Originally Posted by
Sarcasm_pt
I was expecting Hessam to step in, since he is directly attached to the mod and I was merely advising, but in his absence, and since some of the "blame" lies with me, I'm gonna step in here. Let me know if you wish this post edited or deleted.
Concerning both your worries, the shields are typical of thirteenth century Iberian (and that means Andalusian as well) warriors. These are amply represented in various illuminated manuscripts, some of which, curiously enough are written in Galaico-Portuguese. While no exclusively Portuguese sources were used, if you have one such alternative I would be happy to look at them. As far as I know, no such sources do exist, and while I would preferably include other types of heater shields, and make the round ones more Moorish looking, these are perfectly OK.
As for the late units, while some of the equipment used is off for the evidence we do have, most of it is spot on. The pikes/polearms were one of the most controversial discussions we had. There's obviously ample evidence for the use of polearms in Portuguese armies though not in their own units, though we felt we could justify them as much as almost any other faction in the early and high periods. As for short pikes/long spears, there's the matter of classification in written sources...we hear of ascumas, lanças and graves. The first are short spears intended primarily for thrusting but could (and were) thrown. It is also curious to note that they were valuable enough to be mentioned in the will of people such as the Bishop D. Vasco Martins, or the knights João Martins and Silvestre Peres, and as such a proper weapon, and one that the first class of footmen were obligated to own (or alternatively a spear, besides the darts) under the Dionisine reforms.
The second ones are without a doubt the most important weapon used in Portuguese territory, throughout all three periods. They were used interchangeably referring to cavalry or infantry weapons. The cavalry are mentioned in 1314 chancellery documents from the Dionisine reign, as having used spears as long as 9 côvados (something like 6 meters). The infantry on the other hand we have no real idea of how long of a spear they could use, but we can infer that some are clearly longer than the regular ones by other documents...for instance, there's a manuscript of an inventory from the Monastery of Chelas, dated from 1257, of certain wooden items to be delivered to the royal almoxarife in Lisboa, including spear shafts as well as what it calls "hastes longas de peões" (long footmen shafts), so there's a clear distinction here, and one that should be noted.
The graves are the stereotypical couched lance and are mentioned only very seldomly, proof that this weapon was not very widespread, and that a more traditional long spear was used in the same role.
I was indeed in favor of a more conservative approach to the pikemen for the Portuguese roster, as I feel they are too widely spread between the factions and takes away from the real users of the weapon, and keep only polearms until the high roster when they would be replaced or complemented by the guys you mentioned, the Ordenanças of the reign of D. Manuel and that fought with distinction under D. Afonso de Albuquerque in the East or D. João de Meneses in Africa. The "Mouros de Paz" were also in that spirit, representing the late allied contingents that fought with the Portuguese, sometimes even converted, and formed large parts of the Portuguese forces, in particular in southern coast and the Duquela regions. However, modders do have to take into account balancing and gameplay issues, which I put on a secondary level, and something for which I can't also blame them for.
Hope that was informative, at the very least.
Abraço.
Re: Medieval Kingdoms Total War: Kingdom of Portugal (REVAMP)
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. But what I had in mind when making it was just a leather torso armor. Didn't really notice. Thanks for pointing that out.
