Mortal Gods – Army of Thebes

Who would have known? Originally I only wanted to paint a small group of Thebans for demo purposes, but after the “small” demo was so successful and a demo in full game size was also well received during my visit to the Rhein Main Tabletopclub e.V., I decided to bring both, the Thebans and the Plataians, to full size.

In fact, not much was missing from both armies, because I had already increased the size of both factions by another unit.

The former size of the army

The challenge was not only to make them visually fit into a theme, but also to make them fit into the game in such a way that they have their own character. In the case of the Thebans, a little more punch seemed like the right choice, so I added another troop of slingers, a veteran hoplite and a new model for the Lochagos. The original leader has moved into the role of a regular captain and, in the form of a Promachos, now represents the smaller of the two melee heroes.

Adding slingers to the troops should also show that the Thebans need to be closer to the enemy. Of the ranged troops, slingers have the shortest range.

The Veteran should help me get my melee troops into the fray faster. He has a special rule called “Order the Charge” and I like to use a “rubber band” strategy. Basically, it works like this: the leader orders a squad to move forward. This squad then moves forward with its own movement. The veteran then follows up, before ordering an attack himself. And then you're in close combat.

The leader was also given the “Weapons Master” card, which allows him to perform an additional melee round once per game, as if he had achieved an overkill bonus. This is only possible once per game, but overall it made him a pretty efficient fighter who could finish off enemy heroes, when he already drew some blood.

In general, the army feels much more melee-oriented this way and I think that reflects the Thebans quite well. Maybe I'll add a squad of hoplites to the whole thing, or swap out the experienced Peripoloi, just to add a bit more variety to the demos, but for now I'm happy with them. If you would like to try out the line-up, you can find the corresponding list here:

• 65 Lochagos, heavy armor
• 5 Weapons Master
• 45 Promachos, medium armor
• 45 Veteran Hoplite
• 40 Experienced Peripoloi
• 35 Peripoloi
• 32 Slingers
• 32 Slingers

Total, 299 points

Greetings from the Chaosbunker

Dino