Civilizations: Age of Kings/The Conquerors | HD Edition | Definitive Edition | Return to Rome (AoE1)
Campaigns: Age of Kings/The Conquerors | HD Edition | Definitive Edition
Non-Unique Units
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Introduced in Definitive Edition (The Last Khans)
Common tropes
- Born in the Saddle: The four civilizations are focused on Cavalry, given their origins in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. They all have mounted unique units, and of the four, only the Lithuanians miss Parthian Tactics, and only the Bulgarians and Tatars miss Paladins. The Cumans and Tatars also receive a Steppe Lancer, which like a Kamayuk has 1 range, only on horseback.
Bulgarians
- Infantry and Cavalry Civilization.
Architecture: Eastern European
Militia line upgrades free (Champion not available).
Town Centers cost -50% stone starting in the Castle Age.
Blacksmith and Siege Workshop technologies cost -50% food.
Team Bonus: Blacksmiths work 80% faster.
Unique Unit: Konnik (heavy cavalry that turn into infantry when killed)
Unique Building: Krepost (smaller Castle that can train Konniks but not research technologies)
Castle Age Unique Tech: Stirrups (cavalry attack 33% faster)
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Bagains (Militia-line gains +5 melee armor)
Wonder: Round Church of Preslav
AI Player Names: Almish Yiltawar, Asparukh, Boris I Mikhail, Georgi Terter, Ghabdula Chelbir, Ivan Asen II, Ivaylo Bardokva, Khan Krum, Kotrag, Kubrat, Simeon the Great, Tervel, Tervel Khan, Theodore Svetoslav, Tsar Konstantin Tikh
The Bulgarians are an infantry and cavalry oriented civilization, great at rushing.
- A Commander Is You:
- Brute: The free infantry upgrades encourage an infantry rush in early Feudal, when early man-at-arms can put your opponent under heavy pressure. Later in Castle, the stone discount on Town Centers lets you put down up to four additional buildings without having to mine stone, which can lead to a powerful boom, while aggressive deployment of Kreposts can squeeze the other player even harder than towers would. Late-game, Bulgarians have an assortment of strong and straightforward units like Cavaliers, Elite Konniks and Siege Onagers.
- Unit Specialist: Infantry and Cavalry.
- Infantry: Their unique unit becomes Infantry upon being killed. Their Militia line is upgraded for free with each age, benefits from all the Infantry-based bonuses, and even get a bonus on their own via Bagains. Only the lack of the Champion upgrade sets them back.
- Cavalry: Their Unique Unit, the Konnik, is a mounted unit, and it can be created at their unique building, the Krepost. All their Cavalry benefits from all the Cavalry-related techs, and even have an unique tech that improves their attacks, Stirrups. Only the lack of the Paladin upgrade sets them back.
- Research: Their Militia line is upgraded for free, their Blacksmith works 80% faster and its techs cost -50% food.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Their bonuses on Infantry and Cavalry means they have a quite weak Archery (even with the discount Blacksmith tech bonus, they miss the last Armor upgrade and the Crossbowman and Arbalester upgrades), a poor navalry (they cannot train Fast Fire Ships, Elite Cannon Galleons nor Heavy Demo Ships, they also lack Shipwright and Dry Dock), and an average Temple (missing Atonement, Falth, Block Printing nor Sanctity). Finally, in spite of having access to Chemistry, they cannot train Hand Cannoneers nor Bombard Cannons, nor build Bombard Towers.
- Early-Bird Cameo: You fight the Bulgarians in the Honfoglalás scenario as the Magyar in The Forgotten, though in this case they're represented by Huns.
- Foil: To the Slavs, as they not only have very similar language in the game, but share the same advantages and weaknesses as well. Both are prominent in infantry, cavalry and siege weapons, and weak in archery lines and navy. However, the Bulgarians have better Cavalry Archers than the Slavs, while the Slavs have better foot archers than the Bulgarian.
- Necessary Drawback:
- For all the bonuses their Infantry and Cavalry get, they lack the final Militia and Knight upgrades, Champion and Paladin.
- They get a stone discount on Town Centers and an unique powerful tower that makes Konniks in addition to being able to build Castles on top of that. It comes at the cost of them not being able to build Bombard Towers nor Fortified Walls, nor research Arrowslits nor Treadmill Crane.
- Reduced Resource Cost: The upgrades for their Militia line are free, their Town Centers cost -50% stone, their Blacksmith and Siege Worskhop upgrades cost -50% food.
- You Are the Translated Foreign Word: Their unique building, Krepost, simply means fortress in Bulgarian.
Konnik
It is a cavalry that turns into a Dismounted Konnik, an infantry, when killed.- Epic Flail: Riders armed with a chain flail.
- Multiple Life Bars: If a Konnik's HP is depleted, it's not out of the game yet, as the rider will stand back up as an infantry unit to avenge his horse. The dismounted Konnik is weaker, but still strong enough to take out any anti-cavalry counters such as the Spearman-line units and Camels that would easily kill any normal mounted Konnik, due to its changed damage bonuses. If the player has researched Heresy and an enemy Monk converts a mounted Konnik, only the horse will die, unless the unit is converted again.
- Scissors Cuts Rock: The Konnik is a very special unique unit, as it has to be killed twice (first time mounted, second time dismounted). This quirk makes the unit not only durable, but also versatile, as they can mess with the possible counter-units the opponent may have. While the mounted version is weak against Camel Riders and the Spearman line, the dismounted version is not; and vice versa, the typical counters for infantry do not affect the mounted version. Any clever opponent must mix two types of counter-units against a mass of Konniks, with some exceptions.
- You Are the Translated Foreign Word: "Konnik" means "Horseman" in Bulgarian.
Cumans
- Cavalry Civilization
Architecture: Central Asian
Additional Town Center can be built in the Feudal Age.
Siege Workshop and Battering Ram available in the Feudal Age; Capped Ram upgrade available in Castle Age.
Cavalry 5% faster each age (starting in Feudal Age).
Archery Ranges, Stables cost -75 wood
Team Bonus: Palisade Walls +33% HP.
Unique Unit: Kipchak (multi-shot cavalry archer)
Castle Age Unique Tech: Steppe Husbandry (Light Cavalry, Cavalry Archers and Steppe Lancers trained 100% faster)
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Cuman Mercenaries (team members can create 5 free Elite Kipchaks per Castle).
Wonder: Sarkel
AI Player Names: Aepa, Alp Tarkhan, Altunopa, Boniak the Mangy, Bulan Khagan, Danylo Kobiakovych, Ildeya Khan, Konchak Otrakovich, Kotyan Khan, Kurya Khan, Otrok Khan, Sokal, Sutoi, Yurii Konchakovych
The Cumans are an aggressive, rush-oriented civilization that focuses on their mobile cavalry, but also have a potential in team games, due to their unique technologies. Due to their unconventional way to set up their economy in the early game with the secondary Town Center and their offensive options with rams, this civilization is better suited for expert players than beginners or less experienced ones.
- Balance Buff: In Dynasties of India, the Cuman Mercenaries technology has been reworked and now enables 5 free Elite Kipchaks per allied Castle (existing and future), instead of just 10 Elite Kipchaks once. The Mercenary Kipchaks also no longer require the Imperial Age to become available for allies, and their train time is now 12 seconds. This change is highly significant, since it means that the players on the team can perpetually create more Mercenary Elite Kipchaks as long as they can build more Castles. Now, this technology is much more useful outside team games, as there are some situations in which a Cuman player may have a good number of Castles from which they can spam 5 free Elite Kipchaks, each resulting in a higher number of free Kipchaks than in previous patches. This change also greatly affects team games, especially if the allies have bonuses for Cavalry Archers.
- A Commander Is You: Technical/Gimmick. Perhaps more than any other civilization, Cumans flip the game's rulebook on its head, with a second Town Center and Siege Workshops available in Feudal Age, the Capped Ram upgrade in Castle Age, and the fast-moving, rapid fire Kipchak. There's no end to the number of clever tricks a creative player can execute, from the Cuman douche, to a 2-Town Center Feudal Age boom, to a surprise ram push, or even more conventional cavalry and infantry rushes, since Cumans have a full infantry tech tree as well as strong cavalry and siege.
