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Thanks Nik - images set ... however I've got my images muddled and it's the elephant crew that are mostly armoured archers not the guard infantry archers (apologies).

I have had a scour through my photo archive and whilst there is an armoured archer on foot, he's from the religious/mythological section of the carvings and is clearly a noble/god that has dismounted to fight the demon host (plus the photo is very poor quality - bad lighting & shadow - so not for sharing).
So false alarm there!

But I've sent you a few other images of the guard infantry and would be more than happy for them to be posted up on the forum

Thanks
Mark

Mark's pictures.

The archers he refers to - definitely in fancier clothes than the average on the reliefs:



Other infantry in corslets and distinctive headwear that Marks describes as guard (which seems reasonable):





A body of infantry in corslets with the ph'kak:

Quote from: lionheartrjc on January 01, 2024, 12:45:09 PMThe Mortem et Gloriam army lists include a brief historical introduction for each list (630 of them). I have set myself the task of improving them by including a timeline of battles and campaigns and lists of rulers or tribes for each list.  I expect this to take me two years.  (I am semi-retired and the research is interesting).

I want to be semi-retired!

blow that...I want to be retired!

Never tell anybody you're retired, or they'll assume you have plenty of time and give you jobs to do.
I just started getting paid an age benefit by the government.

sigh...something I aspire to

Quote from: Imperial Dave on July 03, 2024, 10:32:46 AMsigh...something I aspire to

They're not fussy, all you need to do is live long enough 

Many thanks for posting the images up Nik.

The proximity of these troops to the king's elephant and their elaborate helmets/head dresses and more decorative tunics (& their corselets - where applicable) is what I'm basing my description of them as 'guard' or 'elite' troops on.

Chou Ta-Kuan (Zhou Daguan) also states that the King had a "bodyguard of elephants, drawn close together and still more soldiers for complete protection, marching in close order." [Ref.page 72 - The Siam Society Bangkok, Third Edition 1993]

The archers in this part of the historical procession are outnumbered c.3:1 by the spear, p'kak and sword armed infantry.
This appears to be a slightly higher ration than in the rest of the reliefs (at The Bayon and Banteay Chhmar) where the archers are a distinct minority (maybe as few as 10:1) with the crossbowmen depicted at the Bayon being an even smaller minority.

I suspect that the 'guard' troops are also depicted on the Bayon and Banteay Chhmar reliefs, where they are most likely to be the infantry spearmen in the long, heavily patterned over tunics. There are a few Khmer troops at the Bayon, in particular, that also appear to be wearing the elaborate helmets, but it's hard to see these clearly, as the carvings are badly eroded in that particular area.