10 Historically Accurate AoE2 units

[@Thescott16]

Fun Fact about the Flemish Militia's weapon, the "Goedendag": The reason it's called "Goedendag" (literally meaning "good day" as a greeting) is because Flemish revolutionaries would travel around carrying these weapons and casually greet people they met... And if the person replied with a French accent, the revolutionaries would attack them. It was a test to try and sniff out all of the French to drive them out of the country by vibe-checking them.

[@CBRN-115]

Naming a weapon as "hello" is part funny, intimidating in an odd way and kinda badass

[@Thescott16]

@@CBRN-115 "I said 'good day', sir!"

[@nathangamble125]

@@Thescott16 I think the ending of the Willy Wonka movie would have been much better if Wonka had beaten Grandpa Joe to death with a big stick because he didn't reply with a Dutch accent.

[@lightworker2956]

Indeed, and spirit of the law isn't saying "goedendag" with a proper Dutch accent. French man detected! Good day, sir!

[@AllahDoesNotExist]

SCHILD EN VRIEND

[@hecksters423]

Honorable mention goes to the Janissaries: Elite units of the Ottoman Empire, who DO have firearms as a weapon. The in-game models, however, have beards which, around the time of AoE2 representation, were not allowed to have facial hair. I'd rate about 9 out of 10 forcibly captured slaves.

[@llSuperSnivyll]

Although, AFAIK, they were primarily using bows at the timeframe of this game.

[@Toonrick12]

Didn't the hats also not come until later?

[@sauravtripathi4128]

"forcibly captured" slaves... I am not sure if happily accepting slaves ever existed.

[@robertlewis6915]

@@sauravtripathi4128 Actually, the institution of debt slavery (sometimes to a more prosperous family member as recompense for them paying your debt) and similar forms of semi-voluntary slavery are a part of many historical cultures.

[@markburke1396]

@@Toonrick12 Fun fact, Originally AOE developers gave them the large white hats, but marketing didn't think it was a good idea. I forget exactly why, I think was in relation to KKK and they looked to similar to that. so they removed them. but you can still find the hat wearing Janissary in the Editor.

[@soacnsmiley3718]

"FRANKLY" A LITTLE ABSURD LMAOOOOOO

[@omargoodman2999]

The _Gaul_ of him to make such a pun...

[@Snaxophone]

It was a berry good pun

[@not_milk]

Came to the comments to make sure someone said this

[@cougareinfeldt7427]

Dang you beat me to it!

[@IshaanNyatiJi]

Literally opened the comments section to write this. 🙈

[@jotfohm4644]

Nothing you say Mr.Spirit say can hide the fact our boi the Teutonic Knight is the most historically accurate unit ever.

[@JOTrx-ib5su]

Deus Vult!

[@Randleray]

Generally speaking the guy is accurate but in one point. The Teutons were one of the first two germanic tribes that started to cross through the roman defences in central Europe in massive groups. The Teutonic order has almost nothing to do with them but the name. And those knights normally went into battle on horse. They were basically the french nobility, aka classic knights, on steroids. Compared to most units on this list, the teutons are surprisingly inaccurate in their depiction in the game ^^'

[@etuanno]

​@@RandlerayIf I'm not wrong knights sometimes dismounted and fought in a formation.

[@lagg1e]

@@Randleray The teutons in the game are a catch all for several eras of german duchies and kingdoms. The teutonic knights are I believe quite accurate to the crusades, specifically under Barbarossa. They went on the journey with horses, but by the time they reached the holy land, they lost them to injury and exhaustion.

[@ahbraveconscript997]

not all heroes wear capes. but these ones do.

[@emilsoderman3691]

The Virgin AOE: "Flemish revolution is so controversial!" The Chad AOE3: "Let's have Mexico have revolutions inside their revolutions!"

[@ArturoLopez-ly2pn]

Hey! Those revolutions within revolutions are historically accurate!

[@emilsoderman3691]

@@ArturoLopez-ly2pn I know! That's the best part!

[@AtticusKarpenter]

Revolting into Maya be like: reject europeyeness, go native

[@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014]

Reject modernity embrace full mode traditions, litteraly

[@BurniOwnz]

3:45 That is one jacked basket weaver, Jesus.

[@DarkSoul1992]

If you look at his daughter in a wrong way, he prolly weaves you lol

[@michaelandreipalon359]

To be fair, said basket weaver may also have other, heavier jobs, like construction workery, fishing, and materials carrying.

[@peterlynchchannel]

@@michaelandreipalon359 Or being an Instagram influencer who works out and weaves baskets.

[@antenna_prolly]

reasonable guess at his name too

[@ethribin4188]

The power of the turtleship, being an unboardable ship, was compounded by 2 things. First, the Japanese at the time did naval battle near exclusivly by boarding. And the fact that korean warships were cannon and range specialized. Thus, a ship, that was unboardable, but could keep japanese warship out of range of the korean warships, was an extreemly deadly combo. It was basically the naval equivalent of a tank taunting the raid boss/hoard, while the rogues, spellcasters and rangers killed the boss/hoard from range.

