This article is about the civilization in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. For similar civilizations, see Ottomans. |
ā | Thousands of Seljuk Turkic riders poured out of Central Asia, thrusting into Persia and Mesopotamia during the 11th century. Challenge the mighty Byzantine Empire and battle Crusaders with mobile mounted armies, survive the Mongol onslaught, and establish the legendary Ottoman Empire. Can your vast gunpowder-wielding armies and lethal Janissaries overrun territories from the Levant to North Africa and Southeastern Europe, or will the Safavid armies and the walls of Constantinople foil them? | ā |
—Description[1] |
The Turks are a Middle Eastern[note 1] civilization in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, representing the Turkic people west of Persia/Iran (called "Turkish" people). The Turks are based on the Oghuz Turks which included various Turkic dynasties (i.e. Seljuk Empire, Sultanate of Rum, and the Ottoman Empire). They focus on gunpowder units.
The Turks also appear in Age of Empires III as the Ottomans. The Turks are also playable as a civilization in Age of Empires IV as the Ottomans as part of the free anniversary update.
Other Turkic civilizations in Age of Empires II are:
- Tatars, representing the Turkic people east and north of Persia/Iran.
- Cumans, representing the Turkic people northwest of Persia/Iran.
Characteristics[]
Unique unit[]
- Janissary: More powerful version of the Hand Cannoneer.
Unique technologies[]
- Sipahi: Mounted archers +20 hit points.
- Artillery: +2 range for Bombard Towers, Bombard Cannons, Cannon Galleons.
Civilization bonuses[]
- Gunpowder units have +25% hit points.
- Chemistry is free.
- Gunpowder technologies are 50% cheaper.[note 2]
- Gold Miners work 20% faster.
- Light Cavalry and Hussar upgrades are free.
- Scout Cavalry line gain +1 pierce armor.
Team bonus[]
- Gunpowder units are created 25% faster.
Overview[]
The Turks are a gunpowder civilization, with some of the best in this category. They have greater range (excluding the Hand Cannoneer), are created faster, and have more hit points. Getting Chemistry for free means they are also very strong as an immediate option in the Imperial Age, giving them a strong Fast Imperial strategy.
Their mounted units are great. The Turks have a complete cavalry line-up, apart from the Paladin. Their Light Cavalry free upgrades and 1 extra pierce armor, the latter making them great against archers. Furthermore, their Cavalry Archers are among the very best thanks to Sipahi.
The Turkish navy is very good, only the Fast Fire Ship is missing. Their Monks are solid, with all Castle Age upgrades and their production being boosted by the Turk's economy bonus. Their Champions and Archers are also both decent. Their defensive structures get all upgrades, and their Bombard Towers have +2 range.
However, despite the excellent line-up of Turkish units, the Turks do have some notable weaknesses. Their lack of the Elite Skirmisher and Pikeman upgrades are two massive holes. This means that defending as the Turks requires utilizing less conventional counters, using Light Cavalry and Mangonels against Crossbowmen, and Camel Riders and Monks against Knights. Not only that, they are also arguably the worst civilization when gold supplies run out, especially when factoring in the fact that they lack the Onager. Additionally, their economy is overall below average without Crop Rotation and Stone Shaft Mining, or any economy bonus outside of their gold miner bonus, which while strong furthers their reliance on gold and their burn-out.
Overall, the Turks are a civilization that has a wide array of strong options, all tied together by their gold mining bonus. However, they are sluggish in the early game and wither when they run out of gold. They are best suited to closed maps and team-game settings, as the former can allow them to go for a Fast Castle or Fast Imperial strategy, while the latter allows them to have a constant supply of gold through Trade for their army composition.
Changelog[]
The Conquerors[]
- Gunpowder units extra hit points decreased (+50% ā +25%).
- Artillery introduced.
- Janissaries revamped:
The Forgotten[]
- Sipahi introduced.
- Elite Janissaries are now affected by the Turkish team bonus.
