Welcome!
This is your friendly guide to Rise of Kings: The Unravelling. And ours as well.
Factions & Civs
Factions in The Unravelling are generally based around regions affected by the Greentide in the Anbennar mythos - chiefly, the continent of Halcann. However, peripheral regions - notably Aelantir, divided from Halcann by an ocean, the Lament, as well as the Harimari nations of Rahen are visited by this mod.
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The 24 factions of The Unravelling are thus based on the 24 largest and most powerful factions to walk Halann's surface on both sides of Uelos' Lament on the eve of the Greentide. They are divided into different "races" and then split into individual civs you can pick when playing a game of Rise of Nations and each of them has different perks and traits.
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Of these perks and traits, some are shared - for instance, all Human civ units tend toward a balance between strength and defence (and not to mention affordability). In contrast, Dwarves tip the scales in favour of attack and defence but at the cost of mobility and affordability, while Goblins often are little more than cheap spear fodder, intended to overwhelm opponents through sheer weight of numbers (ground conditions willing). Some do well at sea - Elves, especially - while others are more land-focused like the Orcs. And each of these has their own individual cultural bonuses and unique units (and structures) thus ensuring no one civ is truly alike to another.
Hint: to see this civ's stats, click its corresponding thumbnail flag below.
Stereotypical Human factions, familiar to players of mediaeval or Arthurian-flavoured games and mods - Rise of Kings: Chronicles included. Their approach to war proffers a "middle of road" way, providing a balance between many factors - offensive prowess, cost, and individual resilience included.
Unlike the Elven forces of Fall of Nations: Cormodagor where they are immensely superior to all other races, but costly and difficult to train, Elven units can be typified as "stealthy glass cannons". They are extensively light infantry and cavalry, with many units being capable of becoming stealthed when it serves them to be as such. Most notable structures for these factions are the Constabulary (for the Sun Elves and Jaddari Elves)
An Elvish player par excellence will be one with strong diplomatic skills and an understanding of psychological warfare, using their ability to seemingly pop out of nowhere to keep opponents off balance and locked into a defensive mentality, whilst staying out of reach of their foes' best weapons, especially melee ones: caught out in the open with no support, an Elven warrior usually is a dead one.
Dwarven units may be slow and costly, but they often tend to be better girt if compared with the units of other factions, even if may well mean a higher degree of consumption of resources (most notably Metal) for their heavier units that use them. And they also have discovered a new wonder-weapon that may well turn the tide of many battles: gunpowder.
They are still slow and plodding on the march, regardless - and unless you plan ahead, expect your dwarves to get taken out by the cheaper and faster-moving races. Equally, none of the Dwarven factions of The Unravelling are anywhere near a maritime region, leaving Dwarven fleets mostly easy prey on water for the more adroit vessels of the Humans and Elves ....
Other races
Pure, unadulterated aggression fuels the Orcish way of war and so Orcs are known mainly as berserkers - they sacrifice armour for attack strength. Very few races can come toe to toe with an Orc host and win, unless it's Dwarven Warriors we are talking about. Still, this lack of robustness has its downsides - once an Orc rush is dead and gone, your chances of victory may have died alongside it unless you have a second wave of attackers or more in store. In addition, expect the Orcs to have very little in the way of true artillery, naval vessels or most war machines.
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Like Orcs, the felinid Harimari are also no less formidable but they have one other benefit - and that is speed. Harimari units on foot tend to be as fleetfooted as the Elves. Yet unlike Elves, their units often tend to cost more in resources, requiring more Wealth and Timber. And, in addition, the Harimari do not have horse cavalry, relying chiefly on War Elephants as their only form of cavalry. But when you can run faster than most races, is it really necessary for you to be mounted on horses at all?
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The cynoid Gnolls who across the arid northern reaches of Sarhal, while weaker than the Orcs, tend to have increased mobility and train time. They may not be as robust as Orcs or Humans, having less HP, nor may they be as fleetfooted as any Harimari or Elven marcher, but they can still be trained far more quickly than most other races' units. Make sure you have plenty of ranged weaponry and heavy units on hand if it's Gnolls you're facing down.
