Norscan Mercenaries

This is a fairly simple, as I think the units these guys could contribute would be fairly simple.

I will just say that I kind of just expect to see the Norscan mercenary units that non chaos factions can hire just be like maybe slightly different Norscan marauder units who just don't have the more chaosy things like skulls and such on their armor and such, as I understand that, realistically, no one from any of the non chaos races/faction in the Old World at least would hire a bunch of very obvious chaos worshippers, with maybe the exceptions of maybe the Vampire Counts and the Border Princes, and that might only be for Dieter Helsnicht as a LL and because of how crazy the BPs can be.

But I will also say that, personally, I just think that Norscan mercenary units would fill the same role that the Celtic inspired warriors from Albion would, that being fierce hard fighting tribal warriors who mostly fight as infantry, and be a nice bit of different flavor from the Tilean Pikemen type mercenaries and such things.

But the point is that while I would love to to see the warriors from Albion make it into WH3 as a nice handful of flavorful mercenary units, as I do love the historical Celts, if for nothing else than their awesome cultural aesthetics. Nothing against various styles of Norse/Fantasy Nordic aesthetics, but the Celtic aesthetics is just a bit cooler and exotic looking. Just look at this picture of these Celtic Noble Warriors to see what I mean. I particularly like the look of the warrior in the center and the one on the far left.

Sorry to somewhat ramble for a bit, but my point is, that as much as I would love to eventually see the Celtic style warriors from Albion be pretty common mercenary units in WH3, I think that with how Albion is overran with Norscans, a Tzeentch faction, and Bel'akor, I find it kind of hard to believe that there are still tons of tribes of Albion still running around now.

Because unless they come out with a bit of new lore that says something like "Only a few tribes from Albion managed to flee their island homeland before it was overwhelmed by the hordes of chaos in recent years, and they managed to find shelter in the southern realms of Tilea, Estalia, and the Border Princes, where many of their menfolk started working as mercenaries in order to provide for their people.", I don't really see how there can be any decent number of them still around to be flavorful mercenary units.

That could be a good way to of incorporating more stuff from Albion into the DoW roster, but unless they really go through with that sort of thing with the lore, the Norscans are the only real other option for that sort of mercenary units in the game.

Now, I'm not trying to treat Norscan mercenaries as some sort of "silver medal" group or whatever, I would just prefer to see some sort of flavorful "tribal warrior" type human mercenary units instead of having it pretty much be limited "Empire" style human units. But you know what I mean.

And I'm sure that they could probably come up with a handful of basic non chaotic Norscan mercenary units without it literally just being the basic marauders. It could be as simple as

Norscan Raiders = Basic Norscan Marauders, and they come in axe and shield and spear and shield variants.

Norscan Reaver/Warriors = More experienced and well equipped Norscan Marauders, who come axe and shield, spear and shield, and maybe 2h axe variants.

Norscan Huskarls = Elite Marauder Champions who have  slightly more armor, who come in sword and shield, spear and shield, and 2h axe, variants, all of which also have precursor heavy javelins or throwing axes, as well as a and "Huskarl Hunter"* variant.

*The idea of "Huskarl Hunters" is that they are melee infantry who wield halberds and like 5 or 6 anti large AP javelins.

But those are just the main guys, I'm sure they could also include things like javelin and axe throwing units, among other things.

Norscan Sub Faction​

The Norscan "sub faction" is inspired by the famous historical Jomsviking mercenaries, but taking the idea a little further. And in current game terms, they'd also be more of a sub set of mercenary units rather than a proper sub faction.

And as unimaginative as it is, I'm just going to refer to these guys as the Jomsvikings, just for the sake of giving them a name for the time being. I'll try to come up with a better name later.

But the idea of these guys is pretty simple.

Their ancestors were some of the last non chaos worshipping Norscans who managed to flee Norsca very long ago before everyone there pretty much went 110% all for chaos and all that, but they didn't just setting in the lands of the Empire, Kislev, or Bretonnia, but settled on some of the larger islands in the seas around the Southern Realms. The end result is that these were some Norscans who managed retain their own identity and not simply be assimilated into being men of the Empire or whatever.

