The Africans

The African continent is huge and diverse, but often neglected. In Wars of Liberty, our intention is to do justice to a diverse continent as it was in the 19th century, during the scramble for Africa, when the nations of Africa had to fight to keep their independence from European empires. From north to south on the African continent, each civilization features very distinct gameplay, even though they're part of the same culture. They explore the map with their own civilization's leader, whose abilities vary depending on the civilization. Their gatherer is the African Villager, who has no special attributes. Their late-game resource buildings are the Lot (Food), the Quarry (Coin), and the Bazaar (Export).

Instead of having buildings in their Home Cities, they have European Ambassadors with cards representing their interests. This way, each African nation has access to mercenaries from four foreign nations.

The most striking uniqueness of the Africans is the way that they age-up. They require a special building called a Library that contains three types of techs: Military, Economic and Civic. These techs enable buildings, units and other technologies in a fashion similar to Rise of Nations or Age of Empires II. Aging-up is merely an aesthetic element for them, because reaching the Colonial Age does not necessarily mean they will have military units. Destroying the African Library will severely hinder their advance. Because of this system, the Africans may have Industrial Age-like units very early at the cost of a Discovery Age-like economy, or vice-versa.

Various tech combinations may result in an age up. For example, there are four ways to reach the Colonial age:

• Researching Military 1, Economy 1 and Civil 1
• Researching Military 1 and 2
• Researching Economy 1 and 2
• Researching Civil 1 and 2

Egyptians

The Mamluks, a Turco-Circassian military caste, took control of Egypt around 1250 AD and continued to reign until the Ottoman invasion in the 15th century. After the brief French invasion led by Napoleon Bonaparte, Ottomans, Mamluks, and Albanians wrestled for power. Out of this chaos, the commander of the Albanian regiment, Muhammad Ali, emerged as a dominant figure and in 1805 was acknowledged by the Sultan in Istanbul as the viceroy in Egypt. Ottoman power in Egypt was finished and Egypt remained free until 1882, when the British succeeded in defeating the Egyptian Army at Tel el-Kebir in September and took control of the country.

In Wars of Liberty, the Egyptians are an entirely mobile civilization. Instead of building huge cities vulnerable to enemy attacks, they prefer to move from place to place, avoiding them. This also makes the Egyptians an unpredictable enemy, as you can never quite know where they are going to attack you from.

The leader of the Egyptians is Muhammad Ali Pasha. As an Albanian commander in the Ottoman army, Ali Pasha became Wali in 1805, and self-declared himself Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. Though not a nationalist, he is regarded as the founder of modern Egypt because of the dramatic reforms that he instituted in the military, economic and cultural spheres. He also ruled Levantine territories outside Egypt. His favorite personality traits are Expansive and Financial and his Home City is Cairo, Egypt.

Bonuses

• Caravans. Every Egyptian building, with the exception of Lots and Trading Posts, is mobile, allowing you to take map control much more quickly and easily.
• Empowering. Their leader, Muhammad Ali Pasha, also has a trick up his sleeve: he is able to Empower surrounding villagers and military units, increasing their gather rate and attack.

Weaknesses

• Fragile Army. Egyptian units, for the most part, are meant to harass the enemy more than fight in direct confrontations. If you try to directly assault the enemy, you’ll suffer a quick defeat.
• Weak Caravans. Egyptians should favor running away from their enemies rather than making a stand, as their caravans are weak and have no effective base defenses to protect them from enemies.

Unique units and buildings

The Egyptians have several unique units, meant to make life more difficult to your enemy’s economy. They also have caravan versions of all the regular African buildings, except for the Lot and the Trading Post. They do not have any sort of defensive building.

• Fellah: The main unit of the Egyptian army. This weak and fast unit is perfect for raiding and putting pressure on the enemy. On the other hand, it's fragile and, unless massed, won't be able to keep up in a fight.
• Naffatun: This unit is the Egyptian equivalent of the Grenadier. It's cheaper and weaker.
• Mehariste: A ranged camelry unit. Good at raiding.
• Mamluk: Powerful melee cavalry that can take and deal a lot of damage.
• Muhammad Ali Pasha: The explorer. It can empower nearby villagers.
• Bedouin: This unit replaces the house: it provides population space while remaining mobile.

