[Faction Discussion] Khmer Empire

[Augustus Lucifer]

Khmer Empire

This thread can be used for non-team members to discuss the Khmer Empire faction. Research, ideas, and imagery for the team to use in our development of the faction are appreciated. This post will contain more information about this faction and their inclusion within the mod in the future.

Note: Please do not include Osprey images in this thread, as it is against the policy of TWC to allow copyrighted material to be posted, especially Osprey Publications.

Regards,
AUH Team

[Asean]

Let me add some info on the Khmers.

Here's an accurate (as far as Sydney University is concerned) map of the Khmer Empire at 1171, the proposed start date.


On the map, you can see Champa, Dai Viet and two Mon kingdoms.

[Asean]

These are warriors depicted on the Khmer bas reliefs. Can you bring these to life?

[Augustus Lucifer]

Yelu does a nice job of making 3D renditions out of very little, so I'm sure he can work with things of the nature posted above.

[Asean]

Yelu does a nice job of making 3D renditions out of very little, so I'm sure he can work with things of the nature posted above.

Awesome!

[Asean]

This is gonna stretch out the screen, so im gonna put a spoiler tag on it. Another relief showing khmer warriors.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Tail End Charlie]

Will there be ballista elephants? Civ4 hints at their existance?

[Asean]

Will there be ballista elephants? Civ4 hints at their existance?

Yeah it did exist back then. Here you can see a balista mounted on the back of an elephant.

[Shopperkimpy]

The Khmer Empire had its beginnings in 790 when King Jayavarman conquered the Kingdom of Kambuja, until then under the Joke of the Javanese. The consecration rites of Jayavarman on Mount Julen [ now in Cambodia ] in 802 formalised the freeing of Kambuja from Java and the introduction of the Hindu cult of the Devaraja [ God King ] Hariharalaya was the name of the first settlement of the new Angkor Kingdom and by 889 this Khmer Empire held control as far as Ubon in Thailand.
By 944 after battles with the Cham people ,the Empire expanded to the Annamite chain in the East [ now Vietnam ], Burma to the West and the Gulf of Siam in the South. In the early 14th C this Empire expanded and levied tribute from South Thailand. During the reign of Jayavarman 7th from 1181-1220 the Khmer Empire expanded further to include the Korat Plateau in I' san, the Menan Valley, Southern Malaysia, Northern Laos and the Kingdom of Champa. It was not until 1430 when the Ayutthayan Empire of the Tai -Siamese sacked Angkor did the decline of the Khmer commence.
The Khmer had a presence in Central, East, some parts of the North and the Northeast of Thailand [ I 'san ] since the second half of 6th C. This presence lasted until the mid 13th C. However the influences of Khmer styles, inspiration and iconography continued long after. Where the Khmer were and when can be traced from looking at the many stone inscriptions found throughout Thailand. These are dated by the alphabet used, which was either ancient Khmer, Pallava, Later Pallava, or Khmer and the language used which was either Pali, Sanskrit [ both from India ] and Khmer.
Khmer presence can also be traced by art objects and architecture ruins found in ancient sites. Scholars of art can classify art objects by their subject matter and style such that they can be dated precisely. The principal periods are the Pre-Angkor Period of 547-807 which include 5 distinct and consecutive time periods, and the Angkorian Period 827-1237 which includes 10 distinct and consecutive periods. Thus monuments and sculptures distributed in these parts of Thailand are dated.

Map of Khmer Empire 960


Map of Khmer Empire 1200




cambodian ambassador


Jayavarman VII

[Yelü Dashi]

Yes in theory. Making it work with the right animations etc, is another story !

[RWT]

A few links to images:

http://flickr.com/photos/divemasterking2000/1701798912/ - Note the Khmer use of bowmen and cavalry
http://flickr.com/photos/iancampsall/304747037/ - Bit of armor
http://flickr.com/photos/shanemichael/2347067394/ - Good view of body decoration

Note that these (and I believe Asean's) pictures are all of Angkor Wat. It was completed the first half of the 12th century, and has a plethera of cultural carvings from the era.

I also found this. It seemed like a great concept for a pop up illustration...

(Flickr image of Astrologer at Angkor Wat)

[AlphaDelta]

The Khmer Empire had its beginnings in 790 when King Jayavarman conquered the Kingdom of Kambuja...

Interestingly, Thai people still call Cambodia, "Kambucha".

[Shopperkimpy]

"pekak"

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Wundai]

I don't know why, but I thought of Bang Rhajan when I opened that spoiler

[Bull]

Those are scary weapons, may be that guy should wear something for his legs too.

[Shopperkimpy]

Khmer Warriors's weapon - Lompang - Spear


Khmer Warriors's weapon - Tnoo - Bows and Arrows


Khmer Warriors's weapon - Dha or Dao - Swords


Khmer Warriors's weapon - Phkap --แป๊ะกั้ก --


Khmer Sword with a bronze handle and a iron blade used during the Khmer empire





Khme Javelin


wooden Khme shields





crossbow of Khme





credit : kunkhmerwarrior.com

[Kinay]

Some unit ideas:


Nayars
“The Khmers had elite troops called Nayars, who formed their warrior caste. They were scientifically trained in all aspects of combat, including imitate and performing arts to gain a psychological advantage over their enemies. It is said that the Nayarís mime skill was so great, that; 'He could pretend to throw a spear so convincingly, that an enemy warrior would actually feel the pain of his body being pierced.'”

Source: http://www.kunkhmerwarrior.com/history

Maiden guard
“Maiden guard are depicted in one relief armed with ph'kak and mounted on horses apparently disguised as dragons. Doubt has been expressed whether these are over-interpretations
of a damaged relief, but such equipment is only an exaggeration of the normal cavalry tack, which includes a possibly leather rump guard over a tail plaited to a point, a "dragon horn" (of stiffened horse hair?) on the forehead and sometimes face and chest protection.”

Source: http://www.modelismoflandes.es/archivos/dbmvol3.pdf

That last link is a miniature lists from a historical war game. I’m not sure if the lists are that useful, but I think the information under it is. There’s a some information about armor/weapons/tactics etc.

It includes these factions:
-Pagan (page 10)
-Tibetan (page 14)
-Khmer and Cham (page 23)
-Dali (page 28)
-Japanese (page 40)
-Korea (page 41)
-Vietnamese (page 43)
-Song (page 61)
-Xi Xia (page 47/48)

[Augustus Lucifer]

That is interesting. The second link doesn't provide much usefulness with regards to the units themselves, since they seem to be fairly non-descript or generic in name. However some of the paragraphs succeeding the unit lists with regards to the factions provide some interesting and succinct tidbits.

[Kinay]

Yes, I thought that as well.
Some of those units seem to be a bit dubious, like Tibetan "Exorcists with magic daggers". Here's the "maiden guard" relief:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I also found something about the Pagan kingdom, again from that minutaire game, very little information though: http://www.fanaticus.org/DBA/armies/Variants/burma.html

[Kurosaki]

I think that the Khmer army should be blood thirsty and could go bloodlust like Berserkers in RTW