Perfect Legionnaire – Imperial Armor Reforged 6-0
A deadly serious and stylish rework of the Imperial armory!
This is not perfect, but a work of love – please treat it with respect. And most of all: enjoy!
Essential Credits – First things first:
This modification is inspired by and probably would not be in existence without Aremeta’s very good Imperial Legion Armor mod. From her or him I got the initial idea of making use of the General Tullius armor mesh for the trooper armor and found orientation of how to link my reworked textures with the corresponding mesh files. That being said, Aremeta deserves a great portion of the credit for this mod! I would very much like to link to her/his mod in this place, but it does not exist anymore on the Nexus. Nevertheless, I want and have to clearly express my thanks and appreciation for Aremeta’s fine work ! Update: Aremeta kindly sent me the assets of his original mod, which deserves another big “thank you”.
morpheas768 provided a cool and convenient NMM Installer for Version 2.0. Thank you, morpheas768!
Davis237834, the author of Roman Style Imperial Legion Shields graciously gave his permission to use his perfectly fitting square shield! Thank you VERY much, Davis – without you I’d never have been able to come up with a Morrowind-style Legion shield ! You are awesome, man – and all the credit belongs to you !
Jedo_Dre, the author of Roman armor and weapons generously gave his permission to use his awesome gladius! I just love this blade…!!! Thank you VERY much, Jedo, for your kindness and this perfect piece of art! All the credit belongs to you ! I encourage everyone to check out his awesome mod – there is a good chance you will like it better then “Perfect Legionnaire”, if you are after a more Roman-style appearance for Skyrim’s Imperial Legion!
navida1, the author of Improved closefaced helmets graciously gave his permission to use his open face Imperial full helmet model! A great addition – thank you truly!
rahman530, the author of Lore Friendly Armor Pack: his “Heroic Imperial Armor” finally gave me the orientation I needed to properly combine armor model parts in order to properly add pants and sleeves.
gechbal, the author of Emperor’s Will generously gave his permission to use his fabulous armor model and textures! Finally a more than worthy armor model to recreate the Imperial Templar armor from TES 3 Morrowind! Thank you SO much, gechbal! I just love this armor of yours!
Without the marvellous work of these people, my “Perfect Legionnaire” would not be what it is now. Thank you for very much your awesome and enriching work!
Version 6.0 Features:
Imperial Templar Armor added NEW
– based on gechbal’s awesome Emperor’s Will models and textures !
– original armor model (pauldrons) very slightly edited in Nifskope NEW
– added gloves to the bracers via Nifskope NEW
– armor, helmet, boots and bracer textures reworked (colors, saturation, contrast) to resemble the Imperial Templar Armor from TES 3 Morrowind NEW
– heavily worked on the normalmap textures to achieve shine effect on selected elements NEW
– no (optional) warming fur elements yet
– esp file needs to be activated to have the armor in the game
– Legate tier armor, only worn by some of the legates for now. Looking into better distribution. Proceeding carefully here to preserve mod compatibility as far as possible.
Studded Imperial Armor replaced
– male and female armor replaced
– completeley overhauled textures and normalmaps
– shine effect on breastplate achieved through reworked normalmaps
– Morrowind-style coloring and breastplate ornaments
– BLUE cloth version is default now – Morrowind style!
– optional RED cloth version – vanilla style
– pants and sleeves, finally !
– properly warming leather gloves added to the bracers, finally!
– added warming fur elements around the neck and back
– optional armor meshes without the fur elements
Light Imperial Armor reworked
– male and female armor reworked
– mostly a recolor with some retextured elements, added a stylish belt-buckle, removed overdone vanilla-elements
– BLUE cloth version is default now!
– optional RED cloth version
– pants and sleeves, finally !
– properly warming leather gloves added to the bracers, finally!
– Light Imperial Helmet recolored, darkened to be in line with the other equipment, normal map slightly edited, small Imperial Dragon symbol added
– Light Imperial Boots recolored, darkened to be in line with the other equipment
– Light Imperial Bracers recolored, darkened to be in line with the other equipment
– satchel added
Heavy Imperial Armor reworked
– pants and sleeves for the male and female heavy armor, finally!
– properly warming leather gloves added to the bracers, finally!
– Vanilla textures still largely untouched – planning to work on them in the future
– male heavy armor texture: some leather elements darkened and recolored, chainmail parts reworked
– male normalmap textures: reworked to achieve shine effect on selected elements NEW
– BLUE cloth version is default now!
– optional RED cloth version
– added warming fur elements around the neck and back
– optional armor meshes without the fur elements
General Tullius Armor heavily reworked
– male and female armor reworked
– BLUE cloth version is default now!
– optional RED cloth version
– pants and sleeves added, finally !
– properly warming leather gloves added to the bracers, finally!
– design loosely based on the Lord’s Mail artifact from TES III Morrowind
– Heavy Imperial Boots slightly recolored to be in line with the other equipment
– Heavy Imperial Bracers slightly recolored to be in line with the other equipment
– all 3 kinds of Heavy Imperial Helmets slightly recolored to be in line with the other equipment
– added warming fur elements around the neck and back
– optional armor meshes without the fur elements
Penitus Oculatus Armor slightly reworked and fixed
– male and female armor slightly reworked
– pants and sleeves added, finally !
