Medieval Kingdoms Total War: County of Flanders feature

The county of Flanders rose to great power at the start of the 12th century with the reign of Thierry of Alsace after the last dynasty of Flemish counts ended. The cities, united under the idea of a fair count, grew under the idea of an orderly and fiscal organization, giving the communes more freedom to develop independently, and leading to the establishment of multiple municipal governments within the cities.
But, at the end of the prosperous 12th century, ruin fell upon the Flemish, with the death of their leaders Baldwin VIII in 1195 and Baldwin IX in 1205. Now, in 1212, as French envy has reached a new for the small Flemish state, will you have the ability to unite the cities and fight them back?

The County is a very strongly infantry-focused faction, so great emphasis was taken to focus on the Flemish-inspired infantry revolution. As a result, your first tier will be comprised of many militia spear, sword, and crossbow units, while knights and guild units will make up the heavy hitters of your army.
In the second tier, your militia units will gain training and morale, meaning you can rely on them for more offensive capabilities, while the strong pike, halberd, and polearm units will still be valid options for destroying your enemies.
In tier 3, as a result in the decline of the County due to the black plague and the constant revolts under the new Burgundian count, you will be limited in your sword, spear, pike, and polearms selection to very few but elite units, with the change to two interesting guild units.
But beware, as in all tiers, you have access to only three to four units of cav, so use them wisely!

Strengths: Very infantry-focused faction. Access to pikes, goedendags, and falchion-wielding shock infantry. Limited access to pike, goedendag, crossbow, spear, and falchion-wielding uniform guild units.

Weaknesses: Very limited access to spear, crossbow and cav units. Lots of militia units that have some training and somewhat high morale. Possibly surrounded by enemies of the French and German variety. Struggle with the French early on in the game.

Thanks to my fellow modders like Banskie, Ltd, and Slytacular for creating some very nice models that I was able to use in a lot of my units, and Johnny Cache for giving me the idea to add various units like the guild units and the falchion troops.
Tier 1

--General Units--

Burgomasters of the Communes
Burgomaster is the title given for mayors that oversee Dutch, Flemish and German towns. These Burgomasters were highly respected individuals in their Communes, even going through a second election after their first to get onto the council of Schepen, or aldermen, in order to become the Mayor or Burgomaster of the Commune. Several Communes could exist in one city at a time, like Brugges and Antwerpen both having two and possibly three Communes in the city.



Count of Flanders




Gui De Dampierre, Count of Flanders
As the first Count after the death of the previous two Baldwins, Gui De Dampierre was partly self-appointed to the leadership in 1278 because of his strong resentment towards the French oppressors. He also incited the first part of the Flemish Revolts, and was imprisoned for it in 1294.


--Sword and Falchion Units--

Flemish Foot-Militia


(Brugges is probably my most favorite city COA)


Flemish Falchion Militia




Brewer's Guild Falchioneers





Dismounted Flemish Men-at-Arms
An alternative name to these guys would be Poorters, those who were rich enough to afford a house inside the walls of the city. Poorters also had the chance to participate and train in the several guilds and brotherhoods throughout Flanders.




--Polearm Units--

Flemish Goedendags




Textile Cutter's Guild Goedendags




Dismounted Flemish Knights



--Pike Units--

Flemish Hook Pikemen
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
A unit idea taken from the famous manuscript depicting the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302.





Baker's Guild Pikemen






--Spear Units--

Flemish Spear Militia




--Bow and Crossbow Units--

Flemish Militia Crossbowmen

Flemish Bowmen



--Shock Cavalry Units--

Flemish Men-at-Arms




Flemish Knights

Tier 2

--General Units--

Burgomasters of the Communes




Count of Flanders



--Sword Units--

Flemish Foot-Militia




Flemish Sergeants




Fishmonger's Guild Swordmen





Dismounted Flemish Men-at-Arms





--Polearm Units--

Flemish Goedendags




Brotherhood of St. George's Goedendags / Halberds




(Goedendags in the background and foreground)

Dismounted Flemish Knights

--Pike Units--

Flemish Pikemen



Brewer's Guild Pikemen






--Spear Units--

Flemish Spear Militia




Brotherhood of St. Sebastian's Spearmen





--Bow and Crossbow Units--

Flemish Militia Crossbowmen




Flemish Bowmen




Brotherhood of St. George's Crossbowmen





--Shock Cavalry Units--

Mounted Sergeants






Flemish Men-at-Arms




Flemish Knights





Something I would like to point out in the Flemish units is the slow doing-away of the Flemish lion throughout the MAA and dismounted MAA units, as well as other units. I found a lot of different sources that curiously brought up the idea that the cities, after a certain amount of time, started to detest the Count for reasons of ignoring their pleas to become more independent cities or even independent city-states. Detestment even to the point of banishing the Count and his representatives in some cities throughout the 14th Century. And in the 15th Century, since there was constant revolts because of the leadership switch to a far away power, the Flemish Lion is completely gone in the 15th Century MAA units and decreased use in the militia units. Just wanted to clarify that.

Tier 3

--General Units--

Burgomasters of the Communes


(Bruges still coolest CoA imo)


Count of Flanders




--Sword Units--

Flemish Foot-Militia







Swordsmen of Saint Michael

The first mention of the guild of Saint Michael was in Brugges in 1433 known as the one of the first, or maybe the first, Fencing Guild in Flanders, doubling as school to teach art of dueling with two-handed swords. But while they presences in both Brugges and Tournai, they were not officially recoganized as a armed guild until 1521, because fencing was considered something closer to dancing than fighting. Regardless, after their recognition, they formally became known as the Hallebardieren, which still actually operates to this day.
The shield and armor CoA comes off from depictions of both St. Michael (notice the shield's interesting pattern), and the CoA of one Jan Van Kleef, Bastard of Ravenstein, whose tomb was set in 1504, you can see the CoA here as the original artist has disabled use of photos.



Dismounted Flemish Men-at-Arms





Flemish Sergeants






--Polearm Units--

Flemish Halberdiers






Dismounted Flemish Knights





Dismounted Flemish Compagnie






--Pike Units--

Flemish Pikemen





--Spear Units--

Flemish Pavisiers




--Bow Crossbow and Gunner Units--

Flemish Pavise Crossbowmen





Flemish Bowmen




English Retinue Longbowmen


Flemish Gunners



Gunners of Saint Barbara

The Gunners of Saint Barbara is a guild that was established in 1502 in Brugges. Saint Barbara is oddly enough the patroness of all artillerymen, army engineers, and anyone who uses gunpowder. Her presence on the field can cause artillerymen become reckless and careless. A report of the guild in 1845 detailed how 100 members of the guild gathered to celebrate, guns and all, in a church in Rome "firing all round the doors." Thus, the gunners unit is a happy-go-lucky set of troops with weapons of destruction (a.k.a. they scare enemies).



--Shock Cavalry Units--

Mounted Sergeants




Flemish Men-at-Arms




Flemish Knights






Flemish Compagnie