I was trying to combine something we talked about in pm with the current game set up.  I forget what game it was but if I recall correctly you said you start with a unit, you send the unit to the barracks and train it as either a swordman, spearman, archer etc?  So when units are first created they should be identical health/resistances etc.. right? Then you train it to be an archer and it gets more dmg via the bow, and maybe a little extra amor than a regular unit ie civilian... where as if you want a peltast it would be equipped with a pelta and little to no armor.  But a hoplite would have full , the shield (aspis) which would slow it down. But a roman legionaries shield (scutum) would be even heavier, slowing them down more.  But then a hoplite would wear more armor overall/plus the fact that a spear is more cumbersome than a sword, and the hoplite ends up being slower than the legionary.

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for this thread. I have been creating some content (yes via AI, sorry) for a story I am writing about Amanirenas.  Here she is with a matriarch elephant she will use in her calvary, and a Kushite Mercenary Archer force overlooking a Parthian calvary in the passes of Syria.

I’ve already written on historical shield and armor changes in Thoughts on the Spartans. “your unit starts off with "no armor" just a shield and weapon... and then you decide which ones you want to give which units, at a loss of speed”: we’ve already talked extensively about armor evolution, so it should be beyond clear to you that, from an historical standpoint, this just makes no sense, at all, and what happened was closer to the opposite of this.

If you find someone let us know Well, if you are familiar with 3D video for instance in Blender then the learning curve exists but isn't to steep either, no new concepts, just a new tool. The scripting part for making things lively might be the hardest.

Ardashir I: progenitor of the Sasanian dynasty, reinvigorated the idea of a Persian empire as a successor of Achaemenid Persia. May have an aura or tech about adding vigor to the civ, for example increases building construction speed. Maybe enables Immortals (Zhayedan). Shapur I: tolerance for religions other than the prevailing Zoroastrianism such as Manichaeism or Judaism may present an interesting opportunity. Especially Manichaeism as a potential world religion in a what-if scenario perhaps? May give increased influence over the map such as increased territory bonus. Maybe also enable some Armenian unit via his conquest of Armenia and governorship of his son and successor. Shapur II: counter to Shapur I, something about religious doctrine, such as stronger priests or temples? Also enables or strengthens war elephants. See the references in this article for reference:  https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/elephant-ii-sasanian-army/ Khosrow I: tax reform giving increased resources per resource obtained from sources, and bonuses to noble Aswaran cavalry. See: https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-1-parent/kosrow-i-ii-reforms/ Khosrow II: not sure, he appears to be partly responsible to bring the empire down? Why not something to represent quick expansion and loss, such as globally reducing building capture, or to make it a bonus, reduce own building capture and while reducing capturing enemy building even more.