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Alexander's Army Action

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Product Name: Alexander's Army Action
Product ID: 16209
Published Artist(s): Don Albert
Created By: N/A
Release Date: 2013-05-24

Product Information

  • Required Products: None

Conquer the Known World!

Led by Alexander the Great, the Macedonian Phalanx was an invincible force that conquered Greece, the Levant, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. The Phalanx was a mighty wall of bronze, steel, and muscle strengthened by discipline, tactics, and heroism. Now you can create historically accurate scenes of ancient warfare. Alexander's Army Action will serve as a backdrop to your principal heroes or as a main force in the foreground of your battles.

Alexander's Army Action is set up with a unit of 6 Hoplites posed in 3 files and 2 ranks. From these poses and positions an entire Phalanx can be assembled. Poses can be easily mixed for variety.

The Phalanx poses were designed with the Michael 3 morph for Genesis applied. They will work with other Genesis characters. The Hoplite uniforms and gear at DAZ are the best and most diverse of their kind available. The 3 Greek sets and one Persian Army set work well with the M3 Genesis figure. They are ideal for creating scenes from the Persian Wars and Greek City State Wars all the way to the conquests of Alexander.

There are 8 formation actions of 6 Hoplites. Two formations have an extra set of 3 alternate poses for the 2nd rank or as the 3rd rank. Included are 2 hand poses. 56 poses in all.

Dial up a Genesis character and add any clothing or armor set supported by the FREE DS Auto-Fit Tool. This tool will also accommodate fits to some mixing of Genesis character features.

All Genesis-specific outfits work flawlessly with the poses. A good variety of M3/4 and V3/4 outfits work well with the poses.

See ReadMe-AlexArmyAction.txt and Alexander's Army Action-Props.pdf in the ReadMe folder for raising an army and for fitting weapons as smart props. Once set the props will follow all actions in the sets.

Product Notes

  • You can find new icons for loading this product in the following DAZ Studio Folders:
    • “People:Genesis:Poses:Don_Albert_Action:Alexander's Army Action”
      • “Alexander's Army Hands”
  • You can find new icons for this product in the following DAZ Studio Categories:
    • “Poses:By Function:Combat”
    • “Poses:By Region:Full Body”
    • “Poses:By Region:Partial Body:Hands”
  • Alexander's Army Action is configured within Limits. Poses are designed barefoot, so adding footwear will require adjustments.
  • This set features the M3 morphs for Genesis. Thus, all of the Greek Hoplite sets at DAZ will work with the figure and poses, using the DS Auto-Fit Tool. Other Genesis costumes and uniforms will work with the poses. Some adjustments may be needed.
  • HOW TO RASIE AN ARMY:
  • Greek, Macedonian, and Roman formations were composed of FILES and RANKS.
    • Files are the soldiers from front to back.
    • Ranks are the soldiers from left to right (of the viewer) across the front. The front-man of each file was in the 1st rank.
  • A typical Spartan formation consisted of 3 files of 12 Hoplites, for an Enomotia of 36 men. These were linked to form larger units.
  • Greek Phalanx Action is set up with a unit of 6 Hoplites posed in 3 files and 2 ranks. From these positions an entire Phalanx can be assembled.
  • 1. First enlist Genesis in your army and apply the M3 morph (or not). Apply the Mid(dle) Attention pose to the figure. Issue the Hoplite his uniform (the Lourdes/Malis Hoplite pack or whatever else you choose). Then issue him his spear and shield. (See below for how to easily smart-prop those items.)
  • 2. If you want a uniform look to your army you can use this basic Hoplite over and over to form the Phalanx. Save as a Sub-set Scene File (without lights or cameras). Think of it as your “Recruiter” file.
  • I assembled 6 different individual-scene Hoplites for the promo images. Name these separate soldiers by their skin material/texture or their uniform/helmet style, for easy reference. It is also a good idea to name the figures the same as the file names for later merging with the main Phalanx file you will assemble.
  • NOTE:
    • Greek Hoplites were citizen soldiers and provided their own armor and weapons. Many personalized their shields. Helmets were also an item of individual choice. Thus, many Phalanxes consisted of mixed cuirass, shield, and helmet styles. Should you want to form mixed formations, repeat the above process of outfitting a Hoplite and save as a different scene file.
  • Many Hoplites preferred to fight semi-nude, or at least without armor. Greek armies fought in the spring and summer. Armor became hot and heavier. Marching to a battleground and fighting was a great physical effort, especially in armor. Bare feet gave better traction than leather-soled sandals. A loincloth and helmet, with a spear and shield was often a preferred uniform.
  • 3. Start a New Scene file. Name it Phalanx 1 (or whatever). Load the Hoplite sub-set file into the new scene. You now have an identical file to the original.
  • 4. Load this file with another of the original (for uniformity) or with a different Hoplite. This figure will enter the scene in the same zeroed position as the original figure. Select the 2nd figure and apply a left or right position pose in rank 1 or rank 2.
  • Or, you can apply left to right 2nd rank poses to the 1st figure before importing the next one. Repose the 2nd and merge a 3rd figure, and so on. Assemble the basic 6-figure formation.
  • 5. Once you have the 6 Hoplites assembled, import a cube prop (or a null object). Make the cube invisible and potion it in the zeroed position for each axis. The Cube-Parent will be in the same place as each front rank, middle file Hoplite. Attach each Hoplite to the Cube as the Parent of the Hoplites. Using this method you can also apply other left, mid, and right poses to figures in those positions.
  • You can then select the Cube-Parent to move or rotate each group of 6 Hoplites. Save and name this file. Using the same method as merging each soldier, you can merge groups of six and reposition them to form an entire Phalanx.
  • To save on computer resources, delete the items that will not be seen like sandals, greaves, belt swords, beards, etc. farther back in the Phalanx files.
  • A variety of historical armor and uniforms will work with these poses.
  • This product includes:
    • 1 DSON Core Installer

Resolved Issues

  • None

Known Issues

  • These poses are designed for use with the Michael 3 Genesis Shape, use with other shapes may require adjustment.

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