Fan Design of a Potential New Italian civ

Age of Empires III: DE III - Discussion
#17

Sorry for the delay between the last post and this one, but it takes time to think of these things, and I have few of it.

Those of course are all raw ideas, so are subjected to change.

But I listen to the general feedback, and I make their roster more based on the renaissance, with only 1 moder standard unit which is upgraded in age 4 from a renaissance unit. All other more modern units are either shipped or have need some sort of special upgrade.

AoE3 Italian Civilization Military Units

BARRACKS

II Age:
Crossbowman - Guard and Imperial upgrades unit. The guard upgrade can be researched an age earlier with a HC shipment. It also have a special tech at the church that replace the wood cost with a gold cost, but gives more a ranged multiplier against cav.
Pikeman - upgradable to veteran. Can get the guard upgrade too from an HC shipment.
Schiopettiere - unique musketeer, cheaper and with more speed and RoF, than the standard musketeer, but with worse stats overall, especially cavalry resistance and melee bonus. It’s upgraded into bersagliere. The unit model, should be like the carolean (not the stats), that when in melee, it draws a schiavona sword.

III Age:
Halbardier - standard guard upgrade.

IV Age:
Bersagliere - Guard and imp upgrade of the schiopettiere. It gains more melee and ranged attack, but it still have a low multiplier vs cav.

STABLES

II Age:
Mounted Crossbowman - Unique dragoon-like unit (ranged heavy cav). It have a slower RoF than a dragoon, but it have a good melee damage. If it’s put in “stand ground”, it trigger an animation where the crossbowman dismount, and fight on foot, until a command move. In this position, it’s RoF and range resistance greatly increase. Limited to the veteran upgrade, but an age up unlock the guard and imp upgrade.

III Age:
Condottieri - A tanky cavalry which is heavy on gold, armed with an hammer. Have a melee resistance and have a bonus damage in melee against other heavy cav. An HC shipment can unlock them in the second age.

FOUNDRY

III Age:
Petards - Standard
Falconets - Standard
Culverins - Standard

IV Age:
Mortars - Standard
Horse Artillery - Standard

FACTORY

IV Age:
Heavy Cannon - Standard

DOCK

II Age:
Galley instead of the caravel.
III Age:
Galeass instead of galleon - a stronger version of the galeon, but it takes more to be trained.

Other units that can be trained/shipped:
Swiss guard (swiss pikeman) - Trainable at the church and saloon after a tech.
Alpini (skirmishers) - Can be shipped from HC in age 4. They are skirmishers with a small resistance against artillery when put in stand ground.
Stradiot - The standard mercenary. Can be unlocked after an age up and trained at the stable for food and gold.
Hussar - Can be unlocked with an age up and shipped from HC.
Carabin Cavalry - A church upgrade transform all mounted crossbowmen into carabin cavalry.
Elmeti - with a HC shipment they can be trained at the stable.
Fusilier, jagers and Mamelukes are other mercenaries than can be shipped, with some kind of bonus, from the HC.

The DLC should also introduce a new mercenary, not unique to the Italians, but available to them, the Man at Arms a heavy infantry unit armed with a pavise and a hammer. It based on the maceman.

For the other civs, they should also get access to to a new mercenary, the Genoese Crossbowman, a xbow with more range resistance.

Tell me what do you think of it.

4 Likes
Italians (my idea)
The Napoleonic Wars - European DLC propose
#18

The mounted crossbowman is a really cool idea! Unique unit that can be both Cav and on foot would be neat! And a Galeass in AOE3 would be very cool! We need some new ships :smile:

3 Likes
#19

maybe crossbows should be a guard unit? makes a lot of sense for italy i feel.

2 Likes
#20

It is a guard and imp unit.

Did I forgot to write it?

#21

I slightly changed the condottieri. I didn’t liked the previous design much.

This way instead they are an anti heavy cavalry melee unit, with high HP. It can be decent against skirms and muskets too (with a HC card), but dies to dragoons and of course pikes.

