400 AP Cyrus the Great by William Coughlan

1 O'Cyrus in chariot Reg Cv(O),

6 Sparabara Irr Bw(X)

6 Sparabara Irr Bw(O) DBEs

3 Tiger Tanks Irr WWg(S)

2 Irr Ps(O) ( misc.)

5 To drunk to walk on their own 2 feet Irr Cm(O)

2 Scythian ( bow cases and all ) Irr Lh(F)

    Also in this command

      Army Baggage

          1 Irr Bge(S) sacrilegious or what

          5 Irr Bge(I)

27ME

1 O'Brien in chariot Reg Cv(O)

4 Immortals Reg Bw(X)

4 Immortals Reg Bw(O)

2  Misc. Archers Irr Bw(O)

3 Persian Cavalry Irr Cv(O)

4 Scythians Irr Lh(F)

6 Misc. Skirmishers Irr Ps(O)

2 Paphlagonians Irr Ax(O)

24ME

1 O'Toole in Chariot

2 Guard Cavalry Reg Cv(O)

6 Persian Cavalry Irr Cv(O)

2 Sagartians (sans lassoes) Irr Lh(O)

2 Armenians Irr Ax(O)

3 Scary Scythed Chariots Irr Exp(O)

18ME

And no points for stratagems.

The big question is why take this lump.

Well,

1.      There was a debate about WWg(S) recently (and whether they could deploy from line to column straight ahead. They are scary shooters and they do not have to shoot directly ahead ( and can shot ahead  after moving ) which is handy to give a minus 1 to a target of an adjacent Bw(X), this would help break up any charging lines, it could also be the primary shooter (if not being shot back at) for the said adjacent Bw(X) which would be shooting at 5 and giving a minus 1 to all targets and (S). The WWg(S) also quick kill bowmen (including Bw(X)) and all sorts other fringe WWg benefits.

2.      Well you have got to take expendables haven't you and whether they can expand from column, inflict outcomes to the side etc..

3.      Kn's can be a little bit afraid of camelry.

4.      A real nice shooting army.

5.      We might all have to place army baggage in a command shortly anyway.

6.      Cheesy baggage Bge(I) deployed with Bge(S) which was not really intentional in the list, neither was moving it about the battle field and there was piles of room on page 57 to add some nice notes or descriptions and special rules other than `must appear as part of the baggage', well it is baggage and therefore must be part of the baggage and can move away from it ( it should probably be as part of the camp and remain so).

7.      This army would need an entire befuddled article by it self.

So how to deploy, take difficult terrain for the flanks, CinC in the middle, deploy the Bge(I) in one column with the sacred chariot at the front grouped like a T with a long line of  sparabara, a tower at either end, one in the centre, O'Cyrus himself with a line of camels grouped with the centre WWg(S) like a cross below the top of the T, 1 pip for the first move the entire command (usually sans Bge(I), a mistake against Greg), and 2 for any subsequent move. The sparabara grouped with the sacred chariot to get plus 1 in combat ( this subsequently changed to support a WWg(S) as a quick check on the forum yielded a nice reply from Mike C. that since they are 2 elements the front part of the DBE would have to be touching the S.C. to get it's benefit ), the one time it would have been handy I did not have it in contact with any towers. It is the target command that ( I was advised ) everyone would try for and break my army, I thought players would throw themselves at it ( hopefully with Kn(S) or Cv(S) ) and impale themselves upon me or kill 1 or 2 sparabaras and fall to counter attacks by camels, or machine gun bowmen. This command would get the middle dice, the highest and lowest would be averaged between the other two commands, this also appears to be a little controversial with original play tester(s) as it seems it was not allowed in play testing rules but is ok with rules at the moment. Each of the Subs' commands had a few regular troops to spend  free Pips on, light foot to hold terrain and should scare players into attacking the soft centre with elite mounted troops.

I  did not want to meet foot armies and should give mounted armies a run for their money with the exception of NO elephants or artillery should be allowed to play against me.

An army that did not require a lot of thought on my behalf but usually would require some study by my opponents,

AND IT IS A FUN ARMY. (and very nice to look at).