Genava55

I totally know this and I am not contesting these because there are plenty of material evidences for nomad women warriors. I am contesting the idea solely based on tales and myths.

I remain unconvinced about women warriors based only on mythological figures and folkloric tales. This is like arguing for Greek women warriors because of Artemis, Atalanta and Athena.

I think the idea is to make historical campaigns one day, another big piece waiting. So clearly your work will be appreciated. And I like the idea of the unit.

Seleucids used them as well but as mounted archers. That is probably the question of Alexandermb, to know which civ could have used them as a melee cavalry. Arabs probably (Saba, Nabata etc.) and Persians because of Arabs mercenaries.

I know Vice has a bad reputation but this article is far from being horrible. Video games, especially strategic games, have huge effect on how the average person thinks about other civilizations distant in time and space. A lot of persons discovered the Hellenistic kingdoms and dynasties thanks to video game like the Total War series. So it is quite an important matter for history nerds to understand and to question these things. The article rises interesting questions about the common (mis)conception of progress as linearly growing to more and more civilization. The problem is the same with human evolution and the common view of The March of Progress which has affected how we view prehistoric men. Actually, most of the games with a linear progress has represented Medieval times as far superior than Ancient ones, like Empire Earth and Civilization, which is actually something bothering on some aspects. It is true that the Medieval times are not the dark age often depicted, true that some areas have progressed, but overall Medieval times suggest smaller armies with less training in average and poorer logistics. Which in strategic games should be an important factor but interestingly it is not the case. That's only an example but it illustrates how video games struggles with exception in the framework. However the article make a fallacious argument saying the goal of these kinds of games (like Civ) is to remove diversity. Actually this is simply due to what happened in history. These kinds of game are kinda deterministic and have literally zero imagination to develop any kind of civilizational anachronism. You can become the world ruling Aztec Empire from the early game but somehow you will still end with a Western legacy of civilization in the modern period. But I think it is quite a difficult task, rebutting most of the developers to make a game permitting true anachronisms. Another good point of the article is the common view of primitive and simplicity increasing together the more we look in the past. Simply to enable a bit of introspection and retrospection, I will ask a question about something we talked a few weeks ago about civilization with population bonus in 0 AD. Where did the idea come from that the Celts should have a population bonus? This is an interesting question because it puts the finger on different things we have inherited from the ancients about "barbarians". The same for the idea to put a tavern as representative of a civilization. This is not a critic and I put the guilt of all this in the failure of the academic system to share knowledge outside its own sphere and of the media to have almost zero interest to promote knowledge. Actually the author doesn't seem to criticize the principle of subdividing history since he choose the example of humankind as something better. And Hegel's philosophy is quite more subtle because he focuses on the march of freedom as the main factor of progress, which is attacked in the article. The author should have mentioned Hegel indeed. But the subdivision and the view of history as a succession of stages are not something Hegel invented. Hesiod, Rousseau, Dugal Stewart viewed the history of mankind with the same idea before Hegel.

Helmets with transverse crest are normally known to be something related to the centurions during the late Roman Republic and most of the Roman Empire.

What are the damage types inflicted by pikemen? 100% piercing?

You really did a great job Alexandermb!

Cattle Domestication: from Aurochs to Cow http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2016/02/cattle-domestication-from-aurochs-to-cow/

Appian, The Illyrian Wars 4: "[18] The transalpine Iapydes, a strong and savage tribe, drove back the Romans twice within the space of about twenty years, overran Aquileia, and plundered the Roman colony of Tergestus. When Augustus advanced against them by a steep and rugged road, note they made it still harder for him by felling trees. As he advanced farther they took refuge in another forest, where they lay in ambush for the approaching foe. Augustus, who was always suspecting something of this kind, sent forces to occupy certain ridges which flanked both sides of his advance through the flat country and the fallen timber. The Iapydes darted out from their ambush and wounded many of the soldiers, but the greater part of their own forces were killed by the Romans who fell upon them from the heights above. The remainder again took refuge in the thickets, abandoning their town, the name of which was Terponus. Augustus took this town, but did not burn it, hoping that they also would give themselves up, and they did so. [19] Thence he advanced to another place called Metulus, which is the chief town of the Iapydes. It is situated on a heavily timbered mountain, on two ridges with a narrow valley between them. Here were about 3,000 warlike and well-armed youth, who easily beat off the Romans who surrounded their walls. The latter raised a mound. The Metulians interrupted the work by assaults by day and by night, and harassed the soldiers from the walls with engines which they had obtained from the war which Decimus Brutus had waged there with [Marc] Antony and Augustus. When their wall began to crumble they built another inside, abandoned the ruined one, and took shelter behind the other. The Romans captured the abandoned one and burned it. Against the new fortification they raised two mounds and from these threw four bridges to the top of the wall. Then, in order to distract their attention, Augustus sent a part of his force around to the rear of the town and ordered the others to dash across the bridges to the walls. He ascended to the top of a high tower to see the result." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iapydes

I am in favor of non-covered rams. If this is too much unbalanced for the factions using those (too weak), let's give them the possibility to upgrade it to covered battering rams through a research. And the Mediterranean factions could have the covered ones directly from the start without any research. I hope sapping will be added in the game one day in the future but that is a more complex thing to add.

