Iberian Kingdoms DLC

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
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Why Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Should Have an “Iberian Kingdoms” DLC

An “Iberian Kingdoms” expansion would be a perfect addition to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, offering a deeper representation of medieval Iberia and its extraordinary political, military and cultural diversity.

The expansion could introduce five new civilizations, representing some of the most important medieval kingdoms and political traditions of the Iberian Peninsula:

  • Kingdom of Asturias / León / Castile – Beginning with the Kingdom of Asturias, founded around 718, this political tradition evolved through León and eventually into the powerful Crown of Castile. Castile became one of the principal forces behind the Reconquista, expanding southward and playing a decisive role in the conquest of much of Iberia.
  • Crown of Aragon – A major Mediterranean power built around the union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the Principality of Catalonia, later incorporating Valencia and Majorca and expanding across the Mediterranean, including Sicily and Sardinia. Its powerful armies, fleets and Mediterranean ambitions would make it one of the most distinctive civilizations in the game.
  • Kingdom of Navarre – A strategically important Pyrenean kingdom that maintained its own political identity between the larger powers of Iberia and France. Its unique position made Navarre an important participant in the complex political and military struggles of medieval Iberia.
  • Kingdom of Portugal – An independent kingdom for most of the medieval period, Portugal played an important role in the Reconquista and developed a distinctive military and maritime tradition. Its campaigns against Muslim forces and expansion along the Atlantic would provide excellent material for new scenarios.
  • Kingdom of Granada – The final Muslim kingdom in Iberia and the last major stronghold of Al-Andalus. The Nasrid Kingdom of Granada survived for more than two centuries before falling to the Catholic Monarchs in 1492, providing an excellent setting for campaigns focused on diplomacy, defensive warfare and the final stages of the Reconquista.

Roger de Flor and the Almogavars

One of the highlights of the expansion should be a campaign centered on Roger de Flor and the Almogavars, showcasing the international reach of the Crown of Aragon.

The Almogavars were renowned medieval light infantry associated with the Crown of Aragon and the Catalan-Aragonese military tradition. Highly mobile and accustomed to operating in difficult terrain, they became famous for their effectiveness in warfare throughout the Mediterranean.

Their story reached far beyond Iberia under the leadership of Roger de Flor, a former Templar who became commander of the Catalan Company.

In the early 14th century, Roger de Flor and the Almogavars entered Byzantine service and fought against the Turks in Anatolia. Their military successes made them one of the most formidable fighting forces in the eastern Mediterranean.

After Roger de Flor was assassinated in 1305, the Almogavars responded with the infamous Catalan Vengeance, eventually conquering territories in Greece and establishing the Duchy of Athens under Catalan rule.

This would make an Almogavar campaign particularly exciting for Age of Empires II: players could begin in the Iberian Peninsula and eventually fight across Anatolia, Constantinople and Greece, following one of the most extraordinary military adventures of the medieval Mediterranean.

A Different Side of Medieval Iberia

An Iberian Kingdoms DLC would therefore be more than another expansion focused on the Reconquista. It could explore the political fragmentation of medieval Iberia, the coexistence and conflict between Christian and Muslim kingdoms, the rise of powerful states such as Castile and the Crown of Aragon, Portugal’s independence, Navarre’s survival, and Granada’s final resistance.

Most importantly, it could show that Iberian history did not end at the borders of the peninsula. Through the Crown of Aragon, the Almogavars and Roger de Flor, the story could continue across the Mediterranean and into the Byzantine world.

From Asturias and Granada to Constantinople and Athens — Iberian history could make for one of the most diverse and ambitious DLCs in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

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we already have Spanish, Portuguese, Berbers, and Goths (although they are a bit of a stretch) as Iberian civs.

You also don’t say what should happen to these existing civs

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I was worried you weren’t gonna use slop To write this for you but the “image” sealed the deal. Emdashes, random buildings, rule of 3 descriptors, thesis anti thesis and a piss filter “image”

It doesn’t feel like it says anything because you didn’t say anything as a person

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I have a news for you…

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It’s interesting that the first response to people who propose their own passion projects is so oftne a knee-jerk: “no thanks, it’s [already represented / unimportant / something nobody asked for it]”.