The African Kingdoms[]
- With patch 4.8, Gold Miners work rate bonus increased (15% ā 20%).
Definitive Edition[]
- With update 42848:
- New civilization bonus: Scout Cavalry line has +1 pierce armor.
- Elite Janissary's accuracy increased (50% ā 65%).
- With update 50292, the stone cost of Artillery was changed to wood, so it now costs 450 wood, 500 gold (from 500 gold, 450 stone).
Dynasties of India[]
- With update 81058, Artillery's costs 600 food instead of 450 wood and gold cost increased (500 gold ā 650 gold).
Return of Rome[]
- With update 87863, non-Elite Janissary attack range reduced (8 ā 7).
Campaign appearances[]
The Turks are playable in the following scenarios:
- Manzikert, which is based on the Battle of Manzikert, where the player plays against the Byzantines and Saracens.
- Bapheus, where player controls the founder of the Ottoman Empire - Osman (and Osman's Followers as the second player in the co-op version).
- Fetih, which is based on the Fall of Constantinople from the perspective of the Ottoman Turks.
They also appear in:
Genghis Khan[]
- Crucible
- Kereyids - Ally
Barbarossa[]
- Barbarossa's March
- Seljuks - Enemy
El Cid[]
- Reconquista
- Black Guard Army - Enemy
- Black Guard Navy - Enemy
- Yusuf - Enemy
Battles of the Conquerors[]
Vlad Dracula[]
The Dragon Spreads His Wings, the first scenario, is played as the Turks.
- The Dragon Spreads His Wings (HD Edition version only)
- Ottoman Empire - Ally
- The Return of the Dragon
- Ottoman Empire - Neutral
- The Breath of the Dragon
- Ottoman Army - Ally ā Enemy ā Ally ā Enemy
- Darstor - Enemy
- The Moon Rises
- In the HD Edition version:
- Ottoman Camps - Ally ā Enemy
- Ottoman Army - Enemy
- Ottoman Forward Troops - Enemy
- In the Definitive Edition version:
- Ottoman Empire - Enemy
- Sultan Mehmed II - Enemy
- Akinci Cavalry - Enemy
- In the HD Edition version:
- The Night Falls
- Sabac - Ally
- Ottoman Army - Enemy
- Ottoman Empire - Enemy
Prithviraj[]
- HD Edition
- The Digvijaya
- Ghaznavids - Enemy
- Battles of Tarain
- Ghorid Army - Enemy
- Definitive Edition
- The Fate of India
- Ghorids - Enemy
- Muhammad Ghori - Enemy
Battles of the Forgotten[]
The Bapheus scenario is played as the Turks
- Bukhara
- Gokturks - Neutral ā Ally ā Enemy
- HonfoglalƔs (HD Edition version)
- Pecheneg - Enemy ā Ally ā Enemy ā Ally
- Kabars - Ally
- Bapheus
- Rum Sultanate - Ally
- Karesi - Ally or Enemy
- Germiyan - Ally or Enemy
- Candar - Ally or Enemy
- Turkish nomads - Enemy
Francisco de Almeida[]
- Lion of Africa
- Kemal Reis - Enemy
- A Son's Blood
- Ottomans - Enemy
Tamerlane[]
- A Titan Amongst Mortals
- Sultan Bayezid I - Enemy
- Ottoman Empire - Enemy
- Ottoman Auxiliaries - Ally ā Enemy
Ivaylo[]
- Echoes of Heroes
- Tatars - Enemy
The Hautevilles[]
- Bohemond and the Emperor
- Seljuk Turks - Enemy
- Bohemond in the East
- Kerbogha's Guard - Enemy
- Seljuk Cavalry - Enemy
- Moslawi Conscripts - Enemy
- Damascene Army - Enemy
- Kerbogha's Pillagers - Enemy
Babur[]
- The Battle of Panipat
- Ottoman Gunpowder Forces - Ally
Tamar[]
- Takeover
- Seljuk Raiders - Enemy
- The Protectorate
- Shamkor Garrisons - Enemy
- Tamar the Builder
- Rum Sultanate - Enemy
Thoros II[]
- Outlawed
- Seljuk Trading Post - Neutral ā Ally ā Potential Enemy
- Caught in the Crossfire
- Seljuks - Ally ā Enemy
- Of Turncoats and Traitors
- Seljuks - Enemy ā Potential Neutral ā Enemy
Ismail[]
- The Red Hats and Khata'i
- Ottomans - Enemy
- Alexander Safavi
- Ottoman Outpost - Enemy
In-game dialogue language[]
Turkish units speak their namesake language, an Oghuz Turkic language spoken in modern-day Turkey. It is formerly written with a modified Arabic script (Ottoman Turkish alphabet) and currently written with modified Latin letters.
