Raiders of the North isn’t our only foray into Scandinavian stories this fall, as the next expansion for Age II: DE is The Viking Sagas.
The Viking Sagas brings three new civilizations – the Danes, the Saxons and the Varangians. Use the Danes’ unique Jomsviking unit to raid and hurl flaming torches. Wield the Saxons’ Hearth Troop, a heavy infantryman which opens fights with a ranged javelin before closing in. Or send out the Varangians’ Jarl to hurl axes and tear through enemy infantry.
Following the life of Harald Hardrada in 3 new campaigns: from his cunning exploits across the Mediterranean, his brutal raids across the Danish coast, to his daring invasion of England in 1066. You’ll earn renown through the skalds’ tales and fight your way from Scandinavia to the Kyivan Rus and the Byzantine Empire, before staking everything on England’s shores.
In this new story, you’ll encounter powerful antagonists, including the duplicitous Empress Zoe, the dangerous King Svein Estridsson and the battle-tested King Harold Godwinson.
The Viking Sagas will launch this Fall, with pre-orders coming later this summer. If you’d like to learn more, head to your platform of choice and wishlist now!
If they wanted to add much more meaningful European civs then they should’ve gone with Balkans instead of Scandinavia…Ughhh oh well, at least we’ll get a Harald Hardardra campaign.
Like if they wanted to go for a European DLC then Vlachs, Serbs, Croats and Albanians with a Magyar campaign included would’ve been muuuch much better.
Yeah, i’m happy to see Saxons, The Danes are…whatever, I can take 'em or leave 'em. I’m admittedly a bit dubious about Varangians, I think I get the thought process but…I dunno. We’ll see.
I would have rather seen Balkans over this if they wanted to go Europe, or something in Africa even over that, but overall this seems not bad. I’m looking forward to seeing what else we’ll get, and if they will leave the name of the “Vikings” civ as is (I have a hunch they will to have them cover Swedes as well) or change it to Norwegians or Scandinavians.
After doing a quick check, I see the Varangians mainly came from the Sweden area so I suppose they will probably use them as a standin for Swedes, in a way that can also cover Rurikids and Varangian mercenaries in Byzantium. Probably means the current Vikings civ will represent Norwegians, either under their current name (hopefully they just leave it) or as Norwegians.
I’m still holding out hope that they include that with Mississippians and either Algonquins or Iroquois in a North America DLC, though to be fair I do think that would be very…contentious isn’t quite the word i’m looking for but the right word has escaped me lol…CONTROVERSIAL! That’s it.
Either way they represent Norwegians, though I personally hope they leave the name alone.
Maybe they want to leave this name open for the Slavs after we get something to cover the South Slavs better, though I do think Ruthenians might be a better name than Rus.
Woah ok mounted crossbowmen are coming as a regional unit, hopefully some other Euro civs get them too.
Though Varangian guards are a shared unit as well, which is a bit odd given one civ being called Varangians…
It also looks like all 3 campaigns center around one person (Harald Hardrade) just different points during his life, which tbh i’m not a huge fan of, especially since it looks like you’ll play Vikings in part for all 3 campaigns, and the dude isn’t even from any of the new civs. (also given the wording on the Steam page looks like Vikings will stay Vikings). I guess this was just a way so that WE could avoid having to make a 4th campaign for the current Vikings civ as well; feels like a bit of a cut corner
Danes - Pressure opponents early with swift longships to strike without warning. The unique Danish unit, the Jomsviking, is ideal for these raids as a nimble and hardy infantryman that hurls flaming torches to devastate enemy buildings and ships.
Saxons - Construct mighty fortified towns to lock down territory and stand firm against relentless invasions. The Saxon unique unit is the Hearth Troop, a heavy infantryman that opens fights with a ranged javelin before closing in for intense melee combat.
Varangians - Fearlessly master waterways, ride down your foes, and leverage mercenary-style flexibility. The Jarl, the Varangian unique unit, is a fearsome axe-hurling cavalryman whose attacks tear through enemy infantry.
Leverage the six unique units across these new civilizations, including 3 shared units:
•Varangian Guards — deadly shock infantry who generate gold while fighting and excel at raiding and melee combat.
•Mounted Crossbowmen — hard-hitting but slow-firing ranged cavalry who strike fear into infantry armies.
•Longships — swift warships that combine potency and versatility.
Yeah, I do like the look of this Scandi architecture, but we desperately need some form of Mainland East Asian architecture. Given the aformentioned lawyer issues with China though, i’m not holding out hope for it.
