35-201 Persian Royal Guard

The Persian regiments or Hazarabam that commanded the most respect of all Persian soldiers were those of the Immortals or Royal guard. When properly painted this figure sill do the same to your opponent! I especially like the robes and the large shield on which I paint the regimental basic color. The figure is so finely detailed that I then just add trimming colors of various types and in colorful patterns when I haven't had too much coffee to drink. This figure would be in the first rank of the unit or regiment.

35-202 Immortal Archer & 35-200 Immortal Spearman

The Persians had been recognized for their skill with the bow from the earliest of times. Consequently the Persian foot units relied heavily on the use of massed bow fire. Here we have a detailed figure that permits you to form the multitude of archers a regiment needs. The colors should be relatively uniform and while some might think different poses would add realism in this case I think not. When I view my regiments of Persians I like the concept that is so colorfully and uniformly displayed. Rank after rank of archers-the power of the bow is not lost with this regimentation.

The Hazarabam relied on the use of what is called "the archer pair" by Dr. N. Sekunda, in Peter Connolly's "Warfare In the Ancient World". This pair dated to early times in Persia and it consisted of an archer and a shieldman. The archer shot off shaft after shaft from behind the shieldman. In later times the pair was used differently. The front rank of the regiments were shieldmen. Behind each shieldman was a file of archers who shot indirectly over the heads of the other members of the same file. The pair was called the Sparabara. The files of Sparabara were placed side by side making the unit very deep. Regardless of the unit type, be it Immortal or line infantry of Medes or Persians the archer composed the bulk of the regiment.

35-215 Mede Spearman

The core of the Persian army was primarily foot men called levy. They were armed with a number of different weapons but everywhere you would find the bow. While the Persian foot may have been poorly armed when compared to the hoplite Greeks they were if nothing else well trained archers. In Here we have the typical foot soldier of the Persian army. In actuality all of the Persian foot soldiers in this range can be interchanged to the player's tastes and ideas of which figure best fits for his army design. In Classical Hack these men although levy could be purchased as trained archers for shooting.

35-250 Persian Heavy Cavalry

The back bone of the Great Kings' mounted contingents were their noblemen and this nasty fellow clad in scale armor on both man and horse would cause any Greek hoplite to receive a mounted charged crouching in fear. The Great Kings used the noble cavalry due to the lack of trust they had in their mounted foreign subjects and mercenary allies. This is a wonderful figure for detail. Paint his clothing in multicolors and then just apply a wash on the scale armor. One such unit of Nobles in a body of six or twelve figures should be placed beside the Commander of the Persian Army for gaming purposes. They would be part of the Commander's reserve.

35-250 Persian Light Cavalry

Besides the Noble Cavalry there were other types of Mede and Persian cavalry like these little devils who threw fear into the hoplites of Greece. Probably other cavalry were well-to-do upper middle class riders who could perform both line cavalry or light skirmish cavalry functions. These robed ruffians in their multicolored clothing would support the Noble Cavalry with javelin and bow. They would do this by forming up in open order or loose order depending on the circumstances. I like to use them in units of sixes or twelves. The cavalry in the Persian array would be to the front or on the flanks of the main battle line.