Medieval Kingdoms Total War: Kingdom of Norway

[Slytacular]

Some of the new tier 3 units in action:

Oppbud (Late)

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Vaepnere (Late)

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Pike Landevern

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Crossbow Landevern

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[anders99]

this all looks great!
about the "oppbud" - what kind of unit is this? it looks like a wealthy, professional kind of polearm unit, but the word "oppbud" in contemporary Norwegian means more or less the same as the american term "posse" - a more or less coincidental group of men gathered togheter quickly and deputized for some urgent purpose, or a mobilization of every man able to carry a weapon. This unit doesnt look like "every guy we could round up".

[Kjertesvein]

about the "oppbud" - what kind of unit is this? it looks like a wealthy, professional kind of polearm unit, but the word "oppbud" in contemporary Norwegian means more or less the same as the american term "posse" - a more or less coincidental group of men gathered togheter quickly and deputized for some urgent purpose, or a mobilization of every man able to carry a weapon. This unit doesnt look like "every guy we could round up".

That's one of the tricky ones. It's not easy to come up with perfect words. If you have other suggestions to fill that spot and why, then feel free to let the world know.

Oppbud is a broad term for an assembled group of men, as you've noted. I can't find how you've described wealth, status or other nature of such group of who ever is assembled and I'm unaware of that. I agree that the term can come off as being too broad or not specific enough.

To clearify the current terminology used:

• The 'Oppbud' unit is the line infantry, the best equipped part of the commoners, a bridge between the old levy (Leidang) and those with a military career. Think of them as Scandinavian's answer to Retinue Longbowmen or Men-at-Arms. It's an attempt to harken back to Haakon the VI's attempt to establish a Legd system in 1370s Norway (more centralized armaments of the old Leidang).
• The Landevern is the "every guy we could round up", the local militia or those less fortunate pressed into the army.
• Væpnere (Late) represent the ~30% Men-at-Arms who were of of noble background.

From the Språkrådet dictionary (Norwegian, translated).

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Oppbud (Old Norse uppboð), from oppby. German origin.

1. Assembly of something or someone.

2. The usage of things.

3. The contemporary military use of the word Oppbud describe the two distinct groups of conscripts within the Norwegian armed forces: Linjen ('the line') aged 19-34 and is part of the main field army, and Landvernet ('Landevern') aged 35-44 and used primarily in the local field armies. See Store Norske Leksikon.

4. Law, has to do with bankruptcy.

Cheers.

~Wille

[anders99]

I`m afraid i dont have much in the way of naming suggestions, and it might also be that my understanding of the term "oppbud" is too modern. An "oppbud" in my understanding would be "whoever we can get our hands on right now right here and deputize" but the way youve used it is more like "alminnelige vernepliktige( conscripts) and something a bit more fomalized than the landvern. That of course also justifies the level and homogenity of Equipment, theyre equippped by the state. With that understanding of the term the unit is perfectly well named.

[hessam]

Nice to see those new sallets of yours in action.

[banskie100]

oh god. these units are freeking beautiful. (KIMOCHI!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

[Visarion]

Great stuff

[Maroni_The_Bat2]

So, I have two questions. One specific for Norway, and the other a more general one, but I'll ask it here since it kinda fits the whole nordic thing.

1. CoA? I get you're trying to stick to a colour scheme, but Norway had noble families aswell, maybe not as many as others, but they were there. It would be nice to see them represented somehow in the game.
2. Iceland. I know Iceland can't be added on the campaign map, but will they be represented here, or as AoR units, due to their close connection to Norway?

[Slytacular]

1. I will be redesigning the nobility for tier 2 to represent more closely to their frescoes and manuscripts. I have also seen a lot of heraldry without any colors, so I used those for the Vaepnere and similar units. 15th century might use a lot more heraldry.
2. That is way off the map for Attila. I don't really know how to include them into Norway.

