Well, you were close in the sense that you got the list of remaining factions pretty much bang on, and the Orcs are up for preview soon. But so glad someone has noticed the Thracian vibes - that's very much intentional!
The Avari vibes have been a thing since the initial discussion on the Discord, IIRC.
Thracians w/o light lancers are not thracians
nice preview, what about their starting positions? NE of the Sear of Rhun?
I really like the roster - I am very fond of characterful rosters, loved playing the Odrysians in Rome II, so I like characterful, tricky rosters.
That said, If I may offer some constructive criticism, I feel like the uniformity of color schemes between units hampers the feel of the Avari as this 'barbaric', 'wilder' faction. Obviously, you can only do so much in RTW with its lack of internal unit variety, but I feel like the uniform use of silvers, browns and greens makes them feel too similar to the FATW Elves. Hence why I'd suggest the units having a greater variety of colors, alongside with more ornamentation to make them distinct.
It is such a quiet thing, to fall. But far more terrible is to admit it.
Proud supporter and fan of Fourth Age: Total War
It is very useful feedback, thanks Feanaro When I go through all the rosters and do final touch ups before making the unit cards I'll keep it in mind. Giving the more 'irregular' armies and units more variety in colour and appearance is something that we've tried to do a bit more in Wainriders than in DoM, though it is tricky in the case of the elves (Silvan and Avari mostly) in that the clothing still needs to be plausible as forest camouflage in most, if not all cases.
Regarding picking colors that could be plausible as camouflage, I'd personally suggest not to stress it too much. Historically, to my knowledge military camouflage only really came to be more commonplace later in the era of gunpowder warfare, when missile exchanges became longer ranged and a lot more accurate. Even for ambushers such as the Avari portrayed here, they have the advantage of superior eyesight and mobility, alongside the fact that counter-fire would be difficult in deep woodlands to say the least, given we're talking about bows, slings and javelins as the primary ranged weapons most of the time. From a Middle-earth perspective, they could very well use some kind of magic if they really want to hide themselves. :V
So, using greens and browns should probably be viewed as less of a military necessity and more of a fashion statement, opening up justification for them to use all kinds of colors.
It is such a quiet thing, to fall. But far more terrible is to admit it.
Proud supporter and fan of Fourth Age: Total War
Very nice roster, Avari will be interesting faction to play indeed. I especially like their horse archer captains bodyguards. Only issue I see is that playing Avari you will have to wait untill developing top tier military administration to be able to recruit any cavalry. On the other hand it is only tier 3 which is usually not that dificult to obtian (I guess it may be even present from the start at the capital).
Edit: As it was confirmed above that the Avari are going to live in the forest north and east of the Sea of Rhun I am winderin who will inhabit the lands of Dorwinion? Will these lands be represented as overun by the Western horde in the mod? Unitwise will there be any specific Gondor influenced AoR unit available in the region? I understand that lorewise FATW Kingdom of Dorwinion is concepted as a mannish kingdom established in the fourth age but there is still that infamous reference to Dorwinion in Hobbit which suggest that the region had some distinctive identity separate from rest of Rhovanion already by late third age.
Last edited by demagogos nicator; November 16, 2020 at 11:12 AM. Reason: Adding additional question.
The Avari are still elves, despite having low armor they're going to be very dangerous. (though I imagine significantly less so than top tier Ñoldor).
And with higher pop growth it just means you have to be tricky and clever to get to the point where you can throw around more elves.
As a faction, waiting makes sense too, they have to develop things, reflecting the development of a more sophisticated army. Well, relatively sophisticated.
Anyway, it's been a week, I know the site's been down for a few days, but as we close in on the last few factions, I find myself getting more and more excited.
Stealth is also not just about conforming with the primary colours of your environment, it's also about breaking up patterns (e.g. through bold stripes), and movement (or lack thereof). Somtimes, even a brightly coloured bird can be hard to spot in the trees.
Alternatively, you could argue (when in favour of brighter colours or more original patterns) that the unit skins on the battlemap represent fighting gear rather than travelling or scouting clothes. Although that would raise the question why some units are wearing hoods...
