[Low-Tech Loadouts] Etruscan Warrior, 7th to 3rd century B.C.

Rasna · 08-01-2017, 07:39 AM

I've tried to reconstruct some loadouts based only on strictly historical evidence. I think there are some grammatical errors. Unfortunately, my English is far from perfection.

Main Sources:
- Archaeological Museum of Florence
- G. Camporeale, “Etruscans: History and Civilization”
- M. Martinelli, “The spear, the sword, the horse. The phenomenon of war in Etruria and Central Italy between Bronze Age and Iron Age”
- S. Menchelli, F. Magno, G. Piero Orsingher, “Etruscan Warriors”

Etruscans adopted the hoplite phalanx from Greeks around early 7th century B.C., a period which also saw the rise of urban centres in Etruria. The model of citizen phalanx became prevalent over the model of aristocratic war bands without replacing it completely (as an example, in the disastrous defeat of Roman gens Fabia by the hands of the Etruscan city of Veii, occurred in 477 B.C.). According to prescriptions of Libri Rituales, soldiers were divided into classes based on census: 1st class soldiers (Status 1-2) fought as hoplites in full panoply; 2nd class soldiers (Status 0) and 3rd class soldiers (Status -1) were less armored hoplites: they had no bronze cuirass (replaced by a smaller pectoral, a quilted linen or layered leather corselets or - for some soldiers of the 3rd class - not replaced at all), they may had no bronze greaves and they were often equipped with rectangular shields greater than the Argive. The 4th class included a wide variety of troops: archers, axemen (men in full hoplitic armour armed with two-handed axes, employed for breaking the spears of enemy phalanxes but lately discarded in the Classical Era), light cavalry, skirmishers, slingers and mercenaries. Most of the latter were engaged from Italic populations, but some of them were Greeks, Gauls, Sardinians and possibly Illyrians. Heavy cavalrymen didn't actually fought on horseback: they were mounted infantry and they often constituted the commander's bodyguards.

Armour
Broadly speaking, Etruscan Hoplites were armed in a similar manner of their Greek counterparts: a long spear with butt spike (dory), a shortsword (both straight and recurved types were in use), the Argive shield (aspis), a variety of bronze helmets (both open and closed, often crested), cuirass (bronze plate – thorax, bronze or iron scale, quilted linen – linothorax and layered leather spolas), a kilt of overlapping quilted linen stripes (pteruges) and bronze greaves (knèmides). Despite strong Greek influence, there were some differences in clothing and weaponry. Etruscan chitôn, made of wool or linen, usually covered the shoulders, and local leather shoes were usually preferred over Greek-style sandals. Iron or bronze scale cuirasses seemed to be more common in Etruria than in Greece (as shown in the bronze statue of Mars of Todi and several other statues and paintings). Rarely, pteruges could be replaced by a sort of mail skirt made of butted rings, attached to the bottom of the bronze cuirass or a wide bronze belt – which is probably the most ancient kind of mail armour having archaeological evidence. Two 5th century terracotta statues of Falerii represent warriors in full panoply, featuring a linothorax with shoulder guards and bronze thigh guards that wrap around the upper thighs (the latter probably considered obsolete in coeval Greece).

Helmets
Several types of helmets were in use: “Attic” and “Calcidian” (treat both as Pot Helm + Nape Guard + Cheek Guards; ears are left unprotected, and sometimes “Attic” helmets had no cheek guards), several variations of “Corinthian” (treat full enclosed models as Full Helm; treat more open models, some of them astonishing similar to the late medieval “Barbuta”, as Bascinet + Cheek Guards, sometimes with a Nasal), “Etruscan-Corinthian” (shaped like the “Corinthian” helmet but worn like a skullcap; treat as Pot Helm, with the possible addition of the Nape Guard), “Negau” (treat as Pot Helm + Brim) and, from 4th century B.C., the Gaulish “Montefortino” (treat as Pot Helm + Cheek Guards; sometimes it had a brim, and cheek guards may be non-metallic). Simple bronze skullcaps were also in use both before and after the introduction of the phalanx. Villanovan pot helms had very high bronze crests and were often decorated with geometrical motives, while another ancient form of helmet consisted in a base made of wicker reinforced with bronze phaleras.

