In total, according to my maps, there would be 34 brand new civs (you can add 2 Polynesian civs - Hawaiian and Maori to this, because I didn’t make a Oceania map because that would be very hard and tiring):
5 European brand new civs: Danes, Prussians, Swiss, Ruthenians and Poles
12 Asian brand new civs: Koreans, Arabians, Persians, Tatars, Tibetans, Afghans, Dravidians, Bengalis, Burmese, Siamese, Vietnamese, Cambodians
8 Americas brand new civs: Mayans, Haitians, Gran Columbians, Muisca, Tupis, Brazilians, Argentinians, Mapuche
Of course, the number of brand new civs did not include European revolutions, Asian optional civs and African Minor Civilizations - even though they are on the map and in the legend.
I very much don’t see Liberia viable in any way whatsoever. It was a colony created by former United States slaves, it’s super, super late in the game’s timeline and they didn’t really get to anything noteworthy throughout the 19th century.
I’d 100% percent believe Madagascar (Kingdom of Merina) should be there. They were the only subsaharian nation to industrialize in precolonial times and they were one of the few peoples on Africa manufacturing their own cannons, a claim not even Ethiopia can make.
Some civ around South Africa should probably be viable too, even if not the Zulu themselves (although I do see them being very viable as a civ even if their empire didn’t last that long) the Sotho (from, you know, Lesotho) offer a lot of very unique units, tactics and even aesthetics that’d make for a neat civ.
West Africa of course has loads more options than those listed there, Benin had been there since time immemorial, so even if they weren’t at their best in the 19th century, that’s still a hell of a lot of time where they were an important actor in the area.
Ashanti did give Europeans a run for their money many, many times when they were trying to get and establish bases in that area and Dahomey also did punch way above their weight.
Hell, Somalians are halfway there in terms of being a civ themselves, having assets ingame and everything, probably more worth of having in the game than, say, Barbary Pirates, when Morocco and Ottomans would already cover that niche pretty well.
Yep, they would be a really great addition. Kingdom of Merina (or Madagascar) were the most dominant Malagasy and eventually ruled over most of Madagascar (we talking territory bigger than France or Spain) as well as being resistant to European/Arabian colonisation (for pretty much all of the AoE3 timespan, which is impressive).
They had Rice Paddies, Zebu cattle, Arabian trade, your aforementioned cannon manufacturing and as the great European nations couldn’t establish themselves on Madagascar, many fully functional Anglo-American/French pirate enclaves (as in pirate forts, trading posts, villages and fortified harbours, often run by a single pirate ‘king’) appeared all around the island, trading with the Malagasy (effectively arming them with all kinds of weaponry), marrying and integrating with them (sometimes with Malagasy royalty coming from native and pirate bloodlines). Whilst Libertalia is myth, there really were still many thousands of ex-Caribbean/North American pirates using Madagascar as a stronghold (Thomas Tew and Henry Every being a few of the most infamous to have used it).
Madagascar has a really rich and unique history and would have some a mix of musketeers and more traditional spear using warriors, and if we go the African Alliance route, plenty of Malagasy and Roundsmen (Pirates of the Indian Ocean) as native units/mercs. Industrial age Madagascar should be fairly modern in military terms as the British trained and armed them from 1815.
Now I know that Liberia could be an optional revolution option for USA civ.
I’ve read about Kingdom of Merina and I see that this could be a really interesting potential civ - but for convenience it’s best to call this civ Madagascars or Malagasy. They could be able to build Factories - with European Alliances or Home City cards.
The Zulu should be a Minor Civilization. Mutapa should be a full-fledged civ.
Yes I know. West Africa has plenty of candidates to be civ. I chose: Malians and Songhai (Madagascar replaces Liberia!!!). Fulani, Mossi, Ghana and Benin - they could become African Kingdoms (Minor Civilizations).
