Every Unique Unit Compared to History (Part 4 - The Civs of The Conquerors)

Welcome back, everyone! We finally finished the AoK civs and we have finally moved into the home strech of the DLC. Thank you all for the amazing support on the last few installments. They mean a lot to me. (You can see part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here)

So without further ado, let's get started.

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Aztecs - Jaguar Warrior

Ability: Attack bonus vs. other infantry.

What it Was: Jaguar Warriors were one of the higher ranks of Aztec Warriors. (Aztec warriors would originally start wear not much other than the clothing and their weapon, but would gain fancier clothes.) They were the exact same rank as the Eagle Warrior (which was not a scouting unit, and was unique to the Aztecs as well, but the Meso civs did need some light cav esque unit.). They were some of the best of the Aztec soldiers, which were already terrifying.

Significance to Aztecs: Millitary was hugely important to the Aztecs, since they needed human sacrifices or the world would literally end (Or so they thought). Since Jaguar warriors were elite, they obviously were the perfect fit for the Aztecs since their other elite warriors, The Eagle Warrior, are the Mesoamerican scouting unit .

How the Game relates it to History: The Jaguar Warrior and The Eagle Warrior complement each other extremely well, which I believe is very accurate to the Aztec army. The anti infantry bonus is probably because Aztec warriors were brutal. The Infantry would be the last to attack, after the ranged units would unleash a few volleys. They were extremely well trained, and every man had served in a battle at least once. They created terrible wounds, and took survivors for sacrifice.

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Huns - Tarkan

Ability: Cavalry with attack bonus vs. buildings.

What it Was: The Conquerors manual will tell you that "The best of the Hunnic light horsemen were Elite Tarkan warriors. They rode hard, hit with surprise, and could withdraw as quickly if the situation was not advantageous." However, this, like most things the aoe2 manuals say, this isn't entirely true. Tarkans were a role of nobility in Turkic or Mongolian nobility title. They were also generals under the army of Tamerlane. They could also be assigned as military governors as well. However the title has been used with so many different meanings that an actual definition if it is hard. So, now I have to find how they relate to the Huns.

Significance to Huns: Much like the Huskarl, which you may remember as being Norse and Saxon rather than Gothic. I think that the Tarkan is really just supposed to represent a Hunnic warrior, like the manual says.

How the Game relates it to History: The Huns were famous for raiding and pillaging. Attila the Hun was known as the "scourge of God". Obviously, the Tarkan is meant to be an anti-building unit which makes sense because of pillaging. Even the weapon they wield screams "IMMA BURN UR HOUSE DOWN!!!!"

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Koreans - War Wagon.

Ability: Heavily armored horse-drawn archer unit.

What it Was: War Wagons had been used throughout history by many people. They were known for being essentially moveable fortresses.

Significance to Koreans: However, the Koreans never actually made any sort of War Wagons (as someone kindly pointed out here. It would have been cooler for something more historically accurate like a Hwacha (or a unique Onager to represent the same thing.). However, the Chinese have historically used War Wagons, but although China (Manchuria) and Korea are in the same modern day geographical area, they are completely separate cultures. I think the addition of the War Wagon for Koreans is, like the post I linked above said, completely a game design thing, and that is okay.

How the Game relates it to History: Obviously war wagons were extremely powerful and tanky, which is exactly how they are portrayed in the game. However, they do cost way more wood than a normal cav. archer, which makes sense because the Wagons are made out of more wood than is required to make a bow.

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Koreans - Turtle Ship

Ability: Slow, ironclad battleship used to destroy other ships at close range.

What it Was: The Turtle Ship is a naval vessel created by the Koreans to fight the Japanese. It is credited as the first armored ship type in the world. It gets its name from the covering the ship gets. It was used along the

Significance to Koreans: The Turtle Ship was used by the Koreans, and was created by the Koreans. Although the Japanese had a bigger navy numerically, the Turtle Ship allowed the Koreans to fight back, and even win battles.

How the Game relates it to History: The Turtle Ship is more cost effective than a Galleon, which is most likely a nod to the Japanese having way more ships than the Koreans, but still losing to the Turtle Ships. Its tankiness is also probably a nod to the fact that it is the first armored ship in the world.

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Mayans - Plumed Archer

Ability: Strong, fast, well-armored archer with less attack than other archers.

What it Was: Although there was no such thing as a "Plumed Archer" in Mayan times, Mesoamerican warfare did rely heavily on missile weapons. Personally, I would have made the Mayan UU the Atlatl, however that is already the Aztec UT.

Significance to Mayans: As I said with the Jaguar Warrior, the Ranged Units were the first to attack in Mesoamerican warfare. They would launch volleys of stones and javelins, before the melee began.

How the Game relates it to History: The Plumed Archer (Or so I've heard, idk I don't actually have aoe2 yet) is instrumental to the Mayan army composition, which makes sense due to their importance in battle (Archers in medieval Europe were seen as not very good, and weren't treated so well.) Their weaker attack probably has to do with the fact that their range was not as well developed as European range (although, Atlatls were very good, and were probably on par with at least a short bow.).

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Spanish - Conquistador

Ability: Mounted Hand Cannoneer. Powerful close attack, but inaccurate at range.

What it Was: Conquistador means "Conqueror" in Spanish. When The Spanish started exploring the New World, they had Conquistadors to explore new lands, colonize them, and conquer any pre-existing empires. One famous Conquistador was Hernan Cortez, who brought down the Aztec Empire. Another famous one was Francisco Pizarro, who, like Cortez, brought down the Incas. (Fun fact, the Spanish UU was originally going to be the Genitour, which actually would make sense. But we'll get to that when we talk about the Berbers)

Significance to Spanish: The Spanish are probably the most famous for their Empire in the New World, and their legacy still stands today. Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages on the world (I think its the 3rd most but Im not sure.)

How the Game relates it to History: The Conquistador is a Hand Cannoneer on a horse, probably because the Spanish, like most Europeans, used muskets widely. The fact that it is on a Horse is probably because they were also explorers too.

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Spanish - Missionary

Ability: Mounted Monk. Converts enemy units and heals friendly units like Monks, but cannot pick up Relics.

What it Was: During the Age of Exploration, the Catholic Church sent missionaries to convert the Indigenous people to Christianity.

Significance to Spanish: Since the Spanish are credited with finding the New World for Europe, the pope sent missionaries to the Spanish colonies first.

How the Game relates it to History: I mean, its a converting wololo unit that cannot pick up relics, what did you expect from a unit called a "missionary".

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Anyway thats all the conquerors civs. Next time, we will do the civs of The Forgotten.

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Tysm again,

- Polar