Split Chinese to Han, Jurchen, Tangut, Khitan.
-Current Chinese is a great mixture of all these civs, with Tangut camel rider, Jurchen cavalry plate armor, Han bombard tower, but couldn’t properly represent any of them.
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Just waiting for Tai/Thai so I can finally rest.
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This might be fine for Ancient Age but wouldn’t make much sense for Medieval Age after the rise of Islam all 3 of those regions had a largely homogeneous culture and ruled unitedly (Rashidun-Abbasid-Ayyubid-Fatimid-Mamluks).
If anything Yemeni can be a separate civ since it was mostly autonomous region or independent.
What do you mean? Malays right now is one of the biggest umbrella civs as Indonesia is very diverse. It can easily be split into Javanese and Malayans and Visayans atleast and even more (Sumatrans, Borneans, Balinese, Sulawesis, Papuans, many Polynesians and so on). It will be a great opportunity to introduce Batak Architecture style.
Afghans isn’t really a culture its a name based on the region. Afghans includes Pashtuns, Tajiks, Khorasanis, Uzbeks. Afghans (Ghurids and Ghaznavids) is largely represent by the Hindustanis by the unique unit Ghulam and the King names. There’s even the minaret of jam in game which is like a Caravansarai with the iconic Qutb Minar.
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You are more learned than me, I deleted my unlearned speeches.
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Yeah. If anything I’d see Pashtuns as a new civ, not Afghans. It will be a split of Hindustanis as Ghourids and Ghaznavids will be Pashtuns now and Hindustanis will stay as Delhi Sultanate and Mughals.
The biggest reason I want this particular civ is for variety in tech tree. They could be the 1st civ with SL+elephant combo. Maybe SL+EA+Ram which will be a very unique tech tree.
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Please allow me to recommend my topic on potential new civilizations and campaigns in Asia.
This saves me from stating my certain ideas again.
You could say that about any non-European civilization.
Buildings are more important to me. The Japanese and other civilizations deserve unique castle skins of their own.
As a fan of the Samurai Warriors series, personally I would choose the Sanada clan as the theme.
Sanada was originally a small clan that served Takeda. Its head, Sanada Masayuki, served many big clans for the survival of the clan, and protected the family in troubled times through his drifting alliances, but in the end he had to break up the family he values and let his two boys, N0buyuki and Yukimura, serve Tokugawa and Toyotomi respectively.
- (1561, Forth Battle of Kawanakajima) As a member of the Sanada clan serving the Takeda clan, the young Masayuki participates in this epic battle against the Uesugi clan.
- (1573, Battle of Mikatagahara) Despite the support of the Oda clan and the use of matchlock guns, which are considered a deterrent against cavalry, Takeda’s cavalry inflict the most humiliating defeat on Tokugawa Ieyasu in his life.
- (1575, Battle of Nagashino) The army of the arrogant Takeda heir surrounds Tokugawa’s castle, but the seemingly victorious suddenly get changed by the arquebusiers commanded by Oda Nobun4ga himself. Masayuki originally wanted to keep loyal to Takeda, but he has lost many family members, so he finally surrendered to Oda for the sake of his remaining family.
- (1582-1585, Tensho-Jingo Conflict and First Siege of Ueda) Nobunaga’s death shocked Japan! Masayuki must fight for the family’s survival in this chaotic situation.
- Betray the chaotic remnants of Oda who are fighting the Hojo clan in the south, and capture Numata Castle together with the eldest son N0buyuki with the help of resources from their northern allies, the Uesugi clan.
- The Uesugi clan went south to invade Northern Shinano. Defect to the Hojo clan and fight against Uesugi until they are willing to make peace.
- Accepted the younger brother Nobutada’s suggestion to betray again, allied with Tokugawa, and assisted an isolated Tokugawa-controlled castle to resist Hojo’s attack, preventing Hojo from occupying the entire Shinano.
- Build Ueda Castle.
