Welcome to the Baccus weekly update, and what is currently a rare occurrence – the weekly new releases without any shades of olive drab, khaki or dunkelgelb. But more of that later, as it’s time for the order number update. This week we have reached the dizzying heights of #23380.
The first of this week’s releases is more of a new look for an old friend. Many years ago, Duncan Head introduced the wargaming world to the idea that Achaemenid Persian infantry formations consisted of a front rank of bearded chaps carrying very large shields (Spara) behind which they could stand and poke long sharp pointy things at anyone threatening them. This left all the subsequent ranks of bearded chaps to work in relative peace and hurl invective, javelins, rocks and especially arrows on those aforementioned threatening foemen. The subsequent formation therefore looked a bit like the photo labelled APE1. (See link)
The theory was backed up by very substantial literary and artistic sources and most rules writers incorporated these Spara formations into their army lists.
However, nagging in the background were reliefs from Royal palaces depicting Immortal infantry equipped with a distinctive dipylon shield, whose presence was never quite satisfactorily explained.
Over the years, the more traditional view of Persian infantry being more conventionally spear and shield equipped infantry has never quite gone away as my email inbox can attest. As a result we’ve formally given into the pressure and the result is APE2a -Immortals, Shield.

Carrying on with the theme of old friends revisited, I’m really excited to be able to release our new full colour edition of our Polemos Rules for the Wars of the Spanish Succession. The rules themselves are the same, but they presentation has been substantially upgraded.

For those of you missing your weekly fix of treads and tyres, normal service will be resumed.
Finally, please keep those order for Vapnartak coming in.
You know it makes sense!