Khezdruli Army for The Third Battle

[Squeaks]

POLL CLOSED

Here is the list of possibles for the Khezdruli (Dwarven) Army for the Third Battle.

If you've missed the Ildiri/High Elf ones, then they're on this forum. Voting ends on them this Sunday, but voting begins on the Dwarven Army NOW!

The Khezdruli army doesn't contain their heaviest units, like the Golems or larger Gnomes. Two types ARE included; the 10 foot tall Gleamer Gnomes and the smaller WIrral Cutters; both are lethal, but the Wirrals are smaller than the average human, designed to supplement units of foot troops, whilst the Gleamers batter holes int he enemy lines.

These are the possibles:





GLEAMER GNOMES (very very bad picture - they're shinies really; I'll get another shot in, but they're TOUGH))

These are intermediate sized Gnomes, around 10 feet tall.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

CUTTER GNOMES

Little Gnomies.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

BRETHREN OF THE DEEPING WARDS

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

THARIN DUNE

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

KHEZDRULI HEAVY FOOT

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

ETERNAL WATCH

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

THE CONSUMED

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

AZRAGHAL'S OATHTAKERS

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

WARDENS OF THE FINAL GATE

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

KHEZDRULI CLOCKWORK CROSSBOWS

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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There. I've got a horrid feeling that I got a couple of dodgy shots - I think that a couple have a placeholder weapon, but you get the general idea...heavy infantry, and lots of it. I have to look into the axes, as there should be some Ley weapons in there, but I'm knackered. I'll be back to edit descriptions and add stuff.

I *might* add another Gnome or the Ancestral Guard, but if I do, they'll now be automatically in the battle. Depends.

Please DO vote, and you have the choice of 7 entries for the battle.

[Willowran]

I especially Like the wardens of the final gate, and the eternal watch. Seeing this stuff makes me jealous of the animators

[Kaiser Leonidas]

Voted .

[Squeaks]

I especially Like the wardens of the final gate, and the eternal watch. Seeing this stuff makes me jealous of the animators

Cool The Eternal Watch will be one of THE hardest units to kill amongst 'normal' foot soldiers. The Final Gate are one of the best at hurting things there are.

Well, the animations, save for the Gnomes, are purely down to the Third Age Total War team. Their Dwarven animations are vital to a fair few units in Dragonborn The Gnomes are using different animations - the Gleamers are simply upscaled, and the Cutters use Goblin animations from Third Age.

Voted .

Thanks Kaiser I will probably add another unit - Ancestral Guard or Golem Gnomes to this, and have them in there outside of the voting.

Updating the units with descriptions:

KHEZDRULI HEAVY FOOT

The warrior-cult of the Khezdruli are seen as a higher caste than many. They maintain their army with huge support. Their arms and armour are charged with Ley crystals, augmenting their natural abilities and absorbing damage above the qualities of their metal armour, which is of the best in the first place. Ley charged axes release small busts of power when striking, aiding them in slicing through their foes's defences. Relentless and indomitable, they kill with absolute certainty and conviction. None amongst their people fear death in the slightest, and this makes them hellish foes in battle.

KHEZDRULI CLOCKWORK CROSSBOW

The Khezdruli maintain few missile troops, but these are numerous and incredibly strong in their abilities. The Crossbow itself aids the wielder in reloading, and it's strength is enormous. The range is not any different to normal versions, but it velocity is such that it punches holes through shield and armour, devastating their enemies' ranks. Mounds of dead lie in their swathe. Even when reduced to melee, they wield charged axes and their armour is every bit as effective as their brothers in arms'.

AZRAGHAL'S OATHTAKERS

These are the children of the Legacy of Azraghal. WHen he brought the peace he longed for to the elves, the great war they waged ceased, and the elves and dwarves could turn to eradicate the 'Infection' that had taken hold in many of the vast Dwarven Holts and had begun to spread beyond. An eight Cult was given to his followers, and they remain to this day, despite being seen by many as a simple irritant in their society. His children are outside normal Dwarven military confines, and are extremely useful - they do not rely on let for anything, and they are swift in their movement, their attacks are vicious, but they are less heavily defended, although they utilise shields, which are usually avoided by Khezdruli units as a cowards' resort. However, these shields sport a razor-edge, and are used to kill as much as defend; they also cause damage to their enemies' weapons when they strike the thrice-forged edges of the shield.

