The Scramble for Africa Scenario and New African Civs

I think it's quite likely to focus on the literal Scramble for Africa period or at most shortly before - it may be less the G&K Renaissance scenario situation (which the expansion civs were explicitly based around, and which is a favourite era of the developer) and more a Mongol Terror scenario situation, in which it's the Zulu civ scenario rather than anything more broadly-defined; an Anglo-Zulu War scenario extended forward in time long enough to allow the involvement of other civs that played a major role in the era (and also possibly to showcase the World Congress mechanic).

Even if it's not that literally-defined, Kongo was more than a few years earlier.
Actually, this scenario has a randomized map, meaning it'll be like all the free-formed Civ5 scenarios with random maps: with everyone starting on equal footing, and little regard for historical accuracy.
 
Actually, this scenario has a randomized map, meaning it'll be like all the free-formed Civ5 scenarios with random maps: with everyone starting on equal footing, and little regard for historical accuracy.

It sounds like it will be thrown together garbage. The way you describe it. Really it should be like into the ren with random resources. Anyway, I hope your wrong and they actually try to make it a respectable scenario. We don't want some half ass thrown together trash heap of an expansion. Who would want to spend their money on that? :(
 
Actually, this scenario has a randomized map, meaning it'll be like all the free-formed Civ5 scenarios with random maps: with everyone starting on equal footing, and little regard for historical accuracy.

Probably it will be like the Polynesia scenario, where there's a set historical map but also an option to use a randomized map with certain common features instead.
 
It sounds like it will be thrown together garbage. The way you describe it. Really it should be like into the ren with random resources. Anyway, I hope your wrong and they actually try to make it a respectable scenario. We don't want some half ass thrown together trash heap of an expansion. Who would want to spend their money on that? :(

I don't think we have reason to assume it'll be some thrown together garbage. I'm not a huge fan of the scenarios (I'm more interested in the new civilizations) but I would expect that they'll try to do it well. I thought Into the Ren was pretty good.

Just because the map is randomized doesn't really mean anything it'll be slapdash, we know the civs will be set, we can assume there will be some scenario-only civilizations, and we know that some new natural resources will play into it. More than that, and it seems like we can only make educated guesses.

The fact that they specifically set it at the end of the 19th century means they have at least some interest in historical accuracy, limited though it may be. That doesn't mean that the newly introduced Kingdom of Kongo couldn't stand in as Belgian Congo with Belgium being a re-used Netherlands or something, but it at least gives us a hint at who they might include.
 
I can see another leader rather than Shaka. The scenario fits Cetshwayo and he is famous thanks to the Zulu films.
 
European:
~Britain
~France
~Spain
~Germany
~The Netherlands (prob as South African Boers, but maybe not)
~Portugal (prob as a full civ added in BNW)
~Italy (prob modded Rome civ, possibly a full civ)
~Belgium (prob modded Sweden/Austria/Poland etc., possibly a full civ)

African:
~Ethiopia
~Liberia (prob modded America civ, maybe not present)
~Zulu (prob a full civ)
~Kongo (prob full civ)

There prob won't be any CS, given that most of Africa was colonized by the Europeans. it depends on what direction they decide to go; all the European civs may start with a few coastal colonies and expand against the African civs, or the European civs may be established with all their cities and territories, in which case the Zulu and Kongo will be unnecessary. The first sounds far more interesting, and then CS may be included.
 
Anyone else bummed that Africa will be randomly generated in this scenario? I think that completely ruins it, just like the new world scenario that came with Inca/Spain.
 
Anyone else bummed that Africa will be randomly generated in this scenario? I think that completely ruins it, just like the new world scenario that came with Inca/Spain.

Not all of Africa just the interior, however, I am sure there will be a historically accurate map available like they did for the Polynesian scenario
 
The scenario maps have been getting better since vanilla. I don't know whether they will include a historical map or not, but I doubt it will be similar to the new world scenario. To go from scenarios like Into the Renaissance to something like the New World one would be a huge step back.
 
I was at a museum for African art today and kept seeing artifacts under the name 'Yoruba.' Anybody know if this was a formidable group of people?

The Oyo Empire was a strong Yoruba state, and yeah, the Yoruba are one of the biggest and most influential African ethnic groups.
 
I really enjoyed the Garamante mod made by Tomatekh. Garamante would be a good "Dark Horse" candidate for being an official Civ in BNW.

The Garamante under leader Djalla were an ancient North African Civilization located in the Area that is now modern day Libya. There is a decent write up on their kingdom which lasted for thousands of years.

