For a little fun we are going to have a design a unit contest.

The Rules:

1.[tab]Each participant can submit 1 and only 1 unit. We mean it, we don't want "either of these are fine", "here are a handful of ideas", or "here is my very favorite, filtered down, cream of the crop 347 pages of unit ideas".

2.[tab]This contest isn't for heroes. This is only for a non-unique unit.

3.[tab]The unit can be recommended for a specific civ or not, either way is fine.

4.[tab]Make sure your ideas are unique before submitting it (your idea may be excellent, but if it is already done somewhere else you won't win). You may want to read the unit section of the wiki before you begin.

5.[tab]Bonus points given to non-uber units. We already have the top of the power curve detailed out (I know those units are the most fun to make) what is more difficult to design is making the early and mid-game units interesting.

6.[tab]Backgrounds or writeups aren't nessesary but a good name is.

7.[tab]Please keep your responses to this thread down to 1 post for each entry (and therefor 1 post for each person). Create a new thread if you want to chat about the contest.

8.[tab]While we are accepting sumissions you are free to change your entry if you have a new idea.

9.[tab]FfH team members can't enter. (this means you Woodelf!)

10. It must us an existing model. We can't commit to modeling and animating a new unit right now, so please dont purpose anything that cant use a new model.

The contest starts right now and we will be accepting submissions until March 28th at 9pm EST (Eastern Standard Time).


Judging:

After 9pm each member of the FfH team will have 24 hours to pick their favorite unit. I will add all of the selected units to a poll for public voting for a few days. At the end of that poll the unit with the highest votes wins!


The Reward:

Your unit will appear in FfH2! Thats right, we have taken stealing ideas to a whole new level by asking you to compete for the right to have your ideas stolen! :) You can supply the pedia entry for the unit if you like or we will write it based on your description.

A Ballad of John Silver

We were schooner rigged and rakish, with a long and lissome hull,
And we flew the pretty colors of the cross bones and the skull;
We'd a big black Jolly Roger flapping grimly at the fore,
And we sailed the Spanish waters in the happy days of yore.

We'd a long brass gun amidships, like a well-conducted ship,
We had each a brace of pistols and a cutlass at the hip;
It's a point which tells against us, and a fact to be deplored,
But wew chased the goodly merchantmen and laid their ships aboard.

Then the dead men fouled the scuppers and the wounded filled the chains,
And the paint-work was all spatter-dashed with other people's brains.
She was boarded, she was looted, she was scuttled till she sank,
And the pale survivors left us by the medium of the plank.

O! then it was (while standing by the taffrail on the poop)
We could hear the drowning folk lament the absent chicken coop;
Then, having washed the blood away, we'd little else to do
Than to dance a quiet hornpipe as the old salts taught us to.

O! the fiddle on the fo'c's'le and the slapping naked soles,
And the genial "Down the middle, Jake, and curtsy when she rolls!"
With the silver seas around us and the pale moon overhead,
And the lookout not a-looking and his pipe bowl glowing red.

Ah! the pig-tailed quidding pirates and the pretty pranks we played,
All have since been put a stop to by the naughty Board of Trade;
The schooners and the merry crews are laid away to rest,
A little south the sunset in the Islands of the Blest.

-- John Masefield


I submit this unit cause I think it is necessarily in the game.

http://www.piratesinfo.com/images/piratesinfo/advertisement/John-Rackham_trans.gif

Unit name: Corsair
A new ship available only to Luan the time Frigates are buildable and with the same restrictions. On top on that they can't be build normally but have to be upgraded from Pirates with lvl 4+ with their hidden nationality on. [those who declare their nationality wont be able to upgrade]
Maybe for balance limit them only to 3? It would give also gold for Luan like pirates do, etc. With this I propose a corsair promotion for the Black Wind at the time he reaches 8th lvl and it would increase his power by 2 so he becomes one also and is not obsolete.

Alternatively not only for Luan but you have to have a Pirate of lvl 8+ to upgrade it to and Luan get to upgrade them at lvl 4+ already.


Special ability: City Raid
- when next to a city can use it like it would bombard it
- it will last till the ship leaves the city radius or does an action like attack, bombard, move [successfully defending does not break it]
- the corsair does not heal while using this ability
- the corsair owner would gain the income of that city: 1st turn 100% of the income, 2nd 100%/2 of the city income, 3rd 100%/3 and so on
- after the second turn a blockade effect takes place till the raid is over
-- a city that is under a blockade can not build ship
-- a city that is under a blockade produces no research
-- a city that is under a blockade produces no income
-- a city that is under a blockade produces no luxuries nor resources [it would be like there were no roads connected to the rest of the empire for outgoing resources], the city still would have access to them
-- if the city has gems, gold, mithrill then the corsair will receive extra gold for the raid

This way players would chose to have gold from it or to strategically disable a city. A city can only be the target of one raid at a time.


Stats:
Strength: Frigate-1 :strength:
Move: Same as Frigate :move:
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/seagifts_1942_3356664
Model: Frigate with some pirate bander.

http://www.piratesinfo.com/images/piratesinfo/advertisement/John-Rackham_trans.gif

A Buccaneer

Initially hunter’s of cattle and pigs on the Island of what is now known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Buccaneers got their name from the meaning of the French word "boucan" (which means barbecue), as they were frequently seen barbecuing their meat on grills (they learned this form of cooking from the Arawak Indians).

The buccaneers were driven out by the Spanish, and the persecuted hunters banded with groups of runaway slaves, deserters, and other’s who hated the Spanish and sought vengeance on their vessels. The word buccaneer soon became common, and by the 17th century was used to describe pirates and privateers who had bases in the West Indies.

A Privateer

A privateer was a pirate who by commission or letter of marque from the government was authorized to seize or destroy a merchant vessel of another nation. The privateer was used as a cheap means of weakening the enemy by frequenting shipping routes (avoiding the costs related to the maintenance and creation of a navy).

In theory no Privateer with a letter of marque could be charged with piracy, since it was recognized by international law. However, it was not uncommon for privateers to be charged and prosecuted for piracy by hostile nations. All occurrences of vessels captured by privateers had to be brought before an Admiralty Court where they were tried to ensure that their plunder was legal game.

A Corsair

The term refers to pirates or privateers who operated in the Mediterranean. The most recognized corsairs were from the Barbary Coast of North Africa (European crusaders named their Muslim enemies “Barbary Corsairs”).

These corsairs were authorized by their governments to prey upon the shipping lanes of Christian countries. The Maltese Corsairs led the fight against the Turks, being led by the Knights of St. John. The Maltese Corsairs initially fought for religion, but after a while the rewards of piracy grew to greater appeal. Soon the Maltese Corsairs were full-fledged pirates, with no interest in religious ideals.

Source: http://www.piratesinfo.com/detail/detail.php?article_id=63

Unit name: Spirit Shaman
Technology Required: Sorcery
Recommended Civ: None (Maybe Doviello and Clan only if it must be)

Strength: 5
Movement: 1
Promotions: Channeling I, Channeling II, Sorcery, Summoning
Upgraded from: Adept (The adept must have Spirit I, be level 4)
Upgrade to: None

Unit Type: Disciple unit (so it doesn't get experience over time)
Instead of spending time learning more about magic, a spirit shaman instead spends his (or her) time attempting to bind spirits.

A spirit shaman can have a maximum of 4 bound spirits at once and these may be used for different abilities, you can get bound spirits over time (level % so minimun 4%) or by killing enemy units (which prevent them from becoming angels or demons)

Different abilities can have different costs
() represent how many bound spirits it uses
Memories of the Dead: (1) The shaman uses his service and delves into the spirits past learning from his mistakes so the shaman dosn't have to, this gives the shaman 5 experience.
Wail of the Spirits: (3) The shaman unleases the spirits to torment his enemies, targets a stack, all units (unless resisted or has courage) receive a -40% strength and -1 movement, this lasts until either the shaman is dead, the spirits have been quelled (Dispel Magic?) or the units move away from the shaman (and even then it lasts one turn)
Spirits Fury: (1) Calling upon the spirits fury and anger at being traps the shaman gains the following abilities: ability to cast again, ability to attack again (can only be used once a turn)
Heal the Rupture: (2) Calling upon the spirits the shaman can heal his own wounds (70%)
Call of the Immortals: (4) Must be at least level 6 to use: Binding himself to the material world more thoroughly, the shaman can make sure that if he dies, his spirit will not and go on to inhabit another body, this is a painful experience though and the shaman loses half his experience and all bound spirits.

Notes:

Although much more powerful than a normal mage strength wise and has both summoning and sorcery, the unit does not get experience over time nor could he upgrade to anything which could give him channeling III.

Just for the fun of it.

