Who-6 "The Great Game"

It's 1895 and the colonial powers are entreched all throughout the globe. The major European countries have colonized nearly all of Africa, most of the Caribbean, the Asian Sub-Continent, Indochina, Indonesia, parts of China, and large tracts of the Pacific. The Middle East is controlled by the "Sick Man of Europe" (Ottoman Empire) but is vulnerable and decaying. Mexico and the other Central American nations have weak economies but are definitely growing.

The Great Game, a term usually attributed to Arthur Conolly, was used to describe the rivalry and strategic conflict between the British Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. The term was later popularized by British novelist Rudyard Kipling in his work, Kim.


The classic "Great Game" period is generally regarded as running from the Napoleonic era to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and beyond. The broad arena of the Middle East could be the battleground of Britain's struggle to protect the road to India from its traditional allies and rivals France and Russia. In this game the grand 19th-century contest, the chessboard of the "Great Game", we have great colonial powers British, French, and Russians attempting to exert greater influence along with a lot of bit players and an emerging America.

Then there's the forgotten ones....
The German Empire! Our empire has colonial possessions in West Africa, Southwest Africa, East Africa, and the South Pacific. Parts of Poland, Alsace, and Prussia are also under their control. The Austro-Hungarians lack colonial holdings but are a sturdy and industrious civ and are aligned with Germany. Germany wants to win “The Great Game”! Our job is to accomplish this and rewrite history.

Rarely have we seen an SG that was a mod other than RAR. The will give you a chance to play some more modern units and in particular exert naval superiority.

El Justo and I have discussed playing a SG with his mod. The game will require a download (if you haven't already) but should give us a taste of one of the finest mods on this board.

Linky for Age of Imperialism; 1895-1919, Deluxe Version

El Justo said:

let's go w/ Germany - i like them the best actually in the mod since they're perhaps the most challenging in terms of geography. however, they've got some really great "toys" to build from the mid-game onwards.

the actual in-game ability to ally w/ another civ isn't unlocked until about mid-way through the 1st era (1st of 3 eras). but yeah, we could hold off if that's desired. the German position is locked together w/ the Austro-Hungarians though. so we would have to declare war if it is declared upon them just another twist for the German position (and mirrors RL). this is the only locked alliance in the whole game.

let's see, the 'SHORT' file is roughly 150 turns. the 'MEDIUM' is about 300 or so and the 'FULL' is about 450 iirc.

the 'SHORT' one runs through the 1st era only, the 'MEDIUM' through the 2nd, and the 'FULL' through the 3rd one.

does IT mean in-between-turn-times? if so, they're like 30-45 seconds for the first 100 turns. after that, they're roughly a minute or 2. later on, they'll get up to 3 minutes+...all very digestable imo. i mean, i've played hundreds of turns w/ dozens of different civs.

this one runs faster than any other scenario of its size and scope, guaranteed

and every single position is very, very playable for this scenario. we spent many months getting it right. and i had an army of testers when it was in beta. iow, this hog is imo the most polished c3c scenario on the boards.

5 turns each sound good.

and remember, i can kick some knowledge with regard to strategy, what to look out for, game mechanics, nuances, etc, etc. there's some real generic strategies to follow regarding offense, defense, naval convoys, and naval projection. don't be overwhelmed w/ it all though. i mean, it will seem like alot at the start. however, i urge everyone to remember that each and every unit in the game has a real purpose and that they're not all added in there for fluff. In other words, there's a tactical element involved. the CivP file is where most info can be found (outside of me of course).

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Signups
El Justo
Whomp
SimpleMonkey (a big fat maybe)
Tank Guy #3
Glenmetz
Cubsfan6506

Everything else is up for discussion.

