Old World Tips Guide 2 Nations and Families

Old World is a historical 4X strategy game by developers Mohawk Games. I reviewed Old World and previewed the Heroes of the Aegea DLC, and while the game is very enjoyable, some of the concepts of the game can be hard to grasp, especially for those new to the genre, so we thought it deserved a guide. This guide is part two, and I’ll detail each nation’s starting leader and their noble (vassal) families. You can find part one of our Old World Tips guide here. 

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Welcome to the Old World

Eight Leaders to Rule

Old World has seven leaders (eight if you have the DLC) who reign over their civilizations. Depending on which leader you choose, they all have their traits and starting techs making each one unique. Of course, the leader you start the game with will not be the leader you finish the game with, as all leaders are mortal and eventually die. Therefore, it is up to you to secure a line of succession by having an heir.

Your leader will marry, have children and arrange marriages for others in your family or court. If you aren’t successful at having an heir, then it’s game over for you. Also, in Old World, kings and queens don’t have absolute reign over their subjects, and the nations themselves are not a monolithic culture. Let’s look at the leaders you can choose.

Assyria

old world LadiesGamersLeader: Ashurbanipal Archetype: Educated Zealot

Ashurbanipal is the leader of Assyria, and his starting techs are Trapping and Administration. Ashurbanipal is primmed for warfare with all of his units, starting with the Focus 1 promotion that gives them a 10% chance of inflicting a critical hit in a battle for double damage per attack. Moreover, each time they kill a unit, the kill generates +2 orders for your nation, plus they have the Battering Ram and Siege Tower as their unique units.

Assyria’s Unique buildings:

  • Shrine of Ninurta
  • Shrine of Nuska
  • Shrine of Shamahs
  • Shrine of Ashur

Assyria’s Unique units:

  • Battering Ram
  • Siege Tower

Babylon

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Leader: Nebuchadnezzar Archetype: Prosperous Scholar

Babylon has Nebuchadnezzar as its starting leader, and his starting techs are Trapping, Administration and Rhetoric. Nebuchadnezzar is the easiest leader to start with as he has the best early game research, giving you a head start on tech. Additionally, with Nebuchadnezzar having the Scholar archetype, you can redraw techs, which is a big help. All Babylonian cities have +1 science per turn, +2 culture per turn from Treasuries, and +20% Growth.

Babylon’s Unique buildings:

Shrine of Nabu
Shrine of Ishtar
Shrine of Ereshkigal
Shrine of Marduk
Unique units:

Babylon’s Unique Units: 

Akkadian Archer
Cimerian Archer

Carthage

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Leader: Dido Archetype: A Cunning Diplomat

Carthage’s leader is Dido, and their starting techs are Trapping, Divination, and Aristocracy. In addition, this nation and leader can hire Mercenaries from Tribes. Entering a barbarian camp allows units to purchase any barbarians and then have them take over the camp. With the Techs Divination and Aristocracy unlocked from the start, you can build Shrines right away, all of which have strong adjacency bonuses. All Carthage new cities receive +200 Civics and +10 gold per turn for each connected city.

Unique building:

Shrine of Melqart
Shrine of Astarte
Shrine of Eshmun
Shrine of Tanit

Unique units:

The Mahout (African Elephant)
Howdah (Turreted Elephant)

Egypt

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Leader: Hatsheput Archetype: Inspired Builder

Egypt’s starter techs are Ironworking, stone cutting and labour force. You also get +400 Stone once you start playing as Hatsheput. Having that amount of Stone at the beginning of the game gives you a head start on building Wonders in your city. Egypt is an economic powerhouse, and the combination of the Landowners, Sages and Clerics’ families makes for a builder’s dream team. All Eygpt’s Cities receive +40% from Farm on River and -25% cost for identical adjacent improvements.

Unique buildings:

Shrine of Ra
Shrine of Osiris
Shrine of Isis
Shrine of Neith

Unique units:

Light Chariot
Kushite Cavalry

Greece

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Leader: Philip Archetype: A Bold Commander

Greece has Philip as its leader, and starting techs are Ironworking, Stonecutting and Drama. Greece is an aggressive nation that grants you access to the Champions family. This means that you can easily deal with barbarian tribes in the early game. Their Unique Units are superb and pretty deadly against cavalry units. However, Greece’s military units are more oriented toward defence than most other Unique Units. All cities get +2 Culture per turn and -25% to the cost of building Settlers and Unlocks Olympiad.

Unique buildings:

Shrine of Athena
Shrine of Poseidon
Shrine of Hades
Shrine of Zeus

Unique Units:

Hoplite
Phalangite

Hatti

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Leader: Hattusili Archetype: Warlike Judge  (Only available if you have the DLC)

With Hatti’s leader Hattusili their starting techs are Ironworking, Administration and Husbandry. Hatti units will ignore Hill movement cost, meaning they can move fast across the tiles, plus all Hatti units can chop down forests, gaining you an advantage on your wood resources. All Cities get +2 Civics per turn, and all Units can remove Vegetation and ignore Hill movement costs.

Unique Buildings:

Shrine of Tarhun
Shrine of Arinniti
Shrine of Kamrusene
Shrine of Halk

Unique Units:

Heavy Chanot
Three Man Chariot

Persia

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Leader: Cyrus Archetype: A Tough Hero

Persia’s starting techs are Ironworking, Trapping, and Animal Husbandry. With Persia, all cities receive +50% yields from resource harvesting; this can be a bonus in the early game, allowing you to pick up extra resources and boost your economy. Additionally, this nation is the only one that lets you train both slingers and warriors in one turn. All cities also get -25% cost for ranged units and +0.5 orders for each Pasture improved.

