PTOLEMAIC

I asked: OK so I want to start a Ptolemaic army (b). Unfortunately, my grasp of this period of history is a little shaky and I need some help. Could someone (a kind person, to help the likes of me) please tell me what the various troop elements are representative of so I can order up some figures? Specifically, I would like to know what, in the time frame of 274-167BC, is represented by Knights, Light Horse, Pike, Auxilia, and Psiloi (I am actually pretty clear on the Elephant.) I know that this information is probably available in DBM Army Book II, but I do not have this particular publication and have no wish to purchase it at this time. And could someone please give me hints on painting?
Why a Ptolemaic army if I'm clueless about the period? It's simple, really. A low aggression factor, Littoral, and Elephant makes a charming little combination. It means I can probably place terrain with plenty of waterways for first turn amphibious deployment. If this seems like rules exploitation, my experience in many other games has been that gambits like this ALWAYS blow up in my face.
Punkrabbitt <---- who is thinking beyond Meso-America and Central Asia for a change

hpsprout replied: Hi, lets see - DBM lists the following:
Knights - Cleruch Cavalry!!! - At a guess I'd say they are Macedonian style Xystophoroi, probably similar to Seleucid Line Cavalry.
Pikes - Either Macedonian/Greek settlers or the same with upto a 50 mix of native armed in the Macedonian style. Use any standard successor pikes for Macedonian, not aware of any egyptian phalangite figures out there, but a few manufacturers sell badly equipped phalangites which should do.
Light Horse. DBM list these as EThnic Cavalry!!!. No idea what these would look like, but at a gues any contemporary javelin and shielded figure would do. (not horse archers)
Auxilia. Theurophoroi or Thorakitai. Same figures as all the other successor armies.
Psiloi. Either Cretan Archers or Crtean/Psidian Peltast or pseudo velites,which would be javelin and shield armed, at a guess i'd say helmets as well. Well hope its some use. Just one note, the Guard unit (agema) could replace one of the pike elemnts or the auxilia element. There is a montvert book on reformed later ptolemaic armies which could help you, I have the sister volume on the Seleucids and it very good but covers the period of C and D on the army list. Good for colours and general info though.
Good luck
Paul Crozier.

Jerboa replied: Hi. After a very interesting recent thread on the Ptolomaic army, that caught someones attention because of its clear winning potential, I did some investigation.
LH: I believe that the 'ethnic' LH could be the descendants of Nubians, a black skinned people that live along the Nile, and somehow did manage to preserve some kind of independance from the nearby kingdoms through time. Those are not foreigners nor egyptian, so the word 'ethnic' could fit them, because they were 'different' from other locals. My guess thus goes to black riders with little clothes or covered in animal skins.
Pikes: An interesting option might be to use the Essex Macedonean/Greek Phalangites, Eastern type models. MPA18a.
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Jerboa

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