New 3d unit: Dismounted Christian Guard

[TB666]

New unit is up at the .com and this time it is the the Dismounted Christian Guard.
They look cool
http://www.totalwar.com/index.html?p...medieval2/1/2/

[Empirate]

I don't know, they look kinda bad... that ridiculous buckler combined with the calf-long chainmail! I'd try not recruiting them and go Ghazi instead when playing Muslims.

[Lusted]

I've seen re-enactors in calf-long chainmail, doesn't look wierd to me.

Personally i love the look of this unit.

[Furious Mental]

Doesn't look weird to me. Nothing wrong with calf long chain mail. Nothing wrong with a sword and buckler style of fighting either. If it was historically accurate for Moorish sultans to hire Christians as bodyguards I think it's a good unit.

[econ21]

Looks like the return of the Almohad urban militia, in another guise.

I agree the buckler and the full mail seem incongruous - if this is an early period knight, I would imagine a kite shield or something would be more appropriate. If it is a later period knight, heavier armour - ie with some plate - might justify abandoning a large shield.

[DukeofSerbia]

I don't know, they look kinda bad... that ridiculous buckler combined with the calf-long chainmail! I'd try not recruiting them and go Ghazi instead when playing Muslims.

There will be no Ghazi. Look preview of Turks. They are out! Unfortunately...

[Furious Mental]

As early as 1300 there was an English manuscript dedicated solely to fighting with a sword and buckler. Evidently some people fought in that style at that time. So the equipment of the unit does not seem at all weird to me.

[BaldwinIV]

This is combination between the christian knights and moorish units. I like the look of this units. Great helmet is awesome! Also the textures looks very detailed...

[Bioximo]

There will be no Ghazi. Look preview of Turks. They are out! Unfortunately...

No, actually not. They were showed recruits not mercenaries or religious troops. Ghazi Infantry could be in as mercenaries or religious troops.

[ElectricEel]

The visual quality seems good, as usual. However:

-Buckler? I'd expect a larger shield.
-His hands are unprotected?

[Tempiic]

Doesn't look weird to me. Nothing wrong with calf long chain mail. Nothing wrong with a sword and buckler style of fighting either. If it was historically accurate for Moorish sultans to hire Christians as bodyguards I think it's a good unit.

Though I dont know if they were used as bodyguards, iberian christians did fought on the Moorish side.

I dont like the bucklers much though. More fond of the Norman shields (which was used not only with the normans of course), and round shields, and the oval like shields in use by the Muslimis. Other than that, it looks neat

[A jezy]

looking good

[Praetorian308]

Those look pretty neat.
As stated above the kite shield was only used by the Normans. I doubt that the Moors have soldiers from as far as Normandy; probably only from the Iberian Peninsula. On the calf long chain-mail, I don't think that they are supposed to be the best Moorish units around, just some decent heavy infantry.

[IrishArmenian]

Loks great. I like it very much.

[Tempiic]

Those look pretty neat.
As stated above the kite shield was only used by the Normans. I doubt that the Moors have soldiers from as far as Normandy; probably only from the Iberian Peninsula. On the calf long chain-mail, I don't think that they are supposed to be the best Moorish units around, just some decent heavy infantry.

Umm if you are referring to my post, I said that the kite shield was not exclusively used by the Normans.

[Martok]

I agree the shield should be larger, but otherwise they look good.

My main question, though, is how historically accurate are these guys? I know that a fair number of them fought under the Moorish amirs, but did they actually serve as their palace bodyguards as well?

[Watchman]

Foreign mercs as bigwigs' bodyguards, or at least elite guard troops, wasn't all that unusual a practice. Mercenaries' main motivation is money after all (and living to spend it), and rulers and suchlike were usually the richest folks around. Natives might have all kinds of inconvenient local loyalties and affilations to God only knows what kinds of clans, families, localities and so on.

Mail hauberk and a buckler would sound pretty appropriate for early-date Iberian units AFAIK. The warfare down there involved lots of "fast and furious" light-troop skirmishing in typically pretty lousy terrain, and even more elite mounted troops that elsewhere would tend to show up in lots of armour and bearing the biggest shields they could manage often went markedly lightly equipped in the peninsula.

Not that the heavy hitter edition of the same didn't have a niche in all the armies concerned, they just werent as dominant as they were north of the Pyrenees.

[ProudNerd]

There will be no Ghazi. Look preview of Turks. They are out! Unfortunately...

WHAT no turks? What were they smoking? Ill bet the jamanssary heavy infantry and archers will be missed.

[Little Legioner]

Calm down, you can't imagine a medieval game without Turks. Check this out

http://pc.ign.com/articles/737/737316p1.html

[anders]

one interesting aspect of iberian warfare was that the knights would use javelins to soften the opposition up, just like the "jinetes" in the game, and that they used a spear instead of couched lance to well into 1200..

[Tempiic]

one interesting aspect of iberian warfare was that the knights would use javelins to soften the opposition up, just like the "jinetes" in the game, and that they used a spear instead of couched lance to well into 1200..

Thats not limited to just the Iberian penninsula (sp?)