Countdown to Open Beta - Animations and Battle Formations
Greetings Europa Barbarorum fans!
This week we have a different kind of preview. In a similar vein to the Tabula Orbis Terra preview and our Features and Gameplay preview, this week we wanted to show you something other than the usual faction preview.
We will take a closer look at battle formations, their history and how you can expect to face your enemies in Europa Barbarorum. Thanks to The Mark for providing us these formations. Also, Alin, our animation guru, is celebrating his birthday today. So, he has decided to give all the fans of Europa Barbarorum a special present. We are going to show you a few of our new animations today, all worked on by Alin. We greatly thank him for his work. We also need to thank Urnamma, Ranika and Steppe Merc for some of the descriptions. And, of course, thanks Teleklos Archelau our Photoshop guru.
Happy birthday Alin !
Without further ado, here is what we have for you today:
Battle Formations
Some formations that you might use, or face in a Europa Barbarorum game.
Roman Manipular Formation
The Roman habit of making the best of someone else's ideas was well applied on tactical scale also. The Romans, seeing their early phalanxes decimated in difficult terrain by Samnites and other enemies fighting in a more fluid way, adopted the Samnite duplex acies, and expanded it to better suit their needs. The result, what is now one of the most famous Roman formations, proved to be a flexible, war-winning setup that could be adjusted depending on the situation.
At the onset of the battle the manipular legion would be deployed in three lines, hastati in the first, principes in the second and triarii in the third line. The maniples of the lines were deployed with maniple-sized intervals, with a maniple of the following line immediately behind the gap. However, as these gaps would leave the lines open for flanking from within the line, the velites would be deployed, after the initial skirmish, in the gaps of the first line to create a continuos front. Then the first line proceeds to wear out the enemy. Should they fail, the principes in the second line would advance through the gaps, bringing the fresh, battle-hardened veterans of the legion against their tired foe, and giving the hastati and velites enough cover to retreat and catch their breath. The triarii would be the last reserve, if not protecting the flanks with equites.
On some situations, when there's a need for a more deeply-ordered formation, the maniples can join their ranks and present a solid battleline.
The manipular legion's best weapon is fatigue. It has more organized and responsive, and simply larger reserves than many of its adversaries. When the fighters are exhausted, the legion can bring fresh troops in at a moments notice and multiple times. Not much can beat a legion frontally, even phalangites are suspectible to the checkerboard pattern and its alternating weak and strong points, drawing the phalangites into disarray.
Though the manipular legion is formidable, the small maniples are vulnerable on single combat against more numerous or stronger enemies, what was especially the case in guerrilla warfare in Iberia, and against the Germanic heavies in the North. The reforms of Gaius Marius countered these weaknesses, replacing the 120 men maniple with the stronger 600 men cohort. A cohort was a capable unit by itself, and deployed in a similar manner, but only on larger scale as the maniples it creates the superior Marian legion.
Carthaginian Ambush Formation:
With this formation Hanniball surprised the romans in the battle of Trebia.
The Carthaginians, in fusing many disperate nations together, found ambushes particularly useful on the battlefield. The main line of the phalanx and heavy infantry would sit in the open and challenge their enemies to a confrontation. When they were sufficiently engaged, picked infantry and cavalry would rush from the sides and catch the enemy on both flanks.
Iberian Line:
The Iberian military tactic of choice is similar to that of the Hellenistic states. The heavy infantry, preceeded by the light infantry, inflict casualties upon and then engage the enemy center. At this point, the cavalry and reserve infantry hits the flanks, enveloping the enemy and destroying him before his superior armor can have an effect upon the nimble iberians.
Celtic Militia Formation:
An example of how the Celtic tribes used light troops in formation.
This represents the quick formation of Celtic light troops into a logical, but simple type of formation. It is essentially a block of infantry with a skirmisher screen, and cavalry on the flanks; simple enough in use for even the most uneducated of impromptu 'commanders' to employ in a pinch, though hardly capable of standing up to more advanced tactics.
Hellenic Phalanx
Here you can see a common phalanx tactical formation.
The Hellenistic states use the same tactics that won them most of the known world under Alexander. The backbone of their infantry deploys in the phalanx, with heavy cavalry at the sides. When the phalanx engages the enemy, the cavalry will flank and rout him. It is the classic hammer and anvil that proved so successful for Philip and Alexander.
