Civilization | Technology tree | Strategy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Italians' civilization music theme in the Definitive Edition The Italians are a Southern European 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 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 and University. 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. ContentsOverview[edit | edit source]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[edit | edit source]The Italians have a campaign devoted to their civilization: Sforza. They also make appearances in various campaigns: Saladin (Definitive Edition)[edit | edit source]
Barbarossa (Definitive Edition)[edit | edit source]
Attila the Hun (Definitive Edition)[edit | edit source]
Alaric[edit | edit source]In the HD Edition:
In the Definitive Edition remake:
Bari[edit | edit source]In the HD Edition:
In the Definitive Edition remake:
Tariq ibn Ziyad[edit | edit source]
Ivaylo[edit | edit source]
The Hautevilles[edit | edit source]
Characteristics[edit | edit source]Unique unit[edit | edit source]
Unique technologies[edit | edit source]
Civilization bonuses[edit | edit source]
Team bonus[edit | edit source]
Changelog[edit | edit source]The Forgotten[edit | edit source]
The African Kingdoms[edit | edit source]
Rise of the Rajas[edit | edit source]
Definitive Edition[edit | edit source]
In-game dialogue language[edit | edit source]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, the variant of Tuscan spoken in the city of Florence, called Florentine.
AI player names[edit | edit source]When playing a random map game against the computer, the player may encounter any of the following Italian AI characters:
History[edit | edit source]The Italians are the peoples who have continuously populated the Apennine Peninsula since roughly 572 AD. Although the Italian Peninsula served as the seat of power for the Roman Empire, in 476 AD Rome fell to the Germanic tribes under the rule of Odoacer. In 493, the Byzantines (Eastern Romans) succeeded in convincing the king of the Ostrogoths, Theodoric the Great, to conquer Odoacerās Italy. When Theodoric died in 526, the peninsula fell back into disorder, leaving it open to a Byzantine invasion led by General Flavius Belisarius in 535. However, Byzantine rule was mostly displaced by 572, when the Lombards, another Germanic tribe, invaded the region. The Italian people can thus be identified as the descendants of both the Latin peoples and the Germanic tribes. Succeeding centuries saw the Italians form a series of different city-states, independent entities whose rule generally did not extend beyond a central city and the surrounding villages. In Northern Italy, the fall of Charlemagneās Holy Roman Empire, which had ousted the Lombards, caused a long period of instability that resulted in the creation of several city-states, including Milan, Genoa, Florence, and Venice. Central Italy fared somewhat better under the control of the Papacy in Rome, but when the Pope crowned the German Otto I the Holy Roman Emperor in 962, both northern and central Italy became involved in the convoluted affairs of the German city-states. On the other hand, Southern Italy remained under the control of Lombards and Byzantines until the eleventh century, when the Normans invaded the area and founded the Kingdom of Sicily. By the Late Middle Ages, the Italian armies were generally composed of and led by condottieri, professional mercenaries whose allegiance was given to the highest payer. Interstate conflicts usually served to maintain the status-quo of the city-states. The Italian Wars (or Renaissance Wars) of the 16th century saw the peak of these conflicts, ultimately causing the weakening of the Italian city-states. In terms of naval warfare, the Italian navies were among the best in Europe. The regionās geography made domination of the Mediterranean crucial for commerce and culture. Venice and Genoa used their navies to effectively form remarkable maritime empires which competed with other major European states and the Ottoman Empire. Medieval Italy was an intoxicating mix of ancient Roman architecture, rising theocratic power, and artistic rebellion. Central Italy, under the control of the Catholic Popes, exercised a prominent position in the religious and political matters of European Christendom. Northern Italyās Florence became particularly important during the Late Middle Ages as the seat of the Renaissance, a period of great advances in the arts, music, and science. Florenceās Leonardo da Vinci was one of the major figures of the era, developing amazing works of art and pushing the limits of technology. Nevertheless, the constant conflicts among the Italian city-states made them susceptible to foreign control. Neighboring France, Spain, and Austria proved particularly meddlesome in Italian affairs. It would not be until 1861 that, under the leadership of Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy and Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italians finally unified into a single nation that exists to this day.[2] Trivia[edit | edit source]
Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]During the development of The Conquerors, the Italians had been considered to appear as the new civilization representing Western Europe region already. However, the Ensemble Studios team eventually picked the Spanish because they were impressed by El Cid's story and they planned to pit the Spanish against two new Native American civilizations (later Montezuma campaign).[3] When the Forgotten Empires team was working on the Forgotten Empires mod (which eventually became The Forgotten expansion), they initially planned to add the Lombards as one of the new civilizations. But in the end, the developers modified and renamed them as the more generic Italians.[4] Gallery[edit | edit source]The Wonder of the Italians, the Cathedral of St.Lawrence The Mediterranean architecture set the Italians share with the Spanish,Portuguese,Byzantines and Sicilians The Italian user interface An Italian town, as seen in The Great Siege Italians preview in the Definitive Edition Add a photo to this gallery Video overview[edit | edit source]References[edit | edit source]
|