Seleucid Army of Antiochus III - Battle of Raphia in 28mm - Part 3 (Right Wing)

[Panzer21]

Thanks everyone.

They're intended and based to be used for To the Strongest.

That is a good point and real possibility though I couldn't find clear evidence for them being equipped as such, I'm sure at least some would have had Hellenistic equipment. Polybius mentions they and the Medes broke when charged by the Ptolemaic Greek Mercenaries, so I interpreted it as that they wouldn't have been very well equipped and broke quickly. I'd imagine they just brought what they owned or maybe would not have been worth equipping 10,000 of them from the Seleucid armory, but that's pure speculation on my part.

The main reason I chose against the Hellenistic equipment route is just for variety in the army and having something different to paint other than more Greek stuff. Painting up all these phalangites can drive a man mad! I could probably get away with using them for other armies outside this specific time period without the Hellenistic gear as well.

Your decision is as good as any! I think the Arabs in Hellenistic equipment is just a wargamer "best guess", although there are hints they were Nabateans.
I wondered if it was TTS - I assume you have seen the free scenario?

Are you doing the Ptolemaics as well? ☺

Neil

[Hippocleides]

Your decision is as good as any! I think the Arabs in Hellenistic equipment is just a wargamer "best guess", although there are hints they were Nabateans.
I wondered if it was TTS - I assume you have seen the free scenario?

Are you doing the Ptolemaics as well? ☺

Neil

I'll have to check it out. I'd like to eventually do Ptolemaics as well, I've got a few units for them painted up already.

[Axebreaker]

Fantastic looking army! Very inspirational!

Christopher

[Muzfish4]

Terrific work - lovely looking army with fantastic blending of a variety of ranges.

[miros]

A fantastic start.  Nice to see the wide variety of manufacturers you've used.

[Hippocleides]

Part 2 - The Center Phalanx

Hello all, I thought I'd show off the progress on the army of Antiochus III. This was a lot of pikes to paint to put it mildly. Looking back I would definitely break up the painting process with other units in between pike blocks for sanity's sake! But overall I enjoyed painting them up and thought they turned out well.

"The phalanx was about twenty thousand strong and was under the command of Nicarchus and Theodotus surnamed Hemiolius"
- Polybius

I used broomstick pikes for all of the phalangites. Between the two, I loved painting up the Foundry figures compared to the Polemarch. I found the latter a bit tedious to paint for some reason and a good amount of cleaning up was needed beforehand. I'll probably be going with Foundry for more phalangites if I expand the army in the future.

Phalangites - Wargames Foundry, Polemarch

[Hippocleides]

"Under Theodotus, the Aetolian, who had deserted from Ptolemy, were ten thousand picked men from the whole kingdom, armed in the Macedonian fashion, most of whom had silver shields"
-Polybius

For the Argyraspides I went with a bit of variety compared to a completely uniform look, lots of bold colors to depict their elite status. I used wargames foundry shields in combination with nearly all Polemarch figures. These were much more enjoyable to paint compared to the rank and file Polemarch phalangites.

Theodotus - Wargames Foundry
Argyraspides - Polemarch

[Hippocleides]

Depicting the following troops was the most challenging of the army aside from the Arabs, as Polybius offers conflicting details on how these troops were equipped and their role in the battle.

Initially, in discussing the force available to Antiochus prior to the battle, he describes them as:
"Daae, Carmani, and Cilicians, equipped as light-armed troops to the number of about five thousand, under the charge and command of Byttacus the Macedonian"

However, not long after when he describes the dispositions of battle, he describes them as:
"five thousand armed in the Macedonian fashion under the command of Byttacus the Macedonian"

I decided to depict them as the latter in a small unit. Jean Charl du Plessis in his book speculates that these light troops may have been hastily rearmed with sarissa and deployed as phalangites in an effort to match the superior mass and numbers of the Ptolemaic phalanx.

All in all, it just seemed more appealing to make some ragtag phalangites with some more eastern flair, rather than more light troops.

Figures - Crusader, Polemarch, Wargames Foundry

[Hippocleides]

Hope to be back with part 3 and have the army completed soon!

[Triarius]

Very inspiration project, the figures look fantastic. I love the creativity and time spent on conversions etc. I love the tone of the colors you were able to achieve - did you use some kind of weathering product for the cloaks etc or dry brushing - for the worn and dusty look?

[Atheling]

Smart work 

Inspiring stuff mate.

[Pattus Magnus]

Beautiful work all around! And, yeah, the dust on the cloaks how did you do that, it looks great.

[Hippocleides]

Thanks everyone. The dust effect was from a drybrush of Vallejo cork brown then some Vallejo light sienna pigment powder thrown on.

[Ran The Cid]

First - absolutely fabulous work.   Love the deep shadows with the bright pops of color.
Second - you painted nearly 100 figures in 5 weeks!?!  Crazy work.
Third - this is really a statement of the value on building the whole army in a focused period of time.  The planning is meticulous, and the painting/basing is consistent through out.  Compare that with my armies that have slowly built up over 10+ years - everything is just a little (or a lot) bit different 

[Panzer21]

Those pikes are beautiful! Really nice work.
Neil