EDIT* I've had to redo this post so I figured I'd add some of the other stuff that you guys hadn't seen yet.
The original Samurai. This may in fact date from before Extended Factions really began.
(http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/2873/ssamurai.jpg)
The concept of a Vorrok Noble Swordsmen. They've changed a bit.
(http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/4443/vorroknoble.jpg)
The original banner ideas for Dia151.
(http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/9076/testbanners.jpg)
A Halrondian Gallowglass. In MP, a possible Infantry choice for Halrond. In SP branches from the Kern with the Muire. May be equipped with a large two handed Sparth axe as well. EDIT* As you can see, they've changed a lot.
(http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/9115/halrondgallowglass.jpg)
A Halrondian Hobelar. In MP, the Halrond Cavalry. In SP the upgrade of a Ridire. One of the most dangerous light cavalry units in the world. Developed for use against the heavy Knights of Swadia. EDIT* They've also changed a lot.
(http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6143/halrondhobelar.jpg)
A Halrond Muire. Will probably change in appearance. EDIT* As it happened, they did. Pretty substantially.
(http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/7033/halrondkern.jpg)
A Halrond Master Archer. Equipped with the most powerful bows in the world. Slightly inaccurate due to the sheer power of their bows.
(http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/3686/halrondmasterarcher.jpg)
A poor Lyonessian Almughavar. Poor because most can afford Round Shields. As Light Infantry they are unequalled. In MP one of the ranged choices for Lyonesse. EDIT* Surprisingly these guys have changed a fair bit too. Not too much though.
(http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/7168/lyonessealmughavar.jpg)
A Lyonessian Crossbowmen. They cannot match the sheer power of the Rhodok Arbalestiers but nontheless, their bolts are fully capable of punching through armour. EDIT* They're blue now and actually have a Spanish name. :P
(http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/2425/lyonessecrossbowman.jpg)
A Lyonessian Lancer. As Heavy Cavalry they are faster than most. However they hit harder than Light Cavalry.
(http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/8459/lyonesselancer.jpg)
The Lyonesse Rodelero. Decent Heavy Infantry, the Lyonessian Espadas are faster than most comparable swords. In SP they branch from the Infantry along with the Coseletes.
(http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/4040/lyonesserodelero.jpg)
The Nihon Hatamoto. The Nihon have never really grasped horseborne combat. On the other hand, when dismounted the Hatamoto tend to kick the armadillo out of people. In MP they form NIhon's Cavalry. In SP they upgrade from Samurai along with Elite Samurai.
(http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/9193/nihonhatamoto.jpg)
A Nihon Samurai. The speed of the Samurai's two handed katana makes them formidable opponents. However their lack of shields costs them dearly against archers. EDIT* These guys have actually changed heaps. For instance, the Mantis Clan Samurai no longer wield katanas...
(http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/9316/nihonsamurai.jpg)
A Nihon Yumi Archer. Blessed with uncanny accuracy, Yumi archers are a powerful long range force. EDIT* Funnily enough, these guys now actually have a yumi rather than the war bow they had when this screen was taken. :P
(http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2221/nihonyumi.jpg)
A Vorrok Archer. As far as Archers go, the ones used by the Vorroks are nnothing special, intended only to cover the Noble Swordsmen as they charge.
(http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/7035/vorrokarcher.jpg)
Vorrok Border Reivers are fast Cavalry. Armed with a collection of throwing weapons, Border Reivers can be expected to hunt the foe down mercilessly. On the other hand, their lack of significant armour means they will likely not last in prolonged combat.
(http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/8324/vorrokborderreiver.jpg)
And of course the Vorrok Noble Swordsman. The highest tiered unit the Vorroks have access to, they are monsters in close combat. EDIT* These guys have probably changed the least of all the original units. In fact, I can't think of anything that has changed since then.
(http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/4443/vorroknoble.jpg)
Dia151's interpretation of the Kingdom banners. I feel as if he's done a rather nice job. ;)
(http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/9076/testbanners.jpg)
(http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/9610/bannerskingdomsa.jpg)
(http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/1086/bannerskingdomsb.jpg)
EDIT* So that's it for this teary eyes trip down memory lane. Onto the next...