Spoiler :

Seven thousand years ago, the Sahara was a very different place. Cave paintings found in the middle of the desert show rivers and lakes, crowded with ostriches, elephants and hippopotamuses, and cavemen hunting them. Much of what is desert now was fertile country then. Some of these cave paintings, show a new people, riding in Roman or Egyptian style chariots, making war on the hunter-gatherers. These, we can guess, were the Garamantians.

Garamantian culture seems to have striking similarities with ancient Egypt, the chariots for one thing, the pyramids for another. They also worshiped a dog faced god, and mummified their dead. In fact, a mummy recovered from the Saharan sands in Libya has been dated to 5500 years ago, older than the earliest Egyptian mummies.

Around 2500 BC, the climate changed. The rains stopped, and the Sahara started to dry out.

It is here that the brilliance of Garamantes shines through. For even ringed by encroaching sands, they were able to flourish. They built a vast network of canals and wells, which pumped water out from under the Sahara, where it lay in huge subterranean chambers. This water was carried through the canals, tunnels and pipes, to water their crops. The population was fed from fertile fields of barley, wheat and figs, worked by armies of slaves. Garamantes boasted cities, palaces, tombs and forts. It also had its own alphabet, one of the few in Africa.


In the mod their UU was the Plumed Nomad which replaces the basic scout. This was really interesting as no other Civ had a UU scout.

Spoiler :

UA: Foggaras: City Tiles and Forts constructed on Desert Hill Tiles act as sources of Fresh Water.

UU: Plumed Nomad: Replaces Scout. Double Movement in Desert. Can Explore Rival Territory.

UB: Qasr: Replaces Granary. +2 Strength/+25 HP, +1 Food on Oasis Tiles. No Maintenance.


 
I was at a museum for African art today and kept seeing artifacts under the name 'Yoruba.' Anybody know if this was a formidable group of people?

I came across the Yoruba when I was adding the Nok to a Civ III mod; they seem to have come after the Nok (who discovered iron before the Med/Europe region, but didn't use it for weapons). They lived in what is now Nigeria.

As for the scenario, Ashanti and Zulu sound good, especially as the Ashanti have a potential female leader.

@Novu: I really like the Garamante mod as well, but they were an ancient tribe, so wouldn't have been around during the timeframe of the "Scramble for Africa" scenario of course. They'd make a good civ for the main game though; I like how their plumed nomad is able to scout in anyone's territory.
 
I'm still sceptical about the whole Zulu/Kongo thing. Don't get me wrong, conquering the world as Kongo would be a great way to annoy the Americans (no offence intended for Americans reading). I want to see those civs. I'm just not sure it's going to happen.

Re Nzinga, it's most likely that if Kongo was confirmed, she'd still lead it, and Firaxis would bend the rules a bit (like giving Napoleon that trait which referenced the very system which he destroyed). The truth is that there aren't that many viable female leaders. I'm not trying to be sexist, I'm just saying that ancient civilisations generally were.

As for Zulu, South Africa's colonisation was chronologically set apart from the rest of the "Scramble for Africa", plus they're on the edge of the continent. Scenario wise, Kongo makes more sense. It's most likely that we'll end up with Shaka or Dingaan (sp.?) if Zulu gets in.

Don't get me wrong, I want to see Zulu and Kongo in. I just don't think it's a certainty.

As for the Garamantes, again, it's not going to happen. I like Tomatekh's rendition of them, and their water-finding prowess would lead to a civ which makes desert worth it without Petra, but their empire is too small. If I had my way, the dark horse would be Ryukyu, but that's even less likely than Garamantes.
 
I just had a little bit of a crazy thought - Oman ?

I mean, they did control many of the important cities on the east African coastline, before selling them off to the Europeans. Would probably be more of a scenario civ if included.

If Oman is included as a scenario civ, they can borrow Harun al-Rashid.
 
If Oman is included as a scenario civ, they can borrow Harun al-Rashid.

I reckon they'll use him for a scenario-only East African civ (eg. Kilwa, since we've seen Zanzibar so they're not a full civ unfortunately), as there were lots of Arab expeditions into the African interior from the East, primarily for the slave trade. That was about the same time as the Livingstone / Burton / Speke exploration period, which I would assume would be included.
 
I think the Ottoman empire or Egypt will be present as well, representing north africa.
 
I think the Ottoman Empire and Egypt will be present to represent themselves. Both were quite prominent powers at the time. Egypt was nominally still part of the Ottoman Empire, but in practice it acted autonomously, and Isma'il Pasha in particular was an important figure for modernizing (and unfortunately, ultimately bankrupting) Egypt and launching campaigns into the Sudan to help stop slavery. I'll be very disappointed indeed if he isn't included in this scenario, even if he has to be "played" by Ramesses. (Though for once, Ramesses would be speaking the appropriate language, so there's that.)
 
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