As a warning, I'm not a programmer... but I'll try it myself because why not!
So let's see if I can make at least some of these 30ish civs come to life!
Be forewarned: Nothing here is set in stone. This is just idea sharing per say. For any who think this is a PvE Xpac, you should look at the Techtrees and tell me how PvE oriented they look with a straight face.
I know what you’re thinking: too soon! Yes it is… and yet, no it’s not. It’s never too soon to start planning ahead: it's like doing your big report the week you get it! I’ll bet ES had UTs in mind all along with AoK but withheld it to the expansion deliberately to sell a new game. I’ll betcha that!
Color Coded for your convenience:
Civ Name
Unique Unit
Castle Age Unique Tech
Imperial Unique Tech
Brand New Techs
Anywho, this is a place to discuss thoughts for new civs, units, techs and balance changes (though that should wait until FE has a metagame.)
Here there are mostly propositions, mostly because I’m not an expert multiplayer, and can’t program my way out of wet tissue paper. As such, hopefully I could pick up a wandering kind soul to scoop my dreams into his or her capable programming hands!
So, what would this expac be? Well, I’d say we look at the map and take note of a mostly unused continent: Africa!
While it wouldn’t be prudent to cram every possible African civ into one game, a decent amount wouldn’t hurt. As such, my dreams include these civs from the continent: Vandals, Berbers and Ghana and some others not from there: Khmer, Portuguese and Toltecs!
Enough about that: Welcome! Welcome to Age of Empires: Rise of the Dark Continent
Not to say there won’t be other future African civs, but one Xpac at a time. I chose these 3 with good reason:
The Berbers of Morocco are a fierce and zealous force, but their key gameplay style is based on both spear and camel. As such, Berbers are to be the penultimate anti-cavalry civ.
Berbers, Moroccans and North African Muslims not inhabiting Spain (642-1574)
An Anti-cavalry Civ
Bonuses:
- Camels 20% Faster
Berber armies utilized camels from the harsh arid climates, and were very useful in campaigns against both Spain and the middle African empires.
- Heresy, Atonement Free
Frenzied, and furious, the Berbers believed that they waged an endless holy war, a Jihad, and would never relent in their attacks.
- Spearmen do 66% more cavalry bonus damage, +1 base damage
Spears were an important weapon in Berber conquests. Whether against European knights or the Ghana/Mali/Songhai cavalry armies, the spear was useful time and time again.
- Transport Ships 25% faster
This bonus represents the constant desire to send troops across the Mediterranian into Spain.
TB: Trade Carts/Cogs +3/3 Armor
When not conquering, the Berbers were avid traders, especially with the gold and salt wealthy people of Ghana. Trade routes were well protected by vanguards of strong Berbers.
Blackguard A powerful, lumbering spearman with a lot of armor. It’s pretty much a Spearman with a Teutonic Knight’s might. Excellent vs. melee, weak vs. ranged, very strong vs. horses and devastating to elephants and doesn’t get affected by Cataphract style spear resistances.
Stats [Elite]: 65 [90] HP, 9 [14] damage (+13 [18 vs camels], +37 [52] vs cavalry +51 [75] vs elephants], 4/1 [8/3] armor. Costs 75f/45g
Amazigh – The word means free people in the Berber language. Villagers move 10% faster and they and houses become immune to conversion.
Jihad – Black Guard, Spearman, Camel, Cavalry Archer +2 damage (+5 vs. Monks)
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Eagle Warrior, Tracking
Disabled Cavalry: Husbandry
Disabled Archery: Elite Skirmisher, Thumb Ring
Disabled Siege: Siege Onager
Disabled Dock: Heavy Demo Ship
Disabled Blacksmith: /
Disabled Economy: Crop Rotation, Stone Shaft Mining
Disabled University: Architecture, Guard Tower
Disabled Castle: Hoardings
Disabled Monastery: /
As can be seen, the focus is very heavy on anti-cavalry units though their Horse Archers, despite their lack of Thumb Ring and Husbandry, pack a decent punch, mostly needed to help the Berbers with their own issues vs. archers due to a lack of ESkirms. Of course, Husbandry lacking Hussars and Paladins can do that too, but still. This is one civ you cannot Monk Rush because they get free Heresy. In a Monk war, it technically could hurt if you want to try and ‘reconvert’ units, but how rare would that be?
The Vandals are a fascinating bunch. Originally a Germanic tribe, they migrated all the way into Northern Africa and eventually claimed the city of Roman Carthage (henceforth, there is no negotiating that Vandals should share a building set with Italy. They must!) The thing about the Vandals is that when nearby Moors/Berbers/Numidians (I’m not sure if Moors are the right term because they weren’t in Spain/Iberia yet) beset upon them with skilled cavalry, the Vandals adjusted and succeeded against them, they too developing cavalry and even camelry techniques. In fact, hired camel riders attempted to use defensive tactics of odor to repel enemy Cavalry. It failed against the Byzantines, who dismounted before engagement.
Vandals, Germanic Barbarians who conquered Africa and the Sea (406-529)
Naval and Cavalry Civ
Bonuses:
- Camels +10% Health and +3 damage vs. cavalry
When the Vandals were pushed into Africa, they quickly were met with furious Africans who lived in the saddle. The Vandals, unlike other Germanic tribes, adapted to this well and even began utilizing camels for use against Roman cavalry. It only started to fall apart when Roman generals had their men dismount to engage instead.
- Heavy Demo Ship Upgrade free (Requires War Galley); Shipwright, Careening, Free and gotten one age sooner.
Vandal navies quickly took the sea when they took over Carthage and they became its scourge. Using boats lit on fire, they were able to break the tightly nit formations of Byzantine navies and set their ships all ablaze.
- Siege Engineers affects Ships (+1 Range and 20% building damage. Demo Ships no range but +40% building damage ala Petards)
At sea, the brutal force of the Vandals was far reaching, and even helped them in the sacking of Rome. The Vandals are the only other tribe besides the Ostrogoths to ever get the 'pleasure' of destroying Rome.
- Age Advancement 20% Faster
The Vandal timeline is short, but brutal, and only lasted about a century, but they swiftly rose under the guidance of Geaseric to quickly dominate.
TB: Demolition ships +2 Range
More Demo Ship Powers to ensure you break a lot of boats.
Asding – A Moorish mercenary heavy camelry unit (in this case given a Vandal tribe name) with bonus damage vs. infantry and horses. It has better than Cataphract-like resistance to anti-cavalry, taking +1 from archers instead.
Stats [Elite]: 115 [165] HP, 9 [12] damage (+9 [14] vs infantry, +7 [11] vs cavalry), 2/1 [3/3] armor. Costs 70f/85g
Quinquireme – Stolen Ships from the Roman Empire, powerful sluggish arrow warship with an attack that hits a target and can pierce through it like a Scorpion. Requires a castle to start training at the docks.
Stats [Elite]: 125 [165] HP, 8 [11] damage (+4 [6] vs boats, +2 [3] vs siege.) 2/7 [2/8] armor, 7 [8] range, Costs 85w/90g
Vandalism – Quinquiremes gain slow health regeneration and all land units +2 damage and armor vs. Buildings (+5 vs. Monasteries and Wonders.)
Sacking Carthage – Asding and Camels gain 2 trample damage (4 vs. cavalry), Knights get as well (but no bonus vs. Cavalry)
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Halberdier, Eagle Warrior
Disabled Cavalry: Hussar
Disabled Archery: Hand Cannoneer, Arbalest
Disabled Siege: Onager, Siege Ram
Disabled Dock: /
Disabled Blacksmith: Plate Mail Armor
Disabled Economy: Crop Rotation, Gold Shaft Mining
Disabled University: Bombard Tower, Fortified Walls
Disabled Castle: /
Disabled Monastery: Sanctity, Atonement, Block Printing, Fervor
As can be seen, this is a camel and naval civ, though it’s more focused on naval power than say the Saracens and the camel bonus health is 12 at best (the 4 damage vs. Horses is nothing to scoff at though.) Vandal might is based on offenses as shown by their lack of fortified Walls (having cities like Carthage means they must get SOME stone defenses though)
Yes, it is wierd that a Europe-based Vandal tribe names a Heavy Camelphract but balance and fun take precedence. Isn't that right, unmounted Teutonic Knights?
To bring the Sahara and Sub-Sahara into the picture, we start with one civ this pack: Ghana. This empire is meant to focus less on having a military focus (though it’s technically cavalry albeit with little direct bonus) and instead focuses on Economy. In this way, Ghana is the Economic civ!
Ghana, first of the major trade empires in Africa (830-1235)
An Economic Civ
Bonuses:
- Trade units 2.3x movespeed
Trade was vital. With gold and salt in surplus, the people of Ghana quickly traded for things they might need.
- Melee Units +1 damage
The craft of Ghana's weapons were strong iron, which they used to control and protect trade.
- Barracks, Archery Range, Stable, Siege Workshop, Monastery +50% more garrison space.
Soldiers at the ready for Ghana were always a must.
- Start +50 wood and gold
Gold spilling free right into your pockets, and a little wood to go with it.
- Mining Camp Techs free
Mining, mining and more mining.
TB: Spearman +3 damage vs. Camels
Spears were a common weapon and were important to repel desert assailants and the likes of Berber and Malian armies.
Mandekalu – An armoured cavalry unit not weak to anti-cavalry spears because he’s on a smaller horse/pony; instead weak to anti-infantry even though it’s actually a cavalry unit. It still takes bonus damage from camels.
Stats [Elite]: 95 [120] HP, 9 [13] damage, 2/2 [2/3] armor. Costs 80f/70g
Tax Exploit – Receive 20% more from trade and penalizes enemy market trade tax by making it 5% less profitable for them.
Poisoned Arrows – Archers and towers +1 damage. This damage ignores missile armor.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Champion, Squires
Disabled Cavalry: Hussar
Disabled Archery: Hand Cannoneer, Thumb Ring
Disabled Siege: Siege Onager, Siege Ram
Disabled Dock: Fast Fire Ship, Elite Cannon Galley
Disabled Blacksmith: /
Disabled Economy: Caravans
Disabled University: Bombard Tower, Keep
Disabled Castle: Sappers, Hoarding
Disabled Monastery: Faith, Sanctity, Illumination
Lacked Caravans should be obvious for a good reason.
The tech tree guides the focus, but yours eyes aren’t deceiving you. There’re Eagle Warriors in your cavalry civ! It’s like peanut butter and chocolate! In this case, we see the first of what I hope will be four (Mali, Songhai and Zimbabwe) civs that feature a hopefully brand new Saharan building set that would be shared with these civs. Along with it, there’d be the Eagle/Cavalry feature where the Eagle Warrior represents a more rugged tribal conscript (Eagles certainly cost enough gold to resource ratio to seem like a mercenary base.) The key feature is that the civ can either choose their starting scout or get one randomly, if that’s not possible. But if we step away from Africa, you’ll see something interesting…
Behold, the first (second if you count India) Southeast Asian civ. Complete with a Southeast building set (hopefully to be given also to India as well)
Khmer, the Cambodians mostly (802-1431)
An Archer and Scorpion civ
Bonuses:
- Crossbow, Arbalest free
The crossbow was a vital part of Khmer militaries. Archery in general there, was very important.
- Scorpions +1 range in Castle Age and Imperial Age (+2 total)
Likewise, Khmer siege was mostly ballista based.
- Fishing Boats -20% cost
Fish was important for the Khmer diet.
- Start with free farm
The rice farms amongst the Cambodians were an important source of food.
