Assyrian Units (etc.)

[Mithadan]

Assyrian Unit Requests

All the more reason to make some Assyrian units:

The "strategic mobility" of the Assyrian army, or their ability to project their military force over a given area, was 375,000 square miles. After Rome fell, no army exceeded this area until the American Civil War, when the use of railroads made troop movements easier. In terms of efficiency of organization, no military staff (i.e. administrators, logistic officers and engineers) would reach the proficiency of the Assyrian or Roman military staffs until the German general staff of the 1870's. The prototype of a modern soldier's equipment (helmet, body armor, boots [a particular Assyrian innovation], and backpack) was invented by ancient armies and disappeared for almost 1,000 years after the fall of the Roman Empire. The killing power of an ancient composite bow (i.e. the accuracy, force, distance, and speed of deployment) was not matched until the introduction of the Prussian needle gun in 1871. According to modern tests, the body armor, helmet, and shield of the Assyrians would have provided excellent protection against firearms until Napoleon. If the dispersion of field formations, inaccuracy of early firearms, and rates of fire are considered, the Assyrian soldier would have been safer on a battlefield in the 18th century than on an Ancient Near Eastern one.
--Richard A. Gabriel and Karen S. Metz, From Sumer to Rome: The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies (New York: Greenwood Press, 1991).

These are the ones I already use conversions for, and so most eagerly would like replacements for:

1. Kisir Sharruti (regular native Assyrian infantryman of the standing army, rather than foreign levy auxiliaries)
--basically the unit I flag for Defense (Spearman equivalent)

Here's my thoughts: an earlier, less armoured infantryman, with a larger shield than the elite shock trooper below. Kinda like...

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(a soldier from the 9th century BC, somewhat influenced by Mittannian equipment?)

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(soldiers of the 8th century, with nice blue tunics, although their shields look a lot like the elite shock trooper I'm hoping for below...)

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(soldier of the 7th century, but the curly-cue on his helmet isn't right -- that's reserved for high-ranking officers in the royal bodyguard)

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(soldier of the 7th century -- although giving this unit a lamellar corslet might make him look too similar to my elite shock trooper guy immediately below...)

2. Zuku Sa Shepe (elite Assyrian shock trooper)
--basically the unit I flag for Offense (Swordsman equivalent)

Here's my thoughts: dude with conical iron helmet, conical shield, lamellar armour and boots. Basically just like this guy:

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Who is a combo of the following three guys:

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(this dude's spear, shield and helmet)

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(& this dude's lamellar corslet)

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(& this dude's boots)

3. Qurubti Sha Pitalli (Assyrian Cavalryman, literally "royal cavalry bodyguard" I think)
--the Horseman replacement, eh, in reverse chronological order:

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(cavalryman from reign of Ashurbanipal -- note the fabric horse armour)

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(a "qurubti sha pitalli" from the reign of Sennacherib. This guy's lance was "used in a downward, overarm thrusting motion," just like the PtW Numidian Mercenary)

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(dudes from the reign of Sargon II -- heavily armed, and wearing boots, but no lamellar corslets)

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("qurubti sha pitalli" from the reign of Tiglath Pileser III -- no boots, and armed with a lance instead of a bow, but has a lamellar corslet)

 

[Mithadan]

More Assyrian Unit Ideas

4. auxiliary Assyrian soldier

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(neo-Hittite vassal levy spearman: "A distinctive feature of Neo-Hittite troops was the 'irtu' or bronze disc protecting the chest; this feature was also appropriated by the Assyrians, and can still be seen worn by troops in the reign of Ashubanipal."

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(originally posted by Cimbri in the Unit Request Thread #2)

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(apparently a native Assyrian soldier, but decked out like an auxiliary. Must be peer pressure. )

5. Assyrian Horse Archer

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(this one's a repeat, but it's the best image I've got for the horse archer, cuz the other ones are...weird! [see immediately below])

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(two horse archer teams. Teams, as in cavalry treated as a chariot -- driver [holding reins] and warrior [shooting arrows]. I'm also told these guys still hadn't figured out how to sit on horses as if they weren't donkeys!)

