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Thread: [UNITS] The Numidians

  1. #1
    Willhelm123's Avatar Decanus
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    Default [UNITS] The Numidians




    Introduction and Explanation

    Numidia was an Kingdom in North Africa, overlaying much of modern day Tunisia and northern Algeria, in close proximity to Carthage. Traditionally Numidia was comprised of two major tribes, the Massylii in eastern Numidia, and the Masaesyli in western Numidia. These tribes come under the larger group of Berber peoples, often known as Libyans in Ancient times, who inhabit most of North Africa above the Sahara.

    The name Numidia comes through Latin but ultimately from the Greek for Nomadic, which is how we also get the word Nomadic in English. But it would be wrong to assume the Numidians were true Nomads, rather they were Transhumance. Transhumance people do not move endlessly without settling like true Nomads, instead they live in settled communities for one season, such a summer, and then migrate to another area to settle in the winter, this is usually for the benefit of their livestock. While not true Nomads in 21st Century terms, they get the name of Nomads because to the Greeks and Romans who live completely settled, this transhumance lifestyle was Nomadic in their view. Even so not all Numidians were transhumance, centuries of contact with Carthage had led to many Numidians adopting permanently settled lifestyles, living in towns and cities.

    In North Africa horses were plentiful and it would be fair to say Numidia had a horse culture, with the men being almost born into the saddle, learning to ride with skill from an early age. The Numidians prefered to ride their horses without any saddle, and just a simple rope as a rein, tied around the neck rather than into the mouth of the horse. Their skill at riding was second to none and they were highly respected for this. Famously serving for centuries as Roman Auxilia.

    The typical Numidian method of fighting was to skirmish from horseback, throwing their javelins before wheeling away on swift horses, avoiding melee. Their prefered equipment was simple, just javelins, a small shield made of hide, and little to no armour, though naturally, more wealthy and noble Numidians would import foreign equipment, as they could afford to and the Numidians own armour production was limited by a lack of Iron resource. Numidian warfare was highly irregular in comparison to the rest of antiquity with their reluctance to engage in melee. Not all Numidians fought on horseback however, but even those who didn't fought in the same manner with the same equipment, lightly armed while skirmishing with javelins and avoiding combat. There were attempts to make a Numidian foot soldiers to fight in melee, which had limited success, overtime the training wore off and the Numidians reverted back to their native form of combat, with the exception of certain bodyguard units using imported Roman equipment. The Numidians also made great use of Elephants, fielding huge numbers of them. This was their greatest advantage and disadvantage. If all went well they could easily win the battle, but if they paniced and charged their own lines, or were defeated, it would spell disaster. Especially since the Numidians put so much faith in their elephants, if they saw them routing, they considered the battle to over and lost, and route themselves.

    The Kingdom of Numidia began in 202BC, ruled over by the Numidian King Masinissa. It covered both eastern and western Numidia. Western Numidia was previously ruled by King Syphax of the Massylii, who supported the Carthaginians, while Eastern Numidia was previously ruled by Masinissa of the Masaesyli who was allied with Rome. Control of western Numidia was Masinissa's reward for his alliance with Rome in the 2nd Punic War, thus uniting Numidia and its people into one Kingdom. Over the following two centuries Numidia became more urban and settled. It's relationship with Rome was always strained, going from great friendships to open warfare several times. Numidia also managed to semi subjugate their Gaetulian cousins to the south, who therefore made up part of their military, similar to how Rome used Socii. The Gaetulians were quite similar to the Numidians, though less civilised and less settled. Trade flourished with Rome, especially under Masinissa's extremely long rule, but uppity Numidian rulers such as Jugurtha brought the land into war too. The Legionaries of Rome usually won against Numidian forces, but found them to be highly frustrating to fight against, never quite managing to inflict a decisive defeat or even get a pitched battle, with the Numidians prefering to strike from ambush positions. Eventually, when Numidia sided with the Republican forces in the Roman Civil war, Caesar decisively defeated a joint Republican and Numidian force, and thus decided to make Numidia a full Roman province.


