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the fox god.

a comic about a trickster.

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Arslan Senki chapter 123 translation is out!!

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The Heroic Legend of Arslan Chapter 123

Read The Heroic Legend of Arslan Chapter 123 Online For Free

What it takes to forget

More concepts for my Wings of Pages series

High res image, longer time lapse, and layered PSD file available on my Patreon.com/yuumei

More from the series

Here's the full set of Ai Yokoyama's outfit designs for Daryun during the duel against the gods. These are from her Anima 02 artbook. They didn't get used in the end but it looks like she had a lot of fun drawing them!

“Tactically there were only two ways for infantry to beat cavalry in an open field battle: firepower and mass. Firepower could be provided by swarms of missiles. Mass could be provided by a tightly packed phalanx of men. Such tactics were long-established; the Romans used missile troops such as slingers, and the core infantry learned to deal with swarming enemy cavalrymen by forming a hollow square fenced with a solid hedge of iron pila (large javelins). Alexander the Great combined both methods in his clashes with the Asiatic horseman of Persia and India, screening his central infantry phalanx with slingers, archers and javelin-men, before unleashing his cavalry against the enemy. Both mass and firepower could be aided by a good tactical position, such as on a hill or on rough terrain, where enemy cavalry would have trouble manoeuvring.”

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“Archers, for example, were essential in holding the fast-moving Muslim cavalry at bay—suppressing their firepower, and allowing the armoured knights to mount successful counter-attacks. Pikemen were important in screening the flanks.”

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“Against Saladin's light cavalry at Jaffa (c. 1192) during the Crusades, Richard of England drew up a line of spearmen, kneeling on the ground with spear planted in front, forming an effectual 'hedge of steel' against the charging enemy horsemen. Behind the spear wall, crossbowmen stood ready, with assistants helping to reload. The Muslim armies attacked but the combined firepower of the archers and the steadiness of the wall of spears held.”

Some interesting little morsels I found regarding the role of infantry in battle!

I dread the day I have to do enough research to write a convincing full-scale battle set in the world of ArSen (though there's a good chance that maybe I will never need to). The Parsian army definitely have a reliance on their cavalry, specifically their cavalry charge on open ground but also tactics like feigned retreat or swift raids, where it's hard to envision the infantry playing a large role.

For bigger battles where they are fielding infantry units as well, perhaps they're used to give an initial volley of arrows (firepower, as mentioned above). I'm not sure where the infantry were at Atropatene but I assume behind the cavalry units, with the plan that they would move up to join them once the two sides had met? I did try to check the novels for details but aside from mentioning that the infantry were there, Tanaka didn't elaborate on their involvement. They're obviously separate from the Marzbans and their 10,000 cavalrymen, and I'd love to know how the two work together in terms of tactics and command etc.

There are situations where I could see infantry being better suited. Fortresses probably had a decent amount of infantry stationed there, especially those like Peshawar which were defending a border or access point. To take Peshawar Fortress as an example, there are 20,000 cavalry and 60,000 infantry. And inside Ecbatana before it fell there were 20,000 cavalry and 45,000 infantry (and given that the infantry were slaves you can imagine how fast things turned bad when the slaves revolted). The cavalry are good for sallying out in a charge, but the infantry must be invaluable to help hold a fortress or walled city when it comes under siege.

The Parsian forces that protect the border with Misr are also primarily infantry, and there's good reason for that. Unlike the Kaveri River at the eastern border, the Didjireh River (the Tigris) is shallow and relatively easy to cross; therefore the defensive measures include a wall of fortifications along the banks, which are probably better defended by infantry as a cavalry charge would not be that practical.

Other situations in which I could see the infantry being utilised are when that famed Parsian cavalry charge just isn't possible because of the terrain, or because they are using that terrain to trap the enemy (archers atop the cliffs of a narrow valley, for example). But I really know very little on this subject as a whole, so these are just my thoughts.

I think, because of the heavy reliance on cavalry, it's unlikely that the Parsian infantry used tactics as sophisticated as the Roman infantry squares, though I'm sure they would form up with shields and spears as a wall if they did happen to find themselves facing a cavalry charge from an enemy. And the info above about defending the flanks from attack with spears seems like it could well apply.

It's probably worth reading into Persian infantry specifically. There's some info on historical tactics in general here, and also the sparabara, with the caveat that none of this is going to match up perfectly to the composition of the fictional Parsian army. My partner suggested also looking into the Mamluks in terms of slave soldiers but again it's not going to be directly comparable.