Unique building:

Shrine of Atar
Shrine of Mithra
Shrine of Anahita
Shrine of Hvar Khshaita

Unique Units:

Palton Cavalry
Cataphract Archer

Rome

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Leader: Romulus Archetype: A Ruthless Tactician

Rome has Romulus as their leader, and starting techs are Ironworking, Stonecutting, and Polis. Using Romulus’s abilities as a Ruthless Tactician tied with the Champions Family makes Rome a military powerhouse, allowing you to focus on destroying your enemies as quickly and easily as possible. All cities get +2 Training per turn and, +50% XP for all units during combat, +1 Fatigue limit.

Unique Buildings: 

Shrine of Mars
Shrine of Venus
Shrine of Vulcan
Shrine of Vesta

Unique Units:

Hastatus
Legionary

Noble Families

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Once you settle a city on the map, you have to choose one of the four powerful ruling noble families that your leader has assigned to them. Each leader has an archetype, which normally determines what kinds of roles they can be given and their basic stats. For your ruler, though, each archetype gives a special set of bonuses in a similar order of relevance as your nation’s bonuses.

Each noble family has its traits and bonuses and, paired with your leader, that can make for powerful nations. Depending on the presence of unique and ordinary resources or lack thereof, families can help define a city’s strengths and specialize it in one mode of production or another.

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Family tree

The Champions

Champions excel at military matters. Their Cities have a strong defence and train military units quickly. Any Unit trained at a Champions City will be Steadfast. The first city founded by a Champions Family, their family seat, will be granted a Garrison, letting you immediately assign a Governor.

Common Traits:
• Hero
• Commander

Nations that have access to the Champions:

  • Assyria
  • Greece
  • Rome
  • Hatti

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The Hunters

Hunters are military and growth-focused Families. Their Ranged Units fight best in your Nation’s Territory, and all Camps and Nets have double output near Hunter Territory. This makes Hunters very effective near resources like games, Fish, and Crabs.

Common Traits:
• Hero
• Tactician
• Schemer

Nations that have access to The Hunters:

  • Assyria
  • Babylon
  • Persia

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The Artisans

Artisans generate extra culture and receive a significant bonus from Mines and Lumbermills. They are a good choice for areas with many Hills and Trees. The Artisan Family Seat is granted a free worker, and Urban
Improvements for that city are built more quickly.

Common Traits:
• Schemer
• Orator
• Builder

Nations that have access to the Artisans

  • Babylon
  • Carthage
  • Greece

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The Sages

Sage Cities are focused on Science and Specialists. Therefore, their cities produce extra Civics, which helps them build Specialists more quickly, and each Specialist, in turn, increases the Sage City’s science yield. In addition, the Sage Family seat can hold Inquiries, which speeds up research considerably.

Common Traits:
• Diplomat
• Judge
• Scholar

Nations that have access to the Sages

  • Babylon
  • Egypt
  • Greece

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The Clerics

Clerics, as their name suggests, are primarily focused on Religion. Founding the first Cleric city will automatically found a world religion. Cleric cities gain increased yields from religious Improvements and acquire Discontent more slowly. Additionally, only Cleric workers can build Urban Improvements on the sand.

Common Traits;
• Commander
•Zealot
• Scholar

Nations that have access to the Clerics

  • Assyria
  • Egypt
  • Persia

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The Landowners

Landowners excel at expanding your Territory. Their growth bonus allows them to produce Settlers and Workers more quickly, and Landowner cities train rural specialists in half the time. Therefore, landowners are a good choice when near crop resources.

Common Traits:
• Tactician
• Judge
• Builder

Nations that have access to the Landowners

  • Egypt
  • Rome
  • Hatti

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The Patrons

Patrons are focused on Culture and Specialists. Therefore, their cities produce extra Civics, which allows them to train Specialists more quickly, while each Specialist increases the Patron City’s Culture yield. The Patron family seat also grants a free Court Minister.

Common Traits:
• Orator
• Builder
• Scholar

Nations that have access to the Partons

  • Assyria
  • Greece
  • Rome
  • Hatti

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The Statesmen

Statesmen Cities boost your Orders and Civics yields. In addition, their cities produce more Civics as the family’s opinion of you improves. As a result of these bonuses to Civics yields, Statesmen Cities are effective at training Specialists.

Common Traits:
• Commander
• Diplomat
• Judge

Nations that have access to the Statemen

  • Carthage
  • Persia
  • Rome

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The Riders

Riders are a military family with a focus on Mounted Units. Their family seat can build mounted units like War Elephants or Horsemen without having the associated resource. Rider cities are always connected, making Riders a good choice for locations that would be harder to connect by road.

Common Traits:
• Hero
• Tactician
• Zealot

Nations that have access to the Riders

  • Carthage
  • Egypt
  • Persia
  • Hatti

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The Traders

Traders are a family-focused on Money. Cities founded near a Bullion resource will earn extra Money. Trader workers can build several roads per turn, making them especially good at extending your Trade Network. The Trader family seat can produce Caravans and also grants you a Court Merchant.

Common Traits:
• Schemer
• Orator
• Diplomat

Nations that have access to the Traders

  • Babylon
  • Carthage

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