The Mithridatic Wars

[Osakasayama]

While knowing few people play Civ4 nowadays, I was still bored enough to make a scenario for it in 2016 (right before civ6!). This isn't exactly my first scenario, but it is indeed my first to publish.

Download @ the Database!

This is a scenario based on the Mithridatic Wars, a.k.a. the three wars between Mithridates VI of the Kingdom of Pontus and the Roman Republic. The scenario loosely follows the First War, though elements from the later wars (piracy, Armenian conquests, etc.) are also represented in a quasi-historical style.
The map, which stretches from the Adriatic coast to the Caspian sea, is based on the map of embryodead's Sword of Islam Mod with slight modifications.

There are two files within the .zip: the "PlatyBuilder" and the "Modless" versions.

- The PlatyBuilder version is the main scenario. This one requires Platy World Builder to be running as a Mod. (The map will load up on vanilla-BTS, but it will be severely unbalanced.)

- The Modless version is, well, the one that works without any Mods

The former is more sophisticated as a scenario, but it may be slightly unbalanced due to the larger number of units. The latter is more balanced but it lacks the semi-historical context I tried to achieve in the former.

Playable Civs:

Spoiler :

- Kingdom of Armenia
- Parthian Empire
- Kingdom of Pontus
- Republic of Rome

Odds and Ends:

Spoiler :

- Many Roman and Pontic units are immobilized at start in the PB scenario. You must wait several turns for them to become useful.
- The obviously out-of-place Sugar, Spice, Wine, Rice and Dye resources represent Honey, Apples, Olives, Barley / Sorghum and Cotton / Hemp resources in the original SoI map.
- Some of the pre-placed units are UU's of other civs and some of them have altered Unit Strengths. Use them wisely, since you won't be able to rebuild them!
- Much of Rome's Greek and Anatolian cities start under city revolt. Be aware that even Pontus under the AI will eventually take them along with your vassals.

Credits:

Spoiler :

- embryodead for the base map from Sword of Islam & Bobby Martnen for the Western portion

- platyping for Platy World Builder, the tool I used to make the scenario.

And of course, Screenshots...

Spoiler :

 

[Tigranes]

Being called Tigranes myself it's nice to see Tigranes leader in the game! Civ 4 will never get old, I just finished my first 200 turn game in Civ 5, and boy 1 upt rule is so annoying! Alllied City States place a unit on every tile of their land so no Missionary or Great Merchant can conduct their business. What a joke! Keep up the good work!

P.S. What's up with Seleucids, though? There are no leaders for that civ, they are not even on the scoreboard, I am not sure how to interact with them or what they are... Bug? I am using Platy's version...

 

[Osakasayama]

Being called Tigranes myself it's nice to see Tigranes leader in the game!

Ha! I knew you'd reply first! I've remembered your username from lurking around the forums.

P.S. What's up with Seleucids, though? There are no leaders for that civ, they are not even on the scoreboard, I am not sure how to interact with them or what they are... Bug? I am using Platy's version...

That's not a bug. I've set the Seleucids as a minor civ along with the Pirates.
Should I make them a full civ? Due to my skimpy research, I wasn't really sure if the Seleucids were still alive at the time, with or without any power.
I also thought Armenia & Parthia would just kill them soon and I didn't want them to vassalize to Rome or Pontus.

Is the historicity and balance okay in this scenario? I am not too deeply knowledged in classical Armenia or Parthia, so I placed them pretty arbitrary.

 

[Tigranes]

I actually liked it a lot, and was wondering what specifically drew your interest to this particular time and place in history? What made Mithridates so interesting for you?

I liked your city placement, Seleucids been on the decline for a long time, so making them minor power is appropriate.

 

[Osakasayama]

Well, one day I felt a sudden urge from out of nowhere to make a civ4 scenario

I wanted to do something outside of the massive "Earth XXX AD/BC" type scenarios, preferably something simple and local-scale.

I noticed there are few classical-era (non-modpack-based) scenarios in civfanatics but I didn't want to do an intensive Roman Empire thing, so I chose the Pontic front as a start.
I threw in Armenia and Parthia because I noticed I could turn this into a 4P map instead of a duel just by extending the map a bit further.

Mithridates is too obscure nowadays... I don't even know if anyone made a leaderhead for him
He may not have been a great general as Hannibal, but he still deserves fame as another nemesis to Rome.