Results 1 to 20 of 20

Thread: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

  1. #1
    Megas Domestikos Member AnthoniusII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Thesalonike Greece
    Posts
    260

    Exclamation Complete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Complete Byzantine Unit Roster project

    presents...

    Nikephorean Reform [part 1]

    Armies from late 9th to 11th centuries


    ΤΗΕMATIC ARMIES


    Index:
    Last edited by AnthoniusII; 06-29-2010 at 13:52.

  2. #2
    Megas Domestikos Member AnthoniusII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Thesalonike Greece
    Posts
    260

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    The Thematic army of the medieval Roman Empire
    during the era of the Macedonian Dynasty

    Armies from late 9th to 11th century


    Thema(gr. Θέμα)

    Before we describe the units of the “Thematic” army of what we call Byzantine Empire under the Nikephorean reforms, we should make a small briefing of what is a Thema. Thema is a wide spread province that is under a single military administrator known as Strategos (gr. Στρατηγός) or Domestikos tou Thematos (gr. Δομέστικος του Θέματος).
    That province may or may not include other minor provinces in it with a number of urban centers (cities or villages) and fortifications. Each urban center had a political leader known as Protonotarios (Πρωτονοτάριος). Praetor (Πραίτωρ) was the judge of the city and Chartoularios (Χαρτουλάριος) helped him running the city's affairs. Chartoularios was responsible to keep the recruitment lists informed and take care for the city's weaponry, army's food supplies and soldiers wages.
    If the Thema had some really large cities in it, then a military/political leader was established know usually as Dux (Δουξ / Δούκας) or Katepano (Κατεπανώ) or Exarch ('Εξαρχος) depending by the size of the province and the history of its capital. For example: Carthage, Rome, Alexandria and other cities named their leading officers with the title of Exarch.
    Semi independent or autonomous provinces gave their leading officers the title of Katepano. All the rest had the title of Dux.
    One exception: The officer/general/politician that was responsible for the city of Constantinople had the title of Eparchos.
    The Dux/Exarch or the Katepano of the Thema's capital had the second title of the Strategos tou Thematos that we mentioned before.

