Civ concept - Anatolian Turks and Byzantines

[StereoQuasar163]

Anatolian Turks(1040-1571)

The Anatolian Turks will have some unique features that will give them advantage in both defense and offense. The Anatolian Turks will be able to adopt in any kind of scenarios or situations.

The Anatolian Turks will represent the Seljuks(1040–1157) and Ottomans(1299-1571) until the battle of Lepanto.Also includes Anatolian beys. At the beginning they will have features indication their migration to Anatolia and Levant and in the later ages (III, IV) they will play like settled empire and will have technological advantages.

Civilization Bonus

Migration
In Age I and Age II the villagers will be created automatically and free of cost at a slower pace. The production will stop when reaching age IV or reaches a limit of 45.

Gunpowder specialist
gunpowder units will have additional range and gunpowder siege units does additional damage against buildings.

Cavalry reform
Horsemen upgrade are free

Sultanate of women
Turks does not need to build landmarks to age up. At the very beginning of the game players has to build a landmark called “Sultans Harem”. player can age up by choosing a Haseki Sultan from this landmark. Haseki Sultan were the head of turkish harem , the sultans wife and also mother of future heir. Haseki sultans were greatly involved in ottoman politics and decision making. So choosing a Haseki Sultan will age up and give the player additional features. Each time aging up new structures will be added to the Harem like the abbassids house of wisdom.

Influence
The Sultan organizes weekly feasts for the ottoman soldiers. Barracks near the Sultans Harem can produce units with 10 less food

Unique Units

Akenci horse Arches : Generic Horse archers much like Rus but deals more damage at close range and has very low hp (Age II)

Jenissary : More powerful version of handcanoneers

Galley : The Cannon vessels of Turks. smaller and slower. Has smaller sale and oars. but has greater range than other cannon ships

Great Bombards : Very heavy bombards that has more hp and range than generic bombards but takes longer to deploy and pack. A bigger version named basilica can be found in ottoman mission “siege of constantinople”.

Unique Technologies :

Age II :

Town Center

• Ox cart : villager production speed is increased

Archery Range

• Sipahi(locked): Akenci horse archers recieve more hp

• Flanking maneuver(locked): Akenci horse archers has charge ability that boosts speed
  for 5 seconds. great for closing up to enemy to deal bonus
  damage or getting away

Age III :

Archery Range

• Zihgir : Akenci horse archers has more firing speed

Stable

• Bludgeon(locked) : Knights are now equipped with maces that slow enemy units and does great damage to siege engines

Barracks

• Kilij(locked) : Man-at-arms equip with kilij sword. greatly increasing their attack speed

Age IV :

Dock

• Boarding crew: Turkish arrow ships are now able to board and capture enemy ship

Town Center

• Additional housing(locked) : Villager automated production limit is taken off and player can turn automated village production off anytime. also can turn it on

Dock

• Naval reform(locked) : Galleys now have bigger sails and no oars making them very fast.

Haseki Sultans
As stated before Turk players have to age up by choosing a Haseki sultan. Here are the Haseki sultans and what features they unlock :

Age II

Karamanid princess

• Towers added to the Sultans harem that fires arrows at enemies.
• Unlocks Sipahi technology in archery range.

Kayi princess

• Towers added to the Sultans harem that fires arrows at enemies.
• Unlocks Flanking maneuver technology in archery range.

Age III

Dulkadirid princess

• Guardians quarters added to Sultans Harem that dispatch 15 Guardian Kapikulu infantry that attacks nearby enemies. Kapikulu are heavy infantry that deal area damage. can not attack ranged unit and cannot go further away from the Sultans Harem. Lasts for 15 seconds and cooldown time is 10 minutes. doesnt need housing.
  

  
  
  Kapikulu depicted in 1212 AD mod in total war attila
  
  
  
  Kapikulu inspired unit in Conquerors blade game
  
  
  
  I tried to depict Kapikulu in AOE 2 using Zhenshi mod

• Unlocks Kilij technology in barracks.

Serbian princess

• Foreign affairs added to Sultan’s Harem. A structure where serbian princess can deal with foreigh affairs. The structure has ability to call for Serbian assistance. If the ability used 15 Serbian Pronijar cavalry are dispatched and can attack any unit all over the map. Ponijar are heavy cavalry of Serbia that takes double anti-cavalry damage but has more damage than knights. Lasts for 10 seconds and cooldown is 15 munites
  

  
  
  Pronijar in 1212 AD mod

• Unlocks Bludgeon technology in Stable.

Age IV

Beylik princess

• Nursing House added to Sultans Harem. Unit garrisoned inside heals much faster.
• Unlocks Additional housing technology in Town Center.
• Automated villager production restarts.

Venetian princess

• Merchants Guild added to Sultan’s Harem. Generates Gold mines around it. replenish when depleted
• Unlocks Naval Reform technology in Docks.
• Jenissaries get the ability to deploy pavise shields.

