This has to be a first!

[johan osterman]

The heart companions are based on the Theban sacred band. An explicitly gay elite company, that if recall correctly fought against Philip II in Alexanders youth. As for the name I am not sure where Kristoffer got it, I'll hazard a guess that it is from Alexanders companions, and he choose to gay up the name by adding the heart prefix.

[ November 01, 2003, 15:50: Message edited by: johan osterman ]

[Jasper]

I thought the addition of the Sacred Band was a nice touch; My only complaint is that at 25 gold they don't seem worth it. :-(

Maybe they should go berserk? As pairs of lovers fought in the same unit, that might be a fair approximation of the madness inherent in watching your mate die. This kind of psychology was the whole point of the Sacred Band.

[ November 01, 2003, 18:55: Message edited by: Jasper ]

[Pocus]

they are the only units which can be blessed, so you cant really compare them to the cost of another Arcoscephalian one I think.

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by Lars M. Nielsen:
Actually I wasn't sure what they were called, but I've read their symbol was the letter lambda.

Nope. The Lambda letter was not used by Thebans, but by Spartans (Lambda as in 'Lakedaimon', ie the alternate name for Sparta).

[st.patrik]

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
Arent the Spartans supposed to have also been a gay legion? Saw something about that on the learning channel.

Not exactly - I mean in Greek culture generally back then homosexuality, or rather a form of bisexuality, was pretty standard - just read some of Plato's dialogues (there's references all over the place). The only difference was that in general it was an older/middle-aged guy with younger boys, or at least youths.

I don't remember the details on Sparta in particular, but I don't think they differed that much from the Greek norm in this respect. They certainly weren't distinct in this regard from other Greek city-states.

[PvK]

Spartan youths were frequently raised and trained by older warriors, and part of the training, it's generally accepted, included homosexual relations. Though, they were more bisexual rather than gay - they had wives and children, too.

Dominions isn't the first computer game to have Spartans, although AFAIK it might be the first to mention it, though I doubt it - there are many games out there.

As for the first to have blood magic and crossbreed monsters... nah. I remember a game back about 1989 that had a "sacrifice virgin" command... another that had male prostitution as a way to make money for your hero... there are quite a few games that include necromancy, vampirism, abominable monsters, and so on. Spiderweb Software has its "Geneforge" series of games, which center around making mutant monsters.

PvK

[Mephisto]

Why does a "Heart Companion" have to be homosexual? They share the same dream in the heart for the same thing and are companions in this regard.
The lamda could have its origin from the island of Lesbos, where a school for girl/women was seated. It’s said that they were mostly homosexual, therefore the word “lesbian”.
Just my 0.02€.

[ November 01, 2003, 22:29: Message edited by: Mephisto ]