Intro (same for all scenarios): This is one of a series of campaigns I have created in order to try to create more interesting games. They suggest a number of self restrictions the player has to follow, depending the civilization he is playing. The purpose of them is to
I hope you find the campaigns interesting and have something to say about them.
The Mongols-A boy first learns to ride, then to walk
Rules: Only the fastest available land units are allowed. Can only build warriors (only until horses are secured and they are not to be ever upgraded), chariots, horsemen, UU knights, cavalry and modern armor.
Map: May restart if no realistic native horse resource exists. Old earth is even more favorable to the player than in a normal Mongol campaign. Archipelago is less fun but playable. In fact, while all settings are OK, it is 3 billion, arid, cold, Pangaea, restless that gives the game the best Mongol flavor, with endless wild terrain for the riders to cross and conquer.
Notes: The idea is to recreate Mongol’s people determination to horse riding. The player is expected to run a fun game with lots of horse units for both offense and defense. Defending cities and borders becomes difficult and makes the player nervous, encouraging an aggressive behavior that is consistent with the tribe’s mil and exp traits and a massive horse production that is consistent with the tribe’s historical hordes. In times of war, enemies should not be allowed to easily attack cities with their knights/cavalry/tanks forcing the player to go on the offensive in enemy territory. Makes the defensive bonus of cities built on hills matter more than usual. Attacking is executed with big horse stacks that represent the Mongol historical hordes. There is no infantry around where the injured may rest. Only terrain bonus can protect an injured horseman, it is every man for himself. The player may find the period during expansion more difficult with only warriors to defend himself until all cities are connected and horses have been secured. This also sounds consistent for a nomad civilization-no spearmen are coming from the capital to help . The next difficult stage comes with tanks. If the player balances difficulty level and other self-restrictions perfectly, then the ideal game is one where he obtains a small but not overwhelming advantage during the cavalry wars, and then enters a difficult period of fighting tanks/mech infantries with cavalry until he manages to produce modern armors. The way I play the game (no artillery allowed), bombers become insanely important at that stage. Artillery does not mix well with cavalry for invading purposes anyway and you do not want the enemy inside your borders, close to your cities where you usually bombard them to pieces. No, not this time, unless you have a very secure expanded cultural borderline. This stage represents Mongol’s dedication to tradition while the rest of the world moves forward. And it is very fun, how often do you use cavalry supported by bombers to face the tank armors of the modern, more civilized world?
Difficulty: Small to moderate. Players running despo horsemen-based quick conquests will find nothing challenging here. Builders on the other hand will get much nervous, the settings scream to the player that he has to attack first.
Variants: Similar campaigns can be run by other horse-based civilizations like the Ottomans, the Iroquois etc.
- Create fun, different, challenging and interesting games.
- Offer the game a flavor consistent with each civilization characteristics and history
- Support the civ’s traits and encourage game-play consistent with them.
- Allow players to lower the difficulty level of the game.
I hope you find the campaigns interesting and have something to say about them.
The Mongols-A boy first learns to ride, then to walk
Rules: Only the fastest available land units are allowed. Can only build warriors (only until horses are secured and they are not to be ever upgraded), chariots, horsemen, UU knights, cavalry and modern armor.
Map: May restart if no realistic native horse resource exists. Old earth is even more favorable to the player than in a normal Mongol campaign. Archipelago is less fun but playable. In fact, while all settings are OK, it is 3 billion, arid, cold, Pangaea, restless that gives the game the best Mongol flavor, with endless wild terrain for the riders to cross and conquer.
Notes: The idea is to recreate Mongol’s people determination to horse riding. The player is expected to run a fun game with lots of horse units for both offense and defense. Defending cities and borders becomes difficult and makes the player nervous, encouraging an aggressive behavior that is consistent with the tribe’s mil and exp traits and a massive horse production that is consistent with the tribe’s historical hordes. In times of war, enemies should not be allowed to easily attack cities with their knights/cavalry/tanks forcing the player to go on the offensive in enemy territory. Makes the defensive bonus of cities built on hills matter more than usual. Attacking is executed with big horse stacks that represent the Mongol historical hordes. There is no infantry around where the injured may rest. Only terrain bonus can protect an injured horseman, it is every man for himself. The player may find the period during expansion more difficult with only warriors to defend himself until all cities are connected and horses have been secured. This also sounds consistent for a nomad civilization-no spearmen are coming from the capital to help . The next difficult stage comes with tanks. If the player balances difficulty level and other self-restrictions perfectly, then the ideal game is one where he obtains a small but not overwhelming advantage during the cavalry wars, and then enters a difficult period of fighting tanks/mech infantries with cavalry until he manages to produce modern armors. The way I play the game (no artillery allowed), bombers become insanely important at that stage. Artillery does not mix well with cavalry for invading purposes anyway and you do not want the enemy inside your borders, close to your cities where you usually bombard them to pieces. No, not this time, unless you have a very secure expanded cultural borderline. This stage represents Mongol’s dedication to tradition while the rest of the world moves forward. And it is very fun, how often do you use cavalry supported by bombers to face the tank armors of the modern, more civilized world?
Difficulty: Small to moderate. Players running despo horsemen-based quick conquests will find nothing challenging here. Builders on the other hand will get much nervous, the settings scream to the player that he has to attack first.
Variants: Similar campaigns can be run by other horse-based civilizations like the Ottomans, the Iroquois etc.
