So, since we will get new civs, my hope to see a venetian civilization has risen once again. This was an old civ concept of mine, that I designed years ago, but never shared since we had the Italians and because of the DE “no new civs policy”, but since we got the sicilians…
I know that there are already many requests for new civs, especially for cultures that weren’t included even a bit, and by any means I mean that this civ should to take precedence.
I just want to share my ideas and vision for this civ with you guys and to discuss about it, and at the worst, the ideas, can be used for other civs, new or old. As some of you may know, I live very near to the city, and I was always fascinated by its history. The Italians civ that it’s in the game do not really represent them (focusing more on Genoa and other northern Italy states). The venetians instead were more linked to the bizzantines empire, and they may be add to a DLC more focused on eastern civs.
Bear in mind that this is just a general idea, not necessarily all the numbers are correct and can be tweaked around a bit.
VENETIANS:
Foot soldiers and navy civilization
- Coat of arms:
The Lion of San Marco
- Wonder:
The church of San Marco with the Ducal Palace
Bonuses:
-
Docks works 50% faster and are built in 50% less the time.
This is referred to the venetian arsenal, the first industrial facility in history. -
Starts with +150g (so 250g in total).
This simply is because the venetian republic accumulated so much wealth that was called the serenissima, meaning the most serene. -
Starts with +150w (so 350w in total):
This is referred to how the venetians built the city. The terrain on the islands of the lagoon was to “soft” and “muddy”, and and stone construction simply sinked. So the venetians planted thousands of long wooden logs in the terrain, and built the buildings over them. The method worked, the logs “cementified” and still now the very structure that hold Venice in place. -
Archery range units move 5/10/15% faster in feudal/castle/imp.
This bonus, together with the imp UT, represent the mandatory use of the xbow for the citizens of Venice and especially sailors, so they were high professionals in range combat. -
University techs cost 50% less
This is because of the university of Padua, one of the oldest in the world that was under Venice. Thanks to the autonomy of the republic, several important scientists studied there with less fear of the inquisition, such as Galileo.
Team bonus:
-
Docks provides 5 pop.
This is referred to the city that was literally built on water. Also, the workers of the arsenal, used to live inside or near it, for them to be more efficient.
-
UU - Stradiot:
A mercenary cavalry unit with armed with an hammer that cost only gold (between 80 and 100) and they are trained fast, the stats are similar to the knight line (with 1 more atk than the knight)
The peculiar thing is that they are unaffected by the blacksmith and stables upgrades (which however, they don’t get) but despite that they are comparable to FU knights and cavaliers. The idea is that you can start training them without needing any upgrades, to support your units without the need to invest in any techs or even to build a stable.
-
Naval UU - Galeass
A naval unit with high armor and an attack similar to the one of the organ gun, but with shorter range and slower.
They are the children of the TS (tanky ships) and the LB (multiple projectiles atk), though they don’t have as much HP as the TS and they don’t have have the range and frame delay of the LB (so they are more difficult to micro).
-
Castle UT - "Fourth crusade"
After researching it you receive 500 gold for each relic that is inside one of your monasteries (the cost should be about 300/400 resources of only wood and food).
This is referred to the 4° crusade, when the venetians pillage Byzantium and stole several important relics, such as the 4 bronze horses. -
Imp UT - "Fante de Mar"
Archer line and condos get +1 atk
That is related to their specialized amphibious soldiers, the “fanti de mar” (infantry of the sea).
As for tech tree:
Dock:
Full tech and FU units except for demo line.
Barracks:
FU halbs, condos and 2HS. Lack champs and of course of EW.
Ranges:
Arbs, skirms and HC FU, completely lack CA and PT.
Stables:
Lack both BL and husbandry, have hussar and knight (not cavalier). Lack of course camels and other regional units.
The idea is that the stradiot are similar to the knight line and fulfill all cavalry necessities of civs, but are heavier on gold.
Siege:
Have siege ram, onager and BBC. Completely lack scorps and lack siege onager.
Blacksmith:
Full techs except for chain and plate cav armor.
University:
Full techs.
Monastery:
Lack heresy, faith, theocracy and atonement.
Eco techs:
Lack gold and stone shaft mining upgrades.
Market:
Full techs.
