DM Core Expansion

Designed to enhance the original play of the game with some civilization balancing, and more civilization bonuses! This mod also features new units, some with new graphics (from heavengames/FE) as listed below..

- Huns: Hunnic Cavalry Archer
- Aztecs/Mayans: Slinger
- Persians: Elite Elephant Archer
- Byzantines: Imperial Camel, Imperial Legionary, Imperial Skirmisher
- Goths: Spitfire Tower
- Teutons: Crusaders, Shield Guardians
- Mongols: Shield Cavaliers
- Vikings: Elite Arbalest
- Franks: Huszar

Along with additional unit types..

- Huns: Mercenary Archer, Battle Tarkan
- Aztec: Puma Spearman
- Teutons: Ballista Tower
- Mayans: Sun Shaman

Siege weapons destroy walls 25% faster and trade lag has been slightly reduced.


Additional videos will appear here, previewing the mod.


General Unit Changes

# Champion/Two-Handed Swordsman have HP improvement. And more attack vs Eagles.
# Cavalier/Camel have slight attack improvement. Cavalier have +7 attack vs buildings.
# Paladin have slight attack vs buildings.
# Eagle Warrior have +1 Melee Armour
# Pikeman line have added bonus attack vs rams and reduced attack bonuses vs elephants.
# Cavalry Archer line have had their costs reduced.
# Ram line have reduced cost, and improvements to lesser upgraded (battering/capped ram).
# Trebuchets can cut stumps and do area damage.
# Monks/Missionaries cost 55G (-45G). Adjusted conversion rate slightly, should be slightly more uniform.
# Skirmishers have slight attack bonuses vs cavalry.
# Siege Weapons do +50% more damage to walls and gates.
# Onager/Siege Onager have +10 HP and have slower stone projectile speed (so archers can run away etc, if micro'd and lag shouldn't be a problem). (Also see research below)
# Bombard Cannon projectile speed increased.

# Villager have more armour and a slightly faster creation time.
# Trade Carts work smarter.


General Building Changes

# Arrow Towers have faster build time and cost less.
# Bombard Towers do more varied damage to different unit groups and have projectile speed increase.
# Palisade Wall has about half fortified wall HP.
# Outpost has 0 stone cost.
# Town Centers cost half stone.
# Castle has very slight creation increase.

# Farms cost more wood.
# Houses are created slightly faster and provide +1 pop more (+6).
# Barracks are created slightly faster.


General Research Changes

# Bloodlines given to all civilizations (+20 Mounted HP) (Except Franks which have 192 HP)
# Siege Mechanics all civilizations have Onager +1 range and +1 Bombard Cannon range. And onagers kill siege onager with one hit now too.
# Theocracy and Redemption given to all civilizations (faith recharge for only one unit of group + ability to convert siege weapons and buildings)

# Treadmill Crane given to all civilizations (+20% faster villager build time).
# Tribute Fee set to 5%.
# Relic Gold Generation gathers around 5to10G per second for 3 garrisoned relics.
# Bush Forager approximately equal to farm gathering rate.



Civilizations Revamped

Huns

# Yurt +15 population headroom. (takes time to build)
# Standard Military Buildings +1 population headroom (to enable single player AI play mainly)
# Towers do +10 damage
# Elite Tarkan - building destroyer + slight counter siege. (food only cost)
# Battle Tarkan - moderately armoured cavalry. (half gold cost)
# Hunnic Cavalry Archer - very quick attack and movements. (very weak)
# Mercenary Archer - lightly armoured cavalry. (gold cost only)
# Missionaries - added, donkey monk unit. (fast convert)

# Atheism removed. (n/a)

# Added Team Bonus ~ Cavalry Archer +1 Range

Reason Huns were too strong early-game, and too weak late-game, they were also too one dimensional. (nothing vs Saracens/Persians)


Koreans

# Elite War Wagon - counters cavalry and does area damage. (self-destructive)
# Hand Cannoneer - reduced cost and train time.
# Infantry - has +5 close-combat defence.

# Stone Wall and Arrow Tower build speeds have been halfed.

# Faith removed. (faith makes it harder to convert units)

# Original team bonus removed. (onagers +1 range)
# Added Team Bonus ~ onagers cost 20% less wood.

Reason Koreans were really poor and too easy to defeat, and generally could only camp.



Civilization Major Changes

Vikings

# Elite Berserker - added attack bonuses vs cavalry/camels.
# Elite Arbalest - slightly attack speed increase. (also destroys ram at increased rate)
# Heavy Scorpion - no minimum range and attack bonus for buildings
# Pikeman - slight HP improvement.

# +5 Population Headroom for every military building (taken from Slavs)

# Added Team Bonus ~ +5 HP for Infantry

Reason Vikings were the worst civilization in the game, they were unable to effectively counter late-game cavalry and archer civilizations.


Aztecs

# Puma Spearman - replaces pikeman and does area damage along with HP increase, -2 Range Armour.
# Monk - conversion range +1, Conversion rate -0.075.
# Infantry - cost 15% less.
# Infantry - have 10% more HP.
# Infantry - do 20% less damage.
# Slinger - added - good at massing, good all-rounder, best used vs Infantry.
# Siege Onager - Costs +15%
# Arbalest - removed.

# Farms - gather +5%.

# Original team bonus removed. (increased relic gold generation)
# Added Team Bonus ~ Infantry +1 attack.

Reason Aztecs were really poor against cavalry civilizations.


