Medieval Kingdoms Total War: The Holy Roman Empire (REVAMP - Teil Zwei!)

[The_Fawn_Rescuer]

The Holy Roman Empire

The 13^th Century looks to be a difficult one for the Holy Roman Empire. The sudden and unexpected death of Frederick Barbarossa on crusade in 1190 has created a long period of instability that threatens to tear the Empire apart from within. The proud office of Holy Roman Emperor is a shadow of what it was in the Carolingian days. A hostile papacy certainly doesn’t help matters. Decades of strife between the Hohenstaufen Emperors and the Papacy are nearing their climax, as the continued popularity of the crusading movement gains more and more temporal power for the church to call upon for political ends. A new and dangerous precedent has recently been set by Innocent III by calling a crusade against the Albigensians of Languedoc, and the popularity of this crusade against fellow Christians sends a threatening message to the papacy’s political rivals - namely, that disagreement with the Vicar of Christ may carry more dangerous consequences than excommunication.

In 1212, Frederick II Hohenstaufen has just begun his reign as King of Germany. His position is tenuous, and his rule is still not recognized in much of Northern Germany, where his rival, Otto of Brunswick and the Guelfs hold sway. To the west, King Philip II Augustus continues to consolidate his power, extending the crown demesne and asserting the authority of the monarchy over independent barons, forging a new and powerful French hegemony. As always, Italy continues to be a troublesome thorn, and soon the Imperial position there may be lost forever. The Empire is showing cracks in the armor, and its hungry neighbors smell blood in the water. Can the Holy Roman Empire overcome its rivals and restore itself to the former glory of the Carolingian era, or will the combined weight of internal strife, a hostile papacy and a resurgent France be enough to fracture the Empire forever?

Though lacking in light cavalry, the HRE faction has an excellent selection of heavy infantry and shock cavalry armed with good German steel. While typically a liability for other factions, Germany’s urban militia units are well-trained and equipped, making it easier to hold conquered territory, which will be essential for the HRE to hold on against the plethora of hostile factions that surround it.


Rural Militias

By the 13^th Century, most humble soldiers could often afford even some rudimentary protection in the form of iron caps or padded gambesons. Rural militias lacked the organization and money of their urban counterparts, and were sometimes described as ‘poorly armed and naked.’ These troops are light spearmen, best suited to auxiliary roles.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Rural Spearmen

Tier 1



Tier 2



Tier3

Urban Contingents

With the commercial revolution and rise of craft guilds, many cities in Germany saw changes in government, administration, and even in the intellectual training of non-noble laymen. As a result, many towns had their own municipal authorities and military organization, sometimes organized by guilds. Thus the 12^th and 13^th Centuries saw the rise of well-equipped and trained militias. These militias were important for the defense of key strategic points like the towns in which they lived, but could also provide decisive aid to German princes, even in offensive campaigns in Italy and Flanders.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Urban Militia

Tier 1



Tier 2



Tier3

Polearms

In order to deal with the heavy cavalry so predominant in Europe during the middle ages, many soldiers were equipped with various forms of axes, halberds, or other polearms.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Halberdiers

Tier 1



Tier 2



Landsknechte Halberdiers

Tier3

Pikes

Traditionally, groups of young men practiced private warfare in parts of Upper Germany, preying on harvests or robbing merchants on the road. These bands, called Knabenschaften or Knechte, were often enlisted in the service of large towns, usually when these towns found themselves at odds with a local prince. In the late 15^th century, the energy of these small fraternities was harnessed into a more organized form by the Holy Roman Emperor. Thus the famous Landsknechte (Companions of the Country) appeared on the scene, a new kind of infantry unlike anything previously seen in the middle ages - specialized, professional, which could be collected on a massive scale and deployed tactically in depth.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Knechte

