The Ilsamiren Wars

[Lord Winter]

Destroyer of Hope - those two factions are island nations, horses are not native to there regions, though they will probably be able to recruit horse units if they conquer regions with horses.

They could still import horses, maybe you could make them more expensive and less powerful on the islands.

[Ilsamir Lord]

Well, I see where you are coming from, but horses are only available to one faction (at least at the start) and that is a deliberate balance. Other factions have their own powerful units, or at least units which are the best in their class etc., the Ilsamiri happen to get horses, the Northern Kingdom gets the Ethed, the Ocean Tribes get Phanga-Huilin and Tanl-Aoirin.

[Lonely Soldier]

I'd definitely be working on this if I weren't working on AoM:TW, if I was actually any good at modding...

[Ilsamir Lord]

Lol, thanks mate. We should have some concepts done before long by the way.

[Morray]

Hey Ilsamir Lord, Firstly I have to say there seems a lot of well thought out background with very rich cultures etc. Can we expect to see any fantastical creatures (something I personally look forward too) e.g. Orks Trolls Winged beats? (now that would be cool!)

[Ilsamir Lord]

Well... the Northern Kingdom has the Ethed (which is a big, bull-like mount) but I don't think we'll be using any standard creatures, like trolls and orcs. If you want that sort of thing you could check out the Warhammer or Lord of the Rings mods.

As for flying beasts: there is nothing in the engine to support them (cool though they are). There may be some way to include them, but again I'd be hesitant. I want realism above all else, and to me that means logical evolution (even if of imagined creatures). The ethed for example is a creature which could exist after thousands of years of human civilisation, as it has a practical use for humans, the same with horses. I feel that dragon-like creatures would be hunted to extinction quite early on, simply because they are more of a threat than an aid.

Sorry for that rant, if people have suggestions for imagined (but quasi-realistic) creatures, feel free to submit them.

[Ilsamir Lord]

Music Ideas -
If anyone has any ideas for the music, bearing in mind that we will need a writer for said music, I'd love to hear them!

Here are some of mine:

Classical & Choral - mainly for the factions of the Western Continent.

Drums for the Seaborne?

Not sure what for the others, if people know of exotic instruments it would be possible to access or emulate I would be fascinated to hear of them.

[Incongruous]

Well Im in a (wait for it) progressive melodic metal band and I do alot of melodic singing about battles and such, I also wright the lyrics so I could wright you a few poems to use as quotes.

[Ilsamir Lord]

Bopa the Magyar - That could be most useful! We will definitely be including quotes, so that would be good.

[Lonely Soldier]

Glad to see your team growing. Thanks for the reference for the campaign map by the way.

[Ilsamir Lord]

No problem!

Here's my work-in-progress chronology for the Mechathenain - it isn't finished yet.

DATE EVENT
3037 AF The Mechathenain depart the eastern continent.
3039 AF The Mechathenain encounter the Ocean Tribes – attempt settlement.
3040 AF The Ocean Tribes retaliate, driving the Mechathenain into the sea.
3040 – 3044 AF The Mechathenain explore the Dividing Seas.
3045 AF The Mechathenain land on
Bezhan-on-Echen.

3045-3048 The Mechathenain take small settlements in and around the Clauthnor from local brigands.
3049 The Mechathenain encounter envoys of the Southern Kingdom and begin a trading relationship.
3050 The Ilsamiri learn of the Mechathenain from the Southern Kingdom and order the alliance to be modified to neutrality. The Southern Kingdom refuses, the Ilsamiri back down.

3050-3054 The Mechathenain left behind on the eastern continent are sent for, all but a few have perished.
3055 The Mechathenain king orders the establishment of settlements on several uninhabited islands in the Dividing Sea.
3057 The Ocean Tribes are discovered to be occupying these islands. The Mechathenain send envoys. Neutrality is established between the two peoples.

3060 The Mechathenain begin explorations of the northern Dividing Seas, encounter the Seaborne.
3060-3065 The Mechathenain earn the trust of the Ilsamiri after an Ilsamir fleet is protected from the Seaborne by the Mechathenain.

