Ran No Jidai:(Mod for RTW) Screenshots

[bthizle1]

Here are our two forums:
SCC Forums (http://www.stratcommandcenter.com/forums/index.php?showforum=97)

TWC forums (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=92)

A simple teaser pic:
https://img115.imageshack.us/img115/6898/20qk.jpg

This project is designed to be the definitive full conversion historical modification project for the global RTW community to bring back to origins that made great the TW series, SHOGUN total war. It will be focusing on the Sengoku Jidia era in Japan, in which Samurai ruled the lands and Daimyos competed for the title of Shogun.

Here is a current faction list (remember factions can be removed or added as we see fit):

Kyushu:

Shimazu
Otomo


Shikoku:

Chosokabe
Miyoshi

Honshu:

Ouchi
Mori
Amako
Urakami
Hosokawa
Ashikaga(Senate)
Asakura
Oda
Imagawa
Takeda
Hojo
Satomi
Asai
Uesugi
Mogami
Date

rebels(other Daimyos)

total of 20 factions +rebels
So there will be big easy Clans and some little clans, very hard to play.

https://img323.imageshack.us/img323/9291/kamon8sm.jpg

The Official Unit list:

Ashigaru:


Yari ashigaru
https://img189.imageshack.us/img189/39/21lo.jpg
Naginata ashigaru
Yumi ashigaru
Teppo ashigaru

Foot Samurai:

Yari samurai
Te Yari samurai
Yumi samurai

Mounted Samurai:

Yari cavalry
Cavalry scouts(with yumi)
Heavy cavalry(generals bodyguard)

Special:

Nobori unit(inspirational)
Uma jirushi(inspirational)
Nodachi samurai(causes fear, special unit used to hold/take chokepoints and to break wavering troops)
Naginata Sõhei
(units tied to temple complexes in sertain provinces, recruitable if owning clan follows the same sect(would require the religion from BI), if not, they should instead appear as rebels)
Teppo Sõhei
(see above)

Further specials such as clan specific units may be discussed, examples are takeda cavalry and shimazu sharpshooters

Siege:

Sappers
Gate-breaker

Catapult

(Ladders)
If units could be made to climb walls by default, it would be better, japanese walls were quite scaleable, siege ladders were not used.

Basically siege will be a problem since it will be hard to portrait it properly with the RTW-engine.

Mercenaries:

Yari Rõnin
(mid/late era, when clans were destroyed, rõnin increased in number. These masterless samurai were often used during campaigns to increase the number of troops fielded. Many clans have Rõnin shu kashira in their records, these individuals were tasked to organize and lead the rõnin during campaings)

Teppo Rõnin
(see above)

Further mercenaries may be discussed

Special rebels, independants etc:

Naginata Ikko Ikki(small contingents, elite core of Ikko Ikki armies)
Teppo Ikko Ikki(medium contingents)
Yari peasants Ikko Ikki(medium contingents)
Kama peasants Ikko Ikki(main contingents, kama, a farmer tool, will be representative of all the ad hoc weaponry)

Yari Men of Iga
Yumi Men of Iga
Teppo Men of Iga
(The men of Iga defended their area of residence against outside invasions and influence, when Nobunaga made attempts to claim the province by starting the renovation of a local castle, the men of Iga attacked, which promted Nobunagas son Nobuo to make a swift counter-attack, however, he was driven off in shame. Nobunaga eventually quelled all opposition in the region by the siege of Hijiyama, but up until that point, Iga had remained independent from the surrounding might of the Oda clan.

While the men of Iga are often attributed as "ninja", this is not entirely true, most of them were in fact ji-samurai, but many of them were also skilled shinobi, thus, the men of Iga will have speed/terrain bonuses and the ability to hide in the open, while still maintaining the appearance of lower ranking samurai)

Hope everyone is satisfied with this spicy element.

Further rebels, independants etc. may be discussed, the Ainu for example

Strategic units:


Emissary
Kusa(spy)
Shinobi(Assassin)

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Will this mod be for RTW, or RTW(BI)?

Also, when is the release? I wanted to get Shogun, but held because of the graphics. You've done what I wanted CA to do!~D

[lancelot]

Will there not be any warrior monks and battlefield ninja? (i know they they probably arnt that realistic but damm they were cool, and on the rome engine could look awsome!!)

Units so far look excellent, keep it up!

[bthizle1]

Well, the unit list is not final yet, so that is still a possibility, however don't count on it.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Release date? (approx)

[Kagemusha]

Release date? (approx)
Cant say nothing about it yet.But we are making progress.:bow:

[Kraxis]

Will there not be any warrior monks
Naginata Sõhei and Teppo Sõhei = Warrior Monks, with the first as the good old baddies we remember.

I must say that this looks most inspiring. Those are beautiful Ashis you have going there.

You must include Samurai Horse Archers... They were still important in the early period (and make some/one of the older more traditional clans have specialists in this as it was indeed an oldfashioned style).

I want to give a little pointer.
Not all Ashis were as well armoured as the guys we see, in fact these were probably the professional Ashis of the late period. Earlier one were much lighter, seldomly armoured with more than a breastplate or similar directional armour, and that brings my little idea. SHIELDS! Not as shields, but the armour can be reflected into the value given by the shieldbonus. So if the soldier has a breastplate only, then give him a shieldbonus, and thus he is nicely protected to the front but he shouldn't ever turn his back to anyone.

Anyway, what is the Yumi?

[Kekvit Irae]

Anyway, what is the Yumi?


http://www.tucsonkendokai.info/gallery/various/samurai-yumi.jpg

The Yumi was the standard bow of the time.

[Kraxis]

Yeah... after following the links for a while that dawned on me.

[JeanDeTample]

Hi there,
I am so glad this era is still being considered by a modding team. Hearing Tomte is on it gives me much hope for his artwork so far presented at forums was something fanfucktastic. The ashis here look nice. Just a nitpick: isn`t the yellow (takeda ashis) too lemon? looks greenish. Well and are you sure it looks good to have a shiny yellow (green, red, white) clan mon on each helmet and breastplate? That way those ashis look more like hockey players. You see, guys, one thing that looks ugly about the vanilla RTW units are the shiny "uniform" colours (violet, pink, green:). With sengoku jidaj period and every soldier wearing a "sashimino" you can make all those clothing and armor skins more moderate - toned down, with almost no heraldry, instead only on the sashimono. Looks much better and reallistic to me. Well, good luck and keep it up. I cross my fingers for you, guys.:bow:

[Kagemusha]

Thanks for your compliments JeanDeTample.About the Ashi armour we are putting clan mons only to ashigaru armor.The samurai units wont have Mons in their armor.And yes the main identification of units will be the Sashimono.:bow:

[Kagemusha]

Here is work in progress for Teppo Ashigaru:
https://img191.imageshack.us/img191/9868/18sg.jpg

[Kagemusha]

Also Yumi Ashigarus:
https://img233.imageshack.us/img233/2861/16zb1.jpg

[Kagemusha]

In game pictures of Teppo ashigarus:
https://img342.imageshack.us/img342/4237/11ch.jpg

[Kraxis]

Teppo firing? I would like to see how you have managed to cover that hurdle.

[Kagemusha]

Dont worry.We will show it as soon as it works.~;)Btw Kraxis how do you like the models?

[Kraxis]

They are great... But one of the things I liked about STW was thatthe units were essentially similar but for the sashimonos. I think there were a few other things, but if two lines of Yari Samurai locked heads it would looks extremely confusing, but very natural. I have never liked the strong colours (though I have come to accept them).

Going over your list of units I find it to be rather limited in Samurai (read: as infantry) and cavalry. I mean no recruitable heavy cavalry per se. I understand that there was no knight'esque cavalry but Nagafusa's cavalry (Takeda) was considered quite heavy. So a sort of Heavy Cavalry like the one in STW would not be entirely out of place.
And a sort of personal retainers on foot could be another Samurai unit, perhaps with naginatas of the later chinese style (shorter wide heads). I could get back to you on that as I'm not at home with my books (I have one that could inspire are few useable units I think).

[Kagemusha]

Okay btw we are going to have the "fire" cavalry of Takeda and il Naomasa´s red devils as special units,but i cant say much about them in this stage of development.But any info you might have would be greatly appreciated.~:)

[Kraxis]

Will do...

I will limit it to weapons and cavalry, but I think it will be mostly infantry.

[Kraxis]

Ok, I done a little bit of digging.

The term Ashigaru was initially the term for non-samurai warriors, so the Early Ashis should be named thus. But they shouldn't have neither Jingasa, nor katana. Only a simple Hara-ate (front half of a Do-Maru, doable as a shield attribute) and headband with a Wakizashi in the belt. The Yari should be the of simple, short, flangeless type. No crossblades. Te Yari?
They should be nothing short of craptacular.~;)

Later on as ashis managed to advance and become good warriors, they even began to recieve favours and social increases.
Good spearmen were often known as Hirazamurai (the name indicates an increase in status over the lowly ashis), but they were still Ashigaru though this term had now come to encompass an entire grouping rater than a specific type.
Hirazamurai would be quite similar to your Ashis fighting in the first shots. A good Yari, katana in belt (most likely looted but occationally a leader ignored social conventions and gave his lower status warrios better equipment, 'as long as they win'), good quality if less elaborate armour, often with armguards (not of the sode-type though).
This would be a most capable unit, basically any Daimyo's main buildingblock.

Below the classical (though now better armed and armoured) Ashigaru we find the Chugen (part of the Kogashira grouping). Basically attendants, but they were often used directly in combat. They used, oddly enough, quite a few naginatas, but the short Yari mentioned earlier would also be good to use, if they were lucky they had a Wakizashi. They would have a Jingasa and Hara-ate (Do-Maru at best), but that is it, and it would be of bad quality.
They were always lead by a Samurai officer.

An interesting group of warriors in Japan are the Otokodate or better the Machi-yakko (or machi-gumi). Basically warriorbands of artisans and merchants fed up by the eternal bullying by Samurai in cities. They were extremely adept at the Bo, Jitte, fan and most interestingly the heavy pipe (yes a long smoking pipe, often reinforced and fitted with guards). Since their enemies were swordwielders these men were at their best against them (as their weapons also indicate). They eventually came to control the cities and forced Daimyos to have their 'Fathers' (leaders) along for trips through their areas.
They had no armour, but the merchants at least carried swords and Bo staffs. They are the perfect city militia for a game like this. And given a bonus against sword infantry they would be valuable.

