Almughavars

[Vigi]

I have noticed in custombattles that the Aragonese get a unit known as Almughavars. Judging by their stats these guys seem like excellent infantry, with the added bonus of being able to hurl javelins at their enemy(well it's a bonus if you like javelin men I guess..I personally like them a lot..a volly of javelins can really put a dent in armored units) So i was wondering..has anyone used these guys? Are they as good as they would seem to be? Etcetera.

[mercian billman]

I've never used them in a campaign game maybe I have but, they can only be hired from Inns like Alan Mercenary Cavalry.

[Lehesu]

Ah, the infamous invisible Almughavars. They only show up in inns, mostly the Mediterranean region and appear very rarely. I have never personally seen one. If you like spear chuckers, you'll like these because they are the best spear chuckers in the game; besides maybe Jinettes, but they ride horses.

[Quokka]

According to the build_prod they can only be found in Aragon. I have never seen them there or anywhere though.

[el_slapper]

found them once in Aragon. Never again. Later modded them to be buildable in aragon(level3 spearbuilder, level1 swordbuilder, I think)

[Foreign Devil]

If you play as Aragon, do yourself a favor and mod them in. Not only are they supurb javilinmen, but good in melee too.

I've only seen them two or three times in the course of normal play, and I've been playing almost since the game came out.

[Hetman_Koronny]

*bows*

You can bribe Almughavars in Navarre in early or high game - I am not sure here. There are said to be a very effective unit but are they? I actually managed to bribe them playing the Spanish once and had them fight a couple battles with my army. Indeed they can be good shock troops and they can deal quite amazing damage with their javelins to almost any unit.
Disadvantages? Well, the most obvious one is that is is really hard to get them as you can't train them on regural basis (except when playing Aragon IIFC, but I cannot do it with M:TW game only). Furthermore, I have bribed a unit without any armor upgrade at and they really can die fast of arrows. I had suffered from it once playing a completly insignificant battle against some rebels in Portugal who happened to have a single unit of bows supported by 1000+ peasants, spearmen and other crap troops. Needless to say, it was an easy battle with my valor 6 FS, RK and FMAA and the mighty Almughavars. It took one moment of my inattention and the rebel bows managed to send two rallies of arrows towards my Almughavars killing 12 of them http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif (20% of the entire unit). I was so mad to loose one fifth of a unit I would not be able to retrain...

*bows*

[The_Emperor]

I think they (and Alan Merc Cav) should be like the Turcoples, recruitable once you get an Inn going.

Oh well I think I'll MOD them in, I haven't seen them in the game and have yet to use them.

I hear they are Spearmen who double as Javelin Throwers, is that true? That would make for an awesome unit http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

They really are a good unit, but very vulnerable to missiles.
I moded the game to allow them to be trainable only in Aragon. It works... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[el_slapper]

Commentaire[/b] (Aymar de Bois Mauri @ Dec. 22 2003,12:56)]They really are a good unit, but very vulnerable to missiles.
I moded the game to allow them to be trainable only in Aragon. It works... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Yeah, gnome editor rulez...

[Kristaps]

Hmm, I have never seen these guys in my Aragon Inns since the viking expansion came out... One problem could be that, since I am playing Aragon, I am building up my infrastructure in Barcelona, and I believe, the likelihood of mercs appearing in an inn goes down by 10% with every higher castle level...

[The_Emperor]

Ok I just spent a couple of custom games testing those guys and I am impressed...

Their Javelins are great, and a unit of them can handle themselves against Cavalry in combat even without getting the chance to chuck their spears

Just get them to hold formation and they will do great http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

[ShadesWolf]

I must admit they are pretty useless http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif and VERY expensive

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Quote[/b] ]I must admit they are pretty useless and VERY expensive
Except that, when I moded them, I made them cheaper in training and support costs... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Voigtkampf]

As for rare mercenary units and odd happenings, the other night while I was playing I found a unit of merc Arquebusiers in my inn on Rodhos, three turns later a bombard in Algeria…

All in all, no big shocking surprise, besides the fact that the gunpowder was supposed to appear in some 150 years from the moment I've stumbled over them…

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Quote[/b] ]As for rare mercenary units and odd happenings, the other night while I was playing I found a unit of merc Arquebusiers in my inn on Rodhos, three turns later a bombard in Algeria…

All in all, no big shocking surprise, besides the fact that the gunpowder was supposed to appear in some 150 years from the moment I've stumbled over them…
That's pretty odd http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
That really shouldn't happen...

