Idea for Balkan DLC

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
1

So, outside of the Caucasus region, the Balkan region is pretty much the only region of European universally agreed upon to be underrepresented now. So here is my idea for a Balkan DLC. Keep in mind, this would be after a Caucasus DLC that introduces a new Balkan architecture set for the Bulgarians and Byzantines, and some of the new civs would have the same thing.

New Civilizations:

  • Albanians (Balkan architecture): Represent medieval Albania, including the Principality of Arbanon, the Kingdom of Albania, and the League of Lezhe.
  • Croatians (Balkan architecture): Represent the medieval Croats.
  • Serbians (Balkan architecture): Represent the Serbs, obviously.
  • Vlachs (Eastern European architecture): Represent Wallachia and Romania, including the Transylvania region. Their unique castle is Bran Castle. Spooky!

New Campaigns:

The Vlad Dracula campaign is changed to be for the Vlachs instead of the Magyars and Slavs. The initial scenario is still for the Turks.

  • Skanderbeg (Albanians)
  • Tomislav (Croatians)
  • Vlastimir (Serbians)
  • Matthias Corvinus (Magyars)

EDIT: Since someone asked for it, here are the civ concepts for the proposed Balkan civs:

Albanians

Balkan Architecture Set (unique castle: Prezë Castle)

Cavalry civilization

Civilization Bonuses:

  • Sheep captured from twice as far away
  • Stone mines last 25% longer
  • All Blacksmith and University technologies (except Chemistry) researched instantly
  • Scout Cavalry can be directly upgraded to Hussars in Castle Age; Hussars upgraded to Koursores in Imperial Age

Team bonus: Archery Range units move 10% faster

Unique Units: Stradiot (mounted crossbowman that fires a projectile which deals blast damage), Koursor (Hussar upgrade that deals bonus damage against archers)

Unique Technologies: Blood Feuds (Hussars and Stradioti deal double damage to converted units), League of Lezhe (mounted units take -10 damage from infantry)

Wonder: Ardenica Monastery

Croatians

Balkan Architecture Set (unique castle: Trakoscan Castle)

Infantry and Naval civilization

Civilization Bonuses:

  • Receive two free Fishing Ships after building the first Dock
  • Barracks, Stable, and Dock unit upgrades cost -10% in Feudal, -15% in Castle, and -25% in Imperial Age
  • Villagers +1 attack per age (starting in Feudal)
  • Careening, Dry Dock free

Team bonus: Docks work 15% faster

Unique Unit: Banus (low-attack cavalry with extremely high HP and defense)

Unique Technologies: Zupani (Barracks units +3 attack vs archers), Kondura (Galley-line gold cost removed)

Wonder: Church of St. Donatus

Serbians

Balkan Architecture Set (unique castle: Belgrade Fortress)

Archer and Cavalry civilization

Civilization Bonuses:

  • Monks cost -50 gold, +50 food
  • Villagers affected by Barracks technologies
  • Archers, skirmishers, spearmen +1 pierce armor per age
  • Light Cavalry and Hussar upgrades don’t cost gold

Team bonus: Stable units +3 attack vs infantry

Unique Unit: Gusar (light cavalry that charges up a trample attack by moving in a straight line)

Unique Technologies: Autocephaly (Monks regenerate faith 200% faster), Hajduks (villagers gain a charge attack of +15 and combat stance options)

Wonder: GraÄŤanica Monastery

Vlachs

Eastern European Architecture Set (unique castle: Bran Castle)

Cavalry and Defensive civilization

Civilization Bonuses:

  • Location of herdables revealed on the map
  • Scout Cavalry +15% speed in the Dark Age
  • Spearman line trained 20% faster
  • Stable units gain +1/+1 armor per age, starting in Feudal Age

Team bonus: Lumber Camps and Mining Camps provide +5 population

Unique Unit: Knez (cavalry unit that increases the range and attack of nearby towers and Castles)

Unique Technologies: Voivode (Castles built 100% faster), Romani Ironworking (Mangonel line costs -50%)

Wonder: Princely Church of Saint Nicholas

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2

Source about being universally agreed??

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3

Well, I’m exaggerating, but even most people who think that Europe is overrepresented think that the Balkans should have more civs.

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4

I’m not entirely convinced the dev would make a 4 civ dlc now, but it would certainly be welcome on my part. However, I would expect to receive not only content for the Caucasus, but also East/Southeast Asia, Africa (ideally 2-3 dlc there) and possibly even the Americas.
Also, once the Vlachs/Romanians get their own civ, I hope Slavs, Magyars and Turks will have their own campaigns.

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5

Dynasties of India was basically a 4-civ DLC, what with the Indians getting overhauled into something almost completely different. So there is precedent.

As part of my Caucasus expansion idea, the Slavs get an Alexander Nevsky campaign, so I already have you covered there.