- Composite Character: While the base civilization is meant to represent the Cuman-Kipchak Confederacy, their wonder and several of their AI personalities are derived from the Khazar Khagnate, an earlier Turkic confederation that inhabited the same geographic region and was best known for converting to Judaism.
- Cool Mask: Their in-game coat of arms is represented by a face mask with a long moustache.
- Does Not Like Guns: They have no gunpowder units at at all according to their tech tree. Then again, in history the Cuman-Kipchak Confederacy was wiped out by the Mongols at a time before gunpowder became widespread, and thus did not really have the time to adopt the technology.
- Fragile Speedster: Their cavalry puts more emphasis on mobility, yet their defenses are lacking. More emphasis with their cavalry archers where they do not have the Bracer upgrade, meaning their cavalry archers needs to attack in a closer range to deal collateral damage.
- Glass Cannon: They are the 2nd civilization that does not have access to Stone Wall and don't have access to any Tower upgrades (the first being Goths). Instead, they are more focused on being offensive and more reliant on Palisade Walls. Unlike the Goths, however, they have various Feudal Age bonuses that encourage offensive play as well as an early game economic bonus of building an extra Town Center.
- Lightning Bruiser: Their Knights are the fastest in the game, on top of being able to upgrade to Paladins and getting the full set of Blacksmith technologies.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: The Cumans can build one additional Town Center and a Siege Workshop in the Feudal Age with the ability to build Battering Rams. This encourages strong rushing and aggressive strategies for the Cumans.
- Morton's Fork: The Cumans Town Center "douche" strategy puts their opponent into this situation, as it's often followed with a forward Siege Workshop to threaten the opponent's Town Center with a forward second Town Center, putting the opponent this situation: risk having their own Town Center destroyed by the Cuman's Town Center backed with Battering Rams, or ungarrison the villagers to deal with the Battering Rams, only to die by the Cuman's Town Center arrow fire. Regardless of the situation, the opponent will lose their Town Center anyways.
- Necessary Drawback:
- To offset the high mobility of the Cumans' cavalry, they do not have access to the Bracer upgrade for their cavalry archers, and they are the only civ to get Camel Riders but not the Heavy Camel upgrade, likely because the extra speed would make them far too good at chasing enemy cavalry.
- While they can build an additional Town Center in Feudal Age, its construction time is increased from the usual 225 to 270 seconds (an 80% increase in time).
- Reduced Resource Cost: Their Archery Ranges and Stables cost only 75 wood instead of 175.
- Zerg Rush: The Cumans are basically a cavalry version of the Goths since their Steppe Husbandry allows their cavalry archers and light cavalry trained significantly faster.
Kipchak
It is a mounted archer that fires multiple arrows in rapid succession.- Multishot: Their gimmick is to fire three arrows per attack. Unlike the Chu Ko Nu, which fires arrows in quick succession, the Kipchak fires three all at once, which does have the drawback of poor accuracy.
- Private Military Contractors: Their availability to other civilizations with Cuman Mercenaries by the fact that Cumans and Kipchaks were often recruited by nearby sedentary states, Georgian monarchs from the 12th to the 13th centuries recruited thousands of Kipchak/Cuman mercenaries against neighbouring Muslim states such as the Seljuks. Many Cumans who fled to Hungary after the Mongol invasion became mercenaries for Latin Crusaders and Byzantines. The Mongols also sold many captured Kipchaks to the Islamic world where they served as Mamluks, and eventually seized Egypt to form their own dynasty.
- Rain of Arrows: They have no frame delay on their arrow fire, leading to this when massed.
Lithuanians
- Cavalry and Monk Civilization
Architecture: Eastern European
Each Town Center providing 100 food.
Spearman-line and Skirmishers move 10% faster.
Each garrisoned relic gives +1 attack to Knights and Leitis (max +4)
Team Bonus: Monasteries work 20% faster.
Unique Unit: Leitis (cavalry with an attack that ignores armor), Winged Hussars (Dawn of Dukes, Shared with Poles)
Castle Age Unique Tech: Hill Forts (Town Centers +3 range)
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Tower Shields (Spearman-line and Skirmishers +2P armor)
Wonder: Trakai Island Castle
AI Player Names: Algirdas, Gediminas, Jaunutis, Jogaila, Kestutis, Mindaugas, Netimeras, Svitrigaila, Traidenis, Treniota, Vytautas the Great, Vytenis, Zebedenas, Zvelgaitis
The Lithuanians are a Cavalry and Monk oriented civilization. Despite their cavalry and monk classification, the Lithuanians have a reasonably diverse tech tree and are able to field a varied army, but puts more emphasis on their late-game units such as their Paladins and their unique unit (which is further emphasized with their Relic bonus giving their cavalry units bonus attack), make them a good choice for both beginner and expert players.
- Artistic License – History: Historically, the Lithuanian cavalry mostly consisted of light cavalry. However, the access to the Paladin upgrade reflects their alliance with the Poles, who utilized heavy cavalry during medieval times.
- A Commander Is You: Generalist/Elitist. Their tech tree is better balanced than the other Last Khans civilizations, but they only truly excel with expensive cavalry and monks. Their early food bonus also gives them a strong head start that can bolster any number of different strategies.
- Jack of All Trades: The main appeal to the Lithuanian is their diverse and versatile tech tree, having nearly all important upgrades in all areas except for their foot archer (missing the Arbalest upgrade), and their below average siege line despite having access to the Bombard Cannon.
- National Weapon: Historically, the spear is the most common weapon used by Lithuanian armies, which is also manifested in their Tower Shields unique tech and their civilization bonus of Skirmisher and Spearman-line units moving 10% faster.
- Necessary Drawback: To offset the potential high attack that Knights and Leičiai get with relics, Lithuanians lack access to the Blast Furnace technology, which means while Lithuanian Knights can potentially get really high attack in Castle Age with all 4 relics, in Imperial Age their paladins now only get just +2 attack over generic ones.
- Nerf: In update 34055, the maximum attack gained from each garrisoned Relic was reduced from +5 to +4. This is because with all upgrades, Lithuanian Paladins could reach 23 attack (one less attack than the Elite War Elephant), not only being the best Paladins by far, but also able to kill Halberdiers and Arbalesters in one less hit than usual, and also winning against Heavy Camel Riders. This made Lithuanian Paladins too well-rounded and perhaps the most effective unit in the game, and putting Lithuanians in a problematic spot for team games because other players normally give all found Relics to the Lithuanian player, thus giving to the team a massive advantage, and making the Leitis overall looking like a downgrade to the Knight line.
- Religious Bruiser: The civilization has access to all Monk upgrades as well as fully upgradable Paladins and Cavalry Archers. Not only that, their cavalry units also get stronger based on how many relics captured.
- The Un-Favorite: Except for standing in for the Poles in the last mission of the Ivaylo campaignnote (aside from the Gaia units in Genghis Khan 5 being replaced by Leitis), the Lithuanians were almost completely unrepresented in the game's campaign mode for almost two years after their addition, not even getting a Historical Battle like the other campaign-less civilizations. This was finally rectified with the Eastern Europe-focused Dawn of the Dukes expansion pack, which included the Algirdas and Kestutis campaign, and one level of the Poles' Jadwiga campaign is also played as the Lithuanians.
Leitis
It is a heavy cavalry unit whose attack is unaffected by armor, but only against units.- Armor-Piercing Attack: Their attacks ignore armor, making them a good counter to heavily armored units such as Boyars and Teutonic Knights.
- Jousting Lance: They are armed with large spears, which is probably meant to explain their armor-piercing attack, as there's little that a charging lancer on a horse cannot run through.
- Necessary Drawback: Downplayed. The potential high attack they get with relics is somewhat hampered by the Lithuanians lacking access to Blast Furnace. However, they only need two relics to deal 20 attack.
