Idea generated post-3K. This time, I included more conventional formatting instead of short blurbs, hence separate post (I flagged the first draft thread to ask a mod to delete it)
Yes, I played Europa Universalis 4, perhaps too much for my own good.
Credits to LtAlguien in the older thread for pointing out the current Spain uses the Realm of Castile shield, so the first faction below has been renamed to Asturias.
This post has been reformatted to follow the tech tree format, more or less. Specific section arrangements may vary though.
Feedback and recommended changes welcome. I didnât have any help (besides asking AI if the bonuses were thematic) so would appreciate peer review and advice.
Asturias (Asturian)
This faction can also represent the descendant kingdoms of Leon, Castile, Asturias and Galicia, being the precursor to all those Christian kingdoms in northern Spain, as seen in the Charlemagne start in Crusader Kings 2. This would be the pre-gunpowder precursor to the Spanish we know.
Civ bonus: Elite Skirmishers +2 melee armor, have minimum range 0.5 tiles, but then stands ground and switches to using the javelin as a spear in melee combat if enemy is within 0.5 tiles. Animation change optional.
Civ Bonus: Siege workshop unitsâ gold cost discounted by 40% in Imperial Age.
Civ Bonus: Walls build 10% faster and repair 25% faster at the same cost (so a fifth cheaper repair per HP). Towers build 10%/20% faster in Castle/Imperial Age (stacks with team bonus). Castles build 20% faster in Imperial Age.
Team Bonus: Towers build 10% faster.
Castle age Unique Tech: Camino de Santiago, Relic gold generation +50%. Each relic held decreases the costs of all technologies and swordsmen by 2%, up to a maximum of 10%. This represents the effect of pilgrims bringing knowledge, and attracting more foot knights to the kingdom (mounted knights tend to go home after having a look-see).
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Visigothic Reconquista, Infantry get +10 HP, +1 Pierce armor and +1 anti-archer bonus damage.
Barracks: Champions, Halberdiers, the 3 shared infantry techs (Arson, Gambesons, Squires), so looks like itâs the same as Spanish (if we consider IRL Asturias to be about Castle Age it makes enough sense they can get the upgraded infantry units, and as Visigoths they can inherit Goth Champions existing).
Archery Range: Arbalest, Elite Skirmishers, Thumb Ring.
Stable: Light Cavalry, Cavaliers, Bloodlines, Husbandry. Since the Twelve Paladins were an allegory for the Umayyad invasion of Spain it stands to reason that the early Christian resistance should get Paladins, but they might prove too powerful. If Paladins are ever added back to this faction, remove the heavy cavalry bonuses form the Imperial UT
Siege: Capped Ram, Mangonel, Heavy Scorpion (justified by the battle of Corunna circa 844 where many Vikings died to ballistas)
Dock: War Galley, Fast Fire Ship, Demolition ship, Dromon, yes to Shipyard and Drydock though to save on wood.
Monastery/Blacksmith: Should be full.
University: Still no Treadmill Crane, but yes to Heated Shot and Siege Engineers over Spanish, and loses Chemistry (unless itâs policy that all civs have it nowadays).
Defenses: no Bombard Towers.
Unique Unit: Cantabrian Skirmishers (mounted javelineers), the Cantabrian Circle tactic was named for this region in the Kingdom of Asturias. Units are very similar to Genitours, but different armour choices due to climate (read: more protection afforded). Estimate 45F/40W (5/5 more than Genitour) for 55 base HP (+5 from Genitour) with 1/3 melee/ranged armour base (Genitour 0/4), same speed as Genitours and Paladins (1.35), However, they lose significant bonus damage (perhaps down to only +3 vs Archers and no anti-spear or cav archer) in exchange for having 5 base range (same as regular Skirmishers or archers, outranging cavalry archers by 1). A Berber ally will cause the Elite upgrade to become free (costing time, or maybe half price) but will not give Genitours. In-game reasoning is that the Asturians managed to learn something from observing the Berber mercenaries on offer⊠who they promptly declined hiring. Elite Cantabrian Skirmishers (Upgrade about 600F/400G) gain another +5 HP, +1/+1 archer/cav archer class armor, and +2 base attack (but no increases to bonuses). Intended to be a more generalist harassment unit than the Genitour, partway to cav archer.
