Civilisations analysis including mods

[Yekaterina]

These are for the original 0AD civilisations in Alpha 23. I concluded the following from my personal experience playing 0AD. If you disagree then please comment below. 

 

1. Athenians
Strengths:

Hero characters offer great technological gains

Slingers and hoplites are decent in mass formation

Navy can be excellent

Weaknesses:

Has access to neither rams nor elephants - this makes siege very difficult. The Athenians must rely on catapults and bolt shooters for crush damage.

 

 

2. Britons
Strengths:

Economic bonus

Quick development in early phase - allows early rushes that hinder enemy’s development

Decent melee troops - can easily destroy enemy siege weapons

Buildings cost less and every structure can offer a small population capacity increase

Can train unique war dogs that are effective at harassing the enemy

Weaknesses:

No archers

Buildings are not very durable

Only siege weapon is rams, and not very durable / damaging rams

Unimpressive navy

Too reliant on wood

 

3. Gauls
Vastly similar to Britons with 3 key differences:

1. No war dogs

2. Gauls have access to a tavern which trains naked fanatics - they are very brutal

3. No Island settlement

 

4. Carthaginians
Strengths:

Extremely broad range of troops and siege weapons - allows for many different styles of play and strategies. Almost unstoppable in the late game.

One of the best civilisations at naval warfare - the Cothon (unique to Carthaginians) can produce and heal quinqueremes (heavy warships).

Embassy allows access to other factions’ units -great diversity.

Has the strongest wall tower (Mijdil) at 12000 health points.

Weaknesses:

Slow development in initial phases. Lack of bonuses

Swordsman can only be trained from embassy.

 

5. Iberians
Strengths:

Talented at defence: the Iberians are given free walls surrounding the civic centre; buildings are much more durable compared to other factions. This helps with surviving early attacks.

Decent infantry - swordsman, spearman, slingers.

Weaknesses:

Only siege weapon is rams

Inadequate navy

 

6. Kushites
Strengths:

Has access to every type of infantry unit, with their unique Nuba Clubman and champion archers.

Also decent cavalry and elephants (especially the elephant hero)

Siege towers filled with archers can be deadly

Pyramids offer 10% faster boost for workers and soldiers - can be a huge advantage if deployed appropriately

Weaknesses:

No catapults or bolt shooter.

Slow-developing economy to begin with

 

7. Macedonians
Strengths:

Access to siege workshop - this allows siege weapons to be produced extremely quickly from every corner of your territory, which can be deadly to your opponent.

Has access to every single type of siege weapon

Weakness:

Economy develops very slowly, so may be quite vulnerable in early phases

No swordsman - they only way of defending against enemy ram attack is use your own rams

 

8. Mauryans
Strengths:

Has access to worker elephants - if played well, the Mauryans can develop their economy extremely quickly.

Excellent range of infantry

The hero Chandragupta Maurya is an extremely durable elephant hero that can easily take down enemy structures without being killed.

Population bonus of 10%

Weakness:

No catapults or bolt shooters

Extreme reliance on food

 

9. Persians:
Strengths:

Has access to every type of cavalry

Has access to both elephants and rams - this can be hard to defend against

Can train hero, elephant and rams from separate buildings - this saves a lot of time

Population bonus of 10%

Weaknesses:

No bolt shooter or catapults

Huge demand for resources

Very complex structure tree which is difficult to master for beginners

 

10. Ptolemies:
Strengths:

Farming bonus

These buildings are for free: houses, farmsteads, storehouses. This can save up quite a bit of wood in the early phase, which can be invested in training soldiers instead.

Ptolemies have one of the best navy in the game; Juggernaut is the single heaviest ship in the game; lighthouse can reveal all shorelines so you can know what the enemies are up to in real time

Also decent infantry, cavalry and champions

Weaknesses:

In the village phase the only soldier available is pikemen. They walk very slowly and deal little damage.

