Parthian and Sassanid armies ?

[nicofig]

Hi guys,
In AA miniatures website, I saw the Sassanid range and the Parthian range are the same. Could you tell me if I can use all this figures to build a parthian army ?
So I saw in the rules we have an example for Sassanid army but someone have an example for an parthian army ?
Thank you

[rick priestley]

There is certainly some overlap - an early Sassanid and a later Parthian army would likely be identical - but most Sassanid army lists tend to concentrate on the later years when the Sassanids were at their height.

Broadly - the distinction is that the Parthian nobility was descended from Scythian type nomads and their army was made up largely of horse archers with a few very heavily armoured cataphracts - infantry were drawn from the subject Greek/Persian/Chaldean cities of Mesopotamia. The Sassanids were native Iranians and their cavalry were heavy cavalry who carred a bow as a secondary weapon- and the infantry are the same as for the Parthians.

So there are some troops - especially troops from nations that were subject to both Parthians/Sassanids - where the same models could appear in both.

There are a couple of useful Ospreys on Parthians/Sassanids and a very good Montfort book on Sassanids if you can get it. The old WRG book by Phil Barker Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome is worth having as it has a good overview on most armies of the period and is widely used as reference by figure manufacturers.

There is also a very good web-site on Parthia called Parthia.com

But I'm certainly no expert on these armies - and I'm sure there must be someone better informed than me who can help you out here.

Rick