- Shields Are Useless: Despite Leiciai wielding a tower shield, they are not affected by the Tower Shields technology.
Tatars
- Cavalry Archer Civilization
Architecture: Central Asian
Villagers gather +50% food from herdables.
Newly constructed Town Centers spawn two sheep starting in the Castle Age[[/note]]
Units deal +25% hill damage (on top of regular hill bonus).
Thumb Ring, Parthian Tactics free.
Team Bonus: Cavalry archers +2 line of sight.
Unique Units: Keshik (cavalry that generates gold while attacking), Flaming Camel (suicide unit with bonus vs. cavalry, elephants, buildings and siege weapons)
Castle Age Unique Tech: Silk Armor (Light Cavalry, Steppe Lancers and Cavalry archers receive +1/+1P armor)
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Timurid Siegecraft (Trebuchets +2 range, enables Flaming Camels)
Wonder: Ulugh Beg Observatory
AI Player Names: Bilge Kul Qadir-Khan, Emir Edigu, Harun Bughra Khan, Jahan Shah, Muhan Qaghan, Oz Beg Khan, Qara Osman, Qara Yusuf, Tamerlane, Timur Qutlugh, Tong Yabghu Qaghan, Urus Khan, Uzun Hassan, Yabgu Shahmalik
The Tatars are a cavalry-oriented civilization that focus on cavalry archers, but also have late-game potential with upgraded Trebuchets. Due to the nature of their bonuses on predetermined maps, this civilization is more suitable for players with more experience at micromanaging ranged units.
- Achilles' Heel: The Tatars have the worst resistance against conversion, as they are the only civilization lacking both Heresy and Faith.
- Artistic License – Geography: The Tatars' average navy is geographically inaccurate, as most Turkic tribes rarely battle on the water. Additionaly, the in-game Tatars are represented by the Tirmurid Empire, the predecessor to Uzbekistan, a double-landlocked country in Central Asia.
- Artistic License – History: The Tatars are the only "nomadic steppe civilization" as well as the only Central Asian one to have access to Hand Cannoneers, even though is not really historically accurate. The possible reason behind it is because most of the steppe people of Central Asia had access to the Silk Road, so when the Mongols took control of it, they spread some gunpowder weapons through the region, although at a small scale; Another reason could be because of the Timurid armies, which used firearms in small quantities. In addition, the Timurids were predecessors of the Mughal Empire, one of the "gunpowder empires" (this could also explain their access to Bombard Towers).
- A Commander Is You: Ranger/Unit Specialist. Their infantry line is arguably the weakest in the game, missing two key armor upgrades, and they also can't produce Arbalests, so cavalry and cavalry archers are their only real options for making an army.
- Foil: To the Cumans, who share the same architecture and overall style: while the Cumans have an atrocious defense compensated by features which ease early rush and battering rams as soon as the Feudal Age, Tatars train more resistant units and their UT benefits Trebuchets, meant for late-game sieges.
- Geo Effects: The Tatars' bonus increasing their elevation bonus damage on top of the normal elevation bonus damage allow them to have an advantage when fighting on hills, especially with Castles, Archers, and Cavalry Archers.
- Reduced Resource Cost: They get Thumb Ring and Parthian Tactics for free.
- Suicide Attack: Since update 36202, the Tatars are the only civilization with access to 3 different suicide units: the Petard, Demolition Ship, and Flaming Camel.
Keshik
A cavalry unit which slowly generates gold while attacking enemy units.- Jousting Lance: They are equipped with spears, just like the Steppe Lancers, though not as long.
- Loot-Making Attack: Keshiks can generate gold as they attack enemies and buildings, with the Tamerlane campaign making clear that their reputation was earned.
- Rate-Limited Perpetual Resource: The Keshik generates gold while attacking enemy units (something that will not stop happening until the Tatar player wins or loses), which can help sustain the gold economy when gold mines run out.
Flaming Camel
It is a mounted Petard that can be trained at the Castle in the Imperial Age once Timurid Siegecraft is researched.- Anti-Cavalry: The Flaming Camel is a fast moving anti-cavalry unit that deals high damage in one blow, a powerful weapon against civilizations that rely heavily on cavalry units and elephant units, putting civilizations heavily reliant on cavalry at a disadvantage against Tatars.
- Ascended Extra: When Definitive Edition was initially released, Flaming Camels were a scenario editor unit that made an appearance at the start of Sultan of Hindustan to demonstrate Tamerlane's method of dealing with war elephants. Update 36202 made them trainable from the Castle, unlocked by the Timurid Siegecraft unique tech.
- Expy: Flaming Camels works in a similar way to Petards, but are faster, have more hit points, and an attack bonus vs cavalry and elephants instead of vs structures, but are more expensive to train.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: When these camels explode, they damage everything around them.
- Suicide Attack: Suicide units with bonus attack against cavalry and elephants rather than buildings and ships. At its full potential, a single camel can take a significant chunk of a fully upgraded Paladin's hit points, but the effects are more pronounced on Elephants, who can take damage equal to a third of their hit points.
Introduced in Lords of the West
Burgundians
- Cavalry Civilization
Architecture: Western European.
Economic upgrades available one age earlier and cost -33% food.
Stable technologies cost -50%.
Cavalier upgrade available in Castle Age.
Gunpowder units +25% attack.
Team Bonus: Relics generate both Gold & Food.
Unique Units: Coustiller (cavalry that charge their attack), Flemish Militia (Heavy infantry with bonus vs. cavalry)
Castle Age Unique Tech: Burgundian Vineyards (Farmers slowly generate gold in addition to food)note
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Flemish Revolution (Upgrades all existing Villagers to Flemish Militia, create Flemish Militia at Barracksnote ).
Wonder: Hôtel de ville of Brussels
AI Player Names: Charles the Bold, Eudes the Red, Gundaharius, Gundobad, Gundomar, Gunderic, John the Fearless, Odo IV of Burgundy, Philip the Bold, Philip the Good, Richard the Justiciar, Robert II of Burgundy, Robert the Old
The Burgundians are a cavalry civilization that rely primarily on heavy cavalry and gunpowder units for combat, and good timing for their economy, since they can research economic technologies one age earlier. Compared to other civilizations they are difficult to learn: being both mechanically complex and micro-intensive.
- Balance Buff: In update 47820, the Burgundians have their economic technologies cost 50% less food. While the Burgundians are still vulnerable to Dark and Feudal Age rushes, the food discount makes it significantly easier for the Burgundians to boom and hit their powerspikes earlier than their opponent. In addition, the Burgundian Vineyard unique technology now only converts half of the food stockpile into gold instead of their entire food stockpile, and farmers generate even more gold from Farms. Their team bonus has also been buffed where the food generation is equal to that of Relic gold generation, making them more viable in team games.
- Call-Back: Their Flemish Revolution technology, which turns all Villagers into military units, works similar to the Revolutions from Age of Empires III and Tyr's Ragnarok God Power from Age of Mythology.
- A Commander Is You: Brute/Spammer/Economist. Their playstyle can be seen as a more aggressive version of the Franks (which makes sense historically as Burgundy became part of France), given their emphasis on cavalry. Their economic bonuses allow them to more easily spam out cavalry armies, and their unique techs allow them to instantly bolster their offensive through either giving them surplus gold or by spawning an army of infantry.
- Discard and Draw: Rearching Flemish Revolution converts all of your villagers into Flemish Militia. Your resource income will stop (except relics, trading and fishing ships), but you now gain a massive army of stronger Halberdiers.
- Foil: To the Franks:
- Comparing their Knight units, they can research Cavalier earlier and have a reduced cost, but they also lack Bloodlines. As a result, their Knights deal more damage than other Knights but lack durability compared to the Frankish Knights and their increased hitpoints.
