TEATRC tribute & universe expansion

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You can balance the armour out by giving them Coursers or Hunters, they weren't really made for Heavy Cavalry (were they?).
 
I don;t know whether to put this here or in the artwork topic.. but my friend wanted to see this.

Behold the Elephant Brigade!
brigadenn7.jpg
 
jan_boruta said:
I don;t know whether to put this here or in the artwork topic.. but my friend wanted to see this.

Haha! awesome!! you are seriously making me want to force Winter to mate with Yoshiboy, so that the resulting child could code all of this  :razz:

Anyways, about your doubt, post here everything that "has yet to be done" (lets be optimistic  :razz:). Art of what has already been done goes to the art thread. I will still add everything posted here to the first post of the other thread.
 
Ho.ly.**** ! That is awesome, I can already imagine Khara-Khitan archers and Gunther-Piedmont gunners standing atop that, blasting everyone around them, while the survivors are trampled by that elephant ! Another thing that makes the Lion Throne even more unbeatable ...  :roll:
 
Selothi said:
Ho.ly.**** ! That is awesome, I can already imagine Khara-Khitan archers and Gunther-Piedmont gunners standing atop that, blasting everyone around them, while the survivors are trampled by that elephant ! Another thing that makes the Lion Throne even more unbeatable ...  :roll:
Pretty much yes. And the Gunther-Piedmont gunners are actually up there already, on the top platform.

I think the Ormelis are the little boys to beat, or at least in all my games they are REALLY insignificant and don't conquer anything. I must say I haven't played them much... But they do rule in siege defense, just like the State. They've got a real superiority in ranged weapons (all the Yayas and Akinjis with their bows along with janissaries...).

Expect some devilish devices for the Ormelis then... and probably for the Vaegirs. I'll try to come up with something good  :twisted:
 
I haven't been playing M&B at all, lately.

But thanks in no small part to your far-flung imaginings, I'm feeling motivated to finally go and kill me some heathen! Cheers! :grin:
 
Coming back to school means drawing spree again.

A simple yet effective invention for Laurians: the field mortar (it fires mostly shrapnel shots, so two men can carry an enormous shell).
mortarqp4.jpg


The defence of Sungetche Pass. Ormeli cannons in action!
ormeliay9.jpg


Best regards,
Thomas :grin:
 
Damn, just ... damn. Although that Laurian monster looks like it'd rather explode than anything else, it's still just as amazing as the Ormlei one (I really like those janissaries). Seriously man, you have got a ****-load of talent, all I can say is keep it up !  :grin:
 
jan_boruta said:
Coming back to school means drawing spree again.

A simple yet effective invention for Laurians: the field mortar (it fires mostly shrapnel shots, so two men can carry an enormous shell).
mortarqp4.jpg

I don't think it's possible for the two men on the left to carry a metal ball of that size like that, unless it's hollow.
 
 
I don't think it's possible for the two men on the left to carry a metal ball of that size like that, unless it's hollow


    Due to amazing advances in Laurelian technology, offshoots of scientific research into moustache-wax and curl-detanglers, we now bring you "The Hydrogen BOM"
    So not only is the ball hollow...................... but the contents are lighter than air!    :wink:
 
The Böhmenians - a report for her royal Majesty, Queen Imelda of Lauria

About the Bohmani lands
The Böhmenians or "Bohmani" as they call themselves are tribal people living around Rduna. Rduna is a small village near the empire border with the Dual Monarchy and I'm told the name is a misspelled Swadian version of its true name - Rudná - which means "land of ore" in the native Bohmani language. Which makes sense, because I've discovered ruins of what appears to be an abandoned copper mine. Bohmani believe they are related to the Vaegirs and claim that their ancestors came here ages ago from Vezin (they call it Věžín [viezhien], which means "city of towers" *).

Bohmani are of large stature and there is indeed something that resembles the Vaegir in their facial traits - strong noses, heavy chins and jaws and protruding superciliary ridges. They have no love for the empire and to be honest, no love for the Monarchy either. According to them, the Bohmani region has been always independent - the Ellis empire tried to conquer it as a province, but after years of ruthless, and on the ellis side quite disastrous, guerilla war the Ellis legions simply abandoned their forts and withdrew. A much safer border line has been established and the Bohmani were left to their own clan wars. Even during the early and later Swadian empire this region managed to keep autonomy. Only Sigismund Augustus was able to subdue the Böhmenians to a certain extent. More on that in the chapter about the Black Crusade.

