Platea 479BC Refight (Take II) Part V

Sparta fights on to the last hoplite, her army now launches itself off the ridge line in a fury at the Persians who were also trying to outflank the Spartan right (see below):

The Spartans survive the torment of the "torrent of Persian arrows" as they close to come to grips with the Persian infantryin hand to hand combat. Here the contest is one-sided to Sparta, as we see a Persian SparaBara Archer unit disintegrate under the momentum of the Spartan hoplite phalanx (see below). The Spartan helots (Hoard) even holds its own against the regular Persian infantry.

This Spartan success rather evens things up,all square:
Persian Casualties (1) versus Spartan Casualties (1) 

However grim things have come to pass in the center of the battlefield for Sparta. Two more Spartan Spears have fallen (see below). The Persian Cavalry and Light Horse with their faster movement simply 'closed the door' on another slower moving Spartan Spear. The (one) elite Persian Spear (+4) unit fixed a Spartan hoplite Spear stand to the front as a unit of bow attacked it in the rear. Both units were in dire straights and must 'win' the combat or die. The Sparta dice rolling this time failed to deliver a miracle.
 
The hand of fate moves to favour the Persians:
Persian Casualties (1) versus Spartan Casualties (3)  

The Spartans are now but one casualty from being demoralised!

As expected, Sparta fights back and destroys another Persian SparaBara (see below, top left), but in the center of the battlefield the Persians have surrounded the last Spartan valiant hoplite Spear stand. Its position looks totally hopeless (but never tell that to a Spartan to whom the concept of "thantos" is laughable). 

Sparta has almost evens the contest:
Persian Casualties (2) versus Spartan Casualties (3)  

But tragedy strikes the Spartans from an unexpected quarter, their Helots on the right flank (see below) are struck down by a cruel volley of Persian arrows which"darkens the skies" (the Helots were starting at +2 but are reduced to +0 by the sheer weight of arrows [two overlaps] while the Persian Bows are still firing at +2. The Helots are doubled and die horribly). Alas the surrounded unit of Spartan Spears dies too,in true heroic fashion it must be said.

The Spartan command breaks and goes demoralised (something almost unheard of in Ancient times) and the fighting value of the remaining Spartan Spears immediately drops to from +4 to +2. All Pausinius can do his hold a PiP dice worth of units in place (no maneuvering, which seems unduly harsh, but BBDBA seems to want to bring a very quick end to demoralised commands, unlike the later sister rule-set DBM which allows more latitude in demoralised commands fighting on [or have I simply got this BBDBA rule wrong? Answers on a postcard please!]).
 
Persian Casualties (2) versus Spartan Casualties (5) demoralised 
Allied Greek Casualty count (6), six more required to end the game

Attention now shifts to the other side of the battlefield where the Thebans are now once more formed back into a more or less straight battleline. The Thebans heartened by the Persian successes against the Spartans fearlessly assault the Athenians fixed on the ridge line (see below). One significant advantage to the Thebans is that the Athenian strategos was so worried by the "theoretical" possibility of the victorious Theban Psiloi 'stand' (see previous post) attacking the Allied Greek Camp he detached "two" Athenian stands of Spear to chase it off. This could be deemed as reinforcing failure and taking away vital troops from the locus of the battle, especially since Spears only move two inches and the Psiloi three inches per turn. In addition one stand of Spears would have sufficed. Now as a result of this nine Athenian stands face eleven Theban stands, only the defensive ridge bonus of (+1) to the Athenians makes it still an even fight.  

In the ensuing combat the Athenians are drawn from the hill (losing even this defensive bonus), in search of a desperate "local tactical overlap" advantage.However they lose an Athenian Spear unit in the process. The Thebans simply out-flank the Athenian right and get ready to "close the door" on them (see below):

Athenian Casualties (2) versus Theban Casualties (0) 
Allied Greek Casualty count (7), five more required to end the game, only two more needed for Athenian demoralisation to strike

With their right flanks turned the Athenians are doomed, in the next turn of two more Athenian Spear units are destroyed, ridden under the sandals of the Theban hoplite phalanx (see below):

Athenian Casualties (4) versus Theban Casualties (0) 
Allied Greek Casualty count (9), technically three more required to officially end the game but as stated this is a mere technicality as the Athenians (as per the Spartans) are now demoralised. All effective "Free Greek" resistance is over. The game is called to the Persians as a massive strategic win.