I have found the Samurai footguards I was looking for.
The Hatamoto-yakko. While these were the principal enemies of the Machi-yakko and were described as wielding swords it only makes sense that in battle their would carry other weapons. In this case a Nagamaki would be good (a Naginata with a longer blade but shorter staff, staff 4/5th of blade), but a chinese style Naginata would not be totally wrong either. In fact any Naginata would do, but the first would be the best considering their special position as footguards.

Also, while a Sohei is indeed a warrior monk, it is usually used in reference to individuals. For a unit the name Yamabushi would be better. I was thinking that perhaps Naginata Sohei could be an elite of warrior monks while the Yamabushi could be the vanilla warrior monks.

And the Teppo-Ashi. Take away their Jingasa (replace with headband with inlaid metal plates and a standing ponytail, much like the Yumi-Ashis) and grade down their armour a bit. They are the lowest, being protected by Chugen no less. They could of course have differences regarding factions (the Oda and Shimazu having better equipped Teppo for instance), but in general they were not good in equipment.

Lastly a unit of cavalry.
The No-dachi seems to have been adapted to cavalry use, which is hardly surprising, but I have found very little on this. Let that be the weapon of a 'general' Heavy Cavalry unit and it seems fitting.
Horse armour was used, it was neiter as heavy nor as widely used as European armour. But there was chamfrons of metal fitting the contours of the head, and its body armour consisted of either padded or lacquered leather sewn onto cloth, making it obvious that it was meant to stop arrows.

Btw, let cavalrymen use Tachis rather than Katanas, meaning let it hang down a little, blade down, opposed to the in-sash blade up of the Katana.

[Kagemusha]

Thanks Kraxis there is some very intresting things you mentioned,espesially the Samurai footguards.If you have anything more that you can share with us about them i would be most gratefull.:bow:

[Kraxis]

Thanks Kraxis there is some very intresting things you mentioned,espesially the Samurai footguards.If you have anything more that you can share with us about them i would be most gratefull.:bow:
I just saw now that I didn't explain these well enough.
There was no footguards that I know of per se, but these Hatamoto-yakko are only mentioned in regards to very high ranking samurai making the life miserable for the Otokodate. They are on foot and clearly closely tied to highranking nobles.
The possibility is there that they might in fact just be usual Hatamoto, but then one wonders why they suddenly needed to form new units whenever they made trouble in cities. So personally I rule out the Hatamoto.
Attending cavalry? That is very much a possibility. Most Daimyo did travel with fairly extensive cavalry escorts (until the Tokugawa shogunate placed a quite low limit on that). They were 'just normal' Samurai. Walking about in a city makes better sense than riding.
But if they were just normal cavalry assigned as escort why are they called Hatamoto?

So I doubt you will ever find any specific reference to a Samurai footguard, but there certainly seems to be circumstantial evidence for them.
I don't know how demanding you are to the sources, but given the relatively substantial lack of Samurai I think it is fair enough to include 'plausible' units. But I won't impose my will, this is just my preference.

[SomeNick]

Cool!!!!!!!!
Thankyou!

I asked if some talented modder would make a RTW version of shogun a month or so ago and my wish is going to come true! yay!!!!!!!!

The pictures look excellent, very detailed units, great work!


A few questions though...

Will it have a SP Campaign? (I really hope it does!)

And is it for RTW 1.2 or 1.3?

And.... could I try for a really, really rough release date?


Anyway, thankyou and to your team again and I think this project will be awesome in the end. :bow:

I wish I could help but I can't mod :(


Edit: Hey Kagemusha!

I suck at doing sigs but I added a link to your site in my signature settings. I don't think it's updated yet but I will try again later if not.

And SP campaign!!! Good stuff!!!

Your site is excellent by the way. I just spent an hour there reading various posts :) The units look awesome.

Good luck with your mod and you have a very talented team by the looks of it too.

I accumulated various links for S:TW era mod when I was hopeful I could teach myself to do modding and I will post them at your other site when I can.

Thanks again!

[Kagemusha]

Thanks Kraxis for the deeper info.We are now aiming for fast as we can to very rough beta version,so we can start beta testing.After that we can start adding special units to spice up the game.So all that you can find will benefit us.There is never too much information around mate.:bow:
Somenick.Thanks for the compliments.~:) And yes there will be a SP campaign.If you are intrested at supporting our cause everyone is wellcome to use the banner from my sig(made by caprera) to help to spread the knowledge of this Mod.It has been reduced to an size approved by Org rules(under 10kb).:bow:

[Kagemusha]

screenshot of Naginata Ashigarus,Made by the one and only Prometheus:bow: :
https://img356.imageshack.us/img356/2527/11zj.jpg

[Kraxis]

Those nags are pretty long... I'm not certain that there were that many very long naginatas.

But otherwise very good. Nice simple Do-marus, but perhaps the swords could survive a downscaling to Wakizashi. Perhaps barefoot? But I guess that depends on where in the list they are supposed to be. Good Ashis would have footwear if it was so chosen.

[Kagemusha]

Okay.Here is the early levy Ashigaru:
https://img447.imageshack.us/img447/4459/10gw1.jpg

[Kagemusha]

And the late levy Ashis:
https://img416.imageshack.us/img416/5565/10tx.jpg

[edyzmedieval]

Looks good, the mod.

The naginata polearms are too long. They are supposed to be short polearms....

Also, when are the Takeda ready?! ~D

[Kagemusha]

Thanks Edy.~:) But hold your horses,these are just basic models we are nowhere near completed with factions.:curtain:

[edyzmedieval]

No problem.

Just for you to know, I've studied much Japanese history. I even did one year of Japanese... ~D

Glad to see the mod going well... ~:cheers:

[Kagemusha]

Thanks m8!~:cheers: All the information you can find will help us,so if you find something intresting please post it.:bow:

[Ianofsmeg16]

Great mod guys!
I was wondering if we could see more battle scenes, that one on the first page looked awesome~:cheers:

[Kagemusha]

Thanks Ian!~:cheers: We well post some ingame scenes soon, just hang on mate.~;)

[Kraxis]

Those two ashis were absolutely great!
Did I notice a little connection to Osprey Elite: The Samurai with the Late version? They look remarkably similar to the central figure of plate L.

Anyway, the early figure is my main target here.
I love them! Hara-ate and that is basically all. Detailed and very believeable. :balloon2: But I don't know if the spearpoint should be so triangular, a nice old Japanese spearblade (longer and more rectangular, like hte late version seems to have) would do wonders.

Btw kagemusha, I'm afraid I know very little about the various clans themselves. So I doubt I would be much help there.
I know what I expect any other person who is interested in the general time will know.
So all I can say about factionspecific troops would be something like:
Shimazu Teppo Samurai (think Yumi Samurai with guns instead)
Oda Musketeers (better equipped)
Takeda Red Devil Heavy Cavalry (lancers)
Shikoku Hirazamurai (yari ashis of very good quality belonging to Chosokabe)

A unit type I forgot to mention earlier was the Japanese policeforces (if you can call them that). They patrolled the cities, looking for drunken samurai and so on. They were armed in a peculiar way since they were generally of rather low status, and that their targets might provide important information if captured. So their weapons were the jitte, a sort of jitte-yari (think a long spear with a large jitte instead of the usual cross spearhead), spiked pole or sode-garami (many short curved spikes for trapping swords and gargments) and bolas. All carried swords, but only as a last resort weapon (most often a single katana, but at times they carried both katana and wakizashi, perhaps former samurai?). Their armour was in general quite good but cheap. Padded cloth underneath a leather breat- and backplate and an almost modern helmet (very similar to the helmets of the Low Country infantry of early WWII), but with the obvious difference that it was stamped from squarish plates so that it had rounded points to the front, back and sides.
Three destinctly named groups were charged with law and order, the Yoriki (Guards), the Doshin (policemen) and the Okappikki (patrolmen). It seems that the Doshin and Okappikki were the ones to actually go out and hunt down criminals, with the Doshin as a sort of reactionforce and the Okappikki as your general streetcop (though obviously less benevolent). The Yoriki are unclear as to what their job really was, but it seems they were much like riotpolice and charged with keeping crowds down.
Since these are more official than the Otokodate they should perhaps be a sort of high level Town Watch, obtained at a certain castle-level.
Though I fully understand that their odd equipment might make them rather impractical to implement.

[GoreBag]

Awesome!

[Kagemusha]

Thanks Kraxis and Neongod!:bow: Kraxis about the "police" forces,you are right that those would be hard to put in the game and since we will have the core of the Clans armies stationed in the castles,i dont think we will put them in the game.The Naginata samurais you mentioned earlier will be in the game.We will make a Naginata samurai unit which will be only available in the early phase of the game since they were a kind of relic from earlier times in Sengoku Jidai period.ps.dont worry about the spear points those you see are the basic ones from Bi´s shieldwall formation.They will have the correct yari spearheads when they are finished.~;)

[Kagemusha]

Nagae Yari Ashigaru:
https://img361.imageshack.us/img361/2603/12vl.jpg

[Kraxis]

Thanks Kraxis and Neongod!:bow: Kraxis about the "police" forces,you are right that those would be hard to put in the game and since we will have the core of the Clans armies stationed in the castles,i dont think we will put them in the game.The Naginata samurais you mentioned earlier will be in the game.We will make a Naginata samurai unit which will be only available in the early phase of the game since they were a kind of relic from earlier times in Sengoku Jidai period.ps.dont worry about the spear points those you see are the basic ones from Bi´s shieldwall formation.They will have the correct yari spearheads when they are finished.~;)
Fair enough...~:)
But everything I have found on the Hatamoto-yakko were that they were late units. Though I understand that they might fit better into the early setting.

Nagae???
Anyway those are very well equipped. Better formed lines and they would be equivalent to Hirazamurai.

Any news on the Chugen or Shimazu Teppo Samurai?

