Airiya (Iranian-type faction)

[Temuchin Khan]

Code: Select all

Airiya Footman -> Airiya Guardsman -> Immortal -- light infantry, spear, (gains firststrike), bow (gains firststrike), wicker shield

Cheap light Airiya with 3 attacks each weapon should do a nice trick as the multipurpose scout unit.

I guess it is a good idea to use the Airiya Footman as a scout, as long as the Guardsman and Immortal are clearly elite troops.

We can cut my shieldsman, but Assyrian troops did sometimes use 6 ft shields like that. Maybe one of the other Mosuli infantry units could have a giant shield and steadfast?

Code: Select all

Airiya Horse Archer -> Airiya Horse Archer Elect -> Airiya Horse Archer Elite -- bow, no melee, Parthian Shot special ability; gains marksman   
      
Airiya Heavy Horse -> Airiya Heavy Horse Elect -> Airiya Heavy Horse Elite -- sword & javelin; has charge (blade)  
                     -> Airiya Peer -> Airiya Noble -> Airiya Lord -- has leadership; loses charge (blade)  
      
Magauuan -> Magauuan Healer -> Magauuan Elder -- holy & cures    
           -> Magauuan of the Holy Flame -> Magauuan of Ahura's Flame -- fire attack  
     
Airiya Footman -> Airiya Guardsman -> Immortal -- light infantry, spear, (gains firststrike), bow (gains firststrike), wicker shield  
     
Mosuli Conscript -- heavy infantry, sword  
                  -> Mosuli Warrior -> Mosuli Champion -- sword, shield   
                  -> Mosuli Spearman-> Mosuli Valiant -- spear, 6 ft shield, steadfast
     
Mosuli Levy -> Mosuli Rover -> Mosuli Ranger -- sling & bow; gains marksman 

And my request to Anyar stands: Does he still have the preliminary Airiya stats? Could he modify them for the new design?

As I recall, this was posted in the Kedari thread, back when we were first brainstorming this idea of a Persian faction, and calling them Persids.

[Anyar]

Yes I still have them. It shouldn't take to long to change them to fit.

[Cuyo Quiz]

IIRC, The Valiants were pretty much hoplites with shorter spears (allowing them good mobility in the battlefield to change formations and run around), so yes, give them big shields.

*flails whip*

Onward!, err... are we still calling them Airiya?. I know Assyrians were all soldiers and basically burrowed everything else from Babilonia but does the name Airiya still stands as a representative name for the faction?.

[Anyar]

I modified the files and added the Mosuli(there are probably some bugs still in the code though).

[Temuchin Khan]

I modified the files and added the Mosuli(there are probably some bugs still in the code though).

Thanks!

I made some changes to the Horse Archer, to illustrate the way I think Parthian Shot and hit-and-run could best be implemented.

Basically, the idea I have in mind is that "Parthian Shot" would be a distinct ranged attack, and that "hit-and-run" would be a special attached to "Parthian Shot".

See what you think!

[Anyar]

The way you put it makes much more sense, I like it.

[Anyar]

Updated with new attack types.

[cataphractos]

Code: Select all

Airiya Heavy Horse -> Airiya Heavy Horse Elect -> Airiya Heavy Horse Elite -- sword & javelin; has charge (blade)  

Do you mean they have ranged javelins? Could go for lvl1 and 2, but I'd suggest a double upgrade choice for lvl3: clibanarius (mace, shield and composite bow) and cataphract ()(charge with spear and h2h with mace). Could work?

[Anyar]

Yes ranged Javelins. THey sound like good ideas, but I don't know if they would fit with the line or the faction.

[Cuyo Quiz]

Well... get ready for a long post

Clibanarii cavalry helmet, hauberk (Pahlavi griwban), breastplate, mail, gauntlet (Pahlavi abdast), girdle, thigh-guards (Pahlavi ran-ban) sword, mace, bowcase with two bows and two bowstrings, quiver with 30 arrows, two extra bowstrings, and horse armour (zen-abzar).

Cataphract cavalry: helmet, hauberk, breastplate, mail, gauntlet, girdle, thigh-guards, bowcase with two bows and two bowstrings, quiver with 30 arrows, spear, and horse armour (zen-abzar); to these some have added a lasso (kamand), or a sling with slingstones.

Seems Clibanarii were meleeists, while Cataphract were chargers, but BOTH had bows. However, we already have the famed ligh cavalry archers too.

I don't know about adding a third advancement to the line, since these factions mostly tend to synthetize real-life units into a tree. We may do some changes to differentiate them further.

I see two alternative options to have it three-fold:

We assume the leadership line is Clibanarii (the latests form of heavy cavalry to appear for the Persians), and give him bow and melee with no charge. The other line is Cataphract, and has the spear with charge, maybe he can have a sling too.