THARIN DUNE

The Tharin Dune are the lightest of all Dwarven units. They can conceal their movements across the entire battlefield - training and CUlt abilities blending to support this, they are swifter than normal dwarven units, but not as fast as the Oathbound. Their job is one of harassment - any enemy that enters the valleys of the Khezdruli will be struck constantly by the ghost-like Tharin Dune, and they often move behind enemy battle lines to eliminate archers and artillery - even magical units are prey to them.

BRETHREN OF THE DEEPING WARDS

These stout warriors defend the Holts from within, arraying themselves against the creatures that lurk in the depths, natural creatures, avatars or spirits of the dead. Wielding crackling Ley-spears, they stand in solid lines to hold their foes back, punching holes in the toughest armour with swift, precise thrusts of their lances. Nothing will break these Dwarves, for theirs is an ancient task, and they have seen far worse things in the Deeps than they are ever likely to see above ground. Many enemies have broken upon their battle lines, and
the punishment they have taken often breaks even seasoned veterans.

WARDENS OF THE FINAL GATE

One of the most renowned of all military forces, the Watchers of the Final Gate are in essence a suicide force. Most holds have more than one entrance, but all lead to the Final Gate; the last and largest of the fortified entries. Here stand the Wardens, but they stand outside the gate, not ensconced within. They stand firm in dense lines, holding the enemy from the gate whilst their people prepare a different welcome within. Theie axes rise and fall methodically, and they leave the dead behind in droves. All the while they are needed, they stand to defend the Final Gate, until the foe have been punished enough, until the Defenders have had time to prepare themselves for what follows. Until the order is received to fall back, they will stand to the last. To defeat this unit, you would need to cut them all down; even as they strike in frightening silence, Ley crackling, huge axes of Malech metal crumpling armour and bones beneath - they rely not so much on clean cuts, but the weighted destruction of their enemies skeletons, leaving them broken and dying, their cries echoing amongst their friends' minds as they face the Wardens of the Final Gate.

THE CONSUMED

The Consumed are those that have failed to resist the Hunger - the bane of the Khexdruli, the addictive need to create things of beauty, from the most precious of the earth's bounty. It was this Hunger that began the war with the elves, and some fall to it's madness despite any effort to suppress or relieve it. These the lepers of the Dwarven community, and they are given stark choices - most choose to serve in the 'Consumed'. These are fanatics. They are terrifying to face in battle, they are fearless, unbreakable but also very hard to rein to the command of any general. Likely to just charge the nearest foe, they are none-the-less a great asset for the simple madness that makes them the Consumed. Barely recognising friend from foe, they endless batter their enemies, often overwhelming them utterly with their ferocity.

THE ETERNAL WATCH

These warriors are the height of the Khezdruli military society. They are most skilled, the strongest, most physically talented amongst their people, and they show it in every way. They make their own armour, crafting it alone, enfacing with massive quantities of the precious Ley Crystal. This armour is almost unbreachable, it's magical energy attacking the foe through their won weapon as it strikes the Warrior of the Watch. They simply stand in battle, receiving blow after blow, as they remain in the centre of the enemy lines, often surrounded, as this is their main tactic - to hold up as much of the enemy force as possible, and to continuously damage them as they swarm about the Eternal Watch, the shining beacon for all dwarves.

GLEAMER GNOMES

The Gnomes reflect the height of Dwarven skill and ingenuity; complex machines, made of differing metals, able to carry out simple, repetitive orders whilst maintaining a small degree of free thought in their orders' interpretation. This is one step from creating life, and it is an awesome talent. The Gleamers are one of the most complex, having many tasks, yet their presence in warfare is certainly intimidating at the least, terrifying to most. They have a simple use; to smash their formations, crashing through the lines, to turn and crush them from behind - the impact of their metal bodies on flesh is sickening, but a comfort to the Khezdruli that fight alongside them.

