Khwarazamshah
Khwarazamshah have the Power of Culture.
Long a watershed between the lands of Islam and the Turkic tribes, and a cockpit between many warring factions, the lands known as Khwarazam - a name that itself long predates the arrival of both Turk or Muslim - have now gained their independence from the Selçuk Turks, and over the past century, have refounded themselves into a new Iranian-speaking nation: Khwarazamshah.
This decision to form the kingdom was not lightly made by Atsiz, the father of the current ruler Il-Arslan. On the one hand, the riches of Khwarazam - dominated by two rivers, the Amu (Oxus) and Syr (Jaxartes) with the latter flowing through the fertile Fergana Valley, right up on the Silk Road running from distant China to the Iranian lands to the south and west - have provided Il-Arslan and his forefathers with the tribute to pay for the economic and military welfare of their great feoff, thus perhaps placing her amongst the richest regions in the known world - unlike the Selçuk sultans of old, Il-Arslan and his forbears had always been great patrons of the arts, with Khwarazamshah being at the forefront of science and culture in all of Darul Islam. Yet on the other hand, these riches too come with a major inconvenience - the Selçuküler, still wish to control Persia and Khwarazam (and the great wealth of these lands) but even they too must now contend for dominance with another group of outsiders, the kufara' Khitans of Qara Khitai, who even managed to break Selçuküler might and prestige at Qatwan almost three decades ago.
Thus, Il-Arslan now finds himself in a vise, caught between the declining Selçuk sultanate to the west, and an increasingly assertive and rapacious Khitan kingdom to the east. So far, paying off both Qara Khitai and the Selçuküler have managed to provide breathing room for Khwarazamshah, but true peace and stability still very much remain elusive: tensions between Il-Arslan and the Khitans have been rising of late, even as Selçuküler influence over this part of the world has been slowly waning away .... clearly a clash is imminent, and when it does happen, Khwarazamshah will have to fall back on the valour of her warriors - being mostly Turkic warriors on horseback - to safeguard her survival and independence.
Faction overview
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Indigenous Support: Councillors, Peasants, Merchants and Tradesmen created instantly.
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Erudite Patronage: Scientific research at the Civic Centre 20% cheaper.
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Medical Expertise: Receive Healthcare line of research for free.
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Super Sized: Start with a Large City. New settlements you found automatically become Large Cities.
Strengths
Strong economic and technological potential, good choice of early-game cav units. Can build many Wonders.
Weaknesses
Non-existent navy, difficulties in mid- to late-game phases owing to absence of stronger units. Mediocre infantry.
In contrast with other Muslim powers which tend to be heavily militarised, Khwarazamshah is better suited toward the pursuit of hybrid strategies. True, Khwarazamshah does not have the same naval power that the Ayyubids can muster - she is first and foremost a land-based power ruling over a rich but landlocked region - or even the penchant of the Selçuküler and Hindustanis for shock cavalry tactics. However what Khwarazamshah brings to the table is mainly the power of Culture: while the Selçuküler can build the largest number of Wonders available to any Muslim power, Khwarazamshah however has two special abilities that puts her far above all other Muslim nations - firstly, she can simultaneously generate civilian units, particularly Councillors, Tradesmen, Merchants and Peasants, resources willing. Secondly, Khwarazamshah also gets the first tier of Science AND Healthcare for free, thus providing Khwarazamshah a quick and fast way of teching up quickly, as well as creating units faster if so needed.
The ability to train worker units quickly cannot be underestimated - being able to do this, Khwarazamshah can populate slots in resource gathering more quickly than anyone else, and then use the proceeds of resource extraction and trade to then invest in a military. Done correctly, Khwarazamshah can create an army fairly quickly, owing to her ability to drag in resources quickly (pop cap willing) and given the special units available early on, viz Transoxanian Lancers, Steppe Nomads and Palace Gamekeepers, Khwarazamshah can very quickly overwhelm factions with better units, but couldn't get the resources to obtain said units in time. Wonder rushing is also another specialty of Khwarazamshah, thanks to her ability to quickly obtain workers to speed up the construction of a new Wonder: again, speed is of the essence - once a Wonder is completed, no one else, not even Khwarazamshah herself, can build it, not even if it were razed.
