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- Culture groups and subcultures
Culture groups and subcultures
Four culture groups decide how you fight; sixteen subcultures show who you are.
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The development build already has the four culture groups with their special units, prices and rates; see Choosing a culture. Special commands, formations, subculture selection, Great Works and the four groups' architecture are also present in the native game.
Four culture groups#
| Culture group | How it fights | Special | Special units | Great Work |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latin Kingdoms | Hold and smash: castles, heavy infantry, crossbows and shock cavalry | Lance Charge | Knight Retinue, Arbalester | Grand Cathedral |
| Eastern Realms | Form and endure: discipline, combined arms and positional warfare | Shield Wall | Cataphract, Shield Guard | Imperial Sanctuary |
| Sultanate Realms | Trade and maneuver: roads, markets, long-distance trade and flexible forces | Harass | Guard Cavalry, Composite Archer | Grand Foundation |
| Steppe Confederacies | Raid and outmaneuver: mobility, scouting, raiding and pillage; weakest at static defense | Feigned Retreat | Horse Archer, Steppe Lancer | Great Ordu |
Each group has its own architecture through the four ages and one narrow partner bonus in trade. Culture-specific music remains an art and audio task.
Sixteen subcultures#
| Culture group | Subcultures |
|---|---|
| Latin Kingdoms | Frankish, English, Imperial German, Nordic |
| Eastern Realms | Byzantine, Rus', Georgian, Bulgarian |
| Sultanate Realms | Andalusi, Maghrebi, Levantine-Egyptian, Persianate |
| Steppe Confederacies | Mongol, Cuman-Kipchak, Oghuz, Khitan |
Choose a subculture in match setup. It plays exactly like the rest of its group, so choosing Frankish instead of English never means learning another build order. The current atlas distinguishes the four culture groups and their special units. A complete set of separate clothing, heraldry, voices, music and Great Work models for all sixteen subcultures remains in production.
In a match, the culture group tells you how an opponent broadly fights, the subculture tells you who they are, and their doctrines tell you what they are doing this time.
See Choosing a culture for how the four groups differ in the current development build.