Polybian Romans |
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| These men are the REAL Romans.
The Polybians are the army that fought and won against
Hannibal and Carthage, the successors of Alexander in
Macedonia and the Seleucid successor kingdom in Asia. The
Romans won more often than not through sheer
bloody-mindedness — no matter how many times they
were beaten in the field (and occasionally annihilated!)
they just kept coming back for more. Rocky was Italian,
wasn't he? Unfortunately as a wargame army they suffer due to their limited number of cavalry, but on their day they can be a real tough nut to crack. Click on the thumbnails to view larger versions. |
 General and cavalry. Polybian
cavalry was provided by the wealthier class of Roman
society, known as equites, or by Italian allied states.
Figures are various Essex types, with the exception of
the general who has been co-opted from the Old Glory
Polybian command pack and adapted to fit an Essex horse. |
 Hastati. These are the youngest age
group of the army that meet the property qualification
for the legions. All equipment at this period was
provided by the individual. Although it had to meet given
minimum requirements, it could vary from one individual
to another. Most body armour on these figures is limited
to just a pectoral, with the occasional wealthier
individual in mail. Figures from Old Glory. |
 Principes. These are men in the prime of life.
As more established individuals, they would be better
able to afford more and better armour. I have represented
this by mainly using figures wearing mail body armour.
Figures from OG. |
 Triarii. These were the veterans of the
army. They formed the third line in battle. If matters
were going against the Romans, they would be expected to
cover the retreat. By this period, they were the only
heavy infantry still armed with spears and represent the
last vestiges of the old Greek hoplite phalanx once
employed by the Romans. Figures from OG. |
 Velites. These were formed from
citizens with the lowest property qualification —
enough to qualify to fight, but insufficient to serve as
heavy infantry. Although primarily intended to skirmish,
they were generally better equiped than most opponents
and as such were not afraid to "mix it" when
required! Figures from OG.I spent a lot of time trying to get the animal skins looking something like and was able to manage a reasonable job after some expirimentation and advise from the DBM mailing list. Thanks guys! |
 Italian Allies. Those cities most
closely allied to Rome served and operated in formations
identical to those used by the Romans (apart from
contributing a higher proportion of cavalry). These
figures represent other Italian infantry serving in their
native style. Figures from OG. |
 Spanish
allies.
During the Punic (Carthaginian) wars, Rome fought
repeated and extensive campaigns in Spain. Consequently,
they both fought against and with various Iberian and
Celtiberian tribes. These figures represent some of the
lighter elements of Spanish armies, light infantry and
light cavalry. Figures are a mix of OG and Essex. |
 More Spanish allies. These are heavier foot
troops, classed as Ax(S) in DBM. They could equally be
used as Celtiberians and calssed as Wb(F). Figures are
predominantly OG, with (literally) the odd Essex figure
for variety. |