[FrozenmenSS]

2. That is way off the map for Attila. I don't really know how to include them into Norway.

a 3rd horde army just north of the coast of Scotland can help represent the scandinavians in the minor scotish isles to the north of the British isles.

[Locus_Devium]

Perhaps you might create two or three icelandic units.. they might have several bonuses in winter combat but this is just a guess

Gesendet von meinem SM-G925F mit Tapatalk

[Slytacular]

@Frozen, Orkney Islanders are the Norwegians that live North of Scotland. That northern part of Scotland will be an AoR region to recruit the Orkney Islanders from.

@Locus, Iceland didn't come under rule of Norway until some 10-20 years after the mod's start. Therefore, I'm not going to worry about them unless Kjertesvein says they were essential to the Norwegian armies.

[Kjertesvein]

Is Iceland's presence in the Norwegian faction necessary? Well, they formed a substantial part of what we consider 'Medieval Norwegian culture'. You wouldn't go wrong by mentioning it in the technology tree and as one or two units. Are Icelandic military units essential? Yes and no. It doesn't have to be, because they could be (mis)represented as "Norwegian" without much effort, what ever that concept means. At the same time they provide Norway with what is a uniquely western Norse element. Think of it as as a counter-weight to the generic Scandinavian or Continental influences. At the end of the day, to what degree the idea of a uniquely Western Norse (Greenland-to-Norway) element is sought after, is a matter of preference in my opinion.

Context of Iceland in a Norwegian military context.

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Scholars, warriors and travelers.

We know from Icelandic sagas, 1286, we see that the concept of Leidang was present, but more on that later. Iceland is the home of the history of Norway, i.e. it's the home of the repository of the stories told in huge amount of the sagas that flourished in the 13th century. Lots of learned men lived there. As a perspective, this dwarf anything you see of what the Swedes have of medieval literature culture. Iceland and Norway were deeply connected. Along with the other isles in the North Atlantic Sea (except for the two islands Ireland and Great Britain), they formed part of the Norwegian Commonwealth. It also formed the Diocese during the middle ages and they answered to the Archbishop in Nidaros for cases of law. This was connected via an active ship-culture, in some way it mirrored the Venetian maritime network. All this is important, but whether it's necessary to visually illustrate via Icelandic units and technology is up for debate. I'll give short summery of the interaction, and so perhaps that can give context to what we're talking about.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros

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Norwegian Commonwealth during 1265. Archbishop in Nidaros ruled over the other Bishoprics seen on the map. These areas would retain their local Norse laws to 1611, many also up to recent times.

Icelandic foreign military prowess has it's roots attested to the fact that many of their lords were Varangians of the Roman Empire, while others were travelers to the holy land. This is noted in the Icelandic sagas when they returned with all the extravagant Scarlet coloured cloths, refined jewelry and expensive weaponry the Roman empire had to offer in their mercenary employment. Árón Hjǫrleifsson (1199-1255) was an Icelandic Noble who was Outlawed after an Icelandic feud. As a result he sought refuge in Norway, went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, returned to Norway and finally became one of King Haakon Haakonsson's Hirdmen. (Áróns saga Hjǫrleifssonar).

In 1286 war was on the southern horizon. The arrival of war meant that mercenaries from England were gathered. We also know that during the same year, a Norwegian expeditionary force was to include Icelandic forces for the first time. In the saga, it's mentioned that all loyal (Icelandic) lords, along with 40 men x 4 was asked to sail to Norway during the same summer (with haste). Since 1262-64, Iceland was part of the Norwegian Realm, which meant that the Norwegian King could demand tribute from the island's population. The royal call of the expedition in 1286 met large resistance among the locals. Even when Norway's closest allies (Lord Raven and Bishop Arne) was promised huge rewards to drive forth the motion of an Icelandic expedition, the interest from locals to realize the plans were lukewarm among most of the supporters on Iceland. The attempt to raise an expedition in 1286 from Iceland therefor was a huge fiasco.
The idea of an expedition (Leidang, which is a broad term across centuries with many different meanings in terms of troop quality) was on many ways predicated on individual lord's relation to the prince, rather than a conscript where each soldier do as they're told. During the summer of 1286, Denmark was full of internal turmoil, which no doubt would be an attractive cause for many lords and their own friends or clients on an individual level.

