Hello there! You’ve partied in Alfheim with Freyr and rescued Demeter’s cornucopia, but don’t you think the last of the original three civs deserves to get in on the bonus god action, too? So do I!
The only god left in Egypt’s vast pantheon that I thought could really justifiably be called a major god is none other than Amun, but there we encounter a problem: Amun really became famous and widely revered after he fused with an existing major god to form Amun-Ra. I personally have no problem with how Ra plays, and I didn’t feel like trying to devise a syncretism mechanic for this game, for please join me in suspending your disbelief just slightly as we introduce some new deities to the roster. I didn’t get too adventurous with this one since I was working within the confines of an existing civilization, but hopefully you all like it.
I’m imagining we depict Amun in his Post-Amarna Period incarnation: human in form but with blue skin and big ostrich feathers in his crown. Both his headdress and his skin tone will help distinguish him from Retold’s Ptah, but if need be, we could also go with ram-headed Amun, with or without Technicolor skin.
Amun
God of Wind, Fertility, and Primeval Creation
Focus: Economy and Human Units
- Sacred Overwatch: Monuments increase the amount of resources dropped off at nearby drop sites by +5% (+10% if empowered)
- Migdol Stronghold units train 15% faster
- Priest and Pharaoh movement speed 5% faster
- Second Town Center cost -50%
- Half of Wonder’s Gold cost is replaced with Favor cost
(I had trouble coming up with some unique facets for Amun that didn’t draw on his Ra parts, so I decided to gear him towards being more economical and infrastructure-based. Also, I didn’t spot any Wonder-based bonuses among the Egyptian Pantheon, which seemed strange considering they were all about building massive wonders.)
Amun’s Wonder would be the Temple of Amun-Ra at Karnak.
God Power: Recreation – Target up to four dead villagers within a small area to be returned to life. (30 Favor to recast)
(That’s right! I salvaged a God Power! While Tale of the Dragon had few redeeming qualities, some of its God Powers are perfectly generic enough to be recycled. Waste not, want not! Plus, it fits in with Amun’s perception as a creator deity in some time periods, where again he overlaps with Ptah.)
Technology:
Field of Reeds (100 Fd, 100 W, 15 Fv) – Amun’s heavenly blessing causes Laborers gathering Food and Wood to generate a trickle of the opposite resource as they gather. (Town/Village Center)
(Aaru, or the Field of Reeds, was the heavenly paradise ruled over by Osiris.)
Classical Age Minor God
Neith
Goddess of the Bow and Weaving
Focus: Ranged Soldiers and Economy
“You have advanced to the Classical Age through the designs of Neith!”
(Other option is Ptah)
Myth Unit: Nehebkau (200 Fd, 15 Fv, 2 Pop) – Fire-breathing myth unit that protects a small area around it from enemy God Powers. Good against human units.
(This unit kind of repurposes the “Apep” unit way back from the original AoM beta with a fun added twist.)
Human Unit: Pítati Bowman (60 W, 90 G, 2 Pop) – Unique all-purpose ranged unit that is expensive but good in combat and never misses. Good against whatever it can reach. (Barracks)
(I always found it odd that the Egyptians lacked a unit [well, aside from the Mercenary] representing Nubia, so I’ve slightly borrowed a trick from another strategy game’s bag to give you the Pítati, famous Egyptian mercenaries from around the area of Nubia/Punt. Naturally, imagine the Heavy as being a silver version equipped somewhere between the Medium and Champion. I’m also thinking the Champion will have a straight-up massive ostrich feather in his headband!)
God Power: Barrage – Target an area to send down a hail of divine arrows from the heavens. (50 Favor to recast)
(Waste not, want not!)
Technologies:
Medium Pítati Bowmen (250 W, 300 G)
Heavy Pítati Bowmen (300 W, 400 G)
Champion Pítati Bowmen (400 W, 500 G) (Barracks)
Medjay (250 Fd, 25 Fv) – Neith increases the lifespan of your Mercenary units and boosts the hitpoints of your Barracks units. (Town Center, Barracks)
(It always made me kind of sad that this tech got the axe, so I decided to bring it back with slightly more utility. It thematically fits the Pítati Bowman as well.)
Feast of Lamps (50 Fd, 150 G, 15 Fv) – Neith’s Feast of Lamps reduces the Favor cost of myth units and decreases the amount of divine damage all your units take. (Town Center, Temple)
Sacred Linens (100 W, 5 Fv) – Neith’s work at the loom improves the armor of your Laborers and human soldiers and grants a small amount of Favor when they are killed. (Temple)
Heroic Age Minor God
Wepwawet
God of War and Remover of Obstacles
Focus: Siege and Myth Units
“You have advanced to the Heroic Age through the forethought of Wepwawet!”
(Other option is Sobek)
Myth Unit: Sak (300 G, 30 Fv, 3 Pop) – Myth unit that spawns a random myth unit from any pantheon upon its death. Good against human units.
