Scenario: Somalian Civil War

[Curumbor Elendil]

I decided to turn some of my academic research into a few hours of fun and have created what should be a meticulously historically accurate scenario of the Somalian civil war, 1991-2000. Play any one of the warlords and try to consolidate Somalia under your control while fighting or pleading off the UN.

Download the scenario here. I welcome any and all comments on the gameplay. Requires FW or MGE (includes events.txt and new units and terrain). Also check out my other scenarios here.

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Curumbor Elendil
jason.sorens@yale.edu
ICQ 56126989

[This message has been edited by Curumbor Elendil (edited May 17, 2000).]

[Archangel]

I am downloading your scenario right now... I payed a visit to your website and I must say that I was pleased with what I saw.

[blackclove]

Sounds like a fun one. Your first scenario wasn't bad and so I hope that your latest creation will be a great one

Folks, hope you'll take the time to (a) review some of the scenarios we have posted, and (b) help this brave young (?) designer improve his work by commenting on his latest.

[Curumbor Elendil]

Blackclove: I didn't know anyone here had looked at my previous scenarios. I remember submitting one to Scenario League a few months back but never hearing again about it. I don't know if the new one is "great." I'm not the best artist in the world. But I've had fun playing it.

As for young...I guess it's relative. I'm a married grad student, which sometimes makes me feel like an old fart when I'm arranging games with high school guys. But inexperienced, yes: I am but a casual scenario designer. Once Civ3 comes out, I hope to be more active.

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Curumbor Elendil
jason.sorens@yale.edu
ICQ 56126989

[blackclove]

Well, I think there's a review or two of Rising of the Celts on our web site. Maybe I shouldn't tell you that - I don't want you to get discouraged and quit in protest .

I'm also a grad student, BTW - or will be for a few more months, then I'm going to be a professor. I have a job lined up if I can only get that PhD completed! Not married yet... but close to it.

[Curumbor Elendil]

Ah, you're one of the lucky ones then (to have a job lined up)! I've just finished my second year so am about to embark on the thesis.

Er, yeah, the review of "Rising" was pretty harsh! That's OK, though. It is actually a very old scenario: I created it about 3 years ago, before I got MGE/FW. And I was also very uncomfortable with my artistic skills, so yes, no new units, not very original. I must register disagreement with the assertion that it is unplayable because of the small shield counts in, say, the Scots' home cities. That's part of the challenge! The Scots absolutely must capture Glasgow and Edinburgh on the first turn and move from there. The negotiations thing is a problem, which I have fixed. And the existence of archaic units is supposed to represent the fact that the Scots and Welsh rebels would be buying their arms on global black markets from places like Iran. We're not talking state-of-the-art militaries here. But the scenario is worth working on some more now that I have more skills. Oh, BTW, the reviewer seemed to assume that I had gotten the map of Britain somewhere. I made it. IMO, it's the best map of Britain out there, certainly better than the one that comes with the 1066 scenario.

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Curumbor Elendil
jason.sorens@yale.edu
ICQ 56126989

[This message has been edited by Curumbor Elendil (edited May 17, 2000).]

[Curumbor Elendil]

Argh, OK, no one else download the Somalian Civil War scenario just yet. It will be optimized soon.

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Curumbor Elendil
jason.sorens@yale.edu
ICQ 56126989

[DarthVeda]

Stop including the damned .bak files!!!!!

[Curumbor Elendil]

That's one of the things I'm changing.

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Curumbor Elendil
jason.sorens@yale.edu
ICQ 56126989

[Curumbor Elendil]

OK, I've finished tweaking the scenario. Download it here.

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Curumbor Elendil
jason.sorens@yale.edu
ICQ 56126989

[Sortub]

Hey, it's good to see some fellow graduate students on this forum as well. . I will be a graduate student until Saturday, when I get TWO Masters degrees -- one in Middle Eastern Studies and another in Public Policy.

Turned in my thesis to the deities of the University a couple weeks ago. :-) For those who are still plodding away, just keep at it. Now to find a job.

Anyhow, I completed my thesis on Syrian-Lebanese relations and it made me think about somehow trying to write a scenario on the Lebanese Civil War. Trouble is, there were like 31 different militia groups at one time, in addition to Israelis, Syrians, etc.!!! Not even the AI could handle it! Maybe to streamline.

Another idea I had recently was the Chinese Civil war of the 1920's to 1940's.

[Curumbor Elendil]

Hey, I once considered doing a Lebanese Civil War scenario too! Technically, the Somalian Civil War involves dozens of militias too, but you can always consolidate. For the Lebanese scenario, I imagine you could have the Maronites, Druze, Sunnis, Shiites, Syrians (perhaps allied to the Shiites), and maybe Israelites. Most militias seemed to break down into those alliance blocs, right?

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Curumbor Elendil
jason.sorens@yale.edu
ICQ 56126989

[Sortub]

Curumbor-

Ahh... well... did they all fall into those blocs, kinda, sort of. Deal was, though, that it was more a war based local immediate reward more than denomination/sect. For example, in the "wars for the camps" of the early 1980s, Arafat's Fatah "conquest" faction Palestinians fought against Syrian-backed Saiqa "lightning" groups. As far as the Shi'a, the Amal were more a pro-Syrian group aimed at the notion of the Lebanee nation, while the Hezbollah were Iranian-backed--more pan-Islamist. Two Maronite groups -- Michael Aoun's Lebanese forces and Samir Jeajea's militia, contended in the early 1990s.

Suffice to say the whole thing was a damned complicated and bloody affair, and as I write this, I'm considering what could be written as an oversimplified scenario trading off with my own punctillious sense of history. I would need a lot of deliberation before coming up with an accurate, scenario-friendly depiction of the groups during the whole war from 1976-1990. If you're interested in the affair (and find the time), I strongly recommend British journalist Robert Fisk's "Pity the Nation."

Perhaps a better setting for a scenario in the area would be the Druze revolt of 1925. What's that, you may ask? Well, I read about this in my thesis research. In 1925, the Druze were split into the French mandates of Lebanon and the statelet of Jabal Druze (later incorporated into Syria). For a variety of reasons, they were really peeved and sparked an uprising against the French. Eventually, the revolt spread into Lebanon and threatened Beirut itself, while the French and their Maronite allies struggled to stop the invaders. Eventually, the Druze were stopped, but held out for a while.

You could have as civs:

Druze: Partisan-types, raiders
French: Strong European troops but not many
Maronites: Strong fighters
Sunni Muslims: Neutral

Maybe a few more as well. A.H. Hourani's "Syria and Lebanon: A History," has good info on this episode. Anyhow, just a thought.

[Civfan]

A Somalian civil war scenario, sounds interesting. I heard right now theres a war somewhere in Africa with both sides using WWII tanks and aircrafts. Might make for an interesing scenario later on. Downloading your scenario and checking out your site. Looks good. Get back to ya about the scenario after I try it. Also, your a Warlord? I've never seen ya around before. You been away for awhile. later

Civfan....

[blackclove]

Downloaded the new Somalia, but haven't tried it yet. Will soon, though. I love Africa.

With respect to the Middle East, could you represent some of the less important militias as "computer-only" tribes that never come into conflict with one another? Some of them could also be barbarians if they don't attack much.