Would You Replace Your Imperial UT for a Shared UU? — Military Standardization Reform

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
1

Military Standardization Reform — A Shared Unique Unit Alternative

This is a design concept, not a suggestion that every civilization should lose its identity.

╔═════════════════════════╗
║ (Regular Imperial Unique Tech) ║
║ --------------------------------------------------- ║
║<Preserve Your Original Imperial UT>║
╚═════════════════════════╝
╔══════════════════════════╗
║ (Military Standardization Reform)║
║ ------------------------------------------------------ ║
║<Your UU train +25% faster, Share UU>║
╚══════════════════════════╝

This concept is inspired by Cuman Mercenaries.
However, instead of providing free units to allies, it requires a greater investment, and the units received are non-elite versions.

Imperial Unique Technology (UT)

This technology replaces the civilization’s original Imperial UT.

Effect

  • The civilization’s Unique Unit (UU) receives +25% production speed.

    • This applies to all versions of the UU, including Elite upgrades.

  • Allies unlock the regular (non-Elite) version of the civilization’s predefined Castle Age UU.

    • The shared UU is determined by the civilization designer.
    • Normally, this refers to the primary Castle Age UU available from the Castle.
    • UU upgrades are not included.

Shared UU Rules

The shared UU keeps its original identity.

  1. Original cost is unchanged.
  2. Original statistics are unchanged.
  3. Elite upgrades aren’t shared.
  4. Civilization Bonuses and UT effects aren’t transferred.
  5. All shared UUs use the Cuman Mercenaries slot.
  6. The first Military Standardization Reform researched by the team determines the shared UU. Later reforms can’t replace an existing shared UU.
  7. The +25% UU production speed bonus doesn’t stack.
  8. Mapuche’s UU is a Mounted Unit, it still receives the +25% UU production speed bonus, but the mounted UU isn’t unlocked for Mesoamerican and Andean allies.

This prevents the shared UU from constantly changing during the game and avoids inconsistent game states.

Bonus Eligibility

UU bonus eligibility follows the game’s DAT file settings (viewable through the Advanced Genie Editor).

This uses the existing game logic, as some civilization bonuses already affect UUs originally belonging to other civilizations.

Shared UUs examples:

  1. War Wagon keeps its original cost of 200 Wood and 60 Gold.
  2. Konnik doesn’t benefit from Bulgarian Stirrups.
  3. Genoese Crossbowman for Mayans follows the existing DAT rules for cost discount.
  4. Kipchak doesn’t include Cuman Mercenaries, as this reform replaces the original Imperial UT.

Only the ability to train the regular UU is shared.

Multiple Players Example

  • Player A (Britons) researches the reform first.

    • The team unlocks Longbowman.

  • Player B (Franks) researches the reform later.

    • Throwing Axeman doesn’t replace Longbowman.
    • The team keeps the same shared UU, Longbowman.

Why This System Exists

The purpose isn’t to create perfect civilizations by combining the strongest bonuses and technologies.

Every reform has a Price.

A player must decide:

Is gaining faster UU production and sharing a UU worth giving up the original Imperial UT?

Some civilizations may keep their original UT because it is an important part of their identity.

Others may choose a different development path.

The goal is to create more strategic choices while preserving civilization identity.

Discussion Questions

  1. Would you keep the original Imperial UT?
  2. Would you exchange it for faster UU production, even in a 1v1 game?
  3. Which allies could make the shared UU more valuable?

The interesting part isn’t finding the strongest option.

It is discovering which trade-offs create meaningful alternative strategies.

2

This concept is completely broken.

1 Like
3

Aoe2 is complicated enough to play imo.

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4

I believe many players have thought about this before—or even tried it in the Scenario Editor by giving civilizations Unique Units (UU) they normally don’t have.

Interestingly, the game data already contains many civilization and UU combinations that aren’t used in standard gameplay, and some are not even used in official campaigns. This suggests that the idea of mixing different UU combinations has existed in the game in some form for a long time.

That’s one of the reasons I find this design space interesting. The idea isn’t entirely new—it is more about exploring whether it could become a meaningful gameplay choice.

I actually agree that AoE2 is already complicated enough. That’s exactly why I think one of its biggest challenges today is that it is becoming less intuitive.

My point isn’t to make the game more complicated. It’s to explore different ways of adding strategic choices without relying on more and more civilization-specific rules.

Maybe. But AoE2’s design has never been completely fixed.

Over the years, we’ve seen major concepts like Cuman Mercenaries, First Crusade, and Flemish Revolution—mechanics that would have sounded completely broken before they were introduced.

With today’s frequent updates, the game’s design philosophy continues to evolve, and long-term stability is becoming harder to define.

I’m not suggesting that this should replace the current system. It’s simply a design concept that explores a different direction. Whether it’s good or bad depends on how it is balanced and implemented.

Ultimately, I hope people can return to the original question in the title:

:blue_circle: Would you trade your Imperial Unique Technology for access to a shared Unique Unit?

The interesting part is not only the mechanic itself, but also how we evaluate the value of UUs and UTs.