Morocco could either be an African civ or an “European” civ (like Ottoman). It already has a near-complete unit roster, but most of them are called “Berber something”.
What would be more flavorful names for these units?
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Awhile ago I was researching units for potential Arab civs like Morocco, Egypt, and Oman. There’s quite a few good candidates for distinctive Moroccan units as well as ones they could share with other Arab and Muslim civs. Here’s what I had so far:
Shared
Composite Bowman - Generic Crossbow equivalent for Muslim civs.
Meharist - Melee heavy cavalry mounted on a camel. It’s a French term, but it’s derived from the Mehri camels that gained renown in the Islamic conquests.
Fursan - Elite heavy cavalry on a horse. Essentially an Arabian knight.
Naffatun - Grenadier equivalent that throws incendiaries. In the battle of Mamora, the Portuguese were annihilated by Moroccan grenades.
Darbzen - Common type of Turkish cannon. Most advanced artillery in Muslim countries were sourced from there. Could be a good Falconet equivalent.
Midfa - Simply the Arabic word for cannon. Could be used as a Culverin equivalent. An upgrade called Iftar Cannon would be fitting for it.
Bombard - The cannons of the Arabs tended not to be super advanced, so just having a regular old Bombard could be fitting as a Mortar equivalent.
Javelin Riders - Civs like Morocco and Oman had deep ties into Africa so they could share these with the Africans even if the had an overall more European design.
Morocco
Guich - These were the local garrisons that made up the backbone of the Moroccan army. Could be a good Pikemen type unit.
Black Guard - Were elite slave soldiers loyal to the Sultan. Could make for some powerful Musketeers.
Moorish Marksman - Essentially the current Corsair Marksman in looks. A Skirmisher type unit armed with a Moukahla.
Tbourida - An elite gunpowder ranged cavalry based on their elaborate cavalry displays.
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Where are the Camel Archers?
They have a strong tradition of using firearms from horseback so camel archers would be a redundant unit for Morocco. The only place there might be room for them is in an Omani civ, but I’d say they should for sure have Javelin Riders so there isn’t a good niche for them there either.
It ain’t the middle ages anymore mate.
Tbourida - An elite gunpowder ranged cavalry based on their elaborate cavalry displays.
Tbourida was a cavalry tactic, what you’re looking for is probably Harki which is the name for war party volunteers.
Jaysh is probably a better name for the skirmisher than Moorish Marksman but at that point one must begin to question how specific one should go with unit names.
Makhzeni and Haratins should probably show up somewhere as well, but that’d require digging more into how the civ should exactly function.
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Harki doesn’t seem quite right either, it sounds more like the act of raiding than the actual raiders. I think their light cavalry should very explicitly be based on fantasia so maybe “Tbourida Horseman” would be a bit more accurate for the individual units. The whole troop doing the performance is called a Sorba, so that or Sorba Horseman could be another option.
Jaysh is a better sounding name. I was initially considering a more generic shared rifle infantry so wanted it to be vague enough to be shared. But there are a few unique rifle units for Egyptians and Omanis so this should really be Morocco specific.
It was my understanding that the Black Guard drew from the Haratins so they’d be somewhat represented through that.
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