Battanian Veteran Falxman is a DOWNGRADE, it is completely outclassed by the normal Falxman

[five bucks]

From what I've read the Rhompaia was used by the Thracians and was basically a slightly longer Falx (which was used by the Dacians) on a quite long handle. But the blade was still larger than the handle.

Interested to see where you read this?

In my opinion the polearm also looks quite silly.

Ya.

 

[Rieus The Mower]

Interested to see where you read this?

Oh just the English wikipedia page.

 

[five bucks]

Oh just the English wikipedia page.

Despite the talk page correctly pointing out the name is a misnomer, for some reason the Wikipedia page as a whole hasn't been corrected. Check this article and discussion out to get an in-depth breakdown of how people have gotten so thoroughly confused:

Rhomphaia

The "Myth" of the "Dacian Falx" as a super weapon

Or a TL;DR if you can't be bothered reading all that:

1 - the one Greek/Roman reference we have linking the word "rhomphaia" with the Thracians, Plutarch, describes it as a straight weapon. "Rhomphaia" in Greek simply referred to pretty much any heavy edged metal weapon - including swords or, at a stretch, axes. So the Thracian rhomphaia would not be curved.

2 - Further investigation shows that the tribe depicted on Trajan's monuments using two handed choppers are probably Bastarnae, a different tribe to Thracians. So even if the rhomphaia described as Thracian by Plutarch was curved (which it wasn't by his own words), that image of a two-handed chopper wouldn't have any strong link to the word "rhomphaia", though it could possibly be called a falx.

3 - While this requires assumptions being made, it is possible that the two-handed chopper depicted as held by the Bastarnae was not even a dedicated weapon. It could instead be an agricultural tool taken up for self-defence against a Roman massacre, evidenced by the fact that women and children and wagons are present in the scenes where the two-handed chopper is used. Similar two-handed chopping tools are used to this day in agriculture.

In summary, the long hockey stick as shown in Bannerlord is totally wrong (as you know), the name "rhomphaia" used to describe a curved two handed chopper is almost certainly wrong, there is also no evidence for the Thracian culture using any sort of curved two handed chopper under any name, and it is potentially questionable whether the two handed falx was even a dedicated weapon at all.

 

[Rieus The Mower]

Well that's another discussion entirely. A lot of weapons are shrouded in mystery and myths. There will be others that will have slipped into the game that may or may not have ever existed in that form. It's also okay because while the game's factions and their equipment are based on real groups in the end they are fiction.

It's important however that everything functions as intended. The Veteran Falxmen have been a really annoyance in my playthrough. I accidentally left all my Falxmen in my town and they were all upgraded to Veterans. I don't upgrade my Falxmen but that means they still XP from other units. I'd really wish for the Veteran Falxmen to be a real upgrade, then this wouldn't be such a headache.

 

[five bucks]

It's also okay because while the game's factions and their equipment are based on real groups in the end they are fiction.

It's just disappointing to have so much of the game closely reflect real life but then have these bits here and there which not only don't, but also perpetuate ahistorical myths. If this game was full on fantasy I wouldn't have a problem. At the very least, it wouldn't be that hard to name the weapon differently - "war scythe" or something, and they could also rename the Veteran Falxman to something less wrong and more cool/thematically appropriate to Celts, like Highlander.

It's important however that everything functions as intended. The Veteran Falxmen have been a really annoyance in my playthrough. I accidentally left all my Falxmen in my town and they were all upgraded to Veterans. I don't upgrade my Falxmen but that means they still XP from other units. I'd really wish for the Veteran Falxmen to be a real upgrade, then this wouldn't be such a headache.

Yep, I think the underlying problem here is AI hitting each other too easily in formation, maybe all weapons simply need to be given a little more tolerance for phasing through nearby allies - not too much, of course. This would also help spearmen.