[@FranklinW]

People sometimes express skepticism over the idea that the Korean navy lost no ships during that war, but it makes a lot more sense when you realize that the Korean and Japanese had extremely different kinds of navies and that they basically hard-countered the Japanese ships.

[@ethribin4188]

@@FranklinW exactly.

[@Toonrick12]

​@@FranklinWWeren't the Japanese ships more often than not pressganged fishing vessels than an actual navy?

[@unmaskedandanonymous3660]

There is an Empire earth user designed scenario called stalingrad where the combat feels very realistic with tanks taking out other tanks in only one shot. It would be cool to see something like this for AoE wiht the turtle ship. Perhaps feature the tutle ship in an scenario as an Elite Hero level unique unit requireing you to build a wonder to be able to produce and costing more

[@drandersjiang]

The Romance of Three Kingdom mentions the effectiveness of rattan shield ("vine armor") when Zhuge Liang attacked the southern barbarian King Meng Huo. His soldiers armed with vine shield were impenetrable against arrows and bolts. Zhuge Liang eventually resorted to fire attacks since the shields were hardened by oil.

[@tasse0599]

Just a few days ago I listened to that episode of John Zhu's podcast and found it weird that they oiled their armours. It makes sense, if that was for hardening. Pretty cool, ngl

[@TheZombifiedGuy]

4:25 missed opportunity to say rat-tan out of ten

[@PHONEyah]

unsubbed

[@TheGloriousLobsterEmperor]

I went to highschool with a guy from Cambodia. I was reading the AoE wiki page for Ballista Elephants and he saw it and proudly mentioned how they were used by the Khmer. To this day, they're still my favourite civ. *LONG LIVE BALLISTA ELEPHANTS!*

[@christopherg2347]

- The Obuch in game is similar to a Bec de Corbin. A hammer side to knock out/down heavily armored foes. A pointy side to hit them in a armor weakspot once they were down or even while still standing. - The Battle of the Golden Spurs is a classical example of french knights "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory". By being arrogant glory seekers. The Flemish were way too focused on anti-cavalry and slowly loosing to the infantry. The knights wanting glory called back the infantry and charged in - to their defeat. - the Romans tried using burning pigs against pyrrhus war elephants, among many other early ideas.

[@BK-yj7vg]

Spirit of the Law gets 9 out of 10 points for correct pronunciation of nadziak. I was legit surprised how good it was.

[@sjoerdglaser2794]

His goedendag, however, was pretty bad. Especially for a word that Google translate pronounces very well

[@BK-yj7vg]

@@sjoerdglaser2794 In this case you can say that he need to polish his Dutch. Badum tss. I assume it's Dutch, I'm too lazy to check it

[@SvanTowerMan]

As someone who was greatly interested in the Khmer Empire even before the announcement of Rise of the Rajas, I knew all about the Ballista Elephant and was not surprised at all by its gimmick, which is one of the most accurate gimmicks in the game.

[@kylethomas9130]

Can just imagine some Khmer engineers looking at a double crossbow and thinking, "This is really great, if only we could maneuver it better on the battlefield." They pause to ponder, then a nearby elephant gives a toot; and they slowly, collectively turn their heads.

[@The-jy3yq]

​@@kylethomas9130Well India never had this problem >elephant gets domesticated >elephant riders fighting with spears from its back (it's more of a Siam thing, but still) >archers riding atop an elephant >ooh, guns? Yeah fam, slap some more on this big lad >OOOH, CANNONS? PUT IT IN SIDEWAYS >they've barred the gates! Bring the battering ELEPHANT! >hmm, if only we had a forklift...oh, an elephant! >well, we ran out of oil for out cars. Guess we're back to square #Elephant!

[@jotfohm4644]

10 strongly worded PETA letters! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@SchemingGoldberg]

What's PETA going to do? Euthanize millions of innocent pets?

[@beelsmaxime7660]

As someone who grew up in Kortrijk (where the battle of the Golden Spurs was fought) it always makes me proud to see it mentioned.

[@ashina2146]

On the Turtle Ships Panokseons are the Joseon/Korean Warships, while the Geobukseon or Turtle Ship is a different ship, the Panokseon has multiple decks that allows more cannons to be loaded which is the reason of why the Joseon Navy being superior than the Japanese Navy who mostly uses Archery, Arquebus and boarding tactics. Though sadly Admiral Yi Shun Shin would lose all of the Geobukseon, not in battle but because he was imprisoned by his own King and the one who replaces him loses some Geobukseon in battle and then scupper all the Geobukseon. The 13 Ship is during the Battle of Myeongnyang where 13 Panokseon and around 30 Scouting Ships fought and won against around 130 to 300 Japanese Warships.

[@AndreaAirlines]

I'll use this as an excuse to post the k-hiphop classic Geobukseon kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWjNY4GgdrJ_pdU

[@aretiredsubberl7036]

Turtle ship is my favourite, they look awesome and most importantly, they're even more broken irl. lmaooo

[@RenamedChannel]

8:48 Those events are somewhat referenced in the Montezuma (Aztec) campaign. In the 3rd scenario Quetzalcoatl you need to capture 20 horses from Spanish. In the 5th scenario The Boiling Lake you can convert found horses into Xolotl Warriors (Elite Tarkan before DE) and Trade Cards into Bombards. This is why unit looks Aztec.

