New faction Preview - The Byzantine Empire

[Hochmeister]

On IGN

http://pc.ign.com/articles/732/732632p1.html

Yay

[paullus]

kinda figured they'd have built constantinople up a little more...not much in the city at the moment. plus we see the flaw in the city/castle set-up with constantinople. one of the largest cities of its time, one of--if not the--richest, yet its displayed as a castle because otherwise it wouldn't be good for producing soldiers. hmph.

[A. Smith]

Well, if im not mistaken, castles CAN reach huge ammounts of population; its only that their income wont be up to par with the city's income. However, i do agree that the castle/city system is a tad restrictive.. maybe give a 5/6th stage of devellopment, where the 2 trees "fuse" (IE a huge city-type settlement at that stage will be the same as a huge castle-type settlement). For exemple, constantinople would reach that stage: Big enough in population to be an important trade center, yet heaviliy fortified.

However, i think that the castle/city system works pretty well overall; after all, the most heavily fortified cities in the middle ages werent the most populated (think of the knights' Krak in syria compared to cities like london or paris)

[Darth Nihilus]

I'm pleased so far with the Byzantine units. In the original game the Byzantines were one of the factions that had a truly unique unit roster. They will be a lot of fun to play as, and are no doubt one of the most popular factions if not the most popular faction. Looks good

[lars573]

There baaaaaaack! Sword armed Byzantine infantry.

[redriver]

I don't like the conehead icons representin' the city happeness. they should switch to smilies

[The Blind Samurai]

cool prieview id prfer a muslim update

[Zimfan]

Only four starting territories? THat'll make for an interesting game, especially with the units becoming outdated eventually.

[IrishArmenian]

Yay!!! Varangian Guards. All I need now is a Eunic General and I'm set.

[econ21]

There baaaaaaack! Sword armed Byzantine infantry.

I fear that was inevitable, given CAs insistance on swords vs spears as a rock vs paper kind of distinction.

However, the Byzantine unit roster seems more authentic than the original MTW one. Particularly, regarding the importance of Western mercenaries (armed from mail to plate - I wonder how that will be modelled?). I also like the dismounted lancers and dismounted Western mercenaries - in the medieval period, some of the best infantry should actually be dismounted cavalry, so it is nice to see them being represented explicitly and systematically.

The guard archers were interesting - given the Scots Guard unit for the French, I suspect most factions are going to have elite armoured archers.

On Constantinople being a castle, that was in the preview but it was not obvious from the screenshot, which described the settlement as a large city.

[lancelot]

I only want one thing from MTW2- and that is the ceremonial Varangian Guards from the original MTW. They may not be historical but damn they were cool!

[Mount Suribachi]

cool prieview id prfer a muslim update

patience precious.....this is only the 2nd faction preview.......

[|Heerbann|_Di3Hard]

I couldn't read someting about arquebusiers or crossbows. If this is true, they are difficult to use in high or late era.

[econ21]

I couldn't read someting about arquebusiers or crossbows. If this is true, they are difficult to use in high or late era.

Yes, that seems to be what CA mean when they say the Byzantine military start to become dated. They also lack three of the types of field artillery that the Russian preview had.

There are deficiencies elsewhere in the late game line up - e.g. an absence of full plate (except the Western mercenaires) and no pikemen.

[King Noob the Stupid]

It's not important, just a tiny detail, but it looks like faction leaders don't get a "number" assigned by the game in M2, so for example the byz emperor on the screenie is just "Alexius" instead of "Alexius I." as in original MTW. Or are there leaders with numbers on other pics seen so far?

[caravel]

There is something special about the Byzantine Infantry in MTW, despite them being to intents and purposes legionary like fantasy units. I have mixed feelings at seeing them return for M2TW however and hoped for a more authentic cavalry and foot archer specific unit roster.

[econ21]

I ... hoped for a more authentic cavalry and foot archer specific unit roster.

