Britannia:TW

[coltsrock]

https://img522.imageshack.us/img522/9013/biglogo3zh.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

Check out our forum at TWcenter (until we hopefully get one here) at Britannia TW: The Roman Invasion Forum (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=111)

This mod is based on the time frame just before and during the second Roman invasion of Britannia in 43 AD. The game will begin prior to the invasion, and will be comprised of British Tribes (there were many) on the British mainland, Irish tribes in Ireland, and the Roman invaders.

The mod's going to have a new map (Britain, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Northern Gaul).

I don't plan for each faction to have too many different types of units. They'll all have a basic infantry (like a unique warband for each faction), an elite infantry (like a beserker of some sort, except more realistic), a missle unit, war wagons of some sort (depending on which tribe), and maybe one or two other unique units (but not too many more!).

I'm getting started on the research end of things, but I will need skinners and scriptors. If anyone is interested in maybe helping with any of the above mentioned things, please reply, or if you have any suggestions of where you would like to see this mod going.

Current Team and/or contributors:
---------------------------------
Colts2000: Team leader, skinner, research
Stalins Ghost: PR guy, unit balancer

Kscott: Created brand new campaign map of Britain, North Gaul, and Ireland.
Bdh: Debuggin campaign map
Ranika: Provided a lot of historical info that helped a lot.

if you are interested in joining the team please post in this thread :thumbsup:

NEWS [DEC 22nd 2005]
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The History of The Catuvellauni, Post #10 (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showpost.php?p=1015547&postcount=10)

NEWS [DEC 21st 2005]
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Announcement: "I've done quite a bit o' research and what I'm gonna start doing is posting the histories of the factions, their famous leaders, famous battles they took part in, and other interseting cultural information. This way you guys will be able to see what the factions are going to be like in the game. The first one should be posted tomorrow in this thread."

NEWS [DEC 20th 2005]
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Kscott is working on a NEW campaign map for this mod

NEWS [DEC 18th 2005]
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Thanks to a lot of help from Ranika, here is a list of the factions that will appear in Britannia Total War:

Catuvellauni (Southern Britain)
Iceni (Southern Britain) [emergent faction]
Dumnones (Southern Britain)
Brigantes (Midlands)
Carveti (Midlands) [emergent faction]
Silures (Wales)
Ordovices (Wales)
Demetae (Wales)
Niall (Ireland)
Laigini (Ireland)
Caledonians (Caledonia)
Taexali (Caledonia)
Maeatae (Caledonia)
Novanti (Caledonia)
Votadini (Caledonia)
Romans (Gaul)
Rebels

https://img515.imageshack.us/img515/6507/btw24ka.jpg

[coltsrock]

please see the bottom for faction ideas:

[coltsrock]

I am going to try and make this mod as realistic as possible. For instance, true, the british tribes were frenzied and determined in battle, but they were not much of a match for the Romans because of a lack of orginization and tactics. I will try to project this reality into the mod. The question remains "how?" but I'm sure I'll figure something out (sugestions are very welcome).

Presently I'm creating a campaign map that includes all of England, Scotland, and Wales, and then also includes the North Eastern portion of Ireland and the Northern tip of Gaul. I am also researching and trying to figure out which tribes to include in the mod (there were so many). I listed a couple of "possibles" a few posts up from this one, but I'm still trying to figure out which ones were the most "influential" and would make interesting factions. The other tribes I had previously mentioned may or may not be factions, or they may be combined with other, more "insignificant" but similar tribes to form a more usable faction. If anybody has any questions or suggestions please feel free to post :)

https://img515.imageshack.us/img515/6507/btw24ka.jpg

[GrimSta]

Make the Dumnonii a starting faction, but make the Iceni a emergent faction as they basically bowed knees to the Romans untill Boudica came along :san_laugh:

[QwertyMIDX]

Talk to Ranika, he will tell you everything you'd ever want to know and lots, lots more. In fact, I will send him this way if I talk to him.

[Ranika]

Here are some faction ideas (just a rough idea, still need to research a few more)

The Dumnonii
The Brigantes
The Trinovantes
The Iceni
The Catuvellauni
The Durotriges
The Ordovices
The Dobunni
The Cantiaci
The Romans
The Caledonii (Scotland)
The Redodii (Ireland)

https://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8817/btw2ja.jpg

Some suggestions here. The Trinovantes were vassals of the Catuvellauni, as were the Iceni, and possibly the Dobunnes and Dumnones, as well as the Atrebates and a number of other tribes. Their king was one of the pro-Roman nobles banished from Britain after King Cunobelin died. The Catuvellauni were effectively the rulers of all of southwest Britain, and potentially all of the south. I'd drop the Trinovantes (when the Romans invaded, they immediately allied with them at the demand of their errant king who had returned), and Icenii maybe make an emergent faction if you want to use them.