[@rusael333]

+ it was probably easier to use assets from the Jaguar Warrior model than make a new one for such a niche unit

[@CrickettoSantalune]

12:43 fun fact: Duarte Barbosa was a member of the expedition who traveled around the world alongside Elcano and Magallanes (Magellan)

[@OytheGreat]

As a Belgian from the Flemish part of our country, I particularly enjoyed 8:10 😂 Although you could've finished with "8/10 helloes to the face". Love these videos where you go into the historical background of the game so much SotL, I really hope you keep making these!

[@erictokunhaga9482]

This made me think about the inclusion of Tlaxcalans in aoe, it would be interesting to have a meso civ that also can access to European units like cavalry and gunpowder, probably after a unique tech to symbolize their alliance with the Spanish.

[@khankhomrad8855]

Yes, the TLAXCALAN

[@mrjustadude1]

That would be dope. The unique tech could give them access to building stables and building the Mezo knight unit guys, and maybe hand cannon w/o resurching Chem?

[@AdmiralWololo]

Agreed, coincidentally I'm working on a video about that right now

[@mr.spider6859]

This would apply to the Incas as well (albeit an Andean civ), though for the same reasons the Aztecs in the campaign (inaccurately) obtained Spanish horses and gear for their rebellion.

[@erictokunhaga9482]

@@mr.spider6859 not really, the Tlaxcalans were allies with the Spanish for centuries, they even helped with the conquest of the Andes and the Philippines.

[@asevado]

13:18 the irony of Spirit of the Law including a picture of Lucy Lawless...

[@solsunman383]

Stupidly one of my local museums in Oxford, the Pitt Rivers Museum, in it's section on foreign weaponry, it included a doll of Xena warrior princess to show "modern representation of this weaponry". I remember looking at it and laughing. That whole museum is just absolutely absurd now. (There's a bunch of other really stupid things in what is a museum that is trying so hard to take itself seriously.)

[@jahnmark2864]

To the obuch point, I mean it is only the unit coming out of the castle (one might say nobility) that carries the hammer

[@StarshadowMelody]

There's a horde of polish nobles rampaging across your base.

[@012689]

Rattan shields and bamboo sticks are still used as riot gear.

[@Morgan_Black]

This has been one of my favourite SotL videos to date, I absolutely loved everything about it! Keep up the fantastic work, Aoe2 math man!

[@AtlasJotun]

Holy crap, you're _still_ alive?! That water really works wonders...

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

The militia-line has a very nice touch : men-at-arms and longswordmen, it use a shield + a 1h sword. Then with the 2h-swordmen, the unit wears visibly more armour, a 2h-sword and no longer a shield. Which is what happened when armour became more advanced in Europe with plate armour, the armour was so good it made the shield redundant, so many ditched it an upgraded to a two-hands weapon, greatly increasing their striking power.

[@Just_a-guy]

Sadly it is quite double edge example. Men at arms should be mounted units (late middle age also) and longswords (even if DnD or BG try to say otherwise) are two handed weapons. Also where they held that many tournaments for post imp goths? :D But yea, better armor meant that they started using double handed weapons more often

[@Just_a-guy]

@@Raizan-IO Which part is wrong?

[@Raizan-IO]

@@Just_a-guy Plate armor = Rise of polearm and bludgeoning weapons. 2-h sword = specialized armies, like german zweihanders. You don't reject a shield because your armour is better, taking a hit to the body even if padded and lessened is still painful. It happens due to limitations of your fighting style, lifestyle, place, tactics or specialization in combat. When handcannons and the like started to be more common place and better made then the true decline of plate armour started, didn't it? It was expensive to make, cumbersome to transport, dress into and wear while not providing better protection anymore than behaving like a sitting duck so they transitioned to lighter armour, shields very likely stick way longer than plate armour (which champions aren't wearing afaik). The whole militia line evolves in a fashion of "better armies" to "better individuals" fashion which is the opposite of what I consider accurate and it is in the name: 2-h swordsmen look like average gladiators for an arena while the champion... a champion. Look at the jousting you do with Cid in the campaigns for king Sancho. Pretty much the feeling the militia line gives after the longsword.

[@Raizan-IO]

Also, and I don't know why I would need to point this out... You could two hand with a shield. Many shields were forearm mounted with straps.

[@UnDeaDCyBorg]

The sources I've read/heard pointed more towards the two-handed weapon being necessary, as your opponent would also wear better armour; Still a +armour --> -shield relation. :) Throughout History, people have been willing to carry a relatively consistent amount of weight for protection in a similar situation.

[@Cyber669]

In fact, a short version of Nadziak was commonly used by winged hussars as a single-use weapon, due to how hard it hit during combat. Pulling it out of already dead enemy while still fighting on a horse, would take too much time and effort in the heat of the battle. Also, for obvious reasons, shields (which otherwise would be the best kind of armor against such type of weapon) were already at that time either ineffective or impractical, you'd never find any in cavalry skirmishes.