Unit Name: Beholder
Promotion: Undead, Fear, Divine, Channeling II, Chaos II, Body II (For Mutation & Burning Blood)
Special Ability: Mutation, Burning Blood
Str: 2
Move: 1
Unit Type: Beast
Possible Model: Use Floating eyes
Others: No Pillage, No military happiness

Combat Bard, support unit. National unit, 3 allowed.
Requires: Education, Drama and Theatre
100 Hammers
+100% city defense
0/2 strength
Promotions:
Channeling I and II, Mind I, Earth I, Spirit I, Sorcery
Model: Great Bard (Surprise! :O)
Type: Arcane (not entirely sure about it though)

Flavour text:
Days went by and more and more soldiers returned injured. Every inn was packed with citizens trying to ignore the constant war. The war went on and as more soldiers were sent, the more the infirmary's were filled and the emptier the inn's and taverns became. Bards found themselves out of jobs. Some of the bards also found themself feeling useless. Wandering about the streets of the now seeming empty city and slowly declining, some bards craved to do something, to help their country out of it's deprived state. After months of training most of the bards gave up. They thought it was useless to keep on training, the macemen and immortals will always be stronger. So they gave up. Halfway through their training, exhausted as they were, they decided to cheer eachother up by sharing songs and tales. Soon after they started, the rest of the aspiring fighters were attracted to their songs of hope. They realised they could help the war in another way than merely fight.
With songs of hope and inspiration the population of the city seemed to be cheering up. But as happy as the city may seem, the enemy was still closing in. Finally the war was found at the gates of the city. One moment it seemed like all was lost, all the macemen and archers slain. The enemy was ready to march into the city with their remaining weakened forces. Suddenly, there was a cheering cry heard throughout the city, and bards were suddenly rampaging over the city streets, strengthened by the mad thought that this once cheerfull city might fall and by the cheers of the citizens. And as the last enemy was slain the bards cheered. The bards swore an oath. "This city will not fall, neither through combat nor through declination."

Hm, didn't turn out quite the way I want it to be. Ah well. If the team decides to add this unit and feels to lazy to write some flavour text, be my guest and use this :P

Reasoning:
I'd like to see an early National Unit. And, this would boost the usefullness of a theatre, which is needed tbh because it takes quite some hammers. I never really bother with Drama unless it gets offered to me in some real nice way, I want to get a cultural victory or I get it through the eyes and ears network. It gets all the spells because I'd like to see some pure city defenders and helpers.
At mind I or II (can't remember, and Wiki states it's I one time and II the other) they get Inspiration so the city they're in gets a research boost, at Earth I they get Wall of Stone for boosted city defense, at Spirit II they get Hope for culture and +1:). The rust spell is impossible to kill people with, and therefor it kind of fits into the Combat Bard's arsenal.
They would be powerfull units to send with newly trained settlers because the combat bards add +2 culture (if promoted in the right way) so an obelisk isn't needed (the -1 money is quite annoying when you don't have a nice economy yet) and having added defense against barbs or whatnot with earth I. Also the +100% city defense only makes them viable as city defenders for combat.
For the tech level they are quite expensive (compared to units such as archers at 60 hammers), but that's only fair because they have the same defense as archers together with the spells.
It also balances itsself out due to the fact that if you remove the bard, the city will no longer produce culture.

Hope ye like it :)

Edit: R0GERSHRUBBER pointed out that it still needed a unit type and that it needed sorcery, cheers lad :)

minor demon of devestation -

starting at counter 5 each round there is a chance to spawn one equal to [(counter total/100) x (5 - number of minor demons of devestation)

stats - 0/2 invisible barbarian that works in reverse to what a worker does. it will follow the worker AI code however it will look for upgrades and then take the rquired amount of turns to remove them.

as for graphics and animation .... none needed , its invisible and a barbarian. (i can see these as being made by embers or shiam though if desired, but they would need to be national units , probably available with the necromancy tech)

lore - sitting at his desk , high ritualist falguth , was reading a battle report about strange poltergeist activity. Rosier reported seeing farms and towns ripped asunder before the battle was even engaged , like a rabid animal had charged through. hearing this Falguth remembered about the last summoning ritual he did were he swore at the last instant he saw something out of the corner of his eye. at the time he dismissed it , but now , now , might just be a good time to try and replicate that error.

Submersible
Unique unit to the Luchuirp
Replaces Pirate

Strength 3/1
Movement 3
Stealthed unit
Hidden nationality
80% withdraw chance
1 first strike

Model: Could use the basic submarine model from vanilla civ, although I could swear I've seen a Nautilus model somewhere that I can't seem to find.

Unit name: Militia/Angry Mob
Civics Required: Despotism, Slavery, or Sacrifice the Weak for "Angry Mob" version or liberty, pacifism, or republic for the "Militia" version


Strength: 0/1+*
Movement: 0
Promotions: Always starts with Civ's religion and Race promotions
Cost: 35
Special: can join city population, never gain experience, never upgrade, can't use obsidian gates, and can not be made into flesh golems. Only one may exist in any city.

* The defensive STR of this unit will be equal to 1 + the excess happy citizens or angry citizens present in the city. Upon creation, a script will run costing the creating city a number of population equal to the excess happy/angry citizens as appropriate.

The Angry Mob version causes unhappiness in it's creator city equal to it's defensive STR as long as it exists.

Model: Use warrior/pikeman, or perhaps a mix-mash of existing melee models

Description: This unit is meant to be a relection of a city's population's desire and ability to defend a city. It should be unable to leave the city it was created in, but it can rejoin the population.
This unit will possibly be quite valuable in the early game when a defensive unit of 3, 4, or 5 is available far earlier than might otherwise be possible. The unit retains some of it's usefulness into the late game as it scales in size with cities.

The unit is balanced in that by eating population within a city it costs potentially large amounts of production and commerce and food each turn it exists. The evil Angry Mob version of the unit causes unhappiness equal to it's defensive str, and thus can't be used to displace otherwise useless citizens. If an Angry Mob is created while there is too much unhappiness in a city, it's unhappiness will then excede it's remaining population and send a city into revolt...so while the city will be well defended, it will produce nothing.

It is also the case that cities with happiness = unhappiness are unable to produce either type of unit reguardless of civics.

This type of unit might be particularly valuable against an attack of the Calabim, as what player wouldn't rather see their city's population fight to the death rather than feed the oncoming vampires?


Examples: (my math/understanding my be off)
Early game -- A city of size 4 with 6 happy and 1 unhappy builds a militia unit. The result is a unit with defensive str 4 (1 + the 3 excess citizens as more than 3 citizens can't be taken) and a city of size 1. Such a unit might be able to hold off a hoard of skeltons or hunters if fortified, but the reduction in population would slow down the city's production and research.

Early game angry mob -- A city of size 7 with 4 happy and 7 unhappy builds an angry mob unit. The result is a unit with defensive str 4 (1 + the 3 excess angry citizens) and a city of size 4 that still has 7 unhappiness. With 4 happiness and 7 unhappiness, 3 workers out of 4 will sit and spin, leaving our city well defended but completely unproductive.

Late game -- A city of size 30 with 36 happy and 20 unhappy builds a militia unit. The result is a unit with defensive STR of 17 (1 + the 16 excess happy citizens) and a city of size 14. This is a strong unit, but it can't move, it can't upgrade, and it is costing it's owner 16 citizens worth of work each turn.

Late game angry mob -- A city of Size 30 with 25 happy and 35 unhappy builds an angry mob. The result is a defensive str 11 unit and a city with a population of 20, but which still has a total unhappiness of 35, leaving it's owner with only 5 citizens worth of production.

Unit Name: Rune Warden
Civilization: Khazad
Technology: Sorcery

Some dwarves show enough magical aptitude that in another society would follow a path of magic. However amongst the Khazad they become the defenders against the destructive powers of magic by inscribing protective runes of warding onto their bodies. This transformation turns them into the ultimate protection against magic users.

Game Effects: Rune Wardens are immune to magic. They are a melee unit (probably strength 4 or 3/5), upgraded from adepts (similar to mages) and can upgrade to shield wall. They also have the spell Mana Short which gives arcane units on the tile the inability to cast magic on the next turn and gives summoned units a -50% strength promotion.

Body jumper
National unit(limit 1)
upgrades from a level six mage
strength: 2
model: like the wraith, but gray and faded/slightly transparent
abilities: once per turn it has the ability to possess an unit. If it's possible to do this, it would have the the units promotions replaced with its promotions and then gain xp like it was that unit. If it's not possible to do this have the possessed units promotions stay and the body jumper gain half the xp. Either way the possessed unit would gain the possessed promotion which gives them hidden nationality and -30% strength. The chance of possessing the unit would be based on both units levels like the domination spell. The possessed unit would have a chance each turn to throw it off each turn damaging the body jumper to nearly no health when it is removed. This is the same when the possessed unit is killed.