WIRRAL CUTTERS

The Wirrals are a savage unit of Gnome war-machines. Smallest of all fighting Gnomes, they move along the foes' formations, cutting at them with revolving saw blades, cast of the most adamant of metals, edged with diamond. The Cutters run on slicing pendulums of strong, sharp metal, which act almost like skates on ice in their style of movement, they can move swiftly and with determined purpose. Originally designed to fight amongst dwarves troops, one cutter to each dwarf, they swiftly became a force of their own, prized for their greatest asset - the mind of an automaton leaves no emotion in their butchery, and many dwarves were sickened by the sheer viciousness of their massacres, even whilst they had to celebrate the effectiveness of the Cutters after each victory.

[Squeaks]

I'll have to close this by Tuesday, to allow Pilgrim to get on with the battle, so do vote

[Squeaks]

Sorry. I said I might put the Golem Gnomes or the Ancestral Guard up as a definite for the battle, an eighth unit. PLEASE tell me if you want them in; if so we'll shove them in the battle, if not, then that's fine too.

ANCESTRAL GUARD









The Lords of the Ancestral Guard are of the most 'conservative' amongst the Khezdruli, utterly opposed to the Azraghal Treaty, solid in their belief that Ley should be freely mined and any effluence from Dwarven Holts should be released into the world outside instead of being treated at great expense within the Holts first. They wear armour treated by modern techniques, but wield the first weapons the Dwarves made for use against the Elves in the war that ended with Azraghal's Treaty. Their axes boost the strength of any strike, and there is a mechanism that withdraws the blade from armour without effort on the wielder's part. In battle they stand strong, a beacon in their shining mail, for the old ways lend a sense of legend and eternity to their name - and, in battle, this lends strength to those around them. STrong beyond normal means, they are viciously effective, and their dislike of any race save Dwarves gives them a purpose and conviction that sees them stand firm in the face of any assault.

[Willowran]

Hmm.... they look sick! I vote yes. They seem particularily anti-elf, which fits vs the elves in the battle

[Kaiser Leonidas]

Any chance of seeing the Golem Gnomes? It would help people to decide between the two .

[Squeaks]

Any chance of seeing the Golem Gnomes? It would help people to decide between the two .

Well, yes, since you asked, I kind of had to give you them. They're reworked quite considerably, having basically almost redone them from scratch. Sort of. The Gleamers are the most 'modern' of Gnomes, having been made around the time of the Ghaur Wars. Since then, they stopped making new ones, save for replaing outmoded ones for use within the Holts. There are compelling reasons for this, but I may go into them at some point. The Gleamers are the most streamlined in design etc. What's weird is the fact I was using differing methods of making normals for the models in DB, so when I reinstall MedII every so often, and then set the settings differently (I never remember what I did before), the models all look different. I was using a different method though, so it changes everything hugely. I won't go on about it, but it IS odd.

The reason I mentioned the Gleamers is that the Golems were really the first Gnome-type that was turned towards warfare, sending the Dwarves down a strange road.

SO, the Golems. Well, I wondered whether it would be best to include a unit (1 max) of Ancestrals and the Golems, and leave the main army down to you; this would work well with the fact that the Ildiri forces are all Veteran or Elite, plus the Swan Knights, who are simply better.

Anyway have look-see. Tell me what you think. I think that leaves only one other Dwarf foot unit, maybe two unseens, and there are four more Gnomes to be made, but they're under Bandit's specialties, not mine really, so I'll leave them to him (BanditKS does the buildings, artillery and the weirdest Gnomes - his stuff is great, but sadly unseen save the shot of Selediri artillery - I think if we do a Selediri battle at some point, we'll HAVE to preview the Ley Batteries, as they're simply too cool not to). I'll go away now, before I waffle more.

