kraggrim ?️ said:
I was under the impression that during this period soldiers would provide their own gear rather than being outfitted by their lord/nation. Obviously Calradia is fictional so they can do what they want, but still might seem a bit weird.
I suppose this would be true, I'm no historian so I have no clue, however in Calradia we see the same opposite. How come, if they provide their own gear, that for example all Swadian Knights look the same? Of course it's due to game limitations, even though it would've been possible to somewhat randomize equipment, to a certain degree.
However, if you want to look at everything realistically, it doesn't make much sense to me that in Calradia they'd provide their own equipment, seeing all men of one class use exactly the same one, instead it looks more likely that they were provided the same kind of gear in 'bulk' by their Lord or whatever, generally.
I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that, as you said, Calradia is a fictional word, and considering what I said above it might not be so weird in the end, I hope you understand what I'm trying to say.
Kortze26 said:
Cultures change with population migration, not with conquest alone. The underlying logistics behind trying to duplicate a material/look of armor or weapon styles isn't just in matching a visual pattern. The quality of steel available in one region may make fluted breastplates more feasible than another region where a brigandine coat of carbon steel plates may be more efficient, for example. If the smith who holds the secret to poly-laminate sword construction doesn't want to leave his home, it's going to be very difficult to match that elsewhere. As another example of cultural barriers, the Persians tried very hard to duplicate the Greek Hoplite, but failed miserably and resorted to hiring other Helenes to do the job.
Thanks for the input, I wish to share few points on the matter:
1. I wasn't talking about culture changing. I was talking about changing the equipment of people recruited from conquered, foreign lands. Their culture would still be the same, however if a Lord wanted their equipment to be the same as his native men, I feel safe to assume that he'd have all the power to do that, if he wanted to.
2. It seems that you're taking this a bit too seriously, to me. Mount & Blade is a game, of course, and it has nowhere near that much depth obviously.
3. I believe it is entirely a matter of style. Sure, perhaps the 'quality' of that iron is not the same. If we want to try and find a 'logical' reason for this, then I suppose it would be plausible to assume that such equipment would be provided from the homeland. Realistically, I also imagine that this would be a tad more expensive than producing said equipment on place, but still it would work.
Once again, I think the level of complexity of the factors you displayed in your post doesn't belong to a videogame, where everything is dumbed down and made more simple because of obvious limitations. I hope I managed to explain myself clearly without creating too many misunderstandings or confusion.
Egaldor said:
You can do this in a mod named prophesy of pendor.
Thank you for the valuable information! I played a bit of that mod, but wasn't aware of this. I might go back to it.