Overview
Now a crown dependency, the Isles of Mann used both military force and their culture to establish dominion over the cold Isles around Britain.
Introduction
Being a unique mix of cultures the Isle of Mann flourishes in culture compared to most early game wide civs. The UU allows for easier coastal conquest to increase the expanse of their empire, while the UI keeps up with the growing faith and culture costs of a growing nation, as well as increasing the offensive strength of religion.
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History
The earliest inhabitation of the Isle of Mann and its associated islets dates back to the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age. In particular, the island became an island around 8,500 years ago. The early Manx people relied on hunter/gatherer lifestyles to get by, but as the Bronze Age arrived, they began to move to farming and stone tools. This was when the first real monuments began to appear in areas such as Cashtal yn Ard and King Orry’s Grave. Interestingly, by the Bronze Age, the mass communal tombs were replaced with small burial mounds, something typically associated with Nordic culture rather than Gaelic or Celtic influence.
The first period of Celtic influence began in the Iron Age, when forts began springing up over the lnadscape, likely by the Brythonic tribes of mainlain Britain. It is likely the island became a refuge for Druids after the Roman invasions, as there was no evidence to suggest that the Romans made a landing in the Isles.
It was during the Early Middle Ages when the islands became nominally Christian. It was around this time when Keeils appeared. Keeils were tiny chapels built by early converts between 550-600 AD. Very little information is known about the Isle before the Norse inhabitation outside of the brief rulership by Baetan mac Cairill, the King of Ulster.
The Norse inhabitation marks the period in which most Manx history begins in terms of actual record. At first, the vikings only came to the Isle to plunder, but by 850, they had begun settling the land. Around the turn of the millenium, it became a subject to the Earls of Orkney, though the name only became associated with the Norse crown around 1110.
The second half of the “Viking Age” is the more memorable half, an was marked by the conquest of Mann by Godfred Crovnan, better known as King Orry. Little information exists about his life prior to when he left his mark, but much is known about his actions. According to the Chronicle of Mann, he subdued Dublin and the larger part of Leinster. Further, he reportedly subdued the Scottish people to such a degree as that they never tried to oppose him. The Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, as it was called, was formed under his efforts. It was so powerful that even when he died and his son took over, no one dared to disturb the Isles during his rule (1113-1152). This was partially due to the alliances he made with both the Scottish and Irish crowns. According to Manx legend, he founded the Tynwald, the longest running Parliament in the world as well as dividing the land into “sheadings,” which is the way the Isles are separated into regions even today. Some claims were more founded than others, since other legends about King Orry claim he came from space, hence why the Milky Way is often called “King Orry’s Way.”
By the time of 1156, the kingdom had split into two parts, but both nominally were Norse. It wasn’t until Hakon Hakonarson’s expedition in 1263 however that any royalty returned to the island. As Norway fell into civil dispute, the Isles transfered primarily to Scottish alignement, particularly when Alexander II of Scotland won a war against the Norse after Haakon Haakonsson died in 1263. It was eventually taken over in 1290 by the British Walter de Huntercombe, though it flip-flopped between Scottish and English rule for a time. Eventually, it was given to Sir John Stanley after a period of confusion, and assigned to his line.
During a period of British rule in 1643, the Manx people suffered the loss of many liberties due to the direct intereference of their sovereigns. Prior to this, many of the rulers had placed it under governors, who merely acted as law keepers, rather than rulers. A Manx rebellion lead by Illiam Dhone in the 1650s led to parliamentarians establishing control over the Island. The rebellion was succesful in the fact that it reduced Royalist support to only a coule of forts, and lead to the ceding of the Isles. After this, the British tried to bring the Isle further into the fold, but their oversight lead to problems. Not only were they taxed unfairly, but the Lord Charles Stanley failed to properly assist agriculture, leading to food storages. This was largely fixed by the “Act of Settlement”, an agreement dawn by James Stanley and the tenants of the land. The Act was so important to the Manx people that they even called it their “Magna Carta.” The Act reduced rent so much that by 1916 it was nominal.