TB: Allies can build Ballistas in their Siege Workshops starting in the Imperial Age
Crossbow Mahout – A decently long ranged and durable mounted double crossbow (A giant nearly ballista-like contraption) on an elephant. Deals good damage and has extremely high health but needs a fair bit of food. Also benefits from Parthian Tactics. Destroyed effectively by Skirmishers who do an extra 17 [22] damage per javelin. Can also garrison ranged units for protection and added shots. Has minimum range equal to a Skirmisher until Murder Holes is researched. Fires about 20% slower than most archers and moves slower than most elephants.
Stats [Elite]: 465 [615] HP, 9 [12] damage, 2/1 [2/2] armor, 6 [7] range. Garrisons 4 [6] foot soldiers. Costs 155f/120g
Upgrade to Elite: 900w, 1000g
Ballista - A long ranged single target siege weapon with immense power on a single target that almost never misses. It’s available at Siege Workshop once you have a castle. Has minimum range. It has very minor splash.
Stats: 95 HP, 45 damage, 1/6 armor, 8 range. Costs 105w/105g
Peasant Levies – Mills, Mining and Lumber camps can train Foot Archers and Infantry.
Double Crossbow – Adds an extra shot to your Crossbow Elephants and they do +1 damage.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Halberd, Elite Eagle Warrior
Disabled Cavalry: Hussar, Paladin
Disabled Archery: Heavy Cav Archer
Disabled Siege: Onager, Siege Ram
Disabled Dock: Fast Fire Ship, Elite Cannon Galley
Disabled Blacksmith: Plate Barding
Disabled Economy: Guilds, Two Man Saw
Disabled University: Bombard Tower, Keep, Treadmill Crane
Disabled Castle: /
Disabled Monastery: Atonement, Fervor, Sanctity, Faith, Illumination
The Khmer are a curious civ. Their best units are archers, their best TANK is an archer… with minimum range! Unless you want to use Champions, you must use archers to guard archers and to protect yourself from Rams, there are Eagles unable to become elite! This isn’t a bad civ as the Crossbow Mahout may be one of the strongest 1v1 units ever unless you’re up against a Persian elephant. Even then, you’ll get extra potshots before it encroaches.
The thing is, as stated, for all its awesome features (Garrison castle style arrows, extreme health, Parthian Tactics armor bonuses and great damage) there are weaknesses:
Namely, it’s gold hungry! 115g might be steep, but you’re practically using Elephant Siege artillery! It also, on top of being murdered by Pikes, is destroyed effectively by Skirmishers taking bonus damage outlined above! You won’t have Onagers to defend against this! You must use Light Cav without Plate Barding (ensuring they take more than 1 damage from any civ’s Post Imp Skirm, even Bracerless or Eskirm less ones) or Scorpions. While strong, Scorpions lack the splash type needed to save the day. Ballistas however do have splash, very weak splash, but they aren't going to miss their main target all too likely.
The final weakness is that they need Murder Holes for pointblank fire! Usually, most players ignore this resource waste worth a more precious 1.5ish TCs and instead get… well, 1.5ish TCs instead.
We also see the first civ without the Heavy Camel; it won’t be the last!
This next civ is an oft desired piece of badass, and I can agree. They technically dealt with Africa a decent amount, though their larger neighbor was more prevalent in that regard. Enter Portuguese a new Western European civ that often sailed the world to colonize places, including Africa!
Portuguese, the colonial empire of well... Portugal (1139 On)
A Ranged and Gunpowder Civ
Bonuses:
- Town Center -60% Stone Cost
The Portuguese were swift settlers and adept at expansive empire building.
- Foot Archers fire 20% faster
The Portuguese crossbowmen were always prepared: should he run out of bolts he would have a suppley of those made of stone just in case.
- Cartography and Caravans Free one age sooner
At sea, nobody could compare to the expansive nature of Portugal, whose extensive trade routes reached as far as Japan.
TB: Docks +15% Workrate
To truly give them a place at sea, here's a good bonus every ally will love.
Arquebus – An accurate gunman that costs a bit of gold compared to other gunpowder units but is much more accurate with 90% accuracy.
Stats [Elite]: 35 [40] HP, 17 [20] damage, +0/0 [0/0] armor. 8[8] range Costs 55f/60g
Navigation – Scouts and Warships +10% Movespeed, +2 damage and LoS
Matchlock – Arquebus perfect accuracy. Gunpowder Units +20% damage. An additional 25% damage vs. Walls and gains Splash vs. them.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Eagle Warriors
Disabled Cavalry: Camel
Disabled Archery: Parthian Tactics
Disabled Siege: Capped Ram, Heavy Scorpion
Disabled Dock: /
Disabled Blacksmith: /
Disabled Economy: Crop Rotation, Stone Shaft Mining
Disabled University: Keep, Treadmill Crane
Disabled Castle: Sappers
Disabled Monastery: Herbal Medicine, Heresy, Atonement, Theocracy, Fervor
Ironic that Portugal has a poor Monastery. Not so ironic is their colonization based bonuses with cheaper TC stone costs and free Dark Age Cartography (that alone I feel is worth 3 Civ bonuses by itself) and a bonus to their stone bolted crossbows, which they helped introduce to Africa. Look though at how full the tech tree is. All living units except Camels and Eagles are at full upgrades except for Parthian-less HCAs. They have full trash! Just like their Spanish neighbours! Where oh where is the catch? As clear as day, it’s the lack of Capped Rams. If your enemy decides to wall you out, you will be in trouble if you don’t have the Matchlock UT. You WILL require bombard cannons to beat layered wall cheese because only Capped Rams have building splash.
They’re also a desired ally for your Vikings, Vandal or Italian ally... or any naval endeavourers! That TB is like the British Archery TB, but for the dock! Do not ignore its potential!
Finally, we return to America. We introduce the Toltecs to our American family, and they too play an interesting spin on being Mesoamerican! For once, the focus shouldn’t be eagles. In fact, it’s highly recommended not to.
Toltecs, A major empire in late Precolumbian Mexico a few centuries before the coming of the Aztecs (800-1250)
A Defensive Civ
Bonuses:
- Repairmen 2x workrate, -33% repair cost
The Toltecs were master architects with a legacy for fine craftsmanship.
- Skirmishers +2 damage vs. ranged, gaining +2 in Castle and Imperial Ages (+6 total) and half that vs other units.
The common weapon of the Toltecs were spears and atl-atls, which could cut right through the cotton vestments of their enemies.
- Architecture free; Masonry Free in Feudal Age. Walls, gates and Palisades benefit.
If you don't realize how powerful their stonemasonry is yet...
- Start +100 Stone, +25 Wood
Then here's a reminder.
TB: Blacksmiths work 25% faster
Compared to their neighbors, Toltec weapons were said to be better forged, better crafted and always ahead of the game with obsidian or even metals.
Coyote Warrior – Durable, very short range archer with bonus damage vs. cavalry. Slow and weak to missiles.
Stats [Elite]: 70 [85] HP, 9 [13] damage (+8 [13] vs cavalry. +6 [9] vs camel, cataphracts) 3/1 [6/1] armor, 2 [2] range. Costs 70w/55g
Tortilla – All food income increased by 15%
Obsidian Fragments – Provides an additional Blast Furnace AND Bracer to represent the fact that while the Toltecs sometimes used wooden swords, the obsidian they sprinkled and filled them with made them lethal enough to deserve this edge in power.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Elite Eagle Warrior
Disabled Cavalry: Structure
Disabled Archery: Hand Cannoneer, Cav Archer, Parthian Tactics
Disabled Siege: Heavy Scorpion, Bombard Cannon
Disabled Dock: Cannon Galley, Fast Fire Ship
Disabled Blacksmith: Cavalry Armor
Disabled Economy: /
Disabled University: Bombard Tower
Disabled Castle: Sappers
Disabled Monastery: Atonement, Fervor
The UTs seem silly, but Tortillas were an important innovation for the warriors to make food that much more portable on long journeys. The Coyote Warrior quite literally is a heavy tank with a very short ranged bow. Literally, he’s almost a more extreme plumed archer if it mated with a Teutonic Knight.
The big thing here is the free Blast Furnace (+2 melee damage) and Bracer (+1 missile damage/range) for all units, including ships and structures! The big hitch here is the lack of Elite Eagles. You must rely on Champions, Arbalests, ESkirms, Siege Rams/Onagers and Halberds! The question is, however, can it be done? You decide! Champs will certainly give Eagles a hard time!
New Techs:
Wine Press
Building: Mill
Available to: All
Age: Castle
Effect: Farmers gather 5% faster
Reason: The possession of this tech means you can save villager usage to other jobs where work would be more prudent. If not that, then farming is the only place where gather rate has yet to be increased.
Surplus
Building: Mill
Available to: All except Huns, Slavs and Aztecs. (Franks get for free but only if they have a mill)
Age: Imperial (Requires Wine Press)
Effect: Farmers gather 5% faster
Reason: Just a little tech tiering for added farming benefits.
Combined Arms
Building: Barracks
Available to: All Civs (except maybe the more diverse ones)
Age: Imperial
Effect: Differing from civ to civ, Combined Arms takes 2 or 3 underdog units of a civ and gives them slight buffs. Price varies with each civ.
Reason: To diversify some pigeonholed tech trees, we should boost some of their lesser used units. This tech for instance, would likely boost Mongol Champions and the Foot Archer line, possibly Knights with intentions of drawing all the focus away from Mangudai. For Celts it would likely bolster Cavalry, with intents on getting less use from Infantry and Siege. For Britons, it’d be cavalry and Arbalests, for Japan, those Cav Archers with all techs but Bloodlines would likely be one of the boosted units.
Note: This idea is in a beta stage of conception.
Arabesque
Building: University
Available to: Turks, Saracens, Ghana, Berbers, Italians, Spanish, Byzantines, Indians, Aztecs, Mongols, Franks, Portuguese,
Age: Imperial
Effect: Monasteries and wonders 5% cheaper, build 10% Faster
Reason: Perhaps an Edge in wonder races and Monk massing isn’t very fair, but it can certainly give some civs a sense of value. A fun though not too strong a tech. You’d think it a Monastery Tech, but then Aztec monks would be even stronger!
Motte and Bailey
Building: Lumber Camp
Available to: All except Aztecs, Saracens, Italians
Age: Feudal
Effect: Upgrades Palisaides into Motte and Baileys, which are 175 HP stronger and have slightly better armor. Also upgrades the health of your Palisade Gates.
Reason: Huns and Goths cannot do any form of true defensive. Want to keep a relic walled off from enemy Priests? Too bad you can’t gate it in instead! Boar hunter beyond a fortress... your enemy slipped in through your deletion while you were gone! The big reason is because stone is a very rare material.
Barricade
Building: Lumber Camp
Available to: All except Aztecs, Saracens, Italians, Britons, Celts, Turks, Huns, Koreans, Spanish, Vandals
Age: Imperial
Effect: Upgrades Motte and Bailey Walls into Barricades, which are 325 HP stronger and have slightly better armor. Wooden Walls get 425 HP (total of 975)
Reason: To ensure this structure remains semi-useful into the Imperial Age. Even after all these techs, the wall only provides 750 HP worth of defence. Still, late game it can keep armies from running into your town especially if your civ has no walls to speak of otherwise. These techs are Lumbercamp techs to give the Lumbercamp some more use beyond just a dropsite!
Siege Hook
Building: Siege Workshop
Available to: All except Spanish, Koreans, Chinese, Ghana
Age: Imperial
Effect: Siege Weapons strike 15% faster against walls, palisades and castles and 5% faster against all other buildings.
