At least a year ago, I posted a concept for a Polynesians civ. Since it’s been a while since that post and I made some rather significant changes, I thought I’d post it again in my more recent style.
The Polynesians represent the various peoples of the Polynesia region during the Middle Ages, especially Tonga, Hawaii, Samoa, and Rapa Nui. They have a brand-new Oceania architecture shared with at least two other civs. Their Wonder is Ahu Tongariki, with a single moai statue. The Easter Island statues are the single most famous manmade structure in the entirety of Polynesia, so having one as their Wonder is a no-brainer.
The Polynesians are an infantry and naval civilization, similar to the Vikings and Dravidians, and like them, they have a unique naval unit. They also have fairly good Monks and decent archers.
They don’t have Eagle Warriors, but they and the other Oceania civs have a trash unit called the Tribal Sentry, which upgrades to the Tribal Warrior and then the Tribal Chieftain. It costs only 75 food (or wood, in the case of the Polynesians), but is significantly less tanky than Eagles, having less pierce armor. It’s closer in stats to Light Cavalry than it is to Knights. To compensate for this, all Oceania civs have above-average skirmishers.
Let’s talk about their civ bonuses now.
Civilization Bonuses
- Docks work 15% faster
Of course, Polynesian societies relied heavily on boats and ships, so they would understand how to build them quickly.
- Barracks units cost wood instead of food
This is a reference to Hawaiian warriors typically making their spears, axes, and clubs out of the wood from trees they chopped down specifically for that purpose. The Koa warrior actually took his name from the tree that he used to make his weapon.
- Skirmishers +1 attack in Castle, +1 in Imperial
Hawaii very commonly used skirmishers as part of its warrior force.
- Animals decay 200% more slowly
Another reference to Hawaii, this bonus references the tradition of kalua, which is roasting pork in the ground for hours.
- Team bonus: Transport Ships move 10% faster
Polynesian societies frequently traveled to other islands and either settled them or conquered them. Often, they even spread their culture to other parts of Oceania, influencing their society permanently.
Unique Unit 1: Koa
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This infantry unit moves a bit faster than standard swordsmen. Its special ability is to dodge one melee attack after a charge time of 20 seconds (15 for Elite). When it happens, this dodge is denoted by a dust cloud and sound identical to when a BBC projectile hits the ground occurring right in front of the Koa. Only one melee attack can be dodged per Koa at a time, and then it must recharge again.
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The unit costs 45 food and 20 gold, which is the same as generic infantry with Supplies, which the Polynesians do not get. Notably, it is the only Polynesian infantry unit to cost food, which means that the majority of villagers can go to wood, while food production can be devoted to villagers, Koas, and skirmishers.
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The unit has 2 base pierce armor, with 1 base melee armor. The Elite variant has armor that goes up by 1 for both. The unit is trained in 15 seconds. The Elite upgrade costs 900 wood, 300 gold.
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The historical basis for this unit is that koas were Hawaiian warriors. They got their name from the tree that they made their weapons from. They covered themselves in body oil to make it harder for enemies to grab onto them.
Unique Unit 2: Catamaran
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This unit is essentially a stronger War Galley, having the same fire rate and HP, but slightly higher movement speed, creation time, attack, and range. Notably, every shot it fires does blast damage in a 2-tile radius to any enemy unit it hits. It deals less damage the further away from the epicenter that the target is. This trait gives the unit a strong advantage against clumped-up units, particularly against other ships.
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The catamaran is a double-hulled ship invented by Austronesians, the ancestors of Polynesians and many other Asian people groups. It is light and easy to propel.
Unique Techs
Body Oils: swordsmen and Koas take -5 damage from infantry units
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Cost: 500 food, 500 wood
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This technology makes enemy infantry units significantly less effective against the best Polynesian infantry. Combined with the Koa’s innate melee dodging mechanic, Polynesian units will be significantly harder to counter, particularly because Polynesian pikes are quite affordable.
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This technology references the aforementioned body oils that Koas would cover themselves with to make enemy warriors have a difficult time grabbing on to them.
Crab Claw Sail: ships +25% HP
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Cost: 800 food, 400 gold
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This technology makes Polynesian warships among the best in the game, especially because of a unique ship and faster production. Other than Cannon Galleon, all navy units and techs are available. With this technology, they are significantly hardier than they would be normally, and can even beat Portuguese ships, as their HP bonus is much higher.
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The crab claw sail was an Austronesian invention that spread to Madagascar, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and even, potentially, the Middle East. It significantly improves the performance of sailing ships, and is even favored in sport sailing to this day. Polynesian crab claw sails have a very distinctive shape and look like the pincers of crabs, which gave the sail its name. With the highly effective crab claw sails, Austronesians were able to easily settle many places in the Pacific, and their Polynesian descendants retained this advantage.
Tech Tree
Missing Units: Eagle line, Elephant Archer, Cavalry Archer, Hand Cannoneer, all cavalry, Siege Ram, Bombard Cannon, Cannon Galleon.
Missing Techs: Supplies, Parthian Tactics, Stable, Redemption, Illumination, Sappers, cavalry armor, Ring Archer Armor, Architecture, Keep, Bombard Tower, Siege Engineers, Arrowslits, Gold Shaft Mining.