 1160-1191. Commonly referred to collectively as the 'vulgate cycle', these original stories lay the foundations for all that followed and give us the characters of Gawain, Yvain, Gareth, Arthur, Merlin and of course Arthur himself. They also provide the protagonists of Morgan la Faye, the Red, Black, Green and Blue knights which is where I am starting my armies.

I am not limiting myself to these two writers, but I'm starting there and it is where I am fixing my vision of Arthurian wargames as far as the depiction is concerned. I will base all of my heroes, villains and their warriors in the 12th century - or at least a 12th century idea of what legends of the past might look like.

Whenever monastic art and manuscript portrayed historical (often biblical) events and characters, they more often that not drew on contemporary imagery for the arms and equipment. So, my knights of the round table and those from across it will be heavily influenced by the later 1100's with a few references to older times.

I am imagining my knights to be clad in full mail (pretty much head to toe) or scale with fur cloaks (cloaks are definitely the business for heroic depictions) with kite and round shields - perhaps long heater types also. I'm going to muck about with the round shield idea and drop the central boss like they were doing at the time with their kite shields so I may in fact use hoplons - nice and big too for all that heraldry. I like the proto-great helm look also with the masked helmets.

Surcoats will be sparingly adopted but I think my horses will be either clad in maille or scale armour, caparisons or nothing at all - so all options.

Speaking of heraldry, all the main characters were given heraldic devices later in the middle ages. I'm going to stick with that invention (mostly). No point in reinventing perfectly good nonsense.

My first Sir Gwain concept

I will develop an idea for each of my main protagonists. The challenge of sketching each beforehand is having to try and replicate that in miniature. This is going to be a kit bashing exercise from start to finish - metals, plastics and putty a go-go. Oh, and this will be in 28mm ... of course.

Perhaps this is irrelevant but I'm fixing my games around a relatively youthful Arthur and his companions - in their late twenties, enough accumulated skill and experience to be bloody dangerous and full of vigour, dash and optimism.

I haven't yet fixed on a set of rules and that may not be so important. I have the Arthurian Hail Caesar supplement but I think Dragon Rampant looks like fun. I have considered getting Midguard - it remains in the balance.

I see two main groups of antagonists for my Knights of the Round Table to be dealing with. The first and most obvious group are the 'Saxons' and the other is the disparate groups or individuals of malignant fellow 'Britons' - wicked or non-aligned knights, outcaste or wild warriors from the fringe and beyond. I feel the Saxons will be represented by early Saxon or dark age models and I may even draw on Viking figures - the foreign, northern European aesthetic. At this time I think my forces from Camelot and the Britons will likely be late Saxon, Norman influenced more broadly representing the good retinues of honest menfolk. I may draw wider still for the wicked bands of outlaws and brigands lead by the bad knights and would even look to middle-eastern and Rus influences.