    The Thematic army

    Q: What was really a thematic army? Could we compare it with any other army of its era in Europe or Middle East?
    A: The thematic armies were first created because of the need of creating new tactics against a new warfare that the early Arabic/Islamic armies introduced during their 1st expansion.
    The old border forces of the Roman Empire could not defend against the totally mobile Arabic forces, neither the Arabs fought with heavy units like the Sassanids.
    The thematic army based on the old Roman tradition of the roman armies of the democratic era, the same time that the Tagmatic armies based on the roman tradition of the imperial era.
    Medieval Romans combined those two era kind of unit recruitment and created the famous “Byzantine” armies.
    The soldiers of the thematic armies were citizens of the empire. Their economical or social status was the primary factor that decided in what kind of unit they would join in to.
    Workers of land (paroikoi, gr. πάροικοι) or pure citizens with no or almost no private property joined in the “light” forces as javelin throwers, (Αcontistae, gr. Ακοντισταί) or as archers, (Toxotae, gr. Τοξόται) or as slingers (Sphendonitae, gr. Σφενδονήται).
    Citizens with minor or large land property joined the infantry units as (shield bearers) Scutati (gr. Σκουτάτοι).
    There were many exceptions though.
    All craftsmen were excluded from the recruitment because they were needed elsewhere as weapon or armor makers.
    Carpenters joined the artillery forces of the Thema as engineers (artillery and engineers were the same force) to manufacture the artillery machines known as Manganica or the siege equipment or the build bridges and docks for the army’s advance.
    Each citizen had the obligation of the possession of his basic weapons like a sword or an axe and his basic armor like a helmet. Shields, javelins, bows and arrows and spears were part of the city’s/Thema’s weaponry. That means that every year when the leading military officer of city received his annual fees, those concluded the expenses of the possession or keeping in good shape the city’s armory and the weapons that were in it.
    An other factor in which unit a citizen of the Thema would join in was his age.
    The age factor was a remain of the ancient Greek heritage of the medieval Roman Empire’s forces.
    The teenagers over the age of 13 that were known also as Palikaria or Epheboi (Παλληκάρια / Έφηβοι) joint as servants of the older soldiers. In large Themas with huge population, each soldier (especially cavalryman) had one such servant but the most common number was one servant for every four infantrymen or for every two cavalrymen.
    When those teenagers became 19 years old they joined the “regular” forces as fully obligated warriors.
    Those “regular” forces remind us the modern national armies of citizen soldiers but a Thema had a variety of professional forces too.
    Those forces were the Thema’s official army and they were cavalrymen in their majority.
    The economical burden of the possession of a war horse plus the possession of at least basic equipment from a warrior was heavy. Also the thema’s professional warriors had to have enough time to exercise themselves and their horses to be ready for war.
    For this task every Thema had a number of farms that belonged to the state known as economiae and later as mikrae pronoiae.
    There were two kind of professional warriors that had such a land farm in their possession.
    Those that they lived in them (the farmlands) or at least they were part of the army in the same Thema their farm was.
    The second kind was the soldiers that they were part of a Thema’s army and their farmlands were elsewhere in the Empire. In fact the majority of the military land owners never saw their possessions in their lives.
    The 1st kind of the warriors was known as Acritae (Ακρίται). Their name means actually border guards.
    Usually their task was the constant patrol on the thema’s borders preventing raids from the enemies or raid to enemy lands.
    The generic name Acritae mostly used in the east borders while in the west ones were known with other names such as Peltastoi (Πελταστοί) or Trapezitae (Τραπεζίται). Another task of the Acritae forces was the guard of fortified mountain roads and paths (known as Kleisourae, gr. Κλεισούραι).
    Acritae in both west and east borders had to provide the needed time to civilians to find refuge in fortified places or cities. They accomplished that task by counter attack the enemy raiding or invading forces. In the meanwhile the rest of the thematic army called to arms to form it’s units with the assistance of 2nd kind of professional warriors that were almost all cavalrymen known as Cavallarii (horsemen) (gr. Καβαλλάριοι) often known as Stratiotae (Στρατιώται).
    Those soldiers were the hard core of the Thema’s army. They often settled in fortified camps and barracks inside or near major cities. Their total number with the number of Acritae forces were the official number of soldiers of the Thema. For example .If a Thema announced an army of 15000 men then this number was only for the Acritae and Stratiotae/Cavallarii.
    These two kinds of professional soldiers were paid not only by their land’s income that we mentioned above but also with fees based on their participation in campaigns or raids and those fees of theirs were part of the commander’s annual salary.
    The last factor that was crucial in what unit one citizen could join was his nobility or his huge income based in trade or land one.
    These rich and powerful people formed small and heavily equipped cavalry units known in many cases as Cataphracti or Loricati or Clivanarii (the name was based on the roman clibanarii) describing their heavy armor.
    These noblemen known in different eras as Aristocrats or Dynati or Archontes protected as guards the city’s general or the main Strategos tou Thematos, participated the war council of the general as his staff and very often they received medium and high ranks as unit officers despite the fact that there was an official officer academy in the Empire’s capital known as the Scholae tagmatic unit.

