Welcome, new governors, to the province of Albion!
The Emperor appointed you to govern this recently conquered province in the far north of the Empire and we can tell you: it’s a strange place for someone like you, used to the sunny shores and endless lavender fields of Latium.
Therefore, let us help you get acquainted with this Celtic province, from its landscape and weather over its challenges and opportunities to (of course) its people and the characters you should be aware of.
This may yet come as a great boon to you, governors, as your skills are already required next week:
From September 2nd until September 16th you will be able to take on the role of a governor in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s time-limited demo on PC!
An alien world
Albion is supposed to feel like a stark contrast to Latium: both from a narrative point of view (if you want to put yourself in the sandals of a Roman governor from the South for a moment) but also for you as players in front of your monitors:
Different parts of (real-life) Britain and its Celtic heritage served as inspiration for this region: green forests and hills but with far more elevation and harsh cliffs. A fog seems to hang over the lower parts of the islands most of the time and rain may come at any moment – but also create beautiful rainbows (is there a pot of gold hidden at the end? Who knows!) and add to the untamed feeling of the region.
And then there are the marshes: parts of most islands are covered in marshland which not only give the province its unique character but also come with important gameplay elements. How do you use the marshes? Are they opportunity or obstacle for your plans to govern this region – and importantly: its Celtic locals?
This is deeply tied into a key gameplay mechanic for Albion: the topic of Romanization. We’ll explore it deeper in the following paragraphs but for a wider look at Romanization in general, we recommend checking out this older blog post, especially if you care about the historical context as well.
Meet the locals
Starting small – the Waders
In good old Anno tradition, the province of Albion also requires you to upgrade your population to progress, unlock new buildings, production chains and technologies. While there are five population levels (“tiers”) in total, they come with a twist, as mentioned above.
But let’s start at the beginning, with the Waders.
Waders are Celts, home to Albion and now confronted with a new reality: they’re suddenly part of the Empire! That means arranging themselves with a new reality and figuring out what kind of benefits there may be to gain by being ruled by this far distant emperor – cause there may indeed be some upsides to all this after all (“What have the Romans ever done for us?”).
Like the Liberti in Latium, the Waders are content with comparatively little:
Build residences, supply them with food (cockles or eels), build a public service building (market or bard’s hearth) and fulfil their third Needs category – fashion (shoes or tunica).
And like in Latium, the “Optional Needs” system (read more here) also applies here: fulfil all needs, build all production chains and public services or just the minimum to upgrade them further.
Remember the marshland? – The Celts of course found ways to use this biome for their daily life. Eels are caught in the marsh (while cockles require a coastal building) and the reed for the shoes is also grown there. A unique aspect of producing in the marsh is that every building only has one specific street connector spot – and that not every building can be built there (e.g. no residences).
Romanization: Smiths and Mercators
Alright, you fulfilled at least the minimum of all three Needs categories and are ready to upgrade – what now?
In contrast to Latium, where your population is upgraded in a “straight line”, in Albion you’re now faced with a choice. Remember we emphasized a few times already your role as a Roman governor? This is a topic we wanted to draw from in the provinces specifically: will you let the locals stick to their traditions – or have them embrace Roman ambition?
Upgrade your Waders to Smiths and let them stay on the Celtic path – or upgrade them to Mercators to have them start to embrace aspects of Roman culture, fashion and architecture.
Smiths will ask for cheese and beer but also drinking horns, while Mercators request sausages, bread and proper Roman amphoras.
Historically, the Romans tended to largely let locals keep their traditions as long as they remained peaceful (i.e. didn’t rebel) and paid their taxes.
In some cases, local customs and entire religious practises were even adopted and ended up spreading further throughout the empire – leading to e.g. the Mithras cult spreading to Britain or a temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis being located directly below our offices in Mainz, Germany.
Even when you’re romanizing the locals it’s important to keep in mind: these people are still Celts; Celts which have adopted various Roman customs, clothing styles and other cultural aspects.
No matter which path you take, your choice will be immediately visible: romanized residences and public services provide a striking visual contrast to Celtic construction methods and building styles.
