Faction: Byzantines

[Lion.Kanzen]

No Belisarius, No Justinian...

[wackyserious]

Placeholder structures for the Byzantines.

59 minutes ago, wackyserious said:

So I tried to create a civilization .JSON file for the Byzantines. I copy-pasted a pre-existing civilization .JSON and replaced the necessary inputs. However I'm getting errors when testing them in-game.

  Reveal hidden contents

{
    "Code": "byza",
    "Culture": "byza",
    "Name": "Byzantines",
    "Emblem": "session/portraits/emblems/emblem_byzantines.png",
    "History": "The Eastern Roman Empire.",
    "Music":[
            {"File":"Juno_Protect_You.ogg", "Type":"peace"},
            {"File":"Mediterranean_Waves.ogg", "Type":"peace"},
            {"File":"Elysian_Fields.ogg", "Type":"peace"},
            {"File":"The_Governor.ogg", "Type":"peace"}
        ],
    "Factions":
    [
        {
            "Name": "Byzantines",
            "Description": "The Eastern Roman Empire.",
            "Technologies":
            [
                {
                    "Name": "N/A",
                    "History": "N/A",
                    "Description": "N/A"
                }
            ],
            "Heroes":
            [
                {
                    "Name": "TBD",
                    "Class": "?",
                    "Armament": "?",
                    "Emblem": "",
                    "History": "?"
                },
                {
                    "Name": "TBD2",
                    "Class": "?",
                    "Armament": "?",
                    "Emblem": "",
                    "History": "?"
                },
                {
                    "Name": "TDB3",
                    "Class": "?",
                    "Armament": "?",
                    "Emblem": "",
                    "History": "?"                    
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "CivBonuses":
    [
        {
            "Name": "TBD",
            "History": "N/A",
            "Description": "?"
        },
        {
            "Name": "TBD2",
            "History": "N/A",
            "Description": "?"
        }
    ],
    "TeamBonuses":
    [
    ],
    "Structures":
    [
    ],
    "WallSets":
    [
        "other/wallset_palisade",
        "structures/spart_wallset_stone"
    ],
    "StartEntities":
    [
        {
            "Template": "structures/byza_civil_centre"
        },
        {
            "Template": "units/byza_support_female_citizen",
            "Count": 4
        },
        {
            "Template": "units/byza_infantry_archer_b",
            "Count": 2
        },
        {
            "Template": "units/byza_infantry_spearman_b",
            "Count": 2
        },
        {
            "Template": "units/byza_cavalry_spearman_b"
        }
    ],
    "Formations":
    [
        "special/formations/null",
        "special/formations/box",
        "special/formations/column_closed",
        "special/formations/line_closed",
        "special/formations/column_open",
        "special/formations/line_open",
        "special/formations/flank",
        "special/formations/skirmish",
        "special/formations/wedge",
        "special/formations/battle_line",
    ],
    "AINames":
    [
        "Emperor 1",
        "Emperor 2",
        "Emperor 3",
        "Emperor 4",
        "Emperor 5",
        "Emperor 6",
        "Emperor 7",
        "Emperor 8",
        "Emperor 9",
        "Emperor 10",
        "Emperor 11",
        "Emperor 12",
        "Emperor 13",
        "Emperor 14"
    ],
    "SkirmishReplacements":
    {
        "skirmish/units/default_cavalry" : "units/byza_cavalry_spearman_b",
        "skirmish/units/default_infantry_ranged_b": "units/byza_infantry_archer_b",
        "skirmish/structures/default_house_10" : "structures/{civ}_house"
    },
    "SelectableInGameSetup": true
}

 

 

@Imarok Can you help me identify why I'm getting errors on the civ .JSON, above?

[Sundiata]

59 minutes ago, Nescio said:

"Byzantine" is a modern term to cover twelve centuries. Rather than trying to contain all that anachronistically in a single civilization, you should chose a single period or dynasty and base your faction on that.

I'd strongly suggest just keeping it at "Byzantine Empire" or the "Byzantines". Keep the specifics about dynasties and such for the history descriptions/campaigns... 

This faction is basically going to be the "benchmark civ", that can and should be fully fleshed out, so I personally don't see any issues with concentrating on them next. Should be relatively "easy" with regard to research and refs. 

