I personally think a green field with a dark-gold sun of the type the bird in the picture's holding would be perfect, though green and red would work too. As for Kurdish uniques, well...
Kurdistan (Mustafa Barzani)
Start Bias: Hill
UA:
No Friends But The Mountains
Terrain Bonuses on Hill Tiles are doubled. Gain +1
Culture in the
Capital for every three Mountain tiles within your borders.
UU:
Carduchoi (replaces Archer)
Standard Archer statline. Double
Movement on Hill Tiles. Additionally, gains a unique promotion, "Corduene Slingers", which grants them a 50%
Combat Bonus if they are on a Hill and their target is not.
UB:
Erbil Citadel (replaces Walls)
+5
City Defensiveness, +50 Health. +1
Food and
Production per Mountain in workable range; bonuses doubled if the City is founded on a Hill. +1
Defensiveness per Mountain in your borders.
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Now for some explanations. Kurdistan's a lot older than people think, going back to when it was called Corduene. According to Xenophon, these chaps were called the Carduchoi were dire enemies of the Persians, but they weren't too fond of a bunch of severely lost and fighty Greek mercenaries showing up in their homelands either. Apparently, the week they spent shooting arrows and hurling rocks at the Ten Thousand was worse for the Greeks than the pitched battles with the Persians. Thus, you've got a UU that's great for picking off enemy units from a hilltop, which was sort of what they did to the angry Greeks. It also ties into the UA, which comes from an old saying that Kurds "have no friends but the mountains" (ta, Wikipedia). I changed the UB from Big Mac's idea a bit to make it fit a little more with this design's emphasis on mountainous terrain, and yes, Lake Victoria and the Great Barrier Reef still count. It's why I went for food and hammers; it's meant to encourage settling near mountains and getting your cities to a decent size with less decent tiles to actually work, and two food and two hammers (if you're on a hill, which you probably will be) seems like a fair yield for a tile that's otherwise worthless. It also means you can get Observatories a lot easier, which on Deity and up is
vital. Oh, and while I'm at it...
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City List: (Again, thanks Wikipedia)
Hewler
Silemani
Dihok
Kerkuk
Amed
Kirmasan
Batman (Okay, it's not the Kurdish name, but come on, it's the city of BATMAN. I can't NOT put it in! [=)
Riha
Wan
Piranshahr
Eleziz
Zaxo
Senne
Kelar
Samsur
Hesice
Qamislo
Bokan
Mehabad
Qoser
Sert
Seqiz
Ranye
Sewreg
Helebce
Qerekose
Cizir
Rewandiz
Semel
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Barzarney The Dinosaur DoM said:
Long may your days of freedom be, Mullah Mustafa Barzani, for none deserves it more than a Kurd! Others have sought to imprison you since you were five years old, as insurrection after bloody insurrection rocked your home and made your people into the enemies of great powers and mighty empires, all in the pursuit of freedom and nationhood. With Barzinji you stood against the British Mandate of Iraq, and were beaten back. With Qazi Muhammad you stood for the Republic of Mahabad, only to be betrayed by the Soviets. Who now shall stand with you, great leader? With whom shall you fight?
For the Kurds will rise and rise and keep on rising, rising to sovereignty, rising to prosperity, rising to freedom from persecution and oppression by every nation that gets the chance. Who shall you lead against your enemy, Mullah with a thousand enemies? Can you build a true Kurdistan with them? Can that Kurdistan, that Civilization, stand the test of time?
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Music suggestions welcome. =]