The Eastern Garrison: Xerxes army

Xerxes army - Infantry Corps/List

This is a compilation of all the Xerxes army posts I did. It brings together in one place an Old School 'Garrison' version of the Persian army according to Herodotus - but with variations based on Garrison figures and conversions, some Funcken, etc. So not really always accurate as regards figure representation.

So this is the infantry set up. Individual Corps may not match exactly with those below... Some of these Corps are from figures that I have a number of different units for! Starting bottom right are Corps I -X, second row Corps XI - XX, back row XXI to XXX.

I've taken my list from Armies of the Greek and Persian Wars. Note that in one of the other posts I mention that the arithmetic went a bit wrong in this book!

I have also used this - for example, I've got lots of Garrison spear/bow/shield figures, Herodotus doesn't give units like the Bactrians shields, Hignett suggests some units may have had so I've used that option! Note that a lot of other units may have different costumes - Garrison Phrygians are used, for example, as well as Garrison versions of Assyrians.

Corps I, the Immortals

I have quite a few Immortal units. Rather than using Spara I have given most of these units the violin shaped shield - looks a lot more 'Old School'. Actual Corps in the army Review were fixed by me as 6 element units rather than more 'accurate' Herodotus figures. But as I said, these pictures represent the Corps rather than the army shown in the heading! I didn't do separate pictures of each Corp when I did the original Review photo.

Corps II Persians

OK, when Minifigs did their S Range this style of headgear was given to the Medes rather than the Persians. However, the book and various reliefs, etc, say that this was the Persian headdress. Apart from the Immortals each Corp was supposed to be 60,000 strong - unlikely for most of them!

Corps III Medes

Another Corps of robed figures - these are all conversions, base figure being the Persian officer figure or Assyrian sp/b/sh figure I've used for Corps VI.

Corps IV Kashites (Cissians)

These figures are almost a rarity in this army - unconverted original Garrison! Well, the shields stuck in the ground are conversions...

Corps V Hyrkanians

For the Hyrkanians I went for my 'universal archer' conversion... which is actually a lash up of 5 different figures!

Corps VI Assyrians and Chaldeans.

Another unconverted figure. Not exactly equipped as per Herodotus.

Corps VII Bactrians and Sacae

There are quite a few Corps wearing Bactrian type outfits so I've used Sakae to represent this Corps. I converted these from the Ancient British archer but then often just used the original figure with a more Scythian looking paint job.

Corps VIII Indians and East Ethiopians

Another conversion, represented by Indians. The original mould was made to form the basis of an Indian army - then I acquired a Minifigs Indian army and this project was quietly dropped. As a result this is my only Garrison Indian unit.

Corps IX Arians, X Parthians and Chorasmians, XI Sogdians, XII Gandarians and Dadicae

These are the same as the Bactrians. Mostly represented by Garrison Sp/B/Sh Persians but including some shieldless conversions, including some bow armed.

Corps XIII Caspians

Let's see. This is a conversion of a conversion of a conversion... J/B/Sh light cavalry figure, this converted to a horse archer, horse archer put on a base (foot twisted to point forward), then cloak added...

Corps XIV Sarangae

One conversion earlier than the Caspians!

CorpsXV Pactyans, XVI Utians and Mycians, XVII Paracanians

If this looks familiar.... lots of Corps with basically the same costume - I just did slight costume variations and varied the number of figures per element...

Corps XVIII Arabians and Ethiopians

This lot are the Ethiopians - all conversions. I also use this figure for East Ethiopians.

And these are the Arabians - simply a cloak added to the universal archer conversion.

Corps XIX Libyans

My Libyans are based on earlier period Egyptian reliefs rather than Herodotus. My eventual intention is to cast and paint an army of Libyans. Eventually.

Corps XX Paphlagonians and Matieni

An original Garrison figure.

Corps XXI Ligyes, Mariandeni, Cappadocians

Same figure as Corps XX, just given a different paint job.

Corps XXII Arminians and Phrygians

According to Herodotus these should be the same as Corps XX and XXI but I've used the standard Garrison Phrygian. I've got quite a few of these figures lying around...

Corps XXIII Lydians and Mysians