3067 Ilsamir holdings in the Western provinces are attacked by the Northern Kingdom.
3068 The Mechathenain learn of the Northern Kingdom.
3070 The Ilsamiri send a horse as a gift to the Mechathenain king. In a cruel twist of fate a Mechathenain lord is kicked and dies. Relations rapidly deteriorate.

3072 The Southern Kingdom requests aid against raiding parties of the Northern Kingdom from the Mechathenain.

[kataphraktoi]

Hey Ilsamir, I replied to ur PM, hope u recieved it.

I'll additionally draw up concept designs just in case u might want to use them. I won't be able to scan these designs until i get back home in 2 weeks time, but I may use a hi-res digital camera I have on me.

[kataphraktoi]

[URL=https://img458.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01604xr.jpg][IMG]https://img458.imageshack.us/img458/2300/img01604xr.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

draft of a heavily armoured falxman - wears an array of lamellar armour and rickly decorated red coat over a mail lorikia. Carries a one handed falx and a curved falx sword.

[URL=https://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01618pi.jpg][IMG]https://img225.imageshack.us/img225/3811/img01618pi.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

two draft concepts:

The one on the left is a medium/heavy infantryman who wears a segmented plates of armour with plate greaves and vambraces. Armed with a spear that has a falx-blade at the end and carries a medium-sized shield with a spikes boss. Wears a spiked helmet as last-resort hand weapon.

The one on the right is a heavily armoured bodyguard/heavy infantrymen soldier type. Wears a long coat of mail underneath a richly embroidered silk garment with a lamellar cuirass wrapped around it. MAIN weapons are the mace and a set of bow and quiver.

[URL=https://img208.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01625sq.jpg][IMG]https://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1981/img01625sq.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

This guy here has a suit of armour made from composite leather-iron plates cunningly connected together with no appearance of straps. His weapons are a curved saber and not shown is a lance made from complete metal.

[GrimSta]

Wow! those are neat concepts!!!

[Ilsamir Lord]

Indeed! I think they would be better for the Mechathenain myself, I want the Ilsamir to be a little more traditionally European. They are perfect for the Mechathenain though!

They are all excellent regardless!

[shifty157]

For the ease of those viewing here are the concepts in order:

[Ilsamir Lord]

I just thought I'd tell everyone about our forums at http://s14.invisionfree.com/The_Ilsamiren_Wars . Anyone is free to join. Also, if you wish to have access to the Development threads, please PM me and I'll consider it. Also, feel free to join in our discussions and polls in the discussion section.

We also have a Mod Database Profile at http://mods.moddb.com/6331/ . This thread and our forums will be the first places where updates are published, but any downloads we have will be at ModDb.

Our website, though by no means complete (any web designers willing to help?) is at http://www.freewebs.com/ilsamir_lord/ .

[kataphraktoi]

how traditionally european??

what do you of a military list of warriors belonging to a single race but are not a faction because they're homeland is occupied by several factions or they have been dispersed through conquest and serve as highly coveted bodyguard units??

As for faction previews in the future why not use "primary material" if the factino has a written language. Eg. Chinese have the Bing Fa *Art of War' tp de3sribe their military system. WHy not the Ilsamir, etc, etc...

[Ilsamir Lord]

The idea for the previews sounds good. With the Ilsamir, I'd like their armour to be kinda early renaissance European, but more fantastical. In the same way that the concepts you have done are kinda medieval Arabian but slightly unfamiliar.

What you have done so far is excellent. The style is ideal. The overall designs are realistic enough that they might have come from history, but also imaginative enough to be interesting and fresh.

what do you of a military list of warriors belonging to a single race but are not a faction because they're homeland is occupied by several factions or they have been dispersed through conquest and serve as highly coveted bodyguard units??

I'm not quite sure what you mean here... Do you mean that mercenaries and some units would be from invaded territories?

