GENERAL! September 13, 2026 GENERAL! Day 2 Iteration 55

Galean Swordsmen Sprite Art: Idle and North Walk

Galean Swordsmen are the first unit drawn with painted sprite art instead of simple vector figures. Standing formations, facing forward or away from the camera, play an 8-frame breathing cycle, and alternate between two pose sets so twelve soldiers never move in lockstep.
Marching north, the army's usual advance direction, plays an 8-frame sprite walk cycle.
Feet sit on their ground shadows at every frame, the unit banner stays behind the soldiers, and sprite formations are spaced a little wider so neighbours don't clip into each other.
Other units, side-facing and south-marching Swordsmen, and formations locked in melee still use the vector figures for now.
The art is from image generation, cropped and cleaned up for the game.
Recorded after the fact (2026-09-17): this shipped on 2026-09-13 but was listed as unshipped exploration until now. The "before" is the real close-up taken during the change on 2026-09-13, in the rainy deployment lighting. The "after" close-up and the walk strip are fresh captures of the same unit in sunny Order Phase.