In the light of such brilliant support for this piece of art, here is ever hoping for more content in the form of civs and historical campaigns.
Civs to be added to the game.
Polish
Armenia
Georgia
Taino
Tibetans
Polynesians
Congolese Empire
Kanhem-Bornu Empore
Kingdom of Zimbabwe/Mutapa/ Shona People
Kingdom of Ghana
Songhai Empire.
AoE2 DE New civ requirements.
1.Poland / Kingdom of Poland / Poles
Cavalry civ
Eastern European Architecture
UU- Winged Hussaria
Fast,Strong but expensive cav.
Only average HP and armour. (Strengthened by Panceri)
Unique tech 1 - Pancerni - cavalry gain +1 Melee armour and provides the option to create Imperial Hussar in stable.
Unique tech 2 - Voivode - sword Infantry + 2 LOS
Siege :Siege Onager
Capped Ram
Normal Scorpion only.
Siege tower.
Bombard cannon
Archer line full but lacking bracer.
Hand cannoneer.
No Heavy cav archer.
No Elite skirm.
Stable: H cav goes up to Cavalier
Light cav line full + (after researching Panseri ) has the option to create Imperial Hussar
Barracks: Full sword and spear line.
No Plate barding armour in blacksmith .
Campaign ,war against the Tutonic order and HRE, climaxing in the Battle of Grunwald.
Campaign against the invading Ottoman empire climaxing in the Siege of Vienna.
Wonder: Wawel Cathedral.
- Armenia / Kingdom of Armenia / Armenians
Infantry and Defensive civ
Designed to be a supporting civ, avarege offensive power on its own but a strong ally. (Pocket civ)
Blend of Caucasus and Middle eastern architecture.
UU-Nakharar:Mountain Infantry. Average in combat , strong against buildings , high pierce armour with a large shield on the back that can bypass a cities walls much like a siege tower (without the need for the tower) .
" Armenian soldiers used iron hooks to help them climb fortification walls, and large leather shields to protect them from anything that would be dropped from above."
Good unit for raiding walled cities.
Unique tech 1 - Sparapet (Allows you to train Ayruzdi cav)
Unique tech 2 - Mountain Keeps/Strongholds (Castles on elevated ground gain +2 attack
Civ bonus :Captured Relic = +1 Infantry attack.
They receive free Murder holes. " There existed a special regiment of mountaineers who were trained to roll rocks onto their foes in siege warfare,"
Weak siege line. ,only onager and capped ram.
Archer line only goes up to crossbow.
Full cav archer line.
No hand cannoneer.
Full skirm line.
Heavy cav goes up to Cavalier.
Once Sarapet is researched (expensive) , then Ayruzdi cav can be created in castle.
Ayruzdi cav - Byzantine Cataphracts.
Team bonus: All allies get free siege engineers.
Campaign: Fight alongside their Georgian allies against the Eldiguzids (Turks) in a campaign in Anatolia that culminates in the climactic battle of Shamkor.
Wonder: Etchmiadzin Cathedral
3.Georgia / Kingdom of Georgia / Georgians
Cavalry / Monk civ
Caucasus architecture
UU - Monaspa Mace wielding Heavy cavalry
Unique tech 1 - Georgian Reconqesta (Reduce Baracks infantry cost by -40%)
Unique tech 2 - Sword of the Messaia (Decreases cool down duration from monks after a successful conversion)
Team bonus : Gelati Academy - Allied university techs - 20% cost in food.
Natural allies Franks , Byzantines , Armenians , Italians get a further reduction of -20% wood cost as well.
Campaign:Sword of the Messiah
King David IV The Builder campaign to unify the Kingdom and defeat the Saljuk Turks ,climax at the Battle of Didgori.
Wonder: Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.
4.Tibetans/Tibetan Empire
AHimalayan archutecture.
Infantry and Monk civ.
Starts battle with two Yaks under town centre.