By the way, I can hardly wait to see those concepts scanned in! I've had an idea for the unit information cards as well (both for the unit tabs in battles and for the detailed information scrolls). Instead of using a picture of the unit in game, I'd like to use a coloured version of a drawing. What do others think? I feel it could add a certain class to the mod. Also, if anyone knows of a good graphic artist who could work on the UI for each culture could they please refer them to us?

Also, I'll be fleshing out the faction, unit and religion descriptions soon. I've been a bit slack about that so far. I'll also start working on getting some more specific design briefs up, particularly for buildings and units.

[NodachiSam]

Thanks for the imput professorspatula. We will do well to keep in mind what you've said. We have to remain flexible like that. We've just begun and its a long road but we'll make it. Underaiming ourselves is a good idea. We can always add more later.

Ilsamir Lord: I reccomend that we work at giving each faction (or culture if we want rebels) a relatively distrinct look. This mod is in a fantastic setting after all (with gods and such). Even the Ilsamiri and the northern kingdom should look somewhat distinct while remaining similar.

Also, I hope that the history of the ilsamir alliances doesn't prevent the mod from being a total war game. In your story the Ilsamir may be the strongest but in the mod each faction should be somewhat balanced against each other so things don't always go the same way. Otherwise we'll have a very dull mod with less replayability.

Does every faction have name a for itself? Only 3 factions seem to have real names so far.

The relationship between the ilsamir and the western and southern kingdom might be difficult to put into game. In our source material the ilsamir protect with west in exchange for food. For balance issues we don't want one to be vastly superior to his neighbour so perhaps instead the western provinces have tradable foods and a trading post (what is the equivalent in RTW? *sigh* I'll get it eventually. That's the reason I'm keeping myself to only concept and pre-development for now)) and the Ilsamir trade to them weapons or something combat related. (they both must start with trading capabilities or quickly gain them). In this way we could simulate their benefitial relationship without having to get too deep into coding for it.
The southern-middle kingdom relationship is easy enough though.

The Macanthenian situation is certainly interesting but I wonder what is keeping this kingdom together since they don't have their own source of food. Perhaps these guys have rich deposits of minerals or daimonds that make their arid home worth keeping and they rely on trade for income and foodstuff. Maybe they are simply invading other areas to get control of food production areas because whoever (maybe seaborne and oceaners) are demanding unreasonable amounts for the food. They could have low farm income in own their lands and require trade income to make any money. They also need to invade somebody or they might be somewhat stagnant.

Ilsamiri, do you want to do most developement here or on our website? If we do it there it'll be easier to seperate discussion between different categories instead of just having everything in one thread. On the other hand though we do want to attract potential team members and keep our mod in the public eye a bit.

[Ilsamir Lord]

Faction Distinctions, Balancing and Names - I heartily agree on the distinctiveness suggestions. The distinctions in design should be based "historically", so yes, the Northern Kingdom should be similar, but different to the Ilsamiri. The Southern and Western Kingdoms are also somewhat similar, but they are also independant, just as the people of Iberia had their own culture even after the Romans had their influences.

The balancing for the Ilsamiri should not be too difficult. Though they are powerful militarily they are weakening and stagnating at this time, their northern settlements are quite weak and they will begin with relatively small armies.

All the factions have names for themselves, I'm finalising those at the moment.

Western/Southern/Ilsamiri Alliance - We should be able to work something out. The Western Kingdom will provide trade in Grain and the Southern in everything else. I'll have to think more about this.

The Mechathenain - Mechathenain society is inherently peaceful, and many of its officials are deeply optimistic and religious. They have for many years believed that their lands would be revived by the Bezhan (their gods). By the time the mod starts, their lands are still desert and they are living in subsistence. They are not able to make profit from their grain stocks as these are dwindling. Their religiosity guides them away from exploration, as they believe that there is nothing else beyond their lands. In a last ditch attempt, they build and stock a fleet to seek new, more fertile lands.

Development - The development will be easier to do at our forums, but we will still publish a lot of our work here. I'll check back here periodically to answer questions too. So most of the development will happen at our forums.

[kataphraktoi]

what do you of a military list of warriors belonging to a single race but are not a faction because they're homeland is occupied by several factions or they have been dispersed through conquest and serve as highly coveted bodyguard units??