I love the double headed eagle, but it seems to be associated with the Palaiologos Dynasty from 1261 to 1453, though it was in use as a decorative motif before that:

 

The Chi Rho symbol is also cool, but not exclusively Byzantine, and seems to have even fallen out of use during the early Byzantine period:

 

What about a mosaic of the head of Justinian I?

 

[Nescio]

4 minutes ago, wackyserious said:

@Imarok Can you help me identify why I'm getting errors on the civ .JSON, above?

     "Emblem": "session/portraits/emblems/emblem_byzantines.png",
            "Template": "structures/byza_civil_centre",
            "Template": "units/byza_support_female_citizen",
            "Template": "units/byza_infantry_archer_b",
            "Template": "units/byza_infantry_spearman_b",
            "Template": "units/byza_cavalry_spearman_b",
         "skirmish/structures/default_house_10" : "structures/{civ}_house"

Do all of these files exist?

[wackyserious]

1 minute ago, Nescio said:

     "Emblem": "session/portraits/emblems/emblem_byzantines.png",
            "Template": "structures/byza_civil_centre",
            "Template": "units/byza_support_female_citizen",
            "Template": "units/byza_infantry_archer_b",
            "Template": "units/byza_infantry_spearman_b",
            "Template": "units/byza_cavalry_spearman_b",
         "skirmish/structures/default_house_10" : "structures/{civ}_house"

Do all of these files exist?

Yeah it is all in the directory, got any more leads on why it produces an error?

[Nescio]

1 minute ago, wackyserious said:

Yeah it is all in the directory, got any more leads on why it produces an error?

1 hour ago, wackyserious said:

        "special/formations/battle_line",
    ],

Since this formation is the last element of a list, there should not be a comma behind it.

Also, it would be more helpful if you would just post the file next time, rather than quoting its contents

[wackyserious]

It now works, thanks a lot!

[wackyserious]

Finalizing some of the remaining placeholder entities. The Byzantine faction is already playable, I will commit it later tonight.

@stanislas69 @Alexandermb

\

[Lion.Kanzen]

Time to start Belisarius Army.

 

[Alexandermb]

I already have a cataphract armor but of cloth mentioned before in 2 references, tell me if needed for commit.

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

Have fun. I'd reserve Justinian and Belisarius for a Dominate Romans faction (or Late Romans, Early Byzantines, whatever you want to call them)  for the core game.

[Lion.Kanzen]

To gain an understanding of the Byzantine army and its constant changes in the Medieval Age, the Army will be split into Early, Thematic and Byzantine Armies. However there are similar overlaping themes. As with most medieval armies, the majority of Byzantine soldiers were seasonal fighters (with the exception of a few professional institutions such as the Athanatoi created by the Emperor John I Tzimiskes). However, unlike the armies of Western Europe, the Byzantine army was not dependant on feudal obligations to raise large amounts of manpower but was reliant on bureaucratic system and a stable system of pay by coin and land (which was known as the theme system). This, coinciding with adapting different methods of fighting, meant it could easily field a flexible and mobile army consisting of specialised elements.

Much of what we know of Byzantine warfare comes from the Byzantine military manuals- they provide us with a wealth of information on equipment, doctrines, tactics and deployment. However there is an inherit danger of readings these manuals as descriptive. Most of them, especially the Strategikon, were probably more prescriptive than descriptive in nature.

https://byzantineoplomachia.wordpress.com/2015/09/09/beyond-the-golden-gate-the-byzantine-army-at-war/

 

Infantry

Although the Strategikon describes infantrymen equipped like Late Roman heavy infantry, it is highly unlikely that most Early Byzantine heavy infantry wore metal armour. The chapters on heavy infantry in the Strategikon were copied from an earlier Late Roman military manuscripts and there is little reason to believe that the best heavy infantryman had more than a shield, cloth armour and perhaps a helmet for protection. His main offensive weapon was a spear, around six feet in length that could be thrust or cast. In the Strategikon, infantrymen were instructed to throw their spears when facing infantry and thrust their spears when facing cavalry. Behind the first ranks of spearmen, archers or javalinmen were drawn up to provide missile support.

 

Infantry

Although the Strategikon describes infantrymen equipped like Late Roman heavy infantry, it is highly unlikely that most Early Byzantine heavy infantry wore metal armour. The chapters on heavy infantry in the Strategikon were copied from an earlier Late Roman military manuscripts and there is little reason to believe that the best heavy infantryman had more than a shield, cloth armour and perhaps a helmet for protection. His main offensive weapon was a spear, around six feet in length that could be thrust or cast. In the Strategikon, infantrymen were instructed to throw their spears when facing infantry and thrust their spears when facing cavalry. Behind the first ranks of spearmen, archers or javalinmen were drawn up to provide missile support.

