Bactrians Mod First Draft

[PyrrhicVictoryGuy]

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

My aim is to create and further expand upon the two Hellenic states bordering India, namely the greco-bactrian and indo-greek kingdoms. I decided to make one faction isntead of two for two simple reasons, the first is that that they share the Euthydemid dynasty and I think in my humble opinion that differentiating one from  the other, in terms of gameplay is a challenge that I am not willing to take on right now. It is also safe to say that this is not the final version of this civ.

Special thanks go to @Sundiata, @Genava55, @Lion.Kanzen and lastly to @Ultimate Aurelian for posting and elaborating on these two civs and regions in the following topic: 

 

This mod will give more emphasis to the first two dynasties, the Diotodid and the previously mentioned Euthydemid lines. In regards to their structures, a mix of persian and  hellenic styles would be ideal but without unique models and textures the illusion is broken so this first draft will instead look at everything else regarding this civ. 

Almost immediately two questions rose up, how to make the roster work?How to make it both fun and unique at the same time. Of course my biggest fear was to make a "bootleg" version of the Persians.

In summary : strong cavalry and ranged infantry but mediocre melee infantry and siege and a truly awful navy. 

 

 

Civilization Emblem

                             

 

 

 

Civilization Bonuses

 

• Hellenic Architecture
  • Already in game and common to most greek civs .

 

• Equine Husbandry
  • Cavalry -30% food and -20% metal cost.

 

Team Bonus

• Bactrian Wealth
  • Allies gain a 0.5 metal/second trickle for the duration of the game.

 

 

 

Unique technologies

 

• Archery tradition
  • Already in game, given to eastern civs.

 

• Buddhist Evangelism 
  • Phase III
  • Research at temples
  • + 10% healing rate for temples and healers 
  • +1 crush, hack and pierce armor for all citizen soldiers 
  • Cost: 400 metal, 500 wood, 300 food

                                                                          

 

 

 

•  Bactrian Camels
  • Phase III
  • Researched at markets
  • Traders +20% movement speed and +20% health.
  • Cost: 200 food, 200 metal.

 

                                                                       

 

• Cavalry Tradition
  • Phase III 
  • Researched at the Royal Stables unique building
  • Basically the inverse of the "nisean horses" tech
  • Cavalry +10% movement speed
  • Champion Cavalry +2 hack, pierce damage
  • All Cavalry +20% train time
  • Cost: 500 food, 200 metal

                                                                      

 

Unique buildings

• Muster Field
  • Replaces the normal barracks and stables, combining both into one building.
  • Trains citizen infantry and citizen cavalry
  • Cost:200 wood 150 stone

 

• Royal Stable
  • Trains heroes, champions and elephants.
  • Cost: 200 wood 300 stone

 

• Military Colony
  • Identical to their seleucid ant ptolemaic counterpart.
  • Trains women and mercenaries

 

• Wonder
  • No idea what it would be.

 

 

Structure Roster

-Phase I

House

Storehouse

Muster Field

Farm

Farmstead

Sentry Tower

Scout Tower

Corral

Palisade Walls

 

-Phase II

Military Colony

Defense Tower

Royal Stable

Temple

Armory

Market

Stone Walls

 

-Phase III

Wonder

Fortress

Theater

Arsenal

 

 

 

Unit Roster:

Very limited choices of infantry, starting with hillmen and levies and ending with thurophoroi and phalangites. Credit goes to @Ultimate Aurelian for coming up with the initial roster ideas .

 

Citizen soldier roster

 

Phase I / II

 

• Generic Name:Baktrian Hillman
  • Specific Name: ?
    • Class: Axeman/swordsman
    • Hacker Armament:Axe, kopis , spear
    • Appearance:
      • Basic: Robes, barefoot, wicker shield
      • Advanced: Cap, robes with boots, pants and a wooden shield (Round or Oval)
      • Elite: Bronze helmet in eastern style, more colorful tunic, shield has boss
    • Function: Basic "all rounder", no doubt weaker than most units but it is necessary for a faction like this.These are untrained levies so the following stats make sense and I wanted to give a sense of  exponential growth with this civ.
    • Special: Only 1.5 x cavalry, 90 health, 4 pierce armor and 5 hack armor, 0.9 repeat time.

 

 

 

• Generic Name:Baktrian  Light Lancer
  • Specific Name:?
    • Class: Cavalry spearman.
    • Hacker Armament:Xyston .
    • Appearance:
      • Basic: Cap, persian robes, small round shield.
      • Advanced: Boeotian helmet, persian robes/ padded linothorax.
      • Elite: Thracian or Boeotian helmet, scaled linothorax/musculata cuirass.
    • Function: Replaces the spearman as the basic cavalry counter.
    • Special: x2 vs calvary, 3 pierce armor.

