Purely for fun speculation on future civ additions for AOE2 DE

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
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I love speculating ideas for new civilizations. Even if we never see them canonized in Age of Empires II, it’s possible we’ll at least get something similar in Age of Empires IV. I had already come up with a few personal ideas, so I’ll post them here.

THE CROATIANS (925 to 1102)

Cavalry and Naval Civilization

They are primarily based on the Kingdom of Croatia, a prominent Balkan empire during the tenth and eleventh centuries, though some influence is taken from the period that they were ruled by the Hungarian crown. Amongst Slavic civilizations, they are distinct from the Slavs and Bulgarians in that they have a naval focus and use Italian-style architecture.

Architecture Style: Mediterranean
Language: Croatian (technically, medieval Croatians spoke language similar to the Slavs and Bulgarians, but I’ve decided upon modern Croatian to distinguish this civilization from its eastern neighbors)
Wonder: Cathedral of St. Domnius

Civ Bonuses:

  • Infantry and Cavalry trained 30% faster
  • Horse Collar improves farming rate to 10%, Heavy Plow improves it to 15%
  • All units receive attack advantages when fighting from downhill, ignore bonus damage from enemy units attacking uphill

Team Bonus:

  • Trade Cogs generate +40% gold

Unique Techs:

  • Recruits: Knight line’s gold cost reduced to 50
  • Bans: Castles fire additional arrows

Unique Units:

Zupan (Light cavalry unit that doesn’t suffer bonus damage against the Spearman line):
Cost: 70 Food, 30 Gold
Attack: 8 (Elite 11)
Speed: 1.45
Armor: 1/2 (Elite 2/3)
HP: 90 (Elite 110)
Elite Upgrade Cost: 1200 Food, 700 Gold

Kondura (Naval trash unit, has +18/19 attack bonus against Galley line):
Cost: 80 Wood
Attack: 5 Pierce (6 Elite)
Speed: 1.35
Range: 5 (6 Elite)
Hit Points: 100 (135 Elite)
Elite Upgrade Cost: 800 Food, 600 Gold

Missing Techs:

Barracks: Eagle line
Archery Range: Crossbowman, Hand Cannoneer, Heavy Cavalry Archer
Stable: Camel Rider, Battle Elephant, Steppe Lancer
Siege Workshop: Siege Ram, Bombard Cannon
Monastery: Atonement, Block Printing, Illumination
Dock: Fast Fire Ship, Shipwright
Blacksmith: All techs available
University: Keep, Bombard Tower
Economy: Two-Man Saw, Guilds

THE GEORGIANS (1008 to 1490)

Cavalry and Monk civilization

This one I only just finished and would need more balancing, but imo the Georgians are easily one of the most deserving missing civs to be represented in Age of Empires II.

Language: Georgian
Architecture Style: Southeastern European (new set shared with the Byzantines and Bulgarians)
Wonder: Sketitskhoveli Cathedral

Civ Bonuses:

  • Monasteries generate gold without relics (up to 3)
  • Advancing to the Castle Age costs only 500 Food
  • Bloodlines is free

Team Bonus:

  • Cavalry upgrades cost -20%

Unique Techs:

  • Monasticism (Disables the effects of Heresy when converting enemy units)
  • Patronqmoba (Villagers produced 50% faster)

Unique Units:

Aznauri (Heavy Cavalry with attack bonus against Unique Units, trained at the Castle):
Cost: 60 Food, 80 Gold
Attack: 11 (Elite 13)
Speed: 1.35
Armor: 2/3 (Elite 3/4)
HP: 120 (Elite 150)
Elite Upgrade Cost: 1400 Food, 800 Gold

Metsukhovne (Stronger pikeman, but costs gold instead of wood, trained at the Barracks from Castle Age onwards):
Cost: 35 Food, 25 Gold
Attack: 8 (Elite 10)
Speed: 1
Armor: 1/1 (Elite 1/2)
HP: 60 (Elite 70)
Elite Upgrade Cost: 500 Food, 750 Gold

Barracks: Eagle line
Archery Range: Arbalester, Hand Cannoneer
Stable: Heavy Camel Rider, Battle Elephant, Steppe Lancer
Siege Workshop: Siege Ram, Siege Onager, Bombard Cannon
Monastery: Faith
Dock: Heavy Demolition Ship, Shipwright
Blacksmith: Bracer
University: Bombard Tower, Architecture
Economy: Crop Rotation, Two-Man Saw, Guilds

The Bengals (750 to 1576)

Elephant and Monk Civilization

I made a few changes to this civilization since my previous thread. They are based on the Pala Empire, Sena Dynasty, and Bengal Sultanate.