The actual event in which Mann became a British Protectorate dates to the “Isle of Man Purchase Act 1765”, better known as the “Revestment Act”, a title given by the Manx people. It appropriated the island from the heritedary rulers in order to eliminate the smuggling problem that the Isle posed. It was here that the main division occurred. The Lords of Mann were vested in the well-being of its inhabitants, but the Crown authorities viewed it as a den of smugglers and thieves, which they took to enacting heavy taxes and other revenue bolstering laws on. This was lessened slightly when John Murray protested to the House of Keys. By this point, the smuggling had largely disappeared and the island was producing legitimate surplus wealth, which resulted in lower tariffs and more public works funds.
In more modern times, the Isle expanded it’s power by becoming a thriving offshore financial center, as well as a tourism center. It also housed more than a few internment camps during both World Wars, and offered the service of the Manx Regiment during the Second World War. Though the last native speaker of Manx Gaelic died in the 1970’s, the revival of its culture had already begun by the turn of the second millenium. In 1949, power was vested in a Manx based Council to run the affairs, with finance and polive passed over between 1958 and 1976. A rising period of nationalism allowed the Manx people to gain recognition for their culture, leading to the opening of public buildings designated as Manx.
UA: Kingdom of the Isles
The UA of the Manx is pretty straightforward: Each city gains the following bonuses while building naval units, buildings or wonders:
- +1 culture
- +1 faith
- +15% culture
It is worth noting that the “naval” part applies to all of the terms (that is, units, buildings, and wonders). Building normal buildings won’t trigger the bonus, nor will standard units. This means that only naval cities will be able to take advantage of the UA.
Despite the limitations, the UA is actually quite useful for a naval based civ. Most naval civs are wide, and the Isles of Mann are no exception. The classic problem with wide civs is their lack of culture, but this allows them to mitigate some of the problems that most wide civs have in terms of advancement. The amount of culture required for each policy increases linearly with cities (by about 5 on standard settings). Without taking into account policy choices or base terrain yields, a city with a monument produces 2 culture. With 5 cities, the cost of the third policy is about 350 culture. It would take 35 turns for this civ to get their next policy if they exactly met the previous one. However, the Manx, while building anything that meets the requirements, would take about 24 turns to do the same, all while building things that a competitor might build. But this doesn’t even account for the 15% bonus. With the bonus, the time is cut down ot 18 turns, which is slightly more than half the time of the original.
Boiled down to its essential components, the Manx produce 0.15x(baseculture) + 1.15 for every one culture that another civ with the same amount of cities would produce with the same base yields. Of course, this depends on them building naval qualified structures and units, but even so, the decrease in time is not to be overlooked, especially on longer games, where such constructions take longer, and therefore the bonus is gained for longer.
As a final note, the faith bonus also helps, as many wide civs also play culture. The bonus is seperate from a religion or building, so it is possible to have decent faith generation early in the game, despite not having a great faith start. Building a Trireme to explore might be enough for a pantheon (assuming you skipped a shrine), which building lighthouses in your coastal cities will help towards a religion. The bonus starts mattering less later in the game, but early on, it allows you to cut some corners while still trying to either create your own religion, or take advantage of one spread to you.
UU: Birling
The Birling replaces the Trireme, and has some unique benefits that allow it to extend its usefulness beyond the normally short window the unit has:
- It can carry up to two land units within it
- Starts with Coastal Raider 1
- These bonuses come with the penalty of it being costlier to produce (50 production on standard as opposed to 45)
The Birling is best used by producing large numbers of them. Even having three of them allows for the transport of up to six other units to support them. Further, the Birling can also move across water faster than any of the land units can until the late game and can be done earlier than Optics.
Another interesting note is how this plays into strategy. Since the Manx need to pick up Optics in order to get Lighthouses, it’s entirely possible to have a unit embarked beneath a Birling when it arrives at the enemy shores. Thus, with the right geography, it’s possible to launch three units from the same point, instantly carpetting a large section of the battlefied. Even on worse landings, two units can disembark, paving way for the third one. Once they’re done dropping units, the Birling can then take the cities on the coast with fire support and earn gold for it.