Aragon (Aragonese)
More naval oriented than Asturias, includes the Valencian, Catalan, and Balearic peoples under this umbrella. Weaker infantry tech (and definitely no Paladins) but should get hussars for good light cavalry.
Civ Bonus: Swordsmen line attack 5% faster in Castle and 15% faster in ImperialâMarine boarding actions need quick bladework, and that has worked its way into our army training too.
Civ bonus: Aragon may be assumed to be the source of the later Spanish Empireâs naval strength and traditions. Therefore, their Elite Cannon Galleon projectiles have Ballistics and move fast, same as Spanish.
Perhaps something else?
Team Bonus: Trade units +2/+2 armor.
Castle Age Unique Tech: Mediterranean Smugglers, -5% technology/upgrades costs/time, and +10% trade unit speed
Imperial Age UT: Pyrenean Breeds, Hussars +15 HP, +1 attack, Infantry (not range units) +5 HP (Oh, so you didnât mean just horses, hah!)
Barracks: 2-Handed Swordsman, Halberdiers, the three basic techs. A tech to enable Unique Unit production at Barracks exists too.
Archery Range: Arbalest, Elite Skirmisher, Thumb Ring. (Assume that this is before gunpowder tech percolated down to mass-producing hand cannons)
Stable: Hussar, Cavalier, Bloodlines, Husbandry. Unexceptional, but usable.
Siege: Capped Ram, Onager, Heavy Scorpion, Bombard Cannon.
Dock: Full technologies.
University: Full
Monastery: Full. Although it was recorded that Islamic and Christian Almogavars would sometimes work together, implying more tolerance than in Castile, traitors would still be punished brutally.
Economy Techs: Full, gains Crop Rotation and Gold Shaft Mining over Spanish.
Unique Unit: Almogavar, unarmored shock infantry resembling Woad Raiders in terms of being very fast for infantry (and often going topless), armed with a spear with minor anti-cavalry bonus damage. No anti-spear bonus damage taken, but yes anti-shock infantry bonus, because sword slashes are best against unarmored targets. This unit makes his living off loot, so you donât need to pay him any gold, just provide basic housing and food when not out on expedition. 60F/30W, 50 HP, 8 attack (1.5 interval), base speed 1.3 (matching Elite Eagle Warriors). Base stats are -1/1 melee/pierce armor, so that only Castle Age and later upgrades can convince these guys to put on some protection besides dodging. If any more strength is needed, well usually they carried one or two javelins to throw on the charge too, making for a charge attack with about 5 no-bonus pierce damage at range 2, minimal attack delay on these and storing up to 2 projectiles, 15 seconds to reload one.
Elite UU called âAlmocadenâ (which may be mounted or not, in this case not) which gets +10 HP, +1 attack, and up to 0/2 base armor. Cost should be about 600F/300G (changes to recruitment program didnât cost much gold as these are basically volunteers, but we did have to feed a lot of folks during the training period), Be warned that if you intend on holding a line somewhere against infantry, 2HS would probably do better, though cost-effectiveness is another matter.
Balearic Slingers may make a campaign cameo at some point.
Al-Andalus (Andalusian)
Better archery range than Asturias with heavy cavalry archers, and they get heavy camels, but no Paladins. Has some trade and economy bonuses over Asturias, but infantry tech is restricted, and the reliance on more expensive units (without gold discounts) means you better hope you can win before gold runs out, or maintain strong trade routes after that. Probably portraying pre-gunpowder Al-Andalus from Umayyad to Caliphate of Cordoba.
Civ Bonus: First Stable built spawns a Scout Cavalry (or whatever the scenario has you upgraded to already) at your primary TC, representing further waves of Berber reinforcements during the Umayyad conquest of Iberia. This is your âearlyâ eco bonus.
Civ Bonus: University techs 20% cheaper and 10% faster (20% with team bonus included).
