Civilization Idea: Georgians

Age of Empires IV IV - Discussion
1

I want to preface this concept by saying that I have never played AoE4, being an AoE2 player myself. However, its more unique and historically accurate approach to the Middle Ages is quite appealing for a history buff like myself.

The Georgians in AoE2 are rather historically inaccurate, so I decided to design my own version for the more unique and individualized AoE4. The Georgians have somewhat similar mechanics to the Byzantines and Chinese, but put their own unique spin on it. They have shared architecture with the Byzantines and Ottomans for certain buildings, but like all non-variant civilizations, most buildings have a totally unique design. Monasteries in particular are based on Jvari Monastery. The Georgian Wonder is the Grand Cathedral, based on Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, like in AoE2.

Civilization bonuses

  • Diverse Heritage: Build a specific Landmark to choose which historical region to recruit into the empire. The starting region is Kartli.

    • Dark Age: Princely Monastery (Klarjeti, based on Ishkhani), Frontier Fortress (Abkhazia, based on Anakopia Fortress)
    • Feudal Age: Familiar Monastery (Imereti, based on Gelati Monastery), Defensive Housing Complex (Svaneti, based on Ushguli)
    • Castle Age: Fortress Village (Khevsureti, based on Shatili), Hilltop Towers (Tusheti, based on Keselo Fortress)

  • Outpost-type buildings provide 5 population space and can train Qrma.

  • Emplacements other than Arrowslits are replaced with Svan Towers and Vainakh Towers, with upgrades improving both.

  • Buildings on top of hills deal 25% more damage and take 25% less.

  • Building Monasteries on the frontier (i.e. at least 20 tiles from the nearest player building) generates Diplomacy Points (2/sec for each Monastery), used to train Landsknechts, Longbowmen, Cataphracts, and the unique Kipchak Mercenary.

  • Monasteries can be upgraded to Mission Monasteries in Imperial Age. Mission Monasteries generate 5 Diplomacy Points per second instead of 2 and unlock training of Prelates and Ribauldequins.

  • Start with +200 stone, but -50 wood.

Starting resources: 200 food, 100 wood, 100 gold, 200 stone

Overview of Historical Regions

Through Diverse Heritage, each Landmark allows you to annex a new region into the empire, with each one providing a different benefit through unlocked units, buildings, and technologies:

  • Kartli (starting region): The Monaspa, Aznauri, and Bactrian Rider are available at the Stable starting in Castle Age. Metsikhovne are available at the Barracks and Archery Range starting in Feudal Age. The technologies Khachapuri and Birthplace of Wine are available at the Livestock Pen. The technology Kipchak Relations is available at the Fortress in Castle Age. The technologies Polyphony and Empire of Trebizond are available at the Monastery and Mission Monastery in Castle Age and Imperial Age, respectively.

  • Klarjeti (Dark Age): The technology Bagrationi Dynasty is available at the Stable.

  • Abkhazia (Dark Age): Alan Horsemen are available at the Archery Range starting in Castle Age. The technology Builder of Churches is available at the Town Center.

  • Imereti (Feudal Age): The technology New Capital is available at the Town Center. Tadzreuli are available at the Barracks.

  • Svaneti (Feudal Age): The Svan Tower upgrade for Outposts is available. The Machubi upgrade for Houses is available at the Town Center. The Rock Thrower emplacement for Svan Towers is available. The technology Litsvri is available at the Blacksmith.

  • Khevsureti (Castle Age): Khevsur Warriors are available at the Barracks. The technologies Khridoli and Khevsuruli are available at the University.

  • Tusheti (Castle Age): The Vainakh Tower upgrade for Outposts is available. The Machicolations emplacement is available for Vainakh Towers. The technology Communal Construction is available at the University. The technology Exported Cheese is available at the Livestock Pen.

Unique Units

  • Monaspa - Medium cavalry unit trained at the Stable. Has an ability called Didgori Remembrance that causes infantry and cavalry units within a 10-tile radius to take 50% less damage from melee targets for 20 seconds, with a 60-second cooldown.

  • Aznauri - Replaces the Knight. Can heal units when not in combat.

  • Bactrian Rider - Light cavalry unit trained at the Stable. Takes -20% damage from enemy horse cavalry and reduces their attack by 10% within 5 tiles.

  • Metsikhovne - Replaces the Spearman and Archer. Available in Feudal Age instead of Dark Age. Can change weapons. The melee version has the Spearwall ability and a bonus against cavalry, while the ranged version has a Stand Ground stance where it takes -15% damage from infantry and deals 20% more, but cannot move. Barracks versions are melee by default, while Archery Range versions are ranged by default.

  • Qrma - Light infantry unit trained at the Outpost. Quick creation speed and doesn’t cost population space, but has extremely low HP and armor.

  • Alan Horseman - Horse archer trained at the Archery Range. Has a mode where it can throw torches that deal lots of damage to buildings, but very minor damage to units. Only unlocked through Abkhazia.