[@counterman-namreview516]

fun fact from VNese here : in operation Linebacker 2 , 1972, when US air force bombing North VN, rattan hat and straw hat (both get heavily reinforced to 2 to 3 cm thick) provided to civilian against bomb's fragtures.

[@tyranitararmaldo]

I liked seeing the comparisons between the Arambai and their irl counterparts, didn't notice the hats before.

[@DrF3lix]

None can stand against the Mangonelephant!

[@RennieAsh]

The trebuphant!

[@EvilDoresh]

@@RennieAsh The Hussite Elephant!

[@abyssalblade7244]

The most dope stuff is that they kinda produce projectiles themselves. You just have to dry them under the sun😂

[@Vordikk]

@@RennieAsh im curiuous now, would trebuphant deploy by sitting on elephant's ass or by rising his "hands"?

[@robdillenger4763]

"Guys, you gotta stop bringing your warhammers to town meetings."

[@StarshadowMelody]

I can just picture a bunch of nobles being EXTREMELY UPSET that they can't bring their favourite warhammers to work anymore.

[@fabianlopez8648]

"Elephant Monk" Don't worry guys, Age of Empires 3 got us covered for that one.

[@Alias_Anybody]

And they manage to feel both too weak and too strong at the same time.

[@Kidneyjoe42]

Someone should get gun elephants. I'm not sure if medieval 2's timurid cannon elephants were ever a real thing, but people shooting big muskets from the backs of elephants definitely was.

[@fabianlopez8648]

This is the same game that has Camel-Mounted Gatling Guns by the way so anything is possible

[@fabianlopez8648]

@@Alias_Anybody Really depends if you're investing actively or not into Brahmin to be frank

[@EvilDoresh]

@@Kidneyjoe42 It's a shame punt guns (ridiculously oversized shotguns for hunting waterfowl) didn't exist until the 19th century. They would've been perfect to mount on an elephant.

[@Khrada]

Rattan is a really good material. I used to have chairs made out of rattan, and they are very light and sturdy. Southeast Asia is blessed to have bamboo and rattan for them to use.

[@VieneLea]

Learning from Skallagrim last week that wicker isn't material but a type of weave was lifechanging, and it's cool to see another content creator I watch bring it up

[@leventebardossy5962]

Honorable mention to the Magyar Huszar. Not only dressed mostly like in the game, its bonus also kinda make sense, as they were highly used to break castle sieges in the 16th century.

[@imfilip1982]

Huszars were used for irregular warfare, raiding, securing, covering and reconnaissance of main regular forces. Light cav can't break castle sieges.

[@sitrilko]

Are you sure about that last part? Huszárs were irregular, light cavalry instituted by Matthias Corvinus iirc. The main fighting cavalry force were still the typical heavy cav/knights. While I can appreciate the assymetric value of light units even in sieges, I would love to know of examples where this actually happened with the huszárs!

[@leventebardossy5962]

@@sitrilko ​ @imfilip1982 By the time period I'm talking about, middle of 16th century, heavy cavalry was mostly gone in Hungary. Heavy armor couldn't stand Turkish gunpowder during the battle of Mohács in 1514, so it quickly went out of fashion, partly due to nobility who could give funds for it not being interested in resisting the Turkish invasions. In 1552, another invasion came, when basically a light cavalry civ had to defend plenty of castles from siege. It's logical a raid would target artillery and siege operators, even though in that year, Eger was the only battle that ended with a Hungarian victory.

[@muito_facil]

Hi, Spirit! What about a historically bonkers/accurate techs video? The videos about units were awesome!

[@jerryne2424]

The arambai riders were feared because their darts could be thrown attacking and retreating with deadly effect by trained riders. Happy that someone pointed out that it was used against and not by the Burmese. It bugged me for a while

[@alejandroballesteroshernan1678]

The 'frankly' pun and the bearded axe meme was just too good

[@mullerpotgieter]

Ancient India: "These darts are powerful and deadly. We must train our men to properly wield them" 1970s America: "Lol. These darts would make a great kids toy"

[@mauricesteel4995]

A few lawsuits later...

[@StarshadowMelody]

Classic USA.

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

Ancient Rome: These new wardarts outrange our javelins and are far more compact!

[@localweathermans]

I love these kinds of videos! I wouldn’t be opposed to any other unique units being given historical accuracy tests too, just for the sake of cool information.

[@anirudha04]

Great aoe2 content! A video exploring timeline mismatch in AOE2 could also be very interesting!

[@ngochunglongnguyen4523]

3:55 Historically, Vietnamese beside using rattan to make shields to increase pierce armor. Rattan can be made into rattan rod to strike fear into Vietnamese children by the Vietnamese Moms.

[@ngochunglongnguyen2526]

😂

[@DarklordZagarna]

I guess it should increase the work rate of the villagers...

[@duyanhnguyen7703]

Exactly lol

[@darkj3di666]

12:43 really love the way authors of the past described stuff. Simple, almost humorously so, but drives the point really well across

[@JJBeauregard1]

I knew Throwing Axemen were a thing because I distinctly remember playing AoE2 together with my dad as a kid and us looking them up together because we didn't believe such a soldier really existed. Good times!

