XVIIth Century - Dominium Maris Baltici

[thrashing_mad]

Timeframe: 1570-1700

Factions: Polish-Lithuanian Commowealth, Kingdom of Sweden, Tsardom of Russia (possibly more int the future)

Map: Baltic region (possibly larger map in the future)


Hello. Some time ago I`ve started works on similar mod for M2TW (link to subforum). Unfortunately, med`s engine isn`t suited for gunpowder combat that will be present in this period. Thus, I decided to move on to E:TW. Good news is, that some models and textures can be reused in Empire version after upgrading.

I`ll still have to wait for modding tools to begin working on models, textures, etc. Until then, feel free to discuss unit rosters presented below, make your suggestions etc. If you have some modding skills, and you would like to help - let me know.

Poland-Lithuania was major land power in Eastern part of Europe of that time. Powerful, cavalry based armies were able to defeat enemies even against all odds. Poles and Lithuanians defeated thrice more numerous Swedes at Kircholm, captured Moscow for short period of time, and saved Austrians from Ottoman invasion at Vienna. Unfortunately, weakness of the Commonwealth lied in it`s decentralised political system, where common noblemen were seriously limiting power of the king. This weakness was eventually exploited by hostile neighbours of 'Rzeczpospolita'.

Units Roster Project

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Early Period (1570-1600)

Infantry:

- Town Militia - rather poorly trained, halberd armed militia, which can be called for city defense


- Mercenary Pikemen - rather experienced and effective mercenaries, but also quite expensive. Reqruited mostly from Germans (last Landsknechts), mercenaries provided bulk of many armies of that period


- Mercenary Musketeers - good firepower and range, but high upkeep


- Scottish Mercenary Pikemen - Scottish mercenaries were well renown for their skills and fighting spirit. Polish rulers often preferred them over their German counterparts.

- Scottish Mercenary Musketeers - better range than regular merc. musketeers


- Mercenary Arquebusiers - better armoured than musketeers, but smaller range


- Hajducy - these hardy mercenaries came to Poland from Transylvania together with king Stefan Batory. Armed with arquebus, these soldiers were also good at hand to hand combat. Unusually for this period they wore similar uniforms.


- Piechota Wybraniecka - (pol. 'Drafted Infantry') were conscripted from peasants. Unfortunatelly their training was very poor, and their role in Polish-Lithuanian army was often limited to engineering works, rising fortifications, etc.


- Strzelcy Litewscy - (pol. 'Lithuanian Shooters') recruited by Lithuanian magnates among their Ruthenian serfs, they were infantry of medium quality. Chainmail provided some protection against arrows - helpful in clashes with bow-armed Russian, Tatatar or Ottoman enemies.



Cavalry:

- Merc. Mounted Arquebusiers - Medium armoured, armed with arquebuses


- Strzelcy - (pol.shooters) were one of the last soldiers of 'obrona potoczna' (regular army component). They were lightly armoured, and used 'rusznica' (medium range firearm) to shoot while mounted


- Kopijnicy - (pol. lancers) were one of the last traditional lancers in pol-lit armies, soon to be replaced by Winged Hussars. They wore three quarter armours, and were rather slow (but powerful) cavalry


- Jazda Wołoska - (pol. Wallachian Cavalry) were light horse archers mercenaries from Moldavia or Wallachia - used for scouting, pursuing and looting


- Husarze - medium cavalry that evolved from light hungarian/serbian hussars. Fast, and with strong charge.



High Period(1600-1640)

Infantry:

- Piechota Polska - (pol. Polish Infantry) also called Polish-Hungarian infantry, these soldiers looked and fought in haiduk fashion. Armed with sabre and arquebus


- Piechota Zaporoska - (pol. Zaporozhian Infantry) Cossacks from Zaporozhian Sich provided undisciplined, but brave soldiers - experienced in combat against Ottomans and Tatars.


- Piechota Niemiecka - (pol. 'German' infatry) even though these soldiers were mostly Poles, they were trained and armed in western style. Musket, good skills, and expensive.


