New Releases for April 2023 - The Ancients (1 Viewer)

[Julie]

NEW RELEASES FOR APRIL 2023
THE ANCIENTS COLLECTION
ARMIES AND ENEMIES OF GREECE AND MACEDONIA
THE MACEDONIAN PHALANX

The Macedonian phalanx was an infantry formation developed by Philip II and used by his son Alexander the Great to conquer the Achaemenid Empire and defeat armies of other kingdoms.
Phalanxes remained dominant on battlefields throughout the Hellenistic period, until they were ultimately displaced by the Roman Legions.

In 359 BC the Macedonian army led by the king Perdiccas III, was decidedly defeated by the Illyrians. Perdiccas’ brother Philip II had been a hostage in Thebes for much of his youth, and what he had learned influenced his restructuring of the Macedonian infantry.
Philip’s military reforms were a new approach to the current hoplite warfare, which focused on their shield and thrusting spear.
Philip’s new focus was on a new weapon, the Sarissa. He called the soldiers in the phalanx Pezhetairoi, meaning “foot companions”.

Each phalangite carried as his primary weapon a Sarissa, a double pointed pike over 18 foot in length. The Sarissae were carried in two pieces before a battle and then slid together when they were to be used.
At close range such weapons were of little use, but an intact phalanx could easily keep its enemies at a distance. The weapons of the first few rows of men all projected beyond the front of the formation, so that there were more spear points than available targets at any given time.
Men in rows behind the initial rows angled their sarissae at angles in an attempt to ward off arrows or other projectiles.
There was a secondary weapon called a xiphos, which was a short sword.
They also had a smaller and flatter shield than that of the Greek Hoplon. The shield was worn hung around the neck so as to free up both hands to wield the sarissa.

The Phalanx consisted of several blocks of men, called syntagmata. There were 16 of these with 16 men in each Syntagmata. Each block was commanded by a syntagmatarchy, who together with his subordinate officers would form the first row of each block.

Neither Philip or Alexander actually used the phalanx as their arm of choice, but instead used it to hold the enemy in place while their heavy cavalry broke through the enemy ranks.
The Macedonian cavalry fought in a wedge formation and was almost always stationed on the far right.
The hypaspists an elite infantry unit were stationed on the immediate right of the phalanx wielding hoplite sized shields and spears.
The left flank was generally covered by allied cavalry usually Thessalians, which fought in a rhomboid formation and served mainly in a defensive role.

MAC-07A
ARMIES AND ENEMIES OF ANCIENT GREECE AND MACEDONIA,
THE MACEDONIANS,
MACEDONIAN PHALANX,
3 PHALANGITES WITH COLOURED SHIELDS
(6 pcs)

MAC-07B
ARMIES AND ENEMIES OF ANCIENT GREECE AND MACEDONIA,
THE MACEDONIANS,
MACEDONIAN PHALANX,
3 PHALANGITES WITH RED SHIELDS
(6 pcs)

MAC-07C
ARMIES AND ENEMIES OF ANCIENT GREECE AND MACEDONIA,
THE MACEDONIANS,
MACEDONIAN PHALANX,
3 PHALANGITES WITH WHITE SHIELDS
(6 pcs)

MAC-07N2
ARMIES AND ENEMIES OF ANCIENT GREECE AND MACEDONIA,
THE MACEDONIANS,
MACEDONIAN PHALANX,
9 PHALANGITES.
(18 pcs)

 

[Julie]

THE SCYTHIANS

The Scythians were an ancient nomadic people living primarily in the region known as Scythia, which today comprises the Eurasian steppes of Kazakhstan, the Russian Steppes of the Siberian, Ural, Volga and Southern regions , and eastern Ukraine.



The Scythians were a warlike people. When engaged at war, almost the entire adult population including a large number of women, participated in battles. The Athenian historian Thucydides noted that no people in either Europe or Asia could resist the Scythians without outside aid.
The scythians were particularly known for their equestrian skills, and their use of the composite bow shot from horseback. With great mobility, the Scythians could absorb the attacks of more cumbersome foot and cavalry, just retreating into the steppes. Such tactics wore down their enemies, making them easier to defeat.
Due to their notorious reputation as aggressive warriors they frequently gained employment as mercenaries.
By the late 6[SUP]th[/SUP] Century BC, the Persian Achaemenid King Darius The Great had built Persia into becoming the most powerful empire in the world, stretching from Egypt to India.
Planning an invasion of Greece, Darius first sought to secure his northern flank against the Scythians.
Darius sent a fleet of over 600 ships into Scythian territory. The army captured several Scythian Nobles. The army according to Herodotus numbered 700,000 men.
Unable to withstand the direct force of the Persian army, the Scythians adopted a scorched earth strategy, while simultaneously harassing the extensive Persian supply lines. The Persians suffered heavy losses and only proceeded as far as the Sea of Azov.
Darius and his army eventually retreated across the Danube back into Persia, and the Scythians thereafter earned a reputation of invincibility among its neighboring peoples.

