It wasn't so much of a civilization as it was an organized horde with a strong leader. They had no infrastructure, no emphasis on art, architecture, agriculture, or any of that nonsense. They barely made a dent on the tech tree. Frankly, they didn't even perform that spectacularly against the Brits if you compare the kill ratios. But they were an army tens of thousands strong that could just choke the enemy to death with their fallen corpses. Let's not kid ourselves, everybody wants'em. Give it up for Shaka and the lads!
ZULULAND
Some great ideas
steveq
I've been looking at Civ ideas of CiV for over two years now and I think Zulu has been one of the hardest Civs to build up a decent concept. Here's some ideas I gathered quickly from the forums.
UU: Impi. Production 60. Replaces Spearman. Bonus for Flanking, 1 extra move through Zone of Control areas.
UU: Impi. Requires Iron. Production 55, not 50. Replaces Spearman. Movement 3, not 2. Strength 7. +25% strength for against units with 2 movement.
UU: Impi. Production 60. Replaces Pikeman. Movement 3, not 2. Strength 15. +25% Strength for against Units with 2 Movement. Is not affected by Zone of Control
UU: Impi. Replaces pikeman, same cost. Strength 20. When a unit is produced, it will receive a free promotion: Charge, Medic, or Mobility. Once chosen, one of these promotions cannot be selected for another impi until after two more have been produced and assigned the remaining two promotions.
UU: Impi; replaces pikeman, ignores terrain cost, charge promotion, no bonus against mounted unit, 14 cs (instead 16), 75 production (instead 90), can be built until Modern Age
UU: Impi. Requires Iron Working, replaces swordsman. Strength 16 (up from 14). Requires no iron to build. All units receive the March promotion.
UU: Impi. Replaces Pikemen. Movement 3 instead of 2. 50% bonus against mounted instead of Pikeman's 100%.
UU: Impi: No terrain penalty, in addition, they can receive a special promotion called "Sangoma". This gives a small amount of faith every time the warriors enter battle.
UU: Impi; replaces lancer, 100 production cost, 4 movement, 100% bonus vs. mounted, 25 combat strength
UB: Ikhanda. Replaces Barracks. Production 90, not 80. Maintenance 1. Reduces city maintenance costs by 15%.
UB: Ikhanda, Replaces Barracks. Production 80. Maintenance 1. Reduces city maintenance costs by 15%.
UB: Ikhanda. Cost: 40 (down from 75). Maintenance: 0 (down from 1). Otherwise, as barracks.
UB: Ikhanda As barracks, and eliminates the maintenance cost for one unit.
UB: Ikhanda. Requires Bronze Workng, replaces barracks. As barracks, plus receive +15% production towards producing melee units whenever Zululand has fewer melee units than ikhandas.
UB: Ikhanda: Lowers unhappiness in a city by 1 and gives off 10% culture.
UB: Ikhanda; replaces barracks, +20% production while constructing military unit not requiring resources
UI: Kraal (Can be built on same resorces as Pasture, provides +1 additional Food and Production.
UI: Kraal. 1 extra food and hammer, replaces pasture, 10 percent fighting bonus in adjacent tiles.
UI: Kraal. Replaces the pasture improvement. 1 extra food from pastures.
UA: African Terror. Every Zulu unit in enemy territory causes -.75 happiness in their (the enemy's) country. Zulus were one of the most terrifying military forces in all of Africa, and no one wanted to cross them, especially not Shaka Zulu. Some people call him "The Black Napoleon" because of his brilliant (but fiercely brutal) tactical innovations.
UA: Horns of the Bull. All Military buildings produce Culture, during war Zulu get bonus happiness.
UA: Horns of the Buffalo. Melee units get 20% combat strenght against technologically advanced units.
UA: Mfecane - Every Zulu unit in enemy territory produces 0.5 unhappiness in the enemy empire
UA: Mfecane. Barbarians cannot attack Zulu units or enter Zulu territory (but will defend if attacked). When within sight of a Zulu unit or city, barbarians become frenzied, receiving a +15% strength bonus when attacking units of other civilizations. These benefits last until barbarians produce a unit from the Renaissance era or later.
UA: Mfecane. After researching bronze working, gain the following benefits: barbarians cannot attack Zulu units or enter Zulu territory (but will defend if attacked). When within sight of a Zulu unit or city, barbarians become frenzied, receiving a +20% strength bonus. These benefits lasts until barbarians produce a unit from the Renaissance era (or later).
UA: Asibesabi Siyabafuna! (Zulu War Chant, "Bring it on!"). +15% production of melee units until Metal Casting is researched.
UA: Asibesabi Siyabafuna!+15% production of melee land units when there are fewer Zulu units than cities.
UA: Heroism; when unit dies during attacking, the opponent takes extra damage (not sure about numbers, it may result in both units killed) + 1 unit per city has no maintainence cost
UA: Scattering: After defeating a civilization, a large group of barbarians flock to the nearest cities to reclaim some land.
UA: Age-grade regimental system; units receive +5 experience when meeting a unit with higher level (meeting = 1 (2?) squares nearby), units with level 5+ have no maintainence costs
My new proposal:
Zulu Kingdom (1816–1897)
Leader:
Shaka Zulu (1787 - 1828)
Capital:
Ulundi
Starting Bias: Plains
Music Theme: Isicathamiya with some traditional music.
UU:
Impi (image). Replaces Musketman. Cost:
110/260 (instead of 150/300). Combat:
20 (instead of 24. Movement:
3 (instead of 2).
Can pillage enemy improvements at no additional cost. Starts with March* promotion.
UI:
Ikhanda. Replaces Fort. Prerequisite Techs: Engineering.
+1 Food and +1 Production to the tile and unlike regular Fort it gives access to a resource in the tile. Ikhanda also provides +1 Line of Sight for units stationed in it and they do not cost maintenance. Like regular Fort it improves a hex's defensive bonus by 50% for units stationed in that hex.
UA:
Asibesabi Siyabafuna!:
Enemy units receive -10% Combat Strength when adjacent to any Zulu combat unit. During war generated happiness is doubled.
As Zulu is a
Renaissance Era rather than Ancient/Classical Era Civ, I'd go with
Impi a Musketman replacement but slightly weaker and
Ikhanda as unique improvement replacing
Fort. As Ikhanda includes large cattle kraal (isibaya esikulu) it adds +1Food and +1Production to the tile and unlike regular Fort it gives access to a resource in the tile. Ikhanda also provides +1 Line of Sight and units stationed in it do not cost maintenance. Like regular Fort it gives improves a hex's defensive bonus by 50% for units stationed in that hex.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impi#Mobility.2C_training_and_insignia
Shaka discarded sandals to enable his warriors to run faster. Initially the move was unpopular, but those who objected were simply killed, a practice that quickly concentrated the minds of remaining personnel. Zulu tradition indicates that Shaka hardened the feet of his troops by having them stamp thorny tree and bush branches flat. Shaka drilled his troops frequently, implementing forced marches covering more than fifty miles a day.[4] He also drilled the troops to carry out encirclement tactics (see below). Such mobility gave the Zulu a significant impact in their local region and beyond.)
What do you think about the given bonuses?