AoE 2 DLC: New civ - Vlachs + New campaign: Stephen the Great

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
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The proposed intro & outro cutscenes would be based on 1600s. The actual campaign of Basarab and Bogdan takes place in 1300s.

But the most important factor in a campaign is how cool is it. The great schism of 1054 was far more important than any Byzantine, Chinese or Arab battle. Yet I doubt many players would want a campaign about the great schism.

To me, the most cool things in history is seeing the underdog win. It’s much more interesting to see the prince of a small and insignificant country to win 46 out of 48 battles against the Turks, Poles, Magyars and Tattars, always with less numbers and lower quality troops, than to see the Ottomans beating Albania.

Other factors count, but how important or big a nation was isn’t one of them.

It wouldn’t be the first nation with 2 campaigns either. The French already have 2 campaigns (Joan of Arc + Dukes of the West). The Italians (Sforza + Hautevilles). And British (William Wallance + Edward Longshanks).

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Thats fair but theres just q lot of other cool stories rto tell which arent about stomping weaker enemies but more like a clash of titans or just deeply complicated historical figures. Sure, telling a good story with cool battles is what campaigns are for but

Also your comparison doesnt seem very fitting. Celts and English cannot be put in the same basket and Normans (aka Sicilians) are clser to French than to Italians. However, what Im saying is that if a civ gets a secondary campaign it should be about fleshing out diferent periods of the civ and telling diferent types of stories and the longer lasting civs are more fitting for that, and your proposal of Stephen the Great sounds quite a bit like Dracula already. And yeah French are maybe getting a bit too much content, you may be right about that but I honestly wish we had more dark age stuff. Is such a cool period that gets overlooked because of the shinnier and grander low middle and early modern conflicts.

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I was talking in terms of modern nations, for if we’re talking about in-game civs, Dracula is played by the Slavs, Magyars and Turks. At least the Scots were Celtish in the case of Willam Wallance.

Personally, I find it cool to have 2 campaigns intersect. And when comparing the “top 3” of Romania: Vlad the Impaler, Stephen the Great, Michael the Brave; Vlad the Impaler is only there because of his Dracula popularity. Don’t get me wrong, he was good, he managed defeat the Turks a few times and the Night Attack at Targoviste was legendary, but when compared to the military strategy and achievements of Stephen the Great and Michael the Brave, he is in a lower tier. Dracula is famous for his cruelty, Stephen and Michael for their success.

You can find plenty of ressistance fighters equal to Dracula’s level, but when it comes to Stephen and Michael, to me, they are Hannibal tier.

But I understand if some players want a campaign that’s far away from the Dracula one. Which is why I also suggested the founding of Wallachia and Moldavia in the 1300s:

The downside is that in my opinion is not as cool as the Stephen the Great. 3. Battle of Posada and 3/6. Showdown are an “against the odds” victory fighting the Kingdom of Hungary. But other than that, Bassarab lost the 2nd battle 2. The Southern Thrust and Bogdan’s Establishing Powerhouse is exactly like my Ottomans fighting Albanians example. He was the Duke of Maramures, became discontent with the King of Hungary, but one of his also Romanian Counts was loyal to the king, so a duke attacked and defeated a count, nothing out of the ordinary there.

Stephen the Great has a diversity of enemies, effectively fighting literally everyone around you while also having only against the odds battle. But Basarab and Bogdan’s campaign could be diverse in the sense that it’s far away from the time of Vlad the Impaler and you get to see the founding of both Wallachia and Moldavia.

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I would find more fitting for Vlachs an Archery & Infantry civillisation.

They had mandatory military training for Villages, but I think a bonus that takes place in the Castle/Imperial Age is way too late to take effect.

Overall interesting combo.

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As far as my observation goes it looks like Vlachs used all kinds of different weaponry. That’s why I gave all of the different branches different boni:
Cavalry: 5 F cheaper and UU
Infantry: Halbs without Wood cost, additional attack for champs (less armour though)
Archers: No wood cost after upgrade, but missing the last 2 armour upgrades in the exchange.

That’s why I gave the vills initial starting HP, that makes them already quite tough in dark/feudal. I would be careful with making vills too strong before imp where pop efficiency is a thing as if vills are too strong before it would possibly be too easy to just mass produce vills. That shouldn’t happen. That’s why I added the UT that gives vills attack to the imperial age.

