Water Nomad is a random map introduced in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas.
Overview[]
As with most of the new maps in Rise of the Rajas, Water Nomad is an "amphibious" one, and one of the most intriguing.
As the name hints, the players' startup is similar to the one in Nomad, but to a much higher degree; players begin with no Town Center, no Scout Cavalry, 7 Villagers and 6 Fishing Ships, much more than the land Nomad's three Villagers.
These units are spread across the map, and must find a decent corner to settle, ideally in proximity to many resources, particularly Gold and Stone. The enormous amount of Fishing Ships should be abused as much as possible, and can be used for both scouting and fishing.
As with the rest of amphibious maps, mixed use of ships and ground forces is imperative, but Demolition Ships thrive especially in this map, as they can strike an enormous variety of enemies, and if micromanaged well enough, they can even fell entire groups of units.
Civilizations that can fare well on this map are ones with either strong naval bonuses, such as the Malay, or ones with mixed naval and land bonuses, such as the Berbers, Dravidians, and the Japanese, who boast one of the biggest advantages in this map, thanks to their improved Fishing Ships.
Environment[]
Villagers usually begin on top of the few parts with dry land. The rest of the map is mostly covered in buildable shallows, and some deep waterholes. Trees found here are Mangrove Trees, and there are many stray Water Buffalos to be found, whereas in the waterholes live Box Turtles and some Fish. Storks also fly above the vast wetlands.