Wonder : Suleymani Mosque

Byzantines(555-1453)

Byzantines were the Eastern half of the fragmented Roman empire. Through time they went through cultural and religious change and became a separate entity. Even after fall of Rome , Byzantium survived for more than 1000 years and left its mark on history. Byzantine culture was a mix of greek and latin cultures.

In AOE 4 the Byzantines are a defensive civ. Their unique features let them survive for long and devastate their enemy in late game with flame weapons.

Civilization Bonus

Levy
Byzantine army consisted of many levied warriors from their provinces making spearmen and foot archers cost 25% less.

Quick Restoration
Byzantine engineers were very affective during sieges and were able to repair damaged structure very fast. Villager repair structure very fast.

Strong Architecture
Byzantine buildings have +20%/+30%/+40%/+50% HP in AGE I,II,III and IV

Social and military reforms
Byzantines age up 33% faster

Greek Fire
Has access to fire damage dealer units. Archers can fire flaming arrows without researching the technology in Arsenal

Influence
Roman roadwork
Byzantine structures are interconnected with auto generated stone paved roads that increases unit speed including enemy units. Villagers can go from one location to another very fast using this road system

Unique units

Cataphracts : Highly armored heavy cavalry that replaces knights. Negates anti-cavalry damage by 50%

Pyro : Flamethrowers with area damage.

A Pyro also called Siphonarioi in Conquerors Blade

Greek FireThrowers from Total war Medieval II

Fire dromon : Close range Military ship. Dealing damage for a long time sets the enemy ship on fire. Fire deals damage for a long time to the affected ship. Fire gets put out after some time and it can be instantly put out by taking the ship near a friendly dock. The affected ship must be out of battle to put out the fire.

Unique Technologies :
AGE II

Dock

• Ship Mill : Fishing boats are faster

AGE III

Barracks

• Varangians: Spearmen get more hp . Spearmen graphics changed to Varangian unit,

Blacksmith

• Pilum: Man at arms throws a heavy javelin at enemy unit before engaging in melee. The javelin does anti-armor damage and slows the target. 5 min cool down.

Arsenal

• Fire Bomb : Instead of burning oil, keeps and towers throw fire bombs at close target that deals area damage for a short amount of time. good against siege engines

AGE IV

University

• Enhanced Siphon : Fire dromon and Pyro fire range increased
• Road blocks : Enemy units no longer gains speed from byzantine path system.

Dock

• Secret Ingredient : Fire dromon now does area damage. The fire burns for a long time in water and any ship in that area gets damaged. Fire ships now also leave an area of flame after suicide attack.

Basilica

• Orthodox influence: Basilica creates monks faster

Keep

• Logistica: Cataphracts do +4 damage against infantry.

Landmarks :

Age II :
Water Reserve Aqueduct (defensive landmark): Buildings can not be set on fire

Age III :
Palatinae House (Military landmark): Can produce Cataphracts. Cataphracts produced from this structure has +2 attack against infantry

Age IV :

Basilica of the Cardinal (Religious landmark): Units near this structure can not be converted

Palace of Constantinople (defensive landmark) : A keep that has fire bomb and Springald installed

Wonder : Hagia Sophia Church

[Skadidesu]

@StereoQuasar163

In Age I and Age II the villagers will be created automatically and free of cost at a slower pace. The production will stop when reaching age IV or reaches a limit of 45.

I know the Ottomans in AoE3 have that feature but I don’t think it works well with the nomadic nature of the Turks in AoE4.

@StereoQuasar163

Horsemen upgrade are free

That would be pretty nice actually, especially in combination with early horseman. Because usually having units available in Dark Age is a disadvantage because you need to upgrade them in Feudal Age.

@StereoQuasar163

Turks does not need to build landmarks to age up.

I think Landmarks would make more sense. They have a lot of nice buildings to choose from, it would be a shame if they only had one wonder and that’s it.

@StereoQuasar163

Strong Architecture
Byzantine buildings have +10%/+20%/+30%/+40% HP in AGE I,II,III and IV

Maybe it should be even more than that. Torches are pretty strong in lategame.

@StereoQuasar163

Byzantines age up 33% faster

Already a Chinese feature.
They build everything including Landmarks faster.
Maybe a discount would be a better idea.

@StereoQuasar163

Influence
Villagers near Basilica (church) are healed

Seems relatively weak. Maybe for all units? Might be OP then. Maybe requires Relic.

The Road Network is already kinda a Influence system so maybe it should just be that.

@StereoQuasar163

Cataphracts : Highly armored heavy cavalry that replaces knights. Does not take anti cavalry damage

Not taking Anti Cavalry Damage might be a bit overpowered.
I know it’s like that in AoE2. Maybe just reducing the Anti-Cavalry Damage by 50%?
I’m afraid that would limit future civilisation design because you would have to have anti armour damage to deal with them.
Right now it would be ok to design a civilisation that has a different solution against knights and MAA.