And so ... Greece falls under Persian rule soon to be followed by the rest of Europe as the Persian Empire becomes the only Empire in the Ancient World and may even dominate the globe. Hmm,pause for thought there! My guess is that Thebes will find that being on the winning side with the Persians a very bitter-sweet experience because it makes you effectively Persian, but at least with a big house and vineyard.


A turn up for the books and certainly not the Hollywood or book ending we all know. Many thanks to the enthusiastic participants who made this such an enjoyable night to umpire and I can now proudly award them all their wargaming spurs "won in combat".

Platea 479BC Refight (Take II) Part IV

A Spartan death in slow motion

There is a chaotic melee in the middle is (see below):

The Spartans push forward resolutely (see below):

But despite their forward progress, the Spartan right is being dangerously enveloped from the Persian hoard (see below):

Worse still, the Persian Light Horse reappear in the Spartan rear (see below) and a "do or die" die roll is required (Persians +3 overlapped down to +2, Spartans +4 overlapped [rear] down to +3 but if they lose they die).

The mighty "hand of Zeus" tells all (see below):

Allied Greek Casulties: 

• Athens (1 stand lost, lose three more stands to be demorialised)
• Sparta (1 stand lost, lose three more stands to be demoralised)
• Allied Greek Army (2 stands lost, ten more to reach army break point)

Persians and Medizing Greeks:

• No casualties

It is the potential for many more Spartan casualties that is most worrying from the Allied Greek perspective! However there is "good news" for the Free Greeks the Spartan Army has at last come off the ridge line and is advancing towards the Persians. Will they get there in time?

Next .. End Game

Platea 479BC Refight (Take II) Part III

The first blood is let ...

"Pop" there goes a Greek Psiloi. First blood going to the Thebans. The Athenian strategos rolled his eyes imploringly to the heavens after his inauspicious start to "wargaming combat" with of roll "1". The Thebans tucked in a nice competent "5" to butcher their opponents mercilessly. "Route 66" to the Greek Allied Camp was now open (see below):

Casualty count:

• Athens down 1 stand, three more and their army goes demoralised
• Allied Greek Army 1, eleven more required to army break and rout point

If you thought the Thebans looked in a 'vulnerable' from the last post, take a look at this! Is this really the mighty Theban army of legend or is it a bunch of dancing farm girls "stripping the willow" in front of the massed hoplite spears of the Athenians!!!! (see below). So are the Athenians going to "go for it" and roiute those disorganised ? Nope, they stick resolutely on the hill (obviously listening to their granddads 'fireside' way of doing things in the old days). 

Meanwhile the Spartans "have" toed forward to enjoy the pleasure of some ineffective Persian archers (see below), but why push forward with only four stands of spears, leaving the other eight stands of the Spartan army outside of effective supporting distance (which is about two inch when you are a hoplite). I've got a bad feeling about that Sarge! OK. Yes, yes it is far, far easier to watch and umpire than to play (your first game) as shown by the tension marks on the forehead of Pausinias throughout the battle.  

Clash of arms, CRUNCH! 

The Spartan four take on the Persian six, now that is the mark of a brave and confident Spartan commander (see below). The Combat dice odds do still favour the Spartans though (all Spartan Spears are at +4) to the horror of the Persians (+2 Light Horse, +3 Cavalry, +2 Psilio, but at least a +4 Spear [plus a friendly overlap] at the end, reading right to left down the line). If the Spartan starts well he might well get a overlap advantage too.

Note: in strict DBA terms: recoil and the "buttocks of death" were not being strictly enforced for simplicity's sake .. as seen here it would have potentially made it disastrous for the Spartans as if they suffered multiple recoils they could eliminate each other which seems overly harsh. However after "reviewing the photographs", I see "Greek groups" contacting "Persian individual" elements which would in theory force the individual element to align to the "Greek group". So in a way I think it all panned out 'even' to make as straight battle pairings.   

Good combat dice means that the Spartan wins all the combats but finds out that the light and mounted recoil and flee from the slow moving spears without him achieving any kills (see below). Now the Spartans have to await the Persian response as Mardonius rolls his Pip dice.