Anchor
Strength: ?
Movement: 1
Collateral Damage, Heavy, no unit category, living, can gain the following promotions: Barrage I-III, Blitz, Combat I-V, Drill I-IV, Magic Resistance, March and Resist Cold/Fire/Lightning/Poison.
Damages the movement of a unit until it is incapable of moving. Units affected by this do not gain any fortification bonus. Cannot board a ship (is this even possible?). Units under the effect of an Anchor are stuck until a unit of an equal level of mobility (or several units with a sum of mobility equal to the anchored unit) reach the tile and relieve the anchored unit by becoming anchored themselves.

Greys/Ghosts/Phantoms

Strength: 0 (+2 cold)
Does not recieve metal weapon upgrades
(NOT immune to fear)
2 movement
+100% versus living units
-150% versus disciple units
Starts with Sentry I promotion.

Only available once the Armaggedon Counter reaches a certain point and is more likely to spawn as the counter increases further.

If created through the death of a unit, the ghost will start with the summoned promotion.

[For shadow, perhaps this could be a unique unit for Sidar or at least a more permanent unit for them]

When this unit dies, no exp will be gained by the opposing victorious unit.



Lore- The mystical beings which usually collect the dead have been thrown into chaos, so some souls have been forgotten. Some of these may be unhappy at the circumstances of their death and seek vengence.

If the AI see this as a siege unit, will they be more likely to use it as intended?

Spellbreaker
Type: Melee, can use bronze and iron weapons.
Requires: Arcane Lore, Ring of Warding.
National unit.

Cost: 120 hammers
Strength: 1/3
Moves: 1
Intrinsic Boni: +100% vs Arcane units

Starts with Magic Immunity promotion.

Special: Has a 5% chance per level to cause a spell cast in an adjacent plot to fizzle. If the unit is situated in a city with a Ring of Warding, this extends to the citys working plots. Given the heroic strength promotions (only available to Grigori Spellbreakers) the radius increases by 1 per such promotion, but the chance for fizzling is divided by the distance bewteen the caster and the Spellbreaker.

Model: Malakim swordsman, single unit, darker colors.

Halfling: (yeah, a hobbit)
Available to kuriotates (or other men/good civs)
A worker with attacking and defensive capabilites: can build improvements, gets the marskman promotion, and gets Hidden nationality... maybe a random chance of the bodyguard promotion.

Unnoriginal, i know, but oldies are goodies

model: Hobbity looking unit

The Last Battle

Trigger: Tied to an event, AC counter or Wonder trigger. (You decide how best to utilize the idea.)

Unit: Forsaken Soldiers - Immune to physical attack. Vulnerable to magic.

Light Backstory (You make it fit.): Upon trigger, the souls of the lost dead, forsaken on the battlefield rise once again to face their foes.

Unit stats: I'm not good enough with balancing to make sensible stats. However, the units should be 0 (normal)physical strength units but invulnerable to physical attack. They should only be affected by magic from PC/AI and susceptible to their own [Battle Damage] damage promotion. However, if attacked, they will attack the offending party with magical (death) damage.

Appearance: Ghosted images of faction warriors, axemen, knights or a mix. Depending on how much room you want to devote to the graphics. No substantive changes to current models other than they are spectral in appearance. The importance is only that they fit together either by faction or alignment (good/evil unit graphics)

Description (Insert the mechanics): Two sets of 3-5 units spawn at a time a few squares from each other in a random spot on the map. This can happen once or several times over the course of the game once the trigger event takes place. Rare re-occuring would be the best. The units are not hostile to any PC/AI faction. However, the two sets are hostile against each other and will move towards each other to engage in deathly spectral combat. The player has a choice; Watch the battle for funsies or attempt to defeat the dead and possibly gain a relic. The dead can only be effected by magical attack from PC/NPC so melee rushes wouldn't work and +1(magic sphere) damage shouldn't be too much for them to handle. The trick is that they start only hostile to each other and will quickly move to destroy each other. So, even if you see the battle forming, you may not get there in time to get the loot. The reward shouldn't be anything really powerful, just something to add a bit of flavor and incentive to be watchful for the event after the trigger. Because of the random placement (simulating old battlefields) a PC may never even witness one. It'd be good to keep it rare indeed to make it that much more special.

In a hurry.. there ye go!

PS - I realize this is more of an event than anything else. The idea is that there are already a ton of playable and faction specific units. I wanted to emphasize the "fantastic environment" of the game by putting a neutral event in that the player could engage or not at their discression.

Unit name: Mage Knight
Technology Required: Armored Cavalry, Sorcery
Buildings: Hippodrome, Mage Guild
Resources: Mithral, Horses or Air Mana (Think being able to use a really nice horse or summon a mount with a spell, but needing specificly mithral because it interferes with casting less.)
Recommended Civ: Amurites

Strength: 7/5 +3 assorted elemental strength. (Whatever the weakest combo is)
Movement: 3

Model: Knight recolor
Cannot be built
Promotes from Wizard or Horse Archer, very expensive promotion

Think Knight/Wizard Combo, replaces knight, is effectivly weaker because of resistable strength points. Casts as a wizard. Hopefully, can be made to be able to be able gain new spheres without the Arcane XP gain. Gains a free magic promotion if promoted from Knight. Access to weapons promos being the free promo for promos from wizards

Qes' Unit Suggestion

Maegister (Grigori Only)
Model: Jewish Missionary or possibly an alternately colored Inquisitor
Early/Mid (through late) game unit.
Available with Writing
Allowed to build 1 Maegister per library within civilization.

Cost: Expensive 100? - Depends on balance
Str: 1
Moves: 1

Gains experience like adepts.

Promotions (Special) allowed:
Allowed to take Mobility I, II
Improved Education I-V: Adds 1-5 to great people points (any) in the city the Maegester is in per turn.
Arbiter I, II: +1 to 2 Happy faces to the city the Maegister is in
Minister of War (Requires level 3): Any units in city are produced with +3 exp; Movement -1
Minister of Justice (Requires level 4): +2 Culture for any city Minister is in; Movement -1
Minister of Wealth (requires level 5): Tax Collectors collect an additional +1 gold in the city in which the minister is in; Movement -1

Maegisters are the masters of knowledge, and the longer they live the more their knowledge is useful to the city they take residence in. They're keen insights are invaluable to any city ruler, and are often the very first targeted by assassins when hostilities arise.

Design Purpose:
To give the Grigori a fun utility unit that would function to strengthen their strengths, and help mitigate the lack of religion (for happicap). The ultimate weakness is to assassins, and assinating a very old Maegister could be detrimental to some Grigori players. They should be expensive, and always tied in number to libraries - to keep their numbers down.

Name: Rear Guard
Class: Recon
Strength: 2/4
Movement: 1
Cost: 120

+50% vs Recon
40% chance to intercept Marksman promotion attacks on tile
Free Promotion: Sentry I

Requires: Tracking
Requires: Walls

Unable to obtain: Mobility2

Concentrate on the fight at hand, I'll cover your backs.

May need a higher cost or castle instead of walls.

Highwayman

Model: Any swordsman or whatever. Nothing special.

3/2 Strength, adjusted for various reasons.
1 Movement. Additional +1 move if it passes over a horse pasture.
90 hammers. "Available" with Trade, but not buildable by any civilization.

This barbarian unit spawns near roads outside a city's immediate radius. It will seek out improvements outisde city radiuses, pillaging some, and leaving others. Passing over any metal, it will cast a "spell" that gives it that metal weapon upgrade. In addition, passing over any "mana" it will receive a +1 from that mana type. +1 fire, +1 water, so on. Alot of it's "abilities" are from "spells" that it will cast passing over certain improved resources. Additionaly, as the armageddon counter increases, it will appear more rapidly, and with more base strength as more people are driven toward desperation to survive. Perhaps a more powerful "Highway Mob" with double or triple strength at 40 and 80 counter numbers.

I like the idea of this unit having alot of unique abilities tied to resources. Passing over a food resource allows it to heal itself, extra movement with horses, extra power with metal and mana and armageddon counter.

This unit will provide a weak early game threat, gaining in power as the game progresses. Human controlled civs will need to patrol their territories, or risk losing valuable resources. The unit would quickly devestate the area around razed cities.

All in all, this is a unit that would basically exploit all the tricks I as a human player use that the computer can't. Spreading my cities out to gather resources, and never patrolling my own territory. Computer civs always park a unit on resources, and generally clump cities closer together, so they will not be bothered by this, but it provides a credible threat to overconfident human players.

Backstory is not terribly neccesary. A short story about a group of bandits sacking a backwoods iron mine for food money, because religious discrimination drove them out of town would be neat.

It's a little complicated, I hope I made myself understood.