Extreme reliance on metal. The Ptolemies can be severely hindered on a map with little mineral

Camel archers are only effective in large numbers

Many important units can only be trained from a military colony.

 

11. Romans
Strengths:

Has access to entrenched army camp and siege walls, which can be built in neutral and enemy territory. This allows you to shower the enemy with an endless rain of rams and cavalry units

Access to catapults and rams

Strong navy

Weaknesses:

No significant weakness

 

12. Seleucids
Strengths:

Strong navy

Elephants + catapults can be a deadly combination

Player given a choice between reformed army and traditional army

Weaknesses:

Slightly slower economic development

Relies on military colony for swordsman, archers and close quarter cavalry.

 

13. Spartans:
Strengths:

Women can build defence towers and sentries - saves some  male workforce

Allows for fast initial development

Extremely strong infantry: Skiritai Commandos and hoplites from the Stoa are unstoppable

Weakness:

Population penalty of -10%

Limited cavalry options.  

 

Personal opinions:
Gauls and Iberians are the best civilisations for beginners, because they have a simple structure tree (easy to learn and master) and also are strong enough to survive any early attacks.

Mauryans, Persians, Spartans, Ptolemies, Macedonians are good options for more advanced players. They require some practice to get used to but if played with the appropriate strategies they can be unstoppable.

Seleucids and Romans are well-rounded civilisations with no dramatic weaknesses, so they are good for practising skills or strategies. 
 

I also make 0AD videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMfNFa4F-ml8KUDKn2sYspQ/playlists 

Edited September 4, 2020 by Yekaterina

[Yekaterina]

Terra Magna Mod:

1. Han Chinese

Strengths:

Has the most manoeuvrable catapults in the game - the Chinese catapults do not need to be packed or unpacked, and their small size allows them to sneak through gaps between buildings. Furthermore, they do not have a minimum range. 

Wide range of infantry and cavalry, especially their unique crossbowman and crossbow cavalry.

Their unique Government centre can train ministers (units with high capture attack and can boost workers) and research technologies.

Chinese archers cost 40 wood and 50 food each - 10 wood cheaper than other civilisations. This saves you some wood and provides you with cheaper male workforce. 

Palace guard archers and palace guard swordsmen can convert their identities for minimal costs, which allows for more versatile strategies. 

Population bonus of 10%.

Weaknesses:

No rams or elephants - this makes siege difficult. However, their catapults can take on the role of rams, possibly more effectively than the Athenians. 

Does not have the best navy. 

Initial developments may be slow. 

 

2. Zapotecs

strengths:

Full range of infantry.

Initial development is quick 

Zapotec Battle Priest can offer a significant boost to your melee infantry. 

weaknesses:

No cavalry

Only siege weapon is rams

Weak navy. 

 

3. Xiongnu

strengths: 

Can build anywhere, ignoring territories. 

All buildings can be moved.

All Xiongnu women are archers, but weaker than their male counterparts. 

Initial development could be extremely fast. 

Buildings can serve more than one purpose, for example, their yurt can serve as both a house and a resource dropsite. Their farmstead is also a market. 

Weaknesses:

Buildings are not durable and easy to capture. 

No defence tower, sentry, fortress, temple, wonder available to build - hard to defend their own territory. 

Xiongnu rams have half the health of other rams and a much lower crush damage. 

Devoid of navy and dock. 

Cannot farm - only food source is hunting animals, which is unsustainable. 

 

[Yekaterina]

Millenium AD mod:

1. Anglo-Saxons:

Quite similar to Britons and Gauls

Strengths:

Very proficient at farming, so could boost the initial population quickly

Cavalry can be trained from cavalry stables, which are quite cheap. This allows a continuous supply of cavalry troops. 

All buildings offer a population capacity increase

Village phase buildings cost wood only. This saves up stone and metal for later use.

Weaknesses:

Only siege weapon is ram. 

