Unit card and unit info pics - preview

[Myrddraal]

You guys have been waiting paitently, rest assured, the team are slaving away

Here are some pics, I don't want to post any actual pics of units (I want those to be a surprise) so I'm posting these slightly stylized pics which may be used for units cards/info: One from Altara, one from Illian, and one from the Children of the Light:

-----Ebou Dari Levy----Illianer Armoured Pikemen Whitecloak Heavy Infantry
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Ebou Dari Levy

The Ebou Dari pride themselves on ferocity and courage in a duel. Very few men or women reach adulthood without having fought in at least one duel, and these few are ostracised for being cowardly. Across the nation duelling is common, yet the Ebou Dari have taken this tradition to the extreme. Most Altarans are polite and formal, lest they give cause for a challenge. Everything said is subject to challenge unless it is formally said that they may ‘lean back on his dagger’, but in Ebou Dar, most noticeably in the Rahad, men often go in search of a duel, and their provocative nature ensures they are hardened fighters.

Ebou Dari Levy are armed with two long and narrow duelling knives.
Can only be recruited in Ebou Dar
Pikemen

Armoured pikemen are a step up from regular pikemen. They are a fully professional unit which forms part of the standing army. Their good training and regular drill allows them to stand firm against most enemies, and their heavy armour allows them to withstand arrow fire and gives them durability in prolonged fighting. Although many nobles still shun them on the basis that they fight on foot, a wise commander knows the value of their solid discipline and good defensive abilities. They are often used to provide anchorage on the flanks to protect a battle line from cavalry or are deployed in a central block to push forward attacks. These soldiers play less of a support role than regular pikemen and are quite capable of forming the disciplined core of an army.

In Illian, the eternal quarrels with Tear have stimulated the development of the pike to counter the strength and power of Tairen cavalry. Illianer pikemen tend to be well-schooled in dealing with mounted enemies and have learnt not to rout or scatter in the face of a cavalry charge.

Illianer Pikemen and Armoured Pikemen have an extra defence bonus against cavalry



Now I'd like to bring a debate which has been going on between the devs to you guys the fans. Tell me your oppinions on whitecloaks and shields:

[Narayanese]

Oh nice, and those pikemen are lovely!


I'd think the whitecloak would use some shield more suited to riding, since that's how they seem to transport themselves between places, e. g. a heater shield. Has he thrown off his cloak, is the cloak only for everyday use (or because it would be sharing texture space with the shield)?

[Myrddraal]

The cloak is there, it just got hidden by his shield and body...

Hm maybe I cut out a bit when transferring the pic, the cloak is there though and its quite long and white rest assured

[SMZ]

woo hoo!

and agree with Narayanese about the shield, the Whitecloaks arms and armors are designed for mounted combat primarily... I like the shape of his shield, but a trifle smaller... not too much - the Whitecloaks have a big shield type of vibe

I love that Ebou Dari unit. :)

[Renly]

Those are great. I think you could leave the Whitecloak shield how it is.

[RedPanther1]

I always thought of the whitecloaks as having that long shirt-like thing on over their armor, but I guess they never said anything about that. I believe they have conical helmets with ring mail covering the rest of their head though. I'll try to find a pic, but otherwise the otehr two look cool.

[Steppe Merc]

The shield perhaps might be too big. It is Norman shaped, and I got the impression that the Whitecloaks were a bit more advanced than Normans when it came to armor and shields.

The Illianers look far to ornate to me. Aren't pikemen despised by the Southerners?

[4th Dimension]

Well Ilianers were made by RJ to look like Greeks so pikemans would fit nicely.
Toughed I always imagined I and T like two same countries just having different ruling systems.

[Myrddraal]

Illianers are staple troops across the entire world apart from in the borderlands and the Aiel waste. Basically every army has a core of pikemen.

Armoured pikemen will be expensive and take time to train. Having two armoured pikemen in a full stack would be the usual.

[aleh]

What does 'staple troops across the entire..." mean?

And I disagree somewhat with the I&T being alike, I.E. it isn't all -that- rare to see dark-skinned Illianers, and unions among the Seafolks and Illies aren't -that- uncommon.

Also, what will be the fighting colours of each nation?

Btw, will there be valour/armor/whatever bonuses for nations? For example give Illianer Pikemen bonuses over the Armored Pikemen. The regular cav(available to everyone) gets bonuses in the native-tairen provinces. And so on?

[aleh]

Argh, I forgot about the original question. Well if I remember correctly, there are different type of shields suited to different situations.

Small rounded shields for their light cavalry/horse archers.
Larger shields that don't deflect the blade/weapons downwards into a rider's legs or that of his mount.
Different shields for the infantry...Even if it says that they always fight as mounted, it'd be stupid for someone like Niall to not know that infantry is better for certain situations than cavalry.

[Andreas]

Btw, will there be valour/armor/whatever bonuses for nations? For example give Illianer Pikemen bonuses over the Armored Pikemen. The regular cav(available to everyone) gets bonuses in the native-tairen provinces. And so on?

Well, we will be more advanced then that. All nations will train the same pikemen when in for example Illian, with the same stats and the same armour(visually as well), just different colors. We will devide the westlands into areas, were different units will be trained.

And all the pictures are distroted.