[@Vario69]

Number 1: Villager "As it turns out, people lived in villages"

[@gatowololo5629]

Nice man! I love your more historically inclined videos. I randomly watch your Wonders videos sometimes, just for the vibes

[@aribantala]

Thrown Darts for Warfare in General were pretty extensively used in the Antiquity too. The Romans besides carrying the infamous Pilum javelin, also more often carries "Lawn Darts" sized Missile called the Martiobarbuli, also more well known as Plumbatae. And for obvious reasons, carry Martiobarbuli more than infamous Pilum because 1. While a Legionary can carry, at best, 2 Pila; According to Vegetius on De Re Militari, they can carry at least 5 Martiobarbuli 2. Logically, Pila were used more on heavy targets, like a thick formation of Pike Wall, or for downing Cavalry and other War Animals. While Martiobarbuli were used to pepper the enemy, much like the role of Archers or Greek Psiloi It can be imagined that a Martiobarbuli are grenades of the Pila are RPGs

[@jotfohm4644]

Chakram thro.. No, Strike that. War Frisbi! 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@MajoraZ]

I do posts & video consulting for channels on Mesoamerica: I'll expand on what you said with native use of horses further down, but I wish the unit was named Mazatl, over Xolotl: Mazatl is the Nahuatl word for Deer, and many Mesoamerican sources initially called Spanish horses "Large Deer": i've seen a fair amount of artists who do well researched, authentic art of Mesoamerican stuff come up with cool idea for Deer themed Mesoamerican calvary units for this reason (First in Kamazotz's alt history comic "Zotz", which inspired OHS688's piece, which then Mossacannibalis did their own version of), and I think that makes a lot more sense then naming the unit Xolotl, which seems random; or giving them Jaguar themed equipment: There are Deer themed ceremonial outfits even if not military armor, but IMO it'd have been fine to make hypothetical military versions. On that note, I want to go on a tangent about that "armor": Like a lot of media depictions of Mesoamerican stuff, AOE sadly depicts much of the clothing, equipment, and architecture as looking extra primitive or unrefined for no real reason: The Jaguar and Xolotl warriors look basically like cavemen, largely naked with a big Jaguar pelt hanging on their back, and crude bone/horn necklaces. The architectural set also has bare grey, worn looking stones, among other aesthetic issues/choices... In reality, by contrast, soldiers wore proper armor: gambeson tunics or vests; over which were warsuits and skirted tunics covered in a mosaic of iridescent feathers making patterns (Jaguar Spots, Geometric designs etc) to indicate rank and division; metal mail jackets; bamboo and wooden helmets and shields, too covered in mosaics or inlaid gold or gemstones, etc. In addition to Macuahuitl, weapons included spears, sorts of halbreds and glaives, axes (both stone and bronze), maces, clubs, and more. Outside of combat, men wore cloaks akin to Greco-roman togas; women with flowing blouses which with their hair buns and face paint evoked Japanese Geisha. Garments were covered with geometric, floral, etc designs, and gold, gemstone, and feather jewelry (not merely feathers put in things but again as mosaic coverings or as intricate 3-dimensional bouquets). For architecture, stone Buildings were covered in white plaster, with painted frescos and other architectural accents, in a style close to the Minoan palaces, with square rooms, flat roofs, and open courtyards surrounded by patios with columns. These palaces, temples etc were arranged around large plazas in city centers, often also with aqueduct and drain systems, royal botanical gardens etc. (And I didn't even get into the Venice like canals and suburban sprawls!). These were absurdly opulent looking cultures (Check out Scott and Stuart Gentling's paintings) and it's a shame they get made to look so dirty and unrefined in media. Anyways, so Indigenous use of horses! I think most people know that Cortes and his faction of Conquistadors made alliances with local city-states and kingdoms, who they relied on heavily for their success (and in fact, in many cases, local kings and officials like Xicotencatl II, Ixtlixochtli II, Xicomecoatl, etc were actively manipulating Conquistadors to further their own political interests... it was really mostly that sort of political opportunism that made those alliances happen, rather then the Mexica of the Aztec capital being particularly resented or oppressive: It was their empire being loose and hands off which enabled this), but people may not be aware of the level of mixing of equipment this lead to: Conquistadors would at times use Mesoamerican gambeson and helmets (Some conquistadors still did even in the Coronado expedition up into Colorado), while elite Mesoamerican allies (who at times, were even formal Conquistadors with encomienda land grants) were, yes, given horses, steel weapons, etc, though at times these were also looted and repurposed by enemy forces, such as Spanish swords which were fixed to staffs to act as long pikes by Aztec armies. However, beyond the mere adoption of each other's military equipment, we see actual cultural mixing, too. People today talk about Mexico as a mix of Indiginous and Spanish culture, and it is, but in the 16th, 17th, and even 18th centuries, this was much more pronounced with overt Mesoamerican elements: The Malinalco (which in Prehispanic times, also nearby had a ceremonial retreat for Aztec soldiers, cut out of a large hill) murals as well as the Ixmiquilpan murals are both done in a mix of Spanish and Mesoamerican styles, the latter showing soldiers from the Otomi civilization fighting for the Spanish, wearing both Mesoamerican jewelry and wielding Macuahuitl, but also with Catholic imagery and potentially garments and armor. I mentioned Mossacannibalis before, but he has quite a bit of art depicting this sort of blending based on real manuscripts, murals, and paintings: Tlaxcalteca soldiers with Spanish crosses painted onto their Mesoamerican back banners (based on the Lienzo de Tlaxcala) and with Jesus painted as the the god Mixcoatl sacrificed on a cross tied to it as well (both the Mesoamericans and Spanish noticed parallels between their religions); Soldiers in plate armor but also Aztex xiuhuitzolli crowns, etc. Perhaps my favorite example of this mixing is the Feather Mosaic "paintings" made by Aztec and Purepecha artists for the Spanish, which look like the best Catholic gilded altarpieces and paintings, except with iridescent, color changing feathers instead of paint. Absolutely mind blowing stuff, you gotta look them up! Anyways, I'd go on and revenue how the AOE3 Aztec units stack up but I am actually in the middle of an archeology conference and barely had time to squeeze this comment out, haha. Sorry I couldn't go in more detail on stuff like specific campaigns and Mesoamerican princes who fought on horseback with the Spanish, I wanted to but what I posted is what I know off the top of my head. Actually, one last thing: If the Mayas can use Siege Towers in AOE (and i'm not sure they can, admittedly), that would also be accurate: There's a mural at Chichen Itza which seems to show one.

