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                          AGE OF ALEXIUS Version2.2
                             The First Crusade
     An original scenario By Masis Panose-mail me at Masis_Panos@Yahoo.com
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ACTIVATE WORDWRAP!

Installation
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If you don't have the Fantastic Worlds add on don't worry, just make sure you don't install the EVENTS file and it will play just like a normal scenario.
For those with the FW add on, you may know the procedure to install a downloaded scenario. If not, let me explain it to you in stages;
1) As a Windows user, open My Computer and click on the C drive icon. Then open the Mps folder and then click on the CivII folder.
2) If your folder contains a Scenarios folder, good, if not make a new folder and call it Scenarios and open it.
3) Create a new folder and call it Alexius and highlight and drag all NON Wav files from the Winzip into this folder.
4)Within the Alexius folder create a new folder called Sound and highlight and drag all wav files from the Winzip into this new folder.

Now you can open the scenario from Civ II.

It is recommended you remove the GETINFO file from the Pedia folder so that you can view the actual texts for the new city improvements, wonders and units. Don't worry, you can restore the file afterwards from the Recylce Bin.

After a series of scenarios (mere proto-types still) about the Roman era, I realised that there were currently no Civ II scenarios that spefically focused on the Levantine crusades in detail, not for that matter gave much cred to the Roman (not 'Byzantine' an insulting derogatory word used by pompous western historians to hide the fact that the Roman empire did not fall to them, but survived in the east and fell to the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century) part played in the Crusades.
This scenario tries to solve that. 

Historical Background
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After the disaster of Manzikert 1071 (small town north of lake Van, western Armenia) during which the whole Roman army fell to pieces (due to large Mercenary contingents, religious persecutions done to non-Orthodox peoples like Armenians and Jews-who were in the Roman army and rivalry of dynastic generals who wanted the throne) whilst the Seljuks mastered the day and won lands that even the first Caliph, Omar, could not conquer. So Alexius now found the frontier of Islam to be only a few miles away from the capital at Nikea. The reason why the Turks had such an easy run into anatolia was due to the absence of a local militia-that had been destroyed by the bureacracy of the post Macedonian* era. The only way to get sufficient military power to repel the Turks now was to appeal to a friendly Christian power-Frankia.
This was just what the Franks wanted, a free hand to take what they wanted, even if they had to make token submission to the Roman Emperor, it meant little to them once outside Nea Roma.
*The Macedonian era began with Basil I (866 AD) who was descended from Armenians who had been deported to Thracia by Emperor Maurice during around 590AD and ended with the death of Basil II 'Bulgaroktonos' (Bulgar Slayer) in 1025 AD. They heralded in a new military era that was swiftly ended by the lousy Angeli dynasty that followed them.

Units and Other Game Changes:
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Sapper units are destoryed after attacking, the Bishop plays the rols of Spy, I have cranked up the attack/defense strength of certain units to make a more dynamic game. Also some city improvements cost a lot to build and to maintain, just as it was in reality.
Essentially you will quickly find out the quailities of each unit type, I must admit that the values were 'of-the-head' and have not been subjected to a long evaltuation-that may be corrected in a 2nd version.
Sappers are destroyed after attacking and if you are playing the Franks, the Bohemund, Raymund, Gascon, Italian, Norman/English and Latin Bishop units are irreplacable. Turkopolis are cavalry of mixed Turkoman-Roman origin.
The graphics originate from various sources, some of the units I created from scratch, some were edited from another source and others are directly taken from other sources without changes-the MRP signature is mine. The Border graphic is a copy of part of the interior decoration of Haghia Sophia, though the colour does not make the wording show very well in the scenario-something to do for version3.
If you are wondering why there is Rock Salt near Heirapolis it is because the city was famous, and still is, for its natural rock salt formations and hot thermal spring waters. The Paved Road graphic is meant to demonstrate the continued use and maintainance of the road network built during the expansionist years of the Roman Empire-they also help the Franks to get to the Levant easier as it is already difficult traversing the Toros mountains whilst staying clear of friendly Armenian territory. The village graphic replaces the Airbase, used for hills to produce and extra unit of food, just as in reality the presence of villages outlying a Metropolis boosted the resources of the Metropolis itself, they can be built by Serfs using the 'e' command. Pollution should not be a major factor in this scenario, but if you are playing the Romans you will find the City rife with disease which, if not remideed by the building of Hospitals, could result in the appearance of Plagued areas nearby. The fortress graphic is meant to represent the Roman style of fortress building, a style that the Franks would follow keenly in their own Fortress building programs in the Levant. Justinian's column is featured as a part of the Roman Metropolis graphic together with Haghia Sophia. The banners (flags) I designed, as the flag form we use today was not used then. The reason why there is a mixture of bmp and gif files is that originally I had used a demo version of Paint Shop Pro, but when it expired (and it forbids you to re-download it) I went to using Microsoft Paint, saving them as 256 bmp files, they should work withour any problems. The Orthodox and Armenian Monasteries graphic I created to represent the presence of this institutions during this time, the reason why I have placed Plagued areas in Armenia is to show the destruction to civic life caused by the Seljuk incursions into Armenia, the Orthodox Monastery is to represent the Monasteries of Mount Athos and Thassos. The Armenian Monasteries are there to show the abundance of these buildings in the region, the old capital of Armenia, Ani, is said to have contained over 1,000 churches, a few still survive today. The double-headed eagle emblem cursor I made, it was used by the Romans and adopted by the Seljuks of Romania (Seljuks of Rum-i.e.-Roman Anatolia) and also the western Frankish emperors. The People graphic is my own creation, designed to be as authentic to the 11th century Roman Empire/Levant as posssible. Some of the wonders graphics I made as well as the Oud (Lute) graphic which replaces the normal Luxury graphic, and the Hammer replaces the Shield graphic, the Dagger replaces the Corruption graphic, the pile of waste replaces the black shield waste graphic and the hand with a money bag replaces the normal trade arrow graphic. The Rotting head (symbolise spread of Plague) replaces the pollution graphic and the opening book replaces the beaker graphic. The Framland graphic I made, showing Cypress and Olive trees.

