I thought you might be interested in my take on a HOTT early Achaemenid Persians (my all time favourite historical army).

The sub period of course has to be Cyrus the Great & the wonderful contraptions attributed to him by Xenophon. These include his double mounted camels classed as Riders, although a case for them being Knights due to their anti-cavalry effects could be sustained; the scythed chariots Knights I think. Warband might be better but who needs scythed chariots in woods? And of course the mobile towers, Behemoths of course.

Of course we can't forget about Mithras, the wargod in his golden chariot, true he became a little marginalised by Ahura Mazda but perhaps the soldiery maintained stronger links as in Roman times.

One cannot forget to mention Cyrus the Great himself. He probably should be classed as a hero general and if Mithras is not taken then that is how I would represent him. However APs are at a premium when trying to represent all the diverse parts of a Persian force, so something has to give!

Other oddities include Flyers represented by various winged lions, ibis and gryphons.

So, to the list...

Alternatives
Hero General (Cyrus the Great), Flyers (Various winged beasties), Riders (Subject cavalry), Hordes (Levy foot), Cleric (Group of Magi).

I can't classify siege towers in HotT (a problem when doing Mordor armies too). They are huge things, but don't chareg around like Behemoths. They are crammed full of archers, but shoot over the heads of the real archers, so don't really work as shooters - the though of one going into a forest to fight effecienly is a it worrying too. They don't shoot far enough for artillery, and should probably be a bit more resistant in combat that Artillery too...

I would have to class them as artillery - despite the range, which you could possibly rationalise as being extended because of the elevation. They can take a stronghold in contact, in fact it is the only element they *can* move into combat with, which is a point in favour. As to their resistance in combat, the tower itself may be a solid structure, but you could imagine the occupants to be driven off and the tower abandoned under these circumstances.

As an opponent of Cyrus the Great I would propose King Midus of Lydia (the dude with the golden touch):

I wouldn't be living up to my pedantic reputation if I didn't point out that Midas was one of several Phrygian kings by that name, and died long before Cyrus was borne. The Lydian king you refer to is Croesus/Kroisos.

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