Hey there guys, here's some research I'm bringing here, be warned it will take some time to read, but hopefully it gives you a good idea of what you might like to do.






The Gauls:


Gaulish/Celtic Tribes research




Introduction:

The term ‘Celt’ can be applied to those indo European tribes that migrated into Europe by around 3000 bc. We can for better reasons name them as tribal societies that were connected with a common language. Their art/warfare was similar with each other. A sophisticated civilization that was misunderstood by their Roman/Greek counterparts and much of this comes from the La Tene Culture. They were wealthy people and that commonly used to attract raids from the Germanic tribes. Defining them as Celts would be an understatement as each tribal society would have had their own set of customs/warfare tactics. Apart from the Roman and Greek writers that aimed to portray them as barbaric, one of the things that can be said was they had a pre feudal hierarchal system, a religious system, and an militaristic outlook. Indeed, this research will use Gauls and Britons or other historical names rather than ‘Celt’ but at times however, when discussing the overhaul history/group it will be needed.

The conflict between the Romans and the Celts had gone way overboard, over 3 and a half centuries. Starting from the victorious General Benarus sacking Rome in 390bc, despite having no long term effect in the future, it had an long term effect on the Romans which Polybius states

‘humiliation the Romans developed a fear and loathing of the Celts ‘ which would lead a long term loathing for the Celts. This would then not only lead to widespread genocides of entire Gaulic tribes by the Romans, it would indeed create impeccable hosility from the Britons/Gauls. Then from Caesar’s expansion into Gaul/Germania and, till the last expansion into Britain, it endured a lot of conflict/diplomacy/deaths/war/battles and victories/defeat.


These were brutal times between these two civilizations. One thing that the Roman authors like Polybius tend to ignore is that the Gauls were once a capable threat to the Romans and were they oldest adversaries. The idea that ‘frontiers suggest cultural backwardness’ is necessarily the idea of the Roman point of view.

As a people:
In the 4th Century BC, the writer Ephorus named the Gauls, Persians, Sycthians, and liybans as the four greatest of race of ‘barbarians’. The Gauls as a whole of the Celtic race possessed many qualities, their technical skills were something to be admired, indeed, their wealth attracted many enemies such as the Romans and the Germans. Their artistry in metalwork were some of the finest ever seen. They invented the mail coat which would soon be adopted by their enemies and created the plow. They were more like an building people which involved smithing/or building objects, using materials such as wood/stone/other materials.

However, they were also capable of doing fine metal/artwork, fine gold work with finesse subletley. Examples include enammlled brooches, utensils and weapons that were surpassed in quality, indeed the Roman helmet itself developed from the Gaulic La Tene helmet. The Romans adapted many formations from these people.



Displaying was an natural love feature for the Gauls. Displaying was to them to be showing of their wealth and beauty into scoeity, very much like the feudal society of Europe as of this time. They ha d colourful clothing, collars and armlets of gold/silver which celebrated their tribes/or had family rites/or maybe bedecking their chiefs. Gaulish Sheild design would have had some of the finest shield designs ever seen for an civilization normally seen as Barbarians. One of the things that the Gauls inherited was the displaying of boasting, strength and prowess, and bragging. Bellowing war cries and insults to their enemies was particularly common. Quicker to laugh, and ferocious in combat.

As conforming to their combat, Livy emphasises the difference  between Gaul and Roman thus; ‘one was remarkable for his stature, resplendent in multi‐coloured 
clothing and painted armour inlaid with gold; the other had a moderate physique for a soldier, and 
was nothing special to look at, with armour that was suitable rather than ornate. He did not sing out 
war‐cries, or dance about with useless brandishing of weapons, but his breast swelled with courage 
and silent anger; all his ferocity was held back for the critical moment of the duel.

This goes to show that the Gauls indeed were very multi-coloured on the battlefield, not so all greenlike or whatnot. Indeed, this is what separated the professional Roman soldiers that had been trained extensively as an army, where the Gaulish tribes managed to raise large armies, but only in the late stages did they really begin to become more professionalized, as Caeaser’s troops invaded Gaul.

