Why not?
I know they are at the very beginning of the AoE3 time line but they aren’t that much earlier then Aztecs or Inca.
AoE2 also recently got the Late West Roman Empire too, which is at the very beginning of the AoE2 time line.
Unlike Aztecs and Inca they can also get some gunpowder units.
Concept
Mercenary focused defensive civilisation.
They don’t play like typical European civilisations because they don’t get access to advanced artillery, Frigates nor Factories (for obvious reasons).
Olive Oil
Like the AoE4 Byzantines they get the unique resource Olive Oil, which functions pretty much like the African Influence.
All Mercenaries cost Olive Oil instead of Coin.
Outlaws, Minor Civilisation units and technologies do not cost Olive Oil.
Olive Grove
Replaces the Mill
Produces Olive Oil and Food
Ratio between the two resources can be adjusted
100% Food + 20% Olive Oil
80% Food + 40% Olive Oil
60% Food + 60% Olive Oil)
Therefor the overall resource production is higher then a normal Mill
Age Up
Every time they Age Up they can choose between different Mercenary Commanders.
They initially have 4 to choose from and every Age a new one is added, like for the Africans.
Each Mercenary Commander unlocks one Mercenary unit in the Castle.
That means we need a few more Commerce Age Mercenaries.
Units
Katepánō
Mounted Melee Hero
Can construct Castles
Enemies killed in his aura give Olive Oil on top of XP
Barracks
II Crossbow (Can be upgraded to Imperial)
II Pikeman (Can be upgraded to Imperial)
Stable
IICataphract (Cavalry with bonus damage against Infantry)
III Cavalry Archer
Cataphract
3 population
2x Attack bonus vs. all Infantry
30% melee resist
The melee resist is there to mimic their AoE2 weakness to ranged units
It’s also in contrast to the Varangian Guard that has range resist instead of the usual melee resist on Heavy Infantry.
Artillery Foundry
III Hand Cannon (Weaker version of the Abus Gun)
III Culverin
IIIBombard (It’s to the Falconet what the Great Bombard is compared to the Heavy Cannon)
IIICheirosiphon (Short range anti Building unit that leaves lingering fire on the ground)
III Petard
IV Mortar
Bombard
Cost: 100 Wood 400 Coin 5 Population
HP: 200
Attack: 250
Modifiers: 0.5x vs. Cavalry and Artillery
Range 26
Rate of Fire 6.5
Should also be available to Ottomans, Indians and Persians (that have to be added to the game!)
Cheirosiphon
Similar to Chinese Flame Thrower but more expensive and Stronger
Better against buildings then unit
Leaves lingering flames on the ground that do damage over time
Castle
IIVarangian Guard (Hight HP Heavy Infantry)
3 random Mercenaries
Additional Mercenaries through Age Up
Varangian Guard
2 population
Heals passively when close to Castles (relatively fast) even while in combat
20% ranged resist
Low Siege attack
Not that strong when outside of the range of a Castle
The range resist makes them more useful in late game compared to other Heavy Hand Infantry.
Dock
II Fishing Boat
II Galley (Identical to Ottoman Ship)
III Fire Galley (Close range Ship)
Buildings
Castle
Same as Asian Castle
Trains Mercenaries and Outlaws instead of Artillery
Tower
Defensive building that fires Arrows instead of shooting bullets
Cheaper then Outpost
Can Garrison Infantry
Garrisoned Infantry adds attack damage
Basilica
Same building as Italians
Different visuals
Does not provide unit shipments
Does boost nearby construction speed (same as for Italians)
Trains Priest (limit of 10) and Spies
Missing things
No Arsenal
No Factory
No Fort
No Horse Artillery
No Frigate
No Monitor
Home City Cards
IV Card that changes population cost of Crossbow and Pikeman to 0.5 and their resource cost to 30 Food 30 Wood (mimic their AoE2 counter unit discount)
III Card that adds AoE damage to the Cataphract
III Fire Towers Card from Maltese but for Towers instead of Outposts
I Variant of Unction that apples to Priest and gives 2.5% more HP instead of Attack
Additional Thoughts
I didn’t give them any real economic bonus besides the Olive Grove yet so they would be too weak in early game.
They have some very strong bonuses like the Unction variant that gives HP instead of attack.
Yes other civilisation are more important
Just because there are other civilisations (like Persians) that are more important doesn’t mean we should not be allowed to talk about the Byzantines.