(This thing is whacky. It was said to have the head of a hawk, the body of a lion, the hindquarters of a horse, and a tail which ended in a blooming lotus flower. It was said to be a mother capable of birthing even stranger, scarier monsters.)
God Power: Open the Way – Target an area to instantly reduce the armor of any walls, towers, or fortress-type buildings within to 0. The area gets larger in later ages. (250 Favor to recast)
Technologies:
Opening of the Mouth (200 Fd, 100 W, 200 G, 20 Fv) – Wepwawet’s orders make Laborers and Fishing Ships gather resources more efficiently and grants you any resources a Laborer or Fishing Ship was carrying when they were killed. (Town/Village Center, Granary, Lumber Camp, Mining Camp)
(Wepwawet used his adze [which he conveniently let Bast borrow] to open the mouths of mummies so the deceased could be given their duties to follow in the afterlife.)
Royal Mace (300 W, 120 G, 20 Fv) – Wepwawet grants his war mace to your siege weapons, Ramming Galleys, War Barges, and War Elephants, increasing the amount of crush damage they deal to buildings. (Siege Workshop, Dock, Migdol Stronghold)
(When depicted as a god of war, Wepwawet usually carries either a bow or mace. Blunt objects are very good at opening the way to things.)
Guide to Duat (500 G, 75 Fv) – Wepwawet greatly decreases the amount of time it takes for your Pharaoh to respawn. (Town Center, Temple)
(As well as standing at the head of Ra’s solar barque, Wepwawet is also said by some to be a Hermes-like guide through the underworld to the hall of judgement, hence his canine head.)
Mythic Age Minor God
Khonsu
God of the Moon and the Passage of Time
Focus: Heroes and Favor Generation
“You have advanced to the Mythic Age through the travels of Khonsu!”
(Other option is Thoth)
Myth Unit: Spawn of Ammut (300 Fd, 25 Fv, 4 Pop) – Myth unit whose special attack temporarily blocks the healing and special attacks of other units. Good against myth units and heroes.
(Ammut/Ammit was the crocododile-lion-hippo beast that ate the hearts of the impure in the halls of judgement.)
God Power: Lunar Cycle – Target anywhere on the map to cause all your buildings to construct, train units, and research improvements faster, all your units and buildings to regain HP, and your villagers to gather Food faster for a short time. (450 Favor to recast)
(As the god of light in the night, Khonsu was invoked to protect against wild animals and aid with healing. It was said that when Khonsu caused the crescent moon to shine, women conceived, cattle became fertile, and all nostrils and every throat were filled with fresh air. Visually, imagine casting Eclipse but the daylight cycles repeatedly and faster.)
Technologies:
Pathfinder (150 G, 15 Fv) – Khonsu increases the line of sight of your human soldiers and Heroes and allows them to more easily spot Traps and concealed units.
(One of Khonsu’s epithets was Pathfinder, both because of the path the moon traveled and because he was said to watch over nighttime travelers.)
Lunar Renewal (350 G, 25 Fv) – Khonsu causes your Monuments to heal themselves and yield additional Favor.
Devourer of the Dead (200 Fd, 20 Fv) – Khonsu feeds your Spawn of Ammut the impure hearts of the dead, increasing their hitpoints and attack.
Apotropaic Magic (250 G, 15 Fv) – Khonsu’s protective spells decrease the amount of damage taken by your Pharaohs and Priests, as well as by empowered buildings.
As a little bonus bit, here are a few Relics that I’d like to see re/added to the game, mostly Egyptian-themed.
- “You have found Aeolus’ Bag of Winds, which increases the speed of your ships.” (cut during the original beta)
- “You have found the Shen of Nekhbet, which increases the attack of your naval Myth Units.” (would obviously need tuning to make it less OP than the original version that got banned)
- “You have found sacred incense from Punt, increasing the frequency with which your Myth Units may use their special attack.”
- “You have recovered the Flail of Osiris, which increases the rate at which villagers gather all resources.”
I also have the beginnings of an idea for a Mythic Battle to utilize Amun, this time starring our boy Setna as he helps Amanra’s commander Mnevis (another scrapped idea from the beta) to drive off Theris’ pirates… unfortunately, they drive them straight to Atlantis, but hey, he gets to earn a place in Arkantos’ dreams.
), I have for a while tried to come up with a concept myself for a 4th Egypt Major God and this was something I contemplated myself.
I like it 
I had trouble designing him, actually (I was also surprised that Ammut had never been referenced in the games before). I do agree that another raptor-headed god is probably one too many, but I worried about green-skinned Khonsu looking too much like Ptah (and blue-skinned Khonsu looking too much like Amun.) Geb and Nut were mostly avoided from the fact that they seem almost more like titans or primordial gods to me, though I do suppose they were actively worshipped. (But hey, going with Geb would allow me to put Nehebkau with his own father!) I suppose Shu is another option for a god.