Ancient Military Rosters

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Ancient Military Rosters

This is my latest artistic project. I'm going to draw military units from several ancient civilizations. I hope my designs may be useful for something (e.g. a mod for a real-time strategy game like Age of Empires or Rome: Total War).

The Egyptians
As a general rule, Egyptian soldiers are cheap and swift, as they have little body armor to burden them, and they maintain morale better under hot conditions. However, this same lack of armor makes them vulnerable to any enemies they can't outrun or outmaneuver.

Peasant: The cheapest and most disposable of the Egyptian military roster, levied peasantry are best used when you don't have the resources or time to train more experienced and disciplined warriors. They can also augment the defense of a city.
Spearman: The main Egyptian defensive infantry, spearmen work especially well against mounted units such as cavalry and war elephants. They can also be used to block narrow passageways Thermopylae-style.
Axeman: Fleeter-footed and more offensive infantry than the Spearman, the Axeman is specialized at taking out other infantry at close quarters. Their agility is their main asset, as they are less well protected than their Spearman counterparts.

Archer: The Egyptians would often begin their battles by having their archers shower arrows upon the enemy to soften their ranks before engaging them with hand-to-hand units. These also come in handy when garrisoned in defensive structures and aboard ships.
Slinger: Though they have inferior firing range to archers and javelineers, Slingers can "reload" faster and are also cheaper.
Javelineer: These fleet-footed spear-throwers are to the Egyptians what Skirmishers were to Age of Empires II; they work especially well against other ranged units.

Chariot Archer: The closest thing the Egyptians have to cavalry, Chariot Archers move faster than men on horseback, but are less maneuverable. However, their combination of speed and range makes them ideal light cavalry for raiding from a distance.
African Elephant: Imported from the savannas south of Nubia, the African Elephant is great for trampling and demoralizing large numbers of enemy soldiers. Elephants can also be used as living battering rams. The Egyptians' African Elephants are larger and stronger than the Indian Elephants used by the Persians, but are more expensive.

UP NEXT: The Persians

Why is the chariot going into that horses butt? She looks uncomfortable.

That projecting thingy part of the chariot is meant to be going to its side.

This was my reference: http://www.irregularminiatures.co.uk/im ... hariot.jpg

Fair enough.

How does a chariot move faster than regular horseback anyway?

I thought I read somewhere that chariots had a speed advantage relative to horseback, but I don't remember where. Maybe I was wrong.

Still, you could use a chariot to run over enemies...

EDIT: Ah, found my source!



http://rtw.heavengames.com/rtw/info/uni ... ndex.shtml

I see.

I was thinking it was just one horse, and trying to work out if one guy sitting on top would slow it down more than a whole carriage and several people on wheels.

This is very good; you should make this into a miniature wargame of some sort, as I am doing with my constructed world.