As far as we know berserkers wore all kinds of clothing though the bear and wolf pelt did have have symbolic and even magical properties ( ie. a talisman retaining the strength of the host animal ) and some of the earliest references even have them wear wolf pelts exclusively.
It was also old Germanic custom to show daring and courage in the face of the enemy, for example by fighting bare-chested or naked, and though this is a phenomenon rarely seen in the Viking Age they are made like that for reasons of gameplay and to seperate them from the other classes.
about "vikings", which i believe simply refers to the scandinavian word for "Raider" (?); both in anthropologistic and military views, you could read up a bit on Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon Chronicles", about a saxon boy who grows up with the danes in 876 or so, and later has to fight them, a people he loves more than his own saxons...
Yes these are historical fiction novels, but i can say, as a student of history and a bit of a military history enthusiast that they are incredibly well researched... YES there is a slight time gap i suppose, (i think i read your mod was 11th century?...) but in medieval history not so many military matters changed in 800-1000 AD as they did in 1080-1200, especially in the north... so if you take note of the armour described, and the preferred weapons (practicallity mostly) then you'll learn loads of things, and it's a brilliant read if you like reading about battles
oh and i read someone calling the saxon freemen "Cearls"? i think it was "CeOrl"... but i could be wrong...
I really like the overhand spears but I think the hand should be twisted around. Right now the hand is held how you would hold a spear underhand though the hand should be held how you trow a javelin. At least I think it would fit best.
And the Berserkers, historically they did have shields but as you said it would disrupt balance. However how about them having spears, there is an actual image of them using spears in a "speardance". Also seeing that they were the warriors of Wodan, who used a spear as his weapon.
Sorry, I created a theme and did not notice the existence of this!
Excuse me, but I do not speak English, and I write you this letter because of an online translator!
I could not understand see the following:
1) "Vikingr": Why in the singular and not plural, given the fact that the two factions (Saxons and Normans) you have named in the plural?
"Vikingr" is in the singular (as Saxon, Norman), but "Vikingar" is in the plural, as Saxons and Normans! Excuse me, but if you already have a predominant number of names that stand in the plural, then the rest correctly and beautifully execute appropriately well plural! Or, to draw up all the names in the singular!
2) "Kievan Rus": This name is purely scientific, but not historic at all! In the annals of no name "Kievan Rus", but there is a name of "Russian land", "RUS", "Russian principality, with its capital in Kiev (which is why scientists gave the name of Russia in this period of time as the Kievan Rus, as the later metropolitan center moves in Moscow)! I recommend that you name "Rus", as it stands in history and the people (as the Saxons, Danes, French) and the State itself of this nation (as the Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons, the Danish kingdom). The name "Russian principalities is not recommended, because in the Viking Age, Russ has not been legally formalized between the princes, as the principality (this happened when the descendants of Prince Vladimir Monomakh), but was in the form of various tribes with their princes, among whom the Kiev prince Kiev city itself had a special relationship!
3) "Rus Archer": why the English name of Russian warrior? you have the other faction are the original names of national soldiers, and this fraction english!? In Russian, this class will be a warrior "Strelec"!
("Таких мастеров именовали «лучниками». Слово «лучник» утвердилось в нашей литературе как обозначение стрелка, но это неверно: того называли «стрельцом».")
4) "Druzhina": !? in Russian this word means a band consisting of many warriors! as a soldier of this unit is called correctly "Druzhinnik"
5) "Boyar Son": this term appears in Russia only in the 13 century as the earliest! In the Viking Age is the boyars as a class of warriors and nobles in the prince.
("Впервые этот термин упоминается под 1259 годом в Великом Новгороде.") Write it right the warrior as "Boyarin"!
6) Why does not the faction of Russia fourth-class warrior, the leader, as it is with other factions? It looks very ugly and not good! Please create this class leader and call him "Knyaz"!
7) "Chieftain": !? Excuse me, but is that a Old Scandinavian word? No!
8 ) "Hersir": !? Dear Rathos, is striking when the picture in which you have in the game hersirs on the battlefield as much as much as regular soldiers and archers? No, it's wrong and not good! Hersir is a warrior aristocracy, and it was below the Jarl, but above Hovdinga, and had under his command their retainers! bring you a snippet of text Sagas in English: it shows excellent Hersira position as the leader of the nobles and commanders:
http://omacl.org/Heimskringla/harfager.html
(6. KING HARALD S LAWS FOR LAND PROPERTY. "Each earl had under him four or more herses, each of whom had an estate of twenty marks yearly income bestowed on him and was bound to support twenty men-at-arms, and the earl sixty men, at their own expenses.")
