Now that we have nice miniatures for the Trojan wars and going to the European MEG championship next month I had a better look at lists 1215 and 1216 ( Achean and Trolan ) and read once again the Illiad and did some research.
We all know that both list are pretty not historical as the Illiad is an epic poem with a lot of fantasy in it ! Homeric isn't it :) but my feeling is that we need those lists in historical MEG because the Illiad is such a good story based on something that happened sometimes at Troy that did exist .
Everyone can quickly notice that the lists do not really respect the storyline of the Illiad but who cares as we have the fun of it
But I could not shake off two ideas.
First there is a lack of fantasy in the Trojan war list .
While the Achean have the famous "Trojan Horse" as a battle TUG what about the trojans?
What would I as a player want to see in that trojan army to make me want to use it in the army !
My answer lies in the aethiopis and the arrival of the amazons, Penthesilea and her 12 noble warriors + certainly some followers as was usual at that time.
The 12 noble warriors where : Clonia, Polemusa, Devioné, Evandra, Antandra, la divine Brémusa, Hippothoé, Harmothoé aux yeux noirs, Alcibié, Antibrooté, Derimachia et Termodossa orgueilleuse de sa lance.
Diodorus has his version and there are some studies ont it
What is constant is that the amazons were fierce warriors, that they repulsed the greeks, fought mounted on horses, armoured, javelin and a two headed axe . Penthesilea did kill many Greek named warriors and yes was finally killed by Achilles but some versions do have Penthesilea kill Achilles, Achilles will be brought back to live upon request of his mother Thetis . he will later kill Penthesilea.
What's the truth is impossible to know but it is an Homeric story with hints here and there as for the wooden horse so why would the trojan not have a famous Homeric" TUG of 0-6 amazons, CAV, Formed loose, SUP, experienced javelin , short spear that dismount same as the charioteers but with melee expert ( they are willing to use it and it needs achilles to defeat them ) . A bit of dream, a bit of fantasy not so different from the wooden mythical horse .
Next is : I asked why do the acheans dismounted chariotry have melee expert and why do the trojan lack melee expert. The answer was that achean heroes mostly did win their fights vs the trojans . So I read the Illiad once again and I found out it does not seem so true . When the achean army is victorious, Homer describes the feat of arms of the achean heroes at length ! So Achean heroes do indeed kill many trojan "named warriors" . But when Agamemnon flees, when Odyseus flees, when Nestor and Melenaos do flee the battle field and that the chean do loose it are pinned against their ships and loosing the battle ...Homer is much more silent as his poem is centered around Achyles and the acheans. But Trojan heroes do kill a lot of achean best warriors ( the charioteers ) especially Hector, Aeneas and sometimes Sardepon and others do the job. The Achean loose fights but it is between the line of Homer's propaganda . So if we take into account that the achean have Achilles, have 26 charioteers and that the Trojan have only 16 charioteers I think there is a problem and that giving the trojan the same melee expert is just . The difference will be in the numbers and the legendary Achilles !
Now up to other people to discuss it
The Achean have their mythical TUG ( and a mythical legendary SUB ) . Let the trojan have a mythical TUG and a fighting chance
I expressed my hopes and hope for gentle answer but a motivated one
OK not many reactions so I'll rephrase it :
- After reading the Illiad, Trojan charioteers should also be melee expert but yes they are less numerous that's their disadvantage. Otherwise it's pretty equal.
- The Acheans have their fantasy wooden horse so give the Trojans their fantasy Amazons as cavalry based on Thracian cavalry and the description in the Aethiopis