Usac

Believe it or not, crossbows were surprisingly effective against cavalry. Sure, the great wall kept Mongolian civilizations like the Xiongnu away, but crossbows helped against mounted armies as well.

Talking military gameplay standpoint, Franks would probably be highly void of missile units save the axemen and maybe a Skirmisher unit. We all know how France had some of the best cavalry, but they definitely didn't slack on Infantry since that was how they won the Battle of Tours against the Berber cavalry.

There is no Frank civ without a Francisca. I could see it leading to an interestingly ranged unit who does melee infantry damage. It should be a must have, in my opinion!

The actual time appropriate Mongols were the Xiongnu, who may have been linked to Huns who didn't migrate to the Danube some time before their rise.

A cavalry archer could easily be called the Yabusame, and it could fit into almost any era of Japan that happens before archery went out of practice.

This is a Bronze Age era mod, is it not? The Minoans, much like Hittites and Mycenae, were wiped out at around 1200 BCE when the Bronze Age collapsed and the first dark age begun. Then again, this mod does seem to extend beyond the Bronze Age, though to be Fair, I can't find an exact year that the next Age, (Iron, I assume) actually begins in full... and I've tried.

It's a shame that Assyria is seen as just a bunch of evil ruthless killers. I mean, they were ruthless killers, but they earned it! They didn't go all barbarian, they innovated warfare with siege, battle formations to protect frail archers and I think they were one of the first to transition to mounted horseback with a two horseman team to help the archer maintain balance... unless I'm thinking of something else.

Assyrians could travel across water using some inflated skins. I forget how, but there's something here that could be used.

I find the helmets as an odd reference for Mycenae, since Mycenae, like the Hittites, fell with the Bronze Collapse around 1200BCE. Anyways, here's some Mycenaen sword recreations. Ancient Greece also had some of the first directly mounted cavalry, or so it may be believed. While the earliest recorded are either Scythian or Assyrian riders around 800, the ancient Greeks may have directly mounted by 1400BCE.

It's an idea, for sure. The list of ideas is adapted somewhat from my days with AoEO found here and (to a weaker extent) here. Maybe something could work? If someone wants to take something from it, by all means.

I don't recall any Goths in Carthage, or any Gothic camelry. The easiest way to distinguish them is to give them Carthaginian structures, perhaps even a Carthaginian stayle unique naval structure. Most definitely they'd need a fire ship. I can see similarities, but a Vandal campaign using Goths would feel awkward. If it weren't for camelry, a superb navy and a possibly Carthaginian structural look, I'd be okay just calling them just another bunch of European Barbarians... but they weren't in Europe long enough for me to call them that. I won't say "MUST HAVE!" but... European borne barbarians with camels! I'll stop suggesting things though, if that's what you'd prefer. I don't want to cause problems.

That axe is a weapon known as the Labrys. Possibly infantryman? Would it be considered a sword type infantry? Despite having an axe?

Northeast of Turkey, the Khazar empire grew in the 500s based on Tengriism. In the 700s however, that all changed for these users of cavalry and siege: they converted to Judaism and attempted to become a safehaven for Jewish peoples. This factor alone means there are few civs of the era even closely akin to the religiously tolerant Khazars. At the heart of the Khazar military is their Arsiyah, muslim mercenaries who fought in the saddle. Their armies, when on the attack, tended to protect siege engines: catapults and Ballistae, possibly even rams. The Khazars lasted to about the year 1000. While data on the Khazars is not as extensive as some civs, there's something to be said about a civ in the saddle with powerful siege.

What if there were a 3rd option that let you choose a lesser of both. Instead of 25% more of 1 mining, you get like 10-15% for both. The reduced value will be 'safer' but one might find a more focused tech chooser with more defense/army rather than semi-viablity with both. At the end of it, you'll want at least 1 or two of the more specialized techs though to not get left behind.

