i like the horns. i don’t know
In some units can be fine. But no at all. And not simple cow horns like a caricature.
Huscarls and axemans had no horns in original game (and that was one thing that I liked when I was a child)
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We actually have seen it lol
-First, I would ask not to derail the conversation topic further. Let’s talk about the helmets in this thread.
-Second, hydras in AoM start with one head and gain an additional head for every unit they kill, up to a maximum of 5
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Crosses only appeared on those kinda shields after the people converted to Christianity.
Yes cross shaped where used in other places too but not by cultures that were directly opposed to Christian ones.
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regarding the helmet topic i can see where some here are coming from. some old unit models didn’t use helmets and in history its kind of confirmed vikinings didn’t use horns for battle cause being kind of impractical but more (rarely) for ritual/certain ceremonies and stuff.
but is AoM historically correct? no it isn’t. its fantasy and mythology vagualy based on historically stuff. and thats why some here love it so much.
now do some norse units use horns? yes, some do. hersir and raiding cav use horns. so i don’t see a problem in being more consistent with the overall design.
but you could argue you could remove ALL horns. and i personally wouldn’t mind, i just want my hydra to be more warhammer fantasy/troy mythos looking 
will hersir come back is the quesiton tho… i personally liked the design but didn’t like you could spam hersir and you gain (with i think just EE?) only favour with them. i want heroes to norse (and egypt) similar to greek. maybe less but still some like reginleif - also good to know for some here: reginleif won’t have horns on her helmet. so even reason to support that idea 
i think the consistency here is - again - the issue, not the fact that some units it seems now have horns.
As a curiosity, raiding cavalry use horns in the miniature 
But no in the moddel. Here it had wings. 
So, only hersir had horns.
My problem with the horns is not about historicity. If some units like Hersir have horns to show their status, its ok for me.
But as we have seen, now Huscarls and Axemans have horns. And NOT COOL horns like the IMAGE BELOW:
.
NO, they use typical COW HORNS used in cartoons (as shown below), which the Norse enthusiasts community really dislikes
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VIKING/CELTIC ^^
AOM is a Fantasy Game no Hard-Historical =P
You can read this response…
And this other one…
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I hope they fix it by the time AoM: Retold is released.
AoE 2 should fix this as well, as it’s a horribly incorrect stereotype.
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So I’d like to chime in that this is supposed to depict a mythological conception of Germanic people rather than an exact presentation of practical armor from any given period. Importantly horned helmets were an common element in ritual clothing. In fact that is the primary origin for the horned vikings motif is that a wide variety of romantic artists in various mediums (most notably Wagner and his operas) depict these figures as being horned. This wasn’t meant to be a realistic depiction but rather a symbol that you are now dealing with the world of myth and legend. They are depicted with ritualistic clothing elements as a standard piece of clothing to show their divine and heroic status. In that regard the horned helmets are actually incredibly appropriate because we are dealing with mytholgical armies and not historical armies.
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Seems like Microsoft should charge customers more for Age of Empires games so they can hire History professors and expert historians throughout their AoE/AoM productions. Call it an “Expert Consultation Fee”, to make sure every character, every piece of armour, every weapon, every word spoken, every building constructed, and every texture used is historically accurate for each of the 45(?) civs in AoE2, 22(?) in AoE3, 12(?) in AoE1, and 15(?) Gods in AoM. If there are only 175 rivets used on certain shields, we really should not see 180, for example.
I’m sure expert consultants aren’t too cheap, so how much extra are you/we willing to pay for AoE/AoM games so we are assured everything is historically accurate?
Let’s also hire expert fashion consultants with big names to make certain every character is fashionable, as well, since I know that’s a big part of your reasoning.
Purely subjective. Everyone’s tastes are different.
But if making a fashion statement on the battlefield is so important, then yes, it’s time to hire top tier fashion consultants for the AoE/AoM franchise to make sure any historical inaccuracies that slip through the cracks after all the expert consultations at least look cool… and then charge more for the games to recoup the costs of this vitally important thing
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Idk about horns, but please, guys, there is ONE thing you HAVE to keep:
These random funny names.
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Those names are as iconic as La Hire’s quotes in AoE II. I will riot if the Hersir’s names are gone.
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Typically, the typical “cow horns” on Viking helmets are somewhat caricatured. Even games like Skyrim that introduce horns on some helmets do not feature the typical “simple COW HORN” reserved generally for cartoons for kids.
Just keep the unit design without horns for Huskarls and Axemans. It’s a quick change, in AoE3 they’ve made dozens of minor aesthetic changes like this
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I play this game since childhood and still laugh when I read these names.
Some Pharaohs have unusual names as well. At least on EE, sometimes Eggy spawns a Pharaoh called “Larry” lol
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This thread can provide an estimate of what proportion of people don’t read the main post before replying…
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I didn’t know the possible history until you said something. I Googled it yesterday and see it says there is ‘no evidence the Vikings wore horned helmets’. That way of phrasing does not give a 100% certain conclusion, imo, but, basically, it looks unlikely they had horns unless and until there is evidence to support otherwise. I think a ton of people don’t know this.
I bet most people probably never thought the horns looked silly either. You’re the only person I’ve personally ever heard say they look silly, to be honest.
There’s no mistaking it is a unique and iconic look, which can help identify/differentiate units on a game battlefield. So, this should probably be a factor to consider before devs remove them, assuming aesthetics is the only thing to worry about. I don’t know enough about the topic or the history of this to add much more to the discussion
Nord units are so iconic in this game, and horns are a minor detail.
Im 90% sure devs didn´t put horns by legibility reasons.
Within the ‘viking friendly’ community, it’s a widely spread idea. At least the tipical "cow horn
See for example default Vikings in for honor (as example of fantasy nords). Some of them have horns, others don´t. However there are not “typical cow horns”
I´m only asking for huskarls and Axemans without horns. There are other nord units with horns.
Let’s not have them take away the only units that didn’t have them
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