
Flashpoint Eurasia Scenario for Civilization II

by Michael J. Daumen
daumen@juno.com

Notes:

1.	Who is involved

1.1  RUSSIANS:  The former masters of the USSR have seen their empire
disappear in an explosion of nationalism and democracy.  Trouble is, they
realize now that there is a sea of oil underneath the harsh Central Asian
terrain, which could mean a new source of hard currency and freedom from 
foreign oil.  All the existing pipelines and energy routes from the region 
to Europe go through Russia, who aims to keep it that way.  In one variant, 
Russia is the antagonist and must take cities to win.

1.2  CHRISTIAN REPUBLICS:  Georgia and Armenia had been Christian long
before they were assimilated into the Soviet Union.  Because of their
shared heritage, Eastern Orthodox Russia maintains close ties with these
republics; even supplying Armenia weapons in their conflict against 
Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh.  Despite this friendship, this is one of
the harder nations to win with.

1.3  MUSLIM REPUBLICS:  Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kirghizstan all have
a close connection with Islam, as they were part of Persia in the past. 
With independence they have nourished these ties with other Muslim lands in
the Middle East.  They will survive for a while, until Russia or 

1.4  NEUTRAL REPUBLICS:  Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are large enough to be
relatively independent from both Russian and Islamic forces from the outside
(Kazakhstan has inherited some of the old Soviet nuclear warheads as a 
result of the breakup of the USSR).  Of course, without any real allies, 
everyone wants a piece of them . . . .

1.5  IRAN:  Suddenly a model for a host of potential fundamentalist states,
Iran has seized the chance to become a regional superpower at the expense of
its former ally.  The Iranian grab for power makes them antagonistic in one
variant of this scenario.  It will be hard to thrive without some assistance
from the Rebels.

1.6  TALIBAN/REBELS:  Several groups have attempted to break away from the
power structure and chart their own course.  These are Chechnya (with the 
capital of Grozny, defying the Russian army), Abkhazia (Sukhumi, on the 
Black Sea coast, has seceeded from Georgia), and Tajikistan (seized by 
revolutionaries in 1992).  Many of these conflicts have been fanned by 
Afghani mujahedin, who are more militant than Iran in their support for a 
united Islamic world.  Alone, the Rebels do not stand much of a chance
against covetous neighbors.

1.7  CHINESE:  The southeastern edge of the map is PRC territory.  They play
a minor role in the events of the game, and will be difficult to win with.

1.8  U.N.:  "Barbarians" represent UN peacekeeping troops.  They start dug
in near the hottest spots and are present just to impede movement.


2.	Game Concepts:

SORRY there are no sounds.  My wife (39 weeks pregnant at the time of this
writing) asked for this to be a silent war.

2.1  POLLUTION should be a major factor in this scenario, as there are lots
of ways to increase production cheaply.  I believe this fits well with the
truth, as the Soviets had unparallelled hubris when it came to exploiting the
environment (the Central Commitee entertained the idea of reversing the flow
of several Siberian rivers to the Aral Sea with the aid of a few well-placed
nuclear explosions !) and were oblivious of the effects of pollution.

2.2  TERRAIN:  There are three new types of terrain replacing Jungle, Arctic,
and Tundra which do not appear in this scenario:
   A)  Salt Flats represent areas that were once water (actually the salty
Aral Sea, which has shrunk over time).  They are low in resources, and were
used extensively by the Soviets for nuclar detonations.
   B)  Plateau is high grassland, most prevalent in Iran here but also
present to show high-altitude areas in the Ural, Pamir, and Tien Shan ranges.
There are some resources here but nothing special.
   C)  Dunes are areas of sand, stolen wholeheartedly from Harlan Thompson's
Mongol scenario.

     In addition, several special resources have been replaced by oil, to 
reinforce the importance of petroleum.

2.3  IMPROVEMENTS:  Many city improvements have been replaced with new names
and icons, primarily to highlight the religious differences between some of
the tribes, and to heighten the importance of oil production.  The ones that
deserve special notice are outlined below:
   A)  Oil Refineries replace Manufacturing Plants.
   B)  Piplelines replace Superhighways, as a way of reflecting the increased
trade generated by exporting oil.
   C)  Irrigation replaces Supermarkets, as a result of one of Khruschev's
only useful innovations in Central Asia.
   D)  Nations that receive Western Aid can "create" it like capitalization.

     There are four wonders in the game, three of which are already in place.
   A) Registan Square in Samarkand.  This city was the ancient capital of 
Tamerlane's empire, which he improved with an impressive monument.  It has
the powers of Shakespeare's Theater.
   B) Islamic heritage replaces the Manhattan Project, which allows nuclear
terrorists to appear in special instances.
   C) The Baikonur Kosmodrome was the center of the Soviet Space Program, and
still used to launch rockets today.  It has no real game effect.
   D) The Caspian Oilfields represents a major program of oil production.  It
duplicates the effect of King Richard's Crusade.

2.4  TECHNOLOGY:  Although not a driving issue in this scenario, nevertheless
I made use of the Fantastic Worlds enhancements to the events tech which 
shows Western interest in the region.  Most of the new technology is used to
allow for unique units or special improvements based on religion or oil.
Unusual techs that deserve mention are:
   A)  The Virgin Lands Program was started in the 60's as a way to create
more irrigated land in the Central Asian deserts.
   B)  Environmental Engineering from the West allows recycling to decrease
pollution. 

2.5  UNITS:  Most of the weapons are Soviet-made stand-bys from the Cold
War.  Moscow retains most of the high-technology arms.  All of the pictures
used were taken from other scenarios on the web.  Units that need more 
explanation are detailed below:
   A) Foot Units:
	Militia are unorganized bands of defenders.
	Spetsnaz are Russian commandos.
	Terrorists are assassin-type units that die once they attack.
	Mujahedin are Islamic extremists that ignore zones of control.  Due
to their knowledge of difficult terrain, they treat all spaces as roads.
	Stingers are assassin-type units that can attack air units.
	Bombers are terrorists with nuclear devices (!).
	Pasadran are the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
	Border Troops guarded the edge of former Soviet territory.
	Mounted Raiders are horse-riding Mujahedin with better defense
against mechanized units.
   B) Mechanized Units:
	Scorpions are light tanks used by the Iranian Revolutionary guard.
	The BMP and BTR represent several models of infantry fighting
vehicles used by Warsaw Pact forces.  The BTR is the heavier of the two.
   C) Artillery
	The M-109 is a standard Soviet artillery piece, while the Su-76 
is a self-propelled, more advanced gun.
	The ZSU-23 is an anti-aircraft system.
   D) Aircraft
	The MiG-21 is the oldest Soviet fighter, used by Iranians.
	The Su-27 is shared by Soviet and Chinese air forces.
 	The bomber units in this scenario (Tu-142, -76, -160 and -22M, as 
well as the Chinese H-5) can stay aloft for multiple turns.
	The Ka-27 helicopter is primarily an anti-sub weapon.
	The Chinese SA-342 is an anti-tank helicopter.
	The Mainstay is an AEWACS aircraft used for reconiassance.

2.6  The map is slighlty skewed away from the normal north-is-at-the-top view,
as anyone familiar with the Urals probably can see.  I just wanted to get all
of the hot spots in one place without having too much extraneous space.

2.7  This scenario makes use of an events file as allowed in the Conflicts CD
and the extra unit spots allowed in the Fantastic Worlds CD.