Hi All,
There’s been a lot of discussion recently about the Britons, particularly addressing the seeming redundancy of Longbows compared to the Archer line. This is a simple rework I came up with to address this, while also hoping to emphasise the another strength of medieval English armies, their use of archers and heavy infantry in a combined-arms strategy. I have also renamed them to English, as Britons makes no sense for a civ meant to represent the England of the high and late middle ages
English - Infantry and Archer Civilisation
The Bonuses
- Shepherds work 25% faster.
- Town Centres cost -50% wood starting in Castle Age.
Briton eco bonuses are fine, and very versatile. The shepherd opening frees up villager time to increase collection of other resources. The TC discount is similar to the Dravidian bonus, in that it frees up a lot of wood at a point in the game where wood is at a premium.
- Infantry, Foot Archers and Skirmishers heal 1 HP per minute for each nearby Infantry unit, to a maximum of 20 HP/min.
I’ve tried this before in an Anglo-Saxons mod I made for myself, and it turns out to be an interesting way to encourage mixed armies throughout the game. The amount of healing in the early game is very minimal, but in large fights it adds up a lot. The range of this effect is 10 tiles, the same as a Centurion.
- Watch Tower-line +1/+2/+3 attack in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
This bonus compensates for a rework to the Yeomen UT.
Unique Units
- Castle: Bacheler - In game description: “English unique Infantry that deals trample damage. Briefly reduces the attack speed of units it attacks.”
Stats (Elite)
Hitpoints: 80(95)
Attack: 11(14), dealing 40%(50%) damage to units in 0.5 area
Armour: 2/2
Reload: 1.9
Speed: 0.96
Bonus damage: +1 vs Shock Infantry, +2 vs Standard Building
Cost: 60 food, 50 gold
Special ability: Units damaged by a Bacheler have their attack speed reduced by 10% for 3 seconds.
“Bacheler” is the name given to a poor, unlanded knight who fought in the retinue of wealthier knights or the higher nobility. As such, it works as the name of a unit representing a dismounted knight. The Bacheler fills a niche that hasn’t been explored yet, an infantry unit with true War Elephant-style trample damage. The attack speed reduction serves double purpose: In large numbers, it makes Bachelers more dangerous vs other melee units, while a few Bachelers mixed into a group of other melee units can help tip fights by delaying the next attack of a lot of enemy units. Bachelers look something like dismounted English knights from Medieval 2 Total War:
- Archery Range: Longbowman (replaces Crossbowman and Arbalester) - In game description: “English unique Foot Archer with exceptional range.”
Stats (Elite)
Hitpoints: 35(40)
Attack: 5(6)
Range: 6(7)
Armour: 0/0
Reload: 1.9(1.8)
Speed: 0.96
Bonus damage: +3 vs Spearmen
Cost: 25 wood, 45 gold
The signature change, the Longbowman now replaces the Crossbow and Arbalest, with the old Archer range civ bonus built into its base stats. The attack is reduced compared to the OG longbow, but there is now a slightly increased attack speed to compensate for lacking Thumb Ring.
Unique Technologies
- Castle Age: Yeomen - Archer-line has +1 range and can lay Palings to slow Mounted Units.
The extra range is unchanged, but now only affects the Archer-line, as Skirmishers benefit from the regen civ bonus. The ability to lay Palings is a reference to the anti-cavalry stakes laid by longbowmen at Agincourt and later conflicts. Palings are buildings with the following stats:
Palings
Hitpoints: 50
Armour: 6/10, has building and standard building ACs, takes an additional +5 damage from infantry
Cost: 30 wood
Technologies: Affected by Masonry and Architecture
Special ability: 1 tile size (same as outpost), can be freely moved across. All mounted units, friend or foe, in the same tile as Palings have -80% speed and -1/-1 armour
- Imperial Age: English Bill - Spearman-line +4 melee armour.
A simple buff to late game Spearmen, this technology makes Halberdiers much better against cavalry, able to beat Cavaliers and almost beat Paladins 1v1. Against Champions they are a little better, but are still demolished cost-effectively.
And that’s it. There aren’t any changes to the tech tree, as I think it’s perfect both historically and from a gameplay perspective.
Let me know what you think, constructive criticism is always welcome!