- Urban Militia - later variant of city militia, armed with arquebus


Cavalry:

- Husaria (early) - first generation of famous Winged Hussars - wearing medium armour and very long lances, these cavalrymen often won battles against all odds. Very powerful charge.


- Ciężka Rajtaria - (pol. Heavy Reiters) were heavy western style cavalry, popular in PLC of that period. Armed with pistols and wearing three quarter armour, they mostly used caracolle tactic, but could also charge against lighter enemy


- Jazda Kozacka - (pol. Cossack Cavalry) their name wasn`t used in context of their nationality, but was applied to majority of pol-lit medium cavalry of that period. Using bows, or pistols, they often supported Hussars after initial charge.


- Petyhorcy - medium lancers from Grand Duchy of Lithuania


- Pospolite Ruszenie - Noble levy that was called during crisis. Unfortunately proud Polish 'Szlachta' weren`t especially good at fighting - even worse at obeying orders.


- Jazda Tatarska - (pol. Tatar Cavalry) recruited among Tatar refugees that settled in Lithuania, these Muslim people provided excellent, very fast light cavalry


- Lisowczycy - infamous mercenaries of Colonel Lisowski were light cavalry that instead of payment, were allowed to loot and pillage everything they wanted. Excellent for disrupting enemy supply lines. Troublesome during time of peace.


Dragoni - Polish dragoons (mounted infantry) that rides to battle mounted, and fights dismounted



Late (1640-1700)

Infantry:

- Muszkieterzy - Polish infantry after reforms of king Jan Sobieski. Armed with musket, as well as berdiche.


- Pikinierzy - Sobieski`s pikemen.



Cavalry:

- Pancerni - (pol. armoured) medium cavalry wearing chainmail and round shields in Ottoman fashion. Armed with pistols and 'Nadziak' warhammers


- Lekka Jazda - late period Polish light cavalry

- Rajtaria - unarmoured western-style cavalry, using caracolle tactic


- Reformed Husaria - Winged Hussars at their peak. More heavily armoured than ever, using 5 meters long lances, these fearsome cavalrymen can successfully charge even against pikemen



Polish Field Hetman (General)

Kingdom of Sweden was young in 1570, few decades after fighting for independence with Danes. While initially weak, Swedish army was eventually turned into effective war machine by military genius of king Gustav Adolph. Even though not numerous, Swedes were very successful in their wars for domination over the Baltic Sea.

Unit Roster Project:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Early (1570-1600)

Infantry:

- Town Militia - rather poorly trained, halberd armed militia, which can be called for city defense


- Mercenary Pikemen - rather experienced and effective mercenaries, but also quite expensive. Reqruited mostly from Germans (last Landsknechts), mercenaries provided bulk of many armies of that period


- Mercenary Musketeers - good firepower and range, but high upkeep


- Scottish Mercenary Pikemen - Scottish mercenaries were well renown for their skills and fighting spirit. Polish rulers often preferred them over their German counterparts.

- Scottish Mercenary Musketeers - better range than regular merc. musketeers


- Mercenary Arquebusiers - better armoured than musketeers, but smaller range


- Arquebus Militia - poorly trained, arquebus armed militiamen


- Pike Militia - poorly trained, pike armed militiamen

- Kungliga Majestäts Drabanter - elite royal halberdiers guards, very limited numbers



Cavalry:

- Lands Ryttare - mediocre, noblemen conscripted cavalry. Lightly armoured, using caracolle tactics.


- Svarta Ryttarna - Elite cavalry, wearing blackened three quarter armour. Very good morale, able to effectively charge instead of using caracolle.


- Mercenary Cuirassiers - Heavily armoured German mercenary cavalry. More often than not, they were charging at the enemy, instead of simply shooting. Their heavy cuirasses were able to endure hit from musket or pistol.


- Merc. Mounted Arquebusiers - Medium armoured, armed with arquebuses


- Finska Ryttare - Early finnish light cavalry. Unarmoured, used for scouting/skirmishing.