The Persians manfully come back at the Spartan and through a "skillful feat of arms" (aka good dice throwing) push the Spartans about into a ragged line (see below). Still no "deaths" caused but the Spartans will have to spend a lot of PiPs to sort out this messy affair of a battle line into some semblance of order. Still if he backs up these four brave Spartan stands with the other eight stands of his army there may be time to win this convincingly. However at this moment in time they are fixed firmly to the ridge line facing off the other Persians and "not fighting". Is that wise Pausinius?

The Spartans are up next but ... where has that Persian horse gone to (with its five inch movement, yes that's two and a half times faster than a hopite [in "Hancock's half hour" old money])?

Platea 479BC Refight (Take II) Part II

The Pre-Combat "Jiggle" phase: 

The Spartan (Pausinius) responds to the perceived Persian threat to the "Greek Gap and thus the Allied Greek Camp" in the center of the battlefield by painstakingly side stepping the bulk of the army to their left (see below), leaving only a token force on their right. This side of the battlefield will clearly not be a 'head-on-head', interlocking shields, charging hoplite clash of arms.

Note: Particularly as the novice Persian has much more on his plate simply trying to understand the capabilities of his various arms (horse, archers and light foot) and their different movement rates. Still Mardonius  (aka thh Persian C-in-C) has managed to get the Spartans reacting to his moves rather thab pursuing a strategy of his own. 

Meanwhile the Thebans look very solid and professional as they traverse the level ground between the ridges towards the Athenians, whom it must be said are stubbornly sticking to the high ground (see below) as per many 'captain of antiquity' would. However there is a niggling critique of the Athenian dispositions as they are beginning to 'clump' and thus leave potential weak spots instead of a continuous line of battle (as per hoplite DBA instruction manuals). All may depend on how good or bad the future Athenian PiP point dice rolls will be!

No careful reader, this picture is not in fact out of sequence. The Spartans previous meticulous side-stepping march deployment was indeed countermanded upon completion and an equally labourious counter-march back to the original positions on the right was performed. This was done at the cost of many a PiP point individually moving Spears two inches as a response to Mardoinus and his cunning "crescent shaped deployment" (see below). The Persian seems to be winning the psychology contest, whether by luck or judgement is another matter. As a result the Spartan line is now out of step with itself. The main battle line is stoically and stubbornly (as one would expect of the Spartans) sticking to the ridge line while a forward deployment of three stands of Spears is looking exposed and potentially vulnerable (is there a Spartan stand of spears commanded by Amompharetus at work here doing the opposite of what Pausinius wants?). 

If the previous picture of the Spartans deployment was hard to decipher, then the state of the Theban advance on the Athenians is so deep a mystery that only the likes of Sherlock Holmes would be capable of solving it (see below). What has happened to the valiant Thebans and their 'steady' phalanx? Has a "limited earthquake" sent by Ares and Athena scrambled their ranks asunder? No. Have the Athenians cunningly deployed ranks of heavy ballista, catapults and other cruel 'engines of war' on the rear slope of the ridge and blasted their ranks into disorder with missiles? No. Is there a cunning Theban plan afoot? Yes obviously? Well perhaps, or maybe a novice "shuffle of the deck" as I have all these PiP points I feel obliged to use ;)

To be fair the Athenian has extended his lines and in theory they could overlap the extreme flanks of the Theban advancing phalanx (wagering no doubt that the defensive +1 of the ridge line he gets warrants sacrificing an extra rank of  supporting spears [+1 bonus] for the "battle winning advantage" of a 'closing the door' move on the Thebans). So then perhaps the apparent chaos and confusion of the Thebans is a clever 'lure' to pull the Athenians of their hill and fight a fair fight in which the Theban Cavalry can turn the Athenian right flank. Or am I just over analyzing here? The novice players turned to me in unison and nodded. The muffins and crisps were being consumed with great gusto at this point.  

(PS: Please note the Zeus like "Hand of God" interfering in mortal matters [see below, top right].)

Amidst the maneuvering and outmaneuvering of the Theban 'dancing hoplites' (well the Thebans after all have a Sacred Band .. ta da .. sorry, I'll get my coat) an unexpected melee spontaneously breaks out (see below). In a bold and daring dash the Theban general detaches his stand of psilio to try and run amok with the Athenian right flank and loot the Allied Greek Camp (a bold aim for one stand).  

So relief at last, a "combat" as a Greek Psilio clashes with a Greek Psilio in the center of the battlefield (see below). The Athenians were forced by the Thebans to detach one element to defend the direct route to the Allied Greek Camp, the Athenian general now agonizes "has he sent enough"?

