First Look: Legatum Aquilarum - Strategikon

[Taullis]

Steam Link Here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfil...?id=1484387436
Grand Campaign Version Here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfil...?id=1506969939

Emperor Maurice's Strategikon was the foundation of Roman Military doctrine for the Byzantine era. Principle to this manuscript is the formation of the Imperial Tagma - Constantinople's professional core army - including the fearsome Cataphractoi. Legatum Aquilarum (L:"A legacy of eagles" ) is a small mod project focused on the Imperial Tagmata Regiments up through the late 10th century.

When complete, the mod will introduce 14 new or updated units to both the ERE and Theme of Sicily. The units are not fully historical (though each is based on at least several pieces of "historical" art) but seek to capture the unified "feel" of the faction. Ultimately I would love to extend this mod to something a la the Karlings mod with changed time and redone campaign map, but we'll see.

Also special thanks to Snori for use of his textures and shield patterns! Please check out his Byzantine Reskin mod: (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=575988341)
Unit Card Horse Armour based off of original works by CyriusPT - Please check out his awesome mod here: (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=576108597)

The Imperial Tagmata Regiments:

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Hetaireia Regiments

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Cataphractoi Regiments

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Cavalry Regiments

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Archer Regiments

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As always, I would love to hear your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.

[legio_XX]

Amazing teasers I cant wait to see more!

[Jason Wolf]

Ya me too!

[Taullis]

Thanks Guys! Its been a lot of fun getting this pack together. I might upload some more teasers when I get home tonight.

Right now I'm trying to balance the units for gameplay. There are some design assets in the slavs DLC that I'm waiting on before the initial release.

[Taullis]

Here are a few more teasers for you:

Athanatoi:

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Varangoi:

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Defensores:

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Optimatoi Archers:

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Cataphracts & Clibanarii:

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Enjoy!

[juanplay]

Marvelous models, i assume these units will be used for the roman faction in AOC?

[Taullis]

Marvelous models, i assume these units will be used for the roman faction in AOC?

Yes, they will be available to the Theme of Sicily in AoC and eventually ERE in the GC after I develop some kind of logical upgrade/tech based system.

[bobbyr]

Amazing!

[Taullis]

A few more teasers for you today. I'm pretty much finished the db editing, VMDs, and textures. Now its on to the unit cards, balancing, and fixing.

Excubitoi:

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Arithmos:

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Noumeroi:

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Hikanatoi:

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Armenian Tasinarioi:

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[juanplay]

great units, but i thought the excubitores were a foot palace unit, not a mounted one.Something like this:

[Taullis]

great units, but i thought the excubitores were a foot palace unit, not a mounted one.Something like this:

Based on the literature, the only Tagmata units in the mod that should be foot guards are the Numera (Noumeroi) and the Optimatoi. For example, the Arithmos were actually a cavalry regiment on campaign, but had the responsibility for guarding the imperial camp and outer palace. Here I represented them as spear infantry to reflect their specific role as camp/palace guardians. Its really a design decision on my part to not keep them as heavy melee cavalry as it fills a gap in the unit roster. Also since CA had previously represented the Excubitoi as cavalry - and the Numeroi as sword infantry - I felt it provided some continuity of design to keep them as such.

https://books.google.com/books?id=xf...iments&f=false

Thanks for the great comments, I always appreciate them.

[juanplay]

Thanks for the info and the bibliography. I stand corrected.

[AnthoniusII]

great units, but i thought the excubitores were a foot palace unit, not a mounted one.Something like this:

1st of all i want to say that i am thrilled with the visual result.
2nd. Excubitores were originaly a cavalry unit but also a pallace guard one like Preatorians.
The modder must chose the right form according to the era he/she wants to present.
Exables:
All cavalry or infantry Tagmatic units had two parts.
In common language the "spearmen/lancers and the archers". It was the dual Roman system of Defensores and Cursores.

Creating a Roman Roster the modder has two main choices.
1ST import all units with cloned varietions. That means that Scholarii must have lancers and archers.
That must be same for all units.
2nd The modder can chose a task to give each unit with two main goals.
a) Presents all units
b) Avoid cloned copies.
You can find info here. Who knows maybe -when we will find someone to create cities in Attila TGC mod will come in to trhis game too and we may need you.

[Taullis]

Work has been super busy the last few days, but here are some looks at unit cards:


I love hearing feedback from everyone.

Getting closer!

[Taullis]

1st of all i want to say that i am thrilled with the visual result.

Thank you!

Creating a Roman Roster the modder has two main choices.
1ST import all units with cloned varietions. That means that Scholarii must have lancers and archers.
That must be same for all units.
2nd The modder can chose a task to give each unit with two main goals.
a) Presents all units
b) Avoid cloned copies.

These are exactly the choices that have to be made. For this mod, I looked at roster gaps and then selected units to fill roles without making clones. Also, I have further differentiated similar units based on weight, special abilities, and even amount of ammunition (e.g. the Defensores are light shock cavalry with lots of ammo & parthian shot, making them essentially a horse archer lancer.) All of it works together to give each unit specific unique roles in the larger context of their overall unit type "Spearmen, Shock Cav, etc...."

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

Knowing Greek and Latin terminology, "Numerus" ("Noumeros" in Greek) and "Arithmos", until roughly the 7th century, were the same thing (a roughly 400-600 man regiment).

Otherwise, I like it!

[AnthoniusII]

These are exactly the choices that have to be made. For this mod, I looked at roster gaps and then selected units to fill roles without making clones. Also, I have further differentiated similar units based on weight, special abilities, and even amount of ammunition (e.g. the Defensores are light shock cavalry with lots of ammo & parthian shot, making them essentially a horse archer lancer.) All of it works together to give each unit specific unique roles in the larger context of their overall unit type "Spearmen, Shock Cav, etc...."