As compared to this, the cult of blood hunting was common in Celtic society, and the tales of loyalty is something which seems to have been bonded in the Celtic tribes. Indeed, if you read many historical fiction novels set in the Roman Era, you’ll find that most authors tend to display a Celtic village and its warriors being bonded to the loyalty of their clans/however we musn’t ignore the fact that by the time of the Roman Conquest of Gaul, it is no doubt that the Romans would have gathered many Gaulish tribes in their belt, and some tribes were more than willing to serve under the Romans, or help the Romans in a conflict with an rival tribe. Caser recognised the fact that Gaul was divided and he used it to his advantage, if however, a General were like Vercingtox to arise and unite the tribes, then this would be a threat towards the Romans. So while there was loyalty, there was appalling treachery among the Gaulish Tribes. Indeed, it was only the unity of the Germanic tribes under Arminius that conflicted the worst defeat on Rome and managed to dissuade the Romans from expanding further into Germania. Though some of them do intend to display the young Celtics as all out going for war when it wasn’t. Some trained into wars, while others were farmers or so. The idea that it was really all an ‘’ warlike’’ society however, is false. It was a mixture of both. The Romans were like a warlike and civilian society themselves, but were more ruthless. When we compare this to the Celtic tribes, they were themselves capable of commiting dark acts against helpless victims , but they too were contradictory like the Romans.
                                                       
34 Livy, V, 49 in A. de Sčlincourt, Livy (Harmondsworth: Pelican Books, 1960), p.379 
35 Appian discusses this in H. White, Appian’s Roman History I (London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1912), p.99 
36 P. Bidwell, Roman Forts in Britain (London: B.T. Batsford, 1997), p.44 
37 S. Allen, Lords of Battle – The World of the Celtic Warrior (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2007), p.3 
38 Diodorus Siculus V, 29 in C.H. Oldfather (ed), Diodorus Siculus (London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1939), p.173 14 

Organzaiton:
Tacitus also stated ‘the Romans disregard the clamour and 
empty threats of the natives. Only let them keep their close order, and once they had discharged 
their javelins, carry on felling and slaughtering the enemy with their shield bosses and swords.’42 
These observations are confirmed by the Roman military theorist Vegetius who states ‘a small force 
which is highly trained in the conflicts of war is more apt to victory: a raw and untrained horde is 
always exposed to slaughter.’43 Yet these views must be counted as opinion, further reading shows 
how both Romans and Greeks noted the Gallic and Ancient British ability to fight tactically. Polybius 
describes how the Celts had posted the Alpine tribe of the Gaesate to face the rear, the direction 
from which they expected Paullus to attack, and behind them the Insubres; on their front, to meet 
the attack of Atilius’ legions, they had stationed the Taurisci and the Boii. The Celtic order of battle                                                            

39 Livy VII, 9 in B. Radice, Livy – Rome and Italy (Harmondsworth: Penguin Classics,1982), p.107‐109 
40 Dio Cassius, Epitome, LX11, 8, in E. Cary (ed), Dio’s Roman History (London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1968), 
p.95‐96 
41 Dio Cassius, Epitome, LXII, 12 in E. Cary (ed), Dio’s Roman History (London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1968), 
p.103 
42 Tacitus, Annals, XIV, 36 in C. H. Moore, Tacitus Annals (London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1966), p.167 
43 Vegetius I, 1 in N. Milner (ed), Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 
2001), p.3 


Warfare tactics:
The Gauls primarily were swordsmen, this is also seen by the Britannic, Iberian tribes which all seem to have been pretty much swordsmen based armies equipped with cavalry on the flanks. This would very much resemble a pre ‘medieval’ formation before it fully got to use during the medieval era. If they were led by the right General, then they had better chances against their enemies. The reason why the Romans were able to win against the Gauls was because of three factors:


  • Professionally trained, and had more logistical/organized formations.
  • Divide and Rule policy – they manipulated the Gaulish tribes against each other and successfully cooperated them into their empire.
  • Years of experience at war with the Celts had hardened the Roman psyche, so the common trait of the ferecoious charge of the Celts would have had little effect against professional soliders that had been in the army for 25 years or so. Unlike the Gaulish Celtics, they had already formed an professional army which was capable of defeating their enemies. The Gauls however, were disbanded tribes and while fighting in formation and compact masses, did not adopt a fully professional style of army. It was only in times of Ceaser’s Gallic Wars that they began to adopt them in the threat of the in surging Roman expanding monster.
  • No Formal military adopted by the Celtic tribes, it was all to do with the Hierchal system,



The Gallic’s army main core would have been the infantry. The infantry made the mass of Gallic Armies. There would have been before the start of the battle insults, cursing an shouting, abuses hurled at the enemy before they charged with their ferocious charges. Some cases would have been tossing their standards, music playing from the war horns and banging rhythmically on their shields.

