Hello everyone, I know there’s been a proposal for a Persian civilization previously, but it seems to have not been updated in several months and I’d rather not necro-post. Nonetheless, I wanted to bring up some new ideas that have been bouncing around in my head regarding a civilization I and many others want to see in the game: Persia (or Iran).
First, why should we have a Persian civ for AOE3? I’ve come up with a few reasons:
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Sentimentality - If the Persians were added, it would be one of the few civilizations to have been made present in all three games of the original trilogy, alongside the Chinese and Japanese. They would fulfill the “big idea” of the Age series, that being building a civilization that survives throughout the ages.
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Historical Importance - Although few non-experts know it, the Persians were experiencing a great revival under this period (1500s - 1700s). The Safavid dynasty managed to hold off the Ottomans for several centuries, and could have defeated the Ottomans outright on some occasions. They also maintained a great deal of cultural and economic influence over the Indian Ocean region. Perhaps the most impressive period for the Persians was that of the reign of Nader Shah, who managed to unite Persia as it was crumbling following the Safavid decline, and won several great victories over the Ottomans and Mughals: although his empire didn’t last, his success was remarkable thanks to building a highly modern army.
So how would we design the Persians? I recognize that is complicated. Despite their cultural similarities, we can’t make Persia into a “less weird India” (no elephants, villagers costing food, etc.). Firstly, the developers have aimed to give every civilization a unique niche: Japanese, for example, focus on expensive but high-quality units; Russians are the zerg rushers; Lakota is the cavalry civilization, etc. Secondly, having the Persians behave like the Indians wouldn’t work because it would be pointless: it adds nothing new and would actually make the Persians weaker without some of the quirks which make India strong, like the Elephant units.
Civilization Type:
The Persians would have several prominent attributes. They would be encouraged to make heavy use out of their cavalry units, but cavalry would not be the dominating strength of the civilization (Lakota and to some extent Germans and French fulfill that niche). We have many infantry civilizations of either the Quality or Quantity archetypes. What I think we do lack, however, is artillery, and the Persian artillery corps was pretty notable under the Safavids and Afsharids, and they could be a genuine artillery, namely a cannon, civilization. Otherwise, they should be encouraged to monopolize trade and to make native alliances, reflecting the ethnic and geographic realities of Persia during this period.
Hero:
The hero doesn’t really matter, but I think we should move on from the gimmicky monk units, even if Persia is on the Asian continent. I’ve seen some previous suggestions of just having a mounted military officer like the Lakota War Chief or the Ethiopian Ras, and I think that would work well, but with some kind of unique ability to collect treasures.
Units:
- Infantry
Tufangchi: Honestly, we don’t need to make this a particularly fancy unit, we already have a lot of Musketeer alternatives with various stats adjusted. I simply propose that this is a rename and reskin of the generic Musketeer
Jezail: References the Afghan mountain warriors who plagued so many armies during this period. They would fill the Skirmisher role, with long range like Sharpshooters, but their quirk being that their shots slow down enemy units (to represent ambushes and suppressing fire)
Gholam: I’m not sure whether this actual unit was infantry or cavalry, but I’m making them a hybrid melee-skirmisher. Comprised of Christian slaves from the Caucasus. My inspiration is the Sudanese Dervish, being an anti-infantry melee troop. They would be armed in pistols for a close-range missile attack before closing in with axes.
- Cavalry
Melee Cavalry - I’m rather at a loss here for what they could be named or their precise function, but they would be akin to the Hussar. Maybe either use a reskinned Tribal Horseman which the Barbary States and Morocco have in their custom battles, or perhaps a new unit all its own that have a button like Chimu Runners to increase their speed and make them immune to catching for a time (to indicate the swiftness of Turkic horsemen)?
