1648: The Two Towers

[hackera96]

that is an awsome idea I can help with information for Bulgaria
there were few uprisings in that time period i will give information about the bigger ones
First Tarnovo Uprising http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Tarnovo_Uprising the leader of if was Shishman III who claimed to be descendant of the last Bulgarian dynasty of Shishman, thats why it can be used the CoA of the Second Bulgarian Empire

Other big uprisings are the Karposh`s Rebelion Karposh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karposh%27s_Rebellion
the second tarnovo uprising http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Tarnovo_Uprising
the catholic uprising in Chiprovtsi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiprovtsi_Uprising

edit:i found comics about the leaders of some uprising, here are some pictures which can be used for the units

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[ZeEmperor]

Those look cool,hackera96!
+ rep!

[druzhina345]

Some illustrations of 1590 from Cesare Vecellio's
De gli habiti antichi, e moderni di diverse parti del mondo libri due ...
(Of Ancient and Modern Dress of Diverse Parts of the World in Two Books ...)

Ottoman soldiers & seamen by Vecellio
Hungarians & Croats by Vecellio
Muscovites by Vecellio
A Georgian by Vecellio
A Moor by Vecellio

MIRROR SITE
Ottoman soldiers & seamen by Vecellio

Druzhina
16th Century

and some Ottoman units:

Ottoman units from Peter Mundy's Album, A briefe relation of the Turckes, their kings, Emperors, or Grandsigneurs, their conquests, religion, customes, habbits, etc, Istanbul 1618, from a copy in the British museum.
...

More pics from Hans Sloan's Album, The Habits of the Grand Signor's Court SL.5258, Turkey, c.1620

Ottoman soldiers from Deß Weitberühmbten... Herrn Melchior Lorichs... Wolgerissene und Geschnittene Figuren Tyrkerværk by Melchior Lorck in 1570-83 http://warfare.ml/Ottoman/MelchiorLo...hior_Lorck.htm
...
A few more Ottoman soldiers from I Turchi. Codex Vindobonensis 8626 of Bartolemeo von Pezzen, 1586 to 1591, Austrian National Library, Vienna
...
Some more from 1657
http://warfare.ml/Ottoman/Album/Ralamb-military.htm

Some of these sites have limited bandwidth, when I get a chance I will upload the images in some other way.

wow, great collection, thanks a lot! yes, please save pics, most links are dead when i try to take a view.

The links are not dead. The sites do not allow 'hot-linking' direct to the pictures.
I would appreciate it if people linked to the web pages rather than to the pictures (or copying the pictures to photo storage sites).

Here are the links to late 16th to early 17th century Albums:
I Turchi. Codex Vindobonensis 8626 of Bartolemeo von Pezzen, 1586 to 1591

Larger Images for Codex Vindobonensis

Deli & Akinji Janissaries Standard Bearers Janissaries Vezier & Peiks Janissary trainees Sipahis Delis Heralds? Peiks Stoning Women With Scarves Sultan’s Favourite Wife

Ottoman military pictures from Peter Mundy's Album, A briefe relation of the Turckes, 1618

Ottoman military pictures from Hans Sloan's Album 'The Habits of the Grand Signor's Court', c.1620

Larger Images for The Habits of the Grand Signor's Court

A Peyk, or running footman Bostanci basi Ulak Silahdar Peyk Yeniceri Seferli. A Janissary on campaign Yeniceri asci Torba oglani. A young Janissary in training Sipahi Cebici Topcu Seyban Reis Azeb Cezayir Zurnaci Davulcu Egyptian youth Rumeli sipahi Tatar Peyk basi Kul oglan, the son of a yeniceri Sipahi zade, son of a sipahi

Military Pictures from the Ralamb Costume Book, 1657

If the bandwidth is used up, here are the mirror sites:
I Turchi. Codex Vindobonensis 8626 of Bartolemeo von Pezzen, 1586 to 1591
Ottoman military pictures from Peter Mundy's Album, A briefe relation of the Turckes, 1618
Ottoman military pictures from Hans Sloan's Album 'The Habits of the Grand Signor's Court', c.1620
Military Pictures from the Ralamb Costume Book, 1657

druzhina345
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

[Geoffrey of Villehardouin]

Thanks for the two website links druzhina345. I have now added them also to my post and removed the links to the individual images. You have a very instructive resource, very useful for unit models.