UU-: Showlin Monk. Can convert and defend it self with a staff whilst conversion is under cool down. (Long cool down due to meditation) Trained in monasteries after researching Mahāvyutpatti.
Unique tech 1:Mahāvyutpatti - All gold resources become visible on map + Showlin can be trained at monasteries.
Unique tech 2: Himalayan herds -cost: 500 wood 100 gold you and your allies receive a large heard of yaks to harvest for fast plentiful food income .
The soldiers of the Tibetan Empire wore chainmail armor and were proficient in the use of swords and lances, but were poor in archery.
Barracks full sword and spear line but no supplies.
Archer line only has Archer.
Cav Archer line full.
Full skirmisher line.
Siege: Full onager line
Full scorpion line.
Only has capped ram.
Heavy cav line goes up to Cavalier.
Camel + heavy camel.
Light cav goes up to light can only.
Campaign in the north against China that culminates into the Battle of Talas715AD with Saracen allies .
Wonder: Jokhang Temple
- Taíno peoples / Carib kingdom
Tribal archer / naval civ.
Civ has no war gallies nor fire ships but instead have tribal war canoes that is 0.5 pop space. Strong defence against fire ship attack.
UU castle: Carib blow gunner - stealth unit strong attack bonus against infantry, low armour and low hp.
UU Dock : Kanoa War canoe only takes up 0.5 pop space ,can attack and transport units , low attack ,designed to be deployed on mass.
Dock has no gallies, no fire ships but has full demo line.
Unique tech 1: Nitaínos/Poisoned arrows - Archer units and towers gain +2 attack.
Unique tech 2: Cacique - Trade cogs have + 5 armour .
Team bonus: Cheap fishing ships .
“For warfare, the men made wooden war clubs, which they called a macana. It was about one inch thick and was similar to the coco macaque.
The insular Amerindians mined for gold and obtained it by trade from the mainland. The Caribs were skilled boat builders and sailors. They appeared to have owed their dominance in the Caribbean basin to their mastery of warfare.”
Baracks - Full spear line.
Sword line goes up to Two handed swordsman.
Full eagle warrior line.
Archer - full archer and skirm line.
No black powder , no cavalry.
On 3 June 1511, king Ferdinand declared war on the Caribs. Island Caribs nevertheless mostly succeeded in keeping their islands unoccupied by Spaniards.
6.Polynesians/ Tuʻi Tonga Empire.
Tribal infantry and naval civ
Civ has no war gallies nor fire ships but instead have tribal war catamarans that is 0.5 pop space.
UU castle/Luakini: Ali’i/Maori warrior - Wielding an elongated wooden club bristling with shark teeth all along its edges. Can traverse (swim over) narrow rivers and small bodies of water .
UU Dock: Catamaran - fast moving trade cogs that fires defensive arrows whilst traveling along trade routes.
Unique tech 1: Haka - Infantry gain + 1 attack and + 1 armour.
Unique tech 2: Fa’amatai : Stellar navigators allows all coastlines to become explored and all great fish to become visible .
Civ team bonus : Increased fishing ship gather rate.
Civ bonus: Shore fish last longer.
Wonder : Moai (Stone heads )
Barracks: Full line for sword and spear.
Spearman have a higher HPthan normal.
Archery range : Full skirm line .
Hand cannoneer
No cav
If enemy or allies obtain Chemistry , then the Polynesians receive it as well for free. (Can’t research chemistry out of own volition.)
Siege : Bombard cannon
Battering ram.
Onager .
“Villages, on the other hand, were built on the coasts of smaller islands and consisted of thirty or more houses—in the case of atolls, on only one of the group so that food cultivation was on the others. Usually these villages were fortified with walls and palisades made of stone and wood.”
“However, New Zealand demonstrates the opposite: large volcanic islands with fortified villages.”
“Navigators, in particular, were highly respected and each island maintained a house of navigation with a canoe-building area.”
“Polynesian navigators may have reached the Americas at least 100 years before Columbus (who arrived 1492 AD), introducing chickens to South America.”