The name condottieri too isn’t that accurate, but hey, it’s a fan favorite name, so it’s ok.

The xbows instead are generally called guard xbow and imp xbow. Probably some might want to call them genoese crossbowmen. I wanted to keep that name for a HC card, since it derived from a misconception that all mercenaries xbows from northern Italy were called genoese.

Still, once again, if it’s a fan favorite name, it may be used for the guard upgrade name. I for sure can call the HC card pisan or venetians xbows, or both, since all maritime republics used the weapons, with different methods and specialties.

The appearance if the guard upgrade should also bring a pavise to the xbow, though the upgrade can be researched apart, and it give a ranged resistance.

#22

Economic Bonuses and Unique Buildings of the Italians:

Starting Resources:

  • 200 food
  • 200 wood
  • 100 gold
  • 6 vills

Market and Dock:
Italians have special markets and docks, with a unique appearance. They both cost 50% less, along with their economic upgrades. The market also have a 20% better buying/selling rate.

Università:
It works differently from the hausa university. It costs 300 wood, and have a build limit of 1, but it can be shipped a wagon in the I Age.
Is needed to research the unique age up techs.

Basilica:

So the Italians get 4 unique upgrades at the church (which is called basilica) without needing a HC shipment. Similarly to the swedes with the arsenal. The Italian church is called Basilica, it cost 200 wood and 150 gold.

AGE II

  • Professional Crossbowmen:
    Cost: free
    It replace the wood cost of the xbow with a gold cost. In exchange, the xbow trade the x2 multiplier against light cav with a x2 against heavy cav (against light cav, xbows get a x1 multiplier).

  • Swiss Papal Guard:
    Cost: 500 gold
    It ships 5 papal guards (renamed swiss pikemen). It also enables the training of papal guards from the church, at 120 gold each.

Age III

  • Golden Bill:
    Cost: free
    Markets have a +10% better buying/selling rate, but gold is gathered 15% slower from all mines.

Age IV:

  • Modernization:
    Cost: 1500 food
    Transform all MC into special guard mounted carabiners. The unit gain more attack when mounted, but lose the ability to dismount.

The appearance of the university, church, dock and market should be unique:

2 Likes
Italians (my idea)
The Napoleonic Wars - European DLC propose
#23

I don’t quite understand what’s the appeal you see on just giving the civ random percentage discounts on techs, it still feels like you’re trying to design an Age of Empires 2 civilization.

2 Likes
#24

Dude, they are just numbers…

It’s a way to write something. You can write them down in percentages like on aoe2, or in multiplier like aoe3, but the thing is the same.

When you get a card that reduce the cost of a building is it too much aoe2? Sweden literally as a bonus just have a free HC shipment (advanced arsenal). France have vills that gather fast, you can either write it with a percentage or a multiplier, it it would be the same.

I did a really similar thing to the swedes with the church and the market.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to give them a super unique bonus, but I suggest that their houses gather resources, they call me crazy and label the civ OP.

But if you have better idea fell free to suggest them.

#25

New Revolution for the Italian civ

This revolutions are made in case the Italians would get a standard revolution, like the other european powers. I also hypothesized an Alliance sistem. I’ll post further ahead if this won’t work.

Greece:

The venetians and genoans had colonies in the Mediterranean, Aegean and Black Sea for centuries. In the the more modern years, the kingdom of Italy had control over the Dodecanese, so Greece is the revolution that made more sense, and it could be given to the ottomans too.

Home City:
Athens

Effects:

  • All vills are transformed into klefties (revolutionary) soldiers that gain gold instead of XP when they kill a unit or destroy a building. They can still gather from crates.
    Cost: 100 food and 1 pop
  • Churches allow you buy mercantilism as many times as you want, which also cost less (500 gold).
  • Ship 7 stradiots and 1 ironclad.

