Ultimate Aurelian

According to Wikipedia they were loaned by Ptolemy II Philadelphus. I think at the time the Ptolemies had both Indian and African Elephants, so could have been either or a mix of both.

Jomon mercs could be featured indeeed, i think it might be better to use a separate mercenary camp; two handed swords (As posted by Genava above) first appear in the Kofun era and are not used by Jomon peoples. Alongside with priest and spearman, perhaps a Jomon Poison Archer or maybe even make the slinger a mercenary. Maybe a ''Korean'' (Baekje kingdom, who allied with Japan according to some sources) mercenary camp as well: Baekje pirate swordsman Unlocks mercenary medium ship (I'd say light ship does not need to be mercenary, the Yayoi had at least some naval capacity to be able to migrate from the mainland in large numbers). If cavalry needs to be included for balance, a tech at the Baekje camp unlocks light horse archer. Kumaso could be used too but we know very little about then, other than that they had some relation with bears due to their names (A few theories say they were Austronesians, or may have been a branch of the Jomon with the name coming from bear worship like the Ainu.)

I'd replace the citizen swordsman with a citizen axeman, maybe also have a slinger (Jomon used slings). Third hero could be Yamato Takeru Maybe replace Jinmu with king Suisho or emperor Keiko; Jinmu may be a bit out of the timeline since he is said to have been born at 660 b.c (Yayoi period is usually said to have begun at 300 b.c, but some argue for 800 b.c or even 1000.bc). I am not sure if Kofun should be the same civ, since Imperial Romans are a separate civ from Republic. For the fortress you would have to speculate a little, it could be a hill fort with a earthwork palisade: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_castle#Early_fortifications https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chashi

Yes, Islamic architecture is different from earlier Arabia; mostly due to Persian and Byzantine influence.

So something like medieval Swahili architecture but without the middle eastern influences ?

Perhaps there were other pigments in a shade closer to red or blue, considered less valuable due to being less bright and fading quicker. BTW not saying it is a accurate game, but i guess that's why RTW gave the Germans that weird pink color (When i first saw that i was like ''What, did they run out of colors ?).

Perhaps the author meant a dark red shade ? Latin colors names can be a bit confusing (Like the discussion on Augustus' hair color), it seems that the snails could also produce a variety red or blue hues not just purple. This is a depiction of a festival with men wearing the toga praetexta; described by ancient authors as having a purple stripe (Looks like red for modern eyes):

@Genava55 Is it possible for them to use torcs ? The original Latin version uses the term '' phalerae torquesque''. Tacitus also say Germanic women did not cover arms or breasts and wore purple. Not sure if that is true; perhaps he was basing his description on ceremonial costume ?

Goths could have the no- territory nomadic gameplay. Suebians could have weak buildings and ox carts like nomads but still have territory (Early germanics did not migrate as far, Tacitus says tribes where proud of how much empty land surrounded their settlements.) .

Yes, although they did form kingdoms later on from existing roman cities (Perhaps stone wall in phase IV like Sparta ?). On heroes maybe Alaric, Fritigern and Theodoric I, for Visigoths;while Ostrogoths get Ardaric, Odoacer, and Theodoric the Great. Ostrogoth wonder could be Theodoric's Mausoleum, for Visigoths i can't find much (Maybe Reccopolis Basilica ?).

Yes of course, Voodoo is not really tied to the Nok culture. Azanians (Early inhabitants of the Swahili coast, they cities are mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea) could be another minor civ, i suggested to add Rhapta in the thread for the new south Africa map.

Military colony is a very hellenistic thing but it would be possible to have a similar building with different name. Maybe do like my above suggestion for Suebians, and have great hall UB where they can choose some regional mercs (Saxons, Franks, Vandals, Steppe raiders, romanized foederati etc.) perhaps train heros as well. One thing to settle is how the Ostrogoth/Visigoth divide is implemented (At the start like Hyrule Conquest ? two different techs for reaching the next phase ?). Looks great, the shingle roof on the old version was a bit vikingish and not very fitting for Suebians.