Basically, I would like to develop a bunch of elite warriors from the same ethnic grouping. The premise is that they are don't have their own faction because their homeland is occupied by several factions or dispersed through past conquests. THey serve as highly coveted bodyguards because of their fierce loyalty and combat abilities. In their dispersion throughout several factiosn they all have a unqiue distinctive weapon.

I've completed another concept drawing. Will post scan later.

And hopefully I can draw up some concept designs for architecture and field weapons later.

Most particularly buildings.

I agree with NoDachi about distinct factions with similarities. After all, in our history, there were common historical roots in many cultures and empires.

[kataphraktoi]

alrite, Im registered to our forum as Kharshakyri

[Ilsamir Lord]

Excellent stuff. I see what you mean about the bodyguards too. Not a bad idea!

[kataphraktoi]

<a href="https://img377.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01815yc.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://img377.imageshack.us/img377/883/img01815yc.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>

This guy here is another of those boyguards I've talked about, I'll call them by their ethnic name Veshtiqhanids because I need a name them to call them by!! Anyone can suggest a better name if they want. Feel free.

Veshtiqhanid Sikhapani "Palatial Life-guard"
This guys wears a long coat of mail with three chest plates overlapping across his chest. Over it he wears a highly decorated coat. He carries the distinctive Kharshakyri blade designed for stabbing and slashing. However, this Kharshakyri is a variant on the original Veshtiqhanid blade which is shorter. He also carries a bow and quiver. In addition, a metal shield. Other weapons include a saber with a wider header near the end of the blade (it is not a Veshtiqhanid weapon). His helmet consists of plates that are strategically placed to protect from maces and falx like weapons. His face is covered in chainmail and his neck is covered by a gorget piece.

The Veshtiqhanid Sikhapani is from the Western stock of his race. They tend to be dark-haired and dark eyed but are tall and strong like their lighter-haired and light-eyed counterparts.

<a href="https://img198.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img01850rt.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://img198.imageshack.us/img198/7930/img01850rt.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>

Original Veshtiqhanid Warrior
There are some independent Veshtiqhanid warriors left in their mountainous dwellings. From time to time they raid their enemies for resources and supplies. THis particular warrior typifies the original armament of Veshtiqhanid warriors before their captivity and dispersal.

His wears a simply mail coat over a padded buffcoat that reaches to the knees and elbows. Over his mail coat is a leather jerkin. He carries the distinct Veshtiqhanid Kharshakyri blade. In additional, he carries a tough leather shield with metal boss and small ball-headed mace within the shield. Other weapons include a bow and quiver. On his arms and legs are segmented metal plates. He is fully armed and yet mobile with adequate protection in mountainous warfare.

[kataphraktoi]

Gahh! how do I do thumbnail thing!!

[img=https://img360.imageshack.us/img360/7438/img01827ga.th.jpg]

This is the final rendering of this guy. He's not a Veshtiqhanid. He's watever Ilsamir decides to allocate him to.

As mentioned earlier, they wear a full armour set o composite leather-iron plates that are flexible with the immense weight of metal armour. It is designed to make blades glide of the surface. In addition, the leather composition of the plates is to absorb the blows of maces. These soldiers serve mainly as heavy infantry. Their weapons consists of bow/quiver, saber and 5 javelins. However, their ljavelins are unique. They are made from solid metal and are retractable. In their military literature, the designed is designed this way to make it easier to carry. When in use in battle, the javelin is extended to its full length. When thrown, it will retract after impact. If an enemy tries to pick up the javelin and re-use it by extending it to its full length, they will be wasting their time as there is a hidden lock that makes javeil expand in the first place. In short, the javelin is useless. These soldiers carry two types of shield. They offer maximum protection while allowing clear view of the enemy. Their helmet consists of metal plates. Higher officers have an extended frill on top of their helmets. They carry other weapons as well which are depicted such as a two-handed falx blade. They can also serve as heavy cavalry.

