Baktria

[Cyclops]

I love the idea of the royal army with the FL/FH and regional armies with Indo Greek, steppe and Persian flavours. The cav-heavy army a few posts back is quite justifiable: didn't Antiochus Megas beat a pure cav Baktrian force on his anabasis?

My Baktria campaigns have all crashed out IIRC, but in my latest I had 95% VC and a vague plan for an Elephant corps (FH and about 10 elephants, half bare and half katas) that would follow daddy (ie FL) around and reinforce battles under AI control: fun with elephants!

[Bava]

IRC, each sword had its own. It is all possible that the iron sword you see had a wooden handle over the Iron base, but I doubt it, seeing that his owner was probably a very rich and powerful general.

There were also bronze handles like these,

PIC

which were attached on the iron xiphos or kopis.

Pictorial evidence (paintings from tombs) shows that this was the norm, meaning a bronze "sculpted" handle over the iron sword.

Thanks a lot for the input, Keravnos!

Iron+bronze should be an interesting mix. Maybe I´ll add a leather wrap as Subaton suggested, too.

Regards,
bava

[keravnos]

I don't think that leather was used in the handles of the swords. It would be either wood, or metal, based on all I have seen and read. Leather would be used for shields.

For example, what many people don't know is that aspides were wooden and lined on the inside with leather.
The bronze thin sheet covering the outside of the shield was very thin to offer itself some protection. What it did do is stop blunt instruments with the force of the blow being absorbed by the wooden interior.

Most shields did not have metal covers, but few of those survived (in fragments). Nearly all of those we have are of the bronze clad variety.