I think we can all agree that Paladins in Lategame are the ultimate Powerhouse with 3 Counter (lets be honest, Monks in Imp are not viable): Halbs, Battle Elephants and Camels, since latter 2 are only available to a few Civilizations, I think some Civs should have access to 2 new Generic Units designed to be an Anti-Knight Unit, that can actually chase them.
First up:
All civs without Steppe Lancer, Camels (Except Byzatines) and Battle Elephant get the Lancer
The (Elite) Lancer has 1 range and is available in Castle Age (Imperial Age), after the “-----” are Stats of the classic Camel Rider for comparison
HP: 80 (135) ----- 100
Speed: 1.25 (1.30) ----- 1.45
Armor: 3/1 (5/1) ----- 0/0
Armor Classes: Lancer, Cavalry (-4)
Costs: 70f 55g ----- 55f 60g
Attack Speed: 2.03 ----- 2.03
Attack: 8 (12) melee ----- 6
Line of Sight: 5 (5) ----- 4
Hidden Attack: +6 (+8) vs Knight, +4 vs Spearman, +5 (+8) vs itself (to prevent super long fights, like Elephant Archer vs Elephant Archer - requires own Armor Class) ----- +9 vs Cavalry
Train Time: 25 seconds ----- 22 seconds
Upgrade time: 120 seconds ----- 105 seconds
Upgrade Cost: 750f 625g ----- 325f 365g
Upgrade Age: Imperial Age
Changes to Infantry:
Two-Handed Swordsman upgrade moved to Castle Age
Longsword becomes its own Unit for all Civs (except Mesos)
Supplies affect Longswords as well, increase Cost to 375f 250g (150f 100g before)
Optional:
Changes to Skirmisher:
(Elite) Skirmisher do +3 (+5) Damage vs Lancer
(Heavy) Long Swordman stats, after the “-----” are Stats of the Current Long Swordsman for Comparison. Everything Past the ----- doesn’t belong to the unit and is just for comparison
HP: 55 (65) ----- 60
Speed: 1.1 (1.15) ----- 0.9
Armor: 2/0 (4/1) ----- 0/1
Armor Classes: Infantry
Costs: 35f 55g ----- 60f 20g
Attack Speed: 2.03 ----- 2.03
Attack: 7 (11) melee ----- 12
Hidden Attack: +9 (+12) vs Knight, +3 vs Siege, +1 (+2) vs Standard Buildings) ----- +6 vs Eagle Warrior, +3 vs Standard Building
Train Time: 28 (24) seconds ----- 21 seconds
Upgrade time: 130 seconds ----- 75 seconds
Upgrade Cost: 550f 475g ----- 300f 100g (new Upgrade Cost from Maa to Two-Handed Swordsman)
Upgrade Age: Imperial Age
The Name and Appearance of the (new) Longswordsman and the Two-Handed Swordsman can switch, should the current proposal be too odd.
These Changes are aimed to widen the Castle Age Meta of only Knights and Archer, improve the Swordsman line, especially in Castle Age, enabling an easier transition to said Unit in Imperial Age (By removing one Upgrade step) and adding another Counter to Paladins, as well as weakening Halb Siege Combinations with the introduction of the Heavy Longswordsmen. Halb Siege is probably one of the strongest Closed Map Push Army Composition and can only be countered by Bombard Cannons and Eagles (Monks)
Optional
Note that all civ bonuses that effect Cavalry and Infantry also automatically applies to Long Swordsman and Lancer, should that civ have access to them
Civ changes:
Bulgarians:
UT also gives +5 Melee Armor to Long Swordsmen (probably don’t have heavy Swordsmen)
Burgundians:
Lancer returns x% of Gold (post nerf, not 50%, definitely not 50%)
Byzantines:
Also have 25% cheaper Lancer
Italians:
Pavise also effects Long Swordsman
Ethiopians:
Castle Age UT also affects Long Swordsman production as well
Malay:
Imp UT removes Food costs of Long Swordsman
- Since we all know that MS will add more DLC’s we need new Stuff. Historical Accuracy isn’t was it was anyway, since Berbers get Genitours and not the Spanish, but ok…
Of course not all Civilizations will have access to the Upgraded versions (Heavy Long Swordsman and Elite Lancer), it will depend on CIv Bonuses, Civ Characters and maybe history)
Yeah i know that most of the people dislike this, but its just a thought