On a side note, Oghuz languages are related to other Turkic languages such as Cuman (spoken by the Cumans) and Chagatai (spoken by the Tatars).
- Select 1 Evet? (Ų£ŁŲŖŲ) - Yes?
- Select 2 Efendim? (Ų§ŁŁŲÆŁ Ų) - My effendi? (Effendi is an Ottoman title of nobility meaning lord or master. In modern Turkish "Efendim?" is used in the meaning of "I beg your pardon?")
- Select 3 Hazır (ŲŲ§Ų¶Ų±) - Ready
- Select 4 Emrin? (Ų§Ł Ų±ŚŲ) - Your command?
- Task 1 Tamam (ŲŖŁ Ų§Ł ) - Okay
- Task 2 Evet (Ų£ŁŲŖ) - Yes
- Task 3 DoÄru (Ų·ŁŲŗŲ±Ū) - Right
- Task 4 Yaparım (ŪŲ§Ł¾Ų§Ų±Ł ) - I'll do it
- Build Usta (Ų§ŁŲ³ŲŖŲ§) - Master (builder)
- Chop Oduncu (Ų§ŁŁŲÆŁŁŲ¬Ū) - Woodcutter
- Farm ĆiftƧi (ŚŁŲŖŲ¬Ū) - Farmer
- Fish BalıkƧı (ŲØŲ§ŁŪŁŲ¬Ū) - Fisherman
- Forage Seyis (Ų³Ų§ŪŲ³) - Groom
- Hunt Avcı (Ų¢ŁŲ¬Ū) - Hunter
- Mine Madenci (Ł Ų¹ŲÆŁŲ¬Ł) - Miner
- Repair Tamirci (ŲŖŲ¹Ł ŪŲ±Ų¬Ł) - Repairer
- Attack Saldır! (!ŲµŲ§ŁŲÆŲ±) - Attack! (not used)
- Military
- Select 1 Evet? (Ų£ŁŲŖŲ) - Yes?
- Select 2 Hazır ol! (!ŲŲ§Ų¶Ų± Ų§ŁŁ) - Attention! (A military command, literally - "Be ready!")
- Select 3 Emret! (!Ų§Ł Ų± Ų§ŪŲŖ) - Waiting for orders! (Literally - "Order me!")
- Move 2 Yaparım (ŪŲ§Ł¾Ų§Ų±Ł ) - I'll do it
- Move 3 Tamam (ŲŖŁ Ų§Ł ) - Okay
- Attack 1 Saldır! (!ŲµŲ§ŁŲÆŲ±) - Attack!
- Attack 2 Ä°leri! (!Ų§ŪŁŲ±Ł) - Forward!
- Attack 3 Evet! (!Ų£ŁŲŖ) - Yes!
- Attack 4 Allah-Allah! (Ų§ŁŁŁ Ų§ŁŁŁ) - Warcry, similar to "In God's name!"
- Select 1 Evet? (Ų£ŁŲŖŲ) - Yes?
- Select 2 Efendim? (Ų§ŁŁŲÆŁ Ų) - My effendi? (Effendi is an Ottoman title of nobility meaning lord or master. In modern Turkish "Efendim?" is used in the meaning of "I beg your pardon?")
