One of the 'barbarian trash' armies in AW is the Galatian army. This has always been a favorite of mine ever since having it destroy my Carthaginians several years ago. Seeing how well the Galatians did inspired me to build this army in both 15mm and in 25mm. How to use this army and utilize its varied troop types is always a challenge.

First, let's look at the various types of fighters that are available to the Galatians. The majority of your army will be made up of unarmored infantry warbands. You must have a minimum of 24 stands of close order warband foot to start with. Warbands are both a powerful as well as difficult to control troop type. They are considered fanatics up to and including their first round of close combat. Of these 24 stands, up to twelve stands can be converted from close to loose order, reflecting the ability of the troops to fight in rough delaying terrain. I prefer keeping the majority of the warbands in close order, as it provides a more powerful punch than looser order foot. I do use two units of loose order Galatians. These units are excellent in ambush or to anchor a flank. Finally, I also have two units of close order, veteran heavy infantry nobles. These units provide needed stability. Finishing up the Galatian foot are two units of skirmishers, one with bow and the other with javelin and shield. The skirmishers are necessary to screen the vulnerable unarmored infantry warbands from enemy missiles until the warbands are within charge range of the enemy.

The Galatian army has a varied mounted arm. First, there are light chariots (LCh). These provide fairly swift and effective mobile units, which can not only fight on their own, but also transport warband foot from one part of the battlefield to another at a more rapid speed than the foot units normally possess. The LCh can also use their javelins as missile units. As such, they can be effective for screening the unarmored foot as well as making timely attacks against enemy flanks or rear. One aspect of the Galatian army that is very expensive, but also disconcerting to enemy armies is the heavy, scythed chariots (HCh). These are fanatics, used to charge into an enemy formation to either conquer of die. They can be quite deadly if used in a timely and not premature manner.

The Galatian cavalry consist of noble veteran heavy cavalry with spear and shield as well as a handful of skirmish cavalry with javelin and shield. I like to use three units of heavy cavalry to provide a powerful, mobile force of mounted fighters and a single unit of skirmish cavalry to provide support to either the LCh or heavy cavalry.

The Ancient Warfare rules are unit based and as such, it is imperative to have enough generals to control this army of warband irregulars. I use three generals, all as single stand units, so they do not require orders, but can move as they wish each turn.

Using the Galatians

It takes some practice, but the Galatian chariots loaded with warband foot can really cause your opponent to watch his flanks. There is nothing quite like riding down an open flank and then having a horde of fanatics jump off to cause an enemy to begin to panic. You have to be careful, however. If a light chariot (LCh) transporting a stand of warband is destroyed by missile fire, the entire warband unit has to jump off to save themselves. So keep the LCh units screened or a least supported by either your skirmish cavalry unit of a skirmish infantry unit to keep missile fire off of them. I use the LCh in units of 4.

The heavy chariot (HCh) fanatics with scythes are basically a one shot deal - you charge in and hope to win. If the HCh locks or loses, it will not be around for long. The best use of these is against a disordered enemy foot unit. When being charged by scythed chariots (or elephants), the foot has to take a morale test. If it fails, you have got him. HCh are expensive, but they can destroy a unit quickly if used at the right moment. You have to be careful not have their attack triggered too quickly. Being fanatics, they will charge anything that comes within their normal movement range, so keep them back until the time is right to let them go. I use the HCh as single stand units.

The Galatian warbands are numerous but vulnerable to missile fire. They cannot defeat heavy infantry pikemen unless the pikes are disordered. They do have a chance against others, gut are best against other unarmored or lightly armored foot. The problem with them is that being close order, they do not have a long charge range, so make sure you get them up as close as possible before they are forced to make their obligatory frenzied charge (warbands count as fanatics up to and including their initial close combat round). If you can manage to get them within close missile range for their various weapons, they may fire as well. Take advantage of this if you can, the more hits you score on your potential close combat opponent, the better. I like to use warbands in 4 or 6 stand units.

The Galatian cavalry are good. The loose order cavalry are veterans and can be upgraded to heavy cavalry (HC), which is recommended. Always try to get them frenzied when they charge. I use them as supports and to force a flank along with LCh and perhaps the unit of SC than is allowed. The HC can usually take on any other contemporary enemy horse and they are shielded, giving them an edge over many others. These are strictly shock cavalry, so use them that way. Cavalry operate best in line as they do count a second rank as able to fight in a close combat. I use 2 stand units.

Loose order foot warbands are very helpful. Up to twelve stands of close order warband foot can be converted to loose order. These can help to clear delaying terrain or to ambush out of forests. I do not recommend that you upgrade them to fanatics. Being warbands if good enough. They are automatically obliged to charge any enemy unit moving into sight (and range) of them, as they are considered fanatics again, like the other warbands noted above. If they fail to catch an enemy unit that they charge, they are still considered fanatics as they have not yet fought their initial round of a close combat. I like to use loose order warbands in 4 or 6 stand units.

The few skirmisher foot should always be used to screen the vulnerable warbands in order to protect them from enemy missile fire. The javelin SI can also be used to chase off enemy skirmishers. Trying to get SI charging and frenzied is not much use, as likely the enemy SI will simply run away from them anyway. Instead, just advance them into the enemy SI.

As far as supply units go, I do not use them with this army. There are virtually no archers, unless you opt to use a SI unit with bow. Other than the warband various weapon and the SC and chariot javelins, you really have no missile troops. Save the points and buy more troops.

The Galatians offer a hard fighting alternative to many of the trained armies of the period. They are colorful and can be exciting to use. Anytime you use warbands as your main force, it will be an adventure. I have always had a very good time using this army and the battle is usually up in the air right to the end. It does take some practice to learn how to use the combined arms, but that is one of the best parts of the game, learning to use your army.