The House of Lancaster is the second variant Civ that is coming with Knights of Cross and Rose DLC. I thought I’d make a speculation post based on what has been released so far with the news post and screenshots
Unique Units:
Henry V - Hero unit that replaces The King Hero
Yeomen Archers - Archer unit that replaces Longbowman
Warhammer MAA - Melee Infantry that could possibly replaces England MAA
Unidentified Calvary (Blade and Buckler) - Possible replacement for Horsemen
I think the House of Lancaster will have at least 4 unique units. Henry V possibly being a defensive buffing hero in contrast to Jeanne d’Arc who is more of a production buffing hero. The Yeomen Archers I kinda picture as being more offense focused then Longbowman with maybe having innate armor. Warhammer MAA I see a being something of a counterpart to the Landsknecht but with a small penalty to base damage in favor of innate armor. What I think is a new unique Calvary unit will serve as something of a mixed armor version of the Horseman.
Out of the unique units England has I think the only ones the House of Lancaster might get are the Wynguard units. That being said I’m not sure how well Wynguard Footman and Wynguard Rangers will fit this new playstyle.
Interestingly, I had the same problem when deciding on English variants for my concepts. Since the English didn’t have much variation in their armies throughout the Middle Ages, I couldn’t think of any units I could have unique to Landcasters or Yorks.
And by standard, they had the game’s six base units:
Now, I “theorize” that this is also an important change to be able to differentiate “English” into two time periods.
1.- English (Normans)
This would no longer necessarily represent the entire history of the English, but rather from the Anglo-Saxon Age (I), Norman Age 1000-1100 (II), Late Norman Age 1100-1300 (III), and Imperial Age 1300-1400, so they have the excuse of having cannons. This would explain why all their bonuses are defensive, like the double arrow of the town center, or the keeps with producible units, because these are the bonuses from the period between 850 and 1100, when they fought with the Vikings or in the civil war conflicts of the Norman campaign. This would be reflected in:
Tudor Landmarck (Wynguard) “without true Tudor unique units”: So far, I haven’t found out where the name “Wynguard” comes from, but later the Wynguard Ranger and Wynguard Footman were invented, which are not actually based on the yeomen or royal guard of that era.
Wynguard Footman and Ranger. - The footman, according to the UI image, would represent an elite Norman-era soldier, with a teardrop shield and Danish axe, perhaps the Housecarls. And the ranger would represent an elite archer, perhaps Welsh.
2.- Landcasters
They would have the bonuses that England had since the late Middle Ages (1300-1500). According to the teaser, they would have other types of economic bonuses, including Manors and unique technologies. I suppose they want to represent the English from the period where they already established noble positions, land divisions, and the Viking paranoia was lost. On the other hand, this house only had kings between 1399 and 1471, making it another civ that started late, like the Ottomans or Mali. Tendrían Unidades con nombres más acordes a la Edad Media Tardía, como “Yeomen” para sus arqueros de tiro largo, o una guardia inglesa de
Reasons
I suppose it’s because when you create the concept of a civ, it has to have passive bonuses that last throughout the ages, and generational bonuses, which occur in later ages, both for balance and historical representation. The problem is that if they added more bonuses to the base English, like mansions or houses with sheep, I’m sure they’d be too strong, and they already are. Besides, they ended up as an Easy 1/3 civ. I don’t think they could make it more complex and historically accurate without turning it into a Chinese 3/3.
Anyway, at least that’s my theory. I could be wrong, but hey, this topic is for speculation.
Well, in the late Middle Ages, especially during the Hundred Years’ War, English and Welsh troops who used the longbow began to be called Yeomen.
The evolution of the Longbow, their use and design is a debatible topic. In fact, there’s much debate about who invented the bow first and who copied the idea later (the Scots, Vikings, Welsh) but at the end, were the English who improve them to the best, and they use them even when gunpowder become the mainstream in warfare.
In Normans time (1000-1200), It seems that the best archers came from Gaul, followed by the Anglo-Saxons, who also held the use of bows in high regard. The fact is that, regardless of their effectiveness, many of these troops were part of the levy recruited from villagers.
In Lancaster times, the effectiveness of the longbow in earlier periods made it necessary for the Hundred Years’ War to recruit skilled archers, rather than simple levies, and skilled archers become a neccesity.
In the Lancaster time, I’m curious how they will be represented this unit. I want to assume that they will keep the stake technique, but perhaps they will no longer give them Arrow Volleyball, but rather the “Synchronized Shot.
Well, the warhammer was actually an infantry weapon, used quite a bit during the Hundred Years’ War between 1300 and 1550. It was used at the Battle of Agincourt by the English as a melee weapon for Tudor noble archers, as per various images from the period depicting the soldiers.
In theory, the weapon was improved with a French design, and was also used by the French. However, as I understand it, “French nobles never fought on foot” because it was a disgrace for a noble not to fight on horseback, so in the rare case that the French found themselves using nobles on foot, there was also the possibility that they would use warhammers, but it wasn’t the norm.
About the throwing knife: I suspect that rather than representing a combat model, it’s a reference to events from the “War of the Roses.” In this war, many battles weren’t pitched battles, but rather nobles would go to their rival’s house with a retinue and kill everyone inside. Mass killings, whether by stealth or public, were common, so I suppose this reflects that.
The English has many names for his historical Light melee cavalry:
Prickers.- for their spear (prick). Can’t be it.
Hobelar.- for their type or horse, an Irish Horse. They were very fast. Appears in 1300 in the fights aggains Scottish, and were employed in the Hundred Years Wars, so its a possible option.
Border Reiver.- They appeared around 1350-1500, for their fight with the Scottish. Not necessarily use spear, indeed, their main job was to wreak havoc on the Scottish countryside, killing and looting whatever they could, especially cattle. Since Landcasters, like Mali and Ottomans, started late (1200-1300), they would be a good idea for light cavalry, unless they were special light cavalry, but that would still be fine. Of course, the Scots used them too, so in theory they could be a Scottish unit.
The first one is a Tudor castle, already present in the English base games, but without actual Tudor-era units. I assume it will have a different effect or different units to produce.
The second one, in the middle, is the famous “Cambridge University” from the shape of the chapel (“King’s College Chapel”) and the university statue.
The third one looks like a new Landmark Keep. I don’t know what castle it could be.
Date Comparison
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Abbey of Kings.- 959 (first), ~1160 (Rebuild)
Council Hall.- 1097
King’s Palace.- 1285–1294
The White Tower.- 1066 (wood), ~1100 (stone keep)
Berkshire Palace, based on York Castle.- 1068 (wood) ~1250 (stone)
Wynguard Palace.- 1514
As you can see, most of the English landmarks are from the Norman Monarchy and before 1300. The only landmark from the Tudor era is Wynguard Palace.
This means that many iconic buildings from 1300–1600 never saw the light of day for the base civ. Now, with House Lancaster, many of these could come to light.
“King’s College Chapel” - 1446–1515
The first on the list was one of the buildings that House Lancaster funded within Stanford University.
One might wonder if the Keep shown is from the Imperial Age or the Castle Age. Since this is a promotional image, I assume they showed two Imperial Age landmarks or two Castle Age landmarks, since I doubt Wynguard Palace will become feudal, they will have a university in Feudal, or a feudal Keep, but who knows.
It has the logo of the Red Rose of Lancaster House. In the Castle Age, his horse is armored and lacks a shield, to distinguish him from the normal knight of that age.
Though slow-moving, the Earl’s Guard can take damage with their high armor and close the gap with their throwing daggers. Once they’re face-to-face, it’s all but over as they bash their way through enemy ranks!
