A lot of people have suggested introducing the Tamils to Age of Empires II as the second civilization to use the South Asian architecture. While I fully endorse that, I’d like to propose a third civilization that I think definitely deserves to be its own civilization in the game.
The Bengals (750 to 1576)
Elephant and Monk Civilization
As representatives of modern-day Bangladesh and Eastern India, they are based primarily on the Pala Empire, Sena Dynasty, and Bengal Sultanate. Before their conquest by the Mughals near the end of the Age of Empires II timeframe, they were home to some of the most impressive and cultured empires in Asian history.
Architecture Style: South Asian
Language: Bengali
Wonder: Adina Mosque
Civ Bonuses:
- Battle Elephants trained +30% faster
- Technologies researched +50% faster
- Monks cost -20% less gold
Team Bonus: Universities cost -50% wood
All of the Bengal empires were renowned for their extensive use of war elephants, which is why they train Battle Elephants faster. While they don’t get any physical bonuses and lack both Bloodlines and Plate Barding Armor, the Bengals do have access to Heresy like the Malay, encouraging the player to mass produce Battle Elephants without fear of conversion. The Pala Empire was notable for its vast array of universities, some of which are the earliest in human history. This is reflected both in their faster-researched technologies, as well as their less expensive Universities. While they perform much better in the Castle Age onwards, being able to research technologies more quickly reduces the sacrifice of researching Loom and Wheelbarrow during the first two ages, not to mention they can get the woodcutting and farming upgrades a bit sooner than usual, too.
Unique Techs:
- Prantapala - Towers cause +50% more damage to naval units (400 Wood, 300 Gold)
- Maharaja - Subtracts 100 years from Wonder victories (1500 Food, 1000 Gold)
The Bengals relied heavily on their navy, with the Pala Empire in particular defending their shores from invasions. This is reflected in their Towers’ extra power against warships. The Maharaja technology encourages the player to go for a Wonder victory because the Pala Empire was heavily cultured and diplomatic society that did a lot to integrate the kingdoms surrounding it.
Unique Unit: Chariot (Anti-Elephant cavalry unit, resistant to conversion)
Cost: 60 Food, 40 Gold
Attack: 9 (Elite 11)
Armor: 2/1 (Elite 3/2)
HP: 100 (Elite 140)
Elite Upgrade Cost: 1000 Food, 700 Gold
The Chariot was a major part of the Pala army. Since I don’t want it to be a rehash of the Scout line as it would be if I modeled it after the Age of Empires I Chariot, I decided to make it strong against elephant units. It can defeat a Persian War Elephant in one-on-one combat. However, it’s generally less powerful than the Knight line and moves a bit slower than those.
Missing Techs:
Barracks: Eagle Line
Archery Range: Arbalest, Cavalry Archer, Thumb Ring, Parthian Tactics
Stable: Hussar, Paladin, Steppe Lancer, Bloodlines
Siege Workshop: Capped Ram, Siege Ram
Monastery: Faith
Dock: Elite Cannon Galleon
Blacksmith: Blast Furnace, Ring Archer Armor, Plate Barding Armor
The Bengal military primarily focused on elephants, infantry, warships, chariots, and cavalry. As such, their Archery Range is very poor. While they did employ cavalry, their horse fighters were noted to be generally weak and primarily imported from other societies, so they also have a poor Stable despite their specialty in elephants and cavalry unique unit. The spread of buddhism was a major part of the Pala Empire, so the Bengals have an excellent Monastery that only lacks Faith, in addition to their Monks being slightly cheaper. The Bengals have a decent Siege Workshop, particularly due to the artillery prowess of the Bengal Sultanate. While I wanted to retain the civilization’s defensive nature (hence the lack of the Capped Ram), the Bengals can definitely rely on Siege Onagers, Bombard Cannons, and Heavy Scorpions as a substitute for their poor archers.
University: All technologies available
Economy: Guilds, Gold Shaft Mining
As I noted before, the Pala Empire was famous for its universities and monasteries, so they have access to all University technologies. Most of their units are quite expensive, thus forcing the player to create a large economy to support them later on.