However, in this ability - speed building at any cost - lie the perils of playing as Khwarazam. While Khwarazam has some fairly good early game cavalry choices, in the late game, there are nearly none. Ghilman Cavalry, while fairly powerful, can counter other heavier foes only through sheer numbers although one may argue this is indeed what Khwarazam should do. The Daylamiyan - mercenaries recruited from the mountainous southern coastline of the Caspian - are fairly proficient fighters, but they are mostly defensive by nature - but otherwise, Khwarazam has little else in the way of units, particularly infantry, although she can obtain the best artillery weapons in the game - the Springald and the Trebuchet, as well as Crossbow Infantry and Composite Bowmen. Plus, Khwarazamshah has one special unit shared with the Ayyubids - the Fedayeen, a special agent unit capable of stealth, as well as felling almost any land unit it can't bribe. It may well be that having as many as 3 or 4 of these units, easily raised with the Khwarazmian propensity for economic booming, could turn the tide of many a battle, and even allow Khwarazamshah to swell her ranks with units far better than she could obtain on her own.
At sea, however, Khwarazam will far little better than most landlocked civs, being able to recruit only Dromonds and Fire Vessels, making it difficult for Khwarazam to amass naval supremacy and obtain some advantage in amphibious power projection. Khwarazamshah thus is best suitied for land maps, and focus on diplomacy and alliances in games with three or more opponents, if early cavalry rushing and raiding is not an option.
Unique units and structures gallery
Daylamiyan
Khwarazmian unique ranged heavy mercenary infantry. Costly but effective against cavalry units.
Heavy Daylamiyan
Khwarazmian unique heavy ranged mercenary unit. Upgrade of Daylamiyan; is tougher and more powerful.
A mid-tier horse archer unit, capable of mid-ranged missile attacks and fast movement speed, like most cavalry archer units.
Trained from a Mansion, Retinue Horse provide an early game assault cavalry unit for many factions, unless better options are made available either from the beginning of a game, or in the mid- to late game with unit upgrades.
Medium missile infantry unit with medium-powered range, able to take out slow-moving melee targets with good hitpoints and armour but slower than normal archers.
Special agent unit, with the ability to bribe and kill, available to both Khwarazamshah and Ayyubids from the Nobles' Court.
Citadel
As in The Hellenistic Era, the Citadel (alongside its weaker counterpart, the Guard Tower) continues to be the most powerful form of point defence in this instalment in the Kings & Conquerors family of mods.
Nobles' Court
Sumptuous and stately yet foreboding, the Nobles' Court is the ultimate expression of regnal power, consisting of a vast castellated estate around which the nobility of the land must rally around. It is not as cheap as a Mansion nor as easy to come by, but its ability to boost the size of your Territory around it, and the fact that it is immensely powerful as a point defence structure means that a Nobles' Court can be more than capable of defending your borders, whilst training some of the most powerful land units available in all of this mod.
Mansion
The weakest of all advanced unit recruitment structures, the Mansion's main draw is that it has the lowest tech requirements, and can be built in each and every large Settlement that you control.
AI leader names
- Atsiz
- Il-Arslan
- Tekish
- Ala' ad-Din Muhammad
- Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu
- Turkan Khatun
Settlement names
- Gurganj
- Samarqand
- Ghazna
- Tabriz
- Shahr-e Ray
- Merv
- Khiva
- Tabriz
- Tashkent
- Fergana
- Andijan
- Panchkent
- Navoi
- Bukhara
- Namangan
- Nukus
- Khojend
- Kokand
- Balkh
- Nasaf
- Amuluzjan
- Faryab
- Juzjan
- Qarshi
- Ishbijaq
- Kish
- Talaqan
- Shuman
- Akhrun
- Hazarasp
- Arbinjan
- Baykand
- Termez
- Nurota
- Jizzakh
- Kath
- Xax
Other chapters:
Wolf Among Lions [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
Rise of the Barbarians [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
Imperivm Invictvm [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
Hammurabi: [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
Other mods:
Rise of Kings: Chronicles [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
New World Empires: Swords of the Prophets [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
Warbirth: The Crucible [Steam | XBOX/EE | Gold]
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