Unit name: Killer "White" Rabbit
Civics Required: None
Strength: 4/6
Movement: 1
Promotions: Animal, Spirit II , Sorcery, Channeling II. ( I'm not totally sure how it works but basically i just want it to be able to cast hope, and also courage if it needs it to.) ,and maybe +50% against dwarf (since it's easier for the rabbit to jump at their neck)...
Cost: 1
Model: The Killer "White" Rabbit model by TheBladeRoden, only if he accepts the use of it. Sadly it seems to have no animation.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=183253

Description and concept: Will appear at a certain AC count in a barbarian city and defend it like Acheron the Red Dragon.
Shows that people are getting mad/crazy because of the feeling of impending doom. And they start worshipping this rabbit.
It will be "animal subduable" since it has the animal promotion and getting it in your civilization's city will benefit in three ways.
One : You get your own hopping-around cute pet!
Two : It can cast Hope in your civilization's cities. If he is in one of them of course.
Three : It is also Strong enough to provide a cute middle game attack unit, good enough to "kill"(capture) the workers, settlers and lone archers, warriors...

Story:Why would this rabbit be so cruel? As the Apocalypse grows closer, food is getting scarce, and those poor rabbits tends to become as much violent as their human counterparts, because they are both creature shaped by the gods (or is it?). Strangely this rabbit is more violent than any other rabbits, it was found by orcs, lizarmen (barbarians) when they sacked a town. The rabbit was so hungry it jumped on the corpse of his fallen masters and ate their flesh...
But while it was no mage-rabbit (though it can cast hope, but it's more like people worshipping him thinking it's a demon incarnate or a new creation from the gods , rather than the rabbbit making big speech and getting nobel prizes) , he was intelligent enough to understand that if he followed those green skinned barbarians he will find food...Therefore He followed them and got more and more vicious, until one day, a beastmaster could tame him and make him a formidable ally but only in a cute way...

PS:I read the rules about the non-uniqueness, so maybe a random number of those rabbits should spawn in various barbarian cities?
Many towns must have rabbits, so it would be no wonder if in any of these towns, the rabbits would evolve into killer rabbits...

Hey, if a unit of mine has a real shot of getting in FFH, I'll see what I can do about those animations ;)

Town Watch

Available with Code of Laws
Requires courthouse (or a new building type)
Unit type: Melee
Strength: 3
Movement: 1

+ 50% city defense
Starts with guardsman promotion
Receives city garrison promotions instead of city raider
Able to get sentry promotions
Cannot get mobility or comando promotions (the only reason the unit moves 1 space is to allow it to reach other cities for defense)

Special: reduces unrest in city (not stackable for multiple watch units)

Upgradeable to royal guard

Model: reskinned acolyte with a sword or spear in hand

Concept: An early city defender that also reduces unrest in a city. Stronger than a warrior but not as good of a defender as an archer (3 + 50% = 4.5 vice archer 4 + 25% = 5) nor as upgradeable. Guardsmen promotion protects special units (like mages and great people) in a city from assassins and the like. In short: the town watch protects and serves making the city safer for the people!

Augmenter
Unique to Luchuirp

Available with Iron Working (alternatively, with Engineering)
Requires Forge
Unit type: Melee
Strength: 2/3
Movement: 1
Cost: 150

Starts with Dwarven, Enchantment I
Grants Empower I to all golems in stack

Model:
Thane of Kilmorph with different coloured clothes & a hammer instead of, er... the pointy thing (I forget the name).

Short flavour (suggestion):
Following the fall of Barnaxus, the Luchuirp's once powerful golems crumbled without his support. The Dwarves were hard-pressed to hold their own and frantically sought to rediscover some of the secrets that has been lost with Barnaxus.

Through rigorous work at their forges, the Luchuirp perfected methods of quickly repairing their creations. They also found they could physically augment their golems in battle, but such efforts were ultimately inferior to the abilities of their lost hero.

Reason:
I think the Luchuirp would benefit from a non-magical means of golem repair (meaning you don't have to research the magic path) for players who like to go heavy on melee. Also, if Barnaxus dies or never has a chance to level up much in the first place (very likely on small maps), a Luchuirp player really feels the loss of his potential +50% golem empowerment. I know about the pieces of Barnaxus but as long as the carrying unit can be disbanded it's a flawed idea.

Since the Luchuirp strategy relies very heavily on golem empowerment, Augmenters fill a gap in their implementation while remaining thematic. 150 hammers keeps Augmenters expensive enough that they won't be spammed, and their weak strength makes them easy targets for sneaky assassins (I'm tempted to have them at 2/4 but I like the idea of risk).


Edited: Fixed up reasoning in response to Bringa. I always play on small maps and I guess it shows how long it's been since Barnaxus was useful in a game I've played!

Name: Foreman

Technology Required: Bronze Working
Strength: 3
Movement: 1
Promotions: Mobility, Combat

Special Ability: Build Siege Engine - use when unit is on a forest tile - over 3 turns the Foreman will chop down the forest and build a catapult unit (ability requires you to have a catapult tech). You can only use this ability if the number of catapults you control is less than the number of Foreman you control (similar to the limitation of summon skeleton). Using this ability within another Civ's borders is an act of war.

Mostly I want this because moving catapults one unit at a time is tedious. Instead I can move my army in, and build siege devices from trees outside the enemy city. Balanced by taking the same amount of time (I got to wait to build them), but I'm not micromanaging my stack while I get ready.

Augmenter
Unique to Luchuirp
[...]

Reason:
I think the Luchuirp would benefit from a non-magical means of golem repair (meaning you don't have to research the magic path) for players who like to go heavy on melee. Also, Barnaxus can only ever be in one place and whenever he's not around, a Luchuirp player really feels the loss of his +50% golem empowerment.


Since when does Barnaxus have to be around for the golems to get the empowerment from him? Afaik, ALL golems owned by this player get the promotions as long as Barnaxus is alive.

Also, is this contest still open? It figures that you'd open a contest just when I'm flying to Poland! ;)

Name: Purist
Class: Melee
Strength: 3
Movement: 1

Model: Cultist (maybe change the robe color to white?)

Tech Req: Way of the Wicked
Unique For: All human factions
Promotions: All Slaying promotions (Elf, Dwarf, Orc, etc...)
Abilities:
Embrace the Hate: When located in an owner's city it applies a happiness modifier based on the number of non-human factions the owner has open-borders (-happiness) with and the number of non-human factions the owner is at war (+happiness) with. Non-cumulative for having multiple Purists in a single city.
Purify: When located in a "friendly" non-human city, a Purist may sacrifice a population in the city to gain XP. Causes heavy political fallout with the city's owner. Nothing says "friends" like genocide, regardless, makes for a good war starter.

Maybe should tie the number of Purists availabe to build to the number of non-human factions in the game to prevent pufication bombing a city to destruction in one turn.

--

I was thinking of something specifically for humans since it seemed factions like Elohim, Bannor, Amurite etc... (correct me if I'm misunderstanding their race specifications) had very few unique units...and this was one theme that seems rarely touched or is human specific in most fantasy or sci-fi settings. The Humanis Policlub from Shadowrun would be their sci-fi counterparts I suppose and I'm sure many could name a certain 3 letter group that this group is derived from.

Apprentice Wizard
0 :strength:
1 :move:
Starts with channeling I
Upgrades to Adept
Worker model wearing more clothes (medieval peasant?)

Randomly spawned after a unit casts a spell requiring channeling I, II, or III. Apprentice Wizard will be spawned for the owner of the unit casting the spell and will be spawned in the same tile as the unit casting the spell.
Spawn chance increases if magic user has spellstaff promotion.
Can be sacrificed by magic user to regain the ability to cast spells for the turn.

Magic is an awesome display of power to most denizens of Erebus. The fascination with magic leads to some people desiring the ability to use magic themselves. The people who fail to get into a mage guild may instead approach a mage and request that he or she accepts them as apprentices. A mage may accept some of these people as apprentices, however what happens from there is entirely up to the mage with his or her own aspirations. Perhaps the mage is malevolent and will only use the apprentice to gain more power. Or perhaps the mage is benevolent and will attempt to enlighten and protect his or her new student so that one day this person will become one of the greatest mages of all time.

Reason: Mostly because I wanted to give the Amurites something to make their wizards (starting out with a free spellstaff) more useful than normal mages. Could also be useful assassin fodder while out on long campaigns in enemy lands because of their 0 :strength:. AI should probably upgrade them to adepts or just delete them if they have too many units.

Rogue (upgrades to assassin, no tech requirement)
2/1 att/def strength
2 moves
1 first strike
immune to first strikes
-50% city strength
Cost: 25 production (same as warriors/scouts)
Combat Type: Recon unit
Model: Assassin (doviello one has the best basic model)

Reasons: A female unit that can be built from start for all civs would be nice, also, a unit for which assassins to upgrade from that doesn't change gender (in the basic case, tho for different civs they may need male ones when/if they get UU versions) would make sense (ending the ability for hunters to upgrade to assassins and removing the need for a hunters lodge from assassins would make sense for this as well). And it completes the nice Warrior/Rogue/Wizard basic archtype of fantasy games (plus in D&D a rogues prestige classes are Assassins and Shadow(dancer)s, which then makes sense for the upgrade paths here).