Shields
As for the Greeks, the Argive shield (aspis) was the shield of choice for hoplites (see Argive Shield, Low-Tech, p. 115). Treat rectangular shields used by 2nd and 3rd class infantry as Heavy Large Shield (Low-Tech, p. 114) with the Shield (Buckler) specialty. More ancient shields and shields used by light cavalry should qualify as Medium Homeric Buckler (Low-Tech, p. 115), while other shields used by Italic and Gaulish mercenaries should qualify as Light or Heavy Medium Shield (Low-Tech, p. 114) with the Shield (Buckler) specialty.

Aspis: DB 2, $ 120, 15 lbs, DR 4, HP 20, Cover DR 9, +1 DB when used in a shield wall.
Large Infantry Shield: DB 3, $ 90, 20 lbs, DR 4, HP 22, Cover DR 9.
Villanovan Shield: DB 2, $ 100, 16 lbs, DR 4, HP 21, Cover DR 9.
Medium Infantry Shield, Light: DB 2, $ 45, 7 lbs, DR 2, HP 16, Cover DR 6.
Medium Infantry Shield, Heavy: DB 2, $ 60, 14 lbs, DR 4, HP 20, Cover DR 9.

Weapons
Spears, shortswords and knives made of bronze or iron were the weapons of choice for the majority of soldiers, especially for 1st, 2nd and 3rd classes. Usually, spears used by hoplites were similar to Greek Dory, including a butt spike at the end (treat them as Long Spear with Butt Spike), but shorter spears were used as well, especially from skirmishers and light cavalry (treat them as Spear, some of them also having Butt Spike, or as Javelin). Some spears had impressive bronze long spikes more than 70 cm long, like the one exposed in the Archeological Museum of Florence (treat them as Spear with Long Spike). The Pilum, which was lately adopted by Romans for centuries, was already in use in 5th century Etruria, as shown by several grave findings.
Shortswords were straight thrusting swords (treat them as Long Knife or Shortsword), recurved chopping swords with concave blades (treat them as Kukri, Small Falchion or Falchion) or short heavy sabres (treat them as Shortsword with the Falchion modify). Some chopping swords were of broadsword size (treat them as Large Falchion). Gaulish mercenaries used straight broadswords, often with no proper point (treat them as Broadsword, more rarely as Thrusting Broadsword). Weapons assimilable to Dagger, Small Knife and Large Knife were ubiquitous.
Axes were also in use. Axemen of 4th class were armed with two-handed axes (treat them as Axe; Long Axe is also possible, but it's unlikely), and smaller axes were in use both as weapons and as utensils (treat them as Hatchet or Small Axe). Double-bitted axes were brought by commanders as symbol of authority but it's unlikely they were actually used in combat (treat them as Small Axe with an adjunctive Axe Head). Stone-head maces and wooden clubs weren't weapons of choice for the vast majority of fighters during the Italian Iron Age, with the possible exception of Sardinians.
Javelins and slings were the main ranged weapons during this period. Most bows used in warfare were self-bows of short or average size (treat them as Short Bow or Regular Bow). Longbows were known in Europe since the Neolithic, but they don't seem to be in use in the Mediterranean area, or at least their use was very infrequent. Some bows imported from Egypt and the Levant might qualify as Straight Composite Bow or as Reflex Bow.

