I did a review of the current AW Maccabean army list.

First, I did a textual review of the materials on the Maccabees in the following texts:

Abrahams, Israel. Campaigns in Palestine from Alexander the Great. Chicago: Argonaut Inc., 1967 (originally published by the British Academy, 1927).

Graetz, Heinrich. History of the Jews. Volume I. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1891.

Grant, Michael. The History of Ancient Israel. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1984.

Herzog, Chaim & Mordechai Gichon. Battles of the Bible. London: Greenhill Books, 1997.

Josephus, Flavius. The Complete Works of Josephus. Translated by Wm. Whiston. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1981. (See "Antiquities of the Jews," Book XII, Chs. 6 - 11, and Book XIII, Chs. 1 - 7.)

Komroff, Manuel (Ed.). The Apocrypha, or Non-Canonical Books of the Bible. King James Version. New York: Tudor Publishing Company, 1937. (See First and Second Books of the Maccabees, pp. 255-350.)

Rosenthal, Monroe & Isaac Mozeson. Wars of the Jews: A Military History from Biblical to Modern Times. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1990.

Second, I did an analysis of the AW list in the form of a comparison with the following other published wargaming army lists:

Barker, Phil. Army Lists Book One, 3000 BC - 75 AD. WRG, August 1981. (List No. 56, "Maccabean Jewish, 168 BC to 104 BC," page 47.)

Boss, R. G. & T. J. Halsall. Ancient Warfare Army Lists Suitable for Fast Play Rules & Big Battles. Newbury Rules, Nov. 1985. (List No. 23, "Maccabean Jewish, 2nd C. BC," page 21.

Bussey, M. & I. S. Beck. Army Lists for The Shock of Impact. Tabletop Games, Sept. 1981. (List No. 25, "Jewish, 3rd Cent. BC - 1st Cent. AD," page 18.)

Tabletop Games. Ancient Army Lists, Vol. I, 30th BC to 12th AD, for Large Scale Wargames. Aug. 1986. (List No. 40, "Jewish, 1st BC," page 36.)

The texts I reviewed did not give me any material that was sufficient to provide verification of the detailed composition of the Maccabean list. Barker's notes to the WRG version of this list (referenced above) states that his representation of the "Regulars" was taken from a description of an "ideal army's equipment, organization and tactics" found in the Penguin translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I do not have that text and therefore cannot comment on this one way or another.

My comparison of the five Maccabean army lists, as variously published, did not reveal (to me, at least) any glaring differences in respective army compositions. Note, however, that I completely discounted the Bussey & Beck version as being too generic for consideration.

What did strike me in all these readings was the common view that this apparently "light-weight," but very effective army was not only led by extremely charismatic leaders, but also the morale level of the entire force was extremely high - bolstered not only by strong religious conviction, but also by an intense desire for political freedom. Some excerpts will suggest these findings:

From Abrahams:

"[Judah Maccabee] did not rely on rude levies, but trained his men for service (p. 24)."
"[Judah] developed the night attack (p. 24)."
"[The] Hebrew formation and armament was far more mobile and agile than the Syrian (p. 26)."
"The Judeans had no fear [and] from the first faced the [Syrian] elephants with extraordinary daring (p. 31)."

From Rosenthal & Mozeson:

"[The Judeans] combined cunning with religious fearlessness (p. 73)."
"No salary paid to [the Syrian] mercenaries could match the religious ferocity and discipline of the Judean warriors who believed that the God of Israel was fighting for them (p. 75)" And finally, from Herzog & Gichon:
"A cold military analysis of Judah's battles leads one to the conclusion that they were the result of a combination of Judah's innate military genius, the bravery of his forces, and the moral principles which activated them (p. 296)."

From these readings, I have gleaned that Maccabean generalship led the Judean forces in accordance with the following principles: (1) always attack - using surprise & deception as much as possible, (2) keep the initiative at all times, (3) use local terrain to maximum advantage, (4) maintain an efficient intelligence network, (5) control the choice of battlefield, and (6) eliminate the leader of the opposing side as early as possible in the battle (see Herzog & Gichon, pp. 296-297). If Judah "the Hammer" had any weakness, it was in the area of logistics, i.e., he tended to keep a guerrilla mentality even after the increasing size of his forces required closer attention to the commissary.

Therefore, given the very light-weight O.B. of the AW Maccabean army list (i.e., all UI and SI with a dash of SC and a splash of AC), reviewing the list to see where morale and training could be enhanced might introduce greater balance with their contemporaries in the lists. If we don't do so, I believe this army will tend to be ignored by most wargamers.

Suggested changes:

My first thought would be to make the Guerrilla Foot "Trained," and the Archers & Slingers "Veterans." Then, given that the Maccabeans often completely destroyed the forces they attacked by choice, and that the historical records often comment that they harvested regularly large volumes of arms and armor from their numerous dead enemies, I would also consider improving the armor of the Jewish Regulars (called the "Judean Phalanx" in the other lists) from UI to "LAI."

Note to Terry: I haven't yet played the AW rules, but you may want to review the effects of missiles to ensure they allow for the established effectiveness of the Maccabean archers and slingers. In their various battles with the Seleucids, the Judeans are recorded as having delivered "devastating fire," and having opened battle with "barrages from their bows and slings," to great effect in damaging and demoralizing the enemy. Perhaps some sort of plus factor could be added for missiles being flung from a height or from covered positions?