Hatul_Gadol
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- Jan 6, 2024
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“House of the Dragon: Battle for Westeros – v.1.0” (HOD: BfW v.1.0), released August 27, 2024
A century after Aegon's Landing, the continent of Westeros remains sparsely populated. Yet, the catastrophic Doom of Valyria obliterates the mighty Metropolis. The noble houses of Old Valyria, along with newly risen ones, now vie for control over the riches of Westeros, wielding the cold steel of their swords and the fire and fury of their dragons. But who will cross the Narrow Sea in force — invading hordes from the vast lands of Essos, or the united armies of the Seven Kingdoms, seeking to reclaim their lost territories?
And only a few know that uniting the lands and forces of Westeros in time is the only chance to withstand a deadly menace that is said to be waking up in the far North...
Disclaimer:
“House of the Dragons: Battle for Westeros” is a fan made mod project for the game “Sid Meier’s Civilization III Conquests”. This project is 100% unofficial and in no way endorsed by Firaxis Games, Inc. and/or Home Box Office, Inc.
The author does not accept donations nor does receive any money from this project.
Download Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kV4NcdbUSVgyuHDBUnePcnP_eGja0_du/view?usp=sharing
Additionally, please download version 1.1 biq file attached to this post, and use it instead of version 1.0 in the archive.
Installation: Unzip the files to Conquests/Scenarios or Conquests/Conquests folder (usually C:/Program Files/Infogrames Interactive/Civilization III/Conquests/Scenarios).
There should be "Westeros" folder and one "HOD_Battle for Westeros_v1_0.biq" file inside.
Dear Community,
In the post below, I present a scenario and modpack entitled “House of the Dragon: Battle for Westeros”. For nearly 20 years now, Civ3 community members are discussing a desire for Game of Thrones (GOT) scenario, yet I have not seen any solid work on this subject: please correct me if I am wrong.
The pack and scenario presented below is based on the platform of the amazing modpack MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN MOD II (MEMII, dated year 2009) by members embryodead & Yoda Power, - whom I unfortunately was not able to contact. A great Civ3 map of Westeros was created in 2005 by the member black_rose, and was partially modified by me. Numerous additional units and icons that fit the purpose were taken by me from various modpacks and scenarios, which I have enjoyed for decades: many of them by Tom2050. I have made an attempt to list all contributors in the Credits text file, also repeated below: I, however, apologize if I unwillingly missed anyone. Please kindly inform me so, and I will gladly update both entries for your or your friend’s credit. Special thanks and my deepest gratitude to Civinator, whose support helped me overcome critical graphic issues. His invaluable advice helped me integrate numerous colorful icons and screens, enhancing the game's flavor, and also fix critical crashing errors. And indeed, from the start, this project was inspired by the amazing G.R.R. Martin’s books and movies “Game of Thrones” and then “House of the Dragon”, - of which I am a big fan.
Numerous data entries and images (such as maps, coats of arms, names, etc.) were taken from Internet resources, including Forum of Thrones Wikia (forumofthrones.fandom.com), Wiki of Westeros (gameofthrones.fandom.com), A Wiki of Ice and Fire (awoiaf.westeros.org), and some less important sources. For illustrations, I have accumulated an assay of colorful images from the real medieval manuscripts, covering many aspects of life and death in the era: ranging from dragonslaying to “Amour courtois”.
Many concepts making a backbone of this scenario were tested by me in the privately modified “Hegemon” and MEMII scenarios. Interestingly, a key concept of the chain modification of the hero were especially tested by me in the modified Vanilla “Sengoku” scenario. In it I was able to get additional tier-1 Shoguns in the form of military leaders – that instead of creating an army or finishing an improvement could be sequentially upgraded up to tier-10 Shoguns, if I’ve got enough gold and according to the level of my research. This concept presents an interesting challenge: active and aggressive war can yield a number of heroes. And getting behind in science can allow one to accumulate gold to upgrade them to some rank, - then crushing the leaders of the race. Seeing a flock of Shoguns annihilating an impregnable neighbor sure brought much fun to this old beautiful scenario. And now imagine dragons in this role…
Limitations:
The scenario is limited to Westeros only, generally following an outline of the “House of the Dragon” (HOD), where major and minor powers clash to unite the continent. Keeping in mind a prophesied deadly menace from the North, - but perhaps to reconquer a huge metropolis continent of Essos (and one more they say lies behind it). Or will it be united Dothraki and powerful Free Cities instead, crossing Narrow Sea in force and crushing war-tired separatist kingdoms in resource-rich Westeros? I am much inspired by the idea to continue/expand my scenario (if considered successful) into this interesting path.
There is no part of White Walkers on this step: again, following HOD outline. I have some ideas how to introduce them later: there is no lack of nice zombie units in many fine Civ3 scenarios!
