First Look: Scythia

[stealth_nsk]

Interesting.
Do we know the # for the "X turns" yet, or does it change throughout the game?

It's likely changes with game speed. And it could be still under balance.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

The double cav bonus is for ancient and classical era cavalry units.

In terms of power I think it can be compared to China's ability to rush wonders but this ability encourage outwards expansion instead of inwards expansion both are extreamly strong but very time limited and require very specific strategies which limit the flexibility of your early game.

Cavalry make good barbarian hunters so Scythia should be able to get out more cities then any other civilizations. Getting 10-15 cities with Scythia should be pretty easy to do and you can raid the other civilizations if you have spare cavalry which will set them far behind allowing you to dominate the rest of the game.

 

[Cerilis]

That, she is far from underwhelming, she's a massive warmonger if she needs to be.

Looks like she won't surprise war you though.

 

[DJ_Tanner]

This is generally only true for horses, since iron and all other rescourse-based UU come later you will have had time to expand.
I agree it would be unfun if your ancient era UU was not avaliable, that is why I suggest starting bias/spawn horse resource in capital instead of this.
I realize in game terms its absolutely fine but it's such a break in immersion for (what I think) no good reason. Whereas Scythians settling down their first city near horses makes sense.

The bias would only work if that one was hard coded to MUST occur, but then its the same thing pretty much. So I guess 6 of one, half dozen of the other.

 

[MAHRana]

Underwhelming? I'm sorry but no.

The gurl is a powerhouse.

NOT only does she get Horse Archers that don't require Resource to produce, they HEAL after they kill a unit, they also will always have DOUBLE the size of an army for each unit they produce that is Mounted.

That is a powerful bonus and she is going to be a force to be recokned with.

If anything she sounds a bit too powerful.

Sorry i maybe should have specified underwhelming in terms of being unique to the series, she does however seem like an early game superpower though

 

[HanNorwood]

Who do we think Scythia is attacking, that has Green and White borders? I thought it was China, and it still could be, but it looks lighter than I remember.

 

[isau]

Seeing Tomyris kind of makes me feel bad for Monty. It seems like she would wipe the floor with him in early combat, especially by getting 2 units for every 1 she builds. I wonder how that will play out. No way to tell right now of course, and Monty has a few other abilities to help him (amenities and kidnapping units). Bad news for Monty is "surprise war" seems like a requirement for him, and that's what sets Tomyris off.

 

[Mort_Q]

Please stop this "horse units that dont require horses" We had it in civ5 and it seems to be coming back with a vengeance.
Either make only stuff like elephants and camels for those units, or give these civs a starting bias with at least 2 horses in their capital. That's enough to start and you can always conquer or settle more.

Aren't they both just mounted archer types?

 

[King William I]

So, no one's gonna mention the awesome city graphics?

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Monty have the potential for a much stronger wide empire but he will have a much harder time creating his empire. Being able to rush districts is huge for large empires as districts get more and more expensive, his lux bonus also make him stronger and stronger the larger he gets.

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

Who do we think Scythia is attacking, that has Green and White borders? I thought it was China, and it still could be, but it looks lighter than I remember.

Fairly sure it's China.

I've seen that color before....

THERE FOUND IT

Spoiler :

 

[El Castellano]

So, no one's gonna mention the awesome city graphics?

India and Scythia have the same architectural style, at least what has been seen so far.

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

India and Scythia have the same architectural style, at least what has been seen so far.

Did you not see the round housing o.O

 

[blackcatatonic]

Possibly. Since we don't seem to be getting Genghis Khan, it could be Mongols under Kublai with less emphasis on mounted conquest and more on culture and wide spread infrastructure.

New Mongols! Now THAT would be interesting. I kind of hope it happens; it would be really cool to see them in a new light.

 

[stealth_nsk]

One thing to note - units have gold maintenance. So even though double units are cool, you need some Kurgans to pay for them

Also, if you want to play religiously, you need quite active land improvements (both Kurgans and Pastures), plus you need to place people working the Kurgans. This doesn't look like that strong early religion civ to me.

 

[Paramecium]

Hates surprise wars? So, we have a very strong ancient/classical military power, which doesnt wage war? From what I have seen so far of the early game play videos, there is no other possibility until the medival age at least ...

Just kidding, cant believe that anyway. So if you have another warmonger in your neighbor hood, Tamaris will get them so you can play your builder play style.

But especially playing as aztec and having her around close by, I already can see it a pain in the ass. To max out your eagle warriors ability you have to DoW a lot early on. It might be good to have another warmonger around who throws units after units against you, but with the new changes to movement, I see a very big disadvantage of the eagle warriors against the scythian. Especially with no need to settle horse and mass product them ...

But on the other side, with the medieval era, the civ bonus will be gone and how strong the healing effect will be I cant say, so they will fall off in the middle to late game ...

 

[blackcatatonic]

Something that just occurred to me given her agenda...

On paper it sounds like she will be the new Huns/Shaka in the sense of being an absolute terror for anyone intent on a peaceful/defensive early game. BUT... suppose you get surprise-declared-on before she attacks you? Would that motivate her into attacking your aggressor? In which case, she could turn out to be quite a powerful friend for the early turtling types.

 

[DeutschDachs]

Sounds like the Huns or Mongols from Civ V so a bit disappointing there... but there's only so much you can do with nomadic horse archer invaders I suppose lol

That said, getting 2 of the horse units and healing on kills is really nice

 

[stealth_nsk]

New Mongols! Now THAT would be interesting. I kind of hope it happens; it would be really cool to see them in a new light.

There's a theory of "Golden Horde" in leader thread. They could be even "newer" Mongols

 

[zwei833]

I believe their Saka Horse Archers replace Heavy Chariots - since they don't require Horses and the Horsemen are in place.

Probably not.