Alright, since speculation is always fun, I've decided to speculate on the possible civs for an Almaty Silk Road civ - this is, again, based on the assumption that Sofia is replacing a previously militaristic city state, either Hanoi-Vietnam, Budapest-Hungary, or Almaty. Almaty's a more difficult situation since we don't have as obvious a candidate for a Silk Road civ, in my opinion, but here's what I think are the reasonably potential civs (not in any order) - thoughts? Other possibilities? Any flaws in my reasoning?
1. Timurids, or some sort of pan-Central Asia or -stan civ (i.e. Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, etc.) with Tamerlane as a leader: the most likely possibility, in my opinion. Tamerlane is a well-known figure to those with a casual knowledge of world history, and a Timurid civ would probably be an interesting blend of military and commercial bonuses, similarly to how Assyria is an interesting combo of military and scientific bonuses. It'd be easy to market, all in all - the only thing going against it is that we already have two military-focused nomad civs.
2. Kushans: Almaty was under Kushan territory, although its inclusion as a Kushan city would be odd as Almaty, while already settled in ancient times (according to Wikipedia), is probably more of a medieval and modern city. Ignoring this, the Kushans present a unique civilization that will also provide some more representation for India, given the fact that they dominated (and ruled from) large parts of northern India for centuries. They have also been suggested here and there on the forums, and would provide a good religious or cultural civ alongside potential Silk Road UA, given their role in the development of Buddhism.
3. Kazakhstan: Almaty is the current capital of Kazakhstan. A Kazakhstan civ would encompass the steppe empire that arose in the early modern era. I see this as unlikely as the Silk Road trade had already collapsed by the time of Kazakhstan, so it wouldn't really make sense for Kazakhstan to have a Silk Road UA, if at all, and I would assume a new central Asian civ would utilize a Silk Road UA.
4. Gokturks: The Gokturks dominated the region for several centuries (including the region where Almaty is) and gave rise to several later nomad empires such as the Uighurs and Khazars. They were also the first definite Turkish state (the Turkishness of other nomad groups, such as the Xiongnu, is debated - the Gokturks were the first that were definitely Turkish). While a good choice in my opinion, they're too obscure to be reasonably marketable in my opinion, and I would think the devs want a Silk Road civ to be at least somewhat well known.
5. Seljuks: The Seljuks were one of the most important Turkish dynasties, being directly responsible for how the Ottomans ended up in Anatolia, after all. Given their achievements in military, cultural, scientific, and other matters, they have plenty of possibilities as to how their playstyle could play out. However, Almaty was on the fringes of their controlled territory, and the Seljuks may be seen as too similar to the Ottomans if only because they're both Turkish dynasties, so their inclusion is unlikely in my opinion.
6. Ghaznavids/Ghurids: Similarly to the Seljuks, both were Persianized Turkish dynasties. Like the Kushans, because they ruled parts of India, they would also provide some representation for India. They've been featured in previous civ games as barbarian groups. However, I believe they're too obscure for inclusion and they are one of the many Persianized Turkish dynasties that ran through the area.
7. Khitan: The western Liao dynasty conquered the area and ruled it for a century. However, it'd be really odd to have a Khitan civ only represent the Western Liao, as the first Liao Empire was a major Empire in China. Because of this, and because of the similarities with Mongolia, I consider them also unlikely.
Well, that's my speculation for a Silk Road civ based on Almaty - this is not talking about other Silk Road civs that wouldn't own Almaty, such as the Uighurs or Khazars. Again, this is based on the Sofia militaristic CS hypothesis, that Sofia is replacing either Budapest-Hungary, Hanoi-Vietnam, and Almaty. While I consider Hanoi the most likely contender for replacement (for other reasons stated in other posts), I do think Almaty has a good chance.
Indeed this does mildly puzzle me too. I do think culture+tourism goes well with Brazil (Brazil is known for its carnivals, bossa nova music, among other things), but I agree that Brazil's current UA would go much, much better with Italy. While this does decrease the chances of Italy in my opinion, a potential Italy civ might utilize a "tourism" UA in a different way - who knows?
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The game developers have to make each unique.
