New Civ Game Guide: Iceland (Tides of Power)

[AriochIV]

One supposes that the Þingstaðr is an improvement rather than a building.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

@Eagle Pursuit
I guess Unique Great People aren't going to be limited to base game civs anymore.

Also, it should be a unique improvement, rather than a building. All civs that get unique buildings so far make a unique quarter when they are built on the same tile. No civ has gotten one unique building. Probably a typo.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

@Eagle Pursuit
I guess Unique Great People aren't going to be limited to base game civs anymore.

It's tremendously ironic that Iceland was revealed with UGPs just after I observed a lack of them in post-launch content. I certainly didn't expect Iceland to have them. I figured a saga poet might be a unique civilian of some kind, but not a whole roster of saga heroes.

 

[marius_kaparius]

Njáll Þorgeirsson: And here I thought Nordic crime dramas were invented by Netflix ... It sounds like quite the character from what I'm reading.

 

[Menocchio]

I will admit I really enjoy the Saga Heroes’ effects. It seems like Firaxis looked at the boxes they wanted to check off (Cultural, Militaristic, pillage civ), and thought of every possible way to make that gameplay combination fun. I particularly like the religion spread on pillaging effect and gaining a Relic from pillaged tiles.

It feels like they compromised between a exploration, cultural Iceland civ and a raiding Viking civ, and then doubled-down on the overlap. I may disagree with the strategy they chose but I applaud them for committing to the bit. Iceland or not, this looks like a lot of fun!!!

They certainly seem more interesting and powerful to me than other civs' Great People. I'm excited for Iceland!

 

[Lord Lakely]

Improvements have been (inconsistently) refered to as "buildings" before, so yeah. it's an improvement.

I really don't like how Iceland is 'The Viking Civ' over, say, DENMARK, instead of, like, The Explorer Civ, but oh well. Can't deny I've had fun with this patch so far (I completed my first game in two months a few days ago - Rizal as Tonga / Majapahit / Meiji into a fast Culture win), and I'll give them a try in an upcoming game (not the next one because I'm 100% playing Sayyida as Carthage / the Pirates / Ottomans)

 

[Jkchart]

It's tremendously ironic that Iceland was revealed with UGPs just after I observed a lack of them in post-launch content. I certainly didn't expect Iceland to have them. I figured a saga poet might be a unique civilian of some kind, but not a whole roster of saga heroes.

They knew you’d say something

They were ready

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

I really don't like how Iceland is 'The Viking Civ' over, say, DENMARK, instead of, like, The Explorer Civ, but oh well.

Part of me feels like there still is some design space for an Antiquity Norse. I mean Berserkers are still on the table as a UU.
But yeah less "Viking Raiding" and closer to Old Norse pre–Vikings like how they are depicted in Beowulf.

 

[Evie]

A less raiding-centric Antiquity Norse civ, maybe, but I suspect it might not be by that name. The longship and raiding being too iconic to anything norse and being part of another civ's design get in the way - and really, even if you go back to Beowulf times, the raiding is still central anyway. And we have so little to document these early Norse, not to mention that they can't be the Swedes/Danes, so we'd be looking at the relatively obscure Geats or Jutes...

But if you want to have a Norse themed civ that's NOT about longships and raiding...I'm having an odd thought percolating at the back of my head that design wise (I am not talking about dates and who fit where historically!), a river-settlement-centric Norse civ might just work out as the Antiquity Norse, and while the timing of them being antiquity while Iceland (founded only a century later) is Exploration is a bit off...could we be looking at the Eastern wing of the great Norse expansion as their antiquity civilization? By which I mean, the Varangian (not Guard)/Rus' (not Kievan)? I don't know, just an odd iddle thought.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

A less raiding-centric Antiquity Norse civ, maybe, but I suspect it might not be by that name. The longship and raiding being too iconic to anything norse and being part of another civ's design get in the way - and really, even if you go back to Beowulf times, the raiding is still central anyway. And we have so little to document these early Norse, not to mention that they can't be the Swedes/Danes, so we'd be looking at the relatively obscure Geats or Jutes...

But if you want to have a Norse themed civ that's NOT about longships and raiding...I'm having an odd thought percolating at the back of my head that design wise (I am not talking about dates and who fit where historically!), a river-settlement-centric Norse civ might just work out as the Antiquity Norse, and while the timing of them being antiquity while Iceland (founded only a century later) is Exploration is a bit off...could we be looking at the Eastern wing of the great Norse expansion as their antiquity civilization? By which I mean, the Varangian (not Guard)/Rus' (not Kievan)? I don't know, just an odd iddle thought.