I hope I'm allowed to make this. Though they only lasted a short time as an empirical force, the Vandals were a fascinating bunch: Germanic people ruling from Carthage and adopting horses and possibly camelry into a growing army on land while becoming a dominant naval force. It's almost the story of rags to riches: The Vandals are much like every other Germanic tribe: displaced by Roman and Hunnic advances through Europe, but it's bad for the Vandali: so bad, that they're mostly driven to the southern edge of Iberia. The only place left to go, is the water. This leads to a life of learning seafaring and a chance to take over Carthage itself. They are the only other barbarians besides the Goths who had the opportunity to actually breach Rome itself. And it fits the timeline somewhat well.... I hope.

Just a thought, but the Hebrew word for chariot is Rakkab if you need any unit names.

Hittites should probably have a few chariots, and no form of directly mounted cavalry. The Hittites fell before the rise of cavalry though they mastered chariots and the Kikkuli Texts are a testament to that. As a note, for bonuses, consider a bonus to the women: Hittite women were said to have much better rights than most civilizations of the time and for a few millennia afterwards. http://www.judithstarkston.com/articles/what-hittite-and-mycenaean-women-%E2%80%9Cdid%E2%80%9D/ I know I've seen more about this, but the video I'm thinking of may have been taken down.

So, I don't know if anyone really remembers me, but I used to hang around due to my fascination with the sadly deceased Antiquity project. That was, what...? 8 years ago? But I'm back and have new ideas. AoEO wasn't a terrible game, it just had terrible execution. Back a few years ago I was posting ideas for civs for that game but that ship has sunk. So I figured maybe I'll try my luck here. I can't program and by standards of super historical accuracy, I will sacrifice in the name of fun factor and balance, but I've been thinking up ideas for an empire builder. The basic premise is that there are 4 Ages: Stone, Copper, Bronze, Iron and not all civs do it via the Town Center and for the most part it's a game of villagers going to dropsites. Originally, I thought it'd be fun to center the game around Mesopotamia with Sumerians (Age up through a Farming mechanism, and have a donkey that will take goods to dropsites for the villager,) Assyrians (fairly well rounded, has a focus on Siege and using Shield Bearers,) and Babylon (A defensive civ based around their special unit, the Marduk Holyman: he's pretty much like AoM's pharaoh except he also initiates Aging Up) with Elamites as... uh? What unique gimmick could they possibly have? Then I thought of ways to expand to other civs around the area, including Persia (foot soldiers have a unique attribute called Immortal Conscript that gives them a second life though their total health tends to be a bit less. This second life resets after a while if the unit stays alive and there's of course cataphracts and elephants,) Phoenicia (has the ability to branch into either Carthage or Achemedian Phoenicia in the Iron Age when Aging Up each possessing different bonuses and even units. Aging Up is done by gathering a threshold of total Wood for each age,) Hittites (Ages Up either by Building a Blacksmith to Reach the Copper Age, or by researching it at said building later on. Has a wide array of strong chariots but no direct mounted units,) and Syrians (a Civ based on trade and camelry. When reaching the Bronze (or possibly Iron) Age, can choose Seleucid or Palmyran, or Romanization for their specific techs, bonuses and units.) I'm probably just rambling, but I'm liking where 0AD is going since it began so long ago. I've learned quite a bit about ancient history since then, and it's awesome.

I'm still probably the only person who wants the Palmyrans in.

I asked earlier and got no response... any thoughts towards Palmyrans?

It'd be nice to see Palmyra, hopefully with camels.

This is a vague statement. I guess its a bit broad. I'd certainly help if I could. The most I can do though is give ideas to those who have implementation skills. Other than that, I probably could do voice acting. I am going to college for theater and am taking a few courses on radio, so maybe a campaign narrative introductive voice?

Indeed I am.

I'm not very good at hellos, but I'll try. I'm a huge fan of history, and a big fanatic of AoE and AoK and am intrigued by 0ad. Hmm, what else to say? I'm filled with a million ideas with nowhere to put them. Unfortunately, none of the ideas fit catchy greeting openers, so Ill end on a hello.