The Latest Research, 47 Years on

I have been looking around for sources of information on the armies of Alexander the Great and his Persian opponents, so I was quite pleased to find a copy of this book on ebay, at a very reasonable price: 

 

Published by the Wargames Research Group in 1976 ( 47 years ago! ) this is a softback with  60 pages of 'organisation, tactics, dress and weapons. 72 illustrations'.  Phil Barker's introduction states that 'there has to now been a complete lack of specialist publications dealing with ancient armies. This booklet is the first of a series intended to end this situation' - I think it was quite a leap forward at the time. The chapters are Major Battles of the Period,  Tactical Methods,  Composition of Armies, Organisation and Formations, and  Dress and Equipment.  In fact the last of these takes up 3/4 of the book, and that is fine by me. I have very few sources to inspire the painting of my Macedonians and (especially) Persians, so this is may be a help. 

The content is, how shall I say -  brief and to the point. The illustrations are, well, 'basic' springs to mind, and Phil Barker states 'we have not gone in for glossy coloured illustrations for the sake of of prestige, when a black and white sketch with colour notes fulfills the purpose adequately',,, because  'This cuts down on the space required and reduces the expense to the reader'.    

keeping it simple..

What a contrast with the 'eye candy' dominated rulebooks and expansions of today,  they'd never dream of such a philosophy, and you can't charge £30 a pop for that!  ( and this must in effect be the first 'expansion module' , mustn't it?  Readers almost certainly had the WRG Ancients rules, this gave them the details  needed to recruit forces for ths particular period, which Phil terms 'Pike and Elephant' - now why didn't that stick, it's quite  a good label! ).  Thinking around this, it's worth noting that publication date of 1976 - the inflation rate that year was nearly 17%,  having hit 25% the year before!  I can well understand the emphasis on reducing 'the expense to the reader',  publishing anything in that climate must have been a nightmare. Of course it was a success, and it spawned a whole series of related publications, still well-regarded today. Is it possible that today's 'cost of living crisis' may generate a back-to-basics approach and an emphasis on simplicity and low cost? I suppose  Rapid Fire Reloaded springs to mind.. 

I need to think about how to paint my Persians, and this book ( along with the same author's Alexander the Great's Campaigns )  has helped with a few ideas, in particular regarding the lower status Persian troops, who he thinks would be likely to wear costumes made from natural/undyed fabrics. The idea of plainer colours for lower status troops, while the higher status units sport  more colourful finery, works well for me, and may tone down some of the more psychadelic tendencies that can be tempting for Persian armies.. 

Being only 60 pages, I read this in one sitting and am suitably inspired - and of course it features not just Alexandrian and Persian but Indians, Macedonian/Hellenistic Successors, Carthaginians, Republican Romans,  Gallic, Spanish and Numidians, all very tempting for the future. So all in all, I am pleased with my purchase, and also enjoyed opening a little window on wargaming times gone by.  That nostalgic aspect was boosted when I spotted a small label on the back of the book, clearly from a previous seller: 

 

Athena books was of course run by the late great Terry Wise - it's nice to think my copy was probably once in the master's hands.  And it looks like he only wanted £1.50 for it - that must have been quite a long time ago! If books could talk, what tales would this one tell, how many other hands has this been through, and how many armies has it helped to inspire? 

So now with this inspiration,  I need to get the brushes and paints out and raise that Persian army! With luck, some painting progress to report next time. Meanwhile keep well, everyone.