Ever since the release of Dawn of the Dukes, having a civ named Slavs coexisting with separate civs who are also Slavic is very strange, to say the least. It would be like having the Hindustanis remain the Indians while also adding the Bengalis, Dravidians, and Gurjaras (which is actually what I wanted before DoI came out, but that’s a story for another time).
Since nearly every Slavic kingdom in the Middle Ages used the Boyar title in some way, I think the Boyar should become a regional unit for Slavic civs. Unlike what some people, including myself, have suggested in the past, it should not be a Paladin replacement for them, as the Bulgarians should receive the Boyar, which might be too strong with Stirrups if it had Paladin-like stats. Someone on the wiki gave me the idea that it should instead be a pseudo-Camel Rider for them, having anti-cavalry bonus damage and presumably occupying the same slot. I took this further to make them more than just a reskin of the Camel Rider.
The new regional Boyar would have 3 base melee armor, which is 1 more than the Knight, but no base pierce armor. This gives it a different niche, as it’s better against melee units than the Knight, which is better against ranged units. The Boyar would have only minor anti-cavalry bonus damage, as it would be naturally cost-effective due to its armor. However, it would still be very vulnerable to spears and, of course, ranged units, on account of its cavalry armor class and low pierce armor, respectively. The Elite Boyar would have 4 base melee armor and 1 base pierce armor, making it a bit more tanky, but it wouldn’t be too overpowering considering how expensive the upgrade would be.
Since the new Boyar would no longer be meant to just appear Russian, it would have a new appearance, wielding a polearm instead of an infantry bardische. The old Boyar could be added to the Scenario Editor under a different name.
In this hypothetical Balkan expansion, I could see the Slavs being renamed the Ruthenians. Naturally, they would receive the Boyar. Other existing civs that would receive it would be the Bulgarians, Lithuanians, and Poles. They would each have their own flavor of Boyar:
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Bulgarian Boyars would attack 33% faster after researching Stirrups
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Lithuanian Boyars would receive +1 attack after each Relic collected, for a maximum of +4
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Polish Boyars would cost -60% gold
As for the new Balkan civs that would receive the Boyar, it would really depend on what civs were added, but if the Serbians and Vlachs (or whatever they’d be called) were added, then they would also receive the Boyar, as they historically used the title. There doesn’t seem to be much evidence of other Balkan civs using the Boyar title, so they would not receive the unit.
If the Boyar is going to become a regional unit, the Ruthenians (renamed Slavs) would obviously need a new unique unit. What could this be? I had a couple of ideas:
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First, the Voyi. The Kievan Rus’ used militia forces to complement the druzhina (standing army), and this militia force was equipped with axes and spears. The Voyi would be a light infantry spearman that has a charged ranged melee attack where he throws an axe; the rest of the time, he would use a spear. I’m a little hesitant on this one because the only source for the name that I can find is an unsourced Wikipedia article, so even if the Rus’ militiamen wielding axes and spears really existed, the name might be made up.
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Second, the Strelet/Streltsy. This is a unit that does have precedent existing in a medieval game, as AoE4 has the Streltsy. There, it’s a gunpowder unit available in the Imperial Age. Here, since it’s really late for the timeline, I decided to take a different approach and have it use its main historical melee weapon, the bardische. The current Boyar uses a bardische, so this proposal would mean that the Ruthenians kept a UU wielding it, which is nice for flavor. I’m not sure what it would do, but it would probably have a rather heavy attack, or maybe the unit could switch back and forth between the bardische and an arquebus, which is the historical usage. Either way, it appears towards the very end of the timeline for AoE2, but that’s not the strangest thing, and there is precedent. I would certainly prefer it over a potential Wikipedia fabrication.
Side note: The Ruthenians would also receive the Hand Cannoneer and Bombard Cannon with this rework, because the Streltsy would represent early modern Russian gunpowder armies, so it’d be strange not to have them.
Well, what do you think? Do you think these are reasonable suggestions?