Pontic Scythed Chariots

For those of you who've been following this blog for awhile, you'll recall that I once had a habit of eating my dessert before dinner.  While my wife has broken me of this particular bad habit, I do still have a tendency to pick out my favorite figure(s) and paint them up at the start of a project rather than at the end as logic dictates.  And that's why the Scythed Chariot is up first!

Despite the fact that chariots had not dominated a battlefield since the 4th BC, Mithridates set about building and training a force of 130 scythed chariots in anticipation of his upcoming war with Rome.  These chariots were used in 3 battles during the first Mithradatic war against Rome.

Battle of Amnias: Scythed chariots were first put to use against the Roman ally King Nicomedes and his Bithynian army during the Roman Bithynian invasion of Pontus in 89 BC.   Nicomedes met the Pontics at  Amnias, where Appian relates that the Pontic scythed chariots were "driven at high speed into the the Bithynian ranks. Some men were sliced into two within an eyeblink, others were practically shredded. The army of Nicomedes saw men in two halves, yet still alive and breathing, others sliced to pieces, their mangled organs still hanging from the scythes.  They had by no means lost the battle, yet the sight was so hideous that they were overcome with confusion and fear disordered their ranks."  The Bithynian army broke and the subsequent rout and slaughter continued unabated until nightfall.  By then, half of their forces were dead and the survivors had surrendered.

Battle of Chaeronea:  Here the Pontic army faced the crack Roman commander Cornelius Sulla and his 5 veteran legions.  Sulla maneuvered the Pontics into crowded and uneven ground in a mountainous region.  Pro-Roman Greeks showed the Romans a hidden path that led to a position high above the Pontic  encampment. From there, Romans rained down stones on the encampment, forcing the Pontics out into the plains in disorder.  In the ensuing chaos, the Pontic commander launched 60 scythed chariots at the approaching legions, hoping to replay the shock charge that routed Nicomedes. The chariots trickled out in  disorder and failed to get up to speed in the confined, rocky spaces.  Plutarch reported that the Romans burst out  laughing and simply stepped aside, allowing the chariots to pass between them to no effect. After passing through the legions, the chariots were cut down by javelinmen that Sulla had placed in the rear. The legionaries howled with derision and mocked their enemy by demanding that the next set of chariot racers come out to the race.

Battle of Orchomenos: The Pontic commander gamely put his scythed  chariots on the field of battle one last time.  Frontius recorded that the Pontic attack was drawn up in three lines. The first consisted of the scythed chariots with the goal of disordering the legions.  Close behind them were the Phalangite phalanxes.  Behind them followed the freed Italian slaves armed as auxiliaries.

As the chariots hurled towards the Roman line, the legionaries stepped sideways and backwards to reveal rows and rows of stakes driven into the ground at sharp angles to impale horses and drivers. After the lead chariots crashed to their doom, Roman javelinmen rushed up to harry the chariots which had avoided the stakes by turning around. In panic and disorder, these chariots crashed into the Pontic  phalanx in the 2nd line and further disaster ensued.  It must have been a hellish scene.

In Impetus, the Scythed Chariot is an Impetuous unit, meaning that once it's activated near the enemy, it goes out of control and starts moving towards the nearest enemy unit.  That rule plays history just right.  Also, it gets +5 Impetus dice in melee.  If the Scythed Chariot fails to eliminate the enemy after its first turn of melee, the Chariot is eliminated.

I considered putting 2 chariots on this base but as you can see, between the wicked scythed blades and the 4 horse team, there wasn't room for 2 chariots.  Great model by Xyston.

Impetus-based Pontic project!

During my Mid Roman Republic project, I kept stumbling across the fascinating story of King Mithridates of Pontus.  The kingdom of Pontus was situated in what is now northern Turkey.  The map below shows the Pontic kingdom before the first  Mithridatic campaign (in purple) and Pontic kingdom after the early conquests (in pink). A reading of all the provinces and city-states in pink illustrates why the Pontic army was such a cornucopia of exotic troops and fighting styles

As King of Pontus,  Mithridates styled himself after Alexander the Great and even acquired a cloak reportedly worn by Alexander.  His expansionist policies put him on a collision course with Rome.  The little bit I learned about the man left me wanting more so I went hunting for books on this subject. Oddly, there are only 2 current books on Mithridates but the lack of quantity is made up for by the quality of the reads below.

