I may have overlooked the following, but thought it might do some good to suggest:
While troublesome, you should probably add the requirement that javelins be used only at range and that the legionary must draw his or her gladius for melee combat. Otherwise, a Javazon legionary will just own everything with jab.
You've said it but it probably should be emphasised: No breaking formation. This means no teleport for the Sorceress. No charge for the Paladin (unless you're with a group of chargers who synchronize it). No Leap/Leap Attack for the Barb. No Dragon Flight for the Assassin.
I pretty much agree that Druids and Assassins are basically out of the picture. Both need to use some special ability in melee combat and that pretty much goes against the Legionary thing.
Personally, I think this is a great idea but I believe it should be an ALL Paladin squad. It makes the most sense, fits in the theme the best, and has the least trouble with switching between ranged Javelin and melee Sword roles. Plus, each member of the Pally squad can run a different aura. (eg. Fanaticism + Might + Concentration + Blessed Aim + Salvation + Prayer/Cleansing/Meditation + Conviction + Vigor).
In fact you could assign roles to each aura.. I just tried to look up the varying legionary roles in battle and couldn't find appropriate names but i'm sure there are some.
One other thing.. just for that added touch of realism/legitimacy:
The legion's Centurion MUST keep a scroll identifying their commission from the Senate and People of Rome (SPQR) in their inventory at all times and MUST assign a hotkey to that scroll. When giving orders, they MUST activate that hotkey and invoke their commissioned authority after giving commands to the unit. [In game, this will produce the Paladin's casting animation with no effect. It's often used to "dance" in town.]
Lastly.. from a webpage, I thought it might interest you:
Silence and warcries
The Roman army of the empire placed great emphasis on the silence maintained by its troops both on the march and in battle deployment. Warriors of all ages have tried to alleviate their own stress by making as much noise as possible (incidentally this is also done by chimpansee primates when engaging in warlike behaviour). The republican Roman army, which was closer to a militia than a professional army, also advanced into battle making a lot of noise, raising war cries and banging their javelins against their shields. The silence maintained by the Spartan and Roman armies was proof of their superior discipline and must have had a most unnerving effect on their opponents who had to face an enemy that apparently gave no sign of this instinctive human behaviour. The raising of the warcry only just before actual contact was also maintained by the late Roman army. Whether the Roman war cry was already resembling the Germanic barritus is unknown. Roman cavalry had apparently already adopted war cries of Germanic origin at this date, belying the usual assertion that the raising of the barritus by the late Roman army was a result of barbarisation of the fourth century army. National war cries had been raised by the various contingents of the Roman republican army and perhaps each of the constituent parts of the imperial army would use a yell of their own as well rather than a common one, adding to the cacaphony.
Flavius Arrianus, Technè Taktikè, 44.1.
A.K. Goldsworthy, The Roman army at war 100 BC â AD 200 (Oxford 1996), 50; 192-197; 229.
Oh ya.. this is NOT a stupid variant idea. I would be honored to play in an all Paladin SPQR squad.
EDIT: more thoughts!
Mercenaries.. Act 3 and Act 5 are straight out of the picture IMO. I'd be tempted to rule out Act 2 mercs as well. The best backup IMO would be a squad of light Archers, Act 1 Rogues who can be obtained almost immediately and stick with the squad for the entire game. The Legionary unit can form some very cool defensive emplacements to protect their their archers.
Holy Shield.. while it would visibly run against the Legionary appearance, I don't think i'd ask a Paladin to go without. What do you think?
Smite.. a common tactic of Roman soldiers was to shield bash and rock the enemy lines.
Charge.. how to coordinate one? But it would be AWESOME to see a line of chargers.
Zeal.. THE skill to use, right?
Blessed Hammer.. out of the question.
Weapon selection - almost certainly Atlantean (upgraded) and one of the unique javs, probably the Demon's Arch as it is so frequently found and cheap on b.net.
While troublesome, you should probably add the requirement that javelins be used only at range and that the legionary must draw his or her gladius for melee combat. Otherwise, a Javazon legionary will just own everything with jab.
You've said it but it probably should be emphasised: No breaking formation. This means no teleport for the Sorceress. No charge for the Paladin (unless you're with a group of chargers who synchronize it). No Leap/Leap Attack for the Barb. No Dragon Flight for the Assassin.
I pretty much agree that Druids and Assassins are basically out of the picture. Both need to use some special ability in melee combat and that pretty much goes against the Legionary thing.
Personally, I think this is a great idea but I believe it should be an ALL Paladin squad. It makes the most sense, fits in the theme the best, and has the least trouble with switching between ranged Javelin and melee Sword roles. Plus, each member of the Pally squad can run a different aura. (eg. Fanaticism + Might + Concentration + Blessed Aim + Salvation + Prayer/Cleansing/Meditation + Conviction + Vigor).
In fact you could assign roles to each aura.. I just tried to look up the varying legionary roles in battle and couldn't find appropriate names but i'm sure there are some.
One other thing.. just for that added touch of realism/legitimacy:
The legion's Centurion MUST keep a scroll identifying their commission from the Senate and People of Rome (SPQR) in their inventory at all times and MUST assign a hotkey to that scroll. When giving orders, they MUST activate that hotkey and invoke their commissioned authority after giving commands to the unit. [In game, this will produce the Paladin's casting animation with no effect. It's often used to "dance" in town.]
Lastly.. from a webpage, I thought it might interest you:
Silence and warcries
The Roman army of the empire placed great emphasis on the silence maintained by its troops both on the march and in battle deployment. Warriors of all ages have tried to alleviate their own stress by making as much noise as possible (incidentally this is also done by chimpansee primates when engaging in warlike behaviour). The republican Roman army, which was closer to a militia than a professional army, also advanced into battle making a lot of noise, raising war cries and banging their javelins against their shields. The silence maintained by the Spartan and Roman armies was proof of their superior discipline and must have had a most unnerving effect on their opponents who had to face an enemy that apparently gave no sign of this instinctive human behaviour. The raising of the warcry only just before actual contact was also maintained by the late Roman army. Whether the Roman war cry was already resembling the Germanic barritus is unknown. Roman cavalry had apparently already adopted war cries of Germanic origin at this date, belying the usual assertion that the raising of the barritus by the late Roman army was a result of barbarisation of the fourth century army. National war cries had been raised by the various contingents of the Roman republican army and perhaps each of the constituent parts of the imperial army would use a yell of their own as well rather than a common one, adding to the cacaphony.
Flavius Arrianus, Technè Taktikè, 44.1.
A.K. Goldsworthy, The Roman army at war 100 BC â AD 200 (Oxford 1996), 50; 192-197; 229.
Oh ya.. this is NOT a stupid variant idea. I would be honored to play in an all Paladin SPQR squad.
EDIT: more thoughts!
Mercenaries.. Act 3 and Act 5 are straight out of the picture IMO. I'd be tempted to rule out Act 2 mercs as well. The best backup IMO would be a squad of light Archers, Act 1 Rogues who can be obtained almost immediately and stick with the squad for the entire game. The Legionary unit can form some very cool defensive emplacements to protect their their archers.
Holy Shield.. while it would visibly run against the Legionary appearance, I don't think i'd ask a Paladin to go without. What do you think?
Smite.. a common tactic of Roman soldiers was to shield bash and rock the enemy lines.
Charge.. how to coordinate one? But it would be AWESOME to see a line of chargers.
Zeal.. THE skill to use, right?
Blessed Hammer.. out of the question.
Weapon selection - almost certainly Atlantean (upgraded) and one of the unique javs, probably the Demon's Arch as it is so frequently found and cheap on b.net.