As of military component in Norwegian armies, we see this when King Eirik of Norway summoned his Norwegian and Danish (Outlawed) Lords to perform raids and sieges in Denmark 1289 against King Menved. The Icelandic Bishop Arne Torlaksson (Árna Saga Biskups) tells us about his account. When the Norwegian fleet stayed in Amager, Denmark, we know that after negotiations, all the ecclesiastical lords, except for Bishop Arne were allowed to return home. Apparently an event then described where Royal Norwegian men boarded his ship out of fear that he would try to leave the military expedition with the other bishops. As a religious man, he also expressed contempt for some of the raiding that was performed and refused to live on those resources.
In the same saga we're also told that the Danish King Erik Menved sent a letter to Bishop Arne for him to try to calm down the Norwegians, cease their expedition and return home. He also wished that the Norwegians would no longer protect the Danish Outlaw Lord (Count/Earl) Jacob of Halland (lords who had assassinated previews Danish King and, at the time, under royal Norwegian protection). Anyway, this letter resulted in Bishop Arne and some other lords coming to Copenhagen on diplomatic matters on behalf of the Norwegian princes. The negotiations turned up without results, as is according to Vegetius' strategem of calling for diplomacy to wear out attackers by stalling them. In any case, according to Tor Einar Fagerland in his doctorate, "this still gives us a glimpse into the Clergy's important role within medieval warfare. Bishops could, with their competence in law, rhetoric and the Latin language function as messengers and negotiators in the important diplomatic connection between each side of a war."

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Figure 2 Map of the Danish-Norwegian campaign in 1289. King Eirik and Duke Haakon's
forces marked with straight lines. Marshall Stig's forces marked with dashed lines. Stars
show battles and raids during the campaign. This is from Knut Helle's Under Kirke og
Kongemakt 1130-1350. Aschehougs Norges Historie, bnd. 3, Oslo 1995:202.

One of the battles describe the events of Ravn Oddsson. In 1269, during the time of Magnus the Lawmender, Lord Raven(Ravn) was given lordship over half of Iceland by the King. This might be due to his relation to the forces (Sturla Sigvatsson) that had long tried to implement Iceland under the Norwegian King. Anyway, in the words of Fagerland "during the Siege (of Stegeborg in Denmark), Raven's destiny becomes the main character of note. According to the Saga, Raven would receive the blessings of Bishop Arne each day before they went into fighting. During that fateful day, they forget to perform the blessing. During the heat of the siege, the battle-hardened Raven was called by the king to help bind up the many wounded. Raven was not only one of the King's oathsworn men on Iceland, but he also had decades of experience with warfare on Iceland. His knowledge and experience must have played an important role among the Norwegian-Danish forces. The forces of Stegeborg heard that someone called out the name "lord Raven", and when he stood up, clad in the accouterments and armour equivalent to the rank of a knight, they sent forth a hail of arrows which the Icelandic magnate couldn't turn aside. Raven got many serious wounds, but according to the saga it was an infection in his finger which in the end lead to his demise as they returned to Norway.

Source (Norwegian): https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/handle/11250/242764

How:

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Technology tree and buildings:

Iceland isn't a geographical area on the map, but due to their ability to travel across sea, it could easily be linked to a port or 'noble' building chain. If one of the port buildings give access to German Hanse units, then a warrior port building could give access to Icelandic (as well as Orkney) units.
Alternatively, if a "noble" building gave access to Knekts, then that same building could also give access to Icelandic units. This choice between the Norse and European elements is possible to be amplified by decisions made in the Technology tree that are custom to Norway.