    The Units



    Numidian Cavalry, Early and Late
    The famous Numidian cavalry, excellent light horsemen, they are brilliant for harassing the enemy, but they should avoid melee as they are lightly armed and not skilled fighters. The late version adopts a more urban appearance due to their more settled and urban nature, but are no less deadly.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




    Numidian Javelinmen
    This unit is similar to its cavalry counterpart, but unable to afford horses, which though plentiful are still not a available to every Numidian. These men are very light but with excellent endurance, apparently enough to run along intermixed with the cavalry, they are excellent with javelins, but they will avoid melee, running back as soon as they feel threatened.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    North African Elephants
    Sources on battles with Numidia continually speak of the vast amounts of elephants the numidians used. According to these sources, the Numidians put such faith in their elephants that if they went out of control and routed, the entire army would route, considering the battle last, however if the elephants did as they were trained, it would be very difficult for an opponent to withstand them.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    Reformed Infantry, Numidian Spearmen, Numidian Light Armed Foot.
    It is said by Livy that a Roman legate named Q. Statorius, was sent to Numidia just before the 2nd Punic war, to train their infantry in the Roman fashion. We have called these retrained units "Reformed Infantry". It is said that they were trained in the Roman fashion, and taught how to keep to the standards, advance in cohesive formations, and other such things. However this does not mean they were Numidian Legionaries, their equipment was still likely limited to the basics, spears, little armour, but thureos shields at least. Over the following decades this training wore off, and the upgrade for this unit is in some ways a downgrade, as they revert into regular, less disciplined spearmen with more varied equipment. The final evolution of this unit, which is also what the Numidian Javelinmen merge into, is the Light Armed Foot. This is the Numidian late Infantry which faced Caesar in his war in Africa. They are quite well trained and organised and capable of following orders, but they prefer fight in the traditional Numidian fashion of skirmishing. However, if need be, they are not as afraid of melee as the earlier skirmishers, and will engage if they have to, if only to prevert a pinning force for the cavalry.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




    Numidian Slingers
    Some sources speak of slingers amongst the numidians. These men are likely shepherds who are skilled with the weapon as they use it to control their flock, and prefer it for its longer range over javelins. It's also likely that they were not inclined to partake in traditional numidian warfare, maybe these men are old or young, this indicates that theyre not fighters. Whatever their reasons, slingers are found in almost all armies of antiquity and Numidia is no exception.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




    Numidian Noble Cavalry, Numidian Bodyguard Cavalry
    The wealthiest numidians could afford armour, native or imported, it is said that these noblemen would act as the bodyguard to the king, and were the only unit which would stay with him if the army routed. In the later period this unit would develop into a more official permant bodyguard. These are on of the few Numidian cavalry units which perform well in melee.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




    Numidian Picked Infantry
    In the late period for Numidia, we have sources telling us of bodies of Picked Infantry, the best fighters, being organised and armed into the Roman military fashion. These sources emphasize the equipment as much as the training, which, combing with the extremely close ties Numidia had with Rome at this point, makes it highly likely that they were equipped in an extremely similar way to Roman Legionaries.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    Numidian Archers
    Archery was late coming to western north africa, and especially the among the Numidians who prefered to cling onto their javelins, but as time went on more and more adopted the bow and it begins to appear in accounts of battle. This was probably due to the increasing urban population, who may have prefered to use a bow rather than javelin when defending their walls, or just prefering its extended range over the javelin.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    Gaetulian Warriors, early and late
    The Gaetulians are a large berber tribe which generally live under the domination of the Numidians in our time period. They are frequently refered to as a warrior people moreso than the numidians or other berbers except maybe the Garamantians, this implies they were more than mere skirmishers but at least moderately proficient warriors, as is the case with most warrior peoples. That doesn't mean these units lack javelins though. The Gaetuli, being further south than the Numidians, are less civilised, and more wild. They often fight almost nude, only wearing animal pelts. Their southern position puts them in closer proximity to exotic animals as well. Still, as time went on, even the wild Gaetuli become more urbanised and civilised. It is also said that they were heavily involved in the trade of purple dye, account for some of their purple clothing.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




    Gaetuli Light Horse, early and late
    Gaetulian horse are mentioned in many accounts alongside Numidian horse, especially under Numidian Kings who wanted to bolster their army, it is interesting to note that the Gaetulians are mentioned seperately, meaning they must have been distinct in some way from the Numidians, probably in the same ways as the above infantry. These light horse are not as skilled as the Numidian cavalry in skirmishing and riding, but they do have a more staying power in melee combat.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




    Gaetulian Javelinmen
    The Gaetuli are still Berbers and still love to skirmish with javelins. Their more warrior ways do not disallow this unit, it is just more likely that is is made up of those less willing to engage in melee combat.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    Gaetulian Noble Horse
    Gaetulian nobility are most likely just tribal chiefs, leaders and town rulers. Regardless of their origin they would have wealth of sorts, giving them access to armour and weaponry, though it was probably imported from far away, and must have been quite old and worn out for them to afford it. They still prefer to wear their animal pelts over their armour giving them quite a fearsome appearance.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    Unit Cards