Or we can make our horse archer advance into a Clibanarii, so he may melle and range. This leaves the other line as Cataphract with charge, and the other as leadership.

I think i prefer the first option, nobles were the only ones able to pay the equipment anyway, so commanding heavily armoured with sword and bow fits them i think.

Then it would look like:

Code: Select all

Airiya Heavy Horse (spear charge)->Airiya Cataphract -> Airiya Cataphract Immortal (spear charge, maybe ranged attack of sling/bolas or javelin)
                                 ->Airiya Noble Clibanarii ->Airiya Lord Clibanarii (sword and mace, with bow)

IIRC, archery was something considered for nobles in Persia, so they weree good at it. Thus the leadership line has a bow. The horse arcehrs of course, should be considerably faster and with better defenses to compensate, but the hp of the Heavy Horse i expect it to be unmatched.

[cataphractos]

Seems Clibanarii were meleeists, while Cataphract were chargers, but BOTH had bows.

I negated bows to cataphracts only to make a significant difference between them and clibanarii.

We assume the leadership line is Clibanarii (the latests form of heavy cavalry to appear for the Persians), and give him bow and melee with no charge. The other line is Cataphract, and has the spear with charge, maybe he can have a sling too.

Could work, but let cataphracts have a mace...pleeeeeeeese! poor, little, no-mace knights...

Or we can make our horse archer advance into a Clibanarii, so he may melle and range. This leaves the other line as Cataphract with charge, and the other as leadership.

...nobles were the only ones able to pay the equipment anyway...

your consideration is right. So I think a line made of noble knights would be better.

Code: Select all

Little noble(charge)->High Noble(leadership)->Armored Lord
                                     ->Clibanarii(mace&bow)->Clibanarii Immortal
                                     ->Heavy Horse(kontos&mace)->Cataphract

IIRC, archery was something considered for nobles in Persia, so they weree good at it.

Yes, but typical iranian horse archers weren't nobles, but whichever legionary fallen at Carre could say you that they were skilled in archery... But a persian/parthian noble was anyway skilled both in archery and h2h fighting.

Oh, heck! we've forgotten elephants! Why don't let Airyia have war elephants? (indian race, of course)

[Cuyo Quiz]

The elephants were considered a too complicated matter IIRC, so they were left out when the Assyrian/Persian merging took place, same for siege Assyrian technologies, and chariots.

Basically, the cavalry, backbone and staple of the Persians, combine with the organized and merciless Assyrian light hoplites and their heavy-duty infantry.

It is the ultimate middle-east faction. If i had something like this, i bet mongols wouldn't have reached Europe.

[Anyar]

So, maybe these changes would work:
Horse Archer:
Raise Horse archer hp from 28 to 32
Raise Horse Archer elect from 38 to 44
Raise Horse Archer elite hp from 48 to 54
Heavy Horse:
Change Line to

Code: Select all

Airiya Heavy Horse (spear charge)->Airiya Cataphract -> Airiya Cataphract Immortal (spear charge, maybe ranged attack of sling/bolas or javelin)
                                 ->Airiya Noble Clibanarii ->Airiya Lord Clibanarii (sword and mace, with bow)

Raise Heavy Horse Elect(Cataphract) hp from 58 to 64
Raise Heavy Horse Elite(Cataphract Immortal) from 76 to 80
Lower Airiyan Peer(Noble Clibinarii) HP from 55 to 54
Lower Airiyan Noble(Lord Clibanarii) HP from 64 to 62
And for the Level 4 Airiyan Lord, we have a choice:
Get rid of it?
Extend the line so it fits?

The resistances would probably need to be tweaked as well.

I think Temuchin should comment on this before any actual changes happen though.

[Cuyo Quiz]

Oh right, i forgot, i wrote it in the wrong way, my bad.

Code: Select all

Airiya Heavy Horse (spear charge)->Airiya Cataphract -> Airiya Cataphract Immortal (spear charge, maybe ranged attack of sling/bolas or javelin) 
                                 ->Airiya Peer Clibanarii ->Airiya Noble Clibanarii (sword and mace, with bow, has LEADERSHIP)

Now, we may add a lasso/bola slow attack for the Cataphract.

Of course, we could get leadership away and just stay with the two specialized types, since Clibanarii and Cataphract were all of noble descent, extremely trained and disciplined, so leadership may not fit in the equation very well. More probably the better trained or the older noble would take the decisions among the corps.

And if we want bonuses, there is always alignment...

[Anyar]

BUMP.

Also, IMO all Airiyan units should be lawful, because I've read stuff that says that the soldiers would neither march nor fight during the nighttime.