Units:
Perhaps some tier 1 Roman influence. Scarlet colours. Armyboom (shrapnel grenades?). Large Longships. Have your pick, or for the sake of simplicity, a copy of Foot Riddere unit with Atgeir/Kesja weapons.

BTW, I've mentioned Armyboom. It's from an account by the Icelandic Bishop Laurentius when he spent time in the Norwegian palace. The event probably 1295 Christmas festivities. Here is described a form of explosive made by Trond Fisiler and the element is called 'herbrest', or "army-boom". http://imgur.com/gallery/t2yS0 There is overall little information on this, but so is also most 13th century accounts of gunpowder.

If anyone have any questions, feel free to ask.

~Wille

[Kjertesvein]

"Viking Halbers" for Scandinavian factions. An attempt to clarify what constitutes these weapons.
Source:
Góð vopn á sjó og landi: An examination of the atgeirr and kesja in Old Norse literature and Scandinavian archaeology, Ritgerð til MA-prófs í, 2014, K. James McMullen, May, 2014.



Atgeir

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Atgeirr, type D,F,G, and H.

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Usage

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Atgeir was often used by professional warriors. In the Icelandic sources, it's almost often associated with people who in one way or another is connected to Europe, traveling or someone who know someone who's trade is on the sea. Pirate, raider, merchant, trader, mercenary or part of the hird. The weapon was a dedicated primary weapon without any supporting secondary object, and is cited as particularly good in ship-to-ship battle. It's both a throwing and a melee weapon, but only thrown in opportune moments when a tactical advantage could be had. The persons throwing it would always have a back-up weapon. From Laxdœla saga, the man who gifts his son an Atgeir is described as the following, implying that it is a weapon that can be used at sea and by people who are familiar with traveling.
“...a great man and strong and a great seaman. He was newly come from abroad...”

A passage of it's use on ship to ship combat from Hálfdanar saga Eysteinssonar. Úlfkell attacks Hrafnkell on board a ship using an atgeirr and, within the confines of ship-board combat, does quite well with it.
“He quickly laid in with the atgeirr against Hrafnkel [and thrust] through the shield and both arms, and lifted him up and cast him out into the sea.”

The words Atgeir

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The word Atgeirr consists of At- which means direction or movement towards something. -geirr is a word often attributed to throwing spear.

Description of the Atgeir

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The geometry of the blade.

The fact that the atgeirr was described as being used primarily to thrust with in BrennuNjáls saga, and frequently used as a missile in other sagas, dictates the geometry of the blade. It would need to have a stiff blade in order to provide an efficient and powerful thrust, as well as having a broad cross-section in order to make a larger, more lethal wound in an opponent when it pierces them. As was made clear in Konungs skuggsjá, atgeirar were weapons which were multi-purpose and very tough – they would have to be, if they were a primary weapon during a ship-board battle – and as such, their blades must reflect that. There is also the issue of defending oneself adequately with an atgeirr, as Gunnar does on numerous occasions and, presumably, the ship-borne warriors of Konungs skuggsjá would as well. The presence of defensive wings or lugs would be a boon in defensive situations, as has been demonstrated in the section detailing Gunnar's disarming of Skammkell and, as has been explained, would not seriously impact the atgeirs ability to pierce an enemy when thrown or thrust with great enough force.

It could be the case that the blade was longer than other spear types, due to the fact that it was often described as going clean through other people.

The general term spjót, spear, is far more widespread in the textual sources than atgeirr.

Here in Brennu-Njáls saga we can see that the weapon would have significant mass and rigidity to translate such momentum as to break a spear shaft in a hewing motion. The shaft and socket of the Atgeir would also have to be sturdy enough to withstand the forces involved.
“Skarpheðinn dealt Tjǫrvi his deathblow. Hróald had a spear in his hand, and he leapt at Hǫgni; Hróaldr laid in toward Hǫgni; Hǫgni hewed the spear-shaft asunder with his atgeirr, and then drove the atgeirr into him.”