    Obligations of a Stategos

    When an officer of the Empire’s army or a local aristocrat of a province was about to receive the title of the Strategos tou Thematos (the title was personally given by the Emperor himself with a papyrus) he had a small timeframe in the capital of the Empire to find and recruit some high or medium and even low rank officers (Centarches/Centurions) from the ranks of the Tagmatic units (mostly the Scholae one) if he didn’t already chosen them from the province he was before.
    Then he received a large amount of money and he was escorted to his new base (Capital of the Thema).
    The new thema’s marshals called all the generals and the praetors for a council and give them gifts in the form of extra money for them and their territories.
    He assigned new heading officers in the major large units of the Thema or assigned new administrators (generals and praetors) to the cities of it.
    Among his obligations was the inspection of the Thema’s armories to add if needed more weapons in them.
    An armory that had to be considered in good condition had to have:
    1: Shields, swords, helmets and spears for every infantryman.
    2: A large amount of “soft” bows with plenty of arrows.
    The existence of those bows did not mean that the city had expedient bowmen.
    The task was that citizens with no real training could create a rain of arrows helping the rest of the soldiers in the cities defense. The “bowmen” had not the obligation to be good just to shout at the enemy’s side over the city’s walls.
    3: It is strange to us but the obtention of the Thema’s war horse-mostly via trade-was not an obligation of the horsemen themselves but it was in the obligations of the Strategos tou Thematos.
    4: The preparation of the manganica (artillery).
    5: Council with other Strategos tou Thematos from other near Themata.
    As Strategos tou Thematos he could refuse to sent help (part of his forces) to another Thema unless he had specific orders from the Majistrus or the Domestikos of his area(Domestikos tis dyseos for the west Themas or Domestikos tis anatoles for the eastern ones).
    6: The preparation of an Aplicton.
    The Aplicton (plural Aplicta) was a large fortified camp that could host for a long time huge number of warriors. Those camps were used for army gathering and campaign preparations.
    7: Preparation of fortified places (cities or forts) with large amount of food to host civilians in case of enemy raid or invasion.
    8: Annual gathering and exercising of the army of the Thema (part of it or whole of it).
    9: Requiting mercenaries at his domain.
    For that he could ask more funds from the Emperor but usually he paid them with his salary.
    10: To have a part of his professional soldiers ready to participate in a campaign if and when the Emperor would ask for.

    Units and ranks of the Roman army

    According to the military regulations of the Empire’s army a Strategos tou Thematos had to follow some instructions when it was about to form his armies.
    The basic line of the units was the same for both Thematic and Tagmatic armies.
    The only difference was the number of soldiers in every unit.
    In the Tagmatic units of all sizes the number of warriors in each of them was standard.
    The orders for the Thematic units were clear…No unit of the same size had to have the same soldiers in it! The point of this order was that the enemy spies should not be able to have the exact number of the Thema’s soldiers simply counting the different units of it!
    The units were (starting from the lowest to the highest).
    1: Pentarchea (5 men). Each officer had the rank of Pentarces.
    2: Decarchea (10 men). Each officer had the rank of Decarches.
    There was also the lesser lesser rank of Tetrarches but he was usually the last soldier of the line of the men of a pentarchea.
    3: Countouvernion (half of a centarchea see below). Each officer had often the rank of Lochagos.
    4: Centarchea (the name means a number of 100 men but it had a variety of 70 to 110 men).
    The officer of such a unit was named centarches (from the Roman centurion).
    The medieval Roman Empire continued the tradition of producing real professional low and middle rank officers via his military schools like the tagmatic units.
    The majority of those centurions were ex soldiers of the Capital’s armies that received their new ranks and transferred to their new units.
    5: Tagma or Vandum (that mean flag) or Arithmos.
    Each Vandum had 3 centarcheas and a total of 210 to 400 men maximum.
    Vandum’s officer had the rank of Comes or Cometas.
    6: Drougos or Hilliarcea (that means 1000men) for the infantry and Taxis for the cavalry units.
    A unit of this size had 3 Vandums and a total of men between 630 to 1200 men.
    The leading officer of such a unit could have the title of Drougarios or Hilliarches or Taxiarches (that title has a large number of Orthodox military Saints).
    7: Three Drougas or Taxis formed a Tourma or Meros.
    The Modern Greek Merarchea (division) comes from the 2nd title.
    Those “divisions” had a total number of 1800 to 3000 men and they were the lowest size of units with fully equipped artillery in their ranks.
    The officer that was on the lead of such a unit was known as Tourmarches or Merarches.
    8: Stratia or Stratos: Actually the total number of Tourmas a Thema could form and the name means army.That “army” was under the direct orders of the Strategos [tou Thematos].