Familiar

No movement, no strength. After being built, can only be joined to an arcane unit - similar to the great commander mechanic, except the join is permanent. Familiar appears on a random mana node, and must be picked up by the arcane unit at that node. Max one familiar allowed per arcane unit.

Adds a +1 strength to the arcane unit, +10 xp. Familiar dies if the arcane unit dies.

Use wolf graphic (if black cat, rat or weasel familiar), or bird graphic (if crow, owl or bat familiar), or the toad resource graphic for a toad familiar. Any one of those works...

Requires mage guild + 2 civilization nodes. Costs 100 hammers.

...Perhaps for a future release, create each type of familiar listed above. When the familiar is built, the type of familiar will be created randomly. Will still provide the +10 xp, but remove the +1 strength bonus, and instead:

black cat: +1 movement (mobility)
rat: +1 extra strike chance (drill)
weasel: +20% withdrawal (flanking)
crow: +heal while moving (march)
owl: +1 visibility range (sentry)
bat: +heal other units +10% (medic)
toad: +1 strength (heroic strength)

Prophet of Despair
1 strength, 1 movement
Gains no experience, cannot attack, immortal (pops up back at the capital), hidden nationality, invisible.
cost: about 100 hammers
model The cultist or conjurer, but with torn garments for robes and a depressing and pathetic air.

These units have an anti-medic promotion which causes all units around them (friend, foe, or neutral) to have a negative healing rate of 30% a turn. It does not cause war. It cannot bring a unit below .1 strength, so it cannot kill. Also, if it is next to a city it causes one person to be unhappy and not work (regardless of the city's total happiness). Their abilities on cities (not troops) do stack so if you put enough of them next to a city you could starve it down to almost nothing. Of coarse, the enemy can easily kill them off and they are easy targets for assassins who might accidentally kill them at the bottom of a stack. And then they'll have to walk all the way back from their capital. The unit can only be built by civilizations that have had a net increase on the AC of less then 2, and after the AC hits 30.

Reason for this Unit: It gives civilizations that haven't been raising up the AC a unique tool with which to fight there enemies. It should not be overpowered because it can easily be killed by accident and just gives free experience to what ever unit ran into it.

Lore: Captain Lonuald road at the front of his column of Crusaders, off to the front. He knew they made an impressive sight, striding trough the charred countryside, there armor gleaming through the smoke and rubble of the homes they had destroyed. Heretics, he thought, all of them, they had been friendly with the enemy and they had had to die.
Out of the rubble stepped a wrenched man, in a torn rob. Dried blood caked his face and he looked utterly helpless and pathetic. Lonuald prepared to strike the heretic down, but before he could the man let out a terrible scream. "NO! do not hurt me. I am not one of them, not bad, no, no, never but I have seen bad, very bad, oh yes, so bad, please, take pity, I shan't get in your way, I have information, I can help, you may lose, the bad is evil, it is coming, but I can help, from the evil, the very evil of Hell, it is oh so evil." Lonuald paused his motion, it would be right to help this man, he thought, he is not a heretic, and if he can lead us to the enemy, all the better.
Three days latter He marched home, alone. His men, crusaders of the Bannor, had abandoned him, they had fled from the man's tails of woe and death. Lonuald had killed the man, but too late. He had seen the best troops in the world decimated without a shot and he wondered, how long until another one like that man comes, how long?

Advanced scout, to fill while waiting for hunting,

Skin, Beastmaster w/o animals

Traits 3 attack/1 defence one move

Promotions, Poison resistant, subdue animal, forestry 1/ with foresrty 2 promotion accessablity

Tech pre rec exploration, animal husbandry

Just for those times when a 3 or four star spider or bear is hanging around the wrong spot

recuiter: uses great commander model.
1 strength 2 move
starts with commando
only buildable in the capital
can travel in rival territory
low hammer cost

this unit will have an ability to go into a rival city that you are at peace with and recuit citizens to your cause. this can only be done if your score is lower than that of the player whos city you are in. the recuiter will have a low chance of recuiting some of the citizens of the city to your cause. the chance shoudl be modified by:
the level of unhappiness of that city
the population of the city
that nations relationships with yours
the nationality of the city
that cities distance from the capital

if this is sucessfull you will get a few "citizen" units using the worker skin that you can take back to one of your cities and upgrade into a melee unit. the leader will have a negative relationship modifier towards you depending on how many citizens you took.

this is meant to give players who are doing poorly extra military units provided they can spare the money and the relationship hit.

dwarven seer- blind(cannot see units), scry(see all units in target tile, including invisible)
a unit for the "magic restricted" dwarves.

Fire Salamander (Animal) - Reskinned tiger model should work.
3str 1move
Special ability: Degrades ancient forest to forest, or start fire when in a plot with forest or jungle. Not guaranteed to actually catch, but rather is the same as a fire spreading normally.

Cannot be built but can be captured like any normal animal. Any plot with a fire has a small chance of spawning the salamander. Can spawn within cultural borders. While barbarian, will always move into any adjacent forest or jungle that's not on fire and try to start a fire until successful.

Animal Pack

When more of some animal unit (eg wolves, bears, lions) is close by, they have a chance to change into a pack of that animal. The pack will start spawning new animals, move, or create a den (or chance of a den changed into a pack (especially if thretend)). A pack will attack easy prey but run from large armies.

The pack will have attack +25% defence +50%, the den will have 0% attack, +100% defence, 0 movement.

Dryad

Requirements: Ways of the Forest, Fellowship of Leaves state religion

Strength 1
Movement 1
Cost 100 hammers
Look smaller Treeant (?)

Special rules:
+25% against melee
+100%/+150%/+200% in new/old/ancient forest
-75% in a city
-50% fire resistance
doesn't heal in cities, heals in forests in the same rate as other units in cities (is it technically possible?)

Available promotions:
Combat I-V
Woodsman, Forest Stalker
Mobility
Shock
Channeling I-II, Sorcery, Nature I-II

Description:
Dryads are forests spirits, dwelling in deep woods. They normally don't interfere with the world of man (or dwarf/elf/orc for that case).
Devoted followers of the nature can summon a number of forest spirits to their case.

Strategy:
Dryads are decent units when in forests, but in left open, or even worse in a city, they are vulnerable. They need to be used with care to be effective (cross open land only in necessity and beware of fire mages!). A dryad can be trained to use magic, but it needs 3 promotions (if I calculate well) to get Treetop Defence and 5 promos to get Bloom.


I see dryad as a unit that could replace archer of leaves, a unit similar in some way, but with strengths and weaknesses more sharply marked. There is also a possibility (if expensive) to make a dryad a limited spellcaster. And personally the idea of awakening forest spirits to help nature's followers nation appeals to me more than (elven) archers joining the nature's followers civ.

EDIT: jungle = old forest?

Morbid Caravan

Civ suggestion: evil civs, except Balseraphs (?!)
Required building: Carnival.
Stats: 1 :strength:, 2 :move:
Cost: 100

Description:
Only 1 available per civ (I believe this is possible)
Adds +2 happy +1 :yuck: as long as unit is in city.
Can't attack.
Doesn't gain experience.
Two units in the same city doesn't add to the bonus

Model:
Gypsy wagon.. maybe with a few changes?

Story:
-Daddy, daddy, look! There are fireworks over there! - the little child ran out through the door.
The scent of the dead bodies quickly spread through the town. The mayor announced that the national forces were coming to demonstrate what happens to their enemies. Nobody would ever know the little child was "invited" to become part of the show in another town - not even the child.

Why?
Give evil civs happiness bonus =P but just one available avoid spamming. And yes, Public Baths on wheels.

Eternal Champion

World Unit, 1 Allowed
Requirements: Divination, Neutral Alignment

Strength: 5 :strength:
Movement: 1 :move:
Cost: 200 :hammers:
Look: single hero type

Special rules:
Abandoned if Alignment changes from Neutral

Starting promotions:
Channeling I
Eternal (if killed, unit is reborn in capital with no experience or promotions)

Available promotions:
Tier II Warrior/Mage promotions

Description:
The Eternal Champion exits through all time, defending the balance of the world between Law and Chaos. When the balance swings too heavily towards one side or the other, the champion may be infused with the power of other incarnations with Restore the Balance Ritual (detailed below), in an effort to bring harmony back to the world.

Restore the Balance

Ritual
Requirements: Divine Essence, Eternal Champion, Armageddon Counter under 20 or over 50.
Cost:400 :hammers:

Description:
A 6th level Eternal Champion may be upgraded to a Champion of Balance for free, if the Armageddon Counter is under 20 or over 50.

