Having just finished a very interesting book on the 300 year long military struggle to establish viable Anglo-Saxon polities in the British Isles, I thought it might be fun to build some "dark age" armies.

For the Brits I am comfortable with Late Imperial Romans - current thinking is that organized cavalry units on Roman lines were operating in the early part of the period, but I am less sure about who to use for the Saxons.

Yes, I know Peter does a range called "Saxons", but we are talking about a long period of time (and hence, change) between the arrival of the brothers Hengist and Horsa, and Stamford Bridge/Hastings.

What are your lot's views or thoughts on this?

I think that for the early period you could use figures from the Goth and Late Roman ranges for the Saxons.  Over time, these would morph into the Anglo-Saxons in the Early Medeval ranges

I would definitely go with the Goths for Saxons up to around 650-700 AD. I would also give them some armoured characters to mix in with the main spearmen from the armoured Vilking pack, particularly as armoured late Romans have a decidedly non-Saxon shaped shield. Useful light javelins and slingers can be gleaned from the Celtic packs, as they mostly have small round shields.

It was the kite-shaped shields on the Saxons that was bothering me. I'm sure I read somewhere that they were a relatively late development. Similarly, I first thought about the Germans - it made geographic sense, but again, the shields didn't look right.

Goths with a smattering of Vikings it is, then. Already got some spare Celtic javelins and slings - just need to paint their hair blonde rather than ginger!

Thanks, guys.

Indeed - not sure when the kite shield first appeared in England, but no earlier than the mid-C10th, and quite possibbly early C11th. Both The Last Kingdom and Vikings have taken terrible liberties with arms and armour of the late C8th and into the C9th.