Basic concepts:
A concept of Dragons is already outlined above. In addition to the limited number of dragons assigned to most of the major players at the start, players can get more precious dragons if lucky at war. A research path allows growing first-relatively-week dragons into effective superpower. In addition, a Dragons Nest small wonder allows getting dragons too, though most rarely. While any Knight or Lord with a couple of men-at-arms can deal with a Young Dragon with a relative ease, - Adult and then Mature dragon can burn a whole army into ashes: essentially, “as seen on TV”. One would need a good pack of warriors, war machines and perhaps some wildfire, - and even better one’s own dragon or two – to finish off a mighty opponent. Upgrading dragons is EXPENSIVE. So balancing research progress and money saving presents interesting challenge: having a dozen of little dragons would not help against even a single high-tier one.
Second, a path of development is relatively slow. Remember, in medieval times (as well as in the ancient eras), life and war did not change much for generations: and Age of Iron lasted for well over 2500 years. Thus, I thought it’s logical that old-time units and improvements should still find good use even at the end of scenario. Due to this, I have reduced the upgrade to the very minimum, to some units only. A player can choose to build a number of weaker and cheaper units instead of a limited number of top warriors: in fact, one would need both of them! Thus, weaker units are not replaced by the newer stronger ones, - they are joined by them. Historically, in hand-to-hand combat, even an armed peasant had a limited chance of killing a knight. Indeed, in most cases veteran knights would cut their way through the crowd of spearmen and archers with ease: yet I have witnessed repeatedly as unlucky Knights, Lords and Princes, - and even Dragons! – get killed in an unfortunate battle. Upgrading Lord or Prince is EXPENSIVE too, so one might select to keep most of them not upgraded, since they are quite good as is.
There are no Barracks in the scenario, and most unit progress comes from combat successes, - with the exception of one precious Small Wonder (Master-at-Arms) and one very expensive Great Wonder that can build veteran units and (more importantly) upgrade some units. This concept follows medieval realities, before the appearance of large permanent armies. A serious formal training was than provided only for the noble youth and to the private warband of each nobleman, - while a drafted militia generally served as more or less motivated cannon fodder. This concept also decreases the rate of Newborn Dragons appearance (in a form of Military Leaders) and makes each player be rather careful about introducing untrained units into the battle, and protecting precious elite units at the cost of the cheaper ones.
Paved Roads appear relatively early in the game, fastening communications between various parts of your kingdom, - improving production and serving military logistics most, - as it was introduced by the Ancient Romans! Such roads use strategic resources and consume a lot of Serf and Slave labor time, so the network does not grow very fast, - which in turn makes each player a slave hunter. Since regular mines and roads are a priority, paved roads do not start to play any role at all until mid-game. I have tested this concept in the internally modified “MEMII” and “Hegemon” scenarios (though on much later stages) and found that it improves gameplay a lot. It is possible to restrict the movement rate over the Paved Roads with a Flintlock mod (C3X_R15), to say 9 tiles per turn. This mod is also most useful for AI boost, - for using war machines in particular. Seeing an opponent bringing 15 trebuchets and 5 Scorpions to the walls of your city is quite impressive…
Culture is retained at city capture. In medieval times, whole provinces were changing the owners repeatedly, and their peasants, priests, hired soldiers and even smaller rank noblemen often did not care much on who is their Duke or King. The prosperity and peace were often quite more important for them.
The is a limited use for Treasures - produced rarely by some improvements and wonders. Unlike a flow of gold in the “Hegemon” and new “Overlord” scenarios, here they are not that important: yet a need for cash is acute in the game, and getting an occasional moderate Treasure would always be a pleasant surprise.
In addition to major players, there is an assay of minor Houses, - that brings variability and fun to trade, diplomacy and war. And sure gives a player a comfortable room for relatively safe expansion. This concept was earlier introduced in “Swedish Empire” scenario by Big Bopper.
Factions:
Following the literature source, 9 major factions are playable:
- Arryn
- Baratheon
- Greyjoy
- Lannister
- Martell
- Stark
- Tally
- Tyrell
- Targaryen
All major factions start with 4 cities, including a capital (Pop.6) with a Castle, and 3 x Pop.4 cities. All major factions start with 1 Young I Dragon, except for Targaryens (which have 2) and Greyjoys (which have none).
In addition to them, there are 2 secondary factions, that have played important roles in the Martin’s GOT Universe, namely:
- Bolton
- Frey
I was surprised to see those 2 secondary factions often playing important role in the game, and even competing for the leadership. Again, active and lucky warrior can get himself some Dragons, and that would be a factor not to be underestimated!
