Controversial changes/swaps of myth units

Hi! this is my first thread here in this forum (don’t know how i could miss this all those years but so glad AOM still get attention and love and ppl/fans still discuss about this almost 20 year old game! makes me really happy)

but back to the original topic: DISCLAIMER my first thread here is something simple yet a topic i always wanted to discuss - and yes it might end up being very controversial, ESPECIALLY for those who are old fans of the series. (even i consider myself as an old fan since i follow this game with breaks since nearly release)

If there ever will be a AOM2 or reboot of the series i personally would like to see some ballsy, refreshing changes to every old race especially regarding a few gods in every age and also myth units.

Archaic Age:

Greek Myth units: Centaur, Minotaur, Harpy/ (water) Siren
Norse Myth units: Einherjar/Draugr, Battle Boar, Werewolf
Egypt Myth units: Anubite, Ushabti, Afreet (Upgrade to Djinn)

Heroic Age:

Greek Myth units: Cyclopse, Chimera (could still be myth age instead of Hydra), Manticore
Norse Myth units: Frost Giant, Fire Giant, Troll (bigger better/ Mountain Giant replacer)
Egypt Myth units: Giant Scorpian (no human part), Rukh/Roc, Mokattam/Obelisk (big stone golem)

Myth Age:

Greek Myth units: Kolossus, Hydra, Cerberus (Hades) / Gorgon (Zeus)
Norse Myth units: Nidhöggr/dragon, Big Fenris Wolf (bigger better + Jörmungandr as god power), Valkyrie (flying, range and melee with spear)
Egypt Myth units: Phoenix, Sphinx (bigger better + Hieracosphinx upgrade gives sphinx hawk face and stone wings for short jump attack or wind toss), Ammit ( chimera size, crocodile head, instant kill unit)

Other myth units right out of my head for other new races i would like to see would be:
Basilisk, Quetzalcoatl, real Griffin (would really like to see Sindbad Griffin vs Cyclopse fight), Dryads, big Ent-like Tree unit, Wyvern?

What do you think? I hope you like some of my ideas. You can always ask me about my decisions (details etc). I also would love to change some aesthetics/visuals of a view units like Hydra, Frost Giant, Troll etc. for example.

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Not really a myth unit, Ushabti were small statues, not beings.

Arabic, not ancient egyptian.

Why tho?

Ammit was for all intents and purposes a God, not a type of creature. The norse Jormund Elvers and Fenris Wolf Brood are at least said to be children of the Fenris wolf and the Jormungandr (the former of which is already a thing present in the Norse mythology, with Fenris having at least two children canonically).

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first of all thanks for the response! even i have to slightly disagree with your answers.

I don’t know how to quote your responses (yet) thats why i will respond to them step by step.

Ushabti: There are a few units in vanilla which are "not really a myth unit per se. so not really an argument here. about the too small statues thing tho i can see your point of view but i think since its still a fantasy game you can expand them like they reduced the size of sphinxes and made sacarbeus much bigger. Also i was refering to the REALLY amazing units of the Tomb Kings from Total War Warhammer 2. :slight_smile: i think it’s an amazing design which would fit as well.

Afreet: Thats a point but since i doubt we see so many races in a possible future dlc i could still see those as a myth unit i know there are more arabic. but i would like to see a magical ghost unit similar to djinns which would fit the egyptian theme in my opinion. but here i have to agree with you that it might be a bit too far fetched. so even you are imo wrong about the Ushabti, you are her right i think.Then to Wadjet again but way cooler model than original used. I think Wadjet could be a cool unit especially looking at historical drawings but ingame it was “just” a snake with very strange sound design

Mokattam/Obelisk: Why not? i think it’s way cooler and better tas a siege unit han a giant scarab. Also would fit the theme of a golem/structure like creature really well which is also an egyptian thematic and the Mokattam is the type of stone pyramides are built of so it would fit the thematic even more (beside being a damn cool name)

Ammit: I know that these are more god-type of creatures ( i mean its not even hard to google their background lol) but since AoM doesn’t take itself and their units too serious i don’t really see a problem there. And i think the hole idea of a crocodile/lion creature which devours units is damn cool and is - at least in my opinion a better alternative to Avengers and Pestsuchus which are both creatuers i personally can’t find anything about neither in egypt lore nor mythology in general. but maybe you can help me out there. Ammit is only godlike in very old egyptian lore, but since its so mighty it would be a unit of the mythical age cause of that.

Your Fenris/Jormungandr comment is understandable but i don’t get why you mention this except you wanted to agree with me here? so thanks i guess. :slight_smile:

thanks for your personal feedback! apreciate it

blah blah Ammit is a god blah blah

Bruh, Wadjet is literally a god and is still represented as a myth unit.

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Ushabti were small funerary figurines found in tombs. They being huge war golems was a Warhammer invention. Anubites (which is a made-up word) and avengers were already proper names for the jackel and hawk headed bois, or you can simply call them by the god names Horus/Anubis just like some other Egyptian myth units.

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doesn’t really matter cause this game is way more mythology and fantasy based than historical and religious based. + sure anubites and avengers are based on their gods yet there are still invented by the AoM developers so it would be totally fine to make from ground up new creatures :wink: (+warhammer ushabti are extremely badass and an eye gem)

but thanks for the comment!

damn! just saw the new Troy Mythos creatures and i really love most of their looks and let my urge for a AoM in new visuals and animations grow even larger. So hope many see new Troy Mythos update and also AoE dev team gets even more motivated to give a new AoM a chance!

I liked the Cerberus and the Ammit idea. But I didn’t really understand the point of changing the size or the name of the units. Everyone knows who Medusa is, and what’s her deal is. The term gorgon is far more obscure.

Discussing the design of something without actual pictures feel a bit awkward. For example I am happy with the distinct look of the mountain giants, I personally wouldn’t change them. Both the Frost Giants and the Fire Giants look fine the way they are in my opinion. But then again, there is no image to comment on.

I also have to agree with others about Ushabti. They are the mythological servants of the dead. They farm, clean up and look after the person commanding them in the afterlife. They are not fighters. They act more like mythical villagers more than anything. Although I never played it, Warhammer seems to be misusing the term. Based on the google pictures, they are just using the ushapti name as an umbrella term for various eagle headed and jackal headed creatures. We already have Anubites and Avengers, I don’t really see the point of the name change.

Petsuchos is partially based on the ceremonials crocodiles that lived in Crocodopolis, Faiyum. The bejewelled crocodile represented the Crocodile God Sobek. In his later incarnations he was merged with the Horus, and represented as a crocodile with the head of a falcon:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Egyptian_-Statue_of_a_Crocodile_with_the_Head_of_a_Falcon-Walters_22347-_Right.jpg

I also don’t think that any other non-egyptian creatures are needed. Scorpion man, Roc and Leviathan are mostly ok, because we are used to them by this point. Scorpion were important creatures in Egyptian art and mythology, and I don’t really mind the visual choices of the devs. It was clearly inspired by the Mummy movies. The Scorpion man with that huge necklace looks better than a large scorpion in opinion. Because of his beaded necklace we can clearly see that this creature belongs to the Egyptians. But if it’s giant scorpion it will look a bit more generic. I really like the small visual cues in Age of Mythology.

These are not controversial ideas in my opinion. I remember seeing some of these ideas utilized in mods before. The mod Age of Wrath had a large Wolf. Other mods made the Nidhogg a trainable unit as well. It all comes down to personal preference.