We've kept this preview short in order to focus on getting the mod released, but here goes:
When one crosses the Tanais, one is no longer in Scythia; the first region on crossing is that of the Sauromatae, who, beginning at the upper end of the Palus Maeotis, stretch northward a distance of fifteen days’ journey, inhabiting a country which is entirely bare of trees, whether wild or cultivated. Above them, possessing the second region, dwell the Budini, whose territory is thickly wooded with trees of every kind.
- Herodotus
The Sarmatians were a nomadic Indo-European people inhabiting southern Russia and the northern Caucasian steppes. They were also closely related to the Scythians. According to the Greek historian Herodotus (4.110-117), they were descendants of Amazonian women and Scythians from past the Tanais river.
Herodotus on the Sarmatians (4.110-114)Here is a story about the Sauromatae. It is set during the war between the Greeks and the Amazons, for whom the Scythian name is Oeorpata...the story goes that after their victory over the Amazons at the battle of Thermodon, the Greeks sailed away in three ships, taking with them all the Amazons they had been able to capture alive. While they were out at sea, the women set upon the men and killed them, but they did not know anything about ships or oars...they began to drift at the mercy of the winds. They fetched upon Lake Maeetis, at the place called Cremni, which was then inhabited by the free Scythians. The first thing they came across was a herd of horses, which they promptly seized, and then began to ride about on these horses robbing the Scythians.The Scythians could not understand what was going on. Taking them to be young men, they fought against them. After the battle, the Scythians, left in possession of some corpses, realized that these were women! ...they decided to send a band of their youngest men to the women...the point of the Scythians plan was to have children with the women. After that the two groups decided to live together.
In imitation of this ancient heritage, the Sarmatian women dressed like men and rode on horseback. In fact, the Sarmatians were one of the few cultures of their time which was matriarchal. Despite their nomadic nature, the Sarmatians had exceptional workmanship skills. Pausanias attested this in his monumental Guide to Greece:
Pausanias, Attica, 7: On seeing this a man will say that no less than Greeks are foreigners skilled in the arts: for the Sauromatae have no iron, neither mined by themselves nor yet imported. They have, in fact, no dealings at all with the foreigners around them. To meet this deficiency they have contrived inventions. In place of iron they use bone for their spear-blades, and cornel-wood for their bows and arrows, with bone points for the arrows. They throw a lasso round any enemy they meet, and then turning round their horses upset the enemy caught in the lasso.Their breastplates they make in the following fashion. Each man keeps many mares, since the land is not divided into private allotments, nor does it bear any thing except wild trees, as the people are nomads. These mares they not only use for war, but also sacrifice them to the local gods and eat them for food. Their hoofs they collect, clean, split, and make from them as it were python scales. Whoever has never seen a python must at least have seen a pine-cone still green. He will not be mistaken if he liken the product from the hoof to the segments that are seen on the pine-cone. These pieces they bore and stitch together with the sinews of horses and oxen, and then use them as breastplates that are as handsome and strong as those of the Greeks. For they can withstand blows of missiles and those struck in close combat.
With such a heritage, the Sarmatians (or as they were called by the Greeks, Sauromatae), were were undoubtedly feared, with good reason. Starting in the second half of the third century BC, the Sarmatians galloped along the warpath with their relatives, the Scythians. They annihilated the Scythians in numerous engagements, and left much of their territory devastated and deserted. Even the Romans, with their mighty legions, feared and respected these nomads. Tacitus, after describing the Germanic fear of these warriors, himself calls the Sarmatians "slovenly", "ugly", and "squalid". Roman pride and arrogance proved to be their weak spot against the Sarmatians. Pliny the Elder describes them in detail, using reports from outlying Roman military stations on the Danube. On Trajan's Column, they are shown as heavy cataphract cavalry, and eventually, the Sarmatians' raiding encouraged the Romans to create auxiliary cavalry units equipped as cataphracts in response, which are known to have existed as early as the reign of Hadrian, and there is even some evidence of them existing earlier. Marcus Aurelius sent 5,500 Sarmatians to Britain after his Marcomannic Wars, which shows the respect that the Romans had for these warriors.
However, even with enemies everywhere, including the Romans, the decline and fall of the Sarmatians did not occur until 332 AD. The roaming Goths attacked, and the Romans followed in their footsteps, killing many on both sides. The coup de grace was not delivered until 334, when Constantine the Great himself moved the entire population of Sarmatia (around 300,000 at the time, due to near-constant warfare) to Gaul, Macedon, and Italy. These hardy people of the steppes did not disappear without leaving their mark on history. The Polish trace their roots back to the Sarmatians, as is shown by their style of dress in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. Also, many Polish heraldic emblems are based upon Sarmatian tamga marks, which were their form of writing.
According to recent reasearch, the Kazakh herders and shepherds are the modern descendants of the Sarmatians.
SARMATIAN STARTING SETTLEMENTS:
For those of you who've not been following the development of RS2, you'll see that we've done a complete makeover of the battle environment. I've included a load of screenshots from the steppes / "infertile grass" environment that this faction will be playing out most of their initial battles on.
SARMATIAN UNITS:
Sarmatian Levy Spearmen:
Sarmatian Archer:
Slingers:
Scythian Foot Archers:
Sarmatian Horse Archers:
Alan Horse Archers:
Roxolani Lancers:
Aorsi Noble Cavalry:
Siracae Noble Cavalry:
Scythian Noble Cavalry:
Roxolani Noble Cavalry:
Sarmatian General's Bodyguard:
ALLIED AND MERCENARY UNITS:
Scythohellenic Archers:
Bosporan Heavy Infantry:
Massagetae Horse Archers:
Saka Noble Cavalry:
Saka Elite Cavalry:
OFFICERS:
Draco Bearer:
Standard Bearer:
Sarmatian General:
Some battle shots:
Finally, some banners:
Credits:
Tone - models, skins and battlemap environment
Dr Hobo - skins for levy spearman, Scythohellenic archer, Sarmatian horse archers, Aorsi noble cavalry, Siracae noble cavalry, Sarmatian general
Pacco - banners, skin for Massagetae horse archer
Legio - historical write up
EB team - model for Siracae noble / Massagetae horse archer
Roma Surrectum II: Sarmatian Preview
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nough said 
Originally Posted by Scarrus
I guess it teaches me to not be too helpful in future.... 
