East African Sword Dudes (12 November 2006)

[Ozymandias]

No surprise - very nice - I'm just curious: how are you differentiating between "Abyssinian" and "Ethiopian"? Although it's among my very least favorite sources, a quick Google to Wikipedia produced the following:

"Ethiopia was also historically called Abyssinia, derived from the Arabic form of the Ethiosemitic name "ḤBŚT," modern Habesha. In some countries, Ethiopia is still called by names cognate with "Abyssinia," e.g. Turkish Habesistan and Arabic Al Habesh, meaning land of the Habesha people. The English name "Ethiopia" is thought to be derived from the Greek word Αἰθιοπία Aithiopia, from Αἰθίοψ Aithiops ‘an Ethiopian’, derived from Greek terms meaning "of burnt (αιθ-) visage (ὄ&#968".

... Sorry about the square characters ...

All The Best,

Oz

 

[Heretic_Cata]

Wow, they're all incredile.

 

[Virote_Considon]

Nice units!

@Ozy: I think he's going to give the "Abbysinians" to the Falasha in his scenario. I could be wrong, though.

 

[Plotinus]

Thanks for the comments - glad they're appreciated!

[ozy] I'm not really distinguishing between "Abyssinian" and "Ethiopian" at all except to create distinct names. To my mind, "Abyssinia" means the region in general while "Ethiopia" means the nation, but this is probably just me. Today it's quite old-fashioned to call the country "Abyssinia" at all, which is probably why I think of the term as having less specific scope. So here and with the spearmen I've called the more primitive-looking ones "Abyssinian" since it sounds more generic to me. But I think it's just a matter of taste, really.

[Virote] You're partly right - I think with the spearmen I shall give the "Abyssinian" dude to the Falasha and the others to Ethiopia, but all of these swordsmen are going to go to the Falasha. It doesn't really matter since, as far as I can tell, they were all much of a muchness in reality.

 

[LMR]

Great work, Plot

 

[Yoda Power]

Katanas to Africans? You are hurting this old Kendo fighters feelings my firend

They look nice though.

 

[Grandraem]

A+ units, Plotinus. Excellent all around.

 

[Quinzy]

Yoda, google image Abyssinian swords and you'll find 2 pics of a bunch of ethiopian swords. some of them look like katana's

in fact, here they are:
http://www.ancient-east.com/collection/abyssinian/original_group.jpg
http://www.ancient-east.com/collection/abyssinian/rehilted_group.jpg

 

[Stormrage]

Pretty toothpicks! Give!

 

[Darque]

Great job. Looking forward to see more units from you

 

[Ogedei_the_Mad]

I don't think Ethiopian swords look much like katanas. They have a greater resemblence to Persian and Turkish Shamshirs or Indian Tulwars. I doubt that there's a free Turkish sword poser prop available, though. And if there are, they're always the stereotypical fantasy shamshirs, which have extremely exaggerated appearances.

That oddly shaped sword is a nice touch, though. Looks somewhat reminiscent of the Egyptian khopesh. How'd you get the katana prop to look like that? If you can modify the katana to that extent, if possible, you can shorten the hilt of the sword and it will look a little more like a shamshir.

 

[Plotinus]

[Quinzy] Yes, that's the look I was going for. I would have preferred to find a slightly more curved sword than the one I used, but it seemed close enough at civ-scale. I don't know how to make a given prop curvier, or even if it's possible at all.

[Ogedei] I used the Grouping tool to break the katana into three pieces, then I moved them about and parented them to each other again. Simple! Kind of.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

http://www.ancient-east.com/collection/abyssinian/original_group.jpg
http://www.ancient-east.com/collection/abyssinian/rehilted_group.jpg

I don't know why, but i could spend hours staring at weapons and not get bored.
The first 2 in the first pic would be really intresting to chop with.

 

[Bjornlo]

fantastic unit pack. Great variety. And very well done.
I particularly like the first one.

 

[Stormrage]

EDIT: nevermind

 

[Plotinus]

Now I'll always be wondering what Stormrage said.

Thanks, Bjornlo - glad you like them. Maybe one of them will have a go at ending your streak in the unit-makers' competition...

 

[Bjornlo]

hehe two in a row is hardly a streak and it is not as if I won either one by more than a few % points.
I have had to travel for work and had a few minor but extra projects dropped on me, so I am hoping to have a unit ready for Novembers competition, but it is looking a little dicey. And, given the recent explosion of very high quality units (your's, navy dawg's, Wyrmshadows, etc) my odds of a three-peat are slim to none. But I hope I get to try.

 

[Yoda Power]

Yoda, google image Abyssinian swords and you'll find 2 pics of a bunch of ethiopian swords. some of them look like katana's

in fact, here they are:
http://www.ancient-east.com/collection/abyssinian/original_group.jpg
http://www.ancient-east.com/collection/abyssinian/rehilted_group.jpg

I don't think any of those look like a katana at all to be honest. They doesn't even have a tsuba.

This is a katana

Spoiler :

 

[Heretic_Cata]

^
But on civ3 scale they look alike.

 

[Quinzy]

Yoda, i know full well what a katana is- i'm a sword collector. But at civ scale they do looks very similar, especially the curved katana's.