User blog:Dark Paladin X/Dark Paladin X Civ Crafting Corner: The Jurchens

The Jurchens were the ancestors of the modern Manchus, they are known for their rule over China with the Jin Dynasty and later the Qing Dynasty as the Manchus.

The Jurchens were known to be fierce horsemen that were known to wear heavy armor in combat and known for their strong cavalry tactics where they chained the legs of the horses together to deal more collateral damage in combat (known as Guaizi Ma). This is highlighted with their Castle Age unique tech in the namesake that allows cavalry units to deal trample damage, and their civilization bonus where Knights get more armor in Castle Age, and even more armor in Imperial Age, making their Knights more resistant to melee attacks. Their unique unit, the Iron Pagoda, further highlights the use of heavy cavalry in battle where they have relatively high pierce armor and deals bonus damage vs. foot archers, skirmishers, and siege weapons. The Jurchens were sedentary people that live in small walled villages with advanced agriculture and raised livestock. This is highlighted with their civilization bonus where they can train herdables from Town Centers and Mills at a cost of small amount of food, which would lead to a food surplus regardless (Goats and Sheep cost 25 food to train, but yield 100 food, while Cows cost 50 food, but yield 150 Food). Horseback archery is a tradition for the Jurchens, and their mastery of mounted archery allowed the Jurchens to be strong hunters. To highlight this, the Jurchens get Parthian Tactics and Heavy Cavalry Archer upgrades for free.

Even though the gunpowder was considered to be a Chinese invention, the Jurchens during the Jin dynasty made further improvements in gunpowder and made effective use in battle against the Mongols (despite failing to prevent the eventual fall of the Jin dynasty). This is highlighted with their Bombard Cannons having lower minimum range, and their second unique unit, the Elite Hand Cannoneer, which is basically the unique unit upgrade for the Hand Cannoneer. Their Imperial Age tech, Huo Pao, highlights the Jurchen's improvement of gunpowder where Bombard Cannon and Trebuchet projectiles can forcefully eject any units garrisoned in buildings. Much of the Jurchen technological developments of gunpowder were used by many other civilizations such as the Turks, the Indians, and even the Mongols. This is highlighted with their team bonus where gunpowder units deal more damage against buildings.

Overview
The Jurchens are a cavalry and gunpowder based civlization with a strong archery, cavalry, and siege line. The Jurchens have access to all the cavalry upgrades (minus Husbandry and Plate Barding Armor), making Jurchens as one of the few East Asian civilizations to have acces to the Paladin upgrade. The lack of Plate Barding Armor will hurt the Jurchen cavalry defensive capacity against arrows, but the Knights bonus armor and their anti-archer Iron Pagodas, makes up for it, making their Knights more durable against melee attacks and Iron Pagodas being their strong anti-archer and anti-siege cavalry support. Their Castle Age unique tech, Guaizi Ma, allows their cavalry to deal trample damage. The Jurchens have access to a full archery tech tree, and rushing cavalry archers is a viable tactic since they get Heavy Cavalry Archer and Parthian Tactics for free. However, due to the Jurchens lacking Husbandry, their cavalry archers will be less mobile. That being said, the Jurchens have access to a unique upgrade for their Hand Cannoners, the Elite Hand Cannoneer, which is basically a stronger version of the Hand Cannoneer. They have access The Jurchens also have a strong siege line, only missing out in the Siege Ram and Siege Onager upgrade. But their biggest strength in their siege weapons will be their Bombard Cannons and Trebuchets, where the minimum range is reduced by 2, meaning that the Jurchen Bombard Cannons will have 3 minimum range instead of 5; while their Imperial Age unique tech, Huo Pao, improves their Trebuchet and Bombard Cannon sieging capacity by forcefully ejecting any garrisoned units inside. Their team bonus allow Petards, Bombard Towers, and gunpowder units deal more damage against buildings, making the Jurchen Bombard Tower drops in the enemy base to be very threatening. Being able to train herdables, the Jurchens have a strong early game economy since villagers gather food faster from herdables than Farms, which makes up for their weaker lategame economy of not having access Two-Man Saw and Guilds. The Jurchens have a decent infantry line, but the lack of Champions, Squires, and Plate Mail Armor can hurt their infantry lategame. Their navy is very poor, lacking many essential upgrades for their ships. Their defensive capacity is also very horrible until the Imperial Age since they cannot upgrade their Watch Towers and Stone Walls, and cannot even research Arrowslits, but they have access to fully upgradable Bombard Towers. Their monk and Monastery line is notoriously horrendous, having only access to Herbal Medicine, Sanctity, and Fervor. The lack of Heresy and Faith means that the Jurchen cavalry is incredibly vulnerable to conversion, making them incredibly vulnerable to civilizations with strong monks such as the Aztecs and the Spanish. They are, however, a formidable foe to the Britons and the Ethiopians, due to their strong anti-archer and anti-siege capacity of the Iron Pagodas, and having a more durable frontline.