[Mr Kriegtooth]

So, whats the progress on this mod? Im getting excited for it, reading about all the different stuff going on in that era

[jroy1117]

Planned factions:


1. Austria
2. Spain (located in Southern Italy)
3. France (as annoying spawn faction similar to the Ottomans in 1648)
4. Poland-Lithuania
5. Ottoman Empire
6. Malta (you know, the pirates ehm order)
7. Venice
8. Crimean Tatars
9. Siebenbürgen (the German cities have their struggles against the hungarian princes of Transylvania, therefore, as a separate faction)
10. Transylvania, can be transformed to 11. (you remember Eriador -> Arnor? Calmar Script? Okay)
11. Kingdom of Hungary
12. Kingdom of Croatia
13. Bohemian Estates
14. Mirdita, can be transformed to 15.
15. Principality of Albania
16. Greek rebels, can be transformed to 17.
17. Byzantine Empire (yeah reborn of basilea ton romaion)
18. Bulgarian rebels, can be transformed to 19.
19. Bulgarian Empire
20. Principality of Montenegro, can be transformed to 21.
21. Serbian Empire
22. Principality of Moldavia, can be transformed to 24
23. Principality of Wallachia, can be transformed to 24
24. Kingdom of Romania
25. Rebels (the grey guys)
26. Aztecs (of course not playable or "not playable", used for special use)
27. Duchy of Bavaria
28. Barbary corsairs
29. Cossacks
30. Electorate of Saxony
31. Ragusa

So much winning in this post its amazing.

[The Despondent Mind]

Awesome mod name , I am already imagining the Ottoman Sultan Like Saruman standing on the highest tower in Istanbul and ordering his hordes to start the Invasion on the " free peoples " .

[Wallachian]

Great idea with this mod. Some very unique factions on that list!

I have one suggestion for faction 24 Kingdom of Romania. This should not be the name of the faction as it is quite ahistorical. The Kingdom of Romania was only declared in 1881. Before that any union of the Romanian principalities was simply known as the United Principalities. Since the mod takes place in the XVIIth century this name would be more accurate. Especially since the first ever union was achieved in 1600 and it was a personal union with the Prince Michael naming himself "IO MIHAILI UGROVLAHISCOI VOEVOD ARDEALSCOI MOLD ZEMLI" which is translated to "IoMichael Wallachian Voivode of Transylvanian and Moldavian Lands". In 1600 Michael also occupied Transilvania and he became de facto ruler there aswell. That is why he styled hymself as Prince of all 3 principalities. He was not recognised as Prince of Transilvania, however the Diet of Transilvania did recognise him as Governer which the Austrian Emperor accepted. This was only for a bried period of less than 1 year. See the seal below:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The name Romania was not used in that period to refer to the Principalities and would not be used for a few hundred years. Also, the ruler was still called 'Voivode' which roughly translates to Prince. As such the denomination of United Principalities is a lot more accurate. Alternatively, you can have it as the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldova.

Anyway do you still require names, roster concepts and images for the Principalities? I have a rich library of images and texts that I can put at your disposal. I have already posted some of it on the infracta forum more than a year ago however no one replied to it.

Please see below examples of Wallachian and Moldavian soldiers of the XVI-XVIIth centuries

The famous Equus Valachus and variations of it

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Wallachian/Moldavian archer XVIIth century

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Light and heavy cavalry

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Early XVIth century soldiers

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

XVIIth century monastery painting showing cavalry and infantry with arquebuses

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Images of Vlach cavalry and infantry in the secnd half of the XVIIth century from the Polish book:
'Banners of the Walachian crown in the army in the second half. seventeenth century'

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

And various other images of the late XVI- XVIIth century

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Battle of Targoviste 1595

The Wallchian and Moldavian armies of the period were still quite similar to the medieval armies. As such weapons such as bows, crossbows, spears, axes and maces were still use in the conjuction with more modern weapons such as arquebuses, matchlocks, cannons and the like.
Also the armies had both local troops but also a host of mercenaries such as cossacks, albanians, serbians, bulgarians, szeklers etc.

Please let me know if you still need information as I can supply a lot more images and concepts.

[Mr Kriegtooth]

Curious, why do the Transylvanians become the Kingdom of Hungary?

Also im not sure about the Byzantine Empire coming back, but then again, I enjoy ahistorical weirdness. Could you make a neo-Varangian Guard unit as their unique unit? Like, based on Swedish units or something neat like that

[Monguntiacum]

because transylvania was an hungarian principality, with mixed inhabitants (hungarians, szekely, germans and romanians), it was at that time the only "free" part of the hungarian kingdom after the fall of their medieval great empire. the north was part of habsburg, south part occupied by ottomans, third part was transylvania as autonom vassal of ottomans. it often fought against ottomans and habsburg. so that part had realistic chance for reestablish an hungarian kingdom.

@wallachian: good idea: United Principalities, i like it and will do so.

[Geoffrey of Villehardouin]

Also im not sure about the Byzantine Empire coming back, but then again, I enjoy ahistorical weirdness.