“Recently, an analysis of the DNA of 1,245 sweet potato varieties from Asia and the Americas was done. Researchers have found a genetic link that proves the root made it to Polynesia from the Andes around 1100 CE. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offer more evidence that ancient Polynesians may have interacted with people in South America long before the Europeans set foot on the continent.”
“The Hawaiians used the water from the rain that ran through the mountains as a form of irrigation.”
- Congolese Empire
Trash/ infantry civ
Castle/ Banza UU: Iucanzos -Skirmishers armend with poisoned tipped javelins , when striking an enemy , after initial damage ,it drains health for 1.5 _ 2 seconds . Cost food and gold.
Unique tech 1: Mwene - Skirmishers have +1 Melee armour and do bonus damage to Infantry.
Unique tech 2:Mwisikongo slavers- Increases villager gather rate by 15% but villagers lose 15% base HP.
Civ bonus: More HP on spear line staggered through each age +pombos Fast moving infantry.
Team bonus: Faster hurling Skirmishers .
Barracks: full sword and spear line but lacking plate boarding armour.
Add african version of Eagle warrior.
Stable only has light cav line up to light cavalry.
Weak cav
Archery range: Full archer Full skirm line
Hand cannoneer.
No cav archers .
Siege workshop:
Only battering ram.
Only mangonel.
No scorpions.
Bombard cannon.
Weak siege but Arson tech is cheaper.
Dock: only have canoe navies .
War canoe, transport canoe , fishing canoes.
Weak navy.
“A large flotilla of canoes supported army movements on campaigns.”
“infantry powers like the Asante, Benin, Dahomey, Oyo, the Igbo states of Nigeria and the Kongo states of Angola gained new prominence, or strengthened their local power.”
“In the heavily forested regions of West, Central and South-Central Africa, the foot soldier held sway.”
“To enforce their rule, the king controlled a standing army composed of slaves;”
“The kingdom of Kongo, with a population of well over 2 million people at its peak, prospered thanks to trade in ivory, copper, salt, cattle hides, and slaves.”
“Infantry skirmishers, who were usually considered more expendable, formed a vanguard to engage the enemy.”
“Rulers often built up a royal or palace guard as an elite force, sometimes using slaves. These formed a permanent, professional nucleus around which the general purpose levies were mustered. The heavy, shield-bearing infantry of the Angolan region (West Central Africa) are an illustration of these more professionalized forces.”
“In the Kongo region (present day Angola), troops were divided into companies and regiments, each with their own unique insignia. Designated field commanders controlled troop movement with signals from drums, bells and elephant tusk horns.”
“In the Zambezi basin in 1572 for example, a 600-man force of Portuguese arquebusiers, supplemented with cannon, formed a disciplined square, and defeated several thousand Africans armed with bows, spears and axes.”
“When the whole record is analyzed, gun-armed European troops met defeat on several an occasion by charging spearmen or Kongo infantry using poisoned javelins.”
“Firearms inflicted heavy casualties on the African force, but the prolonged battle stretched into the darkness and night attacks forced a Portuguese retreat, after which their camp was looted. Potugese writers of the period comment favorably on the tight discipline of the African armies, additional weapons such as battle axes, the crescent formation used as they deployed for battle, and deception tactics during night attacks that included erecting a massive number of campfires around the Portugee position, fooling defenders into thinking the African force was twice as large.”
“Infantry forces were usually larger, and the typical order of battle was a mass of infantry levies armed with hide shields, arrows, javelin ,bows and spears, and a higher status mounted formation.”
“The Kongo region (modern day Angola, western Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Republic of the Congo) exhibits a number of indigenous military systems, particularly by such kingdoms at Kongo and Ndongo. Several outstanding war-leaders appeared in this area, including the redoubtable female ruler and field commander Nyazinga or Njinga.”
“European cannon helped batter and destroy the gates of a town near present-day Lagos, allowing 10,000 warriors of Benin to enter and conquer it.”