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At the lowest end of the robustness spectrum lie the Goblins. Still, don't overlook them - compared to other races, Goblins may well be among the most resilient of races in The Unravelling (if not the most on their own): if Gnolls have good tactical stats, Goblin units tend toward being very cheap, allowing you to train far more units than other races normally would. Even an Orc Lord, Human Knight or Dwarven Warrior must hesitate about the prospect of being surrounded by a whole cohort of Goblins, even if they can be assured of triumph in single combat against one of their number ....
Special Buildings
Like most other instalments of Rise of Kings, there are several unique buildings - usually tougher and stronger than early game counterparts, and where the original versions were inert, capable of attacking nearby enemies.​
Advanced Fortifications
Tougher and more powerful than normal, these structures represent the final say in point defences. Assailants had best be prepared for grinding battles whenever a faction they attack hosts any one of these .... in their way.
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While some of these can be built almost anywhere, most of these however must always be hosted by a Settlement - meaning, that they serve a highly defensive purpose and can't be used to "forward build" your way into an offensive strategy. Still, they have their uses - for instance, the Chapterhouse is cheap to build, while the Magistracy although costlier provides a valuable task with its expanded LOS, allowing you to catch invisible enemy units, should they come close by.
Grand City
Grand Cities are commonplace among the more well-ordered nations of Harimraj and Anbennar and form the beating hearts of their realms. Thronged with hordes of citizens and enriched by their goods, these are some of the largest and most powerful Settlement-type structures that you can ever build and are better than normal cities in every way, be it from their Economic Radius, Line of Sight, or plain raw defensive strength.
Stronghold
The rugged lands of Bjarnik as well as Verkal Gulan provide some of the best defensible high ground in all Halcann - a fact not lost on either the Humans of Bjarnik (long assailed by Trolls) or the dwarves of Verkal Gulan (whose great treasure often attracts interlopers, be they Goblin, Human or otherwise Dwarven). They who cross swords with Bjarnik or Verkal Gulan must expect to face some of the most formidable static defences that civilised beings on Halcann can ever design. Still, some political unity must be established before the demographic mass to erect these mighty fortifications can be made available.
Bastion
In contrast with Bjarnik or Verkal Gulan, the Imperial Cities of Anbennar prefer to protect their own with Bastions which replace Towers for them once Imperial Mandate is researched. Which is just as well, since the introduction of gunpowder artillery often means that most early game fortifications soon become obsolete in the mid- to late-game.
Chapterhouse
When all hope fails, and the enemy is at the gates, there is only one thing left to do - arm the masses, even if the nobles balk at the idea of it! in times of such desperation, the four great Cannorian civs - namely Anbennar, Lorrent, Gawed, and Marrhold - may stoop to the use of religion to agitate the smallfolk into taking up arms against a common foe. What better motivation can there be other than to fortify the will of the masses against what would otherwise be seen as an impending, inscrutable and irrevocable doom?
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Magistracy
Like the Town Watch Guild it replaces, the Magistracy recruits Skirmisher Levy units, and can also function as a minor strongpoint, overseeing and helping defend its host Settlement. Not many factions can build these, though - only the most organised, such as the Harimari (but also a select few Elven factions and most Human ones) can count on building these to help bolster local defence in the face of potential aggression.
Fortified Rectuitment Buildings
Unlike advanced fortifications, these buildings have a purely military purpose, having greater garrison space, as well as the ability to be built anywhere and attack nearby enemies. They may not be as effective as a Tower or Keep in defence, but their ability to down enemy units, especially weak or injured ones, often can help greatly in swinging fights in your favour if the enemy attempts to carry the fight to you, or you need to lock down an area as part of an opening move against your foes.
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Note that unlike, say, Chronicles, access to these buildings is not contingent on researching a tech at the Nobles' Court.
Fortified Barracks
"The best defence is a good offense". This is often the mantra of most RTS players, and in The Unravelling, the Fortified Barracks replaces the normal one for three factions - the Gnolls, the Grey Orcs, and the Human kingdom of Gawed. Tougher and having a larger garrison, the Fortified Barracks is capable of holding off enemy units while mustering your forces, and supporting them, either with a weak missile attack or with its large garrisonable compound.