Champion of Balance

Strength 10 :strength: ?
Movement 1 :move:
Cost free upgrade from 6th level Eternal Champion
Look single hero type

Special Rules
Abandoned if alignment changes from Neutral
'Killed' if Armageddon Counter enters range between 25 and 45 (reborn in capital as 0 experience Eternal Champion).

Starting Promotions
Enervate (+40% versus heroes)
Free Promotion

Available Promotions
Tier IV Warrior/Mage promotions

Description:
The Champion of Balance comes forth when the world is threatened with the loss of harmony, tasked with removing those strong forces which tip the scales. Once balance has been restored, the Champion departs, only to rise once more when needed.

Notes
Obviously a tip of the cap to Mr. Moorcock, the Eternal champion has a novel cyclical dynamic and gives the Neutral Civs more interest and control over the progress of the Armageddon counter. I was going to suggest a ritual that could be redone each time the Champion of Balance could be summoned, but not sure if that was technically possible. The stats, promotions and Armageddon Counter numbers used are just suggestions; the concept of a cyclical hero of balance is my suggestion.

The Oracle

Buildable for: non-ashen veil civs
Requires: Way of the wise, Armageddon counter must be at least 10
Costs: 100 Hammers
Strength: 7?
Movement: 1
Look: Monk
Category: Disciple Units

Description:
Starts with No Religion promotion
0-2 First Strikes
+50% vs Holy Damage
+50% vs Unholy Damage
This unit is someone of 'the most gifted', who can feel the changes in the world that will happen. The futher the counter rises the more abilities gets th unit. Every gifted promotion fits to the coming event. The abilities can be adjusted if they are too powerful.

Special Abilities:
If counter reaches 38: This unit gets Channeling I and Water I
If counter reaches 58: The unit gets Spirit I (or just Courage)
If counter reaches 61: The unit gets Demon Slaying I
If counter reaches 64: The unit gets Immune to disease and Resist Poison
If counter reaches 67: The unit gets Undead Slaying I and Death Resistance(+50% vs Death Damage?)
If counter reaches 68: The unit gets Resist Fire
If counter reaches 88: The unit gets Law I (or just Loyality)
If counter reaches 98: The unit gets Immortal for one time

Story:
Not everything was lost during the Age of Ice. There are some people, which share a special bond with the land they are walking on like some of their ancestors in the Age of Magic. They will feel if the land suffers, if changes happen in the Ether. But different from the priests blinded by their faith, and the mages corrupted by their magical power, they know what will happen, what to do to save the lifes of the innocent and how they can fight the horrors of Armageddon.
The Oracles, how they call themselves, are men of every race, gender and age. Many were priests in their past, but as the world began to fall, even the greatest doubters recognised, that their gods are as helpless as every other man. Also, they couldn't refuse their newly gained might, which signed their fate as protectors.
They are scattered all around the world, but in big cities, where many of them live, the Oracles formed small confraternities. The sign of their community is the opened eye. There, they try to foresee the bane as good as possible and to tell it their king, so he can try to avoid it somehow. Yet many kings are too religious and many totally came under the influence of the priesthoods. Therefore they search for other ways to save the land they love.

(Sorry for my English if someone's eyes begin to rebel :))

Servitor

(any better name is welcome)

Model: Djinn

Requires Elementalism
Requires at least 3 (5?) different source of mana
Requires Mage Guild

Build cost varies depending on unit strength

Str: 1 + 1 for every different source of mana available (for example fire mana + 1 Fire, water mana + 1 Cold, etc.)
(If possible, count only owned sources, not bought)
Mov: 1

Promotions: Elemental, Immune to Disease, Magic Resistance

Description: Ether creature, created by mages from pure elemental energy.

Mapmaker

Model: Explorer unit from vanilla

Tech: Cartography
National Unit: Only 2 allowed

Strength = 0
Movement = 2

Cost: 100

Promotions: Commando, Runs away when attacked, Can enter enemy territory

Description: Early recon-type unit to allow you to see what your resources your enemies have and discover more land. Can only die if surrounded (like Loki)

Rationale: Now that Cartography doesn't lead to trade anymore, I tend not to have a reason to get it. Plus, I am always wondering what my enemies have in terms of resources so I can better plot my attacks.

Ice Basilisk

Barbarian (hidden nationality) beast type unit. Starts in ice or tundra squares.

Immobile (0 :move:), 2 :strength: (+2 cold). Starts with magic immunity, immune to cold and fear.

During each (barbarian) turn the basilisk cast the "Gaze of the Serpent" (or whatever :) ) spell that freezes all units (even other barbarians) in adjected tiles (hand out frozen promotion to all those units).

Frozen units are immobile and take (10-level)% damage each turn until they die. They have a chance of (level * 3)% that they lose that promotion at the beginning of the (their) turn.

When the basilisk is killed take away the frozen promotion from all units in adjected tiles. The killer of the creature could get a "Skin of the Basilisk" promotion (could even be handed around and captured like Orthuss Axe) that gives (+1 cold defense :strength:,just ignore this if it not supported), magic immunity and immune to cold.

Asudem the Unborn

World Unit
Requires: Ashen Veil SR, Mage Guild, Obsidian gate, arm count of 50 or greater.
Available at Pass Through the Ether
500 hammers
Starts with Channeling I, II, & III, Summoning, Sorcery, hero

Abilities: sacrifice the highest level unit in the stack (at least lv 5) to regain the ability to cast.

Upon completion the city that built it is reduced to 1 population, loses 50% of it's buildings, and all other units present are destroyed.

Look: use the dragon horde base. add an ashenveil preist pushing a small infant in the carriage.

Constructer

Unique worker unit to the Doviello

Availble from start

:strength: :0/1
:move: 2

cost:125:hammers:

abilities:Same as worker,Can only defend, Immune to diease,Immune to frost(just for fun:) )

Look:A Javelin Thrower with a Shield like the Axemen
Animation:Worker animation,as for fight animations: i suggest axemen animation, but if there are better ones feel free to use them:goodjob:

Sheut Golem
6:strength:(+1 Death from Stone) 2:move:
Barbarian Unit/Sheaim Planar unit
Has chance of appearing at Armageddon count 40 for planar gate
(if city has entropy Mana)
Barbarians Spawn them at 60

Promotions: Golem, Sheut Stone
Appearance: Normal golem model with a texture similar to a Treant's color
Flavor text/History:

Many years ago, in the heat of the god wars, there was a tribe of outcasts. Some had spoken ill of their gods and been exiled. Some had committed crimes, and fled to escape punishment. But they were all joined in their anger and vengefulness. Among this pack of misfits a man named Jacob Quaiyne /*Yes, like Kane from TS*/. One day while gathering food for his tribe Quaiyne's hunting party was attacked by a great blood-red beast. Only Quaiyne survived, as he was rescued by an angel.

"What can I do to thank you friend" Quaiyne asked the heavenly figure.

"All I wish for is your servitude," Responded the towering figure. He told Quaiyne of a stone that held untold power, and told him of its secret powers. He told Quaiyne to learn how to use the stone, and help him use it against the angels of good.

From that day forward, Quaiyne became obsessed with the strange stone. As he examined it his mind grew. He crafted beautiful weapons with skill matched only by the most experienced Luchiurp. He enchanted the stone and created magics that Amurite Mages would envy. As his obsession with the stone grew, his intellect grew. And yet his sanity diminished.

However, eventually the god's warring found its way to Quaiyne's peaceful village. He was caught in the middle of one battle while gathering more of the stone. He watched as angel fought angel. Then he saw him, the angel that had helped him so long ago, summoning the same beasts that had killed his friends. He realized that this angel, Agares, had betrayed him.

Quickly he returned to his workshop and destroyed all of his creations. He smashed the armors and swords, the statues and figures. He littered the village with rubble of the stone. He peered out the window, and viewed the villagers as they went about their days. His sense of right and wrong were dead, and his rational thought was no more.

He then made up his greatest enchantment of all. As he chanted the runes, the shards of rock turned to a green mist that enveloped the town. His friends screamed as the stones fused with their flesh, deforming their bodies and remaking them as monsters.

With nothing but blind fury guiding the monsters, they went out to destroy anything in their paths. Among them was Quaiyne. His conscience was gone. His mortality was gone. He and his monsters descended on the battlefield, attacking angels regardless of their alignment. Fighting the abominations was useless, as swords could not scratch them, maces could not dent them. They grew more powerful by the second, absorbing magic from the battles and feeding on the life of the mortal world. Their power surpassed even Agares himself. He had only one option. He had to banish them from this world. He cast the creations from the earth to a place where they could never bother him again.

