Danes Civilization Concept

Age of Empires IV IV - Discussion
1

Danes/Viking

Infantry, Conquest, Expansion

Summary:

The Danes excel in early expansion and map control, with the potential for early foot unit aggression. Taking advantage of the time in the early game will bring powerful versatility through a multitude of technological upgrades for the later ages.

They focus on early aggression and expansion. Through the influence system, killing enemies or gathering food from animals allow faster and cheaper military and economic upgrades. This means the Danes will want to spend more time on the field than on their base.

The Danes landmark system is The Danelaw, which has a static predetermined upgrade for the age advancement, and then one of two additional unique upgrades of the player’s choice. Jarls - the Danes hero units - and Town Centers act as the landmarks for the civilization.

Bonuses:

-Vanguard Berserks and Huskarls are available.

-Danes can commission their villagers to become a Raider, a melee warrior with increasing their melee damage, torch damage, and piercing armor. Raiders cannot gather resources, but can construct buildings and repair.

-Rams and Siege towers are built 200% faster and increase their movement speed by 1% per garrisoned unit.

-Survival technique is automatically learned when a mill is built. Additionally the 15% applies to villager fish gathering. Gathering food from animals grants a small amount of influence. Finishing off a deer gives a medium amount. Finishing a boar or fish patch gives a large amount of influence.

-Forest Camp(Replaces Lumber Camp) - Slowly grows trees around the camp.

-Professional Hunter(replaces Professional Scout) causes Scouts and villagers to deal 300% damage to animals, as well scouts can transport deer carcasses.

-Settlements can be made in the Dark Age, which replace the Town Center. Can only garrison 5 Units, can create villagers and fishing boats at 40% the speed. Fishing boats can only be made if settlement is built on the shore. Only 2 settlements per age.

-Military buildings cost 100 wood, but half the health.

Unique Units:

Longboat(Replaces Transport Ship and Galley): Fires 3 arrows, can attack while moving, and can garrison up to 10 units, firing an additional arrow for every 2 units garrisoned. Longboats have 450 hp, 0/4 armor, 7 movement speed, and deal 20 damage per arrow. Can be constructed by infantry with Field Engineering. Benefits from Incendiary Arrow upgrade.

Raider(Seasonal Raider upgrade) - Villagers are toggled to become a Raider, gain 30 hp, +2 melee attack, +2 pierce armor, and +5 torch damage. Additionally benefit from melee blacksmith upgrades. Light Armored.

Berserk(Replace Man-at-Arms):Melee unit with passive health regen(Vanguard 1hp/8s; Early 1hp/4s; Regular 1hp/2s; Elite 1hp/s) . Medium Armored.

Huskarl(Replaces Spearman) Melee unit, deals slight bonus damage to cavalry, but higher base damage and higher base pierce armor. 7/9/10/12, +12/15/17/20 vs cavalry, 0/2 armor. Medium Armored.

Gothi(Replaces Monk): Non-combat unit. Can heal allies by placing a heal-over-time buff on an ally unit, healing 4 hp/s for 5s. stacks 3 times.

Jarl: 200hp, 9 damage, 1.5 attack/s, 1/1 armor. An infantry hero unit that levels through influence gained in the Jarl’s aura. Jarl gains +40 hp, +2 melee damage, +1/1 armor per level. Maximum of 5 levels. A Tharl can also have a maximum of 2 abilities(1 active, 1 passive; Active is gained at lv1, passive is gained at lv2). If the Jarl dies, it can be rebuilt(300 Food, 500 gold) and returns to the level designated to the player’s age, ie Feudal = lv1, Castle = lv2, etc. Heavy Armored.

  • Panic(Active) - Jarl strikes fear in its enemies, reducing enemy melee damage by 2 for 15s. 3min cd.

  • Mud Trap(Active) - Tharl quickly constructs a discreet pool of mud that covers a large area. When enemy units walk in the area, the trap is shown and reduces enemy movement speed in the area by 40%. Pool lasts 1 once activated min. 2min cd. 7s construction. Only 1 Mud Trap may be active at a time.