But the idea is that they've not only started working as mercenaries, but kind of developed their own mercenary identity over the centuries as well, eventually becoming something of a large mercenary company, like almost a full on medieval private military "corporation" of sorts, who's mercenaries aren't simply known for being ferocious shock troops, but being well known for being very reliable and (above almost anything else) loyal mercenaries.

There's a lot they could play around with with this sort of sub faction and all in the lore, but I like the idea that what drives these guys to honor the contracts they make with various employers is how their elders over the centuries have really driven home that any who worship the dark gods in any way are utter untrustworthy and vile scum, and all sort of bad stuff, being little more than weak willed slaves to the dark gods and all that sort of stuff.

So the current Jomsvikings strive to be everything they perceive the followers of chaos aren't, which in part means keeping one's word, which has led them to having a slightly complex system for how they set up their contracts. What I mean is that their captains or leaders usually swear an oath over their mercenary contracts, but only after they explain them to their potential employers.

Because despite what some from the more "civilized" lands and races may think, the Jomsvikings aren't the stupid brutes from the far north they may think they are, so they make it very clear that while they'll be loyal and fight for whoever is hiring them, they're not going to allow themselves to simply be used as cannon fodder either, and have been known to sometimes walk out on or turn on employers who try to use them in such ways.

Aside from that stuff, I think that they could do some interesting things with how these Jomsviking guys approach battle. 

I like the idea that they've not just stayed ancient tribal warbands, but neither have they just gone along with all the "military trends" that have come and gone over the centuries. Like in some ways, they went from pelt wearing tribal warriors to far more organized and disciplined Varangian Guard, but didn't lose any ferocity along the way.

For instance, while they're willing to use weapons like halberds, they're not the biggest fans of long pikes, as they're well aware that while a wall of pikes is certainly a formidable military tool, they do have their weaknesses, such as how unwieldy they can be, and maybe they even worked on tactics on how to counter pikemen. But one thing they did hold onto is the idea of "precursor weapons", as in throwing massed volleys heavy javelins or throwing axes just before they charge their enemies, which they held onto from the ancient Tilea and Estalian styles of warfare.

I would even say that they could play around with other stuff, like them coming to love crossbows, and even using some limited firearms and cannons, which they mainly keep for reinforcing their major settlements.

As for units in a TW game.

I would say it'd be quite similar to what I mentioned before about regular Norscan mercenary units, with it just being Jomsviking Recruits, Warriors, and elite Huskarls, with similar variants, but these guys would certainly be more well equipped than their chaotic cousins. Throw in things like Jomsviking Crossbows and a few other things, and you'd probably be completely set for a bunch of flavorful mercenary units.

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The Far East mercs sound cool.

DoW does NOT need a Norsca Faction.  New Norscan content should go to Norsca.  And DoW have WAY better Faction options.  Like:

Araby
L: Arabyan Sheik (Melee)
H: Arabyan Sorcerer (Spellcaster)

Arabyan Guards (Swords+Shields)

Arabyan Desert Riders (Swords+Shields)

Arabyan Camel Riders (Jezzails)

Arabyan Flying Carpets (Bows)
Arabyan War Elephant (Spears+Bows)

Halflings

L: Halfling Moot General (Ranged)

H: Halfling Master Chef (Support)

Halfling Fieldwardens (Spears)

Halfling Thieves (Dual Daggers+Throwing Knives)

Halfling Poachers (Bows)

Halfling Battle Ram Riders (Spears)

Halfling Hot Pot

Amazons

L: Amazon Serpent Priestess (Spellcaster)

H: Amazon Huntress (Ranged)

Amazon Eagle Warriors (Spears+Shields)

Amazon Jaguar Warriors (Dual Claws)

Amazon Python Warriors (Javelins)
Amazon Piranha Warriors (Blowpipes)
Amazon Culchan Riders (Spears+Shields)

Give me Factions for Ind and Nippon as well and I'm all in.

VikingHuscal1066#5774 wrote:
I mean, what can they really do with Marco Colombo aside from maybe putting him in the New World Colonies?

Give him a Culchan mount.  Make him buff New World DoW units like Amazons.

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Wyvax#7456 wrote:
if Beorg Bearstruck comes as a Norscan LL (which he should)

He should be a Norsca LH.

