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The Basitin Military in 3D: Part 6 - Battle on the Bridge

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 10:17 pm
by Thallium
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EDIT:

Welcome to "The Basitin Military", a collection of my artwork showing my appreciation for the best race in the TwoKinds world: the basitins.

Pages 1-5 contain the original 2D images and pages 5 (scroll down to the bottom) onwards contain the 3D images. If you have any problems viewing any of these pictures, you can find them mirrored on my Fur Affinity page: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/thallium/

Enjoy!

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So I had the idea to do an "army guide" for the (eastern) basitins since its been far too long since the basitin isles story arc and I need my fix of armoured, stoic rabbit people. These posts over the coming weeks will contain both art and accompanying explanatory text, but I thought as the art is the main point it would be better suited to this board over the story board. I've never done anything artistic before so please be gentle; program used is GIMP. If the writing tickles your fancy, I have a full novel-length story (also heavily featuring basitins) in my signature. Enjoy!

Image

The shieldbearer is the workhorse of the basitin military. They are by far the most numerous soldiers, comprising about 2/3 of a typical army and fight in a shield-wall formation, their large kite shields covering not only themselves but also the soldier to the left of them in an overlapping protective bulwark. This combined with large amounts of plate and mail armour turn the shield-wall into a nigh impenetrable fortress that can survive almost any frontal assault. Armed with short thrusting swords, basitin military doctrine reflects the great endurance and stamina their people are known for, preferring to hold their ground and let hordes of enemies break upon their shields like waves upon rocks. A soldier's armour is painted in order to reflect his rank and also to increase the armour's resistance to corrosion on long marches in all weather conditions. Grey is the colour of the basic soldiery with yellow being used for more senior soldiers. Particularly high ranking officers have a different pattern of armour which may or may not include colour, depending on their role.

A basitin soldier is armed, armoured and trained by the state for battle from a young age, a process which produces some of the most well-disciplined and most well-equipped armies anywhere in Mekkan. The most basic autonomous unit in a basitin army is a company, consisting of approximately 100 men and commanded by a marshal with an optio as his second in command. Companies can be further broken down into 10 units of 10 men each known as a contubernium, each commanded by a decanus. Each company also has a signaller, who acts as both standard bearer and, more importantly, as a means of communicating with other units in the army using a series of coded messages relayed over great distances using using war horns.

Further reinforcing their reputation as tireless fighters, shieldbearer companies practise the recycling of ranks whereby approximately every 3 minutes of combat, the front rank will switch out for the rank behind, replacing tired troops with fresh, eager combatants. This signal, given by the marshal via a whistle, ensures that the front line never becomes exhausted and so no ground is given to the enemy unnecessarily. While near invincible from the front, even a strike to the flank or rear of a shieldbearer company is unlikely to break them as they are trained to fight surrounded by enemies on all sides, forming a second line facing rearwards if attacked from behind or even organising into a square if foes come from all directions. Furthermore, shieldbearers are schooled in small unit tactics, allowing them to mount a defence even if broken up into small groups or alone.

Basitins never retreat and never surrender and it is not uncommon for units to fight to the last man instead of running. Such bloody-minded stubbornness in the face of impossible odds is part of what has given them their reputation as peerless combatants the world over with many would-be invaders balking at the prospect of facing them on their island home. Still, the basitins are not ones to rest upon their laurels as they know the potential threats that face them from the north: humans, keidran and worse if the tales are to be believed. Martial prowess is in their blood, however those who live by the sword are also apt to fall by it as well.

Re: The Basitin Military - An Illustrated Guide

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 9:00 pm
by Tetrahedron
Nice artwork!

Even if the are some illogical things in my opinion, but that is just me always compare fantasy with real world history. (I think people hate me for this when we discuss fantasy, etc...)

Just two thing with the art:
(If you are interested in critic)
Give the mail shirt a curve. It gives your model more volume. Now it is just a straight line. Let it hang a little bit over his right leg.
Which leds me to the second thing. Here I am not sure if it is a little bit odd or my eyes are broken:
He turns his right hip a little bit towards the viewer, turning hi entire right leg a little bit outward, so the knee points directly to the viewer. So the right foot should be nearer to us, but instead his left foot is lower in the picture, implying that it is nearer to us.

Re: The Basitin Military - An Illustrated Guide

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:39 pm
by Thallium
Tetrahedron wrote: Mon Mar 26, 2018 9:00 pm Nice artwork!

