"Red Dawn" Scenario

Hi everyone!

I have been toying around with an idea for a scenario. Do not let the name of this thread fool you, only the concept (and title) will be borrowed from the terrible yet entertaining Patrick Swayze film.

I have many ideas in my head for this scenario, and how it would work and how it would be fun. Unfortunately, my modding skills are sub-par. I can come up with the ideas, and sometimes implement them, but when it comes to things like graphics I suffer considerably. So I will definitely need some help from anyone who may be interested in helping out in a few areas (which I will mention in a bit).


Red Dawn / World War III
Starting Year: 1989
Map: United States, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America, northern South America (North America map)
Playable Factions: United States and The Soviets (just two). The United States will control its remaining territories in mainland U.S. will some reinforcements based inside of large Canadian cities (but these will be weak). The Soviets will effectively control Alaska, British Columbia, some of the Northern Territories, Mexico, Central America, and Cuba... as for the U.S. territories they control, they will include Texas (all of it), Colorado (all of it, except for Denver, which is where the start of the game centers around, as it is being sieged by air drops and troops coming in from the south).
Unplayable Factions: Canada (a U.S. ally, that will serve the purpose of providing some additional forces to their allies, but the bad news is that they could become a potential back door into the eastern seaboard, so the U.S. player has to make sure their defenses stay adequate to fend off Soviet soldiers).

Now, here is where I present my first suggestion request from all of you... should The Soviets include everything, or should I split it into two factions, The USSR (which would have occupied Alaska and British Columbia at this point) and the Mexicans (allied to the USSR, and the USSR would start out with a massive amount of troops in Mexico City and in Texas). The Mexicans would not be playable, I am thinking... but it might be interesting to make them playable I suppose. I kind of want to focus on having just two playable factions.

The Premise
I want to go into a lot more depth than the movie did, obviously. I know that translating a film to a Civ scenario can be a dangerous task, but I think I can make it work.

History. This is from Wikipedia. I thought it was fairly useful for designing this scenario, but some of it is also bull**** to me so of course I will be adding my own stuff to make it a functional scenario.

The Green Party came to power in West Germany, forcing the removal of U.S. forces from that nation and all nuclear weapons from Europe. The resulting upheaval left NATO as a political nonentity, with only Britain remaining as a U.S. ally. At the same time, Soviet allies Cuba and Nicaragua each expanded their armies to 500,000 men, subsequently overrunning El Salvador and Honduras. A civil war in Mexico resulted in that country falling behind the Communist "Iron Curtain." In a parallel to Operation Barbarossa, the Soviet Union, like Nazi Germany, now had a broad base from which to invade its primary enemy, and thousands of troops from satellite nations to augment their own armies.

During this time, the Soviet Union was suffering its worst wheat harvest in 55 years and food riots were occurring throughout the nations of the Warsaw Pact. Apparently desperate for food to feed its people, the Soviet Union and its allies launched a full scale invasion of the United States. Although the movie was released in 1984, the story itself takes place in the near future, starting in 1989 and ending in 1990, because the Holodomor of 1932-1934 is probably[original research?] what is being referred to in the opening narration as the previous "worst wheat harvest" that happened 55 years beforehand.

The Soviets utilize a three-phase attack. First, they use strategic nuclear strikes to destroy key points of communication including several major U.S. cities (Omaha, Kansas City and Washington, D.C. are specifically cited). Strategic nuclear weapons are also used to destroy ICBM bases in Montana and the Dakotas. In addition, it is hinted that Cuban infiltrators aid in confusing U.S. forces by raiding Strategic Air Command bases throughout the Midwest and Texas. Coupled with these nuclear attacks, Soviet transport aircraft containing elite Soviet VDV and Cuban paratroopers slipped through the U.S. radar disguised as commercial airliners.

The second phase saw Cuban and Nicaraguan armies (with small contingents of Soviet forces) pouring across the U.S.-Mexico border into the Great Plains of the United States. The third phase involved a Soviet invasion of Alaska across the Bering Strait from Siberia. They crossed into Canada occupying the Yukon, British Columbia and Western Alberta, most likely including Calgary[original research?], and cut the Alaskan Pipeline, but were decisively stopped at the U.S.-Canadian border by U.S. forces (thus preventing a link-up with Soviet forces occupying the Great Plains).

Elsewhere, Britain remained loyal to her American allies, but suffered heavily for it, Tanner's remark that the UK will not last long suggests that without support from mainland Europe and the US, the Red Banner Northern Fleet had defeated the Royal Navy and cut off the British Isles.[original research?] China also declared war upon the Soviet Union; the reason for this is unexplained, though there was some long-standing animosity between the two powers resulting from the Sino-Soviet split. Colonel Tanner refers to there being some "600 million screaming Chinamen" on the American side. When asked "I thought there were a billion screaming Chinamen?", he cryptically replies "There were" and throws his drink in the fire, causing it to flare and suggesting China had suffered Soviet nuclear strikes. In the film, the effects of the nuclear weapons are not shown because the location (northern Colorado) is far from any bombed sites.