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Beast_of_Guanyin#8747 wrote:

I don't want a far eastern LL or Norscan Mercenaries.

While I think DoW should try to have as many units from races that'll never be in as it can I don't want that extending to characters. Especially since DoW characters can be literally anywhere. Even moreso than usual LLs. 

Honestly, the original post is so bizarre for the character suggestions. 

It puts the Monkey King as a potential Dogs of War character, and even better Dieter Helsnicht as a Dogs of War character? (Could just be poor phrasing by the author on that one.) A guy who has nothing to do with mercenaries, a Mortarch of Nagash, and a Vampire Counts Character from 5th edition as a Dogs of War character.

The custom Far Eastern Legendary Lord isn't much better as it is the most Mary Sue character I have seen in a minute, great warrior and strategic mastermind who has secured the undying loyalty of the Tigermen by slaughtering a singular tiger. They also get a cadre of Nipponese and Indan units from special building chains because why not at this point.

Also, Albion units could never be in the Dogs of War because Be'lakor is on Albion apparently. Never mind how Truthsayers, the Giants of Albion, and Fenbeasts are known to roam around outside of Albion. Also, Norscans apparently fled from Chaos 2,500 years ago to form a PMC (Private Military Company) on Sartosa or some other islands by Tilea. I am going to assume that their character would be called "Venom Snake" or maybe "Big Boss" as it seems like someone wanted Viking Metal Gear Solid 5. They also read like a bunch of Mary Sues who both hate pikes but are great at everything else. It also ignores that the Dogs of War already use Norscan mercenaries and reinvents all that lore because reasons.

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Beast_of_Guanyin#8747 wrote:

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SaintCorn#3148 wrote:

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Beast_of_Guanyin#8747 wrote:

I don't want a far eastern LL or Norscan Mercenaries.

While I think DoW should try to have as many units from races that'll never be in as it can I don't want that extending to characters. Especially since DoW characters can be literally anywhere. Even moreso than usual LLs. 

Honestly, the original post is so bizarre for the character suggestions. 

It puts the Monkey King as a potential Dogs of War character, and even better Dieter Helsnicht as a Dogs of War character. A guy who has nothing to do with mercenaries, a Mortarch of Nagash, and a Vampire Counts Character from 5th edition as a Dogs of War character.

The custom Far Eastern Legendary Lord isn't much better as it is the most Mary Sue character I have seen in a minute, great warrior and strategic mastermind who has secured the undying loyalty of the Tigermen by slaughtering a singular tiger. They also get a cadre of Nipponese and Indan units from special building chains because why not at this point.

Also, Albion units could never be in the Dogs of War because Be'lakor is on Albion apparently. Never mind how Truthsayers, the Giants of Albion, and Fenbeasts are known to roam around outside of Albion. Also, Norscans apparently fled from Chaos 2,500 years ago to form a PMC (Private Military Company) on Sartosa or some other islands by Tilea. I am going to assume that their character would be called "Venom Snake" or maybe "Big Boss" as it seems like someone wanted Viking Metal Gear Solid 5. They also read like a bunch of Mary Sues who both hate pikes but are great at everything else. It also ignores that the Dogs of War already use Norscan mercenaries and reinvents all that lore because reasons.

I didn't read much of it, I just saw Eastern Mercenary characters and dismissed it as a whole. I agree with all of your points though.

I honestly wish I read less of it. So, you definitely made the right call. 

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Beast_of_Guanyin#8747 wrote:

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SerPus#7395 wrote:

VikingHuscal1066#5774 wrote:

Their ancestors were some of the last non chaos worshipping Norscans who managed to flee Norsca very long ago before everyone there pretty much went 110% all for chaos and all that

That pretty much what Kislev is.

I thought they were just Northerners but still close enough they're not warped by Chaos? I don't think they fled from Norsca, rather they're closer to the Empire and less affected by Chaos influences.

They didn't flee Norsca. The Godspodars fled west from the Eastern Steppes after Miska the Khan-Queen has a prophetic vision, and all their neighbors fall to Chaos. Making them the only tribe to do so, some 1000 years ago. Ungols were just living where Kislev was at the time. 

Thanks to both of you for the knowledge.