Ottomans (turks)

[PanicX]

Hey ppl;
After playing the game for a while I decided on adding the Turks!!! I don't know how firaxis could leave out this important race and civiliziation.
I will make Suleyman the Magnificent the leader. His face is attached below. Give some suggestions on how I could improve this face, but dont be too hard because I am not a graphics designer. (the base file is Caesar). Also maybe he didnt have green eyes but hey! green looks good on that face.
Also what should the special unit be? I was thinking of a cannon with movement rate of two and stronger bombardment rate, but I would like to here your ideas too.


P.S. Is there a way to change the picture of units from units_32 file?

[PanicX]

I am thinking of making the eyes red when he is angry.... Also there seems to be some problems under the eyes...

[Barnacle Bill]

The special unit for the Ottomans should be Janissaries, which should probably be the same stats as the French Musketeer and similarly replace the Musketman.

[yabii]

wasn't the janissaries a lot before the invention of guns? i might be wrong but i believe it was the begining of 15th century when janissaries became important for turks?
also they were for attacking.... ?

i say 5/2/2

[Bilo]

The the order of jannisarries was founded in mid 14th century, they were the only infatry ottomans used until the early 18th century. They were good for almost everything(defending or attacking castles, charging aginst enemy infantry or defending the field artilery), however it was their capabilities to capture castles what made them famous. Compared to the conscript infantry (who had little training and inadequate equipment) and knights (who were few and trained to fight on horseback) of the European nations of the same time, they were far superior in assulting castles and fortifications.

[DhulKhidr]

What about the Gazis (light cavalry units armed with bows and short lances)? They were vitally important to the conquest of Anatolia, Greece, the Balkans and, of course, lovely Istanbul. Without these light cavalry units, the Ottomans would have been just another Turkish Sultanate like the Seljuks of Konya or the Mamluks of Egypt. Since I don't know how to create new civs, and I was desperate to play the game, I just renamed the Iroquois and some city improvements. I felt the Mounted Warrior at an early point in the game accurately represented the Ottoman's use of the Gazis to methodically wear down the Byzantine Empire and its close antecedents in southeastern Europe.

[Bilo]

Originally posted by DhulKhidr
What about the Gazis (light cavalry units armed with bows and short lances)? They were vitally important to the conquest of Anatolia, Greece, the Balkans and, of course, lovely Istanbul. Without these light cavalry units, the Ottomans would have been just another Turkish Sultanate like the Seljuks of Konya or the Mamluks of Egypt. Since I don't know how to create new civs, and I was desperate to play the game, I just renamed the Iroquois and some city improvements. I felt the Mounted Warrior at an early point in the game accurately represented the Ottoman's use of the Gazis to methodically wear down the Byzantine Empire and its close antecedents in southeastern Europe.

As far as I know the Seljuks also had their light cavalry, but they lacked the large group of standing profetional soldiers(Jannisarries). I belive light cavalry was usefull for small skirmishes and outflanking in field battles; I doubt that they had any contribution to the conquest of Istanbul (and other cities that had stone walls), since horses cannot climb walls. Nevertheless masses of light cavalry was the bulk of the Ottoman army until 17th century.

[Barnacle Bill]

Originally posted by yabii
wasn't the janissaries a lot before the invention of guns? i might be wrong but i believe it was the begining of 15th century when janissaries became important for turks?
also they were for attacking.... ?

i say 5/2/2

My source ("Armies of the Middle Ages, Vol. 2" by Ian Heath) says the individual Janissary chose his own weapons. They started out with bows and transitioned to firearms later. It says they were probably founded in 1362 and that there was a marked increase in the use of firearms by the Janissaries after several defeats by the Mamluks in 1485-1491. Since the high-water mark of Ottoman fortunes was the seige of Vienna in 1683, Janissaries with firearms as a Musketeer-equivalent would seem appropriate as a Civ3 UU.