A review of Shanower's Age of Bronze series.

This series of articles concerns itself with various military aspects of the Sassanian state (c.224-651 AD). Although of historical interest they will hopefully appeal to those who wargame with or against Sassanian Persians. The disjointed nature of the articles, and the relatively limited number of sources employed can be explained by the fact that the work has been lying incomplete in a filing cabinet and on my various PCW's and PC's for the last five to seven years! I now have a great deal more information available to me than that used in the preparation of this work but hope that its exclusion will not detract from the level of interest to be gained by readers.

Whenever I assemble a wargames army - for any period - I like to get behind the veil of generalisations and anecdotal evidence, which tends to generate the preconceived baggage of most wargamers. This is not a criticism in itself, as it usually indicates a broad knowledge of history. The benefits to be gained from this exercise are many but mine include the occasional satisfaction, which comes from debunking some of the oft-quoted myths associated with my chosen armies.

More tangibly I believe that you are more likely to appreciate the way in which the troops were used, and why, when you take the trouble to get beneath the skin of the troops and personalities who commanded them.

However with my first army this desire to find out more became something of an obsession. After nearly twenty years I am still delving! So for those of you who want to get under the skin of the Sassanians, and those who might find this information useful here goes. A bibliography will be appended to the last part of this series for those who wish to investigate further.

More Sassanians Part One

Introduction
Heirs of the Achaemenids or a Question of Timing?
The Foundation Upon Which the Sassanians Built