Hello everyone, time for a new thread about Southern Realms.
Yes, Southern Realms. At least in case of named characters I think this should be the preferred name. If for no other reason than that this would allow a far greater pool of named characters to have an easier entrance as it would be the case with “Dogs of War”. As Southern Realms I view mostly Tilea, Estalia, Border Princes and New World Colonies.
At this point I should also mention that putting two LL together in one province but different settlements should be avoided at any cost! I consider this to be nothing but a huge mistake. Not even being able to unite you first province without taking out another playable character? Very bad move and nothing else!
Now, in this thread I am gonna talk about potential Legendary Lords, the general possible roster and talk about mechanics.
Legendary Lords
I have only chosen a few names for this thread. There are many more possibilities of course and maybe we will get none of them below, though I see the first one as given.
Borgio the Besieger.
That one is out of question for me. Borgio is the prince of Miragliano lore-wise and just look at the importance his city has within the game. He is the only one I would label with a “safe bet” since I see no real problem with him.
Lorenzo Lupo
This the first one where problems are start to coming up. He is the prince of Luccini and has his city in the game as well. I kinda like him personally but the problems start with the fact that Luccini is, at the moment, the minor settlement within the province of Tilea. Now, I think there would be enough room to make four out of two and split Tilea into two provinces. Something like Northern Tilea with Miragliano and Pavona and Southern Tilea with Luccini and Monte Castello to give examples.
However, he would start very close to Sartosa and Saltspite and maybe even too close and it is not even sure that Tilea will get additional settlements at all, though I think at least one more settlement should be done, regardless of LL.
Lucrezzia Belladonna
I think she has been mentioned almost as much as Borgio and I do not really see problem with her character on its own. Her problems however are, that her city is not on the map at the moment and the entire thing of Starting Province/Starting Position. I do rather now have her than her and Borgio sharing one province between them.
Isabella Giovanni Luccelli
Who? (I know this word will pop up in many heads XD)
Isabella Giovanni Luccelli comes from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd ED and there, she is described as the chief priest of Myrmidia who comes from Tilea but has sworn faith to the temple in Estalia where she could start. The only reason I bring her up would be that I would like to see more of Estalia than being the starting enemy for Khazrak who is also the biggest problem here.
Gashnag the black prince
There are many reason I choose him for my post.
First, he is a Strigoi and they are my favourite bloodline with all their history.
Second, he would start somewhere in the Border Princes and since we are already more or less on it, I think that both provinces, Western Border Princes and Eastern Border Princes, could use another settlement to have a total of 3 each.
Third, he is a caster.
Fourth and final point is, that he could be the hybrid with additional Vampire Count units.
Problem would be that he is another vampire, I get this one.
Pirazzo
I have many, many problems with Pirazzo. I see him as likely since the NWC are using his flag and Sartosa did the same with the one from Saltspite and he has connection to the New World.
The problem is, WHAT he is. I mean, what is left beside him having his Lost Legion? If he gets promoted to LL, why not do the same for Ricco from Riccos Republican Guard? Or Voland from Volands Venators? Vespero from Vesperos Vendetta? I could bring up more examples but I guess you get the point.
Next problem would be his Lost Legion themselves. What are they without their main man? Can you imagine Pirazzo fighting against Pirazzos Lost Legion? They would have to be totally bound to him. Some sort of “undying bodyguard” in a manner of speaking. Always replenish themselves, even if they are down to zero and could never be recruited/lead by someone else then Pirazzo. This would bound a potential RoR able to only one LL.
Another problem is, ironically, that we might indeed end up with four LL which would require at least two surprises in terms of starting positions for the Vortex since there are only NWC(where he would/should start) and Sudenburg. I know the latter one is an outpost of the Empire lore-wise but in all honesty, I would be not surprised at all to see Sudenburg going full Southern Realms neither would I mind it. Albion has also been mentioned in that regard but I rather see Nakai starting there.
Anakonda
I could not do this without mentioning her, being the big fan of Amazons that I am. But I see the problems with her. For starters, she shares the same first two problems I have with Pirazzo.
Another problem is that we have the Amazon Serpent Priestess as a hero with own lore of magic but it is not even sure we might get her. Going even further, to justify Anakonda as LL would require at least the Serpent Priestess and a few normal Amazon units in my opinion.
