Terminology

NEIL Thomas in his biblical rules in Ancient & Medieval Wargaming uses the terms Heavy and Light in a rather confusing way.

You might think Heavy Infantry, Heavy Cavalry and Heavy Archers would, by definition, have substantial protection in the form of body armour and/or shields.

Similarly you might think Light Infantry and Light Cavalry would necessarily have little or no protection.

However he is using Heavy and Light in cases where the terms close order and open order are more appropriate.

An example is the New Kingdom Egyptian army, which is allowed up to two units of archers.

These are defined as "Heavy Archers, Light armour, Average."

The last classification refers to their quality, which can be elite, average or poor, but by Heavy he means close-order.

Accordingly I will use the terms close order and open order when referring to formations, and heavy, medium and light when referring to body armour and shields.