- Select 3 Hazır (ŲŲ§Ų¶Ų±) - Ready
- Select 4 Emrin? (Ų§Ł Ų±ŚŲ) - Your command?
- Move 1 Tamam (ŲŖŁ Ų§Ł ) - Okay
- Move 2 Evet (Ų£ŁŲŖ) - Yes
- Move 3 DoÄru (Ų·ŁŲŗŲ±Ū) - Right
- Move 4 Yaparım (ŪŲ§Ł¾Ų§Ų±Ł ) - I'll do it
- Select 1 Evet? (Ų£ŁŲŖŲ) - Yes?
- Select 2 Efendim? (Ų§ŁŁŲÆŁ Ų) - My effendi? (Effendi is an Ottoman title of nobility meaning lord or master. In modern Turkish "Efendim?" is used in the meaning of "I beg your pardon?")
- Select 3 Hazır (ŲŲ§Ų¶Ų±) - Ready
- Select 4 Emrin? (Ų§Ł Ų±ŚŲ) - Your command?
- Move 1 Tamam (ŲŖŁ Ų§Ł ) - Okay
- Move 2 Evet (Ų£ŁŲŖ) - Yes
- Move 3 DoÄru (Ų·ŁŲŗŲ±Ū) - Right
- Move 4 Yaparım (ŪŲ§Ł¾Ų§Ų±Ł ) - I'll do it
AI player names[]
When playing a random map game against the computer, the player may encounter any of the following Turkish AI characters:
- Alp Arslan (1029 - 1072) (Persian: Ų¢ŁŁ¾ Ų¢Ų±Ų³ŁŲ§Ł, Modern Turkish: Alp Arslan) : Real name Muhammad bin Dawud Chaghri; he was the second Sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. As sultan, Alp Arslan greatly expanded Seljuk territory and consolidated power, defeating rivals to his south and northwest. His victory over the Byzantines at Manzikert ushered in the Turkish settlement of Anatolia. For his military prowess and fighting skills he obtained the name Alp Arslan, which means "Heroic Lion"in Turkish.
- Atsiz the Khwarezmian (? - 1078) (Persian: Ų„ŲŖŲ³ŁŲ² Ų§ŁŲ”Ų®ŁŁŲ§Ų±ŁŲ²Ł Ł, Modern Turkish: Atsız bin Uvak): Known as Atsiz Ibn Uvaq, he was a Khwarezmian Turkish mercenary commander who established a principality in Palestine and southern Syria in 11th century. After capturing Damascus in 1076, he began constructing the Citadel of Damascus.
- Bayazid (1354 - 1403) (Ottoman Turkish: ŲØŲ§ŁŲ²ŁŲÆ, Modern Turkish: I. Bayezid): The Ottoman Sultan from 1389 to 1402. He was the son of Murad I and GĆ¼lƧiƧek Hatun. He built one of the largest armies in the known world at the time and unsuccessfully besieged Constantinople. He adopted the title of Sultan-i RĆ»m, RĆ»m being an old Islamic name for the Roman Empire. He was defeated and captured by Timur at the Battle of Ankara in 1402 and died in captivity in March 1403.
- Bayezid I Yildirim (1354 - 1403) (Ottoman Turkish: ŲØŲ§ŁŲ²ŁŲÆ, Modern Turkish: I. Bayezid): See Bayazid.
- Chaghri Beg (989 - 1060) (Persian: ŚŲ§ŲŗŲ±Ł ŲØŚÆ, Modern Turkish: ĆaÄrı Bey) : Da'ud b. Mika'il b. Saljuq, also spelled Chaghri, was the co-ruler of the early Seljuq empire. The name Chaghri is Turkic (ĆaÄrı in modern Turkish) and literally means "small falcon", "merlin".
- Danishmend (? - 1085) (Persian: ŲÆŲ§ŁŲ“Ł ŁŲÆ Ų§ŲŁ ŲÆ ŲŗŲ§Ų²Ū, Modern Turkish: DaniÅmend Ahmed Gazi): Danishmand Ahmad Gazi, was the founder of the beylik of Danishmends. After the Turkish advance into Anatolia that followed the battle of Manzikert, his dynasty controlled the north-central regions in Anatolia.