    Evolution

    The thematic armies changed during the time or mostly by the change of the warfare in their geographical place.
    The west thematical armies (in Europe and Italy) were not exactly the same or used the same tactics with the Thematical armies of the east.
    The heavy mountain terrain in the Balkans and Italy forced the generals to focus on heavily fortified outposts and the form of a larger number of infantry units capable to defend them and defend and hold ground.
    West thematic infantry were more heavily armored and with a preference to javelins for their range units the same time that the bow was crucial in the east.
    Eastern themas that were richer than the west ones formed a large number of cavalry units to cover the huge lands quickly and as a counter measure against the huge numbers of mounted opponents like the Arabs and Armenians .The best counter measure against a cavalryman is another cavalryman.
    During the late 9th century and under the political changes in the west Europe dangers reappeared in new more developed versions.
    The Islamic Emirate of Sicily reformed its cavalry thanks not only of Romans but mainly to defend against the old fashion but very powerful Lombard cataphracts.
    Those mounted opponents with the equally heavily armored horsemen of the east forced the thematic armies to reform also.
    Tactics changed, new weapons added infantry’s role changed and all these created thematic armies that were much different from the thematic ones of the past.
    We will focus on the changes talking and describing the thematic army units below.

    Weaponry

    Medieval Roman armies had a large variety of weapons in their disposal, other by their own research and evolution and others by adopting them from other “nations” and they thought that could fit in their warfare philosophy.
    The most famous of them were:
    Swords:[1]
    There were two main kind of swords and they were developed for the cavalry but soon enough shorter versions of them or the same swords were adopted by infantrymen soon enough.
    The 1st one was the famous Paramoirion. Its name means “the sword that hangs at the side of the warrior’s leg”. Paramoirion was a heavy, one edged sword with straight blade (at least at its early versions). Paramoirion was used with the same way an axe was. The warrior was simply tried to “cut” a piece of his opponent’s body. It needed no real exercise to use this kind of sword as soon as you were powerful enough to hit someone with it!!!
    The 2nd sword took the title of the “Byzantine Long sword” but in real it’s early versions were in use centuries ago before the Macedonian dynasty.
    This sword was the famous Spathion and it was a late version of the late roman Spatha.
    The sword had a two edged blade and a length of about 1.1m (the blade).
    The sword was almost a standard weapon of elite horsemen of all classes and sometimes for lesser soldiers too.
    Axes:[1]
    The basic axe used by medieval Roman soldiers was known as Tzikourion (the Greek word of axe). In real the design was a roman version of the Frankish axe (Frantziska).
    Its shape is fully described by all the medieval roman military manuals:
    “The axe must have two edges…one wide and sharp and one in the opposite side like a spearhead.
    Tzikourion never considered as low class weapon. In fact it was one of the favorite weapons of the elite cavalrymen side by side with their maces of all kind.
    As a weapon that did not require much of training tzikourion was the basic melee weapon of light infantry units (psiloi) like acontistae of toxotae.
    Its second edge (like a spearhead) was extremely effective against heavily armored warriors especially when the axe’s user aimed his opponent head!
    Javelins:
    Ancient Greek and early Roman heritage made javelins of all kind the favorite range weapons of medieval Romans!
    Their names and shapes changed (like all “Byzantine” weapons) through time more than once.
    Actually there were a lot of different sizes of javelins with a large variety of spearheads.
    All javelins had the generic name of Riptaria.
    The most common size of javelins in this era was between 0.9 to 1.2 m.
    Javelins in the shape of arrows like the old fashioned Martiovarbulus that were ballista arrows in real still used but with unknown names.
    Another heavy javelin with unknown new name was the ex known as Menaulion because that name in this era described a spear and not a javelin.
    Javelins required less training than bows of all kind, they had powerful penetration ability and those advantages made them the favorite weapon of many professional warriors!
    Maces:
    Maces were a weapon for cavalry ONLY. It has been proved that descriptions that referred to such shape weapons for infantrymen, describe axes instead of maces.
