Given the number of new civs being added to CIV Gold, the time has come to revisit the Barbarian list.
I spent several hours going through 1000s (literally) of empires, kingdoms, city states, etc. trying to compose a solid list that hits all the high notes, while adding some new and lesser-known states.
Here were a notes to consider when drafting the initial list:
- autonomy often meant very little in the pre-Imperial world
(rule could be by kingdom, by dynasty, by Empire, by religion, etc.)
- sorting out autonomy in Anatolia/Mesopotamia/Central Asia very difficult
- European dutchies/city-states/bishoprics, etc. sometimes considered
- city states and semi-autonomous towns within empires generally ommitted
- kingdoms always under foreign rule or in vassal position generally ommitted
- independent Khanates, Roman provinces, Greek states generally ommitted
- quasi/kingdoms in China, India, Korea and Indonesia generally ommitted
As a general rule, anything that could be grouped with an existing civ was usually left out. Firaxis seemed to have designed China and India, for instance, with a bigger picture in mind. That's why individual pre-imperial kingdoms from these areas were not normally included. Same applies to Greece, Rome and Mongols.
The proposed final list was based on the following criteria:
- empires/kingdoms with long periods of independence
- well-known forces in history
- geographic distribution
- some modern nations included
The list:
Akkad
Aland
Andorra
Angeln
Anjouan
Arakan
Aryani
Ashanti
Atholl
Axum
Basques
Batavii
Belgium
Bhutan
Boeotoi
Brunei
Buganda
Burma
Champa
Chimu
Cimmerians
Colchis
Cyprus
Dahomey
Diaokhi
Dilmun
Dorian
Doros
Dorpat
Drutsk
Dyfed
Epirus
Estonia
Fosdinovo
Frisia
Fulani
Gaya
Ghaznavid
Gok Turks
Guria
Hausa
Hsiung-Nu
Hunza
Iceland
Kerelaputra
Khazars
Khwarazm
Laconia
Ladakh
Lesos
Locria
Luxembourg
Lydia
Maguindanao
Malta
Mandara
Merovingians
Mingrelia
Moche
Mossi
Mycenae
Nan Chao
Nazca
Nogai
Offaly
Oman
Osroene
Paekche
Parthia
Pechenegs
Pegun
Phrygia
Pomerania
Quadi
Quiche
San Marino
Seleucid
Seljuqs
Sikkim
Silla
Sri Lanka
Suevi
Swazi
Tatar
Teutons
Thrace
Toltec
Trabizond
Tusculum
Udaipur
Urartu
Vandals
Wessex
Xi-Xia
All comments welcome. Adding to the list is always possible, but we should try to respect the criteria.
I spent several hours going through 1000s (literally) of empires, kingdoms, city states, etc. trying to compose a solid list that hits all the high notes, while adding some new and lesser-known states.
Here were a notes to consider when drafting the initial list:
- autonomy often meant very little in the pre-Imperial world
(rule could be by kingdom, by dynasty, by Empire, by religion, etc.)
- sorting out autonomy in Anatolia/Mesopotamia/Central Asia very difficult
- European dutchies/city-states/bishoprics, etc. sometimes considered
- city states and semi-autonomous towns within empires generally ommitted
- kingdoms always under foreign rule or in vassal position generally ommitted
- independent Khanates, Roman provinces, Greek states generally ommitted
- quasi/kingdoms in China, India, Korea and Indonesia generally ommitted
As a general rule, anything that could be grouped with an existing civ was usually left out. Firaxis seemed to have designed China and India, for instance, with a bigger picture in mind. That's why individual pre-imperial kingdoms from these areas were not normally included. Same applies to Greece, Rome and Mongols.
The proposed final list was based on the following criteria:
- empires/kingdoms with long periods of independence
- well-known forces in history
- geographic distribution
- some modern nations included
The list:
Akkad
Aland
Andorra
Angeln
Anjouan
Arakan
Aryani
Ashanti
Atholl
Axum
Basques
Batavii
Belgium
Bhutan
Boeotoi
Brunei
Buganda
Burma
Champa
Chimu
Cimmerians
Colchis
Cyprus
Dahomey
Diaokhi
Dilmun
Dorian
Doros
Dorpat
Drutsk
Dyfed
Epirus
Estonia
Fosdinovo
Frisia
Fulani
Gaya
Ghaznavid
Gok Turks
Guria
Hausa
Hsiung-Nu
Hunza
Iceland
Kerelaputra
Khazars
Khwarazm
Laconia
Ladakh
Lesos
Locria
Luxembourg
Lydia
Maguindanao
Malta
Mandara
Merovingians
Mingrelia
Moche
Mossi
Mycenae
Nan Chao
Nazca
Nogai
Offaly
Oman
Osroene
Paekche
Parthia
Pechenegs
Pegun
Phrygia
Pomerania
Quadi
Quiche
San Marino
Seleucid
Seljuqs
Sikkim
Silla
Sri Lanka
Suevi
Swazi
Tatar
Teutons
Thrace
Toltec
Trabizond
Tusculum
Udaipur
Urartu
Vandals
Wessex
Xi-Xia
All comments welcome. Adding to the list is always possible, but we should try to respect the criteria.