DBA Armies

III/23 KHMER & CHAM 605 AD - 1471 AD

This list covers the armies of the Khmer and Cham kingdoms situated in modern Cambodia and Vietnam from the invasion of Champa by a Sui Chinese expedition in 605 until the Thai destruction of the Khmer empire in 1431 and the Vietnamese conquest of Champa in 1471. It is based on reliefs from Angkor, Bayon and Banteay Chmar of 1113-1218 and on the reports of foreign emissaries. Khmer elephants were crewed by a driver with shield and spear and a single archer or sometimes a spearman. Elephants ridden by a general were accompanied by 1 or more parasol bearers on foot. Cham elephants were all crewed by a driver, a javelin thrower and a parasol bearer riding behind. Maiden guard dressed like modern Siamese dancers and were armed with a ph’kak (an axe-like weapon shaped like a hockey stick) and some rode horses apparently disguised as dragons, replacing the normal chamfron with a dragon mask and the rump protector with a dragon tail. Ordinary cavalry had leather chamfrons, sometimes neck and chest protectors, and a rump guard worn over the tail, which was plaited to a point. Spearmen had either long or small round shields and the best wore flower-embroidered jackets that may have been textile armour. Some archers shot from behind pavises, but most skirmished. Bolt-shooters could be on wheeled mounts or on elephants. References: Armies of Angkor Michel Jacq-Hergoualc’h, Slingshot 229.

III/23a — Khmer Army 605 AD - 1431 AD

List: 1 x General (El), 1 x elephants (El), 1 x cavalry (Cv), 4 x long-shield spearmen (4Ax), 1 x small-shield spearmen (3Ax), 1 x archers with pavises (4Bw), 2 x archers or crossbowmen (Ps), 1 x bolt-shooters (Art) or Ph’kak men (3Bd) or maiden guard (Cv or 4Ax) or Thai (3Wb)
Terrain: Tropical
Aggression: 2
Enemies:
Allies: III/9a or III/9b or III/23b

III/23b — Cham Army 605 AD - 1471 AD

List: 1 x General (El), 1 x elephants (El), 1 x cavalry (Cv) or small-shield spearmen (3Ax), 5 x long-shield spearmen (4Ax), 1 x small-shield spearmen (3Ax) or archers (Ps), 2 x archers (Ps) or hill tribes (3Wb), 1 x bolt- shooters or stone-throwers (Art) or small-shield spearmen (3Ax) or hill tribe archers (Ps)
Terrain: Tropical
Aggression: 2
Enemies:
Allies: III/23a or III/60