High (1600-1640)

Infantry

- Pikenerare - Gustavus Adolphus era pikemen, known from 30-years war - a little bit lightly armoured than imperial pikemen of this period


- Musketerare - Swedish national musketeers from 30 YW period


- Kommanderade musketörer - Commanded Musketeers, much smaller units (20-30 men each), they`re better trained than ordinary Musketeers (rate of fire, morale)


- Jägare - sharpshooters recruited from foresters and hunters, very small units (10-15 men each), very good range and accuracy, good at hiding in forests, and sniping enemy generals/artillery crews etc.



Cavalry:

- Latta Ryttare - lightly armoured cavalry, that provided bulk of Swedish cavalry after G-A reforms, pistols, sword, breastplate. They preferred to charge instead of using ineffective caracole


- Dragoner - Swedish dragoons


- Hakkapeliitta - famous Finnish cavalry, pistols, light armour, sword, fast, good morale



Late (1640-1700)

Infatry:

Basicaly, army after reforms of Karl XIth

- Karolinskt Infanteri - musket

- Karolinskt Infanteri - pike
- Karolinska Livgardet

Cavalry:

- Karolinska Ryttare

Tsardom of Russia evolved from Duchy of Muskovy, which managed to unite divided Russian principalities, and defeat Mongol oppressors. Ruling with an iron fist, Russian tsars had great ambitions, as well as great potential to achieve them. Unfortunately, Russia of that time was isolated country, sticking to old ways, and closed to new ideas.

Unit Roster Project:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Early (1570-1600)

Infantry:

- Opolechnye - untrained peasant levy, armed with axe, unarmoured

- Stretsy - Regular Russian soldiers, armed with 'Pishchal' (something between musket and arquebus), and berdiche axe


- Vybranniye Streltsy - elite variant of Streltsy from Moscow - helmet instead of cap


- Feudal Archers - bakhetera or chainmail armour, composite bow, sabre and shield. They provide good firepower against unarmoured opponents, but are quite expensive


- Gorodovye Kazaki (Urban Cossacks) - Arquebus, light armour, slightly worse than Streltsy. They were parts of many Russian garrisons.



Cavalry:

- Ratniki - recruited from servants of Russian boyars. They are eastern style horse archers, wearing tegilay caftans armed with 'sovna' polearms


- Pomiestnaya Konnitsa - recruited from small landowners (pomiestniks), they wore mail or bakhetera, helmets, and shields. This medium cavalry relied on horse archery, however.


- Znat - elite boyarin cavalry - decorated heavy armour, composite bow and sabre. Very good but also very expensive


- Oprychniki - terror police of Ivan the Terrible, that can serve as light cavalry if needed, black clothes, sabre


- Tatarskaya Konnitsa - light tatar cavalry, bow and sabre, fast


- Ryndy - generals bodyguard, elaborate heavy armour, axe, pistols


High (1600-1640)

Infantry:

- Soldaty - second reincarnation of Streltsy, musket, berdiche, cheaper than Streltsy because this military caste lost some priviledges at this time.


- Zaporozhian Infantry - Cossacks avaiable only in Ukraine


Cavalry:

- Sluzhiliye Kazaki - light cossack cavalry, armed with arquebus and sabre


- Kalmyks - altaic nomads that migrated into Caspian steppes in late XVIIth century. Light cavalry, good morale, fast, bow and sabre, better than Tatarskaya Konnitsa




Late (1640-1700)

Infantry:

- Kopeyshchiki - western style pikemen


- Poteshnyi - very late in the game, first infantry regiments of Peter the Great
- Mercenary Musketeers - recruitable western style musketeers

Cavalry:

- Reytary - similar to western style light, pistol-armed cavalry


- Draguny - dragoons, arquebus or musket?

- Stremenniye Kopeyshchiki - medium cavalry similar to Polish 'Pancerni'

[Göteborgare]

It's going to be 10 times better on Empire.

[Salvo]

Much better that it'll be on Empire
POWODZENIA

[Theodotos I]

I trust you can pull this off. Good luck and I'll be watching.

[mistermasyl]

Where is Denmark?

[thrashing_mad]

Where is Denmark?

Probably in second release. Having some experience in modding I know that it`s huge amount of work. Thus I want to choose smaller, more realistic goal for a start, with only three factions. There`s a lot of overambitious projects that were never finished.

