The @steemleague is back - After pausing it due to lack of interest and a lot of time invested in @welcoming, STEEM'S first Age of Empires tournament is back! I hope you all have practiced ;)

Since it didn't get finished last time, we will start with a re-host of round three!

Introduction

In the third round, we will highlight the next civilization from the main game – The “Vikings”. This is part of my plan on introducing all civs separately. In order to do so I will give you a quick historical overview and then present the game settings which will be connected to the civilizations.

So, after talking about two civilizations which are specialized on heavy land raiding – the “Celts” and the “Goths” – we are now up to some serious sea battles with the “Vikings”.

The Vikings

If you had to summarize the typical image of the “Vikings” in one sentence it would be like: Warlords from the north of Europe who came with their fast boats and fought like crazy. But they were much more than just mad raiders.

Those Northman – people from what we now call Scandinavia – began their known raids in the 8th century after Christs birth. With their advanced sailing and shipping techniques, they were able to rise up quickly on the horizon and raid cities or monasteries from the civilized world before they could even react properly.

At first the raids were small, just a matter of a few boats and their men who would return home once they had collected enough or if the resistance they encountered was too strong. But in the 850s they began to stay in southern England, in Ireland and along the Seine in France, establishing basecamps from which they began to dominate further inland areas.

Over the next decades and even centuries, the Northmen were even capturing parts of France and England – this is why their DNA still can be found there. By the mid-11th century united kingdoms had appeared in Denmark, Norway and Sweden and the raids had finally begun to subside.

But the Vikings didn’t just stay in Europe. There are reports about tours to Africa, Asia and America as well.

In 982 an exiled chieftain, Erik the Red, had heard rumours of land to the west and, with a small group of others, sailed for it. What he found was beyond his wildest imaginings. Only 300 kilometres west of Iceland, Greenland is the world’s largest island, and its south and south-west tip had fjords and lush pastures that must have reminded Erik of his Scandinavian homeland. He returned back to Iceland, gathered ship-loads of settlers and established a new Viking colony in Greenland.

Erik’s son, Leif, even outdid his father. Having heard from land even further west, Leif went to see for himself. In around 1002 he and his crew found themselves sailing somewhere along the coast of North America. That’s almost 500 years before Christoph Kolumbus is said to have discovered North America.

By the mid-11th century united kingdoms had appeared in Denmark, Norway and Sweden and the raids had finally begun to subside.

The Vikings in Age of Empires II

Ingame the Vikings are – historically correct – a great civilization when it comes down to fights on the water.

This on the one hand shown through their cheaper ability to produce ships (their ships as well as their docks are cheaper) and on the other hand through their first unique unit – the “Longboat”, which refers to their fast boats from history.

So, in any game with lots of water, the “Vikings” definitely are a good choice. Especially in team games you should have one on your team, since it makes docks cheaper for all team members.

But they do not have water strength alone. Their infantry is also great as well. All their infantry units get additional health points through the ages. Plus, they have a second unique unite – the “Berserk”. This is a infantry unit which actually has the ability to heal itself. Therefore, it is great for raiding in enemy land – since you do not need monks or building to heal it.

When going with this civilization it might also be a good idea to go with the archer line – especially since they share some power ups (blacksmith and university) with their boats – meaning that you boost water and land with one update-

Last but not least they have a strong economy in the early game due to getting “Wheelbarrow” and “Hand Cart” for free.

Their weak point are post-imperial fights on land since they lack the very strong units for late fights – like for example gunpowder stuff.

So early aggression really is the key to success with the Vikings if you are up against a strong lategame civilization like the “Turks” for example.

If you want to know more details about this unique civilization, watch this video:

Gameplay Settings:

The games are played as 1v1 Viking wars, meaning that both players must choose the Vikings as a civilization. The following settings have to be used:

Data set	Original Game
Game	Random Map
Map Style	Standard
Locations	#1 Islands #2 Migration, #3 Scandinavia
Map Size	Tiny (2 player)
Difficulty	Standard
Resources	Standard
Population	200
Game Speed	Normal
Reveal Map	Normal
Starting Age	Standard
Ending Age	Standard
Victory	Conquest

Information and Registration

Requirements
In order to participate you need an Steam account, Age of Empires II HD and a stable internet connection.
Modus
We play "Best of three", meaning that you have to win two out of three games in order to win. If you win the first two, the third round is optional.
Prices
The winner will receive 5 SBD!
Registration
Registration is open from this second until 6 PM Central European Time (CET) on Sunday the 7th of January.
If you want to register, post "I am in" in the comment section of this post.
Playing
After the registration has closed I will post the matchups and the tournament tree. You will have at least three days’ time for your match.
The players will be trusted to arrange their matches for themselves - If this won't work out, I will have to think about a different solution for the feature.