 

 

 

Appearance

Uniforms were probably only used by the elite of the infantry. Most infantry units were therefore distinguishable by their shield patterns and standards. Cavalry units and the best infantry were issued uniforms and equipment from the Imperial Factories- elite cavalry units are described as wearing white uniforms on parade. Colours for other units included different shades of red, greyish white, light green and light blue.

Late Roman Infantry carried draco standards, while the cavalry units had either draco or vexillatio standards. By the time of Maurice, the swallow-tailed bandae flags replaced the draco and vexillatio. Like other pieces of equipment this was probably adopted from the Avars. The bandum was a simple square or a rectangular flag with two, three or four streamers, each measuring several meters in length. Units in the same division (mere) were to use the same or similar banner, and the cavalry unit’s pennons, the flammulae, were used to distinguish one unit from another (although they were probably stowed away before battle).

The general’s banner stood out in both shape and design and would have been of a different pattern than the other banners in the army

Protectores Domestici Pedites

Protectores Domestici Equites

. Lorica Plumata - is one of the less common types of Roman flake (lamellar) armor, which was used exclusively by officers of the Roman legion. Because of the low prevalence of this armor, information about it is very scarce, and gather them bit by bit. Despite the fact that the design of the armor is known, not known for certain whether Lorica Plyumata been used by someone else other than the officers. This armor was not only a good remedy, but the hallmark. There is speculation that Lorica Plyumata was forbidden to use ordinary soldiers, if that was the hallmark of the officers, it is logical that the use of ordinary soldiers Plyumaty brings some confusion in the ranks of its own troops.

3. Such oval shield found in Dura Europos.
Drawing on those shield and other Protectores Domestici, including different to the Western and Eastern Empires - correspond with those in Notitia Dignitatum.

4. Helmet Protectores Domestici Pedites refers to the infantry type "Kammhelm", that are found in Intercisa.
Helmet Protectores Domestici Equites is a type of cavalry "Kammhelm", which is found in Deurne.

5. Fighting horses could be scaly armor covering the horse as a whole, but probably full body armor can only be attributed to κατάφρακτος and Clibanarii and partial. At least three of these scaly armor was discovered in the Dura-Europos, one of which is iron, the second and the third bronze leather. Another armor found in Britain. horse mask could be scaly or presented from a metallic (bronze, copper) shamfron, who had not only protective but also other properties. There is mention of the fact that, shamfron greatly frightened enemy horses.

(Armies in the past) "were so indifferent in their practice of archery that they drew the bowstring only to the breast, so that the missile sent forth was naturally impotent and harmless to those whom it hit. Such, it is evident, was the archery of the past. But the bowmen of the present time go into battle wearing corselets and fitted out with greaves which extend up to the knee. From the right side hang their arrows, from the other the sword. And there are some who have a spear also attached to them and, at the shoulders, a sort of small shield without a grip, such as to cover the region of the face and neck."

"They are expert horsemen, and are able without difficulty to direct their bows to either side while riding at full speed, and to shoot an opponent whether in pursuit or in flight. They draw the bowstring along by the forehead about opposite the right ear, thereby charging the arrow with such an impetus as to kill whoever stands in the way, shield and corselet alike
 having no power to check its force. Still there are those who take into consideration none of these things, who reverence and worship the ancient times, and give no credit to modern improvements." 
 

Procopius

(500 to 560 AD)

History of the Wars

The Persian Influence

The more heavily armored Roman cavalry was a direct response to Rome's greatest enemy: The Persian Empire.

For 700 years the Persians and Romans were locked into a series of endless wars both major and minor. Although warfare lasted for seven centuries, the frontier remained largely stable. A game of tug of war ensued: towns, fortifications, and provinces were continually sacked, captured, destroyed, and traded. Neither side had the logistical strength or manpower to maintain such lengthy campaigns far from their borders, and thus neither could advance too far without risking stretching its frontiers too thin. Both sides did make conquests beyond the border, but in time the balance was almost always restored.