[@Spindrift]

indigenous America is endlessly fascinating

[@deirun5709]

Thank you for your comment, it was a very interesting read.

[@Tareltonlives]

Thanks! I'd love to see a review of historically accurate each of the takes on the Aztecs are.

[@chasecardelli9971]

Elephant 🐘 with a bombard cannon! I've been dreaming of it in every game for years!

[@arkadeepmukherjee4701]

Existed in India in 17th century, but the cannon was light. Elephant-hand-cannoeers perhaps?

[@squadwiper79]

We indians put anything and everything on an elephant and put it into battl.e

[@EvilDoresh]

I'm pretty sure AoE3 has that unit.

[@tasse0599]

the portuguese Civ mod for AoC has that unit as a mercenary (regional units costing only gold that are trained from a new building, called a tavern)

[@nickvuch5729]

Another great video as always but this was def my favorite one learning a bit more of history

[@CallofDutyBlackOps28]

I like to think that sense the teutons have the +1 armor for age, that paladins are the Teuton knights as well, but being AoE2, you only have so much to work with.

[@Askjireg]

I think my biggest issue with the turtle ship accuracy wise is that we still don't having moving oars with them.

[@johntitor_ibm5100]

Consider this for the next elephant unit: A chakram-armed knight on horseback riding an elephant on top of a turtle ship. And then it's turtle ships all the way down.

[@quoniam426]

The main problem with the Throwing Axe men is that it is an early Frankish weapon. By the time we develop unique units in game, they weren't existing anymore. The Petard, as you suggested in the last video, should then have become the Frank Unique unit. Had the game had gameplay differences early on, like AoE4 has, the Throwing axemen should be the standard Frank Militia in Dark Age (approx at the time of Charlemagne).

[@sly2405]

Hi Spirit Of The Law, it's me here and watching!

[@SummertimeSlavness]

Glad you mentioned the Frankish Throwing Axes! You can actually see some in the Musée de l'Armée in Paris. Super cool!

[@arcisas]

Today in Polish 'Obuch weapon' (broń obuchowa) apart from a name for this specific weapon means 'blunt weapon' and is used for all blunt force weapons like hammers or clubs.

[@cactuslietuva]

always nice to see xena reference

[@lekhakaananta5864]

Spirit: "The point is, Native Americans taking advantage of access to enemy horses... has some good evidence behind it" Commanches, becoming the Mongol Horde of North America: "Evidence you say? MAYBE YOU'VE HEARD OF ME..." A more accurate description would be that central and south american natives adapting to use horses isn't well-known in pop culture, but in the North American plains they have quite the reputation.

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

The silliest thing about the elephant 🐘 units is that they don't have an extremely high line of sight from the mahout having an elevation advantage.

[@devangnivatkar2649]

Fun fact: In modern day slang, 'chakram' means the same as calling someone a 'crackpot'

[@insomnicide94]

Not gonna lie, knowing now that there is a secret calvary unit you can get, I kinda want more. Super situational, super uncommon, but it would be a cool inclusion to the game

[@historymax5479]

Xolotl...SOTL... hey, I think we have a new nickname for the channel!

[@FirstLast-wk3kc]

"Cuts through all" clearly means cleaves through said hand or neck. And yes, irl armour negates it easily.

[@riseALK]

For sure. On the other hand, ballista bolts also did not pierce through multiple people, and the very powerful ones might pierce through at the max two unarmored humans in close range.

[@FirstLast-wk3kc]

@@riseALK seems like someone hadn't seen strongest rome ballistas... But more importantly there are distinct differences between a siege machine throwing projectile 200 m and a man throwing projectile by himself. Do you imply that longbows now need to pierce 10 foes too? I'll have you know that war bow tier bows may have up to 150-200 poundage draw weight which is possible to draw because you also engage back muscles. Why hand thrown chuckrams would pierce any army while more powerful range weapon not then?.. If you want to give it a real thought and it's plain ridiculous in logical inconsistency.

