Parasim Garamantim (Garamantine Cavalry)

Parasim Garamantim (Garamantes Cavalry)
Parasim Garamantim (Garamantes Cavalry)
Primary Weapon	Type: javelin Attack: 7 Charge: 0 Lethality: 1 Range: 60 Ammo: 3 Attributes: thrown missile
Secondary Weapon	Type: spear Attack: 6 Charge: 13 Lethality: 1
Defence	Armour: 2 Shield: 2 Skill: 3
Recruitment	Soldiers: 40 Cost: 1000 Upkeep: 250 Turns: 1
Mental	Morale: 4 Discipline: low Training: untrained
Other	Hit Points: 1 Mass: 1 Attributes: Can board ships, Can hide in forests, Hardy, Peasant, Free upkeep Formation: square Side/Back spacing: 3.7/3.6 Mount effects: elephant -1 Ownership: Numidia, Carthage

The Garamantim light cavalry is skilled at fighting with javelins. Despite their daring disposition, they are best kept at a distance from the enemy.

Description

The Garamantine warriors are masters of hit and run tactics. Striking in raids from their oasis strongholds they attack towns, outposts, watchtowers and nomadic tribes. Their cavalry fight first with throwing spears and javelins, but can close or chase when necessary with their spears and leather shields. They wear ostrich feathers tied to their heads and paint their bodies to make themselves appear more fearsome and impressive, and wear a cow skin cloak for protection both on the battlefield and against the natural environment. These men, despite their daring disposition, are light cavalry and should not be expected to break the enemy in a frontal charge. Rather, these men are best used to encircle the enemy and to chase down those who attempt to flee the battlefield.

Historically, the Garamantines were a group of Berber tribes living in North central Africa on the fringe of the Sahara desert where they herded cattle and worked irrigated farmland. They conducted raids against towns to the North and against the nomadic Saharan people known to the Greeks as the Troglodytai. The Garamantines reached dominance in the second and third century AD and are often referred to as one of the first great Berber nations. They fought on foot, from horseback and from chariots. Much of the evidence for their equipment comes from their own rock art and Egyptian paintings of Libyan soldiers. Herodotos refers to the Garamantines as a fierce and aggressive tribe that would hunt down the Troglodytai, but also says that they are a people who know little of war. Herodotos made the them famous for his fanciful tale of the cattle they raised, which supposedly had horns so long that they had to graze backwards.