gisbygeo | 28 Sep 2018 4:03 p.m. PST |
How popular are Persian War-era Achamaenid Persians? Do many people game with them? If you do, do you build a Medes & Persians force and ignore the useless levies, or a Thermopylae-style horde? |
gavandjosh02 | 28 Sep 2018 4:16 p.m. PST |
Have armies for Platea, Marathon and battles around that time. So, some non-core ethnic troops (Bactrians, Indians, Greeks, etc) but not levy hordes. |
Winston Smith | 28 Sep 2018 4:37 p.m. PST |
If you ignore the "useless levies", then you don't have an Achmaenid Persian army. |
DOUGKL | 28 Sep 2018 5:07 p.m. PST |
I play them regularly. I have the good troops and the crap stuff. I agree with Winston Smith. In fact when you win and the useless levies were part of your army it is that much more satisfying. |
JCBJCB | 28 Sep 2018 5:09 p.m. PST |
Love them. My favorite army. |
DisasterWargamer | 28 Sep 2018 5:54 p.m. PST |
Love them as well – with some substitutions – lots of historical opponents and interesting campaigns |
Narratio | 28 Sep 2018 7:50 p.m. PST |
I've played city state Greeks since 3rd edition WRG Ancients (Motto – Feel My Long Thrusting Spear!). The Persians are my 'go to' enemy units so yes, I've got the hordes and the rabble. Marathon through Platea, you get such a wonderful selection of wierdoes. All of whom die delightfully when confronted with a Hoplite shield wall. |
Winston Smith | 28 Sep 2018 8:00 p.m. PST |
As an old time WRG Ancients player, I always liked to play with "Irr D", or even "Irr E" units. Yes. I had Persians. To the Persian King of Kings, they were not an optional drain on points. They absolutely had to be there, if only to remove elements from their satrap that might prove …. unruly. Sometimes they're actually useful. Good! |
skinkmasterreturns | 28 Sep 2018 10:12 p.m. PST |
Masses and masses of cheap,crappy shooting units will rule a table through sheer volume of firepower. |
Frostie | 29 Sep 2018 12:05 a.m. PST |
I have a large 15mm Later period army, which with a few additions could easily be Early….I really like them |
Prince Rupert of the Rhine | 29 Sep 2018 2:00 a.m. PST |
I have a few units of late style Persians to bulk out my early successors (mostly light infantry plus some Cappadocian Heavy cavalry) one day I hope to retrofit them into a full Macedonian wars Persian army. Good heavy cavalry, Greek Mercs, lots of light infantry, colourful levies from all over even scythed chariots, if you want them, all painted in a riot of colour what's not to like? |
MajorB | 29 Sep 2018 6:42 a.m. PST |
Who cares how popular they are? If you're interested in the Greco-Persian wars then you need a Achamaenid Persian amrmy. |
gisbygeo | 29 Sep 2018 10:15 a.m. PST |
Thank you gentlemen, I am convinced! |
TMPWargamerabbit | 29 Sep 2018 2:17 p.m. PST |
Total fun to play with the AP's…. You never know if the army will stay, run, fight with sprit, or just march about look cool in their bath robes If they win, another "all Hail the King" day will be scheduled. If not…. there is always another army someplace in the empire to engage the invasion. |
evilgong | 29 Sep 2018 5:14 p.m. PST |
Hi there >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> How popular are Persian War-era Achamaenid Persians? Do many people game with them? If you do, do you build a Medes & Persians force and ignore the useless levies, or a Thermopylae-style horde? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> It's my signature ancients army. Build the lot, even the poorer stuff may have a useful role in your rules.
The idea that the Persians were swarms of slaves driven ahead by whips is just Greek propaganda – they had a core of good professional troops, access to high quality mercenaries and warlike tribes. (and levies, hostages…) The diversity of troops in the army means there should be something in your force that is better than the enemy counterpart, so you should have some way to force your will on the enemy. The good thing about playing Persians is you may be inducted into the Mazda Mafia – you may or may not be informed of your membership. Regards David F Brown |
coopman | 30 Sep 2018 7:10 a.m. PST |
When Tactica first came out, I raised three armies: AP, Macedonians and Republican Romans. My good friend Dwaine raised a Carthaginian army. We had a blast fighting battles with these matchups. |
williamb | 30 Sep 2018 12:35 p.m. PST |
One of my favorite units in WRG3 was a unit of 50 Irr E archers. Put them on a hill behind the front and they turned any enemy unit that came near into a pin cushion. They helped win a doubles tournament. Never had a moral problem with them. The one time a friend used them against me they had to take a moral test on the first turn, went berserk and charged across the table, took some missile casualties, failed the next moral test, and ran off the board. The resulting rout test failures by the other units resulted in the game being over on the second turn. |
Glencairn | 04 Oct 2018 8:04 a.m. PST |
Some comments above regard Persian shooting power. These archers were massed behind walls of portable, large, rectangular shields , themselves defended by long thrusting spear-armed infantry. I just wonder how hoplites could a. get close enough under showers of arrows, and b. successfully fight to cross a defended obstacle. |