First shot at modding a new nation based on Arcos.

[Alneyan]

I have been toying with the notion of making a mod based on Arcoscephale, and bringing an era somewhat akin to the Byzantium Empire for them. I am not knowledgeable enough about Byzance and its armies to have any degree of accuracy however, and so this reference is more an inspiration than an actual goal.

Without any further addendum, here comes the list of gameplay changes I had in mind for this first draft. Note that there is no "bells and whistles" yet, only the mechanisms behind the nation.

* The infantry of Arcoscephale focuses more on speed and skill than on compact formations of Hoplites as before. The following changes have occurred:
- The Cardaces and the Peltast remain as cannon fodder, but no more than that.
- The Hoplite and the Hypaspist are removed. The Heart Companion replace them as the "spear" infantry. The Heart Companions are no longer the elite core of the troops, and as such are weakened (lower morale, not sacred anymore, not capital only).
- A new elite troop appears to form the core of the army. These units wield two weapons, and are the result of new strategies being used.
- The appearance of troops able to fight under the sea. They will mostly likely be poor amphibians, and may be capital only if this versability makes them too powerful.

* In accordance with the new tactics of Arcoscephale, cavalry has become more important to the nation.
- The regular cavalry units of Arcoscephale remain. However, Chariots and Elephants are no longer used as offensive weapons.
- Lances are widely used to deliver a powerful charge against enemy ranks. The charge cavalry also benefits from better armour and a higher morale.
- I was thinking of giving them elite cavalry as well. It would be a cavalry unit able to charge, and then to "transform" into a regular ground-based soldier as the mounted unit is killed. In other words, these elits unis would be part of the cavalry charge and would then fight on the ground as their horse is killed. Would this seem a good idea, or would using skinchange for this purpose be too strange?

* Archers are still seldom used in Arcoscephale. Light cavalry will remain equipped with bows, but no ground-based archers will be used, even in this new era.

* Their regular commanders will reflect the new state of their army:
- The Mounted Commanders, Hoplites and Hypaspists Commanders will be altered depending on the changes made to the units they are supposed to command, but will be more or less the same as before.
- Spies are now made available (though weaker in Stealth than the other spies).
- The Strategos remains an elite commander, and will be given a supply Bonus apply and improved leadership because of better training/organisation. Because of this, he will be made capital only.

* Their magic abilities will be changed quite a lot:
- The Priestesses have been replaced with a more "traditional" order of Priests. Specifically, Arcoscephale will have one level 3 Priest and one level 4 Priest, without the healing powers of the Priestesses. However, these Priests will have an inherent research ability to show the diffusion of knowledge in the nation (I would have given this ability to another unit, but it would have been too much like Golden Era and its Philosopher).
- Magic becomes more earthly, and so the focus on Sorcery (mainly Astral and Nature) is lost. The reasoning is that the people of this age are more concerned with the material world (elements). I was thinking of Fire and Water as their main magic, with one/two random elemental paths. A full random would likely appear for their best mage.
- So it would give one low tier mage (1 fire 1 water), a mage more or less equivalent to the Mystic (2 fire, 2 water, 1 elemental random; or perhaps more randomised), and a capital only mage with their full random. However, this is a field I haven't delved into much yet.

Their summary would go along these lines:
- Army: classic spear infantry, ambidextrous soldiers, powerful cavalry, few missile weapons.
- Priests: Powerful, and able to do some research on their own. They can no longer heal afflictions.
- Magic: Fire and Water, with knowledge of the other two elements. Able to recruit amphibian troops.
- Special dominion: Scrying (I cannot remove it; I guess it comes from a better organisation et al) and cheaper Laboratories (ditto).

Would such a nation be of an interest for you, or is it too close to already existing nations? Is it different enough to be actually worth making it in a mod? Thanks in advance for your comments/complaints/suggestions!