  • Raid(Active): Enemies who die near the Jarl grants ally foot units +40% movement speed for 3s. Lasts 15s. 3min cd.

  • Arson(Passive) - Torch attacks cause buildings to ignite at 50% health. Additionally buildings ignited cannot produce units, research, or garrison.

  • Chieftain(Passive): If a Jarl is near a Settlement or Towncenter, reduce villager and fishing boat build time by 25%. Town Centers, Settlements, and fortified outposts attack 20% faster.

  • Paganism(Passive): All allies near the Jarl receive +1hp/4s. Increased Gothi healing by 50%.

Unique Building:

Settlement- Can produce villagers and fishing boats, but at a 40% the normal speed. Must be built on the coast to build fishing ships. Provides 10 supply and can only garrison 5 units. Costs 400 wood.

**Influence(Saga):**Killing enemy units, gathering wild animal or fish resources, or garrisoning relics gains influence. Influence is a resource used to reduce the research time and cost of all upgrades, and advancing to the next Age.

Additionally Influence can also be used to sell at the market for resources in the Imperial Age.(Not a great exchange rate)

Landmark(The Danelaw):

The Jarl and Towncenters act as landmarks. When advancing to the next age, the Danes can choose to receive a unique passive upgrade. Danelaw researches slowly, but can be expedited and reduced cost using Influence.

Feudal:

Gain a Jarl for free, and either


1.Forest Scavenging- Each time a tree is cut down in the influence of a Forest Camp, 20 non-animal food is gathered.

2.Valhalla - Killing enemy units gives double influence.

Castle

Villagers and fishing boats carry 5 more resources, and either.

1.Sacred Offering - Gothi carrying a Relic also generate influence as if it were garrisoned.

2.Wintering - Settlements can be updated into Town Centers for 200 stone. All Villagers are created 10% faster.

Imperial:

Increase Barracks and Siege Workshop train speed by 15%, and either


  1. Religious Fervor - Conversion is cast 33% faster. Gothi Heal now increases attack speed for all non-siege units by 8% per stack

  2. Danish Engineering - Rams and Siege Towers have 20% more hp.

Unique Danes technology-

Infantry:

Adrenaline Rush(Feudal) - Increases Berserk attack speed by 30% for 3s each time they are attacked.

Shield Wall(Feudal Age) - Movement speed is reduced by 25%, but gains +0/4 armor. Lasts 8s or when unit attacks.

Battle Rage(Feudal Age)- Military foot units have +10% movement speed while in combat.

Heathen Army(Feudal Age) - Military Foot units have +20 hp.

Warchief(Castle Age) - Tharl gains +2/2 armor, and 50hp. Nearby allies have +1 melee damage.

(Jarl)Danegeld(Castle Age) - Jarl captures a neutral Market or Dock, stopping enemies from trading this building. Additionally is given 50 Food, Wood, Gold, and Stone every 15s. For each captured neutral building.

Naval:

Carpentry(Castle Age): Ships cost 20% less wood.

Naval Archery(Feudal Age)-Fishing Boats can attack with arrows and deal 7.5 damage every 1.5s. Longboats and Fishing boats deal +5 against Incendiary ships.

Religious:

Relics(default) - Relics do not provide gold, instead provides a passive influence gain.

Treasure Hunters(Castle Age)- Relics grant double influence when garrisoned.

Burial Ground(Castle Age) - Sacred Sites also grant influence each time they generate gold.

Siege:

*Field Engineering(*Feudal Age) - Rams, Siege towers, and Longboats are built 200% faster by infantry.

Economy:

Domestication(Castle Age)- Mill will now spawn a pig every 120s. Cooldown reduced by 6s for every nearby farm. Pigs have 300 meat and grant influence.

Advanced Forestry(Castle Age)- Forest Camp now doubles the spawn rate of trees.

Pearls and Gems(Castle Age) - Fishing boats give additional 10 gold each time they gather from deep sea fish.

