Mandate of Heaven - An East Asian mod for AoE2DE

A while ago, a friend and I started work on a mod to add multiple missing East Asian civs into the game. The plan was to make 4 new civs, and a campaign for each of them and for the Chinese. This petered out a bit when the DLC rumblings started, and initially it looked like the very civs we were working on might be added. But that did not come to pass, so I think now is as good a time as any to introduce the project to the public.

Presenting…the Mandate of Heaven mod!

Let me go over what this mod does, and what’s planned for it.

First, it contains four new civs. The Jurchens, the Tanguts, the Khitans and the Tibetans. These four civs all have a unique design with their own civ bonuses, unique units and techs, civ theme music and icons. We are still working on voicing all of them, with so far only the Tibetans having their own voice lines. Each civ was also designed to occupy a different niche within the AoE2 roster with the current civs, through the way they play or their unit access.

Here is a brief summery of each civ. We have our own Discord channel for the mod, where you can learn more about this civs in detail.

Tibetans:

A cavalry and monk civilization. Tibetans use their yak herders to gather resources more efficiently, then use them to buy powerful armour for their troops.

Khitans:

A cavalry civilization whose main economic bonus is pillaging others. These distant cousins of the Mongols prefer close quarters combat and quality armor.

Jurchens:

A cavalry and infantry civilization where might equals right. The Jurchens win games through the sheer power of their units, rather than through economic bonuses.

Tanguts:

A camel and economic civilization with a wide breadth of military options that are better en-mass than individually.

(Images are just for a general idea of the civ’s themes. Not representative of the mods contents)

A more detailed breakdown can be found in a follow-up post. You can learn more by either downloading the mods below:

or by joining our discord. (Message me about the link, as I’m not going to put it up publicly here)

The other thing that it will contain is campaigns. There are plans for the following:

Chinese: Taizong of Tang (Nearly complete, needs voice lines and testing)

Tibetans: Tride Tsuktsen (50% complete)

Khitans: Abaoji (Not started yet)

Jurchens: Wuqimai (Not started yet)

Tanguts: Jingzong (Not started yet)

You can find the Taizong campaign in the mods. We are looking for further feedback on it, along with playtesting to make sure it works smoothly.

In fact, the civs require feedback as well. This is all a work-in-progress mod, and they will override other civs while active (namely, civs that will not pop up in their campaigns).

While we would all love to have perfectly balanced civs, we need data for this, and the more we have the better. So please do give feedback on them, preferably in the Discord, but if you don’t want to, feedback here is perfectly usable.

Thankyou for reading, and enjoy!

22 Likes

present the project to FE, on their official page they said that they will support all these fan projects to make them official DLCs as long as the project is viable and well structured, you can also join the FE team as a worker, the game needs people like You my friend to be able to add more and better content for the franchise, if they made the Rome at War mod official, imagine if they make your Asian civilizations project official, which are quite requested and would open the door for the Asian market, I wish you good luck and I hope to see your project when it is finished, greetings

8 Likes

Thankyou!

While I wouldn’t expect to work for FE haha, just bringing attention and something for people to enjoy is good enough atm.

I’ll update this thread as more of the mod is finished. Since the new DLC’s theme is confirmed, this should be happening a lot quicker.

Also here are the details about each civ:

Tibetans

Cavalry and Monk Civilisation

Architecture set:
East Asian
Language:
Tibetan
Trade Cart:
East Asian
UI:
East Asian
Castle:
Gyantse Dzong


Wonder:
Samye

Civ bonuses:

  • Can create Drokpa at the Town Center
  • Cavalry receives double effect from Blacksmith armor upgrades
  • Gambesons affects the archer-line and cavalry archer-line

Team Bonus:

  • Monastery provides +5 population room

Unique units:

  • Golden Arrow

Tibetan unique cavalry unit that thrusts its spear through multiple targets. Strong vs. infantry. Weak vs. cavalry.

  • Drokpa

Tibetan unique villager. Does not require a drop-off site.

Unique Techs:
(Castle Age)
Nang Chos - Non-siege military units regenerate when near a monastery.

(Imperial Age)
Mirror Armor - Mounted units receive -3 damage from infantry.

