Aeterna Civitas

[McMonkey]

@Battosai
Re: Paris Ampitheatre.
That was an oversight
Re: Riot factor
That will need to be sorted. Should test your skill in the PBEM
Re: Movement
I am swayed to the higher movement rate way of thinking. Pity the x2 vs Horse thing cannot be changed in the game code. Ho Hum!

@Fairline
Both these points come down to lack of testing. That may have been a mistake but I wanted to get the game finished so we could play the PBEM and use that as a playtest.
All these things can be sorted when I make the ToT version. I will also bring out an ammended MGE version soon to fix the worst problems

Were you going to e-mail mne the ToT conversion or post it here? Either way is cool by me.

[McMonkey]

I was hoping to fix the MGE PBEM version of this scenario over the next few weeks (larger cities, increased movement rates etc...). I may also have a tinker with the single player ToT version while I am not working on the Balkan Wars.

Does anyone know how to reveal the cities hinterlands for the barbarians? This should cure the city size reduction problem. I would like to avoid messing up the parts of the map visible for the players as it takes a lot of time to do!

Also, Gareth, could you send me the ToT conversion?

[fairline]

yeah sure. Remind me of your e-mail by PM.

[techumseh]

Barb ships generated in the Adriatic disappear on the same turn (general civ bug I think)

This can be controlled in ToT. In the @UNITS_ADVANCED section of the rules, under G) General flags, there's a flag to control this:

01000000 barbarian unit will not expire: 1 - no expire

I used barbarian ships via events in Roman Civil Wars. They work somewhat differently in ToT than in MGE. What I found was that they have to have the sub flag and they need to be created at sea. They will move to the nearest port controled by any civ, and stop next to it. They will remain stationary, but will attack any ship that stops next to them. Not the best, but there it is.

[McMonkey]

I will give it a try. My first version of AS had loads of Barbarian ships so it was a big problem. I have cut them down (events created ones) in the MGE version in favour of city captured events.
In the ToT version I would like to make piracy a problem for the player so this will help!

[McMonkey]

I am trying to run CivStack but I just get the error message below. Anybody got any idea what it is I am missing?

I am working through all the great utilities and have got most of them to work. With CivDip I had to download some Java thingy and that worked (pat on the back!) but I don't know where to start with CivStack

EDIT: Fixed. I found a link to VB6 Run-Time on Mercator's excellent site. I wil do my homework before I start squeeling next time

[McMonkey]

But that has made me think up another daft question. What is the difference between using stackable Fortresses and stackable Airbases?

Also, can they be mixed, IE Fortresses on Grassland and Airbases at sea?

And, do airbases on every square effect aeroplanes (I guess they do!)?

What are peoples thoughts on stackable terrain and their preferences?

[battosai]

Airbases don't give any def bonus, they are treated as farmland and also railroad by MGE (not by ToT I think) and they effect areoes heavily if they are on every square.

If they could be mixed? Yes, look at the villages in Bonaparte.

[McMonkey]

In which case stackable airbases are only useful for pre-flight scenarios. Mixing them could be fun! I suppose making sea non-stackable would solve the problem of ground units floating after their transports are sunk.

Mixing them could be interesting. I have already experimented with making land stackable and sea non-stackable. I will check Bonaparte, I did not notice the villages before.

Thanks for the answer, I will do some more testing!

BTW, did you still want those Tercio's for TYW?

[battosai]

Hell yeah, dude!

[McMonkey]

Gareth. Any chance of sending me the ToT conversion of this scenario?

Also, does anyone have some decent Medieval units collections. I can find quite a lot of Gareth's for the Crusades but I am looking for some of the Norman Invasion of Britain - 100 Years war era for western Europe.
I really want MGE units but ToT ones can be converted!

I did find some good ones by BeBro and the ones from Jamestout's Britain and France but I am sure there must be more lurking about somewhere. I have already looked through the graphics threads (all on my hard drive!).

Don't worry, I am not starting a new scenario, just converting another one for PBEM!

[McMonkey]

Aeterna Civitas 2 Multiplayer

Recently I have been modifying some scenarios before uploading them to the SL. This has motivated me to go back and fix up Aeterna Civitas.

It is still intended for multiplayer (sorry!) but I have made quite a few changes. Stackable terrain is now the order of the day. All city sizes have been doubled as has the movement rate of units (as suggested by Gareth). I have listed all the bugs and improvements suggested and have sorted them out. The graphics have been touched up a bit, new Jamestout cities, and some of the units have been changed.

I have decided to revamp the events file. I have given up trying to create an aggressive Pirate fleet, instead I have decided to go for Mercenary recruitment.

What I will do is event create barbarian units in their respective areas and allow the player to bribe them with the envoy units. The envoy can only bribe units and investigate cities. A house rule will stipulate that only Barbarian units can be bribed. I will make the barbarian units relatively cheap to bribe.

Any nation can bribe units but as they will be spawned in specific areas each Civ will end up having its own pet mercenaries (IE Carthage: Spanish/Numidians, Rome: Latins and Celts, Greece: Thracians and Illyrians and so on...).

I would like to hear peoples opinions on what shield value to give the barbarian units. I would like to make them cheaper to bribe than building the nations own units. The nations own units will be of a higher quality and will form the core of the army.

Suggestions welcome

P.S. Hope all that makes sense, having problems forming sentences today, too many beers last night while watching Everton beat St. Petersburg

[McMonkey]

Made some more changes. Stackable terrain added, all city sizes doubles, movement rate of all units doubles, lots more roads added, riot factor based on city size set to 22.

