0 A.D. is a free and open-source, real-time strategy game under development by Wildfire Games. It is a historical war and economy game focusing on the years between 500 B.C. and B.C. for the first part, and a planned second part for the years A.D. to A.D. 500.
“0 A.D.” is a time period that never actually existed: In the usual calendar, one goes from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. and skips zero. This reflects the historical fiction in the game: Who would have won if all the factions were pitted against each other when each of them was at its prime?
We intend to portray some of the major civilizations over the millennium of 500 B.C. to 500 A.D. (Hence the midpoint, zero.) That is an ambitious prospect, so in the first edition of 0 A.D. we focus on the last five centuries B.C. Perhaps in future expansion packs, more civilizations will be added, along with additional gameplay features.
The Celts are an Indo-European ethnolinguistic group of Europe identified by their use of Celtic languages and cultural similarities.
The history of pre-Celtic Europe and the exact relationship between ethnic, linguistic and cultural factors in the Celtic world remains uncertain and controversial.
The exact geographic spread of the ancient Celts is disputed; in particular, the ways in which the Iron Age inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland should be regarded as Celts have become a subject of controversy.
The Britons, also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were Celtic people who inhabited Great Britain from the British Iron Age into the Middle Ages, at which point their culture and language diverged into the modern Welsh, Cornish and Bretons (among others). They spoke the Common Brittonic language, the ancestor to the modern Brittonic languages.
The traditional view that the Celtic Britons originally migrated from the continent, mostly across the English Channel, with their languages, culture and genes in the Iron Age has been considerably undermined in recent decades by the contention of many scholars that Celtic languages had instead spread north along the Atlantic seaboard during the Bronze Age, and the results of genetic studies, which show a large continuity between Iron Age and older British populations, suggesting trans-cultural diffusion was also very important in the introduction of the Celtic languages.
With the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement and Gaelic Scots in the 5th century, the culture and language of the Britons fragmented and much of their territory was taken over by the Anglo-Saxons and Scots Gaels. The extent to which this cultural and linguistic change was accompanied by wholesale changes in the population is still a matter of discussion. During this period some Britons migrated to mainland Europe and established significant settlements in Brittany (now part of France) as well as Britonia in modern Galicia, Spain.
By the 11th century, remaining Brittonic Celtic-speaking populations had split into distinct groups: the Welsh in Wales, the Cornish in Cornwall, the Bretons in Brittany, and the people of the Hen Ogledd ("Old North") in southern Scotland and northern England. Common Brittonic developed into the distinct Brittonic languages: Welsh, Cumbric, Cornish and Breton.
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age that was inhabited by Celtic tribes, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerland, Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine. It covered an area of 494,000 km2 (191,000 sq mi).
According to the testimony of Julius Caesar, Gaul was divided into three parts: Gallia Celtica, Belgica and Aquitania. Archaeologically, the Gauls were bearers of the La Tène culture, which extended across all of Gaul, as well as east to Raetia, Noricum, Pannonia and southwestern Germania during the 5th to 1st centuries BC.
Roman control of Gaul lasted for five centuries, until the last Roman rump state, the Domain of Soissons, fell to the Franks in AD 486. While the Celtic Gauls had lost their original identities and language during Late Antiquity, becoming amalgamated into a Gallo-Roman culture, Gallia remained the conventional name of the territory throughout the Early Middle Ages, until it acquired a new identity as the Capetian Kingdom of France in the high medieval period. Gallia remains a name of France in modern Greek and modern Latin (besides the alternatives Francia and Francogallia).
A nimble yet powerful assortment of tribes, the Britons and Gauls were the antithesis of the rigid organization of Rome. A fierce horde of woad-painted Celtic warriors charging across the plains was a fearsome sight. Can you lead from the hill forts and sacred groves to victory?