The atgeir doesn't appear to be particularly large. It could be placed inside a shieling or an outhouse without any special mention to the fact.
“Harðbeinn thrust with the atgeirr from the shieling and through the broken door. It thrust into the steel helmet of Þorstein svart, and stood in his forehead...”

An older modern scholar has described the Atgeir, generally speaking as 'a heavy, narrow blade on a relatively shortshaft.' Falk, Altnordische Waffenkunde, pp. 82-83.

The weapon in one instant imply a guard or lugs to stop incoming attacks in a parry motion, such as stopping the attack from an axe. At the same time the weapon is, at several instances described as passing clean through shield, helmet and bodies. This means that what ever wings were present to parry an axe, would also have to be narrow enough as not to hinder or impede a thrust. Winges or lugs from this period do not appear to be broader than the blade itself.

Kasja

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Kesjur 521, 530, 532 a. possibly 519. Keep in mind that the one description we have are 91.5 cm long blades, while the longest spear type that has been excavated is 66 cm of the I type. Make of that what you want.

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These references in skaldic verse indicate quite clearly that kesjur were versatile weapons, capable of being used in both close and long range combat, and that it was the blade of the kesja, rather than any particular length of shaft, which defined a particular weapon as a kesja rather than a spjót.

The word Kesja or Kesjur is a far more widespread word than Atgeir.

Usage

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The Kesja was a weapon used solely by the professional warrior of an army. One occasion mentioned in the Sverre Saga talks about how the weapon was used by professional warriors, rather than volunteering farmers. One such man by the name of Eyvindr approach Sverre's forces, armed with nothing more than a tree branch. One of Sverre's men, Hjarrandi hviða, commends Eyvindr's bravery for wishing to face the enemy armed only with a great club, but seems to realize the folly of allowing a man to be armed so in combat when he loans Eyvindr his own personal Kesja and hand-axe. The fact that his happened so close to the battle suggest that Hjarrandi had access to replacements.

Here is an example of a man, who has taken Kesja as his by name. Harald kesja, son of Erik Ejegod, King of Denmark in the late eleventh century. This means that the word was common enough to be recognized as a by-name and such prowess that princes would take its usage with pride.

"He was a powerful warrior, who swung his kesja, the heavy, broad-bladed spear, withgreat skill; thus he must have got his surname “kesja” in the same way as other warriors,who also were named after their kesja, spear, or sword."

Like wise, when King Sverre is attacked and wounded on his ear and neck, his own bodyguards spare no time in dealing with the attacker. The weapons of choice are Kesja and Swords. Not axes, spears, atgeir, etc.
"...and then stood swords and kesjurnar so thickly in him that Brynjólfr could hardly fallto the ground."

Description of the Kasja

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One of the primary descriptions of the Kesja appear to be found in Egil saga.
"...the spear-blade was two ells long (approximately 91.5 centimeters) and the edges were forged to a square point, and the top of the spear-blade was broad, the socket both long and stout, the shaft was just high enough for the hand to touch the socket, and was extremely thick."
This description of "edges were forged to a square point" implies that the weapon had a quadrangular cross section.
The weapon also had a socket which was "long and stout".
The length of the weapon is questioned, but the proportions appear to be correct.

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It's likely that the Kasja had a Amentum. It was there to make sure the weapon wasn't lost in the heat of battle, it allowed it to be quickly retrieved and for it to fly better when thrown.

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The term hákesja was used to describe a long shafted Kesjur, apparently for ship combat.

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The term kesjufleinn means Kesja pike, suggesting that this particular weapon was long. Possibly related to hákesja mentioned above.

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In the following case, we see men throwing short-shafted kesja during the opening skirmish phase of the battles.

