Yes, Atanatoi is a term in Greek sources that refers to heavy cavalry guard of royals or high nobles and creates disambugation between Achaemenid Anosha guard (heavy melee/ranged cavalry, guards of satraps), later guard detachments of Partian cataphracts and Sassanid saravan cavalry, and, finally, byzantine heavy cavalry in time of emperor John I Tzimiskes (only).
No, it existed before vikings as local trade center.
Some general thoughts:
The 2nd UU should not be the same unit type as the main UU. Currently only the Hussite Wagon and Houfnice as well as the Rattan Archer and Imperial Skirmisher are the same unit type.
Civs that have rare regional units (like Steppe Lancer or Archer Elephant) donāt really need a 2nd UU. Civs with common regional units (like Camel Rider or Battle Elephant) should probably get one.
An alternative to a 2nd UU is of course a new regional unit that is shared by only like 2-4 civilisations.
You could propose Zapotecs, e.g. However, let the community decide.
Hope this could be useful It does not matter what the new DLC is - #105 by alexandr.catalaun
I doubt a reskin will happen but it would be cool to have.
No such unit in the editor.
There is a clear definition on what a regional units are now so we cant really x civi should get second uu while y civi should not.Eg bengalis have both be and ea so should they get a second uu?
It is not related to the topic, but IMHO the ability to hire UU (or specific units, e.g. Steppe Lancer) of other civs if you are allied would be nice (as exists already for italian Condottieri).
The Boyar can become an anti-cavalry cavalry unit, like the Camel Rider, except that itās population-efficient through high armor rather than cost-efficient through low cost.
The new Ruthenian UU would be the Voyi, an infantry unit wielding an axe. It has a charge attack where it throws an axe before switching to hand-to-hand.
Yes, I see the Slavs-Ruthenian switch happening around the time that they add Balkan civs.
Meat shield or slave workers unit, have i understood correctly?
IMHO the boyars should be more armored version of lithuanian Leiti with ability to switch to ranged weapon. Also I can propose much more Asian civs (especially related or closely contacted with nomads of Great Steppe) have this type of unit (mounted lancer switching to archer), armoured version could replace vanilla knight, however iām not sure in which way the light version could replace existing steppe lancers, mounted archers and/or hussars.
We have this gimmick already with fire lancers already.
Interesting idea but having both knights and boyars makes sence as boyars are nobels?
Are there any source of Rus warriors using throwing axes in that scale? They rather used javelins (ŃŃŠ»ŠøŃŠ°).
With so many units, adding more new ones inevitably leads to reusing some mechanics.I donāt think one excludes the other.
Sure but its always better to have different gimmicks than reusing the same one excatly the same.Eg you make the unit pack and unpack like a treb to use the 2 attacks packed use the axe unpacked throw the axe but stuck in place.This might be a better fit for Streltsy unit tho.
My point was simply that the possibilities, especially regarding a certain degree of realism, are finite. And if you want to keep the game going, you canāt avoid continuously adding new content. Therefore, some things will inevitably repeat themselves at some point.
Strelets is nice example for swicthing unit IMHO, an arquebuse-to-halberd swicthing one, but notice their first mention is of 1550.
There were no knights in the Rus principalities actually 
. Mb as mercenaries.
Some regional units like Camel Riders are super common while others are way less common, I wouldnāt treat them the same. Battle Elephants are more then twice as common as Elephant Archers too but that is less of an extreme difference then between Camel Riders and Steppe Lancers which is more then 4x. In both cases every civ that has the more rare of the 2 UUs also has the more common one.
And yes I think Bengalis are unique enough and so are honestly all Definitive Edition civs. I think what many people want is to get old civs to the same level of uniqueness as the new civs because they are kinda starting to look āboringā in comparison.
We should also consider regional buildings not just units too.
New Imperial Age building (disabled by default because balance) that allows you to train your allies Castle Unique unit.
That would be really interesting, especially when your civ bonuses and UTs apply to them. That would lead to some truly OP combinations. Some UUs are balanced around a civ missing important upgrades. Now imagine having them and then a civ bonus on top.
That could be a very fun game mode though. It would completely redefine what kind of civilisations work well in team games. But maybe it would lead to just a hand full of combinations being OP.
I think it wouldnāt be that similar. Fire Lances shoot multiple bullets and their main feature is bonus damage vs. Cavalry. If that unit was like anti Infantry for example it would be very different in practice.
Most people agree that if Boyars become regional they should replace the Knight Line.
But that doesnāt mean they have to be that similar to the Knight.
Posted my opinion on this matter already If every civilization had two UU what unit of civilization would you like to see? - #27 by alexandr.catalaun
I donāt know. I went with that gimmick because itās cool.
The Fire Lancerās attack actively changes properties. The Voyiās does not.
I think we should keep Knights because having Boyars as an anti-cavalry option is more distinctive.
Also we have a vanilla tech line of Archer - Crossbowman - Arbalester. As far as I know, the crossbow had limited usage in all places where the techique of producing composite bows was known and, as consequence, the composite bow was used there as main ranged weapon. So, possibly some composite bowmen infantry could be added for asian civilizations (now Armenians only have it but as UU).
Canāt say Iām keen on a unique gunpowder unit for the Japanese even though the Ashigaru used them. Iād be more keen on a mounted variant of the samurai, since it already exists as a unit in the editor.
Incans - Yagua Warrior (Unique ranged unit that deals poison damage with blow darts.). Make the Slinger a regional unit for the American civs and the Kamayuk (With Elite stats) a unique upgrade of the PIkeman.
Franks - Frankish Paladin (Unique Cavalier upgrade that regens health)
Malians - Sofa Warrior (Unique Cavalier upgrade that sacrifices durability for movement and attack speed)
Mongols - Falcon Scout (Light Cavalry that can deploy a Falcon to scout) or Signal Scout (Light Cavalry that fires Signal Arrows to grant temporary stat bonuses).
Saracens - Ghazi Warrior (Unique infantry unit).
Teutons - Crusader Knight (Unique Cavalier upgrade that is immune to conversion and hits like a truck, but is very slow).
Turks - Iām fine with either Great Bombard as an upgrade to the Bombard Cannon or the Tulu Camel Rider (Unique upgrade of the Heavy Camel Rider with increased bulk and deals heavy bonus damage vs. other camel units). Dervish (As a fast attacking but fragile infantry) works as well.