Carltonus

At this rate from all the proposals, the Athenians will probably have three hoplites (maybe four), each of differing statistics: "Athenian Hoplite", "Chosen Hoplite" (similar statistics to a Spartiate), and "Light Hoplite" (the current epilektos). The Light Peltast has the long spear as a secondary attack, once implemented. Do not forget that Hellenistic pikemen in this game can assume the syntagma (rectangle) formation. The proposed proto-pikemen should form the phalanx like their fellow citizen hoplites, not that one. Call them "pikemen", but they still appear hoplite-like to me, just lighter and have a slight boost in attack range. Is there any problem with the Thracian peltasts (mercenary javelineers) or the podromoi (scout cavalry)? Mercenary and citizen, respectively. The latter probably describes your "ordinary citizen javelinmen", with a mount. Turning spearmen into pikemen is like fast-forwarding to Athens's golden age to the time of Alexander. Naval concepts like ramming and boarding have not yet been coded into the game. Which buffs in particular? No problem scrapping the Scythian archers completely, if their Cretan counterparts be recruited from the barracks without research requirements... Maybe an upgrade from the prythaneon as an alternative reflecting their duties?

In addition, like the Han palace guards, suggest adding (or if not, changing them into) a melee unit, wielding either club or axe. That reflects their role more descriptively. Maybe give them an aura or two that boosts/weakens nearby citizen soldiers and support which could be a double-edged sword (figuratively). Reiterating my current and simple suggestion for this reform tech: unlock two fast infantry units, which are not the marines nor Cretan archers. The rest is found on my previous posts here. A better idea, since the reforms itself seem out of the time-frame of the golden age of this faction: the hero himself should be on the field to open this technology, even after he is killed. Pikemen are a whole different story, maybe Athens during the Hellenistic period, and in a separate faction from the current, with their mercenary (mistophoroi) pikemen. Thought this was about the current champion hoplite "changed into some proto-Philip II pikemen". Which specific attributes for the Hellenistic pikemen you want considered to be modified? Note that if you have followed the older alpha versions, the mixed Greek faction had a champion hoplite-skirmisher hybrid, then the (probably) anachronistic thureophoros in 23, recruited from the now-deprecated royal stoa. These two are supposed to be replaced with the light peltast mentioned earlier. For the marines, no problem for me if they can be "demoted" to citizen swordsmen. A compromise can be that when they reach elite, they are armored and no longer run primarily like the thorakites (heavy swordsmen). If that creates complexity in code, the aforementioned forked tech, choosing between fast or armored, has also been suggested. The latter will unlock another champion hoplite (around the same statistics as a Spartiate) and probably another one which the rest of you can decide.

Also, "Iphicratean Reforms" would not a good name for this one, that itself is discussed further here. Suggest the new name(s) for hiring marines and Cretan archers in the dock and/or triremes something to do with "(fast) deployment" or a "quick-reaction force" in Attic Greek. They should be recruitable directly from the gymnasium and barracks, respectively, without any prerequisite research; that is for said hiring tech for both dock and warship.

Will the other factions have their own folders for the portraits? The Han is currently the only one with this convention: https://trac.wildfiregames.com/browser/ps/trunk/binaries/data/mods/public/art/textures/ui/session/portraits/units

Quoting @Nescio from above link, "[T]here is no evidence for Briton kennels", thus adding more weight for training them at the Corral or some other existing structure...

It appears there is still little to none, given that... @AIEND has a point there, but that gives rise to which buildings ("structures" as we call here) represent such. Awaiting response to whether they agree or disagree with the two names from the changeset.

The background could be lighter, or changed to the shades of yellow to complement the purple cloak. If it should remain the same, a bit more lighting is enough. Please take your time to produce the Han-dynasty hero portraits even after the sixth, minor issues such as this could be done before the Commit Freeze in my opinion. That way, everyone will not be bothered with portraits of cropped image models as one of those bad starts for the new faction.

That makes more historically-accurate sense. Does the rest of the community have consensus? "Xìan" (縣, Gwēns/*ɡʷeːns) and "Jùn" (郡, Gluns/*ɡluns) are ones to be put in the phase_town_generic.json and phase_city_generic.json files, respectively, for the "han" parameter. Knew that both characters mean the capital, as that would only apply to Chang'an (Xi'an) if within 0 A.D. timeframe... What can you come up for the empire phase for your mod, @wowgetoffyourcellphone. Should be another one-character, maybe two.

Don't forget the full Gate of All Nations model, @wowgetoffyourcellphone. If that will not be the future Wonder, will it be another special building for the hiring of the champion hoplite and skirmisher, an Atlas-only special building with the same purpose, or something else? The first two would work for the so-called "Hall"...

