Trajan's enemies

[chen]

Hi mates,
I once saw a series of pictures of Dacian army on the Rome Total War forum. They show some very "civilized" and well-equipped troops allied to Decebalus fighting against Trajan's Rome. In fact, their appearances in the pics (thus in the game, which I have never played) look far too elegant than being "barbarian", and their dressing has quite a lot of ancient Greek style. Here may I quoted some of them:

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm12 ... charge.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm12 ... pliteF.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm12 ... pliteF.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm12 ... iteF-1.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm12 ... EliteF.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm12 ... rcherF.jpg

I know one should never count on the reliability of a material with an entertainment nature, but it's still interesting to know to what extent these images could be considered accurate. From a modeller's view, these images show really a tempting side of doing an enemy of Rome.

So, could the Dacians (and their allied) possibly look like that? Oh and I'm buying Zvezda's Scythians in a hope that they could be used, directly or through slight conversions, as some Steppe horsemen living in the time of Trajan, waiting to choose one side to fight. What do you think, mates?

Cheers,
chen

[bilsonius]

Firstly, by the nature of computer-generated images, every figure in a unit is identical, giving a totally misleading impression of uniformity. (They probably march in step too.)
The portrayal of an individual might not be too inaccurate, but in any ancient society such expensive equipment could be afforded by only a minority - chieftains and nobles; the majority of an army would be much more simply dressed and equipped.
The allies of the Dacians were the Sarmatians, who seem to have provided most of their cavalry. There is a set of Sarmatians due out from Strelets, but it does not really represent their armoured lancers - it might be possible to convert some of the available cataphracts.

[chen]

Thanks, Bilsonius. You are right about the false uniformity of the armies in the game. But if we focus on the individual ones, for example this:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm12 ... rcherF.jpg
The soldier here appears to me much more like Alexander's soldier than a 400-year later barbarian. Did they really wear the hellenic helmets and greaves? Could they have been still using bronze round shield while the "fashion" in Trajan's Roman world seems to prefer oval shields ?