Okay guys, this is a research thread for the Illyrian regions. There is a ton of info on the Illyrians, and I will be updating this thread regularly as I am learning new stuff and organizing it. So, here is a short list of the things I have so far.
Illyrian regions:
Climate: Mediterranean/Continental. The region is stretched from the River Drin which is in modern northern Albania all the way to Istra in modern Slovenia and Croatia.Since the province has both the coastal and mountanious parts of the Western Balkans, the climate is a mixture of Mediterranean and Continental climates.
Faction Ownership: Illyria
Major cities/capital: Skodra
Minor Cities/Forts: Kratul (fort near Skodra), Salona, Rhizon (stronghold of many kings, high Hellenisation), Delminium (capital of the Dalmatae)
Ports: Apollonia I guess. It was one of the most important seaside cities, and its harbour was said to support a 100 ships at a time.
Culture: There is a TON of information regarding this topic and I need to sort the unique assets.
Unique units: The Illyrians were famous mercenaries who fought for both the Greeks and the Romans on different occasions. They were also very fierce sailors and great ship builders. Lembus is one of the more famous warships which had a single bank of oars and no sails; a light and fast ship (50 men+rowers). Other ships include Liburna (the Romans actually later adopted this type of ship) and Pristis
The Illyrian army mostly consisted of peasant infantry which was led by an aristocratic leader. The tactics varied from tribe to tribe. The Dalmatians used partisan tactics which helped them achieve some victories against the Romans, while the general formation of the troops was a square formation.
Resources, Farming value and other elements coming very soon.
Great job mate, looking forward to more info! :D
Ok guys, sorry for the inactivity, here is a military update of the Illyrians:
Illyrian warfare: There is not a lot of info on the weaponry the Illyrians used, because they mostly used weapons their enemies used, mainly of Greek and Roman origin. Their weapons and armor include the Sica dagger/short sword, Sibyna/sigyna - a long iron spear - archeologists found this weapon all across the Illyrian regions, especially in Bosnian necropolises. The Illyrian army also used a 20-30cm long "battle knife", battle axes (all of these were found in warrior graves), bows and arrows obviously, and regular swords (mostly imported from neighbouring regions). Most Illyrian tribes used round shields, which resembled Macedonian type shields a lot. The only REAL difference among Illyrian units would be that the tribes in the northern parts should resemble Celts, as they were under the influence of the Celtic tribes. I've included some pictures, though most google results and searches end up on showing images from various TW games and mods :D
Other than this, there really isn't anything that unique about their military. The Illyrians were known to create fortifications, and some of the famous ones include Tilirium and Setova of the Dalmatae tribes. These forts were usually hill-forts of round or oval shape. As mentioned before, they were great sailors, and I guess their navy would be their biggest strength. I've added a picture of Liburna because it is the only one which has a decent depiction. Couldn't find the Pristis ship, and Lembus pics are tiny.
http://imgur.com/a/Icbvs