- Comparing their Paladin units, the Franks are much more durable thanks to their increased hitpoints, and are also more numerous thanks to Chivalry, which lowers their training time. The Burgundians, on the other hand, are able to train them faster and at a stable pace thanks to their reduced cost and the Burgundian Vineyards tech, which also generates gold.
- Comparing their respective campaigns, which take place at almost the same time, the Franks' "Joan of Arc" campaign is told from the point of view of one of Joan's allies, and is a morally unambiguous affair about a young girl protecting her homeland from the English and treacherous Burgundians. The Burgundians' "Grand Dukes of the West" campaign, on the other hand, depicts the Hundred Years War as a conflict between competing factions, all of which are willing to use idealists like Joan as Unwitting Pawns.
- Instant Militia: The Flemish Revolution unique technology turns all existing villagers into Flemish Militia, and unlocks the ability to create more Flemish Militia at your Barracks.
- Lightning Bruiser: Their entire playstyle is geared towards maintaining a constant yet sustainable offense. Their economic upgrades are available one age earlier, cheaper stable techs and access to Cavalier an age earlier, allowing them to maintain their offensive throughout the game. Their unique technologies allow them to instantly switch their food supply for gold as well as convert all their villagers into heavy infantry for a last-ditch offense.
- Necessary Drawback: To balance out the Burgundians getting cheaper stable techs, and the fact they get the Cavalier upgrade in the Castle Age, they don't get Bloodlines. This means with all Castle Age blacksmith upgrades, the Cavalier will have the same stats as a fully-upgraded Knight, only with two more attack.
- Promoted to Playable: The Burgundians appeared in prior campaigns, especially the Joan of Arc campaign, as an enemy faction. The Lords of the West expansion made them playable and also retroactively changed the Burgundians in those campaigns as Burgundians instead of the Franks.
- Reduced Resource Cost: Their economic upgrades, in addition to being available an Age earlier, cost -33% food, and their Stables techs are 50% cheaper.
- Zerg Rush: The Flemish Revolution unique tech allows them to turn all of their villages into Flemish Militia. Given how by the time a player reaches the Imperial Age they have a lot of villagers, this will result in a very large army.
Coustillier
A medium cavalry unit that "charges" its attack over a period of time, dealing increased damage on its first attack against an enemy unit.- Armor-Piercing Attack: The bonus damage from their charge attack is unaffected by armor.
- Artistic License – History: The in-game Coustillier model wields a voulge, like French coustilliers in general. Burgundian coustilliers generally wielded spears instead.
- Charged Attack: The Coustillier charges its attack over a period of time. When the charge is at maximum, the Coustilier deals massive damage on one special attack, before switching to its standard attack. While the Knight deals damage more consistently, the Coustilier deals a large amount of damage upfront, but is weaker in a sustained fight due to its inferior standard attack and attack rate.
- Jousting Lance: In an unusual variation, they are armed with a bardiche-like glaive rather than a lance, and they also carry said glaives resting across their shoulder even when moving, attacking with broad swipes and slashes rather than with thrusting motions.
- Hit-and-Run Tactics: Coustilliers are inferior to the Knight line in a sustained fight and instead should be used to hit-and-run, maximising the usage of their charged attack, though micromanagement is important.
- Non-Indicative Name: The word coustillier derives from coustille, a type of short sword. Coustilliers themselves are armed with pretty long glaives.
Flemish Militia
It is an infantry unit somewhere in between the Halberdier and the Champion.- Anti-Cavalry: The line gets +8 bonus attack against cavalry units and +6 bonus attack against camel units.
- Carry a Big Stick: The unit is armed with a goedendag, a weapon used by the Flemish army from the 12th century until the late 14th century.
- Purely Aesthetic Gender: Like Villagers, Flemish Militia can be male or female, but the difference is purely aesthetic.
Sicilians
- Infantry and Cavalry Civilization
Architecture: Mediterranean.
Start with +100 stone.
Castle build 50%, Town Centers build 100% faster.
Land military units (except Siege) receive 33% less bonus damage.
Farm upgrades provide +125% additional food.
Team Bonus: Transport Ships gain 5 line of sight and cost 50% less.
Unique Units: Serjeant (Infantry that can construct Donjons)
Unique Building: Donjon (Unique fortification used to train Serjeants and Spearman-linenote . Units can garrison in the building for protection; Archers and Villagers shoot additional projectiles when garrisoned.)
Castle Age Unique Tech: First Crusade (Each Town Center (maximum 5) spawns one-time batch of 7 Serjeants and improves all Sicilian units’ resistance to conversion).
Imperial Age Unique Tech (before DOI): Scutage (Each team member receives a one-time payment of 15 gold based on the size of their own military).
Imperial Age Unique Tech (DOI onwards): Hauberk (Knights +1/+2 armor).
Wonder: Monreale Cathedral
AI Player Names: Bohemond of Taranto, Drogo de Hauteville, Frederick Roger II, Gilbert Buatère, Rainulf Drengot, Richard Drengot, Robert Guiscard, Roger Bosso, Roussel de Bailleul, Sikelgaita, Tancred of Hauteville, William II of Apulia, William Iron Arm
The Sicilians are defined as an infantry and cavalry civilization. However, their true strength comes from their ability to quickly build up, be it using Serjeants to build their signature Donjons, or their ability to build Town Centers and Castles twice as quickly. Due to the mechanically complex nature of the civilization, it is designed for more experienced players.
- Anachronism Stew: Despite representing mostly the Normans who founded the Kingdom of Sicily, their units speak modern Sicilian dialect. Ironic, given that the Italians in the same game speak Latin.
- Balance Buff: After Dynasties of India update 61321, the Donjon now serves as a prerequisite to the Stable and Archery Range and can train Spearman line. This allows more versatility for their Donjon rush in open maps and allow the Sicilians to smoothly transition to a Scout or Archer rush without needing to build a Barracks.
- A Commander Is You: Defensive/Spammer. In lieu of towers, they have Donjons that Serjeants can construct, and the faster Castle/Town Center encourages this approach. The Spammer comes into play with First Crusade spawning potentially several Serjeants.
- Composite Character: While representing the Southern Italian factions, they also stood in for the Norman opponents in the Edward Longshanks and Bari campaigns (which makes sense as the civilization represents Norman Sicily and the Italo-Normans).
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: The conversion resistance bonus from First Crusade is considered to be historically inaccurate, as the Sicilians were religiously tolerant and secular, but this effect was added for gameplay balance purposes since the Sicilian's Siege Onagers would be vulnerable to conversion due to the lack of Heresy.
- Mechanically Unusual Class: Donjons replace the tower line, meaning that the Sicilians are the only civilization unable to build standard towers- Furthermore, Donjons can build Serjeants in the feudal age, making it the only unique unit available so early in the game, and those Serjeants can also construct Donjons, making them the only non villager unit able to constuct buildings.
- Reduced Resource Cost: Their Transport Ships cost 50% less as a team bonus.
- Scissors Cuts Rock: Downplayed. While their land military units receive less bonus damage and thus can survive bad matchups, it is recommended not to throw Knights at Spearman unless they have the numbers to overcome those weaknesses. It does, however, make their trash units survive more matchups.
- Stone Wall: Their Town Centers are constructed at twice the normal rate, their land units are more durable, and they have a unique defensive building that can be built by their own unique unit, which have equally high melee and pierce armor when fully upgraded.
- We Need a Distraction: Prior to patch 51737, one use of the Transport ships is throwing them in a fight to distract enemy warships while your's is firing at them attacking a meatshield with 10 armor against anti-ship attacks. If one of your allies is Saracens, they have transport ship with 200 HP so they can absorb much more than Sicilian transport ships.
Serjeant
It is an infantry unit which can construct (and repair) the Donjon, a defensive building similar to the Krepost, and notably has high armor, especially in the Castle Age.- Bling of War: Serjeants wear golden masks over their mail coats.
- Call-Back: The Serjeant's ability to build Donjons is similar to the building ability of Norse infantry units in Age of Mythology and Age of Empires Online and several infantry units in Age of Empires III such as Janissaries, Sepoys, Strelets, Rekruts, Poruchiks, Hospitallers, and Sentinels.
