Introduction

The following piece is another look at a topic I addressed in an article in the Courier in 1994 (issue #64, Spring 1994). In that article, “Armies of the Trojan War”, Tom McMillen and I wrote complementary pieces on, respectively, the Trojan and Achaean armies. The focus then was on deriving lists for WRG 7th edition. What I propose to do now is present corresponding and updated lists for AW.

Brief Historical Overview

The history of the Aegean late bronze age is comprised of much speculation surrounding considerable material evidence from digs spanning the entire Mediterranean basin and its littorals. That there was a Trojan war, fought on the most probable site, sometime around 1250 B.C.E., may be taken as the canonical view, as the amount of physical evidence accumulates apace, and an older generation of skeptics sees its influence wane. The early optimism expressed by historians such as Denys Page in the venerable History and the Homeric Iliad (California, 1959), has been seconded many times since by others such as Nancy Sandars, Michael Wood, and Robert Drews.

There have been intensive annual archaeological campaigns at the probable site of Troy - Hisarlik in northwestern Turkey -- throughout the 1990's and continuing, jointly sponsored by Universities of Tuebingen (bronze age excavations) and Cincinnati (iron age excavations). The finds from this ongoing effort have often modified the story of the Trojan war, but the net effect has been to deepen the support for the historicity of the event.

The intention of this list is to make use of whatever historical material seems appropriate, but to defer to the Iliad whenever possible. Regardless the history of the event, it is the romance of the vast literature surrounding the poem that fuels the imaginations of the gamers to whom this article is addressed. Much of what follows is very speculative.

Who were the Achaeans?

The catalog of ships presented in Book Two of the Iliad may be broken down into these three geographical zones: (i) the Achaean division, the northernmost, is the zone of the “north Greek” speakers, (ii) the Mycenaean division, centrally located, comprises the north/south Greek speaking frontier,and (iii) the Danaan division , the southernmost, is the zone of the “south Greek” speakers. The labels I've attached to these zones are somewhat arbitrary but instructive. The historical Mycenaean/Minoan palace culture did not not survive the late Bronze Age. Indeed, it was somewhere in its death throws even as the Trojan war(s) was fought and Troy sacked .

Following Drews (and others), it is assumed the agents of change bringing about the demise of the Mycenaean/Minoan palace culture were the “north Greek” speaking Achaeans. Second, although violent in nature, the demise proceeded by stages, such that a snap shot of Greece taken at the time of the Trojan War (ca. 1250 BCE) would find an uneasy state of coexistence between the competing parties, the near comtemporaneous sack of Danaan Thebes by Achaean Mycenae notwithstanding.

The term Achaeans is used here to denote the most predatory, violent tribes located to the north of Boiotia in Thessaly, west of the Akhos river, including Thessally and Phthiotis. The Achaean kingdoms are largely independent of Mycenae, but provide mercenaries and temperamental allies. The term Mycenaean is here used somewhat unconventionally, denoting a primarily Achaean lodgement in the Peloponnesian peninsula centered along the Mycenae-Argos axis, including the client kingdoms of Mycenae and Argos, Sparta, and Ithaca. The prior holders of this domain - Danaans -- had been forceably ejected by Achaean freebooters (the mythical Pelops being the most prominent). The Mycenaean kingdom is a source of great wealth to its north Greek speaking masters; its sway over other members of the coalition is based on a relative superiority founded on that wealth. Finally, the Danaans are the survivors of the old palace culture, holding out in Pylos, Crete and many places throughout the Aegean. The once powerful chariot fighters seek accommodation with the new power in Mycenae, and provide steadfast allies; the Danaan kingdoms are doubtless no longer independent from Mycenaean power.

Ultimately, the wide-scale, unrelenting predation of the northerners brought down their cousin's Mycenaean stronghold(s), and the Danaan rump as well. After 1200 BCE, the map of Greece changed forever.

The Achaean Military System

The Achaean warriors may be best likened to the Vikings of a later age (to borrow Tom McMillen's image of beloved Lukka). The leading expert on late Bronze Age warfare, Robert Drews, has emphasized the widespread destruction caused by a military revolution brought about by the adoption of aggressive infantry tactics by swift-footed bands of relatively well armed raiders. The elite bands of these raiders used rugged slashing swords - usually denoted Neue Type II - and body armour. Smaller shields appropriate for dueling and skirmishing, and light throwing weapons, such as darts and/or small javelins, were standard kit for all Achaeans. These fighters apparently overmatched the elite chariot warriors of the late Bronze Age, such that city states and (some) empires that had effectively defended themselves for decades by means of chariotry were helpless, and the cities sacked.

The efficacy of Achaean tactics in hunting down and destroying chariots is difficult to model in AW. Thus, they may be deployed as Warband - Wb(F) - or close order infantry, either of which give light chariotry a tough time. In addition, the great Achaean heroes - Achilles, Ajax Diomedes, and Odysseus - as modeled in this list, provide additional weight to an Achaean attack.

The Myrmidones: Achaean Shock Troopers

Achilles' shock troops, the Myrmidones, likened by Homer to a pack of blood belching wolves, possess something extra that makes them more feared than other Achaean contingents. In the list that follows, the Myrmidones have two features that actualize their fierceness: (i.) they are rated Fanatics, and (ii), they are provided with heavy armour and slashing weapons - Neue Type II swords -- that count as AW axes. The first of these features translates their pack-hunting savagery to the game table, and the second makes them formidable melee-ers in AW. Although relatively scarce, bronze armour, especially in the form of the embossed bell-cuirass originating in central Euroope, is believed by Drews to have been part of the military-technological revolution that ended the reign of the chariot warriors. For this list, it is assumed the elite northerners - here denoted Myrmidones - had significant alotments of the new-style armour.

The Danaan Military System

The Danaans were very much chariot fighters in the Anatolian/Levantine mold. Images of these warriors have survived in Bronze Age artifacts dating back to 1500 BCE and earlier. The focus of the Danaan military system was an elite corps of chariot mounted archers, supported by militias of close order spear and bow. It is assumed that the militias were of relatively poor quality, possessing little or no body armour, and depending on a very large and awkward body shield for protection. As is clear from their design, the body shield - be it tower or figure of eight - was intended to protect its bearer from missiles, especially arrows. Indeed, the Iliad is loaded with references to (memories of?) the vulnerability of these hide covered shields - the Homeric term is sakhos -- to direct thrusts from heavier weapons, ostensibly providing a competitive edge to the close fighting Achaeans.

Achaens 1250BC List

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Trojans (# 83)

Introduction
Who Were the Trojans?
Trojans Navy, Lukka, and Allies
The Wargame List