Uhm. Here.









I really hope this has the right shots I wanted in it, as the little details are quite cool....when they run, the leg mechanisms move correctly, inter-grinding etc; they look pretty cool like that.

[Willowran]

I still vote the ancestral guard, though i like those golems better than the other gnomes.

[Kaiser Leonidas]

I'd prefer the Golems out of the two, they look like they'd do serious damage to pretty much anything. But whichever one you choose I'll still be happy with as they're both great .

[Squeaks]

I still vote the ancestral guard, though i like those golems better than the other gnomes.

Hah. Not a Gnome-man then? I'll do you a little red-hatted one with a fishing rod or summit. Actually, I want to make a Rabbid army really, but I can't afford to I don't think. Making a rayman rabid would only take an hour or so max though. Red hatted gnome would take longer, so I could do you a Rabbid with a red hat and fishing rod. I wonder though - will you not liking the Gnomes affect whether you play the Khezdruli as a faction? I'd be interested to know this from you and anyone else who has an opinion. The idea of them is that there will be very few of them, but they will do serious damage indeed. I'm not entirely sure they shouldn't be BG units for a select few generals, maybe a tiny chance of a new one popping up, as some people have tried to resurrect the craft - it was mostly confined to the western Khezdruli anyway; well, them and the ones in the Holts where the Bandit Kings now live (seeing as they're digging the Gnomes up and repowering them for war).

I'd prefer the Golems out of the two, they look like they'd do serious damage to pretty much anything. But whichever one you choose I'll still be happy with as they're both great .

Well, maybe we'll keep both then. That makes 9 Khezdruli units versus 9 Ildiri I think - unit TYPES, not units themselves. Should be messy.

EDIT: yes, they make most things go squish when they charge them. Even Void Knights would be pushed a little. When they fell silent on Saden Fields, the entire good-guys host did a little poop...with the Gnomes powered out, it looked less good than it had done for sure.

Voting closes wednesday, but please do say your views of the Ancestral; Guard and the Golems if you happen by....

Thanks Kaiser I'm daft when it comes to whether what I do IS any good at all, so thanks

[BanditKS]

looking forward to holding the line with the heavy foot!

[Willowran]

It is not that i dislike the gnomes, i just like the ancesteral guard better (for this specific matchup). And i find the dwarven infantry a little more aesthetically pleasing

I'm liking the Khezdruli more than i had originally, learning about them, and their units. The gnomes are units i plan to exploit completely in a Khezdruli campaign. That being said, they will not be central to any Khezdruli campaign i play. My style of play involves smaller amounts of weaker units, fighting defensively against any enemy force, while one huge offensive stack runs around killing people. As a result, i would likely move all gnomes into a single army, and use them 'till the went kaput. They are a valueable addition to the Khezdruli, and their backstory makes them terrifying, conceptually.

Even if i hated the gnomes, it would not effect my playing the Khezdruli campaign. If they really bothered me, i'd disband them, or remove them some other way.

The Khezdruli seem kind of...godlike. I think the ildiri will be squished.

[paradamed]

Voted and I really like those golem gnomes. Will the artillery units fulfil the gap created by the lack of ranged units? These guys will be great at sieges but at field battles they could really use some more ranged units.

[Squeaks]

Voted and I really like those golem gnomes. Will the artillery units fulfil the gap created by the lack of ranged units? These guys will be great at sieges but at field battles they could really use some more ranged units.

Thanks. The Dwarven artillery will be far more 'available' than say Elven Ley Batteries, so they'll be a far more common sight, and they will be nasty; accurate and somewhat explosive.

There are four more BIG Gnomes I want in there; 3 are missile units, so they'll be fairly grim to fight. If you have them and artillery, they will make a considerable impact on things. However, there IS one gnome type I was considering, and they are humanoid in form, normal sized and will have missile capabilities - they'll also be more available.