However interestingly this could actually act as an easy indicator for how well it is “anti-received” thanks to the lack of a negative feedback system.

Important though for the proposer to recognize, these comments are common and have nothing to do with you. Don’t let your passion be drawn out by them.

What I don’t like is if these comments come repeatedly throughout the discussion of the concepts.

Unfortunaltey though so far there is no concept to discuss. No civ design (there some people in the fourm can help you out, including myself). But most importantly currently no story, no lore, no campaigns are worke out. Are you working on it or will that proposal remain like this?

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I’ve had the idea and the desire to play as Almogàvers for many years, and I’ve used GPT to create the post and the image, obviously. I didn’t want to spend more than two minutes putting my point across. What am I, a developer?

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Thanks, I understand that there are negative days and negative people every day. Of course, we have ideas for the civilizations, their changes, and their specifications, and we could share them with you soon.

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So, to preface this, I get that IRL Spain isn’t some culturally homogenous area, in fact I’d love to see the modern Spanish nation-state broken up. That being said, within the scope of AOE2, I think having Spain as one block is totally fine for a couple reasons; 1 is that a large part of the identity of the Spanish civ is on the late medieval (into Rennisance/colonial era) Spain and its colonization of the New World, at that point Castile was just completing fully taking over all of Iberia (besides Portugal ofc) and 2 there are other areas where groups far more different than Castile and Aragon are merged under one umbrella or have no representation at all that I view as much higher priority (there was another point I wanted to make but I kinda completely forgot it lol)

I do want an Andalusian civ to represent the Muslim population prior to the end of the Reconquista, but aside from that the only split I think could even have any level of merit is splitting Spain into Castile and Aragon, but that split looses the Colonial flavor that Spain represents in most of its campaign appearances, and I don’t necessarily know what Aragon adds gameplay-wise, it seems like unnecessary filler when there are large areas elsewhere in the world that are underrepresented.

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Even better, less work, right?

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This is a step in the right direction. The Aragonese as an addition is very valid, and a campaign based on Roger de Flor and the Great Catalan Company is something I would very much enjoy playing. I have enjoyed reading about the Almogavars and the devastating impact of the Catalan Company for years.

I personally think the Aragonese should be added, Spanish could possibly be renamed to Castilians, although honestly, that isn’t necessarily required. If anything, I would also propose the addition of the Andalusians.

Thus, this kind of DLC could feature the Aragonese and Andalusians, with a possibly renamed Spanish civ, although again, that isn’t strictly necessary. If anything, the Berbers could be reworked into Maghrebis to better represent the broader Maghrebi world.

If a third new civilization were to join the roster, then an Occitan civ would be highly fitting and could have great historical interactions with the Aragonese, Andalusians, and Maghrebis.

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For every post or request like this along with all AoK and AoC civ split requests, we deserve a higher chance for another 3 Kingdoms mess :roll_eyes:

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Or you could be clever and just ignore it so it goes down and nobody cares about it…

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An Europe-based DLC was just announced, at least let us have 2 non-Europe ones before the next Europefest.

AI slop

If you don’t want to brainstorm your ideas yourself, why should others care?

Something made almost 100% with AI is anything but a passion project

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It’s almost impossible when a new influx of threads started since 3 Kingdoms asking for every AoK/AoC civ to be split…It’s time to realize that this isn’t AoE4 where every civ gets a variant of their dynasty. I know that 3 Kingdoms did a huge mess, but please let’s not enable this splitslop again.

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3K isn’t bad because it introduced a split (which the devs refuse to call a split for some reason), it’s bad because it added content nobody asked for and packaged it with poor representations of content people did ask for. As much as I personally don’t care about a Spanish split, there’s a lot of demand for it. It’s not comparable.

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