With my Egyptian army well under way I wanted a framework for a few games. This has taken the form of an Ancient Egyptian warship sized for 28mm, "The Sword of Re," and the beginnings of a Sea Peoples raiding ship.Having seen the raised bronze age wreck at Kyrenia, and the full sized reconstruction in the Ayia Napa Museum, I take issue with some of the "Reed boat" illustrations. Those are a misinterpretation of a much smaller type. The reliefs at Medu Habinet clearly show the type of vessels I want, and getting the sheer of the brick build hull correct is important. The crew will be my Infantry, regulars all. Unlike the Sea Peoples and other Tribal organisations the Egyptians differentiate between rowers and fighting crew. Stillman and Tallis point out that the whole crew would be comprised of soldiers, and of course these are Marines who can just as easily fight ashore.For "Sword" the archers my fighting crew aboard, my spearman the rowers. (Although the intention is to use recessed heads in stripy tea towel hats to represent them.) Ashore the 24 Spearmen take up their weapons to fight in two units flanking the bows
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| Reed boat reconstruction. I'll have to have a few of these too. |
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| The reconstructed ship from the bow (the eyes are very much a speculative Greek addition) The sheer of the hull and the curved deck are distinctive. The railing would be covered in a warship, offering protection for the crew. |
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| And I was so excited I did a selfie! Face masks were compulsory! |
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| The seabed archeology is convincing. |
The view from the stern is also telling. Clearly there are huge parallels between the Egyptian and Sea Peoples vessels. The Kyrenia ship has that keel, rather than a ram, but the steering oar is identical.On table I have some blue felt sections to act as my river Nile. The "Sword" will be instrumental in my campaign to throw the Hyksos invaders out of Egypt. It will also defend the delta against Libyan and Sea People's raids.
My intended tactics of putting the spearmen ashore supported by archers using the ship as a platform may not be entirely historical. I mean Christian Jacq uses it in his novels but enough said really.
