I know, I know. Norsemen are one of the most commonly produced sets in the entire scale especially compared to their Medieval peers. But hear me out bitte!

Archaeologists right now are doing some AMAZING research in Scandinavia, which has been very revealing about the military history of the era. One of the best books that highlights this is called Vikings at War (Kim Hjardar and Vegard Vike, 2016). It has two set ideas that I think are particularly fascinating for the future:

1) The first is on page 14. It discusses a large group of warbands likely from Norway that fought as mercenaries in the Roman empire around c.200 AD. Norsemen in Roman times?? That is right! According to the archaeological evidence they were paid by the Empire, but then for some reason were ambushed upon their return and suffered many casualties. They were preserved in a bog, so much like the Teutoberg Forest finds from two centuries earlier we have a great idea of what they wore/ate/fought with!

2) The second is for the 7th-10th Centuries. I would entitle it something like "Viking Raiders" or "Norse Landing Party" (on pages 68, 74, 76, etc.). One thing recent research has pointed out is that wearing helmets and especially chain mail was far less popular than many scholars thought a few decades ago. This is because chain mail made you far less maneuverable while fighting on a ship and if you fell overboard while wearing that metal armour all but the strongest of them would have been guaranteed to drown to death. So it would be nice to have a set of Norsemen that are proper 'raiders,' or mobile warriors with soft caps, shirts, shields, and spears/axes. There are a couple of these poses in the hobby right now, but a full set of that is dedicated to the topic would be nice... at least in my opinion. There is also the option of adding a pose or two dedicated to the women that may have fought as part of these groups.

Anyway, viel glück with the current projects and maybe Odin's worshippers can appear sometime in distant future.

Sincerely,
TheBabylonian109

P.S.- I can provide all of the sources I have mentioned in this and the Old Babylonian thread in PDF form if needed.

Never enough norsemen, never enough raiders. Good plea.

My Vikings.... From Orion.

Von hinter. They are ready for the attack of a village and its church...

Yes, they look like being ready for raiding.