Greek Heavy Infantry - Hoplites/Spartans (30)

The Classical Age of Greek Warfare (5th century BC to about the end of the 4th century BC) saw the rise of city-states such as Athens and Sparta grow into world powers. By the 5th century BC the state had started taking a role in equipping those who would defend it and troops became more uniformly equipped. During this time hoplite warfare dominated the battlefields of Greece. The hoplite was a fully armored spearman who relied mainly on his round bronze shield for defense.

The hoplites kit consisted of a cuirass of either bronze or linen (reinforced with leather or metal), greaves, a helmet, shield, an eight-foot thrusting spear and a sword as a secondary weapon in case of a broken spear or if the fighting got too close to wield the spear effectively. Hoplites put their gear to deadly use when packed tightly into a formation known as a phalanx. About eight lines of men formed each phalanx (often eight men wide and as many deep). Men in the first few rows held their spears horizontally while the rows in back had their spears protruding through the gaps of the men in front: the back ranks pushed forward forcing those in front onward. The large bronze shields covered the hoplites body from neck to thigh as well as help protect the right side of the man to the hoplites immediate left. Lightly equipped Persian armies fell to smaller, more heavily equipped Greek armies on more than one occasion.

This kit contains 30-Heavily Armored Greek Warriors from the classical era. Suitable for use as any Greek city-state army including Athens and Sparta. They are either armored in bronze or linen cuirasses, have helmets, shields, spears and can be given swords. All models are supplied unpainted and require assembly. Shield decoration is not provided.

This set includes 30 20mm x 20mm square plastic bases (2mm thick).