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6

Half an overhaul I’d say, but it’s true that it changed balanced so much it may as well have been a new civ…
Still, there’s also the fact that the devs seem determined to include only three campaigns per dlc (even though they often update old ones to include the new civs in it) so I don’t know…

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Honestly, the devs seem kinda lazy. The glory days of AoE2 expansions are far behind us, unfortunately. Unless the devs decide to put more effort into DLC, the new ones are never going to surpass the quality of the HD Edition ones.

8

I had proposed Dušan the Mighty but Vlastimir works just the same…

It’s just that they’re running out of ideas…Normal, since RoR is the fourth expansion of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and the ninth expansion of Age of Empires II in total…Age of Empires III in comparison has half of that: TWC,TAD,TAR,KOTM and the Federal States dlc…

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9

All the HD dlcs were doable with gnie editor while DE dlcs are impossible to make like that.technically DE dlcs are more advanced.

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10

In fact, the Kingdom of Bosnia was also a very important force in the medieval Balkans, surviving for over 300 years before the Ottomans entered the Balkans, including the previous Banate of Bosnia period. When making Balkan DLCs, they should never be forgotten or ignored.

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11

Besides that they can’t overload a map too much so as not to crash the game…

12

By the way, a Balkan dlc would be the opportunity to change something I’ve been bothered with for a while (if the devs want to go in this direction): Turning the boyar into a regional unit rather than an UU. They could replace the cavalier and paladin as a knight upgrade. Alternatively, the knight itself could be replaced with the “ispán”, and maybe the final upgrade for the boyar could be the voivode. It should at the very least be available for Rus’/Russians/Ruthenians (the reworked Slavs), Vlachs/Romanians, Bulgarians and Serbians, bit it may also fit the Magyars, Lithuanians, Poles and Bohemians.
The new Russian UU may be the Streltsy, a gunpowder unit which would either deal trample damage when it fires its gun, or have the hability to switch to melee attack like the Ratha (and then be affected by the Druzhina UT.
The Magyars may also have the Magyar Huszar turned into an alternate upgrade replacing the regular hussar, but I have no idea what else could be available as a castle UU.

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13

Sure, that works too…

14

Oh, I was looking for leaders to use. Good idea.

I dunno, Boyars seem too “special” to be generic units to me. You know what I mean?

Nah, I think having the Castle unit be a stronger but differently-specialized Hussar is an interesting concept and should be kept.

15

Yeah this is exactly the problem if you try to make a Balkans DLC. Everybody in the Balkans thinks their country is the most important country in the Balkans and that they, somehow, completely stopped the Ottoman onslaught when everybody else fell.

I personally don’t see why we need even more Civs in Europe, but I think everybody knows that.

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16

It’s rather unrealistic that there would be a Balkan DLC with 4 brand new civs. DoI was the biggest DLC and offered 3 civs and 3 campaigns.

For the Balkan DLC, the best candidates are Croatians, Romanians and Serbs. Romanians already have their Dracula campaign in play, so the new campaign would be given to the Slavs civ (who would be renamed to Ruthenians civ).

Albanians could be adequately represented by the civ Venetians who used the Stradiots - Albanian unit. Similarly, the Finns and other Finno-Ugric peoples could be represented by the Swedes civ.

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In fact, the Kingdom of Bosnia was also a very important force in the medieval Balkans, surviving for over 300 years before the Ottomans entered the Balkans, including the previous Banate of Bosnia period. When making Balkan DLCs, they should never be forgotten or ignored.
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Yes, that’s true, but at that time the Bosnians had not separated in terms of nationality from the Serbs and Croats with whom they share a common origin. I think that having Croatians and Serbs civ, we would have a proper representation of South Slavs - after all, it’s not about every nation having its own civ, because then you would have to add Slovaks, Silesians, Kashubians, Belarusians, Slovenes, Slavic Macedonians and dozens of German nations.

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19

You read my mind. To be honest, the most important Balkan civ by far is already in the game (the Bulgarians). The only one that I really find it somewhat stood out during the Middle Ages is the Serbs (mainly during the 14th Century). Maybe also the Romanians (especially the Moldavians) because of the fierce resistance they initially showed to the Ottomans (I’m a big fan of the battle of Vaslui). But even those two civs shouldn’t really be added until other parts of the world are covered better.

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20

Transylvania was Hungarian hence it is represented by Magyars

21

Well they had their Trading System, Currency, Religion, Cultural History. Everything, even a identity and Name.
I don’t know what you mean by that.

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22

Firstly, the Kingdom of Bosnia is just the Kingdom of Bosnia, and I did not say that they can represent present-day Bosnia. For example, in the game, Bengal is a Buddhist country, but today’s Bangladesh is an Islamic country. What I would like to underline is that the Kingdom of Bosnia was an important force in the Balkans during the Middle Ages, and with this alone, the Kingdom of Bosnia is eligible to join AOE2.

I’m not saying that he should be joined soon, I just want to emphasize that he has this qualification and that he should not be forgotten.

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