The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithridates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy.  This is a quick and thoroughly enjoyable read on the life and campaigns of Mithridates. You don't have to be a military history buff to enjoy the story of Mithridates.  The author supplements what is known about the man with historical research and archaeological discoveries to reconstruct what his life was probably like.  I had no problem with the use of  reasoned speculation to fill in the gaps of history.  On the contrary, this kind of writing helped put me in the period and the author clearly flags her speculation.  Frankly, this would not be much of a book without it as there isn't much known of Mithridates outside of Roman accounts.  In this book you'll learn that:

• Mithridates led three campaigns against Rome.
• In his first campaign, he seized much of what is now modern-day Turkey and Greece.
• He orchestrated the massacre of 80,000 Roman citizens throughout Asia minor in a single day.  
• The wealth of his kingdom was so well known in Rome that the Republic was split asunder when Marius and Sulla each vied for the opportunity to lead legions to conquer and plunder Pontus.
• Mithridates dosed himself with small amounts of poison throughout his life to build up his tolerance. He also invented a complex universal antidote which the Romans reportedly copied after his death called Mithridadicum.  
• Spoiler Alert!  While Mithridates ultimately failed, it wasn't for a lack of effort or imagination.  In his first campaign, he reintroduced scythed chariots to the battlefield, something not seen for a generation or two.  In his second campaign, he employed  Roman ex-pats to reform and retrain his army to fight in the Romans style. He also started leading from the front.  In his third campaign, he utilized asymmetrical hit and run guerrilla warfare.  
• For a man who was repeatedly a thorn in the side of Rome, he managed to live long enough to die old.  

Mithridates the Great: Rome's Indomitable Enemy.  While described as a biography, this book is more of a military history and account of the campaigns.  If you want to learn about the man, the era, the customs and his empire, The Poison King is a better read. If you want battle maps and accounts of the troops, tactics and styles of fighting, this book adds the military detail that's lacking from The Poison King.  Together, these books make a great pair.

With the hook firmly set, I turned to the Impetus website and pulled the Pontic army list.

It's a broad and varied list that gives you the building blocks for other ancient armies. With a little work, my Pontic army can become a Pyrrhic army.  A little  more painting and its a Gallic army. A few units here and there and I have a Macedonian or Seleucid army. Portability? Check. Varied troop types for playing and painting?  Check and check. The Pontic project is a go!

Because the Pontic army was a blending of East and West, you have many options for modeling it.   I'll emphasize the "Hellenistic" side.  For example, I'll use Xystophoroi Cavalry to represent the heavy cavalry that Mithridates rode with in this list.  You could easily choose Persian heavy cavalry though. One of the benefits of painting and gaming ancients is that you get to choose your own path in painting and modelling your armies within the limits of what's known.  Try pulling THAT with Napoleonics!

I'm utilizing Xyston  figures for most of this army, which is a huge plus because I love their figures.  Also, I'm utilizing 3D basing for the first time to vary the level of the base/terrain. Props to Der Figurenschiber and his tutorial for basing in 3D! I should also mention he has the finest  15mm Thracian army I've ever seen as well.

Before I call it a post, here's a preview of my first crack at 3D basing with Balearic Slingers. Not too shabby!

Murmillo and Crupellarius

Murmillo: The murmillo  entered combat with a manica on his sword arm, a short grieve on his left leg only and a large, legionnaire style shield (scutum) and legionnaire style sword (gladius).  The murmillo also had an elaborate helmet with broad rims, a visor and a crest shaped like a the dorsal fin of a fish.  The helmet was typically decorated with feathers or horsehair and generally made of bronze.  Murmillos were never paired against each other. Instead, they were typically paired against the thraex or hoplomachus.  The murmillo's shield was large enough to protect him from his grieve to his chin. The downside is that if the match wore on, the murmillo's shoulder and arm would tire, thus offering his lighter and faster opponent an opportunity to land a wounding or killing blow.

Crupellarius:  This gladiator type is mentioned only by Tacitus, who wrote that the "crupellarius were clad after the national fashion in a complete covering of steel." During a Gallic insurrection by the Aedui tribe, the Romans describe some of the Celts as dressed in iron plates that did not yield to javelins or stones.  A small figurine in France appears to fit the description of the crupellarius, with a helmet shaped like a perforated bucket and the body clad from head to toe in steel.  Wherever the truth lies on this class of gladiator, he looks like a prototype knight to me and I would not want to face him in the arena.

Statuette of a crupellarius from Versigny, France. 

These Crusader miniatures were a blast to paint and I hope to get plenty of use out of them.  These were the first 28mm I've painted since I quit Warhammer years ago.  So, why don't I paint 28mm?  When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton  replied "that's where the money is." 15mm is where the action is locally and no member of our club is painting or fielding 28mm armies.  On the other hand, Brent and the St. Paul Irregulars use 28mm exclusively for their Impetus games.  I may circle back to 28mm before 2012 is out.

To write the back story on gladiator types for this project, I supplemented my gladiator books with on line reading.  While doing so, I discovered that quite a few bloggers have already been down the gladiator path.  On that theme, we'll exit the gladiator project with the Barenaked Ladies "It's All Been Done!"