Somalians would be great as a full-fledged civ, but they already are African Kingdom (Minor Civilization). So I think the creators would rather not create Somalians as a full-fledged civ for this reason.
Barbary Pirates are in a completely different situation because they are only an option of revolution - the US and Mexicans were also and are now full-fledged civs.
By the way, the maps I made show the location of the civs from the game (including potential new civs), so it’s not a historical map showing the exact borders of countries at a specific time.
Yeah, the Malagasy works. Essentially the Merina royals ruled over most of the island so that name works.
Here’s their wiki entry for more information:
I agree about the Zulu as a civ to span a number of ages in-game, you’re not going to see their kingdom expand very interestingly - it was shortlived and they’ll not contribute much to a diverese roster or units nor a lot of buildings. Prime candidates for Minor Civ though.
I also agree about the Mutapa in terms of region, though I would suggest either named as the Shona or even as the Rozvi Empire as the whole region was comprised of Shona states that splintered, evolved from or got conquered from one another, with the Rozvi being the most powerful and longest lasting.
My reasoning for the Rozvi Empire is that they invaded and were comprised of the various Shona states - they conquered the Kingdom of Butwa (1683), bested the Mutapa Empire in a number of battles as well as the Portuguese and took all the gold producing areas in Zimbabwe, making the Rozvi the top Shona state. Mutapa was just controlled by the Portugese and the Rozvi throughout the 17th and 18th century as control flicked between the two more powerful powers, until the Rozvi lost interest and focused the attention elsewhere (generally on their trade and large-scale gold mining ). The Mutapa Kingdom got their independence back though limped along into a number of civil wars until it collapsed during the 18th century.
The Rozvi Empire on the other hand lasted to around 1866 whilst managing to keep the Portuguese/Europeans away and solely as trade partners, were wealthy, had impressive settlements, infrastructure and military tactics (despite using mainly spears, shields, axes, archers and few guns).
34 civs is a bit much, isn’t it?.. but I don’t rule out that they can be added little by little…
Danes and Poles I agree…Swiss and Ruthenians maybe…
I think it will be Persians, Arabs (Omani) in a Middle Eastern dlc, Burmese and Siamese in a Southeast Asian dlc and then Koreans and Vietnamese in a competitive East Asian dlc…I would unite the Tatars with the Ruthenians in a single dlc (euro mechanics and buildings civ with asian units) and with a dlc with the Uzbeks…
Mayans and Muisca make a lot of noise to me, unless they are the Mayans of Chan Chan (1847-1901)… I agree with the rest of the civs: Haitians, Colombians in a Caribbean dlc, Brazilians and Argentines in a Paraná river dlc and Tupis and Mapuches in an Amerindian dlc…
Morrocans i agree, Barbary Pirates and Egyptians are fine as revs since them were Ottoman protectorates, Kanem-Bornu is fine if the leader is Idris Alooma, Liberia can be great with a mix between USA and African units, Malians and Songhai decline in 16th-17th centuries, that what they are better in AoE 2 and AoE 4 and Congolese and Mutaba could be come in a Bantu dlc (Congolese and Shona)…
If you meant Chan Santa Cruz, it actually got reintegrated into Mexico during the 1940s, actually, not sure where you got the 1847 from either, it’s rather arbitrary.
Oddly enough, when i did the research years ago, most of the in-period units I could find were actually from Central America, like Honduras or Guatemala had a bunch of Mayan uprisings too.
I thought that the Tartars civ could be one big Central Asian civ representing the Mongolian and Turkic peoples through a completely unique mechanic available only to them.
It is obvious that all these nations have nomadic roots. This civ would have the ability to choose a nation during Age Up (up to the 2nd Age and up to the 4th Age).
During Age Up to Age 2 there would be such possibilities:
Timurid Empire,
Golden Horde,
Moghulistan
Stay a nomad - Most Mongolian units and the ability to unpack and move buildings (buildings retain the Nomadic look).