[img=https://img520.imageshack.us/img520/3576/img01837ae.th.jpg]

This warrior here I intend to use as the basis for a whole line of a military unit list. I intend to draw up concept designs for a cavalry "ranger" type of warrior later; an officer type; plus a junior cadet version.


[img=https://img520.imageshack.us/img520/2668/img01865ns.th.jpg]

This is another Veshtiqhanid warrior but called a:
Vartaghan Raqhish in the language of the faction he is serving for.

In this final rendering, you can see other weapons draw and named:
Sryraga - a curved saber developed by the Vartaghan themselves and is only unqiue amongst this kind of Veshtiqhanid.

Jargan - a long one-handed falx blade for hand to hand combat.

Kharshakyri - the unique Veshtiqhanid blade for stabbing and slashing. Useful against leather and lamellar armour, but not solid plate armour.

Enjoy.

[kataphraktoi]

Gahh!! I went to stratcommandcenter and Twcenter and saw unit lists and faction descriptions.

Crap, I didn't know they were there. Will use the unit lists. And as for the Veshtiqhanid thingy, if u want it to be Mechathanien, thats fine.

[Ilsamir Lord]

Ja, I probably should publish a fuller list somewhere :) . For the Mechathenain units I'd like that kind of flat helmet to be a design feature. The stabbing and slashing blade is quite good, but I'm not sure who for... I think I'd like something like that for light Seaborne ranged troops as a back-up weapon, but perhaps a little simpler. To get it to display as a thumbnail you just need to copy the "thumbnail for forums" line on the imageshack upload page. By the way, do you use MSN? It would be good to have a real-time discussion of some of these concepts, just to clarify certain things.

I'll repost the concepts for others (in a slightly resized form for size reasons):

Mechathenain Spearman


Ethed Knight Helmet and Shield, armour for something else.


Mechathenain Lord's Man (helmet will be flat - a design feature of Mechathenain armour)


A Seaborne or Mechathenain Elite Unit


A Southern Kingdom Port Guard

[kataphraktoi]

msn is fuzzwuzznuzz@hotmail.com

As for the Mechathenain helm, the design was meant to protect against falx blades.

As for the Kharshakyri blade, why not make it a technology that is adapted for different factions because of its armour piercing use?

[Ilsamir Lord]

Helm design sounds fine to me. As I say, any Mechathenain unit which wears a helm should have that shape I feel (though not necessarily the exact same helm of course.

Just to re-iterate:

The Factions and units (so far) are:

The Ilsamiri (Late Medieval European-ish design)
Peasants –
Armed with appropriated farming tools, these men are not brave, but they are stronger than other citizens, simply because they have had to hunt and farm to feed themselves.

Conscripts –
These men are forced into the military by random selection. They are usually young and inexperienced, and so are last resorts of desperate commanders. Because they are pressed into service, these soldiers are unreliable and have undergone minimal training.

Swordsmen –
These are sword armed professional soldiers. They are lightly armoured to facilitate rapid movement, but make up for their lack of armour with unmatched skill in defending themselves with their swords.

Spearmen –
These men carry spears and shields and can present an impenetrable wall of shields to a foe. They are not especially brave, but when placed in a tight formation with their flanks protected they are unlikely to waver.

Pikemen –
The natural progression of the spear is the pike, a massive pole-arm designed to hold the enemy at bay. Pikemen are very hardy, but when placed in their customary tight formation they are very vulnerable to flanking assaults.

Archers - with longbows
These archers are some of the finest in the world. They spend a lifetime training themselves to fire their powerful longbows, and are as a consequence extremely strong in a melee. These archers are armoured lightly and carry single-handed, straight fighting swords.

Darineth Guardsmen
These are the finest men in the Ilsamiren army, armed with swords and shields, they wear the finest armour and undergo the most rigorous training, with the result that they are as fast as many light troops, but are infinitely hardier. They are chosen from among the guards of the fortress-city of Darineth, the capital of the Ilsamir lands. They fight in a relatively loose formation to facilitate the swinging of their longswords.