Even if the are some illogical things in my opinion, but that is just me always compare fantasy with real world history. (I think people hate me for this when we discuss fantasy, etc...)

Just two thing with the art:
(If you are interested in critic)
Give the mail shirt a curve. It gives your model more volume. Now it is just a straight line. Let it hang a little bit over his right leg.
Which leds me to the second thing. Here I am not sure if it is a little bit odd or my eyes are broken:
He turns his right hip a little bit towards the viewer, turning hi entire right leg a little bit outward, so the knee points directly to the viewer. So the right foot should be nearer to us, but instead his left foot is lower in the picture, implying that it is nearer to us.
Thanks for the critique, I'm very much interested because, as I said, this is the first major artistic piece I've ever done. What illogical things are you referring to? I tried as much as possible to make the armour historically accurate (all the individual pieces with the exception of the helmet and the sword are based on real examples or at least copies of them), so anything I've missed would be appreciated. I see what you mean with the mail shirt, I'll add a bit of depth to the next piece. I also think you're right about the leg; by my rough estimate they are approximately on the same level which I think is why you see something off about it. Something I can easily fix for the next one. Thanks!

Re: The Basitin Military - An Illustrated Guide

Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:12 am
by Technic[Bot]
Very nice explanation. Loved the roman feeling you gave them. Now that i think about it some Basitian Centurions would be pretty cool.
Just a problem, i am not sure if it is my browser or what but i cannot see the drawing. Just letting you know.

Re: The Basitin Military - An Illustrated Guide

Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2018 7:56 am
by Thallium
Technic[Bot] wrote: Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:12 am Very nice explanation. Loved the roman feeling you gave them. Now that i think about it some Basitian Centurions would be pretty cool.
Just a problem, i am not sure if it is my browser or what but i cannot see the drawing. Just letting you know.
Ooo that could be a problem, do you see anything at all? Any error boxes or is it just completely missing? The image is hosted over on my furaffinity page and then inserted here using the [_img_][_/img_] command. Is there a more standard way of hosting images so everyone can see them? If you want to see it, for the moment you can check out my furaffinity page: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/thallium/

Re: The Basitin Military - An Illustrated Guide

Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 4:35 am
by Technic[Bot]
Thallium wrote: Thu Mar 29, 2018 7:56 am
Technic[Bot] wrote: Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:12 am Very nice explanation. Loved the roman feeling you gave them. Now that i think about it some Basitian Centurions would be pretty cool.
Just a problem, i am not sure if it is my browser or what but i cannot see the drawing. Just letting you know.
Ooo that could be a problem, do you see anything at all? Any error boxes or is it just completely missing? The image is hosted over on my furaffinity page and then inserted here using the [_img_][_/img_] command. Is there a more standard way of hosting images so everyone can see them? If you want to see it, for the moment you can check out my furaffinity page: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/thallium/
I can only see text. It only says Image (shocking right?) Inspecting the page html it seems it indeed is a image, but for whatever reason won't load for me. Might be a bug with phpBB or my browser.
Respect to your question as long as the link is correctly set up yoy should eb able to use any service you like, FA, DA, imagebucket, facebook post even.

Re: The Basitin Military - An Illustrated Guide

Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 11:19 am
by Thallium
Technic[Bot] wrote: Fri Mar 30, 2018 4:35 am
Thallium wrote: Thu Mar 29, 2018 7:56 am
Technic[Bot] wrote: Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:12 am Very nice explanation. Loved the roman feeling you gave them. Now that i think about it some Basitian Centurions would be pretty cool.
Just a problem, i am not sure if it is my browser or what but i cannot see the drawing. Just letting you know.
Ooo that could be a problem, do you see anything at all? Any error boxes or is it just completely missing? The image is hosted over on my furaffinity page and then inserted here using the [_img_][_/img_] command. Is there a more standard way of hosting images so everyone can see them? If you want to see it, for the moment you can check out my furaffinity page: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/thallium/
I can only see text. It only says Image (shocking right?) Inspecting the page html it seems it indeed is a image, but for whatever reason won't load for me. Might be a bug with phpBB or my browser.
Respect to your question as long as the link is correctly set up yoy should eb able to use any service you like, FA, DA, imagebucket, facebook post even.
Hmm I've tested on a few different devices and I can see it on them all. Can you see the images in my signature, as they are done the same way? Regardless, all the pictures go up on my FA first so they can be posted here so if you or anyone else are having problems, you can at least go there and see them. Next picture will be posted tomorrow!

