Hammer of the North v2.9 PBEM

[Morten Blaabjerg]

This is the thread for the second official PBEM of "Hammer of the North" - a scenario simulating the viking raids and invasions of the 8th-11th centuries.

You can download the latest version of the scenario from the scenario thread :

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=2536690#post2536690

Players

Norsemen : Duke of Marlbrough
Danes : Morten Blaabjerg
Germans : Peaster
Anglo-Saxons : la fayette
Franks : Patient English
Frisians : Arthedain
Scots : open (Patient English)

I hope some of the veteran players from the previous Hammer pbem game will sign up below for the new game, and new players are invited to join in. Please sign in below

 

[Morten Blaabjerg]

Arthedain and DoM, are you still onboard? - as we start the game a fresh, you can get to decide a new which civs you want to play

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

I'm open to any spot. I guess I'd lean towards the Franks just because I've already spent some time looking at them from last time.

 

[Morten Blaabjerg]

I've put you up as the Franks, duke - Looking forward to playing with you again - this time from the 'other' perspective

 

[Arthedain]

I'll sign up as the Anglo-Saxons but I'm willing to play a smaller civ (scots, frisians) if we get enough players.

 

[Morten Blaabjerg]

@Arthedain, you're onboard

 

[Morten Blaabjerg]

@Arthedain and Duke
I've pm'ed some players and asked if they would like to play. Do you know anyone who might be interested? - What is the minimum no. of players, you'd prefer for us to start?

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

I'd say 5 so all the major powers are in the game.

 

[Arthedain]

I agree with DoM but a Scottish player would be nice, and moe challenging for the Norse/Dane player.

 

[Eivind IV]

I havn't played a PBEM at civfan since...ww2 , But give me my ancestors, the Norsemen, please!

 

[Morten Blaabjerg]

Happy to see you onboard, Eivind! - we're almost there...

 

[Peaster]

I could play the Germans, or any other civ you suggest.

I have played a little PBEM at Apolyton, but would appreciate any advice about your house rules or the scenario.

 

[Morten Blaabjerg]

Peaster, welcome onboard! - I'll write you in for the Germans

Concerning the scenario, you can dl and try it out from the link in the first post. There are lots of tactical concerns you can learn from studying the first pbem of the previous version. We use Civ2dip for diplomatic deals - and LacyCiv for those of us who like to use it (otherwise civ2dip can also be used for restoring damaged production queues). Otherwise things should be fairly simple.

 

[Peaster]

Thanks Morten ! I have used Civ2Dip a few times already for trades, but I might need help later with damaged queues (at Apolyton, we just replay).

I DL'd yesterday, but may have the wrong combination of files installed (For example, I note that marketplaces are supposed to cost 50 shields, but they really cost 80). I installed v2.82, then pedia_events, then the patch - is that correct? This created a hammer.scn (1/05) and a hammer_v2.scn (7/04) etc.

BTW - Are we allowed to reveal the starting map? To examine rules.txt and events.txt? These are all allowed in the Apolyton game, but I thought I should check.

 

[Morten Blaabjerg]

Hmmm.... well, it seems by mistake I've included two different scn-files. The latest one created is the "hammer.scn". Just scrap the other one. Sorry for the inconvenience. Otherwise the "patch.zip" and "pedia_events.zip" should contain about the same files, so you have the right setup.

The shield box contains 16 rows, thats why improvements and units are more expensive than the numbers in the rules.txt.

Revealing the map may ruin the game's exploration element IMO, but only for the first time you play it. I know for sure that the Duke examines the events and rules pretty meticulously, before playing - Its a matter of taste and preference, and personally I don't have objections to it.

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

I usually don't 'reveal' the map via cheat-mode but I do cycle through a couple turns for each player to see what they have and their starting situations. Otherwise you're going into an completely unknown situation.

Yes, I scrub through the rules and events file before a game, to not do so (espeically in such an events driven game as this one) only puts you at a disadvantage.

 

[Morten Blaabjerg]

The events-driven mechanisms, that DoM refers to, are mainly these :

1) Christian civs get free monks at intervals, and viking civs get a gold bonus by destroying them ('raiding')
2) When a king dies, a 'sword of coronation' appears in designated spots, which has to be destroyed in order to gain a new king
3) Viking civs get cash bonus'es on conquest of important cities.

Other special rules, that have a great influence on the game is that techs can be gained by conquest, and that main christian techs cancels viking weaponry - law tech cancels raiders, and baptism cancels the pagan weapons of destruction (the 'hammers') - also referred to as 'viking nukes'. Theology and other main christian techs will enforce baptism on viking players. This leaves the viking players with the dilemma, that they cannot conquer too much, without saying goodbye to the prospect of getting their pagan weapons and accepting baptism.

 

[Duke of Marlbrough]

Another important events driven item is when the Invaders get free units in your face. If you know where these spots are you can 'cover' them and keep the units from appearing there.

Basically if you know where units and such items may appear you can better prepare yourself for these events and even 'shape' them how you want sometimes.

 

[Morten Blaabjerg]

True - forgot about those - They were mainly included with respect to the AI, since they (sortof) help AI viking civs to 'get more involved in the raiding idea' than they otherwise would be.

 

[Peaster]

Thanks for the tips ! Now, I am off to do my `homework'