Sundiata

Mmmm, I've been dreaming about this...

@wowgetoffyourcellphone This made me lol a little, but a super-valuable bite-sized reference nonetheless.

@balduin Both, actually. I'm collecting all the reference material right here on the thread, in an open-source manner, specifically so that me and everyone else can use it at their own leisure, for whatever project they want. When the research is finished, I will re-write the first post, to correct and incorporate all the relevant new material in a single, easy to read format. I plan on making a pdf version which is purely historical, can be easily shared, is easier on the eyes than this forum-format, and which can work as the backbone for a printed book.

@wowgetoffyourcellphone What a lovely New Year's present Looks way better than the variants in the Total War mods! Their attire is very good! They still wear the same type of clothes that were popular in Antiquity today! That "Fuzzy Wuzzy" hairstyle is also actually attested in reliefs of Kushite monarchs slaughtering rebel nations... I think the current hair-placeholder works remarkably well, lol! But a more dedicated Beja-Afro would be real cool! I wanted to bring up the shields, but you've added the info yourself already Very good stuff! That last picture is really nice. I think (might be wrong) that those turbans are Bedouin/Arab influences, but seen as the Bedouin and the Beja were closely connected, I think it's ok for a few Beja. Might have to research a little more for fear of anachronisms. The shields aren't only good for Beja. The rhino/hypo/elephant-hide shields are very widespread in East Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia...), and are a perfect reference for at least some of the Meroitic units. Napatan units would have more Egyptian inspired shields. Some more Beja shields and Beja warriors:

@stanislas69 which friend? The anim looks gorgeous! No comments...

Hi, I haven't been able to access the "unread content"-tab here on the forum for a number of days now. It just loads forever and then says service unavailable. It's a pity, because I usually go through unread content every day. Other parts of the forum are not a problem. Is it just me? "Service Unavailable The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later."

Yeah, very true... I don't have a problem with learning curves though. I also don't think the mechanics are all that bad, I actually like a lot of them. I just think some of them could use a rework/need fine-tuning/be more intuitive. The difference with other games is also that you can learn these mechanics from going through the manual/tutorial/wiki's, which currently isn't the case with 0AD. People often need to come to the forums, with the same questions, to figure out what's what, and even then, won't find out about many (important) things until much later (if ever). This can be unnecessarily frustrating for new players.

Yeah, sometimes you've just got to kick back and relax, to find your bearings.

Yes, violent!

Bedouin camel racing: Beja Camel racing: I think riders can sit just in front, on top, or just behind the hump, specific per culture and equipment used...

The Kingdom of Kush: Aethiopia and Nubia - Unitmod for Total War: Rome II, by Marcus_Iunius screenshots A new mod (October 2017) makes Meroë (as well as the Blemmyes and Axum) a playable faction for Rome II, Total War, and features very similar content for Kushite units as the Ancient Empires mod for Total War: Atilla. These mods showcase some of the finest attempts at reconstructing Kushite military units in a game I've seen to date, and although there are a number of details that could be better, it's a very decent representation. My primary concern is the use of too many Hellenistic (inspired) armaments. The use of the linothorax (or it's derivatives) is not widely attested, and although probably present among some troops, would have been very limited in general (I think). It is far better to use New Kingdom Egyptian inspiration for armaments (also shown), because they have direct parallels in Kushite art. They did overdo the use of the Egyptian head-cloth, which is not very common in Kush, and there is a painful absence of the quintessentially Kushite skullcap, a must. Scale-armour is depicted wrongly. It's either in the form of a corselet, or a full body variant, not something in between. They should have also totally avoided modern Kenyan(?!) references, seen in some of the exotic shield patterns, very clearly inspired by modern Maasai shields (which is a no-no). The colours are all very bland, even for elite units. With such an expansive unit-roster, there needs to be a chariot unit. The Blemmye units are not so good, as they show very little cultural and ethnic similarities to the actual Beja people they represent. Also, the hair on some of these units is pretty bad, lol... But other than those concerns, the team on this mod did an excellent job. Screenshots: More information on the mod: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?759800-My-Aethiopia-and-Nubia-Unitmod

@Servo, thanks for the observation! (although I don't really know what you mean :/ Isn't the merchant "cart" a donkey?) I'll ping @Hannibal_Barca. I

@wowgetoffyourcellphone, I see you're more in a bootylicious mood, lol... This one has been breaking the airwaves over here: (It's illegal to listen to this without subwoofer though)

I bearly understand what's so funny....