Traditionally, Roman cavalry was neither heavily armored nor all that effective; the Roman Equites corps were composed mainly of lightly armored horsemen bearing spears and swords to chase down stragglers and to rout enemies. The adoption of cataphract-like cavalry formations took hold in the late Roman army during the late 3rd and 4th centuries.

Cataphract armored horsemen were almost universally clad in some form of scale armor that was flexible enough to give the rider and horse a good degree of motion, but strong enough to resist the immense impact of a thunderous charge into infantry formations.

The primary weapon of practically all cataphract forces throughout history was the lance. They were roughly four meters in length, with a capped point made of iron, bronze, or even animal bone and usually wielded with both hands. Cataphracts would often be equipped with an additional side-arm such as a sword or mace, for use in the melee that often followed a charge.

Persian cataphracts, particularly those of the Sassanid Empire, carried bows as well as blunt-force weapons, to soften up enemy formations before an eventual attack, reflecting upon the longstanding Persian tradition of horse archery. 

In an ironic twist, the elite of the East Roman army by the 6th century had become the cataphract, modelled after the very force that had famously defeated and slaughtered their forebears numerous times more than 500 years earlier. 

During the Iberian and Lazic wars initiated in the Caucasus by Justinian I, it was noted by Procopius that Persian cataphract archers were adept at firing their arrows in very quick succession and saturating enemy positions but with little hitting power, resulting in mostly non-incapacitating limb wounds for the enemy. The Roman cataphracts, on the other hand, released their shots with far more power, able to launch arrows with lethal kinetic energy behind them, albeit at a slower pace.

Byzantine cavalry were ideally suited to combat on the plains of Anatolia and northern Syria, which, from the seventh century onwards, constituted the principal battleground in the struggle against the forces of Islam. They were heavily armed using lance, mace and sword as well as strong composite bows which allowed them to achieve success against lighter, faster enemies, being particularly effective against both the Arabs and Turks in the east, and the Hungarians and Pechenegs in the west.

Bucellarii (Latin for "biscuit–eater")

The term for a unit of soldiers in the late Roman and Byzantine Empire, that were not supported by the state but rather by some individual such as a general or governor, in essence being his "household troops".

These units were generally quite small, but, especially during the many civil wars, they could grow to number several thousand men. In effect, the bucellarii were small private armies equipped and paid by wealthy influential people. As such they were quite often better trained and equipped, not to mention motivated, than the regular soldiers of the time. 

In the 6th century, Belisarius, during his wars on behalf of Justinian, employed as many as 7,000 bucellarii cavalry. By this time, the bucellarii were well integrated into the main Roman army, and soon the term came to be applied indiscriminately to well-equipped cavalry troops. 

Thus, in the 7th century, when the military recruitment areas formed the basis for the Theme system, one of the first themata was that of the Boukellariōn, in the area of Paphlagonia and Galatia, with its capital at Ankara.
http://byzantinemilitary.blogspot.com/2016/01/roman-and-byzantine-cavalry.html

 

Koursores

A category of cavalryman termed a koursōr (pl. koursores) is documented in Byzantine military literature from the sixth century onwards. The term is a transliteration of the Latincursor with the meaning 'raider'.

The koursōr had a defined tactical role but may or may not have been an officially defined cavalry type. Koursores were mobile close-combat cavalry and may be considered as being drawn from the more lightly equipped kataphraktoi. The koursores were primarily intended to engage enemy cavalry and were usually placed on the flanks of the main battle line. Those on the left wing, termed defensores, were placed to defend that flank from enemy cavalry attack, whilst the cavalry placed on the right wing, termed prokoursatores, were intended to attack the enemy's flank.

Being relatively lightly equipped they were more suited to the pursuit of fleeing enemies than the heavyweight kataphraktoi
Cavalry

 

Legionis Balistarii
Balistarii - soldiers who were put to the servants of propelling vehicles, especially for Ballista, what they tell us about the two inscriptions from Chersonesos ballistarii.

Drawings on the shield - correspond with those in Notitia Dignitatum, and which relate to the Balistarii Dafnenses - Legio comitatenses.

The ballestarii, who mounted and fired the siege and heavy-throwing machines, such as ballistas, heliopoles, catapults, wolves, scorpions, manteletes and turtles.
 

 

 

 

Byzantine army in Egypt 550-600: 1 Buccelarius of the Duke of Thrbaidae; 2 primikerio of the legio V Macédonica (known as Quintani); 3 Flavius Macarius Isaccus military adiutor of Justinian. Autor Graham Sumter.

