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Did Cavemen have Armies?

Well not 'cavemen' but specifically neolithic humans. Did they use armies?  When did organized warfare start and how organized were the soldiers?  What weapons did they have and for what reason would they fight wars?

As a miniature gamer, I am interested in military history.  I found this interesting article on the interwebs and thought I'd repost it here.  It is a draft of an article by historian Arther Ferrill. It tries to start a discussion about some of this questions. It is a short read and I hope you enjoy it.

Neolithic Warfare by Arther Ferrill
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Comments

  1. Kaptain KoboldApril 28, 2013 at 8:18 PM

    Very interesting read.

    Metagaming did a game called 'Sticks and Stones' many years ago which covered neolithic warfare, albeit at a fairly small scale. And I can see HOTT or DBA probably giving a game of the right scale or feel, although maybe less so for the actions around fortifications.

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  2. HoldFastApril 28, 2013 at 9:25 PM

    I imagine a possible HotT Neolithic army would be..
    Hero General (chieftan) @ 4 AP
    Magician (shaman) @ 4 AP
    2x Shooters (slingers) @ 4 AP
    2x Warband (foot soldiers w stone hatchets) @ 4 AP
    8x Hordes (slaves or soldiers w clubs) @ 8 AP

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    Replies
    1. Kaptain KoboldApril 29, 2013 at 12:30 AM

      That would certainly be a viable fantasy version. For a more 'historical' variant I'd lose the Hero and Magician, and go for more Warband:

      1 x Warband General
      8 x Warband (Warriors with axe or spear)
      2 x Shooters (With slings or spear-throwers)
      2 x Hordes (Women, children, elderly and slaves)

      Its opponent would be the same :)

      I'd possibly swap one Warband for a Beast (dogs), although at the scale of warfare we're depicting they are probably best just included as part of the Warband elements.

      Delete

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