Dei Agminum (Armies of God) is an ambitious mod project aimed at becoming the premiere Medieval II Total War Crusades mod. Its origins can be traced back to the Broken Crescent Submod "Jersualem Rising". It will use the Crusades campaign from Kingdoms as a base but will in time morph into its own distinct entity. For now I will concentrate on revamping the Crusades campaign through this mod. This will include renaming existing units, settlements and factions with their historical names, introducing historically accurate buildings and new units and completely remaking unit art/UI (models, textures, banners, screens and etc.) and introducing other assets. For now these are the mod's main priorities.
The Cataphract units in the Byzantine military during the 12th century were heavily armored cavalry that played a crucial role in the empire's military strategy. These elite soldiers were distinguished by their full-body armor, including a scale or lamellar cuirass, greaves, and a helmet, providing comprehensive protection. Mounted on powerful and well-trained horses, Cataphracts were armed with a lance for shock charges and a kontos, a long, two-handed spear, for melee combat. Renowned for their disciplined formations and formidable resilience, Cataphracts were a formidable force on the battlefield, often used as shock troops to break enemy lines or as a mobile reserve. They were often land-owning elite who had sufficient pasturage for horses, thus as the empire's lands in Anatolia shrank due to Seljuk expansion, the shrinkage of the Cataphract units also began to occur. Therefore, these units are hard to come by and will require careful strategizing to maximize their effectiveness.