But I can possibly also create an archer focussed civ. Do you have Ideas for Unique Technologies to that civ, names, historical events or specialisations?

Edit: Just tested with aoe-combatsim.com . It would be enough for the heavily reduced skirms if they would just miss the last armor and elit skirm upgrade, meaning in the eschange xbows and castle age cav archers would be fully viable and reduced after mass recruitment, only missing the imp armor upgrade and parthian Tacics.

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As far as I know, that’s true, they used all kinds of units. But I know their man focus was on hit&run tactics and medium cavalry. Medium cavalry meaning a cavalry unit that’s armored but not so armored to slow it down, trying to find the perfect balance between speed and armor.

I disagree with the “No Paladin” because Romania works best as a hit&run Cavalry army. And having a cavalry-focused army with no Paladin kind of breaks the whole point.

For the special unit they could either have:

Viteji (medium cav) → Viteji form a versatile corps of medium cavalry in the armies of the Romanian principalities. Their name means “brave ones” and they form part of a social strata that has gained lands and property through bravery in warfare. The viteji are therefore, as expected, among the most resolute and brave warriors a voievod could ask for. Like many elements of Romanian cavalry, the Viteji show influences both from the East and West, and their style of warfare imitates that of Cuman or Tatar armored horse archers, or that of Ottoman spahis. By their nature they are very versatile cavalry. In battle, the voievod would use these troops to counter the enemy’s cavalry flanks, either by engaging light cavalry in melee or harassing and exhausting heavy cavalry, then providing the decisive charge into the enemy’s flanks.

Curteni (Light cav) → Literally “men of the court”, these are the retainers of the boieri, whom he takes into battle on horseback. Historically, they acted as a small mounted detachment under the direct command of a boier. They are not as competent as the viteji, nor as fast as the calarasi, but given the tradition of light cavalry in Wallachian armies, they are form a versatile screen for the calarasi. Their armor is very light, though this aids in their speed. They wield a spear or a lance in battle, omitting the benefit of a ranged weapon in favor of a large shield. They can perform devastating charges repeatedly due to their light equipment, but should not be expected to hold off a well-armed opponent.

Calarasi (Light Cavalry) → Călăraşi form a part of the “oastea cea mica” (small host) and are part of the “slujitorii” (servants of the lord). Their name implies they fight on horseback. These soldiers were given land in exchange for military service, and retained their land so long as they remained as a readily-available force for the voievod, and exclusively in the service of the voievod. They are lightly armored, comparable to their curteni, and wield a composite bow. They were a very successful military instrument, remaining a significant part of the Wallachian army up until 1600, and form a potent counter to other horse archers.

Nemesi (medium cav) → Are a medium cavalry, the equivalent of the Wallachian Viteji but armed with spears instead of bows. This will be the strongest cavalry unit before the Boyars and the Princely Bodyguard.

Princely Bodyguard (heavy cavalry) → The Voievod of Wallachia keeps at his side a bodyguard of warriors paid from his own coffers, either consisting of native troops or mercenaries. Only the most loyal boiers, often those serving on the princely court, were entrusted with protecting the voievod. These men are equipped with the finest arms and armor money can buy, often with platemail bought from Venice or other Italian cities. It was even said in a chronicle that the Wallachian voievod Vladislav-Vlaicu bought 10,000 suits of Venetian plate armor in anticipation of warfare against the Hungarians. These form the elite of Wallachian heavy cavalry.

Wallachian Boyars → The boieri form the elite of Wallachian society and Wallachia’s heavy cavalry. They are the Wallachian nobles, who own vast swathes of land and rule over dependent peasants. Dressed in heavy armor, atop powerful mounts, and fighting in a style reminiscent of Western knights, they are a powerful force on the battlefield. The boieri however, are very accustomed to the game of political intrigue, and it is a telling fact that most of the Wallachian princes died of Wallachian swords and assassination than of old age, or on the field of battle. It is more telling that 20 princes were quickly cycled onto the Wallachian throne from 1418 to 1456, averaging to short and ineffective two-year reigns. The state of chaos caused by the boieri during this time was so great that when Vlad III Tepes came to power he immediately had many of then killed (some of whom had actually assassinated his father and his older brother Mircea), deposed others from the princely council (replacing them with obscure or foreign nobles) and tried to promote the land-owning Mosneni as a counter-weight against them. Even so, the Boiars would rebound after Vlad III’s death, becoming a powerful force. If a voievod can keep them satisfied and loyal, the boieri will form a decisive force on the battlefield and a much-needed unit of heavy, melee-based cavalry.

