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Thread: Welsh armor ideas

  1. #1

    Default Welsh armor ideas

    First off I would like to say I am in awe of what has created by the Shield wall team thus far, I was delighted when I discovered there was a project to expand, improve and modify this particular title which seems to have a somewhat niche appeal in the TW community.

    I am particularly enamoured with the visual mods made to units and factions and the clear effort being made to strike a pleasing balance between historical accuracy and strong, discernible visual theming. I think you guys have done a great job of decreasing uniformity and creating rabbles of incredibly authentic looking levies, and showing the disparity in class and wealth between units.

    What I humbly present here is a few observations and ideas for your consideration to help further discern the factions, in particular the Welsh.

    I think adding elements from late Roman arms and armour to distinguish the Welsh factions from their neighbours was a great idea from both a historical and aesthetic perspective. To that end I would suggest you to consider mixing in a small amount of late Roman style Oval shields.In the same manner that Wessex have some Kite shields dotted through their ranks bridging dark age technology into medieval, the Britons could just as well bear the shields that link back to the ancien times. These Oval shields would be rare to uncommon, appearing far more frequently in elite/noble cavalry and spear units.

    https://imgur.com/uTgPfYH


    I would also recommend that higher class units have more elaborately decorated shields with occasional small artistic rendering of Christian and Arthurian imagery, particularly on champions and generals.

    https://imgur.com/dkBxCCI


    I believe that these more ostentatious decorations featuring more that two colours will better contrast against the bold blocky, crosses and cheques of the Saxons and swirling Gaelic patterns and icons of the Irish and Pictish. At the moment I still feel that many of the icons on the welsh shields give off a more Nordic vibe than Britonic and more Romano-British imagery could be introduced here and there suchas feathered wings, lighting bolts, wreaths and laurels. It just seems odd to me that the Welsh Dragon appears in such a Viking style on shields when it is supposed to have been taken from Roman banners.

    https://imgur.com/5rRevWG


    Finally just to add another small distinction I think adding a tartan like weave to the red green and white capes of the welsh would give units a more rustic feel, some visual texture to differentiate them ever so slightly than the other wise identical capes worn by their neighbours.

    https://imgur.com/Yg540fO



  2. #2

    Default Re: Welsh armor ideas

    Hello, Thanks for the marvelous ideas. In regards to your observations -
    *Oval shields - These aren't something we've ever planned to implement, though we might look at it when we're done with the first public release of the mod.
    *Upper class Shields - This is something that we've already sort of implemented, but not with christian/arthurian imagery, so that would be something I'd be willing to do, but once again, after the first release.
    *Roman patterns on welsh shields - The universal 'trend' during this time were shields painted with simple patterns, such as swirls, crosses, stripes, dots etc. Warriors mostly painted the shields themselves, and not everyone was an artist. More complex shields in Shieldwall are reserved for the Upper class warriors that could afford. We also try to mostly use patterns sampled from period art on shields. (There are a few exceptions to this, welsh for instance have a Chi Rho)
    *Tartan capes - I'd say that you can be sure you'll see them worn by the welshmen in the 1st release of the mod

    In regards to the shield patterns
    Last edited by Johnyyy; March 15, 2019 at 12:54 PM.

  3. #3
    Kinjo's Avatar Taiko
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    Default Re: Welsh armor ideas

    I have already made the Tartan cloaks so you will be seeing those for sure.

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