Oh and in traditional Whomp fashion. Bring a drum. Here's standard Whomp equipment.

i'm in

this should be alot of fun - and as always, i am at everyone's disposal wrt game mechanics, best laid strategies, etc.

we will need to decide which AoI file to play with though.

here are the options:

26 civs or 30

the file w/ the 30 civs has 4 additional postions added to the original file, namely, Tibet, Ethiopia, Cuban Rebels, and Philippine Rebels

there's also the 'SHORT', 'MEDIUM', and 'FULL' files. i probably would suggest the 'FULL' file. but whichever is fine by me. we just need to decide which one to use and DL the appropriate one.

and this isn't a war-mongering scenario perse. it's more of an empire building one and has CYA elements to it (cover your ass).

expansion is one element of the scenario but it certainly isn't the primary one. i would suggest to anyone who may be interested to read through the first few posts in the scenario thread for more details.

lastly - i had some problems w/ the large upload folder at the site which houses the files. specifically, they did not update the folder when i had asked them to. as a result, they left out 2 small folders which are needed to prevent a crash. i will provide all w/ those 2 folders upon launching of the SG.

Please put me on the could-be list. You may get far more qualified primates than myself. But this looks like more fun than a helium and whisky party.

Yay it's the funny Monkey on the could be list.

El J should I post this in the AOI thread in case some of the regular players of the mod would be interested?

SimpleMonkey,

everyone is qualified mate. while the file may seem intimidating on its surface, it is really rather simplistic in strategy

Whomp,
sure. you'll probably be able to hook some in

PS-i just posted in the AoI thread w/ the 'patch' file i mentioned earlier. follow the simple instructions and we'll be good to go.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=5017121&postcount=2603

I don't want to join but I will look on with interest.

So basically we just play as normal, and when we save we post the savegame here I take it? Kind of like a Play By EMail only without the email?

If so, then........I guess I'm in.

My personal opinion is 30, but whichever the group decides is fine by me.

I may be kind of the on and off player, but I will play. Some of my classes require quite a bit of my time (namely Network Operating System [basically learning Linux], Network Administration Intermediate, and Psychology).

No probs Tank Guy. I'd like max civs too and don't anticipate a problem with that.

I'm sure we'll be flexible with your schedule and just let us know when things are too tight.

Generally, SG protocol says 24 hours to say "got it" and 48 hours to "play it". There's no problems skipping turns. RL and all. Saves will be posted here but simply attaching the save.

Welcome to the lurker lounge Pat4.

*Ahem*muffled drum thing..

Psssst! Don't tell El Justo but I'm actually stalking him. Honestly I've posted about 50 questions on his scenarios.

pat4 said:

Psssst! Don't tell El Justo but I'm actually stalking him. Honestly I've posted about 50 questions on his scenarios.

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I've noticed this, and I'm sure El Justo has also. Well, at least you haven't been shooting PM's his way nearly nonstop for a couple months.

Also, though I talk a good game, I'm rather pathetic at Civ. That said, I'd be screwed if the difficulty level is set too high, and "too high" isn't very high at all. But I pray to god not everyone finds out about this.

@ Whomp: wasn't it you a couple years ago that was asking for advice designing your back porch/deck/etc or something? If so, how'd that go?

pat4 said:

Psssst! Don't tell El Justo but I'm actually stalking him. Honestly I've posted about 50 questions on his scenarios.

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I'm sure El J will more than kindly answer your (normal) questions in the AOI thread.

Tank_Guy#3 said:

Also, though I talk a good game, I'm rather pathetic at Civ. That said, I'd be screwed if the difficulty level is set too high, and "too high" isn't very high at all. But I pray to god not everyone finds out about this.

@ Whomp: wasn't it you a couple years ago that was asking for advice designing your back porch/deck/etc or something? If so, how'd that go?

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In a SG there's a fair amount of learning that goes on too because a big part of this is discussion, planning and even mm'ing.

