Iberian Equipment Question

[Geffalrus]

Decided to give the Celtiberian faction a try since I'd read multiple threads with people raving about how nicely done the faction was. And yeah, I can definitely see what they're talking about.

One question, though. All the early Areuakoi units use the relatively small caetra - how reasonable is it for those units to use dense formations?

My understanding of the relative strengths of the caetra vs. thureos/scutum/scutari is that it was better for ambushing and skirmishing. It's small size made it easier to maneuver, and in a dueling situation like you'd find out of formation (skirmishing, ambushing, etc) it could be very effective for hand-to-hand combat. However, when it came to standing in a dense formation, it was generally better to have the scutari shield since its larger surface area provided better protection in a general melee. A dense formation would allow for less room to maneuver and remove some of the caetra's advantages.

Is that correct, or is there decent evidence for caetra-bearers fighting intentionally in a dense formation?

Thanks!

[Trarco]

You should take a look to this short and interesting essay (in English) about the myth of Iberian guerrillas or hit-and-run tactics. If you want to know why this stereotype is wrong, I recommend you this paper:


https://www.uam.es/proyectosinv/equu...%20Warfare.pdf


In summary, the written sources reveal that the Iberian warriors fought as line infantrymen, and although the thureos offered better protection than the caetra, from a tactical point of view, both shields allowed to fight in dense formations. This doesn't mean that Iberians weren't able to develop skirmishers, think of them as the hellenistic thureophoroi, that's it, they were able to fight in both open and close formations. But the guerrila tactics were a myth, they even developed wedge formation against Romans, and the own legions weren't able to resist it (until the cavalry flanked the Iberians). The new descriptions of the Celtiberians speak about these matters, but again the above paper will clear your doubts very well

About the size of the caetra, it was most of the times around 60 cm in diameter, but a some of them were as big as the aspis according to some written sources. Archaeology reveals the existence of some Iberian caetras that was 90 cm in diameter (currently they are used by our Iberian caetrati in EBII).

[Geffalrus]

Fantastic! That was just what I was looking for. Thanks for clarifying!