                                                               

 

 

 

• Generic Name:Dahae Horse Archer.
  • Specific Name: Daha Ashanabara
    • Class: Cavalry archer.
    • Hacker Armament:Bow and arrow .
    • Appearance:
      • Basic: Cap, persian robes
      • Advanced: Eastern helmet, persian robes
      • Elite: Eastern helmet, minimal armor, horse may have front scale hauberk.
    • Special: -10% health but +10% movement speed.

 

 

 

Phase III

 

• Generic Name:Settler Pikeman.
  • Specific Name:Katoikos Phalangites
    • Class: Pikeman.
    • Hacker Armament:Sarissa .
    • Appearance:
      • Basic: Cap, tunic and sandals, small round shield.
      • Advanced: Pilos helmet, tunic and sandals, small round shield
      • Elite: Thracian or Phrygian helmet, composite/scaled linothorax, pants, bronze or iron greaves.
    • Function: Basically an upgrade to the levy spearman for the meatshield role.
    • Special: -.

                            

 

 

 

 

 

• Generic Name:Armored  Horse Archer.
  • Specific Name: Hippotoxotes Phraktos
    • Class: Cavalry archer.
    • Hacker Armament:Bow and arrow .
    • Appearance:
      • Basic: Cap, persian robes
      • Advanced: cap, padded linothorax, small round shield(pelte)
      • Elite: Eastern helmet, scaled linothorax, pants,  horse may have front scale hauberk, small round shield(pelte).
    • Special:  3 hack armor , 2 pierce armor and + 10%(110) health.

                                    

                                                                               

 

 

 

 

 

• Generic Name: Indo-Greek Thureos Skirmishers.
  • Specific Name:Hippakonkistai Thureophoros Indohellenikos
    • Class: Cavalry javelinist
    • Hacker Armament:Javelins .
    • Appearance:
      • Basic: Cap, tunic and sandals, thureos shield.
      • Advanced: Pilos helmet, tunic and sandals, thureos shield.
      • Elite: Thracian or Phrygian helmet, light composite linothorax, elaborate thureos shield, unprotected horse.
    • Function: 
    • Special: 3 pierce armor and 3 hack armor.

 

 

Mercenaries

 

Phase II

 

• Generic Name:Parni Raider.
  • Specific Name: ?
    • Class: Cavalry axeman.
    • Hacker Armament: Axe.
    • Appearance:
      • Basic: Cap, persian robes
      • Advanced: cap, persian robes, wicker pelta shield
      • Elite: Eastern helmet, scaled linothorax, horse may have front scale hauberk, small round shield(pelte).
    • Function: Good for capturing or destroying unprotected buildings.
    • Special:  8 capture  attack, -10% health and 25 crush damage.

                                                              

 

 

 

 

• Generic Name:Sogdian Archer.
  • Specific Name: ?
    • Class: Infantry archer.
    • Hacker Armament:Bow and arrow .
    • Appearance:
      • Basic: Cap, persian robes
      • Advanced: cap, persian robes.
      • Elite: Eastern/calchidian helmet, scaled linothorax.
    • Special:  +15% attack speed.

                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

Phase III

 

• Generic Name: Indo-Greek swordsman
  • Specific Name: Xiphophoros Indohellenikos
    • Class: Infantry swordsman.
    • Hacker Armament:Xiphos .
    • Appearance:
      • Basic: Cap, indian cloth/tunic and sandals, indian shield 
      • Advanced: chalcidian helmet , padded linothorax
      • Elite: Phrygian/calchidian helmet, scaled/composite linothorax.

 

• Generic Name:Indian Elephant
  • Specific Name:Elephantos 
    • Class: Elephantry.
    • Hacker Armament:Tusks, sarissa .
    • Appearance:
      • Driver:
        • Basic: simple elephant, no armour.
        • Advanced: Some armor and a tower.
        • Elite:Scaled armor and tower.
    • Function: More of a siege killer than a battering ram.
    • Special:40 crush damage only.

 

 

Champions

 

• Generic Name:Baktrian Cataphact
  • Specific Name: Xystophóros Kataphraktos 
    • Class: Cavalry spearman.
    • Hacker Armament:Xyston and mace .
    • Appearance:
      • Crested/ plummed late hellenistic helmet, bronze scale linothorax / musculata cuirass, even the horse has a complete bronze scale panoply.
    • Function: Very heavy lancer.
    • Special: In addition to the normal 1.75x vs cavalry they also have a 1.20 vs infantry.