Naval Cantonment
Being so exposed to the salty frontiers of Uelos' Lament and open to raids by corsairs operating across coastal northern Sarhal (and potentially attacks by roving bands of Elves from faraway Aelantir), it is thus meet for the great nations of Lorrent and Anbennar to fortify their coastlines and keep tabs on the ports on which their trade and maritime livelihoods depend.
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The Naval Cantonment is not just tougher than a normal Dockyard, but also has the ability to attack nearby enemy units, thus providing a cheaper and faster alternative to coastal defence, rather than having to build new Forts or Towers alongside Dockyards just to be able to protect your fishing fleet or merchantmen for those times when you can't afford a proper naval fleet for coastal defence.
Assassins' Guild
Policing large swathes of land has always been the headache of most imperial nations. And in some cases, for many of them a terminal illness.
That is why rather than attempt to garrison every town, city and village, the Humans of Lorrent, the Goblins, and all Elven peoples instead prefer to use more covert means of enforcing loyalty - by ensuring that dissenting voices can be silenced, unfriendly elements liquidated, and regional resilience in frontier areas bolstered through the use of Assassins' Guilds.
Replacing the normal Outposts that other civs use to expand oversight and create a waypoint for recruiting mercenaries for operations in the area these are based in, Assassins' Guilds - more heavily fortified that they can be used as minor strongpoints - instead feature heavily in the infrasructure repertoire of these factions and serve the same functions that a Eunuchs' Court would normally play in other Rise of Kings instalments.
Constabulary
The cavalry equivalent of the Fortified Barracks, the Constabulary serves the same task - train cavalry and fend off enemy units while doing so. It is thus highly useful for the Jaddari Elves who can use it as a means of creating bases from which Jaddari cavalry can then be used for raiding into enemy territory, and retreating back if and when enemy resistance proves too great to overcome.
Imperial Armoury
Available to Anbennar by grace of Esmaria being part of the Empire, the Armoury is tougher than a normal Siege Workshop, and is fortified so as to be able to attack enemies at range. While it isn't meant to withstand a determined assault as a Bastion or Castle would, its main task is to draw enemy fire away from its more valuable charges - the siege units that it produces, which are often nearly helpless in the face of actual enemy units.
Some notes
The meat and the potatoes of every game. There are upgrades for various functions in Hammurabi, yet resource gathering upgrades aside, the most important track probably is Logistics due to the lack of Supply Wagons. Some upgrades are required to access certain unit, particularly ships.
Woodworking
Construction
Name
Cost
Silviculture
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Artisanship
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Paper Milling
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Prereqs:
-
Leads to:
Name
Masonry
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Crafts Specalisation
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Monumental Architecture
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Woodworking
Name
Cost
Silviculture
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Artisanship
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Paper Milling
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Construction
Name
Cost
Masonry
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Crafts Specalisation
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Monumental Architecture
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Name
Cost
Name
Cost
Healthcare
Agronomics
Farming Tools
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Land Law
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Brewing
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Alchemical Lore
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Medical Thought
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Pharmacopeia
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Metallurgy
Name
Cost
Blast Furnace
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Mechanised Metalworking
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Callous Exploitation
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Logistics
Name
Cost
Quartermasters
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Supply Network
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Strategy
Pedagogics
Name
Cost
Name
Cost
Scholar-Nobles
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Alchemy
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Arcane Analysis
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Intelligence
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Secret Police
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Operation
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Physiurgy
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Prereqs:
DOWNLOADS:
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The UNRAVELLING
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Restitutor Orbis
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Leads to:
Name
Cost
Name
Cost
Evocation
Taxation
State Monopolies
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Customs & Excise
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Credit
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Enchantment
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Psychomancy
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
Necromancy
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
: 80
: 80
Bombardment
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
: 80
: 80
Communalism
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
: 80
: 80
Polygonal Architecture
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Prereqs:
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Leads to:
: 80
: 80
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Prereqs:
: 80
: 80