Ultimate Aurelian

https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1002/12_Parzinger_1836_Final_0.pdf This temple has recently been restored: https://astanatimes.com/2023/07/resurrecting-ancient-glory-experts-restore-baikara-temple-in-north-kazakhstan/

On one hand it would allow to add more civs. On the other hand the existing civs might be downgraded to some degree when they are merged into an umbrella civ.

Well that is to a certain point always going to happen in a historical game like this; players will be introduced to new concepts that might sometimes confuse them at first. There are already a few civilizations that are not very well known, or different from the stereotypes some people might have (IE Ptolemies instead of more stereotypical Egyptians like in RTW, Romans in the vanilla game based on the Republic).

They are separated from the Britons. Not sure if there is enough differences between the Germans to justify something similar (compared to Suebi, the Cimbri seem more nomadic, more influenced by Gauls and with heavier equipment).

Some sort of animals symbol is mentioned by Plutarch; but the description is pretty vague. It seems to be a Port helmet, introduced around 60 B.C.

This helmet might be too late for the Cimbrian War timeframe. It is a type that was introduced the 1st century BC and use in the Gallic Wars.

It would be interesting to have some bronze age cultures from Europe. Although a lot of it would require speculation due to the lack of written sources. Since there are no known figures from those cultures, the heroes (if they have them at all) would have to be based on generic archetypes (high priest, king, great warrior...).

Northern Germany and Poland, facing the Baltic.

Pytheas (cited by Pliny) says the Teutones originated somewhere around Pomerania. It's a bit of a stretch, but Teutobod's equipment could be based on that region. https://www.enapp.muzeum.lebork.pl/archeology/oksywie-culture-grave/ It's important to note the peoples in this region were the only Germans using round shields at the time (So the normal Cimbri or Suebi units should not have round shields).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divico there is a third interesting figure from the Cimbrian War, but he was not Germanic.

I think one of the Gauls chainmail textures could work as placeholder (Again, Cimbri were relatively more influenced by Celts). Regarding hero bonuses, i can only really find useful information on Teutobod and Boiorix. For the other ones (like Lugius) the only information is their fate after Vercellae.

For the Cimbri i think they could have champion sword cavalry instead; with long swords (Gaul swords could be reused), armor and white shields. The heroes could probably be armored as well.

So perhaps the Cimbrian faction could have archer infantry as well.

Plutarch gives the following description of Cimbrian warriors It seems they were using Celtic equipment; the helmets are probably Celtic helmets, decorated with animal figurines. Or maybe helmets covered in fur (like this Roman helmet modified by Batavians): There is also the theory that the wooden helmets found in Denmark were wood copies of Negau helmets (In which case they might have adopted the original bronze model from contact with other peoples, but this is speculation).

Some posts from earlier threads; could be useful for Suebian shields (Gives an idea what patterns they used). Wheel symbol (civ emblem?)

Missisipian warriors (some speculation): https://www.artstation.com/artwork/YBGGOY

The merchant could have an ox cart or horse (Donkeys were not common in Germania; donkeys were only introduced in Gaul after the Roman conquest). The slingers could have capes like the other units. They may even have used them to carry rocks like the (Germanic?) slingers in the column of Marcus Aurelius (Too much work to animate, but they could just have a cape as a nod to that.) This is how EB2 portrays them Some of the units seem to have Celtic Montefortino helmets which might be outdated for the timeframe (They fell out of use before the Gallic Wars.).

https://tidsskrift.dk/kuml/article/view/24902 It has been speculated that the statue was covered in clothing Tacitus' Germania has an interesting passage regarding the cult of Nerthus, which may hint at that as well (Or just a cloth covering the chariot?) Regarding antlers or animal heads on statues, i could not find anything about it. Antler seem more associated with celtic deities. In later germanic mythologies most of the gods are human in appearance (Although there are couple depictions of figures with horned headgear).

Perhaps something like this (1st Century BC statue from Possendorf.) It was apparently around 90 centimeters tall. Those were larger, but more crude in style: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braak_Bog_Figures

I guess this is following the ''battle sanctuary'' concept The statue might be too late, the equipment (Kite shield, conical helmet with mail aventail) appears to be from the early middle ages.

Could be mostly unpainted but with small player color designs. Or just painted in solid player color (With no patterns) I think most shields for citizen units could have the wooden spina instead of a metal boss. Elite would get metal bosses (The simple round one or the one who is just a metal reinforcement on the wooden spina) Champions would get metal bosses (Simple round one and pointy round one) and have metal rims on shields

This is indeed the modern perception of a catapult (A siege engine that launches stones). But in antiquity the term catapult was also used to describe bolt shooting engines. Personally i think stone thrower is a better term since it is more accurate; but still easy to understand.

Out of curiosity,is there a particular reason the color red was chosen for Xiongnu?

https://www.gov.mb.ca/sd/pubs/parks-protected-spaces/park_info/whiteshell_petro.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroform Could be a reference but their exact relationship with ancient Anishinabee (Or when they were built) is not clear. Some are tentatively dated to 500 AD based on nearby archeological finds.

I like the new forge personally, i feel it's more accurate without the big chimney. I'm not sure the wooden totems fit, as far as i know they were mainly used in the Northwest.