Hey guys, Spirit Of The Law here.
In this video, I want to look at the Cumans' Imperial Age unique tech: Cuman Mercenaries.
Historically, Cumans were known for fighting as cavalry mercenaries
in the armies of Bulgaria, Georgia, Egypt, the Byzantines, and others,
so it's cool to see that actually being referenced in the gameplay.
The way it works is: a Cuman player researches the tech
and then they and all of their allies can create 10 of the Cumans' unique unit, the Kipchak.
"Why are the Cumans paying for the mercenaries?" you ask. "Isn't this the exact opposite of mercenary work?"
Well, that's a good question now, isn't it? And the answer is...
...wait. What's that over there? 👉
What's nice is, it doesn't matter if the Cuman player has the elite upgrade or not;
it still always gives the elite version.
But, in order to recruit them, the player receiving them does have to be in Imperial Age.
On the flip side, if you lose one of your 10 Kipchaks, you also can't replace them,
so it's extra-important to take good care of them.
That means they aren't going to be the core of your army,
but it can be useful as a small raiding group around the map,
especially if you're a civilization that doesn't already have access to a unit that can fit that role.
The technology does stack, though,
so if you have two Cuman allies,
you can recruit twenty Elite Kipchaks, and so on.
Even as Cumans, you can get them from another Cuman ally,
and they're not only free but, again, they're always elite,
even if you can't normally create those.
The tech itself costs 650 food and 400 gold.
That cost is the same whether it's a 1vs1 or a 4vs4,
so deciding how much value it gives really depends on the number of players,
making it similar to Vietnamese Paper Money in that respect.
Now, one Kipchak normally costs 60 wood and 35 gold,
so it's roughly the cost of eleven or twelve units.
In a 1vs1 that sounds a little overpriced,
though it could be used as a cheaper way to get 10 elite ones; again, without needing that upgrade.
It's about a minute and a half faster to research than the elite upgrade as well,
and these special mercenary units take the normal time to create.
But while that doesn't shine in a 1vs1,
as you get more allies, the value from Cuman mercenaries obviously increases,
as each ally can make 10 of the units while the cost remains oddly the same.
In a 4vs4, for example, if everyone makes all ten units,
they end up being about 16 food and 10 gold for each one.
So what are your allies in for when they get a Kipchak?
In terms of range, it's comparable to a lot of other cavalry archer variations,
but definitely on the lower end of HP and armor,
so it won't hold up well in a sustained fight.
Their attack also looks particularly weak, though, like a Chu Ko Nu, they fire multiple arrows.
One of those arrows does the full 5-9 damage depending on upgrades,
and there are two extra arrows that each do 3 damage.
Those make them great at attacking rams and other high pierce armor targets,
though, with fewer arrows, they're not quite as good at that as an elite Chu Ko Nu.
Besides their multiple arrows, though, they're quite similar to other types of cavalry archers,
taking a lot of bonus damage from anti-cavalry, anti-archer and anti-cavalry archer units.
You really want to make sure, like with any cavalry archers, that you're using their mobility to your advantage whenever possible.
They're also upgraded by all the same things as cavalry archers,
like Thumb Ring for 100% accuracy and faster firing,
and Parthian Tactics for more pierced armor and attack for spikes.
At the Stable, you have Bloodlines for more HP, and Husbandry for more speed.
At the Blacksmith, they're affected by archer upgrades for more attack, range, and armor,
and finally, at the University, they benefit from Ballistics to hit moving targets, and Chemistry for +1 attack.
Right away, any civilization with Parthian Tactics researched will automatically have above-average Kipchaks,
but many civilizations don't even have access to it.
How strong they are for Cuman allies also depends on how heavily they've already invested in archer techs,
since their upgrades are based on what's researched by the person making them.
Evidently, Cumans don't send their mercenaries already equipped.
It's rarely worth tacking into defensive and attack upgrades for only 10 units,
so, in practice, they won't be fully upgraded a lot of the time.
On the flip side, a civilization's specialized bonuses or unique text for cavalry archers do have an effect,
making some civilizations' Kipchaks arguably even better than the Cuman players'.
In fact, let's take a look at those civilizations who have special bonuses that are relevant here.
The first is the Mongols, who fire 25% faster.
Now, they do lack Parthian Tactics for a bit of missing final armor,
but I'd say that's a good trade-off with their faster attack rate.
Combined with the fact that they use similar texts to the Mangudai, I'd say that makes them a good contender for the strongest Kipchaks in the game.
Another strong one is the Magyars who have extra range and one more attack from their own unique tech.
It's sometimes hard to fully capture the advantage of extra range in a scenario test,
but it means they can match the range of Skirmishers and Arbalests, where otherwise they would be at a disadvantage.
Of course, Cuman Kipchaks are still a little faster thanks to a civ bonus.
Another very strong combination is with the Turks who have a unique tech for +20 HP on cavalry archers.
For something as low-HP as the Kipchak, that's a relatively large increase,
especially against units that don't have a large bonus against them.
The flip side to that is, again, unless you're already making cavalry archers or Janissaries,
it doesn't seem prudent to spend 500 resources upgrading just 10 units.
That really quickly defeats the point of them being free.
Now, while we're on the topic, a couple of other civilizations also appear to get extra HP, but are not as great as they seem.
The first is the Franks, who have 20% more HP, but no Bloodlines.
They're also missing Bracer and Ring Armor, so their Kipchaks are pretty terrible;
easily one of the worst despite an apparent bonus.
Vietnamese also have an archer HP boost.
Technically, the Kipchak isn't an archery range unit so it shouldn't be affected,
but in practice it is, with an extra 9 HP.
With Bloodlines as well, that makes them better than the Franks, and more on par with civilizations that have Parthian Tactics.
Another interesting one is the Saracens, who have +3 against buildings in Dark Age for all archers, including cavalry archers.
Effectively, it doubles their attack against Imperial Age buildings from 3 to 6 regardless of building upgrades.
The bonus only seems to affect their main arrow doing full damage and not the secondary ones,
so, with their three arrows, this bonus doesn't get quite as crazy as you might expect.
And finally, the Tatar Kipchaks do an additional 25% bonus damage when attacking downhill,
can tack into +1 pierce armor, and have +2 line of sight.
When combined, that can be great for camping a hill against ranged units,
or have no effect at all against melee units on flat ground.
With Tatars, it becomes impossible to think about their bonuses in completely general terms.
But still, with full upgrades, they're right up there with the best.
So those are the civ bonuses affecting the Kipchak mercenaries and how the mechanic essentially works.
By Imperial Age, 10 units won't usually have a massive impact on the game, especially when they require a lot of attention to use well,
but it certainly never hurts to either throw them into your army or use them as a small raiding group to pick off villagers and trade carts.
Either way, unless it's a 1vs1, there's undeniably some value there, and something fun to play with.
Personally, I'd like to see the cost become scaled, or at least have it as something that your allies can pay for themselves.
That way, players individually make the commitment rather than the Cuman player, whose allies might not even make use of it or realize that they've been unlocked.
That's all for this one though. Thanks for watching, guys. I'll see you next time.
Special thanks to Samantha, Benjamin, Riley, and Jean-Paul, as well as everybody else on Patreon, for making these videos possible.
[Outro music: "A Thief at the Museum" by Moss Harman]