Hi! Just wanted to.. er.. indulge my creativity as self-arresting as I can be just so everyone can entertain it and not necessarily take it as serious suggestions, since game-play balance holds priority. ^ ^ ;;
Before this agonizing wall of text, just wanted to specially thank the devs for adding in "Chaebol" for Korea. Nothing rocks my day like a properly simulated symbol of evil monopoly! Carthage was developed great as well! Whoever came up with Suffet has my love as a history major.
Roman legions were iconic and unique for many reasons, but when it came just to combat it was rapid fort building, mobility, and adaptive mimicry. Being the millenia-spanning idea the legion is, I'm assuming VP focused on the Augustan era of Roman legionnaires. For the sake of that context, I just thought it'd be more immersive and a more versatile take on recognizing distinctly Roman things about the legion if the Pilum passive damage was reduced to just 5, but legions had the ability to fortify every turn no matter what. Also, it'd be interesting if Roman legions could be expended in a city to lead to a random outcome of one of the following (not up to the player to choose)
- improve/repair a random tile of that city to simulate the settling of veterans.
- provide a small but versatile bonus of gold, golden age points, and culture to simulate the celebration of triumphs.
- spawn a slave unit that costs no maintenance in place of the expended legion to simulate the vast number of slaves triumphs brought to Roman urban hubs.
- convert the city like a missionary with moderate strength like 250.
- expend in the city for a small instant production boost.
“Their sons are educated from the time they are five years old until they are twenty, but they study only three things: horsemanship, archery, and honesty.” - Herodotus on Persian nobles
Persians were known for many things, but militarily speaking, they were always iconic for their mastery of combined arms focused on archery. Perhaps, somewhat like Frederick the Great VP version, the Persian combat bonus during golden ages can be reduced to 10%, but instead gain a unique promotion (named something like "Kamandaran" for all ranged archer type units, giving them 10% bonus to ranged attack when adjacent to a melee unit. They were also known for an eventual marriage with nomadic traditions to form the very cataphracts that would inspire Byzantine Clibanarii. Perhaps the immortals could be altered to upgrade to knights, instead of pikemen, so they may literally symbolize the birth of a knightly class of warrior nobility who were cataphracts, but closely related to the immortal tradition. A Persian civ could inherit the defensive bonus from VP immortals, and thus retain it on the Qzilbash. To bring the immortals in line with other unique units decorated with unique promotions, perhaps their boring +25% defense bonus can be turned into a unique promotion (named something like "Zhayedan") giving +20% defense bonus, an additional 10% when stacked with a general. The Persian region itself was characterized by the "Eastern mantle" of satrap-reliant central authority, which enforced a flow of trade and culture into imperial capitals like Susa, Ekbatana, Ctesiphon, Persepolis, and so forth. To recognize that aspect, I revised the
UB - Paradise Garden this way, with changed aspects in
Italics.
Available at Theology
350 
Production cost
does not require River
+2
Culture and +1
Tourism,
+1 Culture and +2 Tourism in the Capital.
+2 
Gold to Silk and Dyes
+1 
Food and +1 Gold to Oases
+35% 
Great Person Points
+3% 
Golden Age Length
OR -2% tile improvement maintenance cost (Royal Roads)
30
Culture when a
Golden Age begins
It's a real shame that Macedon and Greece wasn't separated since their melding into a hellenic umbrella that vanilla civ 5 made of greece sacrificed the most iconic phalangitai, or companion cavalry, which redefined military conquest throughout the Mediterranean. I'm not sure, but if the Hoplite's unique promotions are inherited into their pikemen upgrades as legacy promotions it's wholly acceptable as an indirect reference to macedonian pikes. Cavalry, however, is somewhat omitted. Perhaps Greek cavalry can have a barely impactful but nonetheless immersive unique promotion (named something like "Flying Wedge") which gives only the stacked unit +15% flanking damage bonus when stacked with a general OR ignore ZOC. This is something I myself find unsettling from a balance perspective but I had to throw it out there.
The Celts seem fun, but it seemed to lack the incorporation of the greater world of linguistically celtic cultures on mainland Europe. The following for Epona and the emphasis on horsemanship (which was so appealing late Romans themselves worshiped her in cavalry regiments), for example, seemed to be one loss. Nevertheless, I thought the oppidum represented the relevant bonuses to pastures and camps, so I relented from trying to come up with something for Epona. I thought the only thing the Celts might benefit from for immersion was an addition of up to 15% combat strength the closer a unit is to their capital, OR just 10% defense bonus in friendly territory to the Druidism promotion to give Vercingetorix and Calgacus a recognition as well.
I always thought the mongols were the worst civ in vanilla Civ V, since their actual strength which made horse archery so OP was ignored. It's their unconventional logistical supremacy as hordes during a climate shift which turned anywhere with grazing fields an inevitable conquest for the Mongols, since as long as there was grass, the horde did not need supply trains and could outlast sieges forever.. Reversely, a lack of grass alone really impeded them in Napolean fashion, since their horses were rarely adaptable for desert or tundra.. hence, I thought a unique promotion (with an endless potential for names "Despoilers of Khwarezmia", or "Relentless Horde", or "Fall of Baghdad") giving all mounted units giving 15% combat bonus on all clear tiles with grassland/plain and a -15% penalty elsewhere would be appropriate, though I'm not sure about balance. I also thought the Mongols should have a doubled quantity of the horse resource, with Russia losing that part of their UA. Perhaps this would make the Mongols what they were intended to be, a hit or miss civ which gains immense advantages during the medieval era, like what the huns or Romans get through a certain period of time
Speaking of Russia, I thought their UA should be further torn apart (Sorry, Russia) to cede the doubling of iron resource to Assyria. So their UA would be double strategic resources except Horse and Iron. Otherwise, the UC this expansion added to Catherine the Great seemed immersive enough.
And finally.. Egypt. Civ 6 emphasized Cleopatra's royal economy of .. a harsh feudal system of taxing food to ship them off by making trade routes sent to Egypt yield some food back to the sender. Hence I thought the following...
UB - Nilometer (replaces Water Mill):
can be built in city without River
+2
Food, +2
Production and +1
Culture.
+2
Production for every 5
Citizen
on construction spawns 2 Flax Resources in the City
+1 food in the capital OR +2 food for those who send trade routes to this city in exchange for +1 culture for Egypt.
I don't actually seriously think these arbitrary and overkill ideas are valid suggestions.. I just hope this might spark off some better ideas that might actually be worthwhile!
Please share with me your thoughts!
