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Tinto Flavour #12 - 4th of April 2025 - Ilkhanate & Persia & Chagatai & Rise of Timur

Hello, and welcome one more week to Tinto Flavour, the happy Fridays in which we take a look at the flavour content of the super secret Project Caesar!

Today will be an interesting day since we will be taking a look at the content we have for the Persian/Iranian region, including the Ilkhanate IO, and also at the content related to the Rise of Timur situation, which includes the flavour for the Chagatai Khanate.

Let’s start a bit differently today by first looking at the Īlkhānān, the in-game flavour name of the most commonly used Ilkhanate IO:

As usual, take all UI, 2D and 3D Art as WIP.

Ilkhanate Tooltip.png
All IOs have a quick-access button, a feature we call control groups, with their own icon (which, in the case of unique IOs, is unique, as you may see). This is the overview tooltip of the Ilkhanate.

Ilkhanate Panel.png

This is the Ilkhanate IO panel, where you can see its status, members, and possible actions.

Ilkhanate Map.png

And this is the starting situation of the Ilkhanate, with the three main contenders (Jalayirids, Hüleguids, and Gurgan) in blue, and all its members in green color.

The reign and death of Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, last Ilkhan of the Borjigin dynasty, led to a power vacuum in the Ilkhanate, with several contenders trying to claim the title of Ilkhan for themselves while also trying to restore the old order over the lands ruled by the Ilkhans.

We’re portraying this convoluted political situation through different mechanics.

In order to be able to restore the Ilkhanate in its full glory, you need to be one of the Claimants to the Īlkhānān, a ‘Special Status’ (a feature available for all IOs; more about this next week, in the HRE TT):
Ilkhanate Claimants1.png

Ilkhanate Claimants2.png

Ilkhanate Special Status.png

This is a good example of our lovely nested tooltips. The yellow texts are hoverable features, while the blue texts are game concepts. I took the screenshots in the same sequence, but you could go even deeper, and hover over the International Organization game concept, for a further explanation.

There is a way to become a Claimant to the Īlkhānān, through IO action Claim the Īlkhānān:
Ilkhanate Claim the Ilkhanan.png

By being Claimant to the Īlkhānān, you will get access to this special CB, which can be used against other members of the Ilkhanate, making it easier and more straight-forward to conquer them:
Ilkhanate CB Unify Ilkhanate.png

All members of the Ilkhanate also have access to this other CB, that in case of victory, allows to remove the Claimant to the Īlkhānān to the status from the objective country:
Ilkhanate CB Refuse False Claimant.png

If you end up being the only Claimant to the Īlkhānān, you will automatically become its leader (this is something that we want to change, so it becomes an action in the Main Actions panel, to make it more clear for the player). By becoming Leader of the Īlkhānān, you may be able to unify the IO into a proper country once again:
Ilkhanan Form Ilkhanan1.png

Ilkhanate Oldschool.png

There’s a broken tooltip there, which has already been reported as a bug; the second condition is that there aren’t any countries with the status Claimant to the Īlkhānān. You also need to control 75% of the locations owned by all the members of Ilkhanate IO in order to form the country; the IO will disappear the moment you form it, too.

On a different track, ff you are a Persian member of the Ilkhanate, you also have the opportunity to fight your way towards unifying the region in a completely different way, with this CB:
Ilkhanate CB Shed the Shackles.png

The Ilkhanate may cease to exist if:
  1. All its members are conquered by a country not a member of the IO.
  2. There aren’t a Leader or Claimants of the Ilkhanate.

These are the main contenders for the Ilkhanate at the start of the game:
Country Selection Jalayirids.png

Country Selection Huleguids.png

Country Selection Gurgan.png

The Persian/Iranian countries that are part of the Ilkhanate have their own flavour content available:

The lands of Persia have always been situated in a privileged position, serving as a point of contact between the West and the East and on the path of many trade routes. These lands have thus also served as a hub for exchange of ideas, cultures, and faiths, with Zoroastrianism, Islam, Christianity, and even Buddhism permeating among its population.

