Icedaemon
Magnificent Fiendish Bastard
Joined: 17 Jan 2007
Posts: 5366
Location: Hell, staying frosty.
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 Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 9:59 am Post subject: |
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Other ideas I intend to write down, A set of notes:
I should get around to writing up a beastiary, or perhaps a collection thereof.
The wild animals in this world have more differences compared to Earth's creatures than the existence of dragons and a lack of horses, them being replaced by a smaller cousin of the camel which has a much frailer spine than a horse and thus is only suitable as a draft animal (though one which can be fitted to a chariot well enough) or for very light cavalry.
Felines are likewise absent from Aphuria. This allows for other members of the carnivore order to have more variety and allow for creating new peak predators who are different enough from those of Earth to be new and exiting, while still having enough points of reference for a person not to get confused without an artist's rendition. For example, I would like to 'bring back' some of the 'short-faced bears', such as Arctodus Simus. Another species of bear to be almost definite is the 'Grey Mountain Bear', a logical extension of the bears' paws being more handlike than most - the peak predator of the central mountain range, this beast has the same height as an American Black Bear, but is lighter. The bear's long limbs and articulated paws make it the finest climber of it's size class in Aphuria. Dwarves respect these beasts, though they are often in conflict due to the bears hunting the same mountain goats (even the Markhor-like species the clerics of Asanael consider holy) and occasionally raiding the dwarves' fields and granaries.
Mark down more differences between the different cultures' armies'. Quite likely, combat will be a staple of this RP system, as it is for others. Thus, this needs the most fleshing out. So far, the differences set in stone are:
The mountain dwarves have phalanxes of heavily armoured hoplites with long and strong spears make up the bulk of their forces. Every dwarf hoplite has at least a helmet (typically similar to the Corinthian-style helms of Ancient Greece, though poorer soldiers make do with less elaborate headgear), a breast plate or hauberk of some sort and a large round bronze shield. Elites, such as the units formed from Harimatuk's guard force. However, they also use skirmishers in light armour, typically armed with slings for ranged combat and light axes or hammers for melee. These skirmishers are especially well-trained in fighting from higher ground in the mountains and defending caves. Dwarves don't have cavalry, but might have small numbers of chariots.
Durian dwarves wear less armour than mountain dwarves due to having less iron and no copper in their lands. However, they have begun developing polearms.
The Asterovi have copied dwarven phalanxes, but to a far inferior degree. Their infantry is not nearly as well armed - only the elites have armour and this is typically a form of rather crude scale mail, sometimes even not made of metal (which is much rarer outside the mountain ranges) but hardened leather. Breastplates are only for the wealthy nobles, more elaborate suits of armour are only crafted by traitor dwarves, who are extremely uncommon and hardly ever enough smiths. The Asterovi have made their own advances in warfare, however. Taller and longer-limbed, they were better suited to throwing weapons and often used javelins against the dwarf nations. Even as dwarven spears grow longer, with better supports, the Surgians have experimented with combining aspects of javelin throwers and phalanxes, sucessfully creating something virtually identical to Ancient Greece's Peltasts. This invention of the peltast was complete surprise which allowed Surgias to gain that decisive advantage over Maritas only recently. While still better against most units than vanilla spearmen, Klata had developed their own formations of peltasts and designed countermeasures by the time Surgias considered attacking them. The Asterovi have the best chariots by far, which form the mailed fists of their armies and typically decide the battle. They also have archers, but Surgias' bows are rather primitive. Klata has somewhat better fletchers, since this nation has frequent contact with Perdain and has also fought the Lantehatopias, both much better archers and bowyers than the Asterovi. The contact with Perdain has also allowed Klata to hire Perdainian mercenaries and, to a much lesser extent, experiment with mounted archery themselves. In contrast, Surgias has attempted to gain some camels from the Aiakt, hoping to build up a heavy cavalry.
Turim is a special case. While they have similar units to most other Asterovi, they also have troops who try to copy the dwarven skirmishers. While a small nation, the fact that it was founded by mages and has a very high concentration of Talented bloodlines means that Turim's strength lies in it's support units as opposed to those in the main battle line.
Perdain, as noted, is a nation of wiry barbarians. Their lighter builds allow them to ride the alpaca-like ungulates (which I really need to name soon). Due to living in a steppe, prey can often see a hunter from afar. Thus, they have also developed composite bows which are superior to those of the Asterovi and are capable of firing them from critter-back with reasonable accuracy. These hunters are the strength of their raiding parties and what rare armies they form.
Wait... I got it! The mount-creatures are called the Perdul by the Asterovi. Due to the Perdain (who likely have a name for themselves which sounds rather strange to both us and the Asterovi) so often being mounted and having proportions comparable to Asterovi teenagers (shorter and spry, remember), they were called the Perdul-ain, which mutated into Perdain over the centuries.
Lantehatop has a powerful navy, but very poor infantry. Since prior to contact with Klata, their rebellions and the empire's expansion on their kin on the north were mostly solved either with sieges or naval battles, they didn't have good units which can engage an Asterovi phalanx, their most elite soldiers and the undead excluded. Lantehatop has more wizards per capita than most other nations, except Turim (and just maybe the hobgoblins) - magicians are highly honoured and nearly all with The Talent can receive proper training. Their peasants typically fight with crude maces and clubs, which are ineffective versus spears and rather short.
The Aiakt (or hobgoblins, as they are called by some Asterovi, maybe), coming from the warm and desert-rich northern continent are a dire threat because they are the only force with access to heavy cavalry. The camels are larger and more ferocious than the perdul. Properly trained, they can bear a rider into the thick of melee. The Akakt have ring mail, which is rare in human lands (though dwarves have been known to incorporate it into their suits of armour even before the Aiakt invaded). The Aiakt have also more developed swords than the others, which gives them an advantage once the fighting units break ranks, unless they are fighting dwarves who typically have heavy armour and well-designed sidearms themselves. |
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