five bucks
Knight at Arms
Well how else are you going to represent them dying off in a game of this type? By the events of Warband, Swadia controls all their territory. That had to have happened somehow.Eh, even then they're never specified as dying off because they were losing or anything. I feel like they already have something of an underdog status anyway, considering how small their territory is.
Gauls were actually known for quality cavalry. Julius Caesar actually notes this and would go out of his way to procure Gallic cavalry in place of Roman horsemen. That being said, Gaul wasn't known for archery unlike Battania, and Battania is a fictional culture. Their cavalry should be reduced for gameplay and lore, not for historical 'accuracy'.
The underdog right now is definitely Sturgia, not Battania. Battania are actually tied with Vlandia for being the second best new territory conquerer over the course of a game (after khuzaits), while Sturgia is the faction that gets its ass kicked almost every game due to a variety of factors.
As Bannerlord is set in a pastiche of the 600s-1100s, Battania is not really based on the Gauls. According to Taleworlds it's based on the Picts, Irish, and Welsh, the only Celtic nations to still exist in the year 1100 (other than Brittany). The only elements of inspiration Battania takes from ancient Celts is the oppida architecture built by Celts all across Europe, and the falx (associated with the Dacians/Thracians), but not Gauls specifically. I agree that gameplay and m&b lore should generally be higher priorities than historical authenticity, but I also think in a game based so heavily on real life history it doesn't hurt to be as close to real life as possible, either.
At any rate I'm glad we agree they need less cavalry, to make them more unique and match their lore better.