Tsardoms Total War - FACTION PREVIEW: Tsardom of Serbia (Complete overhaul)

[achilles-91]

Outstanding job, as always! WP Jurcek

[Jake Armitage]

Nice work!

[Alwyn]

These units look excellent and I like the unit descriptions, explaining the historical basis for each one.

[Cesco]

Those are some top notch units!

[Rad]

Congrats on the reworked units, they are a MASSIVE step up!

I would like to clarify something. You mentioned that Meropsi were generally relieved from military service. This is partially correct. Meropsi and other Sebri (commoners) belonging to the Church were generally relieved from military service. Charters issued to monasteries often relieve the serfs from various military duties like serving in the army (vojska) or providing garrisons for nearby fortifications (gradobljudenije). They still had to protect the lands and properties of the monasteries, though.

However, commoners that were directly subjected to the secular nobility were not relieved of such duties. This tempted many commoners to flee and seek better opportunities in lands belonging to the Church. Tsar Dušan attempted to put a stop to such escapades by imposing harsh punishments on the runaway serfs - getting your nose chopped off was one of them.

To finalise my statement, I must mention that with the ever increasing threat of the Ottomans, commoners belonging to the Church saw many of their privileges revoked.

I hope this has been useful. If the units are still WIP, I'd like to help.

[Wallachian]

Thank you for your words. If I remember correctly you were actually part of the Tsardoms team many years ago and had setup our old (now defunct) facebook page.

Many of the texts are very old and were written many years ago. I have corrected some of them but of course I can't match the knowledge of native serbians. Same goes for most factions. I have written the texts based on internet research.

In fact the texts in the first page of this thread are the actual texts of the Serbian units so if you feel like you want to re-write or correct them feel free to do so and we will update the in-game texts.

Similarly if you feel like writing texts for various Serbian related events again feel free to do so. For example, I have written a text for Dusan's coronation. You could do texts for Dusan's code, Dusan's death, the succession and so on. We want to include as many historical events as possible.

[Rad]

Thank you for your words. If I remember correctly you were actually part of the Tsardoms team many years ago and had setup our old (now defunct) facebook page.

Many of the texts are very old and were written many years ago. I have corrected some of them but of course I can't match the knowledge of native serbians. Same goes for most factions. I have written the texts based on internet research.

In fact the texts in the first page of this thread are the actual texts of the Serbian units so if you feel like you want to re-write or correct them feel free to do so and we will update the in-game texts.

Similarly if you feel like writing texts for various Serbian related events again feel free to do so. For example, I have written a text for Dusan's coronation. You could do texts for Dusan's code, Dusan's death, the succession and so on. We want to include as many historical events as possible.

Yes, I helped run the FB page but college got in the way
I could tweak up the Meropsi text.
I also have an idea about a new unit, or reworking an existing one so it becomes more widely available. The unit could come with an interesting building and game mechanic.

[Wallachian]

Well Serbia already has a large roster and we are at the unit limit pretty much. So unless the unit is shared by more factions and plugs a gap in the roster it's unlikely we will create it.

But of course feel free to make suggestions as it moght be something worthwhile.

Also, the meropsi are a very common unit, it can be recruited by any faction that controls serbian core lands and they have lots of those.

[Rad]

Oh ye of little faith...

The unit isn't Serbian, but Serbia and another country will obtain access to it if certain conditions are met. Certain... lucrative conditions. I will elaborate in the time to come.

I was talking about making a new description for the meropsi. I really ought to start working on it, lol.

I believe that the meropsi shouldn't be available to every faction. When the Ottomans conquered Serbia, they enlisted some of the remaining nobility and gave them timars - most of them got small ones, though. Also, they gave some of the commoners tax exemptions in return for their service as Voynuks. The majority of the surviving rural population seems to have been left alone. My advice is that meropsi should be available to factions with the same culture, i.e. Eastern Orthodox. It can be argued that Catholic factions could employ them as well, but to a lesser extent.

[Hrobatos]

Vlachs have been extensivly used as auxilary troops. But Meropsi wont be available to Ottomans, but to Bulgarians, Byzantines and other Christian factions.

[Rad]

Vlachs have been extensivly used as auxilary troops. But Meropsi wont be available to Ottomans, but to Bulgarians, Byzantines and other Christian factions.

You know your stuff

I finished the description for the meropsi. Here goes something.

"Meropsi were dependent farmers belonging to the Sebri social class. Like other Sebri, most Meropsi had military duties such as: serving in the army (vojska), garrisoning and repairing fortifications (gradobljudenije, gradozidanije), pursuing brigands (potečica), guarding the frontier, the roads and unpopulated hills. Those living in lands belonging to various monasteries were generally exempt from military duties, however they still had to defend the monastery and its properties.

Little is known about their training, but it is certain that a physically demanding life and favorite pastimes such as foot races and archery practice helped prepare them for the rigors of combat. It can be assumed that additional training was conducted under the supervision of the warrior nobility at least some time before the start of the campaign.

The quantity and quality of their equipment varied and depended on factors such as the economic capabilities of the Meropsi themselves and the lord that levied them. Most often, they supported the nobles by fighting as light infantry and missile troops.

Even though they are by no means professional warriors, these men fight with heart and inspiration for their land and can bring a nasty surprise to the enemy that underestimates them."

Sources? Sources. Sources:
"The state of the Serbian Despots" - Andrija Veselinović, 2006
"Entertainment and festivites in medieval Serbia from the end of the 12th to the end of the 15th century" - Stanoje Bojanin, 2005.
"Legal monuments of the Serbian medieval states" - Stojan Novaković, 1912. This book is a compilation of medieval documents ranging from the 12th to the 15th century. The transcripts are in the languages they were originally written in.

I very much liked the spirit of the existing description, so I made room for it in mine

[Wallachian]

Great thank you will update the texts. But can you please modify the cyrilic script to latin script because many of our players (including me) don't understand it. There is no issues with having the Serbian native terms but just in the latin alphabet.

[Rad]

Done.

[Rad]

I noticed that there isn't a longsword unit. How come?

[jurcek1987]

You mean like zweihanders?

[Rad]

Swords meant to be used with two hands. A whole bunch have been found in Serbia. There's even a local style of two handed sword. I can post some pictures and links.

[Hrobatos]

Yes that would be great. Also sources if there are any desribing use of such swords.

[Rad]

Mgr Marko Aleksić's "Medieval Swords from Southeastern Europe. Material from 12th to 15th Century" is your go-to book. It has detailed info about typology, chronology, ornamentation etc. It also has a nice catalogue of over 400 swords from the region.

These are the photos I took from 4 museums. They barely scratch the surface.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This is the local variety, the so called "Schiavonesca". The oldest found examples are dated to the late 14th century. It's characterized by an S-shaped crossguard. Over time, the design spread across the region, most likely helped by Serbian migrations to the north and west.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This lovely example is held in the National museum of Pančevo.

[Hrobatos]

Schiavonesca to my understanding is not 2 Hand sword, but a what is called a sword-and-a-half.

[Rad]

You mean hand-and-a-half sword? Those can be used in one hand when the situation demands it (if you're fighting from horseback, for example), but they too are primarily meant to be used with both hands.

Concerning the examples I posted, take a look at the grip length - they can comfortably fit two armored hands.