First, let me preface another one of Neil's publications, the great book on Ancient and Medieval Wargaming. That book presents a more in-depth treatment and greater coverage (both in terms of years/periods served, as well as some more nuance in the rules). It also divides up the whole period, as does the current ruleset in discussion here, into different time periods. In the later book, however, each time period has more army lists than presented here. So, when I speak of additional army lists here, or the idea for more troop types to be covered, presented - that is done in the latter version of the rules, to a certain extent.
Supporting the current ruleset there are several tie periods, and two or three armies presented for each one of them, as examples. Presumably, some clever gamers would take their knowledge of the period, plus the list of troop types in the rules, and could craft additional army lists for additional armies not covered in this introductory set of rules and lists.
This is further reinforced by the fact that there are troop types in the rules, that don't exist in any of the army lists (for instance, as mentioned in the article on the rules themselves, Heavy Chariots don't appear in any of the sample army lists).
Period 1
The first time period covered in the chapter on Ancient Army Lists in this current book, is the period from 490-480BC, the Persian invasions of Greece. For an excellent overview of the history of this incredible decade, see the article at the Ancient History Enclopedia. These are the wars detailed by Herodotus in his volume, 'The Histories'. This period offers up two armies, the Ancient Greek army, and the Persian army of Xerxes. The only other information given for this time period is a suggestion that the tabletop have no more than 0-3 pieces of terrain, and that should be either woods, hills or rivers.
The Ancient Greek Army here is a representation, for these rules, of what the army would look like on the Greek side at the battles of Marathon (490BC), Thermopylae (480BC), Mycale (479BC) or Plataea (479BC). Marathon represented (according to Western history) the end of the first invasion by Persia. The other battles were fought making up the land campaign of the second invasion by Persia.
For those interested in this history of this extremely interesting war, please take a look at the major Naval engagements that made it up as well - the battles of Salamis and Artemisium in 479BC.
The Greek army is of course built around a core battle line of Hoplites, supported by some other units. Here is the breakdown:
City Hoplites (4-7 units)
Spartan Hoplites (0-2 units)
Javalinmen (1-2 units)
Cavalry (0-1 unit)
The City Hoplites are heavy infantry, with heavy armor, and average morale. The Spartans are the same, but with elite morale.
The Javelinmen (Peltasts) are light infantry, with light army, and levy morale. They are of course armed with javelins.
The Cavalry are light cavalry, with light armor, and javelins. They are average morale.
Between the javelinmen and the cavalry, these are the only missile troops in the army. However, this army will win (or die) based on it's strong battle line of heavy infantry.
This list well represents the Athens' heavy army at Marathon (the Spartans did not make it, because they had a religious ceremony to venerate before crossing Greece to the battle site). It also represents the pan-Hellenic alliance at Platea. If you wanted to do Thermopylae, I would suggest an army something like this:
7 units of Spartan Hoplites (heavy infantry, heavy armor, elite morale)
1 unit of Allied Hoplites (heavy infantry, heavy armor, average morale)
The Ancient Persian army of Xerxes is also a good representation of the Persian Army, for these rules. The army list grants the following troops:
Heavy Archers (3-5 units)
Levy Infantry (1-3 units)
Immortals (0-1 unit)
Persian Cavalry (1-2 units)
Scythian Cavalry (0-1 unit)
The Heavy Archers are the Persian core battleline units, however this army has a lot of different options. The Archers are themselves Heavy Archer units, with bow and light armor and Average morale.
The Levy Infantry are light infantry, with bow, light armor, and Levy morale.
The Immortals are Heavy Archers, with bow and light armor, and Elite morale.
The Persian Cavalry are Heavy Cavalry, armed with bow, light armor, and Average morale.
The Scythian Cavalry are Light Cavalry, with bow, light armor, and Average morale.
This whole army is armed with bows!! The Greeks will definitely appreciate their Heavy Armor before this period is all over! As Herodotus informs us, the Persians informed the Spartans, prior to the engagement at Thermopylae, that they have so many archers in their army, that the arrows would darken the skies. To this, the Spartan reply was, Then we shall fight in the shade!!
These armies will tend to show the warfare as (we think) it must have been during these engagements. The Greek tendency to adopt the heavy infantry and heavy armor, from the many battles among the different Polis factions. Against this, the Persian reliance on archery is the nature of the contest. It is a tough one.
To play the Spartans against the army of Xerxes, the attitude of the Spartans is certainly helpful to adopt. It is best summed up in the monument to the Spartan dead at Thermopylae:
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