Against the Romans, they simply did not have the manpower and influence to make rather large numbers fight for them. The Gauls didn't have influence or political stance to make large numbers fight for them, and while some of the Gauls may have had millitary training especially with tribes such as the Boii, the Arveni, or the Audei. But to make another point to balance these two arguments, the Celtic warriors were an disciplined force, and to be fair to the Romans, even their units were mostly consisting of local levies and natives which would take years to drill them into professional training as soldiers. Most of the other tribes would have not stood much of a chance against a fully trained professional army such as the Romans, the Celts may have had some military style, but they were a minority when compared to the Romans. It was only in confederations that they were truly capable under a leader like Vercetingox and some sort of form of an professional army began to truly form for a short time. Think of the Samurai of Japan in the feudal era, most troops were based on an herichal system and when they were called for war, they came in their numbers.

One of the things that the Gauls later began to adapt, and one which CA got right, was during the Gallic Wars you began to see an gradual emergence of Gaulish tactics and warfare being influenced and change to combat the Roman style of war. Their traditional long shields with the spine and umbo in favor of more rounded shields, or having domes in the middle to combat the Romans style of warfare. They experimented with spear heads and bayonets to pierce mail, but all this was for nothing, even though they were forced to adapt to situations whereas the Romans for hundreds of years had been adapting to their enemies quite a lot.

Once these warriors discharged from their shouting and attacked the enemy, they would throw their javelins upon to the enemyand break up as indiviual soliders to break up the opposing ranks. If the first assault failed, then you would get repeated assaults upon the enemy until they broke or the Gauls having to retreat if they were not able to.

The Gauls of course fought in close order and behind an shield wall, this is made in reference by( livy - History of Rome 1.0). There is evidence of an Gaulish Testudo, where in an battle the Gaulish spearmen or swordsmen, raised their shields above their heads and began locking them. ( Liviy, decribing the Gallic testudo at the battle of Alla).

Sources for other use:


- "When the Gallic horsemen were engaged, the servants remained behind the ranks and proved useful in the following way. Should a horseman or his horse fall, the slave brought him a horse to mount; if the rider was killed, the slave mounted the horse in his master's place; if both rider and horse were killed, there was a mounted man ready. When a rider was wounded, one slave brought back to camp the wounded man, while the other took his vacant place in the ranks. - Pausanias

- "By quickly adopting their usual phalanx the Germans were able to withstand the sword thrusts..." Caesar's Gallic Wars 1:52

- "The Gauls' mode of besieging is the same as that of the Belgae: when after having drawn a large number of men around the whole of the fortifications, stones have begun to be cast against the wall on all sides, and the wall has been stripped of its defenders, then, forming a testudo, they advance to the gates and undermine the wall: which was easily effected on this occasion; for while so large a number were casting stones and darts, no one was able to maintain his position upon the wall." - Caesar's Gallic War book ll

- "The Helvetii, having followed with all their wagons, collected their baggage into one place: they themselves, after having repulsed our cavalry and formed a phalanx, advanced up to our front line in veryclose order." - Caesar Gallic Wars XXIV

- "The Gauls concealed in the woods had already formed up in battle order" - Caesar Gallic Wars 2:19

- "The Nervii, led in a compact mass by their commander Boduagnatus" - Caesar Gallic Wars 2:23

- "Indutiomarus proceeded to raise and drill troops" - Caesar Gallic Wars 5:55

- "The Gauls re-formed in the market place and other open spaces in wedge-shaped masses" - Caesar Gallic Wars 7:28

- "The Gauls advanced to the attack with shields locked together above their heads, fresh troops continually relieving them when they were tired." - Caesar Gallic Wars 7:85

- "The Germans' line of battle is drawn up in a wedge-like formation- Tacitus
However these tactics were soon to be countered by the Romans which had rank file system that if the first line couldn't break through, it could depend on the other systems it had in place. However one of the thing that the Gauls themselves noticed, especially active tribes such as the Boii, Insurgubes, the Italian Gauls , Taursicii of the Apline regions noticed the great wealth that the Romans possessed in their hands, surely bringing to this point that a victory against Rome would give them greater wealth. Alas, that was not to be. Note, there were plenty of experienced gaulish warriors at this time.


