2 UU/UB per civ, "unique abilities"

[Ahriman]

The new site leader intros include 2 UUs and the unique ability for each new civ.
http://www.civilization5.com/#/civilizations/

America:
"Manifest Destiny"
B17
Minutemen

Arabia
"Trade caravans"
Camel Archers
Bazaar

Aztec
Special Ability: Sacrificial Captives
Special Unit: Jaguar
Special Building: Floating Gardens

Leader: Wu Zetian
Special Ability: Art of War
Special Unit: Cho-Ko-Nue
Special Building – Paper Maker

Leader: Ramesses II
Special Ability: Monument Builders
Special Unit: War Chariot
Special Building: Burial Tomb

Leader: Elizabeth I
Special Ability: Sun Never Sets
Special Unit: Longbowman
Special Unit: Ship of the Line

Leader: Napoleon Bonaparte
Special Ability: Ancien Regime
Special Unit: Foreign Legion
Special Unit: Musketeer

Leader: Otto Von Bismark
Special Ability: Furor Teutonicus
Special Unit: Landsknecht
Special Unit: Panzer


Leader: Alexander
Special Ability: Hellenic League
Special Unit: Champion Calvary
Special Unit: Hoplite

Leader: Gandhi
Special Ability: Population Growth
Special Unit: War Elephant
Special Unit: Mughal Fort

Leader: Hiawatha
Special Ability: The Great Warpath
Special Unit: Mohawk Warrior
Special Building: Longhouse

Leader: Oda Nobunaga
Special Ability: Bushido
Special Unit: Samurai
Special Unit: Zero

Leader: Suleiman the Magnificent
Special Ability: Barbary Corsairs
Special Unit: Janissary
Special Unit: Sipahi

Leader: Darius
Special Ability: Archaemenid Legacy
Special Unit: Immortal
Special Building: Satrap’s Court

Leader: Augustus Caesar
Special Ability: The Glory of Rome
Special Unit: Ballista
Special Unit: Legion

Leader: Catherina
Special Ability: Mother Russia
Special Unit: Cossack
Special Building: Fur Trading Post

Leader: Ramkhamhaeng
Special Ability: Father Governs Children
Special Unit: Naresuan’s Elephant
Special Building: Wat

Leader: Askia
Special Ability – River Warlord
Special Unit – Mandekalu Cavalry
Special Building – Mud Pyramid Mosque

 

[Ahriman]

Thoughts on some of these:

"Manifest Destiny"
Maybe more effective at using culture or gold to acquire land? Half price land purchase from gold? (Louisiana Purchase, Alaska, expansionism)

Special Ability: Monument Builders
Wonder construction bonus?

Special Ability: Sun Never Sets
Lower maintenance for distant cities?

Special Ability: Hellenic League
Extra bonuses with City States?

Special Ability: Barbary Corsairs
Can turn any naval unit Hidden Nationality?

Special Unit: Legion
No more praetorians, thank god.

Some of the unique things seem a bit lame though.... weak names, or just boring.
Mud Pyramid Mosque
Naresuan’s Elephant
Fur Trading Post
Paper Maker

 

[Sparthage]

"Manifest Destiny"
Maybe more effective at using culture or gold to acquire land? Half price land purchase from gold? (Louisiana Purchase, Alaska, expansionism)

That would make sense in a lot of ways.

Special Ability: Barbary Corsairs
Can turn any naval unit Hidden Nationality?

I'd think in the Age of Sail this would make sense. Not really in the Modern Age.

An Unknown Civilization's Battleship has destroyed our Destroyer

Special Unit: Legion
No more praetorians, thank god.

Always did hate Prats. Love the Legionaries in Civ3.

Paper Maker

*Snore*

 

[Drakarska]

Interesting that Japan has 2 special uu's, but no ub's. Especially with Oda as the leader. Wonder what the reasoning was behind that.

 

[Dark_Jedi06]

I'll take the Pavilion over a silly Paper Maker any day...

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Yeah, call me crazy, but some of these abilities/buildings have a real...."unfinished" quality to them. I certainly hope those ones undergo some change before final release!

Also not so sure I like the idea of some Civs getting 2UU, whilst some Civs get 1UU & 1UB-doesn't that give certain civs an unfair advantage in war?

I'm also a little disappointed about the fact that you only have a Civ Special Ability. I think it might have been cool to have 1 special ability for the Civ, & 1 for the leader-though maybe they're saving that for a time when you can have more than 1 leader per Civ (like when expansions come out)!

Anyone want to speculate about some of the other special abilities?

Glory of Rome-Possible Culture bonus? Greater revenue from trade? (I would have said bonus to relations with City-States, but I think Ahriman nailed it with the Hellenic League)

Warpath-maybe a bonus to unit construction? Bonus XP on unit construction (like the aggressive trait in Civ4)?

River Warlord-maybe bonus trade income-or yields-from rivers?

Father Governs Children-I'm guessing some kind of happiness bonus to indicate a more pliant populace.

Mother Russia-not a *clue*!

Archaemenid Legacy: I'm guessing this has something to do with satrapy, but what I'm uncertain.

Bushido & Population growth both seem relatively obvious to me.

Furor Teutonicus: Combat bonuses?

Ancien Regime-??

Trade Caravans might mean bonus trade routes per city, or better trade outcomes from City-States.

Sacrificial Captives-speaks for itself I feel. You can probably capture units/populations from other civs & use them as sacrifices. My only issue with this one is-how will it sit if your social policies are totally opposite to human sacrifice?!?!


Anyway, would love to hear what other people think!

Aussie.