 

 

• Generic Name: Armored Noble Hoplites
  • Specific Name:Hoplítēs Eugenēs 
    • Class: Infantry spearman.
    • Hacker Armament:Dori .
    • Appearance:
      • Thracian/boeotian helmet, musculata cuirass/ mail shirt /iron scaled cuirass , aspis/ thureophoros/ boeotian shields.
    • Function: Elite spears that are even more resistant to ranged damage, the most versatile meatshield money can buy.
    • Special: In addition to the standard champ spearman stats these have + 1 pierce armor. 

 

 

Siege Units

• Ram
• Stone thrower
• Siege tower

 

 

Ships

• Merchant ship
• Fishing ship
• Bireme

 

 

Heroes

 

Demetrius I

• Specific Name:Demetrius A' Aníkētos
  • Class:Cavalry swordsman.
  • Hacker Armament:Kopis.
  • Appearance:
    • Konos/boeotian helmet, iron musculata cuirass, aspis.

 

• Aura 1: Cavalry +25% health. Radius 60.

 

 

 

 

Menander I

• Specific Name:Menándros A' Sōtḗr 
  • Class: Cavalry archer
  • Hacker Armament:Bow and arrow .
  • Appearance:
    • Thracian/boeotian helmet, musculata cuirass/ mail shirt /iron scaled cuirass, pelta

 

• Aura 1: "Alkidemos" -> Human Units +1 hack,pierce,crush armor. Radius 80
• Aura 2: "Convert" ->Global, temple -20% construction time, healers -20% resource cost.

 

 

 

Eucratides I

• Specific Name: Eukratides A' ho Mégas
  • Class: Cavalry maceman.
  • Hacker Armament:Mace .
  • Appearance:
    • Lion pelt helmet, iron scaled cuirass , aspis/ thureophoros.

 

• Aura 1: Enemy units -2 hack,pierce,crush armor. Radius: 60

  

# Shame we don't have the following helmets helmets, guess I or any other willing to take the commission  will have to make them.

 

Starting conditions

• Civic center
• 3 women
• 1 horse archer
• 1 lancer
• 3 hillmen

 

 

Roster Distribution

Civic Center:

- Hillman(p.I)

- Woman

- Bactrian Light Lancer(p.I)

- Indo-Greek Thureos Skirmishers(p.III)

 

Mess Hall: 

-Hillmen(p.I)

-Bactrian Light Lancer(p.I)

-Dahae Horse Archer(p.II)

-Armored Horse Archer(p.III)

-Settler Pikeman (p.III)

-Armored Noble Hoplites (p.III)

 

Military Colony(p.II):

-Woman

-Parni Raider(p.II)

-Sogdian Archer(p.II)

-Indo-Greek Swordsman(p.III)

-Indian Elephant(p.III)

 

Royal Stables

-Armored Noble Hoplites(p.III)

-Baktrian Cataphracts(p.III)

-Indo-Greek Thureos Skirmishers(p.III)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 7, 2021 by PyrrhicVictoryGuy

[Yekaterina]

My questions:

1. Which units should be trained by the cc?

2. Why start with 3 women and 3 infantry? Normally it is 4.

3. This is going to be a very cavalry heavy civ. Is it possible to give it some bonuses related to food supply?

 

Thank you so much for this. It makes my template building process much easier. Syracuse is almost done.

[Lion.Kanzen]

The first Greek Cataphracts.

 

[PyrrhicVictoryGuy]

7 hours ago, Yekaterina said:

My questions:

2. Why start with 3 women and 3 infantry? Normally it is 4.

Yes the normal formula is 4/4/1 but I'm proposing a 3/3/2 start , maybe it will work out.

7 hours ago, Yekaterina said:

 

3. This is going to be a very cavalry heavy civ. Is it possible to give it some bonuses related to food supply?

I think the 30% food discount should be enough for initial tests.

[PyrrhicVictoryGuy]

4 hours ago, Lion.Kanzen said:

The first Greek Cataphracts.

 

That plummed boeotian looks like its galatian.

[Lion.Kanzen]

6 hours ago, PyrrhicVictoryGuy said:

That plummed boeotian looks like its galatian.

apart from coins there are very few primary references.

[Sundiata]

I actually made an attempt at a historical reconstruction of a Greco-Bactrian temple in Blender. It's not really finished and I wanted to render a higher quality video, but my laptop will explode if I try. Anyway, you're free to use it as concept art. 

I just uploaded what I have to Youtube.