Re: The Basitin Military - An Illustrated Guide

Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:40 am
by Thallium
Part 2 of the Illustrated Guide! Today we will be looking at a halberdier wearing the armour pattern of a marshal. For the sake of efficiency where appropriate in these pictures you will notice the recycling of some of the line-art. This is to cut down on production time as well as giving the feeling of uniformity to the soldiers (as I'm not good enough to have armour look identical from differing angles). While several pictures in this series will be quite similar to each other, most are very different so hopefully I will be able to keep your interest. Up next week will be the marine, a soldier serving aboard the basitin's formidable navy. Enjoy!

Any problems viewing these images, you can find them mirrored on my FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/thallium/

Image

Halberdiers are the pointy end of the basitin's anti-cavalry strategy. Arranged in ranks similar to their shieldbearer brethren, a halberdier company resembles, from the perspective of any one unfortunate enough to face them in combat, a forest of deadly trees. Employed on the wings of an army, the halberdier company's primary job is to guard against flanking maneuvers by enemy cavalry and thus ensure the safety of the main front line, as well as the support elements behind it. When facing enemy horses, halberdiers brace for the charge and arrange their polearms to cause maximum damage. The front rank crouches down and digs the end of their halberds into the ground, the points facing up at approximately 45° to place them squarely into the chest of on-coming horses. The second rank holds their halberds horizontally at waist height for the same purpose and the third and forth ranks hold their weapons horizontally at shoulder height in order to unseat the rider. The remainder of the company rests their weapons at high port, ready to step in and fill any gaps that may appear in the line. Halberdier companies are exceptionally well-disciplined and do not let the mobility disadvantages of carrying pole weapons stop them from always pointing towards the enemy. Incessant drilling enables them to turn as one to face any threat, no matter what direction it comes from and, as every man is trained to operate in any position in the ranks, immediately position their weapons appropriately to counter it.

Like the shieldbearers, halberdiers are also trained to recycle ranks, however as horse-on-spear engagements are usually short, this rarely goes into practice in that scenario. While cavalry are the preferred targets, halberdiers are sometimes called in to fight infantry if the main line engagement is not going the basitin's way. While less effective against foot soldiers, halberdiers are nevertheless perfectly capable of stopping a charging enemy in their tracks. After all, behind each spear-point is another spear-point and the design of the rest of the halberd lends itself just as well to fighting infantry as it does to horsemen. The axe-head itself can be used to chop or draw-cut, the lower point of the axe can be used to hook weapons and limbs and the rear-mounted bill or spike is a dedicated anti-armour device, used to penetrate what a sharp point will simply bounce off.

The yellow painted armour and blue plume designate a marshal, the first in command of a 100-strong company of men. These individuals have risen from amongst the ranks of their peers into a position of responsibility and leadership due to their own qualities, a central tenant of the basitin military hierarchy. Leading from the front, marshals are expected to be fearless, disciplined and selfless towards those under their command, inspiring the men to even greater feats of courage and heroism. It is the marshal's job to control the company, ensure they are where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there and to control their movements on a tactical level, from the recycling of ranks to turning about to meet new threats to knowing when to advance and when to retreat. They are the lowest rank of soldier privy to the general's battle plan, meeting as all of them do along with the senior officers in the general's tent before the battle begins. Here they receive their orders, specifically their company's position in the line and any specialist tasks they need to carry out. The life of a marshal is a stressful one as they have many responsibilities and a lot of pressure is placed on their shoulders to ensure their soldiers are performing. As such, disciplining the men for infractions and derelictions of duty is also part of their remit. But should a marshal take all this in their stride and thrive, further promotions and glory await them in their future as there is no limit to how high they might climb.

Re: The Basitin Military: An Illustrated Guide - Part 2: Halberdier

Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:14 pm
by Technic[Bot]
Who would have thougth.
Now i can see the image embedded.
I imagine this would be similar to a Roman centurion wouldn't it?

