What were immigration like in those times?
Something similar could be implemented to the Jesuit settlements that appear in Asia.
Or it could be encompassed in a new way, perhaps non-native, if not places where you could ally yourself with companies or traders in exchange for benefits of some kind. It does not necessarily have to be units in all cases.
you mean like immigration from europe to say the new world?
honestly rather limited until the 1800s. to give a comparison when the US revolution happened they had about 2.5 million (vast majority europeans, mostly anglo decent) while the UK itself had about 8 million people. frances population was even bigger at 22+ million at the same time.
also not all parts of europe had the same level of immigration, Ireland and germany had significant “export”, while other places had less, some almost to a none existent level.
I have an idea while seeing the saltpeter site.
Perhaps it would be a resources producing point, such like a local workshop, textile manufacturer, little factory, sawmill, ranch, university, trade company, currency mint, jail, bar, etc.
For the player, it may have no units but spawn or ship resource cases regularly or supply a trickle, or be a special saloon where could generate exp and train the outlaws and mercenaries.
Perhaps you could increase the population limit if you did not create units in the trading posts. Maybe it could act in a similar way to the Asian consulate where you hire units from different parts of the world.
Migrants from other parts of the world to Europe, or migrants from Europe within Europe itself.
Yeah.
If there is a jail, you may train the outlaws and mercenaries there cheaper.
If there is a workshop/ranch/sawmill, it will supply an impressive numbers of coin/food/wood.
If there is an university, it will supply book crates, surgeons and techs.
If there is an cathedral, it will supply a great exp trickle, priests and techs.
If they do add European maps they should be away from the densely populated areas. Places such as the Scottish Highlands, Alps, Lapland, and the Carpathians. You could have minor factions with mercenaries like Highlanders and Swiss pikemen and nomadic groups like the Sami and Romani.
I think the argument for a European DLC this time would be the Napoleonic wars. Any place influenced by this conflict would be feasible.
I’m migrating these ideas over from the other natives thread because I was informed they would fit better here!
The general idea would be to depict city-states as well as small nations and ethnicities. As it stands, the developers have stuck to a principle where a civilization cannot be both a minor and a major, but we can still work with a lot of the smaller countries and peoples in between the big powers. This particular set is Central Europe.
Tyroleans
Where: Central Europe, Alpine maps
Architecture:
Language: Tyrolean German
Units: Schützen/Schuetzen - A light infantry unit with a bonus against artillery
Partisans - Similar to Mexican Insurgentes
Techs:
Alpine Hiking Clubs - You enroll your infantry units into hiking clubs to get some much-needed fitness, increasing their stamina and thereby unit speed by 15%
Tyrolean Guest Houses - TPs, TCs, and Taverns/Saloons/Monasteries slow heal idle units
Heimat - Spawns a hero unit which boosts the stats of native warriors, can plant an inspiring flag
Bavarians
Where: Central Europe, Alpine maps
Architecture:
Language: Austro-Bavarian German
Units: Chevaulegers - A light cavalry unit similar to an Uhlan
Bavarian Settler Wagon (akin to the German Settler Wagon, but with a cap of 4)
Techs:
Counter-Reformation: Priests move and heal more quickly
Bavarian Illuminati: A powerful and mysterious society spawns four spies for you, increases HP and attack of all spies
Oktoberfest!/Bavarian Royal Wedding: It is time for the beloved autumn celebration, get one beer keg (150 food/150 coin) for every five minutes of game time, up to 20 minutes
Beer Purity Law: Careful selection of the choicest ingredients increases mill and estate gather rates by 10%
Alpine Salt Mining: Get a prospector wagon which can transform into a salt deposit
Hansa:
Location: Northern European, especially water maps
Architecture:
Language: Low German
Unit: Victual Brother - Rodelero/Corsair-type unit
Techs:
Hanseatic Trade Network: Boosts TP payouts by 15%
North Sea Shipbuilders: Increases ship HP by 10%
Hanseatic Contacts: Modest discount on mercenary and bandit units
Swiss
Location: Central Europe, Alpine maps
Architecture:
Language: Swiss German (can recycle audio from Swiss Pikeman)
Unit: Swiss Guard (Stats and role similar to a boosted-up Halberdier or Doppelsoldner)
Techs:
Swiss Mercenaries: Swiss Pikemen become trainable from the tavern, all melee infantry attack boosted by 15%.
Fortified Cantons: TCs gain a strong cannon attack and do not require garrisoning
Alpine Herding: Livestock fatten faster and get five semi-fattened cattle
Later I’ll work on ideas for Southern, Eastern, and Northern Europe.
Adding in Southern Europe to follow-up from Central Europe.
