Designing Morrocco for Civ7

[Lonecat Nekophrodite]

Morrocco (or Moors) are one of the dominant peoples of Northwest Africa and even did rule Iberian Peninsula for several centuries until they were pushed out by combined (and competing) efforts of both Castillians (Founder of Spain), and Portuguese. (and even worse, they lost to Portuguese 'Sea Knights' at Ceuta by the very beginning of Early Modern peroid (I don't really like 'Renaissance' term much). They did however remain a headache to Northern half of Mediterranians for many more centuries.

OK. if they ever will return
1. Who should lead?
2. Unique ability?
3. Unique Units? Desert nomads or Corsairs or something else?
4. What should Casbah do? (In civ5 this building enables Morroccans to be Desert Kings--wealths + defense bonus and spam-ability)
- District (and what should it replaces?)
- Tile Improvements
- City buildings

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

I personally would prefer an actual Berber civ to Morocco.

That being said the more Berber influences that they put into a Moroccan civ, the better it would be.

Leader: Sayyida al Hurra
Ability-Barbary Coast Comes with a Barbary Corsair UU. She was a known corsair who ended up marrying the Sultan of Morocco and became a pirate queen. She allied herself with the Corsairs of the Ottoman Empire.

Civ ability: Tamazgha (Land of the Berbers)- Something to do with more culture output if converted by an outside religion? Building farms on desert. (I want to save trading niche for Mali)

Unique District-Medina Quarter: Maybe it could be a city center? Not sure but something different from the Kabash.

UU: Berber Cavalry again.

 

[Zaarin]

I, too, would prefer a Tuareg civ.

Leader: Tin Hinan: Mother of Us All: Can build farms on Desert tiles adjacent to Oases, Coast, and Rivers; Farms, Mines, and Plantations on Desert or Desert Flood Plain produce +1 Faith and +1 Gold.
Civ Ability: Azalai: Every Oasis in a city adds +2 Gold and +2 Culture to the trade route; every improved luxury resource on a Desert tile adds +2 Gold, +1 Culture, and +1 Faith; Desert Mines produce +1 Gold and +1 Culture.
Unique Building: Targa: Replaces Water Wheel, does not have to be built in a city adjacent to a River. Adds +1 Food to all Farms; Farms adjacent to a Farm that is adjacent to fresh water are treated as adjacent to fresh water themselves.
Unique Unit: Tuareg Cavalry

Since I'd kind of like to see Songhai again, I don't mind making the Tuareg the desert trading civ, but unlike Mali they have a side focus on Culture. Their ability to Farm the desert means they can make large empires in the desert, land that would be undesirable to anyone else.

 

[Kimiimaro]

I admit I'll be heavily building on the era Civ V designed their Morocco here, since I am not very familiar with the history of Maghreb.

Leader: Ahmad al-Mansur
Leader ability: The Songhai Conquest - When in war, Moroccan military units ignore terrain movement penalties on desert tiles. Pillaging of mines grants Morocco triple yields. Trade routes established from conquered cities to those founded by Morocco bring extra yields.
Civilisation ability: Barbary Raids - If coastal raiding a worked tile, Morocco captures the citizen working said tile and has said citizen added to populace of a random Moroccan city.
Unique structure: Ksar - Could provide housing, extra combat strength for stationed units and maybe culture or gold. I suppose it could either work as a unique improvement or an early unique neighbourhood district, similar to Mbanza. It would likely be tied to deserts and hills.
Unique unit: Chebec - More or less the same unit as Ottoman Barbary Corsair.

I wouldn't be angry if Firaxis chooses Al-Andalus instead of Morocco though - I adore Moorish architecture

 

[Zaarin]

I wouldn't be angry if Firaxis chooses Al-Andalus instead of Morocco though - I adore Moorish architecture

The Caliphate of Cordoba would make an interesting civ.

 

[Zegangani]

I personally would prefer an actual Berber civ to Morocco.

That being said the more Berber influences that they put into a Moroccan civ, the better it would be.

Leader: Sayyida al Hurra

I would also rather see a berber Civ/Leader than Morocco. But Sayyida al Hurra isn't a Berber actually, she's actually the Daughter of Moulay Ali Ben Rachid, who was an Idrisid, and it's said that her Mother was Spanish and from Cadiz. Though, having more great female Leaders would be nice.

And to combine Berber with Al-Andalus (which I would rather see):

I wouldn't be angry if Firaxis chooses Al-Andalus instead of Morocco though - I adore Moorish architecture

I suggest Yusuf ibn Tashfin, who was from Berber descent, as the Leader of Berber Al Moravid Empire, who also went to Al-Andalus to help the Muslims fight against Alfonso VI, and promoting an Islamic system in the Region.

Yusuf ibn Tashfin was raised in a Desert Environment, so perhaps his Leader Ability could have to do with Desert and Mercenaries (that's how he took the Leadership from Abu Bakr ibn Umar).

Apart from that I don't have any particular Ideas on the Abilities and Uniques. Though, after the Abbasids recognized Yusuf ibn Tashfin with the Title Amir Al-Muslimin, extensive construction work began under Yusuf, but it was mainly focused on the expansion of the capital Marrakech (including the construction of the mosque). Mosques were also built in Fes, Tlemcen and Algiers. So perhaps a Unique Mosque Holy Site Building?

 

[Zaarin]

I suggest Yusuf ibn Tashfin, who was from Berber descent, as the Leader of Berber Al Moravid Empire

The Almoravids were Islamic fundamentalists who crashed through Al-Andalus like a wrecking ball. If you want to capture what made Al-Andalus special, it really has to be the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba under Abd ar-Rahman III or his son Al-Hakam II.