AXE/MACE (Low-Tech, p. 65)
* Axe
* Hatchet
* Small Axe
* Small Axe + Axe Head (Rare/Ceremonial) (see Axe Head, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors pp. 13-14)
* Small Round Mace

BROADSWORD (Low-Tech, pp. 65-66)
* Large Falchion

KNIFE (Low-Tech, p. 67)
* Dagger
* Kukri
* Large Knife
* Long Knife
* Short Baton
* Small Knife

SHORTSWORD (Low-Tech, p. 69)
* Baton
* Falchion
* Shortsword
* Shortsword + Falchion modify (see Falchion, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors p. 12)
* Small Falchion

SPEAR (Low-Tech, p. 69)
* Javelin
* Long Spear
* Long Spear + Butt Spike (see Butt Spike – Small Spear Point, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors p. 14)
* Pilum (see Pilum, Low-Tech, p. 73)
* Spear
* Spear + Butt Spike (see Butt Spike – Small Spear Point, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors p. 14)
* Spear + Long Spike (see Spearhead – Long Spike, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors p. 15)
* Spear + Butt Spike + Long Spike (see Butt Spike – Small Spear Point and Spearhead – Long Spike, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors pp. 14-15)

TWO-HANDED AXE/MACE (Low-Tech, p. 70)
* Axe

BOW (Low-Tech, p. 76)
* Regular Bow
* Short Bow

SLING (Low-Tech, p. 76)
* Heavy Sling
* Sling

OTHER POSSIBLE WEAPONS
* Axe + Axe Head (Rare/Ceremonial) (see Axe Head, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors pp. 13-14)
* Broadsword (Gaulish)
* Great Axe (Rare/Ceremonial)
* Heavy Spear
* Heavy Spear + Butt Spike (see Butt Spike – Small Spear Point, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors p. 14)
* Knobbed Club
* Long Axe (Rare)
* Long Axe + Axe Head (Rare/Ceremonial) (see Axe Head, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors pp. 13-14)
* Longbow (Germanic)
* Pike (Macedonian)
* Reflex Bow (Eastern)
* Round Mace
* Short Spear
* Sickle
* Straight Composite Bow (Eastern)
* Thrusting Broadsword (Gaulish)

