Humankind - Romans discussion thread

[Boris Gudenuf]

On twitter they said:

"As for the unit, we have a common unit that is similar to Legions, so we wanted to make the Roman emblematic unit different."

Common Unit I can sorta accept - Mithradates of Pontus actually tried to form his own Legions against Rome - armored swordsmen with big shields - but the Romans stomped them anyway. And there is considerable evidence that the transition from spearmen to swordsmen within the Republican Roman Legio was prompted by meeting Spanish 'barbarian' tribal troops who were swordsmen with heavy javelins and big shields - 'proto-Legions', so to speak.

And, of course, the term 'legion' was used for all kinds of nonRoman troops and units right down to 1861 CE - Hampton's Legion of the Confederate Army in the US Civil War!

 

[Catoninetales_Amplitude]

To be clear: What was meant in that statement was that one of the common units looks like a Legionnaire (the "gladius and scutum" type) when you play as the Romans, and there is at least one other unit I recall wearing Roman a Roman lorica.

 

[mitsho]

That is just cool, that "swordmen" look different when playing as Rome than when playing as the Mauryans. I'm just wondering what the gameplay difference will be between the Roman Swordmen (= Legio) and the Praetorian.

 

[Siptah]

That is just cool, that "swordmen" look different when playing as Rome than when playing as the Mauryans. I'm just wondering what the gameplay difference will be between the Roman Swordmen (= Legio) and the Praetorian.

The Praetorian might be more expensive, might move slower, might get a bonus for fighting in your terrain, might have a higher chance for a critical strike, might have more HP, might have a bonus against other swordsmen, might earn more fame in battles, might heal after every fight, might have a zone of control, might demoralize the enemy army...

There's a wealth of possibilities to make them different.

 

[Catoninetales_Amplitude]

As others have pointed out, obviously the gameplay effect of the Praetorian guard is "+100% chance to get stabbed in the back."

I'd love to tell you about the actual effect, but it involves combat features we have not revealed yet.

 

[Jkchart]

As others have pointed out, obviously the gameplay effect of the Praetorian guard is "+100% chance to get stabbed in the back."

Oh boy - we'll be REALLY screwed if we go both Rome and Ottomans to get Janissaries too

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Oh boy - we'll be REALLY screwed if we go both Rome and Ottomans to get Janissaries too

This combination (Praetorians + Janisseries) should give you a government with all the stability of a rubber crutch in an earthquake . . .

 

[Elhoim]

@Catoninetales_Amplitude Where's today's shot?

 

[Catoninetales_Amplitude]

It's coming. Our workflow has had to change a bit in the current circumstances, so please forgive any disruptions in the expected schedule.

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

It's coming. Our workflow has had to change a bit in the current circumstances, so please forgive any disruptions in the expected schedule.

Really? Is the subway strike still on in Paris? That must be a darn nuisance.

 

[Krajzen]

This combination (Praetorians + Janisseries) should give you a government with all the stability of a rubber crutch in an earthquake . . .

It would be hilarious if all civs had powerful bonuses and penalties and they all accumulated

So you take for example Rome > Mongolia -> Ottomans -> Napoleonic France -> Soviet Union and the gameplay is increasingly insane chaos of eternal global war and eternal civil war

By the late game you end up in the 1984 dystopia when you can conquer one fourth of the world in one turn but in the same time another one fourth of the world rebels and goes independent. So you go like a clock, from one zone to another. Eventuaally, an entire society is build around the cyclical nature of those conflicts. Four seasons are renamed to Prewar, Inwar, Postwar and Outwar. After millenias of torment, nobody questions the global order. Everybody just knows the gods need blood from the cycle to sustain universe. There is a time when we conquer, rebel, and are conquered. Every sector has its cycle, just like a human life. Betrayal and collapse are necessary for the government, to cleanse it from old and begin a new life. In the grimdark future, there is only war.

By the way, fun fact, Roman legions did adopt their iconic gladius sword from "barbaric" Iberians. It is one of many, many reasons this underappreciated part of the ancient world was far more impressive than you'd think.

 

[Siptah]

By the way, fun fact, Roman legions did adopt their iconic gladius sword from "barbaric" Iberians. It is one of many, many reasons this underappreciated part of the ancient world was far more impressive than you'd think.

Indeed. The good thing is that southern Spain is one of the best excavated places in Europe, though, so for a non-writing culture, there is quite some information.
Celtiberians for the classical age, or the argaric culture for the ancient age would be interesting additions from the left field.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

. . . By the way, fun fact, Roman legions did adopt their iconic gladius sword from "barbaric" Iberians. It is one of many, many reasons this underappreciated part of the ancient world was far more impressive than you'd think.

In fact, amongst the Legio equipment, the only two items that seem to have been purely or almost purely Roman were the lorica segmenta personal armor and the straight-sided rectangular shield - and the latter was just a development of the oval Theuros that had already been in use by Gallic, Greek, and Italian warriors for a couple of centuries.
And, of course, the lorica segmenta was only in use during the late Republic (post Marian Reforms) and early Empire, and then was replaced by link mail during the late Empire (and on into the Medieval Era, because it was actually pretty easy to manufacture once you managed to hammer or draw out lengths of 'wire' as raw material)

The sheer flexibility and number of modifications of the 'Legion' during the period of Republic (300 BCE) to end of Empire (450 - 500 CE) is always misunderstood and underestimated by people, even professional historians. Representing all that in a game, unless the entire game focused on Rome, would be a nightmare, though - in Civ you'd be Upgrading your Legions every few turns throughout the Classical Era!