Architecture Style: South Asian
Language: Bengali
Wonder: Nalanda University

Civ Bonuses:

  • Battle Elephants trained +30% faster
  • Imperial Age University techs are available in the Castle Age
  • Monks cost -25% less gold
  • Forage Bushes contain +30% more food

Team Bonus:

  • Technologies researched +20% faster

Unique Techs:

  • Prantapala - Towers cause +50% more damage to naval units (400 Wood, 300 Gold)
  • Maharaja - Subtracts 100 years from allied Wonder victories (800 Food, 600 Gold)

Unique Unit: Ratha (Anti-Elephant and Camel chariot 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

Missing Techs:

Barracks: Eagle Line
Archery Range: Arbalest, Heavy Cavalry Archer, Thumb Ring, Parthian Tactics
Stable: Hussar, Paladin, Steppe Lancer
Siege Workshop: Capped Ram, Siege Ram
Monastery: Faith
Dock: Elite Cannon Galleon
Blacksmith: Blast Furnace, Ring Archer Armor

University: All technologies available
Economy: Guilds, Gold Shaft Mining

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Swahili

Civ Bonii:
-Coinage and Banking technologies improve Market trading rate
-Towers cost -50% Stone
-Guilds free

Team Bonus:
-Trade Carts and Trade Cogs have +2 Pierce armour.

Unique Units:
-Mtepe: Fast Feudal ship with low attack and range, but high attack speed.
-Arquebusier: cheap gunpoweder footman with damage bonus vs Infantry.

Unique Techs:
-Mfanyabiashara Kijeshi: Trade Cogs get an attack.
-Bastion of Zanzibar: Stone trickle.

Tech Tree:
-Barracks: full roster
-Archery Range: no Cavalry Archer, no Parthian Tactics
-Stables: no Light Cavalry, no Cavalier, no Husbandry
-Siege Workshop: no Onager
-Docks: no Fire Galley (Mtepe does the same job better, and upgrades both in Castle and Imp Ages seprately from Galley line)
-Monastery: full roster

-Blacksmith: all upgrades
-University: no Masonry, no Architecture

Tell me what you think.

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127

Bengals would not make much sense for this time period and teh Bush bonus is similar to the Franks, but the rest seem OK to me.

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128

Their time frame fits perfectly. They became a consolidated empire (Pala) in 750, early in the timeframe, and the later Bengal Sultanate lasted until being conquered by the Mughals in 1576, right around the end of the AoE2 chronology.

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Also the Georgions Castle Age bonus should be “costs -300 Food”, otherwise they will advance to Castle without even having to go for Gold, and considering they would have free Bloodlines, it would enforce an OP Scout Rush mass Farms economy in Feudal, that would be quite hard to deal with.

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I guess I did not clarify that, but yes, they still need to fork over 200 Gold to advance to Castle.

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131

I had this idea, (that was not originally mine, I just built on it) about a Kings of the Mountain expansion pack, that would add Georgians, Swiss, Missipi and Tibetans.

-Georgians would be a Cavalry civ.
-Tibetans would be a Knight and Monk civ.
-Missipi would be a native Defensive civ with access to Hnad Cannoneers (trade with Europeans)
-Swiss would be the definitive Pike & Shotte civ.

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I like the ida of the Swiss being a civilization. They’d have the best Pikemen in the game and generally excel during the late game, when Switzerland started becoming more prominent in world history. Additionally, they’d finally be a second civilization besides the Teutons that genuinely deserves the Central European architecture set, since the Vikings, Huns, and Goths were all raiding cultures who lived either in tents or wooden huts, not sparkling white buildings with orange roofs (although I guess post-Viking Scandinavia lends itself okay to that). Besides strong Pikes, they’d be excellent in team games and have market-related bonuses, reflecting their history as mercenaries.

I also imagine the Wends being a civilization to represent the Western Slavs, specifically medieval Bohemia, Great Moravia, and Poland. They’d make appearances in the Genghis Khan, Barbarossa, and Ivaylo campaigns, and would also show up in the Honfoglalás Historical Battle. They would be the fourth Eastern European civilization, in place of the Bulgarians becoming a Southeastern European civilization alongside the Byzantines and Georgians. Even back when The Last Khans was announced, many people felt the Bulgarians deserved their own architecture, and I would agree, especially since it would further distinguish them from the Russian-themed Slavs.

The Wends would have access to the Imperial Hussar, while the rest of their tech tree would be fairly balanced. Their archers wouldn’t be as bad as the Eastern Slavs (they’d get access to Arbalests and Bracer), but their siege weapons wouldn’t be as good. Also, their Monks would be subpar, in contrast to their Teutonic, Lithuanian, and Russian neighbors having some of the best Monks in the game.

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Now the Siamese:
Elephant and Gunpowder Civilization