(Note: There was various comments made regarding the lack of clothes on one chap and the possible effects on his fighting prowess in the up and coming combat, again these were novices to ancients).

Who will prevail? A straight forward combat factor of 2 each plus their players respective dice roll. Will it be DBA handbags (a recoil or stand) or a low combat factor quick kill, as the chances of being doubled are far, far greater with the "lights" than spears/heavy infantry. Psilio can kill psilio in this circumstance ...

To be continued

Platea 479BC Refight (Take II) Part I

The Battle field of Platea (see below), both sides armies start atop a favourable terrain piece (ridges gaining +1 defensive bonus), the only difference between the antagonists being the relatively exposed Greek Camp position (top middle,see below) compared to the Persian (bottom left, see below). Sparta is top left facing the Persians bottom left. The Athenians are top right facing their erstwhile foes Thebes bottom right. All armies are standard DBA V2 armies.

 "Free" Greeks

• Sparta: 1x4Sp(Gen) [Pausinias] + 10x4Sp + 1x7Hd
• Athens: 1x4Sp(Gen) + 9x4Sp + 1x4Bw (Marine Archers) + 1x2Ps

"Persia"

• Persians: 1x3Cv(Gen) [Mardonius] + 1x3Cv + 1x2LH + 4x8Bw (Sparabara and Immortals) + 1x3Bw + 1x4Sp + 1x3Aux + 1x7Hd + 1x2Ps
• Thebes: 1x4Sp(Gen) + 9x4Sp 1x3Cv (Beotian Horse) +1x2Ps

BBDBA appoints Sparta and Persia as the respective C-in-C's for the Greeks and Persians. "Once per game" the C-in-C Stand can claim a +1 modifier (offensive or defensive). The Athenians and Thebans also have a nominal Commanders stand without the modifier, but is used to determine effective Command Range for PiP point allocation. Note if any DBA army loses their commander they become demoralised (fighting at -2) which really meant it was deemed too risky to put a commander in the front rank by consensus of all the players (which was rather unhistorical but I deemed it too late in the day to introduce a 'house rule'). Four stands lost also would trigger DBA army demoralisation.  

'Thebes' (left) stares across open ground at their 'Athenian' enemies of old (positioned on the right, see below):

The 'Persians' (left) likewise eye up the Spartans (right):

The Persian (Mardonius) decides to probe the Spartan defenses in the middle of the battlefield, sensing an opportunity to turn the Spartan left or raid the Greek Camp,he sends three stands, his Cavalry, Light Horse and Psilio forward (see below):

Meanwhile over on the Persian right Thebes decides to take the initiative against the Athenians (who seen to be firmly ensconced atop of their hill). The Theban Hoplites (all from strong agricultural farming stock) move forward in unison while the Cavalry (aka the Beotian Horse) and their Psilio detach themselves from the main body hoping to position themselves to tactically 'turn a flank' or perform a 'close the DBA door' later on in the battle (see below):

Sparta counters the Persian initiative in the center by extending their line to the left (coming off the hill and creating a break in their battle line, see below). The trouble is, side way movements with hoplites is expensive, you cannot roll 12 on a single d6 so something will have to give for Sparta. The Persians are also faster 5" (Light Horse), 4" (Cavalry) and 3" (Psilio) compared to the Spartan 2" (Spears) in movement. Something must give here in the long run, either Sparta will take the offensive (and surge) or the "Persian Horse" will run amok in the Spartan rear (ahem, moving quickly on from an obvious historical anecdote).  

Things are shaping up quite nicely.

The Battle of Platea 479BC : Playtest Beta BBDBA - Notes to Self III (and end-game)

The battle continues ...

Thebes tries its best to worry the end of the Athenian line by increasingly cunning manoeuvrings with their cavalry element, while the rest of the hoplites push against each other in a "manly" Greek fashion. No sudden collapse but bad dice for Athens eventually tells as Thebes wins here  [Athenian losses = 4 while Thebes losses = 2] despite the Athenian benefit of the uphill slope (see below):

The Persian success on the right is slow a coming while the Persian collapse that comes on the left is sudden as the Spartan battle line hits the massed ranks of archers in hand-to-hand combat (see below). Gaps immediately start appearing in the Persian ranks [Spartan losses = 0 while Persian looses = 2 from first contact].