Hold on for a moment! The names of the two phases should be attested in ancient Chinese literature, whether one-character or two-character. We should not be using anything anachronistic, as in after the Han dynasty. Note that Cūnzhuāng (Sun-srang) is not first attested in Old Chinese, but in the poetry of Wang Wei (Tang dynasty), too late to be used here. Is Xiāngzhèn (Qang-tin(s)) attested in the older literature? Xiàn (Gwens), Jùn (Gluns), and Dū (Ta)/Jīng (Krang) seems more fitting for this era.

As the Han Chinese faction is being included with the next alpha, let's also propose the names of the town and city phases for the notification and phase-up tech. One that has been neglected for some of the other factions... For the town phase, how about Chéngshì (城市, Dyeng-dyu)? For city, Dūshì (都市, Ta-dyu). Can't find a better one for the former though.

Thureos came later during the Hellenistic period, in my current knowledge; any accounts regarding them before/around the time of Alexander? Iphicrates was around 4th century BCE. Believe that "Light Peltast" would be a better name for the proposed champion skirmisher with the oval wicker shields.

"Ptolemy"? The champions of the Ptolemaic faction are agema pikeman and spear cavalry. Athenians have three, with one requiring an inconsistent technological research item in the council hall (prythaneon). Since the discussion here is about the Athenian champions, we should also take into consideration the marines and Scythian police. Who agrees renaming the "Iphicratean reforms" tech to one for unlocking the marine units (epibates and Cretan archers)? Land-only maps should also be taken into account, so (1) Cretan archers should also be hired in a structure other than the port and (2) marines should also be trained in the gymnasium. The upgrade should be explicit, recruiting from triremes (and port, for balancing). The Iphicratean reforms (reiterating, if be retained) should unlock the present "epilektos" and a champion skirmisher; both light and fast. Any thoughts for armored marines and the logades (armored hoplite), slow and sturdy? Finally, the Scythian police. Which the community prefers: Clubmen ("macmen")/axemen (sagaris), or archer? Any auras to represent their policing duty?

Would wish to support scrapping the Iphicratean reforms tech outright in light of @Thorfinn the Shallow Minded's view of "the height" of Athenian civilization, but no consensus among the other community members seems to have been reached. In this case, what alternative technologies and champion units can replace the Iphicratean influences? Coming back to this, the reforms (if retained) should actually unlock a champion light hoplite like the present epilektos, as well as a champion skirmisher akin to the theureophoros a few alphas ago. Marines should be a whole different story, separate tech to unlock (light/armored fork?). Image references: When secondary weapons are a thing, the champion light peltasts can double as a hoplite. Don't forget to replace the thureos with oval wicker shields.

To be honest, the Old Chinese romanization should be the one put in the specific name parameter of the xmls, and pinyin (or other romanization) mixed with English/transifex in generic.

We have not seen any news yet from the original modeller of the palace. The feature freeze is in a few weeks, just to let the both of you know. Anybody else who is willing to finish the palace just in time for the above?

Are the drawings of the red sun and the soldiers moving from side to side like the other 0 A.D. backgrounds? Those would be much appreciated. A scenery of ancient Wa can be part of the middleground to complete it.

In the long-run, of course! To summarize: Cassivellaunus would be the same class as Boudicca, on chariots; same goes for Mandubracius and who is going to be the third one, both that may be swordsmen on foot and horse, respectively. All that with little to no change in gameplay or statistics, if that is what you mean...

If I can recall, isn't the cape model unified for all factions? Still rooting for an unarmored Boudicca. Historical attire, gear, and temple structure aside, the next issue that may have to be taken seriously is the Brythonic heroes being out of the current 0 A.D. timeframe. Sure, the current three can be put as Atlas-only units or preparation for the so-called "Part 2/Empires Beseiged". Those (at least) three during Caesar's invasions, anybody?

My initial suggestion was that the Battersea shield be a prop addition to the Brythonic temple or other structure. But since you insist in a combat use, let it be equipped to a proposed hero before or during the time of Julius Caesar's invasion, if any.

Thought the Battersea shield was made around or before the time of Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain? Isn't that used as a votive offering?

The Britons and Gauls wiki pages have been updated. Let me know if there are parts that need correction and/or expansion. Kindly expound.

The Judean fortress is currently a re-texture of the Persian (Achaemenid) counterpart... so Kathy had not done any major changes to the texture files. "And the swine... you shall not eat", yes, the template file for the Judean corral obviously has not been modified yet. What permissible animal can be a substitute for the pig, or just remove it from the template altogether. In short, the faction still has placeholders until balance of (game) mechanics and history/culture are in harmony.

Just the messenger here, nothing else. The only feature I have contributed currently is the proposed specific name for the building. Thanks for the offer, if only I had another computer with the space for such creative tools... expecting one sooner or later!