Ok so now we have my sneak peaks from a good while ago.
I present them to you now... again.
The Szabzla Infantry. Armed with a halberd, he's fast and dangerous. Even better, they now even have helms.
(http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/3310/szabzlawarriorsneakpeek.jpg)
For the archer who feels that he needs protection while sniping away with a bow the length of a football field, the Ghost Clan Samurai take to the field with massive bows, katanas and heavy armour. Ouch. I think the picture has a wakizashi, but trust me, they get katanas now.
(http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/777/samuraiarchersneakpeek.jpg)
Bloody hell did these guys change! Assuming this is supposed to be a Jaguar Knight and a Coyote Knight respectively, I don't think anything stayed the same! :P
(http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/331/quetzlwarriorsneakpeek.jpg)
(http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/6618/quetzlhorsemansneakpeek.jpg)
The Nihon Black Samurai comes from the Hornet Clan. Armed with Nodachi they tend to take massive chunks out of, well, everything.
(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2989/nihonblacksamuraisneakp.jpg)
The Khergit Skorpion. I don't even know why these went in because for half a year they made the Khergits more OP'd than they already were.
(http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5088/khergitscorpionsneakpee.jpg)
The Himanchian Skirmisher. Armed with a repeater crossbow which fires eight bolts before reloading. The bolts themselves are slow, short-ranged and only cause low-moderate damage but they make up for it with sheer rate of fire.
(http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/4663/himanchiancrossbowsneak.jpg)
The Halrond Ridire/Hobelar. It's one of them. At any rate, they have changed pretty significantly once more.
(http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8097/halrondwarriorsneakpeek.jpg)
The Garwall Rajput. They haven't changed much except the weapons available to them. That changed quite a bit actually.
(http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/4506/garwallrajputsneakpeek.jpg)
Aaaah, back when the Euriae were nothing more than a glimmer in NoS's quicksilver mind. I believe my first thoughts when testing these guys were, "Death in a tin can." Milites are some of the best fighters in the mod.
(http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/7214/euriaemilitesneakpeak.jpg)
The Quetzls in close formation. Note the macahuitls which are slow bu deadly. They are without a doubt one of the scariest weapons in the mod.
(http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/4496/newlookquetzls.jpg)
And that's all for now once again my friends. :D
Yet more pretty pictures!
The Baldark Archer. Basically Lithuanians, they are the counterpart to the Szabzlas in the Commonwealth. Ignore the longbow, they don't usually have it, I was just feeling sadistic at the time.
(http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/7358/baldarkarcher.jpg)
The Dharrok Noble. At the moment they have a weirdly Scottish theme as they are the original inhabitants of the highlands where the Rhodoks live. A quick conversation with NoS has lead to a complete change in direction as to the aesthetic of the Dharroks. They WILL be keeping the glaive. :D
(http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/3006/dharroknoble.jpg)
I love Lord of the Rings as many of you well know. So I naturally wanted a subtle nod in Extended Factions. The Eldorians are heavily based off the Rohirrim, a race of horsemen with some major norsic influences. They are also premier medium cavalry.
(http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/8594/eldorianrider.jpg)
Anachronistic? Sure. :D but these Euriae Hoplites are awesome enough that they can get away with it. :P
(http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/9236/euriaehoplite.jpg)
Varangian Guard of the Euriae persuasion. I hate them. They keep killing me. :(
(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/1125/euriaevarghulf.jpg)
Very good archers, the Garwall Dharnurdhar have a relatively slow rate of fire but with good range and damage.
(http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6696/garwalldharnurdar.jpg)
The Garwall Sipahi. Fast and relatively heavy cavalry.
(http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/3316/garwallsipahi.jpg)
The Garwall Tumandar, equipped with a HUGE scimitar (I've called it the Tulwar but it's really nothing like a tulwar.)
