Why the Zulu?

[Lt.Col. Kilgore]

Why would Firaxis include the barbarian Zulus and not the Nubians? The Nubians represent a race AND a Civilization! The placement would be a bit farther north but still Sub-Saharan. I can't quite take the Zulu seriously, but the Nubians...

 

[Switch625]

Originally posted by Lt.Col. Kilgore
Why would Firaxis include the barbarian Zulus and not the Nubians? The Nubians represent a race AND a Civilization! The placement would be a bit farther north but still Sub-Saharan. I can't quite take the Zulu seriously, but the Nubians...

Good choice. A couple of other ideas would be Mali (their capital, Timbuktu, was legendary in the ancient world), and Ethiopia (or use their ancient name, Sheba).

I don't remember any names of Mali kings, but I think we can all agree that Makeda (the Biblical "Queen of Sheba") would be the ruler of choice for Ethiopia/Sheba.

 

[allhailIndia]

I would have also preferred something apart from the Zulus. I am not so sure about the Nubians because they really did not have too much of an impact on other civs, apart from mercenaries and traders. I would have liked to seen an Ethiopian civ too.

 

[Jimcat]

I consider the Zulus every bit as respectable in Civ terms as, say, the Americans or the Germans. They didn't reach the height of their power until the 18th/19th centuries, but they were quite formidable during their time.

I would, however, have also liked to see more African civilizations. Nubia, Ethiopia, and Mali have been suggested often. There was also an Ashanti empire centered around modern Ghana that was quite respectable in its day. (I used to know a lot more about that, but my memories have faded. Perhaps a trip to the library is in order.)

 

[simplybag]

Shaka is the daddy! I don't know anything about the Zulus but i simply love Shaka


Evil Russia persists in attacking our cities, our women and children, and our cattle. Please ally with the Zulu, Bismarck! We MUST protect those cattle!

 

[SvenSlayer]

The game sees the Vikings and the Angles as barbarians (to mention just two). If they're considered to be barbarians, so should the Zulu: it's as simple as that.

On the other hand, I suppose the game wouldn't be interesting if it didn't include at least one African nation (and I think that's the way Firaxis saw it).

 

[Dirk Aurel]

The Zulus have always been part of this game ever since part one,but otherwise I don´t take them especially serious.They are just one of them "hate" civs,always annoyed and willing to fight. As for the Nubians,great civ,have seen some remains of their cities on pics and telly,fascinating,looks like Egypt,in fact a lot claim it´s were the Egyptian culture comes from originally, even if untrue,fascinating all the same
Ethiopia sounds good to me too,they are the oldest kingdom afterall.Don´t know enough about Mali to comment,but in general think underrepresenting African civs is ok,since they really didn´t play an esp big part.Just adding some because it´s political correct would be stupid.(Please don´t remind me of the north African states being technically African,I´m aware of this,it isn´t quite the same culture though.)

 

[Mongoloid Cow]

The Zulu are in probably because they are the most aggressive civ in Africa (Mali, Ethiopia and Nubia were pretty much static throughout most of their history, tending to focus on trade and religion more than war) I don't really care about what civs they choose (except the Mongols!) because at the end of the day, the civs work well together and are balanced out.

Out of all of the African civs not included, I reckon the Mali are the best; their cities were world famous for trade and science, esp. Timbuktu and Djenne. The Mali empire was so rich that gold was almost worthless - Salt and Books were much more expensive commodities.