The King's Return - AOE III

Villagers : There are 2 types of villagers for Persians : 1) Peasants & 2) Middle Class Citizens. They are exactly the same except for one thing: only Middle Class Citizens are affected by "Khums" gold collecting (see below about Khums gold collecting below). Unlike regular villagers, Persian villagers will start with only 40% hp at first age. Villager HP will be increased by each age advancement. Additionally, Shah will boost overall villagers HP as well as nearby villagers HP (click to see the full table about the mechanism).

Shah : a powerful king unit with many abilities. Shah can boost all villagers hp making him very critical for your empire. Shah is very important to keep the villagers HP at good health so keep an eye on him. Unlike regular heroes, if shah is killed you can only train a new one but at slow training rate. Instead of "Sharpshooter" ability the Shah is a skillful hunter, a new ability called "Game Hunting" will allow you to kill any animal or guardian with a single arrow shot (you can target both pet animals & guardians). The Shah himself is a melee unit armed with a sword. He has much better attack/hp than Eurpean explorer but lesser bonus againts guardians. Additionally, the Shah has HomeCity gather point allowing the player to send shipments directly to him. The Shah will have another ability to called "Army Commander Mode" which will actually increase nearby military units  hp but also deactivate the Shah ability to boost villagers hp (you can freely swap between the two modes like other tactics in AOE3).

One of the major Techs that will affect the Shah is the "Centralized Authority" making the Shah the supreme Authority over the Persian empire. The "Centralized Authority" will actually reduce all military units hp & attack by 10% but at the same time will grant the Shah the ability to boost all military units hp & attack by 20%.

Religion will play a major role within the Persian Civilization. You can collect resource called faith by praying to mosque & shrines (villagers & Mullahs can pray). Faith can b used to research "spiritual & psychological techs". While regular techs will improve things permanently, the "spiritual & psychological techs" effect will be temporary for a short period of time.

Fatwa : in Islamic Sharia, a "fatwa" is a religious opinion to either forbid or permit a specific action. The types of animals a Persian player can hunt will be limited by Sharia Law (for example you can hunt all dears & sheep but you can't hunt turkey or tapir). You will need to research a Fatwa from a Mullah unit  in order to hunt specific animals like turkey or tapir. On other hand some animals will be forbidden to hunt like boars, elephants & pigs. Another type of Fatwas will be concerned The Teamrcenaries. Persians will be only limited to Muslim mercenaries at the start of the game (Like mamelukes, corsairs, Indian arsonist).  To hire non-Muslim mercenary you will need a Fatwa from a Mullah. The cost of fatwa is faith & fatwas will have different costs depending on the effect (some fatwas will be very costly requiring both gold & faith).

Qizilbash, the Persian Unique Cavalry : Powerful cavalry unit with high hp & attack BUT with a twist. Each Qizilbahs unit will reduce villagers' overall gather rate by 0.8% . The more Qizilbash units you have the more burden they will put on your economy (see full table on right). (Historical Background : Qizilbash were Shia militant group whom mostly consisted of Turkmen tribes. powerful cavalry units whom would demand political & provincial governorship , burdening the empire's economy & competing with Shah for authority.)