HC Shipments:

  • 9 stradiots
  • 11 klefties and a church wagon
  • 1000 gold
  • 2 li’l bombard
  • 10 cretan archers (reskinned desert archers)

Eritrea:

The kingdom of Italy had the colony of Eritrea, which was basically the etiopian region on the red sea, named Eritrea by the Italians.

Home City:
Asmara

Effects:

  • TCs periodically spawn cattle.
  • All vills are transformed into levied gunners, which don’t lose HP over time.
  • Ships a cattle market and 2 cattle. Cattle can be sold for XP other than wood and gold.

HC Shipments:

  • Somali 11 darood militia + 9 issa warriors
  • 4 sebastopol mortars
  • 6 cattle
  • 4 gatling camels
  • 1 ras

Another Italian revolution could be the Barbary State. Italians had Libia as a colony, so it make sense to be it’s revolutionary state.

3 Likes
Italians (my idea)
The Napoleonic Wars - European DLC propose
#26

Greece definitely needs ironclads, 1 of the things the greeks did well was naval stuff once they got free from the ottomans.

2 Likes
#27

I gave them a frigate because I felt that alongside the stradiots, an ironclad might be too much.

But if you think that it’s not too strong, I can change it.

#28

hmm, it seems kinda underwhelming not gonna lie, at the very least they need to be able to ship ironclads from the homecity because otherwise their navy is the same other than you spent 3000 resources for a single ship.

1 Like
#29

Well, I took it for granted that you can ship ironclads, like you can ship forts or similar things. All the most common HC revolution cards can be added.

I indicated only 4 unique shipments for each revolution, but they can have more standard ones too.

Anyway, I changed it. The rest is ok?

#30

It could be an improvement for all civilizations with crossbowmen. To convert this infantry unit into a cavalry / infantry unit at the same time.

1 Like
#31

Other civs may get a HC card that transform all present xbows into MC, but not being able to train them.

The MC is a unique unit, much like the ruyter, or the hakkapelit, so it should be trainable only by the Italians.

1 Like
#32

I think the third option for a revolution could be Yugoslavia. Venice had its estates in the territory of later Yugoslavia.

I know it could be a controversial choice but it would include Croats, Slovenes, Serbs and more nations that have formed a common state. The truth of Yugoslavia did not exist within the AoE 3 timeframe (which is not fully established when it ends), but the idea of ​​its creation already existed. Besides, Serbia (which united the Southern Serbs into Yugoslavia) and Montenegro existed within the AoE 3 timeframe. I think such an option of revolution could appear in AoE 3.

Additionally, Italians could have the possibility of the US, Brazil and Argentina for a revolution - looking at the very large number of Italians who lived there under the AoE 3 timekeeping and were influential there. Of course, that would be too many revolutions, but it could arise if the revolutions were limited to the appropriate continents - e.g. European revolutions only on European maps, African revolutions only on African maps, etc.

#33

It is true that Istria and Dalmatia were venetians territories, and I wouldn’t mind them but I find it a bit more complicated to add.

The territories itself didn’t gain independence directly revolting against Venice or Italy. Those territories were conquered, and then they gained independence from the Austria-Hungarian empire.

Greece instead revolted against Venice on the territories of Candia and other islands (even if they didn’t succeeded), and Venice was involved in several revolutions of the Greeks mainland with against the ottomans.

Still, I might think of something for them, to see if it’s doable. It’s just that without much wars to work with, but I’ll see if I can come up with something.

Those I don’t like much… Italians there were immigrants, not colonist.

But the US could have Italians immigrant cards, that are based on the Italians civ unique abilities and soldiers.

1 Like
#34

I reckon the abandoned Swedish Immigrant card shipped a torp or two. Hopefully it gets added.

1 Like
#35

Those, if the Italians and the european theater is added, could also be the local tribes, in the form of small cities.

#36

I think that Croats and Serbs would be enough from the Western Balkans.

Yugoslavia as an option Revolution would be interesting. And so Serbia should be a revolution, but as Yugoslavia it would have even wider range of possibilities and content.

1 Like