Kingdom of Jerusalem - Wealth, Religion, Armored units
Flag by @Seicing from the amazing DLC investigation thread by @SuicydalMonk
I think a kingdom of Jerusalem civilization would be perfect for Aoe4 so I decided to make a civ Concept for them. I am currently studying history at university, however I am no absolute expert on the topic of Crusades and Jerusalem, but I have a particular interest in it.
- As a brief guideline the Kingdom of Jerusalem focuses on Knights and Man at arms with supporting crossbows, it can have immense wealth with either relics or trade depending on what direction the player takes the civ, and it is rewarded for going aggressive or defending well against attacks with a unique mechanic. It weaknesses are it has no access to gunpowder, and its focus on heavy units makes crossbowman and gunpowder particularly effective against its ideal unit compositions, however Jerusalem’s focus on expensive units and generating its religious fervor could leave it vulnerable to well timed large attacks or effective raids that take advantage of its slower nature, however losing constant skirmishes or unfavorable battles gives Jerusalem the advantage as its fervor builds.
Civ Bonuses
The Kingdom of Jerusalem would have a unique mechanic, I’ve decided to call it religious fervor, and it basically represents a religious passion that develops as conflict takes place, granting bonuses. Its similar to how the Rus bounty or Abbasid golden age mechanics work, however it would be generated whenever your units are fighting or being attacked, potentially buildings in conflict or attacking could count towards it as well. It would fill up and reach 3 milestones, granting various bonuses.
Religious fervor milestones:
Tier 1: Villagers gather all wood 10% faster, all military units (excluding siege) train 15% faster (Tier 1 would be easily achieved, I chose a wood bonus as Rus already have a similar food bonus, plus it would help with either military buildings, extra TCS, or their strong trade)
Tier 2: Knights and man at arms gain 1 attack, Relics and sacred sites generate 25% more gold (slightly harder to reach, some significant fights would have taken place to get tier 2)
Tier 3: Monks inspiration grants an extra 5% attack speed (15% total) siege is 15% cheaper (Massive fights would have taken place to reach tier 3, probably not reached until Imperial age)
Other civ bonuses are
- Monks inspire nearby troops to attack 10% faster (this is not like the HRE inspiration, but is rather a radius that applies to nearby troops, if the monk is killed it disappears immediately, does not stack beyond 10% (based on the fact the Crusades were religious and the soldiers had a heavy religious zeal, often winning and surviving battles where they were highly outmatched and outnumbered, various monks also accompanied the various Crusades, does not affect siege for obvious reasons)
- Trebuchets do 20% extra damage, (Due to the timeframe of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, they would not have bombards, to make up for this, Trebuchets are stronger. This is based on the heavy use of Trebuchets by the Crusaders, notably the two built during the third Crusade nicknamed gods sling and bad neighbor.
- Warships cost 15% less wood (this is the one I’m least certain on, however the Kingdom of Jerusalem had major ports at cities like Acre and Tyre, therefore they should have some sea bonus)
Unique Units (excluding landmark specific ones)
I haven’t thought of a name for this, but it would be a unique crossbowman with higher damage than normal with a technology for a rapid fire ability. (Crusaders used crossbows extensively, they were common in the era, and despite popular belief, they were not only used by commoners due to easy use, but by professional soldiers as well. Crossbowman were extremely deadly both in defense and on the battlefield during the Crusades. Crossbows were popular with the Italian city states during the Crusades, and particularly on the two Crusades led by Louis IX, due to timeframe Jerusalem would not have hand cannoneers, so this crossbowman replaces their role)
Could look something like this
Unique techs (doesn’t include landmark specific ones)
- Commercial revolution, makes both trade carts and ships 20% faster and gives them more armor, available from feudal at the market
- Supporting Crossbows, gives the unique crossbowman a rapid fire ability that makes them shoot significantly faster for a few seconds with extra range, shots beyond normal range are not 100% accurate, upon activating they cannot move until its finished, available in Imperial at the archery range (based on the way crossbowman were used by the likes of Louis IX in a very supportive, archer like role)
- Jerusalem’s walls, Stone walls, stone wall towers, and keeps (including landmark keeps) have 25% HP, available Imperial at a keep
- Crusading transports, Transport ships carry and extra 14 units (for 30 total I think, they carry 16 now from what I can remember), available Castle age from dock
- Sermon at Clermont, Monks move faster (basically so they can keep up with infantry and archers), available Castle at monastery
- Lance of Longinus - Monks inspiration has a larger radius, avaliable in Imperial at monastery (I originally had this in the Church of Saint Peter landmark, but since monks are integral to Jerusalem gameplay, I thought it better to have this avaliable every game)
- Order Knights, Standard Knights and Man at arms gain an extra 15 hp, available in Imperial at university
- Crusader Fury, Knights & Teutonic knights have extra sword attack for each hit, stacking up to +5 total (basically each time they hit an enemy with their sword, they gain an extra 1 to a total of 5, encourages them to commit to long fights), available in Castle at a stable
Landmarks and the wonder
The wonder would be The church of the holy sepulchre, considered one of the most holy sites of Christianity, and located in Jerusalem itself, it makes sense for this to be their wonder.