Yes Tank Guy that was me. It looks awesome. We're regular green thumbs now and I'll post some picture when things are back in bloom.

ok - i have a tendency to ramble on a little. so bare w/ me gents

here's what i think we should focus on as we fire up the first turns:

judiciously mix our Father Land city builds to include both infantry type units as well as production boosting city improvements. the set-up for AoI is to pay attention to your production rates as the starting rate for all but the biggest of cities is relatively weak.

now - onto the War Dept:
infantry units are the bread & butter of our military. they have the best HP allotment and for the time being, they have the best defensive rating (until the machine guns come along - i'll get into that when the time is right - not yet though). so building them early and relatively often will behoove us i think

the cavalry units are similar to the standard civ3 cav units in that they have extra movement points (3 altogether - the infantry have 2) in comparison to their non-saddled/dismounted bretheren. however, they have (i think) a better attack value (only the first generation of infantry units though [2 generations in sum]) and they also have the blitz flag which allows them to 'mop up' rather effectively. so keeping several of these on-hand will be important.

artillery - this is perhaps the most important part of our military. i say this b/c it was intended to sort of simulate the era's heavy reliance on direct and later on, indirect fire support for the boots on the ground. plus, once we start matching up against enemy machine gun (MG) units, we'll thank our lucky stars for our artillery men.

now, there's 4 types of arty in AoI:
mountain artillery - light & mobile but doesn't pack much of a punch, can keep up w/ the cav units though (3 mvmt).
field guns - medium arty and semi-mobile, can keep up w/ the infantry units (2 mvmt)
howitzers - heavy arty and only 1 mvmt point, not buildable from the outset but introduced some time in the 1st era i think
rail guns - built later (mid 2nd era maybe?) and restircted to tiles which have either a road or rail on it, excellent bombardment no's due to their high caliber and range

a sidenote:
Germany has perhaps the best arty pieces in the game, especially late-game. iirc, the 'Big Bertha' howitzer and the 'Paris Gun' are at our disposal

a note from the Colonies:
the colonial set-up for AoI is what makes it unique. by this i mean that due to the 'isolated city builds', we'll only be able to build colonial troops in our colonies (same goes for all civs). the 2 colonial troops: Schutztrupp Infantry and the Schutztrupp Cavalry units (the term schutztrupp was given to all of Germany's overseas/colonial troops). so there won't be immediate needs to build ground units and ship them out to the colonies. iow, we'll be able to build colonial troops. however, they're more like 'light infantry' type units and as such, they have slightly lower stats (A/D values & HPs) than their regular troop cousins. one key to a good static defense in the colonies though is to build MG units in the Father Land and ship them out to the colonies since MGs can't be built abroad.

more on the colonies:
there is a complete set of colonial city builds. by that i mean that we can't simply build factories, silent film theaters, and universities in the colonies. instead, we'll be able to build stuff like gold or silver mines (assuming the resource is w/in a respective city's radius), rubber plantations (same), colonial army barracks, colonial school systems, and even missionaries and colonial postal service buildings refer to the CivP for a complete description and bonuses.

i'll post more of this type of info as time permits. i mean, i think it'd be helpful for the guys who aren't all that familiar w/ the game mechanics...

pat4,

it's no sweat dude. i mean, that's what i'm here for is to help you guys and answer questions relating to my scenarios. plus, you're from Ireland which earns extra points w/ me

I'm So In!!!

alright - i figured it'd be best to simply arrange all of the tips, player guides, etc into one big post:

my account of each civ - a sort of poor man's player's guide

an awesome guide written by my civ buddy Klyden - he was a tester, too

fuller description regarding the VP conditions

a fuller description of the different unit classes in AoI

glenmetz said:

I'm So In!!!

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nice

here's some more info on the key twist for AoI:

Scenario info:
This version of AoI is vastly different from previous versions. The entire scope has been greatly enhanced. And most importantly, the race for the 'raw materials from the colonies' has been implemented for v3.0 and it introduces a radical departure from the simplistic empire building/land grab tactics associated with most civ3 games. These 'raw materials' are flag units which are autproduced by a unique colonial city improvement called 'Colonial Govt Building' (these are all pre-placed for the applicable civs--see below) every thirteen (13) turns. The gist is to ship these units back home, 'secure' them with an existing land unit and send it to your lone Victory Point location (your capital unless you capture another civ's capital). The idea is to maintain a 'merchant fleet' of sorts (transport units) and find ways to ship these flag units from the colonial outposts and back to the mother lands. Gain enough VPs (1 pt for VP occupations and 2 for returning the 'raw materials' units) and you win.