1 Spatharius; 2 Protector: 3 Excubitor

 

 

[wackyserious]

@Alexandermb Armor for mount or for the rider? I have just committed the Byzantine faction. You can sync the recent changes, add the armor then commit it.

[wackyserious]

[Lion.Kanzen]

 

 

-—----------------------------------------------------------------------#-##---------------------

The scholas, the unit of greater rank, were the direct successors of the Scholae Palatina established by Constantine the Great, were in service until 1080. They were constituted by seven regiments, heavy cavalry tagmata with 500 men each. They were originally selected and assault troops recruited mostly among the Germanic tribes. But by the middle of the fifth century they had become mere stopping troops, or at most police troops.

The excubitores or exkoubitoi (Watchers), created by Leon I in 460, lasted until 1.081, began with a force of 300 horsemen, and reached 4,000. They were created in response to the deterioration of the palatal scholas' fighting capacity. They were constituted by 300 men and maintained an acceptable level of effectiveness until the reign of Heraclius, during which they happened to become another body of stop.

Spoiler

The Excubitors were founded by Emperor Leo I (reigned 457–474) c. 460 and numbered 300 men, often recruited from among the sturdy and warlike Isaurians, as part of Leo's effort to counterbalance the influence of the magister militum Aspar and the large Germanic element in the East Roman army.^[1][2][3] Unlike the older palace regiments of the Scholae Palatinae, which were under the control of the magister officiorum and eventually degenerated to parade-ground formations, the Excubitors long remained a crack fighting force.^[4][5][6] In addition, while the Scholae were garrisoned throughout Thrace and Bithynia, the Excubitors were billeted in the imperial palace itself and formed practically the only garrison of Constantinople in the 6th century. Their high status is further illustrated by the fact that both officers and ordinary Excubitors were often sent for special missions by the emperors, including diplomatic assignments.^[7]

 

Tremissis of Emperor Justin I, the first commander of the Excubitors to rise to the throne.

The unit was headed by the Count of the Excubitors (Latin: comes excubitorum; Greek: κόμης τῶν ἐξκουβίτων/ἐξκουβιτόρων, komēs tōn exkoubitōn/exkoubitorōn), who, by virtue of his proximity to the emperor, became an official of great importance in the 6th and 7th centuries.^[8] This post, which can be traced up to c. 680, was usually held by close members of the imperial family, often virtual heirs apparent.^[5][9] Thus it was the support of his men that secured Justin I (r. 518–527), who held the post at the time of the death of Anastasius I, his elevation to the throne.^[10][9] Similarly, Justin II (r. 565–578) relied on the support of the Excubitors for his unchallenged accession; their count, Tiberius, was a close friend who had been appointed to the post through Justin's intervention. Tiberius was to be the Emperor's right-hand man throughout his reign, eventually succeeding him as Tiberius II (r. 578–582).^[11][12] He too would be succeeded by his own comes excubitorum, Maurice (r. 582–602).^[13] Under Maurice, the post was held by his brother-in-law Philippicus, and under Phocas (r. 602–610) by Priscus.^[9] Another powerful occupant was Valentinus, who secured it during the power struggles that accompanied the regency of Empress-dowager Martina in 641, before deposing her and her son Heraklonas and installing Constans II (r. 641–668) as emperor. Valentinus dominated the new regime, but his attempt to become emperor in 644 ended in his being lynched by the mob.^[14] The power that went with the position, and the intrigues of men like Priscus and the would-be usurper Valentinus, doomed the post to emasculation and eventual eclipse during the latter half of the 7th century.^[15]

After a lapse towards the end of the 7th century and the first half of the 8th century, the Excubitors reappear in historical sources, under a new commander, the Domestic of the Excubitors (δομέστικος τῶν ἐξκουβίτων/ἐξκουβιτόρων, domestikos tōn exkoubitōn/exkoubitorōn) and in a new capacity, as one of the imperial tagmata, the elite professional central army established by Constantine V (r. 741–775).^[8][16] As one of the tagmata, the Excubitors were no longer a palace guard, but a unit actively engaged in military campaigns. At the same time, the tagmata represented a counterbalance to the thematic armies of the provinces and constituted a powerful tool in implementing the iconoclastic policies pursued by Constantine V.^[17] Nevertheless, the possibly first commander of the tagma, Strategios Podopagouros, was among the leaders of a failed plot against Constantine V's life in 766, and was executed after its discovery.^[18] By the 780s, however, following years of imperial favour and military victories under Constantine V and his son Leo IV the Khazar (r. 775–780), the tagmata had become firm adherents to the iconoclast cause.^[17] Within less than two months of Leo V's death in 780, Empress-regent Irene of Athens had to foil an attempt spearheaded by the Domestic of the Excubitors to place Constantine V's exiled second son Nikephoros on the throne,^[19] and in 786 Irene forcibly disarmed them and exiled some 1,500 tagmatic soldiers due to their resistance to the restoration of the icons.^[20][21]