Warriors of Malice (?)
These men are shunned by the rest of Ilsamir society, but they are still respected as fine warriors. They are armed with two-handed swords and wear heavy armour. They have turned from the path of the Weaver, but not from loyalty to the Ilsamiri. These men wear little armour and dress in deep red.

Warrior Priests (?)
These priests are followers of the Weaver and uphold his teachings. Though they are trained to be passive, when they are defending their people their wrath is terrible to behold. They wear white edged dark blue robes and simple helmets.

Morchanin Scouts –
These are the finest warriors in the world. Armed with sabres and blowguns they are capable of taking enemies totally unawares and are particularly skilled in the killing of enemy captains and generals. They fight expertly at night, and hide easily in grass and forest.

The Mechathenain (Middle Eastern-ish design)
Lord's Men
These are an elite corp of guards, reserved for the defense of lords of the Mechathenain. They are armed with long handled curved swords and wear finely crafted armour, crowned with an elaborate form of the characteristic flat helm of the Mechathenain.

Spearmen

Swordsmen

Peasants

Mariners

Falxmen (I'll name these differently later)

Hunters

Mounted Hunters (available only in certain provinces)

More to come... full descriptions will follow.

The Seaborne (not sure, kinda piratey)
Slaves
These men are forced to fight, mainly out of fear for their masters, but also for the chance of winning their freedom. They are armoured very lightly, as can be seen (in the unit picture - they have no shirts.). They are not at all courageous when flanked, but when used in a direct charge they are all but fearless. They are armed with knives which they use for gutting their catches, the only food they get.

Crewmen
These are basic the crewmen of Seaborne ships. These men are more accustomed to working on the seas than fighting on land, but they are serviceable. Armed with a small buckler and cutlass, they are very vulnerable to ranged enemies but can put up a fight against other light infantry.

Boarders (expert shock troops)
Boarders are trained specifically for melee combat and are armed with cutlasses and small shields. They are perfect for making sudden attacks on lighter enemies, but when charged by cavalry they are all but helpless.

Spearmen
Armed simply for affordability, these spearmen are trained to repel enemies that might board their ships. Their spears are in fact adapted boat-hooks which are equally effective on land as from onboard a ship. These spearmen are trained rudementarily for land combat and so are best used in large numbers.

Swordsmen
These men carry lengthened cutlasses, designed to deal long, but not deep wounds. They carry round shields and wear helmets and light hauberks. These are soldiers best used against lightly armoured foes.

Crossbowmen
The crossbow is a frighteningly intuitive weapon to master, but the long time it takes to reload them can mean death for unwary archers. These weapons are powerful, able to pierce most heavy armour and are particularly effective when fired in volleys. The Seaborne are one of the only civilisations to to use the crossbow, and so they will often have the advantage over their enemy in ranged combat.

Archers
Armed with simple bows, these archers are not particularly skilled, their arrows are only capable of piercing light armour, and the archers themselves are poor in a melee.

Repeating Ballistae
The Seaborne are the only culture to produce this weapon, an adaptation of the crossbow on a larger scale. These weapons were originally developed for ship-to-ship combat where they were used to rain large numbers of flaming bolts on enemy craft. They are almost equally useful on land.


The Ocean Tribes (Polynesian/Mayan sorta thing. No direct influences)
Spear Throwers
These are the lowliest warriors of the Ocean Tribes, but they are still quite able to inflict casualties. They wear no armour, as soldiers are expected to provide their own, and carry flint headed spears.

Foresters – hide in woods, long and short range
These men have lived all their lives in the jungles and forests of the scattered islands of the Dividing Sea. For this reason they are expert at hiding in woodland. They too carry flint headed spears and wear light armour but they also carry long handled, flint headed axes.

Waitanath Warriors
These men have been groomed as warriors since their births. They are truly fearsome, beginning every encounter with a terrible war cry and then charging to the fight with flint edged fighting sticks which the wield with terrifying speed and deftness. They wear little armour, but their martial skills more than make up for this.

Waves
Waves carry massive stone headed clubs and wear armour made from plates of wood. They are best used to break up formations of heavy infantry before their lighter armed comrades mop up.