How could they appear in Early? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

Have you moded the CrusaderUnitProd? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

[Vigi]

These guys seem like excellent flankers. Basically I think one should use them just like you would use basic javelinmen. Get your spears to pin the enemy line and then move your men to the flanks to hurl their javelins, charging when their javelins are spent. A high maintenence unit to be sure, but it looks like they could cause horrendous casualties in the right hands. Not to mention they are probably a great general unit killer. Just get a unit of these guys and hurl their javelins at those pesky heavy knights.

[Voigtkampf]

Quote[/b] ]How could they appear in Early?

Have you moded the CrusaderUnitProd?


But of course I did… I've modded quite a few things, and kept a very clean record of all the things I've done - it saved me when my hard went to Kingdom come some while ago, I had these files backed up – but I didn't make any mod that could affect the appearance of the gun units before actual appearance of gunpowder…

My M:TW starts in 915 and ends in 1914, and this bizarre thing happened to me in 1087, I believe; I haven't modded the game so I can have access to gunpowder earlier, in fact I've never even tried it, suppose it's hardcoded, and therefore cannot explain this oddity.

Well, I have archived the anomaly and I'm moving on with my conquest…

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

As you have posted this event in a different thread I shall reply there.
But it's probably a bug. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

[Voigtkampf]

I was testing the Almughavars the other day, and they have performed very well, even with a very limited ammo they are a worthy addition to every early army; the downside is that with their skirmishing it takes a long time until they get to cast their javelins… I'll keep skirmishing with light missile cav.

[Fragony]

No need to put them on skirmish, they are a spear-unit with a javelin bonus.

[Voigtkampf]

Quote[/b] (Fragony @ Dec. 27 2003,03:23)]No need to put them on skirmish, they are a spear-unit with a javelin bonus.
They are skirmish per default, when you attack your enemy they'll try to throw their javelins first, and will attack with spears only when ALT+left klick on an enemy.

[Bezalel]

I've had them in Navarre when I attacked as the enlish. Funny enough, I thought their stats were impressive, but I had an easy time w/them. My force was 40 mounted srg, 100 spears, 60 longbow. I peppered them w/ longbow till the 40 ms came down from hill. Peppered his spears with longbow, they came down to help cav. then the ghavers got flanked by my cav. and got destroyed. After that, I never paid attention to them again, albeit I'll have to now. Maybe it was just a weird fluke?

[fruitfly]

The only time I've seen them in a campaign game has been playing as the Spanish.

I used to send my crusades through Aragon due to its high zeal and a few of them picked up units of Almughavars along the way so that may be the most reliable way to come across them. There's the added bonus that they're not merc units when that happens so you can reinforce understrength ones.

[Brutal DLX]

I used to get Almughavars in v1.0 quite a few times, but not since VI. However, I used them a lot in MP battles and they are one of the best spear units you can have, at a decent valour level they are very hard to rout and can take on most enemies (although cavalry is preferred, of course).
So if you happen to see them, hire them. Or mod them in.

[Vlad Tzepes]

Quote[/b] ]I used to get Almughavars in v1.0 quite a few times, but not since VI.

Agree. I used them once or twice. Not so bad unit - I would have loved to see them again, but they never showed up anymore. I wonder why the programmers spent time to create this unit, just to keep it hidden?

[LadyAnn]

Almughavar are Almohad mercenary. If Almohad empire goes down, you expect to see less of these http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Annie

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Quote[/b] ]Almughavar are Almohad mercenary.
Acording to CA they are Catalan mercenaries.
And they are right, up to a point... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

They weren't a Catalan specific unit.
Just like Spanish Jinetes and Spanish Javelinmen weren't Spanish specific units.

They were ALL, Iberian specific units.

I'll elaborate:

Acording to Iberian History, Almughavar or Almogávar, Almogárave, Almogavre and Almograve (Portuguese language) are words derived from the Arab al-mogauir.

They were warriors that performed Almogavarias or Almogavrias(Portuguese language) all over the Iberian Peninsula during the Reconquista.


What was a Almogavaria or Almogavria?

It was a raid, performed by these men from time to time, against Moorish ocupied lands, to pillage, steal and burn. These raids were performed by the Christians as well as by the Moors (against Christian occupied lands), with the objective to destroy crops, food reserves and inflict economic damage, as well as reap the benefits of looting.