 

[Zegangani]

The Almoravids were Islamic fundamentalists who crashed through Al-Andalus like a wrecking ball. If you want to capture what made Al-Andalus special, it really has to be the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba under Abd ar-Rahman III or his son Al-Hakam II.

They sure were, I was just trying to suggest a Leader/Civ that can count as both, Berber and Al-Andalus. But I agree, the Ummayads would make for a better Al-Andalus reperesentatives, either with Abd ar-Rahman III, Al-Hakam II or Tariq Ibn Zayed (if you want a Militaristic Leader - also a Berber).

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

I would also rather see a berber Civ/Leader than Morocco. But Sayyida al Hurra isn't a Berber actually, she's actually the Daughter of Moulay Ali Ben Rachid, who was an Idrisid, and it's said that her Mother was Spanish and from Cadiz. Though, having more great female Leaders would be nice.

And to combine Berber with Al-Andalus (which I would rather see):

I know she wasn't of Berber origin. If we must get Morocco though I find her as a Corsair Queen more interesting than even other Moroccan leaders of Berber origin.

Though who I'd ideally want would be Diyah, though not for Morocco, but for an actual Berber civ.

 

[Zaarin]

Though who I'd ideally want would be Diyah, though not for Morocco, but for an actual Berber civ.

I considered Dihya, but since my design was specifically Tuareg and Dihya was not Tuareg I went for Tin Hinan instead. Both are good options for female Berber leaders.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

I considered Dihya, but since my design was specifically Tuareg and Dihya was not Tuareg I went for Tin Hinan instead. Both are good options for female Berber leaders.

I also considered a specific Numidian civ, but that seemed a little too hard for me to make. I do think a separate Numidian Cavalry UU would fall under a generic Berber civ though.

 

[Zaarin]

I also considered a specific Numidian civ, but that seemed a little too hard for me to make. I do think a separate Numidian Cavalry UU would fall under a generic Berber civ though.

A Numidian civ would be interesting, whether led by Dihya, Juba II, Jugurtha, or Masinissa. However, I think a Numidian leader could lead a civ called "the Berbers"; the leader would have to speak a modern Berber language due to how poorly Numidian/Lybico-Berber is attested. Whether it's Numidia, Berber, Tuareg, Morocco, etc., it would be nice to have a Maghreb civ, especially if we continue to get a Canaan-based Phoenicia (which I would prefer to Carthage personally).

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

I also considered a specific Numidian civ, but that seemed a little too hard for me to make. I do think a separate Numidian Cavalry UU would fall under a generic Berber civ though.

Numidian Cavalry UU was one that I have felt would be a perfect candidate for a UU from Militaristic City State, namely Sirte, along with Swiss Pikemen from Berne, Hessian Grenadiers from Darmstadt, Thracian Peltasts from Seskla, etc.

Of course, if any of those are going to be separate Major/Minor Civs, the 'mercenaries' also make good Civ UUs
Numidian Cavalry, specifically, would be Light Cavalry requiring no resources, have a 1-tile ranged attack and can move after attacking. Effects of Flanking are doubled for Numidians .

 

[Lonecat Nekophrodite]

^ What's your view on Morroccans as playable civ?
Should they be desert king like in Civ5 or Xebec lords?

 

[Birch617]

I would personally like to see both pre islam north africa and islamic north africa in the game so i wouldn't mind both Morrocco and Amazigh civs; as for morocco i would give them a Riad as an unique desert improvement that helps growing desert cities on early game, but turning into an amenity, housing and tourism generator at late game, showing how this traditional gardens becames hotels on modern Morroco.
As for the Amazigh civ i wold prolly go with Tuareg so its more geographically apart from Morrocco.

 

[Krajzen]

The title thread is "Morocco" but imho it should be more "Maghreb" thread, and there are also Spanish Moor civilizations that really ought to appear in the game at some point, seeing how Al - Andalus was legitimately one of the greatest civilizations that never appeared in the series so far (just between Italy and Timurids - Mughals)

Pre - Islamic Berbers could be interesting, but all sources I have met so far are really miserable in the extent of their documentation. Also, I am not sure how much interesting design stuff you could do with them, beyond "good at desert horse fight defense", which is the most boring kind of civilization design possible

There are just so many possibiliteis for this entire region:
- pre - islamic Berbers/Numidians, military
- Emirate/Caliphate of Cordoba/al - Andalus, science and economy
- Almoravids and/or Almohads (I mean: the bridge between Morocco and Spain, military - culture)
- Marinid Morocco (1244 - 1465), cultural
- Saadi Sultanate (1510 - 1659), military gunpowder
- medieval Algeria (Kingdom of Tlemcen), trade
- Algeria pirates (imho slightly awkward due to them being mainly slavers )
- Algeria fighting French colonizers (far less awkward but again, the problem of "good at desert horse fight defense" boring design)
- Tunisia between Arab and Turkish conquests, trade and culture

 

[Saint Leibowitz]

Almohads wouldn't be a culture civ IMO, they were fanatical religious purists bent on destroying all culture they found heretical. They should be a hardcore faith-military civ. They can be a pretty cool civ idea in their own right, but they're a very distinct and atypical era of Moroccan history that shouldn't swallow the whole cultural history. It'd be akin to reducing Russia to the Soviets or Japan to the imperial era. But I do like them at least for an alternate leader choice.

I'm toying with the idea of a mod that adds leader bonuses to Civ5, and my idea for Almohad-led Morocco (either Ibn Tumart or Abd al-Mu'min) would be to give them a Great Prophet when they earn a Great General and vice versa. (Earned, not whenever they buy one or get a freebie. But that might still be too OP.)

One option could be to mix the Numidian and Barbary Coast eras a bit and make it a economic-military civ focused on mercenaries.