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I had this thought, that I'd try and help out sbatman with his Ancient Greek/Persian scenario, that he suggested in an earlier thread. Well I figured that I could do some stuff while waiting for him to finish the map making, like graphics and such, and what better way to do this than make a new scenario...

So I have begun.

Right now I am making graphics for the units that will populate the map. It is a fun process once you get the hang of it. Trust me, they look great on the map too! However since I have still to make the Subformations and items (something that needs to be done before you can make a unit), I cannot really show them off.

What I can (sort of) show is the map I've made. This is the diplomatic map. It shows off the factions and cities. Perhaps too many cities... but it felt right.

I guess some of you might want to take a closer look at the map. For sake of ease I have used the ANewDawn graphics, except for cities, which I have made like you can see in the image below. Maybe some of you have an idea where this is?

Working on making combat work properly now. Had to scrap an early idea at the concept stage too, about how you would gain new troops. I had planned on making HQs and Formations only available via PP purchase, but that stranded on a number of things. It would however had made armies look more realistic, and encouraged players to play a certain way. So at the moment I am juggling a few other things that might replace that way of doing things.

Anyway, while I am working on combat, I of course had to have some units to do it with. Hence I began populating the map. Here is a little example of what the Empire of Rome and Unified Greece look like. I hope you enjoy it.

I am slowly putting all the units on the map now. It takes some time. I need to do a little research between each nation or group of nations cities and tribes, as well as make some up as I go. So far I've placed the following factions on the map:

Rome
Greece
Carthage
Persia
Egypt
Iberia
Scythia
Celts

Still have a way to go. Five factions are still lacking units, and I need to look at their city's production as well as their total economy. Still I am having fun Here is a picture of parts of Spain (with hexcoloring turned on).

Nice job. A real change of pace.

Thanks Ormand

I think it is time to show off some of the new unit pictures. So here, without too much of an introduction are some Celts. These are some Warriors, which is a substandard infantry unit, Infantry, which is a standard infantry unit, and some slingers, that are light infantry units. This "little" band of troops is quite effective against troops in the open, a bit less when the enemy is in defensive positions.

I agree... WW2, while still loved, could use a change up... this looks like a great mod!!!

We gonna be able to play this?

Thanks, I hope it will be great too

ORIGINAL: ArmouredLion

I agree... WW2, while still loved, could use a change up... this looks like a great mod!!!

Well, I never made a scenario that wasn't playable. Although with 13 regimes (currently) I think I might need to do some AI work too. I don't imagine 13 players finding time to play this.

ORIGINAL: Twotribes

We gonna be able to play this?

Never know... but work on that AI just the same... in case

I've begun some internal playtesting. Mostly to find out if the balance is right, adjusting formations to what works, and removing those that don't. For instance the old Greek formation was 30 Hoplites, 10 Light Infantry and 5 Slingers. That unit had a tendency to become overwhelmed by sheer numbers of enemy troops, so it wasn't that effective. Now I've tried a different make-up of it. 25 Hoplites, 20 Light Infantry and 5 Slingers. Here is a picture of the Phylai in question. Phylai is a Greek formation name, not sure if I'll keep, having trouble finding names for all regimes.

I am working on action cards at the moment. I have made a few of them, but I won't reveal them at this time, except for one. This card allows you to get more PPs the next turn. The amount depends on how many production points you have. So this all sounds good, the card even costs 0 PPs. So what is the deal, nothing in this world is free. Neither is this card. It will cause a morale hit on your troops. So in the end, you have to ask yourself, is it worth it. Obviously if at war, it is a very risky thing to do. In my experiments the effect of this morale hit is over almost in 2 turns. Here is the card.

A Great mod. I´m anxious to playtest it.

I am anxious to get into a state where I feel comfortable letting someone test it. But nearing that point every day I work on it Thanks for the kind words Bombur.

Sometimes you run into problems with scenarios, that will have yourself asking, is this side really viable. Such a Regime are the Nomadic tribes and the Mauretanians. They have approximately the same amout of cities, and the same production output, almost. Compared to their other brothers (other regimes) they are about half the size of the average nation (measured in production points). This makes them pretty non-viable, even though they have been set as allies. They simply don't have the spare production to invest in PPs and other non-combat stuff.

So how to fix? Well, one solution would be to extend the map, but that would possibly lead to more nations that came into the same situation. Even if I did it, it wouldn't be an Ancient Europe map... it would be more of a North African/Europe map. Here is what I did. I made a trade route for each. Every turn, a caravan arrives and gives those two nations an amount of PPs.

But how do you balance this out, when there can be growth of economies (a post for later). You calculate the average production of all the regimes that are not themselves. That way they gain more PPs when there is more economy.

Here is a look at the results of one such Caravan. (Note the amount is randomized between two numbers that are manipulated from the above mentioned average).

Well, could there be more?

Yes. I made it so that you can invest in getting more PPs (more silver, gold and spices), from the trade routes, by getting more trade partners. This card will gradually increase the average amount of PPs you get. It costs PP though, so it is an investment. Here is the card.



EDIT: Changed the cost after I posted to 20. Seemed wrong you could get your investment back after 1 turn (if you were lucky).

Right, so I am trying to get the combat system right, and balanced. To do that I decided to do some playtesting. It's a tricky thing striking that balance. There are so many factors you need to take into account, and not just the combat table. Which is good, makes for a more interesting game. Anyway, thought I'd show you all a screenshot of part of an OOB after it tried to attack (without success) an enemy unit, from Thrace. The poor Hoplites, that are decent in defense, got hammered. So back to the drawing board for them. This is from the OOB.

One of the really important things to get right in a scenario/mod/game like this, is to get the feel of the game right. This has to saturate it, and provide an experience unlike any before. So, it stands to reason that a lot of work needs to go into making the pictures of the subformation types, and their coresponding pictures on the counter. To that end, I have worked countless hours scouring the internet for graphics I found usable, to convert, manipulate and use.

Here is some of that fruit. The 5 SFTs you see below are all of the Light Infantry variant. All in all 6 regimes/nations can have these (one of these is a duplicate, so not shown). The astute observer will notice that some are named light infantry and others are not. Those that are named the same have the same basic stats, while those with unique names have better or worse stats. Last time I counted there was 64 unique graphics. Here is the picture:

good scenario - I downloaded when you were putting it to the drop box from our 1938 game and played 2 human vs AI. My only suggestion would be there isn't much to spend PP on between research, cards, building. Then again that far back in history how much can you research, lol?
Troops start at 10-30 experience but except for combat don't seem to increase on their own to any level, so a new unit is the same as one sitting in garrison forever that could have been training?
Anyway salute to your time/effort - must have taken a lot of time to figure out all you wanted to include and unit graphics, etc...