The Iranian peoples are thus world people, and Persia has also been the birthplace of many great empires in the past, from the Achaemenids to the Sasanians. The recent Mongolian invasion and the establishment of the Īlkhānān have imposed on them foreign rule, but the Iranian peoples are ready to rise once again.

For instance, you have advances like these:
Advance Sasanian Heritage.png

Advance Silk Road.png

There are in total 21 different advances for the Persian countries.

There are also special buildings like the Ṣafawiyya Order Hall and the Ḡilmān Barracks, and special units like the Kızılbaş Skirmisher and the Ḡilmān.

This is the formable for Persia, and how it would look like:
Persia.png

Persia2.png

Let’s now take a look at one of the main contenders in Central Asia, the Chagatai Horde:

The great Činggis Khān managed to forge a great empire for all Mongolian peoples, bringing into his fold great swathes of land from Europe to China. All people learned to fear the sound of the Mongolian armies galloping and the might and power of the Great Khān.

As heirs of his legacy, the dream of bringing back the glory of the greatest Mongolian Horde is still alive.

Country Selection Chagatai.png

Mongolian countries (which also include countries involved in the Ilkhanate IO, such as the Jalayirids or the Hüleguids) have a ton of content available, both for being Steppe Hordes, and also specific Mongolian content. We aren’t going to reveal today most of it, since this is already a meaty Tinto Flavour, and we still have to take a look in the future to the Golden Horde, which also has unique content; but this is an overview of it:
Government Type Content.png

These are some of the most relevant features for the early game:
Advance Steppe Slave Raiding.png

Reform Legacy of Cinggis Khan.png

Advance Horse Lords.png

Unit Horse Archers.png

Unit A Urughs.png

Let’s now take a look at the content for the Situation The Rise of Timur. It can happen to you if you start the game with Chagatai or any of its subjects. But if you start the game with Barlas, one of these subjects, you will find this lovely baby in your court:
Bay Timur1.png

Baby Timur2.png

Trait Prodigy.png

Apparently this baby might be a Prodigy!

There are some events about the childhood and adolescence of Temür, and if he gets to the adult age, this event will trigger:
Rise of Temur.png

This event can fire initially not only for Barlas, but for Chagatai or any of its subjects, firing then a follow-up information event for all the rest, in which the player will get the chance to choose to change into the Timurids country if there were not initially playing the chosen country and the Timurids is AI. This gives a bit of variation on the starting situation of Timur while also ensuring that the player can always follow the Timurid path if they are playing in the area.

Temür has several traits, but this is the most important:
The Scourge from Central Asia.png

The chosen country will change, becoming the Timurid Horde:
Timurid Horde.png

And the Situation itself will appear:
Rise of Temur Panel.png

The counters for enemies kills and cities razed are there just for flavour, they don’t have any mechanical purpose.

The End Requirements make the situation likely to last for the entire life of Temür:
Rise of Temur End Requirements.png


These are the requirements to form Mongolia, BTW:
Form Mongolia.png

The first of the actions, Plan Invasion, has this effect:
Plan Invasion.png

Plan Invasion2.png

Rise of Temur CB.png

If you are able to unify a region, the second action, ‘Select Core Region’, will appear:
Rise of Timur Select Core Region.png

Rise of Temur Select Core Region2.png

Rise of Temur Select Core Region3.png

After having selected a Core Region, a third action will unlock:
Rise of Temur Reform into Monarchy.png

Which, in case of being selected, will make you a Settled Country, with the Monarchy Government type, and the Rank of Empire. This might potentially be the result:
Timurid Empire.png

A successful Timurid Empire, across Central Asia and Persia!