Tier 1



Tier 2



Landsknechte

Tier3

Melee

Starting late in the 12^th century, the line between what constituted ‘knights’ and ‘mounted soldiers’ (milites) blurred. As a result, the class traditionally called ‘sergeants’ began to disappear in favor of a more general category of ‘men at arms’ which encompassed both noble, non-noble troops, and Dienstleut -, separated instead by their quality of equipment. These professional soldiers made up the bulk of fighting troops of most Western European armies for most of the middle ages. The Men at Arms represent the poorer of this group, called einschildig Ritter. They are heavily armed and armored, but with equipment of lower quality. On foot they fight with sword and shield, and throw an axe before their charge, to reflect the fairly standard practice in parts of Germany for infantry to carry throwing axes. On horseback the men at arms serve as a lighter, cheaper shock cavalry.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Men at Arms

Tier 1



Tier 2



Tier3

Missile

From the end of the 12^th century, the crossbow was widely used throughout Germany, among horsemen and infantry. Mounted crossbowmen became an integral part of most German armies during this period, and some even owned more than one mount. Handguns start to make an appearance in the 15^th century, where they are often used in conjunction with pikes and halberd units. The Germans tended to favor missile units more heavily than the Swiss.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Crossbowmen

Tier 1



Tier 2



Tier3



Handgunners

Tier3

Cavalry

Despite a slight difference in equipment, even the lowest einschildung Ritter in no way constituted a genuine light cavalry. Light cavalry was a rarity in Germany, so the Men at Arms are also shock cavalry.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Men at Arms

Tier 1



Tier 2



Tier3

Elite Missile

In the 13^th century, the authority of the Emperor of the Romans dwindled, and powerful princes secured greater limitations over his authority to compel military service from them. This meant that the Emperor often relied on hired troops from Bohemia as a solid corps of professional soldiers for his army, and as a personal guard. These were sometimes called Trabanten. Eventually, numbers of Trabanten in imperial armies dwindled, as the effective and professional Landsknechts took on a more prominent role in the late 15^th century. This unit is represented by a well-armored archer-guard.

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Bohemian Guard Archers

Tier 1



Tier 2



Tier3

Elite Melee

The Ritter units represent the Knights Banneret, the cream of the crop, men at the top of the German Heerschildordnung. Ritter have the best equipment available, brightly-polished and richly-decorated. On foot they fight with polearms as elite shock infantry, and the mounted version is an elite unit of very heavy shock cavalry.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Ritter

Tier 1

There are many accounts from the 11^th century onward of knights fighting on foot with shortened lances. This could be useful to hearten the lower-class infantry, or necessary due to terrain. Tier 1 Ritter fight with lances, while the other tiers use poleaxes.




Tier 2





Tier3

Doppelsöldner

Doppelsöldner were Landsknechts who worked for double pay, because they were expected to encounter at least twice the amount of danger as a normal soldier. To become recognized as a Doppelsöldner, first these men had to be certified by the German weapons guild, the Brotherhood of St. Mark or Marxbrüder for short. As a result, Doppelsöldner are experts in the use of all weapons, and sometimes served as halberdiers, handgunners, or swordsmen in leadership roles. Because they had more money, they could afford better equipment, and often formed the first rank of armored soldiers in a pike formation. Since the game doesn’t allow me to just make the first two or three ranks armored, they are a separate unit.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Heavy Landsknechte

Tier3



Doppelsöldner

Eventually, units of men expected to go on suicide missions were formed, and became known as Verloren Haufen or ‘Lost Troop’ (mistranslated in English as ‘forlorn hope’ and more often known by that name), and marched under the Blutfahne or ‘Blood Banner.’ These men were sometimes volunteers, sometimes criminals sentenced to death, and were also given double-pay. Here, Doppelsöldner are represented in a unit similar to the idea of forlorn hope, brandishing two-handed swords. These men have excellent melee skill, and high morale, meaning they will fight to the last man.

Tier3

Elite Cavalry

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Ritter

Tier 1



Tier 2



Tier3

Officers

Low-class Officer

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Tier 1



Tier 2



Tier3 - Doppelsöldner Officers

Banneret Officer

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Tier 1

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Some variations of early banneret officers will have Bishop's Mitres, to reflect the warrior-bishops sometimes seen in German armies.



Tier 2



Tier3



Blutfahne

Tier 3

Despite the danger, Verloren Haufen commands were highly sought-after, as the successful command of one of these units practically guaranteed promotion.