08-01-2017, 07:39 AM	#1
Rasna Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Pisa, Tuscany, Italy	[Low-Tech Loadouts] Etruscan Warrior, 7th to 3rd century B.C. I've tried to reconstruct some loadouts based only on strictly historical evidence. I think there are some grammatical errors. Unfortunately, my English is far from perfection. Main Sources: - Archaeological Museum of Florence - G. Camporeale, “Etruscans: History and Civilization” - M. Martinelli, “The spear, the sword, the horse. The phenomenon of war in Etruria and Central Italy between Bronze Age and Iron Age” - S. Menchelli, F. Magno, G. Piero Orsingher, “Etruscan Warriors” Etruscans adopted the hoplite phalanx from Greeks around early 7th century B.C., a period which also saw the rise of urban centres in Etruria. The model of citizen phalanx became prevalent over the model of aristocratic war bands without replacing it completely (as an example, in the disastrous defeat of Roman gens Fabia by the hands of the Etruscan city of Veii, occurred in 477 B.C.). According to prescriptions of Libri Rituales, soldiers were divided into classes based on census: 1st class soldiers (Status 1-2) fought as hoplites in full panoply; 2nd class soldiers (Status 0) and 3rd class soldiers (Status -1) were less armored hoplites: they had no bronze cuirass (replaced by a smaller pectoral, a quilted linen or layered leather corselets or - for some soldiers of the 3rd class - not replaced at all), they may had no bronze greaves and they were often equipped with rectangular shields greater than the Argive. The 4th class included a wide variety of troops: archers, axemen (men in full hoplitic armour armed with two-handed axes, employed for breaking the spears of enemy phalanxes but lately discarded in the Classical Era), light cavalry, skirmishers, slingers and mercenaries. Most of the latter were engaged from Italic populations, but some of them were Greeks, Gauls, Sardinians and possibly Illyrians. Heavy cavalrymen didn't actually fought on horseback: they were mounted infantry and they often constituted the commander's bodyguards. *Armour* Broadly speaking, Etruscan Hoplites were armed in a similar manner of their Greek counterparts: a long spear with butt spike (dory), a shortsword (both straight and recurved types were in use), the Argive shield (aspis), a variety of bronze helmets (both open and closed, often crested), cuirass (bronze plate – thorax, bronze or iron scale, quilted linen – linothorax and layered leather spolas), a kilt of overlapping quilted linen stripes (pteruges) and bronze greaves (knèmides). Despite strong Greek influence, there were some differences in clothing and weaponry. Etruscan chitôn, made of wool or linen, usually covered the shoulders, and local leather shoes were usually preferred over Greek-style sandals. Iron or bronze scale cuirasses seemed to be more common in Etruria than in Greece (as shown in the bronze statue of Mars of Todi and several other statues and paintings). Rarely, pteruges could be replaced by a sort of mail skirt made of butted rings, attached to the bottom of the bronze cuirass or a wide bronze belt – which is probably the most ancient kind of mail armour having archaeological evidence. Two 5th century terracotta statues of Falerii represent warriors in full panoply, featuring a linothorax with shoulder guards and bronze thigh guards that wrap around the upper thighs (the latter probably considered obsolete in coeval Greece). *Helmets* Several types of helmets were in use: “Attic” and “Calcidian” (treat both as Pot Helm + Nape Guard + Cheek Guards; ears are left unprotected, and sometimes “Attic” helmets had no cheek guards), several variations of “Corinthian” (treat full enclosed models as Full Helm; treat more open models, some of them astonishing similar to the late medieval “Barbuta”, as Bascinet + Cheek Guards, sometimes with a Nasal), “Etruscan-Corinthian” (shaped like the “Corinthian” helmet but worn like a skullcap; treat as Pot Helm, with the possible addition of the Nape Guard), “Negau” (treat as Pot Helm + Brim) and, from 4th century B.C., the Gaulish “Montefortino” (treat as Pot Helm + Cheek Guards; sometimes it had a brim, and cheek guards may be non-metallic). Simple bronze skullcaps were also in use both before and after the introduction of the phalanx. Villanovan pot helms had very high bronze crests and were often decorated with geometrical motives, while another ancient form of helmet consisted in a base made of wicker reinforced with bronze phaleras. *Shields* As for the Greeks, the Argive shield (aspis) was the shield of choice for hoplites (see Argive Shield, Low-Tech, p. 115). Treat rectangular shields used by 2nd and 3rd class infantry as Heavy Large Shield (Low-Tech, p. 114) with the Shield (Buckler) specialty. More ancient shields and shields used by light cavalry should qualify as Medium