“In addition to acquiring goods from elsewhere, the kingdom produced its own goods via specialised groups of craftworkers such as weavers (who produced the famous raffia fabrics of Kongo), potters, and metalworkers.”
Campaigns can be passed around the formation of the kingdom during the late 1300s when the armies invades and conquered the lands of the Kongo Mpangu and Npundi. Including the arrival of the Porugese, adding diplomacy, trade and war with them.
8.Kanhem-Bornu Empire.
Castle Ribat UU:Murabitun - large shield carrying spearman , high pierce armour costs food and gold.
Unique tech 1: Dabbalemi reforms - Houses can train Baracks infantry but at a very slow rate .
Unique tech 2: Cima - Houses gain +3 LOS
Civ always starts with cattle in stead of sheep around the Town center.
Civ bonus - receive Guilds for free.
Team bonus: Markets have +100 HP
Barracks: Trains units slowly.
Full spear sword line
Sword line Only gets two handed swordman.
No supplies tech
Stable:
H cav no Paladin
Full camel line
Full light cav line.
Archery range:
Full skirm line.
Only gets crossbow.
Full cav archer line.
No handcannon
If allied to the Turks, they gain the ability to train standard Jannisaries in the Ribat/ castle.
Siege workshop:
Onager.
capped ram.
Heavy Scorpion .
Dock: only have canoe navies .
War canoe, transport canoe , fishing canoes.
Weak navy.
Trade cogs
“The area already possessed independent, walled city-states belonging to the Sao culture. Under the leadership of the Duguwa dynasty, the Kanembu would eventually dominate the Sao, but not before adopting many of their customs. War between the two continued up to the late 16th century.”
“their cavalry gave them military superiority. In the 10th century, al-Muhallabi mentions two towns in the kingdom, one of which was Mānān. Their king was considered divine, believing he could “bring life and death, sickness and health.” Wealth was measured in livestock, sheep, cattle, camels and horses.”
“Dunama (1098-1151), performed the Hajj three times, before drowning at Aidab. His wealth included 100,000 horsemen and 120,000 soldiers.”
" Kanem was connected via a trans-Saharan trade route with Tripoli via Bilma in the Kawar. Slaves were imported from the south along this route."
“Kanem’s expansion peaked during the long and energetic reign of Mai Dunama Dabbalemi (1210-1259). Dabbalemi initiated diplomatic exchanges with sultans in North Africa, sending a giraffe to the Hafsid monarch, and arranged for the establishment of a madrasa of al-Rashíq in Cairo to facilitate pilgrimages to Mecca. During his reign, he declared jihad against the surrounding tribes and initiated an extended period of conquest with his cavalry of 41,000. He fought the Bulala for 7 years, 7 months, and 7 days. After dominating the Fezzan, he established a governor at Traghan, delegated military command amongst his sons. As the Sefawa extended control beyond Kanuri tribal lands, fiefs were granted to military commanders, as cima, or ‘master of the frontier’.”
“Military innovations included the use of Turkish military officers training, slave handcannoneers / Janissaries. The Empire employed mailed cavalrymen, and footmen. This army was organized into an advance guard and a rear reserve, transported via camel or large boats and fed by free and slave women cooks. Military tactics were honed by drill and organization, supplemented with a scorched earth policy. Ribāts were built on frontiers, and trade routes to the north were secure, allowing friendly relations to be established with the Pasha of Tripoli and the Turkish empire.”
9.Kingdom of Zimbabwe/Kingdom of Mutapa/Shona people.
Castle UU:
Unique tech 1:
Unique tech 2: Mapongubwe masonry - all structures gain 20% more hp.