During Age Up to Age 4 there would be such possibilities:
Crimean Khanate,
Kazakh Khanate,
Emirate of Bukhara
Stay a nomad (available if you choice “Stay a nomad” before)
I think it could be really interesting and give many possibilities to play one civ in many ways.
Capital - Berlin (Austrians civ (currently Germans civ) would get new Capital - Vienna)
Personality - Frederick the Great (Austrians civ (currently Germans civ) would get new Personality - Maximilian I von Habsburg, Maria Theresa von Habsburg or Franz Joseph I von Habsburg)
Units
Barracks
Pikeman
Crossbowmen (Landwehr replace this unit)
Potsdam Giants
Musketeer (Royal Guard - Prussian Needle Gunner)
Stable
Totenkopf Hussar (Royal Guard - Prussian Life Hussars)
Dragoon
Artillery Foundry
Grenadier
Culverin
Falconet
Mortar
Howitzer - large ranged artillery
Outpost
Landwehr - Prussian unique unit. Available for Austrians civ by “Scharnhorst Reform” Home City card
Church
Priest
Spy
Ritterbruder - Archaic heavy cavalry armed with a lance. Modeled on the Knights of the Order (Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order). This unit would be the equivalent of the Elmeti.
Teutonic Knight - Iconic unit from AoE 2
Grube
Miner - A unit that produces coins from Mines and Grube more efficiently. He cannot build buildings - he can only build Grube. The model of this unit is based on the Silesian Miner. This unit speaks Silesian.
Silesian Schuetzen - Elite rifle-armed troops. They shoot from a long distance and deal massive damage at the cost of a very low rate of fire and training limit (only 10 such units at the same time). This unit speaks Silesian.
Unique Features
Offizier is a Prussian civ hero. It has a Big Button “Prussian Discipline”. This ability increases the rate of fire and durability of ranged infantry units. He can build Forts
They can train Landwehr in Outposts
Unique Age up mechanic: Deutsche Staaten (modeled on unique Age Up mechanics for African civs - Alliance. Choosing one of the state affects Units, Mechanics and Home City Cards for Prussians civ). This mechanic of Age Up would represent the path to unification of Germany by Prussia. The first states would thus be Prussian provinces (such as Brandenburg, Silesia and Pomerania), while the later ones would be German states (such as Bavaria, Saxony and Westphalia). Choosing each of the states can bring you a unique unit, a unique building, resources or a unique technology to the Reichstag (Prussians civ unique Capitol). In the Imperial Age, the flag of the Prussians civ changes - this symbolizes the unification of Germany. After adds Pickelhaube (famous spiked helmet) to all Prussian units.
Reichstag is unique building for Prussians civ. This building would be a combination of Capitol and State Capitol features. Age Up’s unique items would be Selecting a state during Age Up would affect the flagpoles that fly by the Reichstag.
They have a unique Outpost - Grenzposten in which can train Landwehr - available exclusively for East Prussia state during Age Up.
They have a new unique building Grube (This Building is being built on a mine. Increases the mine’s capacity by 50%) In this building, you can train Miners (a unit present in the campaign), who obtain coins from mines and from Grube more efficiently. Following the example of Mountain Monastery (a unique civ Ethiopian building), it would generate Coins or XP. This building would have improvements such as: increasing the Coin abundance in Grube and increasing the number of trainable Miners. This building would contain a distinctive Headframe - available exclusively for Silesia state during Age Up.
They can build a Kölner Dom (remodeled Italian Basilica) - available exclusively for Rhineland state during Age Up. In this building you can train: Priests, Spies, Ritterbruder, Teutonic Knight and Inquisitor.
Just realized it’s not even in its own thread. Just randomly posted on a completely unrelated one pretending its very much part of what’s the topic at hand.
If anything the design just reinforces the idea that you really need to scrap the bottom of the barrel to get new ideas for Euro civs.