Civ Bonus: Free Herbal Medicine
Civ Bonus: Zealous Volunteers. Each Relic controlled increases current population limit and maximum population limit by 8% of the scenario/map settings (e.g. one relic would give 75+6, 100+8, 150+12, or 200+16), max +40%. Al-Andalus was known during the Emirate of Cordoba as âDar Jihadâ, or Land of Struggle, and attracted many volunteers to fight. This SOMEHOW resulted in the reformist Almanzorâs own personal guard being composed of Christian mercenaries, who participated in his campaigns against the Christian kingdoms to the north.
Civ Bonus: Converts and Donations, each Monastery provides +5 population space (like a house), +1 population cap (limit shared with relics), and 5 gold/min in Castle Age, growing to 10 gold/min in Imperial Age.
Team Bonus: Economic and university techs research 10% faster.
Castle Age Unique Tech: Kitab al-tasrif li-man 'ajiza 'an al-taâalif (The Arrangement of Medical Knowledge for One Who is Not Able to Compile a Book for Himself), foot units heal 20 HP/min, mounted units heal 30 HP/min, and monk healing automatically retargets lowest-HP unit in range every 10 seconds (early application of triage), or after finishing a heal, whichever comes first (so the monk ability has an internal timer to check, in addition to the idle check). Itâs not enormous, but it certainly helps.
Imperial Age UT: Kitab al-Filaha (Book on Agriculture), improves farming and woodcutting gather rates AND resource endurance by 10% (This means a tree with 100 wood will last the same time but produce 110 wood. Rate increase includes farm âharvestable foodâ pool fill rates). Also increases all mounted unit HP by 10 and speed by 5% (so +50% impact of Bloodlines and Husbandry).
Barracks: 2-Handed Swordsmen, Pikemen, no Gambesons.
Archery Range: Arbalester, Elite Skirmisher, Heavy Cavalry Archer, Thumb Ring, Parthian Tactics
Stable: Light Cavalry, Cavalier, Bloodlines, Husbandry, no Camels due to climate.
Siege: Capped Ram, Onager, Scorpion, rather weak due to repeated failures against Christian-held passes in northern Iberia
Dock: Galleon, Fast Fire Ship, Demolition ship, Dromon (or regional equivalent) as this is pre-gunpowder. The support techs are all present, so decent navy, but not bonus-stacked amazing.
Castle: No Hoardings or Sappers (theyâre not very good at sieges and kept losing land to the Christians)
University: No Bombard Tower or Siege Engineers
Monastery: No Heresy as they were usually relatively tolerant, such as Almanzorâs personal guard being Christian mercenaries, and Islamic almogavars sometimes working with Christian ones later.
Unique Unit: Andalusian Archers, 35 food, 35 gold, +5 HP, -1 base damage, +1 base range, +0.04 base speed over Crossbowmen (1 base speed instead of 0.96), and +1 anti-cavalry bonus (matches Crossbows against cavalry). Naturally forms a second firing line behind crossbow line, and moves faster due to lighter burden. In theory they can kite enemy archer line indefinitely, but in practice this is too micro-intensive. Elite upgrade gains 5 HP (so still 5 HP over Arbalester), 1 base damage (still -1 relative to Arbalester). In late-game, may be preferred over Arbalester for lower gold cost (35 vs 45).
Morocco (Moroccan)
Morocco was the hub of trade in the Western Islamic world and controlled trade across the Western Sahara to Timbuktu. They are culturally distinct from the other Berbers, who are to the east along the African coast, and the Mamluks (Saracens in the game) further east beyond the Berbers. The Almoravids and Alomohads seem like a suitable period to represent Morocco, which would make them also pre-gunpowder, which requires separating them from Al-Andalus (ironic, as the Almohads possessed most of Al-Andalus).
Civ Bonus (Early Eco): Hunt/herding resources (including sheep, boar, and variants) last 5% longer (i.e. besides decay, you can gather 5% more from them, but the rate is the same), and berry bushes last 20% longer (reasoning: fruit is rarer in drier regions, so usually carefully gathered and allocated).
