The Pyrrhic Project

This was an army I put together for a Warhammer Ancient Battles Doubles Game in October 2010 - the competition pitted armies from the Hellenistic period against each other and having always been interested in this period and in particular in Pyrrhus of Epirus, it was my natural choice.

A bit on Pyrrhus:

While he was a mercurial and often restless leader, and not always a wise king, he was considered one of the greatest military commanders of his time. Plutarch records that Hannibal ranked Pyrrhus as the greatest commander the world had ever seen,^[12] though Appian gives a different version of the story, in which Hannibal placed him second after Alexander the Great.^[13]
Pyrrhus was also known to be very benevolent. As a general, Pyrrhus' greatest political weaknesses were his failures to maintain focus and to maintain a strong treasury at home (many of his soldiers were costly mercenaries).
His name is famous for the term "Pyrrhic victory" which refers to an exchange at the Battle of Asculum. In response to congratulations for winning a costly victory over the Romans, he is reported to have said: "One more such victory will undo me!" (In Greek: Ἂν ἔτι μίαν μάχην νικήσωμεν, ἀπολώλαμεν.)
Pyrrhus and his campaign in Italy was effectively the only chance for Greece to check the advance of Rome towards domination of the Mediterranean world. Rather than banding together, the various Hellenic powers continued to fight among themselves, sapping the financial and military strength of Greece and to a lesser extent, Macedon and the greater Hellenic world. By 197 BC, Macedonia and the southern Greek city-states were under the control of Rome and the age of Greece as a major power was well and truly over. In 188 BC, the Seleucid Empire was forced to cede most of Asia Minor to Rome and Egypt was left as the last vestige of Alexander's Empire.



My army consisted of the following troops:

Companion Cavalry - Elite  Greek Heavy Cavalry using the xyston - a precursor to the lance.

Tarantine Light Cavalry - famed in ancient times for their early use of large shields on horseback these were light cavalry who skirmished with javelins.

Chaeonian Guard - Elite Pikemen that often replaced their pikes with lighter arms to perform special duties.

Macedonian and Epirote Pikemen - the core of Pyrrhus's army.

Mercenary Pikemen - used to swell the numbers especially as the core of pikemen dwindled after successive costly battles against Rome.

Elephants - often the battle winners for Pyrrhus, these terrified the Romans initially who hadnt faced Elephants in battle before.

Cretan Archers - the elite mercenary archers of ancient Greece.

Mercenary and Allied Hoplites - although now outclassed by the pike these spearmen still fought and swelled the ranks of the Pyrrhic forces.

Peltasts - Light Greek Infantry capable of skirmishing or fighting shoulder to shoulder, but having no armour and trusting to speed to keep them safe on the battlefield.

Thracian Slingers - mercenary slingers from Thrace.