The two Celtic factions in 0 A.D., the Britons and Gauls, are based on a group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Medieval Europe who spoke Celtic languages and shared similar ancestry, languages and culture. Over the first millenium BC, they spread from central Europe westward to modern-day France, Spain and the British isles.
Tribal warfare appears to have been a regular feature in Celtic history, and they had a reputation as formidable head hunters. Celtic society had some female warriors, and they may have treated women more equally to men than other ancient cultures did. The Celtic priests, known as druids, carried out rites and sacrifices to their deities in remote areas such as hilltops, groves, and lakes.
The Celts considered the bow and other ranged arms to be the weapons of cowards, and excelled in hand-to-hand combat. Though their wooden buildings were fast and inexpensive to build, they were also easier to destroy than their stone counterparts.
These traits are all reflected in the gameplay in 0 A.D. Each of the two Celtic factions also features some unique characteristics:
“0 A.D.” is a time period that never actually existed: In the usual calendar, one goes from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. and skips zero. This reflects the historical fiction in the game: Who would have won if all the factions were pitted against each other when each of them was at its prime?
 |
| 0 A.D. is a free and open-source, real-time strategy game under development by Wildfire Games. |
We intend to portray some of the major civilizations over the millennium of 500 B.C. to 500 A.D. (Hence the midpoint, zero.) That is an ambitious prospect, so in the first edition of 0 A.D. we focus on the last five centuries B.C. Perhaps in future expansion packs, more civilizations will be added, along with additional gameplay features.
The Celtic Tribes.
The Celts are an Indo-European ethnolinguistic group of Europe identified by their use of Celtic languages and cultural similarities.
The history of pre-Celtic Europe and the exact relationship between ethnic, linguistic and cultural factors in the Celtic world remains uncertain and controversial.
The exact geographic spread of the ancient Celts is disputed; in particular, the ways in which the Iron Age inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland should be regarded as Celts have become a subject of controversy.
The Britons.
The Britons, also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were Celtic people who inhabited Great Britain from the British Iron Age into the Middle Ages, at which point their culture and language diverged into the modern Welsh, Cornish and Bretons (among others). They spoke the Common Brittonic language, the ancestor to the modern Brittonic languages.
 |
| The Britons, also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were Celtic people who inhabited Great Britain from the British Iron Age into the Middle Ages. |
The traditional view that the Celtic Britons originally migrated from the continent, mostly across the English Channel, with their languages, culture and genes in the Iron Age has been considerably undermined in recent decades by the contention of many scholars that Celtic languages had instead spread north along the Atlantic seaboard during the Bronze Age, and the results of genetic studies, which show a large continuity between Iron Age and older British populations, suggesting trans-cultural diffusion was also very important in the introduction of the Celtic languages.
0 A.D. Is A Free, Open-Source, Historical Real Time Strategy (RTS) Game: The Celtic Tribes..Click to Tweet
The earliest evidence for the Britons and their language in historical sources dates to the Iron Age. After the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century, a Romano-British culture emerged, and Latin and British Vulgar Latin coexisted with Brittonic. During and after the Roman era, the Britons lived throughout Britain. Their relationship with the Picts, who lived north of the Firth of Forth, has been the subject of much discussion, though most scholars now accept that the Pictish language was related to Common Brittonic, rather than a separate Celtic language. |
| The Wandsworth Shield-boss, in the plastic style, found in London. |
With the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement and Gaelic Scots in the 5th century, the culture and language of the Britons fragmented and much of their territory was taken over by the Anglo-Saxons and Scots Gaels. The extent to which this cultural and linguistic change was accompanied by wholesale changes in the population is still a matter of discussion. During this period some Britons migrated to mainland Europe and established significant settlements in Brittany (now part of France) as well as Britonia in modern Galicia, Spain.
By the 11th century, remaining Brittonic Celtic-speaking populations had split into distinct groups: the Welsh in Wales, the Cornish in Cornwall, the Bretons in Brittany, and the people of the Hen Ogledd ("Old North") in southern Scotland and northern England. Common Brittonic developed into the distinct Brittonic languages: Welsh, Cumbric, Cornish and Breton.
 |
| Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples. |
The Gauls.
