“Hey everyone! Since the community often discusses how a Roman civilization would just be a copy of the Greeks, I wanted to share a fully fleshed-out, balanced, and unique Game Design Concept that completely differentiates them through deep mechanics like frontline-pioneer Legionaries, the unique Senate system, and fully reworked Roman-specific Myth units and God Powers. Let me know what you think!”
Expansion Concept: The Roman Empire (New Pantheon Idea)
This concept introduces the Roman Empire as a fully independent, highly tactical, and competitive-ready civilization for Age of Mythology: Retold. Rome focuses on frontline pioneer logistics, an unbreakable heavy infantry shield wall, and unmatched mechanical siege warfare.
Unique Civilization Mechanics
- Divided Labor (Frontline Pioneers): Citizens gather and build the economy safely in the backlines. However, fighting Legionaries have the unique ability to construct military structures (Barracks, Archery Ranges, Fortresses, and Siege Workshops) directly in the field.
- Pax Deorum (Anti-God Power Aura): Once researched at the Temple, tasking 1–2 Citizens to pray at the building generates a protective golden aura. This aura completely blocks enemy God Powers within its radius (or reduces their damage by 75%). The enemy can break the aura by killing or displacing the praying Citizens.
- The Senate (Available in Age 3): A monument government building that unlocks a chosen historical Consul (acting as a unique Hero) and a mutually exclusive technology tree.
The Senate & The Consul (Age 3)
Upon building the Senate, players choose one historical Consul to act as their ultimate, revivable Hero unit:
- Julius Caesar: Buffs Legionary building speed and Pilum damage. Deals massive bonus damage against infantry Myth units.
- Marcus Aurelius: Reduces Temple Aura costs (requires only 1 Citizen). Deals massive bonus damage against magical and ranged Myth units.
- Scipio Africanus: Buffs War Dogs and Light Cavalry. Deals extreme bonus damage against gargantuan siege Myth units.
The 7 Senate Technologies (Mutually Exclusive Tree):
- Tier 1 (Economy vs. Logistics):
- Option A: Latifundia System – Farms produce food +15% faster; Town Centers cost 20% less wood/gold.
- Option B: Via Appia (Roman Roads) – All human units move +12% faster across the map. (Option A is locked out).
- Tier 2 (Infantry vs. Siege Doctrine):
- Option A: Marian Reforms – Increases the health of Legionaries and Triarii by +15% and cuts their recruitment time by 20%.
- Option B: Legion Engineering – Ballistas, Scorpions, and Onagers deal +25% damage to structures and passively repair themselves when near Legionaries. (Option A is locked out).
- Tier 3 (Elite Protection vs. Arena Combat):
- Option A: Castra Praetoria (Praetorian Discipline) – Permanently grants the Praetorian Guard+20% health. Additionally, the Consul gains passive health regeneration as long as at least two Praetorians stand right next to him.
- Option B: Panem et Circenses (Bread and Games) – Gladiators gain +25% attack power and train twice as fast in normal Barracks. (Option A is locked out).
- Final Research (Age 4):
- Imperium Romanum – Grants the Consul +25% health and doubles the radius of all Centurion Battle Cries.
The Roman Military (Unit Roster)
- The Agile Vanguard (Age 2 - Classical):
- Roman War Dogs: Cheap, extremely fast anti-infantry units. Slows down enemy rush units on bite (ideal anti-Norse tool).
- Gladiators: High-damage, low-armor shock infantry. Possess a Net Toss special ability to immobilize fleeing villagers or scouts.
- Funditores: Budget slingers dealing effective ranged harassment damage.
- Velites: Lightly armored javelin infantry acting as a cheap anti-cavalry support unit.
- Equites Alares: Light skirmisher javelin cavalry specializing in mobility, map control, and economic raids.
- The Iron Center (Age 2/3):
- Legionaries (Age 2): Heavy core infantry. They automatically throw a destructive Pilum (javelin) right before engaging in melee, permanently weakening the enemy’s armor.
- Triarii (Age 2): Rome’s eiserne Speer-Reserve. Pure anti-cavalry spear infantry. They passively gain increased pierce/hack armor the more they are outnumbered.
- Centurions (Age 3): Hero commanders trained at the Barracks. Their Battle Cry boosts the attack speed of nearby humans and makes them immune to knockback effects from monsters.
- Sagittarii (Age 3): Standard long-range archers. Essential for countering flying Myth units.
- The Elite Guard & Artillery (Age 3/4):
- Praetorian Bodyguard (Age 3): Strictly limited elite shield unit that passively absorbs 50% of the damage dealt to the Consul.
- Praetorian Guard (Age 3): Heavy elite infantry available in either a pure Sword/Shield or pure Spear/Shield variation.
- Equites Praetoria (Age 4): Magnificent heavy shock cavalry. Their Wedge Formation charges through enemy lines dealing area-of-effect damage. They gain extra attack speed near the Consul.
- The Siege Engine Park: Battering Rams (Age 3, high pierce armor) and Onagers (Age 4, splash damage catapults) against bases. Scorpions (Age 3, straight-line piercing bolt) and Ballistas(Age 4, long-range sniper artillery) to clear out enemy armies and Myth units.
Major Gods (Chosen at Game Start)
- Jupiter (Father of the Sky & State) – Focus: Senate & Centurions
- Civilization Bonus: Centurions occupy less population space. Constructing the Senate and training the Consul is 20% cheaper.