- When Tokugawa Ieyasu led an army and asked to surrender Numata Castle to Hojo, send the second son Nobushige (aka Yukimura) to Uesugi’s territory to request an alliance with Toyotomi’s forces and protect Numata Castle and Ueda Castle from the onslaught of the Tokugawa-Hojo alliance.
- (1598-1600, Second Siege of Ueda) Survival was guaranteed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s support, and a peaceful relationship was established by marrying N0buyuki to an important Tokugawa general’s daughter, but the short-lived peace ended with Hideyoshi’s death. Masayuki and Yukimura decided to repay Hideyoshi’s kindness by continuing to serve the Western Army loyally, while N0buyuki and Nobutada joined the Eastern Army. You can choose to play the former to protect Ueda, or choose to play the latter to siege Ueda.
- (1614-1615, Siege of Osaka) Toyotomi was undoubtedly defeated, but Yukimura and the soldiers and ronin under his command remained loyal to the death. Use the fortress Sanada Maru as a base to protect Osaka long enough, and use all the strength to charge to Tokugawa Ieyasu and seriously injure him after the fall of Osaka. You can choose to play Yukimura to defend Osaka and become a martyr, or choose to play N0buyuki to lay siege to Osaka and hunt down Yukimura.
I’m aware that the Siege of Osaka in the early 17th century seems too late for the game’s timeline, but I’m willing to accept it because the entire story is still mainly in the 16th century, and it can give the family’s story a complete and great ending.
The whole story can be told by the elderly N0buyuki who is in his 90s, introducing the glory of his respected and beloved father and brother to his grandchildren. Regardless of whether the winner is the Eastern Army or the Western Army, whether N0buyuki or Yukimura survives in the end, the Sanada clan can survive. This is the most painful but successful strategy in the life of Masayuki, who is known for his resourcefulness. And Yukimura, as a legendary warrior, still plays a main role in many entertainment works hundreds of years later.
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Persians (the first to implement metal armor on horses) and Arabs also had metal shield using knights, Indians also used metal shields, Chinese also did since Shang Dynasty, about 1600 BC. 
The only ones that did not were Mesoamericans, Southern Africans and Japanese.
Koreans did also use metal shields for very small period of time but did not last because they had their traditional shields already made out of rattan instead of metal that was preferred being way lighter.
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I’m not sure about other regions, but as far as I know, Chinese cavalry didn’t actually use shields, or at least rarely use shields, for thousands of years. I have even seen discussions about why Chinese cavalry did not use shields as commonly as European cavalry.
The Shang Dynasty did have shields, but that didn’t mean that the cavalry would use shields. What’s more, chariots rather than horsemen were main in the Shang Dynasty.
I mean, it is usual and normal that unit skins are inaccurate for non-European civs. For example, Man-at-arms’ kite shields are certainly not suitable for Asians and Americans, Halberds are very limited to Europe if do not represent similar weapons, and the famous Hussars’ wings.
The appearance of the Japanese cavalry can be (and has been) an issue for AoE III or IV, but it doesn’t seem to be a big deal for AoE II since unit skins weren’t really something the game was committed to from the start. Implementing better skins would definitely be a plus for those looking for historical immersion, but for everyone else it’s a subject of debate.
I again recommend my long time wanting civ, that Balhae(or Haidong, or Bohai).
In fact, Balhae is a big empire Northeast to Tang empire. Tang people call it “Gorgeous Empire of East Sea”. Somebody say it’s a Korean empire, somebody say it’s a Chinese Empire, but despite those arguments, it’s truly strong and threatened nearby nations, until they are conquered by greater Liao Empire founded by Khitans.
I was really just making a funny comment. I appreciate the info dump, but I can always look it up on my own if I want to.
You can see my post also a funny comment. Like, when everyone tells jokes, there appears one who take those joke seriously and analysis them acedemically.
Ah, well, I can relate. I tend to be overly analytical when I’m not an outright jokester.
Someone flagged my 1000 IQ joke as off-topic. How unfortunate.