My point was not that the civ should be called Voodoo, just that a civ from that area would be hard to implement due to lack of material before the middle ages. The Nok culture is the most well known one, could be a mini civ in the future (Perhaps a African map with some neutral Nok settlements and mercenaries).

Voodoo originated in West Africa, an area who we know very little about in the time of 0 a.d. Alongside with Garamantes or Numidians, you could also have proto-Aksumites (Kingdom of D'mt).

@wowgetoffyourcellphone Interesting Spartan statues from the comic book Three: Dioscuri The ''Chained Ares'' Statue of Aphrodite holding a spear For Epirus other than Herakles; you could have a statue of Zeus since there was a large sanctuary dedicated to him at Dodona, or Achilles (Locally known as Aspetos, he was worshipped in Epirus and the royal line claimed to originate from him.).

Good article. On the topic of African Bush Elephants being ridden: Based on what i read i don't think there is much of a reason to use Bush Elephant for Ptolemies. Maybe for Kushites.

For heroes and maybe champions; it would be interesting to see heavy armor from later on the archaic period (Full panoply for heroes, champion has chance of having Mitra and/or Thigh guard): Link to detailed pictures of additonal armour pieces: https://br.pinterest.com/siresasa/ancient-greek-armour-only-historically-accurate/

I think the transition for unarmored to fully armored is a bit jarring. Elite foot archers could have only helmets with perhaps a small chance of armor; Horse archers would get some helmets at advanced rank and be armored at elite. My understanding is that Steppe infantry was poorer and often levied from neighbouring peoples.

What i meant to say was not that they'd cover the back; just that the armor could have ties on the back of the leg to hold it in place. At most some of the Elite ones could have a helmet (I think the elite persian foot archer has a helmet). Also some Dahae Units from EB (Screenshots are a bit old):

For bonuses i am thinking Heavenly Horses (Faster cavalry, maybe make them able to round up horses like with elephants) and Hill Country (Something like losing less territory, or buildings being harder to capture). Team bonus could be the same as the Persians (Silk Road, benefits trade). For special techs, Elephant Roundup, and Greco Buddhism (The later makes temples and healers heal faster, perhaps it could also make temples cheaper ?).

Late Egyptians fought Cyrus the Great, the Lydians fought the Persians and neighbouring greek colonies; but i can see why these would be low priority. I am interested in the Neo Assyrians but they don't fit neither bronze age or classical antiquity; there are Assyrians in Aristeia using Persian assets as placeholders (work in that mod seems to have stopped).

Should we extend the part 1 timeline backwards too and include civs like Assyrians, pre-ptolemy egypt, Judah, Lydia and Etruscans ? And make Part 2 pre bronze age collapse ? Centurions and other higher ranking troops would try to stand out for sure. On another note, alongside with the current champion sword cavalry; perhaps a champion ''proto cataphract'' spear cavalry with masked helmet and limb protection ? Some Principate cataphracts from Osprey:

That Italo-Corinthian is cool, i like how your mod avoids the standardized view of Romans. I found some interesting links on the Manica, perhaps a bit old: http://www.romanarmy.net/manica.shtml https://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/showthread.php?tid=11197 It was riveted and covered the upper half of the arm; there is some debate on which direction it overlapped.

Perhaps the scale leggings should have lacing on the back ? Like in medieval mail chausses.

A higher res image of the statue: Legs and neck have similar patterns so it may be creases on the skin; it may be possible that they focused on the lower leg due to being easier to reach but not very likely in my opinion. You could easily reach the uncovered parts with a spear; as discussed on the thread i posted there is alsoso the issue of how to attach the defenses and if they hinder movement. This picture depicts the pattern on the neck as a throat protection: Also does not make much sense; scale elephant armor is know to have existed but the elephant in the sculpture has none (Why cover the neck but expose the sides and belly ? The later are easier targets than the throat).