There was a thread a few months ago about "Emblematic Outposts": the Bantu Mupia Fields, the Hittites' Awari, Huns' Ordu, and Mongols' Orda.  In the case of the Huns and Mongols, these cultures are not allowed to attach their outposts to cities, a very rare scenario where a culture's LT/EU/EQ comes with an explicit penalty.  I proposed an alternative in the thread, but I'd like to give it its own thread now:  Make the Ordu and Orda compelling to keep unattached instead of preventing attachment.  Give us the choice to attach them, but encourage us to keep them unattached.

The Hittites' Awari after the last patch are much more interesting because on top of their original benefit of being a spawn point, they now provide money to your empire and much improved healing to your armies. Neat!  With the Awari's newfound power to affect units in its territory, why don't we try something similar with the Huns and Mongols?

Consider the following bonuses that the Orda/Ordu could apply to their territories:

• +50% movement on units within unattached territories.  Horsemen of the steppes can move more quickly through friendly undeveloped lands.
• -25% / -50% Upkeep Cost on Nomad/Cavalry/all? units within unattached territories.  Hunnic/Mongol hordes can have a hefty upkeep, but they can "live off the land" in your empire's rural frontiers
• Unattached territories spawn food resources. Your EUs can travel the frontiers, grazing and regrouping.
• Allow "Quick Travel" between Mongol Orda as though they were medieval train stations. Your people can move swiftly through its network of camps.  This should probably require 2-4 movement points per "step" instead of the 1 movement point required by actual trains stations, though, for balance and realism.
• -100% Influence Reduction on Relocate Outpost .  Unlike the wood and stone outposts created by other empires, the mobile tent complexes that make up the Ordu/Orda can be moved at a moments' notice.
• Similar to the above point, maybe the Orda/Ordu are even more mobile: "Relocate Outpost can be used to move the Outpost to an adjacent territory" but would require influence to do so.  I'd also forbit it from moving over water tiles, so this could get complicated.

The movement bonus or the upkeep discount could even be added to the Huns' or Mongols' Legacy Trait to encourage the empire to keep an undeveloped frontier later into the game.

Any other thoughts?  What would make the Hunnic or Mongolian outposts enticing to you?

I find the idea good but don't really like the propositions.
Mongol's LT is in part about ransacking and the Huns has something with units being in foreign territories. Bonuses for having troops around your own outposts seem to go against part of the design. It would be weird to only have some kind of outposts producing food regardless of biomes. Quick travel seems a bit much, as outposts are already connected by roads. Relocating outposts is not something very useful or happening much. The last one is way more interesting to me.

I'd like to offer an idea too, so that I could be told too "meh, don't like it"...
I'd like a mechanic like that, for example: 

1. you could have to pay xXx influence to up your ordu/a to a special state (price should increase as outposts do)
2. in which they give a -25% reduction to outpost creation in nearby territories
3. cumulative to a solid -100%
4. and count for the expansionist stars
5. the cost to attach them could go up (per nearby ordu/a?)

That way:

1. more ordu/a
2. no slowing the exp. stars
3. less incentive to attach but not impossible if needed

Of course, the territory should not then count a second time for exp. stars when attached and it might need a lot of tweaking to make it balanced.

Well, in term of really important change, which would make these quarters more consistent and elegant gameplay wise, and would help a little bit with the issue you highlighted :

- Make the effects and bonus of Emblematic Outpost remains when you change culture, it's really inconsistent and badly explained than u lost the Emblematic bonus of Emblematic Outposts when you change culture. There is no real reasons for it balance wise. Exemple : the food bonus of Bantu Emblematic Outpost

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In term of ideas to make unattached territories and emblematic outposts more appealing with these cultures and their singular gameplay.

- One of the oldest idea I suggested about this topic, when the Hunnic and Mongol Horde units were also way stronger than toda was:  to make them ONLY buildable on outpost.

The reasoning was to make Outpost mandatory to produce the nomadic unit, a little constraint which vanish when u get better units

It's also thematically fitting, poeple of the steppe become great riders, and the one of cities have more classic roles (regular infantry, farmers and other specialists)

Also it was to make the use of growth gameplay more important because that constraint.

- Other idea, I got for Goth, which don't highlight any "migrator / nomad" feature in their design, but which could be used for another Nomadic culture.

When the Tumulus was buildable (I honestly don't know if it's still the case)  on outpost and city. I suggested than the bonus received from the EQ were different depending it's inside an unnattached territory or not.

Like the idea was thanTumulus give faith (which is strong) in unattached territories, but change into a bit of influence when the territory is attached. And eventually give a flat bonus when attached.

I like every of your ideas. Highlighting" relocate" action make a lot of sense, but looks complicated, maybe just making it almost free or discounted on the action itself ?

Instead of quick travel u can eventually give the bonus of "Swift" to units which cross or spawn on ordu/orda ?

Huns and Mongols EQ could generate a horse ressource (because thematically they were moving and managing their horses population, which travelled with them everywhere), and this ressources being at the core of their gameplay ?

Other idea, for Mongols Orda, the Orda is no more an Emblematic Outpost, but an Emblematic Hamlet only buildable on outpost. It send its benefits to capital, and when the territory is attached, stop to work as Hamlet but give some different bonus. Or the opposite, a really strong quarter on unnattached territory, and become a generic Hamlet when the territory is attached : p

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My dream would be than in a similar way than the devs are adding the Diplomatic affinity , there was a Nomadic Affinity which allow to highlight these cultures without enclosing them into "unnattachable outposts" design. With an unique way to manage and spend population to raise a city (less frequently than other cultures) as core of the great Horde or the Khanat.

An ability which dismantle territories into outposts and give units (the great migration call), the need to change Capitale ??? ...

But it's like a crazy take far from balancing aspect

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The other debate, off topic here, but which would maybe deserve a questioning one day is : is the problem more general ? And shouldn't territories take more time to be attached and devellop a city.

To allow these cultures to shine, still having skirmishes around outposts in mid-late game, allowing more IPs to settle like in industrial which don't have some rn, and not having everything being claimed and attached too early