"Contemporary Middle East" by Patrick L. Shephard

I know that after my Mexican Revolution scenario was posted, I was quiet on the forums for some
time. This, then, is my second posted scenario on Apolyton. It covers the modern struggles in the
Middle East, going from 1990 to a postulated 2010. A player takes their chosen faction through
these troubled times and tries to secure as much power as possible in the region. The Israelis
are the protagonists, and thus if they win, everyone else ultimately loses, though individual gains
are also important. An experienced player may find playing the Israelis or U.S. and Allies a bit
too easy, as they're really only balanced by the effects their Democratic government has on warfare.
In the case of the U.S. and Allies, they do receive free units from the Events.txt too represent
troops from Coalition nations beyond the map. The Iraqis are more of a challenge, as they're up 
against a wall for much of the game and must break out of a stranglehold to get anywhere. The 
Volitile Arabs/Iranians and Moderate Arabs/Pakistanis each have quite a few cities, though poor
quality militaries. They can, however, be an interesting challenge. The Afghans are woefully backward,
but are Fundamentalist, which can be handy. The CIS wasn't really meant to be played, but to be a
neutral side figure, though perhaps an interesting game could be made out of them (I haven't tried in
playtesting though, so I make no guarantees). The Moderates are under Monarchy, the Iraqis and
Volitiles have "Dictatorship," which takes the Communism slot, and the CIS are under Republic. As in
my previous scenario, each civilization has unique Infantry and, in this case, Armor, labelled as such
with one or two identifying letters (note that the Afghans, the sole civ without Mobile Warfare to begin
with, have A Militia with Tactics, obsoleted by Mobile Warfare, when they get A Armor). Each varies in
strength to reflect that nation's military prowess. Engineers, SSM Launchers, AA Guns, Field Guns, Artillery,
Howitzers (which obsolete both Field Guns and Artillery), Fighters and Bombers (then Stealth Fighters
and Bombers), Helicopters, Destroyers, Cruisers (then AEGIS Cruisers), Battleships, Submarines, Carriers,
Transports, Cruise Missiles, Nuclear Missiles (which come with Nuclear Fission instead of Rocketry so
certain nations can have Cruise Missiles without being nuclear powers), Spies, and Freight are universal
between nations, however.

I once again acquired my graphics from numerous sources, not all of which I can recount (if you recognize a
graphic or more as yours, you have my thanks). I got city locations mostly from the Persian Gulf War scenario 
by Kevin Bromer (much thanks if that's you), but expanded the map with help from MapQuest.com (which I neglected 
to say was also invaluable in my Mexican Revolution scenario). I hope you enjoy this scenario.

Patrick L. Shephard