Odrysian Kingdom Rebalance and Roster Update

I couldn’t find a mod that suited me just right, so I made one! – if you have suggestions for updates, please let me know!

I love the Odrysian Kingdom, but they suffer from a lackluster roster and weak units. My goal is to solve this problem without making them over-powered or by ruining what makes them unique as a faction.

This mod has a bunch of tweaks and a roster update for the Odrysian Kingdom, the changes are as follows:

STAT CHANGES:

– Thracian shields have been buffed to 30% missile block chance (it was 0%) as well as a buff to the defense and armor values to the shield itself. This was done because I thought it was ridiculous that they have shields that are functionally useless, and it made the units using this shield have a crippling weakness to missile units, now it’s just a normal weakness.

– The Rhomphaia has been buffed to have a +8 bonus to infantry, and slightly more reach than basic swords.

– Thracian Warriors and Thracian Nobles have been buffed to have more Melee Defense, in addition to the shield buff. This should make them last longer and take less casualties in winning battles.

– The Falx has been tweaked to have a 15 bonus to infantry, cavalry and elephants (vanilla it was 0 to Infantry, 20 to cavalry and elephants). This should make Falxmen have an "anti-infantry" role on the battlefield.

– Rhomphaia armed units have been changed to use tighter unit formations, similar to Levy Freemen. The Rhomphaia having less curvature to its blade allowed it to be used in tighter formations historically. I’m not 100% sure what kind of changes this makes to the combat-effectiveness of the Thracian Nobles and Warriors.

– Thracian Peltasts have been buffed slightly (With some visual changes!)

*These buffs are also applied to mercenary and auxiliary units related to these changes. Any units that use the Falx have also been buffed*

ROSTER CHANGES (New custom units!):

– Thracian Spearmen have been added to the roster. These custom spearmen are roughly similar to Dacian heavy spears, and should be able to hold a traditional line or counter cavalry.

– Thracian Sica Warriors have been added to the roster. This custom unit I made is the Thracian version of Falxmen, this unit is meant to serve on the battlefield as shock infantry with an edge against infantry. They are better than Falxmen, but not by too much, they can be recruited as a base unit.

– Agrianian Axemen have been added to the roster (these bad boys can be recruited from the same building that Thracian Skirmishers can be in campaign). I did some very light research about the Agrianians, and it turns out that they lived in the region around Macedon and Thrace, this makes them a reasonably accurate addition to the roster (especially after the collapse of Alexander’s empire). I wanted to add them to serve as a capable light infantry force alongside the Peltasts.

– Thracian Swordsmen have been added to the roster. This is a late tier unit, built from the level 3 bronze forge. These swordsmen are similar to Gallo-Thracian infantry.

Misc Changes:

-Thracian Nobles are back to level 4 forge. Swordsmen have been unchanged.

*These changes are also available in custom battles*

This mod should be much more compatible with other mods now that I have cleaned it up using PFM!

What to expect in the future:

– I do not plan to add more units to the roster, I feel that their roster is complete – they have a decent unit to solve every problem. However, to compete with the biggest, nastiest armies, you must play like a Thracian.

– Balancing tweaks! I’m still working on balancing the units just right, this will take lots of testing from me and anyone who downloads the mod, if you want it to be just right – please leave a comment and let me know how I can better balance them.

– Addition of the Thraike faction to the Wrath of Sparta campaign with similar changes to the units.

This is my first mod, I am still learning, but I want this mod to have the love and attention that the Thracians need and deserve, the mod where anyone who likes this faction can have a mod that preserves what makes us love this faction, but adding the depth it needs to be more fun and viable against the powerful neighbors it has. It may take me some time to realize this mod’s goals, but it will be done!