Hesbolê es tên Hellada - Invasion of Hellas
This thread has been reposted. Here is the link to the old thread: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=66777 Could a mod please close/delete the old thread now?
Welcome to the Invasion of Hellas mod for M2TW. This mod aims to convert the M2TW engine into a relived experience of the Classical Hellenes at the time of the Persian invasion, with all new factions, units, and campaign map. Remember the Persian wars are only the time-frame: this mod is focused on all the Greek Hellenes in the 5th century BC.
The mod is set in the lands of the Balkans, the Aegean Islands and Western Asia Minor. In fact, if you think of HTW (the outstanding Greek mod for MTW) this has roughly the same area on the map.
This mod will strive for realism wherever possible. Everything is or will be thoroughly researched by our team before being implemented: no elephant-cannons or arcani here! However, I still believe that gameplay is even more important and so this mod will try to make the game as fun as possible for everyone while providing realism at the same time.
The engine for M2TW looks very similar to the one in RTW (except for the battles of course) and so much of the preliminary work, including the campaign map, will be done using RTW.
Main aims of the mod:
1) To create a realistic, historically accurate, diverse and fun to play campaign map spanning all of Greece, the southern Balkans and Asia Minor set during the time of the Persian invasion
2) To give fun, realistic battles with accurate units, which give an accurate experience of the battles of classical Greece and Persia
3) To avoid focussing on one particular area (as the title may suggest) but put an equal focus on all areas of the map and the people who live there (of course, more populated/important regions/factions will be represented with more cities, larger unit pool etc.)
4. To create a fun to play, immersive and realistic experience in both the campaign and the battles by varying the feel of each different faction and by forcing you to think more carefully about your actions both on the campaign map and in battles
Current Team:
Campaign research and mapping: Silver Rusher
Historian: Hannibal99
At the moment, I am the only member of the team and so I need to recruit members of the community to help with the mod. To be a member of the mod, you must:
a) Use MSN messenger, so that the team can communicate.
b) Have a knowledge of the Classical Greek Era (not necessary but still helpful)
c) Know how RTW works in relation to the area which you want to help, and know how to do it (e.g. a modeler would need to know how to make models and import them into the game)
At the moment, we need:
Historians
Modellers/Skinners
2d Artists
Coders
That's about it for what I have to say, now it is time for the first preview: (this has been put in spoiler tags to save bandwidth)
Campaign Map Preview Number 1: The PeloponnesosThe Peloponnesos, the southernmost peninsular of Hellas, has long been one of the greatest regions in all the Hellenes. The most famous of all Peloponnese city-states, Lakedaemon (more commonly known by the name of its capital, Sparta) has a large reputation as a military power, known for training its soldiers since childhood. The city of Argos, not as well known but still very powerful, is located in the area to the north and its inhabitants, the Argives, have a long military tradition themselves. North of there is the city of Corinth (Korinthos), a centre of trade from which many colonial expeditions have been launched, most notably the founding of Syracusian civilisation in Sicily. The rest of the Peloponessos is inhabited by dangerous people, the Achaeans and Arcadians most importantly, who will fight fiercely to defend their homelands from invaders.
All factions will be explained in more detail at their independant previews. Also, in these campaign map previews, all the settlements will be explained in more detail to give you a bit of background and improve immersion when the mod is released (a long time from now).
At this point, Lakedaemon was easily the most powerful military state in Greece. In fact, their first ever military defeat was by Epaminondas of Thebes at Leuctra in 371 BC. That's about 350 years of existance without a defeat. The reason for this military strength was the strict Spartan recruitment policy. All Spartan boys were forced to begin military training at the age of 7, and continue until the age of 20 at which point they joined the army. The result of this was a large, well-trained army which could defeat any other.
Lakedaemon
The city of Sparta was supposedly founded by Lakedaemon, the son of Zeus and Taygete, who named it after his wife. In reality, the area was founded by the Minoans but the city only really took off after the Dorians conquered the city under Aristodemus, at which point it became the capital of Dorian Laconia. When Lycurgus came to power in the 7th century BC, he gave the laws to Sparta which it kept for so long and turned it into the great military power that it remained for centuries.
The main port of Lakedaemon, Gytheion is now believed to have been founded by Phoenician traders, but according to legend it was founded by Heracles and Apollo, whos faces cover the local coins. The city was burned down in 455 BC.