Phanga-Huilin
Phanga-Huilin means Death Rain in Oceanic and indeed these men do rain death upon their foes. They are armed with large bows which are bound in vines and sinews to add further to their power. These men are trained to fire very quickly and with great accuracy, hurling their massive arrows hundreds of yards. They are not well trained for melee, but the strength in their arms makes them more than a match for light infantry.

Tanl-Aoirin
Tanl are the fierce sea-birds which flock around the islands of the Dividing Sea, scavenging and hunting. The Aoirin are their keepers, their friends and allies. They are experts in signalling to the Tanl and can order them to attack specific targets with the knowledge that they will fight until they or their enemies are defeated.


The Northern Kingdom (altered, more rugged version of the Ilsamiri style)
Peasants
See above

Mountaineers
Hardened by life in the harsh mountains of the north, these men, though not as well armoured as their professional comrades, are extremely hardy and brave. They are armed with sharpened staves (which they usually use for climbing) and are only really effective against other light infantry - though they will easily defeat peasants.

Halberdiers
Halberds are brutal weapons, usually consisting of a large, heavy axe-head on the end of a long pole. These men are trained to use them as they should be used - with wide swings - in loose formations. For this reason they are somewhat vulnerable to cavalry. They are heavily armoured.

Foot Knights
These are simply knights who fight on foot, they therefore give up their lances in favour of their long sabres, but they do retain their shields. They are just as heavily armoured and against other heavy infantry are nearly invulnerable except when heavily outnumbered.

Spearmen
Armed with long spears and capable of forming clusters against cavalry, these men are best used to protect weaker infantry.

Swordsmen
Armed with long curved swords these men fight with slicing motions, and are therefore not as effective against steel armour as against lighter protection. They are still excellent at holding positions against infantry.

Archers
Armoured and armed simply and economically these soldiers should not go unwatched when the fight nears but are good for thinning out enemy formations.

Siege Archers
These men are armed with fearsome, large bows of incredible draw weight and are used mainly in sieges, when firing rate is not as important as piercing armour.

Ethed Chariots
These chariots are drawn by armoured ethed and crewed by swordsmen.

Ethed Bowmen
These are expert archers mounted on the ethed, a heavy, bull-like creature. The ethed is not a particularly fast beast, though it can quite comfortably outrun a man, so these mounted archers should not be used against horsemen. If they are engaged the ethed will fight, but a few infantrymen will be able to bring one down quite easily. The bowmen themselves are armed with recurve bows of middling length and range and also with sabres. The ethed is not armoured, and the archer is armoured only lightly.

Ethed Knights
These are the most fearsome cavalry in the world. The ethed, when fully grown, is larger than a horse and has long, tough horns. These knights ride fully armoured ethed, which are strong enough to bare the extra weight virtually unhindered. The knights are armed with long, barbed lances, which they discard after the initial charge, and long sabres. They are armoured from head to toe and carry tall shields. A group of ethed knights in full charge is unstoppable.

Ethed Scouts
These scouts are armoured and armed lightly, meant for reconnaissance only. The ethed itself is of a special breed, lighter and more nimble than its heavier cousins.

The Southern Kingdom (Sea-trade based, Ilsamiren influences, but still unique)

The Western Kingdom (agriculture based, Ilsamiren influences, but still individual)

Units for the other factions will follow, when I find my plans (damn disorganised shelves!). The number of units will also increase. This list is by no means final, and it is only based on those plans from the book which I have found so far. There will be more fear not!

Faction Colours
These colours are not final, and in most cases will only be used for borders and faction icons. Most units in the game will come from individual military orders which have their own distinct colourings and banners.

The Ilsamiri - Dark Blue and White (perhaps silvery grey)

The Mechathenain - Tan and Dark Purple

The Ocean Tribes - Jade green and turquoise (may reconsider).

The Northern Kingdom - Dark brownish red and white

The Seaborne - Grey-green and dark red

The Western Kingdom - Dark green and brown

The Southern Kingdom - Sea green and bronze