Some civs are ridiculously poorly portrayed in AOE2. We all know this. However, some cases are more egregiously divergent of KNOWN HISTORICAL FACTS than others. (such as New World civs)
But of the older civs, one of the most egregious is Japan.
This Japan-Historical may be added next to the existing “Japan-Classic” for players who want to stick to the old flavour. This civ would field S-tier archers including the strongest cavalry archers in the game coupled with infantry who hit fast and often, but need to crutch on guns or skirmishing to deal with heavy armor. I aimed to be as historical as possible within AOE2’s constraints (i.e. no stealth system means no ninjas, and I remembered warrior priests and mikos too late to fully add into this idea), so I will first present most of my reasoning, then you can scroll down to check out the balancing adjustments I gave to the units. Though it was during the balancing that I discovered Samurai war bows to be Longbow-tier and had to adjust around that, a fortunate thing as they gave the civ a powerful niche. Of course, for gameplay balance I avoided 10+ range (when fully upgraded) cav archers as could historically exist thanks to the Yumi longbow’s asymmetric structure.
Not only do Japanese equipment and tactics need to be portrayed better, Samurai as a social class also need to be portrayed appropriately. Samurai originated as cavalry, primarily relying on archery, and were separated from the footmen by social class, so for political reasons Japan didn’t work out massing cavalry until the Takeda clan tried it out during the Sengoku Jidai. Even during the invasion of Korea, Japanese cavalry tactics were similar to China’s Spring and Autumn period where two-horse chariots (in Japan’s case, samurai acting as cavalry archers) would circle each other and exchange arrow fire in partially ritualized combat.
Nutritionally, Japanese units in AOE2 do not have the large food discounts that would make it possible for their daimyos to be the heights they were. It is known approximately that Takeda Shingen was 1.62 m, Oda Nobunaga was 1.66m, Tokugawa Ieyasu was between 1.56m-1.60m and Uesugi Kenshin was 1.56m. The famous hero Sanada Yukimura was 1.63m tall, and Nobunaga at 1.66m was famously tall. While mass combat is more reliant on equipment, tactics and training, in brutal melees, mass and reach matter, a lot. And if the wealthy nobility of a country are so unused to rich food that they die of upset stomach after eating fried food, as Tokugawa Ieyasu did… Well, I invite you to read Japanese historiography and their accounts of daimyo diets, and see the average heights calculated from graves and preserved armor sets, before anyone tries to convince me Japanese don’t need something like -20% or more food discount on all units in Imperial Age.
In an account from the battle of Byeokjegwan by Kunitomi Gen’emon—born 国富貞次, Kunitomi Sadatsugu, 1546-1632, famous for physical strength, rated 73 in Martial in Nobunaga’s Ambition, said to be “無双の勇士” a peerless champion of the clan he was a retainer for—saw a Chinese soldier in very heavy armor (according to Chinese analysis, a cavalryman who’d lost his horse and his weapons, and was thoroughly lost) and charged him with his sword, only to bounce off his armor a few times. The soldier tackled Kunitomi to the ground and tried to strangle him, with Kunitomi attempting and failing to stab him with his wakizashi. Kunitomi ended up getting saved by one of his retainers running over and shoving the soldier off of him to finish the job.
And let’s look at their armour technology… There are lacquered torso armor sets (indicative of considerable wealth, though by Ashigaru i.e. conscript standards) from Sengoku Jidai times that are about 4kg in weight. Without ninjutsu-fantasy material science, this would provide minimal protection against anything that isn’t a simple slashing weapon, and it might even be better to just go naked for less burden and to be unnerving (hi there Woad Raiders). At least it’s a match for the known facts that the leading cause of death was arrow fire (piercing ranged weapon), the second being yari (spears i.e. piercing melee weapons), and katanas being far back in the list. In comparison to continental equipment, the Sengoku Jidai matchlocks (superbly effective against Japanese armor) recorded poor performance against Ming armored cavalry. In one case, a ball lodged in a Ming commander’s helmet, adding some décor, and another Ming general being shot in the chest drew blood, but was stopped well enough by his cloth-faced-armour (brigandine) the man didn’t even need to leave the field for medical care.