The Zamburak is a given here, considering how extensively they were used by all Persian forces during the period. As the Zamburak is meant for the Indians to be the cheap, early-game alternative to the Howdah Elephant, and Persia doesn’t have elephants, that does impact the unit’s applicability, and we would need to design it to stand on its own. I think it’s easiest if the Persians simply get shipments to boost the Zams up to Dragoon-level utility, i.e. a hitpoint and attack boost.
That does, of course, fill Persia’s slot for a range counter-cavalry, which is a problem because Persia extensively used horse archers. By the point of the game’s timeframe, Persia had been inundated with Turko-Mongol groups who continued to embrace steppe cavalry traditions. However, I’ve come up with an idea, which essentially acts as a mounted US Minuteman:
Turkoman Rider: This unit could be repeatedly levied from Town Centers, Castles, and perhaps some military buildings, like the Barracks, representing how in times of war, a Shah could request the help of the many Turkic tribes living in his empire. It would have a slowly-draining health bar, but I think it might be interesting if they have a strong attack against buildings (which most counter-cav don’t have), and could regain some health by damaging or destroying buildings (to simulate raiding). Finally, you can call in a shipment that is the equivalent to US Marines, transforming the Turkoman into Qizilbashi Cavalry, which does not drain health.
-Artillery
This should be the Persians’ strength, especially because no civilization really specializes specifically in cannons. Furthermore, I think the Persians should have up-strengthened variations of the conventional artillery units, including Falconets, Culverins, and Mortars. They might also get a card to ship Bombards, if that doesn’t impose too much on the Ottomans.
Other Civilization Aspects
- Buildings
Should be fairly conventional, I can’t think of anything crazy here, except that I think they should have an Artillery foundry rather than building artillery out of the Castle
Persians should use Castles, rather than Outposts
The Mercenary building would be the Coffee House, a unique building that is essentially a reskinned Tavern. Come to think of it, the Ottomans should share this: I don’t like the idea of seeing a Muslim civilization building drinking establishments.
They should be able to also Mosques, like the Ottomans, complete with the normal line of church upgrades, with a special shipment to provide some unique bonuses. I think these bonuses could perhaps focus on economics, since few civilizations have unique church techs that benefit economic output without other drawbacks besides cost.
I am also not strongly for whether they should have a separate Mill/Estate, or if they should use a Rice Paddy for both Food and Coin gathering.
I don’t think they should have a Consulate. The Persians were somewhat more isolated than the Indians, and the Civs strengths would be built into the other features, rather than relying on Europeans.
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Age-up:
There is some debate about whether they should use Asian, European, or something else entirely (i.e. a hypothetical “Middle-Eastern” civilizational category), but I’m not sure if it really matters. There are many different prominent landmarks that demonstrate the legacy of the Persian dynasties of this era well, but I think the Politician system remains viable, especially if the politicians are given portraits where they wear Persian or Middle-Eastern garb. The developers may come up with their own system that is entirely different. I have somewhat taken to one proposal for choosing a dynasty, each with their own effects. I think the dynasties should work like the Native Council age-ups where you go down a shrinking list of options with each age-up. The dynasties could be: -
Timurids (emphasis on construction and destruction)
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Aq-Qoyunlu (boosts to horse archers, trade bonuses)
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Safavids (emphasis on artillery
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Duranni (gold mining, bonuses for Jezails)
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Afsharid (General all-rounder)
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Qajar (Boosts infantry and some aspects of economy)
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Economy and Cards
I’m not sure what sort of economic aspects they should have, but they should function economically in a rather standard way. If they should have a unique aspect, it should be that they collect bonus income from trade routes. They may also take a note from the French and focus on bonuses for Native Allies, as the Persians ruled over a diverse territory of Iranians, Turks, Arabs, Kurds, Pashtuns, and Mongols.
Without proposing any actual cards at the moment, the Persian shipments should reflect decisions on whether to emphasize nomadic cavalry or modern infantry, in addition to boosts to trading, natives, and general economic improvements.
Finally, I’m happy to integrate other people’s suggestions, as long as this civ doesn’t become too feature-heavy like US or Mexico!