Homeric Buckler (Low-Tech, p. 115), while other shields used by Italic and Gaulish mercenaries should qualify as Light or Heavy Medium Shield (Low-Tech, p. 114) with the Shield (Buckler) specialty. Aspis: DB 2, $ 120, 15 lbs, DR 4, HP 20, Cover DR 9, +1 DB when used in a shield wall. Large Infantry Shield: DB 3, $ 90, 20 lbs, DR 4, HP 22, Cover DR 9. Villanovan Shield: DB 2, $ 100, 16 lbs, DR 4, HP 21, Cover DR 9. Medium Infantry Shield, Light: DB 2, $ 45, 7 lbs, DR 2, HP 16, Cover DR 6. Medium Infantry Shield, Heavy: DB 2, $ 60, 14 lbs, DR 4, HP 20, Cover DR 9. *Weapons* Spears, shortswords and knives made of bronze or iron were the weapons of choice for the majority of soldiers, especially for 1st, 2nd and 3rd classes. Usually, spears used by hoplites were similar to Greek Dory, including a butt spike at the end (treat them as Long Spear with Butt Spike), but shorter spears were used as well, especially from skirmishers and light cavalry (treat them as Spear, some of them also having Butt Spike, or as Javelin). Some spears had impressive bronze long spikes more than 70 cm long, like the one exposed in the Archeological Museum of Florence (treat them as Spear with Long Spike). The Pilum, which was lately adopted by Romans for centuries, was already in use in 5th century Etruria, as shown by several grave findings. Shortswords were straight thrusting swords (treat them as Long Knife or Shortsword), recurved chopping swords with concave blades (treat them as Kukri, Small Falchion or Falchion) or short heavy sabres (treat them as Shortsword with the Falchion modify). Some chopping swords were of broadsword size (treat them as Large Falchion). Gaulish mercenaries used straight broadswords, often with no proper point (treat them as Broadsword, more rarely as Thrusting Broadsword). Weapons assimilable to Dagger, Small Knife and Large Knife were ubiquitous. Axes were also in use. Axemen of 4th class were armed with two-handed axes (treat them as Axe; Long Axe is also possible, but it's unlikely), and smaller axes were in use both as weapons and as utensils (treat them as Hatchet or Small Axe). Double-bitted axes were brought by commanders as symbol of authority but it's unlikely they were actually used in combat (treat them as Small Axe with an adjunctive Axe Head). Stone-head maces and wooden clubs weren't weapons of choice for the vast majority of fighters during the Italian Iron Age, with the possible exception of Sardinians. Javelins and slings were the main ranged weapons during this period. Most bows used in warfare were self-bows of short or average size (treat them as Short Bow or Regular Bow). Longbows were known in Europe since the Neolithic, but they don't seem to be in use in the Mediterranean area, or at least their use was very infrequent. Some bows imported from Egypt and the Levant might qualify as Straight Composite Bow or as Reflex Bow. AXE/MACE (Low-Tech, p. 65) * Axe * Hatchet * Small Axe * Small Axe + Axe Head (Rare/Ceremonial) (see Axe Head, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors pp. 13-14) * Small Round Mace BROADSWORD (Low-Tech, pp. 65-66) * Large Falchion KNIFE (Low-Tech, p. 67) * Dagger * Kukri * Large Knife * Long Knife * Short Baton * Small Knife SHORTSWORD (Low-Tech, p. 69) * Baton * Falchion * Shortsword * Shortsword + Falchion modify (see Falchion, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors p. 12) * Small Falchion SPEAR (Low-Tech, p. 69) * Javelin * Long Spear * Long Spear + Butt Spike (see Butt Spike – Small Spear Point, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors p. 14) * Pilum (see Pilum, Low-Tech, p. 73) * Spear * Spear + Butt Spike (see Butt Spike – Small Spear Point, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors p. 14) * Spear + Long Spike (see Spearhead – Long Spike, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors p. 15) * Spear + Butt Spike + Long Spike (see Butt Spike – Small Spear Point and Spearhead – Long Spike, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors pp. 14-15) TWO-HANDED AXE/MACE (Low-Tech, p. 70) * Axe BOW (Low-Tech, p. 76) * Regular Bow * Short Bow SLING (Low-Tech, p. 76) * Heavy Sling * Sling OTHER POSSIBLE WEAPONS * Axe + Axe Head (Rare/Ceremonial) (see Axe Head, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors pp. 13-14) * Broadsword (Gaulish) * Great Axe (Rare/Ceremonial) * Heavy Spear * Heavy Spear + Butt Spike (see Butt Spike – Small Spear Point, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors p. 14) * Knobbed Club * Long Axe (Rare) * Long Axe + Axe Head (Rare/Ceremonial) (see Axe Head, Low-Tech, Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors pp. 13-14) * Longbow (Germanic) * Pike (Macedonian) * Reflex Bow (Eastern) * Round Mace * Short Spear * Sickle * Straight Composite Bow (Eastern) * Thrusting Broadsword (Gaulish) Last edited by Rasna; 12-26-2018 at 03:06 PM.