Civ Bonus: Imperial Camel upgrade discounted 25%, +1 pierce armor for Imperial Camels
Civ Bonus: Caravanserai available for the same trade cart speed boost aura as Persians have, as the western hub of trade in the Muslim world.
Civ bonus: Architecture gives +15% HP (increased from 10%)
Team Bonus: Light cavalry and Camels +1/+1 armor.
Castle Age Unique Tech: Abdallah ibn Yasinâs Discipline. Foot units +1/+1 armor and Barracks units +1 anti-cavalry damage. After all, cavalry do most of their damage in pursuit phase, while resolute heavy infantry can withstand them.
Imperial Age UT: Maghrebi Siegecraft (+1 melee armor for siege units, Onagers receive Ballistics and +1 range)
Barracks: Two-handed Swordsmen, Halberdiers, no Gambesons (too hot! And why do Berbers have Champions anyhow?)
Archery Range: Arbalesters, Elite Skirmishers, Heavy Cav Archer, Thumb Ring but no Parthian Tactics.
Stable: Light Cavalry, Imperial Camel Rider (they are noted for fielding heavier-equipped camel forces than the Berber tribes further east, who already have Heavy Camels which are 20% discounted in Imperial Age). No knight line for climate reasons, but have Bloodlines and Husbandry.
Siege: Siege Ram, Onager, Heavy Scorpion
Dock: Same as Al-Andalus, with Dromon and no Heavy Demo Ship. Reasonably good on water, to be expected of maintaining a cross-sea empire for a while.
University: No Bombard Tower or Chemistry (buffs onagers when coupled with Imperial UT, if itâs too strong we can give them Chemistry to slow down projectile speed). Ultimately the Moroccans formed most of the Maghreb and southern Andalusia architecture style, soâŠ
Monastery: No Block Printing or Heresy, because the former wasnât here yet, and the latter because they did rule Al-Andalus for a while and have to put up with all sorts, and were themselves a âsophisticated hybrid form of Islamâ under the Almohad Caliphate.
Unique Unit: Moroccan Raiders, sword-and-shield infantry, fast at 1.3 base speed (matches Elite Eaglesâ 1.3 base), Estimated 45/30 food/gold, 65 HP, 1/2 base armour, 8 attack on 1.5 reload (Woad Raider has 11 on 2 reload). +5 anti-siege, +2 anti-building, +2 anti-monk. Elite (600F/300G upgrade) perhaps 75 HP, 9 attack on 1.2 reload, and +1 base pierce armor. Basically, a budget Woad Raider, especially on food cost.
The Iberian Wedding Campaign Candidates
Asturias: âThe First Standâ, includes Covadonga, Alfonso IIâs campaigns, and Viking sack of Leon, maybe Alfonso III.
Realistically, El Cid should be mainly an Asturian/Aragonese campaign, maybe even Andalusian for the period where he fought for the Moors of Zaragoza.
Aragon: âOnly A Rag Onâ, during early expansion from a poor mountain realm to a kingdom. Map icon should use a particularly tattered flag to lean into the pun.
Something about Mediterranean empire, from El Cidâs legacy (brief control of Valencia) to Navas de Tolosa (1212) to Sicily 1282 (leading to Aragonese control of Sicily) to the conquest of Sardinia (thereâs a reason I would put this DLC out AFTER âThe Sea Peoplesâ.
Al-Andalus: One on the Umayyad golden age and then fragmentation. Start from Founding of Umayyad CĂłrdoba to the formation of the taifa kingdoms.
One on the post-Umayyad era being pushed gradually southward.
Morocco: âAlmost Had it with Ravidâ Almoravid-Almohad transition.
âPlaying it Straitâ Interventions in Iberia. Include the Almohad takeover of the Caliphate of Cordoba, and the Sagrajas (1086), Siege of SantarĂ©m (1184) and Alarcos (1195). At some point during this, the enemy Asturians MAY shift over to Spanish (Realm of Castile) if the campaign passes Las Navas de Tolosa (1212)
Spanish:
ReconquistaâProbably from Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) to the fall of Grenada, maybe even the establishment of some footholds across the Strait of Gibraltar.
