To get things more organized we should collect research into threads to be more easily accessible I will edit this with my own personal research, please be sure to note which culture your research is for.
Research should be functional and aim at improving the game mechanics, appearances of faction units and faction rosters.
Canaan (Kena'anim)
Faction name to be decided.
Starting position: Sur (replaces Tyros) & Urusalim (replaces Jerusalem)
I would suggest two Canaanite factions in the locations above, perhaps some of the Anatolian factions that would be encompassed in the territory we wish to give the Hittites could be moved and renamed, or one of the Nubians which would be encompassed in a greater Nubian or Lower-Egyptian faction.
While Antioch (which should be renamed Alalakh) is in the possession of Mitanni in our current plans I would suggest the region have a Canaanite and Hittite cultural presence this could be done through AOR recruitment or perhaps since Ugarit flourished until 1200 BC give it to an Ugaritic Canaanite faction as a Client of Mitanni.
The Canaanite roster is now being tweaked by myself to represent the Mitanni influence on Canaanite architecture and military during 1400-ish BC.
Our mod starts just after the Middle-Canaanite period which means the roster should feature some advanced elements of Near Eastern warfare to reflect the improvement in overall life and economy in Canaan.
Very slight changes have been made to the overall structure of the roster now to reflect classes more so than an organized military structure.
Light > Land-Workers, Nomads and Peasants
Medium > Volunteers and Trained soldiers
Heavy> Land owners, Nobles and Princes
The reason for this is because people who were working on the Nobles land or Nomads like the Shasu people would not have enough money to afford expensive military equipment thus in most cases they would be light infantry in some cases even armed with their own farm tools.
The cityfolk would represent what we could fathom as a sort of "Middle-Class" working in markets these people have enough money to afford better armor than their rural counterparts.
It is also not far-fetched to assume these cities had some trained levies to defend them or guards who would most likely be equipped by the rich noblemen they serve under.
It is however important to note that it is believed this "Middle-Class" died out at a later time following the Mitanni influence therefor the merchants and such would belong to the upper-class and the people below them would have mostly rural lives.
For this reason the Medium roster will be reflecting troops serving under Princes and Kings used to protect their land and cities from the invading armies of Egypt, Mitanni, the Hittites and their rival Canaanite princes.
Nobles and rich men of course would have the best equipment, swords, bronze and lamellar hide armor, helmets and even chariots.
Reconstructed Near-Eastern Bronze armor
We will want the army composition to be mostly light infantry reflecting a sort of muster system were Princes gathered able men from their land and tribe to bolster their own men.
Non-Canaanite troops will be added to the Canaanite roster most notably the use of Shasu skirmishers from the Sinai and perhaps some Canaanite units named after other Canaanite city states to reflect some form of tribal alliances.
Shasu Bedouin battling Pharaoh Seti I
Typical Canaanite infantry would be armed with Javelins, Swords and Axes armored in cloth typically with no helmets, Syrians (chariot archers) are sometimes characterized by a banded leather helmet which could be made by re-texturing one of the Saka caps.
Lighter infantry may be armed in nothing more than a patterned kilt with clubs, axes (occasionally swords) and picks.
Light infantry units may also be made up of outcasts called "Apiru" who were hired into a Princes service to bolster his force.
Not all Apiru were poorly armed, there are records of them using Chariots and even being a sufficient enough force to capture a town. (The Military History of Ancient Israel #23)
Nobles rode Chariots into battle arming themselves in the metal and hide armors of nearby empires, they would sometimes command well armed infantry battalions in large battles however.
Spears were also used expertly by professional Canaanite soldiers (and hired by the Egyptian army at one point during a war with the Hittites) they were known to form a 10 rank deep Phalanx.
It is also apparent that the Egyptians used hired Mycenaean warriors at the battle of Megiddo. There are reliefs showing the reliance on mercenaries from the Aegean region (and later Sea-Peoples) in the midst of battle either alongside or against the Egyptians in some cases I believe a wealthy Prince in need of professional warriors would probably get his hands on some.
At Megiddo, Pharaoh dominated the Canaanite chariotry with heavy Mycenaean infantrymen armed in Bronze plate armor. Perhaps due to the nature of their armor or their pure experience alone they would attempt to take on (most successfully) the Canaanite and Mitanni chariots without fear.
That's all I have for tonight I will update tomorrow with more research.
Sources:
The Military History of Ancient Israel
Armies and Enemies of Ancient Assyria & Egypt
Thutmose III: The Military Biography of Egypt's Greatest Warrior King
Canaan Under Seige
Biblical People & Ethnicity
The Great Armies of Antiquity
Also worth a look is Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC
NEW Resources (2/6/14)
Good for depictions, questionable history as it is from a game manual.
Ancient Armies
Near Eastern faction research thread
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Brivime
