Civilization Concept: Egyptians

DISCLAIMER: I haven't played AoE2 in a while. Take what I say with a grain of salt.

OVERVIEW:

Egyptians:

Cavalry and Monk civilization

• Mounted units gain +1/+2/+3 attack in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial age
• Monks have +2 Conversion Range
• Militia-Line units cost less gold, as you age up (10/5/no gold--Feudal/Castle/Imperial), but take 20% longer to produce (and are limited to Men-At-Arms)
• Farms can be gathered from 2 villagers at a time

Unique Unit:

Chariot Lancer (Cavalry): Very fast melee cavalry, with a bonus to ranged units, ranged siege, and towers.

Unique Tech:

Salvage Crews: Destroying Castles, Towers, Gates, Town Centers, Monasteries, and Wonders grants a small amount of Wood (90%), Stone (40%), and Gold (20%).

Undermine: Infantry deals +3 damage to Castles, Towers, Walls, Gates, and Town Centers

Team Bonus:

• Trade cogs and fishing ships move 20% faster

TECH TREE:

Barracks:

• Swordsman line capped at Man-at-Arms
• Full access to Halberdiers
• Can't research Supplies

Archery Range:

• Full access to Arbalesters
• Access to Elite Skirmishers
• Full access to Heavy Cavalry Archers
• Access to Hand Cannoneer
• Can't research thumb ring

Stables:

• Full Access to Hussars
• Full access to Paladins
• Access to Heavy Camel Riders
• Access to Battle Elephant, but not Heavy Battle Elephant
• Full access to Bloodlines and Husbandry
• ​

Blacksmith:

• Archer armor capped at Leather
• Full access to Bracer
• Melee upgrades capped at Iron Casting
• Cavalry armor capped at Chain Barding
• Infantry armor capped at Chain Mail

Siege Workshop:

• Can't upgrade Rams
• Full access to Siege Onager
• Full access to Heavy Scorpion
• Access to Bombard Cannon
• Access to Siege Tower

Docks:

• Full access to Fast Fire Ship
• Access to Cannon Galleon, but can't upgrade
• Demo line capped at Demolition Ship
• Galley line capped at War Galley
• Full access to Dry Dock and Shipwright

University:

• Tower line capped at Keep (no Bombard Tower)
• Full access to Architecture
• No access to fortified wall
• Access to Chemistry
• Access to Murder Holes, Heated Shot
• Access to Ballistics, and Siege Engineers
• No access to Arrow Slits
• No access to Treadmill Crane

Castle:

• Full access to Hoardings, Sappers, Conscription, and Spies/Treason
• Chariot Lancer requires Gold & Wood (and maybe also food)
• Salvage Crews available in Castle Age
• Undermine available in Imperial Age
• Trebuchets & Petards available

Monastery:

• Access to all techs, except for Heresy

Mining Camp:

• Access to all techs, except for Stone Shaft Mining

Lumber Camp:

• Upgrades capped at Bow Saw

Market:

• Access to all techs

Mill:

• Full access to Crop Rotation

Strategy Concept:

So, in general, these Egyptians are very much about rushing, and building up a rapid army. Swordsmen are effectively trash units, and are restricted to Men-at-Arms, to emphasize that. They can be spammed, but are rather squishy.

Cavalry is sort of a glass cannon, with a bonus to attack, but lacking the final armor upgrade. I'm uncertain if the damage bonus should also apply to cavalry archers, or not. It even has access to battle elephants, though there's no Heresy to protect them. Because of the damage bonus, this is the main place to spend your food, while the cheap infantry is more of a fluke/raiding avenue.

And you're going to be getting a lot of food, from the bonus of farms being able to have 2 villagers working on them, and all of the mill upgrades. What's more, it means less space is taken up by farms, so you could make a secondary base on a small island, or press it further, to get even more food.

HOWEVER. It should be noted that this also drains the farms roughly twice as fast. So, while it's fast, it's not terribly efficient, and you're going to need to put a lot of villagers into lumber gathering, to sustain it--which is exacerbated by the lack of two-man saw.

And an added complication for this, is the lack of bombard towers, arrow slits, or fortified walls. The more you put into lumber to supplement your farms--the more likely you are to expose yourself to raiders.

This is where your cavalry, trash infantry, and unique units come into play for defense. Because they punch below their weight, infantry can distract raiders, long enough for your powerful cavalry to close in for the kill, or monks to convert them from long range.

And because your monks have extra long range, there's a possibility you could use them with your elephants, to counter-convert enemy monks that might threaten them.

The main weakness of the Egyptians is going against heavily fortified enemies. Because while their swordsmen are cheap, they're restricted to ordinary battering rams (it doesn't exactly feel fitting for them to have a lot of giant, lumbering, heavy war huts coming out of a place that's predominantly desert and river valley).

In a sense, their unique technologies are more to compensate for their failings. Salvage Crews are to further supplement the high wood costs of their farming, and provide stone for defenses. While Undermine is to bring their weak infantry back up, to act as a substitute for the lack of capped rams, when dealing with fortifications.

There was an idea for another Unique Tech, in place of Undermine--which was basically bringing back the Sacrifice/Martyrdom tech. Where you can delete a monk, to instantly convert a target. But that might be a bit OP. Maybe it would also make monks cost double.

However, I don't think they'd be entirely helpless on the sea, either. With their faster fishing ships & trade cogs, they have a means to comfortably boom, scout, and potentially even lame enemy fishing resources. Additionally, fish traps might not be quite as fast as the farms, but still probably more efficient, and familiar, in terms of pace.

The team bonus for the Egyptians might actually be a bit broken, if it applied to all trade units. If there are clear waterways, and have allies with the Spanish...that'd probably be too much gold. And might risk super-charging the Turks as well. I think that restricting it to trade cogs, might make the bonus situational enough to be somewhat balanced.

CONCLUSION:

So, this was my attempt to bring the Egyptians from AoE1, into AoE2. Even though they weren't quite as prominent on the world stage in the middle ages, I don't feel that justifies ignoring them. I tried to translate a lot of their bonuses from AoE1 over, in a way that wasn't redundant with other civs, or felt too limited. In some ways, the translation is to represent them advancing from past flaws. Going from being restricted to stone throwers, to having giant catapults, and weak rams. They gained more cavalry options, to carry on from their chariot-focus, making them more powerful, but still fragile.

So, what do you folks think? Think there's potential in this civ? Think there's room for tweaks? Think it's overpowered? Underpowered? Let me know!

Feedback is always appreciated!