 

[Centurio]

Wow! These guys look amazing! I love the changes they made to Rome: Augustus' appearance as the Empire's sole ruler was long overdue. Other than that, Suleiman looks Magnificent, Montezuma sounds bada*** and the Empress of China... golly! Oh, and Napoleon doesn't look to remarkably short. All in all, an excellent roster of leaders. I'm looking forward to Ghandi threatening me with nuclear war in hi-def!!!

 

[seasnake]

In Rise of Empires, the Russian ability was power of the motherland, which meant a huge attrition bonus when fighting in their territory. Or in Axis and Allies, Russian Winter means all defensive units are stronger when defending a Russian Terrritory.

Something like that, I'd guess, maybe a huge penalty from fighting in Russia itself.

Ancien Regime may reflect a troop bonus of some kind.

 

[Mekajiki]

Now I'm just waiting for them to release stability and UHV mechanics...

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Actually Seasnake, that make a *lot* of sense. So Mother Russia could manifest in several ways:

(a) Enemy troops have increased maintenance costs in your territory\you get reduced troop maintenance in your territory.

(b) enemy troops heal slower in your territory\your troops heal faster in your territory.

(c) enemy troops get a combat penalty in your territory\your troops get a combat bonus in your territory.

Hmmm-which one is it I wonder??

 

[I tech faster]

In Rise of Empires, the Russian ability was power of the motherland, which meant a huge attrition bonus when fighting in their territory. Or in Axis and Allies, Russian Winter means all defensive units are stronger when defending a Russian Terrritory.

Actually it's Rise of nations but it doesn't matter. I used to play the russians a lot because their Cossack UU was excellent to rush an opponent early in the game. Their special bonus was free attrition upgrades so you could just forget about defense and concentrate your efforts into developing your economy or crushing your enemies.

I guess in CiV, this power will give penalties to units trespassing your borders since attrition doesn't exist AFAIK.

 

[Thormodr]

I remember predicting that the Iroquois would be in because one of the special abilities that they said was rejected in development was the Civ using forests as roads.

The great war path, I am not so sure about. Perhaps increased production in war time for military units?

 

[mgsmuhammad]

I used to play the russians a lot because their Cossack UU was excellent to rush an opponent early in the game.

You USED Cossacks?

I just raced up the tech tree to AI, and if I hadn't been smushed by then, overran them with AK-wielding Shock Infantry.

For the Red Horde!

 

[Lillefix]

Mother Russia-not a *clue*!

A huge soviet inspired statue of a women with a sword, falls on the opposing army of course, exactly like the concrete donkey in Worms....

 

[Ahriman]

A few more guesses:

River Warlord
None of your units suffer combat penalties for attacking across rivers??

Ancien Regime
Maybe somehow interacts with conservative social policy choices. Gets fewer penalties from conservative social policies?
[Ancien Regime is the pre-revolution French aristocratic regime http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancien_régime ]

The Glory of Rome
Could be anything. But maybe; less/no unrest after conquering cities (and/or fewer buildings destroyed when conquering cities)

Art of War
Maybe extra bonuses from flanking?

Also:
Musketeer as a French UU makes me suspect that there is no Musket core unit, and thus that we're once again going to go from 16th century Arquebus straight to 19th century rifles.

And so we're probably not getting one of my biggest wishes, which is to probably model Renaissance -> Napoleonic warfare.

 

[Gre_Magus]

Is it possible that all the civs will get to UUs and a UB and this list is incomplete?

 

[Ahriman]

Is it possible that all the civs will get to UUs and a UB and this list is incomplete?

Highly unlikely, this is from the official site.

I have no problem with some factions getting 2 UUs and others 1UU 1 UB.

Though my personal preference would still be for much more uniqueness of each faction, but then I have no interest in multiplayer and so don't care much about balance.

 

[spyroware]

I don't like that some Civs got 2 UU other 1UU/1UB. Buildings are forever, units are only relevant for their specific age. Unless the UUs carry over through the ages as legacy elite units I really believe a 1UU and 1UB for everyone is a more balanced approach.

Perhaps they will change it in an EP. Maybe they want to see how the national abilities mesh with the whole Civs Uniqueness and balance it from there.

Needless to say, I love the abilities, they give a sorely needed historical context and footprint for each Civ other than irrelevant UUs and shared leader traits. Plus their added history value is pure win.

 

[BobDole]

I don't like that some Civs got 2 UU other 1UU/1UB. Buildings are forever, units are only relevant for their specific age. Unless the UUs carry over through the ages as legacy elite units I really believe a 1UU and 1UB for everyone is a more balanced approach.

Perhaps they will change it in an EP. Maybe they want to see how the national abilities mesh with the whole Civs Uniqueness and balance it from there.

Needless to say, I love the abilities, they give a sorely needed historical context and footprint for each Civ other than irrelevant UUs and shared leader traits. Plus their added history value is pure win.

Buildings aren't always necessarily "forever" either. Some Civs in IV get UBs that eventually ended up dated, so I guess it balances out. I think it's better for some sides to have an extra unique unit. If not, Firaxis would probably have some overlap when it came to UBs (depending on how many UBs there are).

As for the Unique Abilities, I have no clue what any of them do, but it'll be nice to have an extra way to differentiate civilizations.

 

[Ahriman]

I don't like that some Civs got 2 UU other 1UU/1UB. Buildings are forever, units are only relevant for their specific age. Unless the UUs carry over through the ages as legacy elite units I really believe a 1UU and 1UB for everyone is a more balanced approach.

UUs are only for an age... but they can have a very major impact in that age (Civ4 praetorians, cossacks, redcoats, Civ3 samurai).
Its not impossible to balance a large benefit now vs a moderate benefit over time.