| C-in-C - Reg Kn (F) @ 31 | 1 | |
| Sub-general - Reg Kn (F) @ 31 AP or Reg Pk (O) @ 24 AP | 1 | |
| Sub-general - as above, or Reg Pk (S) @ 25 AP | 0-1 | |
| Companions - Reg Kn (F) @ 11 AP | 1-11 | |
| Hypaspists - Reg Pk (S) @ 5 AP | 15-24 | |
| Pezetairoi and/or Asthetairoi - Reg Pk (O) @ 4 AP | 0-36 | |
| Agrianians - Reg Ps (S) @ 3 AP | 8-16 | |
| Archers - Reg Ps (O) @ 2 AP | 8-24 | |
| Regrade Pk (S) as Reg Ax (S) @ 25 AP if sub-general, otherwise 5 AP | Any | |
| Upgrade Reg Ax (S) as Dimachae - Reg mtd Ax (S) @ 6 AP | 0-4 | |
| Regrade Pk (0) as Reg Ax (0) @ 24 AP if sub-general, otherwise 4 AP | Any |
| Only before 328 BC: | ||
| Macedonian Prodromoi - Reg LH (O) @ 5 AP | 0-8 |
| Only from 328 BC: | ||
| Hippotoxotai - Irr LH (F) @ 4 AP | 0-12 | |
| Extra Companions - Reg Kn (F) @ 11 AP | 0-4 | |
| Regrade as "Discipline Squaddies" - Reg Ax (S) @ 5 AP | 0-4 |
Special rules:
Kn may dismount as Ax (S) if on a hill or within 300p of a an enemy-occupied hill.This list covers the frequent expeditionary columns led by Alexander the Great during his Asian conquest away from his main field army. No command may include both Ax, other than Discipline Squaddies, and Pk. All "Discipline Squaddies" must be in the same command. Regrading Pk as Ax represents troops armed with javelins instead of pikes. At least 2 more Kn (F) must be used than LH (O). If any extra Companions are used, at least 8 elements of Asthetairoi and 4 elements of Hippotoxotai must be used. At least 8 elements of Hypaspists and 1 of Companions must be in the CinC's command.
Notes:
Nominal list scale: While a scale of 1:250 would just be able to yield a 400 AP army, there would be no choice, and the minima would come to only 100 AP. A scale of 1:125 gives a very good list balance in terms of maxima and minima. To fight battles at true scale, all list minima and maxima must therefore be halved.
List dates: I have omitted Alexander's Danubian side expedition as involving too few troops, and thus the list starts with him already in Asia. It ends with his death.
Terrain: The army's base is assumed to be Macedon until Babylon is conquered.
Generals: The CinC is of course Alexander. Subordinate generals tended to be Asthetairoi commanders, else Companions leaders, but occasionally Hypaspist leaders are noted. Threefold divisions of expeditionary forces are recorded, but not fourfold.
Companions: While the royal squadron was always taken on these expeditions (and this squadron comprises two elements at this reduced scale, the CinC's, plus the one other compulsory Kn element), the inclusion of other Companions was highly variable, hence the wide variation in allowed numbers. Their dismounting ability is attested when Alexander once orders his bodyguards take their shields, ride to a hill, dismount and hold it until reinforements arrive, although this is near the Danube, and also later in India when the horse are told to dismount to take a hill (the Loeb translation is incorrect when it states 'infantry' are to dismount on this occasion). I have made the limit 300p so they can do so out of effective archery range of the objective hill.
Hypaspists: The core of every expedition, they later had a stronger establishment than initially, but by then typically only half were taken, so the maximum number allowed is not as high as might be expected. Not all need be in Alexander's command, since they were sometimes split up into their component chiliarchies.
Dimachae: Picked foot soldiers were occasionally mounted on horses, Curtius 5.13.8 records 300 such men in the pursuit of Darius (Arrian 3.21.7 says 500), according to Curtius they carried heavy armour, according to Pollux' Onomasticon (1.10) they were more lightly armed than normal infantry, and so were undoubtably equipped with the Macedonian javelin rather than pike; 800 are recorded by Arrrian in India (4.23.2) where they are stated to have aspides, and as picked men were almost certainly taken from the ranks of the Hypaspists.
Phalangites: Some were called Asthetairoi, some Pezetairoi - the distinction is debated, but asthetairoi seemed to have been favoured later on. Sometimes neither were taken. I used to allow phalangite Ax (O) to be upgraded to Ax (S) after their being given new armour in India, but no longer belive this would be enough to warrant Ax (S) classification.
Agrianians and archers: Alexander's favoured strike force on any expedition, their numbers were expanded later on, but unlike the hypaspists, they were sometimes still all taken.
Light horse: Prodromoi were replaced by mounted archers in the east.
Discipline Squaddies: After doing away with Parmenio, disaffection arose amongst the ranks. Alexander responded by forming a separate company of the most recalcitrant members, and forcing them to camp apart from their fellows to isolate the rest of the army from their opinions (eg. Diodoros 17.80.4). According to Curtius these men fought second-to-none as a way to regain favour, and the small size of their unit meant brave deeds might be noticed all the more easily. I assume that if fighting as a phalanx, ie. as Pk, this would not be the case.
This page last modified 14 June, 2004.