Himeji Castle



Cost: 4/5

+2 strength, +2 culture

When evaluating a war or an aggression, you may choose one of your units. Add its strength to your strength temporarily. It also gives you 3 culture if attacking or 3 strength if defending. After evaluation, sacrifice the unit.

Himeji Castle in History
Over the city of Himeji, the samurai have built a sky-fort. Overlooking the city of half a million inhabitants, the Himeji Castle stands proud and undefeated, as one of the most valued Japanese feudal castles. Built back in the fourteenth century, the castle was rebuild several times, with the current architectural design dating back some four centuries.

This military stronghold also served as the cultural centre of the area, concentrating the nobility and all their activities. But make no mistake, the military capabilities of the fortress are remarkable. Conquering Himeji Castle would be no easy task. Even before the attacker would be faced with the high, sloped stone wall that forms the foundation of the castle proper, they would have to pass through the gardens, which are a maze of twisting paths, dead ends, and labyrinthine alleys, perfect for trapping the enemy and taking them out from the distance from the safety of the shooting holes hidden in the many keeps and turrets. If they managed to get through the triple moat and wall in the first place, that is.

Designer's Note
While the cultural and strength bonuses are directly tied to that magnificent castle, the ability refers rather to the Japanese culture and warrior tradition as such - high devotion, honor codes and willingness to sacrifice your life in battle.

Himeji Castle is one of the first wonders designed for the expansion. Actually, the idea came right after publishing the New Story of Civilization. Because guess what is one of the main differences between the original story and the new story? Yes, that's right - sacrificing. In the original story, you were able to sacrifice any amount of your units, both in war and aggressions, both in attack and defense, to temporarily increase your strength. It was a bit of a controversial mechanic, as the decision to sacrifice units often damaged both you and your rival, and the only players who were truly benefiting from it were those not participating in the given conflict.

We decided to keep it in Himeji Castle, as a memento, but we have softened it a bit. We limited it to one unit, and made it stronger, so the cases where it is objectively worth to sacrifice the unit happen more often. In defense, the unit itself gets a big bonus. During attack, say in a War over Culture, those 3 culture you gain are similar as if your unit would be 3 stronger, except it does less damage to your opponent.

At any case, just the fact your opponent has Himeji Castle and could sacrifice a unit, making your attack unsuccessful, may sometimes be enough to think twice whether to send an aggression or a war that way. Like the devotion of Japanese warriors discouraged others to invade their homeland in the real world.