a few more getai questions

[Hooahguy]

1) AFAIK, the getai are somewhat barbarian in nature, they are classified as barbarians too (in the game)- so why do they use hellenic names for a lot of units, like their elite skirmishers?

2) whats the word for a leader? in the EB main campaign screen (where you choose your faction to play as) it says "Sarmis Vasil, we are.... then it goes on)
is the word for a king Sarmis Vasil? i want to know this for my AAR..... thanks!

[Ludens]

1) Because very little is known about the language they spoke (Thracian), so Greek is used as the closest language that can be accurately constructed. The Getai were IIRC quite Hellenized (comparatively speaking).

2) The faction leader trait for the Getai is Basileus, so I am guessing they don't know this either. You could perhaps use the in-game name for noble (Tarabostes?), as these traditionally were the leaders.

[Hooahguy]

thanks, but what does the words "sarmis vasil" even mean?

[pezhetairoi]

Probably 'royal' something or other, if 'sarmis' is the same 'sarmis' as 'sarmiszegethusa', which was the royal capital in Imperial times... but i'm really shooting in the dark here, I don't know zilch about these falx-swinging people.

[edyzmedieval]

1) AFAIK, the getai are somewhat barbarian in nature, they are classified as barbarians too (in the game)- so why do they use hellenic names for a lot of units, like their elite skirmishers?

2) whats the word for a leader? in the EB main campaign screen (where you choose your faction to play as) it says "Sarmis Vasil, we are.... then it goes on)
is the word for a king Sarmis Vasil? i want to know this for my AAR..... thanks!

1) Getai were far from being barbarian in nature. They are a very interesting mix of barbaric and hellenic civilisation. Dacian, the language, is somewhat extinct (only about 150 words still are in use today), so Hellenic names have been used for the Getai troops and buildings.

2) Sarmis Vasil was a term used for king, but better off to use Basileus, while the nobles were called Tarabostes.

Hope it helps.

[Hooahguy]

thanks! Sarmis Vasil will be the new name, for the whole idea of the AAR is the idea that the getai need to retain theri heritage......

[Senatus Populusque Romanus]

- Because they were highly influenced by near Hellenic civilizations such as Makedonia, Epeiros, and Koinon Hellenon.

[an_do_89]

You could use for your AAR the title of PAVEL TER (the perfect emperor), title achieved by Burebista (He ruled between 82 BC and 44 BC-is widely considered to be the greatest king of Dacia).

Sarmis Vasil is an inscription from some dacian coins from the time of Burebista.

About the names in the game - no dacian words left for EB team to use and to make a research , I am shure isn't possible because there should be a cooperation between EB team and some romanian linguists (keepers of old dacian language).

Vasil=Basil meaning king

basil,basileos,basileus,vasil=ruler,king but SARMIS I don't know what means .

By the way dacians weren't "barbarians": http://dacia.org/Dacian_Virtual_Muse...al_museum.html

[Gebeleisis]

Dacians or Getais here are ,as you guys noticed and im happy you did, not barbarians, they are somewhat a unique kind of civilisation.
It includes helenic and celtic ways of life and warfare with traditional dacian ways.

The army is the best place to look for this things
example:
you all know the falx as the traditional weapon of the dacians and its use in battle.
the dacians had all their weapons shaped like the falx(swords that is)
In the south east of modernday Romania they were in close range with the greek colonies on the coastline and they combined the warfare style of the greek with traditional dacians, they made up somekind of phalanx type of formations that was also good to fight as elite infantry.

