Introduction and Mod Description:
This post announces my work and intent towards bringing the historic Kingdom of Bavaria to Sid Meier’s Civilization VII!
When Civ VII launched, as a German, I was somewhat disappointed our federal nation was only represented by Friedrich II’s Prussia, while the rest of the Germanic world was at best represented by the independent powers of Munich and Vienna. As the second-largest territory to integrate the united German banner, Bavaria however has a rightful seat in European and German history - a major contributor to countering Ottoman expansion into Eastern Europe, a vassal and ally of Napoleonic France, and a participant on the Prussian side of the Franco-Prussian war, which culminated in the solidification of a united German empire, with Bavaria granted increased autonomy for its reduced sovereignty.
In today’s Germany, Bavaria is one of Germany’s most important (arguably THE most important) centres of both culture and economy, best showcased by Munich’s iconic Oktoberfest celebrations attracting so many tourists they recently had to shut the gates for access control.
A Cultural Powerhouse:
Bavaria’s cultural attraction predates the modern enthusiasm of the iconic celebrations however. It is a region deeply rooted in tradition, one example being the Reinheitsgebot, a set of regulations dictating the ingredients of beer, adopted in Bavaria since the 16th century. More saliently, an iconic symbol of Bavarian identity is undoubtedly Schloss Neuschwanstein, an imposing castle built in the late 19th century under commission from Ludwig II to resemble a palace from a fairy tale - an endeavour which earned the monarch the nickname of Märchenkönig, or Fairy Tale King. Therefore the Kingdom of Bavaria will primarily be a Cultural Power.
An Industrial Base:
This identity rooted in tradition has however not held its people back from being major contributors to innovation and economic progress across Germany, showcased by its major role in the industrialization process, with early factories in the 1820s across the kingdom’s largest cities such as Augsburg, Nürnberg, and Würzburg.
This early, localized industrialization produced the Ludwigseisenbahn, Germany’s first rail connection between Nürnberg and its neighbour Fürth, in 1835. The region kept pioneering economic, infrastructural, and industrial progress in the Germanic area since, with canals between the Danube and Main rivers, Ironworks and Chemical plants all before the 1850s.
Rapid industrialization in the 1870s thanks to the integration into the German Confederacy and later Empire has seen Bavarian influence across these same domains grow nationwide ever since, best examplified by the Bavarian Motor Works (BMW), initially founded as an aviation producer before pivoting to the automotive industry in the early 20th century, an industry it is nowadays recognized in worldwide.
As such, the Kingdom of Bavaria complements its cultural pull with economic might in the industrialization process.
A Fairy Tale Castle:
As previously introduced, Schloss Neuschwanstein is a prominent symbol of Bavarian identity, which is mirrored in its selection as Bavaria’s associated wonder. Its breathtaking influence will provide tourism bonuses for surrounding mountains, as well as for other fortifications in breathtaking terrains, alongside a base bonus of culture and happiness to its building people.
O’Zapft Is!
As a proud nation representing the ethos of “Work Hard, Play Harder”, Bavarian gameplay will be best leveraged by a play style involving frequent celebrations and many happiness buildings. When its people are happy, and they can open local folk festivals with the iconic “O’Zapft Is” phrase, they will respond in kind and boost the empire’s production, whilst pulling in more visitors from abroad and increasing base celebration bonuses every time!
A Musically Gifted People:
Not all of Bavaria’s celebrations revolve around beer: the city of Bayreuth for example celebrates the works of the Munich-born composer Richard Wagner in an annual festival held in their Festspielhaus (festival house). There, visitors from around the globe experience the works of one of Germany’s most influential musicians of the 19th century in an opera house built specifically to bring them to life in the best possible way.
This legacy is addressed through Bavaria’s unique Hofkapellmeister unit, introducing a unique way of playing for cultural victory in the modern age. Instead of scouring the world for artifacts, players can activate their Hofkapellmeister on any building with a great work slot, which will produce a unique Great Work yielding an extra tourism point on top of the base artifact attributes. For balancing, a Hofkapellmeister may not be activated twice in the same settlement. With the Hegemony civic, this unit may also be activated in settlements belonging to other empires.
A Unique Take on Cavalry:
The Bavarian Monarchy was at its strongest during a time of Ottoman expansion into the Balkan region, threatening the sovereignty of their Austrian allies, a push which they helped counter directly by leading the capture of Belgrade in 1688. The Bavarian Chevauléger units, a type of cavalry recognized as uniquely Bavarian in Germany (despite their Franco-Italian origins), was characterized by its light armour and overall load to enhance mobility. This allowed them to play a role mostly towards scouting and securing battlefields, on top of their ability to mass together for surprise attacks. The locals would disambiguate the pronounciation towards the more Germanic “Schwalangschär”, shortened further to “Schwolli”. The Schwalangschär therefore replaces cavalry and mechanized armoured units in the modern age as a more mobile, but less tough unit on the battlefield for Bavarian armies.
Europe-wide influences:
The Bavarian Kingdom has taken influences from across the European continent, allowing for a wide range of syncretisms based on both historical and personal attributions:
The celtic Gauls have ranged into Bavarian territory during their time, which have formed some early settlements in the region, before Augustus led the Roman empire to dominion over parts of Bavaria in his campaigns.
The influences from the Frankic regions did not end with the Gauls and Romans, Charlemagne’s empire stretched across most of Western Europe and included Bavaria, and its Eastern Frankish split formed the basis for many Germanic identities well into the Holy Roman Empire.
While the Norman people didn’t expand this far south-east into modern-day Germany, their influence did, evidenced by the incredible density of castles across the country due to the quantity of local monarchs and rulers, including in territory under Bavarian dominion.
Napoleon swept the continent by storm, and has played a major part in shaping the Bavarian kingdom in his wake, annexing dotted imperial and priestly possessions to his Bavarian vassal state. Friedrich II on the other hand led his Prussian empire as a direct rival to Munich in the Germanic order, playing with the balance between non-alignment, and closeness with its Prussian and Austrian neighbours alike. The two empires also later led the German Confederacy, uniting under the Prussian crown to a full-fledged empire in 1871, a handful of successions from Friedrich.
Strategically, the celebration-based gameplay also complements the approaches of George Washington and José Rizal, who have only tangential if any links to the southern German kingdom.