Re: The Basitin Military: An Illustrated Guide - Part 2: Halberdier

Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:38 pm
by Thallium
Technic[Bot] wrote: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:14 pm Who would have thougth.
Now i can see the image embedded.
I imagine this would be similar to a Roman centurion wouldn't it?
That's good to hear, I was worried that no one would be able to see them on here for some reason. Can you see the first image now? When I was thinking how the basitins would organise themselves militarily, the Romans were an obvious starting point but I didn't want them to just be a wholesale copy. Hence the marshal is kind of a combination of a centurion, a modern day company commander (a captain or a major) and a few other things with a different name schema. I'm not going too deep into the ranks and roles during this series as showing the different types of soldier was the priority, however it could be something I do in the future as another little project.

Re: The Basitin Military: An Illustrated Guide - Part 2: Halberdier

Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 12:07 am
by Technic[Bot]
Thallium wrote: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:38 pm
Technic[Bot] wrote: Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:14 pm Who would have thougth.
Now i can see the image embedded.
I imagine this would be similar to a Roman centurion wouldn't it?
That's good to hear, I was worried that no one would be able to see them on here for some reason. Can you see the first image now? When I was thinking how the basitins would organise themselves militarily, the Romans were an obvious starting point but I didn't want them to just be a wholesale copy. Hence the marshal is kind of a combination of a centurion, a modern day company commander (a captain or a major) and a few other things with a different name schema. I'm not going too deep into the ranks and roles during this series as showing the different types of soldier was the priority, however it could be something I do in the future as another little project.
Yeah i thougth i was a bug with firefox but apparently it is a bug with phpBB. Maybe editing the post and re-writing would fix the issue. But I am guessing at this point.
Personally i imagined Basitin as more Holy-Roman empire with a good dose of german-militia around them. Also is the armor inspired from other source? It strucks me as familiar for some reason.

Re: The Basitin Military: An Illustrated Guide - Part 2: Halberdier

Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 12:35 am
by Thallium
Technic[Bot] wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2018 12:07 am Personally i imagined Basitin as more Holy-Roman empire with a good dose of german-militia around them. Also is the armor inspired from other source? It strucks me as familiar for some reason.
I can see where you're coming from, you should hopefully like one of the pieces coming up then, I think it might fit with your imagined aesthetic style. I'm a big fan of realistic arms and armour, even in fantasy settings so creating this was a balancing act between trying to find something that matched with what the basitins have been shown to wear in the comic and also what they might actually have worn had they been real. This wasn't easy and so mostly the only thing that remains of the comic-depicted armour is their helmet design (taken primarily from this comic page). That gave enough of their original character so the rest of the armour is based off of real-life pieces that I thought would be appropriate to be mass produced as would be necessary for equipping an entire army. I didn't take them from any one particular source, just Google searched for individual parts until I found something I thought could work and then used that as a reference with modifications made as needed.

Re: The Basitin Military: An Illustrated Guide - Part 2: Halberdier

Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2018 4:50 pm
by Thallium
Part 3 of the Illustrated Guide. This week we have a diversion from the land-based army and will instead have a look at naval personnel: the marine. As an island people, having a strong navy is pretty important after all. You may start to notice in the coming weeks that the quality of the artwork seems to fluctuate a bit. The reason for this is because all the art has actually already been done and the order in which I upload them is not necessarily the order in which I drew them. This piece came somewhere in the middle which is why it may look a little bit higher fidelity than the first two. Up next week will be one of the most important cogs in the basitin military machine: the signaller. Enjoy!

Any problems viewing these images, you can find them mirrored on my FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/thallium/

Image

As a proud race of island natives far removed from the wider world, the basitins maintain a formidable navy as a first line of defence against any would-be invader. While the navy is not separate from the army as an organisational entity, due to the specialist requirements maintaining such a sea-faring force entails, naval sailors and soldiers maintain their own rank structure and lines of supply while still being under the overall command of the three high generals. The bulk of naval personal are of course sailors, those who have been trained since the age of enlistment to crew, maintain and operate the great variety of ships the navy retains in its domination of the Grand Sea. These vary in size from small schooners and sloops, medium sized 6th-4th rate ships and up to the vast 3rd-1st rate ships that strike fear into pirates and lesser human and keidran vessels everywhere. Crewing such craft is a full time job, especially during the frequent storms on the high seas and during battle and as such the sailors of the King's Royal Navy have little time to maintain combat proficiency with sword and shield, let alone fight hand to hand in a sea battle. This is where a specialist class of soldier known as marines fit in. While these men have a rudimentary knowledge of sail-craft, their primary focus is similar to that of their land-locked brethren, to close with and kill their enemies in melee combat during the boarding actions that most ship-on-ship battles eventually devolve into.