Finally, there are 20 tertiary factions playing minions for key players. There are from 1 to 3 of them per each major faction. They share their religion, flavor and special/unique units. All tertiary factions start with 1 city Pop.3, without a Castle. By mid-game, they usually grow to 3-4 cities, before being digested by the major factions. However, they sometime form most interesting and challenging coalitions with major factions and between themselves.
There are enough variations caused by faction features (classical combination of being militaristic, seafaring, etc.), religion (game Government), unique units (see below), and map (growth space and resources) to make a scenario interesting no matter which playable faction one selects. For example, Greyjoy and his inferior factions have no workers (Serfs): instead, they have Bondes, armed peasants good both in labor and in basic defense. Both Greyjoy and Martell have additional slaves at the start, which is important for a while. Tally has additional heavy horsemen, which is than a rare find. Etc., etc. And well into middle of the era any player might find out that he/she misses an essential strategic resource such as timber, gold or stone, - without which one can’t build some critical improvements or wonders. And thus, do something in terms of commerce/diplomacy, - or perhaps use his swords and Dragons swiftly.
Religion:
There are 3 religions in the scenario, i.e., game Governments:
- Old Gods – preferred by Stark and his minions, as well as by Bolton
- Faith of the Seven – preferred by the majority of factions
- Drowned God – preferred by Greyjoy and his minions
In the future, a follow-up GOT expansion might also have R'hllor (Lord of Light) and Many-Faced God, well covered in the literature source.
Great Wonders:
Grand Fair, The Water Gardens, Salt & Pepper Trade Company, Great Septa and Grand Tournament - boosts happiness and/or commerce;
Citadel of Maesters – boosts research and produces Wizards (see below);
New Harrenhal Fortress – boosts defense and represents the only installation in the scenario aside of small wonder Master-of-Arms that is able to upgrade the units and provide veteran level for built units.
Night’s Watch, Iron Fleet, Seastone Chair, Poor Fellows, Warrior’s Sons, Brave Companions, Second Sons, Golden Company and finally Iron Throne – produce various units or provide other armed forces boosts.
Small Wonders:
Small Wonders generally follow standard small wonder functions, providing some boost to research, anti-corruption, taxation and production on various stages of the game.
Part of the Small Wonders is organized into a Small Council, which according to the source includes Hand of the King, Master of Coin, Master of Laws, Master of Ships, Master of Whisperers and Master of the Wall (the latter for Old Gods religion factions only).
Of other Small Wonders, a few are interesting:
Kingsguard produces (rarely) highly skilled knights (the best one can have);
Precious Master-at-Arms represents the only installation in the Scenario, except for the Great Wonder New Harrenhal Fortress, that can upgrade the units (including Dragons) and provide veteran level for built units;
Dragon Nest produces (very rarely) newborn dragons;
Alchemists' Guild improves research and produces some Wildfire Pots: valuable and effective mean to weaken or kill heavily armed units and even Dragons. Note it could explode, ruining half of the city;
Finally, the Palace itself produces (very rarely) Princes; it also serves a base for some other small wonders associated with the Capital only.
Improvements:
Improvements are about standard too, with less than traditional impact upon research. Only one city improvement (namely, Maester) increases research; some more could be added by some Small Wonders. This ensures that on the small map we use, the scientific progress is not very fast. The Castle represents most useful improvement: though expensive and requiring important strategic resources, it not only improves defense and protects from stealth attacks (enforced by Adult and Mature Dragons, and also assassins), but also produces powerful Lords, though rarely. Note that an Adult Dragon has enough firepower to destroy a precious Castle in one salvo, to the shock of defenders. As mentioned above, the barracks are not available, and all units are normally produced as trained, not veteran.
Resources:
There are 9 luxury resources (8 standard ones + the Fruits), 5 strategic ones (Gold, Horses, Stone, Timber and Iron) and an assay of bonus resources. Their distribution is natural: furs are at the north, fruits and silks are at the south, etc. Of the bonus resources, the Major City is unusual. With +1/+1/+1 stats, it is placed exactly where major cities are located at the actual map of Westeros: some of which are pre-placed for the players, and some not founded yet.
Civilization Advances:
I have really enjoyed building a logical system of research, with about 2.5 eras filled with interesting interconnecting research targets. Some advances are associated with Dragons. The reserve gives 1.5 eras space for (hopefully) further GOT expansion of the current Scenario.
Units:
Using MEMII platform, I was able to select from a variety of medieval fighters and ships; some more unit graphics were added from other scenarios available in the download library of our forum. I hope the players will enjoy flavors of the factions, where some Scandinavian (for Greyjoy, Stark and their minions) and Arabic (for Dorn factions) terms were introduced. Some special units are listed below, though there are indeed more.