The real definition for Almughavar or Almograve (Portuguese language) is FRONTIER MEN.

Except for the professional troops of the King, of the noblemen and the knights of the religious orders, these men were the most professional and capable of the soldiers available to the Iberians.

Another interesting note:

-Most of them were mounted men.

Regarding equipment, all that was possible to get was part of their gear (spears, swords, axes, shields, daggers, knifes, bows, chain mail, helms, etc...).

Hope you've been enlightned. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

[Basileus]

Aymar wherent these the catalans that the Byzantines used as merceneries in their later years around late 13/early 1400..

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Quote[/b] ]Aymar wherent these the catalans that the Byzantines used as merceneries in their later years around late 13/early 1400..
Yes, you are quite right. Effectivelly, CA represents them correctly in the game. My wrong. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

I've been reading a bit of information about Catalan Almughavars. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/read.gif

The Almughavars represented in the game are not the regular Iberian Almograves, but a mercenary force that became famous in service of The Catalan Company - a mercenary army:



Quote[/b] ]The Catalan Company (1302-1388 AD)

The Catalan Company may have been the first true mercenary company in Western Europe, long before the Italian Condottas and the infamous Free Company of Sir John Hawkwood.

The Catalan Company was raised in 1281 to fight as mercenaries in the War of the Sicilian Vespers, where the Angevin and Aragonese dynasties fought over the Kingdom of Sicily. When the war ended 20 years later its commander was Rutger von Blum, better known as Roger de Flor. De Flor was originally a Templar sergeant. At the fall of Acre in 1291 he became rich using one of the Templar galleys to shuttle fugitives from Acre to Cyprus for enormous fees; later he was a pirate before he joined the Catalan Company and worked his way up to command it.

When peace broke out in Sicily the Catalan Company was surplus, and Sicily was strongly interested in seeing the last of them. De Flor negotiated a good deal with the Byzantine Emperor, Andronikos II, who desperately needed mercenaries to fight the Turks after the Byzantine defeat at Nicomedia in July 1302.

The Company arrived at Constantinople in September 1303. They had no sooner arrived in Constantinople than they got involved in a bloody melee in the street with the local Genoese community. Soon afterwards they were shipped to Anatolia to reinforce Philadelphia, a Byzantine city entirely surrounded by the Turks for some years. A large force of Alan cavalry (survivors of Nicomedia) were sent with them but didn't stay long. In short order there was a falling out between the Catalans and the Alans, and a sharp skirmish in which the Alans suffered 300 casualties including the son of their chieftain. Afterwards all but 1000 of the Alans left.

The Catalans then conducted a raiding campaign throughout the Turkish-held lands in Byzantine Nicaea, landing at Cyzicus in 1303 and striking south to Philadelphia, passing through Sardis, Magnesia, and Ephesus before recrossing the Straights of Bosphorus to land at Neapolis in Gallipoli. By this point, the Catalans, who had recruited nearly 3000 Turkic horse into their ranks, were considered by the Byzantines to be little better than brigands and freebooters. The successes had inflated the already arrogant De Flor, leading him to entertain plans of a setting up his own version of the Byzantine Empire in Anatolia. Needless to say, this put him at odds with the Byzantine Emperor, and eventually led to De Flor's assassination in an Alan ambush at 1305 and the subsequent Byzantine massacre of as many of the Catalan Company as they could reach. Command of the Catalan company fell on Ramon Muntaner. Further losses occurred in conflict with the Genoese soon after, but Catalan and Aragonese reinforcements, plus the addition of a significant number of disaffected Turkish and Turkopouli deserters from the Byzantine army kept the Catalan Company in existence.

The Byzantine emperor then attempted to stop the Catalans with a large army, but was defeated at Apros in 1305; in part because the Alans, fearful of Catalan wrath at the loss of de Flor, deserted the Byzantine army in the field. The Catalans then advanced to Rhaidestos, which became a center of operations for an ineffectual blockade of Constantinope and raids throughout Thrace for approximately two years (1306-1307 AD).

By 1308 bloody internal dissension and Byzantine resistance to their constant raids from their base in Gallipoli forced them to move into Thessaly, in Northern Greece. Using Salonica as a center of operations, they raided that region and ravaged the rich Eastern Orthodox monasteries at Mt. Athos.

