Asians

The **Asians** culture group represents civilizations from the Asian portion of the Eurasian continent. However, the Asian categorization excludes the Middle East region. In *Wars of Liberty*, the Asian culture initially included the three playable major Asian civilizations from the original *Age of Empires III* expansion: the Chinese, Indians, and Japanese. These three civilizations have been modified to be relatively in sync to the time period of which *Wars of Liberty* is set. So far the Koreans have been added as a new playable Asian civilization, and additional planned civilizations include the Vietnamese, Acehnese, and Siamese.

## Overview

The Asian culture was first introduced with the second expansion to the *Age of Empires III* series, *The Asian Dynasties*, and represented the three most prominent empires of 19th century Asia, namely: Japan, China and India. *Wars of Liberty* added another important player of this region to this culture: Korea.

Dominating world trade from the pre-medieval times, these regions were highly sought after by the Europeans who wanted to establish themselves as world powers. Each Asian civilization provides different gameplay tactics based on its history. The Japanese were famous for their warrior codes, the Chinese for assembling large armies, the Indians for their elephant warfare tactics, and the Koreans for their powerful naval strength. In-game this is reflected by the Japanese having strong but costly units, the Chinese training groups of weak units known as Banner Armies and having a larger population limit than other civilizations, the Indians having elephant units as major parts of their military roster, and the Koreans training Banner Fleets.

## Features

* **Consulate**: The colonization and historical alliances of the Asian empires with other major powers is represented by their unique building: the Consulate. Each Asian civilization can ally with one major power, from a selection of four. On completion of the alliance each ally provides a passive bonus, and allows the player to purchase some of that civilization's units and some technologies. All consulate techs and units cost Export. The alliance can be broken at any time and new allies can be selected.

* **Monks**: All the Asian civilizations get a Monk instead of an Explorer. They have the ability to stun their enemies instead of killing them. They also possess a host of other special abilities and skills which can be improved upon at the Monastery, which serves as the Asian replacement for the Temple and Saloon. If this was not enough, all of the Asian civilizations except the Chinese begin with two Monks, and, as with Explorers, there are Home City Cards and techs that can be researched to further improve your Monks and give them new abilities.

* **Aging-up**: The architectural prowess of the Asians is represented by their unique Age-up system: The Asians do not Age-up from the Town Center as most cultures do, instead they are required to build a Wonder to Age-up. There are five Wonders an Asian civilization can choose from and they can be built in any order they desire. When built each Wonder provides different units or resources and many other bonuses.

## Gallery

Korea's choice of Wonders, shown at Age VChina's choice of Wonders, shown at Age IIJapan's choice of Wonders, shown at Age IIIndia's choice of Wonders, shown at Age IIKorean army and navy unitsKorean buildings and units

## Portals

* Civilizations
* Minor Allies
* Religions