Church of the holy sepulchure
Age 2 Landmarks
1st - The Church of Saint Peter
- Acts as a Feudal age monastery with unique technologies to largely benefit military (This is where the Holy Lance or Lance of Longinus that pierced Jesus was found by Peter Bartholomew after the first Crusaders took the city of Antioch. It inspired the Crusaders to take on Kerboghas army and quite possibly saved the first Crusade)
The bonuses and techs this landmark would give include - Bonus, Allows monks to be trained in Feudal age
- Tech, Bohemond’s plan - All Infantry gain + 3 attack vs all cavalry when inspired (When the Crusaders defended Antioch from Kerboghas army, much of the Crusaders horses were dead, and Bohemond Hauteville who was leading the army utilized infantry to take down the largely cavalry based Turkish army)
- Tech, Saint Andrews Vision - Monks move significantly faster with relics and gain extra Armor and HP while carrying them (Peter Bartholomew claimed to receive visions from St Andrew as to where the lance was located, designed to be researched before claiming relics on the map and makes wololo more viable)
Church of Saint Peter (its built into a cliff so might be weird in game but idk I’m sure the devs could make it look good)
2nd - Markets of Acre (maybe could have a better name)
- Acts as a market with 25% cheaper traders with more HP, makes all trade provide 25% more gold (also applies to trade ships, Acre was a hub of immense commerce and provided the Kingdom of Jerusalem with plenty of wealth, honestly this would probably be picked less than the Church of Saint Peter, however I think it would be a cool alternative and would be great for team games)
- No image as it represents city wide markets from the era, but would basically be a cool looking middle eastern style market
Age 3 Landmarks
1st - Montfort Castle
- Acts as a powerful keep that would align you with the Teutonic Order, allowing you to train the Teutonic knight (Montfort Castle was a well defended castle built by the Teutonic Order in the holy lands)
- Unit, Teutonic Knight, An expensive, powerful heavy cavalry that acts similar to a knight, has a higher charge attack than normal knights and more hp, however it is considerably slower and takes longer to train with lower ranged armor, particularly vulnerable to gunpowder and crossbows but devastating against most melee units. Can be trained from both a stable and Montfort Castle. Cost could be something like 160 Food, 120 Gold, depending on exact stats (acts similar to something like the Boyar from aoe2)
Montfort Castle (recreation as its in ruins today)
Teutonic knight
2nd - Atlit Castle
- Acts as a powerful keep that would allign you with the Templar Order, allowing you to train the Templar knight (Atlit Castle was a powerful fortress built by the Templar order in the holy lands)
- Unit - Templar Knight, An expensive, heavy infantry that acts similar to a man at arms, higher hp and armor than a normal man at arms, however is slower and trains slower, similar to the Teutonic knight it would have lower ranged armor than its counterpart and vulnerable to crossbows and gunpowder, but very powerful against light units and good against other maa, other than HRE with maces. Can be trained from a barracks and Atlit Castle (the Templar knight would act similar to the Teutonic knight from aoe2)
Atlit Castle (couldn’t get a great pic as its in ruins)
Templar knight
Age 4 Landmarks
1st - Krak des Chevaliers
- Very powerful keep, could perhaps big bigger than a normal keep as well
- Starts with 2 springalds, can add 2 more
2nd - Church of Saint John
- Monastery that grants an extra 5% gold generation for each relic placed up to 3 (offers some extra utility if relics were secured earlier), as well as some powerful techs based around monks
- Spawns a free relic inside when built
- Tech, Saint John - Increases health of monks by 100
- Tech, Baptism - Monks heal 50% faster
Church of Saint John
Religious fervor mechanic is the best idea most fitting the Crusaders.