    Credits
    We would like to thank the Divide et Impera team for many of the unit components seen above. Access to their massive unit resources sped up the creation process of these units a great deal and proved to be invaluable. Their fantastic work paved the way for us.
    Divide et Impera TWC Forum

    Last edited by Willhelm123; August 26, 2015 at 06:35 PM.
    AE Dev, mainly units

  2. #2

    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    Damn sweet units, Great job guys.
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  3. #3

    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    Numidia looks like it will be a very interesting faction to play around with. Very different roster from my usual fare, but I think I'll have to give it a try when the mod comes out.

  4. #4

    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    Doing god's work, can't wait.

  5. #5
    The Wandering Storyteller's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    Great preview!





















































  6. #6

  7. #7

    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    Great looking units. I just don't look forward to upgrading the units from the change in the equipment for some of them.

  8. #8
    nnnm's Avatar Senator
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    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    great work



  9. #9
    Willhelm123's Avatar Decanus
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    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    Quote Originally Posted by Hazzard View Post
    Great looking units. I just don't look forward to upgrading the units from the change in the equipment for some of them.
    Well, the change in appearance is meant to represent their historical development, whether they look more pleasing to the eye or not isn't considered, they simply look how they did historically, or at least as best as our research can tell us. Although i think i know what you mean, they develop to look less traditionally Numidian and more urban, and I do think the more traditional units look nicer too.
    AE Dev, mainly units

  10. #10

    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    Beautiful! You guys are amazing!

  11. #11

    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    Sweet. Amazing work, can't wait to play...
    If you're dealing with the devil, it's not the devil who changes, but rather the devil change you - for sanity is like a spider, sitting in a net woven from the finest of strings, unaware of the hand coming closer, being grabbed and stuffed into a mouth.
    Check this: Turumba's Twitch and Youtube channel!

  12. #12

    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    If you guys don't mind me asking, how did you set up the Numidian Elephants to only have the mahout, not the guy on back?

    I'm trying to get that for an elephant to be given to Aksum. I can get the elephant and all that ingame but it will have the guy who belongs in the turret, even if I don't have a turret assigned to the VMD.

  13. #13
    Willhelm123's Avatar Decanus
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    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    Well I have 32 elephants set as 32 mounts in land_units and then 32 men set in main_units. I do still have the officer standing half way through the elephants back which I'm not sure how to solve currently.
    AE Dev, mainly units

  14. #14

    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    Can't you just remove the officer? You can have an officer set without anyone in it I believe.
    Vespasian's own: Up the Augusta! For Cato!

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  15. #15

    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    You can add a "invisible" officer, it will be there, but you will not see him. Is very easy to make, just 2 or 3 minutes.


    Ancient Empires Member: Unit Maker

  16. #16

    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    Quote Originally Posted by Willhelm123 View Post
    Well I have 32 elephants set as 32 mounts in land_units and then 32 men set in main_units. I do still have the officer standing half way through the elephants back which I'm not sure how to solve currently.
    Cool, I'll give that a try, thanks Wilhelm, and PEtellius/Cortes.

  17. #17
    Ciruelo's Avatar Tiro
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    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    wow! it looks fantastic

  18. #18

    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    i like the colours that you use guys. it is very realstic colours. i suppose you use gem?

  19. #19
    Willhelm123's Avatar Decanus
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    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    We haven't used any lighting effects, it's just how things look in Attila, it's graphics are quite improved since Rome 2. As for the colours, i tried to pick natural colours for the region, undyed wools and linen tend to be whites, greys and browns. Dye obviously existed but i felt like it wouldn't be too common amongst the semi nomadic numidians. The Gaetulians have some purple though as it was specifically their trade.
    AE Dev, mainly units

  20. #20

    Default Re: [PREVIEW] Numidia

    Willhelm123We haven't used any lighting effects, it's just how things look in Attila, it's graphics are quite improved since Rome 2. As for the colours, i tried to pick natural colours for the region, undyed wools and linen tend to be whites, greys and browns. Dye obviously existed but i felt like it wouldn't be too common amongst the semi nomadic numidians. The Gaetulians have some purple though as it was specifically their trade.


    I can say that the White for me is great disappointment in POME 2. I hope for a change [very bright]!

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