"And when he was fighting boldly under the banner, then he took the flying kesjur andarrows from the air, with his left hand as much as his right and sent them back with bothhands equally."

"Then King Óláfr hurled three short-shafted kesjur toward the jarl with both hands."

These examples above give testimony to the fact that a Kasja could be both long and short, if modified accordingly. The core of the Kesja is the head of the weapon, rather than the shaft.

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kesjulag is a term which directly means 'thrusting with Kesjur', but the actual usage is different. Examples of battle situations where close range weapons, i.e. swords and hewing weapons, are relevant and is clearly distinct from situations when Kesjulag is relevant. Here we see a situation in which the ships were not as close enough that they could engage each other with the normal melee weapons, but were confined to the distance of the use the kesjur.

“King Magnús' men sought to press [or assault] the Óláfssúð hard, bringing against itrocks and missiles and kesjulag. But since their stems had met, they could not come tohewing.”

There's another example when the Kesjulag term is distinctively used. Sverrir's ship Óláfssúð engages Magnus' ship, with it's broad side against their prow, in such a way that they're too far away from common melee weapons, jet too close to use missile weapons.

Jet another example of the use of Kesjulag. Here we have a night battle with lots of confusion between Magnus' men and the Birchlegs of king Sverre. Magnus men run unintentionally into the Birchlegs men at night, meeting both Kesjulag and swords. This implies the men facing the Birchlegs came in loose or marching formation, as opposed to a drawn out battle line.

“And those on the ship, hearing trumpets blown and war-shouts from the field, rowedtheir ship to land, set up their standard, and went to the aid of their men. And because itwas dark, the fleeing men came unexpectedly, running against them and then next theywere hit by the kesjulag and sword-hewing of the Birkibeinar.”

Here is a battle description of the kesjulag, when it faced farmers. The farmers link broke and failed to stand up to the Birchleg's Kesjulag. :
“Their linden shields failed them, and they could not stand before kesjulags of theBirkibeinar.”

~Wille

[You_Guess_Who]

Oh, my impression are totally mistaken. Looks like I should change some VMDs then.

[Slytacular]

Basically two variations of the boarding pike that resemble a sort of swordstaff/winged spear/partizan in use. I'll be changing my VMDs as well. I'm going to gander through the list of weapon props we do have to see if they resemble them, otherwise I don't mind making a brand new weapon.

[nomercysniper]

Could make for an interesting player choice... westernise or stay more norse based? Like the idea of certain buildings allowing certain types of troop.

[Slytacular]

Possibly, though the Danes were already Westernizing economically, and the Norwegians were only some twenty years away from their Golden Age where they "Westernize". It would be difficult to represent the later parts of history depending on your definition of Westernizing. During the Baltic Crusades, the Swedes who are just about to enter history as a kingdom, were defined as being the Christian West. Even after Westernizing, the Norse in general still lived like the Norse during the Viking Age in some ways.

[Kjertesvein]

An article in the Journal of Medieval Military History, Volume 12. The kesja and kesjulag in Old Norse Literature by the same author as my post above, K. James McMullen. It appears to be a summery of the paper.

He basically narrow it down to, where the one on the left (521), is his personal archetype of what a Kesjur looks like.

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He further explains what the nail that is described in Egil saga may mean to the weapon:

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[QUOTE]The only feature--apart from the great size of the Kesjur in Egil Saga--that prevents any of these from being identified as Kesjur is that the description given of the kejsur carried by the Skallagrimsynir includes mention of an iron spike in the socket. This could be a reference to an additional spike added to the spear, much like the back-spike of a halberd or a guisarme, but to the best of my knowledge no such artifacts have been found in Scandinavian context from the time in question. Instead, I would suggest that the iron spike referred to in Egil Saga is a nail affixing the spearhead to the shaft. This would provide a bit more security for the head of the weapon in close combat situations than simply relying on a friction fit, and it would have prevented the shaft from being removed by an enemy whose shield it was embedded in when the kesja was being used as a missile. It also follow with the example given earlier in Olafs Saga Odds when the king is carrying a trio of Kesjur with him. Were the Jarnteinn a protruding spike, it is likely that the king would have had some trouble in ensuring that the Kesjur did not become entangled and thus expose him to great danger while attempting to engage his enemies. It would also provide a great amount of aerodynamic drag, lessening the accuracy of the Kesja when thrown. [QUOTE]