Reason: To circumvent the potential wall abuse, Siege Weapons will knock them down a peg... or better yet a brick!
Trade Roads
Building: Market
Available to: All
Age: Imperial
Effect: Trade Carts no longer have collision.
Reason: Do you love when your trade routes are too tightly packed? Maybe you want your carts to blitz on by so raiding infantry don’t disrupt too badly. Whatever the case, no collision means each cart takes as swift a route as possible at all times. If for some reason you wish to turn this back on, you can toggle it freely at any Market.
Post Dark ContinentYou want to talk about just in concept, we’re even beyond afterthought planning here!
Civs:
Armenians: Armenia has an interesting history and some fairly legendary cavalry. One might argue they are either Persian or Byzantine, but that is hardly the case.
Axumites: For that last glimpse of Egypt and the greatest might ever known in Ethiopia, one of the first Christian nations on Earth and a powerful naval force for its location.
Burgundians: Perhaps not the most prominent duchy, Burgundy managed to hold onto its identity from its barbarian days up until its rise and fall in the 14 and 15th century; easy artistically to make as well!
Chimu: The other big (this one more forgotten) South American Empire, one which lasted longer than the Incas, but met an ironically timed demise less than a century before Europeans invaded. Though not too much is known, it would give more ways to play a cavalry-less civ.
Flemish: Perhaps not the best name for a Netherlands, Belgian civ, I find them quite fascinating with their focus on pikes and the bowstring twist.
Georgians: The Kingdom of Georgia seems an anomaly for the Middle East
Ghaznavid: While they’re nothing you’ll really know, this Afghanistan based Moslem empire was unique for its heavy use of armoured elephants and archers. As such, a civ where the only really good cavalry they have is an elephant and an eh Stables otherwise (No Cavalier, Heavy Camel, Husbandry, Bloodlines)
Khazars: The Khazars are a Judaic empire which had a high tolerance for all the major faiths. Were known for cavalry and siegecraft.
Mali: Another major Saharan African power, the Mali is the empire that the legendary Mansa Musa comes from and is probably when Islam truly took roots in the empires of this region.
Mixtecs: An indigenous people of Mexico. Like the Slavs, less of a true Empire and more an indigenous peoples.
Moors: Unlike the Berbers, these guys live in Southern Iberia and are cavalry and boom focused. I really, REALLY like their tech tree/bonus sets.
Polish: You’d call them Slavs, but Poland is a very, VERY popular civ. It stands on its own as it is the true birthplace of the Winged Hussar. It’s also the only civ in both of the historical mega-mods (Hegemony and Vovoids)... seriously, just Poland, a must have!
Saxons: The Saxons of the British Isles and of Saxony. A strong contender for a No-knight civ (though the Duchy of Saxony may say otherwise)
Songhai: Another African power, this one is immersed in Muslim religion and law.
Srivijayan: The peoples of Indonesia. A naval island hopping force.
Swiss: Known for their mercenaries, mostly as phalanx weapon masters, the Swiss also were good with hit and run Crossbow attacks, whether on foot or mounted.
Tatars: A Turkic tribe from Mongolia. The Tatars are set apart from both Turks and Mongols due to their biological warfare spreading plagues. It is said they threw corpses and rats out of catapults to spread disease to the city of Kaffa and it eventually brought the Black Death to Europe.
Thai: A politically correct name I cannot think of: Lavo, Siamese... Thai is short and sweet and would be sweet to play as more Southeast Asians
Tibetans: The Tibetans are a mountain people, who had surprisingly good cavalry to fight against the Chinese as well as their great Buddhist monks.
Wallachians: The Wallachians birth the legend of Dracula. He was real: Vlad Tepes III and his Impalers bring a W named civ to the table. Or it could be Romania. Either way, the Roman/Italian building set is possible here! It needs more love for the civ based on Impaling and could include the likes of Moldova
Zapotecs: The other major group in Mexico were Zapotecs. Allowing for more ways to play an eagle Warrior civ. Mostly filler from a historical standpoint, their gameplay style is quite unique with Villagers used in ways even Spaniards wouldn’t dare!
Zimbabwe: The great walled cities and empire of Zimbabwe would be a Knightless infantry civ with tribal Eagle Warriors and great defences. Again, if you can think of a better UU than a Bantu Warrior, fire away with suggestions. Name shortened from Great Zimbabwe.
By all means, feel free to suggest more, especially in underrepresented parts of the world. I can’t think of a very good Far East Asian buildset civ (beyond possibly the Tatars.) Bonus points if the civ starts with a letter other than T, B, S, M, In, Kh, or G... it doesn’t really matter in truth, I’m just a tad OCD sometimes.
Some future ideas for civ setups
Note: Not all new techs are taken into account
Age of Kings: Medieval Strife
Civs: Burgundians, Armenians, Mali, Chimu, Swiss and Wallachians
New Techs
Quarrying
Building: Mining Camp
Available to: All
Age: Imperial
Effect: Allows the construction of quarries. Quarries are stone mines with 275s. Stone Miners gather them 30% slower than normal stone mines and only up to 5 miners at a time. Any miner can take the stone. They cost 200w to make.
Reason: Late game, stone just... isn't really there. Well, all game actually! There's such limited quantities of it, meaning you likely need to be the first to snag it from the market to get it at best value. While this is pretty much a wood for stone trade, at least it adds stone to the game. Military units can walk through the stone to prevent abuses like making walls enemies would have to mine through rather than break with siege.
Fixtures
Building: University
Available to: Byzantines, Aztecs, Mayans, Franks, Vandals, Saracens, Chinese, Turks, Wallachians, Burgundians, Britons, Vikings, Teutons, Incas, Magyars, Armenians, Khmer
Effect: Buildings repair 15% faster
Reasoning: You just warded off an enemy attack and they're coming back! You're not repaired yet, but you do have an army. Woah is your base! But it's not, because your workers are better at putting out fires and thus repair a bit faster.
The big new selling point: Auxiliaries! This tech, which is available to certain civs, grants them access to another UU that belongs to another civ, based on a mix of historical and balance based diversification reasons! For the most part, these UUs will tend to lack things the mainstay civ may have had for them.
This castle Age Tech is available in the Castle, but can be quite expensive and varies with each civ.
The current roster grows and grows, but for now it looks like this!
Armenians: Cataphract
Burgundians: Longbowman, Genoese Crossbow, Throwing Axeman*
Byzantines: Quinquireme
Franks: Swiss Guard
Incas: Bolas
Italians: Teutonic Knights
Japanese: Arquebus
Magyars: Tarkans
Persians: Elephant Archers
Portuguese: Missionary
Swiss: Cranequinier
Toltecs: Jaguar Warriors
Wallachians: Boyar
*Burgundians get to be special snowflakes, the ‘Auxiliary civ’ if you will. When and if Flanders ever becomes a civ, expect their UU to be hired by the Burgundians.
Speaking of....
Burgundians: the Burgundian Barbarians plus both the County and Duchy of Burgundy which are unrelated regions (411-1678)
A Diverse Civ
Bonuses:
- Market, Mining Camp, Lumber Camp and Mill techs -40% cost, +20% research speed
- Archer, Crossbow & Arbalest +1/1 Armor
- Blacksmith Techs -50% food cost
- Start +1 House (On Nomad map, starts somewhere near your closest visable villager)
TB: Monasteries built 55% Faster
Cranequinier – A ranged heavy cavalry archer with great durability and both kinds of armor. Benefits from Parthian tactics.
Stats [Elite]: 80 [115] HP, 7 [9] damage, 2/2 [2/2] armor, 4 [4] range. Costs 55w/70g
Grunhag – Palisades, Walls, Gates +4/4/9 armor, -33% build time.
Lex Burgundionum – Allows Burgundians to gain access to a second mercenary unit of their choice.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Eagle Warrior, Tracking
Disabled Cavalry: Light Cavalry, Camel
Disabled Archery: Heavy Cav Archer
Disabled Siege: Siege Onager, Siege Ram
Disabled Dock: Fast Fire Ship
Disabled Blacksmith: /
Disabled Economy: Town Patrol
Disabled University: Heated Shot, Keep, Treadmill Crane
Disabled Castle: /
Disabled Monastery: Sanctity, Block Printing
'Their Burgundian Allies as thick as rats!'
-Joan of Arc Campaign
Or... maybe not. AoK does a terrible job representing them by using the limited Frankish techtree. They were indeed diverse, if not for the mercenaries hired from all over Europe to fill them with cavalry, gunpowder, infantry and especially archers, even mounted ones. As such, the big Burgundian selling point is their added mercenary. Not that they really have any melee options [yet!] Still, a strong economy and powerful defences and offenses. The real pitfall of this civ is their lack of good scouting and LoS. Notice all the missing LoS techs: Town Patrol, Tracking and Light Cavalry!
This is meant to be the Achilles heel of the civ, an accurate one at that (poor reconnaissance cost Charles the Bold dearly) even if a lack of lighter cavalry wouldn’t be so prudent.
Armenians: A powerful civ with some world renown armored cavalry (429-1375)
A Cavalry and economic civ
- Stable and Castle units +1/1 Armor, +1/2 Imperial Age
- Slain sheep/turkeys 2x food but decay 15% faster
- Advance to Castle Age half price
- Stable Techs half price
TB: Livestock +3 LoS
Ayrudzi – A slower heavy cavalry unit resistant to spearmen with similar to Cataphract resistances but highly expensive and NOT resistant to camel attacks. Their mace does slight bonus damage to archers. Slower and slower striking than most knights.
Stats: 130 HP [190], 11 [14] damage (+2 [3] vs archers and siege) 3/4 [4/6] armor Costs 70f/90g
Asfin Al-Armani – Meaning Armenian Products. Armenians generate stone, wood and food at a slow trickle.
Azatavrear – Cavalry +1 damage.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Eagle Warrior, Halberd, Tracking.
Disabled Cavalry: /
Disabled Archery: Arbalest
Disabled Siege: Bombard Cannon, Siege Ram, Heavy Scorpion
Disabled Dock: Fast Fire Ship, Shipwright
Disabled Blacksmith: Plate Barding, Bracer
Disabled Economy: Stone Shaft Mining
Disabled University: /
Disabled Castle: Hoardings, Sappers
Disabled Monastery: Theocracy
Armenians are a very focused cavalry civ. They focus almost entirely on their stable as they lack Bracer, though they could throw out Champions, Monks and Siege Onagers a pinch. The best aspect is that also boosts Castle Units, namely Petards, Auxila Cataphracts and Trebuchets, which can now win treb wars because the added armor ensures they survive 1 more volley from other Trebs.
The gimmick for the armor comes at the price of Plate Barding, which it technically replaces. This leaves Persia as the penultimate cavalry civ technologically.
The Armenians also have a strong economy. Asfan Al-Armani (AA-A) is a good way to keep from going broke and can help trash wars... if you know, these guys had viable trash to wage wars with besides armoured Hussars. Their ability to make sheep into better scouts is very welcome early game and especially welcome in LN team maps.
Mali, the empire of Mansa Musa, became Islamic over time (1231-1670)
A Monk civ
Bonuses:
- Heavy Camel, Imperial Camel upgrade free,
- Tracking Tech benefits all military units
- Monastery techs cost -40% Castle Age, -50% Imperial Age
- Farms techs 2x effectiveness (includes +2 food gather rate for Castle Age tech), +60% Cost, +15% research time.
TB: Market Work Rate +25%
Mandinka - A fast archer who can inexpensively destroy buildings with its burning splash arrows that cannot hurt allied targets.
