Stonehedge is in France according to M2:TW

[Omisan]

Right between Paris and Caen.

[HoreTore]

I've seen it a number of different places. Seems like it's just a random piece of terrain, like the farm buildings...

[Skott]

Yes but Stonehenge is in England.

If I remember the documentary correctly there are 'henges' (I think thats what they referred to them as) all over Europe. Stonehenge was just one of them and the most infamous of them all.

[sapi]

If they could move the rocks all the way to stonehenge, i'm honestly not surprised that it turned up in france

Terrain like that certainly wreak havoc for cavalry heavy armies though :(

[Forward Observer]

I've seen them in Scotland, Spain, France, and possibly Germany--- and in more than one map in the same country I think.

There are also some Roman or Greek column ruins that one will see from time to time in southerm Europe and the Mid-Eastern countries.

By the way, I just discovered that if you move up close to one of the out building in the farms out in the rural maps you can hear roosting chickens clucking.

And of course you can hear bells chiming and dogs barking around all the abbey's plus in town--metal working sounds from the blacksmith shops and wood working sounds by the siege engine works.

Cheers

[JCoyote]

I don't think that's precisely Stonehenge anyway.

[Rilder]

Isn't that a bit smaller then stonehenge?

[cutepuppy]

ahum...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnac_stones

Well, not exactly between Paris and Caen, but hundreds of sites in Europe have megalithic monuments.

[chilling]

Doesn't look like they've finished it yet.

[Northnovas]

Doesn't look like they've finished it yet.

Most likely they have not completed the move from Poland. That's where I saw them last.

[Aquitaine]

<izzard>

That's not stonehenge, it's woodhenge or strawhenge.

</izzard>

[napoleon526]

I saw one in Russia.

[SMZ]

stone circles were scattered all over northern europe... stonehedge is just the best known and most intact surviving one

[Werner]

Yeah, there are henges all over (in real life and the game).

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

While this is all true Stone Henge is the only one with that design and that level of intricacy.

[Slug For A Butt]

While this is all true Stone Henge is the only one with that design and that level of intricacy.

And while that is true, why would they waste time designing different henges for the battlemap.
It's just a henge, thats all. And just because it resembles Stonehenge... so what. I'd rather the new patch was out sooner instead of them worrying about a henge that seems to confuse some of the more blinkered people.

[JCoyote]

While this is all true Stone Henge is the only one with that design and that level of intricacy.

That is not Stonehenge, the shape and number of stones is a bit off.

[SMZ]

and iunno really if any pile of rocks can be called intricate... but it's hard to really say stonehenge was the greatest stone circle, it's just the best surviving one... many ancient monuments, buildings, walls, etc were torn apart as later generations would consider them as a convenient source of stones.... this is especially true of things with spiritual significance.... newer religions usually made it a point to destroy the memories of previous faiths

[Skott]

If I remember the documentary correctly not all henges were made of stone. Some were of earthen and some of wood. Some were earthen and wood. Many were quite small and some rather large.

Anyway I dont know why CA placed a henge in alot of their terrain maps. There's alot of things CA does that makes me go, 'huh?' They were never known for historical accuracy anyway. But its just a game. /shrug

[diotavelli]

While this is all true Stone Henge is the only one with that design and that level of intricacy.

The only reason people think the Sarum henge was of a different design to others is because it's different now - simply due to better preservation. The smaller henges used smaller stones (obviously), which were easier to nick as cheap building materials.

There are at least five henges within an hour's drive of where I live (deepest, darkest Somerset). The design of all of them is pretty similar. The level of intricacy of the Sarum henge (the 'Stonehenge' you refer to) is far higher than that shown in the screengrab.

What you've got there is a bog standard henge - the sort you'd get from any half-decent neolithic DIY store ("This week's special offer - buy any stone-effect henge and get a sacrificial virgin half-price; buy two and get a free potting shed!").

[Whacker]

For the record, I can confirm that Stonehenge has migrated to somewhere in Northern Italy, a few "squares" south of Milan, located next to a large monastary. Sorry I didn't think to screenshot it.

[Feanaro]

That is not Stonehenge, the shape and number of stones is a bit off.

Open side on the outer ring? Check. Missing a chunk on the left(facing the outer rings opening) outer side, two arches down? Check. Three connected arches? Check. Three complete arches in the center? Yep.

It's a pretty obvious attempt at a Stonehenge.

[diotavelli]

Open side on the outer ring? Check. Missing a chunk on the left(facing the outer rings opening) outer side, two arches down? Check. Three connected arches? Check. Three complete arches in the center? Yep.

It's a pretty obvious attempt at a Stonehenge.

Aubrey holes? No. Different types of stone used for inner and outer rings? No.

I think the only "obvious" conclusion that you can draw is that CA wanted to include henges in the Northern European landscapes and they decided to make them all look a bit like the Sarum henge, so everyone would recognise them. The alternative was that odd rings of misshapen rocks would appear seemingly at random on the landscape during battles.

If you take the time to visit a few stone henges they all look like a "pretty obvious attempt at a Stonehenge" to a greater or lesser extent. They are henges made of stone, after all.

[Mega Dux Bob]

The same hedges were in RTW.

[JCoyote]

Listen to dio, he has a bit more up close and personal experience with the things.

[diotavelli]

Listen to dio, he has a bit more up close and personal experience with the things.

Yup - I wouldn't hold a sacrifice anywhere else.

I think this whole discussion is indicative of the sort of problems CA face. If they don't include unusual items on the landscape, we complain that all battles are fought in featureless environments. If they do include those items, we complain that they're in the wrong places, historically inaccurate or geographically misaligned.....

Add to that the fact that the game was built in Australia, where history started when Don Bradman was born and you can understand why all henges look identical and all Roman ruins have pillars - presumably they think even the glory holes had pillared porticos in those days?

[Feanaro]

If you take the time to visit a few stone henges they all look like a "pretty obvious attempt at a Stonehenge" to a greater or lesser extent.

Does that "great extent" include missing stones in the same places as Stonehenge? I hope not. Because that would be a little creepy.

You can compare http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/stonehenge/stonehenge-xmw-1152.jpg]Stonehenge with the screenshot posted. It's not a little like Stonehenge. It's not perfect but it ain't just a circle of stones.

[diotavelli]

Does that "great extent" include missing stones in the same places as Stonehenge? I hope not. Because that would be a little creepy.

You can compare http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/stonehenge/stonehenge-xmw-1152.jpg]Stonehenge with the screenshot posted. It's not a little like Stonehenge. It's not perfect but it ain't just a circle of stones.

Um, maybe I'm going blind but the shot you linked to of the Sarum henge clearly shows that the missing stones in the screenshot are not identical. It's similar but no more.

As I hinted earlier, I expect some designer sat in an office in Brisbane saw that 'henge' was the next entry on his list of "things to design for inclusion in battle scenes" and, without too many henges in easy walking distance, Googled a few images. Unsurprisingly, he probably found loads of pictures of the Sarum henge and so designed something similar.

I'm sure if you asked most people to draw a henge, they'd draw something that looked like the Sarum henge - simply because it's the one they're most familiar with. It doesn't mean that they'd be attempting to replicate it exactly, though.

And the fact that CA include a henge that looks like the Sarum henge and place it all over Northern Europe doesn't mean they think all henges looked the same; just that no software company is going to pay a designer to produce dozens of different stone circles for a game that retails at the price of M2TW.

[The Outsider]

these stone circles were worship places of many pagan people before christianity it is not suprising that they are spread thruoghout europe.