- The Engineer: They can build Donjons, but can fight if needed.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: They carry a large kite shield that gives them respectable pierce and melee armor for infantry units. On the downside, they have less attack than the average infantryman.
- Zerg Rush: Because Donjons can be built in Feudal Age, Sicilian players can start pumping out their unique Serjeant units from them earlier than when other civ unique units are built. As a result, there's a certain fast Castle Age build-order that allows for Sicilians to rush down the opponent with an army of Castle Age Serjeants that the player can start building up in Feudal Age.
Introduced in Dawn of the Dukes
Bohemians
- Gunpowder and Monk Civilization
Architecture: Eastern European.
Blacksmiths and Universities cost -100 wood.
Chemistry and Hand Cannoneer available in Castle Age.
Spearman-line deals +25% bonus damage.
Fervor and Sanctity affect Villagers.
Mining Camp technologies free.
Team Bonus: Markets work 80% faster.
Unique Units: Hussite Wagon (powerful gunpowder siege weapon), Houfnice (upgrade for the Bombard Cannon)
Castle Age Unique Tech: Wagenburg Tactics (Gunpowder units move 15% faster)
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Hussite Reforms (Monks and Monastery upgrades have their gold cost replaced by food)
Wonder: Powder Tower of Prague
AI Player Names: Boleslaus the Cruel, Bretislaus I, Emperor Karel IV, Emperor Sigismund, Jan Hus, Jan Zizka, John the Blind, Ladislaus Postumus, Ottokar I, Premysl Ottokar II, Svatopluk I, Vratislaus II, Wenceslaus the Good, Wenceslaus the One-Eyed
NOTE: For the Houfnice unique upgrade, check this page.
The Bohemians are a civilization that focuses on gunpowder units and Monks. Their unique unit, the Hussite Wagon, is a siege weapon that has the ability to absorb incoming projectile damage for their backline units. Due to the unique ability of the Hussite Wagon, the Bohemians are designed for experienced players who can properly micromanage and position their units.
- Artistic License – History: The Bohemians use the Eastern European architecture set, whose monastery is based on an Eastern Orthodox church, despite the Bohemians being largely Catholic.
- A Commander Is You: Balanced/Ranger/Unit Specialist (Gunpowder). Balanced because their bonuses affect their expensive gunpowder units, but at the same time have stronger Villagers and Spearmen, as well as Monks that only cost food. Their reliance on gunpowder units and a strong Archery Range (in spite of missing the Cavalry Archer line altogether) puts them within the Ranger subtype.
- Foil: Interestingly enough, they are one to the Spanish. Both are gunpowder and monk civilizations with bonuses towards their villagers, yet while the Spanish focus on non-siege gunpowder units like the Conquistador, both of the Bohemians' unique units are gunpowder siege units. The Spanish have a strong cavalry contingent, while the Bohemians have a stronger Archer and Spearman line instead to offset their weak cavalry. Spanish Monks are expensive but more effective, while Bohemian Monks can be made with food.
- Promoted to Playable: Previously appeared in the Barbarossa and Genghis Khan campaigns, represented by the Teutons in the original game, and Slavs in the initial release of Definitive Edition.
- Reduced Resource Cost: Their Blacksmiths and Universities cost -100 wood, their Mining Camp techs are free.
Hussite Wagon
It is a gunpowder siege unit with high hit points and pierce armor, and the ability to protect units behind them by halving the damage dealt by enemy projectiles passing through the Hussite Wagon.- Artistic License – History: While Hussite Wagons in-game behave like tanks, moving and shooting, their historical use was more akin to a rapidly deployable fortification that could be packed and unpacked between battles. Hussite forces were mostly made of untrained peasants who used crossbows and early firearms (which were relatively easy to use by people without training). They used converted wagons to make fortifications for their guns and crossbows, and keep the safe from charges. These didn't roam the battlefield shooting all around them.
- Lightning Bruiser: Surprisingly fast (especially with their unique tech) and fairly durable, with high resistance to pierce damage in particular. Their damage output, however, is rather low.
- Informed Flaw: The tooltip insists that Hussite Wagons are "weak to siege". It is true that they take decent damage from siege, but are, (especially when Wagenburg Tactics is researched), much faster than any siege unit in the game and easily capable of staying out of range or dodging incoming fire
. - Take Cover!: A Bohemian player's units, if targeted by a projectile attack, gain a 50% damage reduction against said attack if the projectile passes through a Hussite Wagon before hitting the target. This also results in the wagon taking the other half of the damage from the projectile.
- Tank Goodness: They are basically medieval equivalents or forerunners to the modern-day tank.
Poles
- Cavalry Civilization
Architecture: Eastern European.
Villagers regenerate 10 HP per minute in Feudal, 15 in Castle, 20 in Imperial Agenote .
Stone Miners generate gold in addition to stone.
Team Bonus: Scout Cavalry, Light Cavalry, Hussar +1 attack vs. Archers.
Unique Units: Obuch (infantry dealing armor-piercing damage), Winged Hussar (Light Cavalry upgrade, shared with Lithuanians).
Unique Building: Folwark (economic building that replaces the Mill, is larger but instantly gathers 8%note of the food of any adjacent newly built farm)
Castle Age Unique Tech: Szlachta Privileges (Knights cost -60% gold)
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Lechitich Legacy (Light cavalry deals trample damage)
Wonder: Wawel Cathedral
AI Player Names: Boleslaw III Wrymouth, Boleslaw the Brave, Duke Henryk the Pious, Jadwiga, Jan I Olbracht, Kazimierz III the Great, Kazimierz IV Jagiellon, Kazimierz the Restorer, Mieszko I, Sieciech, Wladyslaw II Jagiello, Zawisza the Black, Kbigniew Olesnicki, Zygmunt I Stary
NOTE: For the Winged Hussar upgrade, check this page.
The Poles are a civilization that focuses on cavalry. Despite their cavalry focus, the Poles are a "jack of all trades" civilization with access to a large variety of units with a strong economic building, the Folwark. Due to the high strategic planning of the utilization of the Folwark, the civilization is designed for more experienced players than for beginners.
- Artistic License – History: Like the Bohemians above, the Polish monastery is an Eastern Orthodox church, despite the Poles being largely Catholic.
- A Commander Is You: Economist/Spammer/Unit Specialist (Cavalry). They can manufacture cheaper cavalry and have stronger Winged Hussars, while their unique unit is relatively inexpensive and can weaken enemy armor. On the other hand, most of their other bonuses are geared towards the economic (regenerating Villagers, Stone Miners generating gold, Folwark gathering food upfront) and they lack several late-game technologies such as the final armor upgrades for their archers and cavalry.
- Promoted to Playable: Previously appeared in the Barbarossa, Genghis Khan, and Ivaylo campaigns, represented by the Goths in the original game, and Lithuanians and Slavs in the initial release of Definitive Edition.
- Reduced Resource Cost: Their Castle Age unique tech Szlachta Privileges reduces the gold cost of the Knight line by -60%.
- Zerg Rush: The Poles can pull this off with Knights after researching their Castle Age tech Szlachta Privileges, which cuts down the Knight line's gold cost from 75 to 30, and the Poles don't lack for gold thanks to their ability to mine it from stone, alongside their farming efficiency from their unique building. However as a Necessary Drawback, their tech tree lacks the Paladin upgrade and Plate Barding Armor.
Obuch
It is an infantry unit which reduces the armor of enemy units (but not buildings) they are attacking.- Anti-Armor: The Obuch's hammer, which tears away 1 point of armor per hit, is useful to weaken units with heavy melee armor, such as Teutonic Knights and Boyars.
- Damage-Increasing Debuff: Their hammer removes 1 point each of the target's melee and pierce armor every time it hits, and will continue doing so until the target is completely stripped of all armor. This debuff lasts until the debuffed target is healed or repaired to full health.
