Historical Overview Section
Pictish recorded history really only begins in the Dark Ages, and even then they wrestled for power with various other groups for control over Northern Britain such as the Gaels of Dál Riata (a Later Scots-Irish Gaelic kingdom on the western seaboard of Scotland with some territory on the northern coasts of Ireland). The Picts were also probably subjects of the powerful Middle Anglo Saxon kingdom of Northumbria until the reign of Bridei map Beli, when the Northumbrians suffered a defeat at the battle of Dunnichen which halted their expansion northwards. The Northumbrians continued to dominate southern Scotland for the remainder of the Pictish period.
By the reign of Óengus mac Fergusa (729–761) the region of Dál Riata was subject to Pictish kings and a later Pictish king, CaustantÃn mac Fergusa (793–820), placed his son Domnall on the throne of Dál Riata (811–835), but Pictish attempts to achieve a similar dominance over the Later Scots-Irish of Alt Clut (Dumbarton) were not successful.
The arrival of the Vikings brought great changes in Britain and Ireland, no less in Scotland than elsewhere. The kingdom of Dál Riata was destroyed, certainly by the middle of the 9th century when Ketil Flatnose is said to have founded the Kingdom of the Isles. Middle Anglo Saxon Northumbria too succumbed to the Vikings, who founded the Kingdom of York, and the kingdom of Strathclyde was also greatly affected. The king of Fortriu Eógan mac Óengusa, the king of Dál Riata Ãed mac Boanta, and many more, were killed in a major battle against the Vikings in 839. The rise of Kenneth MacAlpin in the 840s in the aftermath of this disaster brought to power the family who would preside over the last days of the Pictish kingdom and found the new Early Scots kingdom of Alba in addition to a highly successful road tarmac-ing and civil engineering business, although Kenneth himself was never other than king of the Picts.
Using the army in FoG
- Massed medium foot spearmen - take an IC to protect from shooting and to help in combat, as much rear support as you can get, and cross your fingers.
- This probably means taking the cavalry as Cv not LH. 16 LH with javelins is useless anyway.
- Getting the first move is quite useful, so maybe try less than 12 Cv plus the IC. Then launch yourself across the table asap.
- 10's of foot are quite rare - but they are difficult to support with cavalry as you will need either 6 or 2 4's to be effective
UK Tournament Results with this army
Useful Links
User-contributed links about this army:
- Pre-Feudal Scots DBA Figure Gallery for this army - from Fanaticus
- CELT Electronic texts of the Early Celtic peoples
- put the link text readers will see in here write some more detail about the link here
Allies
- Scots-Irish, Later Any Wolves from the Sea 11 Lots of unarmoured MF with javelins and swords?
Painting and Collecting the Army
- Paint schemes, insignia, shield designs? Put it here.
15mm Manufacturers supplying figures for this army
Most companies have some type of Dark Ages troops - see the listing on the Later Scots-Irish page as an example. This list is therefore restricted to those with named Pictish or Scots ranges.
You can see some of the figures in the Ancients Photo Gallery also on this site
- Essex Miniatures
- Old Glory Picts and Scots-Irish
- Magister Militum (includes former Chariot ranges)
- Minifigs UK
- Outpost
- Lancashire Games Dedicated Irish/Welsh range,
- QRF Models (Feudal Castings ranges) A dedicated Pictish range as well as Irish, Welsh, Anglo Normans, Scots, Anglo-Saxons, Highlanders
- Brial Hall’s Hall of Ancient Warriors Norse Irish range has Viking, Scots,figures too
- Splintered Light Dedicated Scots-Irish range
Army Lists
Sample army lists for this army
Name of Army / Date
- Using asterisks inthe edit mode creates a bulleted list in the actual site
- This is a lot easier to do than easier than setting up tables
- For FoG I suggest listing your army in order or march
- with troop desctiptions on each line, for example
- 4 HF Armoured Average Drilled Impact Foot Swordsmen
- 8 LG Undrilled Unarmoured Poor Bowen
- Dont forget to include your Generals !!!
Include any notes you want here, including comments on how to use - or play against - the army.
Remember to leave a line before you copy the above section as a template for your own list
eBay Listings
UK Bookstore