Islamic Societies

## Overview

### **Game Setup**

Islamic civilizations begin the game with a varied number of Laborers, at least a Merchant, at least a Scholar and the Leader. The Islamic Leader draws inspiration from AoM's Pharao: Leaders empower nearby buildings and units, while also benefiting from the 90 second respawn timer post-death.

### **Age-up System: Building Reforms**

Islamic civs age-up through Building Reforms. Building Reforms work similarly like WoL's Balkan Big Button Age-Ups, except you can only research one per building, and it unlocks important units and/or tech-trees in said building.

For example, the War School Reform for Ottomans, available from Age III to V, switches Janissaries to Nizam-el-Cedit.

### **Economic Gameplay**

#### *Laborers*

The Laborer builds colony buildings for Free. Production buildings cost Coin.

The Laborer farms through Farm Crops. Islamic Farm Crops can be depleted and refilled as time passes, and especially near Qanats, that make the refill time faster. Islamic Farm Crops also have Crop variations, each with different effects.

The Laborer the following Buildings:

* **Homestead**: Adds 5 population;
* **Farm Crops**: Allows up to 5 Labourers to gather food from it;
* **Qanats**: Improves Farm refill time.
* **Watch Tower**: Analogue to the EU Outpost.
* **Garrison**: Military production building. Trains Levy Troops in batches and researches upgrades and improvements for them;
* **War School**: Military production building. Trains Professional Troops and research upgrades and improvements for them;
* **Citadel**: Military production and defensive Building. Trains Artillery and Tribal Auxiliaries;
* **Hideout**: The Hideout combines elements of the EU Tavern, being able to train Outlaws and Mercenary Companies, but also provides IS civs access to Spies and their respective technologies.

#### *Merchant*

The Merchant specializes in gathering, providing and generating resources that are rarer on the map. As such, he builds several important Buildings that aid on its goals.

* **Bazaar**: The Bazaar is the Islamic advanced market building. It automatically generates resource crates. In general, IS civs are allowed only 2 Bazaars, one by Age 3 and +1 each age.
* **Suque**: Suque are small market stands that are automatically gathered by the Bazaar when built near it or by Merchants themselves. There are different Suque types, for each resource type.
* **Guild**: While IS civs do not get direct access to Artisans (only through HC sometimes, as Craftsman), the Guild researches important improvements that act as analogue variant to Artisan technologies and features.
* **Caravanserai**: The Islamic unique Trading Post. Caravanserai heal nearby units, while also boosting the combat capabilities of Minor Ally Units.

#### *Scholar*

* **Shrine**: Shrine are small buildings with limited build capacities, on which Scholars are able to pray in exchange for Fame.
* **Mosque**: The Mosque is the Islamic advanced analogue to the European Church. Unlike the EU Church however, the Mosque has bigger impact in gameplay rather than just training and upgrading Monks – Mosque improvements cost Fame and often impact all of your units and/or buildings.
* **Madrasa**: The Madrasa is the administrative/political variant of the Mosque. It combines elements of the EU's Capitols and Universities. Like the Mosque, its improvements are researched costing Fame, but while Mosque research improved units and/or buildings, Madrasa research drastically change how your civ plays.

**Military Gameplay**

Islamic armies are divided between three major unit types: Levy Troops, which focus on numbers and quantity, Professional Troops which focus on value and performance and Tribal Auxiliaries, which provide strategical and tactical support.

**Levy Troops are trained at the Garrison**, and are trained in batches and don't cost Coin. Levies cannot be upgraded directly, but can benefit from tech research and are automatically updated each age-up.

**Professional Troops are trained in the War School** and are upgraded in the following states: (ii) Veteran -> (iii) Elite -> (iv) Guard -> (v) Imperial.

Cavalry also plays a crucial role in Islamic militaristic gameplay, especially in civs from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Eurasian Steppes, where open terrain made mounted warfare advantageous for cavalry unit types. Cavalry is trained in either the Garrison, the War School or the Citadel, accordingly if they're Levy, Professional or Auxiliaries.

**Finally, the Citadel is the Islamic analogue to the Fort, and trains both Artillery and Tribal Auxiliaries**.

For extra support, Mercenary Companies are randomly enabled in the Hideout, the Islamic analogue that combines the Tavern with the Spy mechanics. In addition, in exchange for Influence, Islamic civs can also send Foreign Troops infinitely.

#### *Levy Troops*

Levies were individuals who were drafted or compelled into military service during times of need. Levies could be drawn from various segments of society, ranging from rural peasants to urban dwellers. **Islamic levies translate into DotMA by being cheap and numerous units, trained in batches, that only cost Food (and maybe Wood), but are otherwise of little tactical value other than quantity over quality and supporting better troops with numbers**.

#### *Professional Troops*

At the core of many Islamic armies during the time-period covered by DotMA, were the **Professional Troops**. These individuals were often dedicated to military service as a full-time occupation. They received training, regular pay, and had a strong sense of loyalty to the ruling authority. In DotMA, this translates into **highly valuable military units, that are easy to train and maintain at a cost of Coin**.

Examples:

* Janissary (Ottomans)

#### *Tribal Auxiliaries*

In regions with strong tribal structures, such as the Arabian Peninsula and parts of North Africa and of the Eurasian Steppes, tribal warriors played a significant role in Islamic armies. These warriors were often motivated by clan loyalty and had deep ties to their local communities.
**Tribal Auxiliaries are depicted in DotMA as particularly skilled and abled units in asymmetric warfare tactics, with smaller groups of Tribal Auxiliaries being able to harass bigger military formations without having the pressure to fully commit into the engagements. They however fairly inadequate in prolonged fighting conditions**.

Examples:

* Qizilbash (Persians)

## Civilizations

### Gunpowder Empires

There are 3 Gunpowder Empire Islamic civilizations. Gunpowder Empires often combine elements of other cultures into the Islamic gameplay. The Gunpowder Empire Islamic civs are the following:

* **Ottomans**: The Ottomans combine elements of the European gameplay with that of the Islamic gameplay. They don't have access to the typical Islamic military building roster, and have instead access to the European Barracks, Stables and Artillery Depot. They also don't have access to the Madrasa, but use instead the Capitol and the University. They also Age-Up via the Town Center's EU Sovereign System. Apart from that, they keep their Islamic gameplay type.
* **Mughals**: The Mughals combine elements of the Asian Indian Dynasties gameplay with that of the Islamic Gameplay. They retain the Asian Consulate, Temple, Castle and they Age-Up via Wonder System.
* **Persians**: Persians are pure IS civilization. They differ from the other IS civs by (...)

### North-African Sultanates

* Barbary States
* Mamluks
* Moroccans

### Middle-Eastern Emirates

* Afghans
* Arabs
* Kazakhs
* Omani
* Yemeni