Dorwinion is less populated this time around, and in rebel hands at mod start. (I've gotten rid of Rathwin to cut down on settlement density slightly.) With the events of the Hobbit still quite a few centuries in the future, there's theoretically still time for a Mannish presence in Dorwinion to emerge. How much continuity we can imagine between Wainriders' depiction of the region and the DoM depiction is tricky to say. In DoM, we conceived of Dorwinion as echoing Gondorian influence, potentially (but not necessarily!) even tracing lineage all the way back to the earlier Third Age expansions of Gondor prior to the Wainriders. In that mod, Dorwinion might be thought of as a kind of remnant province of Gondor, cut off and isolated for many hundreds of years.
I'm not sure just what kind of rebel units will inhabit Belegant in Wainriders. If we want to emphasize that continuity with DoM, we might go with some vaguely Gondorian-style units, but I'm not sure if the Avari will have much to do with them.
The Hobbit reference doesn't indicate what type of people lived in Dorwinion - Men or Elves. But even by including the Avari as a playable faction and not including a playable Mannish Dorwinion we're not necessarily indicating that Dorwinion wasn't ruled by Men. It just could be the case that the Mannish enclave in this period wasn't particularly important.
The new arrangement of levy units for Wainriders hasn't been finalized yet, there are quite a lot of changes from DoM that are required to make it lore approriate and of course we are always looking at options that enhance gameplay and worldbuilding and whatnot. It seems highly appropriate to me that Doriwinion become a unique AOR area (much like Parchereb or the Lossoth regions) to reflect it's potentially unique identity.
There are also some mercs in the region that reflect the idea of trade up and down the Celduin (and further afield), so it will potentially be quite an interesting corner of Middle-earth (until the Wainriders burn everything to the ground of course ).
This is my drug.
I'm experiencing withdrawal.
/jk
Seriously though, great work!
Led by Marhwini son of Marhari, former prince of Rhovanion, the Eotheod make their homes now in the Vales of Anduin. A remnant of the Northmen who once dwelt in the broad lands east of Mirkwood and served as a bulwark of Gondor, they have been driven from their country by Easterlings they call the Wainriders – a powerful new folk, well-armed and numerous, swarming over the land and slaying or enslaving all who do not flee.
The Éothéod
Those who survived the westward flight have lost none of their valour, or their desire for vengeance. Though distant now from beleaguered Gondor, the Eotheod are still allied to those men of the stony lands and white towers, and will gladly fight at their side once more. But with or without allies, the Northmen plan to strike against the Wainriders as soon as they have the strength to do so.
Meanwhile, they must settle their herds and families in their new homes. For the most part clinging to the lands about the Great River, they look not to southern Mirkwood, which has grown dark and evil of late, nor to the Elves of nearby Lorien or the Woodland Realm, who have withdrawn into their fastnesses, as have the Dwarves of Khazad-dum.
Other folk dwell in the mountains: Orcs and wicked Men, some of whom have pushed into the lands about the sources of the Anduin. These rivals will no doubt challenge the Eotheod as they seek to establish themselves. Somewhat straitened in their new homes, the Eotheod will certainly come to blows with these and other peoples. A proud and warlike folk, the Northmen must fight for their very survival before they can fight to reclaim that which was lost.
Tier 1
Woodmen Spears
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Eotheod Outriders
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Tier 2
Woodmen Bows
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Eotheod Riders
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Tier 3
Mountain Axemen
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Eotheod March-wardens
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Eotheod Horse-archers
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Tier 4
Eotheod Nobles
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Lord's Household (bodyguard unit)
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Special Units
Shields of Rhovanion
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Framsburg Guard
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Rhovanion Outlaws
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Disclaimer: This is not an exhaustive list! All rosters are a work in progress and unit list may not be complete or finalized; appearance and description may change in the final release.
Long Live Rohirrim! Impressive models work!
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Nice preview !
If I read it correctly, and according to my memoriesof Tolkien, Angmar will indeed control the north part of the Anduin Vale ? Should be a nice campaign, warring against Arthedin on one side and the Eotheod on the other.
TBH, I hoped that I wouldn't see the same old -and mostly below par in comparison the the rest of the mod- Rohirrim models/skins on Eotheod