The Byzantine Empire collapsed in 1453. So, I doubt the Byzantines would ever be added to AoE3 because having them in AoE3 would be anachronistic. Instead, go for the Greeks.
The Greek Independence was in 1821, a little late for AoE3.
Also they would work perfectly as a revolution for the Ottomans and the Byzantines.
The Byzantine Empire is very popular in the AoE community and beyond. I think if we can make an exception for one civilisation to be a little outside of the time frame it’s the Byzantines/Romans.
Even though there were many people critical about adding the Romans to AoE2 they still ended up being very popular.
Also very nice to have that civilisation to make interesting Scenarios.
Same in AoE3. Adding the Byzantines would allow for nice Siege of Constantinople scenarios and stuff like that.
Honestly we already have Mexicans and USA I don’t think adding Byzantine is that much of a problem. However what I have a problem with it being a copy of AoE4, with the olive as a resource design.
Eh the last sentence is a little weird, but you hopefully get my point.
I have no problems on it being a copy of AoE 4 (even though I hate the game). If it’s a good idea, I see no reason on why not using it, of course with a few tweaks here and there.
Pikeman should be replaced with Skutatos imo.
Skutatos is a high HP, high range & melee resist version of the Pikeman with less attack than a regular Pikeman.
While Varangian Guards should be trained on Castles since they’re mercenaries after all.
Personnellement comme le souligne Hoopthrower dans son sarcasme, je préfèrerais encore une civilisation hors Europe comme les très méconnue civs africaines.
What AoE 3 need right now is a boost of popularity, one of which is adding these famous civs like Persians, Mamluks, Byzantines, etc. I don’t think adding another obscure civs would help AoE 3 in anyway (I even bought the African Royals last just because I want more maps). That’s of course my take…
Je peux le comprendre que vous soyez de cet avis, après je trouve que ça tourne quand même sacrément autour des civs européennes, mais j’espère un dlc rajoutant des pays, tant pis pour moi si c’est des pays européens, je prendrais le dlc même si c’est encore des rajouts de l’Europe.
If you want to attract more players you’d have to make a Southeast Asia expansion alá Age of Empires 2, not scrap the bottom of the barrel for more civs around the Mediterranean lol.
At least do it tastefully and add Egypt and Greeks who actually fit the premise of the game. Greeks declared independence roughly at the same time as Mexico, saying they don’t fit the game and then proposing Byzantines is deeply hypocritical.
Is there any civilization left on SEA that hasn’t been colonized at this timeline though? I certainly know more about how the Ottomans conquered Mamluks than whatever happens at SEA at the time. (This is coming from SEA myself )
The Olive Oil resource was probably copied from the African Influence system or the Asian Export from AoE3.
Where they still around at the end of the Empire?
Thought about that too but not sure if they really were Mercenaries at the end.
It would synergize with their defensive bonuses though.
Probably yes.
I’m not saying that I’m personally against African civs but I think many are just not that interested.
The Byzantines on the other hand are very popular in the AoE community and beyond.
I’m surprised the the African Royals is so much less popular.
It was clearly the better made DLC.
It had 2 civilisations with new unique mechanics that each had their own architecture set (with some overlaps), new unique terrains and stuff.
Knights of the Mediterranean just added two more European civilisations that play like European civilisations, have a already existing architecture set, and added no new terrain and barely any new trees and not even historical missions.
Persia is one of the most requested civilisations though.
I made concepts for civilisations like Koreans a while back.
Siam/Thailand was never colonised.
But all the Native American civilisations were colonised to and so was India, so it’s not really an argument anyway.
Also, neither Burma nor Vietnam weren’t colonized until the 1880s, saying they shouldn’t be included because they became colonies right at the end of the period the game covers is rather silly.
Same with people like the Mapuche or the Shuar, both beat the spanish conquistadors and in the former’s case they even got a legal document recognizing their independence which got actually recognized by the succesor states too.
If you want Byzantium in AoE 3, it is better to create civ Greeks who could represent both Byzantium (in the early game) and independent Greece.
I like this idea a bit, but I think it could be done differently:
Olive Oil is not a fourth resource, but simply a Food resource.
Olive Field replaces the standard Estate for Italians civ, Greeks civ, Spanish civ, Portuguese civ and for Ottomans civ. Provides production of the Coin resource.
Grape Field replaces the Mill for Italians civ, Greeks civ, Spanish civ, Portuguese civ and for Ottomans civ. Provides production of the Food resource.
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