SY-04A
ARMIES AND ENEMIES OF ANCIENT GREECE AND MACEDONIA,
THE SCYTHIANS,
SCYTHIAN ARCHER.
(2 pcs)

SY-04B
ARMIES AND ENEMIES OF ANCIENT GREECE AND MACEDONIA,
THE SCYTHIANS,
SCYTHIAN ARCHER.
(2 pcs)

In the aftermath of their defeat of the Persian invasion, Scythian power grew considerably, and they were to launch campaigns against their Thracian neighbours.
The Greek cities of the Northwestern Black Sea coast and parts of the Crimea were also invaded and were largely unsuccessful, as the Greeks united under the leadership of the city of Panticapaeum and put up a vigorous defence.

The 4[SUP]th[/SUP] century BC was a flowering of Scythian culture. The Scythian King Ateas managed to unite under his power the Scythian tribes. He was to conquer territories along the Danube as far as the Sava river and established a trade route from the Black Sea to the Adriatic.
The scythians apparently obtained most of their wealth from their control over the slave trade, but their trade routes were instrumental in opening up the silk road trade

The westward expansion of Ateas brought him into conflict with Philip II of Macedon, who took military action against the Scythians killing Ateas in battle.
Philip’s son Alexander the Great continued the conflict with the scythinas, and in 331BC his general Zopyrion invaded Scythian territory with a force of 30,000 men, but was routed and killed by the scythians near Olbia.

In the aftermath of conflict between Macedon and the Scythians, the Celts seem to have displaced the Scythians from the Balkans, whilst in south Russia, a kindred tribe, the Sarmatians, gradually overwhelmed them.

ARMIES AND ENEMIES OF ANCIENT ROME
ROMAN AUXILLIARY CAVALRY

As Romans were never considered exceptionally good horsemen, and the role of the cavalry not as important in the Roman thought process, the Equitatus was generally made up of non-Roman horsemen. While they would play an important part of Legionary tactics, the Roman Cavalry was considered secondary and would remain the weakest part of the Roman Army until the very late Imperial period.
Generally, the cavalry was used as light skirmishing troops, and mounted archers whose job was to patrol, act as scouts and messengers and to provide a mobile defensive screen while the legion was massing in battle array. As in all armies throughout history, the mounted trooper was also very effective in chasing down and harassing a fleeing and panicked enemy force.

As part of the military reforms of Augustus around AD 14, the Auxilia were re-organized. They would be trained to the same standards of discipline as the legions. They were mainly drawn from a wide range of warlike peoples throughout the provinces, and would receive Roman citizenship on completion of their 25 year sevice. Senior officers in contrast were Roman citizens.
The Auxilia filled the tasks of patrolling, containing raids, tax collecting, and the multitude of duties of the frontier troops.
They were especially suited to garrison and local policing activities, and could also hold their own in small scale warfare.



ROMCAV-06A
ARMIES AND ENEMIES OF ANCIENT ROME,
ROMAN AUXILIARY CAVALRY.
(2 pcs)

Roman Auxilia cavalry were usually heavily armored in mail and armed with a short lance, javelins, the Spatha long sword, and sometimes bows for specialist Horse archer units. These men primarily served as Medium missile cavalry for flanking, scouting, skirmish, and pursuit

Cavalry units were known as Alae, and were made up of 16 Turmae.
A Turmae consisted of 30 troopers, and was commanded by a Decurio, and a second in command called the Duplicarius.

Cavalrymen carried Clipeus , a flat oval or hexagonal shield. These were extremely light, constructed of double or triple thickness plywood, made up of thin strips of birch.

ROMCAV-06B
ARMIES AND ENEMIES OF ANCIENT ROME,
ROMAN AUXILIARY CAVALRY.
(2 pcs)

**PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL DEALER FOR FURTHER INFORMATION**

 

[NZGary]

A mounted Scythian, Roman (red shield) and a further set of 9 Macedonians for me, which will keep me poor.

 

[villagehorse]

Can never resist John’s horse sculpts, so nice. Robin.

 

[Horus]

Can never resist John’s horse sculpts, so nice. Robin.

Resistance is Futile Robin ! {sm4}

 

[jason foote]

I think this completes our phalanax. 9 more fir me, a scythian and 2 green shield romans

 

[jason foote]

We must be getting more Persians next month