Defense:

*Heated Shot(*Imperial): Increases castle, town center, settlement, and tower attack arrow damage by 25%.

—----

Danes cannot make Hand Cannoneers

Danes can produce Crossbow Men in Imperial Age

Danes can only construct stone walls starting in the Castle Age

Danes can only produce Knights starting in Castle Age

Medium Armor is a new armor type: Charge, siege, and gunpowder damage is increased against this armor type.

5 Likes
2

I like this especially.

I also like the idea of having Landmark “units” instead of buildings. The Jarl (Danelaw) thing is interesting.
Only big negative about it, is not having some cool landmarks xD

But then again, the abbasid only has 1 landmark building, removing the possibiltiy of having multiple cool Landmarks from the abbasid empire.

And seen from a Scandinavian perspective, this might actually be for the better, as then the Danes wouldn’t overrepresent Denmark above Norway and even Sweden in a sense.

All in all, I think its a good concept you have there.

1 Like
4

To be honest. I don’t like 90% of your ideas.

The main issue is that your civilisation predates all others by 500 years essentially.

  • The last Jarl on Denmark died in 1131. The Strelsy for caparison were established in 1550. It would make no sense to have both in Imperial Age.
  • Denmark was officially converted to Christianity under Harald Bluetooth (about 958-986 AD) it makes no sense to unlock pagan Gothi in Castle Age. No reason for them not to have monk.

It would be more reasonable to suggest adding the USA with Gatling Guns in Imperial Age because 1850AD is a lot closer to 1550AD then 1000AD.

The unique unit names are also kinda wrong:

  • Berserker are basically fantasy. The common myth about them has little to do with reality.
  • Huskarls are mostly Anglo Saxon and not Danish. You can even hear the English MAA call them selves Huskarls in Feudal Age in AoE4.

I won’t comment on all the pagan and generally Early Medieval technologies that are somehow in Castle and Imperial Age.
You want to make them suck in Dark Age forever.
No Viking has ever seen a cannon.

A lot of things you suggest aren’t anything special Danish they are just common early Medieval things like Shield Walls.

There are also some gameplay issues like how you want the Landmarks to work. Doesn’t seem balanced when you can build as many Town Centres as you want while the Abbasides only have 1 Landmark.
Balancing landmarks that are units is hard to balance but it could be an interesting unique mechanic.

5

The last Jarl on Denmark died in 1131. The Strelsy for caparison were established in 1550. It would make no sense to have both in Imperial Age.
No Viking has ever seen a cannon.

The Mali lasted from 12th-15th century. How would it make sense to have an empire that never used gunpowder or cannons in history, but can use it in game? While at the same time fight civilizations that also used gunpowder? Because it is a game, and is done for balance.

Also consider Mongol shamans, by the Yuan dynasty, Mongol shamanism was not widely practiced outside of Mongolia, even though it was Mongol controlled. By that right, they should also be monks just like the Chinese. But for game sake, it adds individuality to the civilization.

My point is, a lot of what is already in Aoe4 is historically inaccurate, but is done for the sake of the player and civilization identity. Try not to take things so seriously.

4 Likes
6

I am also interested in how a Kingdom of Danemark civ would look like that not only focusses on Viking Age but also the Age of Waldemars and the Kalmar Union. I have not yet even have an idea for their UU.

7

But Denmark still exists today and it dis so for the last 1000 years. No need to go back that far in History.
There is enough Medieval Danish history we don’t need to focus on something that is at the edge of the timeline.
Giving them an aggressive early game with viking and raiding but then shift the fucus away from that.
Some things like Dane Axes (the HRE MAA have them too) instead of a sward for their main infantry would still be cool and also mostly historical.

Passive health regeneration is also be an interesting concept but villagers that can turn into military units and back seems hard to balance.

8

Some things like Dane Axes (the HRE MAA have them too) instead of a sward for their main infantry would still be cool and also mostly historical.

Danish MAAs are currently in the game, and they had round shields and axes iirc, and is something I would probably do too. Though the most common weapon was the spear, hence the change in spearman to add +pierce armor, to be designed with a spear and a shield. Additionally adds an animation justification for the shield wall.