                                                             
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*  I have not visited this town myself, but I'll quote my honorable colleague Lucius Hochenstapler from his report about this region:
"Upon my arrival I was quite amazed by a strange structure towering on a hill above the town. The locals weren't very talkative and the only thing they told me about it was its name - Jazierná Vieža (I won't even try to write down the pronunciation, for which I apologize to you, my dear readers.) - which apparently means "Lake Tower". That was quite puzzling, because while there is a fast river flowing through Vezin, there is absolutely no lake to be found anywhere near the place.  After close examination of the ruins I came to a surprising conclusion. What is now a pile of cyclopean stone blocks hardly resembling a man-built object used to be a very high tower, in fact a part of a rather huge defensive complex. The stonework and other aspects of the architecture remind me of many gallowglass tors I've examined before (see the description analysis in my book called Gallowglass Tors - Watchtowers of an ancient civilization) and I believe there is much more to be found inside the hill itself. Now I'll present you, my dear readers, with the reasons for this bold claim of mine... "


                            Freudentahl, Klaus Heinrich : Among the Barbarians - my travels through the unknown parts of the Empire, Chapter 1

Professor Freudentahl's book was the only thing related to him that I've found in Rduna. I asked the locals and they remembered him. They don't know where he is now or if he's alive, but they said that (and I quote) "He was a very sweet man." and laughed.


About the Bohmani people
The Böhmenians have a very bad reputation in the Empire. Most people don't believe they even exist, but those who live nearby told me very disturbing stories. Supposedly, the Bohmani are all crazy. Their religion is a mix of our own and the proto-vaegir multideitism. They are very religious, but I'll write more about that in the chapter about the unfortunate Black Crusade.
Back to their bad reputation, the Bohmani are said to be the devilspawn and witches and warlocks, I've heard stories about rituals and customs involving cannibalism and almost every village has its own story about a crazy Böhmenian performing a strange or somehow amazing deed. Here is a transcription of one of the most common ones:

"After the Black Crusade, the Swadian emperor wanted to give the Bohmani another lesson so they don't forget who is in charge now. He declared a friendly challenge to the famous Bohmani marksmen and sent a company of his own personal sharpshooter guard to compete with them. When the sharpshooters arrived to Rduna, all the villagers were waiting by the road under the rock upon which the village is set. And they were all smiling and clearly in a good mood. The sharpshooters asked for someone to compete with them and read the emperor's challenge loud. Since nobody armed with a gun was present among the villagers, leader of the sharpshooters - annoyed and insulted - ordered the company to leave immediately. Suddenly a loud gunshot was heard, a flash appeared on the slope of a distant hill and the company leader fell down from his horse with nose blown off.

The sharpshooters left, the written challenge mysteriously disappeared from the archives and all Swadians pretend this incident never happened."

I'm not sure what to think about this, but I'll be sure to search the archives in Marienburg for any documents that might suggest this story to be true.

To me the Bohmani seem like very hearty people. I've stayed here as a guest of the village chieftain for three weeks and I must admit they don't appear to be as barbaric as everyone thinks. They lead very pure lives consisting of work in the fields, hunting and a lot of praying (even compared to us - people of the true faith). I've experienced a raid to an enemy clan and Bohmani have proven themselves as fearless warriors. I am told that the only thing a Bohman fears is his mother. Which is very respectable, we should learn a lesson from these people about honoring our elders.
After the raid there was a celebratory feast and it was the first time when I could really appreciate Bohmani cuisine. Very unusual meals were served and I can't quite compare the taste to anything known to a civilized tongue. When I asked what meat it was, the (slightly drunk) chieftain replied it was pork. I don't know why he was so amused by my questions, but after all, he was a very merry man.


                            Freudentahl, Klaus Heinrich : Among the Barbarians - my travels through the unknown parts of the Empire, Chapter 3

This chapter of professor's book might be confusing. During the only night we spent in the village three of my men disappeared from their tents. We went out looking for them with torches, but couldn't find them. They screamed the whole night. We found them in the morning when a little Böhmenian boy led us to an old oak grove. Two were hanged by the throat and one was nailed head down to a tree. With only four men left I decided for an immediate departure.
 


Religion, empires and the Black Crusade

As I mentioned before, Bohmani religion is similar to ours, but it also bears very distinctive shamanic/polytheistic features. Bohmani don't keep written records, instead their bards and professional singers learn everything there is to know about their history and culture. They were quite amused by my reading from my book about the ancient Ellis empire. Yesterday a boy brought me a very dirty, but otherwise incredibly well preserved ancient-ellisian breastplate. It even has a clear mark of the legion on it along with the name and a number of the centurion who wore it. There is also a nasty looking hole in it - I'm told it's from a sling bullet or a javelin. The boy says there are many more in the ground where he found this one, I must (!)  go take a look there next week! I can't go tomorrow, the chieftain stopped by today to tell me there will be yet another feast tomorrow which I simply have to attend. Bohmians seem to have quite many holidays!

For one reason the church always hated the Bohmani - in their religion, everyone is a priest to him or herself * and everyone is equal - Yes! Even women! It was because of this heresy ** that the pope pressed on the emperor to call out a crusade. To punish these impudent heretics.
And Sigismund gladly accepted this holy task. Almost 13 years ago he assembled the imperial army and set out for Rduna. What followed seems to be very similar to the Ellisian attempt on establishing a province there. Two years of marching through the wild hills, sleeping on rocks, eating what little food the soldiers looted in the poor Bohmani villages. And constant ambushes by the guerilla fighters led by the infamous Jan the Quick.