  • Tadzreuli - Replaces the Man-at-Arms if Imereti is chosen. Is boosted in speed if Monks carrying Relics are within 10 tiles. Also has a bonus against enemy religious units.

  • Khevsur Warrior - Slow, powerful infantry unit with very high melee armor trained at the Barracks. Only unlocked through Khevsureti.

Mercenary Units

All mercenary units cost Diplomacy Points, generated by building Monasteries on the frontier. Each foreign mercenary unit is only available starting in the age that the original unit is available. All are trained at the Fortress.

  • Landsknecht (25 DP)
  • Longbowman (35 DP)
  • Cataphract (120 DP)
  • Kipchak Mercenary (60 DP) - Only mercenary unit exclusive to the Georgians. Is a fast, weak cavalry archer that fires multiple arrows.
  • Prelate (100 DP) - Exclusive to the Mission Monastery.
  • Ribauldequin (180 DP) - Exclusive to the Mission Monastery.

Unique Buildings

  • Livestock Pen - Mill and Farm replacement. Start with 2 sheep or cows generating 1 food/second each. Every 2 minutes, an additional sheep or cow is added for an extra 1 food/second, with a total of 5 for each Livestock Pen. Once Livestock Pens are full, up to two sheep or cows can be ungarrisoned to be harvested from.

  • Fortress - Keep replacement. Can train mercenary units. Cannot benefit from any emplacements, but naturally fires more arrows (6 instead of 3). However, it does not gain any extra arrows from garrisoned units.

  • Mission Monastery - Monastery upgrade in Imperial Age. Frontier Mission Monasteries generate 5 DP per second instead of 2.

  • Svan Tower - Outpost upgrade exclusive to Svaneti. Functions like an emplacement. Provides an additional 10 population space on top of the normal 5. Also has an ability called Call to Arms, where all nearby Svan Towers will progressively light warning flames over the course of 10 seconds, at which point 5 Qrma will appear out of each one. Call to Arms has a 2-minute cooldown. Svan Towers themselves have an emplacement exclusive to them, called Rock Throwers, functioning like a weaker and shorter-range Springald Emplacement.

  • Machubi - House upgrade exclusive to Svaneti. Functions like an emplacement. Machubi gain the ability to garrison 5 villagers inside, firing a maximum of 2 arrows from the connected tower. Livestock can also garrison inside Machubi to generate food at a rate of 0.5 food/second for each.

  • Vainakh Tower - Outpost upgrade exclusive to Tusheti. Functions like an emplacement. Can train Monaspa in addition to Qrma. Has an emplacement of its own, called Machicolations, that adds 2 extra arrows and extra damage against siege.

Unique Technologies

  • Khachapuri (II, Livestock Pen): Livestock Pens generate 1 more food per second per animal.

  • Birthplace of Wine (III, Livestock Pen): Livestock Pens generate 1 more food per second per animal. Monasteries generate 2 food per second.

  • Kipchak Relations (III, Fortress): Unlocks the ability to train Kipchak Mercenaries at the Fortress. Costs 150 DP.

  • Polyphony (III, Monastery): Monks with Relics have a 20% larger conversion radius.

  • Empire of Trebizond (IV, Mission Monastery): Mercenaries cost -20% DP and are trained 25% faster.

  • Bagrationi Dynasty (II, Stable, Klarjeti only): Cavalry units +30 HP.

  • Builder of Churches (II, Town Center, Abkhazia only): Monasteries are available in Feudal Age and cost -20%. Early Monasteries cannot train Monks or research technologies, but can still generate DP with the Frontier mechanic.

  • New Capital (III, Town Center, Imereti only): All secondary Town Centers gain the same stats as the main one.

  • Litsvri (III, Blacksmith, Svaneti only): Qrma and melee Metsikhovne gain +2 attack.

  • Khridoli (IV, University, Khevsureti only): Infantry attack 15% faster.

  • Khevsuruli (IV, University, Khevsureti only): Khevsur Warriors move 33% faster.

  • Communal Construction (IV, University, Tusheti only): Outposts and Stone Wall Towers built 100% faster.

  • Exported Cheese (IV, Livestock Pen, Tusheti only): Animals at the Livestock Pen generate 1 gold/second each.

Landmarks

Dark Age

  • Princely Monastery - Acts as a Monastery, and will generate DP on the frontier like a Monastery. Benefits from all technologies that affect Monasteries.
  • Frontier Fortress - Acts as a Fortress, allowing the training of Mercenaries starting in the Castle Age.

Feudal Age

  • Familiar Monastery - Acts as a Monastery and Blacksmith, and will generate DP on the frontier like all other Monasteries. All Blacksmith technologies can be researched here in addition to Monastery units and techs.
  • Defensive Housing Complex - Acts as a Barracks and Outpost. Can train all infantry units, and will fire arrows if units are garrisoned inside. Benefits from the Arrowslits or Rock Throwers emplacements. Also provides 5 population space like an Outpost.

