Athens and Sparta Part I

Last night I decided that I had had just about* enough Athenians to provide some opposition up against my Spartans. Here are pictures of three of the five Athenian phalanx; the newly raised phalanx is at the top. I love Steve's hand-painted Octopus! The single figures are hero markers.

N.B. One doesn't need to use this many figures to represent a phalanx; 18 or so would do just as well. However I do like to "go large."

I drew up rosters for my To the Strongest! rules by editing the appropriate army lists in the free "Frogs around a Pond" booklet.  Here are the Athenians; currently quite a high quality force. Later I will field more raw allied hoplites so that I can extend the line.

Here is the Spartan phalanx, waiting, silently for the pipers to signal the advance:

And here's the opposing Spartan list:

Both armies are 100 points in TtS! terms. The Spartans have a pair of elite Spartiate units, which, unlike other hoplites, can turn without penalty. The Athenian light troops and cavalry are slightly higher quality than their Lacedaemonian equivalents. 

Tomorrow I'll show some photos of the battle and write a brief review.

* I had to use a few Bruttians to bolster the Athenian ranks and later Thessalian cavalry pending the arrival of the Hippeis.