I doubt it would have no raiding abilities, just not as pronounced coastal raiding with longships. Presumably Berserkers could have something similar for pillaging on land.

As for what they would be called, I'm not certain they'd go for a specific group like Geats or Jutes because that feels too limiting. What they could do instead of the name Norse, is go for the name Goths and incorporate Old Norse elements into them?
But preferably I'd rather they be separate civs.

 

[Evie]

I used to think Norse as the precursor civ, but the utter flavor fail of having Norse as one civ and Viking as the UU of another civ just doesn't add up for me. I don't buy the devs going for that mess.

Goth maybe, but I figure if we get Goth they will be proper Goth, not Stealth Norse Goth.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I doubt it would have no raiding abilities, just not as pronounced coastal raiding with longships. Presumably Berserkers could have something similar for pillaging on land.

As for what they would be called, I'm not certain they'd go for a specific group like Geats or Jutes because that feels too limiting. What they could do instead of the name Norse, is go for the name Goths and incorporate Old Norse elements into them?
But preferably I'd rather they be separate civs.

Berserkers were certainly not isolated to the Nordic end of the Germanic culture. There are Roman attestations of Germanic tribesmen engaging in berserker-like behaviors. It would not be beyond the pale to give this to the Goths.

 

[The Fanatical]

With such a strong focus on raiding, it gives you the impression that Iceland will be the only Viking civilization in the game. The chances of seeing Viking Denmark or Norway in the Exploration Age are slim, if not close to zero now, and I doubt they would fit in the previous age.

I really like the Saga Hero and the bonuses that accompany the unit. Not only is it appropriate as the Civilian Unit, since the heroes in the sagas were praised for their raiding and exploring achievements, but also it is a choice no one would have guessed.

Vikingr is the typical Viking raiding ship we all know, love, and fear. If Iceland with only just one unique military unit as an option,will be the only Viking civilization in the game, which will likely be the case, then the Vikingr should have been an amphibious unit that can embark on land. I don't think a unique unit with such a dual role has ever existed in the franchise's existence, if I'm not mistaken, and here it would have been the perfect opportunity to introduce it. This would have made the Vikingr a frightful sight both at sea and on land. The form the raiding ships that would have taken when embarking on land to act as a land unit would have been that of the Huskarls. Two ravens with one axe!

 

[Lord Lakely]

I used to think Norse as the precursor civ, but the utter flavor fail of having Norse as one civ and Viking as the UU of another civ just doesn't add up for me. I don't buy the devs going for that mess.

Goth maybe, but I figure if we get Goth they will be proper Goth, not Stealth Norse Goth.

Maybe the Jutes could work. Acceptable precursor to both the Icelanders and the Normans, if a tad obscure.

The Goth inclusion cannot happen fast enough though. The game screams for more Antiquity Euro Civs.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

I used to think Norse as the precursor civ, but the utter flavor fail of having Norse as one civ and Viking as the UU of another civ just doesn't add up for me.

Oh, I agree that giving Iceland a Viking Longship UU does change what I was originally thinking.

Berserkers were certainly not isolated to the Nordic end of the Germanic culture. There are Roman attestations of Germanic tribesmen engaging in berserker-like behaviors. It would not be beyond the pale to give this to the Goths.

This what I am thinking might be the most likely scenario.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

The Goth inclusion cannot happen fast enough though. The game screams for more Antiquity Euro Civs.

It is egregious. There are so many European leaders with so few Antiquity options for them that I hardly have a game where both Greece and Rome do not appear.

 

[Lord Lakely]

Oh, I agree that giving Iceland a Viking Longship UU does change what I was originally thinking.

I really dislike that it's called a Vikingr though. Like... call it a knarr or a drakkar or some other name? or just a LONGSHIP, not every name has to be authentic, just as long as it's consistent for that Civ (lest we get things like 'vikingr' in full Icelandic nominative case, and then their GP is just called... 'Saga Hero'. )

 

[Evie]

I actually think a raiding centric Norse (or subdivided norse) UU being called something thar refers to their role (trader-raider) rather than after the type of ship they used *make sense*. We've been saying "Viking is a profession, not a civilization" forever; treating it as a uu name make sense.

It just means a distinct "Norse" civ makes a lot less sense now.

 

[Evolena]

It is egregious. There are so many European leaders with so few Antiquity options for them that I hardly have a game where both Greece and Rome do not appear.

Like... yeah. All those little arrows on Rome and Greece.

 

[pjotroos]

Like... yeah. All those little arrows on Rome and Greece.

For those that don't want to count the arrows - Rome is recommended pick for 10 leaders. For contrast, Han has one, Silla also has one - the famous Korean scholar Machiavelli.