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ok - i have a tendency to ramble on a little. so bare w/ me gents

here's what i think we should focus on as we fire up the first turns:

judiciously mix our Father Land city builds to include both infantry type units as well as production boosting city improvements. the set-up for AoI is to pay attention to your production rates as the starting rate for all but the biggest of cities is relatively weak.

Click to expand...

I generally start out building 1 infantry unit for that extra little boost in defence of my cities, and then switch over completely to building city improvements. Once all the available improvements are built, I then proceed to either create more units, or generate wealth.

now - onto the War Dept:
infantry units are the bread & butter of our military. they have the best HP allotment and for the time being, they have the best defensive rating (until the machine guns come along - i'll get into that when the time is right - not yet though). so building them early and relatively often will behoove us i think

Click to expand...

My last game I dabbled a little bit with the Americans. I found that though they couldn't move as fast as the cavalry, they definitely managed to outfight them. While it could possibly pertain to the enemies I was fighting (Mexico, Central Americans, etc), I still think we'd fair better building infantry as opposed to cavalry.

the cavalry units are similar to the standard civ3 cav units in that they have extra movement points (3 altogether - the infantry have 2) in comparison to their non-saddled/dismounted bretheren. however, they have (i think) a better attack value (only the first generation of infantry units though [2 generations in sum]) and they also have the blitz flag which allows them to 'mop up' rather effectively. so keeping several of these on-hand will be important.

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I find that they very generally get massacred whenever I use them. I use them in a strange means, I send them out front to capture workers, guard the workers, and then retreat back behind the lines and act as a garrison for the cities my units capture.

artillery - this is perhaps the most important part of our military. i say this b/c it was intended to sort of simulate the era's heavy reliance on direct and later on, indirect fire support for the boots on the ground. plus, once we start matching up against enemy machine gun (MG) units, we'll thank our lucky stars for our artillery men.

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I use artillery extensively in many of my games. I generally set it up so that my land based artillery stays away from the coast and focuses on the landlocked cities. I use my navy to bombard the hell out of coastal cities.

NAVY:
On the subject of the navy, I've found that in every single game I play as the Germans, the English attack me, and wreak havoc in the Orient. That said, I think we should send a good host of weaker or a smaller number of stronger naval units to go and defend our colonial interests in the Far East, lest they be taken by the evil English. I also build up a large transport fleet so as to carry my "raw materials" back to the homeland. I also like to secure certain waterways, in particular the English Channel, so my transports don't have to go around England.

POLITICS:
I make right of passage agreements with the majority of the other civs ASAP, so my units can move freely. Mainly with civs in areas like the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, the Straights of Gibraltar, English Channel, etc.

DEFENSE OF THE HOMELAND: I tend to go overboard here, I devote a certain number of workers for, quite litereally, fortifying the border. Meaning building fortifications on every border square (and railroads for faster troop deployment).

Sign me up.

I'd love to play although I'm not familar with the mod at all. I'm in if there's still space and you'll have me

Welcome aboard Flubsfan6506.
If my passive aggressive needling gets under your skin just tell me. Most of my friends have your strange affliction as well.

OK we have a roster. If our Monkeydude can't play we'll reopen the roster for one more player.
Roster
El Justo
Whomp
SimpleMonkey (a big fat maybe)
Tank Guy #3
Glenmetz
Cubsfan6506

Alternate: Phaedo if SimpleMonkey can't play.


Let's discuss play level. SG's tend to play a level or two higher than your used to. I'm a proficient deity player so I'm flexible here.

Playing turns. Usually a SG is 20 turns for the first player then 10 turns for everyone after that until the industrial age when players will sometimes reduce it to 5 turns. I thought it would be a good idea to run 5 turns apiece so we can prepare a good game plan. El J and Tank Guy have some experience so that will help develop a sound strategy.

Victory condition? How should we win? Victory points or domination?
Any other variants we should consider? (IE no alliances)