Some thoughts and a little suggestion about the Celts

[Obelics]

Ive played a wonderfull Aedui campaign, i really enjoyed it, love the celts!

Now i got all 2 reforms for the Aedui.
i have a little suggestion on the 2nd reform:

from what i understood, you are able to train Neitos, cause the Celts have expanded very much, have gained a sort of cohesion, and are now able to recruit some more professional soldiers.
Now the Neitos are wonderfull.
What i dare to suggest is to have the same professional thing for cavalry too.
I know little about celts, but i think their cavalry is renowed.
Now the Brihentin represent some noble knights, we know.They are very expensive and powerfull too. You cant train a lot of them cause of course they are nobles and so they are expensive.
With the 2 reform, we have more professional army. Infantry==>Neitos
But you can still recruit Solduros as nobles.
That's fine. If you want large armies you train Neitos, and you put a single unit of expensive Solduros to represent the Nobles.

Now why not the same think for cavalry?
The Brihentin could be the equivalent of Solduros, Noble Infantry<===>Noble Cavalry
If we can train (after the second reform) a professional unit of cavalrymen that could be very nice!
Im thinking a sort of Gallic Lancers (you will be for sure able to find the celtic name)
They should be less expensive than Brihentin, more armoured than Leuce Epos (with chain mail) and with a powerfull charge.
So this Gallic Lancers will be the equivalent of the Neitos as professionals.
You can train more gallic Lancers than Brihentin (cause Gallic Lancers are less expensive). But you can still have an unit of Brihentin in your army as nobles (same as Solduros vs Neitos)

I think this unit cauld have more charge than Brihentin, why? cause they are professional soldier used to break enemy lines.
"BUT" they should have less melee combat ability, cause the brihentin, being nobles, should stand more time in a melee combat with their sword. So we could give Gallic Lancers the same Sword Attack of the Brihentin, but not Armour Piercing ability. Again they cost less than Brihentin (Upkeep) so this could represent verywell the contrast between Noble<==>Professionals, the same as you have done with the Neitos<==>Solduros.

I'd like to have a cavalry unit like that after the 2nd reform, to make a good couple with the Neitos.

What do you think?

II.
what about to have almost the same for the spearmen?
we could get away the Gaelche (the same as we get away the Lugae after the 1th reform) and we get an unit of spearmen with a bit more armour and Helmets!

I read that with the second reform the nobles pay for the armament of the soldiers, so i think it is not too much demanding to have 2 more gallic units after the second reform.

EDIT: anyway this is my actual Aedui Empire:
https://img246.imageshack.us/img246/3130/eduian2.th.jpg (https://img246.imageshack.us/my.php?image=eduian2.jpg)

[Ludens]

The problem is that if you are start addin conceptual units, it'll be hard to stop. Should the Romans be given cataphracts, should every faction be able to recruit elephants, should all Hellenes get hysteroi pezhetairoi, and so on. There is evidence that the Gauls tried to create professional, well-equipped infantry. There is no evidence that they did the same for their cavalry and, if Ceasar is to be believed, what cavalry they had in his age performed rather dismally in battle. The latter suggests that they either weren't very good or very heavy.

Lastly, I'd argue that professional cavalry would not outperform the Brihentin. Warrior aristocracies tend to be quite well-trained: it's after all their purpose and there was no shortage of war in Gaul. In fact, heavy cavalrymen tended to consist of nobles through the ages because these would have been familiar with horses from a young age.

I cannot comment on the armoured spearmen, although I guess it would be possible. However, don't Neitos perform pretty well against cavalry in any case?

[NeoSpartan]

Neitos are a pretty good bunch. One of my favorite units. They do good against cavarly thanks to their armor and the good lethality their swords have.

Hopefully by EBII we can expand the units much more. Right now I am pretty happy with all the new Celtic regionals.

[Obelics]

thanks for the replies, my post was due to the fact, that actually playing as the gauls, i miss some type of units. I forgot to mention a standard skirmisher infantry for the gaul. it was strange to me thinking of a "green" faction not having any skirmishers. Yes the Geroas have some javelins and so the Botroas, but they are just 2 or 3 javelins, and they have not the skirmish mode ability. there are the Naked spearmen, who to say the truth, dont appear to me, to be some good skirmishers. Im not discussing history, cause i have not great knowledge about Gauls, (i have almost no knowledge). So i live on some of the myths i had about those peoples.

Now regarding Cavalry, i Know Brihentin are very strong, but they are not very relibles, cause they cost a lot. ( i look at them like Elites, so i dont train them a lot)
Even with that huge map i posted i cant afford more of them in my armies. And if i can train more, it seems to spoil the game, cause like i sayd i see them like elites.
So i was thinking to a more reliable cavalry (see, less expensive) that could substitute the Leuce Epos after the 2ns reform.
Now in my campaign i have only Leuce Epos as cavalry. And that seems quite poor to me... (ok, they are great cavalry but id like to have more variety)

Regarding infantry it's the same than the Leuce Epos.
I dontlike to have army composed only of Neitos. it seems to spoil the game to me.
usually i put just 4 neitos in the army(as flankers). The rest are Spearmen.
Now those Geroas and Galliche, are good to sustain the enemy for a while, but i have to be quik to flank with Neitos, if i dont want them to rout.
So i was thinking if there were more professional infantry, i think this professionality should regard the Spearmen too. I dont see the Gaeliche very professional...
Now imagine this warlord paying the soldier armaments. Why not paying some hemlets and a leather curass for the spearmen, who are the bulk of the Gallic infantry?

Ok as i sayd im not expert in gauls, and im not expert in military history at all. So lets take this consideration for what they are. Just consideration from a gamplay side.

Anyway if history-side there are no prove of a more professional cavalry, and there is no space anymore for other units, nevermind.

[Watchman]

There's always the Alpine spearmen who're decently well armoured though. And then of course the sword-and-spear elites, but those are hardly "line" troops...

As for skirmishers, isn't that what the Imannae are for ? Note that the Celts, or at least the warrior class, apprently rather disliked the idea of ranged engagements in general by what I know of it (the usual macho thing about proving your viri- er, prowess face to face)...

As horse goes, well, them's the breaks. One recalls though that if the Roman accounts are to be believed the Equites usually seem to have manhandled the Celtic horse in head-on engagements, and even against superior numbers - an outcome unlikely to be attributable to much else than flat out heavier gear and training oriented for shock action on the Romans, as they weren't noted for exceptional skill as horsemen.

[unreal_uk]

A 'celtic' armies value lies in it's ferocity. You shouldn't be using your Gaeroas as phalanxes, for a start. Shower the enemy with javelins, arrows and slingstones, and when they are weakened, smash them with your infantry. Your 'professional' troops are extremely valuable when used correctly. The strength of a Celtic army also lies in variety. If you look carefully, you'll find good quality units of all types. The Gauls, for instance, field some solid cavalry. The Germans have rather ferocious front-line fighters, while the British tribes have fantastic champions which are more than enough to fill flanking needs while spurring on the rest of the troops. Don't forget, also, that many Celtic units are light and fast. Use that to your advantage to confuse more static enemy forces.