Queen Olympias

[BjörnF]

I saw in some old draft that you could have Queen Olympias as general sitting in a litter in the new DBA 3.0 rule (I haven't bought them so far, is it still possible?).
I couldn't find any fitting miniature, but if I want to scratchbuild it, what would it look like? I know how she looked like (both from coins and the Alex movie ), but what would the litter look like? Would she sit or lay down?
Grateful for any help!

[Patrick Waterson]

There may be those among us who actually know the answer to this abstruse question, but if all else fails this picture of a Roman litter may serve as a possible source.

Here is the reconstructed item on which the drawing is based.

I have been unable to find any depiction of a Macedonian litter, though I suspect it would not differ too greatly from the reconstructed Roman model in the link above.  It would probably have side panels with the Vergina Sun/Argead Star in gold on purple.

As the litter would probably be roofed and screened, it would be possible just to do the litter itself and omit Olympias entirely, but the roof and screens could be removable for occasions when she wished to address the troops directly.  When travelling, she would have the choice of lying prone, perhaps using the seat as a pillow, and sitting upright with her legs folded under her, though in each case the roof and screens would probably be attached.

This represents my best guess; anyone else is welcome to add any thoughts.

[BjörnF]

Thanks! That is what I am looking for. Sorry for being abstruse.

[Mick Hession]

In 15mm Xyston do a vignette of Antigonos on a palanquin which might be a suitable basis for a conversion. I suspect it would be a lot easier to convert the litter to an enclosed variant than to convert the rather portly and bearded Antigonos to a more feminine form

[Andreas Johansson]

I saw in some old draft that you could have Queen Olympias as general sitting in a litter in the new DBA 3.0 rule (I haven't bought them so far, is it still possible?).

Yup, that's still in the published list.

There doesn't seem to be any actual reference to her being borne by litter in combat, it's rather based on her being classed as Bge (S) in the DBMM list, which in turn is, I believe, based on her being unmilitary yet charismatic - at Euia, the army of her rival Eurydice changed sides "out of respect for the position of Olympias and remembering the benefits that they had received from Alexander" (Diodorus XIX:11:2). As for unmilitary, Athenaeus says "Olympias advanced something in the manner of a Bacchant, with drums beating; but Eurydice came forward armed like a Macedonian soldier" (Deipnosophistae 10:F).

So if I were making this army I'd probably skip a literal litter and go for a Bacchantean portrayal instead. No guarantee it's any more accurate - Athenaeus only says "something in the manner of" after all, even if he's being entirely accurate - but definitely more colourful!