The Cumans are probably my favorite civilization. I certainly have played them the most. When I do, I usually boom with two Town Centers in the Feudal Age. My opponents always seem to assume that I go for this strategy and try to counter it, though, so I sometimes try to mindgame them by not going for it.
These games got me thinking. It is understandable that my opponents always seem to assume that I will go for the two-TC boom: after all, a Cuman player who does not do so, does not play his civ to its full potential. But how did we get to a place where a Cuman player must go for the two-TC boom in Feudal Age if he wants to properly play his civ?
I don’t think this was intended. When the Cuman civilization was first introduced, they could not yet make Capped Rams in the Castle Age, but they did have access to the Siege Workshop and Battering Rams in the Feudal Age. It seems the intention was that a Cuman player could choose between two viable options: either he could be exta defensive and boom on multiple Town Centers in the Feudal Age, or he could be extra aggressive and make siege in the Feudal Age, possibly ending the game very fast.
The first option does have its merit in certain maps, but the second option is rarely viable. I have only seen it as a fringe strategy in certain teamgames. Would the Cumans not be a more fun and interesting civ if the other option was viable, too? Wouldn’t the civ have more depth when one could choose between being defensive or aggressive early on, instead of always doing the same thing? And if so, how could the aggressive strategy be made viable?
What do you think? I do think the aggressive Feudal Age playstyle of the Cumans should be buffed, but I am unsure how. Maybe their Siege Workshops could be made cheaper. Maybe the Cumans should get access in the Feudal Age to Mangonels and Scorpions next to Battering Rams. Would this make a Mangonel push in Feudal Age viable, yet not overpowered? Or is there another solution?
Thoughts?