Originally I had very few roads as I thought it would be fun for the Romans to get to work building them. I think this is a mistake and I have therefore added a lot more roads, in the Barbarians regions I have linked some cities to rivers so all Civs should be able to move their armies around much quicker.

I now need to work on the new events, fix up the tech tree and check over the units stats. After that it will be pretty much cosmetic changes.

When I am finished with the multiplayer version a ToT version playable as Rome may be worthwhile. I will make up some events to try and make it a challenge for the player but I cannot spend too much time on that right now as I should really finish off the Balkan Wars!

[McMonkey]

I have decided to review and revise the units used in Aeterna Civitas. I am working on a system of stats based on
the DBA (De Bellis Antiquitatis) war-game categories.

In the old DBA manual under the heading of Design Philosophy they say:
Wargamers usually pay much more attention to often theoretical differences between weapons than did ancient commanders and troops. Surviving Hellenistic and Roman manuals lump all foot skirmishers as psiloi regardless of whether armed with javelin, sling or bow, in effect defining them by their function rather than armament.

I believe a lot of this can be applied to Civ II and I am trying to work out a consistent system to use in this scenario.

UNIT TYPES:

ELEPHANTS (Such as Carthaginian and Hellenic)
Not effective against fortified opposition or in defence but awsome in attack in the open.

KNIGHTS (Such as Hellenic Companions, Sarmatians and Armenians)
Not effective against fortified opposition or in defence but awsome in attack in the open.

CAVALRY (Such as Equites and Gaul Cavalry)
Versatile for both attacking and scouting, limited in defence.

LIGHT HORSE (Such as Numidians, Skythian and Parthian Horse)
Excellent for screening and scouting. Reasonable attack but almost no defence.

SCYTHED CHARIOTS (Such as Celtic Chariots)
Shock value but limited staying power, possibly missile type unit.

SPEARS (Such as Trirarii, Hellenic Hoplites and Punic African Foot)
Good both in attack and defence. Useful for attacking cities.

Move: 2 Att: 4 Def: 4 HP: 3 FP: 2 + Ignores City Walls

PIKES (Such as the Hellenic Phalanx)
Good in attack, brilliant in defence. Useful for attacking cities.

Move: 2 Att: 4 Def: 5 HP: 4 FP: 2 + Ignores City Walls

BLADES (Such as Principes, Imitation Legions and Dacian Warriors)
Excellent in attack and good in defence. Useful for attacking cities.

Move: 2 Att: 5 Def: 4 HP: 3 FP: 4 + Ignores City Walls

AUXILIA (Such as Hastati, Samnites, Hellenic Hypaspyst and Thracian Peltasts)
Reasonable attack and defence. Manoeuvrable and cheaper than Spear or Blade.

Move: 3 Att: 3 Def: 3 HP: 3 FP: 2 + Ignores ZOC and City Walls

WARBAND (Such as Germanic and Gaul Warbands, Dacian Falxman and Celtiberian Warriors)
Shock troops, excellent in attack but limited in defence. Good for attacking cities.

Move: 3 Att: 6 Def: 2 HP: 2 FP: 4 + Ignores ZOC and City Walls

PSILOI (Such as Velite, Hellenic Psiloi and Balearic Slingers)
Mobile, reasonable in attack but poor in defence. Cheapest infantry. Useful in sieges.

Move: 3 Att: 3 Def: 2 HP: 1 FP:3 + Ignores ZOC and City Walls, possibly 1/3 move rate with move changed depending on road multiplier

BOWS (Such as Levantine Archers, Skythian Foot and Cretan Archers)
Mobile, reasonable attack and good defence. Useful in sieges.

Move: 3 Att: 43 Def: 4 HP: 2 FP:2 + Ignores ZOC and City Walls

ARTILLERY (Such as Catapults, Rams, Siege Towers and Ballista)
Very good attack but virtually no defence. Ideal for attacking cities.

I am working out the best stats at the moment and peoples ideas and suggestions are welcome. I want to make each unit type useful for something. Some will be expensive elite troops, others will be cheap mercenary ballista fodder but effective in large numbers. Using the Romans as an example their early army will mainly consist of:

Velites (Psiloi)
Hastati (Auxilia)
Principes (Blade)
Trirarii (Spear)
Equites (Cavalry)
Ballista (Artillery)
+Mercenaries such as Gauls and Samnites

Macedonian armies would consist of:

Hellenic Psiloi (Psiloi!)
Hellenic Hypaspyst (Auxilia)
Hellenic Hoplite (Spear)
Hellenic Phalanx (Pike)
Cretan Archers (Bow)
Hellenic Companions (Knights)
Elephants (You got it)
+Mercenaries such as Illiryans and Thracians

I am willing to listen to and change any of the stats. The ones listed so far are just my initial thoughts and the horses have no new stats just now.

[McMonkey]

Thanks for all the feedback Is it the fact that I am pitching this as a multiplayer game that is putting people off? Only kidding!

Things are progressing well. I have improved the graphics and swapped some of the units around as well as doubling the moves and city sizes. The tech tree and events are underway.

When the multiplayer version is finished I will look at a single player version for Rome. Using batch files should make for a challenging single player experience so feel free to post ideas and comments as they will not fall on deaf ears.

One new unit is the fortress. This is a bit of an odd concept and will only work in multiplayer with a house rule and single player as Rome. The idea is that the fortress will be set as a naval unit with one move point and the paradrop flag. The player can then place these units near (or in) cities but they will then become immovable. Not 100% sure how this will work out but it is a neat way to still allow fortresses in a game with stackable terrain.

Here's the units so far, still have a few alterations to make to get a uniform file and some of the units need a bit of modification: