MEM2 Medieval Britain and Ireland

[KingArthur]

What is it
A scenario for the MEM2 mod focused on Medieval Britain and Ireland. It features a detailed map of Britain and Ireland with
18 playable kingdoms. Ideal for playing out your wildest fantasies of conquering the whole of the Isles as Cornwall, Wales or Orkney

Special Features
1066 is simulated by a triggered war between Wessex and Normandy. This should happen around 96 turns into the game.

I have included some Groovy music too so be sure to turn on the volume

Download
http://www.atomicgamer.com/files/95886/medieval-europe-mod-scenario-1066

NOTE: The MEM2 mod is required to play this scenario

The North of Britain
The far north including mainland Caithness and Sutherland is firmly under the control of the Jarldom of Orkney.
The Western coastal fringes and islands are claimed by the vikings based on the Isle of Mann: the so called Kingdom of the Isles.
In the remaining lands of the North four distinct peoples fight for preeminence: the Scots of Alba, the Strathclyde British,
the Pictishmen of Moray and the Anglo-Saxons of Bernicia.


The South of Britain
The vikings control large parts of the south having conquered the anglo-saxon kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia along with
much of Mercia. There is a very real danger that the remaining anglo-saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex could be extinguished
for good and with it any concept of a kingdom of England. The ancient British peoples can also be found here in the mountains of
Wales and in the fragile corner of the island called Cornwall or Kernow - their future is not certain but at least they have a fighting
chance.


Ireland
The High Kingship of Ireland is contested by the three most powerful native kingdoms: Ulster, Connacht and Munster. The vikings
have established ports at Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick and will surely have a say in any matters of kingship.

 

[smirnoff]

this quite look interesting

 

[Blue Monkey]

Dreamt of a "Táin" scenario. Looks like this comes pretty close.

 

[Yoda Power]

This is what you get for being stuck abroad without acces to civ.

I'll give it a try and give you my comments by the end of the year.

 

[KingArthur]

this quite look interesting

That's intentional

Dreamt of a "Táin" scenario. Looks like this comes pretty close.

Yes me too but this is not really it; I have some ideas though maybe we can run through them over PM?

This is what you get for being stuck abroad without acces to civ.

I'll give it a try and give you my comments by the end of the year.

Shame on you Hope you get a chance to try it.

 

[Rambuchan]

Oooooh, I know this is going to be really good fun! Good job sir.

 

[nick0515]

This looks great! Thanks KA. This is kind of like a sequal to the Rood and The Dragon. Incidently I'm working on a kind of prequal to the that scenario focusing on the Romano-British 400AD - 600AD.

I'll have to give this ago soon and possibly steal your map. MEM II is my all time favourite mod so it's great to see another scenario for it come out!

 

[pvincent100]

Cool, downloading now - I cant wait!!

 

[KingArthur]

Yay some interest in the scenario. Do tell us what you like/don't like as I try to improve it.

 

[Takhisis]

Is math sin! Glé mhath! Tha e mór, tha e brèagha!

I must download this. And report, of course!

 

[Blue Monkey]

Played one game to get a basic feel and now playing a second.

First time out played as the orange men. Fun while learning the ropes. By the time Eire was conquered there were still a few unclaimed places to establish ports in Britain. Not sure if you meant to leave it so easy to get a force established without declaring war.

Left Dublin alone until towards the latter part of unifying Eire. The fairy ring was enough of a clue not to mess with the Sidhe. Or maybe they're Danann?



The Whiskey pedia icon differs from the graphic on the map. Maybe one of many changes you've planned for the next iteration?

Second time out playing as the Normans. Caught the 1066 victory track right away. Advanced until just before the end - holding off for later triggering. Without something in the pedia not sure if I'm using it properly. The treasure / princess unit doesn't seem to be movable. AoI has it worked out, but I know a lot of people have trouble getting it functional in other scenarios. Despite that another enjoyable game in progress. Nice having a "moat" while forces build up for conquest.

In both games the Saxons are properly aggressive. Strathclyde is a big troublemaker as well. would rank Mercia 3rd in that respect - at least in these two games. Both Man & Wales have been very accommodating with passage rights. Makes counter-attacking those rivals straightforward.

 

[KingArthur]

First time out played as the orange men. Fun while learning the ropes. By the time Eire was conquered there were still a few unclaimed places to establish ports in Britain. Not sure if you meant to leave it so easy to get a force established without declaring war.

AI tends to swallow up land most of the time in my games but warfare tends to be pretty rampant in Britain so some razing may have been going on to open up the map. Or it could be the unclaimed spots are Beach terrain which doesn't support cities.

Left Dublin alone until towards the latter part of unifying Eire. The fairy ring was enough of a clue not to mess with the Sidhe. Or maybe they're Danann?

Spooky - that ring road was inadvertently inherited from a previous use of this map in another scenario. I must have decided to leave it in or forgot to remove it. It's supposed to be the site of the hill of Tara (a bit off geographically) so Tuatha Dé Danann would be correct.

The Whiskey pedia icon differs from the graphic on the map. Maybe one of many changes you've planned for the next iteration?

Ah yes it's on my list.

Second time out playing as the Normans. Caught the 1066 victory track right away. Advanced until just before the end - holding off for later triggering. Without something in the pedia not sure if I'm using it properly.

It's for AI only to trigger war between Normandy and Wessex. Actually I was originally going to make Normandy non-playable but then decided it was too fun to leave them out. Had to do a bit of rebalancing though so I'm not sure - let me know how you get on - the Norman Knights should prove useful.

The treasure / princess unit doesn't seem to be movable. AoI has it worked out, but I know a lot of people have trouble getting it functional in other scenarios. Despite that another enjoyable game in progress.

Strange, those units are "vanilla" MEM2 so should function. I will have a look.

In both games the Saxons are properly aggressive.

Yes they start off strong and can steamroll the others. Nice if you want an easy game and also prove a challenge for the human player.

Strathclyde is a big troublemaker as well. would rank Mercia 3rd in that respect - at least in these two games. Both Man & Wales have been very accommodating with passage rights. Makes counter-attacking those rivals straightforward.

It's usually York in my games that do quite well and Alba tends to not do as well as I hoped. Strathclyde - I must admit I have a soft spot for them. My father is from Dumbarton so I may have subconsciously made them stronger than they should be.

Thanks for the report!

 

[Blue Monkey]

AI tends to swallow up land most of the time in my games but warfare tends to be pretty rampant in Britain so some razing may have been going on to open up the map. Or it could be the unclaimed spots are Beach terrain which doesn't support cities.

Meant areas where there was a tile or two of unclaimed land where beaches and borders intersected. The beaches helped leave a narrow corridor for access to that land with only a turn at most of unsanctioned "passing through". what's settleable is pretty prime. flood plains, hill with adjacent grassland. Good spots to establish a strongly defended port and rush-build cultural expansion while methodically transporting invasion forces. Areas that exist from the start & don't get claimed before they become useful. The area around the Mouth of the Severn is a prime example. not complaining. Just pointing out a useful advantage.

Spooky - that ring road was inadvertently inherited from a previous use of this map in another scenario. I must have decided to leave it in or forgot to remove it. It's supposed to be the site of the hill of Tara (a bit off geographically) so Tuatha Dé Danann would be correct.

I'd leave it. Doesn't really affect game play. It's a clever in-joke or way to landmark terrain without using landmark terrain. first thought was fairy ring. Then immediately thought of Tara. Danann = Dane isn't too far a stretch even if it's just a paronomastic connection.

It's usually York in my games that do quite well and Alba tends to not do as well as I hoped. Strathclyde - I must admit I have a soft spot for them. My father is from Dumbarton so I may have subconsciously made them stronger than they should be.

Haven't played a stating position on Britain yet. York may prove troublesome in that situation. The Irish were very well established before encountering them.

A strong Strathclyde makes sense to me - the back & forth of the scotti raids, the Dál Riata, etc. In the game they prematurely invaded Irish territories more than once - as did Mann - then were again trouble on Britain's west coast while I was trying to juggle wars with several smaller states.

A simple note to the player clarifying the 1066 track: just fortify the ship & ignore. Works for either side.

Forgot to ask above about the lack of fog of war. Makes strategic planning a lot simpler. Is it intentional for the whole map to be revealed from the start?

 

[KingArthur]

Re. FOW - it's intentional because of the large number of cities on the map - with FOW it was a right pain pacifying the AI just to move through their territory in order to reveal a bit of the map.

 

[Rambuchan]

Finally took this baby for a whirl and I'm having good fun as Alba.

Here's a game report of sorts, with comments on the scenario and a few minor notes beneath.

---

I spent the first 40 odd turns grabbing nearby land and resources, building roads, raising a decent amount of troops and getting production up. During this time, Orkney moved on the bees wax to my north west, so I quickly turfed them out of that city they'd built and made peace. I also had the Manx declare war on me, for what I don't know. They had no hope of getting anything. So I also made a point of grabbing me some whisky from the Manx and turning them into friends.

Thereafter, and now with Slave Markets in place all over, I focused almost exclusively on troop build up with a view to dispatching Moray. Just as I was about to get that war going Strathclyde jumped me. Luckily I had my converted Manx friends to call in against them, my roads all well connected and my stacks built up for Moray. So I moved the troops (archers and swordsmen) down and, after a siege of a few turns, I took Dumbarton, though I did give your dad's ancestors safe passage. After their capital fell, Strathclyde lost about three more cities to me pretty quickly. I also captured a wonder they had built, but I don't now recall which one that was.

War weariness was setting in, so I made peace, leaving the Strathclyders with just three more cities on the map and not much hope. Within about 5 turns my stacks were back up on my northern borders and I declared on Moray. So great were the stacks that they just folded under the onslaught. As I drove north to their final city, my troops' blood lust was up. So, once Moray was gone, I just continued up into Orkney's holdings, looking to drive them off and be free of any mainland competition to my north. With their beserkers, which I foolishly didn't expect the Orcadians to have as I they were quite backward, they put up fairly good resistance. But I was by now pumping out knights, so had not only a superior counter for them but a counter which got there fast. Within about 15 turns Orkney had been dispatched to the islands and the highlands and lowlands were all mine.

This allowed me to focus once again on infrastructure and I got in place Manors, Temples, Harbours and the like. I also started striking luxuries deals with those whom I'd met, giving away my new abundant source of Moray wool for Dyes, Barley and such stuff. My population was higher than any other by this point, even the Normans', so I was streaking ahead in techs too.

Once I was happy with the state of my cities and economy I started amassing troops on my southern borders. Having positioned myself as the top dawg over the highlands and lowlands, all Clansmen heeded my call to arms and I had swarms of them ready to join my knights and newly constructed trebuchets. It was time to finish those Strathclyders for good. They lasted just 4 turns and I was ready to turn to Bernicia, who were starting to get jumpy and irritable.

Whilst I was making my preparations to move on Edinburgh, those Bernicians kept violating my territory, as though I was some cheap Glasgow lass. When I closed my legs and told them where they should stick it instead, they declared war on me. Which was perfect, a round of "We Love the King" and no need to be the one to declare on them. As Bernicia had built themselves a good kingdom and had maintained a decent position in the power and tech leagues, I decided to call in Jorvik against them. It proved to be both a shrewd and necessary move, because there was quite an army that came pouring over into my southern lands. Whilst Jorvik kept them at bay from my very southern most (formerly Strathclyder) cities, I pushed east along the coast and managed to take Edinburgh.

I've now captured three cities off Bernicia and the war continues. Their resistance is beginning to fail and I am now pushing down towards the Tyne, which will be mine all mine. However, they have somehow called in The Five Burghs to ally with them. Though the Burghs are far away, they have become the second most powerful civ after me, having taken many cities off both East Anglia and Wessex. So far the Burghs have only sent small groups of knights up against me and they've been picked off fairly easily. I look forward to whittling their troops down further as I push on for Geordieland.

---

You've put together a really good soundtrack. It's immersive, atmospheric, (mostly) authentic, yet fairly diverse and boy do those Total War boys make some great music. You've also chosen some very good wonders for the setting and time period, my favourite being the Stone of Destiny, though not for its effects. That award probably goes to Canterbury Cathedral. Good choice of civs too. Plenty of variety, regional intrigue and, of course, balance.

Just two very minor things I spotted whilst playing. Firstly, the in city luxuries pcx doesn't seem to quite right. The salt is showing as silks in city. Secondly, I reckon the civ adjectives might be a bit confusing for some. East Anglia and The Five Burghs are both described as Danish. Whilst this is accurate, it can lead to some confusion in diplomacy and gauging one's opponents.

Top work, sonny Jim. It's crisp and really good fun.

 

[Terrible_Demise]

hey, atomic gamers is busted. Can someone re-upload this scenario? Thanks!

 

[Blue Monkey]

hey, atomic gamers is busted. Can someone re-upload this scenario? Thanks!

I second that emotion! Ozy?

 

[Takhisis]

I've been checking; I have the Going Viking scenario folder still around, but no MEM.

 

[ronning]

I'm pretty sure that I have it. I'll see if I can find it.

Edit...

Wrong thread, I meant to post in the Thread about the medieval mod....

 

[Node60]

I understand that we are talking about this file:

https://cloud.mail.ru/public/Muqs/PL2oBpYVe