[Kagemusha]

Nagae yari=Longer yari spears,almost like pikes.Dont mind the spears yet because those are still under construction.:bow: We havent yet decided but the Hatamoto-yakko will be a special unit for one of the more traditional clans.~:)
And you can guess,what clan is going to get the Hirazamurai.~;)

[Kraxis]

Nagae yari=Longer yari spears,almost like pikes.Dont mind the spears yet because those are still under construction.:bow: We havent yet decided but the Hatamoto-yakko will be a special unit for one of the more traditional clans.~:)
And you can guess,what clan is going to get the Hirazamurai.~;)
Ahh... I don't know Japanese so a lot of stuff simply passes me by.~:)

Hirazamurai for Oda and Chosokabe?
Hatamoto-yakko for Mori, Uesugi, Hojo, Asai and Hosokawa? Or even the Ashikaga... GAH! It just seems that there are so many traditionalists.~D

[Kagemusha]

And here a some buildings for a chance Made by PROMETHEUS :bow: :

Temple

https://img187.imageshack.us/img187/8843/39gy.jpg


city gate level 3

https://img386.imageshack.us/img386/2808/73ku.jpg

[Kagemusha]

Ahh... I don't know Japanese so a lot of stuff simply passes me by.~:)

Hirazamurai for Oda and Chosokabe?
Hatamoto-yakko for Mori, Uesugi, Hojo, Asai and Hosokawa? Or even the Ashikaga... GAH! It just seems that there are so many traditionalists.~D

You are pretty much right about the Hirazamurai though the Odas and Chosokabes may vary,becouse im under the impression that the Chosokabes were better trained against infantry and Odas were more in the anticavalry role,since they had the longest spears compared to any other clan.
About the Hatamoto-yakko,i will tell you guys when its decided.The main plan is that every clan have somekind of special unit,but there will be regional special units aswell.The Ashikaga is under the axe right now becouse we are using Bi.There might be a emerging faction replacing them but im not going to tell more abiut it yet.~;)

[Kraxis]

Give my regard to PRO... Those are nice buildings.

I have pretty much gathered the same from the Chosokabe. Their enemies were not monted in any large degree, while Oda had the Takeda nearby and several other large clans with cavalry on their borders.

But I will stress that the real Hirazamurai were the prefessional late Ashis, men that had earned their increase in status. They were men that could almost fight Samurai evenly.

[Kagemusha]

Thanks Kraxis! We will put them in the later period.~:)

[Kagemusha]

And then something very beutifull and deadly:the work on Samurai.:bow:
https://img476.imageshack.us/img476/5302/14zi.jpg

[Kagemusha]

Te Yari Samurai by PROMETHEUS:
https://img471.imageshack.us/img471/5836/17wi.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

Kage the gate u posted is outdated and wont be used , this is instead actual .....

Himenji castle....


https://img326.imageshack.us/img326/921/15dx.jpg

[Kagemusha]

I dont mind this trade Prome.Not at all m8!~:cheers:

[PROMETHEUS]

And some structures ingame .....


https://img125.imageshack.us/img125/2997/17fd.jpg

[Geoffrey S]

Sweet.

[Kraxis]

Te Yari Samurai by PROMETHEUS:
https://img471.imageshack.us/img471/5836/17wi.jpg
Lovely!

Btw, isn't that catles a bit... ehm heavy on our systems? It is damn detailed.
Can you put units into it or is it like the Imperial Palace?

[Kagemusha]

Kraxis.The Himenji model is one of the main Donjon,so yes it will be like imperial palace.~:)

[PROMETHEUS]

The castle isnt more detailed than the imperial palace lod level one , has some more poligons yes but actually arrives to 3000 , the normal unit model in RTW has around 700 polys ..... anyway counting that I will delete much of the other houses couse arent needed in japanese castles there will be no reason for a lag becouse there will be actually less poligons in sieges than normal RTW.....

[PROMETHEUS]

A Shogun Banner.....

https://img399.imageshack.us/img399/4363/shogun2ub.jpg

[Kagemusha]

Samurais with another skin:
https://img420.imageshack.us/img420/3886/19lb.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

Naginata Samurai ...

https://img475.imageshack.us/img475/480/shogun27ec.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

Ingame pic.....

https://img479.imageshack.us/img479/6711/10ml.jpg

[Kraxis]

Ahh, the second Te Yari Samirai are more or less just more red?

While I really like the Naginatas, I still think they are to long (I suppose the shape is a bit confined by the engine?). A wellknown maneuver with the Ngainata was the 'windmill'... Quite obvious what that does, but these Nags are simply too long for that.

Btw, are these the Hatamoto-yakko? Or 'just' plain Naginata Samuai?

[PROMETHEUS]

Ahh, the second Te Yari Samirai are more or less just more red?

While I really like the Naginatas, I still think they are to long (I suppose the shape is a bit confined by the engine?). A wellknown maneuver with the Ngainata was the 'windmill'... Quite obvious what that does, but these Nags are simply too long for that.

Btw, are these the Hatamoto-yakko? Or 'just' plain Naginata Samuai?

What are Hatamoto-yakko?

I just copied the osprey naginata Samurai .....

[Kraxis]

I had a talk with kagemusha further up about them.

[Kagemusha]

I also think the model should be used for Hatamoto Yakko.They would be foot guard special unit.Im thinking they could be the special unit for Hosokawa since they were the Kanreis who held peace in the Kyoto(or waged war inside it)~D .

[Kraxis]

I also think the model should be used for Hatamoto Yakko.They would be foot guard special unit.Im thinking they could be the special unit for Hosokawa since they were the Kanreis who held peace in the Kyoto(or waged war inside it)~D .
Not a bad idea... But then wouldn't their opponents also be eligable for it?

Btw, I onlt asked if that was te model I didn't say I thought it was good for them. Well it is, but they should perhaps be more spectacular (helmets wider, large flowbacks and those capelike garments more pronounced), having a very modern armour (the institution might be oldfashioned but the men would be the best equipped).

[Kagemusha]

Not a bad idea... But then wouldn't their opponents also be eligable for it?

Btw, I onlt asked if that was te model I didn't say I thought it was good for them. Well it is, but they should perhaps be more spectacular (helmets wider, large flowbacks and those capelike garments more pronounced), having a very modern armour (the institution might be oldfashioned but the men would be the best equipped).

Im thinking that the choice for Naginata armed special unit for Hosokawa because they were used to fight together with and against buddhist sects like warrior monks of Ishiyama Honganji or Mount.Hiei.And also could act like escort of powerfull samurais visiting Kyoto.
Im so dul person that even the current naginata unit is almost hurting my eyes.If it would be only up to me the Samurai units would be pretty plain and effective looking like these guys.~;)
https://img471.imageshack.us/img471/5836/17wi.jpg
I simply love that model.:smitten:

[Kraxis]

I understand you perfectly... I'm not against the Hosokawa, but they fought with another clan in Kyoto (I can't remember which or even if they are in), wouldn't they be equally eligable for the Hatamoto-yakko?

While I would prefer effectivelooking Samurai mostly (archers and yari obviously), the elites have always and everywhere been good looking, and often spectacular. The last being especially true in Japan. Thus such an elite footunit would be a most spectacular sight to behold. Perhaps even in a specific bright colour (of faction perhaps?), though that woul be the first out of the window for me. THe simple fact that these guys were the close personal guards of a daimyo when he visited cities would make them very visible. He could not afford for them to simply look like ordinary samurai. They had to be a statement as much as a fightingforce.

[Kagemusha]

I think you mean the Miyoshi,the former vassals of Hosokawa.I have already some plans concerning them certain archery school in Awa is also part of that thought.~;) And you are right about the elite units.They should be colourfull.It is just my personal dislike of very bright colours.~:)

[Kraxis]

Ah ok... Then of course they should not get the Hatamoto-yakko. But I think it would be better to not tie the Hatamoto-yakko to any specific clan. Since they are so... shall we say generic, they can be applied to almost all the clans. So they could be like a joker, where needed they be used.

[Kagemusha]

Here is a work on Mounted Yari samurai,the armor is Nuinobe do.Soon you will see him mounted.:bow:
https://img450.imageshack.us/img450/6140/10tz.jpg

[Kraxis]

Nice... Pretty heavy armour though, but that makes sense for samurai.

Personally I would prefer to keep the facemasks clear of anything but the most elite units, but hey I'm just me.~:handball:

[Kagemusha]

Nice... Pretty heavy armour though, but that makes sense for samurai.

Personally I would prefer to keep the facemasks clear of anything but the most elite units, but hey I'm just me.~:handball:

Wait untill you see the Hatamotos.~;)We still have heavier stuff in ware houses.

[Kraxis]

Yes, that was my point... Hatamoto and other elite units should get facemasks, while more low-level samurai like these would look better with a free face.

[Kagemusha]

I think you are right Kraxis,but we have to remember that the Models seen are the basics for quite a few variations so we can play quit a bit with them before those are ready.:bow:

[Kagemusha]

Yari Cavalry.:bow: :
https://img483.imageshack.us/img483/3685/11fj.jpg

[SomeNick]

Simply awesome!!!:bow:

Good god man even the saddles have detail! Wow!~:eek:

Excellent work guys ~:cheers:

[JeanDeTample]

oh my... holy shoot:) this is awesome work!
Far better than those naginata ashigaru or early yari ashigaru with their red T-shirts and their overall floorball-team look. On the other hand: The screenshots of yumi ashis, yari samurai and late yari ashigaru and the naginata samurai, here presented so far, simply kick ass! I am loosing self control and patience! I need your mod guys! FUNFUCKNTASTIC! Hatchiman! Hatchiman! (your screens really drive me crazy):charge:

[Kagemusha]

Thank you guys, for your compliments.:bow: I understand that the Ashigaru models look kind of sad compared to the Samurai models,because that was our exact plan to make them appear so.~;)

[JeanDeTample]

well, I wouldn`t say that ashis look sad compared to samurai because of their status. I personally like some of ashis here wery much. I didn`t like those ashis with red T-shirt, blue breast plate (hell and you now what to call it - do?) with white laces over shoulders. Maybe they were just a work in progress, I don`t remmember. They were ugly either carrying yari or naginata. Teppos, late ashis or yumi ashis are great and eye-pleasing:) It is obvious their equipment is far simpler than that of samurai.

[Kraxis]

https://img447.imageshack.us/img447/4459/10gw1.jpg
You mean these guys?
I love them... Sure at bit too much colour but I'm not complaining about that as long as they look the right way.

