Quote Originally Posted by jerby
and last but not least:Krypteia....
these where young men recruited by the temple of Nike (.....) and where a step up from Thureophoroi. they were in smaller number and masters in stealth and ambushing.

whats EB's take on these units? will soem be featured? or are they crap and not true?
They were the most ruthless Spartan youths who were selected to go on night raids into Helot territory and cull those Helots who either became the most physically dangerous or most likely to cause problems by their actions. It was legal for them to kill Helots at will and they were especially feared. They were certainly dangerous, but they were basically a bunch of older teens who killed non-combatants in their sleep. I've not seen any evidence that they were used in any battles or even in any "covert" state missions other than killing slaves. I have no idea if they were still around in any form by the early third century BC, *but* the chief reason for their existence was mostly gone by that time -- the suppression of the Messenian Helots (since Messenia had been freed from Spartan control by the Thebans and remained at liberty thanks to the efforts of the peoples of Megalopolis and the rest of the Peloponnese). They will not be units in EB. Hope this has been helpful!