I think a kingdom of Jerusalem civilization would be perfect for Aoe4 so I decided to make a civ Concept for them. I am currently studying history at university, however I am no expert on the topic of Crusades and Jerusalem, but I have a particular interest in it.
First up is unique mechanics. The Kingdom of Jerusalem creation should really not have happened, it was a miracle the first crusade was a success. Following its creation it was surrounded by various enemies and its survival was threatened throughout its existence. To translate that into gameplay I thought of a unique mechanic that would be similar to the Rus’ bounty system, but it is generated whenever combat takes place and units are killed. I’m not exactly sure what to name it, but it would essentially fill up as units fight and are killed, and it would reach different tiers, somewhat representing the crusades, as they were often called in defense/support of the Kingdom of Jerusalem both in offensive wars and defensive ones. So essentially the mechanic serves to either boost the civ as they are attacked, or reward them for taking fights early
The bonuses I thought of for this mechanic would be
Tier 1: Villagers gather all food 10% faster, all melee military units gain 1 attack (Tier 1 would be easily achieved)
Tier 2: All units train 10% faster (including vills, not including siege) Relics and sacred sites generate 25% more gold (slightly harder to reach, some significant fights would have taken place to get tier 2)
Tier 3: All military units (excluding siege) gain 15% HP, Every unit gains 10% movement speed (Massive fights would have taken place to reach tier 3, probably not reached until Imperial age)
Essentially every tier would give an economic and military bonus
Next up is the standard civ bonuses
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1st is the Mechanic I explained previously
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Monks can pickup relics in the Feudal age, Monastery can be built in Feudal age (this would prompt the civ to venture out into the map in the Feudal, either they can get the relics uncontested which would be the enemies fault for allowing them to, or they would get some fights going with the enemy to help generate the previously explained mechanic, if they get some fights going, it would help push towards that second tier where they would get a further bonus from the relics they’ve secured)
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Trade units generate 25% more gold (The civ needs a trade bonus to represent the massive amounts of revenue the city of Acre generated through trade, this can serve as an alternative to relics, or to complement them and essentially have a gold economy without actually mining gold, the last tier for their mechanic explained previously would help the trade move faster)
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Trebuchets do 20% extra damage, Crossbowman gain 1 extra attack in castle, and another 1 in imperial. (Due to the timeframe of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, they would not have bombards or hand cannoneers, to make up for this, Trebuchets and Crossbowman are stronger to make up for this. This is based on the use of Trebuchets by the Crusaders, notably the two built during the third Crusade nicknamed gods sling and bad neighbour. Crossbows were used by both Crusaders, especially during the two Crusades led by Louis IX, and Jerusalem’s soldiers.
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Monks can inspire nearby troops to attack 10% faster (this is not like the HRE inspiration, but is rather a radius that applies to nearby troops, if the monk is killed it disappears immediately, does not stack beyond 10%, based on the fact the Crusades were religious and the soldiers had a heavy religious zeal, often winning and surviving battles where they were highly outmatched and outnumbered.
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Warships cost 15% less wood (this is the one im least certain on, however the Kingdom of Jerusalem had major ports at cities like Acre and Tyre, therefore they should have some sea bonus)
That’s all I thought of for bonuses, I’ve tried to justify each one for both gameplay and historic basis
Next is landmarks and the wonder
The wonder would be The church of the holy sepulchre, considered one of the most holy sites of Christianity, and located in Jerusalem itself, it makes sense for this to be their wonder.
