Greetings Europa Barbarorum fans
We are still working hard at the project and each day brings us closer to a new big update to EB.
The new update will correct more CTDs and bugs, as well as fine-tune some aspects of the mod to make it more historically accurate and enjoyable.
However, we use the term update instead of patch, as it will have much more than just a few fixes here and there. New units and new skins will be added, as well as more traits & ancillaries and building updates.
The team is also working on porting EB to v1.5 which will make the mod even more enjoyable with the new set of options and possibilities that version of R:TW gives us, such as rearranging cultures.
A new steppe government system is also being worked on, which will feature three different options with four advancement levels.
Enough with the introduction, to wet your appetites, here are some images of new units that are going to be in the next update to EB.
And of course, a big thanks to Agart, Alin, Forgus, Psycho V and spirit of rob for making these units. And also a big thanks to the other modellers & skinners who have made many more units we are not showcasing now. Another big thanks to Teleklos Archelaou for the amount of work he's done on steppe governments. And also thanks to Dux Corvanus for the masterpiece at the end of this preview.
Enjoy!!
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Getai Tarabostes
Mounted war bands comprising warriors provided by the tarabostes families, usually veterans attached to a war chief, in this respect resembling the Gallic nobility, they form the main volunteer force for pillage raids. They are fearsome all-round cavalry, well armored and looking upon war as to a class-affair. Their overconfidence combined with dacian religious beliefs makes these men prone to charge against tremendous odds as long as their chieftain is alive; thus, they lack the discipline required to any elite cavalry, but their traditional ferocity can always turn the tide of battle.
Historically, the tarabostes had a much more independent spirit than any centralised authority would have prefered. Each of the more important tarabostes houses seems to have had its own dava (the equivalent of the oppidum) and they mantained rather large forces at their own expense; their troops were experienced and loyal, bound to their leader through a system of privileges and favors. These proved their worth during Burebista's campaigns against the Boii and Taursicii, when they seem to have had the upper edge over the Celtic cavalry. Still, precisely these forces provided the tarabostes the needed self-confidence when they assasinated Burebista in 44 B.C., upon hearing the news that Caesar no longer threatened the kingdom's borders.
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Kleruchoi Phalangitai - Ptolemaioi
The Ptolemaic and Seleukid kings had a distinct problem in their military administration of far flung empires: namely that the number of ‘safe’ Greek troops was never very large, and had to be carefully used in battle. However, their phalanx had to be maintained, so each Empire designed a novel solution: the establishment of the Kleruchy, or military settlement. Each Kleruch was given a plot of land and some ersatz equipment, as well as a tax reduction, and in turn pledged to fight for the dynasty of his employment. The Kleruchs included, in order of numbers contributed, Jews, native Syrians, Libyans, Persians, Chaldeans, and many, many others. They are armed with the traditional weapons of the phalanx, namely a shield, sword, and pike. Armored with linen, they make up a strong, professional corps that, while not quite as powerful as Pezhetairoi, are at least less expensive.
Historically, Kleruchs made up anywhere from 40-60% of the main phalanx, which freed up many Greeks to fight in more elite units. Many Kleruchs who served in these units were often able to join more prestigious units and be replaced by others, leading to the Kleruch Agema and Galatian Kleruchs and Iudaioi Hippeis under the Ptolemies, or the Argyraspidai, Thorakitai, and Iudaioi Taxeis under the Seleucids. They form a vital link in the chain of a complete army for the Asian and African successor kingdoms, and are not to be discounted. While less intrinsically valuable than Pezhetairoi, they are able to hold a line quite well if properly supported, and can indeed free up your army to include more cavalry and other essentials that would once have been taken up by better and more expensive pikemen.
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Rauxsa-alanna Baexdzhyntae (Roxolani Riders) - Hayasdan, Pahlava, Pontos, Sauromatae & Rebels
The lances used by the Roxolani riders represent a shift of emphasis in Sarmatian warfare from mounted archery and attrition warfare towards fierce charges and shock combat. Equipped with the kontos, a lance over four meters long usually wielded with both hands, and wearing good scale armor, Roxolani lancers can deliver a charge that few foes, mounted or on foot, can withstand, though a solid wall of pike or spear points will still be largely immune to such frontal attacks. Even so, many horse archers still fight alongside them and they themselves also carry bows and are adept at the feigned flight and all the other steppe maneuvers that can throw an enemy into disorder. In addition to kontos, bow, and scale armor, a longsword completes the lancer’s panoply.
Historically, even the first armies of horse archers that emerged from the steppes probably contained a core of heavy cavalry. In this regard, the appearance and spread of armored riders wielding a long two-handed lance represented an innovation in steppe warfare more because of the specialization of their equipment and their greater numbers than by being a radically novel concept. For the Sarmatians in particular, the lancers were a relatively late development. Their first traces come from the Volga area in the third and second centuries BCE, but the troop type does not seem to have spread westward for some time. Moreover, the lancers, though they proved to be an effective complement, never completely superseded the horse archers. Nonetheless, Sarmatian armored lancers made an indelible impression upon Greek and Roman witnesses and eventually became the archetypical Sarmatian image.
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Celtic generals' helmets.
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Here is a little sneak peek of the first stages in our new nomadic faction system. Once a nomadic faction conquers a province, they will have to make a decision about either migrating their peoples into it or enlisting the peoples currently in the province as their dependent allies. If they do choose to migrate into the province, another decision will present itself: the player will have to choose whether or not to retain a nomadic lifestyle (not available in all provinces) or to adopt a life there that is more settled and based upon agriculture. Other nomadic buildings aren't shown here, but this will be the most important decisions a player makes when they conquer a new province, and it will determine many other things, such as unit types recruitable there and what types of buildings might be constructed there.
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And as an added bonus, a glimpse of something different:
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Start guessing ~;)
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We hope you’ve enjoyed this news update!
Please note that unless stated otherwise, ALL pictures, names, and descriptions shown in our previews are works in progress. We continue to improve on all parts of EB, and we will continue to do so long after our initial release.
Since some areas where these news items are posted cannot handle wide images, we appreciate your restraint from quoting full-size images.
As always, if you have questions or comments, the best place to post them is here, where the EB team is most active:
Europa Barbarorum ORG forum
Europa Barbarorum TWC forum
We give special thanks to Imageshack that provides us with a simple, foolproof, and free way to show you all these pictures each week.
Have a great day!
Sincerely,
The Europa Barbarorum team.
