Sundiata

I'd love to be able to give you more detailed info. I'm curious about the use of head covers among Arab and Judean populations in antiquity myself, but I can't find much. The Keffiyeh is said to have evolved from an ancient Sumerian head covering, the Shemagh, but it's all a little vague, and I can't find any clear depictions of it from the levant in antiquity. They are often portrayed in popular culture, but I'm not sure what they're basing it on. Simple, slightly conical felt(?) caps were a thing... A simple headband was also common. The last two pictures you shared aren't Seleucid units, but are Beja people (typical afro/locks), from Sudan (see the Blemmye mercs for the Kushites). I suspect that the guy who painted the models just adapted 19th century Beja units from a Mahdist pack and outfitted them with a Thyreos to make them fit in more.

Sure, no problem. I was just thinking of not letting the healer/priest unit look too much like a warrior (seen as the game is already full of warriors of every kind). You'll mostly be seeing them from a distance, zoomed out, which might make them even less recognizable. What are your opinions on the Romano Cletic Hooded Spirits, Genii Cucullati, as an inspiration for the druids, or would that be inappropriate?

For recognizability sake, why not give him long white/grey hair and a beard? Might be a bit stereotypical, but considering the lack of detailed descriptions/depictions, why not? He should look a little mystical, no?

Hmmm, So you consider this laughable non-sense of an abject quality? Again, seems a bit harsh (especially considering that guy reconstructed the actual city of Ephesus for Nat Geo, not just those two buildings) I'm actually quite enjoying his website http://virtualreconstruction.com/wp/?paged=1 True, the color schemes might not be historically attested, as indicated by the artist himself, but I think those renders look really great, regardless. Historians and most self respecting history enthusiasts know that many details, especially things like color schemes, finishings and props in artist renditions are something to be cautious about. Where this particular artist didn't get the colors exactly right, he made up for in 3 dimensional awesomeness. But I guess that's just my opinion. Don't get me wrong, we should always strive for the highest level of accuracy, colors included. I just don't think artists and even researchers should be derided for not getting every single color exactly perfect. Constructive criticisms are better. Explaining exactly which colors are wrong, and how they should be improved in future iterations is far more valuable for artists. Historical reconstructions including artists renditions are often works in progress, that are revised (or redone), or can serve as inspiration for improvements by future artists as more information becomes available.

@Anaxandridas ho Skandiates Yes, I noticed that they glossed over the lacquer finishing, pun intended... But to say that they are useless and fake is a bit harsh, don't you think? They put an incredible amount of work into it, which I'm yet to see repeated, let alone improved by other teams of experts. I don't think they're too far off, perhaps not a mythical "100%", but nothing a little "varnish" can't fix... I mean, it's nothing like the Spanish Jesus fiasco: It's like making out Outlaw King to be Braveheart. They tried... The final result wasn't too shabby.

Sure, no problem. I'm going to open a research thread on the Greco Bactrian Kingdom sometime soon. I'm sure you'll be able to provide us with all the Greek literary sources (as there are only very few) Just some closing remarks from my end. Would you care to elaborate? I thought the color reconstruction of the Alexander Sarcophagus was legit? Did I miss something? https://j4communications.com/files/2014/12/DSM_Alexander_A4_eng_finalLR-copy.pdf

I wish you all the strength, time, motivation and patience to continue your marvelous contributions, whichever they may be

But there are quite a number of Celtic swords with surviving hilts (or intact enough to discern their length), including La Tene period swords. None of the ones I've seen so far seem to be long enough to accommodate 2 hands. If the degradable materials that made up the hilts were much longer than the tang, I suspect it would break off in your hands when applying a lot of blunt force, which is kind of the whole point of two handers.

