Assyrians 1, Egyptians 0

[toxicpixie]

Good stuff

I like the look of the MM chariots, but at twice the price I'm not so tempted...

[FierceKitty]

The Newlines are better anyway, but I wanted the commanders to look distinct from the rest.

[toxicpixie]

Are they?

Right then, more Newlines it is

Although I have some Syrian infantry to collect at WMMS in March, need proper bowmen and spearmen to absorb the Egyptian arrow storm!

[FierceKitty]

The Midianite camelry, with two riders per mount, have proved capable of putting out a killing arrow storm, though the return fire hurts them too, being as they are quite without protection. I've made them unreliable allies, since I'm sure they weren't too keen on the Assyrians, but they did sterling service in this last battle.

[toxicpixie]

I don't think *anyone* was very keen on the Assyrians were they?!

Although I guess Midianite cameleers can always disappear into the desert with ease, should they decide it just ain't worth it...

[FierceKitty]

I have read a few suggestions that those ghastly carvings illustrating the fate of captured enemies might have been warnings rather than records, and that such atrocities may have been less everyday run of the mill policy than they seem. But I'm in no position to evaluate such a claim, and I suppose historians in a thousand years may be speculating on whether the Third Reich really did all it was accused of.
(Yes, I know about Holocaust denial. Don't hijack us.)

[toxicpixie]

I do wonder on the Assyrians - if they were actually as bad as they're painted I have half a suspicion everyone in a very large area might have happily combined to wipe them out, then salt the earth they lived on... Although I suppose something must account for their resilience as they seem to be the empire that just keeps on popping back up again  and again!

[FierceKitty]

Really? I'd say that about the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Jews; but the Assyrians had just a couple of centuries, and nobody had a good word to say for them after they'd gone. I think of them as the Americans of the ancient near-east.

[paulr]

Really? I'd say that about the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Jews; but the Assyrians had just a couple of centuries, and nobody had a good word to say for them after they'd gone. I think of them as the Americans of the ancient near-east.

[toxicpixie]

Well, maybe not as a "great power" for all that time, but they were pretty much functional and whole (even when under others a a client) from around 2600BC to 600BC - that's a bit more than "a couple of centuries"... like saying Egypt only had the bit around the Kushite Empires, or only existed at the high point immediately pre-Bronze Age collapse whilst fighting Hittites

Compare that with Hurri-Mitanni or even the Hittites.

[Ithoriel]

Although I guess Midianite cameleers can always disappear into the desert with ease, should they decide it just ain't worth it...

One theory around "two Midianites, one camel" is that the Assyrians had killed enough camels to force the Midianites into this, so disappearing into the desert might not work as well as one might expect!

I understand camels are bigger, slower and less manoeuvrable than horses. Double manning must have made that worse.

[toxicpixie]

Haha, that's one way of dealing with the thieving murdering desert gits. As I understand it, they were bad enough with donkeys and carrying their gear on foot, give them camels and they were a nightmare.

Step 1/ Remove camels
Step 2/ Remove desert nomads
Step 3/ ?
Step 4/ PROFIT!

[FierceKitty]

And then time for a cup of coffee, mellow and subtle as a Nevada sunrise, because here at Asurbanipal coffee, we understand the importance of doing that little bit extra to guarantee quality....

[toxicpixie]

Weirdly (or perhaps not so weirdly as it's breakfast time/start of work here...) I was just enjoying a smooth, rich coffee as I read that!

Mmmm, that's some mighty fine camel murdering there, Lou-Ashurbanipal!

[Hertsblue]

I understand camels are bigger, slower and less manoeuvrable than horses. Double manning must have made that worse.

Don't you believe it. Over any sort of distance a camel will run a horse into the ground. That's why camel race tracks are three or four miles around. 

[Ithoriel]

Oh, camels definitely win out on endurance .... not much of an advantage if your big, slow silhouette has allowed the Assyrian archers to turn you into a camel shaped pincushion

Horses are sprinters, camels are long-distance runners.

Doubling up the riders doesn't help either, however!

[Fenton]

Looking at Wikipedia

Racing camel speed 65 km/hr

Horse Galloping 40-48 km/hr

[Ithoriel]

Yeah ... but I doubt many Midianites were riding racing camels

On average, from what I've read, horses are faster over shorter distances and camels over longer ones.

[FierceKitty]

I think modern figures for horses, and to  lesser extent camels, may be a shaky guide to the paces of breeds two and a half millennia ago.

[FierceKitty]

An Egyptian village, liberated from Assyrian aggression this evening by some lucky movement rolls and my better half's failure to protect her flanks properly. Lack of armour against an enemy strong in firepower is painful, however, even if you win.