And those Yari Cavalry in game... My dear!!! *drool drool drool*~:eek:

They are absolutely beautiful... Uuuuuge fangs! Its alright mate, I'm good.
Oh I went a little Crocodile Steve there. But I ws nearly jumping out of my seat when I saw them.

[Kagemusha]

Yup!~:)Im glad you like them. We are trying to have more dirty and poorer look to the Ashis.I also like the Ashi model becouse it´s accurate.They all shouldnt look like Late Nagae Yari Ashis.About the Yari cavalry im starting to consider building a personal shrine to Prometheus.~D

[Kraxis]

Could we see the Yari Cavalry with their swords out?
And I'm pleasantly surprised that they carry Tachis and not Katanas (though it does look rather odd with them inside the leg).

[JeanDeTample]

these are ok, except the T-shirts. Shouldn`t their sleeves be a bit longer? Late nagae are ok too, as well as the guys with their forehead shaved and pony tail knoted up. I just don`t like those T-shirts. But there are MUCH MORE THINGS ONE MUST ADMIRE about VISUAL DESIGN of this mod, that some red T-shirt won`t stop my eyes turning slunt over these screenshots.

[Kagemusha]

We will supply more pics when Prome gives more proper ones out.This is the first ingame pic i also have seen of them, so i think Prome is still tweaking them.~:)

[PROMETHEUS]

Dont forget guys that those units are the second evolution of my previous versions , the third would be the final , and regarding mostly textures , but still would be the base models , so colourings are just provisorial in order to wait the correct by clans colour schemes that will regard upper shirt , pants , pants and shirts logos for upper classes , armour laquering colour , armour lacing colour and mon and sashimono colours.....

I chose red becouse of practical reasons , is in the middle of the degree scale of colours so I can shift to one side or the others by simple hue saturation and lightning adjoustments....


A fixed version.....


https://img497.imageshack.us/img497/1594/10us.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

Samurai Horse Archers.....

https://img416.imageshack.us/img416/3647/12bt.jpg

[Kraxis]

Awesome!!!

Those are the helmets I was thinking about for the Hatamoto-yakko.

Besides the sword, what else did you change aboutthe Yari Cavalry?

[Geoffrey S]

Fantastic skins!
Any chance of seeing something on the campaign map?

[PROMETHEUS]

I fixed the sword , some alpha channel problems , some vertexes around and something else I dont remember now ....


I used this do maru for that unit to represent somehow that is on the way of disappearing from the field since is obsolete somehow in Sengoku period altough still used .... I was thinking to use a similar Do maru for No Dachi units or Naginata Samurai....

Tough wanted to give full facemasks to the Nodachi Samurai ...

[Kraxis]

Full facemasks for No-dachi is not wrong, not the way you want to portray them (the complete unit). But I would say that that armour would not be too good for the No-dachi. I would think the armour you have used for the Naginatas would be better.

[JeanDeTample]

:toilet: flush me down !! this mod rocks !!:bow:

[beauchamp]

What about Kensai? They could be in like groups of 10-12 and could act the same as the no-dachi samurai, but with way better stats.

[Kraxis]

What about Kensai? They could be in like groups of 10-12 and could act the same as the no-dachi samurai, but with way better stats.
No no no... The time for lonely heroes was over, and had been for a lengthy time. Last time they were expected and the Japanese fought in a style that fitted it, was in the Mongol Invasions. After that the mentions just became a heroic reminesance of ealier times. Just like we find in practically every other part of the world.

Lone warriors standing up to armies have always been attractive, and still are today, but their time was long gone.

[beauchamp]

Yea I feel your pain. The world was truly changing from the invincible samurait of old (aka: Yoshitsune etc.) . Are there any other units besides the ones listed? I like the idea of clan specific units and special untis from certain provinces, like ninja from Iga, Monks from Kaga, and gunners from Kyushu. What would be really cool, is that an event would occur and then mercinaries would be available from either the Dutch or Portugese, not the Europeans themselves but Japanese soldiers trained by them. They could be of a higher calibur than that of the musketeers trained by the Japanese themselves. Like in lone wolf and cub, (I know I know, its in the Tokugawa era), but the muskets created by the specialist gunshmiths produced muskets of a higher quality. I understand the fact that there were huge peasant levies from all corners of Japan, but i think that there wernet JUST like 5-6 different unit types.

Ive got a book called "Secrets of the Samurai" and the "book of five rings" which I will post more ideas for units.

[Kraxis]

Ive got a book called "Secrets of the Samurai" and the "book of five rings" which I will post more ideas for units.
I've got "Secrets of the Samurai" too, that is where I got info for the Hirazamurai and policeforces from.
But isn't the "book of five rings" just a manual, more or less, by Miyamoto Mushashi about fencing and his increadible adventures?

[Marshal Murat]

When is it coming out???

[beauchamp]

It is a manual, but it also gives insite to the use of soldiers upon a battlefield, but now that I think about it, it doesnt really give insite to historical components of feudal Japan. In Fact, musashi gives a disclaimer saying that "no forms of historical combat or examples will be given to explain what I teach..."

[al'Callaendor]

the samurai horse archers are very nice~:)

[SomeNick]

The Samurai Horse archers are excellent!

Great to see the Guild hosting the mod now too.

Great work guys !

When is rough release date? :O

~:cheers: :duel:

[antisocialmunky]

No no no... The time for lonely heroes was over, and had been for a lengthy time. Last time they were expected and the Japanese fought in a style that fitted it, was in the Mongol Invasions. After that the mentions just became a heroic reminesance of ealier times. Just like we find in practically every other part of the world.

Lone warriors standing up to armies have always been attractive, and still are today, but their time was long gone.

Well, that didn't stop us from tossing around some ideas about them. If we have enough support, we could create them as a rebel unit. Pretty much a BI beserker sized No Dachi that's alot more HP, alot more bullet proof, and alot more powerful. They'd consist of one guy with 5-15 assistants.

They'd just be in there for a cool factor and die pretty quickly if isolated or in prolonged fighting. There is a practical consideration for a unit like this and that is to nullify super kama yari peasants. Since the AI has issues with spawning super peasants in rebellions a very expensive unit would nerf it.

Of course we'll have Ikko Ikki pop up in rebellions as well to help with this, but adding a rebel No Dachi would change things up a little in the middle of a campaign.

[JeanDeTample]

Well, that didn't stop us from tossing around some ideas about them. If we have enough support, we could create them as a rebel unit. Pretty much a BI beserker sized No Dachi that's alot more HP, alot more bullet proof, and alot more powerful. They'd consist of one guy with 5-15 assistants.

They'd just be in there for a cool factor and die pretty quickly if isolated or in prolonged fighting. There is a practical consideration for a unit like this and that is to nullify super kama yari peasants. Since the AI has issues with spawning super peasants in rebellions a very expensive unit would nerf it.

Of course we'll have Ikko Ikki pop up in rebellions as well to help with this, but adding a rebel No Dachi would change things up a little in the middle of a campaign.

I think, that the rtw engine allows some nice stilish and in place fitting features. One would be a rebel or mercenary ronin samurai unit. It would be presented as a small unit of sword fighting "retainers" with their lord samurai - represented by mounted "officer" model (as generals are) with one or more HP. The whole unit would be effective against ashigaru, but susceptible to gun-fire or cavalry charge. Either way this would be necessary to balance carefuly - I hate superheroes in a game like this.

I like the idea of samurai and a unit of retainers. Maybe all foot units could be presented as retainers to certain samurai (who would take place of the "unit leader" or "officer" - plus having still a "standard bearer". I believe, there are at least two slots for individual models in each unit, aren`t they?)

Probably something already considered by the modders...

[antisocialmunky]

Well, Hatamoto-Yakku was going to be represented by Naginata samurai. I rather keep them something you can't train, make them SLIGHTLY broken.

[Kraxis]

Well, Hatamoto-Yakku was going to be represented by Naginata samurai. I rather keep them something you can't train, make them SLIGHTLY broken.
Well individual non-elite samurai still used the Naginata... The Hatamoto-yakko is mentioned specifically (though their arms are not mentioned the Naginata is a good 'classical' choice).
Make them like the First Cohorts or something, expensive and timeconsuming, possibly beyond what their abilities warrent.

About the possibility of Kensai or similar heroes. The RTW engine can't handle units that are less than 6 strong. Officers and standardbearers are always going to be mounted if the unit is mounted and on foot if likewise, and they are exactly the same as the normal soldiers in the unit, except they have 2HP. So a Kensai unit with a single Kensai and several assistants is going to be extremely difficult, likely impossible.
Also I thought the mod was about accuracy in specific so that was why I jumped so strongly at the mention of Kensai.

[Kagemusha]

Im not personally great fan of Kensai unit since i think how ever good swordsman one could be he couldnt take out 100 other men no matter how crappy those guys would be.

[antisocialmunky]

Standard HP might end up around 2 to prevent mass impact kills from charging cavalry and make arrows be better at disorder than killing.
It all depends on that so...

I'm not saying that a Kensai should be insanely good, I'm talking about making them slightly broken, IE beats Ashigaru at 50% or something. The'd be like Kensai except smaller and slightly more than proportionally devastating per man. Just a better Kensai unit that you can't build. OProme could go nuts on the model too.

It's actually one of the laws of replayability:

Build in something so noticably cool that it imprints itself on the player's mind that doesn't happen very often that the player can't control and you've guarenteed atleast one extra cycle of gameplay and a common reference for all player and goal for the new ones.

Hell, he doesn't even have to be amazingly good, just script it so a really awesome music track plays when there's a Kensai on the field. Just something noticable. Different attack sound set, the taunt attribute that beserkers have, lots of yelling... etc Besides, from a gameplay prespective, it'd break up the midgame monotony to fight a crazy guy with a 6 foot long sword with his own battle music.

[PROMETHEUS]

No Kensai in this version.....

[antisocialmunky]

Okay, that's fine.

Developing and idea: Is there anyway we can script music based on army composition?

[PROMETHEUS]

Nope...

[don776]

gday,
im wondering if you could post a percentage complete estimate, like 80% or whatever, i dont bother askin when MODS come out cuz they are never accurate, but the percentage gives me an idea,
thanks for time
don

[don776]

or, is the mod dead?

[Kagemusha]

Hello Don776!:bow: No mod is not dead but to be thruthfull we dont have a clue how ready the Mod is.~;)

[Kraxis]

I have a question... It is clear you want to include Kenshin and Shingen, but isn't the startdate going to be a problem? Isn't it going to be problematic to script very good generals to pop up at their time of accension?

