Northumbria 1067AD,and a "whinge"

What could I possibly have to "whinge" about? Well, I placed an order for 5 Viking Command packs from Gripping Beast on Monday,I spoke to a very efficient and friendly man on the phone,and the figures arrived in a couple of days-great service,no problems with that!Because my Viking army was bought from Warrior Miniatures,they are "true" 25mm figures,so I knew that Gripping Beast figures would be 28mm,and a bit taller,but because they are meant to be Command figures,I was willing to accept that!
Three of the Five packs are great(it must be said that the detail on the figures is nothing short of Superb!) but two are at a "whopping" 35mm tall,and will not fit in at all with my Warrior figures.I phoned Gripping Beast(and spoke to the same man) and was told that they make their command groups bigger because they can be used as "Heroes" as well as Commanders!! and to be fair he said I could return the packs that were of no use to me,and they would refund my money-but this is not the point! the point is why don't they,on their web site,point out that the command packs in question(ie VIK1 and VIK18) are large 28mm(or even 35mm)

The figure on the left is from Warrior Miniatures,the central figure is perfectly acceptable as a Command figure from Gripping Beast,and the right hand figure,also from Gripping Beast, is,well, I rest my case!!!

This is from Warrior Miniatures catalogue,clearly showing that the figures in this section are "BIG",so there can be no confusion-come on Gripping Beast,get a grip!!!(quite clever that!!)
Right,"whinge" over,what about last night's game?

This is the scenario,actually taken from the "Anglo Saxon Chronicles"
Only Brian and I were playing last night,but Quality over Quantity always works!!Brian was Saxon,and I was Norman(who??)

The table before any movement,Durham is in the top right corner-it hasn't actually changed much!!

Inspirational!! everyone should own a copy-I hadn't realised how much War and turmoil there was in our country before, and after, the "Invasion"

The Norman light infantry are advancing against the Saxon Fyrd,blocking the approach to Durham,whilst my heavies are forming up to cross the river.

I have moved my heavy infantry across the river and am approaching Brian's "shield wall" on the hill.

Brian's "Fyrd" clashes with my Light infantry-this turned into quite a tussle,and at one point my troops were driven back,and it looked like I would have to retire(it's good being retired!), however a couple of good(lucky?) dice throws saved the day!!

I am now in a position to attack the "shield wall"-my cavalry are moving to the right,in an attempt to throw Brian off balance and keep him guessing as to what I was doing(if only I knew myself!!)

A formidable wall of Iron and Axes-this is going to be tough!!

"CRASH!" the Normans charge up the hill,only to be met with a resolute defence from the Saxon Huscarls-Brian managed to "kill" 4 leaders out of 6,which threatened to end the game there and then!!-however,I fought back and managed to break the Wall on my left and push Brian's troops back-hurrah!!

On my right flank,Brian's "Fyrd" is beaten and being pursued into Durham,which was the objective of the game,so in theory I won,but Brian was fighting back on the hill,and a stalemate was reached-so a Draw was declared!!

Durham's a lovely place-just look at the "cathedral", perfect in every detail,if you look closely you can see Robbie Roddis standing outside the main door(probably collecting from the poor,to pay for his expensive book,so he can join an "elite" web site that I've heard of!!)
The game was very interesting and the more we learn of the troop types and tactics,the better the games will be.
Roll on Sunday-ancients,Romans vs Britons.