Viking Special Unit

[Athelstane]

The leader should be Canute the Mighty (Knud den mektige)!

He was king of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and England. Now That`s a kingdom!

Ì saw Eric Bloodaxe was an option. Well, he was the son of Harald Luva and was king in Norway a coupple of years before he was chased to Northumbria, but it is no way the leader Canute (Knud) was.

Rollo the Ganger was also a minor leader (though he was Norwegian ), and is known for leading a band of danes settling in northern France. It`s not enough to compete with Canute.

[Optimizer]

The problem with having a transport ship as a unique unit, is that it is unlikely that it triggers a Golden Age.

[Dom Pedro II]

I think that the Vikings should be expansionist and commercial. If you look at their history, they spent much more time as economic imperialists than as conquerors... they established vast trading networks, and the raids were really only a portion of their existence.

Furthermore, I think that the Viking Longship should be their UU with not an extra movement point, but rather the ability to cross into Sea squares. Over-powered? Perhaps, but I am a firm believer that the special units need more variety and should give the player UNIQUE edges... not just military ones.

With the ability to go into seas, a Longship on an island map would allow the Vikings to plant cities on every isolated isle and establish overseas connections faster than any other civ. On a continental or Pangea map, the benefits of the Longship are markedly less.

I think that America, rather than the F-15, should have a unit like a Pioneer that would maybe have an extra movement point but would be wheeled, and might have a defense point or two? This would give a land expander and and a sea expander.

Another idea I've been toying with is maybe a "squatter" unit... a UU settler with a hidden nationality that can just plant new cities right in the middle of somebody else's empire... devious, isn't it? Of course, it would be a constant target for the AI...

Anyway, just a few thoughts about the Vikings and beyond.

[snuggs]

Originally posted by Athelstane
Ì saw Eric Bloodaxe was an option. Well, he was the son of Harald Luva and was king in Norway a coupple of years before he was chased to Northumbria, but it is no way the leader Canute (Knud) was.

Oh I agree, I only suggested Bloodaxe as preferable to Erik the Red, a ludicrous choice. If the public need a psycho to lead the Vikings, Bloodaxe is that psycho. But Canute is the staringly obvious choice. What's more, he was that rare thing, a diplomat, administrator and conqueror as well as being relatively cultured, so he 'suits' any player temperament (unlike Gandhi).

[Dimorier Maximus]

Canute would be the best choice, but I am afraid it will be Bressus or Brennus or whatever his name is. I saw it somewhere on some Firaxis info.

[Hagbart]

Originally posted by Dimorier Maximus
Canute would be the best choice, but I am afraid it will be Bressus or Brennus or whatever his name is. I saw it somewhere on some Firaxis info.

No, Brennus will be the leader of the Celts/Gauls.

The Viking UU should definitely be the Longboat. The Viking ships were fast, narrow and light, but could be heavily loaded compared to their size. So it should replace the caravel, have 1 or 2 + movement, should carry one additional unit and maybe be able to cross sea...

The leader should probably be Knud (Canute) like in civ2.

[Lord Merciless]

It should be Berserker, with amphious special ability.

[Mahdimael]

How about this for the vikings:


Longboat - 2/1/3 ship with no transport ability, but it can be sacrificed to found a city on a coastal square.

And/Or

Huskarl - 3/2/1 or 4/2/1 swordsman with amphibious assault.

I think this would lead to many coastal settlements and raids for the Vikings. The downside (to me) is that the units would be less useful in pangea and continental maps (though the huskarl is pretty decent)

[Optimizer]

The Berserker could be 3/2/1 and have the Marine and All as Road abilities.

What is a huskarl?

[Mahdimael]

Originally posted by Optimizer
The Berserker could be 3/2/1 and have the Marine and All as Road abilities.

What is a huskarl?

If you look at the first posts in this thread, it explains it much better than I could

[snuggs]

Kind of mid-medieval Anglo-Scandinavian elite royal bodyguard, heavy swordsmen raised as a permanent force and with absolute loyalty to the king's person. The Scandinavian kings acquired them in the C10 and Canute introduced them to the Anglo-Saxon order of battle where they remained the best infantry in all Europe until Bastard Bill destroyed this country forever.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

I think the bezerker will be an upgraded medieval infrantry. They will be either 5/2/1 or 4/3/1. 5/2/1 seems more likely because Knights are 4/3/1 and firaxis wont have 2 units with the same stats. But then again, they might think that it will be too strong.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

It will probably cost 40 or 50 shields.

[Panag]

hi ,

, ...

they should have a second UU , they should have a warrior with marine abilities , and a ship , that would transport lets say ONLY that unit , no settlers or workers , that ship should also be cheap , ...

have a nice day

[snuggs]

That would be nice, but a huge departure from the current rules. It has to be one or the other given the constraints of the game system.