I agree on the Byzantine infantry, but what in particular would you like to have seen on the cavalry and archer front? It does at least sound that these - rather than pseudo-legions - will be the mainstay of the Byzantine army:

Throughout the campaign it will be the Byzantine cavalry and missile troops that will be crucial to success in battle.

[azraeltheFallen]

Yep i agree in MTW you could take an army of 1000 Byzantine infantry and conquer the entire middle east easily, which was onlikely to happent in "real life".

[The Blind Samurai]

patience precious.....this is only the 2nd faction preview.......

well i guess your right but can you belevie it one and a quter month till m2tw

[King Noob the Stupid]

1 and a quarter? Wouldn't it be late October then? I thought the game is scheduled for about November 14th in the US and some weeks later in the rest of the world.

[lars573]

I fear that was inevitable, given CAs insistance on swords vs spears as a rock vs paper kind of distinction.

I don't mind as they get a decent spear unit this time.

However, the Byzantine unit roster seems more authentic than the original MTW one. Particularly, regarding the importance of Western mercenaries (armed from mail to plate - I wonder how that will be modelled?). I also like the dismounted lancers and dismounted Western mercenaries - in the medieval period, some of the best infantry should actually be dismounted cavalry, so it is nice to see them being represented explicitly and systematically.

That will be handled via armour upgrades. CA has said that doing armour/weapon upgrades will mean that some units will get all new wepaons/armour. This may be CA's way of getting around that Byz units will be passed by eventually. As many of their units seem to have a "start with a very light armour and move into a much heavier type as time goes on" element to them.

The guard archers were interesting - given the Scots Guard unit for the French, I suspect most factions are going to have elite armoured archers.

On Constantinople being a castle, that was in the preview but it was not obvious from the screenshot, which described the settlement as a large city.

The Byz seem to have 4 levels of melee/archer infantry combinations. Peasant (peasants, peasant archers), militia (militia spears, militia archers), normal professionals (Byz spearmen and Trebizond archers), and guard (Varangian and gurad archers).

[Nathanael]

Well, at least the Byzantine Infantry don't have the Roman-esque shields they did in the last game - they basically look like a bunch of low-grade men-at-arms.

Another thing you might have missed - if you go to the screenshots added, they're not all just of the Byzantines, as you'll see some cannon elephants close up and in all their glory. The cannons do look rather tiny, so it's not that outrageous.

[Tamur]

Maybe I've missed the discussion being mostly gone this week, but I wonder if anyone noticed this quote from the unit preview...

Byzantine Spearmen are a step up from spear militias, better trained and equipped these troops are able to form a defensive ring.

Are there other references to this defensive ring for units elsewhere, or is this the first time such a formation has been mentioned? It seems like I remember a (very brief) discussion in a thread about three weeks ago on this, but I can't find it.

[Furious Mental]

I'm no expert on the Byzantine military but by the time it fell completely in the late 15th century wasn't it heavily reliant on Latin mercenaries?

[Beelzebub]

Also disappointed by cities so far..maybe everything isn't complete yet in that area, we have seen some cool pics of some customised locations (Krak Des Chevaliers), perhaps the lack of others (Rome, Venice, Constantinpole) is due to unfinished artwork. Even some custom city icons on the map would add a lot of atmosphere, hopefully they arent restricted by the engine in this area.

[ChewieTobbacca]

I'm happy to see that the Byzantine composition is more realistic now - their units not only have more authentic names, but they are more reliant on cavalry and archers, including western mercenary units.

Looks very promising.

[batu khan]

i liked the byzantine infantery.i will enjoy killing them:)

[edyzmedieval]

Apart from Byzantine infantry and the Guard Archers, everything is historically correct. Good job CA.

[avatar]

Very nice preview. The Byzantine faction should be as much fun to play as the first MW. I have read the other posts talking about the Byzantine Infantry and the Viking Guards, but no mention of the cavalry units. The cavalry units available to the Byzantines were a treat to play.

[cutepuppy]

Apart from Byzantine infantry and the Guard Archers, everything is historically correct. Good job CA.

the guard archers are also historically correct - to a certain extent. They were called mourtatoi and were elite archers around 1300.