[Kagemusha]

I have a question... It is clear you want to include Kenshin and Shingen, but isn't the startdate going to be a problem? Isn't it going to be problematic to script very good generals to pop up at their time of accension?

we are going to try to script the births.And traits and ancillaries.Anyway we are going to see generals who look Shingen or Kenshin like,becouse we are using the most famous Daymio of each clan for that clans General unit.We have done basic Clan family trees for each faction already.Now the question is can and should us also put the key retainer family generals in the family trees also?:bow:

[antisocialmunky]

Yes, we've planned the system out. For now all births are scripted. The Retainer(Elite Yari) Cavalry will be buildable generals.

[smokey_jon_2000]

wut up guys, good looking mod so far. I've never really been into mods, but this does look damn cool. I know nothing about modding, but if there's anything I can do to help out, let me know.

[Kagemusha]

wut up guys, good looking mod so far. I've never really been into mods, but this does look damn cool. I know nothing about modding, but if there's anything I can do to help out, let me know.

Thanks smokey_jon_2000!:bow: If you have no experience on modding.Best way to help us out is to post any info you might come across in the internet resources thread.~:)

[beauchamp]

Sorry to go off topic and mess things up, but has anyone ever thought of doing a Genki era mod, like in the 1180's? We could do some cool shit with that i think...~:)

[Kagemusha]

Good idea Beuchamp.:bow: But one project at a time..~;)

[Lanemerkel1]

according to my research during the period your using for this mod all samurai were equipped with Katana's, Wakizashi's, Yari's/Naginata's (depended on weather he was on horse or on foot), and Yumi's, plus the armor was lightweight and could stop any slashing attack from a katana dead in it's tracks.

their Katana's, and Wakizashi's were Strong, Light, and Sharp whereas European swords of the period were heavy, brittle, and dull.

Japanese Naginata's were sharper than European Pikes and lighter thanks to the way Japanese made the blade and the fact that the handle was made out of hollow bamboo instead of solid oak.

Japanese Yari's and Yumi's were both lighter than their European counterparts because they were, again, made out of bamboo.

(aka if the Samurai were in Medieval total war, they would kick the ass of any unit in the game)

:book:

[antisocialmunky]

I wouldn't sell the Europeans so short, they were made for a different type of warfare and would probably beat the average Japanese in a fight during the SJ period and especially during the late Medieval era with their Gothic Armour. Their weapons were good and they used the same weapon making techniques as the Japanese, they were heavier because they were used by larger men and had to deal with heavier plate steel.

Seriously, I have no idea why people put so much stock in Katanas. Its not like they could cut through a car or anything. They often chipped in battle.

[Y0JIMB0]

Hi everybody,

I got the same prob like smokey_jon_2000,
would like to help you but I´ve no expirenence with modding :embarassed:

My knowledge about old Nippon is "ok" (got many books and been to nippon two years ago)
but I think you got enough help with that stuff.
But maybe you need someone for translation work from ENG to GER.

hope the first version of the mod will come soon,
the movie looks so great that I installed and played STW after watching it.

So far
thx for attention

[Lanemerkel1]

I wouldn't sell the Europeans so short, they were made for a different type of warfare and would probably beat the average Japanese in a fight during the SJ period and especially during the late Medieval era with their Gothic Armour. Their weapons were good and they used the same weapon making techniques as the Japanese, they were heavier because they were used by larger men and had to deal with heavier plate steel.

Seriously, I have no idea why people put so much stock in Katanas. Its not like they could cut through a car or anything. They often chipped in battle.



one that's properly cared for is lightweight, strong and can cut a man in half with one blow

[Y0JIMB0]

and can cut a man in half with one blow

not only one man, i read in the "Hagakure" how really good Katanas
(made by great swordsmiths) were tested.
They stack dead bodys and the book says that the best ones can cut up to SEVEN man in half in one blow.
That would no european sword have managed. But I think It was not the Katana alone that would them make superior in an one on one fight with a european Knight, the light but effectiv armor and especially the way of handling the Katana was it.
And the Katana have not to cut a car, only to cut the knights armor,
think (except a late Plateharnish) that would be no prob for them.

[antisocialmunky]

Katanas couldn't cut through tempered steel. Else they would chop through each other. As for cutting a man in two, European swords weren't designed for dealing with cutting. They were more or less sharp beatsticks due to the armour they had. They were used for disorienting the enemy by attacking their helmet, knocking them back, using them as levers, etc. Besides... why would you bother cutting your opponent in half, that requires considerable skill and the Katana might break or lodge on the spine.

[Kagemusha]

Actually Antisocial some swordsmiths actually tested Katanas on criminals.They tied the men together and tested how well the katana cut through the flesh and bone.No spine bone would chip the katana blade. I agree that katana would not have been an good choice of weapon against plate armor,but what sword would have?

[antisocialmunky]

Well, the last sentence of that refered to battlefiend situations. While criminals were tested on, it would take considerable skill to cleanly cut a man in half with a katana due to the thickness of the bone in the lower spinal column where the cuts would occur. I was probably exaggerating with the chipping part though, I will admit that.

There are the stories of prisoners swallowing stones to damage katanas on the way through.

[don776]

how is mod progressing, will it be released this year or next?

[Kagemusha]

how is mod progressing, will it be released this year or next?

Im confident that it will be out this year.I hope infact that the release will be early spring.:bow:

[Expositus]

Hello everyone. Just found out about this mod. I'm a long time player of the Total War series and shogun is by far my fav. from culture to time period. I myself am working on a Civilization IV mod of this exact era and absolutely can't wait to get my hands on Ran no Jidai!

The images I've seen so far in the forums are spectacular. The map the models the skins, everything.

I hope work is progressing and the project is doing well.

Expositus

[Dutch_guy]

Well, I've been following this mod for quite some time - maybe even since the start, not that anyone noticed me, lurking these sub forums mostly ~:)

And well, it keeps on getting better I'll definatly get it once you release so much as a beta ~:)

Good luck Kagemusha,antisocialmunky and the rest of the team.

I'm keeping my hopes high for the spring release date !

:balloon2:

[Kagemusha]

Thanks for the support Dutch guy and Expositus!~:cheers:

[Ulv]

their Katana's, and Wakizashi's were Strong, Light, and Sharp whereas European swords of the period were heavy, brittle, and dull.


this might be a bit offtopic indeed, but while waiting for this mod (which looks great btw, i really cant wait! i've been hoping that someone would make mods from stw and mtw using the excellent rtw engine and features) we might as well flog this horses carcass.

it is indeed a dead horse to kick. variations of the "samurai vs european knight" or "katana pwns all euro swords" discussions pop up every now and then on Sword Forum International and other sword-related forums i hang out in, and the conclusion has always been that it is impossible to argue that one sword or another was superior to any other. i would not argue that the european swords were better than the japanese or other oriental weapons, but when i see these misconceptions about japanese swords and european swords, i feel my fingers itch. so here goes.

your generalisation of european swords as "heavy, brittle, and dull" is completely unfounded, but still a popular misconception so you'll find people who agree with you, all hyped on hollywood and popular myth.

the discussion of wether european swords were heavy or not, depends on how you define heavy and what you compare it with. finds of european swords now stored in the Royal Armouries Collection, the Wallace Collection and the Stibbert Museum in Florence show single handers weighing from 750g-1100g being very common in the 14th C and into the late 15th C. having handled (and owning) several replicas in this weight range, i can testify that their balance makes them anything but heavy to the hand.
hand and half swords werent common untill the late 15th C, and the above mentioned collections have samples of these too, weighting between 800g and 1400g, with the majority weighing less than 1200g.

remember that while the katana is a two-handed sword, it is significantly shorter than the european hand-and-half, being of about the same lenght as a european single hander (not rapier).

dr. Dawson, who cites these statistics in his article "a club with an edge?" from MHM vol 2 no 3, concludes that "From these examples it can be seen that the idea that medieval and Renaissance swords were heavy, clumsy objects is far from true. Single-handed swords could be very light, and even the heaviest two-hander was amendable to dexterous use. And the evidence is clear that even quite early in the period there were sophisticated techniques available to best employ such finely made tools..."

that they were brittle is even more a ridiculous claim than the one regarding their weight. european blacksmiths had by this time discovered better ways of making steel with higher carbon values, making it much stronger than the old type of steel that japanese blacksmiths were still working in the sengoku period. while i am no blacksmith, i know that blacksmiths have taken this claim apart and jumped on the pieces several times in SFI. use their search engine, you'll find it :) these guys are experts, making a living of understanding and making european swords of high quality for WMA and reenactors for decades.

how you think to justify the claim that they were "dull" i cannot even begin to imagine. i do not know of any textual sources on which such a claim can be based. all the manuals and information we have on how european swords, single hand or longsword, were used (Talhoffer, Ringeck, I.33, Fiore, etc) suggests that these weapons were sharp and could cut.

i seriously cannot begin to guess where you find the basis for claiming that european swords were dull. please explain how you reached this conclusion :)



(aka if the Samurai were in Medieval total war, they would kick the ass of any unit in the game)
that would entirely depend on the ideas and supersticions of the people making the stats ;)

[antisocialmunky]

Eh... If you're going to quote from a source.. as I've read this document, PLEASE cite the link. Otherwise, you're stealing his words.

[Ulv]

Eh... If you're going to quote from a source.. as I've read this document, PLEASE cite the link. Otherwise, you're stealing his words.

i am assuming you're referring to my quotation of dr. Timothy Dawson in the above post.
seing as how the article is not from a website but a magazine, it would be hard to cite a link. as far as i know, the article is not available on the internet, but was written especially for Medieval History Magazine. it was published, like i stated in the above post, in MHM volume 2 number 3, 2004. (ISSN 1741-2285)

having stated my source and the author as clearly as i did in this quote, i can hardly believe it could be considered plageurism or any other form of "stealing words".

[Ulv]

hmm.. how does one edit posts in these forums?

anyway after writing the previous reply i got curious as to wether someone had published the article online. turns out that the Journal of Western Martial Art got permission from the author to publish the article digitally. it can be found in full, with images and stats, at the following URL: http://www.ejmas.com/jwma/articles/2005/jwmaart_dawson_0205.htm - a recommended read for everyone interested in swordsmanship or medieval weaponry.

