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C&D's Persian Factions: Rosters Expansion

== Updated for Desert patch ==

Warning: I haven't played R2 for years, can't check full functionality in campaign.
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Got a thing for screaming hordes waving their wicker home furniture? Do you find yourself crying "Darken the skies!" multiple times per day for no apparent reason? Are you physically attracted to conscripts that shout "Forever loyal!" when they are actually running to the hills?
Look no further, weary traveler, for this is the right mod for your particular needs.

Alright, as you might have guessed we are talking about a roster overhaul for the persian factions. More precisely, the seleucid satrapies (with Atropatene as special guest), as Parthia is for now left untouched by this mod. Yes, we've got a weak spot for the abandoned minor factions in need of attentions.

Whatever faction you will choose, with Your enlightened lead will romantically break its shackles from the admittedly awesome seleucid overlord, heroically beat the aggressive neighbourhood and eventually recreate the Persian Empire, moulding it as You will. Or you will be trampled to dust during the satrapies breakdown and some arab kingdom will conquer everything. Your choice, really.

What does this mod actually do? Basically, all satrapies are now given access to almost all of these eastern units: regular and royal cataphracts, elite persian archers, persian cavalry and hoplites (who got phalanx wall), variable types of horse archers, war elephants, stuff like this.
Also, the amount of accessible hellenic troops has been greatly reduced in campaign (while it is unvaried in custom for technical reasons). You only get some greek ships, thureos spears and a compromised version (between Levy and basic) of pikemen. No greek cavalry and by Joffrey no Thorax Spam of Doom whatsoever.
I won't be making full lists because there's way too many units and too many factions and I'm quite hungry. For example, the western satrapies have median and persian cavalry, the central get noble horse archers and some parthians, the easternmost ones are given elephants and steppe horse archers.
Custom battle rosters should be accurate enough to check what has been added to that faction in Grand Campaign - again, ignore the thorax and mounted greeks.


The most important feature is the regular troops reform. The infamous Eastern Spearmen are split into two units: Eastern Garrison (oval shield icon, the seleucid ones) and the Eastern Spearmen proper (rectangular shield icon, eastern kingdoms ones). Both have a chance to be reformed: the Garrison will evolve in the Persian Infantry, slightly tougher but bow-equipped (you know, for those "Darken the skies!" shenanigans); the Spearmen into Persian Sparabara, hugely stronger, with formations and decent stats and armour, but still inferior to, say, greek hoplites.
Both of them will be in your recruitment roster and in your garrisons (which will still be extremely lame until you build barracks).

Additionally, your Hillmen will become Persian Takabara, nasty medium axemen.

The western Persians will also have their Eastern Cataphracts reform into Persian Cataphracts which are of course slightly stronger.
Finally, you will usually need to unlock your royal bodyguards through technologies before you will be actually able to have them as general units.

The reforms are balanced out so that if you rush for a better cavalry you get the lighter and shootier spearmen, or viceversa, better infantry and possibly your foot guard without your cataphracts until you have time for both reforms.

- Persian Sparabara (medium spearmen)
- Persian Takabara (medium axemen)
- Persian Infantry (basic spearmen with bows)
- PersoHellenic Pikemen (basic pikes)
- Osroene Hillmen (good peltasts, Atropatene and Media)
- Osroene Peltasts (heavier Hillmen, ditto)
- Persian Cataphracts (Eastern Cataphracts 1.2)
- Persian Companions (the Immortals, spear-bow infantry, Persia only)
- Persian Immortal Cataphracts (ultimate cataphracts; Media, Atropatene and Persia only)
- Persian Light Horse (basically mounted takabara)
- Persian Kardakes (hoplite equals, Atropatene, Persia, Sagartia)
- Babylonian Guard (hoplite guard, Media only)
- Hyrcanian Royal Archers (Parthava)
- Arachosian Silver Shields (aggressive hoplites, Arachosia only)
- Indian Longbowmen (guerrilla bowmen; Arachosia, Drangiana and Bactria only)
- Indian Spear Levy (guerrilla basic spearmen; ditto)

DETAILS HERE!

- A personal overview:
These Persians should provide a unique enough feel. You don't have the heavy infantry the westerners get, there's other factions with cataphracts, horse archers and elephants. You can't beat an hellenic kingdom with your own pikes and spearmen, you won't have an easy victory against the steppe hordes with your horse archers, you don't have a single sword unit in your army if you don't count axemen.
But you will outshoot most armies, outcataphract them, drown them in corpses if you need to in order to deliver that charge of Immortal Cataphracts or elephants. Even your reformed infantry can't hope to indefinitely stop heavier hellenic or roman troops; their task is to stall them or at best kill off inferior troops until something else delivers the killing blow. Dying by the hundreds if need be, until that final Trample wins you the battle.

- Why doesn't Parthia get Sparabaras and Takabaras? Why should I bother?
Parthia doesn't get to reform its spearmen because it's not a true Persian Empire but a quite successful nomadic confederation which happened to dominate the persian area. Nonetheless, it's still got advantages over the new Persians: access to Royal Cataphracts as general units and spammable StableIV (whereas those who get the Immortals have them quite late and with a cap), Noble Horse Archers like Parthava and others who instead don't have heavy cataphracts, elephants (like the eastern persians who don't get neither heavy cataphracts nor noble HAs), and, finally, good swordsmen, who are still the real killers in this game (just like in the real life Roman age).

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Use and compatibility:
This mod is not compatible in grand campaign with others that use the same factions unless (PFM-ese) they use exclusive_permissions. Custom battles are fully compatible.
Includes a compatibility table for Auxiliary recruitment (in case you use Auxilia for Everyone or similar).

Once again special thanks to Sebidee for his Tutorial and ALL CREDITS TO HIM for the SPEAR&BOW ANIMATION.

Don't forget to check out Dem Greeks!
and Ermanarich's Better Names mod!

OFF-Steam downloads.[drive.google.com]

Whatever you do, remember to thumbs up or down or sideways or whatever fancies you! Everytime you don't give feedback, Manbearpig kills a carpet. Think of the carpets.