    Maces were knows as Ravdion, Coreene or Matzoukion and all these names describe clubs.
    They existed in many forms (with nails on a wooden shaft, with 4-5 blades around wooden or metal stick etc).As expensive weapon available only for cavalry only the richest soldiers could have them, like the local aristocracy.
    Spears:
    Spears were the most common weapon of the roman army but there was over one type of them.
    After the Emperor Maurice army reform the main line infantry changed its basic spear of 2m length known as “lance” with a new one of 3m long know from that point as Kontarion[P].
    Despite the fact that several types of spears that have been used by mercenaries were also in use the “Kontarion” continued to have the classic leaf shape spearhead.
    Kontarion was a good compromise between the right length to keep cavalrymen in a distance and good mobility. Kontarion was in the part of soldiers’ equipment that a Strategos tou Thematos had to be able to provide and keep to the city’s armory.
    During the warfare changes in the late 9th century and the new kind of opponents the need for new spear versions became crucial.
    Enemies as we said above came back with plenty of heavily armored horsemen.
    The new spears had to have two improvements.
    The right length because the enemies turned their horsemen from light/range and to heavy/shock ones and advanced spearheads for better penetration ability. Strangely the solution came with not one but two different spears.
    The first one was a weapon that would be used for the front lines of the infantrymen and was known as Kontarion Makron[P].
    The name means long spear and it was long. It was 4.5m long and sometimes descriptions mention a length of 5m.
    This “new” spear was a direct addition by the Nikephorus Phokas when he was still the army’s Marshal, right before he becomes an Emperor.
    “Kontarati” became part of Scutati infantrymen just like Promachi a century before.
    The last kind of spear that was meant to kill horsemen was Menaulion[P].
    The name menaulion refers to a heavy javelin of the 7th-8th centuries but in this era a menaulion is a short and thick spear.
    While Kontarion Makron was meant to arm front line soldiers that have open space in front of them, menaulion was meant to be used by soldiers that would move inside the infantry’s lines and kill the enemy horsemen that would be unfortunate enough to be there, using the lack of space in their advantage.
    Menaulion descriptions mention a “Slavic” or “Germanic” spearhead for it.
    Those kinds of spearheads were not unknown to Romans thanks to many Germanic tribes that used it for centuries.
    But after the arrival of the Slavic tribes in the Balkans in 6th century the combination of spear and its spearhead received also the title of “Slavic”.
    Menaulion was a real deadly weapon against heavily armored opponents because of it's ability to easily penetrate the armor.
    Medieval Romans (Byzantines) felt that ability of that spearhead on their horsemen and adopted it for the same cause.
    Shields:
    There were three basic shapes of shields in use in this particular era.
    - Oval [1]
    - Round [2]
    - Leaf/kite shields [3]
    Oval shields known as scutaria (plural) were decedents of the 5th-7th ones but usually without curved surface.
    In this era oval shields seam that became simpler and of course cheaper in production.
    Pieces of woods covered by several layers of leather where the way they were made.
    Round shields known as “scutaria teleia “-(meaning perfect shields) came to a variety of sizes with two basic kind of surface.
    The 1st one looked almost like the ancient Greek “hoplon” but in this case the large amount of the leather layers were kept together with metal fragments ending to the front side to a boss.
    The most common shape of round shield looked from aside like a pyramid. This kind of round shields was easier to produce and they offered very good protection against arrows.
    Leaf/kite shields.
    Avars were the 1st that introduced that kind of shields in Europe since 7th century but Romans (Byzantines) did not adopted them in full scale still using shield types they were familiar to.
    That seams that changed in early 10th century as we can see in church frescos. Romans used kite shields in large scale after Nikephorus Phokas army reform in the middle of 10th century.
    Just like in round shields, Romans adopted kite shields in two main sizes that both of them remained smaller than those we know as Norman kite shields.
    A leaf/kite shield fits perfectly to a cavalryman, but soon enough, warriors of 9th-10th centuries all over Europe realized that the low edge of a kite shield left more space free for the warriors feet and permit them to move faster than with large round or oval ones.

