Italians

The Italians are a Mediterranean civilization introduced in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten. They focus on archers and ships.

The Italians are based on the medieval states in modern-day Italy, such as Venice, Genoa, Florence, and the Papal States. The Italians' unique unit, the Genoese Crossbowman, is an anti-cavalry archer. Their second unique unit, the Condottiero, is an anti-gunpowder infantry. Situated in southern Europe in modern-day Italy, the Italians were a prime center for European trade due to their strategic location of key port cities, in the game their Fishing Ships are 20% cheaper. As a result, Italian cities became one of the wealthiest in the world during that time. To reflect their economic productivity, the Italians feature cheaper trade units, as well as cheaper upgrades from the Dock. The Italians were best known for being a center of culture and knowledge at the city of Florence during the Renaissance which revolutionized the way Europeans think. This made them ahead of other European kingdoms at that time as a result of trading with the more advanced Islamic and Far Eastern kingdoms, therefore the Italians can advance through the Ages at a lower cost. To represent the technological benefits of the Silk Road, Italians' gunpowder units cost less.

The Italians are one of the people that are cultural descendants of the Roman civilization. The other ones are the Spanish, Portuguese, and the French, that all have also Roman origins, because all these civilizations speak Romance Languages.

Overview
The Italians are mainly an archer and naval civilization. Their Archery Range is pretty fit with all upgrades and technologies for the foot soldiers there. Only their Cavalry Archers are weak. Their Stable units however are good, featuring Hussars and Cavaliers with full upgrades. In the infantry department there is only the Halberdier missing, but they have the Condottiero at their disposal. Apart from the Bombard Cannon which they get at a lower cost the siege weapons are underwhelming for the Italians. However, their Monks and navy are excellent with only one missing feature each. Same goes for their economy, which only lacks Gold Shaft Mining, and their defensive structures, which do not lack a single feature at all.

Overall, the Italians have a very wide technology tree that leaves little to be desired.

Campaign appearances
The Italians have a campaign devoted to their civilization: Sforza. They also make a appearances in various campaigns in The Forgotten.

Unique unit

 * : Archer with an attack bonus against cavalry

Unique technologies

 * : Gives foot archers +1/+1 armor.
 * : Halves trade unit cost.

Civilization bonuses

 * Dock technologies are 50% cheaper.
 * Fishing Ships are 20% cheaper.
 * Gunpowder units are cheaper.
 * Advancing to the next Age is 15% cheaper.

Team bonus

 * Condottieri are available at the Barracks.

The Forgotten

 * Advancing to the next Age is 10% cheaper.
 * Gunpowder units are 15% cheaper.
 * Fishing Ships +2 Line of Sight.
 * Cannot research Hussar.
 * Pavise costs 550F/300F and only affects Genoese Crossbowmen.
 * Condottieri require a Castle.
 * Condottieri have 9 attack and 1 speed.
 * Condottieri train in 11 seconds.
 * Genoese Crossbowmen cost 50W/50G.

The African Kingdoms

 * Advancing to the next Age is now 15% cheaper.
 * Gunpowder units are now 20% cheaper.
 * Fishing Ships are now 33% cheaper instead of having +2 LOS.
 * Pavise now costs 300F/150G and affects all foot archers.
 * Hussar added to the technology tree.
 * Condottieri no longer require a Castle.
 * Condottieri now have 10 attack and 1.2 speed.
 * Elite Genoese Crossbowmen have +5 attack against camel units.
 * With patch 4.8, Pavise no longer incorrectly affects Skirmishers.
 * With patch 4.8, Condottieri now train in 13 seconds.

Rise of the Rajas

 * Genoese Crossbowmen now cost 45W/45G.
 * With patch 5.5, Fishing Ships are now 20% cheaper.
 * With patch 5.7, Elite Genoese Crossbowmen now have +6 attack against camel units.
 * With patch 5.7, Condottieri have 9 attack and 0 pierce armor.
 * With patch 5.7, Condottieri now have a unique armor class that resists bonus damage from gunpowder units (+10 armor), but not from other anti-infantry attacks.
 * With patch 5.7, Condottieri now train in 18 seconds.

In-game dialogue language
In-game, Italians units speak Medieval Latin, which is also spoken by the Byzantines. Historically, however, they spoke different vernacular languages descended from Latin. The modern Italian language was based almost exclusively on one of these vernacular languages, a variant of Tuscan called Florentine.
 * Ain? - Yes?
 * Impero? - I command?
 * Presto - I'm ready
 * Salve! - Hello!
 * Correctus - Right
 * Ago - I do
 * Sane - Certainly
 * Caedo - I cut [tree]
 * Pabulo - I forage
 * Venatus - Meat (Hunter)
 * Capto - I catch [fish]
 * Colo - I cultivate
 * Fodio - I dig/extract
 * Condo - I build
 * Reficio - I repair
 * Deleo! - I destruct!
 * Comitta! - Commit! or Comita! - Follow!
 * Pugno! - I fight!
 * Porro! - Forward!

AI player names
When playing a random map game against the computer, the player may encounter any of the following Italian AI characters:
 * Alboin
 * Arechis II of Benevento
 * Castruccio Castracani
 * Domenico Selvo
 * Francesco I Sforza
 * Gisulf I of Salerno
 * Liutprand the Lombard
 * Maurizio Galbaio
 * Pietro Gradenigo
 * Pope Gregory VII
 * Simone Boccanegra

Trivia

 * The Mediterranean Monastery features architectural elements of both Gothic and Romanic architecture. This combination is typical in Northern Italian churches and cathedrals, as well as in some chapels through Tuscany, Marche, and Umbria.
 * The background emblem at the bottom center of the user interface is the coat of arms of Genoa.
 * Before patch 4.4, the Italian architecture, now shared with the Portuguese, shared the same Feudal Age buildings as the Western European set (Britons, Celts, Franks, Spanish). They now have unique Feudal Age buildings of their own after the release of The African Kingdoms and patch 4.4, though they still use exactly the same Lumber and Mining Camps as the Western European civilizations.
 * The Feudal Age architecture for the Italians and Portuguese actually comes from a fan-made mod, which became official after the release of The African Kingdoms.
 * It is salient that almost all unique traits for the Italians are cost reductions.