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Paal_101

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Posts posted by Paal_101

    Clash in the Po River Valley

    in Screenshots

    Posted

    This is due to unit needs. The front row are hastatus, while the second rank is principes, and the third rank triarius. These are the troops types of the Roman army of the Punic Wars, arrayed in that formation. For our purposes the hastatus uses the gladius ingame, while in reality the hastatus and principes both used the pilum.

    Principes are to be armed with the pilum, but I am not sure if it was ever done ingame yet, seeing as I disappeared on vacation :)

    Clash in the Po River Valley

    in Screenshots

    Posted

    Excellent work :)

    As for the maniple system, it had existed before the time of our Romans, which dates to the late 200s BC. It was used before the Punic Wars against Pyrrhus IIRC, so it is quite capable. As I recall in my extremely tired state at 1:46 AM MST, it was developed some time after the Gallic capture of Rome, in 390 BC.

  14. Anyone know what this song is?

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    I recently checked out the Alexander trailers on IMDB out of curiosity to see if there were any additional combat footage not present in the movie (go figure) and came across this song:

    http://imdb.com/title/tt0346491/trailers-s...lay-X26580-10-2

    Can anyone tell me what that choral piece is? It is quite the rousing piece of music, and anyone who knows me will tell you that I collect epic battle themes.

    Hopefully one of you guys can point me on the right track :)

  20. Historical Dates in August

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    There have been quite a few famous historical anniversaries in August, some having passed already, while others are still to come. These include some of the most famous battles in history, listed below:

    August 2, 216 BC - Battle of Cannae

    August 4, 70 AD - The Temple is destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem

    August 9, 48 BC - Battle of Pharsalus

    August 9, 378 AD - Battle of Adrianople

    August 11, 586 BC - First Temple destroyed by Babylonians in Jerusalem

    August 11, 480 BC - Battles of Thermopylae and Artemesium

    August 12, 490 BC - Battle of Marathon (one of two possible dates)

    August 27, 479 BC - Battle of Plataea

    August 27, 55 BC - Battle of Deal Beach

    Some impressive battles that are sadly neglected by the news and the History Channel in the day to day bustles.

  21. Battles for Narnia RTS

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    That is an interesting idea :banana: Narnia has never drawn much interest as an RTS or combat game setting, simply because it was so focused on children, despite its warfare. Admittedly it is not nearly as bloody or as brutal in its descriptions, nor nearly a large in scale as LoTR, Wheel of Time, or other fantasy novels, but the characters and world are quite unique and worthy of such a game.

    We have no idea what we will be making after 0 AD. That is over the horizon, although several of us have been kicking around some ideas in an extremely hypothetical manner. This could get added to the list, however we would probably stay away from anything that was not original. The experience of TLA has shown that an angry publisher could snatch away at a moment's notice years of work and effort based on perceived copyright infringement. This obviously hasn't happened, but they rest on pins and needles hoping that the Tolkein Estate does not send a cease and desist letter to them. 0 AD is fortunate that our theme and setting are not owned by some writer's family who receive regular income from its product line and is something we are eager to prolong.

    A mod based on Narnia would be an awesome idea and considering how easy the game will be to modify, it would not be hard at all to create such a total conversion. And I'm sure you will have no shortage of modders to recruit after the game is released :blush:

    Unit: Spartan Hoplite

    in Media

    Posted · Edited by Paal_101

    Kopis are cool, but they were particularly popular in the 4th century. In the 5th the xiphos was the main side arm, although the kopis and the machaira were used, but not in the numbers that the xiphos was.

    Unless of course you mean the Spartan xiphos Leonidas? That didn't come around until later in the Pelopponesian War IIRC, but I'm not certain.

  24. August 2, 2006 - Anniversary of the Battle of Cannae

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Today, August 2, 2006, is the 2222 anniversary of the Battle of Cannae, a battle that would go on to change the world.

    Most people are aware of the fact that this battle is considered by many to be the ultimate tactical victory in history, securing Hannibal an immortal position in history. On August 2, 216 BC, Hannibal's mixed army of 54,000 men defeated the largest army ever fielded by Rome in its history, 16 legions totalling some 86,000 men. Using an elaborate, yet risky, encircling technique, Hannibal was able to completely surround the Romans, pressing them so close together that the Latin troops were unable to wield their weapons, where they were slaughtered at leisure by the Carthaginian troops. In less than a few hours Hannibal suffered 16,000 casualties, including 8000 killed, but inexchange killed 60,000 Romans and captured a further 10,000. Among the dead were 80 Roman senators and one of the consuls. Not until the Battle of the Somme, when more than 60,000 men died in on day, was the death toll from Cannae ever matcjhed. Fortunately, as tactically skilled as Hannibal was he was far less capable in strategic thinking. As a result he failed to immediately attack Rome, despite his lack of siege equipment. The city was in shock following the staggering defeat, having lost 20% of its fighting men in two years in three battles with Hannibal, a total of some 95,000 killed alone, let alone captured or maimed, and would have most likely capitulated easily. By not attacking the city itself, Hannibal allowed Rome to catch its breath.

    The immediate after-effects of the battle were catastrophic for Rome. In particular their southern Italian allies pledged support to Hannibal, where they had supported Rome steadfastly for the last 70 or so years. This was a major blow to the Romans, but in addition the Macedonians agreed to ally with Carthage against Rome, opening up a potential second front in the war for the Romans. All seemed lost, but with their traditional resiliance, the Romans gathered themselves and committed themselves to a fight of attrition. And in a complete about face from earlier tactics, they attacked. Not Hannibal, for he had proven himself to be a far superior general in the repeated engagements with Roman armies, but Carthaginian holdings in Spain.

    The general who lead the assault on Carthaginian Spain was Publius Cornelius Scipio, a man who had lost his father and uncle to Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal, in addition to being a survivor of both Trebia and Cannae. The core of his army was made up of legionnaries who had managed to cut their way out of the encirclement at Cannae. The stigma of having been on the losing side of that disastrous defeat had marked them and they had been essentially banished from Italy. As such they were more than willing to fight under Scipio in Spain, where their ferocity in battle was matched only by their fervor to clear their names. Eventually these men and their commander, all scarred by Cannae, would crush Carthaginian Spain and change the tide of the war in Rome's favor. Eventually they would take the fight to the very plains of Carthage itself. And these men, 14 years after the defeat at Cannae, would eventually defeat Hannibal head-to-head at Zama, securing themselves perhaps one of the most epic military careers in the history of warfare.

    But the main thing that came from the defeat at Cannae was a sudden Roman aggressive stance with all foreign nations. Suddenly beset by opponents from all sides, Rome adopted an aggressive response to hostility, where they had always been defensive for the centuries before the Punic Wars. As such they immediately struck out after Cannae, taking over Spain, Illyria, and savagely beating Macedonia. Within a matter of 50 years between the Second and Third Punic Wars the Romans had gone from a regional power in Italy to master of the known world. More than anything else it was the impending doom of total annihilation after the Battle of Cannae that spurred the Romans to do what it took to survive, resulting in an amplified culture of aggression and conquest that would change the course of the world.

  25. Greatest battles against the odds

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    This is a really neat little video to drop into the middle of such a discussion. It is the last stand scene taken from the movie The Myth, featuring a rather uncharacteristically, and quite refreshingly, serious Jackie Chan as a Qin general, the last of his men alive, facing off against an army of adversaries. Quite impressive actually, so check it out. Obviously fictional, but it matches the theme and tone of the discussion :blush:

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