[Kraxis]

Unfortunately you can't edit YET.

With time you can.

Anyway, I think you have stumbled onto the most extreme post here, and I must point out that it is not the view of the Mod in general.

Indeed could and did, katanas, wakizashis and no-dachis break in combat. It was not even uncommon. Japanese iron was of relatively bad quality and it has been theorized that the advent of the special layering in Japanese sword might come from a way to deal with this problem. A successful way I must point out.
But eventhough they did this they were still forced to make the swords (I'm not going to name each sword every time) quite thick, and in general they were quite a bit thicker than their European counterparts, and of course heavier. Perhaps that it is the reason for the twohanded style for a fairly short sword (another theory)?
This thickness caused another problem. As you know they were generally supposed to draw-cut their victims (wakizashis were interestingly used more for stabbing but were capable enough for cutting), but a thick blade tends to get stuck because of the resistance when the angle of attack is anything but perfect. Again the Japanese swordsmiths proved up to the task and made the tapering quite special too, by giving it a crosssection like a gunshell (you know straight sides until it slowly turn inwards more and more pronounced). That way the cut could be done more extreme angles and still retain the good cutting properties and most importantly not getting stuck.
You can tell if an old katana has been polished by an amateur if it doesn't have this bend to the tapering.

Today, with modern steel there is no need for either the thick blade or the special tapering. In fact the tapering today is not only straight but also much taller.

[Ulv]

oh i see.. silly thing since i needed the function now, but then you'll just have to forgive my doublepost :)

i did not assume that the opinion expressed about the differences between european and japanese arms and armour was representative for the creators of this mod. after reading this forum and especially this thread i can only say i am impressed and incredibly pleased with the effort being made to make the mod historically accurate and realistic, with as much basis in actual history as possible. bravo and well done! i am especially pleased to see the hollywood-style ninja unit from STW disappear to be replaced with the generally accepted shinobi unit. those ninja cutscenes in STW always made me itch :S

as for your theories on the japanese swords, they are interesting. but i am not convinced that weight was the decisive matter that made japanese swordsmanship predominantly two-hand-based. there are some, if not many, kata in most (if not all) branches of iaido where decisive cuts and thrusts are made with only one hand. that said, most of these use both hands, at least in the actual completion of the cut. then again, that might be due to having one hand free - you'd rather cut with two hands than with one, if the other hand isnt doing much anyway. now i'll have to ask some local sensei about their thoughts on this subject too... *sigh* ;)

[Kraxis]

I'm talking about the 900-1050 AD period when the first curved swords appeared in the form they would retain for so long (though with the added interesting feature of being double-edged for the first few inches). Some even say that the Emmishi were the ones to introduce the sword to the Japanese... But that is another discussion.

Anyway, Miyamoto Musashi was one fighter who liked using onehanded styles (he was pretty much forced to because of his idea of using two swords), but before him it seems to have been rather unusual, and here we are talking 1600. Of course you are, as Musashi so clearly states, quite confined with the twohanded style in that you can cover your flanks very well and your reach is less. So a few cuts with a single hand is not stupid or even bad, it would give a tactical advantage.
But that does not make the sword practical for onehanded use. Musashi was big and strong, but most others would not have the strength needed to use the swords effectively in one hand for longer periods of time (and use them in the proper fashion, not just chopping with them).

[beauchamp]

Regardless of how powerful samurai swords are, Nothing can beat an original Damascene blade. The probelem with the katana is that it was totally massed produced, every samurai had one. Now, im not saying that they are anything short of amazing. Im just saying, that in comparison to the artwork and design of the early damascene swords, that they are two polar opposites......

we should probably stop this convorsation and get on with the mod...for christ sakes im playing EB while wating for Ran no Jidai

[beauchamp]

Aslo Kraxis,
Minamoto obtained that style from Portugese sailors who would fight ala swashbukle with good old cutlasses.

[Kraxis]

Aslo Kraxis,
Minamoto obtained that style from Portugese sailors who would fight ala swashbukle with good old cutlasses.
Didn't know that... cool!

But beau, while damascene swords were superb, they were the top of the line. Of course they woul be better than any run-of-the-mill katana or tachi, but in Japan they also had elite swordsmiths that only made a limited number of swords. They would easily be as good as damascene swords. Like them they were the best there was to be had in Japan...

[antisocialmunky]

http://japantrip.tripod.com/nodachi/hideyuki.html

[Kraxis]

Oh, that is one lovely sword... I would just wish they showed the grip next to it.

I wonder how much it would cost...:dizzy2: Oh yeah, nothing since you can't buy them and can't bring them out of the country.

[antisocialmunky]

Its a big sword to fight with and actuall saw battle...

- But if you just want to see a big sword, here's the king of them all...
http://japantrip.tripod.com/nodachi/norimitsu.html

[Kraxis]

http://japantrip.tripod.com/nodachi/norimitsu_odachi.jpg
Now that is a monster!~:eek:
But it can hardly have been made for anything but bragging by the smith.

But this one:
http://japantrip.tripod.com/nodachi/kashiwa.html
Is what seems to be the largest practical no-dachi... Well practical or not it has a small chip in it and several other marks of use (take a look at the point). So it looks like it has been used.

[beauchamp]

Thats pretty sick dude....that thing would be like a friggen yari. Speaking of which, will we have Nodachi units in this thing? they seem like they do alot of damage....

[antisocialmunky]

Yes, they'll probably be the best flanking infantry in the game and tire really quickly or so our idea goes with giant swords.

There's always the Japanese Zanbatous that were 7 - 8 feet long in total and pretty much impossibly to wield.

[Ulv]

release in early spring sounds great :D i can hardly wait...

as for the sword discussion, i would agree with Kraxis that your comparison falls on its own unreasonability. swords, and steel in general, from damascus were indeed famed for their quality and beauty. but they can hardly be representative for the blades of their general culture. you are, in other terms, comparing the IQ of one genius to the general IQ of a whole population, thus proving nothing else than that the genius is brighter than average. it is already known and accepted that damascene swords were above average.

however, when making such a comparison you should either generalise all swords of a culture, or take the high point of each. i am sure that there are master swordsmiths in japan that made blades far above the average standard of their time and culture, and these would surely be considered superior weapons to ordinary, run of the mill, european knightly swords.

as for the mass-produced argument, you make it sound like "every samurai" means "every japanese warrior". i am more of the impression that the samurai were a social, cultural and military elite class, much comparable to the european knights. i would assume that the majority of any feudal army of this time period would be peasant levies and non-professional warriors, as were the case in feudal europe. are anybody able to make an educated guess as to the ratio of samurai / peasant levies in armies of this period?

[beauchamp]

Think about it dude...Every samurai was designated a sword, two in fact, and even the yari levies were armed by swords. In Japan, specifically the sengoku era, their were family run swordsmakers and at least one at every castle. They would be brutally effective, beautiful and able to hold their ground as swords, but I think they lack the "magic" that the Damascene and Puld swords have.

Now, during the gepei wars, their was all kinds of superstition and swordsmakers were revered even more for their work. Especially, since their were not as many actuall "samurai" as in the sengoku.

[Ulv]

i am not arguing that damascene blades werent possibly of a higher quality than the common/average contemporary swords of japan, which is your point.

my point is that the comparison is highly irrelevant and that your conclusion isnt really useful. it is like saying that Einstein was smarter than the average French, or that a red Ferrari is a much better car than any blue car.

true, bladesmiths were probably common in japan. so were swords, and there was most certainly blades of varying quality being made. my point is that the same is true of europe and the middle east. swords were a common weapon amongst professional or well-equipped warriors. and among these warriors, the quality of blades did certainly vary. you think every warrior in the middle east, near east and southern europe owned a damascene blade? hardly, it was reserved for the richest, most important warriors, nobility and royalty.
the same thing is true of the japanese blades. some smiths were better than others, some regions made better blades than others, and the richest, noblest or most important warriors got the best blades.

my point is only that if you're to make a comparison, compare equivalents.

[beauchamp]

You got me there Ulv...I completey understand. We should probably stop using valuable Modding forum space for sword talk...

[PROMETHEUS]

A NEW SCREENSHOT FROM A WORK IN PROGRESS....

https://img93.imageshack.us/img93/771/12ak.jpg

[Kraxis]

Hey... Elmarko and Vanya would love that shot, pistolwhipping!

[PROMETHEUS]

Another frontal picture , there you can observe the new effect of the Teppo shooting tricked and perfectioned time by time by Kagemusha over the Dj version ....

https://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5333/11zt.jpg


and a mix ....

https://img95.imageshack.us/img95/5922/29hx1.jpg

[Kagemusha]

Here is one pic wit Takeda teppos in action taken with a deacent graphics card.~;)

https://img216.imageshack.us/img216/1354/139tu.th.jpg (https://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=139tu.jpg)

[PROMETHEUS]

A couple more screenshots to show the new unit Peasants ....


https://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8864/42sc.jpg

https://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7965/33ae.jpg

[beauchamp]

How many units will be available do you guys think? Will their be any "special units"?

[antisocialmunky]

We'll keep you guys guessing on that... It wouldn't be fun if there were no surprises. :-p

[Lanfire]

so how many units are left to model and skin??

[Kagemusha]

About your question there is not so many new models to do but tons of reskinning for different factions.:bow:

Here is a base for possible splash screen:

https://img23.imageshack.us/img23/1989/169te1zt.th.jpg (https://img23.imageshack.us/my.php?image=169te1zt.jpg)

[PROMETHEUS]

Some new Battle Screens ....

Clan Takeda battling Clan Uesugi

https://img3.imageshack.us/img3/8356/18sy1.jpg

https://img63.imageshack.us/img63/783/27ia1.jpg

https://img92.imageshack.us/img92/3563/38lx.jpg

https://img300.imageshack.us/img300/126/47or.jpg

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8312/51hq.jpg

https://img95.imageshack.us/img95/3369/68sl.jpg

https://img22.imageshack.us/img22/8475/76od.jpg

https://img23.imageshack.us/img23/1268/81np.jpg

Hope this satisfies you for the long wait without screens ...

[beauchamp]

Sehr Toll!
Go Uesugi!

[Lord Zimoa of Flanders]

Love the units Prom, I would love to play with those.

