Faction army compositions?

Salzpyre

I was wondering what could be the appropriate faction army compositions in the event of a large-scale strategy game, etc. Here are some ideas:

High elves:

-One of the three magic-strong factions (others being Bretons and Dunmer). Has the most powerful mages, but not large in number
-Has all-around good melee infantry and cavalry but small in numbers, does not have any cannon fodder units
-Has few archers which are somewhat skilled, prefers magic as ranged support
-Best navy

Bretons:

-Has many low-level mages but none very powerful
-Has good heavy cavalry because of knightly orders
-Has mediocre men at arms infantry and mediocre crossbowmen as archers
-Has small contingents of dismounted heavy knight bodyguards

Dunmer:

-Has skilled mages that sit between Bretons and High Elves: less numerous than Bretons but more powerful, more numerous than High Elves but less powerful
-Has some infantry with good equipment (bonemold etc) but relatively few in number, supplemented by larger numbers of less powerful tribesmen
-Few mediocre archers and probably mediocre cavalry

Empire:

-Has many different unit types: infantry, javelinmen, some mages, some archers, some cavalry, siege engines
-Individual units are quite weak
-Relies on seamless collaboration between different types of units, as well as sheer numbers

Orcs:

-Has heavily armored and strong berserker infantry with 2 handed weapons, strongest individual melee units
-Has javelinmen and axethrowers for ranged supports, high damage because of physical strength
-Is lacking in cavalry, mages and archers

Nords:

-Has a lot of melee prowess similarly to the orcs and also has some sword + shield (and axe+shield) units
-Individual melee units not as strong as Orcs but balances this by having small amounts of archers and mages for support
-Hardly has any cavalry

Redguards:

-Has medium-armored skilled swordsmen that are moderately strong and moderately large in numbers
-Has the fastest light melee cavalry in the game
-The only faction with mounted archers

Bosmer:

-Best archers in the game, numerous and effective
(not sure what else)

Argonians:

-Expert pikemen (as seen in the lore)
-Proficient at throwing weapons (this was in morrowind at least, and it could be their thing)
-Poison?
-Has good scouting abilities thanks to the powers of the hist

Khajiit:

-Stealth? Not sure how this could be utilized on the battlefield
-Can use tamed feline beasts in combat

VaranisArano

My thoughts:

High Elves: sounds about right

Breton: I like the knightly inspiration. They do have plenty of skilled mages who are probably more willing to cooperate than, say, the Dunmer Telvanni.

Dunmer: It would be hard to use the Dunmer in a war game without acknowledging the impact of Great House culture. I would expect Houses Redoran and Indoril to form the core with guar cavalry and infantry, House Dres as irregulars (being slavers), House Telvanni to have the most powerful battlemages when and if they bother to show up, and Hlaalu providing whatever troops they want to provide. All of the Great Houses have a private army and retainers to one degree or another.

As for the tribesmen...you really wouldn't see the Ashlander tribes fighting alongside the Great Houses after the death of Nerevar Indoril and the end of the kingdom of Resdayn. Something about the Ashlanders thinking that the Tribunal murdered Nerevar. There isn't a unifying figure who could command both tribe and house until the Nerevarine fulfills the prophecies in the 3rd Era to become both Nerevarine of the 4 tribes and Hortator of 3 houses. Since the Nerevarine promptly takes her/himself off to Akavir, we don't see the Nerevarine actually lead armies.

Imperial: the Imperials are pretty much the Romans in terms of the legions. I think you'd have to emphasize that in a strategy game. The Romans used plenty of auxiliary units to good effect, but the core of their strength was the formations of the legion.

Orc/nords: fine

Redguards: Redguards are the best swordsmen in Tamriel. Sword singing originated on Yokuda and was carried over to Tamriel. The Way of the Sword is pretty well ingrained in Redguard culture. Mounted archers makes sense with some persian influence, but I do think that the swordsmanship needs to be highlighted.

Argonians: don't forget that the Saxheel smashed the Dunmer in the wake of Red Year. Shadowscales would make excellent elite solo units.

You seem to struggle the most with Bosmer and Khajiit. This is probably because both forces usually engage in more guerilla style warfare.

For Bosmer, the Bosmer usually engage in raiding because of the requirements of the Green Pact and the Meat Mandate. According to the Meat Mandate, they have to eat the meat of the slain within 3 days. So, they usually starve themselves before a raid so they can gorge, but they also raid because that way they don't end up with too much meat from larger battles. I'm not sure how you could make use of the Bosmer knowledge of their own terrain, lightning quick raids, and dealing with cannibalistic enemies in a strategy game, but that's the fun and charm of the Bosmer. In open battle, sure, all they are is archers. But I suspect the Bosmer are much closer to the tactics of the German tribes in the Teutoburg Forest than they are to more typical armies.

For the Khajiit, I suggest you look at the lore for the different types of Khajiit, since the form of a khajiit is dependent on the moon phases. Furthermore, the khajiit have a substantial martial arts tradition. Senche-raht, the "battle cats" you mentioned, are actually one such type of khajiit. There are also types of khajiit that are naturally skilled in magic or skilled warriors. The kahjiit aren't all about stealth.

Sound like an interesting though exercise. Good luck!

starkerealm

Salzpyre wrote: »

Khajiit:

-Stealth? Not sure how this could be utilized on the battlefield
-Can use tamed feline beasts in combat

Khajiit combat doctrine focuses on mobility, with fast attacks supported by Senche and Senche-Raht (a 12-15 foot tall cat, weighing somewhere in excess of 7,500lbs. We've never actually seen a Senche-Raht, but they're monstrously massive.) They employ multiple breeds including magic using Alfiq (which otherwise look like housecats, and can easily navigate trees.)

They're not stealth focused, at least not on a military level, but they do have a lot of mobility.

WhitePawPrints

Khajiit don't tame feline beast. The sanche are Khajiit. Same intelligence, same individuality as the Khajiit we can play as. Khajiit warriors are hardy, and make up the vanguard of the Dominion (lore wise). Capable of fighting without weapons easily due to their claws and teeth - as the Senche do.

Khajiit are quite flexible in what they can do. Assassins, sabotauers, spies (alfiq breed especially), cavalry, infantry and general soldiers. They're primary close quarters as warriors, whereas Bosmer are ranged and use stealth of trees and Altmer are magicka users (that can be just about any role).

Glockcoma725

Where is my Age of Empires - TES themed game already.