~Wille

[Kjertesvein]

YGW requested some information of late leidangr reforms and Northern European AOE/merc.

Was the naval leidangr system got reformed in the 14th/15th century?

What would this technology be called? The Legd Principle or Proto-Legd, or Proto-Legd Soldiers(or Army).

What did it do? Centralization of armament of the (land-based) Bondir.

How can we implement this?



An example.

Tier 2 (late) or 3.

A technology can be termed The Legd Principle.
+ Taxes.
+ Newer Leidangr units.

- Diminished navel Leidangr recruitment capabilities (higher prices, lower effectiveness, smaller recruitment pool, etc.).

Tier 3.

A technology can be termed Kalmar Union Fleet.

+ Ships provided by the crown, but supplied by the nobility, capable of fighting the Hanseatic League's cogs on equal terms.


Behind the concepts.

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It's hard to separate Leidangr's navel and land based situations, because they were one and the same. Therefor, I'll have to give it a wider context.

Endre Fodstad from Teknisk Museum in Norway believe that the older Leidangr was significantly dismantled during the later days, due to the fact that the older viking ships losing it's effectiveness against the taller cogs.

In 1370, King Haakon IV had plans to implement a sort of land military with the armament being more centralized, based on what is called the Legd principle. You can imagine a cluster of farms go together to finance armament. (Norsk historisk leksikon 2. utgave, 3. opplag, 2004, https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/index.php/Leksikon:Leidang )

Take into account that what most (Scandinavian) people think of as "Legd", is a system for the 16th century, but what we're talking about is the prototype. The origin and principle of this system, at a stage where it had jet to be articulated properly, but an attempted had been put forth.

Another key development with the Leidangr in general, which was prominent in Denmark, and to a degree in Norway, was the way in which the Bondir were taxed, rather than serve as soldiers. The component of a armed Leidangr was still present in Denmark, but diminished. Sweden didn't follow suit, but they sort of lagged behind the trends. What this basically means, is that the capability of the Leidangr can be diminished, in return for increased taxes. Taxes which can be spent on ever more expensive mercenaries. For example, if you're unlocking a late tier Leidangr, you get more taxes, and less Bondir military capacity.

Another key trend of the 15th century Scandinavia and the Bondir, is the amount of rebellions which came with the Kalmar Union. It's not what I'd call a genuine union, as we think of, but a bunch of Scandinavians who don't get along, but are forced to do so by one Danish crown with a strong military. If you're going into Tier 3 Scandinavia, there has to be some element of unrest that threatens to break it apart. Basically, more prestige and power, but a bunch of (Swedish) Bondir who wants to kill you.

The changes in taxes and unrest are linked to the Bondir

Niels Just Rasmussen, which have studied what we'd call "Tier 1 Danish Leidangr" in depth, stated the following when pressed to talk about late period:

The struggle between the Hanseatic League and Denmark is really long and hard.In the 1400 century the Hanseatic league gets the upper hand, but Maargrethe the I did make a sort of Kalmer Union fleet distribruted among the nobles to defend shipping against the Hansa.
It was during King Hans that the professional Dano-Norwegian fleet was created in 1509. The Swedes was still in the Kalmer Union but probably deemed to unreliable. They had their headquarters at Bremerholm in Copenhagen.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Danish_Navy