Emperor of the Romans (Holy Roman Emperor)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Tier 1
Tier 1 with the characteristic red beard of the Hohenstaufen


Tier 2



Tier3

[The_Fawn_Rescuer]

Inspirations:

Tier 3:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Tier 2:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Tier1:

[warman222]

Well the roster is actually more complete now, you've given HRE some more options in lower quality units than before and there's a lot of visual variety and assets being used that look nice. My biggest problem is your color scheme is all over the place and unfortunately it does a massive disservice to your units. It makes the roster generic and a lot of the details fade into the background making the units an eye sore. And I assume besides the various knightly units all these units will be across the board for HRE, Bavaria, Saxony and Thrunigia? (I need to double check specific duchies) In either case you need to consolidate the colors to be somewhat closer to factional. I am not saying uniforms but you need to make it look more cohesive. HRE, make the predominant colors yellows and blacks, with other colors having a presence but not overshadowing. And do some other color variants for the other duchies as well. Do that and the roster will be much better. (Also I'm not a huge fan of the spearmen ritter, historically justified or not.)

[Slytacular]

I think the dismounted knights with lances is alright. I just think that the new sallets I made shouldn't be used until I update a fixed version of them. Could have a lot more prejudice against using sallets that are not German in style. Although its getting better, but there should be some focus on visual cohesiveness, rather than cramming a bunch of stuff together for the sake of variety. A lot of the lower class troops in tier 1 and 2 are pretty good.

[You_Guess_Who]

Several things:

1. Lack of Generic Generals
In the Campaign, no way every army's General Bodyguard is the Faction's leader. Thus, you should create Bodyguards for other generals as well.

2. Urban Militia's white shields
I know the problem with Attila's lighting on white surfaces, but that can be counteracted. For comparison, look on the other shields used by Rural Spearmen, it does not shine as bright thanks to darker white and application of overlaid dirtdecal.

3. Urban Militia's Pavise
Same thing. It does not look shiny, but some sort of dirtdecal would make it better on the white ones. There are also some quartered lines on the white pavise I see, are those intentional? Because it looks like guidelines that forgot to be erased.

4. Halberds
I see alot of the models's butt do not touch the ground. Please select the models that are long enough to be suitable for 2h spear animation. Shorter ones are better for individual poleaxe-like combat animations for Foot Knights or MAA.

5. Pike's length
I'd like for the pikes to start as long spears, only to lengthen in higher tiers, to illustrate the growing trend of pikemen. I see Pikes as too ubiquitous in the mod's early Euro rosters whereas it only popularized in Swiss, Flanders, and Scotland by the beginning.

6. Spaulder Model
There's that one spaulder model that haven't been rigged well (Doppelsoldner Officer T3). Please refrain from using it for now, and bugger warman/Ltd for a better rigging on those models.

[Baron279]

Why are the Doppelsöldners wearing Swiss officer hats?

Do you want to reflect those hats:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

But these are not to compare with the Swiss officer hats:
http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/bbb/Mss-hh-I0016/291

[Knight2708]

OMG! Man I've been waiting for this day. Amazing work!

Really all the units look outstanding. The only criticism I have are he tier 3 crossbowmen, they wear way too much mail. Afaik the 15th century is the time where plate armor actually starts to become cheaper than mail, so I would expect to see more brigandines, some plate limb protection and even the occasional breast plate. Don't get me wrong I generally appreciate the fact that you didn't overdo it with plate armor in the later tiers, but these guys look like they are at least a century out of place.
Oh yeah and the tier 1 Trabanten kind pf look more heavily armored than the tier 2 ones, which seems weird.
Speaking of which could you please direct me towards some sources about these guys. I'm not doubting you including them in the roster, I'm just really interested to learn more about them, as I have never heard of them before.

With that said, let's talk about the unit names and the overall composition of the roster:

First of I think the name "Wehrbauern" I suggested earlier would be a pretty good fit for the Rural Spearmen.