Cheers,

LZoF

[PROMETHEUS]

Thanks Zimoa ^^

Guess what's That?




https://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1975/91ge.jpg

[Hôjô Ujimara]

Great screens guys. It's coming along nicely.

[PROMETHEUS]

New unit ....

https://img386.imageshack.us/img386/281/14lx.jpg

[Lord Zimoa of Flanders]

They look lovely both.Always get a bit nostalgic seeing Samurai units,... STW the years go fast...

LZoF:dizzy2:

[Kagemusha]

Someones going to get choppped soon.~;)

https://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9011/19sh.jpg

[LorDBulA]

Bloody marvelous. Except this fire arrows.
I feel like playing Sengoku Jidai game now.
If you need some help with scripting give me a call and i will do what i can to help you.
Btw i can find this info. For what patch are you planing to release this beaty?

[Kagemusha]

Bloody marvelous. Except this fire arrows.
I feel like playing Sengoku Jidai game now.
If you need some help with scripting give me a call and i will do what i can to help you.
Btw i can find this info. For what patch are you planing to release this beaty?

Thats great to hear!I hope to talk with you soon on MSN.About the version we are using Bi with the latest patch(1.6).:bow:

[PROMETHEUS]

A water battle .....

https://img395.imageshack.us/img395/79/13ax1.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

SOME MORE screens of Battles ^^

https://img79.imageshack.us/img79/3442/16rq1.jpg

https://img79.imageshack.us/img79/3694/29yk.jpg

https://img231.imageshack.us/img231/1876/38gt.jpg

https://img79.imageshack.us/img79/9010/40nv1.jpg

https://img202.imageshack.us/img202/594/56in.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

Another Screenshot I hope you will like .....

^^
Himeji-jo


https://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9108/castlehimenji1nt.jpg

[Lanfire]

o shit I forgot about the buildings how far are you people with the buildings

[Kagemusha]

Lots to do but we are fortunate that we need to do buildings for only one culture~;)

[PROMETHEUS]

Here is a photo in max of the complex , what I want is to make it work in place of the main plaza , so that the unit will have to get inside of the courtyard and fight there to conquer the settlement .... but still no luck with that ... :( if anyone knows how to let me know ....

https://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2413/12li.jpg

[UglyandHasty]

great work !

[PROMETHEUS]

Ikko Ikki Teppo rebels ....


https://img503.imageshack.us/img503/6503/12hj.jpg

Naginata elite unit ....

https://img138.imageshack.us/img138/6074/18dr1.jpg

Yari unit .....

https://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6240/14lq.jpg

[UglyandHasty]

again great stuff !

[PROMETHEUS]

Megari Yari Ronin .....

https://img426.imageshack.us/img426/6804/18iq.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

Here is the Ronin Teppo unit .....

https://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8118/14rp1.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

And the Final ronin Samurai Katana unit ....

https://img56.imageshack.us/img56/6725/16an.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

Based on the Tomte of Doom Sketch on Yari Men of Iga here is the unit ......

https://img477.imageshack.us/img477/3647/18je1.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

In the grass....

https://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2502/17ct1.jpg

[Lord Zimoa of Flanders]

Looking very solid m8.

LZoF

[PROMETHEUS]

Someone coming out from Darkness.......


https://img434.imageshack.us/img434/9308/17aw1.jpg

[Kraxis]

Very impressive progress since I was last here...

I'm most impressed with the new naginata-blade. It has been slimmed down to the proper size. Me like.

But those samurai with huge swords...:inquisitive:

[PROMETHEUS]

Ok here are all the new Diplomatic units...


https://img434.imageshack.us/img434/7651/19jd.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

Bandits....

https://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3707/11ua1.jpg

[beauchamp]

Nice! I like the shinobi dressed as a peasant especially.

also, kudos to your knew picture thing prometheus, finally adopting a samurai instead of that solum roman prateor. :2thumbsup:

[hoggy]

Wow! looking fantastic. Really nice detailed units.

[PROMETHEUS]

Wow thanks Hoggy said by you is a big compliment ... ^^

[Dutch_guy]

That ninja - it is right ? - looks stunning !

And combined with the newly made assassination video's I'd use them a lot !

:balloon2:

[NSG]

Looking really nice, cant wait to start playing this mod.
Any small hint on what the estimated finish date is? Now dont burn me for asking this i am just excited to see a proper mod in the making.

[PROMETHEUS]

Hello all here you can see a great work made by tomte , apart from face and teppo all armour parts and everything else is by the Master of Texturers ... Tomte of Doom ....It deserves at least three screens I think .....

Samurai Teppo unit

Marching

https://img134.imageshack.us/img134/743/11ve2.jpg

Firing

https://img203.imageshack.us/img203/2245/21wj1.jpg

Fighting

https://img203.imageshack.us/img203/6190/30nt.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

Here is The Known Flag unit that is reassumed in the Faction list Tomte did ....same armour as befoure ....

https://img138.imageshack.us/img138/8306/14bq.jpg

Marching

https://img138.imageshack.us/img138/6776/28bs1.jpg

[PROMETHEUS]

Here an Advertizing Screen .....

https://img460.imageshack.us/img460/548/28tj.jpg

[Otomo, Tetsuo]

All you need now is a DIY add-on to the gameplayer's option screen that will let them customize their own armor color schemes ... not to suggest that there is a wit wrong with any of the ones I have seen thus far ... I'm just saying, that's the only thing you guys haven't done yet! Very well done on all accounts.:2thumbsup:

[WarHawk1953]

Honorable Kagemusha,
Most regret not seeing the flower of Nippon not listed as a honorable Strategic Agent, the Geisha. Will this most honorable of assasins be recuited and trained in a most high level ninja dojo, regretably most expensive. Nippon can not lose this most charming flower.

I humblely ask most honorable Kagemusha, Will you use the mini movies from STW:WE/EVANIMS? To insure proper atmosphere much from the original should be adapted if at all possible. The Atmoshere made STW what it was. I miss this atmosphere that has been lost with MTW,VI and RTW. The suspence of waitng to see if an assination failed or succeded by watching those mini movies.

[Kagemusha]

Honorable Kagemusha,
Most regret not seeing the flower of Nippon not listed as a honorable Strategic Agent, the Geisha. Will this most honorable of assasins be recuited and trained in a most high level ninja dojo, regretably most expensive. Nippon can not lose this most charming flower.

I humblely ask most honorable Kagemusha, Will you use the mini movies from STW:WE/EVANIMS? To insure proper atmosphere much from the original should be adapted if at all possible. The Atmoshere made STW what it was. I miss this atmosphere that has been lost with MTW,VI and RTW. The suspence of waitng to see if an assination failed or succeded by watching those mini movies.

Hello Warhawk1953.~:)
The RTW game engine allows us just to have one kind of Assasin unit.The good news are that you will see the mini movies in the mod that will tell you if the assasination attempt was succesfull or not.:bow:

[soibean]

gorgeous units
keep it up

[WarHawk1953]

Honorable Kagemusha,
It is most regretable that the Geisha cna not be included. So the saki cup is only half full, most regretable that the Geisha must be sacrificed. I look for war to your MOD. I may humbly ask again for wich version will this fantastic mod operate in? How far is your team from finishing it. I would love to beta test it.

[Revolting Friendship]

The geisha wouldn't be included even if there was room, they just aren't historical enough to fit our mod.

This mod will be made for BI, the latest version ofcourse.

How far are we from finishing it? Well it's safe to say we should be more than half-way I suppose.

I know, I would also love to betatest...~:mecry:

[PROMETHEUS]

All units are done , textures for factions are 10% completeds , the walls are 50 % buildings 50 % text files 50 % , traits etc 1 % .....

[NSG]

Thats good to hear, how is the campaign map comming along?
I only saw some screenshots of it and an image of where the factions will be on the map.

[Kagemusha]

Well about the campaign map, its ready,but implementing it to the game is the single most greatest task on text editing.So when it has been fully implemented the campaign is then also very near to complete.Ofcourse minus scripting.~;)

[Lanfire]

and how about the AI on the campaign map.
Do they know how to use it? They know which way to go ?
btw still number #1 mod out there for me...

[PROMETHEUS]

That will be handled by Darth Vader as soon as he gets the internal copy ....

[Zenith Darksea]

It's ready? When can we see screenshots?

(Incidentally, my heart rate tripled as I read that!)

[Kagemusha]

It's ready? When can we see screenshots?

(Incidentally, my heart rate tripled as I read that!)

The map itself is ready.But many of the camp map buildings and strat unit and army skins are still under construction.~;)

[WarHawk1953]

I Humbly thank the entire team for thier efforts. I am just started to learn scripting and text editing. My efforts are of small consiqence. I would like to suggest a tool that might help the endever. KDiff3. A tool that would allow you to check difference three text documents at once, such as descr_stat, with the ability to merge them into one txt document file. I also has an option to show line numbers. Great when using the show_err option. If there is a need I will post a link. This tool is free.

[Kagemusha]

I Humbly thank the entire team for thier efforts. I am just started to learn scripting and text editing. My efforts are of small consiqence. I would like to suggest a tool that might help the endever. KDiff3. A tool that would allow you to check difference three text documents at once, such as descr_stat, with the ability to merge them into one txt document file. I also has an option to show line numbers. Great when using the show_err option. If there is a need I will post a link. This tool is free.

Thank you Warhawk1953!~:) Btw we are always looking for a help with text editing and scripting.If you are intrested on helping us to finish this great project,just throw me a pm and we can talk about it more.:bow:

[Attaaaaaaaaaack]

*drools*

just what i always wanted: Shogun Total War with RTW graphics.

if you need any help just ask. i'm inexperienced at modding though.
otherwise i know lots about ninjas/shinobis/ninbujin/rappa/whatever and i would gladly be here to inform you of any historical information about them, although i suspect they wont feature too heavily in the game.

although it looks great, the assassin unit i seen in the screenshots looks very hollywood. and if you're going for complete historical accuracy RTR style i suggest not using ninjas for assassin units.

keep up the good work!

[PROMETHEUS]

RTR is not complete accuracy style I am afraid , so is not EB , compromises and guesses are very present ..... about the ninja figure I can tell u that is definetly historical , is the classic dark suit .... representative and effective...

