Italians Civilization Concept

Age of Empires IV IV - Discussion
1

I had this idea in mind for some months, but I never had the time to actually write it down into a coherent design for a civilization.

In my opinion, it would still be better to add a couple of Italian states rather than a broader culture, but the design that I’m about to propose it can be a good compromise in my opinion, and it could bring some fun mechanics.
I took inspiration from aoe2 and aoe3 italians, and some others concept here and there, so enjoy:

ITALIANS

Bonuses:

  • Town centers and docks have +50% HP.
  • Blacksmith and dock technologies cost -33% gold.
  • Spies: for a sum of gold you can bribe am enemy unit and see what he sees.
  • Sphere of Influence: Being Italy the cradle of humanism, every scientific or artistic discovery further expand your influence. Italians can build statues that gives you various bonus depend on the am that you have.
    • I: Buildings nearby gives back +30 gold every time a technology is completed and research those 30% faster.
    • II: Buildings nearby have a discount equal to half you population and are built 10% faster (it does not affect farms or defesinve buildings).
    • III: Buildings have +20% more HP and slowly repair themselves when not under attack. For the defensive buildings the bonus is halved.
    • IV: Buildings nearby works 25% faster.
      Statues are free, but takes a huge amount of time. Alternatively, you can pay in gold and stond to halve the time reaming, but it cost more gold each time.

Signorie:

Every time you age up, you choose a landmark from an italian powerful signoria, pledging your alliance to them. On the next age up you can solidify your alliance, by researching the new age on the landmark. This age up take a bit less, it unlock improved version of their bonus, upgrades for their unique units and it increase the HP and armor of the landmark.
Alternatively, you can betray your current Signoria and pledge your alliance to another city, by building a new landmark with your villages. You maintain the precedent landmark, units and bonus, but locked at the strength of the precedent age.

All singnorie are available right away from the dark age.

Signorie’s Landmarks:

Venice, Dogal Palace:

  • L - Act as a market. It can automatically train villagers, traders or trade ships (if buit on a shore) for free, but with +200/100/50% of the training time. All economic units also take -10/15/20% less population.
  • U - Stradiot (stable): a medium cavalry that gain +1 attack and +5 gold for every unit killed.
  • U - Heavy Galeass: a slow heavy gunpowder ship, that can absorb the damage from nearby ships and repair itself.
  • T - Arsenalotti: villagers gain +2/2 armor.

Genoa, Lighthouse:

  • L - Building with huge line of sight that act as a tower. Archers, crossbowmen and galleys get +15/25/35% faster training time and rate of fire.
  • U - Pavisier (ranges): a slow crossbowman with higher attack and HP. They are considered heavy units and can brace when charged, like spearmen.
  • U - Lean Galley (dock): a faster galley, with less HP and charged ram attack that deals an area of effect damage at close quarters.
  • T - Steel Bolts: crossbowmen, pavisiers and galleys get +1 damage and deals +3 bonus damage to buildings.

Florence, Old Palace:

  • L - The building act as a bank and allow to build 2/4/6 additional banks.
  • U - Doctor (TC): an unique healer unit, that can also infect enemy buildings, making them unusable and negating any effect for 100 seconds.
    Examples: a barrack cannot train units, a mill cannot research techs or accept food, a house won’t give population, a tower won’t attack, accept units inside, or contribute to the network of castles.
  • B - Bank: unique building that passively generate gold. It cost food, wood and stone. Every additional bank cost 50% more.
  • T - Merchant guilds: the fee for trading resources at the market is cut in half.

Bologna, University of Bologna:

  • L - A early university that allows you to research 1 technology per age up at -80% of the cost. The fortified outpost technology cost and it’s researched in -33/66/100%.
  • U - Architect (TC): a unique villager that cost gold. It can build twice as fast and it can be garrisoned inside a defensive building to buff its stats by 15% and +1 range.
  • T - Italian Fort: ranged enemy siege units have to be 2 tiles closer to target your walls. Stone towers get a culverin attack in imperial age.
  • T - Milites: Archers, spearmen and handcannoneers cost -10 food and gold.

Milan, Sforza Castle:

  • L - Act as a castle with proportional stats to the age. When choosed, this landmark spawn 2/4/8 elmetti, an unique untrainable knight with double the armor and a small health regeneration.
    Heavy units also receive +3/6/9 extra HP for every armor technology researched.
  • U - Condottiero (barrack): a man at arms with higher speed and rate of fire, but more expensive on gold and with less base HP.
  • T - Poleaxes: equip the man at arms with poleaxes and condottieri with warhammers, which give them a 50% chance to remove armor from enemy units with each hit.

Rome, Saint Peter Basilica:

  • L - Act as a monastery and it automatically spawn with 1/2/3 relics inside. Aging up with this landmark cost -15/25/35%.
  • U - Papal Guard (barracks) a heavy halberdier with a charge attack that double the damage and reduce the speed of the enemy hit to zero for 2 seconds. It also have 1.5 melee range.
  • T - Devotion: your units have a 33% chance to resist conversion.

General Unique Technologies:

  • Spies (TC) - I
    You can pay 50 gold and target an enemy unit. You see 3 tiles of it LoS until it’s alive. You can choose only 1 unit at time and the enemy doesn’t know which unit is affected. Every time you use this ability its cost double.
    Heroes and special units aren’t affected.
  • Sea Harbor (dock) - II
    All ships slowly regenerate health when out of combat. They also get +2 ranged armor.
  • Insurances (market) - II
    All trade units refund their gold cost and all the resources that are carrying when they die.
  • Munde (market) - III
    Trade units have +10 HP and move +10% faster.
  • Mercenary Armies (blacksmith) - III
    Unique units are trained 20% faster.
  • Steel bolts (archery range) - III
    Crossbowmen deals +3 damage against buildings.
  • High Calibers (dock) - IV
    Gunpowder ships deals +50% more damage.
  • Holy League (TC) - IV
    The pope call for an holy allience of all italian states. It’s an expensive age 4 technology of the Italians that unlock imperial upgrades of all units and landmarks chosen.
    Cost: 4000 food and 4000 gold.

It’ll follow a post with more history and pictures for the landmarks and unique units.

If someone is skilled with photoshop and want to create the temple for civ bonus and flag, the help is more than welcomed.

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2

Your ideas, as always, brilliantly implemented :muscle:

Do you have any ideas for even small references to Southern Italy? I’m especially thinking about Naples and Sicily.

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I thought of adding Naples to the list of signorie of the civ, as it ended being one of the 5 major powers of the peninsula.

But in the end there was too many differences in the social and political state between the state of the 2 sicilies and the rest of comunal italy. So it would be better to have another civ for them.

Although I could see Bologna being replaced with Naples, although it would need a rework…

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