As for the Men at Arms (the tier 3 version of these guys looks phenomenal btw) I would suggest renaming them "Knappen" (espuires) (or "Schildknappen" if you want a slightly fancier name). Their current name is very generic and I think "Knappen" would give them a more clearly defined role and background.

As for the crossbowmen, I really like @KEA's suggestion from the older thread of having two classes of ranged units the feudal "Schiesser Reisknechte" and urban "Schützen". I am thinking that in tier 3 the "Schiesser Reisknechte" could serve as Pavise crossbowmen and the "Schützen" as handgunners.

As for the Halberdiers, the name "Fußknechte" that I suggested earlier or the fancier "Laufende Reisknechte" that KEA suggested would both work well for this unit.

Now the pikemen are where it gets more problematic. Afaik pikes only really became common in Germany around the 15th century, as others have already said, so I am not sure about having tier 1 and 2 pike units. I would however, have 2 pike units for tier 3, the urban "Spiesser" that KEA talked about and the Landsknechte as the elite unit that the player would unlock pretty much at the end of the military tech tree.
Speaking of the Landsknechte, what happened to their look? Don't get me wrong the Landsknechte in this preview look great, but not like Landsknechte. Their current models would work great for other tier 3 units such as the tier 3 versions of the "Fußknechte"/"Laufende Reisknechte" and "Spiesser" I already talked about. I know there were some issues with the textures of the Landsknechte shown earlier, they certainly looked a bit rough around the edges, but they looked like actual Landsknechte. An improved version of these models would work much better for the Landsknechte.

[Teutonic]

Good work man! A few tweaks, as suggested by warman and slytacular, but good stuff overall.

[Knight2708]

I just checked out the tier 3 urban militia again and oh my god you actually used the heraldry of the Free Imperial Cities! That's just awesome, their shields look fantastic!
Although if I could make one very nitpicky suggestion it would be to also add the heraldry of Augsburg, Nürnberg and Frankfurt, as they were probably the most important of the Free Imperial Cities.
Also I think that the spearmen themselves just like the tier 3 crossbowmen are wearing a bit too much mail.

It would also be totally amazing if you could add similar heraldry to the shields of the earlier tier urban militia as well, as their current heraldry is a bit all over the place. I think this would also help with the uniformity that Warman has demanded, as most of the Free Imperial Cities incorporated the Imperial coat of arms into their heraldry.

[emi]

It's an incredible work! It will be magnificent to try in battle those troops, once the mod is finished Especially the polearm soldiers and the urban militia are wonderful!

I have just one correction to point out: the "bishop officers" should be armed with a mace instead of a sword, since men of the church were forbidden to "shed christian blood". Thus, when they chose to fight, they employed maces, which could kill a man without tearing flesh and spilling blood, "cheating" the rules.

[Visarion]

Finallly ein zwei drei

[Visarion]

You have really outdone yourself. Units are extraordinary... it was worth the wait! Thank you Fawn for this extremely wonderful preview!!!

[Heisenburrg]

Magnificent preview, just like a medieval army should look! It´s completely overwhelming that you give so much love to the HRE, Fawn. Thank you for this!

My statement to the single units;
-Rural Militias, Urban Militias and Polearm units look just perfect (last one could only get one or two more plate armor pieces in T3), very cool that HRE has now some great low class units
-I agree with You_Guess_Who and Knight2708 that T1 pikes should be pretty unique for Scotland, Flanders and Switzerland, so they are not really necessary. Otherwise they look very nice!
-The Men-at-Arms look good, especially T2, but I have no clue about the term "Einschildig Ritter". It´s definitely not correct in grammar, but I have no idea how you could say this in german
-T2 Crossbows are not armored enough for this period, basically I would choose T3 crossbows as T2 and make a T3 unit with plate armor according to the suggestion of Knight2708
-Handgunners and non-Knight-cavalry look very good (for cavalry this "Einschildig Ritter"-term is the problem again)
-For the Trabanten I have the same opinion like Knight2708, could use some more armor as an elite guard unit
-The Ritter-units (mounted as well as dismounted) and Doppelsöldner (attention; not Döppelsoldner ^^) are quite perfect but my opinion is still that on Greatswords you need either the typical additional haft or gauntlets for the men who swing them