And a very personal problem would be the meaning for Amazons as own playable faction if Anakonda shows up as LL for another faction. Though, she could start at the Temple of Kara which has a connection to the Amazons lore-wise and would ease the issue with starting positions and I would be not so sad about Amazons not being their own faction if Anakonda becomes indeed LL with Serpent Priestess as hero and a few normal units to make at least one fully functional Amazon army.
Lords, heroes and units
Lords.
For the generic lords we have the Mercenary General and the Hireling Wizard Lord.
I do not see any kind of problem with the General but the Hireling Wizard Lord is something else. I mean, how many factions are missing their generic caster lords compared to how many have them? Honestly, I would not be really surprised if there would be no Hireling Wizard Lord.
Heroes.
Not counting the exotic options we have the Paymaster, the Mercenary Captain and the Hireling Wizard.
I do not see a problem in getting all three of them. However I do not really see an Assassin with any of them as well. This could be part were the Diestros from Estalia (for the first time ever I believe) are coming in. I can see them fulfilling this role, being the famous duellist that they are.
Other possible heroes are the Serpent Priestess and the Truthsayers/Dark Emissarys. They have all their own Lore of Magic I believe but it is not sure I think that we get even one of them. That said if I would have to decide, I would choose the Serpent Priestess. Not only because I like Amazons and Serpent Priestess could be Caster/Assassin due how their dealing with outsider lore-wise but also because Truthsayers and Dark Emissarys share some Lore of Magic but have very different models. More work for the same outcome?
But I would be very happy to get all of them, that's for sure.
Units.
If we do not count all named units as well every unit that does not come from Tilea, Estalia or Border Princes, there is not much.
There are, as far as I know, Crossbowman, Pikeman and Duellists, Light Cavalry and Heavy Cavalry, Dogs of War Giant and Cannons. Some have variations, other do not. Everything else has either a name or comes from a different race/faction altogether.
Now, this is not much, not at all. So how about every Tilean RoR gets a weaker, normal version? Have been reading this idea a few times already and I like it very, very much.
For examples, we take Braganzas Besiegers and have Pavese Crossbowman, Pirazzos Lost Legion would be something like Lothern Sea Guard with no shield and so on. Not sure if this would work with every single named tilean unit (looking at Riccos Republican Guard, Leopolds Leopard Company and Alcatani Fellowship where I kinda fail to see major differences between them functionally-wise) but I think, at the end of day, this would make a very nice army on their own.
Now there are still all the RoR from Tilea and the non-humans/non-tileans.
The first ones would be simply the normal RoR for this faction, no problem with that. The second group however, would be a problem. The would have to be handled differently. I am not a big fan of locking units behind tech but maybe it would work for them. Another possibility could be something like region-locked recruitment. What I mean with this would that you would have to conquer Albion to get Truthsayers and Giants of Albion for example. They could also make combination of diplomacy and tech tree. Like get Trade Agreements for at least one round with at least one faction of Lizardmen to get Tichi-Huichis Raiders. Just some ideas here.
At that point, I know that DoW could fill normal units from other factions like Ogres with Handweapons or Dwarfs with Crossbows. Would be right from lore and TT but from the point of Total War Warhammer? Maybe some sort of recruitment capacity to have it and have it balanced? Maybe.
Mechanics
Mercenary Camps.
I be honest, I got the idea from the Pirate Coven. To make the explanation short, they could be placed in every city that belong to either you or a close ally and would function as a two way recruitment building with very limited options and recruitment capacity based on the tiers of the unit since I am already at it.
Example with Vampire Counts: 3 units of Skeletons, 2 units of Grave Guard and 1 unit of Grave Guard with Greatweapons per Mercenary Camp from Vampire Counts to you or 3 units of Pikemen, 2 units of Pikemen with heavy Armour and 1 unit of Heavy Cavalry from you to the Vampire Counts.
I would limit these camps to one per province and increase the price with every new camp. Like 2000 Gold for the first camp, 4000 Gold for the second camp and 6000 or 8000 Gold for the third camp and so on.
The money to recruit the units or to buy the camps would always go to the other faction. Vampire Counts buying three units of Pikemen? You get the money. You buy two units of Grave Guards? Vampire Counts getting the money.
That could be something to go on with all the mercenary-stuff.