- God Power (Age 1): Signum – Summons a golden Eagle Standard. Allied units within the radius fight more fiercely and become immune to panic/morale drops.
- Mars (God of War) – Focus: Legionaries & Praetorians
- Civilization Bonus: The Marian Reforms technology is unlocked from the start. Legionaries and the Praetorian Guard permanently deal +10% damage.
- God Power (Age 1): Campus Martius – Massively increases the recruitment speed of all military buildings for a short duration.
- Quirinus (God of Peace & Citizens) – Focus: Economy & Temple
- Civilization Bonus: Citizens praying at Temples generate Favor twice as fast. The anti-God Power aura upgrade is cheaper to research.
- God Power (Age 1): Saturnalia – Creates a temporary golden aura over a targeted resource node (e.g., food/farms). Citizens within it gather 30% faster and carry double the resource amount.
Minor Gods & Myth Units
Age 2 (Classical Age)
- Bacchus (Wine & Excess): Myth Unit: Satyr (ranged skirmisher throwing toxic javelins that slow enemies). God Power: Hangover (a large area-of-effect debuff that causes enemy soldiers to stumble, heavily reducing their attack and movement speed).
- Luna (Moon & Hunt): Myth Unit: Capitolinische Wölfin / Lupa (a giant tactical huntress wolf providing a passive aura of +15% movement and +10% attack speed to all nearby fast units like Gladiatoren, War Dogs, and Equites). God Power: Lunar Eclipse (darkens the map for 45 seconds, reducing enemy line-of-sight by 50% and cutting enemy ranged unit/tower range by 40%).
- Flora (Spring & Youth): Land Myth Unit: Nymphe (a support healer regenerating frontline troops). Water Myth Unit: Najade (a balanced Age 2 water spirit that slows enemy ships by 30% using entangling kelp). God Power: Sacred Grove (creates a forest zone where wood chopping speed is boosted by +40%).
Age 3 (Heroic Age)
- Janus (Gates & Beginnings): Myth Unit: Larvae (floating brennende marble theater masks that breathe a toxic death fog dealing damage over time, and explode on death with a spectral shockwave that knocks back nearby enemies). God Power: Monument of Bifrons (a giant Janus mask crashes from the sky dealing AoE damage and remains as a statue for 30 seconds, buffing nearby Roman infantry with +20% attack and armor).
- Minerva (Wisheit & Tactics): Myth Unit: Anguipes (heavy snake-legged hoplite warriors who counter cavalry and passively share a portion of their armor values with any adjacent human legionaries/triarii). God Power: Minerva’s Aegis (a massive spear with an owl banner crashes down, creating a golden Boden-Symbol that grants all allied units within the circle +30% armor against all damage types for 30 seconds).
- Bellona (War & Bloodlust): Myth Unit: Gepanzertes Zentaur-Gardist (wuchtige, heavily armored centaurs built like massive warhorses that deal heavy trample area damage and acts as living battering rams against gates). God Power: Bellona’s Furor (Bellona screams from the heavens, releasing a red shockwave: allied units gain +25% attack speed and immunity to stuns, while enemies lose 25% attack power and 50% movement speed).
Age 4 (Mythic Age)
- Vulcanus (Fire & Forge): Myth Unit: Talos-Goliath (a gargantuan, steam-powered automaton made of iron and magma. Its special attack spews molten magma in a cone, melting enemy structures and burning infantry). God Power: The Magma Anvil (a colossal vulkanischer anvil erupts from the ground; a spectral hammer strikes it 3-4 times, sending out waves of magma meteors that devastate enemy armies and bases, while Roman siege engines are immune due to fireproofing).
- Pluto (Underworld & Wealth): Myth Unit: Cerberus (a massive three-headed dog with pitch-black fur and icy glowing eyes. Its roar strips enemy armor and speed, and it permanently grows in size and max HP whenever it absorbs the soul of a slain enemy). God Power: The Toll of Charon (places a permanent monument in your base. Every time a friendly human soldier dies anywhere on the map, you instantly receive a “Ferryman’s Toll” of +5 Gold).
- Fortuna (Fate & Fortune): Land Myth Unit: Kerynitischer Hirsch (a white stag with massive golden antlers that tosses 3-4 enemy infantry units into the air simultaneously). Water Myth Unit: Hippocampus-Würger (a heavy naval beast that rams ships from below, disabling their attacks via whirlpools). God Power: Fortuna’s Rudder (a celestial rudder rotates in the sky, summoning a directional wave of massive water geysers. Players hold and drag the cursor to select the launch direction to push away enemy armies on land or smash enemy fleets into each other on water).
The Roman Titan: Saturnus (God of Time & Decay)
Saturnus breaks free from the earth as a colossal giant made of ancient volcanic rock with veins of glowing lava. He carries a massive mythic scythe that swings in sweeping arcs, dealing devastating AoE damage. His base stats are perfectly balanced and tailored to match the Titan units of all other civilizations.
- Special Ability „Sands of Time" (Erosion): Saturnus slams his scythe into the ground, unleashing a swirling storm of golden sand. This sand whirlwind slows all enemy units within the radius by -20% and deals steady, balanced damage over time (allowing for fair counterplay without unfair hard-stuns or self