Ethiopians

Ethiopian isolationism ended following a British mission that concluded an alliance between the two nations; but, it was not until 1855 that Ethiopia was completely united and the power in the Emperor restored, beginning with the reign of Emperor Tewodros II. Upon his ascent, he began modernizing Ethiopia and recentralizing power in the Emperor. Ethiopia began to take part in world affairs once again. During the Scramble for Africa, the Italians tried to expand their territorial claims on Ethiopia. This conflict erupted in the battle of Adwa on March 1, 1896 in which Italy's colonial forces were defeated by the Ethiopians.

In Wars of Liberty, the Ethiopians have a defensive nature; they pay special attention to constructing sturdy buildings and walls that can withstand enemy artillery fire. Their love for their country is unchallenged and they are proud for never having been colonized.

The leader of the Ethiopians is Emperor Menelik II. Baptized as Sahle Maryam, Menelik was an inspired leader. At the height of his internal power and external prestige, the process of territorial expansion and creation of the modern empire-state was completed. During his reign, the major signposts of modernization were put in place. Externally, his victory over the Italian colonizers has earned him great fame and has made him beloved by his people. His favorite personality traits are Expansive and Diplomatic and his Home City is Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Bonuses

• Porters. Your Town Centers will produce porters over time, thanks to the very synergistic bonuses of the library, this bonus will be much more significant than it may appear at first sight.
• Solid defenses. The Ethiopians have very strong buildings and extra defensive structures.

Weaknesses

• Turtler. Ethiopians are really slow to build up, having little good offensive capacities and their stronger units found only on the later tiers, you might often find yourself struggling to keep everything together at the beginning.

Unique units and buildings

The Ethiopians have many unique units that make their army composition similar to that of their European counterparts.

• Papal Guard: A very reliable type of musketeer. His damage can be greatly upgraded.
• Tigray Lancer: A solid lancer with a great melee range and a bonus against cavalry.
• Oromo Horseman: A cavalry unit with a bonus against infantry.
• Selfenga: A powerful infantry unit that gets stronger the closer it is to the Town Center.
• Sebastopol: A massive and powerful cannon that causes immense damage.
• Menelik: The explorer, can use Lion's Roar to do damage in an area.

Zulu

The Zulu were a warlike tribe of South Africa, which formed the great Zulu Kingdom that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north. The small kingdom grew to dominate much of what is today KwaZulu-Natal in Southern Africa, but when it came into conflict with the British Empire in the 1870s during the Anglo-Zulu War, it was defeated despite an early Zulu victory at the battle of Isandlwana. The area was subsequently absorbed into the Colony of Natal and later became part of the Union of South Africa. The Zulu, however, never surrendered and continue to fight for the land that was once rightfully theirs.

In Wars of Liberty the Zulu form a matriarchal society; women are highly respected, as Zulu understand their meaning for life and reproduction. Zulu have for hundreds of years been used to fighting with traditional weapons, but they must now adapt to using the horse and gunpowder if they want to stand a chance against foreign invaders of Zululand.

The leader of the Zulu is Shaka Zulu. By far the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom, Shaka is credited with uniting many of the Northern Nguni into the Zulu Kingdom. Shaka is also known for his social and military revolution, and especially the introduction of new weapons, such as the "iklwa," and war tactics, such as the "bull horns" formation, which allowed the Zulu warriors to easily defeat their enemies. His favorite personality traits are Aggressive and Expansive and his Home City is Bulawayo.

Bonuses

• Maturing. Instead of training their units the normal way, the zulu units mature individually, every single unit becoming what’s needed at the moment.
• Matriarchs. To further their production, they can train Matriarchs, who will both protect your Youth and create even more of them! Hopefully more than supplying your need for them.

Weaknesses

• Micro Intensive. As said before, each unit must be trained individually, that means that this civ will require lots of care and attention to be played properly.

Unique units and buildings

The Zulu are an infantry civilization, which is boosted by how fast their units can become thanks to their library technologies.

• Youth: Zulu basic unit. It can turn into any unit by maturing. Town Centers automatically train them.
• Matriarch: Generates Youths over time.
• Impi: Zulu main infantry unit. Has a range attack and is good against cavalry in melee.
• Umpakati: Fast melee clubman, good against artillery.
• Izikhulu: Powerful melee lancer with massive amounts of HP.
• Double Ram: Melee siege unit. Twice the men for twice the power.
• Gunpowder Kraal: You can mature youths into artillery units when close to this building.
• Horse Kraal: You can mature youths into cavalry units when close to this building.
• Ikhanda: Serves as a house, providing 15 population. Contains upgrades for Infantry.
• Shaka: The Zulu explorer, can use his shield to do area damage.

More to come...

We're planning one more civilization for this culture. We will, however, keep it secret for now. Make sure you follow our news at the Discord.