Scenario Design Contest #5

[techumseh]

Originally posted by Jimmywax
OT

Tech, what do you have thats half done and fits in the AH category. If you don't mind me asking?

Sorry, I'm not sure I want to share that info until this issue has been decided.

[Boco]

Ah you young whippersnappers.

Haven't felt so complimented since I was last carded.

We seem to be treating AH and Duels as if they are separate categories. Are they mutually exclusive?

[techumseh]

Sorry, I missed this question, so that's why I didn't respond before.

Originally posted by St Leo
How about the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05)?. It's Asian, industrial, 2 player, cool, and it's never been done before.

IIRC, Russian fleet circumnavigated the Old World, got solidly thrashed, and sailed back. End of War. No?

No. The Russian Pacific fleet was bottled up in Port Arthur by the Japanese, who conducted a lengthy seige, before destroying the Russian ships with artillery. The Russian Baltic fleet sailed halfway around the world to relieve it, but arrived too late and was itself sunk at the Battle of Tsushima. It was the first major battle involving modern battleships. In the meantime, large scale ground operations took place in Manchuria, culminating in the Battle of Mukden in which each side fielded over 300,000 men. The Russians were forced to make peace by the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution, which almost toppled the Tsar.

[Michael Daumen]

You could probably get a 30-or so turn scenario out of the R-J war. Then you have to figure out how to represent the Baltic Fleet's trip without making a map covering half the world. And for good measure, to represent the movement of Russian troops along the Trans-Siberian railway. And this is assuming a human is playing each side. I don't think the computer could represent either side. That's whay I never tried to make such a scenario.

[ravagon]

The Russian ships were worn down, their crews were suffering from malaria and coal-poisoning and they'd lost several of their best command staff.
To top it all off they didn't trim down before the fight like the Japanese and went into battle with too much weight.
You could probably simulate all of this by simply giving the fleet fewer hit points at the start (ships start with damage in the yellow or somesuch?). ie: Russian ships start off in theatre.
This would take care of both the combat effectiveness and the slower movement rate.

[techumseh]

I think you could make a single player game with the Japanese as the protagonist. Russian ground and naval reinforcements could be provided by events. But a two player game would be easier to make.

[atomant]

Very tongue in check AH parameters

Perhaps as an alternate history type platform, we could limit the scenarios to what would happen if the French actually won a war? For example, when analysing French military history, we see the following examples:

Gallic Wars - Lost. In a war whose ending foreshadows the next 2000 years of French history, France is conquered by of all things, an Italian.

Hundred Years War - Mostly lost, saved at last by female schizophrenic who inadvertently creates The First Rule of French Warfare; "France's armies are victorious only when not led by a Frenchman."

Italian Wars - Lost. France becomes the first and only country to ever lose two wars when fighting Italians.

Wars of Religion - France goes 0-5-4 against the Huguenots

Thirty Years War - France is technically not a participant, but manages to get invaded anyway. Claims a tie on the basis that eventually the other participants started ignoring her.

War of Devolution - Tied. Frenchmen take to wearing red flowerpots as chapeaux.

The Dutch War - Tied

War of the Augsburg League/King William's War/French and Indian War - Lost, but claimed as a tie. Three ties in a row induces deluded Frogophiles the world over to label the period as the height of French military power.

War of the Spanish Succession - Lost. The War also gave the French their first taste of a Marlborough, which they have loved every since.

American Revolution - In a move that will become quite familiar to future Americans, France claims a win even though the English colonists saw far more action. This is later known as "de Gaulle Syndrome", and leads to the Second Rule of French Warfare; "France only wins when America does most of the fighting."

French Revolution - Won, primarily due the fact that the opponent was also French.

The Napoleonic Wars - Lost. Temporary victories (remember the First Rule!) due to leadership of a Corsican, who ended up being no match for a British footwear designer.

The Franco-Prussian War - Lost. Germany first plays the role of drunk Frat boy to France's ugly girl home alone on a Saturday night.

World War I - Tied and on the way to losing, France is saved by the United States. Thousands of French women find out what it's like to not only sleep with a winner, but one who doesn't call her "Fraulein." Sadly, widespread use of condoms by American forces forestalls any improvement in the French bloodline.

World War II - Lost. Conquered French liberated by the United States and Britain just as they finish learning the Horst Wessel Song.

War in Indochina - Lost. French forces plead sickness, take to bed with the Dien Bien Flu

Algerian Rebellion - Lost. Loss marks the first defeat of a western army by a Non-Turkic Muslim force since the Crusades, and produces the First Rule of Muslim Warfare; "We can always beat the French." This rule is identical to the First Rules of the Italians, Russians, Germans, English, Dutch, Spanish, Vietnamese and Esquimaux.

War on Terrorism - France, keeping in mind its recent history, surrenders to Germans and Muslims just to be safe. Attempts to surrender to Vietnamese ambassador fail after he takes refuge in a McDonald's.

Let's face it. When it comes to war, France gets rolled more often than a Parisian prostitute with a visible mustache. They've been beaten so many times there's no fight left in them.

What would happen to world history if if the French actually won something?

Above taken from www.strategypage.com

[Jimmywax]

usually how the French go about things, eh?

rotflmao

[Cyrion]

@atomant

You should be ashamed of what you wrote: how was I supposed to explain to my boss why I fell from my chair and rolled on the floor laughing??

Anyway if your proposal is chosen, I can't take part in the Contest: I haven't got enough imagination...

[Insurgent]

@atomant: yeah, that's hilarious. Though I think I'd prefer some of the other subjects...

[St Leo]

Italian Wars - Lost. France becomes the first and only country to ever lose two wars when fighting Italians.

Whom were they fighting? Savoy? Milan? Spanish Naples?

Thirty Years War - France is technically not a participant, but manages to get invaded anyway. Claims a tie on the basis that eventually the other participants started ignoring her.

Are we, perhaps,forgetting about the battle of Rocroi where the French forces demolished the invincible Spanish veterans and single-handedly ended Ferdinand's dream of a united Empire?

[Vauban]

What about something late medieval European stuff...?

I also think the cold-war idea was good

[Panda]

I think there's also a time issue that needs to be addressed when considering the deadline in reference to the theme:

more imaginative = more time consuming

Again, it would need to be decided on the premium placed on new artwork, otherwise graphics could easily (nowadays) be "off the shelf" for no loss of credit.

Or consider the trade-off a shorter time frame imposes. Which should be better rewarded: an imaginative scenario with new artwork and so riddled with technical issues it doesn't work properly? Or, a conservative, well-built scenario with "off the shelf" graphics.

[ottok]

why scn with war,make scn that...... trully is not easy...
has no war!

[El León]

Atomant!

Hey, even we in Mexico defeated the French army once in 1862...

Alt hist idea: What if Latin America had not become the sphere of influence of the US in the XIX century and the English had kept their hold on Chile, France in Mexico...