I feel this is not a good civ design for three reasons.
FIrstly, Impi are a thing of the 19th century AD, hundreds of years beyond the aoe2 timeline. This civ design youâve made bears little connection to the reality of any medieval Bantu group.
Secondly, the Bantu are an absolutely massive ethnic group with a huge amount of diversity, so they cannot all be distilled accurately into one civ. The three main Bantu groups in the aoe2 time period were the Kongolese, Shona and Swahili. Each of these civs would have widely different specialities if represented accurately in the game. The Kongolese fielded huge armies for example, but the Swahili didnât. In turn, the Swahili had amazing ships, but the Kongolese didnât. Both Bantu peoples. Both very different. Much as the medieval English and the medieval Poles were both European but both very different. By putting all these disparate groups together, youâre unable to design a civ which can accurately represent them.
There is a great deal of information out there regarding the empires and cities of the medieval Kongolese, Shona and Swahili. You could make a civ out of any of these but you should do more research, so that the civ design can accurately reflect history, if you want to be well received. For example, why would these civs have horses? Do they get camels? They certainly shouldnât. Civs as unique as these should get unique regional units to replace such things which they did not have. Also, why do they have terrible navy? The Swahili (a Bantu ethnic group) were some of the greatest medieval shipmakers in the world.
Thirdly, the civ design is not balanced. The Team Bonus is way too powerful for other civs (or any civ) to have access too, but thereâs no early economy bonus so the civ would actually be pretty weak. No aspects of the civ design really reflect aspects of history in a new and exciting way.
Iâm not trying to be rude with my comments, and I do hope you find them constructive. What Iâd advise is:
- Design this as three Bantu civs, not one: Shona, Swahili and Kongolese
- Look at what these medieval peoples specialised in and try to reflect it in civ design
For example, the Kongolese had huge armies of archers and infantry and used poison weapons but their buildings were on the weaker side. So a highly aggresive civ with poor defences.
The Shona built massive, monumental buildings and fortresses and speciailised in farming and mining but werenât as militaristic. So a defensive, economic civ.
The Swahili traded with Somalia, India and China across the Indian Ocean. They were amazing shipbuilders and built wealthy, dense cities. So a naval and economic civ.
These three civs could share unique units to replace their lack of cavalry (like how American civs have Eagle Warriors) (as well as sharing an architecture set):
- Assegai Warriors as a Cavalry Archer replacement available from the Feudal Age
- Mpombo Scouts as a weak, light cavalry replacement