Weights for Samurai armor sets are cited at about 30kg for the early mounted O-Yoroi and about 15-20kg for the foot Do-maru (which became more popular later). These are actually decent weights, and provide useful protection despite Japanese iron quality, because alternating with lacquered leather scales provides NERA-like behaviour and damage absorption.
Japanese blacksmiths really did their best with the terrible ore and sponge iron tech that they had, but you can still tell from the shape of the katana what it’s made for, and the entire range of Japanese swords is the same shape scaled in some way. Its Tang Dao ancestry shows in its heavy spine, but Tang and Song Dao blades were usually slabs with a sharpened edge and point, able to thrust and slash yet mainly optimized for chopping semi-blunt damage against heavy armor, used as a sidearm. Thinner curved swords are far superior against mainly unarmored targets, where less momentum is needed and you can get more hits in faster. The Japanese swords are all curved with thick, heavy spines, so are intermediate between these, optimized against lightly armoured targets as far as local resource conditions permit. This makes sense considering heavy armour was much rarer in Japan.
Japan-Historical should be an attack-rate instead of alpha-strike civ and quite weak against heavy enemy armor (the Matchlock Ashigaru should retain some effectiveness, and bringing up the field artillery should work).
Factoring in ALL the historical realities that can be accommodated? I get this:
Barracks:
Swordsmen Line: (Dark Age) Militia, Wa Kenshi, Tachi Bushi, Katana Samurai
Spearman Line: (Feudal) Spearman, Yari Ashigaru, Elite Yari Ashigaru
Arson, Squires, but no Gambesons
Archery Range (a field where the Japanese are quite well off):
Archer Line: (Feudal) Archers, Bow Ashigaru, Elite Bow Ashigaru
Skirmisher Line (ahistorical, for gameplay purposes): Skirmisher, Elite Skirmisher, no Imperial Age upgrade.
Cav Archer Line: Samurai Cavalry, Elite Samurai Cavalry (armor upgrades are Barding upgrades even in Yumi mode though), initially produced slower here than at Stable (same speed after Castle UT)
Teppo Ashigaru (Hand Cannoneer counterpart, cheaper but less anti-infantry bonus).
Thumb Ring but no Parthian Tactics.
Stable:
Scout Line: Scout, Light Cavalry.
Heavier Cavalry: Same as Cav Archer Line (see details).
No Bloodlines, but yes Husbandry (lighter burden means even relatively small horses can move pretty fast)
Siege Workshop: Buffed in Field, Nerfed in Siege
Capped Ram, Onager, Scorpion, Bombard Cannon (ADDED)
Docks: Hard Nerf with a discount to help, Japanese medieval ship tech was far inferior to continental, and even this is a great kindness on my part…
War Galley (Galleon removed), Fast Fire Ship, Demolition Ship, Lou Chuan
All support techs
New Civ Bonus: -10% ship costs in Imperial (total -30%W, -10%G after Shipwright) except for Lou Chuan.
Replaced Cannon Galleon line with Lou Chuan because Shogun 2 Total War players can recall the Bune ships are basically a rectangular wooden fort on a hull. A Lou Chuan is exactly that, but with a smaller fort (for stability) and more often using sails for cruise power (or all the power if oars are not installed). Japanese technology was mostly learnt form the Tang and then Wuyue, and to this day kimono shops sell 吴服 or “Wu outfits”, so since they didn’t put siege guns on ships, the appropriate naval siege for them is the Lou Chuan.
Monastery: May be Unchanged or may upgrade to some manner of Warrior Monks (naginata or spear users) in Imperial Age. I considered adding Heresy due to Bushido, but then I remembered how many turncoats there were during each civil war.
Defences: Buffed, gain Bombard Tower.
Blacksmith: Nerfed hard, remove Blast Furnace and Plate Mail (Plate Barding was already missing). Also, the Archer Armor upgrades are not used for the Yumi mode of Samurai Cavalry, they continue to rely on Barding upgrades.