“The Kingdom of Zimbabwe controlled the ivory and gold trade from the interior to the southeastern coast of Africa. Asian and Arabic goods could be found in abundance in the kingdom. Economic domestication, which had been crucial to the earlier proto-Shona states, was also practiced. The Great Zimbabwe people mined minerals like gold, copper and iron. They also kept livestock,”
“In approximately 1430 prince Nyatsimba Mutota from the Great Zimbabwe travelled north to the Dande region in search of salt. He then defeated the Tonga and Tavara with his army and established his dynasty at Chitakochangonya Hill. The land he conquered would become the Kingdom of Mutapa.”
“In the south, the Kingdom of Butua was established as a smaller, but nearly identical, version of Zimbabwe. Both states were eventually absorbed into the largest and most powerful of the Shona states, the Rozwi Empire.”
“At its peak in the 13th and 14th century, Great Zimbabwe thrived on cattle herding, gold mining and commerce with the Swahili port city of Sofala on the Indian Ocean. It produced cotton and pottery. Because of its strategic location near these resources and trade opportunities, Great Zimbabwe grew larger than any surrounding town and became the capital city of the Karanga (Shona) nation.”
“Mutota’s son and successor, Nyanhewe Matope, extended this new kingdom into an empire encompassing most of the lands between Tavara and the Indian Ocean.[4] This empire had achieved uniting a number of different peoples in Southern Africa by building strong, well-trained armies and encouraging states to join voluntarily, offering membership in the Great council of the Empire to any who joined without resistance.”
“Matope’s armies overran the kingdom of the Manyika as well as the coastal kingdoms of Kiteve and Madanda. By the time the Portuguese arrived on the coast of Mozambique, the Mutapa Kingdom was the premier Shona state in the region. He raised a strong army which conquered the Dande area that is Tonga and Tavara. The empire had reached its full extent by the year 1480 a mere 50 years following its creation.”
“The Portuguese dominated much of southeast Africa’s coast, laying waste to Sofala and Kilwa, by 1515.Their main goal was to dominate the trade with India; however, they unwittingly became mere carriers for luxury goods between Mutapa’s sub-kingdoms and India”
Campaign: The accidental Crusade.
“In 1561, a Portuguese Jesuit missionary managed to make his way into the Mwenemutapa’s court and convert him to Christianity. This did not go well with the Muslim merchants in the capital, and they persuaded the king to kill the Jesuit only a few days after the former’s baptism. This was all the excuse the Portuguese needed to penetrate the interior and take control of the gold mines and ivory routes and protect any remaining Christians in the area… After a lengthy preparation, an expedition of 1,000 men under Francisco Barreto was launched in 1568. They managed to get as far as the upper Zambezi, but local disease and several skirmishes decimated the force. The Portuguese returned to their base in 1572 .”
- Kingdom of Ghana
West Africa .
The kingdom flourished between 400A.D. to 1500A.D.
Fought against the Mali Empire and traded with the Berber tribes to the North of the Shahel.
Their economy was centered around iron, gold and agriculture.
14th century great king Kankan Musa.
11.Songhai Empire.
The Songhai had settled on both banks of the middle Niger River. They established a state in the 15th century, which unified a large part of the western Sudan and developed into a brilliant civilisation. It was ruled by the dynasty or royal family of Sonni from the thirteenth century to the late fifteenth century. The capital was at Gao, a city surrounded by a wall. It was a great cosmopolitan market place where kola nuts, gold, ivory, slaves, spices, palm oil and precious woods were traded in exchange for salt, cloth, arms, horses and copper.
Islam had been introduced to the royal court of Songhai in 1019, but most people remained faithful to their traditional religion.
Sonni Ali reorganised the army, which was equipped with a fleet on the Niger River. The commander of the fleet was known as the ‘Master of the Water’. Foot soldiers captured the best men of the defeated armies. An elite cavalry was fast and tough. They wore iron breastplates underneath their battle tunics.
The foot soldiers were armed with spears, arrows and leather or copper shields. Military music as produced by a group of trumpeters. The total army comprised 30 000 infantry and 10 000 horsemen. The Songhai defence system was the largest organised force in the western Sudan; not only was a political instrument, but also an economic weapon by virtue of the booty it brought in. They conquered the cities of Timbuktu and Jenne.
