1,000 Argives, Spartan Cavalry, and the Oracle

RRtK for Thucydides, Part 6

It has been a while since I’ve posted anything.  A couple of months ago, the Floozy injured herself.  Thinking she could work her way through it, the Floozy tried to ignore the pain until it consumed her ability to function.  My family doctor can only say that there is “severe tendonitis” in the right shoulder and the Floozy needs to consult an orthopedic surgeon.  However, finding one on my insurance plan has been – shall we say, problematic.  Anyway, with the inflammation greatly reduced, the Floozy has been able to do some painting and writing.

The 28mm figures I’ve collected for this project come from several manufacturers – Wargames Foundry, Victrix, Black Tree Design, Gorgon Studios, Sgt. Major Miniatures, Essex, Warlord Miniatures and Crusader Miniatures. I recently finished 2 stands of hoplites to represent the elite 1,000 Argives. These 2 units will be the only Rep 5 Elite Trained units in the Argive Alliance Army.

For this project, I had decided to double rank the size of the units.  In other words, a 4 figure unit would have 8 figures, a 2 figure unit would have 4 figures and so forth.  This works really well for infantry. Well, I’ve finished a unit of Spartan cavalry and have discovered a stand with 6 28mm mounted figures is a bit heavy.  In this game, there are only three units of cavalry. The Greek city states capable of fielding large numbers of cavalry were not present for the battle of Matinea. I finished one of the 2 units of Spartan cavalry.  At this point in history the Spartan cavalry is Rep 3. It is interesting to note that Sparta had the best infantry in the Greek world and some of the worse cavalry.

At the beginning of the war, the Spartans consulted the oracle at Delphi to see if they would be successful in undertaking war with Athens. The oracle replied that if they put their whole strength into the war, victory would be theirs. Indeed, the Spartans put their whole strength in to the war and then some.  They even borrowed from Persia in order to bring the war to its end. The oracle is often attributed as the one who foretold the length of the was as “thrice nine years.” Gogon Studios makes a beautiful figure of the oracle.

I’ve created a small vignette to sit on the table as I explain the rules. The vignette will also serve as a marker for the Spartan camp.  The figures of Pythia and King Archidamus are from Gorgon Studios. The Spartan officer and priest are from Black Tree Designs. The hand maiden is from Reaper Miniatures.

Well, that’s it for this week. Hopefully, the Floozy will continue to feel well enough to write and paint. I’ve got good range of motion it’s just the nerve tingling down into the hand & upper arm muscle spasms that are annoying.