Castle Age

  • Fortress Village - Acts as a Fortress, allowing for training of mercenaries, but can also additionally train the Khevsur Warrior.
  • Hilltop Towers - Acts as an Archery Range and Outpost, adding 5 population space and training archer units.
5 Likes
2

Creative ideas! Let’s hope that Georgia’s turn will come too, or that the developers will finally allow creating custom civilizations from 0 :grinning:

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Would you say I managed to recreate the style of AoE4 civs pretty well, despite having never played it? It took a lot of research on the wiki into what other civs have and what kinds of units, buildings, and techs are there.

4

I mean mostly yes! Perhaps the only thing is that there are no landmarks in the Dark Age, maybe some percentages need to be reconsidered; too many monasteries also XD. I suggest trying AoE4 yourself and testing the ideas in practice! The game is worth it

5

Don’t you have to build one to advance to the Feudal Age? That’s how it works according to the wiki; if things are wrong, feel free to edit the pages yourself.

What do you mean?

Yeah, I honestly agree. Maybe I’ll rework the landmarks to include some more unique structures, but they still have to belong to the region they represent.

6

Sorry, I didn’t notice that you starts from the Dark Age. Usually, landmarks are grouped by the ages they allow you to advance to, that is, Feudal, Castle, Imperial.

25% more damage for buildings seems like too strong of an advantage to me, as well as the modified mills. But I am not in a position to give advice on balance; you always have to consider the growth opportunities a civilization has in economic, technological, and military aspects.

I recommend checking out Chilly Empire’s concepts; he does a fantastic job!

7

That makes sense, but the wiki groups them by the age they’re built in, which is why I did it that way. I can always change it if it’s less confusing that way.

Both numbers are identical to AoE2’s hill bonus, which doesn’t have a significant impact on gameplay. There, it does apply to all civs, but the Georgians take even less damage from higher elevation, which was the inspiration for this version’s bonus.

I seem to recall he came up with a Japanese concept even before The Sultans Ascend came out, and I have to say, it was quite interesting.

8

I’m glad that more concepts are created in the forum.

One of Georgians so soon I didn’t expect it. As far as I know, the ones who had the most representation problems in AoE2 were the Armenians, which the devs not give them their unique Cataphract and put them as infantry civs, when they were a cavalry civs. But I also knew that the Armenian warrior monk must be Georgian because of the clothes that are actually from Georgia.

About the concept: It’s quite interesting.

  • Livestock Pen: Lately I’m coming across several civs that could have Livestock Pens instead of farms, mainly for cultural reasons (they lived in an arid, swampy or mountainous region where agriculture was difficult, but favored transhumance), among them Spain and Burgundy-Netherland, although they would be mainly sheep. The Mongols are already there with their corrals and the Mali with their cows, so there is a precedent.

  • Svan Tower.- How I’m looking forward to seeing it in AoE IV. Remembering that historically it was a tower-house, supplying population would be an interesting mechanic: You could put outpost next to mines or camps in your base and turn them into Svan towers for extra population, you save wood for building houses while protecting your city. Oh, like and advise: the houses in AoE IV, unlike Aoe2, do not occupy 5, but 10 of the population. I suppose that happens since Age of Mythology. The only houses that occupy 5 are the Mali ones which are cheaper. Well, it’s not like the Svan Tower is a mansion, so 5 extra population is fine, although the issue about balance are what the devs are in charge of.

  • Qsra: I haven’t found much information about the unit, I assume it will be some type of military levy. There is already a similar unit with Rus, who have their own militia via Landmark. Of course, there was a mess with its balance, since in small 1vs1 maps, there is so little space between both urban centers that in ranked people used it to stack massive armies at an early age, and even if they are weak, with numbers they beat you (each one has a torch attack, so in theory they are good for siege). As a balance, its lifespan was reduced from 85 to 65 seconds. The same could happen with these units, a limited lifespan, and at least 1 population or 0.5 population so that it is not ####### ### hey, they are balance issues that the devs take care of.

Ah, about that… well it’s a divided opinion among the community:

You see, the Landmarks are practically buildings to advance between ages, so rather than being of a specific age, let’s say that they are “The intermediate” between 2 ages. Technically, although a 1st Age Landmark is built in that age, you only get its effect and use it in the 2nd Age, same with 2nd and 3rd age landmarks.

That is why in the Wiki the landmarks are grouped based on the age at which they were built, and not when they are useful. Meanwhile, in the concepts, many prefer to put the Landmarks in the age when they are useful and not when they are built, but well there are also cases where they do not and they put them in the first age, it is a matter of taste.

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10

No way you can ever design a Civ without playing the game before!

11

Sarcasm? Because it doesn’t seem like I did that bad a job.

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12

I like the concept overall. One thing I want to say is that rather than the Alan Horseman, let’s make the Horse Archer, a shared unit.