The Britons were a people inhabiting the British Isles from the Iron age onwards. They inhabited all of modern day England, Wales, and some of lower Scotland. They were a Celtic people who spoke a Celtic language called Common Brittonic. However their culture was not identical to the Celts of mainland Europe, such as Gaul. This was primarily due to being isolated from the mainland, though not totally isolated as trade and travel occurred, but isolated enough to create a difference in culture. It's believed that the Britons represented a more traditional Celtic culture from the earlier La Tene period, whereas the mainland Celts, no doubt with influence from the Romans and Greeks, had a slightly more advanced and less traditional Celtic culture. This means that for the Britons in our period their culture is still heavily divided on the old Celtic class system, and militarily with a heavy influence on champion combat and ritual warfare.
Introduction and Explanation
The class divisions of the Britons Celtic culture were the Unfree, the Free, and the Nobles. The unfree were what today you'd call peasants or serfs, they weren't slaves in the traditional sense, but they were tied to the land and had to farm it for their lord, who in turn offered them protection. The unfree were not warriors but could fight if the need was great enough. The Free Class were men who were not tied to any land or lord, and could do as they wanted, hence the name. They would be the tradesmen, the smiths, and other similar occupations of the period. Freemen would form their own warbands and fight together but they didn't have as much emphasis on being a warrior as the noble class. The Nobles were the final class, these were the land owning wealthy tribal chiefs, leaders and their extended families. This class was actually quite large. Some people believe that traditionally only this class were allowed to be warriors, and while this isn't true for our period it's still true that they had a huge warrior culture, with every noble aspiring to become a great and famous hero through many battles. Nobles, and occasionally Freemen, would become patrons to other nobles, sometimes called a retainer. These men would follower the higher ranking noble as bodyguards, while he in return would provide them with better equipment and chances for glory and honour in battle.
The name Briton was originally with a P, something like Priton, which survived in the name of the Picts who lived in modern day Scotland. Briton means "Picture, Painted, Tattoo", and it's likely that the modern word "Picture" shares the same origin. They have this name because the Britons used to paint their bodies with woad and other dyes, into elaborate and no doubt religious patterns. This was one of their defining traits and comes up in many ancient accounts. This does not mean every warrior was Painted but certainly a good amount. The Britons also liked to fight naked, like many other Celts. This also seems to have had religious reasons, or perhaps a show of bravery. If not naked most Britons will wear their regular Celtic clothing into battle, wealthier warriors can afford armour such as chainmail, which is native to the Celts. It may have been imported to Britain or made locally, probably both. Helmets were fairly popular, generally being quite simple Celtic designs such as the Coolus or Montefortinos. The most common weapon was the spear, but the most prized weapon was the Longsword, with religious meaning tied to it. Most nobles could probably afford a Longsword, perhaps choosing between getting the sword or getting armour, whereas most freemen and probably all unfree would have to settle for spears.
The Units
Unfree Class
Levied Spearmen and Spear Militia
The basic troop provided by the Unfree classes would be simple spearmen, little to no armour, spears and celtic shields, they can't afford nor deserve swords. As Briton society advances they would develop into a more permanent militia.
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Slingers
Sling stones are found all over Britain especially in hillforts in huge numbers, the sling was a very popular weapon especially for defense, and would have dominated long range warfare considering archery was almost non existant. Even so its a weapon which would have largely been left to the unfree, not worthy or honourably in a nobles eyes.
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Archers
For unknown reasons archery was extremely rare in the British isles, it is only during the very late iron age do we begin to find arrow heads, so it seems archers finally started to existing in this late period probably due to external influence. For those reasons this unit is a late game unit.
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Free Class
Briton Dog Handlers
Historical evidence exists for the use of Molossus dogs in warfare among the Britons, particularly Caesars invasion of Britain. They were also a famous iron age export from the British Isles, being used across the ancient world. It would be the free class who would train, sell and use these dogs.
