Great work!! Looks very proff
Great work!! Looks very proff
"…Birds of battle screech, the grey wolf howls, spears rattle, shield answers shaft. …Then many a thegn, laden in gold, buckled on his sword-belt. …The hollow shield called for bold men"s hands..."
Very nice indeed
Todays preview we will see the hospitaller order in action with their Grandmaster Geoffroy de Donjon. All the events described in this preview can happen during a campaign. If you have been following the mod you'll know what features in the mod can make this all happen.
News had spread quickly through the remants of the Latin Kingdom. The newly established Teutonic Order had been ambushed and utterly decimated by the Saracens. However their was little anyone could do to right this tragedy. The Kingdom itself and its Army of Jerusalem had already pushed out of Tyre and was moving north to secure the coast and safe passage to Antioch. The Templars were moving north with the Army of Jerusalem as well and so the task of chastising the Saracens near Tyre fell to Geoffroy. He had left Krak des Chevaliers early that morning before the sun had risen. Word had been brought to him that a Saracen caravan was making its way north from Cairo to Damascus through Saracen territory. Geoffroy hoped to catch the caravan after a long night of travel and destroy it. And so there he sat upon his mount staring over the syrian plains waiting for any sign of the Saracens.
He had with him one hundred of his best mounted knights and knew their charge could not be withstood. Then over the dune tops came the caravan. Its escort was larger than Geoffroy had anticipated, however he knew that if he could destroy it he would gain glory for his order. He raised his sword to the sky and signaled the charge.
Saladin was no fool. He had defeated the Franks on every battlefield he had met them. Now, with Tyre empty of its armies and Syria devoid of enemy from Damascus to Cairo, the call had been made for his trade caravans to begin their long journey. He also knew that the Knights Hospitaller had not left Krak des Chevaliers with the rest of the Franks to secure passage to Antioch and so he had ensured that all his caravans had a heavy escort. Geoffroy was charging head first towards an enemy that out numbered him four to one. Heavy infantry from Anatolia, Black Guardsmen of the Caliphate as well as local tribesmen guarded the camel caravan. At its head Saladin had placed one of his brightest Generals who had expected an attack and was not to be dissappointed. He quickly sent his camels away and told his heavy infantry to form a deep line and ready themselves to repel the cavalry charge.
The collison was violent, beyond anything many of the saracens had ever experienced. Man and horse crashed and died, soon the line was buckling and falling back. For all his spearmen and heavy infantry the Saracen generals army could not withstand the full assault of over one hundred knights. He ordered a full retreat with the Black Guard acting as a barrier to prevent any pursuit.
Amazingly the army was able to retreat with few casualties and they were not pursued by the Hospitallers who had lost close to one quarter of their men. The Saracen general thought nothing of the lack of pursuit and continued to push his caravan away from the knights.
All was going according to plan. Geoffroy had forced the saracen caravan to change its direction and they were now headed directly into his trap. He had feared that his knights wouldn't have been enough and knowing this he had placed a large portion of his army to the west and ordered them to keep out of site and wait for the caravan to be herded to them. Over 1000 of his spearmen now waited with contingents of foot knights and crossbowmen. There he would no longer be out numbered, there he would hold the advantage of numbers and of surprise.
Geoffroy made a sweeping turn around the Saracen caravan mainting visual contact with them at all times, herding them like sheep to the slaughter. His army soon caught site of the fleeing saracens and readied themselves.
The Saracen general crested one final dune and then it hit him. Below, not even a half mile away was a massive army. Twice the size of his own. There was only one chance of escape. He would attack the infantry in front of him head on and hope that his camels could out run the mounted knights. He sent out the orders and formed his battle line. Slowly he advanced, allowing for his men to catch their breath and calm their hearts. As he neared the enemy lines crossbow fire began to rain down, men to his left and his right fell to the ground but the advance continued. Three hundred yards, two hundred, one hundred, fifty... "CHARGE!!!" Horns bellowed in the morning air, joined by the noise of two thousand running, screaming men. As the two armies collided the very ground shook beneath their feet and the clash of flesh and metal deafened the ears while the dust blinded the eyes.
The Saracen General had led the charge, now he saw nothing but dust. He pushed forward swinging at anything that moved about his feet not knowing if they were friend or foe. Then, with the suddeness that nearly knocked him from his horse he was on the other side of the Hospitaller line out of the dust and into the shining sun with only thirty yards between him and the frankish crossbowmen. The men to his immediate left and right were struck down by crossbow bolts before he could signal a second charge but he quickly covered the ground between him and his enemy before they had a time to reload. His bodyguard of Ghulams had shrunk to only 40 men but it was enough to rout the crossbowmen, he could now feel it in his soul, victory would be his.
In his valiant charge the Saracen had forgotten one vital thing. Geoffroy had not entered battle and still had over seventy five heavy mounted knights. Geoffroy first attacked the fleeing Camels cutting them down to the last man. He then turned his cavalry back to see how his infantry was fairing. The sight he saw destroyed the spirits of himself and his men. The Saracens had punched through the line at the point where the knights and the spearmen contingents met. His crossbowmen had routed and his infantry was in dire need of help. He quickly weilded his knights around the right flank of the enemy and then charged their exposed side and rear. Geoffroy continued to push forward charging hard through the length of the saracen line, bodies being thrown and trampled infront of his war horse.