Units:
In terms of units, there is the tribe of the Gaesatea, when they attacked the Romans, first attacked with javelins and then threw all their clothes, attacking the Roman infantry, attacking in huge numbers. Invited south, they were a wandering free people, and had participated in the great invasion period of the Italian peninsula.They had tall spearmen, decked with golden bracelets and torcs, twany manes stiffened in line, attacking in senseless rage against the enemy, Polybius or Diodorucs never indeed understood their actions for going naked in battle, but evidence suggests that these were tribes young men, who hired themselves to anyone as mercenaries and were known to be legendary warriors. These warriors wore a ' Monterfernio' helmet with massive cheek guards secured by thongs, through rings underneath the rear guard neck, and a horsechair crest. The torc is electrum, plated belt and bracelet are bronze. Weapons are large thrusting spear, two javelins and an sword. The Latter hangs from an extra loop on the belt, engaging with a metal loop on the back surface of the scabbard. The shield is painted wth circular patterns or so. These troops will be ready to recruit especially in the regions of the Swiss Alpines, and around the Italian Peninsula.

Slingers:
Some Celtic slingers would have had pebbles in their bag, cobble sized and water smoothed stones of uniform, gathered from beaches and rivers. Young men that had not yet learned how to master the sword, could join the assault infantry, or becoming slingers in order to show their skils in the hope that they would be promoted. This was also common for the Germanic tribes such as the Suebi, so we would call these slingers and Javelin-men as ' Gaulish blooded youths'.

Cavarly:
By 52 bc, the late Gallic Cavarlyman that would have served with Vercingtox at Alesia, would have been an ferocious warrior. In this example here, he wears the Agen helmet as was found at the battle site of Alesia, wearing the helmet and holding his shield on his side. Note that some of these shields may have been rectangular or rounded. This particular cavalrymen wears an striped wollen jerkin, over a checker pattern long sleeved smock, and wearing a cloak. Gallic cavarly would have been able to dismount and charge and this was recorded for Alesia as well. They had a different tribal tradition according to their gods as well.

A Gaulic heavy cavalry armoured unit would also be an mid level tier to keep the cavalry of the Gaulish tribes level. It is no doubt that during the Gallic Wars and with the Germanic tribes there would have been units of armoured better equipped horsemen. Note that since the Celts were fine metal makers, there was an abundance of materials ready for the Gaulish tribes to already have some of these units in their ranks. The Gauls had more iron and skilled smiths at the time. It should also note that the best Gaulish cavalry came from the tribes that were masters of the horse, and where horses inhabited that region. Gallic Cavarly were well renowned and were constantly used as mercaernies by Hannibal and other Greek/Macedonian generals. The Romans admitted freely that Iberian and Gallic cavarly were some of the best that they met, regarding them to be excellent swordsmen. This was just in accordance to their point of view.

Many Celtic cavalrymen often fought without wearing armour or helmets. Now this does not apply to all tribes, but it would have been an common occurrence. Most of the Gallic Calvary that fought in Ceaser's side would have well been better equipped, and were some of the finest allies that he would have. Instead we can call these units as ' Unarmoured Gallic cavalry', these people would be poor for their service in the tribe and during the life and death struggle between the Gauls and the Romans, it would not have been common to see these Gallic Cavarlymen to wander around with stolen Roman helmets.

The Cimbrian cavalry unit - In fall of the Roman Republic, Plutarch describes the Cimibrian cavarly at Verllace, as wearing helmets like the 'gape jawed heads of beasts heightened with tall feather plums, two javelins, a large heavy sword and and as wearing iron breast plates. A unit like this would be welcome in the game.

Another unit that I would like to add is Batavian Cavarly, there are several accounts of them fighting like heroics, and the Batavians being a Germanic tribe, would have had some pretty good cavalry, most commonly, they would have been used as mercaneis. The tribe of the Sequani recruited Germanic mercenaries.
In this pic, the nobleman helmet's of the Port Type dating from the last phase of the La Tene Culture, over a long sleeved smock, with braiding at the helms, and cuffs, he wears a mail corselet, slit at the hips to make an easy mounted seat. Now, they could be better equipped swordsmen or cavarly during the Gallic Wars.