Interestingly, the increased production cost is both beneficial and negative. One the one hand, the longer build time makes it to where the UA is active for longer while building them, but at the same time, the unit itself costs more. The longer build time should be taken into account when preparing for combat. It’s also worth noting that the ability to carry other units doesn’t carry over upon upgrade, so it may be worth keeping a few around for late game invasions.
UI: Keeil
As mentioned in the history segment, Keeil were small chapels that date back to early in the Manx society. Unlocked at Theology, they provide faith and culture, but more interestingly, they also help the spread of religion. Each Keeil provides the following when worked:
- +1 culture
- +2 faith
- +8% religious pressure
- +2 culture after flight
- They cannot be built adjacent to one another.
The flat bonuses themselves are quite useful, as it allows a fairly mediocre tile to provide even more faith and culture than normal. Both yields are rare to get on tiles outside of religion beliefs, which are better spent on other things. Further, they go up to an astounding +3 culture later in the game, which is only matched by the Moai but is more consistent.
Even more interesting is the religious pressure aspect. Early in the game, spreading faith passively is hard, and spending faith on missionaries means not spending on Prophets to enhance, or on buildings to increase happiness, which is one of the primary uses of faith in a wide style of play. The maximum number that one city can possess is 12, which means a total of 96% more pressure. This many Keeil is unlikely, but a city is likely to have at least three, which yields a 24% boost. This little bonus adds up, allowing the religion to spread effectively, especially if Itinerant Preachers or Religious Texts is chosen upon enhancement. It’s worth noting that taking Just War could also be useful, since most of your early neighbors will likely have some of your religion, so taking it for an early boost might be enough to tip the scales.
Strategy: Mann Will Prevail
Early in the game, Optics will be an important tech to reach due to the fact that it results in a consistent building to build in new cities along the coast, as well as the fact that it unlocks Pottery for early faith and Sailing for the Birling. Since the UA relies on a reasonable number of cities, filling out Liberty as quickly as possible is also a must; but be careful. Too many cities and culture costs will escalate beyond what the UA and Liberty can provide, too few and the bonuses won’t be worth the set-backs. As for actual progression towards victory, the early to mid game is when the Manx have their best shot at victory. The Birling can transport troops over water, which bears the added bonus of not only stacking troops, but moving them faster than over land.
Mid-game is interesting for the Manx because that is traditionally when wide civs begin to struggle for culture as the costs begin to outpace the production. Instead, the Manx get their UI, which increases their culture significantly, as well as their faith. At this point, they can keep pounding out the last of Liberty if they haven’t already. At the same time, taking Exploration is the next big policy tree, since it gives happiness for Lighthouses among other bonuses. At this point, if domination doesn’t seem like a viable option, it becomes time to switch to culture. The strength of the Manx religion makes it a little easier to establish cultural superiority without taking the Aesthetics tree, and the number of people you have to influence should be down due to your conquests. At the same time, the late end of the mid game is where the Keeil get their last hurrah, as they triple their culture.
Late game is a struggle for the Manx. Their UA doesn’t give them any concrete bonuses to Tourism, and their benefits to war have largely passed. However, old bonuses still provide benefits in the late game. Exploration gives a benefit to all coastal cities’ production, so the International Games is a viable options to boost Tourism for a period of time. At the same time, Birling have no real limit on what they can carry, so long as it’s a land unit. It would be entirely possible to transport modern troops using them. In addition, Exploration gives benefits to naval unit movement, which means that Birling can blitz the shores, drop units, and then make way for proper warships.
Thanks!
Keeping with tradition, I would like to thank the following:
- Zigzagzigal, who inspired the writing of these guides with his excellent guides
- Ryanjames, who made the mod and gave me persmission to do this
- And you for reading
Until next time!