I would interpret this differently: “shared unit” just means that it’s shared between more than one civ, not all the new civs.
(also I think we should take all of this with a truck load of salt, as they are calling Longships “new units”)
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The wiki calls it “regional units”…Regional units are units that are only available to certain civilizations in Age of Empires II that historically shared the same region, belonged to the same geographic group, or were united in certain historical periods.
While regional units existed from the start of the game, the concept was made official with The Three Kingdoms. Since The Three Kingdoms, they do not appear in the technology tree of other civilizations, similar to unique units, with the difference with the latter being that the latter is only available to a single civilization, and that the former appear in deep cornflower blue in the technology tree as shown on the right.
However, regional units are available in Full Tech Tree mode.
While possibly available to multiple civilizations, shared unique units (Genitour, Condottiero) and shared unique upgrades (Imperial Skirmisher, Winged Hussar) are not considered regional units, since they are marked with unique unit color in the technology trees.
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i just generally wouldn’t put too much trust in these announcements. they have misled (either intentionally or accidentally) multiple times in the past.
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Leverage the 6 new units across these new civilizations, including 3 shared units:
The “shared across those new civilisations” refers to the 6 units, which include unique units, which are obviously not shared.
Then it states that those 6 units (that are obviously not all available to all of the new civilisations) include 3 “shared units”, which is another word for regional unit.
So it is possible that each of those regional units is only available to one of the new civilisations each, plus existing civilisations. The Dragonship is now already available to the Vikings so that will certainly not be limited to the new civilisations. The Varangian Gards were historically Byzantine so it would be strange if they don’t get them. And the Mounted Crossbows were commonly used in Western Europe, not Northern Europe.
The Saxons are already confirmed to have the Western European Architecture Set (unless they pull a Persia on us again) so they are already not in the same cultural group as the other two new civilisations. Which is why I think they won’t have the Dragonship and the others won’t have the Mounted Crossbowman.
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It does say “Leverage the 6 new units across these new civilizations, including 3 shared units:”
This reads like they are regional units shared by at least these three civs.
The phrase means that there are six new units. Three of them are Unique Units and three of them are regional units shared by these new civilizations.
But the sentence does not exclude other civs from having them.
There is a screenshot, presumably from a campaign, in which you have Varangian guards defending a Byzantine castle. I would hope that the Byzantines get the Varangian Guards too. And that mounted crossbowmen are also available to at least the Teutons, Franks and Italians.
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From a different thread,
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Why does it?
- We know there are 6 units shared across those 3 civilisations
- We know that 3 of those units are only available to one of those civilisations each
- How does this imply that the remaining 3 units are available to all 3 of the civilisations?
If it said “6 new units, with 3 being shared across the new civilisations” then it would imply that they all 3 have those.
Now it could be any number of those 3 having any number of the 3 regional units. What is the logic of the Saxons having Dragon Ships for example?
Going of the screenshots doesn’t really help much because they show the Varangians and Danes using Berserkers which are a Viking unique unit. So the Danes using Varangian Guards doesn’t necessarily mean they will be able to train them ingame. The might be, they might not be. The same way them not suing Mounted Crossbows in the screenshots doesn’t confirm them not being able to train them. It’s just a hint.
Based on what we can see and some basic logic:
| Unit | Danes | Varangians | Saxons | Vikings | Byzantines | Other European Civs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon Ship | Almost Guaranteed | Likely | Unlikely | Guaranteed | Certainly not | Certainly not |
| Mounted Crossbows | Unlikely | Unlikely | Very Likely | Unlikely | Unlikely | Possibly |
| Varangian Guards | Possibly | Guaranteed | Unlikely | Possibly | Likely | Certainly not |
Of course it could always be different in the end, but depending on how different it is people will complain. People have been asking for Varangian Guards for Byzantines for ages so if they not get it many will be upset. If some random civ like the Franks would get Dragon Ships people would obviously be upset too.
If the Saxons, Danes or Vikings have Varangian Guards or not is probably not something many people will feel strongly about.
Mounted Crossbows have been repeatedly requested as a Western European unit.
Dragon Ships are a unique unit now so I don’t think they will suddenly be widely available. Danes and Varangians are split from the Vikings so it makes sense for them to have it, like when the Indians split and they all got the Elephant Archer. Saxons are in some ways a Goth, Teuton or Briton split so people naturally asked if they have Huskarls.
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3 unique units, and 3 regional ones that some of these civs have is a valid interpretation of this. I don’t think Saxons are going to have Longboats/Longships/Dragonships/Drakkar.
And I don’t think there is a point in interpreting any individual word. these announcements have (deliberately?) had vague and unclear language on multiple occasions.
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Every DLC announcement seems to have a poorly worded phrase at this point, that either create wrong expectations or had to be changed. It’s becoming a tradition.
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i think this is likely what we will get. I don’t like that they are changing so much about classic civs, but hey… why am I expecting any respect from the devs.
The Byzantines and maybe the Vikings will be the civs that change the most. But maybe the Vikings stay almost the same as they currently are.
The Mounted Crossbow might be very similar to the Cavalry Archer, but who knows. If it’s just longer reload time but more attack it won’t make much of a difference. They can’t make them too good since all the Western European civs don’t have good Cavalry Archers now so they would be getting stronger.
i suspect you are right, I find it deceptive from the devs to not even mention a Byzantine rework if they are about to get lots of changes…
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I think a lot of it comes down to expectations of people. If you want something to be true you are more likely to try to find things pointing towards it.
The developers added a lot of hints towards the 3 Kingdoms when that DLC was teased but people didn’t like the idea so they dismissed anyone who was suggesting it might be the 3 Kingdoms.
Now some people really want Byzantines to have Varangian Guards while others like them how they are now and want as little change as possible. Byzantines are both one of the most beloved civs how they are but also the one where a lot of people want more flavour added. Maybe the Varangian Guards will fit in in a way that doesn’t change their identity too much.
I think they will just get the Varangian Guards with no other changes. Maybe they will have a bonus for them, maybe they will be affected by the current UT or the counter unit discount.
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Let’s be honest here, the Byzantines are THE medieval civ. If anyone deserves a full-fledged DLC along with a unique architecture and a new campaign (Bari doesn’t count), it’s them.
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Dragon Ship is unique to Chinese. I think you meant Lomgship.
I got them confused with the Longships. They were sometimes also called Dragonships because they often had a “dragon” head at the front.
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They didn’t even mention anything about Vikings. But they didn’t say anything about Chinese or Koreans on DLC teaser either. Only Inca was mentioned during TLC announcement for getting Champi and Settlement.
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Yes, those units should also be more generic… the Varangian Guard was used by the Byzantines, but due to proximity, they could also be used by Sicilians, Armenians, and Georgians… and the Mounted Crossbowman should be a unique upgrade of the Cavalry Archer for European civilizations starting with Castle Age (just as the Crossbowman is for the common Archer)…
Yes, that’s why I think the Saxons are based on the Anglo-Saxons (because if it were based on the continental Saxons they would have Central European architecture like the Teutons or the Vikings up to now)…
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