Luchuirp the Hated Civ?

[isthmus]

More sentient golems for the late game sounds like a good idea; if it can happen once, it could happen again.

The rarity of awakened golems is why I'd have it only on tier4 units, which are both naturally rarer (limited) AND made of better materials, better able to hold the enchantment.

You could possibly link it to enchantments, as a new "learning golem". But as for barnaxus himself, I thought that the fact that he contained the divine essence of a god (even if it's just the breath) allowed him to awaken...with the help of the unnamed man who awakened him in the wastes. (guess who that could have been...)
Is it possible to repeat this?
...At least lorewise, although you could say that late in the tech tree that golem creation would be developed enough to be at least creating the image that golems "learn".

You could easily do the same with their mage units (have the "modifications" they can give be based on their spell promotions) that or totally replace their mages with tinkerers. Also because they gain XP from the golems, they don't need passive XP gain as much.

Also the mithril golem would probably be a good candidate for "sentience".

But I think the name "Children of Barnaxus" would be an eloquent name for other awakened golems(perhaps the promotion...). Also perhaps the number of Golems that can be awakened at once could be related to Barnaxus's level, giving more motive to keep using him. Barnaxus could probably be given some upgrades later, so that he doesn't become too obsolete as a combat unit.

I definitely agree with barnaxus upgrades. He's such an early hero who is obsolete very quickly. For the "perfect" golem he needs to have a little extra, it wouldn't be too strenuous on the lore to say the he lost much of his capabilites during the AoI and is restored to full function as the tech tree develops, I think?

The mage replacement UU.. less so. Although I can definitely see where you're coming from, I'd prefer that they were their own UU and utilised some of the perceived "useless" techs that the luchuirp have. I think that golem crafting isn't fully justified into solely the arcane line. I'd like to see tinkerers as on a hybrid machinery/arcane line.

 

[Brokenbone]

If an arcane UU had a comedy jumbo wrench with which it hit things, you'd be looking at an homage to the Iron Kingdoms setting (a D20 setting based on D&D at least) and whatever their improvisational arcane mechanik class is... usually dwarves who kick, scream at and hit malfunctioning constructs (mechanika, steamjacks, etc.) until they work again.

...

Away from comedy for a moment though, Barnaxus having additional utility beyond getting him his 5 combat stars and hiding him would be sort of interesting. Still, you may not want to have a purely Barnaxus focussed game, where once he's KO'd, it's boredom time (oh, my opponent gave Barnie's pieces to a hawk and is flying him to a new city on each turn just to screw with me...)

Other interesting stuff might be other ways to improve your army on a global basis. Just like the Tower of the Elements improves elemental summons, what of some kind of National Wonder (or Ritual I guess) hammer-sink which gives all your golems some desirable promo? Strong? Heroic Strength or Heroic Defense I or II? Fear? Heavy? Light? Mobility I or II? Withdrawal +20% (or more)? One cargo slot even on land like ye olde Trojan Horse (into which smart guys will stuff squishy mages)? Pyre-Zombie like explosive status? Alternately, other buildings like a Junk Yard which simply rips off the effect of orcish Warrens, giving the "spare" golem a malus promotion like Weak? A lot of the above stinks like repeat mechanics but hey, grasping at straws for finding the fun

 

[DonQuigleone]

(oh, my opponent gave Barnie's pieces to a hawk and is flying him to a new city on each turn just to screw with me...)

There probably should be something to prevent that.

The alternative is to make Barnaxus a great commander who doesn't fight himself, which might be... interesting.

EDIT: as for making the AI use Barnaxus correctly, why not "give" an AI Barnaxus all 5 promotions and have him park him in the capital. It's a cheat, but to actually program the AI to do it properly would be quite difficult, and noone should really notice.

 

[Tarquelne]

Golem idea:

Several buildable "Upgrade" items: Use hammers to build an Upgrade. When built it appears in the city and can be attached (via a spell) to any golem. Once on a golem it's there to stay - it doesn't re-appear if the golem is destroyed, it can't be traded to other golems. (Though maybe some unique upgrades could be handled that way.)

A simpler version would be a lot of Golem Gear.

For Barnaxus, he could be given Abilities that grant 1-turn-only promos to golems in his stack. Probably stuff to represent him leading from the (relative) front.

 

[DonQuigleone]

Golem idea:

Several buildable "Upgrade" items: Use hammers to build an Upgrade. When built it appears in the city and can be attached (via a spell) to any golem. Once on a golem it's there to stay - it doesn't re-appear if the golem is destroyed, it can't be traded to other golems. (Though maybe some unique upgrades could be handled that way.)

A simpler version would be a lot of Golem Gear.

For Barnaxus, he could be given Abilities that grant 1-turn-only promos to golems in his stack. Probably stuff to represent him leading from the (relative) front.

Sounds interesting. You could remove the current functionality and add that instead. For instance instead of all golems being made having fireball flinging, you'd have to make a fire-cannon component.