Discovery of four statues in Bretagne (France) https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/patrimoine/archeologie/rare-decouverte-de-quatre-sculptures-gauloises-en-bretagne_3673787.html https://actu.fr/bretagne/saint-brieuc_22278/pres-saint-brieuc-archeologues-decouvrent-objets-ayant-appartenu-chef-gaulois_28891529.html

Iron Age shield found in Pocklington is "one of most important ancient finds this millennium" https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage/iron-age-shield-found-in-pocklington-is-one-of-most-important-ancient-finds-this-millennium-1-10137418 “The popular belief is that elaborate metal-faced shields were purely ceremonial, reflecting status, but not used in battle. Our investigation challenges this with the evidence of a puncture wound in the shield typical of a sword. Signs of repairs can also be seen, suggesting the shield was not only old but likely to have been well-used,” said Paula.

Video about the battle of Agincourt, do not want to open a new thread for this:

Welsh mythology can be used if there is something planed for the Celts.

Clearly, they still have enough power to thrust deeply their enemies. They simply cannot use the whole momentum, they needed to be a little loose on the hit to not lose their weapon or to be unhorsed. This is why I reacted to the animation of a hetairos holding the lance like a knight would, with a very strong grip. Btw, a depiction here of a possible strike during a charge:

The story of a weird object with a spear-like shape that could have been a musical instrument for religious purposes.

Moreover, without saddle and stirrups, it is impossible to transmit the whole kinetic energy of the horse and the man with the lance without being projected during the contact.

In "Horses and Heroes: The Myth of the Importance of the Horse to the Conquest of the Indies": Ref. 120 => The Appearance of the Mounted Indian in Northern Mexico and the Southwest, to 1680. Sadly I cannot get access to this one. But I found another paper quoting this one: The Rise and Fall of Plains Indian Horse Cultures https://watermark.silverchair.com/90-3-833.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAmgwggJkBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggJVMIICUQIBADCCAkoGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMeqdBRtD7Nl-ZWanIAgEQgIICG0mYZPbq6mvBieZn0RUs7-AQwCC5wQLa51iZofrB0q7clDWynbqfxBa_gssA0phFat5qBkxCGRtPbcAkrLXR9ThXRXTHO9FivODEvXVsu-LuKvx3fUXMkO2b2y2TlSHQZr3g0aD_G9pTE6_RKuxo0-7shHuvHhUssvH7M3pabTtG7g_IsWVEXVocsp6ThbeR3PlEvrD1GyxjH_jOW1K-wbEblmicIbGI48wbIeOn7kIoO8dzyZKGlbNG_42vZbEMkypp70BvSAq68UZrZ3dLn7l3-O7oCWPvvejk8FsBK5HbeAFj7e6rPhG2MDNsI8bQIYpiCx7mgjL2SMAjZsSEcmZAaFHHbwtPvRAOPIl9kTaieHlHgMfQlJWElFRE3GogCXLiik_h87bP85adBj7r4nkebwiS-AYlfLQuRFEbaclwRUXVYVQ9jt7vBWWDRqGxj738J0er1G8xLDHaho74_hwp5S-Ovl7tjBTr-gFGRUi15Za793u1wgVyPW1_PSe0p0R3UckkQ2_LytpH9Il1SKuwVpWco3TYRuK00OJZqczBhfFR-9JkA5Ytk_WllMqZHRQOb7iGER2KGQoJTXcidJuc48K0tXv6HFgCskcKqduwMCS1g1VWs4MdIRHRqm7qFdoNqH6dDVfIkOMzGixoR1wDjUfI7Eds0fgchhfBdupf_ql3lkEW4yKKPnvFMKZBOcOrGC4c90PCDz_v

If it is useful for the Gauls, here there is a view of the large tower in Paule fortified farm, at 2:51: Here an illustration of the same place: Here a fortified part of outer wall from Bibracte:

Stunning antler-like horse headpiece with matching breastcollar; Scythian, about 300 BCE, Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia. Steve Harrison. Museum piece

Ptolemaic Elephants in III Maccabees and the Social Stratification of the Kingdom of Kush https://digitalcommons.xula.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=etd Probably an undergraduate thesis but an interesting topic properly explored.