They could also have special characters locked behind tech like Tomb Kings have with their dynasties.
I imagine that Loyalty would also work for them but I do not like it very much. I always put a Khainite Assassin with that one skill regarding loyalty into every army just to make sure that there will be no betray. Sadly, I have jet to find such a skill for the Skaven.
Another mechanic could be what I wrote about the non-humans/non-tileans and their possible recruitments.
They could also get some sort of special treasure hunting but another version of that? After Books of Nagash and Pieces of Eight? Not sure. I mean, it would also be the third version of the dynasties in a way but both mechanics compared to each other, there is the dynasties more like a nice little gimmick compared to the search for the books. At least in my opinion of course.
Thoughts?
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Borgio (Tilea). Melee infantry lord.
Bernhardt (border princes). Support lord and cav focused lord.
Lucrezzia (caster, poison). Married off anywhere. Recently widowed, so unfortunate.
Pirazzo (new world). Pike
Long Drong. Gunpowder, slayers and ship.
Golgfag. Melee monster infantry, buffs for maneaters.
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0 · Disagree AgreeAs for the faction as a whole... it should include pikes, crossbows, and mixed pike-and-shot units as core, with a wide range of mercenaries filling out the upper ends of their roster.
They key will be to mix it into the Dogs of War lists. Maybe it could be a huge list of regiments of renown, each based off of some of the old Dogs of War special units. It would probably also serve to have a fairly lengthy list of more conventional mercenaries, although they should probably be based off of other faction's units rather than straight up lifted from them (Grave Guard wouldn't really make sense, but units of mercenary knights based off of the lighter Bretonnian knights would work, for example.)
And then you get a little crazy. There could be a special mechanic for securing mercenary contracts or pacts of binding for some of the bigger monsters, like Albion Giants or Warpfire Dragons.
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1 · Disagree Agree- Report
2 · Disagree Agree- DoW will be in.
- Their roster needs a lot of work
- We've debated this from basically every angle possible already.
I think I'm content to just wait and see what CA throws at us,- Report
4 · Disagree AgreeIn this way, there's no problem with including Lorenzo or Lucrezzia. In fact, at the time the campaign starts (2502), Lorenzo hasn't yet taken control of Luccini (2505), so it'd be completely justified to have him campaigning somewhere else. But this is ultimately a much smaller problem than the issue of Vortex Campaign start positions. DoW had a prime start location robbed from them by the VPs, so CA is going to have to get creative with start positions if we were to get a campaign pack (still up in the air if they're even coming). As for a Border Princes character, I'd rather have Leitpold the Black than yet another Vampire.
I hear what you're saying about Pirazzo and I've got another solution. Your concern is that he'd just be a glorified and elevated unit champion but there's other places they can turn to flesh him out. For one they can make him more of a composite character with Marco Colombo as they're thematically similar (Tilean explorers in the New World) and also combatively similar (focus on a melee/ranged hybrid style of fighting). As for the RoR, they could hypothetically just scrap the unit and grant the name "Lost Legion" to Pirazzo's actual faction and create a generic unit of "Legionnaires" which more or less functions the same way.
Concerning the heroes, I'm pretty much of the same mind; I'd be totally fine with a Merc Captain, Hireling Wizard, and Paymaster. But there are ways to differentiate them as well. DoW really do seem like the type of race which should have an assassin hero, and I myself landed on the name "Cutthroat" a while back (and a unit of Sartosan Cutthroats is actually mentioned by name in the Monstrous Arcanum). So if they have an assassin character, one of the other hero classes might have to be cut, and in that case I'd recommend the Merc Captain take the fall; he's not as unique as the others and would overlap quite a bit with the Empire Captain as well. I think a nice alternative though would be unique Heroes based on the RoR captains like Ricco, Leopold, Braganza etc. who are unlocked in a similar way to the TK dynasties.
As for their caster hero, they could be based on the design and aesthetic of the very same Serpent Priestesses, Truthsayers, and Dark Emissaries. Whether or not they get their own custom lores as well is more dependent on whether DoW come as a Campaign Pack or Race Pack. If they don't want to flesh out those lores though, they could just substitute the Lore of Beasts, Lore of Life, and Lore of Shadows or Death for the Priestesses, Truthsayers, and Dark Emissaries respectively since those lores best approximate the custom lores those wizards had on TT.