Of beards and buildings: Aldermen and Nobles
With the necessary Needs of your Smiths or Mercators fulfilled, you can upgrade each branch one more time: Smiths to Aldermen and Mercators to Nobles.
Aldermen are among the most respected members of their people, deeply rooted in their culture with impressive mustaches. Considering their status, they will ask for a variety of goods and services – this is where your skills as a governor will get properly challenged: Imported wine from Latium? Fancy pelt hats? Chariots?
And then there are public buildings they will ask for, like the Alder Council where they can meet with the other Aldermen, discuss local politics and maybe have a beer. Building it will clearly show them, that you’re supporting their local traditions.
The Nobles, on the other hand, have taken further steps towards Romanization: they’re wearing their hair in Roman style (no beard) and dress accordingly. They will ask for those fancy togas from Latium and want you to build a proper Roman theatre – and an aqueduct to bring the water directly into the city. Building that will absolutely create a striking visual contrast to the Celtic parts of your island.
And as we can see the question already: as soon as you have reached Tier 3 with either the Celtic or the Roman path, you also unlock the respective other. Meaning, you can later create settlements with both traditional and romanized Celts living on the same island.
Friend or foe – new characters to meet
Last but not least: there are different characters to meet in Albion! We want to introduce at least some of them to you briefly. In the near future, we’ll dive deeper into the topic of diplomacy and will let you make the acquaintance of not only other characters but also the Emperor.
For now, let’s stay in Albion and look at one person who will watch your actions as governor very closely: Voada.
Voada is a Celtic Raider (similar in function to the “Pirates” of previous Anno games) and therefore very much set against you, the players, from the start: you are, after all, representing the Empire, the conqueror of this province.
Our team took quite a bit of inspiration from the historical character of Boudicca when creating Voada and her backstory and made her a fierce defender of Celtic traditions and the Celtic way of life.
Your relationship with her therefore depends heavily on how you use the “Romanization” mechanic: drain marshes, romanize the locals and worship Roman deities and she’s guaranteed to become your enemy, sending her raiders out to harass your trade routes and potentially even invade your islands. Let the locals embrace their Celtic traditions and… maybe you can become friends?
Another character we want you to meet is Manx. He’s a neutral trader, leader of his own tribe and comes with somewhat ambivalent feelings towards this new rulership. He appreciates the advantages that the Empire brings, the (expected) peace for the region, but is also worried about losing local culture.
You can trade various resources with him and receive quests that both benefit you but also tell you more about his backstory. Manx being a big fan of horses, his island features a large horse figure – inspired by the real “Uffington White Horse” in southern England.
Voada, Manx and Athr – three of the characters you’ll meet in Albion and each coming with their very own goals and expectations.
Finally, there’s Athr Iorgwyn. You didn’t think we’d make an Anno game without a member of the beloved Jorgensen family, did you?
Athr has dreams and ambitions: he’s a rival character who build cities and expands to other islands. Not into other provinces, however, he’s strictly staying in Albion (just like Dorian is only settling in Latium, for example).
There’re certainly a few elements of “King Arthur” in this character, with his focus on knights and building castles. In contrast to both Manx and especially Voada, he does not care about your decisions on the topic of Romanization. He himself is using whatever suits his interest best – and expects you to take similar actions yourself. While this, therefore, will not impact your diplomatic relationships negatively, you might clash with him over who gets to own which island…
But on the topic of war…. let’s keep Albion’s additions to this topic for the next blog post. In fact, in the second blog on Albion later this week we will also look at the unique aspects the province brings to the topics of Religion and the Discovery Tree. Today, we wanted to focus on the province and its people, since your decisions will not only impact the look of your islands but also the relationships with other characters – and the Emperor!
Finally, let us once again remind you that you can check out Anno 117: Pax Romana in about one week: the time-limited demo is releasing on PC (Ubisoft Connect and Steam) on September 2nd and will remain available for two weeks.
Don’t miss this chance to try out our game – and let us know what you think!