Age 2 Landmarks
1st - The Church of Saint Peter
- acts as a monastery with unique technologies to largely benefit military (This is where the Holy Lance or Lance of Longinus that pierced Jesus was found by Peter Bartholomew after the first Crusaders took the city of Antioch. It inspired the Crusaders to take on Kerboghas army and quite possibly saved the first Crusade) The techs this landmark would give include
- Lance of Longinus, 100 Food, 200 Gold -The inspiration given by monks to troops gives an extra 1 melee armor
- Bohemond’s plan, 200 Food, 300 Gold - All Infantry gain + 3 attack vs all cavalry (When the Crusaders defended Antioch from Kerboghas army, much of the Crusaders horses were dead, and Bohemond Hautville who was leading the army utilised infantry to take down the largely cavarly based Turkish army)
- Saint Andrews Vision, 100 gold - Monks move significantly faster with relics and gain extra Armor and HP while carrying them (Peter Bartholomew claimed to receive visions from St Andrew as to where the lance was located, designed to be researched before claiming relics on the map)
2nd - Markets of Acre (maybe could have a better name)
- Acts as a market with 25% cheaper traders with more HP (also makes trade ships cheaper, Acre was a hub of immense commerce and provided the Kingdom of Jerusalem with plenty of wealth, stacks well with the civs bonus for extra gold from trade. Honestly this would probably be picked less than the other landmark, however I think it would be a cool alternative and would be great for team games)
Age 3 Landmarks
1st - Montfort Castle
- Acts as a powerful keep that would align you with the Teutonic Order, granting you a unique technology and unit based around the Teutonic order
- Unit - Teutonic Knight, heavy cavalry with the well known white and black colours, has extra charge damage than a normal knight, replaces knights, can be trained from Montfort castle as well
- Technology - Teutonic Order, grants an influence bonus to Montfort Castle allowing Teutonic knights to be trained 15% faster and for 15% less food, applies to Montfort castle as well.
(Montfort Castle was a well defended castle built by the Teutonic Order in the holy lands)
2nd - Atlit Castle
- Acts as a powerful keep that would allign you with the Templar Order, granting a unique technology and unit based around the Templars
- Unit - Templar Knight, heavy infantry with white and red colours, replaces the man at arms, has extra health and extra bonus damage vs any light unit, can be trained from Atlit castle as well (honestly not much reason for this to be an infantry instead of cavalry than to just offer gameplay variety from the Teutonic knight)
- Technology - Templar banking 500 Food, 200 Wood, all units cost 10% less gold (templars were well known for their banking and immense wealth)
(Atlit Castle was a powerful fortress built by the Templar order in the holy lands)
Age 4 Landmarks
1st - Krak des Chevaliers
- Very powerful keep with double springlad emplacements instead of a cannon
- Can train whatever unit you received from age 3 landmark
Has a Technology that increases health of keeps including landmark keeps by 25%
(Krak des Chevaliers was a large powerful castle built in the holy lands)
2nd - Church of Saint John
- Large monastery that grants an extra 5% gold generation for each relic placed up to 3
- Spawns a free relic inside when built
- Influence means newly trained units nearby gain a speed buff for 10 seconds
Technology to increase health of monks by 100, costs 300 food, 400 gold
(This is one that im not 100% on, however it provides more of an economic and military boost in comparison to Krak des chevaliers as a defensive or land claim landmark, it gives either comeback potential if you missed relics, or the boost to units speed when trained to reinforce armies quicker)
I cant really think of a general building influence the civ could have, perhaps someone could suggest something
General Unique technologies
- Jerusalem’s walls, all stone walls have 30% extra hp (Jerusalem had strong walls), researched at any keep including landmarks from age 3
- Crusading transports, transport ships cheaper and can carry ten more units, researched at the dock from age 2 (Lots of Crusaders arrived by ship to the holy land)
- Crusading Armies, all military units train 35% faster, stacks well with the 10% reached by second tier of their unique mechanic, researched at blacksmith and replaces the tech that lets you train units 25% faster, cant remember what its called (Based on the large armies assembled to crusade), research from age 3
- Sermon at Clermont, monks move faster (essentially as fast as what the fastest archer/infantry unit is so that they can keep up and their bonuses can be utilised), researched at monastery or any of the monastery landmarks. research from age 2
- Greek fire, used extensivley during sieges, this tech would give keeps, towers, TCs etc bonus damage against siege units, researched from a keep from age 3
Perhaps could be some more unique techs, that’s all I could think of for now
Unique units - from the Age 3 landmarks we have a unique heavy cav and infantry, however only one can be accessed each game, I’m really not sure on another unique unit, but I’m thinking perhaps some sort of crossbowman, if so the civ bonus for extra crossbowman attack would be incorporated into the stats of the unit.
I may come back and edit this, please give some feedback, even if it doesnt resemble my design at all I really hope a Kingdom of Jerusalem Civ will be added.