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Reclaiming the Throne

by Peter Barnard

I pride myself that I am the second best bowman within the borders of Pulse."
"And to who do you give the prize for being the best?"
"I don't know such a man. Though I imagine that somewhere he may exist."
-Melaine introducing himself to The One Eyed Lion

The Heroic Legend of Arislan is a Japanese animated series set in the pseudo-historical kingdom of Pulse (pronounced PUL-suh). This kingdom appears to be set in Persia (we even see a Persian cat) and the year is 320AD according to the sleeve notes.

The Pulsean Army

Pulse is ruled over by the arrogant and hot-headed King Andragoras although his son, the young and inexperienced crown prince Arislan, is the focus of the series.

The Pulsean army seems to be composed almost entirely of cavalry. All troops wear the 'uniform' of golden horned helmets and breast-plates. Below is a suggested Hordes of the Things (HOTT) army to indicate army composition

1 element of Mounted Heroes(The General) @ 4aps
Prince Arislan; Lord Daryoon, the wrongly exiled sub-general; Narsus, his tactician; and assorted supporting cast.

6 elements of knights @ 2aps
Lancers, the core of the army.

1 element of Sneakers @ 3aps
Elam and Alferedo (supporting cast/comedy relief)

2 units of riders @ 2aps
Skirmishing riders

Stronghold: Persian City Gates

Alternatives
We see hails of arrows in the first battle, but no archers until later. It is unclear if Pulse uses blocks of archers (Shooters @2aps) or mounted bowmen (Riders @2aps).
The Pulsean camp has soldiers with spears walking about, but again we see no spear blocks so they could lancers resting.
Arislan's bodyguard, Pharangese, is very obviously a Paladin (@4aps) but rarely leaves his side so should really be with the General element.
A Pulsean city has a trebuchet (Artillery @3aps) sitting around idly, but again it is never seen in battle.

Tactics are limited to both armies lining up and charging at each other.

The Lusitanian Army

The kingdom of Pulse is invaded by the Lusitanians, a kingdom of religious zealots and book burners. They are aided by the Pulsean traitor General Carlan (who discredited Daryoon) and a mysterious man called Silver Mask because he wears one at all times. Silver Mask later reveals that he is the true heir to Pulse and that Andragoras killed his father and assumed the throne. The Lusitanian army is almost identical to the Pulsean army except that the Lusitanians wear red cloaks and have conical helmets with red havelocks.

HOTT army as the Pulsean with the general element as Silver Mask and his bodyguard.

One of the cavalry elements could be Carlan and his renegade troops. Lord Silver mask consults several times with a Magician (@4aps) but we don't see him on the field.
During the seige of Ektabahana, a Lusitanian Cleric (@3aps) trys to demoralise the defenders from his wagon but we don't see him in battle.
The first battle on the videos shows the dishonourable tactic of creating pools of oil on the battlefield and lighting them when the enemy advance, I suppose you could treat these fires like Lurkers (@ 1ap) appearing in certain patches of the battlefield.
The Lusitanians also make use of fog and spies, this is slightly tougher. Spies are Sneakers (@ 3aps), but how to represent fog; I don't know.

The Peshwar Army

Arislan gains as allies the kingdom of Shindra, which appears to parallel real-life India. The army is lead by the useless Lajendra who tricks Arislan into helping him beat his brother Gardeep to ascend the throne. The two Shindran armies look very similar but only Lajendra's army has Pulsean allies.

The Peshwar Army is almost entirely elephant troops. HOTT army balance rules go out of the window for accuracy's sake.

1 element of Behemoths(The General) @ 4aps
Gardeep or Lajendra on elephants

3 elements of Behemoths @ 4aps
More elephants

1 element of artillery @ 3aps
Catapaults

2 elements of shooters @ 2aps
Massed slingers

Stronghold: Indian Palace

Alternatives
Heroes @ 4aps: Arislan and friends

Narsus, Arislans tactician, uses mice against the Peshwarians, in game terms I suppose this could be represented by a unit of Sneakers that affects Behemoths instead of Strongholds.

Shindran tactics are even less subtle than Pulses. The aim seems to be to stun the enemy elephants by getting your elephant to headbutt it at full speed. Gardeep claims that Lajendra is cheating by using allies.

If using a Pulsean army after the alliance, another troop alternative is Behemoths @ 4pts representing Peshwar allies.

The Series

The videos are classified as 'shojo' (girls interest) because most of the story is character oriented but the battles are epic and interestingly filmed due to budgetary constraints. The plot is convoluted and engrossing but unfortunately incomplete.

Apparently the full series contains six videos but only three are currently available in this country. Rumor has it that part four is currently in development in Japan but the release date is anyones guess. Another slight complaint is that between the second and third video some place names change in pronounciation (The Pulsean capital is pronounced Ek-ta-bahana and Ek-yu-bahana in different episodes)

The three videos are about an hour in length and retail for about £13.99