- Danishmend Gazi (? - 1085) (Persian: ŲÆŲ§ŁŲ“Ł ŁŲÆ Ų§ŲŁ ŲÆ ŲŗŲ§Ų²Ū, Modern Turkish: DaniÅmend Ahmed Gazi): See Danishmend.
- Ghiyas-ud-Din of Ghor (1139 - 1203) (Persian: ŲŗŪŲ§Ų« Ų§ŁŲÆŪŁ Ł ŲŁ ŲÆ ŲØŁ Ų³Ų§Ł , Modern Turkish: Gıyaseddin Muhammed): During his early reign, known more as Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad, defeated the Ghurid claimants to the throne and fought with the Khwarazmian Empire over the lordship of Khorasan. He occupied Herat in 1176 and went on to establish control over most of what is now Afghanistan and the surrounding areas by 1200, and as far west as Bastam and Gurgan. His brother, Mu'izz al-Din, helped manage and expand the eastern part of the empire (as far as Bengal) and served Ghiyath with utmost loyalty and deference. Ghiyath died in 1202 and was succeeded by his brother Mu'izz al-Din.
- Malik-Shah I (1055 - 1092) (Persian: Ų³ŁŲ·Ų§Ł Ł ŁŁŲ“Ų§Ł, Modern Turkish: Sultan I. MelikÅah): See Sultan Malik-shah.
- Orhan Gazi (1281 - 1362) (Ottoman Turkish: Ų§ŁŲ±Ų®Ų§Ł ŲØŚÆ, Modern Turkish: Orhan Gazi): See Orkhan.
- Orkhan (1281 - 1362) (Ottoman Turkish: Ų§ŁŲ±Ų®Ų§Ł ŲØŚÆ, Modern Turkish: Orhan Gazi): Also known as Orhan. He was born in SƶÄĆ¼t, Turkey,he was the second bey of the nascent Ottoman Sultanate from 1323/4 to 1362. He focused his energies on conquering most of northwestern Anatolia.
- Osman I Gazi (1258 - 1326) (Ottoman Turkish: Ų¹Ų«Ł Ų§Ł ŲØŚÆ, Modern Turkish: Osman Gazi): He was the leader of the Ottoman Turks and the founder of the Ottoman dynasty. He and the dynasty bearing his name later established and ruled the nascent Ottoman Empire (then known as the Ottoman Beylik or Emirate). The state, while only a small principality during Osman's lifetime, transformed into a world empire in the centuries after his death. It existed until shortly after the end of World War I.
- Seljuk (960 - 1009) (Persian: Ų³ŁŲ¬ŁŁ ŲØŚÆ, Modern Turkish: SelƧuk Bey): The eponymous hero of the Seljuq Turks. He was the son of a certain Toqaq with the moniker TemĆ¼r YalÄ±Ä (meaning "of the iron bow") and either the chief or an eminent member from the Kınık tribe of the Oghuz Turks. In 985, the Seljuq clan split off from the Oghuz Yabghu State, long settled between the Aral and Caspian Seas. They set up camp on the right bank of the lower Syr Darya (Jaxartes), in the direction of Jend, near Kzyl Orda in present-day south-central Kazakhstan. There, in 985, Seljuk converted to Islam.
- Sultan Malik-shah (1055 - 1092) (Persian: Ų³ŁŲ·Ų§Ł Ł ŁŁŲ“Ų§Ł, Modern Turkish: Sultan I. MelikÅah): During his youth, he spent his time participating in the campaigns of his father Alp Arslan, along the latter's vizier Nizam al-Mulk. During one of such campaigns in 1072, Alp Arslan was fatally wounded and died only a few days later. After that, Malik-Shah was crowned as the new sultan of the empire, however, Malik-Shah did not access the throne peacefully, and had to fight his uncle Qavurt, who claimed the throne. Although Malik-Shah was the nominal head of the Seljuq state, the vizier Nizam al-Mulk held near absolute power during his reign. Malik-Shah spent the rest of his reign waging war against the Karakhanids on the eastern side, and establishing order in the Caucasus.