Civilization Bonuses

 * Knights +1 armor in Castle Age and +2 armor in Imperial Age (+3 armor total)
 * Heavy Cavalry Archer and Parthian Tactics upgrades are free.
 * Bombard Cannons have lower minimum range
 * Can train herdables (Goats, Sheeps, and Cows) in Town Centers and Mills.
 * Team Bonus: Petards, Bombard Towers, and gunpowder units deal 10% more damage vs. buildings.

Unique Unit
Iron Pagoda (heavy cavalry with extremely high pierce armor that deals bonus damage against foot archers, skirmishers, and siege weapons), Elite Hand Cannoneer (unique upgrade of the Hand Cannoneer)

Unique Tech
Guaizi Ma (Stable units and Iron Pagodas deal trample damage), Huo Pao (Trebuchets' and Bombard Cannons' projectiles can forcefully eject garrisoned units upon projectile impact)

Archery Range
Units Technologies
 * Archer -> Crossbowman  -> Arbalest
 * Skirmisher -> Elite Skirmisher
 * Cavalry Archer -> Heavy Cavalry Archer
 * Hand Cannoneer -> Elite Hand Cannoneer
 * Thumb Ring
 * Parthian Tactics

Barracks
Units
 * Militia -> Man-at-Arms -> Long Swordsman -> Two-Handed Swordsman
 * Spearman -> Pikeman  -> Halberdiers

Technologies
 * Tracking
 * Arson

Stable

 * Scout Cavalry -> Light Cavalry -> Hussar
 * Knight -> Cavalier -> Paladin
 * Camel -> Heavy Camel

Technologies
 * Bloodlines

Dock

 * Fishing Ship
 * Transport Ship
 * Fire Galley
 * Galley -> War Galley -> Galleon
 * Demolition Raft -> Demolition Ship
 * Cannon Galleon
 * Trade Cog

Technologies
 * Gillnets
 * Careening
 * Dry Dock

Monastery
Units Technologies
 * Monk
 * Fervor
 * Sanctity
 * Herbal Medicine

Castle
Units Technologies
 * Iron Pagoda -> Elite Iron Pagoda
 * Petard
 * Trebuchet
 * Guaizi Ma
 * Huo Pao
 * Sappers
 * Conscription
 * Spies/Treason

Town Center
Units Villager

Technologies
 * Town Watch -> Town Patrol
 * Feudal Age -> Castle Age -> Imperial Age
 * Loom
 * Wheelbarrow -> Hand Cart

Siege Workshop

 * Mangonel -> Onager
 * Battering Ram -> Capped Ram
 * Scorpion -> Heavy Scorpion
 * Bombard Cannon
 * Siege Tower

Blacksmith
Technologies 
 * Padded Archer Armor -> Leather Archer Armor -> Ring Archer Armor
 * Fletching -> Bodkin Arrow -> Bracer
 * Forging -> Iron Casting -> Blast Furnace
 * Scale Barding Armor -> Chain Barding Armor
 * Scale Mail Armor -> Chain Mail Armor

University
Technologies
 * Masonry -> Architecture
 * Murder Holes
 * Ballistics
 * Chemistry
 * Siege Engineers
 * Bombard Tower

Mining Camp
Technologies
 * Stone Mining -> Stone Shaft Mining
 * Gold Mining -> Gold Shaft Mining

Lumber Camp
Technologies
 * Double-Bit Axe -> Bow Saw

Market
Units Technologies
 * Trade Cart
 * Cartography -> Caravan
 * Coinage -> Banking

Mill
Technologies
 * Horse Collar -> Heavy Plow -> Crop Rotation