That was something of a real prospect at this time. Charles Gonzaga, the Duke of Nevers, Mantua and Montferrat, was a descendant of the Palaeologus family and had gained support from Greek and other rebels in the Balkans in his bid to conquer Constantinople and revive the Byzantine Empire. The Greeks he was in communication with addressed him as Emperor Constantine Palaeologus. To this purpose a Crusade had been called but no-one except the Duke of Mantua himself joined it because at the same time the 30 Years' War broke out. Only the Knights of Malta made some raids, and some rulers promised money but no men. There were a few uprisings among the Greeks but these were ineffectual. In the end the enterprise was completely abandoned when the Imperialists invaded Mantua.

If the 30 Years War had not broken out or if it had ended with the conquest of Prague by the Imperialists, this Crusade could have indeed materialised. Its inception was very real, not at all unhistorical.

I have one suggestion for faction 24 Kingdom of Romania. This should not be the name of the faction as it is quite ahistorical. The Kingdom of Romania was only declared in 1881. Before that any union of the Romanian principalities was simply known as the United Principalities. Since the mod takes place in the XVIIth century this name would be more accurate.

I also like "United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia" (should they not be in that order?), or just United Principalities for short. Thanks also for all the other historical info and the images!

[Mr Kriegtooth]

Oh, that sounds neat! Will the Greek Rebels be playable, or possibly have that script for other factions? I'd like to role play thatAnd be sure to have some "ahistorical" units for the Byzantines. Neo-Varangian Guard! They got GUNS now

[Monguntiacum]

of course they will be playable.

i see no problem in a "neo varangian guard", because if Gonzaga had really started a war, he had hired mercenaries from whole europe (like everybody in that time). If he had scandinavian mercs, sure, why not call them Tágma tōn Varángōn.

[ZeEmperor]

Is this mod dead or is it alive?

[Monguntiacum]

Its waiting for progress, gigantus works at "Rise of Three Kingdoms", i work at "1237: Interregnum" and our Total Conversion to RPG "Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny".
I guess at the end of the year we will have again time and manpower to continue.

[ZeEmperor]

Good,and is 1648TW finally stable?,it had lots of glitches when it was released...

[Monguntiacum]

try it
get all patches and fixes at infracta download section.

[Mr Kriegtooth]

Its pretty stable I think. Theres a nasty glitche, so be sure to save every 10 or 20 turns, thats what Gigantus told me to do. Ive only seen it once though. The clicker just keeps turning as if it's waiting for something....something that never loads

Otherwise, very stable for such a huge and expansive mod

And I cannot WAIT for The Two Towers!

BTW, crazy thing, would the Infracta team work with the With Fire and Sword 2 team? Its a nice mod, same time frame, but it feels very weak and small to me

They lost their mapper, so they have a really tiny map to go by

[ZeEmperor]

Good.Time to try it again.As a Catolic,i must lead Protestants to victory!

[Kaiser Quanah]

Planned factions:


1. Austria
2. Spain (located in Southern Italy)
3. France (as annoying spawn faction similar to the Ottomans in 1648)
4. Poland-Lithuania
5. Ottoman Empire
6. Malta (you know, the pirates ehm order)
7. Venice
8. Crimean Tatars
9. Siebenbürgen (the German cities have their struggles against the hungarian princes of Transylvania, therefore, as a separate faction)
10. Transylvania, can be transformed to 11. (you remember Eriador -> Arnor? Calmar Script? Okay)
11. Kingdom of Hungary
12. Kingdom of Croatia
13. Bohemian Estates
14. Mirdita, can be transformed to 15.
15. Principality of Albania
16. Greek rebels, can be transformed to 17.
17. Byzantine Empire (yeah reborn of basilea ton romaion)
18. Bulgarian rebels, can be transformed to 19.
19. Bulgarian Empire
20. Principality of Montenegro, can be transformed to 21.
21. Serbian Empire
22. Principality of Moldavia, can be transformed to 24
23. Principality of Wallachia, can be transformed to 24
24. Kingdom of Romania
25. Rebels (the grey guys)
26. Aztecs (of course not playable or "not playable", used for special use)
27. Duchy of Bavaria
28. Barbary corsairs
29. Cossacks
30. Electorate of Saxony
31. Ragusa

It is to my understanding that the middle-age Roman empire did not call themselves Byzantines, but Romans; outside of their borders, many powers in the west tend to call them Greeks, as they had more of a Hellenized culture rather then their initial Latin one in ancient times. "Byzantine" is a modern day coinage to separate the Romans from Antiquity, and the Romans from Medieval. If you wish to stick with historical accuracies, please have them named "The Roman Empire".

Thanks.