(6. Landsréttr Haralds konungs. "Jarl hverr skyldi hafa undir sér 4 hersa eða fleiri, ok skyldi hverr þeirra hafa 20 marka veizlu. Jarl hverr skyldi fá konungi í her 60 hermanna af sínum einum kostnaði, en hersir hverr 20 menn.") +
+but the text-passage Scandinavian Russian historian and archaeologist Gleb Lebedev in his book "The Age of the Vikings in Northern Europe and Russia":
("По крайней мере, с херада можно проследить и позиции племенной аристократии, «предводителей» — (hófðingi), из числа которых выдвигался для племенного ополчения воевода (hersir), а для области правитель (jarl) или даже король (konungr).")
All of these passages speak in favor of what Hersir is a warrior-chief, the commander of the elite.
I suggest you put in its place: a) Hirdmann (Hirdmadr), b) Lidmann, c) Holdr, d) Drengr, e) Huskarl!
9) "Bueskytter": This is the same in modern Norwegian?
http://norse.ulver.com/dct/zoega/b.html
(bog-limir, m. pl. ‘curved limbs’, arms and legs; maðr, m. bowman, archer). I suggest you replace your version on my "Bogmadr"!
http://yandex.ru/yandsearch?text=Bogmadr&lr=11155
10) Russian shields: In Russia was the most common Kite Shield
but the Christian symbols to put on billboards Russian soldiers should not! Common symbol in the era of the Vikings were: animals (bear, lion, falcon), sun (especially yellow sun on a red field), the Slavic characters
http://slavlib.ru/viewpage.php?page_id=10
and symbols Rurik
http://chernov-trezin.narod.ru/GerbRurika.htm
(Look at the symbols that are listed in the genealogical table named "НОВЕЙШАЯ ГЕНЕАЛОГИЯ ЗНАКОВ РЮРИКОВИЧЕЙ IX–XI ВЕКОВ, любезно присланная мне С. В. Белецким 1 сентября 2008 года")
The rest can be write later, as I myself am trying first to find out more (and later learn), and write, if something is beyond my comprehension or weird!
I read that the word "Vikingr" comes from the word "wik" which means river or something like that in old Norse. In a rough translation to modern English, I guess this would mean that the Vikingar were the "guys who sail the river". This may not be accurate, though, as I am not sure how much Michael Cricton knows what he is talking about.
Korgoth said:
I think Berserkers shouldn't get the naked armour. I read somewhere that they didn't actually fight naked, They just wore fur and hides.
An example of a Berserker (In this case an Ulfhednar):
I think that they could be bareskin but they could also wear an simple cloth undearneath the skin, though no mail or any other kind of armor I gues.
Only thing missing is seeing the actual wolf or bear in the skin, right now it doesn't really resemble a wolf or bear at all.
Edit: Just thought of something, when you select Berserkr as class you should get the options Berserker and Ulfhednar. With Berserker being stronger but slower and Ulfhednar being faster but weaker (compared to eachother), though again that would be weird.
^ No, that definitely looks like a wolf to me. What was the point of bersekirs though? Why did they run around with no armor like that? It's not like viking mail was paticularly heavy or anything.
^ No, that definitely looks like a wolf to me. What was the point of bersekirs though? Why did they run around with no armor like that? It's not like viking mail was paticularly heavy or anything.
^ No, that definitely looks like a wolf to me. What was the point of bersekirs though? Why did they run around with no armor like that? It's not like viking mail was paticularly heavy or anything.
The point? They were just crazy fanatic warriors, they were "religious" warriors of Odin.
Why? As someone said just to show your bravery, accounts say that blows wouldn't work on them though, which seems weird, they were probably to busy killing to notice their wounds .
I think if someone split their guts open they would notice. Those were obviously just exagerrations about them being invincible. Although they were very tough.
Edit: i know they were religious, but I'm guessing also that they ran around with no armor was because they wanted people to think that they didn't need it. Vikings were much smarter than people protrayed them to be.
Why? As someone said just to show your bravery, accounts say that blows wouldn't work on them though, which seems weird, they were probably to busy killing to notice their wounds .
As far as history is concerned, there is no support for there being special berserker warriors. Berserkergang was thought of to be more a state of mind, where the warrior would fight in a frenzy, and according to mythology, become immune to weapons. The image of a warrior wearing bearskins and wolfskins while swinging a two-handed axe is by much a modern romanticised one.
Correct me if I'm wrong
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