Historical Overview Section

The Gasgans first appear in the Hittite prayer inscriptions that date from the reign of Hantili II, c. 1450 BC, and make references to their movement into the ruins of the holy city of Nerik. During the reign of Hantili's son, Tudhaliya II (c. 1430 BC), "Tudhaliya's 3rd campaign was against the Gasgans."His successor Arnuwanda I composed a prayer for the gods to return Nerik to the empire; he also mentioned Kammama and Zalpuwa as cities which he claimed had been Hittite but which were now under the gasganss. Arnuwanda attempted to mollify some of the gasgan tribes by means of tribute.

Sometime between the reigns of Arnuwanda and Suppiluliuma I (about 1330 BC), letters found in Maşat Höyük note that locusts ate the gasgans' grain. The hungry Kaska were able to join with Hayasa-Azzi and Isuwa to the east, as well as other enemies of the Hittites, and burn Hattusa, the Hittite capital, to the ground. They probably also burned the Hittites' secondary capital Sapinuwa. Suppiluliuma's grandson Hattusili III in the mid-13th century BC wrote of the time before Tudhaliya. He said that in those days the gasgans had "made Nenassa their frontier" and that their allies in Azzi-Hayasa had done the same to Samuha.

In the Amarna letters, Amenhotep III wrote to the Arzawan king Tarhunta-Radu that the "country Hattusa" was obliterated, and further asked for Arzawa to send him some of these Gasgan people of whom he had heard. The Hittites also enlisted subject Kaska for their armies. When the Gasgans were not raiding or serving as mercenaries, they raised pigs and wove linen, leaving scarcely any imprint on the permanent landscape.

Tudhaliya III and Suppiluliuma (c. 1375–1350 BC) set up their court in Samuha and invaded Azzi-Hayasa from there. The Gasgans intervened, but Suppiluliuma defeated them; after Suppiluliuma had fully pacified the region, Tudhaliya and Suppiluliuma were able to move on Hayasa and defeat it too, despite some devastating guerrilla tactics at their rear. Some twelve tribes of Gasgans then united under Piyapili, but Piyapili was no match for Suppiluliuma. Eventually, Tudhaliya and Suppiluliuma returned Hattusa to the Hittites. But the Gasgans continued to be a menace both inside and out and a constant military threat. They are said to have fielded as many as 9,000 warriors and 800 chariots, meaning quite a lot are squeezed onto each of the permitted 2 bases in this list.

Using the army in ADLG

  • Command and Control restrictions with a CV of just +2 makes taking the Gasgan option a bold move. Far better to go either standard list or Guti with non-impetuous foot
  • 4 Elite Medium 2HW Swordsmen are very strong in period, and a good number of Javelinmen as well makes the wall of Swordsmen a bit more interesting.
  • The list has 6 compulsory LF, including 4 javelins so the mandatory Mountain terrain works well for these guys holding your flanks

User-contributed links about this army. Add links in this format:

  • The ADLG Database showing all of the results of this army in official competitions held since 2009

as an example

Army Lists

Sample army lists for this army

200 Points

  • 3 of these
  • 4 of these
  • etc
  • etc