[Kawaler Judycki]

Hello again
I've heard you've got some problems with assambling a team for the Empire modding project. Since QWERT adviced me to let you know here.. Well Here I am. If you're interested try to catch me on PM (on polish totalwar forum if possible).
Regards!

[thrashing_mad]

Kawaler Judycki - OK, great.

There`s not much that can be modded in ETW at the moment, but here`s my try at small banner for PLC. Credit to Otto Flik (qwert) - creator of original flag image for m2tw version. Note that screenshot was taken at medium details (I have to upgrade my graphics card).

[Yoda Twin]

nice great your switching to the new engine, i lost my Kingdoms cd

[thrashing_mad]

Yoda Twin - Thanks

Prototype version of Russian flag:

[Marv933]

Wow people, that looks realy nice, it gonna look awesome for Empire!

So, you wrote "maybe more factions in the future", I hope that u make already plans for this?Well and in Empire the Faction-limit is very high, so can I hope for a "Duchy of Prussia" this time?
Normal prussia is already there so just changing the flag to this one?:

It would be so great to have this as faction next to "Brandenburg"
Hopefully you'll do
(Btw if u want the flag texture here, just ask me ;P)
With best regards, Marv

[thrashing_mad]

Marv933 - In second release - yes, Prussia will be in. Maybe it would be possible to mod some event to create Brandenburg-Prussia, depending how script-able ETW is. Very good flag - if you could send me texture it would be great.

[Darius_D]

Hello all there!
I was following this project with great interest for M2TW and I am happy to see this is now going to be continued on the Empire engine. Good luck!

I am curious now what units available in original Empire would suit in the best way for the planned rosters? I would love to see first proposals.
I didn't buy ETW yet anyway I heard that fortunately such crucial units like archers, horse archers and pikemen are already in (I mean they are not so typical for XVIII empire era), so I hope this will save a mountain of work.
And what seems to be really missing?

greetings

D

[thrashing_mad]

Hello all there!
I was following this project with great interest for M2TW and I am happy to see this is now going to be continued on the Empire engine. Good luck!

I am curious now what units available in original Empire would suit in the best way for the planned rosters? I would love to see first proposals.
I didn't buy ETW yet anyway I heard that fortunately such crucial units like archers, horse archers and pikemen are already in (I mean they are not so typical for XVIII empire era), so I hope this will save a mountain of work.
And what seems to be really missing?

greetings

D

Thanks.

I don`t have ETW yet, but from my observations major missing thing is lack of lance animations, as there is only spear armed cavalry. Hopefully this can be fixed. Other than that I don`t see any problems. I would have to play game first.

[Darius_D]

thanks,

I could be mistaken but I think I saw someone talking about "cossak tabors" to be available in Empire, which were impossible to introduce in M2TW.
Can someone please confirm it? I will rep

[Jaguar6]

Hey thrashing_mad, I'm making a mod on a similar time frame called New Age: Total War. Perhaps we could both share historical info and work together, to try and get things like lance or double handed sword animations

[thrashing_mad]

Hey thrashing_mad, I'm making a mod on a similar time frame called New Age: Total War. Perhaps we could both share historical info and work together, to try and get things like lance or double handed sword animations

Sure.

BTW - 2H animations are already in - see Streltsy unit with berdiches.

[Marv933]

Well mate, so can I help you in any way? I'm already in two mods, but I realy like this mod idea, so if I can do anything, just ask me yes?

...And this is how the situation in europe/baltica will look like in the beginning of the mod yes?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Berdiche Knyaz]

Holy *Input Offensive Word*
This going to be awesome (Rep+)
I think Prussia, Teutonic Order, and Denmark should be the factions included

[Kawaler Judycki]

For a very simple reason Wallahian Cavalry should not be in the early rooster. Wallahians didn't appear in the Polish forces in a significant numbers until the Chmielnicki's uprising in 1648. Heavy casulties sustained after battles of Żółte Wody and Korsuń and especially the prison slaughter after Batoh in 1652 affected the structure of polish army. The Poles lost most of its excellent light cavalry units and neaded replacements. These came from Wallahia which also took some episodical part in the Chmielnicki's uprising. Well enaugh with that, you get the picture