Civilizations:
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The scenario is aimed for play by the Franks, but you can play the other civs as well:

Romans
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The great Empire still survives, with a splendid exile-Capital; New Rome to work from. By the stage of the scenario, they have lost a lot of territory, recently Anatolia which had been under their rule for over 1,000 years. If you want to play the Romans, move quickly to retake the western towns and cities before the 2nd turn as the Franks will set up base in Anatolia and move randomly anywhere they please, very unlikely to be a real ally against the Turks and more a threat to you in the long run.

Franks
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Sent by the Pope to retake the Holy Land, can you take the banner of the cross and lead them to Jerusalem?
They start of being encamped outside Nea Roma and need to be strategically moved into place to fight the Turks and then move around the Toros mountains in the south to take Edessa, Antiokia and Yerushalem. Be warned-aviod moving stacks of units into one place as they will fall prey to the Seljuks.
Protagonists, reccomended.

Roman Seljuks
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After conquering a region that had been under Roman rule for 1,000 years it was hardly surprising that the Seljuks should call the land Rum (Rome) and name their Sultanate after it. They have the breadbasket of the Roman Empire under their control and can yet take Nea Roma...

Great Seljuks
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The original Seljuk Sultanate (Soonni) ruled from Isfahan. Alp Aslan (Mountain Lion) had wanted to destroy the Fatimid (Shi'a) Caliphate, not the Roman Empire and the battle of Manzikert need not have been fought at all were it not for the narrow mindedness of the Roman bureacracy and the Turkoman tribesmen fighting under the banner of Alp Aslan who pressed for war. As this civ, finish the job Alp Aslan wanted done or bring the break-away Seljuks of Romania under your rule...

Fatimids
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A sect that had tried to conquer the world, but could not even hold what little territory it had already, the Fatimid owed its survival in Egypt due to a strong multi-cultural bureacracy and of course the isolation that has long gaurded Egypt from attack, such as the sinai penninsula and the Sahara desert. War-like Arab tribes men deported from Arabia and moved to southern Egypt have rebelled and taken over Libya, whilst the Seljuks are pressing down the Levantine coast and are threatening the capital Cairo!

Georgians
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An interesting civ to play, they have to recapture their old capital-Tblisi and create a strong kingdom in the Caucasus. You need not stop at Tblisi, go and take  the famed city of Ani* and Azerbaijan if you can from the Seljuks.
*An Armenian capital city that once had 1,000 churches in both its viscinity and suburbs-now a ruined waste land within the Turkish border.

Armenians
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After the stupid Romans surpressed Armenian and tried to make them into passive Orthodox non-entities, the Romans realised the mistake they had made and tried to fob the Armenian aristocracy of with lands in Cilicia to compensate them. Initially the lands were around Sevastia and Kaisaria, but were later enlarged to include the Toros mountain region and the Cilician plains. Despite the move south, the Armenians are still in the forefront of Chrisitanity V Islam.

Barbarians
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They play the role of the Serbs, Assasins of Alamut and the Arab tribes of Libya. As you will know, they can not be played

Technologies
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Authentic names for techs are still to be thought up, Stefan Haertel gave a nice idea of giving the Seljuks Guerilla Warfare but I think that would require opening the scenario and then opening the cheat mode-altering the way the game had passed in the process. If thetre is a way to give Guerilla warfare to the Seljuks via the Rules file that would be better.

The Map
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My own hard work!

The Title.Gif
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My own creation, meant to show how Emperor Alexius was set between the oncoming Frankish terror and the Seljuk menace in the east. The Romaik text below translates as 'King of kings, ruling over kings'*. The buildings are a ruined Crusader castle and a Seljuk caravanesarai. *The wall paper graphic I made contains the stylised Romaik letter 'B' drawn as a 'E'-B for Basilios.

Government types:
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The Romans have a corrupt government now, a long fall from the order of the Macedonian era, then again so does the Seljuk Sultante of Isfahan/Hamadan. The others have the opportunity to expand to a certain degree as a Kingdom.

Other Notes&Bugs:
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-Need to create some more sounds and specify certain units so that only some civs can build them.

-Need to create some authentic names for techs of the time, can't have Rocketry as being researchable!

-The Events have a size limitation, A lot of would-be-events had to be cut, perhaps I could turn this scenario into a multi-events scenario...? See Notes txt.

-This is the fourth version, so God Willing, I can imporve this in time, with either more Events or text changes.

