I've read Herodotus. Now that that's out of the way, do people actually think the Achaemenid Immortals wore scale corselets? Is there any solid archaeological evidence?

Mike Loades will know 

Not acquainted with the gentleman.

The only reference to the Immortals I'm aware of is in Herodotus and texts based on his.

The Immortals is almost certainly a misnomer, the actual unit was probably known as The Companions.

Herodotus says they wore scale under their robes but also that they were lightly armoured compared with the Greeks. They seem not to have worn helmets (just the fabric tiara) which are more common than body armour. Unusual to wear the latter but not the former, IMHO. That said, if they were royal bodyguards then scale corselets to improve survivability in the event they had to thwart an assassination attempt does not seem unlikely and might explain the wearing of the armour under the robes.

Basically, nobody knows for sure and your guess is very much as good as anyone else's.

They may never have existed and have been the result of a complete misunderstanding by Herodotus.

If they existed at all, they were well trained, well equipped, close order, high morale, shielded infantry who may have been lightly armoured.

And, I assume, did not go to war in court dress, as depicted on reliefs.

Plenty of troops went to war in very similar dress so entirely possible they did.

They almost certainly didn't wear steel masks and dress entirely in black

I always assumed they wore metal skull caps under their headgear, and dressed more in the Median than the Persian style (baggy trousers, belted tunic)

Not beyond the bounds of possibility that they wore scale under the tunic. I always classify them as heavy infantry.   

Scale armour is mentioned, helmets are not. I'd expect the helmets to be mentioned if they wore them, especially if both are worn under their robes and are therefore not obvious.

Exact classification would depend on the rules used but their armour should ideally be modelled as significantly less effective than the Greek hoplite panoply. 

Can't get my wife into any sort of corset.  Or stockings.  Paint that if you wish  ...

Quote from: Last Hussar on 09 November 2015, 08:57:36 PM
Can't get my wife into any sort of corset.  Or stockings.  Paint that if you wish  ...

Paint a corset and stockings on your wife !!!! In the same way the lady in the totty thread has a flag painted on her.??   

I think you have the wrong forum Sir !

'nutha query. If the story about reserves is true, should a Persian player be allowed to replace a destroyed unit of these troops on the battlefield (but back at camp) on the following round? Or is that too fanciful?

Pretty sure the battle would be over before replacements were found.

A unit destroyed in a game is not going to be a total loss in the Real World (tm) so they'd need to sort out the dead and those so badly wounded they weren't coming back before selecting replacements.

For campaign games, having them automatically back to full strength for the next battle would make sense though.

Quote from: FierceKitty on 30 October 2015, 11:36:25 AM
I've read Herodotus. Now that that's out of the way, do people actually think the Achaemenid Immortals wore scale corselets? Is there any solid archaeological evidence?

I built a Persian army many years ago during the 70's which was inspired by the Shah of Iran's 2500 year celebration of Persian history. There were many images at the time showing Persian soldiers including the Immortals. The impression I got was that these people knew their subject and the soldiers were probably as accurate as you can get. The Immortals were shown as a "corps" rather than a single multi weaponed troop type, so you had spearmen, bowmen, and Pavise men which at the time contradicted WRG interpretation and was much in keeping with earlier Assyrian practice.

A quick google produces: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,500_year_celebration_of_the_Persian_Empire#/media/File:AchaemenidSoldiers.jpg
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=shah+of+iran+parade&biw=1297&bih=672&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCoQsARqFQoTCJiyv_rAhMkCFcH4DgodnJsKrg&dpr=1#imgrc=Rsivtb7WATNXmM%3A


Rob