Knights, Foot Knights, Lords and Princes, and members of Religious Orders have additional training (+1HP or +2HPs), and noble ones have a zone of control: every attack or defense is built around them. Lord could later be upgraded to Lord Paramount (it is a real term from the books!) and Prince to Prince Royal, but there is always hardly enough money for that…
Desert units built by Dorn factions include foot Desert Warrior, mounted Desert Rider and Desert Knight, which are weaker in defense comparing to their Caucasian counterparts, but can travel the desert faster. There is one desert on the Westeros map, separating Dorn from the rest of the continent, - and this function helps to defend the Dorn from the invaders from the north. But Essos is full of deserts indeed!
Dorn also has two high-end defensive units instead of one: Zamindari Pikeman and unique Halberdier, in parallel. They differ a bit in stats and cost, and micromanagement of city production can help to get better yield for the money. Similarly, Baratheon and his minions have two mid-era key infantry units instead of one: Man-at-Arms and Maceman.
Ironborn – indeed, amphibious crewmen from the islanders, with a rare ability to enslave (associated mostly with Lords).
As in MEMII scenarios, mercenaries could be obtained when strategic resources (Iron and Horses) are missing and only Gold is available, with additional HP and for a higher-than-normal price. Those units include Hired Sword, Mercenary Horseman, Hired Sails and finally Mercenary Elephanteria. With amazing +3HPs, fine attack and defense stats, and a zone of control, very expensive elephants are dangerous for all fighters in the field, and even for smaller Dragons themselves.
Spies and Assassins are expensive units with relatively weak attack, - good to recon, sabotage enemy resources and occasionally kill a weaker unit or enslave a stray Serf.
Wizards – chip and weak units that carry Wildfire Pots and detect Spies and Assassins.
I have tried to balance units well, in terms of stats and cost, - and hope the players will approve my choices. And GOT expansion will certainly start with Bravo and Unsullied units!
Note: Many units of the era, unused in the current version of the scenario, are still present in the Units folder, for future use. Similarly, many older and newer icons are kept inactive, for a potential subsequent use.
Hope you will enjoy!
Sincerely,
Hatul_Gadol
Credits:
Mod and Scenario design:
Hatul_Gaadol, over MEMII platform by embryodead & Yoda Power
Units:
Aki Neuvonen (aaglo), Aluminium, BeBro, Bjornlo, Jake Hower CamJH, CivArmy s.1994, Dom Pedro II, embryodead, Gaias, Kindred72, Kryten, Lab Monkey, Marc Angstadt Kinboat, Micaleus, NavyDawg, Orthanc, Plotinus,
R8XFT, Sandris, Sword of Geddon, Tom2050, utahjazz7, Virote_Considon, Vuldacon, Wyrmshadow, Yoda Power, zulu9812
Leaderheads:
CivArmy s.1994, embryodead, jorde, Piernik, R8XFT, ShiroKobbure, sween32
Interface:
embryodead, mrtn, Olorin0222, PCHighway, Weasel Op, Hatul_Gadol
Map:
black_rose, Hatul_Gadol
Terrain:
Ares de Borg, embryodead, Midnight Piper, Sn00py, Pounder, Rifleman, Yoda Power
Cities:
Aion, embryodead, mrtn, RedAlert, Yoda Power
Improvements, Wonders and Wonder Splashes:
aaglo, AK47, Ares de Borg, Bjornlo, crolador, embryodead, Hrafnkell, Kenta'arka, Lusikka755, mrtn, Ogedei the Mad, Plotinus, R8XFT, Red Alert, Rufus T. Firefly, SWalker, Traianus, Ukas, Unexisted, varwnos, Yoda Power, Hatul_Gadol
Tech Icons:
BeBro, embryodead, Kal-el, Keroro, mrtn, Partizanac, ronning, Rufus T. Firefly, Storm Grunt, utahjazz7, Yoda Power, Hatul_Gadol
Other:
Civilopedia entries, such as maps, coats of arms, names of Houses and heroes, Free Folk tribes, etc. were taken from Internet resources, including Forum of Thrones Wikia (forumofthrones.fandom.com), Wiki of Westeros (gameofthrones.fandom.com), A Wiki of Ice and Fire (awoiaf.westeros.org), and others.
Again, I apologize if I unwillingly missed anyone. Please kindly inform me so, and I will gladly update the list for your or your friend’s credit.
Selecting a Faction:
Second Era Tech Tree:
Diplomacy:
Wonder Splash:
A Newborn Dragon is obtained:
Note a victorious unit and its yield:
I now have 4 Dragons, including 3 Mature ones. It is a time to pay a visit to someone.
Arryns give a determined fight, but their Young Dragon is no match for my Mature one, - "as seen on TV".
Last edited:
To make the unclear screenshots clear, one has to click into those screenshots.