    Shield insignia

    In the military manual of “Taktika” by the Emperor Leon VI the wise (son of Emperor Basil I founder of the “Macedonian dynasty), each tourma (look above to army divisions) had to have a unique pattern or insignia painted on the warriors shields.
    Each Vandum of that Tourma had to use different colour combination for that specific pattern.[p]
    That way a general could know where in the battlefield each of his battalions were and he could organize his battle plan better.

    Armor

    Body armor was one of the things each soldier had to provide himself without the financial help of
    any senior officer.
    There were a large variety of body armors in different qualities.
    The lighter of them all both in weight and protection ability was a padded suit known as cavadion or epilorikion (when it was over the chain hauberks).[1]
    The primary materials were cotton or wool. This kind of body armor was also used to cover horses’ bodies as well… This armor was quite affective against arrows that were shot from long distances and also protected quite well against swords in some occasions.
    Another “cheap” kind of armor was the leather vests or breast plates that were classic even from the late imperial Roman era.
    The most common body armor was the long or short chain hauberk known as lorikion (plural loricia).[P]
    The chain hauberks came in two different sizes but also in two different qualities.
    The majority of lorikia were made with iron and for that they had a black or “coal” colour and that is why they looked kind of dark. Iron chain hauberks were heavier and gave less protection but they were far cheaper than the steel ones. In the “Golden Age” of the empire rich in taxes Themas provided those iron chain mails with their expenses.
    In any case the majority of thematical warriors could afford iron or steel chain hauberks to buy.
    Stratiotae (cavalarii horsemen) could afford steel made chain hauberks by their larger incomes via the oiconomiae military lands.
    A factor that determined the length of a chain mail was the position of the infantry man in the formation. First line soldiers wore longer chain mails in order to provide better protection in larger body areas, since the time that those warriors were known as “promachi” (those who fight first).
    The long chain hauberks were also known as “zavae”.
    Scale cuirasses were in use for many centuries and they were roman soldiers’ favorite ones especially the high ranked.
    There were two kinds of scale cuirasses.
    The 1st one was based on a thick cotton tunic that the scales were nailed on. That kind of cuirass was lighter and more flexible to soldiers’ moves.
    The 2nd was based on a hard leather breast plate with the classic “thorax” shape.
    That cuirass was heavier, less flexible but more effective against any kind of arrows or other weapons.
    Lamellar cuirasses followed the same kind of production as the scale ones.
    This kind of armor was an eastern influence to Romans straight from their steppe opponents.
    In the early time usage of lamellar cuirasses those armors were meant to be used from cavalrymen only. That happened cause of the direction the scales were put on a lamellar cuirass that prevented the armor’s penetration from a spear from a lower level (an infantryman against a horseman).
    Lamellar cuirasses were so effective that were adopted from infantry warriors soon enough.
    Horse men could use them over cavadion padded armor or even over loricia chain hauberks.
    In such occasion the weight of the armor was a negative factor to infantry men and their mobility.
    But in the “Macedonian” dynasty’s era infantry was quite static and the weight of their armor was a secondary factor.
    Scales of both scale and lamellar cuirasses could be metal or hard leather ones.
    In every case but especially those with the metal scale they were known as clivania[P].
    Helmets:
    In the case of the Thematical soldiers the two main kinds of helmets shared a common name:
    Casis…
    Helmets were basically made with bronze in earlier eras but they were the 1st part of armor that was made with steel. The basic factor for that choice despite the cost was the smaller weight that made the helmet comfortable to warrior.
    Half of the helmets in this era had somehow a pointy end as influence of steppe warriors also.
    Kedouklon:
    No matter how rich or poor a warrior was kedouklon was a must.
    Kedouklon was a very long woolen robe with coif.
    That cloth had several purposes.
    1st protected the warrior from the cold.
    2nd protected the armor from wet.
    3rd prevented the early detection of the warriors cause of the shine of the metal parts of the warrior’s armors. In fact kavadion was compulsory part of a warrior’s equipment for the last reason, but in our mod’s case all units would look the same and they would look like shepherds!