(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/8879/garwalltumandar.jpg)
The Lyonessian Jinette. There's a backstory to the Sarranian Horse but I'm not sharing it now. My fingers hurt. :P
(http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/2352/lyonessianjinette.jpg)
The Lyonessian Lancer. I still can't remember whether or not I changed the name to something Spanish. I hope I did.
(http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/2415/lyonessianlancer.jpg)
The Quetzl Caiman Knight. He'll look better with a helmet I'm sure.... :P
(http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/8282/quetzlcaimanknight.jpg)
The Quetzl Coyote Knight. He'll also probably look better with a helmet....
(http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/8273/quetzlcoyoteknight.jpg)
It's a Quetzl, you should all be used to the phrase by now.
(http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/4921/quetzljaguarknight.jpg)
A Szabzla Hussar. I know, the kilij is Turkish but I needed some variety for the Szabzlas with regards to weapons.
(http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/7253/szabzlahussar.jpg)
After all the others, he's a bit underwhelming isn't he? :P The Tigris Guard he is for now but the name might be up for change.
(http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/4418/tigrisguard.jpg)
Once again, we are done.
Hey again guys, time to show you some of the banners Dia has made for us.
First up, a competition. Please post in this thread what you believe the real life inspiration for this fine warrior is. As I'm the moderator of this section I believe it is within my abilities to allocate Points towards Triumphs for whoever is correct. So get to it guys! 10 Triumph Points await the correct guesser!
(http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2934/balionarcher.jpg)
A hoplite bearing the emblem of the Basileia Euriae.
(http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/9236/euriaehoplite.jpg)
The Khergits are known as the Wolves of the Steppe. It's easy to see why.
(http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/9080/khergitnokhor.jpg)
For a people as strong and stubborn as the Lyonessians, the bull is an apt symbol, particularly those of the mountains who make up the Almughavars.
(http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/5711/lyonessianalmughavar.jpg)
Yes the Nihon Yumi and arrows are THAT big. This is a Ghost Clan Yabusame, horse archers on manoueverable steeds.
(http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/9499/nihonyabusame.jpg)
A Nord Huscarl bearing the Eagle of the North. Still some of the best infantry in the world.
(http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/772/nordhuscarl.jpg)
A dismounted Quetzl Coyote Knight. As you can see, the emblem is pretty exotic.
(http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/2917/quetzlcoyote.jpg)
A Rhodok Sergeant. This banner is actually my own work although I'm sure Dia could have done a better job of it.
(http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/8241/rhodoksergeant.jpg)
A Sarranid Guard bearing the Hawk of the Sands. One of Dia's awesome banners again. Very cool.
(http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/5114/sarranidguard.jpg)
The new look of the Swadians. Any good?
(http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7937/swadianfeldwebel.jpg)
A Szabzla Towaysyze. They're basically the elite of the Hussaria. I think this is my favourite of Dia's banners.
(http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/3450/szabzlatowarsyze.jpg)
A Vaegir Druzhina. I'm renaming the Vaegir units to give them a bit more of a Russian feel.
(http://img864.imageshack.us/img864/904/vaegirdruzhina.jpg)
That's all for now.
Cheers guys and don't forget to vote with regards to the top screenshot.
Well someone already got the one at the top. He's inspired by the English Longbowmen as can be seen by the arming sword, longbow, leather armour and the lion-bearing emblem. :P
(http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/2231/medbrandianwoodsman.jpg)
Well guys, next comp! What's the RL inspiration for this guy?
Well I'm back with a couple more cool things.
(http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/6704/eldorianroyalguard.jpg)
The Eldorian Royal Guard riding an Eldorian Mearas. Whether that's a blatant rip-off... that's for you to decide.
(http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/3006/dharroknoble.jpg)
A Dharrok Noble. They retain their hillmen/highlander theme but now gain a significant Thracian/Getae influence. Notice the falx which may or may not be all that usable on horseback.
(http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9302/dharrokinfantry.jpg)
This guy has a set of sica which are balanced for throwing. It's about as feasible as a throwing axe so it's not all that unlikely that they would be used as such.
That's all for now. :D