Japanese

# Elite Samurai – better all around attack, high HP and does area damage. (+10G)
# Cavalry Archer – reduced cost by 33%, also does uniques attack damage vs rams.
# Trebuchet – reduced cost by 25%.
# Tower - Fires 5 arrows but has -3 range.

# Added Team Bonus ~ Infantry +1 Ranged Defence.

Reason Japanese were really poor when it was army vs army.


Turks

# Hand Cannoneer – added attack. (+3)
# Champion – no gold cost.
# Bombard Cannon reduced cost by 25%.

# Original team bonus removed. (reduced train time)
# Added team bonus ~ Hand Cannon units have +5% accuracy.

Reason Turks were too much of a camping civilization, they needed more adventure.


Teutons

# Crusader - Elite Paladin type unit, very costly to make.
# Shield Guardian - are like Huskarls, except do less damage.
# Elite Teutonic Knight - have hardly noticeable speed increase.
# Monk - conversion range +2.
# Heavy Scorpion - +2 Min/Max Range, inline with idealogy of the Ballista Tower.

# Castle - built at double speed.
# All Towers - affected by Crenellations (+3 Range)

# Bombard Tower removed.
# Ballista Tower added. (more range less attack than bombard)

# Conversion resistance exclusively for Teutons.
# Original team bonus removed. (conversion resistance)
# Added Team Bonus ~ takes half the time to recharge for conversions.

Reason Teutons were too slow, and their ranged was too limited, also too powerful to have Persians as an ally.


Byzantines

# Imperial Camel - added - armoured unit with better general attack.
# Imperial Skimisher - added - slightly better attack/range.
# Imperial Legionary - added - better armoured unit.
# Elite Cataphract - less attack bonus infantry and better HP. Cost 75F 60G (Paladin are 60F and 75G)
# Arbalest - has cost bonus deduction instead of skirmisher.
# Hand Cannoneer - Removed

# Buildings and Walls - have 25% more HP.
# Castles - have two 25%'s more HP.
# All Towers - cost 20% less stone.

# Byzantines Team Bonus ~ Heal rate modifier set to 2. (added 0.5)

Reason Byzantines were really poor against mounted armies, and too over-powered against infantry.



Civilization Minor Changes

Goths

# Onager – has +1 range.

# Spitfire Tower – added – deadly at short range/static combat.

# Perfusion – disabled. (quicker barracks unit creation speed)
# Population Max – set to +25. (225)
# Tribute Fee – set to 10%.

# Added Team Bonus ~ Palisade Wall x0.5 Wood Cost, Outpost x0.2 Wood Cost.

Reason Goths were just instant spam with MQ, they didn’t have enough advantage to fight army vs army. (Cavalry/Combination)


Spanish

# Elite Conquistador - has attack bonus vs cavalry, and has been more balanced with less HP and gold cost.

# Gold trade - +5%
# Relic Gold Gen - +5%
# Units Gold Cost - -15% (Spanish start with -15% Gold)
# Bombard Tower - 0 Gold Cost

# Original team bonus removed (+33% gold trade)
# Added Team Bonus ~ Hand cannon units reload 5% faster.

Reason Spanish were bumping the team's gold too much in terms of trade.


Celts
Siege Ram - has added melee armour.
Siege Onager - has less range and more spread attack.

House - Population Headroom retained even after destruction of houses.

Reason Celts were not dynamic enough, and too over-powered in one area.


Chinese

# Cavaliers - cost less gold. (-50%)
# Chu Ko Nu - attack bonus vs Unique units + Cavalry.
# Fire Scorpion - replaces Heavy Scorpion - deadly at close range. +20 damage vs buildings.
# Onagers - Have better spread.
# Walls and Gates - have 100% more HP and cost double.
# Towers – have 50% more HP.

Reason Chinese were too short-ranged. And needed a more clear strategy


Persians

# Elite War Elephant – has been better balanced with lower HP/Armour and less food cost. (Also faster and slightly quicker to create)
# Elite Elephant Archer – added – has 370 HP, low attack. (110F 75G)

# Farm - +10% gather rate.
# Castle - longer build time.

Reason Persians were too over-powered, and over-priced, and suffered from a singular approach.


Saracens

# Heavy Camel - has -20 HP. (see team bonus)
# Elite Mameluke - has less attack bonus vs cavalry.

# Added Team Bonus ~ Camel melee attack +1, Camel attack bonus vs cavalry -1

Reason Saracens were too over-powered vs cavalry.


Mongols

# Siege Ram - now costs half gold.
# Shield Cavalier - Really good at taking archer fire, ok at melee.

Reason Mongols were poor late-game, keeps them more in the game in FFA/Forested Maps.


Franks

# Axeman - Cost -17 Gold. (8G)
# Huszar - fastest cavalry unit in the game, has some gold cost added though.

Reason Franks Needed more balancing in regards to gold collection.



Resource Changes

Starting Resources (5% Tribute Fee)

Wood: +3300
Stone: -2000
Population Headroom: +15
Tribute Fee: 5%


Map Resources

Forage Bush – x10 Food
Stone Mine – x1.5

Trees (from 100)

Bamboo 50
Pine 75
Forest 75
Oak 100
Jungle 125
Palm 150


LibreOffice Spreadsheet - https://www.voobly.com/files/prompt/58559462