Also, there IS a unit of Dwarves that use captured Fire Avatars inside weapons that spray the Avatar's fire all over the place, and a unit that fires let from crystals attached to their backs. Yes, they'll possibly suffer in mass produced standard missile troops TYPES, BUT they will have access to very accurate and very dangerous special units. However, the Clockwork Crossbowmen are a basic unit, that all Khezdruli settlements will be able to produce them like militia essentially.

It is not that i dislike the gnomes, i just like the ancesteral guard better (for this specific matchup). And i find the dwarven infantry a little more aesthetically pleasing

Sure....makes sense. There were a few factions that were very hard to make cool, and I never wanted anything that was just a space filler or there simply because it should be; like Dwarves. WHen I created the Dwarf army, it took a lot of thought and a lot of scribbling, as it was quite hard to make them different and interestingly so, compared to the stander fantasy dwarf. I LOVE Tolkien's Dwarves, but hated the idea of making these ones anything like them.

I'm liking the Khezdruli more than i had originally, learning about them, and their units. The gnomes are units i plan to exploit completely in a Khezdruli campaign. That being said, they will not be central to any Khezdruli campaign i play.

Cool...the important thing there is that you like them more than you thought you would

Yep; the Gnomes are not meant to be a central part as such, but you will have the expensive option of trying to regain the craft of making Gnomes for war. If you want a little Gnome as a family pet you're fine, or if you want one that acts as a moving torch in darkened tunnels, you're fine too. War Gnomes not so easy.

My style of play involves smaller amounts of weaker units, fighting defensively against any enemy force, while one huge offensive stack runs around killing people. As a result, i would likely move all gnomes into a single army, and use them 'till the went kaput. They are a valueable addition to the Khezdruli, and their backstory makes them terrifying, conceptually.

Yep, that would be nasty. Gnomes won't be climbing walls in the main, but they'll break gates and even walls. We have a giant one that can act as a siege tower, if we can pull it off.

Even if i hated the gnomes, it would not effect my playing the Khezdruli campaign. If they really bothered me, i'd disband them, or remove them some other way.

Poor Gnomes.

The Khezdruli seem kind of...godlike. I think the ildiri will be squished.

They have weaknesses, don't worry. They have absolutely no athletic ability, they have no shields, their active defence is poor (they don't really spend much time learning how to parry etc), as they rely on their armour (admittedly, it IS very good). I did wonder about their speed - my thought was that they run everywhere anyway, so maybe we could fiddle with their charging bonus; reduce it because they are running all the time, therefore can't build sufficient momentum to really give a good charge. Really, I tell Pilgrim my thoughts and he does the intelligent side of it all.

They're horribly dangerous, but they have certain weaknesses that must be reflected in recruitment too. They're unlikely to be upgradeable in terms of armour and weapons (much, if at all), as they're not a very adaptable race in that fashion - what they already have is the best there is really, and they're not inclined to experiment that much more with it. They also rely heavily on Ley Crystal for much of their stuff - certainly, if upgrades are possible, they will only be able to do this near Ley deposits. This is really unexplored territory, but that's my thought thing on it.

[Squeaks]

Right, POLL CLOSED.

The answer to this one is that you voted for 8 units in the end. That means I suppose I have to use all 8 units you voted for - otherwise some of you voted for something, only to have me overrule it.

SO

The army will be made up of the following units:

Khezdruli Heavy Foot (9 Votes!)
Khezdruli Clockwork Crossbow (9 votes)

Wardens of the Final Gate (8 votes)
Eternal Watch (7 votes)

Cutter Wirrals (7)

Azraghal's Oathtakers (7)
Tharin Dune (6)

Deeping Wards (6)

PLUS I said I'd include at least one of the two:

Ancestral Guard
Golem Gnomes

Now, I definitely would include the Golems, as they're just rude. The Ancestral Guard I'm not sure about, because you have 8 units above. However, this battle isn't being done by me from this point onwards, so I shall leave it with Pilgrim and his team to decide on them.

[Kaiser Leonidas]

Good to see that the Khezdruli have some of their basic units . I reckon that just including the Golems should be fine as you don't need to many different units in the battle.