Stats [Elite]: 40 [55] HP, 5 [6] damage, 4 [5] range (+3 [4] vs. buildings and +1 [2] vs. siege), 1/1 [1/1] armor. Costs 35w/50g
Maghan – Kings (in regicide) +25 Health, Mandinka have a larger splash radius.
Pilgrimage – Mansa Musa brings Islam and goods to the people, granting Monks +2 range, and can get faith to 200% instead of 100%. This means they can store up to 2 conversions per recharge. (Actual recharge speed unincreased)
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Heavy Eagle Warrior
Disabled Cavalry: Bloodlines
Disabled Archery: Arbalest
Disabled Siege: Heavy Scorpion, Bombard Cannon
Disabled Dock: Fast Fire Ship
Disabled Blacksmith: Bracer
Disabled Economy: Two Man Saw
Disabled University: Bombard Tower, Treadmill Crane
Disabled Castle: /
Disabled Monastery: /
The Mali are a unique civ to be sure. Though they are meant to make cavalry, their cavalry lack Bloodlines, and only bloodlines. They aren’t too shabby all around, having Champions, Halberds, all Bloodless Cavalry and a Bracerless Archery Range that’s otherwise near perfect and their monks really are a conversion force. With the UT, the added range and conversion power allow them to convert that much more often. As such, Mali may be a bit of a Micro intensive civ. If you’re good with monks, you’ll build a strong force from your enemies, or leave heretics dead in your wake. They’re also the only civ with a bonus in Regicide!
Beyond that, they can potentially use Eagles before they need to realize that the Heavy Eagle tech matters a lot and they just don’t have it! If Teutons can sometimes use Scout Cavalry, then maybe, but in this case, this civ has Hussars with everything but bloodlines!
Chimu, the enemies of the Incas until the late 15th century! (900-1470)
An Infantry civ
- Hoardings Free
- Villagers carry +10 food, +5 HP
- Missile units almost never miss moving targets. (+85% Accuracy)
- Barracks techs cost no gold
TB: Eagle Warriors +2 LoS
Bolas – A short ranged infantryman who has a splash attack. Deals damage to a single target and the rock balls will sweep to strike other nearby targets for splash damage like a mangonel. Bonus vs. cavalry and siege.
Stats [Elite]: 45 [65] HP, 7 [9] damage (+6 [8] vs cavalry, +3 [5] vs buildings) 1/0 [2/1] armor, 4 [5] range. Costs 15s/55f
Mud Bricks – All structures +2/2/4 armor, build 5% faster and fire an extra arrow if tower or castle.
Mountaineering – Archer/Crossbow/Arbalest and Bolas +2 damage vs. Melee units, +1 range.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: /
Disabled Cavalry: Structure
Disabled Archery: Hand Cannoneer, Cav Archer, Parthian Tactics
Disabled Siege: Bombard Cannon, Onager, Siege Ram
Disabled Dock: Cannon Galley, Dry Docks
Disabled Blacksmith: Cavalry Armor
Disabled Economy: Two Man Saw
Disabled University: Ballistics
Disabled Castle: Sappers
Disabled Monastery: Redemption, Fervor, Herbal Medicine
NOTE: Bombard Towers launch Boulders, not cannons!
You DO see Bombard Towers, but they are altered to launch stones and boulders to remain thematic... seems history and PvE ISN’T my focus after all! And be glad you have these highly accurate towers! So accurate they are the one civ without Ballistics! They have all the units they can for the most part. They don’t have Onagers, or Siege Engineers (It wouldn’t effect Bolas even if they did) for Bolas are meant to be a fill in unit, and a fill in unit with more mobility, anti-cavalry powers and improvable attack and armor. They are infantry through and through.
Speaking of, the Chimu save a whopping 1745g at the Barracks before considering any techs that FE introduces. With techs from FE and Dark Continent, it breaches 2k gold if you want all the Barracks technologies.
Unfortunately for their perfect Eagles, they have no bonuses like Aztecs, Mayans or even the slightly faster Incas. They do have slightly bonused archers on the other hand, which can both help against cavalry AND infantry of the melee variety. Ranged infantry and cavalry (Mamluks, Axe Throwers, Bolas) do not take bonus damage.
Swiss, the people of the Helvetia and the most famous Pikes and Halberds (1000 on)
A Spearman and Ranged civ
Bonuses:
- Spearman, Pikeman, Halberdier +1 range
- Skirmishers, Spearmen +15% Feudal, +20% Castle, +25% Health Imperial
- Coinage, Banking Free
- 30% Food conservation.
TB: Castles work 15% faster
Swiss Guard – A sturdy halberdier guardsman with a lot of armor and a reach attack and a large food consumption.
Stats [Elite]: 55 HP [80], 5 [7] damage (+25 [39] vs Cavalry, +14 [20] vs camels, +18 [29] vs Cataphract, Ayrudzi types, +8 [12] vs Asding-type camels, +43 [71] vs elephants) 2/2 [2/4] armor, 1 [1] range. Costs 95f/40g
Pike Square – Pikemen, Swiss Guard +1 range, +1 damage
Crossbow Skirmishes – Crossbowman, Hand Cannoneer, Cranequinier -15% cost, +10% move speed
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Eagle Warrior, Two Handed Sword
Disabled Cavalry: Camel, Husbandry
Disabled Archery: /
Disabled Siege: Siege Onager, Siege Ram
Disabled Dock: Fast Fire Ship, Dry Dock
Disabled Blacksmith: Blast Furnace
Disabled Economy: Two Man Saw, Gold Shaft Mining
Disabled University: Keep, Fortified Walls, Heated Shot
Disabled Castle: Sappers
Disabled Monastery: Fervor, Theocracy
The Swiss are a rare civ where their Auxiliary unit, the Cranequinier, is actually boosted specifically by a Unique Tech. It’s the only one of its kind! The Barracks is pretty much a mirror of the Persians, minus Blast Furnace! Still, Halberds with 75 HP are not something to scoff at. They’ll still die fast to missiles with no doubt, but they’re still more durable and extra durable Skirmishers will help them out!
For the most part, all their military has reach: even the Spearmen! +2 range is nothing to scoff it for a melee unit. You can easily pile on the cavalry death in large and clustered formations more easily. The Swiss Guard UU is also a very durable unit. He’s like an unmounted knight mixed with a reaching pikeman and he resists missiles.
Swiss fall flat with their lack of Blast Furnace, Husbandry and most of all, Fortified Walls. It’s up to a skilled eater of forage bushes to make the Swiss work well! Swiss are also an ideal ally with improved castle Workrate bonus and the power to Sling resources with freely researched tribute cost reducers!
Wallachians, Romania, Moldovia, Vlad Tepes/Dracula/The Impaler (1018-1477)
Cavalry Civ
- Knights 15% Cheaper Castle Age, 25% Imperial Age
- Villagers +20% workrate, +15% movespeed, +2/2 Armor, but +10% cost
- All military +2 damage vs. Economic Units (Villagers and trade units); +3 for Cavalry, Skirmisher, and Siege Weapons (Not cumulative)
TB: Spearmen +2 damage vs. UUs
Impaler – A glass cannon infantryman who deals extreme damage but falls very fast to missile fire. We’re talking 20+ damage bare before elite bare minimum but 50 health AT MOST at elite and a gold cost that can be up there. Has a slow attack rate.
Stats [Elite]: 40 [50] HP, 21 [34] damage, 1/0 [1/0] armor. Costs 25f/60g
Dacian Riches – Units -10% gold cost
Bran Castle – Castles +2 arrows per volley. Castle shots impale through targets the same way Scorpions do. Castles can Garrison Scorpions for added fire and healing.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Eagle Warrior
Disabled Cavalry: Heavy Camel
Disabled Archery: /
Disabled Siege: /
Disabled Dock: Heavy Demo Ship
Disabled Blacksmith: Plate Mail Armor, Blast Furnace, Bracer, Ring Archer Armor, Plate Barding
Disabled Economy: Guilds
Disabled University: /
Disabled Castle: /
Disabled Monastery: Redemption, Atonement, Theocracy
Look at that tech tree! There’s not a Siege Tech missing! Not a university tech missing! All the archers, and European available Infantry! Their only cavalry lacking is the Heavy Camel and they miss just one measly boat and a few Monastery techs! They have Cheaper Knights: CHEAPER KNIGHTS! Sure their villagers cost 5 more food, but they do everything that much more efficiently that they’re worth more than their pop slot normally entails, doing all gathering and building 20% more effectively! The thing is: they have to do it quickly, by the Imperial Age no less.
The Knights, straight from the Order of the Dragon are without blacksmithing... EVERYTHING is without blacksmithing come Imperial Age! Your blacksmith best serves as a conduit towards the many Siege Workshops you will be creating! Why wouldn’t you? You have so many possibilities here!
Keep your enemy crippled early and often as you do get villager damage bonus and you can win more easily! Let them get Blast Furnace and Plate Mail... you’d better be really good at on the fly counter units if that happens!
To help protect your siege from encroaching cavalry and fast infantry, create scores of Impalers to wall them in per say. These things are 3 hit death to almost every unmounted unit though to be fair, they strike as slow as pikemen do.
Interestingly, I’m willing to change them to have an actual impale effect where they can strike nearby units to the target, akin to a scorpion impale (not akin to trample if possible) which would technically still be strong, but less about killing power as for such a buff their attack would plummet!
Wallachia is clearly NOT a PvE oriented civ as it's far too aggressive for campaigns that may set starting limits.
Remember, numbers tend to be a ballpark idea on how a bonus is supposed to work. For balance sake, they are not set in stone!
Due to Character limit in post, I'm somewhat forced to split this into two posts. More ideas are in the next post. I hate double Posting but I WILL breach the 60k Character limit if I post the rest of my ideas in this post. In short, a necessary evil!
This is mostly years ahead of even just theoretical reality but it's nice to get it out there now!
Changelog
March 16
Changed Toltec Skirmisher bonus. Removed accuracy boost and reworded the bonus to +2 per age anti-archer damage with +6 total in Imperial Age.
Amazigh (Berber Castle Age UT) is now a small speed boost to villagers and makes them and their free houses immune to conversion.
Armenian armor bonus changed to boost stable and Castle Units. In return for no longer boosting Cav Archers, they regain Thumb Ring and E Skirms but still lack Bracer.
Tweaked Khmer Crossbow Mahout. Made it clear that they move slower and fire slower than other elephants and archers and added their garrison stat. Also increased training cost from 115 to 120g to ensure that they don't fully overshadow Indian UU.
March 24
Ghana Now has Poisoned Arrows. Gold And Salt trade is now renamed Tax Exploit
Mali's Mossi is now a Mandinka, an archer with a burning arrow. but little to do besides break buildings and a decent pricetag for the fact it's unmounted.
Other Civ ideas by brilliant minds: by which I mean anything not submitted by me! (I'm quite humble)
None Yet, be the first upon the list!
June 16, made a few tweaks. Will tweak to fix names and adjust to fit more with what I know of current AoFE.
Mali free camel upgrade now displays Imperial Camel inclusion.
Swiss Forager bonus (due to now being a Frankish thing) changed to 30% food conservation, it's better than the Mayan 20%, but it's only for food!
A few numerical tweaks.
August 16: Changed Khmer bonus and the Ballista. It is no longer a UU but is their TB. Your allies can train Ballistae at their Siege Workshops in Age4... is this balance-able? I'm thinking Siege Workshop unit bonuses like the Celtic Faster Fire rate and UT/Mongol Drills and Slavic discount should be ineffective on them.