NOTES:
- I removed the bonus of free ballistics after building a university because people stated that was too much for their archers. To compensate that I buffed the university discount to 50% (now a standard bonus).
- Also, the fourth crusade UT now does not speed up the relic gold generation anymore, but instead it tribute you 500g for each relic that you have.
- I don’t actually mean to give them both SO and SR, I just wasn’t sure of wich would fit them better. The idea is to get the third upgrade of one and the second upgrade of the other.
- Condos become a regional unit (like EEW, SL, BE…) assign to Italians and venetians (it could be extended to sicilians too). Italians still have the same FU empored by pavise (1/1 armor), and their team bonus is the same (an ally of Venice don’t get condos, an ally of italians do) while the venetians get +1 atk, making the 2 units really a bit different.
Strategy
The general idea is for them to have good foot soldiers, but terrible cavalry, with the exception of their UU.
In dark age they are helped by the extra gold, they can either use it to go for a Drush/M@A into archers, or for an FC that don’t need to gather gold, or for a bit of both. In any case, you’ll need less gold and you can delay your mining camp.
In feudal they are heavily pushed towards an archer rush, their archers are faster making them more effective. Scouts can be used too, despite not having bonuses for them or stables upgrades.
In castle you continue with xbows and LS/pikes, you have free ballistics, for making you archers immediately better, and UT for more gold. Their good archers compensate for the lack of any eco bonus and for their terrible cavalry.
In imp you continue with that, with strong archers and infantry and good siege.
On water you can have an aggressive start, by getting on water faster, this allows you to have a better fish eco. You galleys will also be out sooner, allowing you to save some wood, since you’ll need less docks and houses, and the extra gold helps here too.
On early castle age, you get cheaper ballistics (and chemistry in imp, along with other helpful techs) to help your ships vs more aggressive civs, and you also get the galeass to better take control of the water.
So a bit of history:
The city and lagoon of Venice was one of the few territories that were never conquered by the barbaric invasions that lead to the fall of the WRE. The romans inhabitants of the Venetia flee the inland to seek refuge in the islands of the lagoon, to escape from goths and huns raids. The legend says that some of them were also able to stole and smuggle in the throne of Attila himself.
In the early years, after the bizzantines recapture of the peninsula, they became a dux of the ERE, and thank to their strong navy, they were able to resist to the invasions of longobards, franks and HRE, despite having good relations with the latter. They also were the only one of the 4 maritime republics that didn’t have longobards origins, and the ones that stayed indipendent for the longest time (until Napoleon), since they were never under the HRE, nor any other foreign dinasty.
At some point, after gaining their indipence from Byzantium, started conquering the coastline of Istria and Dalmatia and founded a trade empire that stretched from Venice, to Crimea, the holy land and Egypt. At some point they also conquered the Peloponnese , Crete and several greek islands, along with most of the north Italy.
They had a bitter rivalry with the Genoese for the control of the Mediterranean, often exchanging trade bases through military conquest. The Genoese at some point were even able to conquer some of the island of the lagoon, and to siege Venice itself, but despite this, the venetians hold their position and inch by inch reconquered every canal and island, until the genoese became the besieged.
After them, the venetians became a torn in the side of the ottomans. While they weren’t able to stop them from taking their Greek territories, they defeated them on sea several times, the most famous one was the battle of Lepanto, where the venetians brought more than half of the holy league ships. After that though, they managed to save only their istrian and dalmatian possessions.
They lost their prestige when the ottomans locked them out of the silk road, and when other trade routes (like around Africa, or to the America) were discovered, but they still managed to stay an important diplomatic and cultural hub in Europe, with a neutral policy that made them the mediator where other European powers could safely meet. Also they still detained one of the most important harbor of the Mediterranean and keep trading with the Flanders and the rest of the Christian Mediterranean, and the wealth accumulated gave them the name “la serenissima”, meaning the most serene.
Venice stop being an indipendent state when Napoleon ignored its neutrality and invaded it, threatening to level the city. To avoid that, the Doge (the elected venetians leader) surrendered, but that didn’t stop the French from looting the city of any piece of art that they could find. But despite that, the venetians still managed to hide and save most of their cultural heritage, and most of them can be seen in modern museums.
The republic of Venice at its peak, with its north Italy and oversea territory possession, and its most important trade routes
.