- Necessary Drawback: The armor reduction ability is offset by its lower attack. The Obuch, even in its Elite form, however, has less attack than a Two-Handed Swordsman and less Line of Sight.
- Shown Their Work: Their hammer is correctly depicted with a long handle, narrow head and massive pick-like spike in the back.
Introduced in Dynasties of India
For the Hindustanis, check the HD Edition civilizations.
Common tropes
- Necessary Drawback: Access to Elephant Archers, Battle Elephants and Armored/Siege Elephants means that all four Indian civs are now lacking, respectively, Horse Archers, Knights and Rams. Gurjaras and Hindustanis also have better Camel lines too.
- War Elephants: Each of these civilizations has access to various forms of Elephant units. The Bengalis and Dravidians have Battle Elephants (though the Dravidians cannot upgrade them to Elite), and along with the Gurjaras may field Elephant Archers, and every Indian civilization including the Hindustanis uses the Armored Elephant line.
Bengalis
- Elephant and Naval Civilization
Architecture: Indian.
Elephant units receive 33% less bonus damage and are more resistant to conversion.
Town Centers spawn 2 Villagers when the next Age is reached.
Ships regenerate 15 HP per minute.
Monks receive +3/+3P armor.
Melee Cavalry gain +2 bonus damage vs skirmishers.
Team Bonus: Trade units yield 10% food in addition to gold.
Unique Units: Ratha (chariot with melee and ranged attacks)
Castle Age Unique Tech: Paiks (Rathas and elephant units attack 20% faster)
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Mahayana (Villagers and Monk take up 10% less population spacenote ).
Wonder: Somapura Mahavihara
AI Player Names: Alauddin Husain Shah, Devapala, Dharmapala, Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah, Gopala, Harjjaravarman, Ilyas Shah, Lakshmana Sena, Mahipala, Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah, Rajyapala, Ramapala, Samanta Sena, Shashanka
The Bengalis are an Elephant and Naval civilization. As such, they not only have the most formidable Elephant units, but great buffs as well. Despite having access to a mechanically complex unique unit, they have very straightforward economic and naval bonuses. This makes them a good civilization for booming strategies and water maps for newer and experienced players alike.
- A Commander Is You: Economist/Elitist. Economist due to their bonus of getting extra villagers upon reaching a new age, as well as a unique technology that makes said villagers take up less population space. Elitist due to their powerful unit roster that nonetheless requires a significant economic overhead due to high production and upgrade costs with a heavier emphasis on War Elephants.
- Reduced Resource Cost: Their Imperial Age tech Mahayanas makes Villagers and Monks take -10% of population space.
- Regenerating Health: Their ships slowly regenerate hit points, giving Bengalis an extra layer of protection for their Fishing Ship from civilizations that excel in water-related rushes (e.g. Vikings, Japanese, Dravidians) and gives them an advantage over civilizations with a lackluster navy (e.g. Huns, Tatars, and Cumans).
Ratha
A sturdy cavalry archer that can switch to melee attack and back.- Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: In skirmish mode, you can charge this unit, a Bronze Age relic, against field artillery.
- Cool Sword: When in melee, they use a traditional khanda sword, a straight chopping blade with a massive handguard.
- Dual Mode Unit: The Ratha is armed with both a sword and bow and arrows, and can switch between them with a button.
- Necessary Drawback: To compensate for the Ratha being able to fill the role of both the Knight and the Cavalry Archer, a Bengali player must be willing to invest a massive amount of resources on its upgrades, as it benefits from both melee cavalry and ranged cavalry upgrades that must be researched separately. They also take bonus damage from Skirmishers even in melee mode, which led to their melee cavalry receiving an attack bonus against them in Update 81058 to compensate.
Dravidians
- Infantry and Naval Civilization
Architecture: Indian.
Receive +200 wood when advancing to the next Age.
Fishermen and Fishing Ships carry +15.
Barracks technologies cost -50%.
Skirmishers and Elephant Archers attack 25% faster.
Siege weapons cost -33% wood
Team Bonus: Docks provide +5 population room.
Unique Units: Urumi Swordsman (infantry that can charge its attack), Thirisadai (heavy warship that fires multiple projectiles)
Castle Age Unique Tech: Medical Corps (Elephant units regenerate 30 HP per minute)
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Wootz Steel (Infantry and cavalry ignore melee armor)
Wonder: Brihadeeswarar Temple
AI Player Names: Amoghavarsha, Govinda III, Harihara I, Jayasimha, Kadungon, Krishna Devaraya, Kulothunga, Maravarman I, Rajaraja Chola, Rajendra Chola, Srimara Srivallabha, Vijayalaya, Vikramaditya I, Vijayabahu
The Dravidians are classified as an infantry and navy civilization, and have fully upgraded infantry and Dock, with Barracks technologies at half price, while both unique units are in their main strength part.
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Wootz Steel is a type of steel alloy originating in Southern India which was widely exported, earning wide renown particularly in the Middle East where it became recognized for its ability to cut through armor. Here, that's represented by its ability to ignore melee armor.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: Their Imperial Age unique tech allows their infantry and cavalry units to ignore melee armor. However, their cavalry dethrones the Malays as the worst in the game, being limited to just Light Cavalry and Battle Elephants, and lacking Plate Barding Armor and both Stable technologies.
- Artistic License – History: Historically, the Dravidians, especially the Tamils, had one of the most powerful Elephant armies. Also, the Chola Empire had many elephant troops, and also utilized the elephants from Sri Lanka, which is suited for battle. The in-game Dravidians have the weakest Battle Elephant, as they not only cannot upgrade, but also lack both Stable technologies and Plate Barding Armor, which hinders their Elephant units' mobility and durability.
- A Commander Is You: Economist/Specialist (Infantry). Economist due to their bonus wood at the start of every age, as well as increased carrying capacity for fishermen and fishing ships.
- Dated History: The Dravidians' naval unique unit and Castle Age unique technology were based on fraudulent information on two Wikipedia pages, the Chola navy and Chola military. The information about them has been removed following an investigation.
- Early-Bird Cameo: They appeared as the Chola in the Khmer's campaign.
- Foil: To the Vikings. Both are infantry and naval specialist civs with a strong economic bonus, good archers, a unique naval unit, a team bonus that improves their Docks, unique technologies that improve their infantry and health regeneration for certain units, and both being the only civs with access to the Stable but can't research either Bloodlines or Husbandry. However, while the Vikings focus on sturdier infantry with an HP bonus, the Dravidians instead focus on hitting hard with Wootz Steel piercing through enemy armor.
- Healing Factor: Dravidian Elephants can regenerate health thanks to Medical Corps.
- Necessary Drawback:
- Dravidian Elephants get the benefits of Medical Corps and, when Wootz Steel is researched, can ignore armor. However, the lack of the Elite Battle Elephant upgrade, Stable Techs and Plate Barding Armor makes the resulting Elephants much less formidable than implied.
- Wootz Steel would be an absolutely insane technology on any other civilization, but the Dravidians keep it in check thanks to an otherwise weak Stable tech tree and unit availability.
- Reduced Resource Cost: Their Barracks techs cost 50% cheaper while siege weapons cost -33% wood.
Urumi Swordsman
It is an infantry unit that "charges" its attack over a period of time, dealing increased damage on its first attack against an enemy unit. The charged attacks also do trample damage, but not regular attacks.- Charged Attack: The Urumi Swordsman charges its attack over a period of time. When the charge is at maximum, the Urumi Swordsman deals increased Splash Damage on one special attack, before switching to its standard attack.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: Urumi Swordsman's charged attack deals 50% of its charged attack value to all adjacent enemy units and buildings (the extra attack from the charge applies only to adjacent non-siege units, only the base attack applies to buildings and siege units). The full attack is applied on the target of the charge attack (even siege units, charge is not triggered against buildings).