So let's see if I can make at least some of these 30ish civs come to life!
Be forewarned: Nothing here is set in stone. This is just idea sharing per say. For any who think this is a PvE Xpac, you should look at the Techtrees and tell me how PvE oriented they look with a straight face.
I know what you’re thinking: too soon! Yes it is… and yet, no it’s not. It’s never too soon to start planning ahead: it's like doing your big report the week you get it! I’ll bet ES had UTs in mind all along with AoK but withheld it to the expansion deliberately to sell a new game. I’ll betcha that!
Color Coded for your convenience:
Civ Name
Unique Unit
Castle Age Unique Tech
Imperial Unique Tech
Brand New Techs
Anywho, this is a place to discuss thoughts for new civs, units, techs and balance changes (though that should wait until FE has a metagame.)
Here there are mostly propositions, mostly because I’m not an expert multiplayer, and can’t program my way out of wet tissue paper. As such, hopefully I could pick up a wandering kind soul to scoop my dreams into his or her capable programming hands!
So, what would this expac be? Well, I’d say we look at the map and take note of a mostly unused continent: Africa!
While it wouldn’t be prudent to cram every possible African civ into one game, a decent amount wouldn’t hurt. As such, my dreams include these civs from the continent: Vandals, Berbers and Ghana and some others not from there: Khmer, Portuguese and Toltecs!
Enough about that: Welcome! Welcome to Age of Empires: Rise of the Dark Continent
Not to say there won’t be other future African civs, but one Xpac at a time. I chose these 3 with good reason:
The Berbers of Morocco are a fierce and zealous force, but their key gameplay style is based on both spear and camel. As such, Berbers are to be the penultimate anti-cavalry civ.
Berbers, Moroccans and North African Muslims not inhabiting Spain (642-1574)
An Anti-cavalry Civ
Bonuses:
- Camels 20% Faster
Berber armies utilized camels from the harsh arid climates, and were very useful in campaigns against both Spain and the middle African empires.
- Heresy, Atonement Free
Frenzied, and furious, the Berbers believed that they waged an endless holy war, a Jihad, and would never relent in their attacks.
- Spearmen do 66% more cavalry bonus damage, +1 base damage
Spears were an important weapon in Berber conquests. Whether against European knights or the Ghana/Mali/Songhai cavalry armies, the spear was useful time and time again.
- Transport Ships 25% faster
This bonus represents the constant desire to send troops across the Mediterranian into Spain.
TB: Trade Carts/Cogs +3/3 Armor
When not conquering, the Berbers were avid traders, especially with the gold and salt wealthy people of Ghana. Trade routes were well protected by vanguards of strong Berbers.
Blackguard A powerful, lumbering spearman with a lot of armor. It’s pretty much a Spearman with a Teutonic Knight’s might. Excellent vs. melee, weak vs. ranged, very strong vs. horses and devastating to elephants and doesn’t get affected by Cataphract style spear resistances.
Stats [Elite]: 65 [90] HP, 9 [14] damage (+13 [18 vs camels], +37 [52] vs cavalry +51 [75] vs elephants], 4/1 [8/3] armor. Costs 75f/45g
Amazigh – The word means free people in the Berber language. Villagers move 10% faster and they and houses become immune to conversion.
Jihad – Black Guard, Spearman, Camel, Cavalry Archer +2 damage (+5 vs. Monks)
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Eagle Warrior, Tracking
Disabled Cavalry: Husbandry
Disabled Archery: Elite Skirmisher, Thumb Ring
Disabled Siege: Siege Onager
Disabled Dock: Heavy Demo Ship
Disabled Blacksmith: /
Disabled Economy: Crop Rotation, Stone Shaft Mining
Disabled University: Architecture, Guard Tower
Disabled Castle: Hoardings
Disabled Monastery: /
As can be seen, the focus is very heavy on anti-cavalry units though their Horse Archers, despite their lack of Thumb Ring and Husbandry, pack a decent punch, mostly needed to help the Berbers with their own issues vs. archers due to a lack of ESkirms. Of course, Husbandry lacking Hussars and Paladins can do that too, but still. This is one civ you cannot Monk Rush because they get free Heresy. In a Monk war, it technically could hurt if you want to try and ‘reconvert’ units, but how rare would that be?
The Vandals are a fascinating bunch. Originally a Germanic tribe, they migrated all the way into Northern Africa and eventually claimed the city of Roman Carthage (henceforth, there is no negotiating that Vandals should share a building set with Italy. They must!) The thing about the Vandals is that when nearby Moors/Berbers/Numidians (I’m not sure if Moors are the right term because they weren’t in Spain/Iberia yet) beset upon them with skilled cavalry, the Vandals adjusted and succeeded against them, they too developing cavalry and even camelry techniques. In fact, hired camel riders attempted to use defensive tactics of odor to repel enemy Cavalry. It failed against the Byzantines, who dismounted before engagement.
Vandals, Germanic Barbarians who conquered Africa and the Sea (406-529)
Naval and Cavalry Civ
Bonuses:
- Camels +10% Health and +3 damage vs. cavalry
When the Vandals were pushed into Africa, they quickly were met with furious Africans who lived in the saddle. The Vandals, unlike other Germanic tribes, adapted to this well and even began utilizing camels for use against Roman cavalry. It only started to fall apart when Roman generals had their men dismount to engage instead.
- Heavy Demo Ship Upgrade free (Requires War Galley); Shipwright, Careening, Free and gotten one age sooner.
Vandal navies quickly took the sea when they took over Carthage and they became its scourge. Using boats lit on fire, they were able to break the tightly nit formations of Byzantine navies and set their ships all ablaze.
- Siege Engineers affects Ships (+1 Range and 20% building damage. Demo Ships no range but +40% building damage ala Petards)
At sea, the brutal force of the Vandals was far reaching, and even helped them in the sacking of Rome. The Vandals are the only other tribe besides the Ostrogoths to ever get the 'pleasure' of destroying Rome.
- Age Advancement 20% Faster
The Vandal timeline is short, but brutal, and only lasted about a century, but they swiftly rose under the guidance of Geaseric to quickly dominate.
TB: Demolition ships +2 Range
More Demo Ship Powers to ensure you break a lot of boats.
Asding – A Moorish mercenary heavy camelry unit (in this case given a Vandal tribe name) with bonus damage vs. infantry and horses. It has better than Cataphract-like resistance to anti-cavalry, taking +1 from archers instead.
Stats [Elite]: 115 [165] HP, 9 [12] damage (+9 [14] vs infantry, +7 [11] vs cavalry), 2/1 [3/3] armor. Costs 70f/85g
Quinquireme – Stolen Ships from the Roman Empire, powerful sluggish arrow warship with an attack that hits a target and can pierce through it like a Scorpion. Requires a castle to start training at the docks.
Stats [Elite]: 125 [165] HP, 8 [11] damage (+4 [6] vs boats, +2 [3] vs siege.) 2/7 [2/8] armor, 7 [8] range, Costs 85w/90g
Vandalism – Quinquiremes gain slow health regeneration and all land units +2 damage and armor vs. Buildings (+5 vs. Monasteries and Wonders.)
Sacking Carthage – Asding and Camels gain 2 trample damage (4 vs. cavalry), Knights get as well (but no bonus vs. Cavalry)
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Halberdier, Eagle Warrior
Disabled Cavalry: Hussar
Disabled Archery: Hand Cannoneer, Arbalest
Disabled Siege: Onager, Siege Ram
Disabled Dock: /
Disabled Blacksmith: Plate Mail Armor
Disabled Economy: Crop Rotation, Gold Shaft Mining
Disabled University: Bombard Tower, Fortified Walls
Disabled Castle: /
Disabled Monastery: Sanctity, Atonement, Block Printing, Fervor
As can be seen, this is a camel and naval civ, though it’s more focused on naval power than say the Saracens and the camel bonus health is 12 at best (the 4 damage vs. Horses is nothing to scoff at though.) Vandal might is based on offenses as shown by their lack of fortified Walls (having cities like Carthage means they must get SOME stone defenses though)
Yes, it is wierd that a Europe-based Vandal tribe names a Heavy Camelphract but balance and fun take precedence. Isn't that right, unmounted Teutonic Knights?
To bring the Sahara and Sub-Sahara into the picture, we start with one civ this pack: Ghana. This empire is meant to focus less on having a military focus (though it’s technically cavalry albeit with little direct bonus) and instead focuses on Economy. In this way, Ghana is the Economic civ!
Ghana, first of the major trade empires in Africa (830-1235)
An Economic Civ
Bonuses:
- Trade units 2.3x movespeed
Trade was vital. With gold and salt in surplus, the people of Ghana quickly traded for things they might need.
- Melee Units +1 damage
The craft of Ghana's weapons were strong iron, which they used to control and protect trade.
- Barracks, Archery Range, Stable, Siege Workshop, Monastery +50% more garrison space.
Soldiers at the ready for Ghana were always a must.
- Start +50 wood and gold
Gold spilling free right into your pockets, and a little wood to go with it.
- Mining Camp Techs free
Mining, mining and more mining.
TB: Spearman +3 damage vs. Camels
Spears were a common weapon and were important to repel desert assailants and the likes of Berber and Malian armies.
Mandekalu – An armoured cavalry unit not weak to anti-cavalry spears because he’s on a smaller horse/pony; instead weak to anti-infantry even though it’s actually a cavalry unit. It still takes bonus damage from camels.
Stats [Elite]: 95 [120] HP, 9 [13] damage, 2/2 [2/3] armor. Costs 80f/70g
Tax Exploit – Receive 20% more from trade and penalizes enemy market trade tax by making it 5% less profitable for them.
Poisoned Arrows – Archers and towers +1 damage. This damage ignores missile armor.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Champion, Squires
Disabled Cavalry: Hussar
Disabled Archery: Hand Cannoneer, Thumb Ring
Disabled Siege: Siege Onager, Siege Ram
Disabled Dock: Fast Fire Ship, Elite Cannon Galley
Disabled Blacksmith: /
Disabled Economy: Caravans
Disabled University: Bombard Tower, Keep
Disabled Castle: Sappers, Hoarding
Disabled Monastery: Faith, Sanctity, Illumination
Lacked Caravans should be obvious for a good reason.
The tech tree guides the focus, but yours eyes aren’t deceiving you. There’re Eagle Warriors in your cavalry civ! It’s like peanut butter and chocolate! In this case, we see the first of what I hope will be four (Mali, Songhai and Zimbabwe) civs that feature a hopefully brand new Saharan building set that would be shared with these civs. Along with it, there’d be the Eagle/Cavalry feature where the Eagle Warrior represents a more rugged tribal conscript (Eagles certainly cost enough gold to resource ratio to seem like a mercenary base.) The key feature is that the civ can either choose their starting scout or get one randomly, if that’s not possible. But if we step away from Africa, you’ll see something interesting…
Behold, the first (second if you count India) Southeast Asian civ. Complete with a Southeast building set (hopefully to be given also to India as well)
Khmer, the Cambodians mostly (802-1431)
An Archer and Scorpion civ
Bonuses:
- Crossbow, Arbalest free
The crossbow was a vital part of Khmer militaries. Archery in general there, was very important.
- Scorpions +1 range in Castle Age and Imperial Age (+2 total)
Likewise, Khmer siege was mostly ballista based.
- Fishing Boats -20% cost
Fish was important for the Khmer diet.
- Start with free farm
The rice farms amongst the Cambodians were an important source of food.