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(originally posted by LouLong a long, long time ago. Apparently another variant of treating cavalry like a chariot!)

6. Assyrian Bowman
--pretty much visual duplication of the Vanilla Babylonian Bowman, but what the hell.

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(9th century native archer, still under influence of Mittanni somewhat?)

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(8th century archer, could be a Hebrew in Assyrian service given the distinctive headgear)

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(7th century archer levy)

7. Assyrian Slinger

(see the two slingers pictured in the previous post)

 

[Mithadan]

Related Units of the Ancient Near East

8. generic West Asian Infantryman

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--originally posted by Cimbri in the aformentioned thread, where he says "Here we have a generic Mesopotamian, Near-Eastern, Western Asian spearman. Could also represent the Elamites and Persians (before the Persians adopted Median dress)."

9. Scythian Cavalryman

Boy, did these guys ever give the Assyrians a rough time. Greeks could tolerate them, I suppose, but the Persians were so blinking annoyed that they invaded (to no effect, mind you). Sweet. I give you the first steppe horsemen of note in Western history: the Scythians.

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--this guy is just too intense. Wow. Notice what he's using for a saddlecloth!

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--I've made a point of posting pics of regular Scythian cavalrymen, rather than images of kings or noblemen that I've got. They're a little overdone.

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--nevertheless, even regular Scythians could afford to cover every damn square inch in scale mail. Which is cool!

10. Scythian Horse Archer

By rights, both the Assyrian cavalryman and Scythian cavalryman shouldn't be distinguished from horse archers, as they would have been equipped with both. Scythians especially carried strung bows in elaborate sheaths called a gorytos. But whatever, in Civ we often split different types of attacks into different unit graphics, even though historically the same dude would have done both. I leave it up to the unit maker to decide if they want to have one unit with different lance & bow attack animations, or different units entirely.

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11. Hittite Royal Guardsman

Apparently the Hittites didn't field much in the way of native troops other than their charioteers (which we already have a C3C unit graphic for) and their royal guardsmen. The rest of the infantry would have been levies from subject peoples? At least, I think that's what Cimbri said once. Here are some graphics of the Royal Guardsman (they all look the same, though):

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Dunno why the charioteers look so much like Hugo Weaving, though. Here are some more charioteers for no good reason other than I've got 'em. (Osprey really took a turn for the worse when they hired Brian Delf to paint their colour plates!)

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12. Mittani charioteers

Apparently Mittani was an Indo-European ruled empire of horse lords, back when bringing horses in from the Steppes was a cutting edge technology? Chariots being the first war machine... When their empire fell, the Neo-Assyrian empire started to assert itself (?).

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This isn't really a unit request, unless someone is brave enough to try a chariot unit again! Not since BeBro has this happened, I think, although didn't aaglo make a lizardman chariot or something like that?

 

[Vampiloup]

Request seconded. And i mean totally.

And "if units survived three more eras" can be really cool, too.

 

[Sword_Of_Geddon]

The Assyrians did survive just not as an empire...

 

[Vampiloup]

I speak as a civ.

 

[Sword_Of_Geddon]

Ah.........Yes I see. I've always been a fan of what-if units myself.

 

[Mithadan]

I'm gonna put up some Hittite and Mittanian units too, just fer fun.

Sadly, I don't have any Assyrian counterfactual unit concept art to post (aaglo did make that ziggurat tank, though, didn't he?). Interestingly, after the Assyrians, Mesopotamia basically falls under the dominance of outside empires forever! Persians, Greeks, Arabs, the latter right up until the present. What would the soldiers of Ashur have looked like had they maintained cultural integrity the whole while? Cool thought...

 

[Tank_Guy#3]

Seconded, thirded, and fourthed (if fourthed is a word). I am VERY interested in ancient units. Especially with prospects of an Assyrian civ.