@StereoQuasar163

Pilum: Man at arms throws a heavy javelin at enemy unit before engaging in melee. The javelin does anti-armor damage and slows the target. 5 min cool down.

The cooldown can be much lower. It should just be like the charge.

@StereoQuasar163

Age II :
Water Reserve Aqueduct (defensive landmark): Buildings near this structure can not be set on fire

Too weak. Maybe if it’s global.
Or make it boost food production instead/on top.

@StereoQuasar163

Basilica of the Cardinal (Religious landmark): Units near this structure can not be converted

Also relatively weak. Seems to be very situational.

@StereoQuasar163

Palace of Constantinople (defensive landmark) : A keep that has fire bomb and Springald installed

Imperial Age Keep landmarks are usually much stronger.
For example the Rus one has all emplacements installed plus 50% more HP or the English one has +50% range letting it outrage bombards.

[Fyrapan90]

Great ideas regarding the Byzantine empire but for me I have a wish to have more Greek culture represented into AoE4s Byzantine empire civilization.

I can’t stand that they only speak Latin like in AoE2 and the only thing that is referring to something Greek is the research Greek fire in that game. The fact of the matter is that the majority of the population that lived was from Greek origin, speaking Greek and had the orthodox christianity religion. While there was Latin speaking people in the empire it was really a shadow of its former glory and was already very small influence wise compared to the Eastern part that was the stronger part (Greek).

Please let them speak Greek and give credit to the Greeks, but I’ve a bad feeling that the developers will follow the trend that everything was Latin and the continuation of the ancient Romans which couldn’t be further from the truth.

[StereoQuasar163]

@Skadidesu

I know the Ottomans in AoE3 have that feature but I don’t think it works well with the nomadic nature of the Turks in AoE4.

The concept of Anatolian Turks is that they came to Anatolia from Central Asia here then got settle. So they arent actually producing villagers, they are getting it from migration. The migration mechanics stops in the era of the Ottomans. Didnt think of nomadic turks specifically like the Gokturks or Uyghurs.

@Skadidesu

I think Landmarks would make more sense. They have a lot of nice buildings to choose from, it would be a shame if they only had one wonder and that’s it.

I wanted the Ottomans to play a bit differently than traditional. The Sultans Harem landmark is much stronger than any other landmarks.

@StereoQuasar163

Strong Architecture
Byzantine buildings have +10%/+20%/+30%/+40% HP in AGE I,II,III and IV

Ok lets add 10% more to those

@Skadidesu

Seems relatively weak. Maybe for all units? Might be OP then. Maybe requires Relic

Ok ill remove it and put road network as influence

@Skadidesu

Maybe just reducing the Anti-Cavalry Damage by 50%

Lets put this one

@Skadidesu

The cooldown can be much lower. It should just be like the charge.

I wanted Pilum to deal a massive damage. so if you spam man at arm and can use the javelins with lesser cooldown you can devastate the enemy as they deal high damage to any type of unit and also slow them, and also you dont want to overkill

@Skadidesu

Maybe if it’s global.

Lets make it global

@Skadidesu

Or make it boost food production instead/on top.

Wanted to make it go with the defensive nature of the civ

@Skadidesu

Also relatively weak. Seems to be very situational.

@Skadidesu

Imperial Age Keep landmarks are usually much stronger

Ok I will think of some alternative for them

[StereoQuasar163]

Ofcourse the language and culture will be Greek… Well at Age I they will speak latin as it will be newly formed eastern Roman Empire. But in later ages they will speak Greek or a mix of latin and Greek. Also they will have Greek style architecture. Their church will be called Basilica which are orthodox Greek churches. So greek influence must be there

[IronRata]

I would also like to see the unique units of the Skoutatos for the Byzantines and the Spahi for the Turks.

You could also add the unique building of the mercenary camp for the Byzantines since that empire used to recruit many mercenaries.

Sorry for my bad English.

[UrbanizedGem684]

Of cource Skoutatos was the backbone of the Byzantine army.

I have been asking for civ-specific, culturally unique names for the units for Ages (pun intended) but I expect nothing anymore.

You will most likely get a Spearman, a Man at Arms and a Horseman again. It’s depressing how backwards we have gone.

Anyway, I created a topic some time ago about historically accurate options for the Byzantine unit roster. You can take a look if you wish:

The Byzantine Empire Civilization Suggestion

The game is most likely way past the development stage of designing civ units, yet I’d like to share with you some unit concepts for the Byzantine army that I at least am more aware of than of other medieval cultures. And hopefully the dev team has also done a thorough historical research to take ideas and create interesting and appealing units for every civilization. Maybe if Byzantines don’t make it to the base game, this post could still offer ideas and inspiration for future DLCs. So, I …

[StereoQuasar163]

Sultanate of Women in the Ottoman Empire DOCUMENTARY