Lacky-demonians

Hi,

Finished up the first unit of peltasts for the Spartan Impetus list.

Impetus Unit Type: FL
Base Size: 8cm x 4cm
Manufacturer: Xyston 15mm

As I think I've written in the past, one of the perques of my job (from a geek perspective) is access to a university library; perhaps more importantly, it gives me access to a mass of academic journals in electronic format.   This is important to me professionally, but in terms of the hobby, it gives me access to loads of high-quality sources for reading.   Of late, that's meant that on my daily commute, I've been doing a fair bit of reading on the Spartans.



One of the recurring debates around Sparta seems to be the military role played by the periokoi and helots. The former were people who, while not strictly Spartan, lived in the surrounding area, and shared in the larger regional identity of lacedaemonian (kind of like people from the 905).  The latter were serfs. While is seems clear that both groups participated in combat, it's a matter of debate what role they played, and whether they formed discrete units by "class", or if they formed mixed units with the "proper" Spartans.



In the Impetus list, each group has a distinct profile and unit, with the periokoi appearing as lower discipline hoplites.  I've come across some material suggesting that the periokoi might also have operated as peltasts; they were armed for war, but with less than the full hoplite panoply.  As the list expands, I'll probably add periokoi hoplites, but for now, I'm operating on the idea that the peltasts in my 300 point starter list are non-Spartan lacedaemonions.

I'm actually quite pleased with how these turned out, the shields especially. On they table, they're a handy unit, especially given that the large hoplite formations tend to be a little unweildy.  Peltasts, as FL, can manoeuvre through bad ground with relative impunity, and are a little quicker, giving me some options in both attack and defense.   Can't wait to get them on the table.

FMB