The centuries of wear that has afflicted them has no doubt weakened these monsters, but they are still out there. Their separation from the mortal realm removed their immortality, and with Agares influence waning, the stones from which they were created have become scarce. And though he has lost his insanity, Quaiyne has kept his intelligence. He knows that some day, the planes will become weak enough for his minions to return to the earth, and regain their power.

vindicator (malakim lvl2 disciple)

4or5(+1fire)/1move, 120ham

disciple unit, requires fanaticism

upgrades from lightbringer (not religious specific)

immune to fire (or +50% if that seems like too much)

can scorch and sanctify (fire1, life1, channeling1)

can use iron and mithril weapons (not copper)

model: paladin/malakim swordsman type base w/ a long shield that has a sun emblem on it. (maybe a bit of fiery glow from the shield)

[maybe upgradeable to immortal, maybe]

Godsbane
Unique Unit for the Grigori.
High Priest Model
National Limit: 1
Upgrades from Grigorian Medic

3/5 str
can enter enemy territory
Commando
March
Medic II
Scourge


Special Ability: Preach

Equal to the "Roar" mechanic the dragons possesed, it will convert units next to it, which have a religious promotion, that does NOT match the current state religion of the owning nation, to the grigorian cause.

The newly converted unit will get the hidden nationality promotion for free.
Every religious promotion will be removed.

Traveler

Available with Trade (may require an Inn)

Non-combat unit
When in a city not owned by the Traveler's civ, the Traveler can be sacrificed to use its special ability. One of the following things will happen (chosen at random):

A small amount of gold is generated for the owner of the traveler
The relations between the traveler's owner, and the owner of the city are improved
A random unit in the city receives the 'diseased' promotion
The owner of the Traveler receives :science: towards a tech known to the city's owner
(Rarely) The owner of the Traveler receives the territory/world map of the civ that owns the city
(Very Rarely) The owner of the Traveler receives information on the location of all units belonging to the owner of the city


The following events may also occur (in addition to the above)

The units in the city get a small XP boost
A small amount of gold is generated for the owner of the city
The owner of the city receives :science: towards a tech known to the Traveler's owner
(Rarely) The owner of the city receives the territory/world map of the civ that owns the Traveler


The unit is meant to represent people traveling between different civs. Such travelers often trade in foreign cities, and learn about the foreign civ. They can also teach that civ about their own homeland (hence the reversal of certain events). However, such travelers sometimes carry diseases, to which the are immune, to the other civs...

Thespian
:strength: 0
:move: 1
:hammers: 50 (maybe more?)
Model: Unisex looking model.

Requirements: Drama, Theater, Open boarders.

Abilities: Can be upgraded to any unit from a friendly city. When gifted building Civ retains visual range of the Thespian and if stationed in a city gives city view to original Civ.

There is a small % chance each turn that the Thespians will be discovered. The % increases, multiplied by the number of thespians currently working in the target Civ (or some other better balanced increase, which ever makes it work).

When a Thespian is discovered the target Civ gets a negative attitude modifier and the Thespian is lost. If the target was a human player the player in notified.

When war is declared between Civs all Thespians revert to their original Civs control and gain Hidden Nationality promotion (so they can stay inside borders.)


Comments: I was thinking of a cool way to do early espionage while having a unit that could be useful into the late game. Perhaps the chance for detection should be increased by other means than just number of units. Perhaps some buildings should offer a bonus while unit is in that city. Also this unit presents an interesting incentive to go for drama which as is I never do.



Civopidia: The Thespian is a skilled agent of deception, recruited from the most promising of theatrical upstarts. Once chosen their natural abilities are scrutinized and honed until their wit and guile are as sharp as a razor. After they have reached mastery of their calling they are thrust into new and often dangerous training regiments.

Some are trained in might some in magic while still others are taught the way of the woods or the gods. In the end their purpose remains the same, the covert protection of the motherland. Or in the hands of the unscrupulous the covert destruction of the enemy. To these ends they are sent far and wide to strange lands and peoples to live and serve amongst them. They are subjected to the whims of madmen and saints but never does their true purpose sway far from their heart. They do as they are bid, terrible things, wondrous things it makes no difference. They do these things gladly and with zeal always watching, always listening. What they learn they whisper into the night and their secrets fly on the wings of birds or the backs of wagons to rest at the feet of their true masters.

It is a dangerous calling, fatal to a failure and a gruesome death I'm sure. For the rest, they wait and they watch always ready to take up arms, always ready to return home...

Name: Doppelganger

Civs: Probably Evil would be the most suitable, more specifically the Balseraphs, Sheim, or Calabim (though I could see the possibility as well for neutral civs like the Sidar)

Requirements: Deception, Body Mana

Model: Worker. If it seems feasible, changing to the model of the last humanoid unit it has killed.

stats: 5/4, 2 movement, -50 City, Magic Resistant, Hidden Nationality

Possible additions: Body 1 and Channeling 1 (for greater mobility), The doppelganger could gain sentry 1 or 2 after killing an enemy unit (representing knowledge gleaned from the fallen unit)

Reasoning: I see the doppelganger filling a similar, though perhaps more specialized, niche as the assassin (and would be available at roughly the same time). However, where the assassin works as a marksman, picking off weaker units and having additional poison damage, the doppelganger would be more of a raider, having the benefit of hidden nationality and greater survivability to operate farther from home. Magic resistance (and perhaps Immunity, though that could be overpowered) give the unit more versatility to raid even when large portions of the world might be in flames.

Gracias,


Domingo

that should be unattackable unless it attacks someone in the view of another units, and only attackable by the units that see it attack

Name: Philosopher

Civs: Any.

Requirements: Philosophy! :crazyeye: Units would be available only under City-States or Theology civics

Model: The Lightbringer would be fine ... anything without obvious weapons in a toga. :)

Stats: 1/2, 1 movement, inherent Inspiration spell. Probably should be made a national unit (3 maximum) but see Cost.

Cost: ~60 Hammers if made a National Unit, ~120 Hammers if not.

Reasoning: Well, everyone knows the ancient Greeks operated as 'city-states', right? And theyhad a bunch of philosophers running around, jumping into and out of bathtubs and chugging hemlock milkshakes. What more do ya need?

You need actual reason in the reasoning? Oh ... ok. Well, in bland practical terms, the idea it to give a bit more appeal to the City-States and Theology civics. These civics do not offer enough compared to God-King or Aristocracy, often enough.

About the only time I find City-States attractive is if I am playing a Barbarian-trait civ. They expand so fast, the low maintenence costs of City-States can be useful. These civs also suffer a huge R&D penalty. Fractions are truncated, not rounded off. The net effect is to supress Barbarian-trait R&D by about 20% instead of the advertized 10%.

The Philosopher unit would provide a way to offset this R&D hit. Allowing the unit under Theocracy too allows a Governmental civic upgrade path different from G-K/Aristocracy. It also allows for a (future potenial) unit upgrade path. E.g. under Theology Philosophers could be upgradeable to "Rabbi" or "Imam" units ... i.e. religion-oriented Philosophers. Such an upgrade unit is outside the scope of the contest, but the potential is there.

Let's see, here... with time running out, I'll just post whatever comes to mind:


Out of the mist, they came... At first, we thought them friendlies, lost in that pea-soup of a battlefield, but when they came closer, I saw my own face staring back at me!
We lost many good men on that night.
The enemy? Oh, we killed them all, eventually, but... when morning came, their fallen were all gone and disappeared, as were our wounds and those of our slain comrades - though they remained dead.

Name: Mistweaver.

Civs: Any, (though possibly limited to a sneaky civ such as the Svartalfar or the Sidar - could even serve as a replacement for archmages or summoners for someone, with a starting promotion adjustment.)

Requirements: Deception, Arcane Lore.

Model: Any generic spellcaster would work, though some sort of hazy mist effect (if possible) would enhance the flavour.

Numbers: National Unit (Maximum 3), 4 strength, 1 movement, costs 120 hammers.

Special Abilities:
Immune to first strikes.
Mistweave: Target any unit within range (1+spell extension) to create a friendly copy of that unit in the caster's tile. The copy has experience, level and promotions identical to the original, as well as the Summoned II promotion (i.e. lasts for two turns) and the Illusion promotion:
(Illusion:
-20% strength.
-20% strength vs units with Courage.
(possibly) Hidden Nationality.
Deals no combat or spell damage to units immune to mind-affecting spells.
Any units summoned by illusions are also illusions, and are spawned with Summoned I (i.e. always lasts for one turn, even if it is a skeleton).
Illusions cannot convert units.
Illusions cannot bombard.)

Promotions: Starts with Channeling I, Channeling II, Sorcery, Summoning, Mind I, Water I and Air I. Can get other spheres just like any other caster, but can never upgrade to gain Channeling III.

Cenobite
Calabim
Replaces: Great Bard
Graphic: Succubus

The same characterisitcs as the Great Power, but don't have the Create Great Work and Join City as Great Bard powers. Instead she has the Create Macabre Work and Join as Cenobite powers.