Tribes such as the Boii, who fought against the Romans for a very long time than any other Gallic tribe, should have access to naked warriors, as they were well known for having them. Gallic chariots must be in many tribes, and for the Boii as well. Units such as Celtic Axemen and Swordsmen must be available to the Boii and be made as special mercaneris as well for other tribes. Only the Boii will have an advantage over the other Gallic tribes with these three unit types, and when recruited as mercenaeries, they will not be that good compared to their native counterparts. However they will be effective as light infantry capable of routing or destroying other light infantry unit types. The Nervii need wolf warriors in their custom roster list.

The galatians need three types of units: Sythced Chariots, normal chariots, and Galation Catakori. The reason behind this is that the Galations used Sctyhian chariots and chariots against the Selecuids, and there is meantion of the Galations sending their troops, around five thousand to aid the Romans against the Selecuids, serving as cataphracts. This is an common influence, and their cavarly would have been influnced by other Selecuid or Pontic cavarlymen. Their Legionnaires must be a mix of Romanized, Ptolemic influences. But we must have this sort

Galation normal style legionnaires:
Reasoning: These units should be the poor version of the legionnaires at the start - they are an attempt to have some sort of infantry style, but not such a good attempt. They are disciplined warriors, and can be truly capable of turning the battle side, but they are more an attacking force than an defending force. Their strength is delivering a good capable charge. But they are also bad because they are unwieldy, like phalanxes, and are unable to manvoure much, they have more armour making them more heavy, since it is an mix of Galation and other Eastern influences. Nevertheless these units will be your mainstay for a while, unreliable but dependable.


Galation Romanized Style Legionnaires:
Reasoning: These units should be the elite of the Galation Legionnaires, since they were trained themselves by the Romans, and having aided the Romans in defeating the Pontic army during the Mithadehric wars, these units should be the proper elite of the Galation style legionnaires.

Tylis need more access to Thracian bowmen, chariots, and more Celtic swordsmen in this region. Thracian mercanary cavarly, especially skirshmer ones will be a good choice. Gallic-Thracian infantry, or cavarly, or archers would be a nice addition to the unit roster of Tylis.

Extra info worth meantioning:

These posts were made by Ambigtos and Daelin 4, but I think they deserve a good meantion:

Originally Posted by daelin4:

In terms of tech tree I think that the end-game Gallic/ German tech trees could resemble early medieval technology and styles. The social culture of the Germans and Gauls look an awful like that of a prototypical medieval society, with similar structures and organizations. Oppidia, which were large hill forts of varying degrees of protection, would have naturally evolved into the early medieval castles."
Excellent observation! Their society and the way they raised their armies do remind me a lot of how armies were fielded in feudal times. And the oppida were operated like early castle forts that dotted the country sides. Even the Gallic weapons ( i.e long swords with double fullers, etc etc ) seem to have been a pre-cursor to the later designs that would eventually take shape. Medieval and Migration/Viking period smiths seem to have picked up right where the La Tene smiths left off. Afterall, it was the Gallic weapon that seems to have survived the test of time, rather than the Roman one. It evolved into the spatha and was the prototype for later periods ( migration/Viking, Medieval ).



So really, the Gallic tech ( especially in weapons ), should in theory be able to advance quite well, since they were quite ahead of their time. They had the tech and ability to advance in other areas as well, but we must remember that they chose to live a more laid back lifestyle in that regard. They were like the country and suburban folk versus city folk. But since we have the ability to control them and change history, there really shouldn't be a reason why they couldn't advance like anyone else. There is no reason they would remain stagnant. Even without our control, the oppida likely would have evolved like Daelin said, and their close proximity and trade with Rome would have kept them progressing.
Unit Suggestion list:

Gallic Heavy Cavarly
Batavain infantry - heavy
Batavan Cavarly
Sycthed Chariots for Galations
Chariots
Noble Infantrymen
Soldurus unit
Armoured Gallic Heavy Cavarly
Celtic Axemen
Celtic Swordsmen
Cimbrii Calvary Unit
Heavily armoured Gaulish cavarly
Gallic Long Bowmen
Galation Catakroi
Thracian bowmen
Thracian light mercenary cavarly
Light Gaulish Warband
Celtic Swordsmen
Naked Gaseate Spearman