I'd just like to say that I'm excited about all this. @Genava55 is basically doing what I was planning to do (eventually), only better... I haven't nitpicked every single one of his references, but those that I have all check out. In addition, almost everything he is bringing up seems to be in line with my own understanding of Celtic culture (not based on Asterix and Obelix, TW, or crappy Hollywood). I'm rather impressed (by his ability to convince me that La Tene period Gauls didn't, use round shields ), and I believe that, of all the active community members, Genava is the most "qualified" to lead the push for historically accurately updating the Celtic civs. I don't know anything about Celtic languages so I have no opinions on the naming used for units etc. I don't see any glaring issues with his proposals. Some of my personal issues with the Celtic civs, which I have brought up multiple times before, in order of offensiveness, are: Stonehenge, haphazard mixing of iconic Gallic and British equipment, those temples and lack of authentic special buildings etc. Most of it has been addressed in genava's suggestions as well. Of course, healthy debate is always good, so nit pick away

@Lion.Kanzen, a small manual touch up?

@Anaxandridas ho Skandiates, I do understand where you are coming from, and it's difficult to argue about obscurities. It is in the absence of plentiful literary sources that I turn to the archaeological record. Being most familiar with Ai Khanoum, it is clear from that site that the Greco Bactrians did things differently. Most of the structures in this newly built city have strong Achaemenid features, with Greek finishings. Architecture says a lot about a culture, and purely Greek structures are very rare, which is strange for a capital city (Hellenistic remains at Bactra being too scattered to make any conclusions, but considering it's ancient history and importance to Zoroastrianism, which many of the Greeks embraced, it seems unlikely that this city was totally transformed into a "Greek" city the way Alexandria in Egypt was). This is to be expected considering their geographical context. All the other Hellenistic states were surrounded by other Hellenistic states, or states that were (being) heavily influenced by the Greeks. The Greco-Bactrians were surrounded by powerful non-Greek polities, except for their border with the Seleucid empire, which was a peripheral territory for the Seleucids. Their intense contact with the nomadic Scythians (and other steppe people) as well as Maurya India, both radically different from Greeks, and exceedingly powerful in their own right, as well as probably having to contend with local (tribal) rulers and Iranian elites within their territory meant that political manoeuvrings would have been much more important to maintain stability in a potentially volatile cocktail of cultures. The documented conversion of groups of Greeks to entirely non-Greek religions, their occasional service to Indian rulers and the role that Greeks played in the dissemination of Buddhism is also quite noteworthy. Remember that this is where Alexander the Great himself married Roxana of Bactria, and where Alexander himself sanctioned mixed marriages (unlike the ones at Susa, there is little to go on to say that Macedonian-Bactrian marriages ended in failure). It is hard to imagine that either of these events weren't enduring symbols of the multicultural nature of the Greco Bactrian Kingdom. Neither can it be ignored that the first generation of Bactrian born Greeks in all likelihood already included people of mixed parentage. I'm honestly not trying to romanticize it. It's just obvious that Greek culture fused with the local Bactrian traditions, more so than in other Hellenistic states. The centuries old presence of deported Greeks and the relative isolation/distance from the greater Hellenistic world would have only facilitated a more speedy integration of Greeks into a much larger regional system. I'm genuinely curious about the sources saying that the Greeks went "home"? Basically what I'm saying is yes, their ruling class was Greek, but if they ever get developed for 0AD, and the archaeological references are used correctly, their structures are going to end up looking quite different from the other Hellenistic civs. In terms of units, you'd have the basic Hellenistic roster (with some minor unique elements), in addition to Hellenized Persians, Bactrians, Sogdians, Scythians and Mauryan elephants. They'd look and feel quite unique.