It was over nearly as quickly as it had started. All the Saracen infantry had been killed, the general had fled, abandoning his army once he caught sight of the charging knights. Geoffroy and his Hospitallers had gained victory and revenge against the Saracens. With word that more Europeans had taken up the cross and were soon to arrive in the Holy Land Geoffroy knew that this Crusade would soon take back everything they had lost to Saladin.
Last edited by caius britannicus; 05-29-2006 at 00:44.
Creator of The Crusades a complete modification for Barbarian Invasion
Can a man love a mod? No, probably not. But here, at The Crusades, we believe in unnatural loves stories!
You know, if you keep up like this I´ll soon run out of superlatives.
Head on over to the map preview thread for a massive map preview or just click this link
Creator of The Crusades a complete modification for Barbarian Invasion
Can a man love a mod? No, probably not. But here, at The Crusades, we believe in unnatural loves stories!
Great looking stuff. It looks like you've remodeled many of your already excellent models. One question though: shouldn't they have boots or something? They're just walking around in chain mail down to the toes.
"The mere statement of fact, though it may excite our interest, is of no benefit to us, but when the knowledge of the cause is added, then the study of history becomes fruitful." -Polybios
Really beautiful units! Fantastic texturing.
wow... compliments from the master himself...
I am honoured.
Creator of The Crusades a complete modification for Barbarian Invasion
Can a man love a mod? No, probably not. But here, at The Crusades, we believe in unnatural loves stories!
Todays Preview
Palm Trees and Catapults
I know an odd mixture but I'm running out of things to preview and I want to save some of the units for closer to release.
The palm trees are the new vegetation you will encounter in The Crusades.
And now the catapults. These are your basic siege weapons meant for use against wall and need be against troops.
Sadly, the catapults don't look like they were originally intended. They were to have ropes and all sorts of do dads. But unfortunatly the engine doesn't support the type of model that is required to do that.
Creator of The Crusades a complete modification for Barbarian Invasion
Can a man love a mod? No, probably not. But here, at The Crusades, we believe in unnatural loves stories!
Splendid work. Does the lack of units mean we are nearing a final release!
"Money isnt the root of all evil, lack of money is."
(Mark Twain)
Wow, wow, wow.
Creator of The Crusades a complete modification for Barbarian Invasion
Can a man love a mod? No, probably not. But here, at The Crusades, we believe in unnatural loves stories!
Thumbs up for the work!
"Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite." - John Kenneth Galbraith
wow!!!it's one of the best mods i've ever seen! beautiful units, and a holy land focused map!!
can't wait to play it!
Recently interviewed by the TWC Eagle Standard. THe story is currently running on their front page. Head on over there for some great new info on the mod :)
Creator of The Crusades a complete modification for Barbarian Invasion
Can a man love a mod? No, probably not. But here, at The Crusades, we believe in unnatural loves stories!
Who are those freaky dudes in the emoticon link???
"Money isnt the root of all evil, lack of money is."
(Mark Twain)
For love from Britannicus. Edessa, the oldest of the Crusader states was heavily influenced by eastern and armenian culture. And so an interesting culture was born there. It is from there that the next previewed unit hails. Armored in similar armor to his eastern enemies he also show heavy armenian influence. They are the Knights of Edessa. Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun.
Creator of The Crusades a complete modification for Barbarian Invasion
Can a man love a mod? No, probably not. But here, at The Crusades, we believe in unnatural loves stories!
That is quite possibly one of the nicest units i've ever seen for RTW. Well done!
"If she were a president, she'd be called Baberaham Lincoln" - Garth (Wayne's World 1)
Check out my mods and maps for Thief Deadly Shadows and TES IV Oblivion at http://dashboard.filefront.com/MasterThief.
Sweet zombie jesus they're good!
"Money isnt the root of all evil, lack of money is."
(Mark Twain)
You continue to amaze. Also, the map looks sweet, have you concidered changing the textures for it?
lol
it actually uses a new texture set. Its a subtle difference mostly in the desert.
Creator of The Crusades a complete modification for Barbarian Invasion
Can a man love a mod? No, probably not. But here, at The Crusades, we believe in unnatural loves stories!
Creator of The Crusades a complete modification for Barbarian Invasion
Can a man love a mod? No, probably not. But here, at The Crusades, we believe in unnatural loves stories!
You continue to impress!
Creator of The Crusades a complete modification for Barbarian Invasion
Can a man love a mod? No, probably not. But here, at The Crusades, we believe in unnatural loves stories!
Keep up the good work!
"Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite." - John Kenneth Galbraith
Gnarly mate I hope Antioch is getting something as super-cool-awesome as that.For love from Britannicus. Edessa, the oldest of the Crusader states was heavily influenced by eastern and armenian culture. And so an interesting culture was born there. It is from there that the next previewed unit hails. Armored in similar armor to his eastern enemies he also show heavy armenian influence. They are the Knights of Edessa. Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun.
"It is an error to divide people into the living and the dead: there are people who are dead-alive, and people who are alive_alive. The dead-alive also write, walk, speak, atc. But they make no mistakes; only machines make no mistakes, and they produce only dead things. The alive-alive are constantly in error, in search, in questions, in torment." - Yevgeny Zamyatin
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