Also, you should have Brigantia. Brigantia was a Roman client state until Queen Cartimandau was deposed by her more popular ex-husband Venetius who preserved it as an indepedent king until his death.

The Silures in southern Wales would be a nice addition. They violently resisted Roman rule for quite a while, and also helped King Caratacus escape to Brigantia (where Cartimandau had him arrested and handed over to the Romans, which is what led to her divorce from her anti-Roman husband, the prince of the Carveti in the north, a vassal of the Brigantes). The Ordovices you already have, and they're a great choice for the region.

I would drop the Dobunni and give control of them to the Dumnones or Catuvellauni, or leave them as rebels.

Ireland had a few powers in it. The Eoghanacht in Mumu (Munster) divided the region into three districts under three overclans, Connacht was on-and-off in the hands of the early Niall clan and their Nagnate vassals, and Ulster had the Oirgal, Uladde, Darini, Darana, and others, but they were soon after vassals of the Niall as well (around the same time they lost control of Connacht to the Fenna and Toau, the 'Connaghta'; or 'Dangerous Men'). Leinster was in the hands of the Laigini and their vassals. The plains of Breg and Mide were under control of the Sil Ad Cell still, but they were conquered piecemeal by the Niall and Laigini. Most of the 'ii' names are Latinized versions of local names, and unnecessary. For the region, I'd recommend the Eoghanacht, Laigini, and Niall, since they controlled between them about 4/5ths of the island. The presence of 'hundreds of kings' in Ireland is a reference to the common term for kings and chieftains. Chieftains were all held to kings though, and Ireland did every so often have one king that ruled the island in this period (like Niall Noigiallach, the first absolutely known king of Ireland). If this helps, I'll also later explain clothing Gaels wore if you are unaware, because they did NOT look or dress like Britons or Caledonians. Also, for sake of explanation, most of the 'Scotti' were actually mercenary pirates hired by the Niall, or the Niall themselves, as well as just raiders of other, unaffiliated clans and tribes (having Gaelic 'brigands' appear in British west coast provinces would do well to represent the unaffiliated ones).

Caledonia, if you want to make it a bit more competetive, should include the Votadini and Novantae in the lowlands, and Caledonians in the mid-highlands. In the east where the Taexali, and in the north, the Cornovae. More than one in the region would be nice; it was far more disunited than Britain, which was composed of only a few tribal kingdoms and confederations in most places. While there were indeed a lot of tribes, they weren't all indepedent. Most of them were the ancillaries of another tribe. The kingdom of the Catuvellauni was the most powerful, but infighting between pro-Roman and anti-Roman nobles following the death of Cunobelin led to mass arrest, execution, or banishment of pro-Romans, like Aminius and Verica, who pled with the Romans for aide in taking Britain back. When they returned, they used their political clout to raise armies of Britons as Roman allies and cause the Catuvellaunian kingdom to collapse. Likewise, in the midlands, there was the Coritani confederation that ruled most of the territory between the Catuvellauni, the Cambrians (Welsh tribes), Dobunnes/Durotriges/Dumnonia, and Brigantia.


Back to appearances again real quick; also remember that Britons not inhabitting the Gallic south of Britain looked different, spoke differently, and were culturally unique people, and Caledonians likewise. Each three were there own seperate sub-cultures. The Gaels are a whole different culture entirely.

[coltsrock]

Thanks to a lot of help from Ranika, here is a list of the factions that will appear in Britannia Total War:

Catuvellauni (Southern Britain)
Iceni (Southern Britain) [emergent faction]
Dumnones (Southern Britain)
Brigantes (Midlands)
Carveti (Midlands) [emergent faction]
Silures (Wales)
Ordovices (Wales)
Demetae (Wales)
Niall (Ireland)
Laigini (Ireland)
Caledonians (Caledonia)
Taexali (Caledonia)
Maeatae (Caledonia)
Novanti (Caledonia)
Votadini (Caledonia)
Romans (Gaul)
Rebels

https://img515.imageshack.us/img515/6507/btw24ka.jpg

[coltsrock]

