It can work, but we should verify how this performs vs knights/archers. Probably your proposal is balanced.
However, my feeling is that, if we want to have a decent infantry unit in castle age, which can become a way to go as knights/crossbowman, that unit should be the longsword.
The LS is already a good unit in castle since supplies, problem is that the meta is radiated in the community that nobody even try to use them, but this is a discussion for another topic, here I just wanted feedback on my idea of castle age condos.
Once they were at the level of champions (different stats, but who win depended on who get the first hit), but as you can see, nobody liked them, and so they nerfed to the point of today unit.
Exactly. I am saying to eliminate the competition. This is the idea I got reading you post btw!
If you have an Italian ally, you will be granted the “condottiero” upgrade, as the Viet ally is given the imp skirm upgrade.
The condo upgrade overrides the 2hs/champion upgrade (so for instance malay would not get it, as turks do not get imp skirm), and gives you the access to the condo. You upgrade your longsword to condos because you no more have the 2hs upgrade. This new condo (upgraded infantry after researching the “condottiero” tech) looks like the current condo, but:
So you cannot choose. If you have an italian ally, you can just upgrade your infantry to condos. If you are not vs gunpowder, the new condo is totally equal to the champion except for speed. If you are vs gunpowder the new condo is basically equal to the current condo (since champions and current condo are similar).
Note: this is a slight (indirect) buff to samurais.
The competition will always remain, champions were there from before, and even if you remove them for Italians, other civs may still have them.
Sorry I have just updated my explanation
This idea of the condo as infantry upgrade may really work. Is it balanced? @Bzhydack you are the expert in balancing with numbers 11
Should we open another topic on the “definitive solution of the condo problem”? 11
I think someone should try to make this as mod and test. I just like numbers 
That’s something that I don’t think it’s possible, plus, you should let the allied players decide whether go condos or champs.
I would prefer that both possibilities remain, to force the choice, problem is, right now condos come in too late for what they offer.
That’s may be a bit ahead of ourselves…
However I prefer the weaker castle age condos with the automatic upgrade when hitting imp.
To be honest I disagree, I think a unit that is mainly used to be and mainly intended to be a counter to an only imerpial age unit, shouldn’t appear before the same age.
Clearly a unit countering gunpowder is an imperial age unit. I agee.
Despite the problem of having a unit fighting gunpowder in castle age, some questions:
It would be very difficult to find the right balance.
the point of my proposal is, instead of being forced to choose, just include both advantages. You do not see condos since they are too weak. Just give the small advantage they have to champions.
If condo becomes a champion upgrade replacement, it would actually be a useful team bonus. Useful not because powerful, but useful because it gives a boost every time you would go champions.
In the majority of the situations, you will just get a faster champion, which is not a bad team bonus. If fighting gunpowder, your buffed champion (i.e., the new condo) will act as the current condo.
This idea encourages you to go longsword, since you will have a better Imperial upgrade.
This is a decent bonus vs meso. Clearly you will not fight gunpowder vs meso, but you will just have a faster champion. Fine even for Italians since their genoese crossbowman is useless vs meso.
castle age condos? without any other change? They’d completely overshadow longswords. Even worse that they are produced from barracks, not castles so you can’t even say it acts like other infantry UU (which btw most of them suck until Elite). Condos also attack slightly faster than militia line so their damage isn’t as bad as it seems on paper
Condos were nerfed so bad because they were abused due their fast speed+easy production in early imp, and somehow you want to go back to those times.
They probably went to far decreasing the attack to 9, but the devs explanation back then was that it doesn’t affect their damage vs HC since it takes the same amount of hits to kill the unit, the +1PA was so deadly.
Giving +1 attack to them should be enough, more than that would break the balance again.
That is also another reason why I proposed the condos as champion replacement