Kal-el's Zulu Flavor Units Sketches

[Kal-el]

Here are some concept sketches I put together for the Early part of the Zulu unit line. They were originally posted in my Concept Art thread, but that thread was getting pretty long so I thought these could use their own home.

Zulu Line:

Zulu Warrior

Zulu Archer

Zulu Spearman

Zulu Horseman

Impi (Swordsman)

Lion Warrior by UtahJazz7(Med. Infantry)

Zulu Pikeman

Zulu Longbowman/Crossbow

Zulu Knight

You can see that I am suggesting the Impi be used as a replacement for the Swordsman rather than the spearman. The reasoning for this is that Shaka reduced the haft of the traditional Zulu spear making it more like a sword than a spear, and the Impi were more of an offensive unit than defensive, so I think the unit seems to fit better there.

And as has been said earlier, I am not restricting these units to soley Zulu traditional dress, but am also including other tribes from East/Central Africa much like I included other Native American tribes in my Iroquois designs.

 

[Ozymandias]

... cf. / ditto my comments re: your Egyptians -- and that rhinoceros horse-helm is an exquisite touch!

-Oz

 

[Kal-el]

Thanks, again. I am imagining the main carapce of the horses barding to be rhinocerous as well as portions of the Knight's armor.

 

[Mongoloid Cow]

I didn't notice the Rhino horns until you said that Oz

They look pretty good

 

[TopGun]

. . . . . . .

I am speechless! These sketches/ideas are amazing. I love the way you seem to capture the essence of the Zulu culture...
Keep up the great work, I am impressed!!!!

 

[aaglo]

That rhino-like knight is great. Is he wielding a club? I'd suggest, that you could add a spike (like rhino's horn) to it, so it would become sort of an 'axe'... or am I being delirious at the moment...

good job, D.J.

 

[tjedge1]

Originally posted by aaglo
That rhino-like knight is great. Is he wielding a club? I'd suggest, that you could add a spike (like rhino's horn) to it, so it would become sort of an 'axe'... or am I being delirious at the moment...

good job, D.J.

I think that would be a good addition. It would be like a "military pick" in Diablo II.

 

[Kal-el]

re: The Rhino Club

I like that idea. It could look very similar to a European Warhammer, with a pick on one side, i.e. the rhino horn, and a hammer on the other, i.e. the rhino's stomp. The original weapon you see there is based on the war club seen carried by most Zulu chiefs, but I like the warhammer idea better.

 

[Mobilize]

Once more very good sketches, this will hopefully make more people keep the zulu in the game rather than replacing them with some silly civilization and leaving one of the only few African ones out.

What other civilizations do you plan for unit sketches?

 

[Kal-el]

Eventually all of them, but right now I am trying to decide what to do next. I have already done the Aztecs, Egyptians, Inca, Iroquois, Japanese, and Zulu. I am thinking of doing the Americans next, and then the Chinese. Probably followed by the Arabians which will be able to cover most of the Middle East for a while. Maybe I will post a poll and get some outside input.

 

[Mobilize]

Yes, I have seen the other flavor units and they are awesome, I've already downloaded a few of the completed units. I'm going to add the Northern Native American units to my Cherokee civilization mod once I get my 3D leaderhead of Sequoyah and the UU the "Light Horse" completed.

I'm looking forward to American, Chinese, and Arabic flavor units as well.

Can't wait.

BTW, Carthaginean (sp?) flavor units would be extremely interesting as well.

 

[Lusikka755]

I would really prefer some Mesopotamian units next. We don't really have many Babylonian/Sumerian/Hittite UUs.

BTW, these sketches look really nice I really hope they will be made.

 

[Dom Pedro II]

*musing* I think the American Warrior ought to look like Uncle Sam with a meat cleaver... *musing*


Anywhoo... I really think that the Rhino Knight was very creative. It shows the development towards armored cavalry while still maintaining creativity and a cultural flavor.


I realize that a lot of people would also like to see some Chinese concept sketches, but I'd like to point out, as I've said before, that there is already plenty of pictures and artwork of Chinese soldiers from all time periods as China itself has essentially existed for the duration of a normal game of civ...

 

[Amenhotep7]

The knight possibly rivals the coolness of the Anubis Knight! Wonderful!

 

[Kal-el]

Dom, I think I will pass on the Uncle Sam allusions.

I am glad everybody seems to like the Rhino armor for the horse. I wasn't sure how that would play out with the crowd.

 

[spincrus]

The rhino horns are far the best idea I've came across for an African flavor.

 

[Dom Pedro II]

I found this, and I thought it might be good for the pikeman. I know you changed it, but I think a mask could still be good. I just didn't particularly get the original mask. Lemme know what you think....

 

[Grey Fox]

Just wanna notify those that don't know already that I'm working all the Zulu units.

 

[dog]

Originally posted by Kal-el
Here are some concept sketches I put together for the Early part of the Zulu unit line. They were originally posted in my Concept Art thread, but that thread was getting pretty long so I thought these could use their own home.

Zulu Line:

Kal-el, if you ever have the time, I'd like to see a line like this for all the civs in the game and in your mod, with maybe an asterisk designating the fictional units as opposed to the historical. Those who are historically inclined could let those of us who aren't know what types of flavor units each civ should be using.

Or have you already done something like this?

 

[Louis XXIV]

Did the Zulu use Bows, or Javelins?

Originally posted by Lusikka755
I would really prefer some Mesopotamian units next. We don't really have many Babylonian/Sumerian/Hittite UUs.

I would like to see Mesopotamia (Shamless plug: Someone make my early Chariot )

Seriously though, these are good units, I hope they get finished, and I look forward to seeing any more concept sketches.