Guess The Unit

[Magnar]

Thought I'd start a little guessing comp where I'll post a screen of a unit that has not been released yet. If you can guess the faction and unit name (roughly) then I'll put up another finished unit.

First one is:

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the second one is down below in brevme's post but i think it may be changed now so here is the 3rd one

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[black_Viking]

Are they indian longbow men for mauryan

[Magnar]

That was quick, yes they are

Ill try make the next one not so easy. Will put it up in a couple days.

[black_Viking]

haha funny thing i was just talking with my friend about how bactria should have some indian spearmen or archers

[Roach]

those are not for Bactria

[Magnar]

oooo you thought they were bactrian? i guess the comp is back on then

[Brivime]

Who could these dashing fellows be?

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[Roach]

Who could these dashing fellows be?

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hmm.. tough one!

We are obviously looking at eastern noble level cavalry of some kind, but the specifics will be hard to dig out.

The horse armour is full scale, suggesting that this unit is designed to counter ranged troops like archers unlike the western/Seleucid cataphract which was designed to fight other heavy cavalry. The scales are all made of iron, so this is probably a relatively late unit (in game time), since the Parthians in 53 BC still used both bronze and iron to armour their horses. Going off only the horses, I would guess late era noble cavalry unit from within the bounds of the Parthian empire or from among the Scythian nomads to the north.

The riders tell a different story. It is hard to tell for sure, but it looks like all the armours are tube & yoke style. I see potential linen, leather and beautiful bronze scale armours. There are a number of helmets that are clearly types of Greek infantry helmets. There are greaves on every leg. It's all very Greek, but there is an interesting constrast with the horses. The horse's equipment is designed to protect it against almost all arrows, while the horseman has unarmoured arms and upper legs and feet, and his face is not protected at all. In Greece, the Boeotian helmet was popular among horsemen because it provided good vision while deflecting more missiles than the brimless models seen here, so missiles are not a concern to this unit? The horseman is armed with a kontos, a lance that was used by various heavy cavalry units in the east. Going by the rider's equipment the unit appears to be Greek, suggesting that this unit is probably of Bactrian origin, since that was the only region in the east with a large enough Greek population to realistically put together Greek cavalry units. Of course, the mustaches make me question whether the riders are actually supposed to be Greek nationals, but if they are native Bactrian/Scythian nobles, then why are they all wearing Greek equipment? Hmm..

So, my guess is that this is supposed to be Bactrian noble cavalry of some sort. I am still thrown by the extreme mismatch between the armour of the horses and of the riders, since clearly more money was spent on equipping the horses than the riders in this case. If they are expected to fight archer nomads, then the armour of the riders is laughable. If not, then the expense of the horse armour is ridiculous. I hope the creators of this picture don't take all this as an insult to their work.. I just take my research very seriously, and even Magnar Mod units don't always reflect reality to the ridiculous precision that I want (yet). The longbow unit above is far from being historically realistic either heh

All that said, the equipment of all the riders is very beautiful. I love seeing the gleam of bronze on armours and helmets.

[Brivime]

I'll humor you, you were right it's late period. You gave a good in-depth analysis all though way off. Can't blame you as very little is known about this faction.

These are late period Nabataean noble cavalry Farašun Khiarîn. Nabataeans copied many aspects of Hellenistic warfare in their later years, especially the double handed lance and forming different divisions for their cavalry and infantry. Nabataeans also adopted the Thureos shields.

We know that later period Nabataean heavy infantry also used Linothorax and Cuirass but they retained to their traditional weapons of bows and axes.

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I have contemplated changing the horses armor though.

[Roach]

Interesting. I am only overseeing our Arabian research, not doing it myself, so I have not dug through the accounts of Nabatea in great detail. I do recall accounts of their troops riding camels, though I would have to do some digging to find exactly what the original source is for that.. Strabo maybe?

[Brivime]

Interesting. I am only overseeing our Arabian research, not doing it myself, so I have not dug through the accounts of Nabatea in great detail. I do recall accounts of their troops riding camels, though I would have to do some digging to find exactly what the original source is for that.. Strabo maybe?

Oh we talked on Steam before, I am the one doing all the Arabian rosters.

Yes Camel troops were used, the oldest source of this we have is actually from the neo-Assyrians.

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A bas relief depicts a defeated army (Maybe Qedarites?) routing and being chased by Assyrian horsemen. On it we see a Camel archers and several other types of troops mounted on camels. What we can clearly see are of course the archers, what appears to be a man firing blow darts or perhaps sounding an instrument and spearmen. In these reliefs most are shirtless and have long hair so I have depicted such:

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Camel Archers were also used in the Seleucid armies, camel riders would be armed with long spears for poking down at the enemy and wear little to no armor.

I'm doing a faction preview soon for the Arabian region it will be in three parts, the first is what has been completed now, North Arabia the second will be South Arabia and the third will be the Gulf (Hegra).

[Roach]

Oh goody, then I get to tear the units apart until everything is perfect

What is your approach to 272 BC? The Neo-Assyrians were obviously over 300 years before that, and I don't remember Herodotus going into too much detail on the armies of the desert.

Yeah, you can chat me up on Steam of course before this becomes a historical research thread hehe

[black_Viking]

oooo you thought they were bactrian? i guess the comp is back on then

no no i just said that me and my friend thought it would be nice to have some indian units for bactria

[Magnar]

no no i just said that me and my friend thought it would be nice to have some indian units for bactria

Hehe, was just kidding mate

but more specifically they will be assigned to Arachosia.

[Magnar]

updated OP with the next unit

[Black9]

Thought I'd start a little guessing comp where I'll post a screen of a unit that has not been released yet. If you can guess the faction and unit name (roughly) then I'll put up another finished unit.

the second one is down below in brevme's post but i think it may be changed now so here is the 3rd one

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Hmmmm, well they have what appears to be a cap common to the Steppes, and at least the Scythians (maybe more of the tribes, I'm not sure) used axes fairly commonly. But you're not doing those rosters just yet, so I'm going to guess they're Dacians. Maybe Komatai axemen?

[Roach]

They do have long hair (the Greek komaw and the Latin comatus both have to do with hair), so I can't categorically say they are not "Komatai" warriors, plus they are clearly axemen, so good job on the observational skills! Not so good on the faction pick, though. Dacians is incorrect.

Faction anyone?

[Brivime]

They are using Eastern skins and trousers, they have long hair but it is light brown not black so they are probably from Caucasus or the Steppes, they also use the Steppe axes. Saka perhaps or some Steppe culture.

[Brivime]

So was I close or way off?

[Roach]

Close? You are certainly talking about the correct rough corner of the map.