[Sub Mod] - African Modification

[falcom4ever]

Have a look on the 1.4 version released today, you might be able to make an even greater mod

Do you still plan to replace 2 factions for 2 african factions ?

[MansaSakura]

im still waiting for 1.4 to finish downloading from rapidshare (the modb site still has 1.3 on it btw). I hadn't done any work toward making any other factions. Been researching Zimbabwe tho. They definately used archers. They were like their main force. I finally found a crap load of info on how the Zimbabwe fought according to the Portuguese who visited Mutapa. Basically swords, javelins, lots of archers, clubs, battle axes and these cool shields that stick in the ground.

[falcom4ever]

I do not unserstand then why southern african kingdoms like the Zulu did not fight with archers 800 years later.

Zulu fighting style for example is stick shield, half spear, clubs, axes, javelin. But no sword, no bow and arrow and no long spear. Kingdoms from the Mozambique coast might got arabic like weapons. But Zimbabwe is inside of the continent, if they used this more effective weapons, why did not the other kingdoms followed ?

[MansaSakura]

Zulu are pretty different and rather isolated from the other Bantu communities. The Zulu idea of war was a joke until Shaka showed up. It was more jousting than real combat. Then Shaka shows up and stabs a guy and the picnic is over, lol.

Mutapa is closer akin to Kongo and the Bantu groups closer to the interior (which also used archery). The Zulu, when they did start having all out war, just modified the weapons they already had. They added the ilkwa (short stabbing spear) designed by Shaka for close combat but no bows or arrows.

Another thing to keep in mind, the Zimbabwe cultures had much larger armies than anything Shaka ever put into the field. I was reading the Portuguese accounts and they keep talking about the Mutapa fielding 100,000 or 300,000. Of course they are exaggerating, but the point is that larger armies benefit from firepower (bows and arrows in pre-gunpowder society) while smaller armies tend to be individualistic single combatants (which lends to classical melee weapons and javelins).

Shaka never fielded very large armies. His predecessors did by the time of the British invasion, but I guess they figured why screw with a good thing. Running up and stabbing a dude had worked everywhere else. Mutapa lasted a lot longer than Zulu and even had a little success in the 18th century once they got their stuff together and threw off the Portuguese.

[MansaSakura]

Everyone check out Version 2 of the African Submod when you get a chance!

UPDATE...Version 2

Download --> http://www.gamefront.com/files/21972522/ftwIIIafricaV2



Here's what's included...
1-Put in historical flag for the Mali Empire

2-Added additional text for units that seemed to lack them
3-Translated the french names of Mali's units to English
4-Renamed and reorganized the Zimbabwe unit list after doing some intensive research on the Zimbabwe and Mutapa kingdom armies
4a-Zimbabwe Spearmen are now Guro Spearmen (zulu looking unit with different color shields)
4b-Zimbabwe Nobles are Nyai Nobles (zulu looking unit with all white shields)
4c-Zimbabwe Tribesmen are now Muromo Archers (zimbabwe's army was mostly archers so they really needed this unit. I used the nubian archer unit but made it fight in horde formation and changed the unifor to blue)
4d-Zimbabwe Scouts are now Marimbirimbi Scouts (same unit just used the historical name I found)
4e-Cannibals are now African Raiders (same unit, different name and better stats to make conquering Africa's Atlantic coast and interior even more of a challenge)
4e-Zimbabwe bodyguard are now Insicis Bodyguard (traded the Indian unit for the Cannibal unit and put them in regular formation.)
5-Tweaked the mercenary system throughout the continent, this way you aren't recruiting Sudanese Tribesmen in the Congo or Cannibals in West Africa...
5a-Rogue units - units that historically hold no allegiance to any faction and can only be purchased depending on the area you are in
Dismounted Fulbe Knights, Zarma Knights, African Raiders, Tuareg Camel Spearmens, Dismounted Tuareg, Nubian Archers, Nubian Spearmen
5b-Cultural units - units that belong to a faction's culture and can be recruited at a building by them or purchased in certain areas by anyone
Sudanese units for Mali, Guro Spearmen for Zimbabwe, Desert units for Moors, Arab units for Egypt
6-Massive editing of the Descr_strat file so that the African rebel settlements have more diversity and are tougher to capture
7-Changed the AI setting for Mali and Zimbabwe to reflect their unit roster a bit better
8-Mali Nobles throw javelins now like the Desert Cavalry (more historical accuracy)
9-Massive editing of the Export_Descr_Buildings for Mali and Zimbabwe giving you more impetus to research.


I thought about adding another African faction (Ethiopia), but I don't want to mess with the current factions. They are all done so well and every faction is someone's favorite.

Let me know what you think of this and if you'd like to incorporate any of these changes into the next update. CHEERS

[The Holy Pilgrim]

Sweet!

[MansaSakura]

So...any feedback on the African campaign? Thank everybody for downloading it Really hope you enjoyed/still enjoying it.
Any suggestions?

