Readme file for the scenario:

****************************************************************

Blood & Steel Juggernaut (v2.0)

****************************************************************

A Civ2 scenario by Stephan Sander a.k.a. jim panse, Janaury 2004

****************************************************************

Contents:

(1) Background information to the World of Blood & Steel

(2) Basic gameplay information

(3) Information on some units

(4) Information on city improvements and wonders

(5) Roll of Honour

(6) Contact information

****************************************************************

(1) Background information to the World of Blood & Steel

* ALTERNATE TIMELINE TO THE GREATER WAR

1914 - The Great War engulfes Europe in a traumatic struggle for dominance.

1915 - Italy enters the fray on the German side, France asks for an armistice.

1916 - Major German offensives in Russia, Battle of Jutland; the Columbus Incident leads to a major US intervention in Mexico.

1917 - Russia sues for peace when a anti-Czarist rebellion breaks out; Germany promises help ... Great Britain ceases to fight and starts planning the next round while the Americans decide to have punished the Mexicans enough and are occupying now the lands North of Mexico City.

1918 - At the major peace conference in Heidelberg the Zollverein is founded.

1919 - France hands Tunesia over to Italy, Belgium the Congo to Germany.

1921 - Begin of the Rif Insurrection against France in Morocco.

1922 - Revanchist Mussolini comes to power in Rome and proclaims the renewal of the Roman Empire.

1927 - The Jazz Singer, the first sound film is released.

1929 - Black Friday leads to World Economic Crises

1931 - The Mexican National Council decides on war with the US occupying forces

1932 - 16 September: begin of the Second Mexican War of Independence

1932 - Franklin Roosevelt is elected US president promising to end the Mexican War

1933 - A new major offensive is announced by FDR in his inaugural address

* THE NATIONS

United States of America - playable
No intervention in the European War but a enlarged Mexican Intervention in 1916 ended with the occupation of the northern parts of Mexico ... a fact that is not keeping the Mexicans further South really happy ...

Reichslande - playable
after winning the Great War in autumn 1916 the Germans introduced a revamped "Zollverein" to Europe forcing not only its former enemies into it but also its war-time allies; Germany itself controls vital strongpoints like Nordhafen (Murmansk) or Gotenhafen (Sevastopol) and enjoys its place in the sun ...

Imperio Romano - playable
Feeling cheated by its ally Germany after the Great War a fascist revolution happened in 1922 and brought Mussolini to power - who dreams of restoring the might and glory of the antique Roman Empire. By now, 1932, the Romans have not only declared itself the rightful successor of Caesar and Augustus but have also taken control of Syria and Palestine after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Now Hispania and Constantinopolis are to be the next targets ...

British Empire - playable
Having fought the German High Seas Fleet to a draw in the North Sea in a major battle of Jutland in 1916 the British cabinet sued for a peace restoring the status quo ante bellum in the West and in Africa and withdraw from the fight once France was defeated. Now the British king and his goverment are preparing their forces and their people for another round - whenever that could possibly happen against the Hunnic Juggernaught ...

Imperio Mejicano - playable
Having suffered a humiliating defeat by American forces during Gen. Pershing's Mexican Intervention a new leader emerged from the villages of Yucatan: Pancho Villa II. He was able to gain as much reputation (as Roman help) in a bloody civil war to unite the un-occupied parts of Mexico under his rule and he is now up to unleash hell upon the ill-prepared Yankees ... 

People's Soviet - playable
The communist revolution in the aftermath of the armistice signed by Nicholas II failed due to two reasons: The Russian army was in not too bad a shape to fight the insurgents - and the Whites had substantial German military aid in the fight against the Red Army of Leo Trotskiy and Vladimir Lenin whose troops have been pushed back behind the Ural mountains - and there Trotskiy is preparing a new onslaught to gain control of Mother Russia ...

Zollverein - not playable
A loose federation of European nations under German control.

(2) Basic gameplay information

* ABOUT THE CONCEPT

I did what I did to the initial concept of Blood & Steel v1.0 to achieve two major improvements: Get some more parts of the world into the game - and to make things even more nasty.

Initially the game concept of Blood & Steel intended to be a quite "regular" second round of the Great War. Now I assume to have fixed something quite different from the starting positions of 1914. Some nations have vanished, soem new are represented this time. Someone might say it would not be Blood & Steel any more - but the main idea behind Blood & Steel has always been the renewed Roman Empire. And therefore I still think it IS Blood & Steel.

Nations left out: The Ottoman Empire; the Russian Empire; the Kingdom of France.

Nations included in this version: The Mexican Empire; the People's Soviet; the Zollverein.

Why I included those nations instead of leaving it as it has been?

* The Mexican Empire is there to keep the United States busy in the beginning. The American military position is very weak in the beginning - as is the German position - and the Yankee player has to think over his initial moves very carefully.

* The People's Soviet is intended to be some kind of annoying foe in the backyard of the Reichslande. More than a nuisance, the Commies will field very tough military hardware and may appear in quite large numbers until Mother Russia is liberated from the White Rooskies.

* The Zollverein is represented to symbolize German hegemony over Europe in the aftermath of a victorious Great War. They are not "allied" to Germany in Civ2 ways but attacking some of their cities might cause war with the Reichslande ...

* ABOUT THE GAMEPLAY IN GENERAL TERMS

The protagonists are the Romans, they start of with a small territory and a rather large army and navy. The idea is to ready the Roman forces to move them to Spain and the Balkans to regain the lands of the antique Roman Empire. Please keep in mind that attacking France and/or Turkey means war with the Reichslande - you should not do that until your forces are really ready.

The Reichslande - as the United States - enjoy a very good starting position though their economies - like the British too - however, suffer from major economic problems since these three countries and Mexico start with the so-called "Post War Gov" (which is vanilla Monarchy renamed). The idea behind is that the player is forced to research the so-called "Reform Gov" (renamed vanilla Republic) in order to get the economy back onto its feet.

Unfortunately many military aspects had to be left out due to the Civ2 game engine. I, however, included several key technologies which also appeared in the original timeline. These include tactical and strategic bombing, the atomic bomb, panzer respective tank warfare and poison (nerve) gas.

Many socio-cultural events had to be left out due to the same reasons as pointed out above but some of the most important are still represented, with an emphasis on advances in the administrative and social sectors.

(3) Information on some units

Please refer to the pedia file!

(4) Information on city improvements and wonders

Same as (3).

(6) Roll of Honour

Among the "usual suspects" like Sid Meier, Captain Nemo & Alex the Magnificient, Fairline, Typhoon and Curt Sibling some fellows from various Civ2 forums rank supreme as well:

* Sarsstock - not only for his outstanding title artwork but also for his imagination and advice during the early days of the developing of the legacy of Blood & Steel, and not to forget his pre-BETA-release playtesting as well as his graphical skills when it comes to adding camo to units!

* Krger - his pre-BTEA-release playtesting kicks ass and was essential so far!

* Harry Tuttle - his map fro Atomic Eagle I was the basis for this slightly edited version this scenario is taking place.

* Pablostuka & Nilat/Stalin II - for his dedicated playtesting and bug-hunting efforts!

All the fine fellows and Co-Civ2-Addicts at the Apolyton Army Headquarters! 
All the fine fellows and Co-Civ2-Addicts at the CDG Army Headquarters!


Gentlemen, I salute you all!

(7) Contact information

I am @ steph_sander@hotmail.com (also MSN) for complaints, insults & payment checks ;)

Happy Warring!