Offensive Wedge
Featuring the mighty Sweboz.
Many barbarian cultures were noted for the use of 'wedge' formations in combat. In the offensive form, they were usually in the shape of an 'arrow' pointed toward the enemy. In this way, the idea was to draw a wedge in the enemy line, and slowly expand the wedge outward. Before the line would be skirmishers or missiles, used to soften the enemy before the wedge advances. A variant would be a defensive wedge, used in a tight space; essentially the same formation but inverted; this was meant to entice the enemy into a percieved 'gap', which would then be struck on the sides by the wider portions of the wedge (this may sound rather simple to deal with, but it actually worked fairly well for quite some time).
Animations
This is Alin's birthday gift to you !
Two-handed swordsman:
Now some video clips of the action:
Idle
Charge
Slash
Some cultures (Celts and Dacians particularly) employed swords with either too heavy a blade to be used normally, or employed a two-handed grip to give the swing extra force. These weren't the greatswords of latter periods, but they were employed in two hands, though certain variations, in fact, most, probably could be used in one or two hands. This animation was a necessity for certain Dacians and Celts that used a sword in two hands rather than one. Alin worked closely with our celtic historian Ranika to perfect this one.
Horse Archer:
Now some video clips of the action:
Idle
Aiming
Mounted horse archers use a dramatically different style of archery than Westerners, designed specifically for mounted combat. The thumb draw that they used (later assisted by a thumb ring), was faster and was more comfortable for the archer than the Western or "Mediterranean" draw.
This style of placed the arrow on the right side of the bow, as opposed to the left as in the Western draw.The horse archer would select an arrow from his gorytos, which could be slung at either the left or right side of the rider, or both, and draw the arrow to his shoulder, as attested to numerous figurines and inscriptions from this time. The archer could fire either foward, or turn left to his rear and fire arrows at enemies behind him.
Xyston/Kontos:
Now some video clips of the action:
Idle Xyston
Xyston Idle to Ready
Xystom Stab
The Hellenistic Xyston and the Kontos lances of the steppe were used in much the same way. The cavalry soldier would use his feet to steer the horse, and use both hands on the massive lance. This allowed a much longer lance, which was quite useful against other cavalry and most types of infantry. Often, the bearer of these terrible devices would skewer men and pin them to the ground in a horrific display. This of course would be followed by a melee attack from the mace, axe, or sword of the horseman, which has obvious results for an already shattered line of defenders.
Overhand Cavalry Spear:
Now some video clips of the action:
Overhand Idle
Overhand Stab
Idle to Ready
Many peoples did not use cavalry spears in the orthodox way. While some used them with both hands, just as many used the overhand, to deliver a vicious stab to their opponents. This form of attack was quite useful, in that it gave a man with a short spear a considerable advantage against infantry. His spear was aiming at a downward angle, which often allowed the point to pierce through armor like a hot knife through butter. Many peoples used this sort of attack, from the Medes to the Germanic tribes. It is worthy to note that the Roman cavalry also did this. While the style has the aforementioned advantages, it has the disadvantage of making its user very vulnerable to other cavalry, particularly those armed with lances.
And some screenshots you might like to see:
Mounted Bearer:
Organized cavalry warfare made a necessity of clear commands on the battlefield. Often enough, cavalry would chase an enemy from the battlefield without realizing that another part of the battle was going badly for their own army. Standard bearers are easily visible, helping to prevent such an instance.
Chariot Seated Driver:
Celtic chariot drivers had the option of sitting or standing to drive their vehicle. Both had distinct advantages and disadvantages. It should be noted, chariots are a prime target for missiles; killing a single horse stops the whole chariot dead. However, the driver, in concern of his own life, may take a seated position to defend himself. He can also drive, more or less, effectively in this way. The alternative, standing formation made the driver a blatantly open target, but he could control the reins better, allowing him to turn quicker. We've chosen to represent how the charioteer probably drove in battle itself, though he would've likely stood for additional control during a retreat or in a situation where he would need turn quickly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------We hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s update!
Please note that unless stated otherwise, ALL pictures shown in our previews are of 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.
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Originally Posted by Pannonian
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