The same goes to the north-west but there the relations were not with greeks but with celts.Good swordcrafters, the dacians swords falxes and spear tips were renowned in tha tperiod for beeing able to cut a man in half (the falx) with a single blow or pierce roman armour(this was written in the era of Traianus Dacicus and Decebalus(Diurpaneus) after the defeat of Cornelius Fuscus and his Legions in Dacia)

the Dacians archers were by no doubt the best archers in Europe,they developed the bow for centurys and were masters of it both on foot and on horseback.Romans found this out on their own skin when they followed an army of Getians into a forest and got ambushed from every side.
There is a phrase that exists even nowdays:
The forest is brother to the Romanian - because a lot of the victories were won there and when an army passed trough the land people found cover into the deep woods :)

The best tactic for dacians - the ambush
waves of arrows followed by a massive charge with fanatic warcryes were enough to frighten anyone.


cheers

[Hooahguy]

The army is the best place to look for this things
example:
you all know the falx as the traditional weapon of the dacians and its use in battle.
the dacians had all their weapons shaped like the falx(swords that is)
In the south east of modernday Romania they were in close range with the greek colonies on the coastline and they combined the warfare style of the greek with traditional dacians, they made up somekind of phalanx type of formations that was also good to fight as elite infantry.

The same goes to the north-west but there the relations were not with greeks but with celts.Good swordcrafters, the dacians swords falxes and spear tips were renowned in tha tperiod for beeing able to cut a man in half (the falx) with a single blow or pierce roman armour(this was written in the era of Traianus Dacicus and Decebalus(Diurpaneus) after the defeat of Cornelius Fuscus and his Legions in Dacia)

the Dacians archers were by no doubt the best archers in Europe,they developed the bow for centurys and were masters of it both on foot and on horseback.Romans found this out on their own skin when they followed an army of Getians into a forest and got ambushed from every side.
There is a phrase that exists even nowdays:
The forest is brother to the Romanian - because a lot of the victories were won there and when an army passed trough the land people found cover into the deep woods :)

The best tactic for dacians - the ambush
waves of arrows followed by a massive charge with fanatic warcryes were enough to frighten anyone.


cheers

yes, i know this very well. thats why im going to be increasing the attack of all falx-holding units by 3 (to show that those falxes were much more powerful than they are shown in the game, but im not sure if 3 is the correct number- 2 seems more correct), and increasing the attack of the elite skirmishers by 1, b/c of their huge swords), and the range of dacian bows by 2. makes sense to me....
in addition, i personally modded every unit (that i saw fit) to accurately represent their attack and defense numbers. ex: the triballi infantry have a huge shield, so their defense for shield is 4, the elite skirms are 3(may change it to 4- im not sure)
what do you people think of my decision?

[Gebeleisis]

personaly i like what you did, the morale could use a bumb also especially for the skirmishers

[Hooahguy]

seeing that the average morale is 14-15, i think ill bump then to that, if they arent at that already....

[paullus]

careful with all the bumps, the getic infantry are already some of the best in the game!

[Gebeleisis]

reall? havent played 1.0 yet due to pc problems but im getting it as fast as possible.

but i havent seen any heavy foot swordsmen(1h+s) a lot of the dacian nobility fought on foot also along side the "sica"armed men


sica - falx



gash i would love to help out with everything i can for this mod

[paullus]

well, there's a unit of elite getai which hasn't been released in a build yet, the agema orditon. you can see a concept sketch of them in nate's concept art thread. there are also the komatai thorakitai stratiotai, chain-armored semi-professional soldiery. what evidence would you point to of large numbers of foot nobility among the getai? bits and cavalry spears are common in rich graves.

[Gebeleisis]

oh yes i saw that one now,and will there be a update to 1.0 in the near future?
for your question regarding tarabostes.
Yes they fought on foot and on horseback alike.normaly they were mounted but in some battles they prefered to take it on foot especially in wooden terrain and as dacia was filled of woods some of the nobels took it on foot from the start

[paullus]

i'm aware of how getic nobility might fight on foot, i'm asking if you have evidence to support their appearance on foot. there's a late period (probably 1c ad) miniature of a getic warrior, who wears a pileus and so is presumably a noble, and wears body armor and carries a sword at his side. while he's not shown mounted, and i'm willing to consider their ability to fight on foot, its not clear evidence. a tarabostes officer for foot units, and the agema of nobility, are sufficient in my mind, especially considering the getic nobility's proclivity for fighting on horseback. do you have any particular sources in mind for what you're saying?

[Gebeleisis]

This is just what i have learned, i shall look for evidence and post them asap