I’ve been thinking about a chariot period project for a while and have been toying with the idea of something about the Sea Peoples. Then I saw three armies painted by Silurian Wargames Limited: Sea Peoples, Hittite Empire and New Kingdom Egyptian. I couldn’t resist. So yet another project starts.
Time Period
The project will span the period from 1274 to 1100 BC. The start is marked by the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC). The end date is when the Sea Peoples confederation was dispersed and separate tribes settled around the mediterranean.
Why a Sea Peoples Project?
There are several reasons why a Sea Peoples project appeals to me:
- Chariots
- Israel
- Battle of Kadesh
- Clash of Titans
- Interesting bit players
- Pretty
Chariots. What can I say. Has to be done. A wargaming collection would not be complete without some chariots.
Clearly this is not about Spain and Portugal, my main military history interests. But it is about Israel, one of my secondary interests. Not that Israelis or Hebrews fought during these wars. But the campaigns spanned the area covered by modern Israel and the Levant in general. And the Peleset, one of the Sea Peoples tribes, entered Biblical history after they settled in the southern Levant and came into conflict with the Hebrews; you might know them as the Philistines.
I’ve included the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC) in the project. The justification, if I need one, is because tribes that would become the Sea Peoples were fighting on both sides. However Kadesh is much more interesting than that. It is the earliest battle in recorded history for which details of tactics and formations are known and it was a huge chariot bash with perhaps 5,000–6,000 chariots. Kadesh was also the subject of the Society of Ancients battle day in 2011.
This project also lets me collect armies for two of the major players in the Biblical world: Hatti and Egypt. The Sea Peoples destroyed the Hittite Empire, had several goes at Egypt, but were ultimately defeated and more or less forcefully settled .
Aside from the big nations there were also several interesting bit players: Libyan, Mycenaean, Canaanite, and Ugarit.
Finally, this project is going to be pretty.
Homework
I’ll have to do some homework on this one.
- Timeline
- Who were the Sea Peoples?
- DBA army lists (and potentially revisions) for:
- I/20 Syro-Canaanite or Ugaritic
- I/22 New Kingdom Egyptian
- I/24 Hittite Empire
- I/28 Sea Peoples
- Expand the armies from DBA to Big Base DBA
- Battle of Kadesh
- Description
- Orders of Battle
- Guidelines on wargaming
- Scenario
- Other scenarios
- Mini-campaign