- Necessary Drawback: To offset their devastating melee capabilities, Urumi Swordsmen are much weaker to pierce attacks than other infantry, having no base pierce armor even as Elites, and 5 hit points less than the Militia-line counterpart. As such, Arbalesters, Hand Cannoneers, and Slingers will also wipe out Urumi Swordsmen easily as long as they cannot close the distance. Mounted archers and similar unique units such as Conquistadors, as well as Plumed Archers, will be able to kite them indefinitely. Urumi Swordsmen will also be vulnerable against enemy siege, including Onagers and Heavy Scorpions.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Much like their appearance in III, Urumi Swordsmen are shirtless.
- Whip Sword: They wield urumi.
Thirisadai
It is a massive warship that fires five arrows at once, and is only available in the Imperial Age.- Cool Boat: Costing twice as much as a Galleon, the Thirisadai more than makes up for said cost with its stats, especially its extra armor against anti-ship attacks. With equal resources, Thirisadai beat Galleons fairly easily.
- Dated History: The Thirisadai is based on a extensively vandalized Wikipedia article on the Chola Navy, with several madeup ship classes, fake sources, and even a photograph fraudulently identified as a Chola anchor, but that actually belonged to a ship sunk during the Mongol invasion of Japan. Most fake info was written in 2008 and was not challenged due to the obscurity of the subject. By the time it was exposed, the article's creator had not edited Wikipedia in several years.
- Javelin Thrower: They shot giant ballista bolts (like most ships) alongside a volley of thrown spears.
Gurjaras
- Cavalry and Camel Civilization
Architecture: Indian.
Start with 2 Forage Bushes.
Herdable animals can garrison in Mills to produce food.
Mounted units deal +20/30/40% bonus damage in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Fishing Ships can garrison in Docks.
Team Bonus: Camel and elephant units trained 20% faster.
Unique Units: Chakram Thrower (ranged infantry with projectiles that pass through targets), Shrivamsha Rider (light cavalry that can dodge attacks), Camel Scout (unique scout good against cavalry)
Castle Age Unique Tech: Kshatriyas (Military units cost -25% food)
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Frontier Guards (Camel Riders and Elephant Archers +4 melee armor)
Wonder: Somnath Temple
AI Player Names: Govind Tai, Jayachandra, Madanavarman, Maharana Pratap, Mahenderpal, Mihira Bhoja, Nagabhata, Nagarjuna, Prithviray Chauhan, Raja Shiladitya, Rana Sanga, Siddhraj Jaisingh, Sindhuraja, Vatsaraja
NOTE: For the Camel Scout unit, check this page.
The Gurjaras are a camel and cavalry civilization borrow several gameplay mechanics seen in other real-time strategy games such as Starcraft and Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, making the Gurjaras a good civilization for players who are familiar with mechanics seen in both real-time strategy games.
- A Commander Is You: Spammer/Specialist (Cavalry)/Gimmick. Their unique technology reduces the food cost for their military units, making them a definite Spammer. They gain numerous bonuses to mounted units while having a very weak Barracks and foot archer contingent, making them cavalry Specialists. Their Gimmick is in their initial food bonuses of additional forage bushes as well as herdables able to generate a trickle of food encouraging an unorthodox build order, as well as their multiple unique units with several features that make them stand out in the game.
- Meat Versus Veggies: Downplayed. As a reference to widespread vegetarianism in NW India, Gurjaras begin each game with two fruit bushes near their Town Center, and can garrison animals in their mills for a slow trickle of food. However, they still have the option to eat livestock and hunt wild animals.
- Mythology Gag:
- The Indian civilization of Age of Empires III also featured a building that allows you to keep herdable animals near it to earn a passive benefit.
- Their civ bonus of being able to garrison livestock in Mills to passively produce food is a feature previously present in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds with the Animal Nursery building, but this is the first time seeing it in an actual Age of Empires game.
- Rate-Limited Perpetual Resource: Instead of slaughtering livestock, the Gurjaras can garrison them inside Mills for a slow but potentially infinite trickle of food.
- Reduced Resource Cost: Their Castle Age unique tech Kshatriyas reduces the food cost for military units by 25%.
Chakram Thrower
An infantry unit with ranged melee attack, cause damage to multiple units in a straight line, like the Scorpion.- Herd-Hitting Attack: Chakram Throwers are a ranged infantry in a similar vein to the Frankish Throwing Axeman and Malian Gbeto, but their projectile acts in a similar manner to Scorpion projectiles, dealing damage to every unit between the Chakram Thrower and its target.
- One-Hit Polykill: Unlike Mamluks and Throwing Axemen, they can launch their namesake weapons through multiple opponents.
- Rings of Death: They throw chakrams, as their name implies. So sharp they can cut through multiple units.
Shrivamsha Rider
A speedy cavalry unit that can "dodge" enemy projectiles, which is represented as a second, regenerating health bar which has to be depleted below a certain level before the unit itself takes damage.- Chainmail Bikini: They wear metal helmets and shields yet their torso and arms are bare.
- Fragile Speedster: They aren't well armored, but are fast and have a regenerating "shield" that protects them from incoming projectiles. Fittingly enough, Shrivamsha horses were renowned for their speed.
- Hit-and-Run Tactics: The Shrivamsha Rider is the second fastest land unit (only outsped by Imperial Age Cuman Scout Cavalry), giving it a huge edge when running away from unfavourable fights, raiding, chasing fleeing Cavalry Archers, and (most notably) catching up with Trade Carts.
- Mythology Gag: The "dodge" mechanic of the Shrivamsha Rider is very similar to the "shield" mechanic of the shielded units in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, where the unit absorbs incoming damage with a separate health bar before it takes actual damage once the separate health bar is depleted.
- Regenerating Shield, Static Health: Their dodge mechanic is represented as a "shield gauge" which recharges at decent rate and is able to soak damage from all ranged attacks (which includes attacks from ranged siege weapons). As a result, ranged attacks need to first empty the "shield gauge" before dealing actual damage to the Shrivamsha Rider (which can only be healed by a Monk like normal).
- Walking Shirtless Scene: They are nude from the waist up (except for a helmet), despite being their civilization's equivalent of a Knight.
Introduced in Return to Rome
Romans
- Infantry civilization.
Architecture: Mediterranean
Villagers gather, build and repair +5% faster.
Galley-line and Dromons +1/+1 armor.
Infantry receives double effect from Blacksmith armor upgrades.
Scorpions cost -60% gold and benefit from Ballistics research.
Team Bonus: Scorpion line minimum range reduced.
Unique Units: Centurion (heavy cavalry that increases the power of nearby Militia-line units), Legionary (unique upgrade for the Two-Handed Swordsman which trades attack for extra armor and HP.
Castle Age Unique Tech: Ballistas (Scorpions fire 33% faster, Galley-line +2 attack).
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Comitatenses (Militia and Knight lines and Centurions train 50% faster and receive +5 charged attack).
Wonder: Colosseum
AI Player Names: Anthemius, Arbogast, Avitus, Flavius Aetius, Galla Placidia, Honorius, Majorian, Odoacer, Pope Leo I, Ricimer, Romulus Augustulus, Stilicho, Theodosius I, Valentinian III
NOTE: For the Legionary upgrade and the Dromon, check the Units page.
The Romans are an infantry civilization that also boasts an impressive navy and Scorpions. While they can perform early rushes reasonably well due to their economic and armor bonuses, and shine particularly in the Imperial Age, they are rather gold-intensive and require timing and decision-making when it comes to going on the offense. The lack of singular go-to units also means that a Roman player must rely on a versatile composition of infantry, cavalry and siege weapons in order to succeed. Romans are hence better suited for more experienced players who already have a good understanding of the game rather than newcomers.
- Call-Back: Their unique tech Ballistas affecting the Scorpion line is one to the original game's counterpart's base line name, which is called Ballista.
- Crippling Overspecialization:
- Their bonuses for Infantry and Cavalry come at the cost of them not being able to research Bracer nor upgrade their Crossbowmen into Arbalesters. They also miss Hand Cannoneers and Parthian Tactics, giving as a result a quite weak Archery Range.