University: Bombard Tower researched here of course. Lose Siege Engineers as Japanese sieges weren’t stereotyped as physical demolition of stone walls or earthworks by bombardment or siege engines. As for the Japan-Classic lack of Architecture, Japanese castles were very well built for terrain advantage, but the wooden top parts leave something to be desired for durability, so that stays the same.
Eco techs: No adjustments needed, I agree with the original design which considered low diversity in food and available farmland to justify absence of crop rotation, lots of bare rock on mountains so don’t need stone shaft mining.
Preliminary Japanese discounts would therefore be:
Less Food for most units, but also weaker units due to poor nutrition.
Gold discounts to represent use of leather instead of metal for armor, or composite materials over metal in other equipment.
Less wood cost for ships as they, er, weren’t the most sturdily built.
Now, the sort of stats I expect, factoring in expected Japanese discounts from Feudal onward (I estimate 10/20/20% food and 0/10/20% gold on swordsmen line).
Men-At-Arms: 50F/20G, 45 HP, 6 melee (+2 shock infantry, +2 standard building), 2 reload, 0/1 armor, infantry armor class, 0.96 speed.
Wa Kenshi (Japanese Swordsmen): 45F/20G, 45 HP, 5 melee (+2 shock infantry, +2 standard building), 1.7 reload, 0/0 armor, infantry armor class, 1 speed.
Longsword: 50F/20G, 60 HP, 9 melee (+6 shock infantry, +3 standard building), 2 reload, 1/1 armor, infantry armor class, 0.96 speed.
Tachi Bushi: 40F/18G, 50 HP, 7 melee (+4 shock infantry, +2 standard building), 1.6 reload, 1/1 armor, infantry armor class, 1 speed. Centuries of ever-increasing prohibitions on eating meat since the 700s didn’t do the Japanese physique any good by the early second millennium when the samurai class rose to prominence.
2HS-Champion: 50F/20G, 65-70 HP, 12-14 melee (+8 shock infantry, +4 standard building), 2 reload, 1/1 armor, infantry armor class, 0.96 speed.
Katana Samurai: 40F/16G, 60 HP, 8 melee (+4 shock infantry, +2 standard building), 1 reload, 1/1 armor, infantry armor class, 1.05 speed. Though the longer, heavier tachi was traded for a shorter, lighter weapon, I estimate weapon damage per useful hit to be similar or slightly better due to better skill, training, technique, and point control, but the interval of hits would be MUCH shorter.
They provide unparalleled cost-effectiveness against low-armor enemies but will get their asses handed to them by high-armor opponents, so it’d be a good time to put their mobility to use and RUN. Real-life samurai frequently did simply flee, as evidenced by casualty rates from battles not being extremely high for samurai.
Current Japanese infantry get 33% higher rate of attack (so 25% shorter reload for 1.5 reload) starting in Feudal Age, which fails to represent the nutrition profile of a Medieval-era Japanese or their technology level.
The Japanese are an outlier to the tech tree model that more or less works across most of Eurasia, but for an extra flavourful added version of multiplayer Japanese in a Japan-centric DLC, I think this could work. Maybe even as the basis for a “Chronicles: Shogunate” entry. Obviously, these can’t be subject to the anti-unique unit attack of Japan-Classic’s Samurai.
Let’s see if my swordsmen’s 10/20/20% food and 0/10/20% gold works for the others, prices shown AFTER discounts
Spearman: From 35F/25W to 31F/25W, otherwise either unchanged or lose 5 HP (from 45 to 40)
Pikeman: 35F/25W, 55 HP, 4 Melee (+25 Elephant, +22 Cavalry, +18 Camel, +16 Ship, etc.), reload 3, 0/0 armor (Infantry, Spearman classes), speed 1.
Yari Ashigaru: 28F/25W, 50 HP, 4 Melee (About +20 Cavalry, +20 Elephant, etc. so between Pikes and Spears), reload 3, 0/0 armor, speed 1.02
Halberdier: 35F/25W, 60 HP, 6 Melee (+32 Cavalry, +28 Elephant, +26 Camel, +17 Ship, etc.), reload 3, 0/0 armor (Infantry, Spearman classes), speed 1.