Create Macabre Work: Kills half of the city population and generates as much culture as killed pop points. The Cenobite kills himself in the end as the climax of her supreme work.
Reasoning: Calabim is about killing tons of people to fuel your military and/or industry. But a Supremacist Civilization is not only about crushing the lesser beings. It is about superior forms of culture. And to a race whose power comes from mass killing humans, a form of art composed of bones, blood and entrails is logical.
The Cenobite "Macabre" Culture Bomb is quite diferent from the "Vanilla" Culture Bomb. It's effects in small outposts is worse than the from the "Vanilla" Bombs. Any culture push strategy centred in the Cenobite power depends of how fast your human herd grows.

Join City as Cenobite: The same effects as the Great Bard, but produces one more culture and one unhappy face.
The Calabim human herd is not known for their rebellion tendency. And it is natural, because their masters get stronger each time a revolt emerges, eating all the rebels. But there is a limit to what someone can take without saying something about. Cenobites kills human children to collect small bones to produce their fantastic instruments and vanguard works of art, and to many that draws the line.

It would be interesting to replace the Obelisk for the Monument if the Calabim gets the Cenobite. Now one major source of culture, a production light source is gone, and you must rely more on the cenobite to mantain tour culture frontier up without losing your production tempo in some strategic and tactical scenarios.

Ramble mode on...

Let me first start by stating I don't know all the units in this mod...

Shade

Basically an "invisible" recon unit. 0 strength. Movement 1 or 2. Visibility could be 1 or 2 depending on how you define its backstory. 2 makes some sense if it can fly. Can only be killed if seen. Could have hidden nationality trait.

You could say it was flying so that a ranged unit with a sighter can kill it or due to it's nature only discipline units have the ability.

It could be available to all kingdoms or just those who have necromancy. Making them a national unit is a possibility depending on how the final unit is shaped.

End of the day. Knowledge is power. Outside of having a holy city, how else can you really see what's going on deep inside another kingdom if you don't have open borders with them.

Ramble mode off...

Eh, why not.

Wyvern Rider:

Str 6+ 1 Poison Str, either 4 Defensive Str or Unable to Defend (see below)

Race: Doviello and Kuriotates

Promotions: Flying, Sentry 1, Move 4 or 5

Requirements: Capture a barbarian Wyvern (which I would also submit if not for the 1 unit-limit) and build a brood building with it? Or resource "Wyvern Nest" found in hils, gaurded by a strong Mother Wyvern - this would make a good trade material for races that couldnt build the unit, or be a good reason to make it available to everyone. On the flip side, it could just be race specific unit with no requirements at all.

Use: Ganker. The point of the low defense would to assume that in the lack of a real flying system, managing to attack the rider while sitting still would be, in essence, catching it on the ground and unable to defend itself properly. The AI would probably never understand how to use them offensively, unfortunately, but its the best I could think of without coding in promotions to mark archers, melees, and fliers and altering the attack routines to check for them, if that is even possible.

Techs Needed: Err.. I forget the mounted line.. Will have to look them up.

Upgrades to: Wyvern Knight, obviously!

Graphics: Plenty of places to rip/recolor, from NWN to Warcraft 3!

Hope its not too late to submit :) and apologies for not very detailed description since english is not my main language.

Name: Harpooner
Civilization: Lanun

Requirements: Lighthouse, Harbor, Tracking, Sailing, possible other naval techs and/or exploring techs
Promotions: visibility (i think it was sentry), subdue animal, heavy bonus vs. animals, track hidden animals
Cost: about twice much as work boat
Graphics: similar to work boat, maybe different colouring


Description: Its a naval unit that looks like a basic work boat but it has some special abilities. Its designed to explore the seas and track down sea monsters and "tame" them much like hunters can do in land. After it has found and killed a sea monster you get control of the monster. It is very weak against normal ships and cant attack them but it gets big bonus against animals. It has advanced visibility range but doesnt get movement bonuses to start with. If all territory is already explored it could upgrade whale resource nodes to increase its :food: +1. This action would consume the unit.

Thanks for reading :)

name:Colonist/Pioneer
civilization:anyone who's expansionist

requirements:hunting (?)
promotions:none
cost:slightly more then the settler
graphics: similar to the settler but with maybe a warrior or explorer graphic added in

description:A colonist would cost a bit more then a settler and when produced it a bit slower then the settler, but when settled it produces a city with 2 (or something else reasonable) population and a granary (or some other useful building based on type of civilization or location settled). It probably would reasonable to have the pop of the building city to lower by one after a colonist is built.

I can see this working pretty well with Hyprobem... if you you have a city you can produce a colonist which would boost the population of the new city (since city growth does not happen unless you sacrifice demons to increase pop). You can start of your cities bigger then usual.

Restless Spirit
Strenght 4 Movement 1
This units are gained every time city is razed but souls dont join either Hyborem or Basium (Either because they are neutral or because Hyborem/Basium is not yet in, and when larger cities are razed some pop points are turned into restless spirits regardless of alingment.
Basicaly this unit can never heal. It can heal if it gets promotion but you cant heal it in any other way. You can use it, every battle damaging it more and more until it dies forever.
However it gets strenght bonus depending on how much it is damaged. so with 50% HP it gets 50% strenght bonus, wich is not as good as if it was on full strenght but it helps anyway.
It can be used to slow down invasions and to get you some kind of rubberband effect when your cities are razed.

Evangelist


Non-combat unit, available at Priesthood, move 2, requires temple and state religion, cost 1.5x that of a basic disciple

Ability: In addition to being able to spread its religion to a city, this unit also has a 50% chance to convert the populace, removing one competing religion from the city. The unit is always consumed whether the conversion was successful or not. Non-state religions will always be removed first. Each disciple unit of a state religion present in the city reduces the chance of the state religion being removed by 10%. Previously built temples and other religion specific buildings are not destroyed.

State religions in cities of civs running Theocracy or Religious Discipline civic, or who own the holy city of their state religion are immune to this ability.

Removing a state religion from a city has a 10% chance of incurring a 1 point diplomatic penalty with the city owner.

(This idea is not my own, but I liked it so much that I thought I would submit it. The concept was originally discussed in this thread: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=5169280&postcount=1. I apologize that this post is a bit rushed; I've taken far too long to submit this idea on paper.)

Elite Bodyguard

National Unit
Requirements: TBD (Tavern? Monarchy?)
Unit Type: Melee
Unit Cost: 240 :hammers:
Strength: 2 :strength:
Movement: 2 :move:
Graphic/Model: Single Mercenary-like unit.
Notes: +100% Strength vs. units with the Marksman promotion. Begins with Bodyguard promotion. Can only defend. Can use Bronze, Iron and Mithril weapons. Upgrades from Mercenary.

Bodyguard Promotion: This unit always defends first against units with the Marksman promotion. (This promotion is removed by the Graft Flesh spell. It may be appropriate for some heroes.)

Concept: I think there have been at least two submissions already (Rear Guard and Apprentice Wizard) that mentioned the problem of Mages/etc. being sniped by Shadows/etc. without any real counter. This is my take on a solution: a single elite sellsword (or small group) which protects vulnerbale units. Mechanically, a national unit which is always targeted first by units with Marksman, but which is largely ineffective against conventional units in its era. Its strength will range from 2-6 depending on metal access (4-12 vs. Marksmen), and it will consistently fall to conventional units of its era and probably groups of Marksman units.

(I have to run: if this thread isn't locked, I'll flesh this out further and add further info below via an edit. This information is purely supplementary and not part of the contest.)

Puppet

Civ: Balseraphs
Available with Mysticism
Type: Melee, National Unit (max: 3), not upgradable
Model: reskinned Harlequin
Strength: 1
Move: 1
Cost: expensive
Buildable only in Capital

The puppets are the most closest units to perpentach/keelyn. They do not have a free will, they are their personal toys. Their behavior and powers are always tuned to their masters mindset. In perpentachs case, they get 3 promotions which will switch according to his traits change.

Aggresive: Crazed
Arcane: Vile Touch
Creative: Invisible
Defensive: Defensive
Expansive: Hasted
Financial: No promotion, unit just don't cost support
Industrial: Diseased
Organized: March
Magic Resistant: Magic Resistance
Philosophical: Spirit Guide
Raider: Blitz
Spiritual: Blessed
Summoning (for keelyn): Channeling I and Dimensional I, unit can cast escape

(sorry for my ugly english)

Gnomish Engineer

Cost: about 1.5 times a worker
Tech: Masonry

Strength: 0/2

the earliest mercenary, is a worker with a few special abilities:

can bombard 5/turn
can help other units fortify (the maximum a unit can have fortifying in the open is raised to 40% and they start at 10% the first turn instead of 5%)
can recruit other gnomish engineers for a cost like mercenaries

the idea is to give an option to buy workers if you have alot of money early.
also, gives a very slow bombard for early fights
lastly, is a worker that can defend against weak attackers

The contest is closed. Give the team and I a little time to pick our favorites and I'll post a poll with our top picks for you guys to vote for.