[Jackboot]

MansaSakura I shared your pain.This isn't about your mod but about falcom 3's small errors but at least he tried. I'll try yours when I have some time.

No bragging here , I was disapointed with the zimbabweans. I corrected their errors too, at least for my game. Gave them longbowmen, higher attack and slightly higher defence by 3 points.Replaced the meso-american shields with african shields. Gave their standard spearmen schiltrom capability and gave them a pike unit, axemen, macemen, and swordsmen. Giving them the macuahuitl sword and obsidian head spear was innacurate, africans had iron and could smelt it and forge it for weaponry.Why they never tried to make armor out of it I would never know, but I know they did have rawhide which was effective and quilted cotton stuffed with kapok fiber which was also effective. I've also heard of the Mutapa being elephant herders aka Tavara elephant herders, so I put the general on elephant back. Now I'm stomping all over africa.

Also for mali, their unit roster was almost accurate, but one that I definitely know should be there is the Fulani Archers and wait for it, the notorious Fulani Horsearchers. All is well now.

[Gelscressor]

I have attempted to download this, but it appears the gamefront link is no longer working. A reupload would be appreciated!

[Latro]

Downloaded version 2 but there are no Zulu models ???
They in version 1 or where ???


Never mind. Got the wrong version, 1.3

[MansaSakura]

sorry ive been away. i stopped playing this mod cuz i was so irritated with crashing every three or four turns. im going to wait until there is an updated version of the mod before doing anything else. thanks to falcom for making the first trully global total war mod. despite the crashes, this is still excellent work. as far as my submod, i don't know what to tell you if you cant install it. its simply copy and paste. as for the download link, i will check that and make sure its working.

thank you everyone who tried the submod. would love some feedback

scott

[MansaSakura]

yo just checked the link and downloaded the submod without a prob so that's good.

[Robertclive]

I can't download it

[MansaSakura]

I can't download it

go to the July 11th post and download from there. i just tried it. it works.

[sinople]

Mali Units can be found there :
http://www.mundusbellicus.fr/forum/s...a-Supr%E9matie
Or here in english : http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=540181
If I remember well almost 80% of the finished units + banner are in the download link. Feel free to add them in your mod, just give credits to Enguerrand, Sinople and MundusBellicus.fr

[MansaSakura]

Thanks Sinope! I used some of those pictures in the unit_info cards of Version 5 of this submod.

Speaking of... VERSION 5 is here!!!http://www.gamefront.com/files/23159...IIafricaV5.zip

Please check it out and support this fantastic mod and my little submod.
It doesn't change any factions outside of Africa, but makes Africa way more fun to fight in or from.

More details on the front. Here are some of the changes...
SPECIAL THANKS
Big shout out to Falcom for bringing us this fantastic mod!
Big shout out to Enguerrand, Sinople and MundusBellicus.fr for help on the unit info cards.
Big shout out to the Regions and Provinces mod (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?356-Regions-amp-Provinces-Mod) creators for allowing me to use their strat models and textures!


WHAT HAPPENED TO VERSION 3?
I loved this mod so much that I decided to do a version 3 that made Zimbabwe more complete in my humble opinion.
I fixed some buttom issues in the menu and made units that relied on leather shields only recruitable with the leather tanner or above
I also modified the value of resources to better reflect the income they would bring.
I never released it cuz as soon as I was done, I started working on Version 4
We all know about the crashes in this mod, but it is still the best global mod out there.
To deal with this, I shortened the mod to 300 years so we can get to some events a bit quicker and before we are hit with all the crashes.
You still get some, but I find they don't pop up nearly as much for the African factions as before.


WHAT HAPPENED TO VERSION 4?
I made version 4 because I got a new computer and was able to see just how cool Falcom's African units for Zimbabwe really were.
I tried to restore as much of Falcom's original concept art while adding my limited expertise to historical accuracy to names
I also went over the unit stengths and defensive capabilities with a fine toothed comb to make sure the African units were no stronger or weaker than they should be
I also made unit_info cards for the African units that were missing them
Also, I'm tired of waiting for gunpowder, so now you can recruit gunpowder units as soon as you have the buildings for them.
It still takes a while, but its quicker and more fun than waiting for gunpowder to get discovered.


WHY 5?
Comparing Falcom's amazing work on his African units with my own notes, it appears that about all of Mali's units are in fact Kanem-Bornu units.
That being said, I decided to replace Mali with Kanem. Nobody is a bigger fan of Mali than me, but I'm a teacher first and a gamer second.
I figure if I can help educate people in a fun way, why not. These games provide an excellent way to showcase an interesting part of history.
I also changed Zimbabwe's strat models on the campaign map to African/Zulu ones and the battle models as well.
Mali's strat general is now a Tuareg looking unit and the battle model as well

[trikz_40]

hello is this save game comaptible or do i have to restart

[MansaSakura]

you'd need a restart. sorry thanks for trying it tho.

[Prince of Judah]

Is this compatible with the newest version of Falcom 3.0?

[falcom4ever]

Sadly I think not, it would need some tweaks.