Every Unique Unit Compared to History (Part 1 - AoK civs part 1)

Heya,
So I just wanted to share some information about every Unique in aoe2. The history aspect of the game is what roped me in, and so I just wanted to tell you not just what each unique was in history, but what its bonus/ability has to do with it. Some of this is a little bit of guess work, especially with the civs created by Forgotten Empires, so feel free to jump in with your own ideas of what you think.

I will be sorting by expansion pack, and by alphabetically. I am splitting this up into multiple parts to keep this post short. If you want I can create a mega list when I finished.

So without further ado, let's get started with the Age of Kings civs. A lot of their unique's have history pages in the manual, so these are fairly straightforward. However I feel like the list would not be complete without them.

Britons - Longbow

Ability: Powerful archer with long range.

What it was: The longbow was a version of the standard bow and arrow that was, well, long. The length of the bow meant it had excellent power and range, making it essentially a faster crossbow.

Significance to the Britons: The longbow was extremely hard to master, so much so that most armies simply just used crossbows. The English were famous for using longbows, especially in the High Middle Ages, and became so good at using them that they were able to take out heavily armored knights.

How the game relates it to history: Unlike some unique units, the Longbow is fairly straightforward, and its ability relates to the actual unit by being a powerful archer with a long range.

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Byzantines - Cataphract

Ability: Heavily armored cavalry. Excels in combat vs infantry.

What it was: The Cataphract was a predecessor to the knight, and was an extremely powerful heavy cavalry force used to break formations of cavalry and infantry. The Cataphract rider and horse were completely decked out in armor.

Significance to the Byzantines: The Byzantines made extensive use of Cataphracts, but they were also used by many other civs throughout history, such as the Sassanid Persians

How the game relates it to History: My guess is that their bonus against infantry units has to do with the formation breaking power of the Cataphract against infantry. Their trample damage caused by the "Logistica" tech is probably from the idea of the Byzantine army carrying the traditions of the Roman army by being extremely well trained.

Celts - Woad Raider

Ability: Exceptionally quick infantry.

What it was: While there was no such thing as a "Woad Raider", Celtic warriors from various tribes would often dye their chests blue from the Woad plant, and fight bare chested.

Significance to the Celts: The warriors of the Celts are one of the defining parts of them, and the Woad paint that they used in the time of the Roman Empire makes them famous

How the game relates it to History: The Celts used a lot of guerilla tactice in the Middle Ages, and were famous for raiding cities during the time of Rome, and nothing says "Raiding your friends' economy" other than fast, bare chested men coming towards your citizens minding their businesses.

Chinese - Chu-Ko-Nu

Ability: Archer with mediocre range. Fires large number of arrows very quickly.

What it was: The Chu-Ko-Nu was a type of repeating crossbow, meaning the firer would keep loading bolts inside of it, and the chu ko nu would fire automatically. It was essentially the first semi automatic gun.

Significance to the Chinese: The Chu-Ko-Nu was invented by the Chinese during the Warring Kingdoms period

How the game relates it to History: Obviously, since the Chu-Ko-Nu was a repeating crossbow, it could fire many bolts in a small period of time.

Franks - Throwing Axe Man

Ability: Infantry with ranged attack.

What it was: It's a throwing axe, duh.

Significance to the Franks: The Franks got their name from the "Francisca" axe, which they used a lot in the early Middle-Ages.

How the game relates it to History: The Francisca could be used as a melee axe and a throwing axe, which is probably while it does melee damage from a range.

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STAY TUNED FOR PART 2!

Tysm for listening!