Lagenas Kontegi (Belgai Swordsmen)

Lagenas Kontegi (Belgai Swordsmen)
Lagenas Kontegi (Belgai Swordsmen)
Primary Weapon	Type: javelin Attack: 7 Charge: 0 Lethality: 1 Range: 60 Ammo: 3 Attributes: thrown before charge, thrown missile
Secondary Weapon	Type: sword Attack: 10 Charge: 10 Lethality: 1 Attributes: none
Defence	Armour: 3 Shield: 5 Skill: 9
Recruitment	Soldiers: 64 Cost: 1230 Upkeep: 231 Turns: 1
Mental	Morale: 10 Discipline: disciplined Training: trained
Other	Hit Points: 1 Mass: 1.3 Attributes: Can board ships, Improved hiding in forests, Hardy Formation: square Side/Back spacing: 1.8/1.8 Ownership: Aedui, Arverni

The Lagenas Kontegi form the shock troops of the Belgai nations. These Belgic warriors are renowned far and wide for their bravery and ferocity. Although considered perhaps too impetuous by the standards of other nations, there are few enemies who can resist the initial assault of these swordsmen.

Description

Bravery, it is said, must be taught. But to behold the warriors of the Belgai is to believe that they were taught bravery in the womb. Any obstacle, be it river or brook, hedgerow or thicket, rampart or hill: any obstacle may be overcome when the Lagenas Kontegi thirst for glory. It is a thirst only quenched by the blood of their foes, a hunger for fame sated solely by the slicing of flesh. When these men begin their assault, it is not their foes which concern them, it is their own people. No enemy, no matter how great or renowned, will inspire fear in the hearts of these men, for to sit in the halls and houses of your own kin and be branded a coward, well... Perhaps it would have been kinder never to have been born at all.

Historically, classical authors frequently chose to depict Iron Age communities as warlike, although there is much debate as to how many of these accounts simply subscribed to a generic view of Iron Age peoples, rather than giving accurate portrayals of them. In north-eastern Gaul (modern-day Picardy) however, archaeological evidence does seem to suggest that the communities inhabiting this region were particularly martial. Although burials for this region rarely contain weapons, with a few exceptions, there is plentiful evidence for this from other contexts. During the middle phase of the La Tène period (c.250-150BC) a variety of temples were constructed within this area. At temples such as Gournay-sur-Aronde, where numerous weapons were deposited, or Ribemont-sur-Ancre, where a gallery of decapitated warriors was erected, the data suggests a high degree of socially acceptable violence existed during this period. At the temple of Fesques in Normandy, archaeologists have found evidence for a line of pits in which humans were buried standing up: possibly in order to provide a grisly display of corpses. In the final hundred years or so of the north Gallic Iron Age, graves containing weaponry are known from a few examples, such as Vismes-au-Val. Although weaponry ceased to be deposited at temples, being replaced instead by coins and brooches, the historical data we have support the idea that warfare in north-eastern Gaul continued to be widely practiced.