Mmmmm...

Yeah, the bear has this funny bunny hop thing going on... Left and right legs need to be switching back and forth, like scissors.

From the Stupa at Sanchi (The Mauryan wonder in game, I believe), shows this pair of camels: Still not a military depiction, but we're getting warmer

The camels and horses would be military units, and the Asses would be used for the logistics of the camel-corps. They also had dedicated subsidiary divisions of the army tasked with specific logistic duties like transport of provisions, machines, weapons, armour and instruments as well as medical and ambulance arrangements, separate from the camel corps. I think it looks awkward because they are depicted as very light skinned people (imagine the sun-burn). In fact these are Afro-Asiatic people and would have had some melanin to protect them from the sun But aside from loincloths, they did indeed also wear garments covering their body. This Assyrian relief depicts the execution of an Arab. Not only is he significantly darker-skinned than the (more northern) Assyrian, he is wearing a garment covering his whole body. Also, he looks just like me (not joking). Here are some of the original sources used to create that historical reconstruction of (bare-chested) Arab camel riders fighting Assyrians, from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh:

I did not know that, lol...

Then maybe pierce damage should have a higher effect on siege-weapons. They're not in-organic units you know. If the guys operating the machine get hit by arrows they die. With hundreds of arrow flying your way, you're bound to get hit at some point.

According to Megasthenes, Kautilya (a.k.a. Chanakya) provided Chandragupta with a camel-corps From "Chandragupta Maurya and His Times" by Radhakumud Mookerji, p .167 Arrian also notes the use of camels in India, although I have no idea how this would translate in to an actual military unit.

The only image I'm familiar with, showing Nabataean camel archers fighting a Persian, I believe an Assyrian horse archer.

Kushite Full Scale Armour A second primary reference for a full scale armour In previous posts, many examples of scale armour have been referenced, from various temple reliefs. By far the most common example of this scale armour is in the form of a corselet, wrapped around the torso, providing a decent protection for the vital organs, but leaving the arms and shoulders unprotected. I shared a single example of a full scale armour before, from a relief on the pylon of a Meroitic pyramid chapel belonging to King Tarekeniwal, showing the King in an elaborate full scale armour, covering his body all the way down to his knees, as well as his arms and shoulders, decorated with bands of cloth(?) with golden(?) figures of gods attached to them. Up to now, it was the only example I was able to find of this type. I now present King Amanakhareqerema, as depicted on an execution scene, on the pylon of temple 200 in Naqa, a now mostly ruined temple. The King is wearing a full scale armour covering his body down to his knees, as well as his arms and shoulders. It seems to be the same type seen on King Tarekeniwal, although it's missing the decorative bands of cloth. This is also yet another depiction of a lion alongside a Kushite royal mauling the "rebel nations". Detail of King Amanakhareqerema's face, as shared before: The other example of Kushite full scale armour: King Tarekeniwal, from Meroë. These scale armours are made of bronze, although leather and even gold have been postulated. I think the more common bronze scale armour corselet is perfect for elite troops, and the bronze full scale armour should be reserved for Hero units, or "royal guard" units.

Especially swordsmen and elephants are very effective against siege-weapons. A bunch of women can also take out a ram with relative efficiency. But I agree that they are OP. A single ram can easily take down a fortress, and proceed to demolish half your town if not checked by the right units. I think 1 fortress vs 1 battering ram: the fortress should totally win (with 50% health left). If people think that makes fortresses OP, just increase their build cost (and throw in some wood). Defensive play-styles are legitimate, but the way siege waltzes over your fortifications makes investing in them a pyrrhic experience. Also, capturing is easier when the structure is (heavily) damaged. First Ctrl + right click to attack. Then, when the structure is quite damaged, you can choose right click to capture. It's advisable to use siege or elephants to destroy buildings though.