TB: Allies can build Ballistas in their Siege Workshops starting in the Imperial Age
Crossbow Mahout – A decently long ranged and durable mounted double crossbow (A giant nearly ballista-like contraption) on an elephant. Deals good damage and has extremely high health but needs a fair bit of food. Also benefits from Parthian Tactics. Destroyed effectively by Skirmishers who do an extra 17 [22] damage per javelin. Can also garrison ranged units for protection and added shots. Has minimum range equal to a Skirmisher until Murder Holes is researched. Fires about 20% slower than most archers and moves slower than most elephants.
Stats [Elite]: 465 [615] HP, 9 [12] damage, 2/1 [2/2] armor, 6 [7] range. Garrisons 4 [6] foot soldiers. Costs 155f/120g
Upgrade to Elite: 900w, 1000g
Ballista - A long ranged single target siege weapon with immense power on a single target that almost never misses. It’s available at Siege Workshop once you have a castle. Has minimum range. It has very minor splash.
Stats: 95 HP, 45 damage, 1/6 armor, 8 range. Costs 105w/105g
Peasant Levies – Mills, Mining and Lumber camps can train Foot Archers and Infantry.
Double Crossbow – Adds an extra shot to your Crossbow Elephants and they do +1 damage.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Halberd, Elite Eagle Warrior
Disabled Cavalry: Hussar, Paladin
Disabled Archery: Heavy Cav Archer
Disabled Siege: Onager, Siege Ram
Disabled Dock: Fast Fire Ship, Elite Cannon Galley
Disabled Blacksmith: Plate Barding
Disabled Economy: Guilds, Two Man Saw
Disabled University: Bombard Tower, Keep, Treadmill Crane
Disabled Castle: /
Disabled Monastery: Atonement, Fervor, Sanctity, Faith, Illumination
The Khmer are a curious civ. Their best units are archers, their best TANK is an archer… with minimum range! Unless you want to use Champions, you must use archers to guard archers and to protect yourself from Rams, there are Eagles unable to become elite! This isn’t a bad civ as the Crossbow Mahout may be one of the strongest 1v1 units ever unless you’re up against a Persian elephant. Even then, you’ll get extra potshots before it encroaches.
The thing is, as stated, for all its awesome features (Garrison castle style arrows, extreme health, Parthian Tactics armor bonuses and great damage) there are weaknesses:
Namely, it’s gold hungry! 115g might be steep, but you’re practically using Elephant Siege artillery! It also, on top of being murdered by Pikes, is destroyed effectively by Skirmishers taking bonus damage outlined above! You won’t have Onagers to defend against this! You must use Light Cav without Plate Barding (ensuring they take more than 1 damage from any civ’s Post Imp Skirm, even Bracerless or Eskirm less ones) or Scorpions. While strong, Scorpions lack the splash type needed to save the day. Ballistas however do have splash, very weak splash, but they aren't going to miss their main target all too likely.
The final weakness is that they need Murder Holes for pointblank fire! Usually, most players ignore this resource waste worth a more precious 1.5ish TCs and instead get… well, 1.5ish TCs instead.
We also see the first civ without the Heavy Camel; it won’t be the last!
This next civ is an oft desired piece of badass, and I can agree. They technically dealt with Africa a decent amount, though their larger neighbor was more prevalent in that regard. Enter Portuguese a new Western European civ that often sailed the world to colonize places, including Africa!
Portuguese, the colonial empire of well... Portugal (1139 On)
A Ranged and Gunpowder Civ
Bonuses:
- Town Center -60% Stone Cost
The Portuguese were swift settlers and adept at expansive empire building.
- Foot Archers fire 20% faster
The Portuguese crossbowmen were always prepared: should he run out of bolts he would have a suppley of those made of stone just in case.
- Cartography and Caravans Free one age sooner
At sea, nobody could compare to the expansive nature of Portugal, whose extensive trade routes reached as far as Japan.
TB: Docks +15% Workrate
To truly give them a place at sea, here's a good bonus every ally will love.
Arquebus – An accurate gunman that costs a bit of gold compared to other gunpowder units but is much more accurate with 90% accuracy.
Stats [Elite]: 35 [40] HP, 17 [20] damage, +0/0 [0/0] armor. 8[8] range Costs 55f/60g
Navigation – Scouts and Warships +10% Movespeed, +2 damage and LoS
Matchlock – Arquebus perfect accuracy. Gunpowder Units +20% damage. An additional 25% damage vs. Walls and gains Splash vs. them.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Eagle Warriors
Disabled Cavalry: Camel
Disabled Archery: Parthian Tactics
Disabled Siege: Capped Ram, Heavy Scorpion
Disabled Dock: /
Disabled Blacksmith: /
Disabled Economy: Crop Rotation, Stone Shaft Mining
Disabled University: Keep, Treadmill Crane
Disabled Castle: Sappers
Disabled Monastery: Herbal Medicine, Heresy, Atonement, Theocracy, Fervor
Ironic that Portugal has a poor Monastery. Not so ironic is their colonization based bonuses with cheaper TC stone costs and free Dark Age Cartography (that alone I feel is worth 3 Civ bonuses by itself) and a bonus to their stone bolted crossbows, which they helped introduce to Africa. Look though at how full the tech tree is. All living units except Camels and Eagles are at full upgrades except for Parthian-less HCAs. They have full trash! Just like their Spanish neighbours! Where oh where is the catch? As clear as day, it’s the lack of Capped Rams. If your enemy decides to wall you out, you will be in trouble if you don’t have the Matchlock UT. You WILL require bombard cannons to beat layered wall cheese because only Capped Rams have building splash.
They’re also a desired ally for your Vikings, Vandal or Italian ally... or any naval endeavourers! That TB is like the British Archery TB, but for the dock! Do not ignore its potential!
Finally, we return to America. We introduce the Toltecs to our American family, and they too play an interesting spin on being Mesoamerican! For once, the focus shouldn’t be eagles. In fact, it’s highly recommended not to.
Toltecs, A major empire in late Precolumbian Mexico a few centuries before the coming of the Aztecs (800-1250)
A Defensive Civ
Bonuses:
- Repairmen 2x workrate, -33% repair cost
The Toltecs were master architects with a legacy for fine craftsmanship.
- Skirmishers +2 damage vs. ranged, gaining +2 in Castle and Imperial Ages (+6 total) and half that vs other units.
The common weapon of the Toltecs were spears and atl-atls, which could cut right through the cotton vestments of their enemies.
- Architecture free; Masonry Free in Feudal Age. Walls, gates and Palisades benefit.
If you don't realize how powerful their stonemasonry is yet...
- Start +100 Stone, +25 Wood
Then here's a reminder.
TB: Blacksmiths work 25% faster
Compared to their neighbors, Toltec weapons were said to be better forged, better crafted and always ahead of the game with obsidian or even metals.
Coyote Warrior – Durable, very short range archer with bonus damage vs. cavalry. Slow and weak to missiles.
Stats [Elite]: 70 [85] HP, 9 [13] damage (+8 [13] vs cavalry. +6 [9] vs camel, cataphracts) 3/1 [6/1] armor, 2 [2] range. Costs 70w/55g
Tortilla – All food income increased by 15%
Obsidian Fragments – Provides an additional Blast Furnace AND Bracer to represent the fact that while the Toltecs sometimes used wooden swords, the obsidian they sprinkled and filled them with made them lethal enough to deserve this edge in power.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Elite Eagle Warrior
Disabled Cavalry: Structure
Disabled Archery: Hand Cannoneer, Cav Archer, Parthian Tactics
Disabled Siege: Heavy Scorpion, Bombard Cannon
Disabled Dock: Cannon Galley, Fast Fire Ship
Disabled Blacksmith: Cavalry Armor
Disabled Economy: /
Disabled University: Bombard Tower
Disabled Castle: Sappers
Disabled Monastery: Atonement, Fervor
The UTs seem silly, but Tortillas were an important innovation for the warriors to make food that much more portable on long journeys. The Coyote Warrior quite literally is a heavy tank with a very short ranged bow. Literally, he’s almost a more extreme plumed archer if it mated with a Teutonic Knight.
The big thing here is the free Blast Furnace (+2 melee damage) and Bracer (+1 missile damage/range) for all units, including ships and structures! The big hitch here is the lack of Elite Eagles. You must rely on Champions, Arbalests, ESkirms, Siege Rams/Onagers and Halberds! The question is, however, can it be done? You decide! Champs will certainly give Eagles a hard time!
New Techs:
Wine Press
Building: Mill
Available to: All
Age: Castle
Effect: Farmers gather 5% faster
Reason: The possession of this tech means you can save villager usage to other jobs where work would be more prudent. If not that, then farming is the only place where gather rate has yet to be increased.
Surplus
Building: Mill
Available to: All except Huns, Slavs and Aztecs. (Franks get for free but only if they have a mill)
Age: Imperial (Requires Wine Press)
Effect: Farmers gather 5% faster
Reason: Just a little tech tiering for added farming benefits.
Combined Arms
Building: Barracks
Available to: All Civs (except maybe the more diverse ones)
Age: Imperial
Effect: Differing from civ to civ, Combined Arms takes 2 or 3 underdog units of a civ and gives them slight buffs. Price varies with each civ.
Reason: To diversify some pigeonholed tech trees, we should boost some of their lesser used units. This tech for instance, would likely boost Mongol Champions and the Foot Archer line, possibly Knights with intentions of drawing all the focus away from Mangudai. For Celts it would likely bolster Cavalry, with intents on getting less use from Infantry and Siege. For Britons, it’d be cavalry and Arbalests, for Japan, those Cav Archers with all techs but Bloodlines would likely be one of the boosted units.
Note: This idea is in a beta stage of conception.
Arabesque
Building: University
Available to: Turks, Saracens, Ghana, Berbers, Italians, Spanish, Byzantines, Indians, Aztecs, Mongols, Franks, Portuguese,
Age: Imperial
Effect: Monasteries and wonders 5% cheaper, build 10% Faster
Reason: Perhaps an Edge in wonder races and Monk massing isn’t very fair, but it can certainly give some civs a sense of value. A fun though not too strong a tech. You’d think it a Monastery Tech, but then Aztec monks would be even stronger!
Motte and Bailey
Building: Lumber Camp
Available to: All except Aztecs, Saracens, Italians
Age: Feudal
Effect: Upgrades Palisaides into Motte and Baileys, which are 175 HP stronger and have slightly better armor. Also upgrades the health of your Palisade Gates.
Reason: Huns and Goths cannot do any form of true defensive. Want to keep a relic walled off from enemy Priests? Too bad you can’t gate it in instead! Boar hunter beyond a fortress... your enemy slipped in through your deletion while you were gone! The big reason is because stone is a very rare material.
Barricade
Building: Lumber Camp
Available to: All except Aztecs, Saracens, Italians, Britons, Celts, Turks, Huns, Koreans, Spanish, Vandals
Age: Imperial
Effect: Upgrades Motte and Bailey Walls into Barricades, which are 325 HP stronger and have slightly better armor. Wooden Walls get 425 HP (total of 975)
Reason: To ensure this structure remains semi-useful into the Imperial Age. Even after all these techs, the wall only provides 750 HP worth of defence. Still, late game it can keep armies from running into your town especially if your civ has no walls to speak of otherwise. These techs are Lumbercamp techs to give the Lumbercamp some more use beyond just a dropsite!
Siege Hook
Building: Siege Workshop
Available to: All except Spanish, Koreans, Chinese, Ghana
Age: Imperial
Effect: Siege Weapons strike 15% faster against walls, palisades and castles and 5% faster against all other buildings.