Missing Techs Tree:

Barracks:
Eagle Scout

Archery Range:
Elephant Archer

Stable:
Paladin, Battle Elephant, Heavy Camel, Husbandry

Siege Workshop:
Armored Elephant, Siege Ram, Siege Onager

Castle:

Dock:
Galleon, Elite Cannon Galleon, Dromon, Fast Fire Ship, Shipwright

Monastery:

Blacksmith:
Bracer, Plate Barding Armor

University:
Treadmill crane, Bombard Tower

Economy:
Crop Rotation

Khitans

Cavalry civilization

Architecture set:
East Asian
Language:
Khitan
Trade Cart:
East Asian
UI:
Central Asian
Castle:
Haotian Pagoda


Wonder:
Pagoda of Fogong Temple
image
Civ bonuses:

  • Villagers have +1 Peirce Armour
  • Cavalry generate 5 gold for each kill
  • Watch Towers and Outposts are 15%/20%/25% cheaper in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
  • Hunters and Fishermen work 20% faster

Team Bonus:

  • Mounted Units have +1 Line of Sight

Unique Units:

  • Ordu

Khitan unique mounted archer. Slow but powerful. Good vs cavalry. Weak vs Skirmishers, Halberdiers and monks.

  • Imperial Steppe Lancer

Khitan unique cavalry unit. Heavy Cavalry unit with increased range. Strong in groups. Weak vs Camel Riders and Archers. Upgrade of the Elite Steppe Lancer.

Unique Techs:

(Castle Age)

  • Honorless Raiders
    Cavalry gain an attack bonus vs villagers and monks.

(Imperial Age)

  • Iron Forest Army:
    All military are created 20% faster

Missing Techs Tree

Barracks:
Eagle Scout, Two-Handed Swordsman, Halberdier

Archery Range:
Arbalester, Elephant Archer

Stable:
Cavalier, Battle Elephant, Camel Rider

Siege Workshop:
Armored Elephant, Bombard Cannon

Castle:
Hoardings

Dock:
Galleon, Cannon Galleon, Dromon, Dry Dock, Shipwright

Monastery:
Fervor, Block Printing, Theocracy, Faith

Blacksmith:

University:
Fortified Wall, Masonry, Guard Tower, Bombard Tower

Economy:
Crop Rotation, Gold Shaft Mining

Jurchens

Cavalry and Infantry civilization

Architecture set:
East Asian
Language:
Manchu
Trade Cart:
East Asian
UI:
East Asian
Castle:
Taihe Palace


Wonder:
Cixiang Temple

Civ bonuses:

  • Spearmen line has 1 range.
  • Shepherds do not require a drop-off point
  • Cavalry Archer-line has +1/+2 range in Castle/Imperial Age

Team Bonus:

  • Spearmen created 25% faster

Unique Units:

  • Iron Pagoda

Jurchen unique cavalry unit. Resistant to gunpowder.

Unique Techs:

(Castle Age)

  • Wedge Formation: Scout Cavalry-line and Steppe Lancer-line gain trample damage.

(Imperial Age)

  • Heavens-Crashing Thunder: Trebuchets, Bombard Cannons and the Mangonel line do additional damage vs buildings.

Missing Techs Tree:

Barracks:
Eagle Scout

Archery Range:
Arbalester, Elite Skirmisher, Elephant Archer

Stable:
Hussar, Paladin, Battle Elephant, Camel Rider

Siege Workshop:
Armored Elephant, Siege Ram

Castle:

Dock:
Galleon, Fast Fire Ship, Dromon, Dry Dock, Shipwright

Monastery:
Atonement, Redemption, Heresy

Blacksmith:

University:
Architecture, Treadmill Crane, Heated Shot

Economy:
Stone Shaft Mining

Tanguts

Cavalry and Economy Civilization

Architecture set:
East Asian
Language:
Tangut
Trade Cart:
Middle Eastern
UI
East Asian
Castle:
Xixia Palace
image
Wonder
Zhangye Gansu Buddhist Temple


Civ Bonuses:

  • Infantry and Archer-line are 10%/15%/20% cheaper in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
  • Conscription available in Castle Age
  • Economic techs can be researched instantly
  • Camel-line has +1 Peirce Armor
  • Steppe Lancers are 15% cheaper in Imperial Age

Team Bonus:

  • Caravan free

Unique Units:

  • Iron Hawk

Tangut unique cavalry unit with high pierce armor and a fast attack. Strong vs archers. Weak vs cavalry.

Unique Techs:

(Castle Age)
Administrative Reforms – Universities provide a small trickle of gold

(Imperial Age)
Camel Breeding - Camel Rider-line deals trample damage

Missing Techs Tree:

Barracks:
Eagle Scout, Champion, Halberdier, Supplies

Archery Range:
Crossbowman, Elite Skirmisher, Elephant Archer, Hand Cannoneer

Stable:
Hussar, Paladin, Battle Elephant, Elite Steppe Lancer

Siege Workshop:
Armored Elephant, Siege Ram

Castle:

Dock:
Galleon, Elite Cannon Galleon, Dromon

Monastery:
Atonement, Illumination, Block Printing

Blacksmith:
Plate Mail Armor

University:
Architecture, Bombard Tower, Siege Engineers, Keep

Economy:

3 Likes

Are you planning to add more civs from the region like Gokturks, Oirats or Uyghurs?