In 1310, the Catalans accepted a new employer, Walter de Brienne, the Duke of Athens and one of the promient leaders of the so-called Romanian Frankish "Latin Empire." They captured over thirty castles for him, but when peace was concluded in 1311 de Brienne attempted to dismiss them without pay, and answered their reasonable demands with insults. This led to their rebellion and open battle. They laid a trap for the Duke at Kephissos by arraying for battle behind a newly flooded field. Walter and his Frankish knights charged unknowingly into the mire and were destroyed by the resourceful Catalans. Duke Walter and a huge proportion of his knights were slaughtered, leaving the Catalans masters of his Duchy.

The Catalan Company asked the royal house of Catalonia-Aragon to provide them with a Duke as a figurehead; during the next seventy years they were "ruled" by a succession of eight absentee Dukes, none of which seem to have ever set foot in their Duchy. Having seized their own country, the Catalans then apparently settled down to defend it, and were able to hold Athens for nearly eighty years.

In 1379 another force from the Iberian peninsula, the Navarrese Company, moved on from its efforts to conquer Albania and attacked the Catalan Duchy of Athens in concert with a Florentine force. In 1388 a a Florentine army defeated the Catalans in a decisive battle at Kaledes (a.k.a. Peritheorion or Anastasioupolis), at the far end of Lake Vistonis on the road from Xanthi to Komotini. Following this defeat and the subsequent loss of their Duchy, the Catalan Grand Company disbanded.

"Catalan Domination of Athens, 1311-1388", by Kenneth Meyer Setton.

"The Rise of the Aragonese-Catalan Empire, 1200-1350", by Jerome Lee Shneidman

"The Problem of a Catalan Mediterranean Empire, 1229-1327", by J. N. Hillgarth


The role of Catalan Almughavars was, effectivelly, the one that is represented in the game:

-Dual role: Javelin/Spear + they used swords for personal defense. No shields. Infantry unit.


So, my earlier comment is mostly erroneous. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif

However, the name is the same and means the same. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

IMHO, effectivily, their origin is the definition that I mentioned earlier. They were a particular interpretation of the 11th century Iberian Almograves - Fronteiros = Frontier Men.

Most probably, each region of Iberia, maybe due to geographical specificeness and warfare style, specialized their troops in a particular role.

I've translated a small phrase of an article of Portugal Militar, a Portuguese Military History book, studied by Portuguese History academic students:



Quote[/b] ]...the Almograves , chosen warriors by their courage or military ability, serving on horseback and always on border prevention, formed elite groups used permanently in pillaging raids.

"Portugal Militar - Compêndio de História Militar e Naval de Portugal", by Carlos Selvagem


I also translated the meaning from a Portuguese Dictionary:



Quote[/b] ]Almograves - Warrior living in border forested lands, from where he raided Moorish lands. (Arab: al-mogauir).

Almughavars are probably the Catalan's own adaptation of these particular frontier troops.

The Catalan Almughavars that served in The Catalan Company, were mercenaries that became the most famous, organized and effective of all Almughavars. So, CA built them into the game. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

But the relation between 14th century Almughavars and 11th century Iberian Almograves is my own supposition. Now, I can't be sure. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

[Basileus]

kool nice of you to find the info..i was always curious about them..one thing though the thing i remember when reading about them was that they where very fierce and great warriors charging with their javelins etc..i think they should have been a little better in the game and it would be fun to see a rebelion in byzantine territory by catalans around 1300 hehe..

[Michael the Great]

The only thing I find these good at is being slaughtered by cavalry...oh well.

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Quote[/b] ]i think they should have been a little better in the game
They're not bad in the game. You just have to remind yourself that they're not shock troops. But, IMO, they are the best javelin units available, except for jinetes.

Besides you can always MOD them. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif




Quote[/b] ]and it would be fun to see a rebelion in byzantine territory by catalans around 1300 hehe..
Well, loyalist rebellions should take in to acount the type of population. And there weren't many Catalans there except fot The Catalan Company... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif




Quote[/b] ]The only thing I find these good at is being slaughtered by cavalry...oh well.
By Cav? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif
That hasn't happened to me http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

Have you used them with their Spear hability, in hold formation?

[Fragony]

Quote[/b] (Michael the Great @ Jan. 10 2004,06:49)]The only thing I find these good at is being slaughtered by cavalry...oh well.
Eh? They got spears?

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Quote[/b] ]Eh? They got spears?
Yes. Short ones, but spears.

They're vulnerable to missiles though.