I'm planning on putting together an epic scenario in which Greek commandos emerge from the wooden horse and open the city gates. As the Trojan player(s) struggle to activate their sleeping units, the Greeks outside the city will rush in and attempt to score points by torching buildings and hopefully snatching Helen back. I've got a lot of building and crafting to do between now and then, and a lot of planning as well. For the latter, I want YOUR advice.
I'm planning on using Osprey Games' "Of Gods and Mortals"; I'm actually not in love with the system but it does allow a mix of clumps of mortal soldiers and individual "legends" for the big names of the Iliad as well. Of Gods and Mortals also wants you to have a god on the table for each side but that's a little more fantastical than I feel like getting -- I'll have a ship's figurehead of Athena functioning as a "god" for the Greeks and a temple statue of Apollo to buttress the Trojans. If you want to sell me on a better system for bronze age skirmish combat with heroes, go for it!
In the Homeric/postHomerica timeline, Troy loses most of its significant heroes before the city falls. I still want Troy to have some badasses when this battle takes place. If you went to a con and played in a game in which Hector was still alive for the Trojan Horse, would that be a major blow to your immersion?
If anyone has a link to a useful page about who all the most significant fighters of the Trojan War are and how many are still alive by the time of the Horse, that would be great. I have read the Iliad but I don't particularly want to read it again, taking notes on who seems to have what abilities, and who dies when.
If I get to use fighters who die in the Iliad, I definitely want Ajax the Great. Of Gods and Mortals has traits called "big" and "hammering blow" and he's perfect for them. Who makes a Greek warrior that's noticeably larger than 28mm without being an actual giant… say 30, maybe 32mm. It's fine if he is an anachronistic hoplite -- all my Greeks are. It makes them easy to distinguish from Trojans.
I'll also want figures for Priam, Hecuba, Helen, maybe even Laocoon or Cassandra. Want to recommend a miniature or company to use for Bronze Age nobles or classical priests? They can be fantasy figures as long as their look seems to basically fit in with the bronze age Mediterranean/ near east.
The Greeks' ride is probably going to be an Academy brand 1/72roman warship (it looks like a trireme, no more roman than Greek) and I guess I'll try to sculpt an Athena figurehead out of an old barbie doll and milliput? If you can think of better materials than this I would love to read about them.
Thanks for all your suggestions.