Greetings!
I was playing around with the new parts from the Prehistoric set I've just bought and saw I could put another spear in the new spear, so:
This meant I had to make a Macedonian Phalangite to accompany the large weapon...
... which meant I had to make an Indian bowman as his adversary ...
... which meant I had now started a new theme for my custom figures.
The theme is the Hellenistic world, a period in history which began when the Macedonian armies defeated Greece (thereby ending the golden period of Classical Greece) and ended when they themselves were conquered by the armies of a citystate called Roma.
This period is symbolised however by one man, Alexander the Great. He was able to create a vast Macedonian empire on a very short period of time, defeating the might Persian empire and entering the (from European point of view) border of the world by entering India.
The period is also symbolised by the 'perfection' of an originally Greek fighting technique, the phalanx:
Whereas the Greek hoplites in Classical times fought with spears of about 2-3 meters length, the Macedonian Phalangites fought with the sarissa, a massive pike/spear measuring about 6 meters or longer. (I'll have to add another segment to my Phalangite to get the right length.) The sarissas (sarissae?) proved superior to the shorter Greek spears but would also become the downfall of the phalanx. (There are records of soldiers gripping the long weapons so that they would become useless.) The Roman century and it's armement would prove superior and was able to break through the phalanx.
The sides and back of the phalanx were vulnerable, so cavalry had to secure those parts. The troops in the front rows usually had the most armour, those in the back usually had none. Since the sarissa was so heavy, a counterweight was attached at the end so that it was easier to hold and handle. The sarissa was held with two hands, the shield (which was smaller than that of a Greek hoplite) was attached with straps to the arm.
The phalanx formation had gone extinct but returned in full glory on the European battlefields of the 15th-16th century until the pike was replaced by the musket.
The Indian bowman was based on this image:
When Alexander entered India, some tribes joined him while others opposed him (such as king Porus). India was a completely new world for the Macedonians and brought new ways of warfare, such as the use of war elephants (Yes, of course I'm going to make war elephants for this theme!
) The Egyptian theme will provide great parts for these Indian troops.
So that's it for now, I'm going to test if I can make the sarissa any longer and will then try to create a small phalanx.
Cheers,
Gaetano
P.S. These pictures were taken with my new cellphone. They looked better on my cellphone...