Albanians
Location: Balkans, North Africa, Southern Italy, Middle East
Unique Unit: Bashi-Bazouk (Rodelero-type unit with very high siege and anti-villager attack)
Techs:
Legacy of Skanderbeg: Increases fort and outpost HP, allows recruit of Stradiots from taverns and equivalent
Mehmet Ali’s Ambition: Costly tech which grants a shipment of 2 Mamelukes and 5 Askari
Chiflik System: Increase Mill and Berry gather rates by 10%
**
Illyrians (This represents the South Slaves rather than the ancient Adriatic tribe: We probably can’t fit three similar but distinct South Slav civs to please the Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats, and the term “Yugoslav” is anachronistic. However, at the start of the 19th century, the pan-South Slav nationalist movement proposed to call these groups Illyrians, so it is accurate for the period)
Location: Balkans
Language: Serbo-Croat
Units: Pandour/Grenzer/Hajduk (general-purpose light infantry, maybe a hybrid Skirm/Musk like Revolutionaries?)
Bosniaker (Equivalent to either Chinaco or Spanish Lancer)
Techs:
Military Frontier: Increases attack and HP of villagers
Social Banditry: Similar effect to Ethiopia’s Ammunition Currency
Shtovkavian Linguistics: Development of a common language increases tech research rates by 10%
Aragonese:
Location: Iberia, southern France, Central America, American West Coast
Language: Catalan
Unit: Miquelet (Stealthy musketeer)
Techs:
Miquelet Lock: Increases attack and HP of gunpowder infantry by 5% respectively
Aragonese Merchants: Improved market rates
Guerrilla Warfare: Miquelets gain a bonus attack when attacking directly from stealth
Basques:
Location: Iberia, Saguenay
Language: Basque
Unit: Carlist (Chinaco equivalent)
Techs:
Basque Fishing: Increases gather rates on fish and whales by 15%
Pyrenees Shepherds: Gain a delivery of 10 sheep
Tree of Guernica: Each TC spawns one tree with 800 wood
Venetians (This doesn’t preclude having an Italian civ, it would just be a sub-section of the Italians)
Location: Italy, particularly Northern Italy
Language: Venetian Italian
Unit: Schiavone (light infantry with anti-ship and anti-artillery bonuses, increases attack of ships when garrisoned)
Water Unit: Venetian Galley (similar to the Ottoman Galley)
Techs:
Brescian Gunsmiths: High-quality gunmaking increases the attack of gunpowder units by 20% but makes them 15% more costly.
Venetian Arsenale: Docks repair ships faster
Merchants of Venice: Venetian merchants demand their pound of flesh; gold gather rates increased but food gathering rates from hunting decreased slightly
Carnevale: The masquerade festivities of Carnevale conceal all your military units for 30 seconds. If the unit attacks, concealment is lost.
Ok, up next is Northern Europe, then Eastern Europe
Coming back to this thread, I really really just desire for the entire world to be opened up to us in Age 3. From Australia to Alaska, and from Argentina to Siberia. I want to play on even European and west Asian/Middle East maps as well.
I hope Age 3 will get Persia, Prussia, Italy, Morocco, Korea, Brazil, and some more. Just a dream but I dream big. <3 No matter what if this was the last DLC of Age 3 DE (Mexico Civ) we got WAY MORE than what we even asked for. I mean wow. This was a fun journey and the community was great.
Thank you devs if you read this. Both at World’s Edge and Forgotten Empires.
Ok, now for Northern Europe:
First, an additional Central European civilization:
Hessians/Rhinelanders
Location: Central Europe, eastern France, Low Countries, Eastern North America
Language: Rhenish German
Unit: Hessian Auxiliary - Grenadier
Techs:
Black Forest Gamekeepers: Hunts give more meat, Jaegers become recruitable from taverns and equivalents and Jaegers may gather hunts
Palatine Handcrafts: Increases wood gather rates, prolongs output of trees
Impressment: Decreases training time for all infantry and cavalry
**
Belgians (rather anachronistic, but collective term for both Flemish and Walloons)
Location: Western Europe, particularly France and Low Countries
Language: French
Unit: Walloon Guard (Musketeer with grenade attack against buildings)
Techs:
Flemish Wool Trade: Sheep trickle coin
Burgundian Court: Age-ups and Age V Capitol techs and equivalents receive a discount
Expeditions: Explorer LOS and attack against guardians increased
**
Norwegians:
Location: Scandinavia
Language: Norwegian
Unit: Mountain Troops
Note: I don’t think this unit should be shown with sleds because it would make no sense on maps without snow, that’s also why I think skiing should be represent by a tech and not as the name or model of the unit.
