New Romanii Unit Question :

[brymht]

Hey, I understand there is little historical basis for Arcani, but in the Imperial period, the Romans did have a Scout Corps, I believe which worked in tandem with locals to keep an eye on tribal disturbances in the forests of Germania and the deserts of Arabia and North Africa. As a unit, they would seem to be fairly useful from a Romani point of view, as Imperial 'Border Watchers'. They would have been soso fighters, and not terribly great at much besides hiding, and few in number; but not expenssive. Just a thought, as the Romani really don't get a lot of unit choiuces. I think they would be useful and a historically accurate choice to add.

But were they added in the early Imperial period or the late? If Roman had expanded early enough, would they have been added sooner?

Launch your ciritcisms now.........

[Spendios]

The road to flaming pigs is paved with scout corps.

[alatar]

Romans have the biggest unit roster I think? I mean 4 sets of units...

[brymht]

Please no Lorica Segmentata remarks, I really think there's a better historical argument for Scoutish units than war dogs, flaming pigs, or Arcani....

[Tellos Athenaios]

as the Romani really don't get a lot of unit choiuces.

If the Romani, who get by far the most of all of everything, don't get a lot; who does?

That is the problem with adding a rarity unit for the Romani: even if it is historically accurate other factions are more important to flesh out; precisely because the Romani already get so much.

[cmacq]

Oui magnifique, but EB and the romans may have liked to call them espion en français?

[Tellos Athenaios]

And that's a very valid point too...

[brymht]

Reasonable. The Romani do have a lot of units, they just don't have a lot at any one time!

[Spendios]

Oui magnifique, but EB and the romans may have liked to call them espion en français?

Dans le cas présent, il ne s'agit pas d'espions mais plutôt d'éclaireurs.

[Spendios]

Reasonable. The Romani do have a lot of units, they just don't have a lot at any one time!

Spoiled child syndrome

[Maeran]

Yes, the sicarius and speculator units are in the game, and in suitable unit sizes compared to the main units too. They just haven't been given EB names.

More along the lines of what you're thinking of, brymht, wouldn't the most likely scenario be native guides with a Roman 'co-ordinator?' In which case any unit of light troops with a captain would fit the bill fairly well.

[L.C.Cinna]

I guess you mean the "exploratores" which were stationed along the limes but they are out of EB's timeframe.

[brymht]

Thats kinda what I was thinking. The exploratores were what, ad 150 or so?

[Sdragon]

Wouldn't these guys be represented by light cavalry units that are already in game?

[konny]

Reasonable. The Romani do have a lot of units, they just don't have a lot at any one time!

In this case, build a time machine and complain to the Romans themselves because in EB they get everything they had in the timeframe.

[Emperor Burakuku]

I think that the scouts' problem is kinda relative. I mean as far as I know they we're selected from the actual legionnaires (during Claudius timeframe) at least 'till Marcus Aurelius and the Marcomanic Wars. I say that for this timeframe, the Romans have more then enough units. And on the other hand, a scout unit wouldn't be that helpful if you ask me, plus that you can alway roleplay and you can use a different unit for this exact purpose.

[V.T. Marvin]

I would think that scouts are best represented by guard towers and spies.

[abou]

Scouts as being described with the Arcani are difficult to represent in TW games. The closest you are going to get is probably as spies and/or light units. Of course, a lot of EB's lighter cavalry are scout units, but they are easier to represent in a battlefield context.

Key example: Prodromoi.

[Fenrhyl]

Dans le cas présent, il ne s'agit pas d'espions mais plutôt d'éclaireurs.

Enfonçons le clou.

Le mot employé en vieux français pour désigner un éclaireur est "escoute". L'anglais a conservé le mot (scout) mais lui a retiré son "e-".

Le terme dérive de l'action d'"écouter".

"Espion" est un mot qui se disait autrefois "espie", et a donné "spy" en anglais, là aussi en supprimant le "e-" ; le terme dériver de l'action d'"épier".

Moralité ? "escoute" et "espie" sont interchangeables, le deux font en gros la même chose : ils récoltent des informations. Et ça nous donne que "scout" et "spy" sont synonymes.

Seconde moralité : j'avais la flemme de taper ça en anglais.

Troisième moralité : vous dormez pronfondèment.

[konny]

Können wir das eventuell in einer Sprache fortsetzen, die ich auch verstehe? Danke!

;-)

[Fenrhyl]

I suppose you want it in english.

What i said had little importance and can be summed up easily.

English language has a lot of words in common with french, either through common roots or through borrowing ; english nobility spoke french and was mostly of french origin, they adopted the english languages during the second 100 years war.

Comments in french called for pointless remarks, so i answered (i like pointless things as a whole).

The english word "scout" comes from the old french word "escoute", which derives from the verb "écouter" (to listen ; old : "escouter").

Similarly, "spy" comes from the old french word "espie", which derives from the verb "épier" (to spy ; old : "espier", comes from the latin ...).

So basically, drop the "e-" at the beginning of the word to have the english word from the french one.

first conclusion : spy an scout are pretty much the same.

second conclusion : i was too lazy to write this in english past midnight

third conclusion : you are deeply asleep

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Scouts as being described with the Arcani are difficult to represent in TW games. The closest you are going to get is probably as spies and/or light units. Of course, a lot of EB's lighter cavalry are scout units, but they are easier to represent in a battlefield context.

Key example: Prodromoi.

This is the basic problem, that and the fact that such units are rarely actually used in battle and as such don't warrent battlefield unit slots. The Prodomoi were scouts, yes, but they were used in battle at various times and the version we have is probably rather on the heavy side anyway.

[Elmetiacos]

There's also a word "espy" in early modern English... and there were the Areani (as opposed to Arcani) who were mercenary-spy type people employed in late Roman Britain to keep an eye on troublesome Picts and Scots, but they ended up stabbing their Roman paymasters in the back, plus they're well outside the EB period.

[Obelics]

è una Babilonia! questo che parla francese, Konny che parla tedesco... ma perchè? Ora aspetto uno che scriva in cirillico!

[Fenrhyl]

I never learned italian, and i understood what you wrote! answering in italian is another matter though.

[Olaf The Great]

Can't you just use spys as scouts?