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Free Spears
A Freemen Spearband is essentially the Freemen version of the traditional Celtic warband, these young men have given up their mundane lives to strike it out as a band of warriors, giving their service to whoever will pay, though this life is not as glorified as being a noble swordsman, they are still a valuable asset on the battlefield. They are fairly well equipped with helmets and basic leather armours.
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Naked spearmen
The Free can see the honour and glory in fighting naked just like the Nobles. They are culturally the same as the Free Spears unit, but have naturally banded together with like minded men who want to fight nude to form their own group.
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Free Swords
This unit culturally is identical to the Free Spears but they use shortswords, which became more common and available to the lower classes in the later period. They still do not use the prestigious long sword reserved for the noble classes however.
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Noble Class
Chieftain and Tribal Leader
The leader of a Celtic clan or tribe would be a wealthy nobleman, surrounded by the wealthiest and most famous nobles of his particular group, this would be a formidable force in battle, the very best of the Briton warriors in equipment and valour. These units will be your generals.
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Naked Fanatics
Many sources note that some Britons would fight totally naked, just like other Celts. It's not quite known why they would do this, it seems to be a mixture of things, such as a show of bravery, an attempt to intimidate the enemy, or a trust in the gods rather than armour. Whatever the reasons these men are as brave as they come, and fanatical in battle.
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Warband, Early and Late
The warband was the primary and most famous fighting force of the Britons. These men are the typical Briton warriors, made up of young and old nobles with good equipment, each one accompanied by a select group of personal oathsworn bodyguards, who would have varying levels of equipment depending on their nobles wealth. They are warrior aristocrats, they live to fight and all dream of becoming great and famous warriors. The late version adopts more armour as it becomes more common in the later period.
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Briton Light Horsemen
As time went on in Briton chariots began to fall more and more out of favour, being replace by simply riding the horse itself. You would need to be a wealthy man to own a horse, but most Briton cavalry men would ride light, with little to no armour, throwing javelins before charging.
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Briton Cavalry
Heavier cavalry seems to have been adopted after increased contact with mainland celts. The riders would wear their armour while mounted and use stronger horses, perhaps imported. The horses would wear some armour, indicated by archeological finds of horse armour, but usually just over the head. This unit combines the warrior spirit of the Briton noble with a spear and a strong horse behind it.
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Heroes
Celtic Briton like many warrior cultures had a strong tradition of heroes. The Heroes or Champions of Briton would be older warriors famous across the land or in their tribe for their heroic deeds in many battles. It could take a life time to become a hero. These men are highly skilled in battle and form an elite unit. Priding themselves on their honour and courage, they fight with traditional duelling shields long abandoned by most Briton warriors. These shields prove ones skill in battle, but in realistic terms offer little protection.
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Chariots
Light war chariots were still in use in Britain well after being abandoned by the mainland Celts. They would be used to transport noble warriors to the battlefield, or to harry, skirmish and terrify their enemies. They could be used in a charge but due to being quite light this would only work against scattered or light foes.
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Druid Warband
Druids were known to fight and appear in accounts of historical battles, such as the invasion of the Island of Mona, a druid stronghold. It's highly unlikely to have an entire unit of druids however, so this unit is simply some druids accompanied by their fanatical religious followers, who adorn themselves in extreme warpaint and cult clothing. This unit is half the size of a normal unit, it's main value is it's inspirational effect on the battlefield, giving a morale boost to any nearby Briton unit.
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Briton Youths
This unit is comprised of the sons and young adults of the noble class. They are eager for battle but too inexperienced to join the main melee, so it was common for them to get initial experience in battle acting as skirmisher troops, getting to see battle up close, but not close enough to die before their prime, in theory of course.
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Unit cards will be coming soon.
Credits
We would like to thank the Divide et Impera team for many of the unit components seen above. Access to their massive unit resources sped up the creation process of these units a great deal and proved to be invaluable. Their fantastic work paved the way for us.
Divide et Impera TWC Forum
We would also like to thank the Age of Bronze team for freely supplying some of the assets seen in this preview, which also greatly sped up the process.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forum...e-%28TW-AoB%29