Malians should have Mandekalu Cavalry instead of a knight or Ton-Tigi (Malian noble archers). Byzantines for example immortals (heavy cavalry) or Varangian guard (infantry).
I don’t know if every civ should have 2 UU… some could have regional upgrades, like winged hussar, or unique/regional buildings.Sure there is a lot of space for more flavor…
As Byzantines already have cataphracts as heavy cav (+ paladins)… maybe the varangian guard yes (though a reskin of the champion would do fine for that), or more exotic, flamethrower infantry.
Usually the concept of “immortal” just means having the unit immediately replaced after death, to fill his rank. Not exclusive to the Achaemenids.
We use the same name for the members of the Académie Française, definitely not a military unit (they only have ceremonial swords) as they update the official french dictionary.
While I’m not a huge fan of medieval man-portable flamethrowers - I know the Byzantines fielded some - I could see them fill a similar role to the hand cannoneer, maybe replacing it as the anti-militia unit. With the new burning/bleeding damage and fire effects that could go hand in hand.
Between flamethrowers and the Hussite tank, we could now recreate ww1
Not just WW1. There are grenadiers as well too now, so we could have some WW2 recreations. There was a D-Day scenario someone made that I think was pre-DOTD, but it could be remade using some of the newer units.
The general units in the game have always been symbolic, representing similar units in the history of each civ.
For example, Archer-line units represent foot archers, even if those people did not actually use crossbows; Knights represent heavy cavalry, even if their heavy cavalry were not of noble status.
Sometimes people actually just want to get rid of the European looks for the units. It’s not that I don’t welcome diverse and pretty visuals for the existing civs, but just saying, by introducing a large number of units that are already represented by the general units, potential new mechanics and gimmicks will be quickly exhausted. For example, if we introduce the Mandekalu Cavalry to replace the knight line units for the Malians, then this new unit would most likely adopt the design that can be used to feature a heavy cavalry UU of a new civ.
But if we already have the visuals, it would still be nice to try to introduce them into normal games, such like Ninja (Japanese), Flamethower Cart (Chinese), and Svan Tower (Georgians). Or, for streamlining bonuses specific to a unit, for example, a new light cavalry unit that has higher base armor and has shadow upgrades in each Age, replacing Scout Cavalry for the Turks, so the two bonuses can be removed and the unit won’t need to have upgrades in the tech tree similar to the current Flemish Militia.
I would say Varangians were emperor’s bodyguard so they probably belong to the Castle - reinforcing its defense, as well as its strategic choices, since Cataphract is a situational unit.
Also, Champion represents the numerous western European regiments (tagmata), employed by the empire for centuries.
Cheirosiphon synergizes well with the civ too.
So the ultimate question will be: Varangian or Cheirosiphon. Tough question.
“Both” is a perfectly valid answer to “or”. Ignore the common language mistaking “or” for “xor” (exclusive or) big potential for legal trolling, “cheese or dessert” in a restaurant
big potential for legal trolling, “cheese or dessert” in a restaurant 