A lot of things you suggest aren’t anything special Danish they are just common early Medieval things like Shield Walls.

Yes, almost everyone had a shield wall, but also almost everyone had super long spears, though it is a specific upgrade for the Abbasid. Or could have sprinting forces, but is an exclusive upgrade for Delhi. It is an added balance feature for a civ that focuses heavily on infantry. And there are some inspirations from the WC3 Humans that let me know that things like shield wall or villagers turning into combatants know that the concept can be balanced.

10

I think the round shield with Axe guys were a different unit but I honestly forgot how the Danes in the English campaign looked like. I only remember that they had a unique MAA replacement that was stronger.
But the campaign has a different balance then multiplayer/skirmish anyway. But I expect them to have a unique MAA replacement.

AoE3 has a stance with reduced speed and increased range resistance for melee units too.
Wasn’t talking about the balance here.

But they have to run to the TC for it so you can’t use them for rushing really.

11

I don’t see why they couldn’t be used for rushing. I wanted to keep the concepts vague so things don’t get too bogged down with balance, but I image they could be toggled to any TC or settlement, and wouldn’t be a timed duration. They would either be a villager or a raider. Meaning they could very well just become a raider then walk to the enemy base.

12

That’s why I usually don’t add to many details to my civilisation concepts.
I usually leave out technologies and unit stats unless they are vital to the concept.

I think it would change the dynamic of the game a lot if you could turn your villagers into soldiers anywhere on the map, that would make raiding against that civilisation very hard.
But at the end that can only be figured out by testing.

13

I think a Scandinavian civilization would be welcome. They’d have to have some Viking units in earlier ages, of course, but they could juxtapose those with units from the Christian period of medieval Scandinavia in later ages. Though, of course, the Vikings are the ones everyone’s interested in anyway.

14

if anyone is interested id suggest reading up on:

danish civil war

kalmar union

north sea empire.

there is a lot of inspiration to draw from those other than simply “vikings”.

also there are definitely buildings one could use if one wanted to make landmarks.

15

KALMAR UNION

Excellent, I also looked for ways to better summarize the evolution from Vikings to Christianity and to the countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Converting them into the “Kalmar Union” (which lasted until 1532), would be very good, so we kill 3 birds with one stone (Kingdom of Denmark, K. of Norway, K. of Sweden), and we avoid creating three civilizations that are not so technologically and culturally separated.

That the union has not been so stable, well, let’s ask the Holy Roman Empire, and they have civilization in the game.

To advance to the 3rd and 4th ages they could build various types of churches or cathedrals, representing the passage to Christianity, perhaps one from Sweden and another from Denmark or Norway.

I only have some historical doubts, for those who are from those countries:

  • Apart from the Viking Berserker (1st 2nd age), and the Drakkar (2nd age), do these countries have any other unique unit in their medieval period? I was always curious about the army of these countries in their kingdoms in the middle ages. I know that they made war on the Rus peoples, and they also fought each other, so they must have something of the art of war.
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As the Viking Age gave way to the Middle Ages the development of Scandinavian armies showed special local characteristics, due both to the rough terrain and the relatively ‘egalitarian’ nature of society. Though Denmark’s proximity to Germany led to the appearance there of a kind of feudal system and some heavy armoured cavalry, in Sweden and Norway there was fairly willing co-operation between the few nobles and the many free farmers.
Crossbow became very important along with ambush tactics and winter campaigning, employing the use of sledges and skis.

For unique units other than the Viking ones.
I could see them having unique Fishingboats that function like Rus fishing boats. Norwegian whalers were well known to be in the most remote corners of the world.

Unique Crossbowmen. Perhaps in a form of militia, this traditional still stands very strong in Bergen. Known as Buekorps. Today is more of a fun parade thing, where children marching with crossbow replica and coat of arms along the main streets of the city of Bergen.
But it had is roots and many of these korps can trace their origings all the way back to the 13th century.

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