    Leonis Imperatoris Tactika

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Cursores are those who open the fight,
    running before the rest of the formation ussing their bows.
    Defensores are those who follow without brake their formation
    marching in low speed to reinforce and supory Cursores.

    Protonotarios tou Thematos and Chartoularios,
    along with the Praetor are the leaders of the Thema.
    The first is the political leader,
    Chartoularios is responsible for the reqruitment catalogs
    and Preator is the judge of the Thema.
    All of them must show obedience to Strategos
    and must inform him everything that has to do with their subjects
    because he (Stategos) is responsible before us (the emperor)
    for taking the right desisions.

    General with the right preparation of weapons,those that allready
    have been given, we expect (the emperor) to take care of the infantry
    and mixed formation by the right equipment and making the cavalarii perfect
    warriors through exersise in peace time.

    Last edited by AnthoniusII; 06-29-2010 at 13:33.

  3. #3
    Megas Domestikos Member AnthoniusII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Thesalonike Greece
    Posts
    260

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    --- THE BASIC UNITS ---


    Talking about basic units inside a M2TW mod we must admit that the units/warriors separations were made to fit in the game. For example: Infantry battalions had a variety of different warriors in them...Let’s see how an infantry battalion was in the Nikephorean army.
    It had Scutati and Kontarati as the main line infantrymen. It also had some Menaulati plus some archers and acontistae (javelinears).
    The game’s engine does not allow us to provide such units and that is why we will present them each kind alone.


    Aristocratae

    Cavalarii Defensores or Ekdikoi



    Cavalarii Kursores


    Trapezitae


    Contarati





    Menaulati


    Peltastae



    Scutati



    Toxotae



    Acontistae


    Extras
    manganika
    Lithovolos Catapeltes.

    Multi Arrow balista.
    Last edited by AnthoniusII; 04-14-2017 at 21:19.

  4. #4
    Megas Domestikos Member AnthoniusII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Thesalonike Greece
    Posts
    260

    Default Re: Complete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    CREDITS

    The moddeling team

    Absinthia
    Leif Erikson
    Lord Calidor
    S-te-Fan
    =NF=Basileios the 2nd
    Slash-5
    Agis Tournas
    The researching team:

    Starlightman
    AnthoniusII
    Byzantineklibanophori
    Agisilaos
    neoptolemos
    Spesial Thanks to :

    JMRC

    [for his wonderfull kontarati animation and skeleton adjustment and for his many advices that helped us a lot].

    Pacco

    [for his wonderfull Cavalarii textures and his Byzantine shield texture pack].

    Master Zuma

    [for his help with the animation combilation].
    Lance

    [for his wonderfull "cataphract" model].

    Rusichi Team

    [for their kind permision for ussing their material that became the basis of the new project].

    Bantzai

    [for his wonderfull animation pack]

  5. #5
    EBII PM Member JMRC's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Lisboa, Portugal
    Posts
    7,930

    Default Re: Complete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Well done! This is a great unit package, well researched and with excellent models. Congratulations for its release!



    "Death Smiles at Us All,all a Man Can Do Is Smile Back."
    Maximvs Decimvs Meridivs, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, Iberian Gladiator.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    nice

  7. #7
    Member Member anubis88's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Slovenia
    Posts
    3,400

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Beautiful
    Europa Barbarorum Secretary

  8. #8

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    cool stuff guys! :)
    alea iacta est

  9. #9

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Good Units

  10. #10

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    wow!

  11. #11
    Megas Domestikos Member AnthoniusII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Thesalonike Greece
    Posts
    260

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Here are some screenshots of our imperial (Tagmatic) troops'
    Scholarii
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    The black stalion is a creation of Leif Erikson.



