Virote_Considon
The Great Dictator
Throughout all of the scenarios representing any time frame from the dawn of man to the early modern era, one problem always sticks out like a saw thumb- How do you go about representing the various nomadic Steppe cultures?
The problem is a persistent one, because Steppe culture has always had a large effect on Eurasian culture, in a big way, and should therefore be represented in a scenario. I mean, what sort of Middle-Ages scenario would it be without the Mongols or the Turks? Unless the scenario is in some fairly "isolated" spot, such as Japan, or Southern India, or focusing on a particular event such as the 100 Years' War,you are going to have the problem of representing these nomadic cultures.
The challenge is hard, because this is a game that treats every player as a sedentary, agrarian culture, with large cities, and stiff borders, whereas nomadic culture is pretty much the opposite- very few permanent settlements which are small, no real borders, and they also generally occupy a much larger territory than their sedentary contemporaries. This means that the scenario creator is faced with two problems- either give the Steppe people large swathes of territory, but with many settlements, or give them very little territory, but with one or two settlements.
Militarily, it is much easier to represent Steppe cultures- cheap, fast units, usually with good offense and poor defense, but Steppe Warfare is much harder, because unlike their sedentary neighbors, nomads are not set on capturing land and settlements, but rather goods. When the resources of the location have been exhausted, they should just try to move on.
I have seen nomadic cultures represented in various ways, from huge, city-filled behemoths (such as the Tartars in MEM, or the Scythians in RFRE), to the polar opposite, being refined to a single city, from which they can launch their raids (such as the Huns were in Anno Domini). Each way has their own merits, and each their own disadvantages.
So, my question to you is, what is your favorite way of representing nomadic cultures?
Hopefully, the outcome of this thread will be a suitable way in which we can 1) find the best "medium" for representation in which 2) the AI can at least sort of cope with.
The problem is a persistent one, because Steppe culture has always had a large effect on Eurasian culture, in a big way, and should therefore be represented in a scenario. I mean, what sort of Middle-Ages scenario would it be without the Mongols or the Turks? Unless the scenario is in some fairly "isolated" spot, such as Japan, or Southern India, or focusing on a particular event such as the 100 Years' War,you are going to have the problem of representing these nomadic cultures.
The challenge is hard, because this is a game that treats every player as a sedentary, agrarian culture, with large cities, and stiff borders, whereas nomadic culture is pretty much the opposite- very few permanent settlements which are small, no real borders, and they also generally occupy a much larger territory than their sedentary contemporaries. This means that the scenario creator is faced with two problems- either give the Steppe people large swathes of territory, but with many settlements, or give them very little territory, but with one or two settlements.
Militarily, it is much easier to represent Steppe cultures- cheap, fast units, usually with good offense and poor defense, but Steppe Warfare is much harder, because unlike their sedentary neighbors, nomads are not set on capturing land and settlements, but rather goods. When the resources of the location have been exhausted, they should just try to move on.
I have seen nomadic cultures represented in various ways, from huge, city-filled behemoths (such as the Tartars in MEM, or the Scythians in RFRE), to the polar opposite, being refined to a single city, from which they can launch their raids (such as the Huns were in Anno Domini). Each way has their own merits, and each their own disadvantages.
So, my question to you is, what is your favorite way of representing nomadic cultures?
Hopefully, the outcome of this thread will be a suitable way in which we can 1) find the best "medium" for representation in which 2) the AI can at least sort of cope with.