 

Solidus of Emperor Michael II and his son, Theophilos.

The Domestics were originally of strikingly low court rank (mere spatharioi), but they gradually rose to importance: while in the Taktikon Uspensky of c. 842 the Domestic of the Excubitors came behind all the thematic commanders (stratēgoi) in order of precedence, in the Klētorologion of 899, the Domestic is shown as superior to the stratēgoi of the European themes and even to the Eparch of Constantinople. At the same time, the court dignities they held rose to those of prōtospatharios and even patrikios.^[8][22] The Excubitors participated in the disastrous Pliska campaign in 811, when the Byzantine army was routed by Tsar Krum of Bulgaria; the Domestic of the Excubitors fell in the field along with the other senior Byzantine generals, including Emperor Nikephoros I (r. 802–811).^[23] The most prominent Domestic of the Excubitors of the period was Michael II the Amorian (r. 820–829), whose supporters overthrew Emperor Leo V the Armenian (r. 813–820) and raised him to the throne.^[24] In the latter half of the 10th century, probably under Romanos II (r. 959–963), the regiment, like the senior-most tagma, the Scholae, was split in two units, one for the West and one for the East, each headed by a respective Domestic.^[8][25]

The Excubitors took part in the failed Azaz campaign of 1030, where they were ambushed and dispersed by the Mirdasids, while their commander, the patrikios Leo Choirosphaktes, was taken captive.^[26] As with most of the tagmata, the regiment of the Excubitors did not survive the great upheavals of the later 11th century, when foreign invasion and constant civil wars destroyed much of the Byzantine army. The last mention of the Excubitors occurs in Anna Komnene's Alexiad, where they are recorded for the last time as participating at the Battle of Dyrrhachium against the Normans in 1081, under the command of Constantine Opos.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excubitors

 

 

 

[Alexandermb]

18 minutes ago, wackyserious said:

@Alexandermb Armor for mount or for the rider? I have just committed the Byzantine faction. You can sync the recent changes, add the armor then commit it.

This was the armor done, and also another one. Here can be used the kite shield

Spoiler

[Lion.Kanzen]

Quote

Scholai (Gr. Σχολαί, "the Schools"), were the most senior unit, the direct successor of the imperial guards established by Constantine the Great (r. 306–337). The term scholarioi (σχολάριοι), although in its stricter sense referring solely to the men of the Scholai, was also used as a general reference for all common soldiers of the tagmata.^[6]

• the Exkoubitoi or Exkoubitores (Lat. Excubiti, Gr. Ἐξκούβιτοι, "the Sentinels"), established by Leo I.
• the Arithmos (Gr. Ἀριθμός, "Number") or Vigla (Gr. Βίγλα, from the Latin word for "Watch"), promoted from thematic troops by the Empress Eirene in the 780s, but of far older ancestry, as the archaic names of its ranks indicate.^[11] The regiment performed special duties on campaign, including guarding the imperial camp, relaying the Emperor's orders, and guarding prisoners of war.^[12]
• the Hikanatoi (Gr. Ἱκανάτοι, "the Able Ones"), established by Emperor Nikephoros I (r. 802–811) in 810.^[6]

Other units closely related to the tagmata, and often included among them, were:

• the Noumeroi (Gr. Νούμεροι, from the Latin numerus, "number") were a garrison unit for Constantinople, which probably included the Teichistai (Gr. Τειχισταί) or tōn Teicheōn regiment (Gr. τῶν Τειχέων, "of the Walls"), manning the Walls of Constantinople.^[6] The unit's origins may lie as far back as the 4th–5th centuries.^[13]
• the Optimatoi (Gr. Ὀπτιμάτοι, from Latin optimates, "the best"), although formerly an elite fighting unit, had by the 8th century been reduced to a support unit, responsible for the mules of the army's baggage train (the τοῦλδον, touldon).^[14] Unlike the tagmata, it was garrisoned outside Constantinople and closely associated with its garrison area: the thema Optimatōn, which lay across Constantinople and comprised northern Bithynia. The commanding domestikos of the Optimatoi was also the governor of the thema.^[15]
• the men of the central Imperial Fleet (βασιλικόν πλώιμον, basilikon plōimon), are also counted among the tagmata in some sources.^[6]

In addition, there was also the Hetaireia (Gr. Ἑταιρεία, "Companions"), which comprised the mercenary corps in Imperial service, subdivided in Greater, Middle and Lesser, each commanded by a respective Hetaireiarchēs.

 

 

 

Finally, the imperial guard corps, as well as the colorful caps previously mentioned, liked colorful uniforms adorned with complicated motifs embroidered on fabrics of different colors for each of the guard corps. All the imperial guards, no matter what body they were and what uniform they had, wore white capes, as it had been traditional since the installation of the praetorian guard by Augustus.

As for his personal appearance, the soldiers often wore long hair, although at the end of the reign of Justinian and especially with Mauricio and Heraclio, was compulsorily imposed and as a sign of discipline, short hair and shaved face or with a short and careful beard, leaving a long beard for the officers and commanders, who wore them as a sign of distinction and authority. As for the team, we also have detailed news of it. For example, each decarchy  of cavalry had a light cart of two wheels thrown by a mule, that transported the camping tent in which it was lodged. This store was an Avaro style, a yurt of felt, round and domed ceiling. They were waterproof, quick to assemble, and larger than the Romans, for they housed two men more than the old conspiracy. Along with the store, the car was transporting the rest of the decarcation team, namely: a hand mill, a saw, an ax, hammers, a basket of esparto, wicker or skin; a sack, a small scythe, two shovels, a pick, an adze, a roll of rope, supplementary arrows arranged in bundles of forty darts and spare javelins that were transported in a kind of armorer that allowed them to be stored and taken out very quickly.

The tagma also had heavier, four-wheeled wagons, where the flour used to make the popular bucellum, wine, oil and salted meat, as well as the feed and fodder of the horses was transported. Other carts of the tagma were in charge of carrying spare weapons, ballistas and other war machines, materials to build portable bridges and tools, portable forges and banks of the carpenters and blacksmiths of the army

 

 

Most of the foot-soldiers of the empire were the armoured infantry Skutatoi and later on, Kontarioi (plural of the singular Kontarios), with the remainder being the light infantry and archers of the Psiloi

[Lion.Kanzen]

1 minute ago, Alexandermb said:

This was the armor done, and also another one. Here can be used the kite shield

  Hide contents

That shield....

[Lion.Kanzen]

[Alexandermb]

Well there you got, you have some to choose.

Spoiler

 

[Alexandermb]

13 minutes ago, Lion.Kanzen said:

Mercenaries then ? none of the factions have yet a mercernary unit

[Lion.Kanzen]

3 hours ago, Alexandermb said:

Mercenaries then ? none of the factions have yet a mercernary unit

Not necessary, the mercenary is the more eastern look. we need check Armenian, Damascus and other Roman allies is the east.

[Lion.Kanzen]

Spoiler

https://www.honga.net/totalwar/attila/unit.php?l=en&v=attila&f=bel_fact_byzantine_expedition

Interesting roster to research.

• Funditores

Spoiler

 

[wackyserious]

Things are starting to be very(very) medieval..

@Alexandermb Should I commit this player color alterations?

[Alexandermb]

7 minutes ago, wackyserious said:

Things are starting to be very(very) medieval..

@Alexandermb Should I commit this player color alterations?

if mod will cover from 500 to 1000 and from 1000 to 1500 (IIRC) then soon or later it will end having a 4th phase ending medieval thats what makes the difference between 0 AD or Terra magna and this mod, maybe xiongnu could end being Mongols or Huns with changes on phases (structures and units too) depending on the player selection (two choises to make in the player selection just like Delenda Est mod) if a mod take places from the Han Xiongnu war to the Genghis Khan or Attila era.
I'm glad you made the player colour of the full armor i was struggling to make only the white line become alpha channel so if its okay for everyone it will end better than before and more recognizable in a battle .