[@riseALK]

@@FirstLast-wk3kc Show me any Roman ballista test video where the bolt pierces through multiple humanlike targets 😂

[@FirstLast-wk3kc]

@@riseALK someone decided to ignore any important point and come only at the only non serious part of my comment, eh? But please, indulge into Tom's Workshop old videos, some include a large Roman balista with insane range and outstanding power in comparison to absolute most of any other balistas. Although, my main points are still literally any other sentences of my previous comment.

[@riseALK]

@@FirstLast-wk3kc Why does a Longbowmen outrange buildings, and have the same range as a cannon? Why people throwing large javelins can reach the reach of bows? Why does a Cataphract wearing 12th century mail armor resist pikes better than a Paladin wearing rennaissance era plate armor? As SotL says right at the start of the video, this is a videogame, not a history simulator. It has to add gimmicks to make things not only balanced, but also unique and interesting.

[@dieblauebedrohung]

I love the Idea of an Elephant Petard. Basically a Demolitionship on Land and on Crack. Imagine paying like 200 Food and 80 Gold for a Unit that blows itself up and can oneshot regular Buildings with that.

[@widowpeak6142]

I love the goedendag. Not only it's a very simple weapon to manufacture (It's a just stabby stick), the name drips sarcasm. It's like those WWII cannon shells with messages such as "Happy Easter Adolph"

[@saluteadezio7893]

Its not only sarcasm. The origin of the name is that the rebels were 'greeting" people saying "goedendag" and if person replied with wrong accent they got * bonked *

[@stalhandske9649]

@@saluteadezio7893 Yeah, it was a shibboleth word for ethnic cleansing that took place at times during that war. This kind of trick was used during civil war of 1918 in my native Finland as well: after bourgeoisie 'white' side captured city of Vyborg in late stage of war, they made civilians recite "one, two" in Finnish in order to separate Russians (Soviet Russia supported the socialist 'red' side.) Many Russian shop owners etc. who supported whites were killed there because of ethnic hatred that had brewed during the war (propaganda, atrocities of both sides, people who knew each other taking opposing sides.) Such are civil wars 😞

[@dukemagus]

3:10 rattan armor and shield has a quasi historical relevance in Chinese history: in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, the Nanman tribes resisted the zhuge Liang campaigns using rattan armor that protected against arrows much better than expected. They were defeated by fire attacks in the novel, though (dried straw is surprisingly flammable)

[@Dracobyte]

Great video ss always!

[@AntonioZL]

3:45 this dude has probably never stepped into a gym before while I work out 5 days a week, and he's still thrice as jacked as me. Geez.

[@riseALK]

True. Reminds me of a saying "before we had work outs, we just worked" (referring to physical labor ofc)

[@StarshadowMelody]

@@riseALK Stop wasting your time lifting weights and go weave a wicker basket. -or pound metal into swords i guess-

[@riseALK]

@@StarshadowMelody Wicker basket weaving will be give nice strong and hands, not so much muscles elsewhere Old school blacksmithing will definitely give you powerful musculature, and also asbestos poisoning or lung cancer 😂

[@HATECELL]

Another small knitpick about the axe thrower is that the Fancisca wasn't really a primary weapon. The idea behind it is that you throw it before attacking with your melee weapon to put the enemy in a dilemma. With you charging in and the Franciscas raining down the enemy has to decide whether to raise their shield or not, as they can't effectively defend against both

[@cristobalguzman2066]

A fact about pre colombian civs using horses: in Chile, the Mapuches stealed the horses fron the Spanish, and became way better riders of then (they didnt used saddles or seats), incorporating them to their army to fight back, and the Spanish never won against them

[@lucasshulman54]

Hi! Huge fan here. Great vid as always. I was wandering when is cost efective to take a fight and when i shouldnt, and i said "spirit can make a vid of this". Example: 4 scouts enter in my wood; run or fight?. when is cost-effective taking a fight against pikemen with knights? how many infantry is enought to dive into a tc? and a lot of examples, a lot of situations we encounter in our games (vills vs towers, xbows vs kts, kts vs camels, etc..) . Thanks for all your work!

[@EvilDoresh]

Weapons similar to the Obuch's were also popular in other parts of Europe, like the _bec de corbin_ or the _Lucerne hammer_ . Both of these also tended to have a pronounced spike _on top_ of the hammer, because it wouldn't be a proper medieval polearm if it couldn't also double as a spear.

[@horaciogonzalez4284]

The Francisca throwing axes often curved up and forward out of the handle rather than being set parallel into the haft, I'm sure that they cause a couple fatalities, but the main thing that they did after being thrown is bounce unpredictably. I can imagine being part of a shield-wall, seeing about 20 axes bouncing in my direction, and having trouble not breaking formation.

[@shiryu22]

great companion piece to last video!

[@LastNRA]

>Strongly worded Peta letters LMFAO

[@WJen8]

I love videos like this that tie in fun facts to common game knowledge 💯

[@XtReMz98]

Showcasing the flaming camels without mentioning: ‘’SeNd FoRtH tHe FLaMinG CaMEls!!!!!!!’’ feels like a missed opportunity.

