>Beryl Phalanx is in Barbarian Adventures as one of the 10 wall
>regiments. They are a Dara Happan unit who worship Darvesh the
>Unyielding which is a hero cult of Urvairinus. They are lsited as
>initiates with three affinities: Beryl Phalanx, Destroy Dara Happan
>Foes and Light of Action. Strangely they are listed as drawing up 8
>deep on the march but 4 deep in action. This is rather shallow for a
>hoplite unit who historically usually drew up 8 deep and also
>doesn't really match ILH1 where Dara Happan files are of 10.
I'd take ILH1 as correct over BA. I'm not sure what's meant by drawing up 8 deep on the march because the march formation for a thousand men is something like 200 deep. The phalanxes are sometimes deployed in company strength units which is a bit small for an eight deep unit. So I'll suggest that they are trained to fight either in file or half-file formation - the latter giving a wider front.
>In the
>picture on p25 which is presumably one of the phalanx he isn't
>equipped as a hoplite but is instead carrying a smaller shield than
>an aspis (sometimes known as a hoplon) presumably on a strap on his
>right shoulder instead of his left and using a spear or pike in two
>hands but backwards as though he is a left hander! He looks like a
>kind of left handed pikeman. A hoplite traditionally would carry an
>aspis on his left arm and a long thrusting spear in his right
>usually using it in an overarm grip.
That figure also has a crescent moon on the top of his helmet which is inappropriate for one of the stone phalanxes. Unless it's some other lunar unit I'd suggest the picture is an Orlanthi drawing of a phalangite.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
Powered by hypermail