    Also nottice that they carry both maces/axes and swords (decorative though) like our Aristocrats (provincial cataphracts) but they use the maces/axes the same time Aristocrats use the swords instead.

    PS: CBUR added new horsearcher animations based on a new version of Banzai's ones.

  12. #12
    Member Member Trve Leveller's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Düsseldorf, NRW, Germany
    Posts
    584

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Stunning!
    How did you impliment different regimental colours for the Contarati? They have different shields, but in a unit everyone has the same shield.
    Last edited by Trve Leveller; 11-28-2010 at 16:09.



    "This Declares likewise to all Laborers, or such as are called Poor people, that they shall not dare to work for Hire, for any Landlord, or for any that is lifted up above others; for by their labours, they have lifted up Tyrants and Tyranny; and by denying to labor for Hire, they shall pull them down again." - William Everard

  13. #13
    Megas Domestikos Member AnthoniusII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Thesalonike Greece
    Posts
    260

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Quote Originally Posted by Trve Leveller View Post
    Stunning!
    How did you impliment different regimental colours for the Contarati? They have different shields, but in a unit everyone has the same shield.
    My friend the ingame pic of contarati simply shows 4 units (the basic unit and its three upgrades) side by side.
    A teaser about Tagma ton Teichon (one of the Tagmatic units that will follow).

  14. #14
    Member Member Trve Leveller's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Düsseldorf, NRW, Germany
    Posts
    584

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Quote Originally Posted by AnthoniusII View Post
    My friend the ingame pic of contarati simply shows 4 units (the basic unit and its three upgrades) side by side.
    Ok, I see it now.

    Quote Originally Posted by AnthoniusII View Post
    A teaser about Tagma ton Teichon (one of the Tagmatic units that will follow).
    Regiment of the Wall? Is it a garrision unit?



    "This Declares likewise to all Laborers, or such as are called Poor people, that they shall not dare to work for Hire, for any Landlord, or for any that is lifted up above others; for by their labours, they have lifted up Tyrants and Tyranny; and by denying to labor for Hire, they shall pull them down again." - William Everard

  15. #15
    Megas Domestikos Member AnthoniusII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Thesalonike Greece
    Posts
    260

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Yes it is one on the Tagmatic units with the task of defending Constantinople.:)

  16. #16
    Megas Domestikos Member AnthoniusII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Thesalonike Greece
    Posts
    260

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Tagmatic Armies preview will soon be released.
    Some teasers.




    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	67358593.png 
Views:	1101 
Size:	187.7 KB 
ID:	8248   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	fase3z.jpg 
Views:	3581 
Size:	715.5 KB 
ID:	8249  

  17. #17
    Megas Domestikos Member AnthoniusII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Thesalonike Greece
    Posts
    260

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Tagmatic Armies are almost done:



    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	h1.png 
Views:	13055 
Size:	812.6 KB 
ID:	8834Click image for larger version. 

Name:	h2.png 
Views:	22697 
Size:	1.06 MB 
ID:	8835Click image for larger version. 

Name:	0032.png 
Views:	11268 
Size:	942.3 KB 
ID:	8836

  18. #18
    Megas Domestikos Member AnthoniusII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Thesalonike Greece
    Posts
    260

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Pictures restored in 2nd post showing our latest version of the models.

  19. #19
    Ja mata, TosaInu Forum Administrator edyzmedieval's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Fortress of the Mountains
    Posts
    11,408

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    Thank you for the updates Anthonius.
    Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.

    Proud

    Been to:

    Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.

    A Painted Shield of Honour - 1313. Templar Knights in France are in grave danger. Can they be saved?

  20. #20
    Megas Domestikos Member AnthoniusII's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Thesalonike Greece
    Posts
    260

    Default Re: Coplete Byzantine Unit roster project presents [Thematic Armies]

    The full Tagmatic Armies preview can be seen here: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...post2053598892

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Single Sign On provided by vBSSO