Sparta pushes its advantage homes as the "other" Greeks quickly appear, comfortingly plugging the gap in the center and to help the Athenians who in unhistorical fashion are on the verge of collapse thanks to the afore mentioned bad dice rolling (see below): 

The Greek sides "wobble" moment. The Athenian hoplite mass now huddles in a demoralized mass but is still useful remaining on the field as the "other" Greeks start to flank the Thebans (see below): 

The Persian BIG BANG .. [Persian losses = 4 (break) with no casualties on Sparta] and nothing to stop the Spatans from cutting through even more weak Persian infantry coming up in front of them (see below, urgh, nasty memories come flooding back). The Persians start to flee the field (as I didn't roll enough PiP's to hold them all) and it's bad news all round. 

The last line of Persian resistance easily is brushed away. Thebes claims it still has the ability to "fight on" but in reality the future Spartan combats will send the "combined Persian forces" across their break point, by killing more hapless weak Persian infantry. The game is called at this point. Thebes will struggle just to align itself to face the new threat of the "other Greeks" before the Spartan destroy the remaining Persians.

So a good game and a fairly historical result, but not so one-sided as the true History reported via our old friend and companion Herodatus. A few interesting points to take up though in the after battle discussion (see below).

Commentary:

Some thoughts ... and comments from the players

• There was no real need to have three DBA armies aside, two were enough.. 
• As importantly, without wanting to just 'replay' history, it remains a fact that the 'reserves' did not take part in the historical battle as they were too far away so forget about them.
• The reserve activation (and in a sense reinforcing the first point) was just a distraction and wasted more time than adding to game play) and in the end it was "too" easy to get the reserve forces into play "too" early (see Greek "others" appearing in the above photographs).
• As the game was a 'fun' play test with 'experienced' players, run before the main event for 'novice' players, the consensus was that again two armies would be more than enough for novices to worry about on the night.
• The Persian infantry (combat factor of two) are no match for the Spartans (combat factor four) so my artificial division of all the archers in the Persian infantry in one DBA army and all the cavalry in the (reserve) DBA army exacerbated this and actually hindered game play, limiting the options for the Persian player (ahem, ME - stabbed by my own sword, arggh). 

Armed with these thoughts my attention turned back to planning a game for the wargaming virgins ( ... to be continued)

The Battle of Platea 479BC : Playtest Beta BBDBA - Notes to Self II

Seen from the Persian side of the table, the Greek line of Battle (see above), Spartans to the left and Athenians to the right with a collection of "other" Greeks back in their Camp area. Note the disconnected front line, with a large "whole" in the middle of it (the "other" Greeks had historically retreated 'too far' in a night march) which would be so, so tempting to Persian mounted troops.

The Greeks OoB: 

• Sparta: 1 x 4Sp (General), 10 x 4Sp, 1 x 7Hd (Helots)
• Athens: 1 x 4Sp (General), 9 x 4Sp, 1 x 4Bw, 1 x 2Ps
• Other Greeks: 1 x 4Sp (General), 9 x 4Sp, 2 x 2Ps

It doesn't take long before the Beotians (Thebes) heedless of the defensive terrain advantages (+1) got stuck into the uphill Athenians (see below):

Meanwhile the heavy force of Persian archers (SparaBara and Immortals) edged their way into missile range (see below) of the Spartans. The only tactical adjustment made by the Spartans was to try and seal off a portion of the gap between themselves and the Athenians, trying to buy time for the "other" Greeks to catch up.    

In the contest between Athens and Thebes the phalanxes pushed and shoved to not much discernible effect (see below - middle), traditional Greek stuff you could say. Creeping in from the bottom left unobtrusively is a Persian Auxilia element "full of evil intent" [sent by Mardonius himself, aka ME] (see below - bottom left):

"Gotcha" the classic DBA "closing the door" move hopes to see the end of those pesky Athenian archers (see below): 

Now you see him and now you don't (see below), the Athens will shortly be recruiting for more archers, no experience necessary (Score: Thebes 1 and Athens 0): 

The Athenian General on the hill is now starting to worry about a double envelopment as he has two rather open flanks. The Boetians have a Psilio overlap advantage to the left and a  fast moving Theban cavalry element threatens the right. Will Sparta stand idle as the Thebans try to roll up both ends of the Athenian line (see below)? : 