Elite Yari Ashigaru: 28F/25W, 50HP, 4 Melee (Pikeman level bonus damage), RANGE 0.5 (can reach past another infantry unit!), reload 3, 0/0 armor, speed 1.02 (longer pike weighs more, so even a more experienced soldier can’t run any faster with it)
Now, for Archer Line… the problem is that the various composite bows used in East Asia were GOOD, and these troops would be armored almost to the level of front-line infantry as per the usual for East Asian ranged troops, not like in Europe, except for Southern Song where the infantry was much heavier-burdened.
There is one problem, however, and that is the power of East Asian composite bows. English longbows are reported accurate up to about 70 meters, and could reach over 330 meters, while Shigeto Yumi could shoot up to 400m with 80m effective. And the Higoyumi is stronger and longer-ranged still (can pierce target at 132m in a contest doesn’t mean that much though for effective use range). In comparison, arbalest effective range is about 40-60 yards or 36-54 metres, though the bolt can reach 400m, due to user skill. In other words, Arbalest base 5 range in AOE2… is about 50 meters. So Shigeto Yumi would be about 7 base range and Higoyumi about 8, for reliable shooting. Now, I’m not taking off Bracer because the Japanese damn well had arm and hand armor (at least for samurai), so this will definitely be an archer civ.
Archery Range:
With the above discounts, archer line gets too strong. We can just have Archer line be a Crossbow/Arbalest reskin for Yumi Ashigaru and Elite Yumi Ashigaru.
No changes or discounts needed for Skirmishers (ahistorical for Japan but kept for game balance).
Hand Cannoneer: 45F/50G, 40 HP, 17 Pierce (+10 infantry, +2 ram, +1 spears), reload 3.45, range 7, accuracy 75%, 1/0 armor, 0.96 speed.
Teppo Ashigaru: 36F/40G, 35 HP, 15 Pierce (+5 infantry, +2 ram), reload 3, range 7, 0/0 armor, 1 speed
Remember: Thumb Ring but no Parthian Tactics.
Stable:
Scout Line: Scout, Light Cavalry. No Bloodlines, Blast Furnace, and Plate Barding is a problem, but the discount of 10%/20%/20% (72F Feudal, 64F Castle/Imperial) makes it not entirely hopeless for niche uses.
Medium Cavalry: Can switch Yumi/Naginata and (Elite) Yumi/Yari modes. Let’s compare the units it is a composite of first… I suggest looking to Coustillier for mounted polearm attack animations (could be better but usable enough for now). They should be significantly worse than a knight, but (due to the innovation of asymmetric bow limbs) significantly better than a typical Cav Archer’s recurve bow. Unfortunately, in AOE2 the HP gap of knights and cavalry archers is obscenely huge.
Cav Archer: 40W/60G/37 seconds, 50 HP, 6 pierce +2 vs Spearman, reload 2, range 4, accuracy 50%, 0/0 armor, 1.4 speed
Knight: 60F/75G/30 seconds, 100 HP, 10 melee, reload 1.8, 2/2 armor, 1.35 speed.
Steppe Lancer: 70F/40G/24 seconds, 60 HP, 9 melee, reload 2, range 1, 0/1 armor, 1.45 speed.
Samurai Cavalry (melee): 60F/72G/37 seconds, 80 HP, 9 melee, reload 1.8, 1/1 armor, range 0.5 (possible hit priority, and can fight from behind an infantry unit), 1.35 speed.
Samurai Cavalry (ranged): 60F/72G/37 seconds, 80 HP, 7 pierce, reload 2.5, range 5, accuracy 75%, 0/0 armor (lack of protective body posturing!), 1.35 speed.
Weapon switching takes 2 seconds when idle, progress slowed by half when non-idle.
Hmm, it’s much better than conscripted tribesmen cav archers would be, except for speed, well, a high cost should deal with that (horses were very expensive in Japan’s terrain conditions).