The Communist forces manage to occupy and control a large region of the central United States, extending as far west as the Rocky Mountains, and north to Cheyenne, Wyoming, across Kansas to the Mississippi River in the east. Denver is also under siege. Tanner mentions that conditions in Denver are particularly bad, with people living on "rats, sawdust bread, and, sometimes, each other." He says the remaining holdouts most likely won't survive.

Once the lines are stabilized, it quickly becomes a conventional war with both sides ceasing their use of nuclear weapons. Colonel Tanner explains that the Soviets are reluctant to use any more nuclear weapons, as they want to conquer the United States, not destroy it utterly, and the U.S. government is unwilling to use tactical nuclear weapons on or over their own soil against the invading armies. The Soviets work through American collaborators, such as Daryl's father, at the local level to help them maintain order.

Click to expand...

Gameplay
Okay, I am thinking of making the underdogs of this scenario the United States. That will definitely be the more difficult player. While the U.S. will have more powerful equipment (tanks, aircraft, and even sea units), they are outnumbered 5 to 1. As the US player you will have to fend off wave after wave of attack from both the north and the south. The north is easier to defend, as the Soviets have been stopped at the border. The south is more difficult. Your short-term goals will be to defend the northern border (make sure the Russkies do not get into Washington state!), and defend your other cities adjacent to Colorado and Texas from being invaded... defend California as well! So your short-term goals are defense. Then, as time goes on, you will get some opportunities to take back anything the Soviets might have grabbed beyond Colorado and Texas, then eventually, liberate Colorado, then Texas, and then move into Mexico and Central America yourself (this is where it gets really tough), and even take back British Columbia and Alaska, if you can. Conquest victory only.

And yes, I do plan to have some partisan units, special units with useful promotions, some of which will be mounted.

Another goal will be to "scrub" a lot of the nuclear fallout that has collected in Nebraska, Missouri, and Washington, D.C. (eastern seaboard). Once the scrub has been cleaned, these cities will be much more productive, obviously.

As The Soviets, you have some problems of your own, but you have a significant advantage. The U.S. has very strong defenses in its remaining cities, and it has some powerful equipment, even though their production is down for the meantime, or it is considerably slow for most of their units (what I am thinking here, by the way, is that the U.S. can research technologies that lead to units that are faster to produce, while at the beginning their units take forever to create, thus simulating their resistance growing and growing and their ability to get their act together). As the Soviet player, you have access to resources in Mexico, Cuba, and Central America, and also British Columbia and Alaska. Your cities in Alaska and British Columbia have significant resistance going on, but you have plenty of troops there to continuously launch attacks on Washington State. Your goal is to meet up with your troops in Colorado and the Great Plains. So you MUST break through the northern defenses, or attempt to sneak up on them from the south (if you dare). Your cities in Mexico can produce units steadily, they are rather weak, but in numbers they are useful.

Neither side desires to use nuclear weapons... The Soviets need the U.S. intact from hereon, so that they can feed their own country, and they want to actually occupy the U.S. The U.S. does not have the resources to launch attacks to Russia (though I've been toying with an idea... of researching tech so eventually you could nuke Mexico and Cuba?), and they do not want to nuke their own soil.

The U.S. will have a powerful Pacific navy still, their air force is tattered, and their sea units in the Atlantic and Caribbean have been attacked by strategic bombings and forces, but in the Pacific, you will use your navy to detect Russian submarines, reinforcements, and destroy them. You must beware though, this will not be easy.

In many aspects, I not only want this to be a geopolitical scenario, where you obviously control cities and move units in a conventional war... I also want it to be sort of an adventure scenario. The U.S. will have partisan units that are very useful in the mountains and such, while the Soviets will have brilliant generals. Holding off the Soviet advance, or if you are the Soviet player, continuing the advance, will both present significant challenges, that sometimes a small group of elite units can overcome.



What I Need...
While I want to develop the technical aspects of this scenario, the storyline, and where the cities are placed on the map, what improvements, where the fallout is, beginning units, etc. (all the technical stuff), I do need some help, and I'd love to put together a few people to help me out.

• A GOOD and ACCURATE North America map, what size should we use? I don't know if a Huge map would be very good for this type of scenario, because it would make things far too complicated and some cities would be present that would not really serve a purpose... HOWEVER, we could have a Huge North America map (the map requires Cuba, Mexico, Canada, Central America, and maybe even Alaska?), and have the cities spread out, and not allow the Settler unit to be built (this way, it would take a while to get to the city, simulating trudging through enemy territory, and would allow for a lot to happen to your units as they move towards the city)... I kind of want a scenario that will not be sluggish or have too many cities to the point where gameplay suffers.
• City placement, I may need some help here
• Art of any kind, but this is not necessary, the default art is good enough for me
• Anyone that is good at editing XML and wants to help me out
• Ideas for balance, I need to balance it so that both sides are playable and my gameplay visions are achieved
• Playtesters, of course!