The Temple With Indented Niches, in Ai Khanoum, Afghanistan, 3rd-2nd century B.C..

Some artistic liberties were taken with those triglyphs and metopes for example. Not entirely without justification, but still a little unlikely, I admit. The interior is also mostly educated guesswork. 

Some renders:

 

For those of you curious about trying out Blender, here's a quick illustration of my progress:

Spoiler

My second attempt at Blender (I couldn't even figure out how to select things during my first attempt...):

(Still not sure what it is...)

 

Third attempt, after figuring out that I really need to watch some tutorials. (Blender Guru is a god!):

 

Fourth attempt, using the Carthaginian texture pack from 0AD:

 

Finally, some of the progress I made on the final scene, from importing a low quality 3D scan of a broken Zeus statue and barely understanding how to render images, to a fully and painstakingly remodeled transformation into Zeus-Mithra:

 

With well over a million tris it goes without saying that this not suited for the game. But it could serve as inspiration for the Greco-Bactrian temple. 

I'd love to see this faction become part of the game...

 

[Lion.Kanzen]

We should have renders in the game.

[PyrrhicVictoryGuy]

@Sundiata I saw a few pictures of that temple and its a very odd one, might it have been a rehabilitated "native" temple?

[Sundiata]

58 minutes ago, PyrrhicVictoryGuy said:

@Sundiata I saw a few pictures of that temple and its a very odd one, might it have been a rehabilitated "native" temple?

Since the city was founded around 280 BC, well after Alexander had come and gone it's definitely not repurposed. Ai Khanoum was full of this stuff. The palace for example followed a very Persian outline, but it featured colonnades capped with Corinthian capitals, and the entablature followed the Doric order, with triglyphs. The other structures included a vaulted, peripteral mausoleum and other more Persian looking stuff. One purely Greek structure I'm aware of was the theatre, carved into a rock face. 

"Ai-Khanoum (Aï Khānum, also Ay Khanum, lit. “Lady Moon” in Uzbek), possibly the historical Alexandria on the Oxus (Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρεια ἡ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ώξου), possibly later named Eucratidia, Εὐκρατίδεια) was one of the primary cities of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdomfrom circa 280 BCE, and of the Indo-Greek kings when they ruled both in Bactria and northwestern India, from the time of Demetrius I (200-190 BCE) to the time of Eucratides (170–145 BCE). Previous scholars have argued that Ai Khanoum was founded in the late 4th century BC, following the conquests of Alexander the Great. Recent analysis now strongly suggests that the city was founded c. 280 BC by the Seleucid emperor Antiochus I Soter. The city is located in Takhar Province, northern Afghanistan, at the confluence of the Panj River and the Kokcha River, both tributaries of the Amu Darya, historically known as the Oxus. It is on the lower of two major sets of routes (lowland and highland) which connect Western Asia to the Khyber Pass which gives road access to South Asia.

Ai-Khanoum was one of the focal points of Hellenism in the East for nearly two centuries until its annihilation by nomadic invaders around 145 BCE about the time of the death of Eucratides I."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai-Khanoum

 

Some visual references for Ai Khanoum:

 

Temple with Indented Niches in the foreground:

 

Another reconstruction of the Temple with Indented Niches:

 

And a reconstruction of the Temple with Indented Niches by Juan de Lara:

https://juan-de-lara.artstation.com/projects/L0eEk

 

The theatre:

[Yekaterina]

The template is done, but I have ran into a few bugs that needs to be fixed. Right now I am missing a wonder and actor files. I will use placeholders for actors for now.

[PyrrhicVictoryGuy]

@Sundiata So going with the modern interpretation that this was a later seleucid enterprise, its safe to say that this temple is a prime example of the monarchs utilizing familiar iconography and architecture to the area in order to mitigate the culture clash.

[PyrrhicVictoryGuy]

13 hours ago, Sundiata said:

 

I'd love to see this faction become part of the game...

 

 

 Hellenic outliers are always a good option, gives devs room to mess around. Now for a faction to be added, that's tricky as the candidate civ needs to have a mirror like polish.

[Sundiata]

1 hour ago, PyrrhicVictoryGuy said:

@Sundiata So going with the modern interpretation that this was a later seleucid enterprise, its safe to say that this temple is a prime example of the monarchs utilizing familiar iconography and architecture to the area in order to mitigate the culture clash.

Absolutely, it's one of the defining features of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, the Indo-Greek Kingdom and to a degree even the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Dynasty. They weren't just purely Hellenistic impositions, but fusions of cultures and religions. In the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek Kingdom, this could get pretty wild, as you indicated with those Greek Buddhist missionaries for example... Zoroastrianism was also important and there were fire-temples in the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. 