Reluctantly Sparta is forced into action off their nice safe defensive hill and into a maelstrom of Persian arrows as they "darken the sun" (see below):

Sadly (speaking as I was the Persian General [Mardonius] on the day) they had no effect on the bronzed phalanx of Sparta. Not surprisingly I was beginning to have a very bad feeling about all of this. Only the cavalry of my reserve force could be seen of the battlefield (see above bottom right), my infantry support was still far, far away and the terrible Spartans so, so near

:(

The Battle of Platea 479BC : Playtest Beta BBDBA - Notes to Self - Persians

Background as to why I am interested to game "The Battle of Platea 479BC"

Having slowly accrued the DBA armies for a "Greeks in Peril" Campaign over the best part of a decade I am keen to see these toys put to some good use. I still have high hopes to run the full campaign in 2012/13 but  as an immediate "wargaming fix" I opted to stage the major land battle of the campaign. That is Platea 479BC as a BBDBA (Big Battle DBA) "event" for some wargaming virgins (an elder brother of mine, two of his friends and an old school friend of mine [who had done some RPG with me a long,long time ago]).

However I had some major scenario design questions to answer. Would it work with two DBA Armies aside with a third in reserve? Platea was notorious for a third of both armies (Greeks and Persians are both guilty of this) "not getting involved". Therefore I elected to have the third DBA army for each side resident in their army's camp area, fairly dormant until it was somehow "activated". Each turn they would roll and accrue activation points until a target had been reached/passed. A simple enough suggestion but how would it work in practice?

Before I put the game before the 'virgins' I chose another group of wargaming 'Grognards' to blood my beta-test scenario set-up ... read on (another excuse to get the toys on the table).

The Persian BBDBA Force: 2 x DBA Early Achaemenid + 1 x DBA Early Hoplite (Thebes)

Thebes: [1 x 4Sp (Gen) + 9 x 4Sp + 1 x 2ps + 1 x 3Cv] facing the Athenians on a "hill"
Note: A pretty compact force but fielding a useful 3Cv element

Design Note: I decided to mingle both the Persian DBA armies together. I took the bulk of the Persian Infantry and blocked it as "one" DBA army force (Mardonius on the Persian left) with remaining mounted Cavalry/Light Horse plus the remaining Hoard and Psiloi infantry as the reserve "camp based" force

Persian Main Infantry Body: [1 x 8Bw (Gen) + 7 x 8Bw + 2 x 3Bw + 2 x 3Ax]
Note: I had demoted Mardonius (C-in-C) from his Cavalry and stuck him with the Immortals, despite him being mounted he was attached to a unit of a thousand infantry. Arrayed as thus, it did not look too bad (in the very words of a veteran DBM/DBMM Grognard gamer). Note: See the Spartan "long thin line" on their hill in the distance.

Persian Reserve: [1 x 3Cv (Gen) + 3 x 3Cv + 2 x 2LH + 4 x 2Ps + 2 x 7Hd]
Note: I had assume that the cavalry were being rested after all the activity they had been put to in the previous weeks of campaign and that the camp "bric-a-brac" infantry were being slowly roused.PS Please note the fortified camp/stockade complex.

Game Rule: 
To activate the Persian reserve, at the start of each Persian go a d6 is rolled. The Command activates on a 1, or else the score is added to an accumulating total. When the score reached 18 then the commanding General wakes up. Until then everything costs double points to move. Note: The infantry and cavalry were deliberately lined up in separate blocks.   

Next: The Groovy Greeks

Spartan Helots

My DBA Campaign project has been split into two. One a Big Battle DBA game of Platea (for some wargaming virgin friends/family) and then a second more club wargaming orientated "Greeks in Peril" Campaign (which will probably be done using the "Full" Impetus Rules). For the former I need a Spartan Hoard, so courtesy of Xyston my one stand of Hoard (aka Helots) for the DBA Spartan Army (see below): 

Please excuse the fuzzy pictures as they were quickly taken on my BB as I did a circular tour of my ancients collection (see below):

A fair bit of time and effort went into painting them and naturally (those perhaps of very dubious historical authenticity) I let them wear Spartan scarlet red to help spot them easily on the battlefield (see below): 

In the meantime (as a separate birthday treat) I have just received a bundle of Early Achaemenid Persian Immortals for the scheduled Big DBA Battle in October, nothing like a bit of painting pressure/motivation ;)