Nordic Skiing: Increases speed of light infantry, especially Mountain Troops
North Sea Fishing: Can be sent twice, delivers a school of cod
Northern Timber: Delivers a crate of wood for every 5 minutes of game time, up to 30 minutes
**
Finns
Location: Scandinavia, some Eastern Europe maps
Language: Finnish
Unit: Karelian Jaeger (Recycles concept of Finnish revolt unit, being a light infantry that gathers wood)
Techs:
Reindeer Herding (borrows from @Skadidesu 's proposal for Sami - my “Finns” are supposed to be a catch-all for all Nordic Finno-Ugrians): Can train herdable caribou (Reindeer) from livestock pens/native farms/ etc.
Sisu: Finnish resilience grants your soldiers 10% more HP
White Death: All light infantry get a 15% bonus to damage
**
Scots:
Location: British Isles, Saguenay, Dakota
Language: Scottish Gaelic/Scots
Units:
Highland Clansmen (as proposed by @Jonasnee8581 under the name Jacobite swordsmen)
Piper: Scotsman with a bagpipe that functions like a Hausa Griot, but cannot heal
Techs:
Highland Clearances: Get a delivery of 8 sheep, livestock fatten more quickly
Royal Scots: Highlanders become recruitable at the tavern and equivalents
**
Irish
Location: British Isles
Language: Irish Gaelic
Unit: Gallowglass (Doppelsoldner counterpart)
Techs:
Irish Immigration: Gain a settler for every 3 minutes of game time, up to 30 minutes
Inniskilling Dragoons: Ranged cavalry attack increased by 15%
Irish Agriculture: Cows trainable from livestock pens, livestock fatten more quickly, mills gather 5% faster
**
Finally, I had an idea to feature Bretons to add more to maps in France, but I’m not really sure what to actually add for them in terms of units or techs. I felt some inspiration from the Vendee Counter-Rebellion to the French Revolution, but I’m not sure what kind of unit it would be besides some kind of rough equivalent to an Insurgente (which I already proposed for Tyroleans). I also am not sure what the techs would be. Maybe a reference to the Edict of Nantes or Brittany’s maritime culture?
Wow man, I love all of your suggestions, brilliant work sir. I hope we see all of these minor factions/units added with European maps in a European DLC. Once more Superb work sir.
Thank you! Now for Eastern Europe:
Tatars (I think they would be best as a minor civ, rather than full civ, most of the Tatar Khanates were past their prime, and I don’t think their gameplay would be too different from Lakota
Location: Eastern Europe, Siberia, Mongolia, Himalayas
Language: Crimean Tatar
Unique Unit: Tatar Horseman (Horse archer with a bonus against villagers and buildings, like Lakota Bow Rider)
Techs:
Kazan Bazaar: You and your allies get one crate of a random resource for each TP your team owns
Tatar Raiding: Grants a siege bonus to all cavalry
Genghis Khan’s Children: Grants 1,000 XP
Refers to the fact that most of the Tatar Khans were descended from Genghis Khan
**
Kalmyks
Location: Eastern Europe, Mongolia
Language: Kalmyk Oirat/Mongolian
Unit: Kalmyk Rider (Hussar-type cavalry with a lance, maybe a charged melee attack?)
Oirat Migration: Increases TC build limit by 1 and grants you a TC wagon
Nomadism: Grants you 2 wagons to build a village (Chinese house)
Kumis: Mare’s milk liquor strengthens your Kalmyk cavalry, increases their attack by 10%
**
[Zaporizhians](Zaporozhian Sich - Wikipedia) (Subsection of the Cossacks)
Location: Eastern Europe
Language: Ukrainian or Russian
Unit: Cossack Renegade (clone of the Russian Cossack, so a weaker Hussar but big build limit), Hetman (hero-type unit which boosts Renegade stats)
Tech:
Cossack Diplomacy: Grants you a Hetman, and allows them to be trainable if you lose it.
