Pictures

Lombard Heavy cavalry flank their general, all 15mm from Essex. As an aside, the Lombard Army is the last group of figures I ever painted using a grey primer.  I'm now partial to the brighter colours that results from a white undercoat.   But what the heck; it was the dark ages after all!

A mass of Lombard bow performing an enthusiastic retrograde maneuver into the trees.  A mixture of 15mm Essex and Donnington.  Although you can't see it from here, both manufacturers' castings have appropriately long beards reaching to their belts.  The origin of the term "Lombard" might have been from "Long Beard"...although not all contemporary Lombard art depicts them with large amounts of facial hair.  Essex, which sell a multiposed pack, also have sculpted two pigtails trailing over their bowmens' shoulders.  Nice touch.

The mighty Lombard general deigns to dismount.  If the historical army warrants it, as the Lombard army does, I will paint up alternate command stands.  Again, a 15mm Essex command pack, which (again) are full of character.  The general looks properly grim and warlike and the potbellied musician appears to have enjoyed many horns of mead over the years.  The figure to the far right is a Donnington.  I like the lamellar armour and the greaves; it seems to add an appropriately Byzantine influence to the dismounted heavy cavalryman.