Livonian Knight – or Swerd Brethern Knight by Northern Crusades Miniatures

Description

The autumn sun hung low over the marshy lands of Samogitia, its pale light glinting off the helms of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. Master Volkwin rode at the front, his banner of a red cross snapping in the wind. The order had marched deep into enemy territory, intent on punishing the pagan Samogitians for their raids. The campaign had gone well at first — villages burned, cattle taken, hostages bound in ropes. Yet now, as September 22 dawned, the return march home had turned into something far more perilous. The local guides had warned them: “The land swallows armies whole. The marsh and forest hide more than birds and deer.” Volkwin had dismissed the words. His knights, encased in mail, mounted on destriers, had never known defeat in the field. By midday, the column slowed as the road narrowed between a bog and a dark wall of pines. The hooves of the horses sank deeper into the sodden earth, and the baggage wagons struggled forward. It was then that the first Samogitian horn sounded — deep and mournful, rolling over the mist. From the trees came a rain of arrows. The shafts hissed through the air, striking chainmail, leather, and unarmoured flesh. Men cried out; horses reared. Then the Samogitians appeared, fierce and swift, their shields painted with beasts, their spears tipped with gleaming iron. Alongside them, Semigallian warriors surged forward, their battle cries echoing. Volkwin shouted for his knights to form a line. The order’s heavy cavalry was their…