  • Receive 100 Wood and 50 Stone when advancing age.
  • Free Crossbowman and Arbalest Upgrade.
  • Bombard Cannons, Hand Cannoners and Petards +1/+2 Armor.
    Team Bonus: Markets work 60% faster.
    Unique Unit:
    Elephant Cannoner: Combines the HP and armor of an Elephant with the attack and range of a Hand Cannon, Strong vs infantry, weak vs Pikemen, Skirmishers and Camels.
    Stats:
  • HP: 250, 300 for elite.
  • Attack: 18, 22 for elite.
  • No attack Bonuses.
  • Rate of fire: 3.0
  • Frame Delay: 6
  • Range: 7
  • Accuracy: 65%, 70% for elite.
  • Projectile Speed: 5,5
  • Armor: 1/2, 2/2 for elite.
  • Armor Classes: Archer, Cavalry, Cavalry Archer, Gunpowder Unit, War Elephant, Unique Unit.
  • Speed: 0.9
  • Training Time: 22 seconds
  • LOS: 7, 8 for elite
    Upgrade to Elite: 1200 food, 900 gold (80 seconds).
    Unique Technologies:
  • CA UT: Royal Elephants: Battle Elephant Attacks 25% faster (400 food, 300 gold).
  • IMP UT: European Firearms: Gunpowder Units and Petards regenerate HP (30HP per minute) (1000 wood, 600 gold).
    Missing Techs:
    Barracks: Champion, Eagle Warrior and Squires.
    Archery Range: Heavy Cavalry Archer and Parthian Tactics.
    Stable: Cavalier, Camel Rider and Steppe Lancer.
    Siege Workshop: Siege Ram, Heavy Scorpion.
    Monastery: Redemption, Block Printing, Heresy, Fervor.
    Dock: Elite Cannon Galleon, Heavy Demolition Ship.
    Blacksmith: Plate Mail Armor.
    University: Arrowslits, Heated Shot, Treadmill Crane.
    Economic: Stone Shaft Mining and Crop Rotation.
    Wonder: Wat Phra Sin Samphet.
    Campaign: Suriyothai.

What next one could be?

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134

They should never have been named Vikings in the first place, since Viking was an occupation, not a culture. Vikings should have been named Norse.

Swiss would be a Pikeman + Hand Cannoneer focused civ, since they basically invented the tactic in Late renaissance, which the game does emcompass. I think the UU should just be a Swiss Guard, an heavilly armoured Pikeman that takes no bonus damage from any unit.

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“Vikings” was a lot more marketable in 1999, though. At least the Norse got their name represented in AoM.

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136

A Bombard Elephant, with less range than a BBC or a Treb (available in the Castle Age, so it cannot be too strong), but more HP and less attack, would be a more fitting unit, nd moe Enticing UU, since we only have 2 Siege UUs so far (Organ Gun and Ballista Elephant).

This is a big one, since these units are quite strong as it is, so perhaps they would have to lose an Armour or Attack upgrade, or maybe even Elite Skirmisher.

Quite OP Gunpowder, so their Archery Range would have to get heavy nerfs.

I swear some other civ already hs this one.

Even though it is costly, you cannot have this and the Armour bonus in the same civ. It would make them OP.

Everything else seems fine.

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And Celts are only there because of Braveheart, but I would still miss them if they were gone.

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138

I mean AOE2 usually take civ names from European viewpoints (Saracens to any arab faction and Tatars to any Central Asian people and People under Mongol Rul, as well the mix of Turkic and Mongols).

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Saracens and Tatars were actual cultural descriptors, however, while Vikings was not. They were called Norsemen.

Calling a civilization Vikings, is the same as calling them Pirates. Pirates were not a civilization, they were maritime outlaw entrpeneurs.

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140

The Celts very much should have been in Age of Empires I, since it was really in the Ancient World that they were a great power. I’m also baffled as to why they have some of the worst Monks in Age of Empires II, considering their massive role in teaching Christianity during the medieval era. They should have had good monks in exchange for the Paladin upgrade. Hopefully, if Age of Empires V focuses on the Ancient World again, the Celts will be there to represent central continental Europe.

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141

Celts, Goths and Huns should have been AoE1 civs indeed, but then again, that game is so many civs already.
I wish it got an expansion.

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A Bombard Elephant, with less range than a BBC or a Treb (available in the Castle Age, so it cannot be too strong), but more HP and less attack, would be a more fitting unit, nd moe Enticing UU, since we only have 2 Siege UUs so far (Organ Gun and Ballista Elephant).

No it would be less realistic .

Well maybe it would be very strong, so only free Xbows.

Why? I will say that Gunpowder units are very expensive.

No one civ in game have this.

I mean Gunpowder civs needs more distinction and this one is fine, take the example of the Berber UT Maghrebi Dromedaries (and Berbers have a huge discount on Camels as well a powerful Camel UU).

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Also, these are my campaign ideas for the civs I came up with:

  • Croatians - Tomislav (914-928): Covers the rise of Croatia from a small former vassal of the Frankish Empire into a kingdom mighty enough to crush the expansion of Bulgaria under Simeon. I have actually been designing this campaign myself in the Scenario Editor, and plan on releasing it after I’ve perfected the enemy AIs.
  • Georgians - Tamar (1184-1213): She ruled during the Kingdom of Georgia’s golden era, and this would also add a third female lead protagonist alongside Joan of Arc and Yodit. I am also making this campaign, but I only just started, in contrast to the major progress I’ve made with Tomislav.
  • Bengals - Gopala (750-810): This covers the reign of both Gopala I, as well as his successor Dharmapala, chronicling the founding of the Pala Empire from a disorganized batch of quarreling factions into the dominant power of the northern Indian Subcontinent.
  • Wends - Svatopluk (869-894): He was a prominent conqueror from Great Moravia, and this would cover his kingdom’s rise to power.
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Weren’t the Croatians under the Hungarian Rule during most od the AOE2 timeline?

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