Muslim scholars at Timbuktu called Sonni Ali ‘tyrannical, cruel and impious’. The Sonni’s were driven from power by the Muslim Askiya dynasty.
The new monarchy based at Gao had centralised and absolute and sacred power. It was possible to approach him only in a prostate position. He sat on a raised platform surrounded by 700 eunuchs. People paid taxes to the king in return for internal and external security. The royal court was responsible for the administration and the army. Large estates belonged to nobles. They were worked by servile labour that did the fishing, animal raising for milk, meat and skins, and the agricultural work.
The Songhai kingdom was the last major one in the region. Its fall did not bring an end to kingdoms in West Africa. Kingdoms that survived were Guinea, Benin in Nigeria, Ashanti in present day Ghana and Dahomey, north of Benin. These kingdoms continued the Trans Saharan trade with the Arab states in North Africa. The Trans Saharan trade was complex. It was not limited to trade and the exchange of gold, copper, iron, kola nuts, cloth, and salt. It was also about close co-operation and interdependence between kingdoms south of the Sahara and kingdoms north of the Sahara. Salt from the Sahara desert was just as important to the economies and kingdoms south of the Sahara as gold was for those in the north. Therefore, the exchange of these commodities was vital for the economic and political stability of the region.
Travel and trade in Songhai
Trade significantly influenced the course of history in West Africa. The wealth made through trade was used to build larger kingdoms and empires. To protect their trade interests, these kingdoms built strong armies. Kingdoms that desired more control of the trade also developed strong armies to expand their kingdoms and protect them from competition.
Long distance trade helped the local economy and supported internal trade. Merchants travelling between towns across the Sahara needed places to rest and stock up with food for the journey across the Sahara desert. Food would be provided by local markets that relied on local farms for supplies. This practice allowed merchants to plan long trips knowing that local markets would provide food and shelter. For this reason, many kingdoms in West Africa encouraged agricultural improvements to meet this need. Often this meant uniting smaller farmers, traders and societies into stronger trading blocs. For example, the Kuba kingdom in present day Congo brought together different cultures under a single authority and used the Congo River as a main transport link to other distant kingdoms. As a result, smaller traders joined with each other like the Chokwe and Lunda kingdoms under a single broad-based trade. This led to the increase of ivory and rubber trade between these kingdoms and with Portuguese traders.
The slave trade was also important for the economic development of West Africa. For a very long time, West African kingdoms had relied on slaves to carry out heavy work. The Songhai kingdom under the rule of Askia Mohammed used slaves as soldiers. Slaves were trusted not to overthrow their rulers. Slaves were also given important positions as royal advisers. Songhai rulers believed that slaves could be trusted to provide unbiased advice unlike other citizens who held a personal stake in the outcome of decisions. Another group of slaves was known as palace slaves or the Arbi. The Arbi slaves served mainly as craftspersons, potters, woodworkers, and musician. Slaves also worked on village farms to help produce enough food to supply the growing population in towns.
Current civ alterations.
Vikings.
Have Vikings lose free hand cart but instead have their longboats be able to attack as well as transport units (loses transport ships) and gift them cheap trash units.
African ,Mezzo,
African and mezzo civs should only have canoe navies. Able to fire arrows ,fast ,agile and only using 0.5 pop space but they don’t have access to Gally line ,nor fire ships, nor cannon. Gallons.
Byzantines.
Change civ unique tech 1 to : Justinian Reforms - Sword line +1 Melee armour.
I enables the creation of Varangian Guard in Imperial age.
In Imperial age , Byzanitne army gain access to a special unit in the Barracks called the Varangian Guard. - Expensive , slow moving but difficult to convert.
(Highly loyal guards of the Emperor)
Unique tech 2 remains Logistica.
Lose Hand cannoneer.
Trash becomes more expensive but Civ gets free wheel burrow and free hand cart.