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age that was inhabited by Celtic tribes, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerland, Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine. It covered an area of 494,000 km2 (191,000 sq mi).
According to the testimony of Julius Caesar, Gaul was divided into three parts: Gallia Celtica, Belgica and Aquitania. Archaeologically, the Gauls were bearers of the La Tène culture, which extended across all of Gaul, as well as east to Raetia, Noricum, Pannonia and southwestern Germania during the 5th to 1st centuries BC.
Read also: A.D. Is A Free, Open-Source, Historical Real Time Strategy (RTS) Game: The Seleucid Empire.During the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, Gaul fell under Roman rule: Gallia Cisalpina was conquered in 203 BC and Gallia Narbonensis in 123 BC. Gaul was invaded after 120 BC by the Cimbri and the Teutons, who were in turn defeated by the Romans by 103 BC. Julius Caesar finally subdued the remaining parts of Gaul in his campaigns of 58 to 51 BC.
Roman control of Gaul lasted for five centuries, until the last Roman rump state, the Domain of Soissons, fell to the Franks in AD 486. While the Celtic Gauls had lost their original identities and language during Late Antiquity, becoming amalgamated into a Gallo-Roman culture, Gallia remained the conventional name of the territory throughout the Early Middle Ages, until it acquired a new identity as the Capetian Kingdom of France in the high medieval period. Gallia remains a name of France in modern Greek and modern Latin (besides the alternatives Francia and Francogallia).
The Celtic Tribes (Britons, Gauls) in 0 A.D.
A nimble yet powerful assortment of tribes, the Britons and Gauls were the antithesis of the rigid organization of Rome. A fierce horde of woad-painted Celtic warriors charging across the plains was a fearsome sight. Can you lead from the hill forts and sacred groves to victory?
The two Celtic factions in 0 A.D., the Britons and Gauls, are based on a group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Medieval Europe who spoke Celtic languages and shared similar ancestry, languages and culture. Over the first millenium BC, they spread from central Europe westward to modern-day France, Spain and the British isles.
 |
| Roman control of Gaul lasted for five centuries, until the last Roman rump state, the Domain of Soissons, fell to the Franks in AD 486. |
The Celts considered the bow and other ranged arms to be the weapons of cowards, and excelled in hand-to-hand combat. Though their wooden buildings were fast and inexpensive to build, they were also easier to destroy than their stone counterparts.
These traits are all reflected in the gameplay in 0 A.D. Each of the two Celtic factions also features some unique characteristics:
- Shared Special Building: Rotary Mill (increases the food production of nearby farms).
- Shared Special Bonus: Iron Workers (because the Celts were the innovators of iron working, the Blacksmith building becomes available in the Village Phase at the start of the game).
- Shared Special Technologies: Druidic Conclave (Druides train twice as fast).
- The Britons have chariots, longswordsmen and powerful melee soldiers. Also, their heroes include Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, who led a revolt against the Roman Empire.
- Unique Special building: Kennel (trains War Dogs).
- Unique Special Techs and Bonuses: Woad Painting (greater attack and speed for melee units), Great Tower (stronger towers and fortresses).
- Wonder: White Horse of Uffington.
- The Gauls have heavy swordsmen and heavy cavalry. One of the Gauls’ heroes is Vercingetorix, chieftain of the Arverni tribe and enemy of Julius Caesar.
- Unique Special building: Tavern (trains “Naked Fanatic” champion infantry).
- Unique Special Techs and Bonuses: Woe to the Conquered (increased loot income), Carnutes (Druides gain an attack).
- Wonder: TBD.
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Great review. Congratulations for the guide and to share this wonderful game. Regards.
ReplyDeleteI thank you for commenting and participating Hugo. Regards.
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