[NormanPain]

attack is right...Ninjas more generally wore blue on stealth missions ;)

[Attaaaaaaaaaack]

well i guess it would be stupid NOT to have a ninja as the assassination unit, and to have him dressed like that, but it was always my understanding that the "ninja suit" is a myth perpetrated by kabuki theatre, and that there is nothing to suggest they engaged in assassination missions.

although if they were successful no one would know.....

uesegi kenshin is rumoured to have been killed by an assassin's blade thrust up from beneath him as he was using the toilet.

[Kagemusha]

The reason we dressed up the Ninja in the "classical" Ninja costum,was that its a strategy map unit.So its more like a symbol. If we had dressed it up to look like just basicly any other individual in the game like a Ninja would have been in reality mostly.I guess we would have got feedback saying whats that unit?~;)

[NormanPain]

makes sense

[Kagemusha]

The Tsukai Ban.Daimyos Elite messengers and scouts::bow:

https://img456.imageshack.us/img456/2365/10ae1.jpg

[Death_Sheep]

Love the modeling... if only RTW had fabric animations, seeing those ripple in the breeze as the galloped across an open field... :)

[alahir]

I love this mod
all the screens look perfect

[Dermeister]

loving it :) i wonder when abotu its coming out last i herd they sayed shoueld be aroudn begining of spring 2006?... hope theyr almost done man :) i ditn play RTW in a bit i jsut restarted to get back into it and im looking foward to playing this mod :) i renstaleld rtw jsut for this mod :) <<croses fingures and prays >_<!

[Lanfire]

i have never seen so much spelling errors. but i love your comment ;)

WE NEED TO PLAY THIS MOD!!

[Kagemusha]

Little prewiew of the Landscape.~;)

https://img233.imageshack.us/img233/539/shinano1copy7yb.jpg

[Voevod al Moldovei]

are you kidding me who can fight there it's gonna be so claustrophobic

and i think it should be greener

[caio giulio]

!!!!! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I want to play this mod!!

[Drisos]

Hey Kagemuscha, (and others)

I dislike those green animations... what are they for? :dizzy2: If it's not too hard or too much work I would gently ask you to delete them... - of course, in case the team and the fans agree..:2thumbsup:

[Kagemusha]

Hey Kagemuscha, (and others)

I dislike those green animations... what are they for? :dizzy2: If it's not too hard or too much work I would gently ask you to delete them... - of course, in case the team and the fans agree..:2thumbsup:

Drisos once you get to test RTW.You understand what those are for.Enyone can mod them out if they dont like those.:bow:

[Epistolary Richard]

I dislike those green animations... what are they for?
If it's the green arrows you're referring to then they come as standard in Rome Total War. They can be easily switched on or off in the preferences.txt file.

[Drisos]

ok then it's all ok ~:)

Someday when the mod's finished simple instructions on how to edit such things out should be on the website ~;)

[Kagemusha]

Today Tomte of Doom went to skinning frenzy and produced 19 new variations of Yumi Ashigaru in about 2 and half hours.:2thumbsup: So now we have all the necessary skins for that unit.Soon to follow more.Here are couple random skins.Sorry about the crappy graphics card:

https://img375.imageshack.us/img375/158/screen12op.jpg
https://img375.imageshack.us/img375/5765/screen26hn.jpg

[Drisos]

wow... that's 1 about one in 7 minutes!! :dizzy2: :thumbsup:

[Kagemusha]

The arrows have finally grown up.Thanks to Master Tomte!:bow:

https://img157.imageshack.us/img157/1387/ashigaru10xl.jpg


https://img152.imageshack.us/img152/3412/arrows33nl.jpg[/QUOTE]

[Rigochu]

OMG stop teasing and release this already!!!

[Tatsumaru]

Like me!
But first, what's about a Beta-release of one or more factions.
For example one or two historical battles like Sekigahara or Nagashino^^

And another thing I noticed: Do you have already unit-cards or banners?

[Kagemusha]

So today Tomte of Doom played this test skirmish with teppõ ashigaru, and some screens were captured.

The whole thing opened up nicely with a generous exchange of lead from both sides. His Mõri ashigaru were looking particularly snassy in their new armour, and out of practicality they decided to leave their rations with the baggage train and only carry ammunition, powder and ramrods instead:
https://img79.imageshack.us/img79/6383/utte24fx.jpg

After a while he got bored with putting the AI to shame with their inferior lineup so Tomte decided to go up close and personal. However, the enemy general ruined his plans of fighting down a valiant last stand by making an embarrassing attempt to fall back, clearly too late as his own unit got caught in the thick, and the other two set routing:
https://img110.imageshack.us/img110/8632/medieval6zg.jpg

By the time the general had gotten his fill of melee, his other two regiments had reconsidered their possition on running like schoolgirls and turned about to cover their reluctant leader's retreat. From the highgrounds they then went on with a desperate exchange of fire with Tomtes regrouping troops:
https://img351.imageshack.us/img351/508/regroup5km.jpg

At this point the enemy, more specifically Mogami were hopelessly decimated and already stood no chance of winning. But rather than taking the golden oppertunity and make a timely withdrawal, their general sees a need to waste further lives to a lost cause, committing his own unit to a last attempt to turn the tide. However, his disorganized rabble stands no chance against Tomtes well oiled execution squads:
https://img288.imageshack.us/img288/3972/reload3zg.jpg

A few volleys later, the Mogami has secured themselves the kind of loss that only RTW AI can produce. Fleeing for their dear lives, Kenshin, who has acted as their commanding officer express silent displeasure over his unmotivated and underrepresented involvement in the past events:
https://img118.imageshack.us/img118/3650/retreat9yd.jpg

[M.Cornelius Marcellus]

Great stuff Guys!

I havent played STW for ages nad had wished that someone was going to make this development. Will give me something to do when I am not playing the Romans lol

MCM

[Taneda Santôka]

https://img95.imageshack.us/img95/5922/29hx1.jpg[/QUOTE]



Is that the dismounted Daimyo or a Samurai Officer with golden cloak??... I wish I could figure out by myself with a nice beta version... Impatience is rising!

:juggle2: ---:wall: ---:dizzy2:

[Conqueror]

It could be a "captain". RTW automatically adds a captain to one of your units when you don't have a proper general to lead the army.

[Kagemusha]

Today i was fixing the custom battle locations,here are some screenshots.Thanks to Prome we now have these amazing grass textures! :thumbsup:

Here are couple custom battle locations:

Satomi troops staring at the Kanto plain

https://img161.imageshack.us/img161/9048/kanto1copyju5.jpg

Cavalry skirmish between Takeda and Uesugi troops under Mount Saijo at Kawakanajima.

https://img236.imageshack.us/img236/1917/kawakanajimaskirmish1copyhr9.jpg

And Takeda riders in the nice new grass made by Prom.

https://img232.imageshack.us/img232/6905/horsesinthegrasscopyco2.jpg

More to follow... :original:

-Kage

[Kagemusha]

Here is a screenshot from Amako and Date Samurais having a litle disagreement.~;)

https://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9964/fight1copygg9.jpg

[Kagemusha]

Here are the first screenshots from our latest talent Taneda Santôka on Naginata Ashigaru skins!Great work m8!:2thumbsup:

Hojo Naginata Ashis

https://img528.imageshack.us/img528/7558/hojoash1copywg3.jpg

Amako troops assaulting Asai

https://img425.imageshack.us/img425/5023/amakocharge1copysq5.jpg

[bentino]

How many % you finish? I want to help you. What can I do?

[Kagemusha]

Here are couple new screenshots of the Nagae Yari Ashigaru and Yumi Samurai.Skins made by Taneda Santoka.:bow:

https://img82.imageshack.us/img82/1226/chobosakenagaeyarilo8.jpg

https://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1759/odasakuravk8.jpg

https://img235.imageshack.us/img235/2440/hojock5.jpg

[Kagemusha]

Here are some more screenshots from Taneda and Marbod!Great job guys!

https://img391.imageshack.us/img391/8876/amakochargeph2.th.jpg (https://img391.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amakochargeph2.jpg)

https://img483.imageshack.us/img483/1360/snow1ng2.th.jpg (https://img483.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snow1ng2.jpg)

https://img455.imageshack.us/img455/6449/hojofirezq2.th.jpg (https://img455.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hojofirezq2.jpg)

https://img362.imageshack.us/img362/8987/hojoonthehuntoh7.th.jpg (https://img362.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hojoonthehuntoh7.jpg)

https://img480.imageshack.us/img480/1610/amakoyariashicw5.th.jpg (https://img480.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amakoyariashicw5.jpg)

https://img251.imageshack.us/img251/787/myoshiyariashi2ee7.th.jpg (https://img251.imageshack.us/my.php?image=myoshiyariashi2ee7.jpg)

[Taneda Santôka]

Some more some more! A snowwhipped battle between Hojo and Hosokawa. Despite their "camouflage", the Hosokawa were blown awy. Hojo forces, thanks to their yumi samurais (and unconventionnal spear-handling style!), got the upper glove!

https://img384.imageshack.us/img384/6093/hojoonthehuntiy9.jpg

https://img210.imageshack.us/img210/5733/hojofiregf0.jpg

https://img187.imageshack.us/img187/3749/hosokawachargehu2.jpg

https://img187.imageshack.us/img187/4648/hojochargeny7.jpg

https://img284.imageshack.us/img284/286/meleehy7.jpg

[Myrddraal]

...

You bet that's unconventional...

Amazing skins though :bow:

[Taneda Santôka]

yup! good old axemen anims! don't worry thought, the good ones are ready, only not here!

[Jakku]

Is this mod still alive?????? I really think you should put out a beta! At least that way you don't have to rush through mod hell!! You could possibly slow the pace down a little bit! Like Blue Lotus total war! That way people can at least try it!

[Myrddraal]

I'd like to say it again - those skins and models are great.

You must be close to a release now! Give us something to chew on...

[Dermeister]

yea somthing to chew on wouled be great...is this mod even coming out this year?

[Kagemusha]

The Mod is Alive and the work is in progress.Also i think we are willing to publish it once its ready.~;)
Here is little something to chew for you guys.~:) These beutifull skins was done by Marbod!:2thumbsup:

Brave Mori Teppo Samurais advancing an prepared Oda line:

https://img235.imageshack.us/img235/5826/moriline1copyre1.jpg


And after a while Oda examining the left overs:

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9290/aftermath1copyeu7.jpg