If AoM2 was a thing which Civilisations should be in it?

How I would choose civilisations:

  1. The civilisations have to have a complex mythology that we know of
  2. The civilisations should not have a well written historical record form the time period
  3. There is no limitation of time period
  4. A wide range of different civilisations should be in the game

That rules out:

Atlantians

  1. not a civilisation
  2. are not mythological (they were invented by Plato to be an example for a point he wanted to make and likely not based on any mythos)

Romans

Their early Mythology was not what people would expect because they only later copied the Greeks.
But at the time they copied the Greeks they are well documented so not every mysterious.

Hellenistic Greeks

Similar reason. well documented history. Basically everything after Herodotus can be considered written history in the Greek world.

Civilisations that I would choose

I split it up after continents. One for each of the following regions (9 overall). Sometimes multiple options because it’s very hard to choose.
Pleas no 50% European ratio like in AoE2/3/4.

North America

This is the hardest to pick from because West, Central and Eastern are very different.
Also the question is how much European influence they should already have. Should they have horses or even gun powder?
The ones AoE3 choose seem the most fitting.

Lakota (Seven Fires)

Before gunpowder and maybe even before horses.
Not sure if they should be portrait as nomadic because they weren’t before they got horses.

Haudenosaunee

With neither horses nor gun powder. I think they would be more like a classical civilisation.

Central America

Olmecs are not an option because we only know very little about their religion and we have no idea about their language.
I think the Maya would be a better choice than the Aztecs but the Aztecs might be more popular

Maya

Here it’s quit easy. I don’t think they need an explanation.

Aztecs

Not too different from the Mayans but maybe more popular. Many Mexicans still identify with the Aztecs today.

South America

Quechua

Most noticeably known for the Inca Empire. Easy choice.

Europe

Here we have 3 interesting choices.

Germanic

Represented by the Norse in AoM. Easy choice and very popular mythology.

Celtic

Celts are a good alternative to Norse. They could probably cover a larger timeframe and a more diverse culture.
From the early Bronze Age until the Arthurian legend.
Sadly their mythology is not as known as the Germanic one because of early Christianisation.

Slavic

It took the AoE franchise way to long to give Eastern Europeans good representation.
Thanks to games/series like The Witcher Eastern European mythology is much more popular now. Maybe they could even turn Witchers into Heroes in AoM2, I mean their job is it to hunt mythological creatures. But that might be too much fantasy.

Mediterranean

Greek

Just too popular to not include it.
Please more Mycenaean looking this time. It is strange to see the army of Alexander siege Troy.
I think Total War Troy is a nice example of how they could look like before the last age (Iron) Upgrades.

Middle Eastern

Here it’s a hard choice. Egyptian or Mesopotamian.
Both very rich cultures that developed over millennia. But they were both very different.

Mesopotamian

Sumerians, Akkadians (later Babylonians and Assyrians) shared a common mythology despite being so different.
Most people should have hear of Gilgamesh the oldest surviving epic we know of.
Their unique feature would be to have a king as a hero.

Egyptians

They were already in AoM. It would be the return of a classic.
Hopefully less based on bible movies this time.

South Asia

Hindi

One of the most complex and rich mythologies.
Maybe if we go back in time enough we could make a combined civilisation for Iranian and Indian people. Early Rigvedan mythology is very close to early Zoroastrian.
But they should probably not sacrifice cows like they used to because that would be kinda insulting for modern Hindus.

East Asian

Japan, Korea or the Vietnamese are interesting but I think no one can beat China in importance.

China

Better than in AoM please.
Also no gun powder! Keep it to the time before the first Emperor.
Give them normal crossbows!

Oceania

Polynesian

The Polynesian people have an interesting and complex mythology.
Maybe focus on Maori or Hawaiian mythology.
Maori would work better on none water maps.

I made a concept for “minor civilisations” in AoM here:
My ideas for AoM2
Shrines that are basically like native settlements in AoE3 but they work like choosing a minor god in AoM (without the Age up) giving you access to god powers, technologies and mythological units.

Those shrines can also give you gods that are part of the pantheon of the religion of major civilisations but didn’t make it into the list of choosable gods on age up. Like gods that had regional importance but not as much on a larger scale.
That is needed because you’d want to have maps that take place in the homelands of some of the civilisations like in Greece for example. It would be strange to find shrines for foreign gods there.

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