Hello everyone—I hope you’re all doing well. The reason for this post is to discuss everything related to the new Danish civilization. First of all, one thing I’ve noticed about the Danes is that they don’t have a revolution mechanic; this strikes me as somewhat odd, given that—as far as I understand—countries like Norway gained independence from Denmark after the Napoleonic Wars. It is strange that this civilization lacks such a feature—which, incidentally, could also be applied to the Swedes, considering Norway’s second independence in 1905, when it peacefully separated from Sweden.
Secondly, the way Gunboats were implemented at the docks is quite strange; the unit loses health at an alarming rate—to the point where building it is less cost-effective than building any other unit. This is compounded by the Gunboat’s low attack power, making it a poor investment unless you use the Home City card that boosts them and stops the health drain. The issue, as I see it, is that the unit isn’t properly implemented for the Danish civilization. Ideally, the gunboat should be the Danes’ unique ship, replacing the Caravel—much like the Dutch Fluyt. Naturally, making this change would require rebalancing the Gunboat’s stats and removing that absurd health drain, which offers absolutely no benefit. In my view, gunboats need better representation within the Danish civilization so they can be used more frequently as the game progresses through the ages. We already have to deal with the Snaphane’s health loss; we don’t need another unit saddled with that same mechanic and stat profile.
And third, but certainly not least, the Espingol. Folks, this unit is essentially the main reason players wanted a Danish civilization in AoE III; yet, in the beta, the unit is missing unless you send the Church card to unlock unique Danish technologies. Even then, you can only call in a small shipment of Espingol cannons—which are labeled as “Trabuco” in-game. The worst part isn’t the name change, but the fact that the Church technology never actually unlocks the Espingol at the Artillery Foundry or anywhere else. Frankly, the Danes need shipment cards for the Espingol, and the Church technology that grants them needs to be reworked so that they can be produced at the Artillery Foundry. This would allow us to use these historic cannons—which are key Danish units—in a more authentic and widespread manner.
P.S. The Watch Houses are quite interesting buildings; however, I would have the “Advance Watch House” metropolis card grant these Danish houses a weak ranged attack—similar to the Haudenosaunee card that gives their houses a minor ranged attack—to make them fit their concept better. After all, a watch house ought to have a small ranged attack to make logical sense; otherwise, Danish houses end up being just like any ordinary house that simply recruits a unit, which, in my view, doesn’t really do them justice.
Tell me what you think about everything mentioned in this post and what changes you would add to the Danish civilization; the idea is for everyone to leave their opinions here so the developers can get an idea of what the community thinks and wants for this new DLC.