At the moment the plan is to finish the campaigns first.

But other civs are a possibility once we are done. We talked about adding Tais a while back, and have a good design concept for them. And the Nanzhao are a possibility too.

2 Likes

Also, is there any easy way to get a look at bonuses, UUs and such?

1 Like

They are in the Discord. But if it’s easier, I can post them here.

2 Likes

Ok will check it later

1 Like

I think I will add them here.

Afk atm, so will be in a bit.

2 Likes

Added the civs in more detail to the 2nd post.

Overall great ideas, I’d like such content in the base game.

1, Who is “Waqimai” even Google doesn’t know. You mean Wanyan Aguda who fought the Liao and Song?
2, I really suggest a Nanzhao civ eventually. They would represent South China very well and they had connections to Tibetans, Tang and Southeast Asia.

It’s this guy:

We went with his Jurchen name, to distinguish him from the Chinese campaign character.

It’s on the “to do” list after the base DLC has been completed.

2 Likes

I love these ideas
How can we support moders?

1 Like

PLAYTEST!

Either post here about your experiences with the civs (who are multiplayer compatible, so long as your opponent has the mods as well) or the campaigns. Or join our discord (message me for the link) and help there.

If anyone has skills to make ingame models, or voice-work, we would love to hear from you too.

2 Likes

Interesting concepts.

My suggestion would be to finish up the civis and use placeholder graphics/voices and put out a playable mod.campaigns proper voices unit models can come later.

One thing I dont like is all uus are mounted units,not much of a variation between uu’s.

1 Like

Are you from China? You seem to know a lot about Chinese history. Also btw that’s a weird selection of historical fractions

It’s already fully playable. Placeholders are in…well, place.

I’d take a look first, there’s quite a bit of difference between each one, and they all fill different roles within their armies. Let me break each down…

  • Golden Arrow
    This unit is like a mounted version of the Ghulam, in that its lance punches through multiple units. But instead of anti-archer bonus damage, it has anti-infantry bonus damage.

  • Ordu
    Think of this as like the ranged version of the Ratha. It’s got a lot of HP and is very tanky, but also does anti-cavalry bonus damage.

  • Iron Pagoda
    This unit functions like the love-child of a Condotierro and a War Elephant. Very powerful and very expensive, but the civ lacks Heresy so it can be stolen.

  • Iron Hawk
    A medium cavalry unit with high pierce armour and a very fast attack rate. The civ lacks Elite Skirmishers, so this is one of its main answers to archers. With its high speed it can hunt them down quickly and attack before they get too many shots off.

No. I just did a lot of research into the different factions and the characters histories.

2 Likes

Do you collaborate with the Dharma Expansion?
I am not sure but I though they had already made an architect set for Tibet. Maybe you can borrow that and save you some work.

1 Like

We don’t. We’d like to work on this as an independent mod.

Im already seeing a few big oroblems with each civ honestly

Not sure how strong Tibetan ecovis, but their nilitary bonus is absoluytely ridiculous. I know Romans did it already, but double armour on cav is diferent. To begin with, infantry is inherently less dominant and Romans themselves are missing two quite useful techs for Militia who is the infantry unit with the most armour (and therefore the unit that benefits the most). Here in feudal age you have the best raiding cavalry in the game and in castle age you have the best knughts who are basically impervious to arrows. +1 pierce armour on knights in no joke (basically +50% resistance against arrows) and should be used carefully, +2 is completely unbalanceable. So either nerf the bonus or remove knights honestly (and even without knights it will be a very tough bonus to balance). Beyond that it seems quite mid militarily, which isnt bad if the eco is good. Also a bit off to have to pay for their archer bonus and that they have good archers at all in castle age. And it feels like a pointless bonus because their archers then suck in imp

Khitans seem odd to me, arent they basically just a weaker Mongols as they are rn? Also considering their history seems odd to try to make them both an Steppe Lancer civ and a tower civ.

Jurchen also seem quite underpowered and honestly they just feel odd. Focusing on spears, light cav and cav archers ibstead of knights for a civ that was famous for their very armoured cav is just an odd choice. I guess you have just avoided focjsing on knights for any of these civs (except maybe Tibet) but its just odd to me

The Tanguts are just weird and weak. Why a discount on archers when they suck so much? Even their infantry is quite terrible. Despite being called an eco civ, their eco sucks and overlaps too much with :vietnam:

2 Likes