 

[Mithadan]

Uh, why am I unable to paste text that I've cut from my civpedia.txt file into my post above?

 

[Mithadan]

Well, I was going to post my civpedia entries for what units I've got already, but for some reason that ain't working right now. Will it ever?

Anyway, I've put up my Scythians, as well as a Hittite and some dudes from Mittani.

All I want, for what it's worth, are 3 Assyrian units and one Scythian:

1. Kisir Sharutti
2. Zuku Sa Shepe
3. Qurubti Sha Pitalli
4. Scythian Cavalryman

The Hittite Royal Guardsman would be nice, though, and all of the dudes are super cool!

 

[timerover51]

Just a few comments. The core area of Assyria is basically what is Kurdistan today, but given the intermarriage of the various conquering groups, calling the Kurds Assyrians is a great misnomer. Next, the Assyrians were EXTREMELY NASTY. Optimum government for them would be Fascism from some standpoints, but with less productivity.

The armor was scale mail, not lamilar like the Roman Imperial cuirass, but was of good quality iron. Protection was on par with the Romans, and one of the big "what if" battles in the miniature gaming community is the Assyrians at their peak verses the Romans. Very close, with maybe the edge to the Assyrians, as they had a concept of how to use cavalry, which the Romans lacked. Not sure about Gabriel's comment on the "needle gun" as that is like damning with faint praise, as the needle gun was not that good. The English long bow was very comparable to the Assyrian composite bow, with the advantage of a variety of arrow points, depending on the nature of the target.

Plus, the Assyrians developed siege warfare to a high degree, as least as good as the Romans, and some different siege engines should be considered, as they did not go into catapults. Also, remember that the various soldiers depicted cover a pretty good range of time, like about three centuries. The Assyrian army evolved over the years, depending on its opponents.

 

[Ares de Borg]

As long as the units are historical, I'm with you on that. Right now I'm using Steph's Chariots-Of-War units for Assyria.

 

[Diviner]

i was thinking of adding Assyria into my mod and redistribute the redundant Babylon/Sumeria duo in terms of traits/cities/UU etc. you by chance helped me a lot Mithadan with drawing the tons of UU possibilities and thats really appreciated. thanx!

even better if one of the great 'unit factory' put some nice work up. oh i am dreaming

 

[Cimbri]

In the time of the middle kingdom (14th to 9th century BC), the primary infantry unit of the Assyrian army was the Kissir Sharuti, an archer-spearman pair, or shielded archer. Other infantry units included the Sab Sharri, levied bowmen from Assyria or subject territories, and the Qurubuti, royal guard heavy infantry.

 

[Stormrage]

I support every unit that is cool and usefull, so count me in the "seconds".

But, what I would really, reeeheheheeheally like to see is the correct horse size. The pictures are great, and everything in them should be considered as concept art, not just the armour, and hair color and whatever. Horses were short just like in the pictures, please, no tuskless mammoths..

 

[The Last Conformist]

The "strategic mobility" of the Assyrian army, or their ability to project their military force over a given area, was 375,000 square miles. After Rome fell, no army exceeded this area until the American Civil War, when the use of railroads made troop movements easier.

Tangential, but this is a very odd statement. Mongols anyone?

 

[Mithadan]

Tangential, but this is a very odd statement. Mongols anyone?

!!! Good call. Dang!

 

[Hrafnkell]

I agree a case can be made for the Mongols. It's odd they were left out of that analysis, which I think is otherwise pretty accurate.

I've seen a similar argument made that the army of Alexander would not have been out of place on a Napoleonic battlefield.

 

[The Last Conformist]

I agree a case can be made for the Mongols. It's odd they were left out of that analysis, which I think is otherwise pretty accurate.

I think it not. The Mongols are merely the most obvious example, but plenty of empires between AD ~500 and ~1850 sent their armies campaigning across areas much larger than 375,000 square miles (somewhat less than one million sqkm) - some other examples picked at random includes the Chinese under the Tang, Ming, or Qing, the Gök Turks, the Ottomans, Inca, and Mughals.