Rodion Romanovich
10-22-2005, 10:38
Time for another preview!
We begin by some news, that should be well-known to some already, but I repeat it here again because many interested in this mod read the previews only:
1. due to the possibilities of the BI engine, we're now developing the mod for BI. This means shieldwalls, religion, new culture and many other features. Among other things the franks and the papacy don't need to share field of vision and be allied, so now we're getting a much more accurate mod.
2. one of these possibilities is also the removal of the senate system, which in our case means removal of the papacy. The pope is instead implemented in another way, but as he was fairly powerless at this time, this new method is more accurate. The papacy faction has therefore been replaced by another faction: Great Moravia, which was an important faction in the Central European situation until destroyed by the magyars in the late 10th century. This will make the mod more balanced both from gameplay and historical perspective, as the Eastern Frankish Empire is now threatened on their eastern borders. Still, the EFE when AI controlled will tend to have great possibilities for expansion later in the game, which is historically correct.
And now on to some wonderful units:
https://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8527/magyar041ow.jpg
Kabarok: the kabars were one of the groups that followed the magyar migration into the Pannonia area, and provided the magyar armies with very good horse archers. The magyar army was perhaps the most typical steppe army of it's time. While khazars and bulgars were using more infantry in this period, the magyars still used very little else than horse archers and heavy cavalry. In AoVaF, the kabarok will be light horse archers with very limited fighting capabilities in prolonged meleé, but a well-timed charge from these horse archers into the rear of a pinned enemy is far from harmless.
https://img203.imageshack.us/img203/589/frank115mg.jpg
Milites pedites (axe): while the comes are the professional elite of the Frankish army, the milites are the backbone of the Frankish army. While they mostly fight on horseback, they're sometimes also dismounted and used as heavy infantry. Perhaps not as effective infantry as they are as cavalry, the dismounted milites are the best infantry the Franks can muster. The milites pedites (meaning simply "militia footmen"), were armed with either axes or swords. The unit on the picture above is the milites pedites (axe) of the Eastern Frankish Empire.
https://img166.imageshack.us/img166/6646/ferdigbers16pt.jpg
Viking berserkers: the viking berserkers are perhaps the most effective shock troops of the viking arsenal. The belief that honorable death in combat will grant you a place in Valhalla, the paradise of the vikings, gives these men a fearless attitude in combat, and sometimes they also enter an uncontrolled state of fierceness, berserkagangr, where they fiercely attack all enemies around them. Being quite few in numbers and lightly armored, they're not good as line troops, but better sent around enemy flanks, where they can have a devastating effect to a pinned enemy. Their main weaknesses are perhaps their vulnerability to missiles and cavalry.
https://img166.imageshack.us/img166/1261/trellspear4lc.jpg
Trell spearmen: The trells or thralls are slaves in the viking society. Usually not allowed to carry any weapons, these men are in cases of emergency called in without proper training and with improvised weaponry in order to fight for their oppressive masters. Needless to say, both their morale and fighting capabilities are neglectable, but just like the militia of other factions they form a good complement to regular troops when numbers are needed.
That's all for now!
Thanks to imageshack (http://www.imageshack.us) for free image hosting!
Keep in mind that everything posted is or might be work in progress.
We begin by some news, that should be well-known to some already, but I repeat it here again because many interested in this mod read the previews only:
1. due to the possibilities of the BI engine, we're now developing the mod for BI. This means shieldwalls, religion, new culture and many other features. Among other things the franks and the papacy don't need to share field of vision and be allied, so now we're getting a much more accurate mod.
2. one of these possibilities is also the removal of the senate system, which in our case means removal of the papacy. The pope is instead implemented in another way, but as he was fairly powerless at this time, this new method is more accurate. The papacy faction has therefore been replaced by another faction: Great Moravia, which was an important faction in the Central European situation until destroyed by the magyars in the late 10th century. This will make the mod more balanced both from gameplay and historical perspective, as the Eastern Frankish Empire is now threatened on their eastern borders. Still, the EFE when AI controlled will tend to have great possibilities for expansion later in the game, which is historically correct.
And now on to some wonderful units:
https://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8527/magyar041ow.jpg
Kabarok: the kabars were one of the groups that followed the magyar migration into the Pannonia area, and provided the magyar armies with very good horse archers. The magyar army was perhaps the most typical steppe army of it's time. While khazars and bulgars were using more infantry in this period, the magyars still used very little else than horse archers and heavy cavalry. In AoVaF, the kabarok will be light horse archers with very limited fighting capabilities in prolonged meleé, but a well-timed charge from these horse archers into the rear of a pinned enemy is far from harmless.
https://img203.imageshack.us/img203/589/frank115mg.jpg
Milites pedites (axe): while the comes are the professional elite of the Frankish army, the milites are the backbone of the Frankish army. While they mostly fight on horseback, they're sometimes also dismounted and used as heavy infantry. Perhaps not as effective infantry as they are as cavalry, the dismounted milites are the best infantry the Franks can muster. The milites pedites (meaning simply "militia footmen"), were armed with either axes or swords. The unit on the picture above is the milites pedites (axe) of the Eastern Frankish Empire.
https://img166.imageshack.us/img166/6646/ferdigbers16pt.jpg
Viking berserkers: the viking berserkers are perhaps the most effective shock troops of the viking arsenal. The belief that honorable death in combat will grant you a place in Valhalla, the paradise of the vikings, gives these men a fearless attitude in combat, and sometimes they also enter an uncontrolled state of fierceness, berserkagangr, where they fiercely attack all enemies around them. Being quite few in numbers and lightly armored, they're not good as line troops, but better sent around enemy flanks, where they can have a devastating effect to a pinned enemy. Their main weaknesses are perhaps their vulnerability to missiles and cavalry.
https://img166.imageshack.us/img166/1261/trellspear4lc.jpg
Trell spearmen: The trells or thralls are slaves in the viking society. Usually not allowed to carry any weapons, these men are in cases of emergency called in without proper training and with improvised weaponry in order to fight for their oppressive masters. Needless to say, both their morale and fighting capabilities are neglectable, but just like the militia of other factions they form a good complement to regular troops when numbers are needed.
That's all for now!
Thanks to imageshack (http://www.imageshack.us) for free image hosting!
Keep in mind that everything posted is or might be work in progress.