[PyrrhicVictoryGuy]

I'm a bit burned out on modding after working on syracuse but i reckon I can churn out some unit models in a day or two.

[Ultimate Aurelian]

On 27/07/2021 at 9:24 PM, Sundiata said:

Since the city was founded around 280 BC, well after Alexander had come and gone it's definitely not repurposed. Ai Khanoum was full of this stuff. The palace for example followed a very Persian outline, but it featured colonnades capped with Corinthian capitals, and the entablature followed the Doric order, with triglyphs. The other structures included a vaulted, peripteral mausoleum and other more Persian looking stuff. One purely Greek structure I'm aware of was the theatre, carved into a rock face. 

"Ai-Khanoum (Aï Khānum, also Ay Khanum, lit. “Lady Moon” in Uzbek), possibly the historical Alexandria on the Oxus (Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρεια ἡ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ώξου), possibly later named Eucratidia, Εὐκρατίδεια) was one of the primary cities of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdomfrom circa 280 BCE, and of the Indo-Greek kings when they ruled both in Bactria and northwestern India, from the time of Demetrius I (200-190 BCE) to the time of Eucratides (170–145 BCE). Previous scholars have argued that Ai Khanoum was founded in the late 4th century BC, following the conquests of Alexander the Great. Recent analysis now strongly suggests that the city was founded c. 280 BC by the Seleucid emperor Antiochus I Soter. The city is located in Takhar Province, northern Afghanistan, at the confluence of the Panj River and the Kokcha River, both tributaries of the Amu Darya, historically known as the Oxus. It is on the lower of two major sets of routes (lowland and highland) which connect Western Asia to the Khyber Pass which gives road access to South Asia.

Ai-Khanoum was one of the focal points of Hellenism in the East for nearly two centuries until its annihilation by nomadic invaders around 145 BCE about the time of the death of Eucratides I."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai-Khanoum

 

Some visual references for Ai Khanoum:

 

Temple with Indented Niches in the foreground:

 

Another reconstruction of the Temple with Indented Niches:

 

And a reconstruction of the Temple with Indented Niches by Juan de Lara:

https://juan-de-lara.artstation.com/projects/L0eEk

 

The theatre:

One of these buildings could be the wonder.

 

Maybe a section of the palace or the mausoleum you mentioned.

[PyrrhicVictoryGuy]

3 hours ago, Ultimate Aurelian said:

One of these buildings could be the wonder.

 

Maybe a section of the palace or the mausoleum you mentioned.

I though about this and found the following image:

 

The website only describes this a Persian temple with a statue of Zeus inside it, and places it in the palace complex or near it. But I cant vouch for its veracity.

[Ultimate Aurelian]

1 hour ago, PyrrhicVictoryGuy said:

I though about this and found the following image:

 

The website only describes this a Persian temple with a statue of Zeus inside it, and places it in the palace complex or near it. But I cant vouch for its veracity.

Looks more like the temple of jerusalem to me.

That's the first that shows up on reverse image search.

[Lion.Kanzen]

2 hours ago, PyrrhicVictoryGuy said:

I though about this and found the following image:

 

The website only describes this a Persian temple with a statue of Zeus inside it, and places it in the palace complex or near it. But I cant vouch for its veracity.

It is the temple of Jerusalem but the art is a mixture and can serve as inspiration.

[PyrrhicVictoryGuy]

2 hours ago, Lion.Kanzen said:

It is the temple of Jerusalem but the art is a mixture and can serve as inspiration.

Didn't even notice, good thing i'm not a historian! I felt something wasn't adding up but couldn'd point my finger to it.

Also seleucid structures with the persian textures would a good aproximation.

[Lion.Kanzen]

the times of Jesus and the second temple is one of my hobbies to investigate and read.

[PyrrhicVictoryGuy]

Now i was grasping at straws when coming up with hero auras ,any sugestions?

[PyrrhicVictoryGuy]

I've made some preliminary actor for the champ spearman and the armored archer.

 

[PyrrhicVictoryGuy]

Even more models! This time tried my hand at the indo-greek thureophoros and the bactrian light lancer, for the latter I tried to maintain their persian/afgan appearance. 

#replacing their baggy pants mesh with a more sleek and longer tunic enabled me to add greaves to their models, which does wonders for the whole east/west mixed appearance.

Edited August 1, 2021 by PyrrhicVictoryGuy

[Yekaterina]

I got the templates but not the actors. For some reason I can't push to git. Can you send me the actor fils in a zip?