This is my first attempt at a Civ4 scenario, so I am definitely a newbie at it, but I think I can put it together with some hard work of course.

Any suggestions are welcome.

American Land Unit Types
American Infantry (Marine graphic) (Combat V) (can be trained, but very slowly, until Organized Resistance is researched, then it will go faster)
M1 Abrams (Modern Armor graphic) (Drill I, Flanking I, Combat II, Barrage II) (can be trained, but very slowly, until Renewed Equipment is researched, then it will go faster, but the unit will be weaker)
AH-64 Apache (Gunship graphic) (Ambush, Morale, Sentry, Tactics) (can be trained, but very slowly, until Renewed Equipment is researched, then it will go faster, but the unit will be weaker)
American Special Forces (Navy SEAL graphic) (Amphibious, March, Combat II) (cannot be trained, you start with a few, and get more as the game goes on)
American Mechanized Infantry (Mechanized Infantry graphic) (Combat IV, Drill II, Flanking I) (can be trained, but very slowly, until Renewed Equipment is researched, then it will go faster, but the unit will be weaker)
American Artillery (Artillery graphic) (Morale, Barrage II) (can be trained, but very slowly, until Renewed Equipment is researched, then it will go faster, but the unit will be weaker)
National Guard (Machine Gun graphic) (City Garrison II) (can be trained, but very slowly, until Organized Resistance is researched, then it will go faster, but the unit will be weaker)
Partisans/Guerillas (SAM Infantry graphic, but I might prefer a new graphic for this) (Ambush, Guerilla II, Mobility, Interception I) (cannot be trained, you start with a few, and get more as the game goes on)
Special Units
Wolverines (SAM Infantry graphic, a special graphic for this would be nice) (Ambush, Guerilla II, Combat II, March, Charge, Shock, Woodsman II, Tactics?) (cannot be trained, no more arrive during the game, you start with as many as you will ever have, you must evade the Soviets and make them stronger!)
Mounted Resistance (I want to find a unit that looks like the Immortal, but with a gun and not a spear. The Cavalry unit looks too 19th century.) (Guerilla I, Combat II, Blitz, Flanking II, Pinch, Woodsman I) (cannot be trained, no more arrive during the game, you start with as many as you will ever have, you must evade the Soviets and make them stronger!)
Lieutenant Colonel Tanner (Great General graphic, seasoned and shot down air force pilot who is ready for anything)

Soviet Land Unit Types
Latino Conscripts (Infantry graphic) (really cheap... can only be promoted once) (can be trained)
T-72 (Panzer graphic) (Drill I, Combat I) (can be trained)
Mil Mi-24 (Gunship graphic) (Ambush, Sentry) (can be trained)
Soviet Infantry (Marine graphic) (City Raider I) (can be trained)
Soviet Mechanized Infantry (Mechanized Infantry graphic) (City Raider I, Combat I, Blitz) (can be trained)
Spetsnaz/Commandos (Navy SEAL graphic) (Amphibious, Commando, Shock) (cannot be trained, you start with a few, and get more as the game goes on)
Soviet Artillery (Artillery graphic) (City Raider I, Accuracy) (can be trained)
RPG-7 Squad (SAM Infantry graphic) (Interception I) (can be trained)
Special Units
VDV / Paratroopers (I need a graphic and some gameplay suggestions?) (Charge, Drill I, Shock, Tactics) (cannot be trained, you start with a few, and get more as the game goes on)
General Bratchenko (Great General graphic, can give promotions)
Colonel Ernesto Bella (Great General graphic, Cuban colonel that can give promotions)
Elite Mounted Division (Cossacks graphic, but this unit is a big *maybe*, I was thinking that troops on horses might be a bit more efficient at killing guerillas than tanks... so I was thinking of having these mounted units that are very elite, but I wouldn't know how to balance their power so they are only good at killing guerillas, but not good at killing tanks or other obviously more powerful units) (Blitz, Combat I, Mobility, Pinch) (cannot be trained, you start with a few, and that is all)

And also, does anyone know of a good graphic for a missile launcher vehicle, like the one from Civ3? These would be excellent. And a paratrooper graphic, and a good graphic to use for Mounted Resistance (see above). All of these would be useful.

Is there a way to make it so certain promotions cannot be given? For the Latino (Mexican and Cuban) conscripts, I want only one promotion to be allowed. For all of the Soviet units, I do not want any guerilla or woodsmen promotions to be allowed. Is this possible? And how do I mark what is a Recon unit, what is a Gunpowder unit, a Melee unit, etc.?

Is there a way to make units appear via events, or when a city is captured? I might use a Mongolian tent-esque unit to produce partisans for the Americans. But I would also just like units to randomly generate (or not randomly, but when a city is taken).

EDIT: I found lots of great graphics.