Army lists

**almazor** · 03-19-2006, 14:10

ok.i'm searching.

**almazor** · 03-20-2006, 17:56

Almoravides:is a Berber dynasty from the Sahara which nder this dynasty the Moorish empire was extended over Morocco, Mauritania, Gibraltar, Tlemcen (in modern Algeria) and a great part of what is now Senegal and Mali in the south, and Spain and Portugal in the north. The name is derived from the Arabic Murabit, variously translated as religious ascetic or warrior monk like the order of templar or teutonic khnights.there units were very fanatics and brave(the "al motamid" the king of sevilla(taifas)say 's to alphonse VI that almoravides can aete rock).
The most powerful of the invading tribes was the Lamtuna (some scr arabic They claim descent from Himyar yemen, one of the South Arabian eponyms. Genetic evidence suggests they may be descended from Arab invaders).

The Black robed Murabbitin or Lamtuna were noted for their clothing, which could be green, but was usually black and their discipline. Christians and Arabs alike were terrified by their complex manoeuvres to the sound of pounding drums. The armies had a high standard of tactics and some high quality cavalry and infantry. Notably the Black guard, which consisted of a cavalry formation and fierce Negro infantry in Black robes. They also introduced the 'Deguello' the spine tingling, strident bugle call for no quarter used at the start of modern bull fights.
http://www.globaleye.org.uk/primary_...ges/tuareg.jpg

Camels are not extensively recorded outside of Africa although some historians record their use at the Battle of Sagrajas, where an Almoravide/Andalusian alliance annihilated the Christian army and set the seal on a continued Almoravide presence in Espana.
if we wan create knwon type of unites who had used by al moravides we must read some resources about the great battle of zallaqa,this battle was won by the almoravides:

Al-Murabitun

The armies appear to be comprised of various groups (Kennedy, 1996): Al-Murabitun, Mercenaries, Slave soldiers, Andalusian Volunteers, Guards.

Al-Murabitun. Berbers of the Lamtuna, Guddala and Massufa, but possibly any Sanhaja.

Andalusian Volunteers (Muttawia) or mujahidin also monk warrior.

Christian. The Murabitun employed Christian mercenaries and converted prisoners (Nicolle, 1988).

Guards. Ibn Tashfin formed a guard of slave soldiers - 2,000 blacks, 500 uluj, and Andalusian horsemen (Kennedy, 1996; Nicolle, 1988). Nicolle says the blacks were horsemen, but Kennedy only says the Uluj were. Nicolle also says the uluj were non-Berber including Arabs, Turks and Europeans, but Kennedy suggest they were probably of Frankish origin. .

The Murabitun used camels - later armies had 30,000 available - although as time when on they relied more on cavalry (Nicolle, 1988).

The mercenaries and slave soldiers adopted the veil in imitation of the Al-Murabitun .

Most Al-Murabitun fought on foot with a front rank of long spears and javelinmen behind (Kennedy, 1996; Nicolle, 1988). The commander of each unit carried a flag that was used to direct his men: stand when the banner is up and kneel when the banner is lowered. Under Ibn Tashfin and subsequently Murabitun made use of war drums (Nicolle, 1988).

The Al-Murabitun armies could reach 20-30,000, but were usually smaller, for example, in 1058 Abu Bakr led a force of 400 horsemen, 800 camel men and 2,000 foot . The invasion force of 1086 had 12-20,000 men. 4,000 men were sent to the siege of Aledo. Even provincial forces were up to 5,000. In 1102 the Al-Murabitun had 17,000 horsemen in Al-Andalus: 4,000 in Seville, 1,000 in Cordoba, 1,000 in Granada, 4,000 in the Levante, and the remaining 7,000 distributed along the frontier. These figures are for horse only and it is unclear how many foot were maintained although it is worth remembering that foot considerably outnumbered horse in Al-Murabitun armies.

Although powerful in the field, the Al-Murabitun were reliant on their Andalusian allies for expertise in siege work.

1-the black guards:the majority was recruited from the senegal there charge were very strong,excelent defence and attack,they fight in monted horses but in the battle of zalaqa yussef ibn tashafine order they to fight on foot,i suggest that we can give the player before the battle the possibility to dismout them.(the black guards is the best unit of the almoravides)weapons :Indian swords and long javelins very heavly armored .one of them hit alphonse the VI in the battle of zallaqa.

2-the lamtuna infantry:they like fighting a pied,heavy spearmen infantry unit,disciplined,good defence,good attack,routing for then is shame->they prefere death to run.the amir al muslimin youssef ibn tashafine were from this tribe.

3-al moravides drummer:extra Drummer scare horses and all soldiers the almoravides use drumer in the battle of zallaqa.
4-al moravides cammel reader:scare horses and they have bonus when attaking attaking cavalery in zallaqa they plays a great role because the cristians before that didn't see camels.weapons:indian sword or cimeter and long spear.
5-al moravide warrior:sword man,with shield.
6-almoravide javelin man:armed with javeline
6-berber auxilaries:the loyality to the almoravide is not good.
7-arab cavalry:heavy cavalery.
8-Andalucian cavalry:medium cavalery.
9-sudanese archer:recruited fromsenegal
10-sudanese warrior.
the flag i suggest this:http://www.balagan.org.uk/war/iberia...an_Zig_Zag.jpg
i need your suggestions to develop this unit list.

**almazor** · 03-20-2006, 18:34

some al moravide sword

some tuareg:the almoravides was the ancetre of tuareg

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ad...to5_popup.html

**almazor** · 03-20-2006, 22:34

ifound this about almoravide unit:
http://www.wargamesjournal.com/dark_...rbat_Moors.pdf

**beauchamp** · 03-21-2006, 05:58

Those units above are all tuaregs, they still use the same unique swords even unto today. They are most noted for their sworsmanship and their swiftness and dextirity.