Bavandids and other small Iranian factions?

[Fraxinicus]

There's lots of small, interesting factions in and around Iran. The Bavandids in particular are interesting, as a (by this time) Shia, native-Iranian dynasty that was never conquered by the Arabs, but I'd also love to play as the Hazaraspids (a Kurdish faction) and Shirvanshah.

Are there plans for any of these to be playable?

[karasis]

Yeah.İt would be cool if Iran see some love.

[Slytacular]

Look at the campaign map thread.

[Fraxinicus]

Look at the campaign map thread.

I assume the factions with the larger symbols are the ones meant to be playable on release?

It's not entirely obvious at first glance, and the size difference can be hard to notice in some cases. Looks like Khwarezm and the Ghurids are the only playable factions in the Iranian area.

A shame, but hopefully we can see the Bavandids in a later update after release, or in a submod. Would be fun to have a Shia Persian faction, and as far as I can tell it would only be the second playable Shia faction on the entire map.

EDIT: OK, looking it over, looks like the larger icons indicate independent states as opposed to vassals... so is every starting faction intended to be playable on release? I don't see anywhere in the campaign map mega thread that indicates which factions will be playable, or if all of them will be.

[Slytacular]

Expect all of the factions to be playable. I think the issue my development team and I would be to choose what factions won't be playable.

[Fraxinicus]

Oh, cool. Thanks for the info. You guys should probably make that clear in one of the stickies - ctrl+f "playable" gives no results in either the campaign map master thread, or the general overview thread.

[TheShah]

The Bavandids simply have to be in the game, it would be a shame if they weren't. They played an important role in the history of northern Iran. Btw, the Bavandids were not Persians, but actually Iranians. They were originally Parthian, and later became assimilated to the Iranians living in northern Iran, where the Caspian Sea was.

[Slytacular]

Bavandids are a planned faction to create. There are a lot of factions to make units for, they'll have their turn soon.

[LinusLinothorax]

Bavandids are a planned faction to create. There are a lot of factions to make units for, they'll have their turn soon.

Not exactly on topic, but any plans on when you guys start to work on the Makurian roster?

[Lucem Mundum]

Not exactly on topic, but any plans on when you guys start to work on the Makurian roster?

You can't wait for your field of study can you eh?

I actually had the exact same question in mind too.

[Slytacular]

Not exactly on topic, but any plans on when you guys start to work on the Makurian roster?

My team and I will get to that faction eventually. If you can provide some sources of information about Makuria, that would be awesome! I probably need at least a week to read into that part of the world, as I am very unfamiliar with it.

[You_Guess_Who]

Not exactly on topic, but any plans on when you guys start to work on the Makurian roster?

That's a proposal isn't it? Saying "Ooh, ooh, lemme show me the wonders of African Knights in heavy armour!"

[LinusLinothorax]

My team and I will get to that faction eventually. If you can provide some sources of information about Makuria, that would be awesome! I probably need at least a week to read into that part of the world, as I am very unfamiliar with it.

Check out the links in my signature. First link includes pretty much all major sources we have on it's warfare (I would say it includes roughly 80% of all relevant sources in total, with leaving out minor stuff like arrow- and spearheads), second is useful for Nubian morphology and third includes some authentic reconstructions by Alejandro Sanchez.
If you need a good read try Derek Welsby's "Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia". Even it focuses more on architecture it also has useful parts about the history, culture aswell as some pages about warfare. Also think its the only comprehensive book about Medieval Nubia in English anyways.
Also a classic is William Y. Adams "Nubia. Corridor to Africa". Even if its pretty old it offers a solid overview about all Nubian civilizations, including the Medieval ones.

Edit: Ah yeah, this website is good aswell, even if most articles are pretty short: http://www.medievalnubia.info/dev/index.php/Main_Page

That's a proposal isn't it? Saying "Ooh, ooh, lemme show me the wonders of African Knights in heavy armour!"

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[You_Guess_Who]

Translation: I'm saying you're eager to help researching Makurian units, since you have good access to materials about it.

[LinusLinothorax]

Translation: I'm saying you're eager to help researching Makurian units, since you have good access to materials about it.

Ah k. Yes, if there are any questions i am glad to help, though I would let Slytacular and his comrades do the main work

[Linke]

What about both the bavandids and Hashashins, one of them as a "horde" faction, the other controlling that town (and Bavandids as Khwarezmian vassal)

[Fraxinicus]

The Assassins as a whole faction with their own army is kind of grossly ahistorical, isn't it? Especially as a horde.

[TheShah]

The Bavandids should be a horde faction, where you under prince Shahriyar have the chance to restore Bavandid rule.

[nnnm]

they were not horde though ... Bavanded were known for their mountain region that easily defended and their high forts and was a major reason for their survival for long

[TheShah]

I know that they weren't a horde, but what else can we do? Come with a suggestion instead of telling me something I already know : P.