Mega Mania

Recently, i've done some research about the Gilan/Gelani, It appears they are cavalrymen not infantry. So i decided to remove the Artestar-i Gelanig from the unit roster plus changing dismounted cavalry into Sword auxiliary or Samsirdaran-i Eransahr.

Egyptian Pikeman? shouldn't be champion unit.

Agreed.

Here it is:

Minor changes in both Parthia and Sassanid unit: Grivpanvar removed from both Parthia and Sassanid unit roster. Sassanid have Aswaran-i Wuzurgan (Grandee Cavalry) as replacement.

Partially right, in fact Western Han elite cavalry do not have horse armor. Here's a more accurate Eastern Han cavalry: After doing some research, i conclude that full horse armor didn't exists in Eastern Han dynasty.

Sassanid tower in Ras-Al Khaimah:

It's up to you after all, but i think you should keep Yu Ling instead of Qi Men because later period saw the merging of Qi Men into Yu Ling army thus making Qi Men less important the Yu Ling. Both Yu Ling and Qi Men was a product by Emperor Wu's anti Hsiung Nu policy, since warfare in the vast steppe requires mobility then cavalry are the only ideal unit to counter Hsiung Nu attack.

For the so called Feathered Forest Guards or Yu Ling Guards you may use this: For head gear or helmet: For the body armour, this might help: For weapons and further detail: Actually, Qi Men Guard share little differences with their Yu Ling counterpart because they are cavalry unit, so it would be good if you just have one guard unit instead of two.

You seems to forget about the other heroes and champion unit, for champion unit you may use Qi Men Guards and later Yu Ling Guards, plus they could be the champion cavalry units for Han army.

Interesting picture from EB 2 on Parthian noble warriors:

Or by reform tech, for example: Justinian Period, Heraclean Period until Thematic Reform.

Infantry (Elite) Persian Infantry in a siege mine at Dura Europos.bmp Armament: Spear(Neyza), Persian Spara Shield, long sword for decoration, Helmet, mail shirt with bronze decorations. Infantry (Basic) The infantry in the middle of the picture was an ideal example of a standard Persian infantry. Infantry (Advance) Armament: Helmet, Spara Shield, Spear, long sword for decoration, mail shirt. Infantry (Elite) Armament: Helmet, Spara Shield, Spear, long sword for decoration, mail hauberk. This what i can provide for the team about the standard armament for a Persian infantry during the Sassanid period. Other unit's armament and appearance may need more time.

The military settlement for Ptolemaic and Seleucid settlers and soldiers looks awful as if it was a crude mercenary camp, is there any actions taken to re-skin the settlement?

As a fan of the Rise of the East mod, i wonder if the team have done any research on Western Han Heroes and Champion unit?

Agree.

Parthians versus Sassanids: Parthians 1. Infantry Generally weak in the eyes of the Romans and modern scholar due to lack of centralized government. Relied heavily on its client kingdom. 2. Cavalry Strong on mounted archers and armored cavalry (cataphracts) supplied by the Parthian nobility from Grandees to petty chieftains. 3. Siege Generally weak. 4. Navy Relied on its vassal from Characene to maintain an indirect control over Persian Gulf, mostly unremarkable. Sassanids 1. Infantry Mediocre, but better than the Parthians due to centralized government and organized migration of Iranian military settlers from Iran proper thus ensuring the state have a full time standing army. Have a small but yet effective mercenary regiments. 2. Cavalry Powerful armored cavalry made up by Azadan warriors suppled by the Parthian Clans with a handful of vassals and allies. 3. Siege Powerful siege equipment, effective siege technique from the east plus excellent training, making them a better opponent when against the Romans. 4. Navy Have a direct control over modern Oman (Mazun or Mazunsahr in Antiquity), capable of dealing pirates but not a real naval battle.

Books that are not recommended for reading: Osprey Elite series: Sassanian Elite Cavalry Why? the only thought is that the book did not play its role to explain the importance of Iranian infantry during Sassanid period, instead the author describe it with a few words and no further explanation about the recruitment, training and payment (tax exemption, combat pay, stipend and spoils of war). Not to mention the colour plates that display royal ceremony with 1 and 2 battle scene (against Romans and White Huns) which have little or no real explanation about how a proper Sassanid military work (how infantry operates siege equipment, training, conducting a combat from melee, archery and siege warfare and cavalrymen arming themselves and a good description about their equipment in pictures) unfortunately the book provide two colour plate about Iranian Heroism and their unsound bravery on fighting Roman and White Hunnic troops! Osprey Man at Arms: Rome's Enemies Parthians and Sassanids Generally bias about Sassanids, blindly endorsed Roman propaganda that Roman infantrymen could butcher Persian infantrymen like sheep and pigs.

As a player of 0 AD i found this a little bit strange, an Egyptian levy phalangite could beat a Foot Companion in hit points seems to be an insult to Macedonian Phalanxes who have more military training, experience and stamina. In order to avoid controversy, i suggest that Makhimos or Egyptian levy phalangite receive hit points equal to a Persian Sparabara even they achieve elite status. Thank you.

Although Western Han army retained such unit but they are no longer a competent fighting forces as they were during the Warring States period.

Hopefully these might help.

Minor changes in Parthian army roster: Mardian slinger becomes Mardian hillmen or Kofyaren-i Marda (javelin infantry) Cyrtian slinger (Sphendonetes Kyrtioi)

But if there's no choice at all, then it would be better to separate both Justinian and Heraclean from Thematic Byzantine faction thus turning them into sub-factions.

Early Islamic Caliphate army lacks armour is a truth, but later they obtained more armour from the Persian armouries as they conquer more Persian lands. By the way, i was thinking about adding a new unit to the Caliphate army: Jarwajaraya (javelinman) Dabbabat (siege tower)

By the way, i was thinking about separating Thematic Byzantine from earlier Justinian and Heraclean Byzantine thus making them three separate factions like 0 AD did on the Romans (Republic, Imperial, Late Imperial and Eastern Roman Empire). It will be easier for the team to focus on a specific Byzantine faction instead of one faction that requires many, many kinds of reform. Or better still, merging Heraclean with later thematic army to show transition and change between Heraclean and Thematic armies thus saving one slot for other factions.