Their armour and weapons are specialised for this purpose and are quite different from those found on a battle field inland. The heavy and bulky metal cuirass is replaced by a much lighter and more flexible lamellar one made with a series of overlapping and individually threaded boiled leather plates. While not as protective as steel, this lamellar cuirass is still resistant to sword cuts, though only providing a modicum of protection against piercing and thrust weapons such as spears and arrows. Such a trade off is considered acceptable however due to the prevalence of swords and axes carried by enemy fighters and also because of the particular advantages this lighter armour provides to sea-born combatants. The first of these is that fighting taking place on a ship requires far more agility then that on land; with rigging to be scaled, stairs to be climbed and small gaps to be squeezed through, wearing a set of heavy and inflexible armour would only hinder the soldiers ability to perform their function. The second is that amongst the chaos of a boarding action, the likelihood of a marine going overboard is not insubstantial and a soldier encased in steel would surely be dragged down to the depths before any aid could be rendered from their fellows. In comparison the lighter leather armour of the marines gives them a much greater chance of survival, especially as swimming tests are mandatory part of any naval recruits training and as such all soldiers and sailors serving in the KRN are proficient swimmers.

The steel helmet of the land army is retained as such superior protection is needed to guard the most important area of the body from blows, and it has the advantage over the cuirass of being able to be removed quickly in case of a watery emergency. It also maintains its other purpose, as an identifier of rank. The burrick (short sword) is also retained because of its utility in the tight, confined spaces below decks where a longer weapon would only get in the way. The large kite shield of the Shieldbearers has however been replaced by a small metal buckler for the same purpose as the burrick: a large shield, while helpful in tight formations, does not lend itself to the unstructured and tight confines of ship combat. This buckler can be used both as a defensive ward to parry incoming blows and as an offensive weapon: an armoured fist which the marine can employ to batter his foe into submission.

Marines, as well as sailors, tend to be recruited from those basitins living in coastal regions as they tend to have a certain degree of familiarity with the sea and sailing already and so do not require the same amount of training as a land-locked farm hand might. The career path for the KRN is similar to that of the army and navel personnel can, and often do, make it into the top echelon of basitin society: the high generalships and the king. In fact, since the recent Templar attack on Hohlen Hold which led to the deaths of all three of the high generals, one of the navy's top admirals, Mordecai Seethe, has been elected to the position of Intelligence General. A high honour for one whose family can boast of no men or women holding high office as far back as the Contact Wars against the keidran and humans.

Re: The Basitin Military: An Illustrated Guide - Part 3: Marine

Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 4:34 am
by Technic[Bot]
And for some reason the first image finally decided to appear for me.

The marine looks a bit weird. It strikes me as simplified samurai armor for some reason. Not a critic in any way just a comment.
On more curious cultural notes. The buckler and helmet remind me of spanish Rodeleros. soldier armed with short-sword and bucklers. Basically light infantry.
In any case I would not like to be in the wrong side of a Basitian boarding.

Re: The Basitin Military: An Illustrated Guide - Part 3: Marine

Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 9:13 am
by Thallium
Technic[Bot] wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 4:34 am The marine looks a bit weird. It strikes me as simplified samurai armor for some reason. Not a critic in any way just a comment.
On more curious cultural notes. The buckler and helmet remind me of spanish Rodeleros. soldier armed with short-sword and bucklers. Basically light infantry.
In any case I would not like to be in the wrong side of a Basitian boarding.
I know what you mean about it looking slightly odd, it's the juxtaposition between metal and leather armour I think. I wanted to do something slightly different for this one and having some realistic leather armour seemed like an appropriate choice given their role. If you do have any criticisms, feel free to share them as I'd like to improve things as much as I can.

The lamellar style of armour was worn by many cultures in both east and west and in both metal and leather construction, however you're right, it's most famous usage was in samurai armour. This particular curiass was based of a viking one (seemed appropriate). This is probably the most "fantasy" these pieces get as while leather armour was a thing, it has been tarnished somewhat by it's unrealistic portrayal in movies and video games. All the rest of the pictures will return to metal armour, with one piece in particular which displays a very nice historical complete suit.

I like the look of those Rodeleros, if I ever decided to advance this into Mekkan's future, that might be one of the designs I'd choose.