Jan the Quick is an interesting character. He was elected (some say he elected himself after killing three clan chiefs and taking over the clan-federation) to lead the resistance and after two years of ambushes, raids and simply playing hide and seek with the imperial forces he managed to scramble an army big enough to challenge Sigismund in the open field. At least he thought it was enough, while weakened, the imperial army was still almost twice as big as Jan's band of ruffians. Jan had secret reinforcements (and probably funding) from the Dual Monarchy and several bands of Nord mercenaries, but his chances were very few at best.
Sigismund felt very confident and let his troops make camp on a side of the battlefield - it was a meadow in a small valley with woods on both sides. Sigismund made a fatal mistake by underestimating Jan's military genius.

The night before battle none of the imperial soldiers slept for a minute. Jan deployed special forces units to harass the Swadians by surprise attacks and used his best weapon - fear and reputation. He ordered his men to throw severed and mutilated heads of killed Swadians into the imperial camp. The Bohmians also supposedly cooked the dead bodies and ate them in clear sight ***.

The battle started in the morning. The imperial army was still deploying troops into their positions when the Bohmani attacked. Screaming they ran straight into the front line. At the same time marksmen hidden in the woods on the sides killed most of the imperial officers - leaving the Swadian army falling into disarray and chaos. Bohmians and their Nord allies cut their way through Swadian pikemen, using their special "thick shields" **** to block the pikes while their short falchions did all the killing. Emperor's personal Doppelsoldners guarding the imperial standart suffered heavy losses from the marksmen fire and in a few minutes the standart fell under the fierce attack. That was the last nail in the coffin for the army morale - the army simply fell apart and the field was full of running Swadians being killed by howling Böhmenians. Only Sigismund and what was left of his guard fought their way out of this mess.

After this terrible defeat, Sigismund went even deeper into insanity. Three months later he got surprisingly better and came up with a new plan. Instead of trying to fight them, he managed to bend the Böhmenians. Guarded by a large garrison he had a castle built on the ruins of an ancient fortification near Rduna - today it's called the Vyincourd castle. From there he had regular raids to be performed - he wanted to crush the Böhmenian spirit. Women and children were raped and killed, men crucified. After two whole months Jan the Quick offered emperor Sigismund peace. Both sides would stop with raids, Bohmani would accept our faith and let merchants pass through their teritory. They also pay a regular tax to the lord of Vyincourd castle (the less known fact is that it's only one denar a year). Jan himself and his men were not to be harmed in any way. It may seem strange, but Sigismund kept this part of the deal. Jan the Quick isn't the leader of his people anymore, but he is still a very important figure here.

(note to myself: I must edit this chapter later, I'm not sure it would pass through emperor's censors this way.)

* the name Bohmani seems to be a regional variant of proto-Vaegir word Boh or Bog - which means God. The Bohmani are therefore the God's people.
** at least that's the official reason. Some historians think it might've been just the fact emperor Sigismund's mother (whose relationship with her son was, let's say, complicated) was half Böhmenian. A very out of place joke says that Bohmians being such a huge pain in the arse is the main cause of emperor's insanity.
*** I believe it was a mere trick - the warriors probably baked and ate a special kind of bread shaped as a human torso. It's quite common in this region even today.
**** these shields are made of two layers of oak planks, leather and steel plating. Bohmians claim that it can even stop a musket ball.


                            Freudentahl, Klaus Heinrich : Among the Barbarians - my travels through the unknown parts of the Empire, Chapter 7

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This is the last chapter in the book. I left the previous chapters out, because they bear no relevance to the purpose of this report and mostly talk about architecture and Böhmenian recipes.
I've met this Jan the Quick mentioned by professor Freudentahl in Ivangorod during my mission for the intelligence service. He and what's left of his band are now mercenaries willing to fight for anyone who offers enough money. I found them disturbing and disgusting, but they seem to be quite skilled at what they do. They are excellent scouts, very fast and strong men, well trained with short falchions, throwing knives and strange swords made from scythe blades. Their taste in clothing is very poor and they smell bad, I think it's because of all those furs and leather coats they wear. And for some reason they paint their faces black with soot.
They are said to be excellent shots so I asked them to demonstrate their skills with their (unusually long) muskets. They just laughed and rubbed their noses.
I must note that this lack of discipline can prove disastrous, but I still have to recommend hiring these thugs if we get the chance.
Although, I do not recommend (and I must stress this) leading any sort of expedition or invasion through the Rduna region in case of a war with the Swadian Empire.
(I enclosed all relevant maps and documents in the envelope.)

I hope this letter finds your majesty in good health.

Your faithful servant,

Alvaro Ruiz Tavira


// this is the Laurian report that I've found. This post will be updated with a picture of Jan and his men as soon as I draw it :wink:
 
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