Hoplites!

When I was looking for information on the very early Roman military/warriors, again and again I was met with the word 'hoplite', and it prompted me to dig out the two boxes of Warlord Games plastic hoplites (generic Greek and Spartans) I bought second-hand quite a while ago.

A quick look in my wargames library revealed that I can use Greek hoplites for Broken Legions, Of Gods And Mortals (OGAM), A Fantastic SAGA, and A Song of Blades and Heroes, and I decided to start building a warband for Broken Legions (Argonauts) right away.

The standard warriors are called Argonauts, basically heavy hoplites with the option to take a spear in addition to their standard 'hand weapon' and shield. I am going to make nine of these in 'bell cuirass', seven with spear, two with just the sword (there are five in the Greek Phalanx box, four in the Spartan Hoplites - one per hoplite frame).

The guy in the muscle cuirass is going to be the Argonaut Captain, and I have two more destined to become Heraclean Champions.

I shall also add an Orphean Champion (bard/musician) from the Greek Phalanx box, and an additional five 'Mercenary Hoplites' in Linothorax.

At first, I was puzzled by this component, but a brief research revealed it to be a 'Mitra', worn hanging from the front of a bell cuirass, so I shall probably use a couple of those to ensure some variation in appearance of the Argonauts (they are all the same basic body, arms/weapons, and heads/helmets can be varied a bit).

I am actually quite eager to start painting a few of these, as I have always liked the aesthetics of the classic Greek warriors (and it does nothing to temper my enthusiasm that I can use them for several games I already own).