Factions

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Niv

Squire
Recently I've been thinking about some Mount&Blade Factions and how they are quite similar to real life empires. Firstly, the Nords are obviously Vikings. They weild axes and have their towns by the sea, even the name 'Nord' is close to 'Norse' so that was a dead giveaway.

Khergits are the Mongols, they all ride horses, they live on the plains and in the mountains, Their towns are made of clay etc.

the other three are harder to identify, and I'm no history expert, though I have a suspicion that the Vaegirs could be the English and the Swadians could be French (Though that could just be a reason I created to hate them even more :razz:). I have no idea about the Rhodoks, as I haven't spent much time there.

So any help filling in the blanks is welcome, as well as general discussion about the similarities.
 
Anyone count how many times a topic like this has been made?

Btw, im pretty sure the Vaegirs arent english....maybe Russian.
 
No faction, perhaps except Nords, only draws from one "civilization".
Khergits seem pretty Eurasian steppe folkish, but still, they use clay buildings with a more Middle Eastern style, so atleast a little after Genghis Khan's age.
The Vaegir is argued about, but the general consensus is a mix of Slavic/Russian, and their namesake, the Varangians, vikings travelling all the way to Byzantium and being hired as the emperor's guards.
Swadians seem to be a mix of West European medieval nations, particularily the French and Germans.
Rhodoks are also kinda indeterminable, but something between "medievalized" Greek/Roman states and late medieval Italian states seem likely.
 
There`s something the Rhodoks resemble quite well, but nobody seems to even think about that much - the Swiss dammit! There`s enough Italian and German in them, so it has to be mostly the Swiss!
 
Yes, I'd agree to some degree on the Swiss, they used polearms. But I've searched around a bit and I can't find a single source mentioning crossbows or the shields the Rhodies use. I'd say they are much more like the Italian citystate armies. And, those were more "important" then the Swiss in my eyes.
 
Ok... They have the best armoured units in the game: France and Holy Roman Empire (HRE, sort of called Germany today.. HRE was bigger then Germany, but well, sort of Germany.. Don't want to waste the lifespan of my keyboard explaining) here known for using heavy armour... The only real heavy knights in the game are swadian knights: France was an early and heavy user of armoured knights.. There are even clues in the game history, the Swadians claim to be the remains of the old "Great Empire", just like HRE.. A bit weak, but, they are located in the middle of the map.. HRE and France are located in the middle of Europe sort of (yeah, I know its in the west, but if you think of medieval powers, it was more sort of in the middle). The use of crossbows instead of bows (both France and HRE were rather early on crossbows compared to say the British, the Slavic peoples, Arabians..).. I find many similarities. Sure, they are not spitting images, but I sure as heck don't find any better candidate then France+HRE...



Oh, and by the way, can someone make a list and sticky it to every board in this forum? Sort of many threads about this. No offence to anyone.
 
stygN said:
Yes, I'd agree to some degree on the Swiss, they used polearms. But I've searched around a bit and I can't find a single source mentioning crossbows or the shields the Rhodies use. I'd say they are much more like the Italian citystate armies. And, those were more "important" then the Swiss in my eyes.
important? so you`re going to neglect the importance of Swiss merc pikemen? let`s say more a mix of Italian city states, Swiss and certain German parts. Mostly centered around Switzerland with northern Italy and southern Germany maybe? We`re talking about a rough region which is also a confederation under the rule of an elected king. And while the Italians and Germans(in the era of the free city states) did not have a king, the Swiss did as far as I know. So we can say roughly the region between and including the north of Italy and south of Germany.
 
Yes, Swiss mercs were important, but the Swiss never conquered much as a nation..

So.. your idea is pretty much Italian city states with Swiss mercs and some Germans with a Swiss king? Yeah.. Makes sense.. But not pure Swiss, that's my point.

And the fact that the Rhodoks have a king don't mean it have to be based on a nation/people with a king. Its like the Swads, I'd rather see them have an Emperor rather then a King.

But yes, if your point being that the Swiss resembles part of the Rhodoks, I'll agree, but I disagree if you mean that the Rhodoks are pure Swiss. But since I assume you don't, I agree.
 
I can imagine this would be a little off, but from what I understand:

Rhodoks = Celts/Goths/Gauls?

Swadians = Western Euro, post 11th century

Khergits = Eurasian steppemen

Vaegirs = Byzantines/Russians

Nords = Norsemen, pre 11th-century Germans
 
Vaegirs are clearly inspired by Rus, maybe with a Byzantine touch. I was wondering if the name "Vaegir" isn't inspired by "Varangian"... Anyway, the mixed Nord and Khergit influence seems to map the Scandinavian and Asian influence of Kievan Rus. Lamelar armor does look Byzantine, but then again Byzantines greatly influenced the Rus (with which they fought a number of wars) and a klibanion on a Rus leader would have been nothing of a surprise.

The Khergits are obvious, they are the M&B equivalent of Mongols. One problem with that, though: 13th century Mongols were brilliant with sieges and had excellent engineers.

The Nords are even more obvious but to me they are somehow anachronistic. They mimic Viking Age Scandinavians, pre-11 century that is, while most units in the game belong more to the 12th - 13th century (with full plate armor as a 14th century or later import).
 
Rhodoks: Italian city states.

Why ?: Italian mercenaries often had dead-eye crossbowmen with pavises, it was something typical for them.
 
Normans: Norse settlers who went into west and south Europe were later know as Normans after they mingled with local population and were no longer pure Norse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normans

Swadians: People living in Swabia at southern Germany.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabia

Sea Raiders: Norse raiders, also known as Vikings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking

Vaegirs: Norse settlers who went into eastern Europe were later known as Væringjar or Varangians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangian

Khergit: Semi-nomadic Turkic people who dominated the Pontic steppe and the North Caucasus, also known as Khazars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khazar
 
Yaroslav and Oleg were two early Rus rulers... I was wondering if "Yar-g-Olek" is not a play on those names...
 
Yes, I think its Yaroglek. Still, rather close IMO.

@ Gaby: I might be very wrong, and you might be very right, but didn't the Mongols force/persuade/hire Chinese siegeengineers...? They picked up other stuff along the way too, but not much since their army and tactics were so new and effective against the armies in Europe, but I really do think they got help from Chinese siegeengineers.

Again, I might be insanely wrong here.
 
stygN said:
Yes, I think its Yaroglek. Still, rather close IMO.

@ Gaby: I might be very wrong, and you might be very right, but didn't the Mongols force/persuade/hire Chinese siegeengineers...? They picked up other stuff along the way too, but not much since their army and tactics were so new and effective against the armies in Europe, but I really do think they got help from Chinese siegeengineers.

Again, I might be insanely wrong here.
stygN, the Mongol Empire under the Great Khans - Genghis and his immediate descendants was, like all empires, a multi-ethnic polity, and yes, the Chinese did provide the best engineers. However, let us not forget that in order to enlist Chinese engineers they had to conquer the Chinese in the first place. This is what I find rather unrealistic about the Khergits: they have walled cities but are inept in sieges when attacking and mediocre when defending. 

As for Mongol exploits in Europe their armies were extremely effective, Batu Khan's campaign in 1241-1242 was not only brilliant in its strategy but also proved Mongol tactical superiority against all European foes. Battles such as Legnica and Mohi saw Central Europe's warrior elite including the Knights Templar hopelessly crushed. Had the Great Khan Ogedei not died unexpectedly forcing Batu to return to the steppe and fight for his right of succession the history of Europe may have been completely different.
 
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