Troop Tree

Didn't see anything explaining the troop trees around here so thought I'd put some stuff up, let me know if I screw it up.

Danes

Danish Youth - Bondi
Bondi - Bondi Veteran, Bondi Bowman
Bondi Veteran - Hirdsman, Danish Banner Bearer
Hirdsman - Veteran Hirdsman, Mounted Hirdsman
Veteran Hirdsman - Ulfhednar

Bondi are simple low class troops, the kind that make up levies and have troops who spend most of their time farming and whos armour is little better than tough clothes. The word bondi probably has some relation to the word bondsman, the Viking word for serfs or slaves.
Hirdsman are a type of housecarl, hird being Norwegian or something for something about marriage (to the family that they serve). Decent padded jackets or maille make up their armour and for weapons they get axes and swords and langseax.
Ulfhednar are the most expensive troops to maintain in the game at 77 each, top notch infantry, armour is lighter than the veteran hirdsman usually but they have more health, the name refers to this lighter armour, wulf pelts. They all seem to have 2 handed axes though, best defense is a good offense. They are semi-historical (they are mentioned in Sagas but they are often attributed with things like turning into actual wolves, much like berserkers, the myth of the werewolf may be related to them) warriors specially devoted to Odin, chief god of the Aesir tribe, a bloody and tyrannical wargod.

Britons

Ardu - Trained Ardu
Trained Ardu- Helwyr, Gwaywffynabwyr
Helwyr- Trained Helwyr
Gwaywffynabwyr - Berfelawyr, Bondheddwyr
Bonheddwyr - Teulu
Teulu - Mounted Teulu

Don't these people ever get tired of useing ys? I thought bacyn and Daffyd was bad, at least non of the troops go around with a stupid onion on their head. Anyways, Ardu are basically the staple celtic troop, javelin thrower, poorly equipped, iffy on the training, impetous until out of ammo then they run back to their fields (at least in real life, game doesn't handle logical cowardess so well). Irish armies still used them in their armies for centuries (until around gunpowder shows up), usually with foriegn mercenaries (usually Scots, thus Gallowglaich, foriegn gael), my secret to success with the Britons is similar, plenty of Thegns and Ulfhednar with my Ardu and Helwyr. Bows aren't so common historically in this time period but the brit love for ranged and horses is. The rest are all good celtic spearmen, lightly armoured, the best is the Teulu (Teulu meaning family, so again along the line of housecarl or royal gaurd, relatively poorly equipped though) and mounted Teulu, the least expensive mounted troop.

Saxons (Mercian, East Anglian and Wessex)

Peasents

(Faction) Farmer - Fyrdman
Fyrdman - Trained Fyrdman, Fyrdman Skirmisher
Fyrdman Skirmisher - Fyrdman Archer
Trained Fyrdman - Veteran Fyrdman

Nobles

Geoguth - Duguth
Duguth - (Faction) Banner Bearer, Gesith
Gesith - Thegn, Mounted Thegn

Clear division in the troops here, lowly peasents who are legally obliged to work the land and defend it and the nobles who own the land that is worked and use it to afford time and equipment to be top notch soldiers. Best equipped (Veteran Hirdman are about the same though) with a Geoguth very likely being better equipped than you at start.

bondi is the danish word for farmer, a free man owning his own land. Thralls and serfs would never be employed in war

Good to know, does that mean they would of owned bondsmen or are the words completely unrelated? I know Celts of the time had laws against slaves or serfs fighting, they were instead required to provide materials and maybe some work in building fortifications

Lowlandlord said:

Good to know, does that mean they would of owned bondsmen or are the words completely unrelated? I know Celts of the time had laws against slaves or serfs fighting, they were instead required to provide materials and maybe some work in building fortifications

Click to expand...

A bondi is a "bound man" but not in the sense of an unfree peasant or serf - he is the tenant of a more powerful chieftain whose call to war he is bound to answer. Similar to a Ceorl in essence - legally he's free, but he does have obligations.

Good to know thanks