You must be causius with names of units.
Take a short reading here to understand -in general lines- the diferences.
An example: Cursores/defensores are not names of units.
Lets use Scholarri in our example:
Scholarii Cursores = Cataphracts of the Tagma ton Scholarion [scholarii] with bows and maces that make the 1st wave of attack.
Scholarii Defensores= Cataphracts of the Tagma ton Scholarion [scholarii] with lances that make the second attack or create a counter attack.
So the unit is Scholarii not the "defensores" or the "cursores". That is the rule for all units.
The thematic army is almost imposible to be created as "units".
In this case we chose the unit generic type.
Scutati = infantry warriors
Toxotae = Archers
Cavalarii = cavalrymen
Sphendonitae = slingers etc.
Caution: Acritae in 9th century are front line cataphracts that follow the rule of Scholarii!

Acritae were the frontier armies. But Acritae were famous military famillies that leeaded those armies like
the famous myth about Digenis Acritas. Border armies can be separated from city militias with a variety of units.

Now: EDIT: Clibanarii and Cataphracti are terms that desribe warriors with the equipment they use. The terms do not describe certain units.
Actually after 5th century those two terms describe exactly the same warriors.


The article is to old but it can give you an idea.

Knowing Greek and Latin terminology, "Numerus" ("Noumeros" in Greek) and "Arithmos", until roughly the 7th century, were the same thing (a roughly 400-600 man regiment).

Otherwise, I like it!

Greek and mainly Medieval Greek with latin additions is a quite complicated language.

EDIT 2:
So depending of the era you want to portay.
Optimatoi and Excubitores are similar units. Optimatoi simply did not exist in 10th century though.
A proposal of a 10th century roster can be our (TGC) one.
Also Thematic (provincial) roster is in your disposal.
In TGC Thematic roster we use the term Aristocrats (nobles) but you could also use the term Acritae as well.
Read the historical info carefully.
Conclusion: You must understand that despite that Romans of middle ages had the title of conservative people, i can ensure you that they were NOT conservative
in millitary matters. That means that Roster of 7th-8th century is completly diferend than a Roster of 9th-11th century that is also diferend of a roster of 12th century (Komnenean) that is by far diferend that a roster of 14th-15th century (Paleaologian).
10th Century units are the most complicated because they combined the clasic with the evolution in the equipment and tactics.
Take a look of the following pictures of Athanati (the unit created when Emperor Tzimiskes came to throne and not earlier.
Consept 1:

The warrior uses clasic Roman equipment (casis helmet) and small bucler (scutarion). That shield was not ment to protect the warrior from arrows though.
Consept 2:

The warrior also uses casis helmet varietion but this time uses leaf shaped shield (also named scutarion) that was a 10th century evolution.
Consept 3:

The warrior uses a clasic Roman big round shield (scutarion teleion) but in this case he icombines a casis helmet with simple face mask that is an infuence from the Khazars.
Finall consept:

The warrior uses the leaf shaped shield (10th century evolution) but also uses a late 10th century visored helmet as well!
Visored helmets apeared in late 10th century and replaced most of steppe infuenced helmets in the next centuries.
Those 4 consepts belong to the same unit!


I hope i was helpfull.

[Taullis]

You must be causius with names of units.
Take a short reading here to understand -in general lines- the diferences.
An example: Cursores/defensores are not names of units.
Lets use Scholarri in our example:
Scholarii Cursores = Cataphracts of the Tagma ton Scholarion [scholarii] with bows and maces that make the 1st wave of attack.
Scholarii Defensores= Cataphracts of the Tagma ton Scholarion [scholarii] with lances that make the second attack or create a counter attack.
So the unit is Scholarii not the "defensores" or the "cursores". That is the rule for all units.
The thematic army is almost impossible to be created as "units".

Exactly.

The limitations of the Attila engine are such that it is nearly impossible to simulate Byzantine tactics without making a unit fully dedicated to a certain battlefield role. I readily admit that I have had to make some liberal design choices to avoid roster bloat that otherwise would occur with a faithful recreation of the thematic armies.

Since the mod is mainly for the Charlemagne expansion, it primarily covers the 8-9th centuries with heavier - but not exclusive - focus on 9-11th century units. Furthermore, the mod and units have been selected to address holes in the vanilla Charlemagne roster rather than remain as faithful to history as you or I may desire.

I hope i was helpfull.

Very. Thank you again.

[legio_XX]

Exactly.

The limitations of the Attila engine are such that it is nearly impossible to simulate Byzantine tactics without making a unit fully dedicated to a certain battlefield role. I readily admit that I have had to make some liberal design choices to avoid roster bloat that otherwise would occur with a faithful recreation of the thematic armies.

Since the mod is mainly for the Charlemagne expansion, it primarily covers the 8-9th centuries with heavier - but not exclusive - focus on 9-11th century units. Furthermore, the mod and units have been selected to address holes in the vanilla Charlemagne roster rather than remain as faithful to history as you or I may desire.



Very. Thank you again.

Taullis you are amazing sir! They are very well fleshed out. someone needs Grab you and put your talents to work on a GC mod for 9-11 century.



AnthoniusII I am still mad at you for not showing the Early units of the complete byzantine unit roster! Just kidding I know you guys have had lots of set backs and are still pushing forward.

[Taullis]

Taullis you are amazing sir! They are very well fleshed out. someone needs Grab you and put your talents to work on a GC mod for 9-11 century.

Thank you! I would be interested in working on a GC mod for the era.

My time has been very constrained the past week, but I have managed to finish all the unit cards. I'm currently working on heavy and light infantry officers and cavalry officers/standard bearers. Sadly I only expect to have one night to work on the mod this week, but we are getting closer.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: