Some Early Picts - from Scotland!

The Picts were one of the older peoples of Scotland, dating to pre-Roman times, but remained a real headache for the English (and Romans) up until 839AD. In that year, while putting down a rebellion by the Scotti (who gave their name to Scotland) under their king, Alpin, when a large army of Norsemen (Viking) came up on their rear, and pretty much destroyed the Pictish army, killing their king Eoghann.

The Picts ruled the north, east and most of central Scotland. Originally they were a coastal people, but as they mixed with other cultures, they assimilated into the general population.

Unfortunately, they left no written language, so not a lot is known about them for certain, although some artwork etc has been discovered. They appear to have been a very cultured people, despite the Roman portrayals of them as wild savages intent on destroying the Roman province in Britain.

Their line of descendancy was through the female line rather than the male.

I'm not quite artistic enough to get complicated tartan-style colors on the cloaks, or the blue body-paint that the warriors used to decorate themselves with for battle. So they're not quite as colorful as their real-life counterparts.

Like most Celtic peoples, they fought in loose formations, so even though their warbands might contain large numbers of troops, they are not much good in a hard toe-to-toe dust-up. They are better in wooded or hilly areas, where it is hard for disciplined troops (such as the Roman legions) to keep their formation, and where they might be able to "divide and conquer" their enemy through a series of ambushes.

The pics show, from top:

1: Pictish queen "hyping up" her men folk by showing them the severed head of a recently killed enemy. (The guy in the white shirt standing in front of her is the driver of the chariot!)

2: Pictish warriors waiting to start fighting.

3: Pictish crossbowmen looking for someone to shoot at.

Throughout the coming week I'll be putting up pics of the English 100 Years War figures I've been painting over the past month or so, and hopefully also, some video!!!! (The video looks okay on the camera - its justa matter of what it will look like on the computer!)

Fingers crossed! (I'm REALLY hoping the video turns out well as this will be great for showing battles on the site!)