There is more content and events triggering during the situation, but these are its core features. From here, there’s also more flavour content for the Timurids, related to the historical events and situation that happened to the Empire. This is probably the most important event for them:
Event Integration Iranians.png

Event Integration Iranians2.png

Which unlocks this Major Reform:
Timurid Diwan.png

The Governorship is a unique mechanic of the Timurids, that allows them to have a unique type of subject, for members of the ruling dynasty. This may have its cons, as there might several claimants to the Timurid throne…

…And much more, but that’s all for today! We hope you enjoyed it! Next week will be intense, since on Monday we will have the Tinto Maps Feedback for the Horn of Africa, on Wednesday we will have the Tinto Talks for the Holy Roman Empire, and on Friday we will have the Tinto Flavour for Saxony! Cheers!
 
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Is there any way for a country to leave the ilkhanate? And if that's possible, can it then be prevented by the ilkhanate pretenders?
 
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Thank you very much for the meaty Tinto Flavor today!

1. Could Timur's settled country after his conquest be named Turan? Timurid Empire isn't bad, but Turan is what it was called.
2. Would a closer look at the states along the Caspian Sea be possible? I'm wondering if Gilan is a formable duchy and if the name of the Baduspanid realm is Rustamdar.
3. Speaking of Rustamdar, will Iskandar II Baduspanid and Hasan II Bavandid have 'easier' access to the Sasanian Heritage advance due to their ancestry or is it about the same with everyone else in the region?
4. Will Iskandar II, and other leaders of the area be able pick and side with a preferred claimant to the Ilkhanate or do they only have access to the Refuse False Claimant CB when one of the options succeeds?

I also love seeing the portrait for baby Timur! Kudos to the artist(s) involved! His stats have a long way to go to conquer the Middle East!
 
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I see that Persia at the moment is green. Do I have to worry about the Green Belt in this game too? Where the Ottomans, Persia, Delhi and Ayuthaya would frequently form an unbroken belt of green from the Balkans to Malacca, all in the shadow of another big green nation in Russia stretching in the north?

In fact, even Yuan is kinda green here, so do I have to worry about literally all of Asia being an unbroken sea of green shades?

I don't mind green, but gods, there are SO MANY green formables in EU4.
 
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Is the prodigy trait exclusive to starting character or can new child characters be generated with that trait later into the game?
It's a generic trait that any child can have; we have scripted that Temür already starts with it.
 
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Do we have a region map?
If not how big are regions?
Not yet. We have yet to balance its final size and shape; right now, they're just functional and approximate.
 
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View attachment 1276431

Cool new armor… wish I could see it properly but the weird shadow kinda makes all the 3D models harder to see? It wasn’t there before so I assume it’s temporary WIP shenanigans
Exactly, it's a WIP exploration of the shading for this panel (as the flag, which already changed, and may not be final).
 
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If it helps at all, I can verify the veracity of this family tree:
1743775082125.png

Note that Timur's branch of the Barlas is not the one currently in control. There's other branches (5 in all), but we don't know much else aside from the fact that Hajji Beg was in control in the 1350's and Timur came in after that (to be clear, inherited, though he did try to take over in 1360; he inherited in 1361). Was Hajji Beg in control in 1337? Who knows, but it's not unreasonable.
 
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Thank you very much for the meaty Tinto Flavor today!

1. Could Timur's settled country after his conquest be named Turan? Timurid Empire isn't bad, but Turan is what it was called.
2. Would a closer look at the states along the Caspian Sea be possible? I'm wondering Gilan is a formable duchy and if the name of the Baduspanid realm is Rustamdar.
3. Speaking of Rustamdar, will Iskandar II Baduspanid and Hasan II Bavandid have 'easier' access to the Sasanian Heritage advance due to their ancestry or is it about the same with everyone else in the region?
4. Will Iskandar II, and other leaders of the area be able pick and side with a preferred claimant to the Ilkhanate or do they only have access to the Refuse False Claimant CB when one of the options succeeds?

I also love seeing the portrait for baby Timur! Kudos to the artist(s) involved! His stats have a long way to go to conquer the Middle East!
The official name of Timur's domain was Iran and Turan which were the two region he ruled, if you choose another region as your core region and expand elsewere it doesn't make much sense, plus Timurid Empire sounds better has it tells what it was all about, Timur's Empire
 
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I see that Persia at the moment is green. Do I have to worry about the Green Belt in this game too? Where the Ottomans, Persia, Delhi and Ayuthaya would frequently form an unbroken belt of green from the Balkans to Malacca, all in the shadow of another big green nation in Russia stretching in the north?

