LE Varied Guard Uniforms

[becauseIhadto]

Where do guards come from but from the town? :D

 

Also, random guards will say stuff like: "What is a mage of the college..."

 

Either way, the town and the college have animosity. Also, even if they didn't, Winterhold is much colder than Windhelm so fur would still be appropriate. xD

 

Exactly this. Once the CK comes out, it would be a really cool idea for an optional quest to make peace with the College or exterminate the mages -- if you make peace, some of the Hold's guards become Battlemages and the dialogue options negative towards the College disappear. If you win, the resources of the College remain, but the mages are driven out. Could even be part of a longer "Winterhold Campaign," in which the town is rebuilt and you hunt down the few wizards who managed to escape the Jarl's wrath . However, in the absence of CK-driven mods, the schism between the people of the Hold -- the only recruits for the Jarl's guards, a critical unit fulfilling both military and law enforcement needs -- and the mages of the College clearly demonstrates a reason for the lack of wizards in the Winterhold Guard.

 

An extra point of support: Enthir is probably only able to keep his line to the black market open because the townspeople fear and distrust him simply as a mage. As such, his comings and goings at the inn are largely ignored -- preoccupied with the fear that he might turn them into frogs or burn down their houses, they wouldn't even consider the fact he might be trading in Black Soul Gems or highly-controlled College alchemy recipes.

 

Also, RE: Imperial guards in Solitude, saw a few people complaining about this one -- makes perfect sense to me. When a ruler of a monarchy -- a totalitarian governinng organization -- dies, the only lasting, peaceful result is dependent on a rare set of conditions: an heir that is of age, holds the unified support of the military, people, and government, and possessive of sufficient military, political, economic, and diplomatic acumen to guide their nation through times of prosperity, famine, and war. The most common result, conversely, is war.

 

Skyrim is a parallel of our own world in many ways: the Septim Empire's presence in Skyrim closely resembles the interventions of many Western nations in the political affairs of smaller nations throughout history, leading back hundreds of years. One could argue that this mod makes this comparison more poignant -- when the forces of America and the UK entered Iraq, they replaced a deposed totalitarian leader with their own combination of military and civilian governors (Tullius and the Thalmor.) When they did so, the law enforcement and military forces were completely disbanded, filling the ranks of the insurgents -- in the game's case, Stormcloaks, in Iraq, the Sunni/Shi'ite factions. Initially, their now empty roles were filled by members of the US military. Later, these Marines and soldiers were assisted by Iraqis, soldiers and police that were the result of an American-lead, all-Iraqi recruitment drive. Baghdad was filled with heavily armoured American soldiers (Cyrodillic Imperial Legates) and their newly-recruited Iraqi counterparts (Nords in the service of the Empire.)

 

I love the feel of this mod, and personally, there is not a bit of it that feels in any way unrealistic or out of lore. It fits with the analysis of Skyrim's economy by the author of the Maker's Mark Ingots mod, and given the reflections from our own world, the mod especially helps to highlight the politics of Skyrim.

 

Note: I also use a version of the Stormcloaks with a blue tartan over a padded cloth cuirasse and a chainmail tunic. I find the Stormcloak mod furthers this comparison with another example from our history -- Rome's military invasion of ancient Britain -- and overall enhances the Gaelic elements of Skyrim over the Scandinavian influences. From an immersion perspective, it also emphasizes the already-present notion that the Stormcloaks are Nord traditionalists: they have abandoned the protection of steel armour and shields in favour of the hides and fearsome weapons of their forebears, heroes who had swept the Nords' enemies from Skyrim in ancient times, besting all manner of foes from great beasts to the armies of the Mer and the hordes of Alduin. This romantic notion -- the idea of being a "Son of Skyrim" -- is the main form of recruitment for the Stormcloaks, and it's supported by Ulfric's demonstration of his ability to use the Thu'um. The reality being, of course, that Windhelm is a depopulated Hold without the resources to properly equip a military for war against the Empire, even as fractured as it is -- their weapons are crude and armour light because Ulfric lacks the support he needs from the Jarls of the larger, richer Holds in the west of Skyrim. Ulfric's victory relies on the ability to consolidate a majority of Skyrim in order to force the compliance of the rest in unification first against the Empire, and then ultimately the Thalmor -- a war that will likely require the combined forces of all free nations of Tamriel. Similarly, the Empire only intervened in the first place because it requires a unified Skyrim in order to achieve victory over the Thalmor in open war. The ill-equipped nature of the Stormcloaks -- even without the extra Stormcloak tartan mod -- when contrasted to the heavily armoured Imperials in Solitude and camps beyond is a wonderful way of visually expressing the many differences between the two factions.

[MofoMojo]

Did someone say Varied Guard Uniforms?

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=6770

 

-MM

[becauseIhadto]

Did someone say Varied Guard Uniforms?

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=6770

 

-MM

Someone linked to this thread from the comments section of that mod. Hell, I thought this was a change request to nockcha's work.