I had the same idea of RoRs inspiring their own generic units, for example "Siege/Pavise/Armored Crossbowmen" for Braganza's Besiegers or "Legionnaires" for Pirazzo's Lost Legion (provided of course Pirazzo is not chosen as a LL). I wouldn't do it for every RoR, as some of them should be quite unique such as Long Drong's Slayer Pirates, Tichi Huichi's Raiders, or the Cursed Company. Instead, I'd make those units more like LM Blessed Spawnings with a hard cap of 3 or so, and diversify their unlocking requirements. For example they could be quest rewards, provincially recruited, or "crafted" as in the case of TKs Legions of Legend.
In regards to your mechanics, I'll have to go through and read it again just to get the gist of it, but this comment is already pretty long.
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4 · Disagree Agree- Report
3 · Disagree AgreeBut if anybody had an idea, what kind of architecture (among all these LLs, units and mechanics too often forgotten) we might see with the possible introcuction of the Southern Realms, I´d be grateful if he/she could share it as well.
Thanks!
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0 · Disagree AgreeI could see a mix of that, plus maybe some pseudo-Roman architecture. Mind you, not sure how that would apply to Estalia. Estalian architecture is hard to pin down, because in the real world the Islamic influences of the Moors had a big influence on Spanish architecture, but in the Warhammer world the equivalent of the Islamic invasion of the Iberian peninsula failed.
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2 · Disagree AgreeThere will be a baseline of less-developed humans (think the Empire, but without the Empire's advanced engineering or state troops). That baseline will probably be focused on defensive infantry.
After that, you get a grab-bag of all the little things that don't quite fit anywhere else. Mercenaries hired from a dozen different races, pirates of renown, giants and truthspeakers of Albion, raiders from Naggaroth and the Badlands, spellcasters from distant lands, the work.
Weirdly, I almost get a Carthage feel when I think of the faction. They'll have to balance a lot of mercenaries to go campaigning.
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1 · Disagree Agreehttp://manowarcorsair.com/2015/09/creating-the-old-world/
Dogs of War 5th Edition described how Miragliano had several tall towers built as vantage points that ended up leaning at awkward angles due to the city being on unstable ground (not far is after all the Blighted Marshes where Skavenblight is) yet do not fall due to exceptional engineering by Tilean architects (including Leonardo da Miragliano, the guy who made the Imperial Steam Tanks)
Apparently this set a fashion in architecture copied in other cities like Luccini. "Now every city either boasts its own leaning tower or aspires to have one."
So, their architecture could look like the Renaissance Italy city-states with typical Warhammer exaggerated leaning tower of Pisa-esque fortified structures.
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1 · Disagree AgreeFirst - I do not see this as "Southern Realms", and would keep it "Dogs of War". Reason is that I expect them to still be added to game 2....and there are no "Southern Realms" on the map. So why use it as a description in the first place?
I see the "DoW" as a semi-horde-faction. The primary thing would be the main army/lord being able to build up his camp, recruit stuff etc. But if you want, you could also keep conquered cities and become a "mercenary-lord" - which would please probably the ones wanting to be "Tilea" so badly - but keep the DoW special enough, instead of another simple faction liek we already have enough of...
The main "mechanic" I envision for them is contracts, and fame/reputation.
You would regularly get offered contracts by various factions. And you could choose which ones to pursue. With various goals you had to achieve. Like sacking so many DArk Elf towns for the High Elves. Kill so many Skaven for the Dwarfs. Defeat a certain army in battle. A bit like the current mission-system, but a bit more focused. And more important to actually DO those missions.
You do them, and scucessfully at that, you earn money, items, and most important: Reputation, the DoW-special currency.
More Reputation - better and more difficult missions will be added. Its also used, a bit like chivalry, to unlock your chapter-objectives (I see the main "goal" of a DoW-Lord to become the most famous Mercenary in the world, the richest, and the most powerful, and destroy any competition ^^).
It would also be needed to unlock certain special missions. Think of the Monsterhunts from Norsca. You get enough "Fame", and you could go, let'S say, to Lustria, do some stuff there, and it would culminate in a quest-battle. And you win, you get a special fitting regiment to recruit. In this example - Amazons.
This way I would treat the load of "special regiements of reknown" - keep some unlockable like they are for other factions, by Lord-Level. Mostly the more "generic" ones, while the more exotic ones would need some more work.