In fact, even Yuan is kinda green here, so do I have to worry about literally all of Asia being an unbroken sea of green shades?

I don't mind green, but gods, there are SO MANY green formables in EU4.
They sais that were discussing changing Yuan's colour some time ago and yes I agree about the green belt, maybe Iran should have their culture's colour which is a bit more blue
 
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Not all the territories between the Syr Darya and Amu Darya were deserts, there was the Zhana Darya River, which is now dry. In the 14th century, tribes of the Kipchak group roamed here. And in the 16th-18th centuries, the Karakalpaks. The route along the Zhanadrya River was an important route for connecting Khorezm and the lower reaches of the Syr Darya cities. A screenshot from a Google map shows the bed of the dried-up river between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya.View attachment 1276441
You should post this on the map feedback thread
 
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Well it's half-right at least.

You've got Timur popping into the Barlas, which is fine (one could consider it as him simply inheriting it for the sake of avoiding needless historical railroading, though in reality it was more that he used the invasion by the Moghuls to elevate himself to power), but then it seems that the expected outcome there is that he would invade the rest of the tribes of the Chaghatai, which is just all wrong. He existed within the system of the Chagahtai Ulus. That's what he spent the first 10 years dealing with; bouncing between wars with minor powers (the rulers of Urgench who took Khiva during the collapse of the Chaghatai Horde, and the remainder of the Chagahtai Horde) over and over until the other tribes of the Ulus were fully loyal or at least fully emmeshed within his conquering army.

You're kinda jumping the gun if you just plop him down on the map and say "here ya go, go conquer the world".

Also, why is Timur a Borjirin? He's rather famously not related to Genghis. HIs dynasty, once this thing starts going, should be Gurkahni or Timurid or whatever the dozen other things are out there (probably Gurkahni so that Babur can claim descent as the Mughuls). It literally means "in-law". Prior to that, he's a Barlas. Kinda implied by him inheriting the Barlas tribe.

I would suggest a modification to the Timur situation:

The "Rise of Timur" situation doesn't happen until after the western half of the Chaghatai Khanate is unified by Timur, and is triggered by it. Him popping in does happen in 1360-ish (again, you could just make him one of the heirs and have him inherit or a fallback event in 1362 if he didn't for him to take over anyway), but then only getting some mild modifiers and an AI motivated to unify the Chagahtai rather than starting his conquests a decade early. Once he actually unifies (which again, he did without waging war against all of them; he was a part of this system, not a conqueror of it!) the western half of the Chaghatai, then he can go on with his global conquering spree.
What you say is more accurate, historically-wise, right. However, RoT is a very important situation for the game since it shaped the status of Central Asia, Persia, and India for the next half millennium; therefore, we decided to sacrifice some of that historicity to make it more gameplay-friendly and also easier for an AI Timurid Empire to appear.
 
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I love how this system can function as a framework for the dynamic collapse and rebirth of empires throughout gameplay.

Imagine if during a game, a major power like China or a united Spain fragments due to rebellions or foreign interventions. This IO mechanic provides a ready-made system to simulate the path to reunification.

This system would need some adjustments to prevent fragmentations from persisting indefinitely. Adding time limits or escalating constraints could make reunification increasingly difficult over time. A 'legitimacy decay' mechanic where claims to the original empire gradually weaken unless actively maintained would reflect how historical claims lose potency across generations. Maybe the IO should have multiple potential fates, such as partial reformation, complete dissolution, or even permanent decentralization like the HRE.

It could also incorporate some kind of 'nostalgia' (for a lack of better word) modifier, where memories of imperial unity strengthen early reunification efforts but fade over time. This would create compelling dynamics where initial attempts at restoration enjoy more popular support than later ones, making regional diplomatic agreements or conquests easier, similar to how realm struggles function in CK3 but DYNAMIC.
 
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