- Sultan Murad (1404 - 1451) (Ottoman Turkish: Ų³ŁŲ·Ų§Ł Ł Ų±Ų§ŲÆ, Modern Turkish: Sultan II. Murad): Murad II's reign was marked by the long war he fought against the Christian feudal lords of the Balkans and the Turkish beyliks in Anatolia, a conflict that lasted 25 years. He was brought up in Amasya, and ascended the throne on the death of his father Mehmed I. His mother was Valide Sultan Emine Hatun (daughter of Suleyman Bey, ruler of Dulkadirids), his father's third consort. Their marriage served as an alliance between the Ottomans and this buffer state, and produced a son, Mehmed II, who would go on to successfully conquer the Byzantine Empire's capital, Constantinople, in 1453.
- Sultan Sanjar (1086 - 1157) (Persian: Ų³ŁŲ·Ų§Ł Ų³ŁŲ¬Ų±, Modern Turkish: Sultan Sencer): Also known as Ahmad Sanjar. The Seljuq ruler of Khorasan from 1097 until in 1118 when he became the Sultan of the Seljuq Empire, which he ruled as until his death in 1157.
- Suleiman the Magnificent (1494 - 1566) (Ottoman Turkish: ŁŲ§ŁŁŁŁ Ų³ŁŲ·Ų§Ł Ų³ŁŁŁ Ų§Ł, Modern Turkish: Kanuni Sultan SĆ¼leyman): Suleiman became a prominent monarch of 16th-century Europe, presiding over the apex of the Ottoman Empire's economic, military, and political power. Suleiman personally led Ottoman armies in conquering the Christian strongholds of Belgrade and Rhodes as well as most of Hungary before his conquests were checked at the Siege of Vienna in 1529. He annexed much of the Middle East in his conflict with the Safavids and large areas of North Africa as far west as Algeria. Under his rule, the Ottoman fleet dominated the seas from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and through the Persian Gulf. He is the AI personality of the Ottomans in Age of Empires III.
History[]
ā | The name Turk refers to two different Muslim groups of the Middle East-first the Seljuks and then the Ottomans. The Seljuks, nomads from the steppes near the Caspian Sea, converted to Islam around the tenth century. Approximately 70,000 Seljuks started as mercenaries to fill the ranks of the Islamic army of the caliph of Baghdad. These mercenaries converted to the Sunni branch of Islam. In 1055 they became the real power behind the caliph in Baghdad and began extending their rule. Their leaders took the title sultan, meaning "holders of power". By 1100 they controlled most of Anatolia (taken from the Byzantines), Palestine, the lands surrounding the Persian Gulf, the holy cities of Arabia, and as far east as Samarkand. In 1071 the Seljuks achieved a stunning victory over a Byzantine army at Malazgirt in modern Turkey, which led to Turkish occupation of most of Anatolia. At nearly the same time, they successfully captured Jerusalem from its Egyptian Muslim rulers. These two events shocked the Byzantines, the papacy, and the Christian Europeans. The result was the Crusades, which carried on for the next 200 years. The Seljuk Turks were worn down by the recurring wars with the Crusaders, even though they were successful ultimately in regaining control of Palestine. They were threatened simultaneously by the activities of the Assassins, a heretical sect of Islam. Internally, Islam entered a period of introspection because of the popularity of Sufi mysticism. During this period of exhaustion and weakness, they were attacked suddenly by the Mongols and collapsed. Baghdad fell to the invaders in 1258 and the Seljuk Empire disappeared. Islamic peoples from Anatolia (modern Turkey in Asia Minor) were unified in the early fourteenth century under Sultan Osman I and took the name Osmanli, or Ottomans, in his honor. The Ottomans swore a jihad against the crumbling Byzantine Empire and took their campaign around Constantinople into the Balkans. In 1389 the Serbs were defeated. In 1396 a "crusader" army from Hungary was defeated. Ottoman successes were temporarily halted by the Mongols[sic] under Tamerlane, but he moved on with his army and the Ottomans recovered. Sultan Mehmed II ("the Conqueror") at last captured Constantinople on May 29, 1453. The great walls of Constantinople were battered by 70 guns for eight weeks and then 15,000 Janissaries led the successful assault. The Ottomans pushed on into Europe following the capture of Constantinople and threatened a sort of reverse Crusade. They were stopped by a Hungarian army at Belgrade in 1456, however. Attacks on Vienna were repulsed in 1529 and again in 1683. At its peak in the sixteenth century, the Ottoman Empire reached up into Europe to Budapest and Odessa and included all of Greece and the Balkans, the lands surrounding the Black Sea, Asia Minor, the Levant, Arabia, Egypt, and most of North Africa. The Ottoman Empire remained a significant world power until World War I in the twentieth century. | ā |
—[1] |
Trivia[]
- The Turks' civilization icon is based on the flag of the Ottoman Navy.
