Total War Rome II: Empire Divided Caledonian Variety

The Caledonians were what the Romans called the Picts – an ethnic Celtic people living in Scotland at the time of the Roman invasion and beyond. A low intensity conflict (with the occasional set piece battle) was waged between the Empire and this loose confederation of tribes for the better part of a century, with the Romans never able to decisively defeat them and, as a result, they never completely subdued Britain. The Picts were infamous for raiding across the border and waging guerilla campaigns against the Roman army, relying on their speed and local knowlege to run rings around the inflexible legions who came after them.

Nobody really knows that much about their culture, but it’s likely they were a warlike and hardy people, made tough by the harsh land they called home. They were prolific builders and expert farmers, but it doesn’t seem like they had much in the way of an industry, likely nothing to rival their richer cousins further South and certainly nothing coming close to the might of the Roman war machine.

So imagine my surprise when I encountered the Caledonians for the first time in game and noticed their best warriors were rocking their own uniform of matching helmets and mail armour. No. Bad CA. That is lazy. That is bad history.

So, with a pained sigh (just kidding I have fun), I fired up the Assembly Kit and got to work. What I’ve tried to capture in game is that raider aspect of the Picts – body armour is reserved for only the best units, with your general’s bodyguard and unit commanders wearing Roman helmets and mail armour stripped from the corpses of unlucky legionaries – everyone else is fresh out of luck, trusting to the Gods to protect them from point of a gladius.

Pretty much all the Celtic units have been modified, with a few MIA as I started to run out of steam towards the end. I haven’t been able to play test, so if anyone encounters a glaring issue or an out of place unit, gimme a shout and I’ll hop to it.