- Their Siege Workshop units are quite limited, despite them being able to research Siege Engineers. However, they have some of the strongest and most powerful Scorpions, which not only are cheaper to produce and have less minimum range, but also benefit from Ballistics (which means they become quite accurate as a result) as well as their unique tech Ballistas giving them an increased rate of fire. Couple that in team games with a Khmer ally's Scorpion bonus giving them extra range, and they become quite lethal.
- Does Not Like Guns: They have no gunpowder units at at all according to their tech tree. Then again, in history the Western Roman Empire collapse at a time before gunpowder became widespread.
- Living Distant Ancestor: It is possible to pit the Romans against the Italians (and to a lesser extent the Sicilians, as that civilization is more specifically based on Norman Sicily).
- Living Relic: The Romans as portrayed in the game are based on the Western Roman Empire, which was falling apart by the start of the game's timeframe due to rampant corruption and barbarian invasions. The in-game encyclopedia has quite a lot of Lampshade Hanging regarding their presence in the game, not only listing which playable civilizations they were contemporaries of in order to justify their inclusion, but also listing the myriad factors that brought about the empire's fall with barely any mention of any contemporaneous accomplishments. To further emphasize the empire's decay, several of their AI personalities are based on Germanic Foederati who held major positions in the empire, including Odoacer (the man who deposed the last emperor and thus effectively ended the Western Roman Empire).
- Necessary Drawback: Their 2x armor benefits come at the cost of the Romans not being able to research Plate Mail Armor.
- Reduced Resource Cost: Their Scorpions cost 30 gold instead of 75.
- Promoted to Playable: Finally brought into the game after being long portrayed by Byzantines, Italians (more based on Medieval and Renaissance Northern Italy), and other civilizations in the Attila and Alaric campaigns. Their two unique units were first introduced in the HD Edition as reskinned Jaguar Warriors and Cataphracts before being reworked with unique abilities (though both received new models to differentiate them from their scenario counterparts).
Centurion
A heavy cavalry unit with an ability to buff nearby Militia line units.- Anachronism Stew: The original Centurion wore a period-accurate Late Roman crested ridge helmet similar to that of the Legionary's. The playable Centurion exchanges this for a galea helmet, which had already been phased out by the time of the Late Roman Empire, on top of having a less armored and glamorous appearance compared to their original version.
- Call-Back: The Centurion ability to boost the movement and attack speeds of nearby Militia line units is similar to the abilities of some Age of Empires III units, such as the Spanish Missionaries with the Unction card, the Lakota War Chief, the Japanese Daimyos, and the Indian Mansabdar units. It is also similar to the ability of the Chinese General in Age of Mythology, and of the Ottoman Mehter in Age of Empires IV.
- Mook Commander: A Centurion boosts the movement speed and attack speed of nearby Militia-line units, including the Legionary (the Romans' unique upgrade for the line).
Introduced in The Mountain Royals
Common tropes
- Early-Bird Cameo: Both civilizations appeared in the Tamerlane mission "Scourge of the Levant".
- Garrisonable Structures: The Fortified Church, a Monastery variant exclusive to these civilisations, is slightly more expensive but has more health and can garrison villagers to attack raiding enemies.
- Moving Buildings: In place of Mining and Lumber Camps, the Armenians and Georgians build the Mule Cart, a mobile drop-off point for wood, gold, stone and hunted animals that can also research the relevant economic technologies.
Armenians
- Infantry and naval civilization.
Architecture: Mediterranean
Mule Carts cost -40%.
Mule Cart technologies are 25% more effective.
First Fortified Church receives a free Relic.
Barracks units (except Man-at-Arms) available one age earlier.
Galley-line and Dromons fires an additional projectile.
Team Bonus: Infantry units +2 line of sight.
Unique Units: Composite Bowman (archer unit with an attack that ignores armor), Warrior Priest (infantry unit that can heal friendly units).
Castle Age Unique Tech: Cilician Fleet (Demolition Ships +20% blast radius; Galley-line and Dromons +1 range)
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Fereters (Infantry (except Spearman-line) +30HP, Warrior priests +100% heal speed)
Wonder: Etchmiadzin Cathedral
AI Player Names: Vardan Mamikonian, Vahan, Ashot I, Smbat, Abas I, Gagik, Ashot Kaj, Roupen, Thoros the Great, Mleh, Levon the Magnificent, Zabel, Hethum II, Oshin
The Armenians.
- A Commander Is You: Generalist/Economist. Their bonuses primarily affect their infantry and naval units, but they also get full Monastery upgrades, their unique unit is an archer with an Armor-Piercing Attack, and they get fully upgraded Knights in the Castle Age, allowing them to switch around their strategy easily. Their Economist side comes from their cheaper Mule Carts that also provide more effective economic technologies.
Composite Bowman
An archer whose attack is able to penetrate armor.- Armor-Piercing Attack: Their attacks ignore armor, making them a good counter to heavily armored units.
- Badass Cape: Composite Bowmen wear capes.
- No "Arc" in "Archery": Composite Bowmen fire straight-flying arrows as part of a Call-Back to the first Age of Empires game.
- Necessary Drawback: In order to make up for their attack ignoring armor, they have the weakest attack and shortest range of any foot archer unique unit, and they miss Thumb Ring which means they don't benefit from its increased attack speed.
Warrior Priest
A melee infantry unit able to heal nearby units and carry Relics.- Church Militant: As the name suggests, the Warrior Priest, trained from the Fortified Church, can fight enemies, heal friendly units and carry Relics, and benefit from both infantry and Monk technologies.
- Combat Medic: The Warrior Priest can both heal allied units and fight on the front lines.
- Dual Wielding: The Warrior Priest wields both a sword and an axe.
Georgians
- Cavalry and defensive civilization.
Architecture: Mediterranean
Start with a Mule Cart.
Fortified Churches provides Villagers in a 10 tile radius with +10% work rate.
Units and buildings receive -15% damage when fighting from higher elevation.
Cavalry regenerates 15% HP per minute, starting in in Feudal Age.
Team Bonus: Repairing buildings costs 25% less resources.
Unique Units: Monaspa (heavy cavalry whose strength increases when other Monaspas or Knight-line units are nearby).
Castle Age Unique Tech: Svan Towers (Defensive buildings receive +2 attack. Towers fire arrows that pierce multiple units).
Imperial Age Unique Tech: Aznauri Cavalry (Cavalry units take 15% less population space).
Wonder: Svetitskhoveli Cathedral
AI Player Names: Bagrat III, Giorgi I, Demetrius, Gregorios Pakourianos, David the Builder, Tamar the Great, David Soslan, Rusudan, Giorgi the Brilliant, David the Elder, Vakhtang, Michael I, Alexander I, Constantine
The Georgians.
- A Commander Is You: Turtle/Spammer/Unit Specialist (Cavalry). Their units take even further reduced damage from higher elevation, while they're also encouraged to build Fortified Churches near their villagers as they provide a work rate bonus while also protecting them from raids. Their cavalry units regenerate health from the Feudal Age onward, cost less population space, and they have a strong Stable, getting both fully upgraded Hussars and Cavaliers alongside the Monaspa which gets stronger in numbers.
- Geo Effects: Georgian units and buildings take less damage when fighting from high elevation.
- Irony: Due to using the Mediterranean architecture, the Georgians are not capable of building their famous landmark, the Gelati Monastery, which is represented as Central European monasteries.
- One-Hit Polykill: Their Svan Towers unique technology gives their defensive buildings (Towers, Castles, Fortified Churches) additional attack, while their towers fire arrows that can pierce through multiple units.
- Regenerating Health: Georgian cavalry regenerate health over time.
Monaspa
A heavy cavalry unit whose strength increases in numbers.- Call-Back: Its unique mechanic is derived from the American State Militia and Russian Poruchik from Age of Empires III.
- Lightning Bruiser: As a heavy cavalry unit, the Monaspa is not only fast but is rather durable.
- Zerg Rush: The Monaspa is a comparatively cheap heavy cavalry unit that gets stronger when fielded in numbers.