Cossack Horses: Modestly increases HP and Attack of melee cavalry
Steppe Feuds: The perennial Cossack-Tatar rivalry grants your cavalry a moderate defense against ranged cavalry
**
Circassians
Location: Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Balkans, Egypt
Language: Circassian
Units: Circassian Cavalry (Melee cavalry with a charged bow attack), Mountain Raider (skirmisher-type unit)
Techs:
Prized Warriors: Grants 4 Mamelukes
Reference to how many Mamelukes were originally Circassians who were sold into slavery to become warriors
Circassian Beauty: Increases settler recruitment speed
Dogged Fighters: Boosts HP of Circassian Cavalry and Mountain Raiders
**
Armenians
Location: Middle-East, Anatolia, Balkans, Caucasus
Language: Armenian
Unit: Armenian Archer (standard bow unit), Monk (healer unit)
Techs:
Mountain Refuge: Grants you one Mountain Monastery wagon to build a Mountain Monastery on a mine, can train Armenian monks as long as you continue to own the TP on an Armenian site
Mountain Warriors: Boosts attack and HP of all melee and archer units
Land of Faith: Healers gain increased HP and healing speed
**
Greeks
Location: Balkans, Anatolia, Black Sea region
Language: Greek
Unit: Armatoloi (Hybrid Musk-Skirm)
Techs:
Philhellenism: The love of all things Ancient Greek speeds up research rates
Mediterranean Diet: Healthy food options lead to a modest discount on Settler recruitment cost
Greek Revolution: Majorly accelerates recruitment speed and increases recruitment limit for Armatoloi
**
Crimean Goths
Location: Eastern Europe, particularly Black Sea region
Language: Crimean Gothic
Unit: Balaklava Rifleman
Techs:
Crimean Fortresses: Increases HP and attack of forts, outposts, and walls
Crimean Vineyards: Increases Mill and Plantation gather rates
Ancient Ways: Hand infantry attack, HP, and recruitment speed are all modestly increased
**
Prussians (as a stand-in both for Prussia itself, as well as Baltic and Volga Germans)
Location: Northern Germany, Baltic, Central Russia (Volga Germans)
Language: Brandenburger German
Unit: Landwehr (slow but strong musketeer), Sword Brother (Recycle the model from campaign Boneguard)
Techs:
Teutonic Legacy: Increases number of Sword Brothers you can recruit, boosts melee attack for all melee infantry across the board
Clausewitz’s Principles: Increases recruitment limit for Landwehr, boosts shooting stats of all Musketeer-type units
Agricultural Expertise: Increases mill gather rates
**
Wallachians
Location: Balkans, Black Sea region
Language: Romanian/Aromanian
Unit: Vlach Boyar (Cuirassier equivalent)
On the right, with the sword and tall fur cap
Techs:
Legacy of Vlad Teppes: Melee units gain increased attack
Land Beyond the Forest: Grants a crate of wood for every 3 minutes of game time, up to 30 minutes
Danubian Sich: Grants a delivery of 8 Cossacks
**
Szeklers
Location: Eastern Europe, Balkans
Language: Hungarian
Unit: Szekler Hussar (boosted up Light Cavalry, akin to Magyar Hussar), Szekler Grenzer (Light infantry with a double-barreled musket that can be upgraded to have a charged double-shot attack)
Example of a double-barreled Grenzer rifle
Techs:
Carpathian Mining: Boosts coin output from mines, increases mine yield
Cziskos: Allows Szekler Hussars to gather from livestock, unlocks cattle from livestock pens
Border Defense: Grants your Grenzers a charged attack which allows them to fire twice in quick succession
If I were making European maps in AoE 3 I’d use itinerant groups as the minor settlements: the romani, the sinti, the yenish, and the fantefolk.
That is almost certainly how it would actually be done since broad/disparate groups like that could be used on every single European map. There’s no way they’re making super specific one-map natives for factions that are already mostly represented by mercenaries and major civs.
I don’t know, I don’t think it would be in good taste sending people like Roma into battle. These groups already face serious marginalization and discrimination, and “using” them like that for military purposes looks bad. Besides, most of these groups are pacifistic, and each minor civ so far provides at least one combat unit.
That’s why I’ve aimed for proposing groups of people who lived over a broad general area, including in some cases on multiple continents so that they could fit on various maps.
I’m just not buying the idea of random small villages of say Prussians or Romanians allying with foreign nations fighting near their land. They’re not tribes one can form independent alliances with, they’re citizens of larger, established nations, which would get involved in the war through diplomacy and alliances on a national scale. That’s why I think the Minor Settlement mechanic doesn’t work for them.
im glad to see the huge amount of new ideas put forward in this thread, thank you for your ideas @DonHabsburg
i also think that the roma etc. just aren’t a good idea.
The Akan had an entire empire at this time, the Ashanti Empire, but they’re still relegated to be small villages and a side-kick to the major players.
I also would like to bring up the Diplomatic Revolution when the European alliance network completed shifted, especially among the German states.
Minor civilizations have always been merely an abstract representation of larger, and sometimes quite powerful and solidly sovereign political entities. We have come to accept that impressive entities like the Aztec and Inca became mere towns we could be befriend.
On top of that, I’ve tried to make it abstract where possible: the Prussians, for example, are supposed to be either the Kingdom of Prussia or the various communities of Northern and Baltic Germans that were spread across Eastern Europe. The Tatars could be any of the tribes or Khanates, big or small. Many of the other groups I’ve brought up had no political representation, let alone sovereignty, during the game’s timeframe, 1492 - 1870s.