– properly warming leather gloves added to the bracers, finally!
– Oculatus Boots slightly recolored to be in line with the other equipment
– Oculatus Bracers slightly recolored to be in line with the other equipment
– Oculatus Helmet slightly recolored to be in line with the other equipment
– added warming fur elements around the neck and back
– optional armor meshes without the fur elements
Imperial Shield replaced Optional File
– based on Davis237834’s awesome rectangular shield model and his texture as a basis
– made Davis’ shield mesh slightly smaller and quite heavily edited his shield texture and normal map to finally achieve a true Morrowind-style shield!
– partial shine effect achieved through edited normal maps
– available in BLUE or RED
– light Imperial shield replaced as well, based on the hide shield model. More or less a placeholder for now and WIP, but I think it goes along much better with the light Imperial armors then the vanilla shield.
Gladius replaces Imperial Sword Optional File
– based on Jedo_Dre’s awesome gladius model and texture !
– slightly recolored Jedo’s textures to have it fit with the rest of the reworked equipment
– former issues with blood on blade resolved by Jedo Dre
open face Imperial Full Helmet Optional File
– based on navida1’s Improved closefaced helmets model !
– works for all humanoids except Khajiit and Argonians, who instead wear the Imperial Officer’s Helmet
furless armor version Optional File
– don’t like the new fur elements? Go grab that file and overwrite the meshes from the main file
Legion equipment redistribution via .esp NOT optional anymore of you want to have the new Templar Armor in your game
– .esp file included in the main file download
– edited a small number of legion-specific item distribution lists, no actors edited
– makes better use of all the reworked legion equipment
– more Legionnaires who actually have shields
– will not affect already spawned NPC
Mixing and matching everything, light and heavy armor elements, is now actually FUN since everything looks quite well together – in my eyes at least.
Judge for yourself! I hope you will enjoy it all as much as I do!
Future Plans:
– Working on the Imperial heavy armor textures
– Working on the Penitus Oculatus armor, possibly significantly changing the style
– further distinguish Legion equipment distribution and differentiation via Construction Set (optional)
Known Issues:
This mod has its flaws. A few small texture gaps, a bit of clipping from combining models, being a noob with crude tools. There is a noticeable “texture hole” on the INSIDE of the skirt texture When crouching and looking at the crouching character or NPC from the front, from a low camera angle. This applies to the studded armor and Tullius armor. I suspect this to be an easily fixable texture issue, but sadly not for a person of my limited experience. Sorry for the inconvenience – but I believe the mod is already fine as is. It is a work of love and I hope you will enjoy nevertheless!
FAQ
Q: Why don’t the textures show up ingame…?
A: You are very likely using the Skyrim High-Res Texture DLC, which has issues with other texture mods because these high res textures are added to the game in a rather… insensitive way by Bethesda.
There is a rather easy fix/workaround though: Please refer to this video or forum thread!
Sorry for the inconvenience – although Bethesda should say the same I guess…
Q: “I love this, but it looks odd that a low rank would have such great armour…” (Morganite)
A: Thanks for the compliment! The main reason is: This armor was inspired by one of the legion trooper armors from “TES 3 – Morrowind”. I loved that armor and just wanted that thing in Skyrim. I think a proud and disciplined army like the Imperial Legion just deserves some style! Even a low ranked trooper. Furthermore, I plan to work on the higher tier Imperial armors too, which then hopefully results in a proper and fitting overall picture.
Q: Why did you replace the studded armor and not the heavy one?
A: Because I wanted to replace Skyrim’s standard trooper armor, which is the light and studded one, with TES 3 Morrowind’s (kind of) standard trooper armor: Imperial Steel Armor.
Q: But this used to be a heavy steel armor in Morrowind!
A: Perfectly right. But for Skyrim I took the liberty to consider my reworked armor as a kind of studded/hardened/boiled leather armor similar to this one: Boiled Armor instead of being a steelish heavy armor. I deem that quite fitting for the standard legionnaire.
Q: There are a lot of files – why?
A: To keep things modular and file size small. Different people like different things.
Q: Will you rework other Imperial gear?
A: I will try to! I cannot guarantee to come up with anything decent though, but at least I will try to!
Q: What’s next on the agenda?
A: See “Future Plans” above, please.
Description and Motivation:
This mod introduces reworked versions of the Imperial and General Tullius armors and shield, thereby re-introducing the classic and beloved Morrowind style to Skyrim.
Why?
A proud legion has a history!
I always greatly liked Morrowind and its style – especially regarding the design and appearance of the proud Imperial Legion.
Skyrim’s original light and studded imperial armor were somewhat… bland… in my eyes. The studded armor in particular. And i never liked those clunky vanilla shields
The legion just didn’t appear to be a force to be reckoned with. That needs to be changed!
This is my contribution and humble attempt to address that issue – and to re-introduce some much needed style and seriousness.
At least in my eyes.
Installation / Uninstallation:
Either just drop / remove the files into / from your Skyrim folder, or use the Nexus Mod Manager.
Credits:
Aremeta
Davis237834
Jedo_Dre
navida1
rahman530
morpheas768
Bethesda