Messene is the name of the ancient city in the region of Messenia from which Messina in Sicily gets its name. The ancient city was originally part of the Messenian kingdom of Pylos, until it was captured by the Spartans c.720 BC. The city was later destroyed. However, when the Thebian leader Epaminondas defeated the Spartans at Leuctra, freeing the Messinian helots, they rebuilt the city again c. 370 BC
Pylos was the birthplace of Nestor, the great King of Pylos. Pylos was also the ruling town of Messinia for a long time, but other than that not much is known about this city. It sits at the foot of Mount Temathia and overlooks a large bay. It has always been an important strategic port of the Ionian Sea.
(I'm not trying to sell you catalogues, don't worry
Argolis
) Argos is a great city on the Peloponnesos, near to the ancient metropolis of Mycenae. It was shadowed by Sparta towards the start of this mod, and historically chose not to fight in the Persian War. Because of this it remained peaceful but was also shunned by many other Greek city states. This will not be reflected in this mod, which will be more purposed towards changing history than sticking to it.
Argos was founded by the Mycenaeans, and was one of the civilization's major fortifications. Like many other great Greek cities (including Sparta), it was supposedly founded by a son of Zeus, called Argos. It has one of the greatest acropoli in the Hellenic world, so great in fact that the city of Larissa was named not after the city itself, but its acropolis.
Corinth is a trading and naval pioneer of the hellenes. Many colonial expeditions have set off from here, most notably Syracuse and other Sicilian Hellenes, Epidamnos and Apollonia in Epeiros, Ambracia on the island of Lefkas, Corcyra on the island of Corfu, Anactorium (Actium) in Northern Greece and Potidea (in Chalcidice). They also sponsored the colonising expedition to Naukratis in Egypt. Thanks to these colonies, the Corinthians were able to trade not only with many areas in Greece, but also with the Phoenicians and other peoples around the mediterranean. With all this trade and colonization came the formidable Corinthian navy. The Corinthians had two major fleets, one in the Gulf of Corinth and the other in the Saronic Gulf.
Korinthos
Once again, the city of Korinthos was mythologically founded by the descendant of Helios of the same name. Just before the fall of the Mycenaeans, the Dorians tried to settle in Korinthos. The first time they tried was a failure, but the second time was very successful. Under the early Dorians, Korinthos flourished. They traded, became very wealthy and developed as a naval power. Korinthos participated in the Persian Wars, almost entirely navally, donating 40 war ships to help in the Battle of Salamis.
Independant Cities
Contrary to popular belief, the city of Epidauros was actually independant from Argos. It's biggest claim to fame was that Asklepios the Healer, son of Apollo, was supposedly born here. This started a cult of healing, leading to sanctuaries of Asklepios or Asklepieions where many different people would go to get healed popping up all around the hellenic world, but the biggest and most important of these was always the one at Epidauros.
Mantineia is a large city in Arcadia, the central region of the Peloponnesos. It has been the site of two main battles in the Classic Era, the First Battle of Mantineia being fought between Sparta (+allies) and Athens (this was part of the Peloponnesian War, the battle was fought in 418 BC)), and the Second Battle of Mantineia (362BC) being fought between Thebes (who had recently conquered much of that area under Epaminondas, who was killed during the battle) and the combined forces of Athens and Sparta. The result of the second battle was a Pyrrhic victory to Thebes; they won technically, but their leader died and they lost their hegemony in Arcadia.
They greatest sporting event in the history of mankind, the Olympics, was founded in this city. Athletes from nations across the hellenic world came here to participate in a variety of different sports, mostly track and field events such as javelin and running. These games will be portrayed as realistically as possible in this mod. The city takes its name from Mt. Olympos, the mythological home of the Gods.
Phigalia is situated in a rocky, mountainous area. The city was conquered by Lakedaemon in 659 BC, but was liberated soon after with the help of the Orasthasians. The controvercial Phigalian Marbles, depicting mythological battles, came from this area.
Currently the third largest city in Greece, Patras is also one of its oldest cities. Many different cultures from around the world, including the Phoenicians lived here in its old days. It has maintained its Achaean independance for a long time.
I hope you have enjoyed this weeks' preview. If you are interested in joining this mod, either PM me or post in this thread with the position you want to take, your level of 'expertise' in that area (do not worry about this, as long as you are capable of doing whichever job you sign up for you will probably be accepted) and your knowledge of the period (again, don't worry, this is only so that we can use team members as historians as well)
Next week's preview: Attica, Euboia and Beoetia.
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Originally Posted by Tiberius
Re: Hesbolê es tên Hellada - Invasion of Hellas
Now I come to think of it: there's a large internet library with a vast collection of sources out there. If you happen to be able to read the classic languages this is a real gold mine during the information gathering process.
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