Ultimate Aurelian

Batavian regional mercenary unit, the heaviest cavalry avaliable to Germans (Cimbri have heaviest infantry). Or maybe the mounted slinger you mentioned; which i guess is based on this account by Hadrian: Although it says they mounted quickly, so it's possible they were mounted infantry who fired slings on foot.

That's a good question, i was wondering the other day how Aurelian could be featured as a hero (Possibly as Dominate hero, since he paved the way for it). Third century crisis fits between Dominate and Principate. A way to portray that time period without being too similar to the other two, is through a Palmyra civ.

@Genava55 Another headdress; Coincidentally from Cork, like the horns i previously posted maybe a cultural quirk of that region ? It had two horns (the second one broke off). https://arthistoryleavingcert.com/pre-christian-ireland-2/iron-age-la-tene-in-ireland/ http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/irish-crafts/petrie-crown.htm

Posting some possible references for Suebian Heroes (Based on your Gaul hero post). Ariovistus: Maroboodus (Marobodwos ?): Ballomar (Reconstructed as celtic Ballomaros, possibly germanic Baldomarijaz ?) Arminius could be a fourth option (Mercenary hero?)

The presence of possible horns threw me off a bit; but i agree there is no evidence of nasal on ancient Celtic helmets. Giving the unit a chance of spawning with no headgear would be appropriate in my opinion, this way you can have it in game but still portray it's rarity a bit.

West Roman wonder could be the Old St Peter's Basilica; East Roman wonder is the imperial palace of Constantinople (Hagia Sophia is a bit late, and already used in Millenium a.d)

Possible helmet or leather headress for Irish chieftains:

He considered a Pergamene faction in another thread.

Dominate might end up having a lot of heroes (A long time period with two empires) By default you could get Constantine, Diocletian and Theodosius in phase III. To reach Phase III (or IV ?) you choose between western and eastern empire and unlock a hero from the later end of the period; west unlocks Aetius and east has Justinian (Or maybe Anastasius if Justinian is too late in the timeline).

Will Scythians heroes upgrade to a mounted version ? Or will all their heroes start out mounted as a civ feature ?

Etruscans (With possibly Tarquin as a hero) might be a better choice for a future civ, Monarchy romans would be pretty much Etruscans with some semi-legendary kings. What is the timeline for republican civ ? Does the war with Pyrrhus or Brennus sack of rome falll whitin it ?

Republicans should keep Scipio like in vanilla, possibly add some from the first punic war if you want (Marcus Atilius Regulus as a navy focused hero ?) I saw on a old thread that you planed on triumvirate romans to have three heroes at time, does that still hold up ? Republican buildings will need to be reworked, some of them are quite imperial/triumvriate looking (See CC). Triumvirate could have Evocati Champion, i like the way they are portrayed in EB2 (Avoding the overly standardized look, often seen i depictions of legionnaires)

I find the practice of bog burials interesting, they very likely knew of it's preserving properties since they also stored butter in bogs and it takes a specific kind of bog for the process to happen. Wonder why he was wearing just a hat; maybe some costume for sacrifice or execution (The first one seems more likely, considering how they closed his eyes and put him in sleeping position) possibly indicating a spiritual significance of the cap.

German ram could be covered in shields as i said. Scythians did not use much shields, so their ram could have a wood frame covered in leather (Like they use for their tents and covered wagons). Been thinking about civilian units. For merchants i suggest a horse or maybe ox cart (Not much use of donkeys by germans). Priest could either be a priestess, or a bearded man with a horned headress. The phrygian-esque hat of the tollund man could be used, either for merchants (Since a lot of the ingame merchants use some kind of hat) or even priest (Odin's pointy hat ?)

Possibly like the Millenium A.D rams (Covered in shields).

Nice, captures the workshop feel while still looking suitably primitive. Not sure if they will use wheeled rams, since the DE scythians don't. Possible name for ram could be Gataslahanaz (Gate smasher).

Carthaginian balearic slinger is a exception, i think they used lead projectiles too. For DE the helot slinger could have less range than other greek slingers; idea is that they are poorer and the Spartans focused less on ranged warfare, plus the civ has a archaic feel and it would make them closer to early Psiloi (Who fired just stones and sometimes even threw them with their bare hands).

Range and melee resistance could also factor into it. Slingers have biggest range but lowest armor (They outrange other ranged units, but melee units resist their attacks and crush them in melee), archers have somewhat less range than slingers but more armor, Javelin have shortest range but are the best equipped for a melee. This just an abstraction based on how they were usually equipped, depending on civ may have different stats.

Been thinking about how regional mercenaries could be implemented. My idea is that you would train them from great hall UB; first you choose a non-suebian region to ally with, each region provides two mercenaries: Scandinavia: Suiones archer and Cimbrian mailed Swordsman Rhine: Chatti veteran and horse stabber North Sea: Cherusci pikeman and Batavian horseman (Mounted slingers are interesting never heard of that before, what is the source ? ) Pomerania: Luggiones swordsman and night ambusher Baltic coast: Ruggi warrior with round shield, Aesti axe warrior (Later could be either all female boosting nearby units, or a normal axe unit with both males and females) I am suggesting a possible roster with tribal names and my ideas on shields will post in a while. Edit: Here is my suggestion (Tribe name translations are speculative and not very good), Citizen Infantry: Citizen Cavalry Champions

Bactrians are interesting, one of my favorite sucessor kingdoms; would help bridge the gap between the Han and other civs in the game. Iranian levy spearman Macedonian settler Pikeman Iranian archer Indo-Greek heavy skirmisher Baktrian axe Hillman Nomad cavalry skirmisher Ionian citizen cavalry Hellenized mounted archer Bactrian guard hoplite (Champion) Cataphract (Champion) War elephant Not sure on wonder

Might also fit Bactrians. I have a draft for a Greco-Bactrian civ.

It would be cool if the Romans had Caesar, a bit late in the timeline but very revelant since he fought Cleopatra, Vercingetorix, and the Britons. Current faction is based on Polybian era tho, maybe for a possible triumvirate civ ?

Is having more than three heroes a Macedonian bonus; or do you plan to roll out that to other civs too ? Also the cuirass on Craterus looks great, very detailed texture.

Would be great for village Parthians, since they were a nomadic people who absorbed Persian and Hellenic culture upon conquering the region.

Since they did not use much armor, clothing and shields will be the best way to distinguish rank. Here is my suggestion for citizen spearman shields: Basic: Rectangular or oval shield, wooden boss Advanced:Rectangular oval or hexagonal, wooden boss Elite: Rectangular, oval or hexagonal shield; wooden boss, but some might have a reinforced spina or simple boss Patterns differ too, basic units could have very simple ones (Painted in a single solid color or unpainted except for designs):