Overall;
-Some swiss officer helmets should be no problem since Switzerland was a part of the HRE and even under the direct patronage of Emperors as we all know. So it would be common to see some swiss hats in the imperial army ^^
-in terms of generals; this is a tricky thing. Afaik the HRE will start with Otto IV. of Braunschweig. He was a guelph and did not belong to the House of Hohenstauffen, so the red beard would be more fitting to Friedrich II.
-imo the amount and style of colored helmets are all right now, looks really good!
-overall I´m fine with the naming but if you look for some inspiration there are plenty of good suggestions in the old thread. Also don´t hesitate to contact me if you need some help there, have much freetime now and i could give you a hand in terms of grammar or something like that
-The diversity of troops is really great, but I go along with warman, Slytacular and YGW. Yellow and Black as predominant colors would be cool, so there would be something like a factional color theme... Take your KoJ as an example; It´s also very colourful with red, blue, yellow and many different heraldics, but besides that white as faction colour is pretty dominant
-Some more steel and plate armor in the high/late tiers would be amazing, currently some troops are lacking the "elite-feeling" in comparison to other factions

[Visarion]

I am against the predominant colours for HRE... this should be the exception simply because of the great diversity... sure for the other factions is great but for some like... let's say England, France where a lot of local lords gathered in the great assembly it's bad... for let's say... Castille, Navarre, Leon, Catalunia, Aragon, the Kievan States that assembled for common fights but fought divided still like it was the case with Khalka it's smth else... Union of Kalmar, Italian factions etc.

[Visarion]

.

[Heisenburrg]

Btw, here I have some screenshots of your best previous units; This I meant with the "elite-look" and a basic colour-theme (Perfect example are T1 knights, various heraldry on their back-shields, but clothes are mainly grey/black and yellow with some smaller parts of red, white, brown and so on...). A bit more full plate armor in the late tier, as well as a basic colour for some units in the new version would be amazing. Now we have many absolutely stunning low/mid-class troops, a little adjustment of the high-class and elite troops with more steel and plate armor as seen in these pictures would be the top of the cake. Maybe you find a compromise in this term or you plan to keep both variants for different units anyway. Last one would be my favourite option.

Dont know, maybe your reserved post is meant for additions like this? In this case I´ve got really nothing to complain. ^^

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Minnesinger]

It's pretty good overall, even great for some of the units, minus the elements that the others have already noted. For me it is especially the lack of sallets that is a problem, the sallets that have been used on the mod for a while are excellent and I don't understand why you avoid to use them, it is a detail though.

[KLAssurbanipal]

Why are the Doppelsöldners wearing Swiss officer hats?

Do you want to reflect those hats:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

But these are not to compare with the Swiss officer hats:
http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/bbb/Mss-hh-I0016/291

You compare two different periods. Those German landsknechts are from first 25 years of the 16th century. Swiss whose you posted are from the 2nd half of 15th century. Fashion between those years were different. The 16th century isn't mod period.
He made correct hats. German and Swiss in 15th century were similar. At the begining 16th German and Swiss soldiers looked like your first picture.


There are years near hats pictures:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...an-fashion.jpg

http://www.martelnyc.com/worn-over/i...matchlocks.jpg

[Visarion]

Btw, here I have some screenshots of your best previous units; This I meant with the "elite-look" and a basic colour-theme (Perfect example are T1 knights, various heraldry on their back-shields, but clothes are mainly grey/black and yellow with some smaller parts of red, white, brown and so on...). A bit more full plate armor in the late tier, as well as a basic colour for some units in the new version would be amazing. Now we have many absolutely stunning low/mid-class troops, a little adjustment of the high-class and elite troops with more steel and plate armor as seen in these pictures would be the top of the cake. Maybe you find a compromise in this term or you plan to keep both variants for different units anyway. Last one would be my favourite option.

Dont know, maybe your reserved post is meant for additions like this? In this case I´ve got really nothing to complain. ^^

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Yeah these would be good but for the rebel north... say Saxony, Brabant, Brandemburg etc.

[Kjertesvein]

It looks great.

​~Wille