very nice ThERat
you're in.
my preferences to play would probably be UK, France, or Arab League maybe.
here's some more info:
there are a few key aspects to this mod that differ some from conventional mods and epic games. the first is the concept of "raw materials". now, for those familar with our Age of Imperialism scenario (AoI), you;ll know exactly what this is...in that they're units that are autorpoduced by certain city improvements and must be "captured" by a friendly ground unit w/ an A/D value (ie no arty) and then sent to a VP locale. once there, one (1) VP is wared along w/ 50 gold.
occupying a VP = 5 VPs per turn.
thus the two forms of accumulating VPs are the main ways to "win" the scenario.
think of the Middle Ages civ3conquests scenario where you have to "capture" the relic and return it back to Europe...it is the same concept.
these "raw materials" units are spawned by city imp's that are within the radius of certain resources. for example, Petroleum is within the city radii of both Dallas and Houston in the US. accordingly, these cities can build the Oil Fields improvement which spawns the "raw materials" every 10 turns. this applies to all strategic resources outside of the country ones. there are lots of them all over the map and their spawn rates vary due to their availability, preciousness, etc. so Uranium Mines spawn more often than, say, Bauxite Mines.
air and sea trade are disabled for this scenario. this is mainly done to reduce the turn times and to also "isolate" certain resources (eg the country ones).
in conjunction w/ the "raw materials", managing our economy, no matter who we play with, will be paramount. of course, the high end civs like the US and USSR have lots of room for growth and relatively high unit caps (free units as per govt type). however, there comes the time, playing as any civ, when we will have to decide where to stack up. this is b/c once we get close to the free unit cap for our govt type, the unit maintanance costs start kicking in...and let me tell ya - it can get ugly and fast, especially if there aren't sufficient reserves and we're in the midst of a war (war wearinees get be wicked for non-commie civs). so geenrating gold through the raw materials, road and highway construction, and tax dudes in the city screen.
population growth rates for TCW Fifties is much higher that standard civ3 rules. this allows for more chances for us to use the citizens once they grow large enough.
military strategy is most definitely used despite all of the other game elements. there are a few areas, i think, that merit discussion.
if we play as a blue civ and want to operate any form of a blue water navy, we'll absolutely have to make sure we have proper convoy duties. this means that we'll have to conduct routine screening and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) on the high seas. this is what the destroyers (DDs) and frigates (FGs) are in there for...to "detect invisible" subs that Ivan cranks out like there's no tomorrow (autoproduced in a few locations). protecting the carrier battle groups (CBGs) is another top priority for the blue civs, especially since the carrier units can't be replaced so quickly (unbuildable, autopro'd instead but not often). playing as Ivan means that sinking the CBGs is perhaps the top naval priority.
i normally like to build up a front line force of fighters and fighter bombers and use them in a first wave role (best D values). once i send these in and the coast is clear (ie no enemey interceptors), i send in the med and heavy bombers. of course, often times we won't have the luxury of stacking up on air units like that...and that's mainly due to which civ we take and economics.
regular Infantry units cost nothing against our unit cap (via gove type) nor do they cost against unit maintanance. iow, they're "free" with regard to our economy. all other units require maintanance. so when in doubt (ie on the verge of financial collapse, it can happen! trust me!), build regular infantry
