I love this tech and from the moment I saw it in the beta wanted to see it being used effectively in 3v3 tournaments, ranked and casual play. It can be an interesting addition for flank civs especially for Japanese, Saracens, Vietnamese and make the occasional flank Magyars show its full potential.
It does have a big issue… 10 free Elite Kipchak one time, does not make a big difference and does not justify researching Bloodlines, Husbandry and possibly Parthian Tactics, especially since all flank civs want to use Arbalesters over HCA (Aside from Magyars, who arguably isn’t a flank civ). It is likely that this tech will be reworked and I plead that the uniqueness of this tech is preserved and have a suggestion instead of rework:
In addition to the 10 free Elite Kipchak, teammates can replenish fallen Elite Kipchak for a 25% higher cost (75wood 44gold, 60w for Huns and Koreans and 35g for Huns and Portuguese) so your limit is still 10 (times the amount it is researched in case of multiple Cuman Allies). And of course Cumans can’t “rerecruit” these Elite Kipchak once they have researched Elite Kipchak (so you can’t waste wood and gold unnecessary).
This would allow flank civs allied with the Cuman Pocket to have a small unit of Kipchak constantly throughout the game capable of: Raiding, Siege sniping (especially Rams) or “Garrison boosting” Castles. which could make Cuman Mercenaries the tech it wants to be in team games, possibly without being overpowered and embracing all “Bugs/Features” (Vietnamese HP-bonus, rambusting, Garrisoning).
It does leave the techs usability in 1v1 something to be desired but there’s plenty of suggestions… Steppe Lancer extra attack, Elite Upgrades cheaper, everything else that has been suggested the many times this topic been had before or it should actually just be a team tech.
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No.
The point of it not being a team tech,means it’s more viable in both 1v1 and 2v2.
A tech that is usable in 1v1 is also usable in 4v4. But not necessarily the other way around.
The game is also balance predominantly around 1v1 competitive scene. Not TG.
So designing for TG-only is poor design and flawed thinking regardless how much you personally like this boring useless tech.
I like this idea though. Give them a reason to actually train that stuff so late in the game.
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Perhaps they can draw some inspiration from the First Crusade trick the Sicilians have. Maybe let 5-10-x Kipchacks show up instantly at each allied castle including the player himself. That way they’re immediately useable.
I’ve researched it as Cumans sometimes but rarely do allies even train the free Kipchaks. And yes it’s no bonus for the player himself right now.
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I thought most people don’t like how First Crusade works, while I’m ok with it on Sicilians, it’s a big problem for allies potentially getting suddenly pop capped, not having a Castle when researched or having Castles with inappropriate rally points when it gets researched. This is why I am suggesting it should work the same way plus allies being able to replenish fallen Kipchak.
Was this before the sound effect was added? It’s preferable to have to remind your teammates that they have some free Kipchak ready than having the tech work like First crusade due to aforementioned reasons. The original effect is the important part hence the Title of this topic.
Actually you invest 650food and 50gold to save 600wood making 10 Elite Kiphak (and potentially skipping researching the Elite upgrade if you only want 10 of them). Which is why I wrote the research cost reduction as a suggestion (while also adding that 3 effects might be a little to convoluted, hence the “or it should actually just be a team tech” part)
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Deep down I was always hoping they’d replace this tech with something useful.
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Quoting myself here, but apparently the Cuman mercenaries have been reworked pretty much like I suggested: free Kipchaks from each allied castle!
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How about something like this:
Cuman Mercenaries: 650food 400wood. Kipchaks and Steppe lancers cost 5 less gold to train. Allies can permanently train up to 5 fully upgraded (bracer included) elite kipchaks paying just their gold cost (35 gold for each one).
This way the tech provides a permanent effect for the cuman player. It also solves the problem of free kipchaks being useless and a waste of population space for allies that do not have the upgrades for cavalry archers.
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I think free kipchaks should be created from town centers. Allies should get 5 free kipchaks per tc.