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As I have mentioned in some other threads, I've decided to eventually make a scenario based on the reign of Polish king John III Sobieski. Now, given that my US Civil War 2013 scenario is still not completed, and that scenarios can take a while, it may be some time before this thing is through. This doesn't mean we can't talk about it, though.
So, without further ado, some thing's I've considered:
- When should the scenario begin? Sobieski's reign lasted twenty-two years, which seems a long enough time for a good scenario (especially when dividing the years into months for turns), but Sobieski's military career began a good time before that, including helping kick the Swedes out of Poland and fight the Turks. So I'm not sure exactly when to begin the scenario. Any help?
- I've decided to make the Polish government a Republic. Why?
- The Polish government was a quasi-constitutional monarchy at this time (the "nobles' democracy"), including the fact that the Voivods held considerable power for a good amount of time (though it doesn't seem so during this time - or does it?) and Civ 2 decribes its "Republic" government as a collection of autonomous city-states who chose to form a loose alliance or something. So I think it sorta fits.
- The unhappiness factor of the military units (which I might eliminate with Women's Suffrage - any idea of what that wonder could be?) as well as the support factor might illustrate the difficulty in raising an army under the Golden Liberty, which I think would be realistic.
- Likewise, the interference of the Sejm (Senate) in Poland's foreign policy would seem realistic, and realistically limit the King's power.
- Poland called itself a Republic during this time.
- What kind of tech tree should I have, if any? Military and social reforms seem on the list. But what kinds? I know Sobieski tried to reform the Polish state into a monarchy more like the absolutist ones in Western Europe (like France), but was there a possibility of reforming the Sejm into a majority-vote system rather than the infamous libretum veto? (As someone recently said, for a Civ 2 scenario, history ends at turn one.)
- Vienna. How could one make a Sobieski scenario without it? My idea is this: In 1683, if you've successfully managed to ward of the Turks since then, they'll invade Austria and try to take Vienna. If you haven't been able to ward of the Turks, they'll blitzkrieg Poland. (From what I've read, it seems they invaded Austria primarily because they couldn't make headway into the Republic of Two Countries.)
- Furthermore, I'd like to make the battle of Vienna an epic, hard-won battle (even though the actual battle took only a day. Any idea on how to do this?
- On the topic of Vienna, how can I ensure that the Polish forces get to Vienna on time without allowing them to march through the Holy Roman Empire from turn 1? I'm considering using a second map for this (the scenario will be ToT), but I'd prefer not to. Of course, any veteran Civ 2 player knows about your "allies"' tendency to block your path, even when it's in that ally's best interest. :roll:
- Troops. What kinds to I need? I've got a number of Polish, Russian, Turkish and other graphics (mainly from fairline's 30 Years' War sets), but I still wonder. I know that, at least "to Sobieski" the foreign troops (which seemed to comprise most of the Polish infantry at the time) were of lower quality than the native troops, but was this true when Sobieski first became a great general? How do you simulate the recruiting of foreign infantry, as opposed to native? Do I need seperate pikeman and musketeer graphics, as the scenario is strategic in scope? Should I give the player the possibility of a strong Polish navy? What kind of ships could I build? I've heard that a number of Muslim Tartars fought with the Polish army. Do I need to create special units for them? If so, how do I keep it their recruitment confined to the Tartar areas of the Commonwealth.
- Of course, hussars will be in the game. They'll be elite cavalry, but expensive to build (based on the historical levels of hussars vs. Cossack cavalry in the Polish army, I'm thinking of having hussars as three times more expensive, what do you think?)
- Religion. The Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth, while officially Catholic, had a number of faiths practiced by its citizens. I'm thinking of dividing the Temple, Cathedral and Colosseum improvements into Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox houses of worship, with them giving greater happiness under their respective rulers(i.e., Protestant Churches will make more people content under Protestant Swedes than Catholic Poles, for example, and Orthodox churches will work better under the Orthodox Russians.) Any help on that?
- Any detailed historical sources I can read on the reign of Sobieski? Some 'net sources seem to jump from his election to the battle of Vienna, which is at least a decade or so. If the good sources are online and/or free, so much the better. (Yes, I know of the Osprey books, but the two ones on Poland are roughly $60 together.)
- Map. Currently I'm using a cropped version of the Red Front map (it covers all the area I probably need - perhaps more - even though I got rid of a bit of the Russian hinterland). I've tried using the map taken from Härtel's giant Europe map, but there still seems to be some problems with that. What do you think?
Well, that's all for now. Feel free to comment, offer suggestions, etc. And, in an amazing coincidence, I found out that Mel Gibson is looking to help with a Sobieski-Vienna movie to be flimed in Poland next year.
Looks like I'll have more of an audience for my scenario.
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