- The user interface image in the Definitive Edition displays 13th century double-headed eagle used by The Sultanate of Rum.
- The following heroes available in the Scenario Editor are themed on the (Oghuz) Turks: Osman, Mustafa Pasha, and Selim the Grim.
- The ethnonym TĆ¼rk (š±
š°š°¼š°) / TĆ¼rĆ¼k (š±
š°š°¼š°°) originally referred to only the GƶktĆ¼rks. They are represented by Turks in-game but had little connection to the Oghuz Turks, which serve as the basis of the civilization. In addition, Tatars also have some of their rulers as AI player names.
- The ethnonym Turks would later be used for other Turkic-speaking peoples, such as:
- The Khazars, represented in-game by ethnologically unrelated Cumans;
- The Toquz Oghuz (Nine Tribes) confederation, mentioned as drugu rus dgu "Turks of Nine Bones" in an 8th-century Tibetan document;
- The Karakhanids, whose rulers appear as names for Tatar AI players;
- The Oghuzes, from whom arose the Seljuks and Anatolian Turks (including the Ottomans), represented in-game by the Turks.
- Turks was also used for various Turkmen peoples with the two terms having common origins and being interchangeable; today, Turkmens / Turkomans describe only Eastern-Oghuz speaking peoples.
- Strangely, Oghuz Yabgu, Qara Qoyunlu, and Aq Qoyunlu polities, though historically Oghuz-speaking, are represented by the unrelated, Chagatai-speaking Tatars, either as AI player names for the Tatars or by being depicted as Tatars in-game in case of the Turkomen. This is potentially because these peoples were left out of the original Turks design, which focused on the Seljuks and the Ottomans.
- All this could also have stemmed from developers' oversight: even if the in-game Tatars and Cumans were supposed to also represent the 'less Persianate, less Islamized' Turkic polities, Tatars' and Cumans' in-game architectural set is Persianate (though topped with Timurid fluted domes).
- The ethnonym Turks would later be used for other Turkic-speaking peoples, such as:
- Despite the Turks being based on the Seljuk Turks and other Oghuz Turkish empires (all of whom were once a nomadic people), they do not get Steppe Lancers, possibly for gameplay balance purposes.
- The Scenario Editor building Mosque is identical to the Turkish Wonder.
- When the Turks are given other gunpowder units in the Scenario Editor, the hit point bonus does not apply to any gunpowder unit which the Turks cannot normally train, except the Houfnice.
Gallery[]
Video overview[]
Notes[]
- ā As per their building set.
- ā Since update 47820, the 50% cost reduction only applies to the Bombard Tower technology and the Elite Cannon Galleon upgrade. It also applied to the Cannon Galleon technology before it was removed from the game with update 47820 and to Hand Cannon and the Bombard Cannon technologies before they were removed in The Conquerors. It does not apply to Artillery or the Elite Janissary upgrade.