Just an idea, it surely has drawbacks to do it that wayI haven't thought of - I am no game dev ^^
Or use the "famepoints" and have these special versions of regiments unlocked by them, similar to Tomb Kings Legions?
However - in the end, what I envision with DoW is a weird, exotic mix-match of all kinds of troops you have to make "work". Colourful and diverse
Starting positions? For Vortex., anywhere where is space. If the FLC-Lizard doesnt go to Albion, then it should be DoW-Start -Pos. And Old World Colonies. And Sudenburg-Area for Araby. And one at maybe Nagarythe or Northern Naggaroth. Idea is here, in my mind, that EVERY Lord of the DoW got hired by someone.
High Elves - to threaten the Delves, hence they start at Naggaroth/Northern Ulthuan.
Dark Elves - Albion, to threaten Yvresse and Chrace etc
Old World Colonies - as defense against all neighbours, and to get some lizard trink, I mean gold
Sudenburg - as defense against Tomb Kings and worse...and to get some Tomb Kings trink, I mean gold
Last idea - DoW replace the rather annoying "Intervention-Armies". Instead of some generic lame armies of your own faction you (and your enemies) get to fight DoW-merc-armies. Which makes a bit more sense anywayfor me...
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3 · Disagree AgreeLol good one
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0 · Disagree Agree- Report
0 · Disagree AgreeLand is Kislev, Kislev is Land! We are Kislev!
Proud Elspeth von Draken partisan
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1 · Disagree Agree- Report
0 · Disagree Agree- Report
0 · Disagree AgreeBorgio the Besieger would start with his own city as the main guy for the faction.
As for a second LL I would vote for Leitpold the Black, his treachery is the stuff of legends and he holds a petty kingdom in the Border Princes so he could be the "Arkhan" or "Saltspite" of the DoW, an adversary/rival for the rest of the LL.
Lucrezzia Belladonna is also an obvious choice.
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0 · Disagree Agreehttps://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/190076/estalia-faction-speculation-discussion/p1
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0 · Disagree AgreeFully forgot about a second currency like fame/reputation. I like your idea on it.
@ben8vtedu
I had no idea that Lorenzo would not already have control over Luccini at that time. That would remove that problem of course.
Gotta say, there might be not a really "elegant" solution for situations like Malektih and Morathi but I think CAs does this one pretty well. Just once, though…
They might actually just do this for Pirazzo. I would not mind it.
Hm, I do not want to cut a the Merc Captain, actually. Yes, he does overlap with the version of the Empire but having such a faction without someone to train your units? Like the Cutthroats, by the way.
Being curious what you think about mechanics.
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/269387/the-chaos-warrior-and-the-rework#latest
The final Content for Dwarfs
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/294736/the-final-content-to-finish-dwarfs-of
The final rework for Vampire Counts
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/295376/the-midnight-aristocracy-invites-to-the-final-dance
I have thought about Fishmen
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/302623/i-have-thought-about-fishmen/p1
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0 · Disagree Agree- Report
2 · Disagree AgreeMe when I see a LL character implemented as a LH.
Warhammer Deserves Naval Battles
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1 · Disagree Agree- Report
0 · Disagree Agreehttps://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/269387/the-chaos-warrior-and-the-rework#latest
The final Content for Dwarfs
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/294736/the-final-content-to-finish-dwarfs-of
The final rework for Vampire Counts
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/295376/the-midnight-aristocracy-invites-to-the-final-dance
I have thought about Fishmen
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/302623/i-have-thought-about-fishmen/p1
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0 · Disagree AgreeBut it is great to see so many have similar ideas ... bigger chances CA might have them too ... or get them this way.
Too many people all talk about how boring the DoW roster would be, and how boring humans are etc ...
I see more potential in mechanics like this than in big centerpiece units that look cool in trailers only ...
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0 · Disagree Agree- Report
0 · Disagree Agreehttps://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/269387/the-chaos-warrior-and-the-rework#latest
The final Content for Dwarfs
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/294736/the-final-content-to-finish-dwarfs-of
The final rework for Vampire Counts
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/295376/the-midnight-aristocracy-invites-to-the-final-dance
I have thought about Fishmen
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/302623/i-have-thought-about-fishmen/p1
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0 · Disagree Agree