>>> The Spara had a support (sort of like a bicycle kickstand) that was used to hold it up to allow the front rankers to also shoot over it without the need to hold it up by hand.
Source for this, please, visual or text.
>>> The front rankers would also have a speat to use in melee. Personally I give my persian front two ranks spear and bow to reflect this.
"...no artistic depiction, Greek or Persian, shows a single warrior carrying bow, spear, and shield together." (Head, 22)
"Men illistrated with the spara often carry spears, but not bows. Obviously, while holding up the spara to form a barricade, these sparabara could not shoot." (Head, 24)
Head presents a ten-man deep formation: the first man in each file carries a spara, resting on the ground to provide protection for the spearmen behind; he also carries a spear. Behind him are eight archers with bow only. At the rear is a file closer (pascadathapatis) with bow and hypothetically a spear as well. (Head, 26)
We need a clear, unambiguous, and visually uncomplicated means of depicting this ten-deep formation. WAB WYSIWYG does not work in this case, as no-one is going to model it at 1:1. WAB 2.0's lesser reliance on deep formations offers some help.
A single spear-armed front rank of real men should not translate into effective spear fighters in WAB. A single line of wicker shields should not translate into giving every figure in the formation a spara, as some have suggested in the past, or form the tactical equivalent of a stone wall. This really requires a well-thought-out special rule.
I would argue that the formation is essentially an archery formation. The spara provides protection from close-range, low-trajectory archery. The spara should hardly count as a defended obstacle, nor should the formation have significant close-combat ability. One good thrust with a doru, the sound of "Urrrk!" (or its Persian equivalent), and archers are now on their own to defend themselves with swords.
Harsh, but accurate, I believe.
Allen
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