#################################################################################################
#  #  #  #                ###                                       ###                #  #  #  #
#  #  #  #                 #       the Event Recruit System          #                 #  #  #  #
#  #  #  #                 #                                         #                 #  #  #  #
#################################################################################################
#  #  #  #                 #                                         #                 #  #  #  #
 ## ## ##                                                                               ## ## ##


The game consists on ERS, Event recruit sistem. I know it's bad
to praise yourself, but as no-one else does it...
I thought out ERS, in a bit different version, during my Italian
holidays '00, while writting a letter to one guy that at least
once was some use, Mathias Koester. I had nothing else to do...

What does this idea mean? Playing Byzantines,
AND THEY ARE THE ONLY CIV FOR PLAYING
you don't build military units in cities.
At least not those really valuable. You "recruit" men,
and "train" them in military (infantry or cavalry) camps,
and only by that you can receive cavalry or infantry units.

What does it mean?
(Don't test it in first turns of the game by cheat mode, please.)
You should build RECRUIT unit that shall be available
when you get technology called "ALEXIUS' REIGN".
You must move it towards your capital, Constantinople,
where two "barbarian" units, 
CAVALRY CAMP and INFANTRY CAMP.
When you get enough close, you should attack
one of those units, CAVALRY CAMP if you want
to get CAVALRY UNIT, INFANTRY CAMP
if you want to get INFANTRY UNIT.
When you attack one of the camp,
your recruit is "trained"-
it is automatically destroyed
(as cruise missle), and a proper unit
appears in Constantinople.
The camp, destroyed in this attack,
is automatically recreated on its place.
Camps are AIR UNITS. You can't get new
units by attacking them by any other
your units but RECRUITS, who have
ability to attack air units (as fighters).
However, foreign units have this ability
too, so you must protect the camps from
being destroyed during the war.

Anyway, I think it is a great way to show centralization of
Byzantine state, and don't let some strange things happpen;
f.e. You have some enclaved city. In reality, surrounded
city wouldn't act as a separate kingdom, and make a mess
on the back of the front. In normal civ2 game, such  possibility
exists. Thanks to ERS, it is eliminated. Also, it allows more
realistic game overall. In normal civ2 game, having large empire
means having big power. Here, it is not so sure. As in reality,
large Roman state can't react quickly on danger. It is vulnerable
to attacks, and its safety depends from good road or sea connection
between different parts of the Empire.

After Bernd Brosing's suggestion, in order to make
things easier, I allowed building a second type
of infantry. It is extremly weak, but can be build
easily, in the normal way. It is accurate I guess;
the city can "defend" itself by building on and on
defenders, but have a little chance to survive long
siege, or repeal the offenders by its own devices.

As in reality, military forces are valuable, unlike in a normal game;
there, you can always buy a new unit. Here, if you want a new one,
you have to make some effort. Also, single unit can't act as all army,
as it may be in a normal game. You can conquer a city with one unit
alone, but you won't be able to hold it then. To make an invasion somewhere
with capturing some cities as a goal, you must plan it ahead, prepare
everything. It won't be like in a normal game, when you can afford some
changes in plans during the operation. And again, this will force you to
stay calm, minimalize your military expences- as Byzantines had to do.

Completely other thing is exact reality of ERS. I don't know exactly how
recruitement system of Byzantine Empire worked. There is one difference
that you can point me out; themes. Herakleios created them on the border,
and some other emperor, was that Leon III, divided the whole empire into
them. These were administration and military hm quaters, something like
counties or duchies, I don't know how to say it. Anyway, every theme had
its own army; it was essential in times after Herakleios, when all the
provinces were endangered either by Arabs, or by Slavs or Longobards;
they couldn't wait for an order from Constantinople, they had to react
fast, so the army had to be on the place.

But it was a long long time before the scenario times. It was very
effective, but strictly defensive army doctrine; the things must
have got changed when Moslem, Slavic, Bulgarian etc danger passed
away, and Byzantines were the attacking side.

Additionally, you can create themes yourself; you shall see
that you'll have to work like this that you put
a proper number of infantry in endangered city -to defend it-
and cavalry -to destroy enemy forces outside of the city.
Like always, you'd say. And you'd be right ;)
Another proof that Byzantines were ingenious.
Anyway, to attack and capture a nearby city, theme forces
probably won't be enough. You'll have to gather a larger
task force, and I doubt you could be able to use more than
one ground t.f; it's because emperor unit shall be very important.

In fact, more realistic would be to make recruits
tax collectors, and training-recruiting mercenaries,
but who cares... I want to make it more universal.