Reason: To circumvent the potential wall abuse, Siege Weapons will knock them down a peg... or better yet a brick!
Trade Roads
Building: Market
Available to: All
Age: Imperial
Effect: Trade Carts no longer have collision.
Reason: Do you love when your trade routes are too tightly packed? Maybe you want your carts to blitz on by so raiding infantry don’t disrupt too badly. Whatever the case, no collision means each cart takes as swift a route as possible at all times. If for some reason you wish to turn this back on, you can toggle it freely at any Market.
Post Dark ContinentYou want to talk about just in concept, we’re even beyond afterthought planning here!
Civs:
Armenians: Armenia has an interesting history and some fairly legendary cavalry. One might argue they are either Persian or Byzantine, but that is hardly the case.
Axumites: For that last glimpse of Egypt and the greatest might ever known in Ethiopia, one of the first Christian nations on Earth and a powerful naval force for its location.
Burgundians: Perhaps not the most prominent duchy, Burgundy managed to hold onto its identity from its barbarian days up until its rise and fall in the 14 and 15th century; easy artistically to make as well!
Chimu: The other big (this one more forgotten) South American Empire, one which lasted longer than the Incas, but met an ironically timed demise less than a century before Europeans invaded. Though not too much is known, it would give more ways to play a cavalry-less civ.
Flemish: Perhaps not the best name for a Netherlands, Belgian civ, I find them quite fascinating with their focus on pikes and the bowstring twist.
Georgians: The Kingdom of Georgia seems an anomaly for the Middle East
Ghaznavid: While they’re nothing you’ll really know, this Afghanistan based Moslem empire was unique for its heavy use of armoured elephants and archers. As such, a civ where the only really good cavalry they have is an elephant and an eh Stables otherwise (No Cavalier, Heavy Camel, Husbandry, Bloodlines)
Khazars: The Khazars are a Judaic empire which had a high tolerance for all the major faiths. Were known for cavalry and siegecraft.
Mali: Another major Saharan African power, the Mali is the empire that the legendary Mansa Musa comes from and is probably when Islam truly took roots in the empires of this region.
Mixtecs: An indigenous people of Mexico. Like the Slavs, less of a true Empire and more an indigenous peoples.
Moors: Unlike the Berbers, these guys live in Southern Iberia and are cavalry and boom focused. I really, REALLY like their tech tree/bonus sets.
Polish: You’d call them Slavs, but Poland is a very, VERY popular civ. It stands on its own as it is the true birthplace of the Winged Hussar. It’s also the only civ in both of the historical mega-mods (Hegemony and Vovoids)... seriously, just Poland, a must have!
Saxons: The Saxons of the British Isles and of Saxony. A strong contender for a No-knight civ (though the Duchy of Saxony may say otherwise)
Songhai: Another African power, this one is immersed in Muslim religion and law.
Srivijayan: The peoples of Indonesia. A naval island hopping force.
Swiss: Known for their mercenaries, mostly as phalanx weapon masters, the Swiss also were good with hit and run Crossbow attacks, whether on foot or mounted.
Tatars: A Turkic tribe from Mongolia. The Tatars are set apart from both Turks and Mongols due to their biological warfare spreading plagues. It is said they threw corpses and rats out of catapults to spread disease to the city of Kaffa and it eventually brought the Black Death to Europe.
Thai: A politically correct name I cannot think of: Lavo, Siamese... Thai is short and sweet and would be sweet to play as more Southeast Asians
Tibetans: The Tibetans are a mountain people, who had surprisingly good cavalry to fight against the Chinese as well as their great Buddhist monks.
Wallachians: The Wallachians birth the legend of Dracula. He was real: Vlad Tepes III and his Impalers bring a W named civ to the table. Or it could be Romania. Either way, the Roman/Italian building set is possible here! It needs more love for the civ based on Impaling and could include the likes of Moldova
Zapotecs: The other major group in Mexico were Zapotecs. Allowing for more ways to play an eagle Warrior civ. Mostly filler from a historical standpoint, their gameplay style is quite unique with Villagers used in ways even Spaniards wouldn’t dare!
Zimbabwe: The great walled cities and empire of Zimbabwe would be a Knightless infantry civ with tribal Eagle Warriors and great defences. Again, if you can think of a better UU than a Bantu Warrior, fire away with suggestions. Name shortened from Great Zimbabwe.
By all means, feel free to suggest more, especially in underrepresented parts of the world. I can’t think of a very good Far East Asian buildset civ (beyond possibly the Tatars.) Bonus points if the civ starts with a letter other than T, B, S, M, In, Kh, or G... it doesn’t really matter in truth, I’m just a tad OCD sometimes.
Some future ideas for civ setups
Note: Not all new techs are taken into account
Age of Kings: Medieval Strife
Civs: Burgundians, Armenians, Mali, Chimu, Swiss and Wallachians
New Techs
Quarrying
Building: Mining Camp
Available to: All
Age: Imperial
Effect: Allows the construction of quarries. Quarries are stone mines with 275s. Stone Miners gather them 30% slower than normal stone mines and only up to 5 miners at a time. Any miner can take the stone. They cost 200w to make.
Reason: Late game, stone just... isn't really there. Well, all game actually! There's such limited quantities of it, meaning you likely need to be the first to snag it from the market to get it at best value. While this is pretty much a wood for stone trade, at least it adds stone to the game. Military units can walk through the stone to prevent abuses like making walls enemies would have to mine through rather than break with siege.
Fixtures
Building: University
Available to: Byzantines, Aztecs, Mayans, Franks, Vandals, Saracens, Chinese, Turks, Wallachians, Burgundians, Britons, Vikings, Teutons, Incas, Magyars, Armenians, Khmer
Effect: Buildings repair 15% faster
Reasoning: You just warded off an enemy attack and they're coming back! You're not repaired yet, but you do have an army. Woah is your base! But it's not, because your workers are better at putting out fires and thus repair a bit faster.
The big new selling point: Auxiliaries! This tech, which is available to certain civs, grants them access to another UU that belongs to another civ, based on a mix of historical and balance based diversification reasons! For the most part, these UUs will tend to lack things the mainstay civ may have had for them.
This castle Age Tech is available in the Castle, but can be quite expensive and varies with each civ.
The current roster grows and grows, but for now it looks like this!
Armenians: Cataphract
Burgundians: Longbowman, Genoese Crossbow, Throwing Axeman*
Byzantines: Quinquireme
Franks: Swiss Guard
Incas: Bolas
Italians: Teutonic Knights
Japanese: Arquebus
Magyars: Tarkans
Persians: Elephant Archers
Portuguese: Missionary
Swiss: Cranequinier
Toltecs: Jaguar Warriors
Wallachians: Boyar
*Burgundians get to be special snowflakes, the ‘Auxiliary civ’ if you will. When and if Flanders ever becomes a civ, expect their UU to be hired by the Burgundians.
Speaking of....
Burgundians: the Burgundian Barbarians plus both the County and Duchy of Burgundy which are unrelated regions (411-1678)
A Diverse Civ
Bonuses:
- Market, Mining Camp, Lumber Camp and Mill techs -40% cost, +20% research speed
- Archer, Crossbow & Arbalest +1/1 Armor
- Blacksmith Techs -50% food cost
- Start +1 House (On Nomad map, starts somewhere near your closest visable villager)
TB: Monasteries built 55% Faster
Cranequinier – A ranged heavy cavalry archer with great durability and both kinds of armor. Benefits from Parthian tactics.
Stats [Elite]: 80 [115] HP, 7 [9] damage, 2/2 [2/2] armor, 4 [4] range. Costs 55w/70g
Grunhag – Palisades, Walls, Gates +4/4/9 armor, -33% build time.
Lex Burgundionum – Allows Burgundians to gain access to a second mercenary unit of their choice.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Eagle Warrior, Tracking
Disabled Cavalry: Light Cavalry, Camel
Disabled Archery: Heavy Cav Archer
Disabled Siege: Siege Onager, Siege Ram
Disabled Dock: Fast Fire Ship
Disabled Blacksmith: /
Disabled Economy: Town Patrol
Disabled University: Heated Shot, Keep, Treadmill Crane
Disabled Castle: /
Disabled Monastery: Sanctity, Block Printing
'Their Burgundian Allies as thick as rats!'
-Joan of Arc Campaign
Or... maybe not. AoK does a terrible job representing them by using the limited Frankish techtree. They were indeed diverse, if not for the mercenaries hired from all over Europe to fill them with cavalry, gunpowder, infantry and especially archers, even mounted ones. As such, the big Burgundian selling point is their added mercenary. Not that they really have any melee options [yet!] Still, a strong economy and powerful defences and offenses. The real pitfall of this civ is their lack of good scouting and LoS. Notice all the missing LoS techs: Town Patrol, Tracking and Light Cavalry!
This is meant to be the Achilles heel of the civ, an accurate one at that (poor reconnaissance cost Charles the Bold dearly) even if a lack of lighter cavalry wouldn’t be so prudent.
Armenians: A powerful civ with some world renown armored cavalry (429-1375)
A Cavalry and economic civ
- Stable and Castle units +1/1 Armor, +1/2 Imperial Age
- Slain sheep/turkeys 2x food but decay 15% faster
- Advance to Castle Age half price
- Stable Techs half price
TB: Livestock +3 LoS
Ayrudzi – A slower heavy cavalry unit resistant to spearmen with similar to Cataphract resistances but highly expensive and NOT resistant to camel attacks. Their mace does slight bonus damage to archers. Slower and slower striking than most knights.
Stats: 130 HP [190], 11 [14] damage (+2 [3] vs archers and siege) 3/4 [4/6] armor Costs 70f/90g
Asfin Al-Armani – Meaning Armenian Products. Armenians generate stone, wood and food at a slow trickle.
Azatavrear – Cavalry +1 damage.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Eagle Warrior, Halberd, Tracking.
Disabled Cavalry: /
Disabled Archery: Arbalest
Disabled Siege: Bombard Cannon, Siege Ram, Heavy Scorpion
Disabled Dock: Fast Fire Ship, Shipwright
Disabled Blacksmith: Plate Barding, Bracer
Disabled Economy: Stone Shaft Mining
Disabled University: /
Disabled Castle: Hoardings, Sappers
Disabled Monastery: Theocracy
Armenians are a very focused cavalry civ. They focus almost entirely on their stable as they lack Bracer, though they could throw out Champions, Monks and Siege Onagers a pinch. The best aspect is that also boosts Castle Units, namely Petards, Auxila Cataphracts and Trebuchets, which can now win treb wars because the added armor ensures they survive 1 more volley from other Trebs.
The gimmick for the armor comes at the price of Plate Barding, which it technically replaces. This leaves Persia as the penultimate cavalry civ technologically.
The Armenians also have a strong economy. Asfan Al-Armani (AA-A) is a good way to keep from going broke and can help trash wars... if you know, these guys had viable trash to wage wars with besides armoured Hussars. Their ability to make sheep into better scouts is very welcome early game and especially welcome in LN team maps.
Mali, the empire of Mansa Musa, became Islamic over time (1231-1670)
A Monk civ
Bonuses:
- Heavy Camel, Imperial Camel upgrade free,
- Tracking Tech benefits all military units
- Monastery techs cost -40% Castle Age, -50% Imperial Age
- Farms techs 2x effectiveness (includes +2 food gather rate for Castle Age tech), +60% Cost, +15% research time.
TB: Market Work Rate +25%
Mandinka - A fast archer who can inexpensively destroy buildings with its burning splash arrows that cannot hurt allied targets.
