Since I cannot mod as of late I have done some extensive reading. Today I read the developers thread and suggestions thread for comrade_general's own THS on TWC. There were many ideas flung around but with the exception of Lanjanes units, not much progress was made. It seems like there were about 4-6 fans who had many ideas but did not have the time, or skill, to actually change anything. I was inspired by some of these ideas, and have written them down. I am now going to list them here for further discussion for XRTW:
1) There were a few references to Thorakitai using spears instead of swords. Then there was a huge discussion on the Thureophoroi and Thorakitai. Essentially 'Heavy Peltasts' in vanilla were the Thureophoroi. I won't get into details because it became very confusing. Instead I used it to help shape up the units for XRTW:
Tier 1 Range: Skirmishers (Vanilla Peltasts)
Tier 3 Range: Peltasts (Vanilla Heavy Peltasts)
Tier 3 Barracks: Thureophoroi (THS's 'Light Thureophoroi')
Tier 5 Barracks: Thorakitai (THS's 'Heavy Thureophoroi')
Tier 6 Barracks: Imitation Legionaires (From Rise of Empire, Seleucids only)
I don't know if these would be accurate, but they seem accurate.
So the original Thorakitai unit from THS will be discarded. However I may need to equip the new Thorakitai with a sword instead of a spear..
Also concerning these two units, it was confirmed that Thureophoroi should be identical with Hastati, while Thorakitai be identical with Principes. (Stat wise)
2) Iberia will need a spear unit, which is not going to be hard at all, multiple mods carry spear units for Iberia, and if worst comes to worst it can be made. Also in XRTW the Iberian General will not be blue
3) Landbridges: I will probably include one between Messana and Rhegium, as well as Byzantium and Nicomedia. I wish I could have one in between Britain and Gaul but that would be ahistorical. However I get the feeling as if the Britons will have virtually no action being confined to the British Isles, which is making me consider if they should be used as a faction or not... Someone help me on this issue
4) Andalus and his un-released units in my opinion need to be released. There was discussion on Carthages unit roster and there was a preview of Carthaginian skinned mercenaries by Andalus. I am hoping a modeller and I can work together to make them and release them in his name.
5) Recruiting units at Ports, shipwrights and dockyards is an excellant idea for marine units used by Carthage and the Greek factions
6) There was mention of having a Jav Cav unit with an axe as the secondary weapon for the Illyrians, I will probably use that
7) There is an awesome bug fixer at the org that I will be using to fix all the common and annoying bugs in RTW v1.5
8) Everyone was impressed with the large rebel stacks in each city. I am definitely going to do that so the rebels are not push overs
9) One fan pointed out that the eastern factions are neglected in vanilla. This has been addressed regarding the units and it will also be addressed regarding the building tree. Roads, temples, and health buildings are substandard compared to the Greeks and Romans. They will be upgraded by using buildings from the Sassanids in BI. There will be 5 tier temples, 4 tier health, and paved roads.
10) I believe debux mentioned the possibility of the Parthians having hellenised units? I need to look into that
11) There was voice for a Caucasion swordsmen unit. That will be taken care of when I implement the AOR. I will use XGM's 'Georgian Swordsmen'
12) Macedon will get an upgrade with Hypaspists. Hoplites that can throw javelins. I will need a modeller to help me on that one. I might also include an elite slinger unit. I guess Macedon used them in response to the Roman heavy infantry
13) A quick add on about the Thorakitai. Desert fighter advantage for the Seleucids? I might consider it as an advantage when the Romans come in, but I hope it wouldn't make them too powerful.
14) There was mention of giving the Gauls a chariot unit. Is that historical? Also giving them another heavy infantry unit to help their cause against the Romans. Also a heavy spearmen unit as well
15) Giving the Germans a heavy axemen unit was also mentioned
16) I will be giving the Illyrians good ports and trade buildings to reflect their raiding ability as well as their wealth.
17) Should the Sarmatians get a spear unit? I'm thinking a simple Warband unit would suffice.
18) Iberians will get an upgrade in units with a spear unit (as mentioned above) heavy scutarii, and a heavy cavalry unit. Also a jav cav unit will be included.
19) I great suggestion was Made about MAcedon's bodyguards. They should be companion cavalry instead of Macedonian cavalry. Same will go for the other Diadochi factions. Also, apparently the general model/texture from ALX for Macedon is a better looking one than vanillas.
20) The unit size for the 'Bronze Shields' of Pontus has been changed to 240 instead of 160
21) It was proposed that the militia units for each faction be recuitable only in the Governor's House as it will reduce the spamming of weak units and give the AI access to stronger units earlier in the game. This has already been done
So that's it regarding THS. 21 ideas from that mod will help shape XRTW. Thank you to the dedicated THS fans and to the creator, comrade_general!