Portar → Literally “gatekeeper”, the Portars are heavily armored pikemen. The Romanian principalities relied mainly on hit and run tactics with light cavalry and archer units so the Portar will be a valueable anti-rush unit for defense.

Since most new factions now have 2 unique unit: the Romanians can have Portar as a unique improvement to Halberdier, making him more evenly matched against Champions. And one of the 4 knight types above in the castle. Personally, I would like the Princely Bodyguards as the castle unit.

And some more details:

Name → Romanians in the middle ages used to be called Vlachs, but they called themselves Romanians, this is not the case anymore but back then it was like how Germany calls itself “Deutschland” but it is called different things by other nations.

Looks → Considering that Romania is Eastern European like the Magyars and Slavs most buildings and units will look the same.

Culture → Like the Slavs, the Romanians had Boyars as nobles and Orthodoxy as religion, the Romanian culture was influenced by the Slavic and Orthodox Christianity comes from the Byzantines.

Speciality → Romanians were used to being outnumbered in most of their battles and usually used hit & run and encirclement tactics. In Moldavia, every peasant was military trained.

Language → You can use modern Romanian, unlike English that changed so much that Old English is a completly different language, Old Romanian and Modern Romanian are mutually intelligible.

Edit: The Sound of the Old Romanian language (Neacșu's letter) - YouTube
Other than “I pak”, I understand everything.

AI Rulers:

  • Basarab I the Founder (1310 - 1352) - Founder of Wallachia.
  • Bogdan I the Founder (1307 - 1367) - Founder of Moldavia.
  • Mircea the Elder (1355 - 1418) - Prince of Wallachia, great-grandson of Basarab I.
  • Vlad II the Dragon (1395 - 1447) - Prince of Wallachia, son of Mircea the Elder, father of Vlad the Impaler.
  • Vlad III the Impaler (1431 - 1476) - Prince of Wallachia, Dracula’s campaign is about him.
  • Radu the Handsome (1437 - 1475) - Prince of Wallachia, younger brother of Vlad the Impaler.
  • Stephen III the Great (1435 - 1504) - Prince of Moldavia, cousin of Vlad the Impaler.
  • Alexandru Lapusneanu (1499 - 1568) - Prince of Moldavia.
  • Matei Basarab (1588 - 1654) - Prince of Wallachia.
  • Vasile Lupu (1595 - 1661) - Prince of Moldavia.
  • Michael II the Brave (1558 - 1601) - Prince of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania.
  • Constantin Brancoveanu (1654 – 1714) - Prince of Wallachia.
  • Dimitrie Cantemir (1673 – 1723) - Prince of Moldavia.

Wonder: Sucevita Painted Monastery.
One of the painted monasteries of Bucovina, that is currently an UNESCO heritage site.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucevi%C8%9Ba_Monastery

For army bonuses, I would consider something like:

  • Knights cost 15% less (The Order of the Dragon was created with the purpose of defeating the Ottoman Empire. The nickname “Tepes” is the Romanian equivalent of “the Impaler”, “Teapa” means spike in Romanian, the real name of Vlad Tepes was Vlad Dracul, Dracul meant the Dragon)
  • Villagres have 20% more armor (Vlach military was strict, every peasant was trained to defend himself and those that refused were put to death)
  • Archers fire 20% faster (Since they were most of the time outnumbered, Vlachs used harassment and hit and run tactics a lot)
    Team Bonus: Villagers gather food 10% faster (There was serfdom in Wallachia, affecting Gypsies and foreign slaves but also the local population, most of the population was made of farmers and shepherds)

I’m not good at balancing, so these are just some ideas. See if you like some of them and how they fit with your suggestion so far.

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