Buildings are not particularly durable. 

Weak navy. 

 

2. Byzantines:

Quite similar to Romans

Strengths:

Full range of infantry

The Byzantine galley can train more ships armed with catapults  form itself. This could be useful when your ships are far from your dock. 

Weakness:

Compared to Romans, they lack a bolt shooter and Quinquereme (heavy warship)

Compared to Roman rams, the Byzantine rams offer less damage. 

 

3. Carolingians 

Strengths:

Can supply units very quickly 

Decent combination of infantry, cavalry, rams and Trebuchet

All buildings offer a population capacity increase

Weaknesses: 

Longhouse (Barracks) only become available in Town Phase, but if only costs wood so can save you some stone. 

Weak navy. 

 

4. Norse

Strengths: 

Initial development could be very fast if played well

All buildings offer population bonus

Can train women and Axeman directly from houses. 

Can train heroes, champion and rams directly from Jarl's Hold (civic centre), which has more health than typical civic centres. 

Strong women (triple the health of Celtic women and offers a 10.0 hack attack)

Their medium warship not only has the most health (4000 points) but can also train other ships. 

Incredibly strong infantry

Houses can serve as storehouses and can be garrisoned. 

Weaknesses:

Each Norse player can only have a maximum of 10 houses - this makes housing your population difficult. 

No defence towers - weak defence. 

Barracks only available in Town Phase

No fortresses or Wonder - this places much stress on the civic centre to train units and siege and upgrades. 

Only siege weapon is ram. 

 

5. Umayyads

Their buildings look almost identical to those of the Seleucids

Strengths:

Rapid initial development

Decent combination of infantry and cavalry. 

Can build civic centre and military colony and military camp - allows for rapid expansion and continuous supply of units. 

Weakness:

No siege / crush weapons at all. This cripples the Umayyads as they can only capture enemy buildings, which is especially difficult if they are garrisoned. The only unit similar to a ram is Arab tribesman, which is similar to Kushites' Nuba Clubman. 

Weak navy. Their best ship is Byzantine Galley at only 800 hit points.

 

Personal views:

The Norse is quite similar to Xiongnu and Scythians, and can be quite a threat if played well. 

Byzantines are a slightly weaker version of Romans, but with archers. 

Umayyads are incompetent when facing another faction in 1v1 due to the lack of rams. However,  if they could capture the catapult or bolt shooter of another faction then they would be stronger. Also, in a team game, Umayyad units combined with Macedonian siege weapons could assemble a formidable invasion force. 

 

Edited September 3, 2020 by Yekaterina

[sarcoma]

athens: iphicrates gives bonus in formation, phase 2 champ black cloak ad p3 heavy skirm, strong champs but expensive, slingers and sword cav always useful

brits: strongest ships (same as gaul and iber), armor hero and health hero, rotary mill (gauls too)

carth: ele hero, cav hero, walls

gauls: vercin hero

iber: fire ship, fire cav

kush: cav hero

mace: all siege, library

maur: worker ele, yodda

pers: cav hp, cav hero

ptol: camel, all heros, mercs, pharos

rome: camp, champ cav, all heros

sele: archer cav, cav hp

sparta: skiri, brasidas

strongest civs: ptol, brit, gaul

next: rome, athen, iber, ...

weak: kush, maur, cart, ...

valihrant and tom0ad have videos ranking civs

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

What mod is that for?

[Yekaterina]

On 9/6/2020 at 6:11 AM, wowgetoffyourcellphone said:

What mod is that for?