This is where I believe the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom differs. Probably on account of the 2 century old presence of Greeks as subject populations deported by the Persians as early as Darius I, prior to the Macedonian conquest. Hellenistic influences in Bactria are all over the place, and remixed, with each other as well as Iranian (and even some indirect Mesopotamian influences, in architecture at least). The conversion of a decent number of Greeks to Buddhism, as well as Zoroastrianism, and the worship of gods like Zeus-Zoroaster. Some mixed marriages seem to have occurred. The architectural layout of sites like Ai Khanoum also demonstrate a departure from Greek norms, using Hellenistic elements as a decorative veneer, but using Achaemenid principles in layout and function, alongside purely Greek structures like the theatre. Being hopelessly outnumbered by a mixed "native" population of Persians, Bactrians, Sogdians, Scythians and Indians, at such a great distance from the Greek homelands, as well as being largely cut off from new Greek settlers necessitated a more delicate approach to ruling their subjects, causing a much stronger and more genuine mixing of cultures. They are easily one of the most divergent Hellenistic civs, which makes them especially interesting in my opinion. Alexanders dream seems to have come to fruition, to a degree at least, in the furthest reaches of his empire. Ironically, one of the most obscure Hellenistic states, the Indo Greek Kingdom was one of the last (if not the last) independent Hellenistic Kingdom.

@Lion.Kanzen, last one, for now.

@Lion.Kanzen

@Lion.Kanzen

Star Citizen looks amazing! All those nay-sayers are just a bunch of confused entitled consumers with no vision or patience, and the inability to manage their own expectations (like a bunch of teenagers that need everything now, not wanting to understand all the work involved). I'm not saying there aren't obvious problems, but the long development time gives me a lot of hope that this will in fact be one of the greatest space games ever. It might take another 6 years, sure, but 0AD is already going 15 years or more, so that in itself doesn't really mean anything to me. The game isn't a scam, and people saying that are just trolls. Or people who didn't bother to familiarize themselves with the bare basics of the project. I mean, some people spent thousands of dollars on ships and other stuff, for a game in alpha development... The smarter ones aren't looking for a return on investment. They're just passionate about the game and want to financially contribute to the development. People spending thousands of dollars on a game, 6 years in development and still in alpha, and then expecting a complete and smooth gaming experience, when literally everyone says they won't, are just a bunch of weirdo's. Who spends money on a game in this state anyway, if not passionate about it?? That comment on Eurogamer doesn't make any sense at all. What in the world does graphics, art and asset development have to do with things like object container streaming or network stability, AI, bug fixing etc? Those are totally different teams of people. The scale of this project is insane. All those little details aren't pointless either, as that comment says. If not for all those incredible details, why not play No man's Sky or whatever? I mean, that new FOIP feature for example could be described as utterly useless. But it's also absolutely brilliant, funny, even revolutionary, one might say. There are so many different systems in development, and they're pretty far along. If you see how the biomes are made for example, you'll realize how quickly they can create hundreds of unique new biomes once the system is on point. Once everything starts working smoothly (a lot is already working amazingly and people take it for granted), and it all get's integrated into a single seamless experience, it's going to be amazing. This game is more of a platform, than a standalone game. Games will be built on top of this game. Just don't expect a full release next year, that's just silly. Almost akin to 0AD, I think that Star Citizen is part of a new generation of games that will continue to grow and evolve along with its community, rather than being a one stop consumption article. The main difference is that there is a crap ton of money involved in Star Citizen, so there's a commercial aspect to it. What do people expect from a commercial project? I think it rather makes it extremely unlikely that it will ever be cancelled. It's also pretty obvious they use the controversy as a marketing tool. Keeps people on edge. The hype is a part of any commercial project like this. Just check back in couple of years.

Really nice touch... The laurel could indeed go around the back

@Lion.Kanzen Those are mostly Phrygian helmets, including some original Thracian ones. They have a lot of variety. Love this piece...

Especially Silver Shield Pikemen (Phalangites Argyraspides), but the higher level Bronze Shield Pikemen (Chalkaspides) can also use them. They were quite "common" and are of Thracian origin, so they're even appropriate for the Thracian Mercenaries. Phillip's cavalry also used them, but Alexander apparently preferred the Boeotian helmet for his cav. I don't know anything about colors. I'd go with what wow said.

Yes.. Nice work, as usual...

@wowgetoffyourcellphone, , you can thank @pedro_blanco for that amazing piece... Some more examples of his work: https://www.artstation.com/blanco

Ok, I'll give that one to you...

*Turkish...

Themistocles? One of the main commanders of the allied Greek navy during the second Persian invasion? That!

What about a mini trireme on wheels?