I think this early by far most of the sailors are Danes, but with time (1700's) the Norwegians are probably at least 50% of the personel and probably even the majority.
While the command language of the Danish army was German, because it was mostly lead by noble officers from Holsten, then the command language of the Dano-Norwegian Fleet was Danish.
Norwegians had their own defensive army and wasn't recruited into the Danish army. Basically in this time period the Danes used mostly mercenaries and individual nobles then supplied own troops.
The Swedes seems to have still fielded their own peasant armies in the 15th century lead by nobles.
Look at Paul Dolstein's drawings - a german landsknecht in the service of the Danish king fighting the Swedes rebelling.
See: https://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=11100

So, the question is, where do we go from what Rasmussen stated? Good question. Kalmar Union Ship? Royal Scandinavian cogs filled with Tier 3 warriors? Sounds good to me.

EDIT:
The large ship I've showed before, found in Bergen, could also come in handy up against Cogs.

Also, do you have suggestions for merc/ local area of recruitment naval units for the north sea-baltic region?
So far in my head I already think of the Hanseatic units, Vitalienbruders, Rus Ushkuiniks, and Gotlanders and Lowlanders

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

When I think of Hanse, I imagine rebels or city garrison, for the following reason. The Hanse was an alliance of merchant cities who owned ships, merchant ships were also war ships. They would provide the ships, and hire local mercenaries/nobles to fill them with. They could also use the militia to defend their cities. They had ships, cities and militias, even in their foreign colonies, but they didn't have standing armies. Because of this, in my opinion, they're suited as rebel- and garrison units, not mercenaries. If you disagree, that's ok too. I'm just airing my thoughts.

The stock heavily armoured units were German Mercenaries, sometimes referred to as Knekts or Reisige. These mercenaries hailed from Saxony, Rhine, Flanders, Brabant, Holstein, Mecklenburg, etc. These soldiers were recruited by having a relationship with a German lord, who in turn, would recruit a bunch of mercenaries made up of lower nobility and other wealthy and capable individuals from the areas mentioned. This aspect is paramount. Warfare 101, as these units represent the run of the mill when it comes to heavy units. You would buy them in Germany, and ship them across in cogs to your desired location. They were heavily armoured and effective. Both mounted and on foot, but most importantly, reliable. When the Danish army lead a mutiny against their king during a Swedish campaign, these men remained loyal around the king despite the terrible conditions. Mercenary German Knights and Mercenary Frankish Knights, as well as their dismounted counterparts, from Medieval 2 Total War captures the essence of what I'm talking about. They're good quality, and a price to match, but you know you're going to get your moneys worth. They're already part of the Norwegian roster, to show that the line between mercenary and loyalty to a court is a fluid border, but they really do deserve their own spot as sought-after heavy Mercenary in my opinion as well.

The other AOE/Mercenary is Outlawed Nobles. These were heavy Scandinavian infantry, could be mounted or on shipboard, of knightly class. Think of them as Mount and Blade's Claimants. They're lords, with their retinue, who has been outlawed from their original kingdom and sought allegiance with a neighboring king or lord, against their original king to regain their estates. As a Scandinavian King, you can't wage war against a neighboring king without having these guys knock on your door in need of employment, they were an integral part of warfare. Their theater is mostly in the border regions in Scandinavia and northern Germany, but the diaspora included England and the Baltics as well.

I agree with Vitalienbruders, they're recognizable and played a relevant role in the long and hard struggle between Hanse and Denmark, it's a good suggestion. I can't speak for Rus Ushkuiniks, neither for or against. I know Gotland was used as a staging ground for Danish invasions into Sweden. When the inland Danish possessions in Sweden were under hot weather, Gotland would be the Danish resupply area, where the next strategy would be planned out. I'm not aware of how they were used as armed forces, other than to defend their homes. Homes which are not physically on the map... For these reasons I have trouble finding a justification to make them relevant as AOR/mercenaries, but then again I could just be ignorant.

​~Wille