[@llSuperSnivyll]

I really would have put the Throwing Axeman and Obuch as honorable mentions in the previous video, as while the concept itself is accurate for both, the weapon is very blatantly bonkers.

[@XYZ-eo8um]

I've just commented on Obuch unit under your previous film, as I've just watched it. Of course, I've focused on the name of the weapon

[@Zwijger]

Not just the battle of the Golden Spurs. The cities of Flanders, most notably Gent, but also Brugge, were notorious rioters under Burgundian rule, whereas the Golde Spurs was fought against France, not the Burgundian dukes, because that title wasn't around at the moment.

[@Tareltonlives]

TBF the Obuch was used in duels between nobles on foot so there is some reason it's for infantry, but it's still anachronistic. The reason it was invented from the Nadziak and Czeckan (a Nadziak-like weapon with an axe end instead of a hammer) with the straight point was that the nobleman Michał Piekarski ,mentally ill, Calvinist and supporting the 1606 Zebrzydowski rebellion against increasing royal power, used a czekanto attack King Sigismund III Vasa in 1620. The King was attending Mass at St John's in Warsaw. Piekarski suddenly attacked the king when he was away from the guards.Marshal Łukasz Opaliński managed to put himself between the attacker and the King just in time, with the pick striking King Sigismund in the arm and face but not killing him. As Opalinski grappled with Pierkarski over the hammer, the king's son Prince Władysław drew his saber and struck Piekarski in the head, allowing Opalinski to subdue him. From then on not only was the Nadziak relegated to the battlefield with nobles wearing Obuch instead, but even then they were banned from church ground. The giant chakram isn't that out of the question; I believe there were some 3--foot versions used against elephants and formations at extremely close range. Chakram came in all different sizes- Akali Nihang, Sikh Warrior Monks, wear small ones on their wrists and increasingly smaller ones on their turbans, which could be up to 3 feet tall. I suppose I could quibble about the cho ku nu being able to do real damage against armor, same as the urumi (like the urumi it was more of a civilian weapon, albeit for militia rather than dueling) or the Karambits being enormous, or the feasibility of using a harquebus on horseback, (although I have seen military drill illustrations for it) or the Janissaries with beards but without hats, or cataphracts being specifically anti-infantry , but I actually give AOE2 a lot of credit for historical accuracy in the Unique Units with a few exceptions.

[@ramsesvandendriessche2463]

As a Flemish i can say the Flemish Militia unit is quite historically correct. However when the battle of the golden spurs occured the Burgundians weren't in charge of Flanders. I guess some (of the Belgian) devs wanted to include a reference to the battle of the golden spurs in the game.

[@Firebird377]

Our big concern with the ballista elephant is that it fires two shots at once, and not that the elephant seems to be firing and reloading all on its own, with no human assistance?

[@RolfReibach]

That picture of the elephant petard is gold 😂

[@yizhenji5564]

The main drawback of the Rattan armor set is that it’s very weak against Fire. Despite being more of a novel rather than a historical source, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms tells that the Yunnan natives used Rattan armor against the Shu Han army’s weapons and can be transported on water due to the oily lair, but then it might burn the wielder if the latter is relatively close to a fire

[@Tocaraca]

Mewing to this RN

[@kevinnorwood8782]

The one thing you didn't mention about the Chakrams which I was REALLY hoping you would, was that another way of carrying them was stacking them on specially designed TURBANS.

[@spockamania]

As a Rome nerd, I am not surprised at all about the flaming camels. Rome used flaming pigs against Cathage's elephants, so another group using a different animal available to them makes complete sense

[@RicardoAlmeidatm]

It would be cool if the Arambai did low damage and then the rest as a DoT to demonstrate the poison's effect. I gave no idea if damage over time is even possible in AOE2

[@YAMIVA]

Wow, your "nadziak" pronunciation was flawless 10/10. I'm guessing you consulted a dictionary? Our phonetics are very quirky for foreigners, I hear.

[@tasse0599]

as a German, the dź is the sound that's the hardest to pronounce to me in Polish

[@viethung9419]

4:15: He pronounced "non la" (hat made of leaves) quite precisely.

[@RolfReibach]

Rattan is/was also used to make bows. It is super light weight, flexible and easy to work with. Massive advantage over wood 🏹

[@Ogeday14]

I have been watching your videos for years. Never bored, love your contents. Just wanted to say 🙂

[@navinkumarpk86]

The ballista elephant should have a operator riding on the elephant too.

[@GegiAWT]

I just love how from the comment section, you can actually learn something about some countries, civilizations and "techs". Damn, there's some amazing community built around AoE. Love y'all ❤😊

[@thomasfplm]

9:16 It would be nice if they received infantry upgrades. They are so convoluted to get, that I don't think it would change the balance of the game. It would also be funny if there were camel and elephant versions depending on the civ you converted the stable from.

[@eygon1330]

In the ballista elephant no Human is on its back, but it has a quiver, which implies the elephant is the one shooting giants arrows...

[@GarfieldRex]

Cries in Jaguar Warrior...