Terra Magna and Millennium AD

[Yekaterina]

On 9/5/2020 at 9:11 AM, sarcoma said:

athens: iphicrates gives bonus in formation, phase 2 champ black cloak ad p3 heavy skirm, strong champs but expensive, slingers and sword cav always useful

brits: strongest ships (same as gaul and iber), armor hero and health hero, rotary mill (gauls too)

carth: ele hero, cav hero, walls

gauls: vercin hero

iber: fire ship, fire cav

kush: cav hero

mace: all siege, library

maur: worker ele, yodda

pers: cav hp, cav hero

ptol: camel, all heros, mercs, pharos

rome: camp, champ cav, all heros

sele: archer cav, cav hp

sparta: skiri, brasidas

strongest civs: ptol, brit, gaul

next: rome, athen, iber, ...

weak: kush, maur, cart, ...

valihrant and tom0ad have videos ranking civs

I am afraid I do not quite agree with Valihrant.  I do not think Britons and Gauls are strong civilizations because they lack variety of units and their rams do less damage than Persian or Roman rams. Their ships also cannot garrison catapults and are not on par with Carthaginian ships in firepower. Their warships are no more durable than Roman Quinquereme. However, they do develop pretty fast, so they are strong in the early phase.

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

50 minutes ago, Yekaterina said:

Terra Magna and Millennium AD

You should try Delenda Est. It changes just about everything, so should give you delight in figuring your rankings.

[Yekaterina]

I have tried out Delenda Est. I think the idea of hiring slaves is interesting, but it increases the length of gameplay as well because it takes longer to enter phase 2 from phase 1. I have noticed that they added Thebans, Chinese,Epirotes and another Roman. I would say that in general the civilisations are much more balanced in Deleda Est. There is no more tier ranking in my opinion, although some factions do retain their specialties. 

 

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

4 hours ago, Yekaterina said:

I have tried out Delenda Est.

Cool, thanks!

 

4 hours ago, Yekaterina said:

I think the idea of hiring slaves is interesting, but it increases the length of gameplay as well because it takes longer to enter phase 2 from phase 1.

The idea is to give players a little more time to set up the layout of their town, scout the map for resources and mercenary camps, and determine a strategy for that map and opponent. Also, a citizen/slave dichotomy (though much simplified from reality) made a lot of historical sense.

 

4 hours ago, Yekaterina said:

I have noticed that they added Thebans, Chinese,Epirotes and another Roman.

The development version adds 2 nomadic civs as well: Scythians and Xiongnu. They have no territory bonuses or restrictions, but their structures are pretty much made of paper mache.  Huns are in the works as another nomadic civ, and Zapotecs are in, but I won't make them selectable yet until a Mayan civ can be added. The Imperial Romans are pretty fun.

 

4 hours ago, Yekaterina said:

I would say that in general the civilisations are much more balanced in Delenda Est. There is no more tier ranking in my opinion, although some factions do retain their specialties. 

Thanks, that was one of the goals of the mod. Though I am sure some imbalances can be found, or some unintended exploits. The mod is definitely still a wip.

[Yekaterina]

Thanks for your reply. 

Do you know where I can download the development version of the mod? I cannot seem to find it on mod.io and it is not in the repository of mods neither. 

Also, I would like to try out Alpha 24 but I can't find where to download it. Can you point me to where you can download it please? 

 

[bb_]

The development version (A24) can be downloaded following the steps at https://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/BuildInstructionsGettingTheCode. In case you need to build https://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/BuildInstructions might be of use too. For the dev versions of mods: I expect them to be in some github repo, most likely linked in the mods' thread.

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

I forgot to mention the mod is adding Germans too: Suebians in A24 and Goths for A25.

Dev version of the mod (works with dev version of 0 ad) is here:

https://github.com/JustusAvramenko/delenda_est

Edited October 30, 2020 by wowgetoffyourcellphone

[jpsouzamatos]

Are there any civilization that have both catapult and elephant, and have a good navy, good cavalry, and good infantry at the same time?

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

26 minutes ago, jpsouzamatos said:

Are there any civilization that have both catapult and elephant, and have a good navy, good cavalry, and good infantry at the same time?

Seleucids in Delenda Est.

Edited December 19, 2020 by wowgetoffyourcellphone