Stats [Elite]: 40 [55] HP, 5 [6] damage, 4 [5] range (+3 [4] vs. buildings and +1 [2] vs. siege), 1/1 [1/1] armor. Costs 35w/50g
Maghan – Kings (in regicide) +25 Health, Mandinka have a larger splash radius.
Pilgrimage – Mansa Musa brings Islam and goods to the people, granting Monks +2 range, and can get faith to 200% instead of 100%. This means they can store up to 2 conversions per recharge. (Actual recharge speed unincreased)
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Heavy Eagle Warrior
Disabled Cavalry: Bloodlines
Disabled Archery: Arbalest
Disabled Siege: Heavy Scorpion, Bombard Cannon
Disabled Dock: Fast Fire Ship
Disabled Blacksmith: Bracer
Disabled Economy: Two Man Saw
Disabled University: Bombard Tower, Treadmill Crane
Disabled Castle: /
Disabled Monastery: /
The Mali are a unique civ to be sure. Though they are meant to make cavalry, their cavalry lack Bloodlines, and only bloodlines. They aren’t too shabby all around, having Champions, Halberds, all Bloodless Cavalry and a Bracerless Archery Range that’s otherwise near perfect and their monks really are a conversion force. With the UT, the added range and conversion power allow them to convert that much more often. As such, Mali may be a bit of a Micro intensive civ. If you’re good with monks, you’ll build a strong force from your enemies, or leave heretics dead in your wake. They’re also the only civ with a bonus in Regicide!
Beyond that, they can potentially use Eagles before they need to realize that the Heavy Eagle tech matters a lot and they just don’t have it! If Teutons can sometimes use Scout Cavalry, then maybe, but in this case, this civ has Hussars with everything but bloodlines!
Chimu, the enemies of the Incas until the late 15th century! (900-1470)
An Infantry civ
- Hoardings Free
- Villagers carry +10 food, +5 HP
- Missile units almost never miss moving targets. (+85% Accuracy)
- Barracks techs cost no gold
TB: Eagle Warriors +2 LoS
Bolas – A short ranged infantryman who has a splash attack. Deals damage to a single target and the rock balls will sweep to strike other nearby targets for splash damage like a mangonel. Bonus vs. cavalry and siege.
Stats [Elite]: 45 [65] HP, 7 [9] damage (+6 [8] vs cavalry, +3 [5] vs buildings) 1/0 [2/1] armor, 4 [5] range. Costs 15s/55f
Mud Bricks – All structures +2/2/4 armor, build 5% faster and fire an extra arrow if tower or castle.
Mountaineering – Archer/Crossbow/Arbalest and Bolas +2 damage vs. Melee units, +1 range.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: /
Disabled Cavalry: Structure
Disabled Archery: Hand Cannoneer, Cav Archer, Parthian Tactics
Disabled Siege: Bombard Cannon, Onager, Siege Ram
Disabled Dock: Cannon Galley, Dry Docks
Disabled Blacksmith: Cavalry Armor
Disabled Economy: Two Man Saw
Disabled University: Ballistics
Disabled Castle: Sappers
Disabled Monastery: Redemption, Fervor, Herbal Medicine
NOTE: Bombard Towers launch Boulders, not cannons!
You DO see Bombard Towers, but they are altered to launch stones and boulders to remain thematic... seems history and PvE ISN’T my focus after all! And be glad you have these highly accurate towers! So accurate they are the one civ without Ballistics! They have all the units they can for the most part. They don’t have Onagers, or Siege Engineers (It wouldn’t effect Bolas even if they did) for Bolas are meant to be a fill in unit, and a fill in unit with more mobility, anti-cavalry powers and improvable attack and armor. They are infantry through and through.
Speaking of, the Chimu save a whopping 1745g at the Barracks before considering any techs that FE introduces. With techs from FE and Dark Continent, it breaches 2k gold if you want all the Barracks technologies.
Unfortunately for their perfect Eagles, they have no bonuses like Aztecs, Mayans or even the slightly faster Incas. They do have slightly bonused archers on the other hand, which can both help against cavalry AND infantry of the melee variety. Ranged infantry and cavalry (Mamluks, Axe Throwers, Bolas) do not take bonus damage.
Swiss, the people of the Helvetia and the most famous Pikes and Halberds (1000 on)
A Spearman and Ranged civ
Bonuses:
- Spearman, Pikeman, Halberdier +1 range
- Skirmishers, Spearmen +15% Feudal, +20% Castle, +25% Health Imperial
- Coinage, Banking Free
- 30% Food conservation.
TB: Castles work 15% faster
Swiss Guard – A sturdy halberdier guardsman with a lot of armor and a reach attack and a large food consumption.
Stats [Elite]: 55 HP [80], 5 [7] damage (+25 [39] vs Cavalry, +14 [20] vs camels, +18 [29] vs Cataphract, Ayrudzi types, +8 [12] vs Asding-type camels, +43 [71] vs elephants) 2/2 [2/4] armor, 1 [1] range. Costs 95f/40g
Pike Square – Pikemen, Swiss Guard +1 range, +1 damage
Crossbow Skirmishes – Crossbowman, Hand Cannoneer, Cranequinier -15% cost, +10% move speed
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Eagle Warrior, Two Handed Sword
Disabled Cavalry: Camel, Husbandry
Disabled Archery: /
Disabled Siege: Siege Onager, Siege Ram
Disabled Dock: Fast Fire Ship, Dry Dock
Disabled Blacksmith: Blast Furnace
Disabled Economy: Two Man Saw, Gold Shaft Mining
Disabled University: Keep, Fortified Walls, Heated Shot
Disabled Castle: Sappers
Disabled Monastery: Fervor, Theocracy
The Swiss are a rare civ where their Auxiliary unit, the Cranequinier, is actually boosted specifically by a Unique Tech. It’s the only one of its kind! The Barracks is pretty much a mirror of the Persians, minus Blast Furnace! Still, Halberds with 75 HP are not something to scoff at. They’ll still die fast to missiles with no doubt, but they’re still more durable and extra durable Skirmishers will help them out!
For the most part, all their military has reach: even the Spearmen! +2 range is nothing to scoff it for a melee unit. You can easily pile on the cavalry death in large and clustered formations more easily. The Swiss Guard UU is also a very durable unit. He’s like an unmounted knight mixed with a reaching pikeman and he resists missiles.
Swiss fall flat with their lack of Blast Furnace, Husbandry and most of all, Fortified Walls. It’s up to a skilled eater of forage bushes to make the Swiss work well! Swiss are also an ideal ally with improved castle Workrate bonus and the power to Sling resources with freely researched tribute cost reducers!
Wallachians, Romania, Moldovia, Vlad Tepes/Dracula/The Impaler (1018-1477)
Cavalry Civ
- Knights 15% Cheaper Castle Age, 25% Imperial Age
- Villagers +20% workrate, +15% movespeed, +2/2 Armor, but +10% cost
- All military +2 damage vs. Economic Units (Villagers and trade units); +3 for Cavalry, Skirmisher, and Siege Weapons (Not cumulative)
TB: Spearmen +2 damage vs. UUs
Impaler – A glass cannon infantryman who deals extreme damage but falls very fast to missile fire. We’re talking 20+ damage bare before elite bare minimum but 50 health AT MOST at elite and a gold cost that can be up there. Has a slow attack rate.
Stats [Elite]: 40 [50] HP, 21 [34] damage, 1/0 [1/0] armor. Costs 25f/60g
Dacian Riches – Units -10% gold cost
Bran Castle – Castles +2 arrows per volley. Castle shots impale through targets the same way Scorpions do. Castles can Garrison Scorpions for added fire and healing.
Tech tree:
Disabled Infantry: Eagle Warrior
Disabled Cavalry: Heavy Camel
Disabled Archery: /
Disabled Siege: /
Disabled Dock: Heavy Demo Ship
Disabled Blacksmith: Plate Mail Armor, Blast Furnace, Bracer, Ring Archer Armor, Plate Barding
Disabled Economy: Guilds
Disabled University: /
Disabled Castle: /
Disabled Monastery: Redemption, Atonement, Theocracy
Look at that tech tree! There’s not a Siege Tech missing! Not a university tech missing! All the archers, and European available Infantry! Their only cavalry lacking is the Heavy Camel and they miss just one measly boat and a few Monastery techs! They have Cheaper Knights: CHEAPER KNIGHTS! Sure their villagers cost 5 more food, but they do everything that much more efficiently that they’re worth more than their pop slot normally entails, doing all gathering and building 20% more effectively! The thing is: they have to do it quickly, by the Imperial Age no less.
The Knights, straight from the Order of the Dragon are without blacksmithing... EVERYTHING is without blacksmithing come Imperial Age! Your blacksmith best serves as a conduit towards the many Siege Workshops you will be creating! Why wouldn’t you? You have so many possibilities here!
Keep your enemy crippled early and often as you do get villager damage bonus and you can win more easily! Let them get Blast Furnace and Plate Mail... you’d better be really good at on the fly counter units if that happens!
To help protect your siege from encroaching cavalry and fast infantry, create scores of Impalers to wall them in per say. These things are 3 hit death to almost every unmounted unit though to be fair, they strike as slow as pikemen do.
Interestingly, I’m willing to change them to have an actual impale effect where they can strike nearby units to the target, akin to a scorpion impale (not akin to trample if possible) which would technically still be strong, but less about killing power as for such a buff their attack would plummet!
Wallachia is clearly NOT a PvE oriented civ as it's far too aggressive for campaigns that may set starting limits.
Remember, numbers tend to be a ballpark idea on how a bonus is supposed to work. For balance sake, they are not set in stone!
Due to Character limit in post, I'm somewhat forced to split this into two posts. More ideas are in the next post. I hate double Posting but I WILL breach the 60k Character limit if I post the rest of my ideas in this post. In short, a necessary evil!
This is mostly years ahead of even just theoretical reality but it's nice to get it out there now!
Changelog
March 16
Changed Toltec Skirmisher bonus. Removed accuracy boost and reworded the bonus to +2 per age anti-archer damage with +6 total in Imperial Age.
Amazigh (Berber Castle Age UT) is now a small speed boost to villagers and makes them and their free houses immune to conversion.
Armenian armor bonus changed to boost stable and Castle Units. In return for no longer boosting Cav Archers, they regain Thumb Ring and E Skirms but still lack Bracer.
Tweaked Khmer Crossbow Mahout. Made it clear that they move slower and fire slower than other elephants and archers and added their garrison stat. Also increased training cost from 115 to 120g to ensure that they don't fully overshadow Indian UU.
March 24
Ghana Now has Poisoned Arrows. Gold And Salt trade is now renamed Tax Exploit
Mali's Mossi is now a Mandinka, an archer with a burning arrow. but little to do besides break buildings and a decent pricetag for the fact it's unmounted.
Other Civ ideas by brilliant minds: by which I mean anything not submitted by me! (I'm quite humble)
None Yet, be the first upon the list!
June 16, made a few tweaks. Will tweak to fix names and adjust to fit more with what I know of current AoFE.
Mali free camel upgrade now displays Imperial Camel inclusion.
Swiss Forager bonus (due to now being a Frankish thing) changed to 30% food conservation, it's better than the Mayan 20%, but it's only for food!
A few numerical tweaks.
August 16: Changed Khmer bonus and the Ballista. It is no longer a UU but is their TB. Your allies can train Ballistae at their Siege Workshops in Age4... is this balance-able? I'm thinking Siege Workshop unit bonuses like the Celtic Faster Fire rate and UT/Mongol Drills and Slavic discount should be ineffective on them.