Yes I agree…
It would have to be with Hideyoshi, which goes from Kyoto (1582) to Noryang Point (1598), since N0bun4g4 already has a scenario with VaV and Tokugawa has its campaign in AoE 3 TAD…
Yes, I agree, the War of the Three Kingdoms is better for Return of Rome with the Shang instead a Ming campaign with Hongwu (1356-1398) driving the Mongols out of China in 1368 and from there strengthening his power until his death in 1398 will be fit better… Note: the Chinese campaign of AoE 3 occurs in 1421 in the early Ming dynasty…
Yes, I agree with everything…
Yes, it’s quite a topic…the Afghans are either representing the Hindustanis or the Persians (Herat, the capital of Babur in his Hindustani campaign, is in Afghanistan)…
Yes, it’s too late… also the Japanese campaign in AoE 3 already starts with the siege of Osaka (although they could have corrected the cinematics and the loading screen to show that it takes place in 1615 and not 1600)…
Yes, it’s quite a topic…
Balhae is Korean…
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The warfare in Japan in 1615 was no different from that in the 16th century, so there is no problem in presentation. Overlapping with AoE3 isn’t a problem either, otherwise the Aztec civ can only exist in one of AoEII or III.
I would say the Siege of Osaka would definitely be a very worthy exception. It would be a great way to bring an epic climax and conclusion to the story of the Sanada clan and Japan’s long civil war, and it is also common in other Sengoku period-themed games as the final level and the climax.This is similar to how the Battle of the Little Bighorn is an exception to AoE III’s timeline (originally supposed to end in 1850) but nicely brought the story’s climax and closure to the Lakota campaign.
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Yes, but I mean that the Japanese in AoE 2 end in 1598 with the battle of Noryang Point, since in 1600, the Tokugawa AoE 3 campaign takes place that leads to the Edo period (1600-1868)… that’s why I say that a Japanese campaign in AoE 2 would have to be with N0bun4g4 or Hideyoshi…and the battle of Litte Bighorn in 1876 is more for the Lakotas, since that was the most famous victory they had, but AoE 3 has references to events at least until 1901…
Nowhere is the end of AoE2 Japanese explicitly stated, actually.
We can only say that the current timeline of AoE2 itselves ends around 1600, that’s all.
The end of AoE2 Japanese can be later than the beginning of AoE3 Japanese, that’s not a problem at all, as a perfect, no-overlap watershed is not required.
The timeline of Spanish and Portuguese in the two games also have the same situation, as do Turks (Ottomans), Chinese, and Native American civs in theory.
It’s clear to me that avoiding slippery slopes requires a defined timeline. However, I think that many other Sengoku-themed video games have this siege as the final and climax, it is a part of the whole, so it can still be seen as a direct extension of the civil strife of the 15th century and doesn’t have to be abandoned in AoE franchise.
After playing Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada, I can’t help but think that the Sanada clan’s story is the most romantic of all Daimyo.
Yes, I’m not saying it couldn’t be… originally Alaric’s campaign (and all AoE 2 HD) started at 408 and in 2 DE they moved it to 394, so in theory it remains that AoE 2 lasts from 400 (the beginning of the fall of Rome) to 1600 (end of the Renaissance) more or less… but I feel that FE wants to maintain the final date that ES left in TC, which is Noryang Point in 1598 and that we will not see anything later to that in AoE 2…they said “here AoE 2 ends definitively and AoE 3 starts exclusively” (I know that AoE 3, representing European colonization, starts at least in 1419, although the largest number of events in the game is post-1492) (the intro of the game, the historical maps and battles, the Morgan campaign, the Japanese campaign, etc etc etc)…
If I were to say, I would say in AoE2, the Noryang Point is the end of Korean (and maybe Chinese), not necessary Japanese. The end of Japanese civ in AoE2 can be 1615, because that is the end of the Sengoku period. I would still define the Siege of Osaka as an exception, but I think this way is acceptable for dealing with Japanese civ.
Again, nowhere is this explicitly stated for each civ. 1517? 1598? 1615? This point exists, but it has not been formally defined at which time, and for different civilizations, this point may not be at the same time. If the colonization were exclusive to AoE3, you can’t explain the Aztecs campaign and the Portuguese campaign.