Here is my map_heights to give you and idea of the campaign map I'm creating:
https://img415.imageshack.us/img415/4924/mapheights1nr.th.jpg (https://img415.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mapheights1nr.jpg)

https://img515.imageshack.us/img515/6507/btw24ka.jpg

[coltsrock]

Okay, I've done quite a bit o' research and what I'm gonna start doing is posting the histories of the factions, their famous leaders, famous battles they took part in, and other interseting cultural information. This way you guys will be able to see what the factions are going to be like in the game. The first one should be posted tomorrow in this thread.

https://img515.imageshack.us/img515/6507/btw24ka.jpg

[coltsrock]

The Catuvellauni

Strangely, The Catuvellauni were never written about be Julius Caesar. There is speculation as to "why?" they were not mentioned. Some say perhaps they were under a different name at the time of his expeditions. Others say they were ommited from his writings because they were the tribe who defiantly resisted him during his second expidition and may have caused the pull out that followed. Either way, by the time Claudius invaded in 43 AD, The Catuvellauni were the most powerful tribe in Britain. They were an organised tribe with good leadership and a powerful fighting force. This gave them the upper hand in Southern Britain and allowed them to take control of their neighboring tribes The Atrebates and The Trinovates. They were an inland tribe and this may have pushed them to expand towards the coastal regions, allowing them to establish trade with mainland Europe.

Cassivellaunus was the first kind of the Catuvellauni. It is actually possible that he formed the tribe from smaller Belgic tribes living around the Thames. It seems that his name, Cassivellaunus, may mean "Vellaunus of the Cassi" (his tribe would of been the Cassi and his name was Vellaunus). Thus, the name Catuvellauni, when translated, could mean "The Followers of Vellaunus". This would make sense because Cassivellaunus was a very good leader. Caesar actually wrote about him in his writings, and we do know that Cassivellaunus lead the British resistance against Caesar.

In the time period where this mod begins, the Catuvellauni are ruled over by Cunobelin, the son of Tasciovanus, making him the grandson of Cassivellaunus. He was the leader who invaded the Trinovates and held their throne at the same time as holding the Catuvellauni throne. He wouldn't personally fight the Romans, but his bloodline proved to be heavily involved with the Roman invasion, either fighting it or allowing it.

We see his son Adminius, who governed the southern part of the Catuvellauni's territories was open to Roman influence because of trade. He was driven from their lands by his brothers Togodumnus and Caratacus. These two brothers were anything but open to Roman influence. Togodumnus took the throne of the Catuvellauni after his uncle's death in 35 AD, and he himself most likely was killed by the Romans at the Battle of Medway.

His brother Caratacus seemed to play a more important role in the struggle against the Romans. It appears that he fought several battles against Plautius and the Romans before he retreated to Wales and incited the Silures and the Ordovices to violently rebel against the Romans. He lead the Silures in a very well executed campaign deep into Gloucestershire where the Roman governor Ostorius Scapula spent most of his term fighting against him. After this he fled and attempted to find sanctuary amongst the Brigantes but he was betrayed and handed over to the Romans. In 51 AD he was sent under armed guard to Rome for punishment, but after a persausive speach to the senate he was released and allowed to live with his family in Rome.

https://img515.imageshack.us/img515/6507/btw24ka.jpg

[coltsrock]

It's going to be tough to make faction symbols from this time period. I think my best bet is going to be working around coinage from this time period from the different tribes. Here's some examples for the Catuvellauni and the Iceni:


Catuvellauni Coins

https://img522.imageshack.us/img522/3706/catuvellaunianb5uebkan8aj.jpg
https://img522.imageshack.us/img522/8523/cunos20coins200120mk18hv.jpg
https://img442.imageshack.us/img442/4328/145ll.gif

Iceni Coin

https://img442.imageshack.us/img442/8786/coinboudicca1fr.jpg



https://img515.imageshack.us/img515/6507/btw24ka.jpg

[coltsrock]

My next faction history will be about the Silures in wales who violently opposesed the Romans with the help of Caratacus, son of the Catuvellauni king Cunobelin. This history will be posted at some point this weekend.

On another note, I have no team as of now. Kscott is making the campaign map as I said but he's busy with his own projects as you may know. I am OK at skinning, but I'm not good with scripting. I would also like people to join if they have good ideas for this mod. It's presently only in the research phase, so if any of you guys have good ideas please post them.

thanks

https://img515.imageshack.us/img515/6507/btw24ka.jpg

[cunobelinus]

Is this in the earlyer stages of devolopment because if you add lots of historical units and lots of other new stuff it sounds fun and i look foward to it.