Unlike Rathas, Samurai Cavalry get +50 (or similarly absurd to block all the bonus damage) in the Archer and Cav Archer armor classes when in melee mode, and reset those armor values back to 0 when switching to ranged mode, so that they do not take bonus damage from Skirmishers in melee mode! (Though I can understand in the case of Rathas, since the horses remain a big javelin target)
After 20% food and 10% gold discount (Castle Age), a base cost of 75F/80G turns into the 60F/72G/37 seconds shown above, reasonably reflective of the costs of horse maintenance in Japan. The ability to fight from behind an infantry unit corresponds to how they were used as squad leaders before the Takeda ignored the political posturing and concentrated their cavalry. Of course, their main role was mounted archery, as skirmishers (ritualized combat).
1v1 they can beat a Steppe Lancer (it’s a nomad conscript with a spear, not an elite) in melee, but not cost-effectively, or a cav archer in ranged. However, in groups and cost-effectiveness, heavier continental cavalry will ride straight over them in melee as intended (and as historical). However, they are better (and slower) than most as cavalry archers, and their specific bows confer a range advantage to offset the speed problem.
For the upgrade, expected cost around 900F, 500G, like Heavy Cav Archer, but the stats could be (again with Cavalier and Heavy Cav Archer for contrast):
Heavy Cavalry Archer: 40W/60G/30 seconds, 60 HP, 7 pierce +4 vs Spearman, reload 2, range 4, accuracy 80%, 1/0 armor, 1.4 speed.
Cavalier: 60F/75G/30 seconds, 120 HP, 12 melee, reload 1.8, 2/2 armor, 1.35 speed.
Elite Steppe Lancer: 70F/40G/20 seconds, 80 HP, 11 melee, reload 2, range 1, 0/2 armor, 1.45 speed.
Elite Samurai Cavalry (melee): 60F/64G/30 seconds (after discounts), 95 HP, 11 melee, reload 1.8, 2/2 armor, range 0.5, 1.35 speed.
Elite Samurai Cavalry (ranged): 60F/64G/30 seconds (after discounts), 95 HP, 8 pierce, reload 2.5, range 5, accuracy 90%, 1/1 armor, 1.35 speed.
You still have to avoid melee with enemy heavy or medium cavalry, even a generic late Castle Age knight (with Bloodlines) will crush you (let alone post-Imperial enemy heavy cav), but as a cav archer, you are the best there is, even if your extra-large bow and armor kit can be a bit awkward (longer reload) on horseback compared to a nomad draftee with his short recurve bow.
Castle Unique Unit: “Shigeto Yumi Bushi”, estimate (no discounts here) 40W/60G, 45 HP, 7 pierce attack (+3 siege), 2.5 reload, 7 range, 1/1 armor, 1 speed (matches skirmishers so you can run away from them, unlike most foot archers at 0.96 base speed)
Elite form (800F/500G upgrade) called “Higoyumi Samurai”, 50 HP, 8 pierce attack (+4 siege), 2.5 reload, 7.5 range (when fully upgraded, only 1.5 shy of Briton Elite Longbows), 1/1 armor, 1 speed.
It turned out me just mashing numbers in managed to produce a historical outcome that actually looks relatively plausibly balanced (the longbow equivalent can only be used sparingly due to the cost). Now, to consider a couple reasonable economy bonuses and Unique Techs, and how to phrase what I already gave out… Here:
New Civ Bonus: Barracks units, Stable units, and Teppo Ashigaru discounted 10/20/20% food in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age, and 10/20% gold in Castle/Imperial Age.
New Civ Bonus: -10% ship costs in Imperial (total -30%W, -10%G after Shipwright).
Revised Civ Bonus: Fishing ships work 5% faster per age, as per Japan-Classic, but no increase in durability or armor.
New Civ Bonus: Gold mines last 50% longer, no effect on gather rate (see: Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, which produced a large proportion of the world’s silver for more than three centuries, not to mention the other mines like Sado gold mine)
Castle Age Unique Tech: Sengoku Mobilization. Barracks and Archery Range units train 25% faster.
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Lessons of the Imjin War. Samurai Cavalry +10 HP (both forms), mode switch 100% faster (takes half the time, does not reset attack reload), and gain 1/1 base armor when in melee mode.
Team Bonus: Villagers and Scouts (including Eagle Scout or Camel Scout) +1 Line of Sight (works as an early eco bonus)
