
Seize the Crown!
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Players Notes
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Design concept
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This scenario has been developed primarily for stand-alone play, for those who like a large game and lots of units. Although starting strengths are modest, a Baron will have to expand mightily before he is ready to attempt to claim the throne. He has 50 years (200 game turns) to do this - and secure his dynasty by taking the majority of English towns.

A variant of this scenario is under development for multiplayer/network games, or for those who prefer a shorter scenario. This will probably have 100 game turns, and a much smaller map. I hope to have this ready in late 2001.

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Introduction and historical background
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The inspiration for this game came from the artistically-superb "Cross and Crescent" game, designed by BeBro(Bernd) - home site at http://www.crosswinds.net/~cbrosing/CivSiteMain.htm

The knights were particularly well drawn and got me thinking what sort of scenario could re-use them - preferably one based around the history of England, and one that concentrated more on in-fighting amongst similar opponents. My researches turned up the "Anarchy" during the reign of King Stephen. This period seems ideally suited for such a game: the sort of units I wanted appeared towards the end of the game, two main contenders are at loggerheads, providing scope for smaller fish to snap up gains and maybe become big fish themselves, and a fragmented political situation, allowing many "civs" to contend - and lots of "barbarians".

In 1135, King Henry I ("Beauclerc", son of William the Conqueror, King of England and Duke of Normandy) died after a long and successful reign. His son Arthur had drowned earlier on, and his last years were dominated by his attempts to force his followers to accept his only remaining child - Matilda - as his successor. All of the major barons duly swore allegiance to Matilda - then as soon as Henry died, decided to support instead the claim of Matilda's cousin, Stephen of Blois, to the throne. For most of them, the freely admitted reason for this was their reluctance to accept a woman on the throne. Also, Stephen was a charming, vigorous man, skilled in war. Matilda, most historians agree, was a cold, arrogant woman, skilled only in making enemies. 

Nevertheless, Matilda could call on the fact that she was the only surviving child of the previous King, and more importantly, all of the Barons in England and Normandy had sworn to acknowledge her claim. She had been in France (with her second husband, Geoffrey, Duke of Anjou) when Henry died and Stephen seized power. After several years preparing the ground, Matilda's kinsman Duke Roger of Gloucester declared for the Empress (so-called because her first husband had been Holy Roman Emperor) and Matilda landed at Arundel, on the south coast of England, to lead the fight (Autumn 1139). Incredibly to modern eyes, Stephen had her trapped in Arundel, but instead chivalrously escorted her to Bristol to join with Duke Roger in his West Country power base. Her ally, King David of Scotland, had earlier attacked the north of England in her support but had been repulsed and was in an uneasy cease-fire. Many barons sided with one side or the other - many more waited and watched.

This is the point at which the scenario starts.

Matilda went on to have a series of skirmishes, sieges and near escapes fighting Stephen, but in 1141 her allies trapped Stephen near Lincoln and captured him. Matilda entered London and was about to have herself crowned Queen, when Stephen's wife (also called Matilda, confusingly) appeared nearby with a large army. Matilda had already annoyed the Londoners by proposing to tax them heavily and she was effectively kicked out of the capital. Weeks later, Roger of Gloucester was himself captured by forces still loyal to Stephen, and Matilda had no option but to swap Stephen for Roger. She never came close to becoming Queen again. (Some sources call Roger, Robert - but I have used Roger to avoid confusion with Earl de Lacy.)

Meanwhile, her husband Geoffrey (called "Plantagent" from his habit of wearing a spig of the Broom plant - "Planta Genet" in latin - in his cap) had used his Angevin forces to capture all of Normandy. The two camps were at stand-off for the next decade, but the Barons of England played each side against the other and raised their own armies and fought their own wars. Stephen had lost a lot of his original credit with the great landowners, and was never able to assert his authority fully.

When Stephen's own son Eustace died in 1153 (whew - nearly had a King Eustace there!) he agreed with Matilda that her son, Henry, would become the next King. Stephen enjoyed barely a year's peace before he died in 1154. Henry Plantagenet was crowned Henry II and reasserted Royal control of the country. In my scenario, the King after Stephen might be you!

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Game objectives
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Starting in 1139, you take one of the four great baronies of England. Play as Humphrey de Bohun, Richard Neville, Hugh Bigod or Robert de Lacy, as you start your career as the 15-year-old head of a family that came to England with the Conqueror - and that may still have landholdings in Normandy.

Playing as Stephen, Matilda or King David is possible, but I suggest you do this in a later game. Reasons are given below.

Historical purists, please note: these barons were not all 15 in 1139, in fact some of them weren't even born. Barons like de Redvers and de Warenne were major players, too. However, these four families were nicely split geographically and their holdings at the start of the game approximate closely to their real ones around this time. However, I haven't shrunk from giving them un-historical holdings where this improves the game balance.

You are trying to become King of England before you die in 1189, at 65 years of age. To become King, you need the Kingdom tech (Fundamentalist Govt) and then to change to that government form. There are three ways to get this tech (only). Capture or kill Stephen, take the city of London, or steal the tech. Stealing is unfortunately impossible to stop, but you can only do it when you are already in rebellion and it is unlikely you will succeed anyway. However, this is not all. Once you are King you must control the vast majority of English towns to gain general acceptance. I suggest that the first time you play at Earl (King in classic Civ) level.

DON'T READ BEYOND HERE IF YOU LIKE TO WORK EVERYTHING OUT FOR YOURSELF. BE PREPARED FOR SURPRISES!
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Game strategy
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I don't want to spoil the process of finding out which strategies work best for which Barons. Anyway, different strategies work out best, depending on what your rivals are up to. The notes below are general, and apply to all four Barons (Earls) equally.

Early military tactics
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Keep your head down! There are lots of very bad-tempered independents wandering around, and a lot of them are veterans. The independent Barons are particularly nasty. Wait for the first wave to disperse a bit before you sally out too far. Use the time to build up a few siege engines - you'll need them to take almost any town unless you're prepared for huge casualties. Also, get a few trade routes going. They will help your science a lot and generate much needed cash.

There are also some rich villages scattered around that give some easy pickings. Worth a few raiding parties, perhaps?

Early science
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More open to debate. I like to go for Monasticism and then Classical Knowledge. However, Craftsmanship is also crucial. Castlebuilding is a very useful mid-period tech that requires Mathematics - Classical Knowledge again. Also you need maths to build the better siege engines.

Early economics
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Trade routes and village plunder have already been mentioned. You also have the Knight's Fee (a parcel of land you can dole out to a trusted follower, for a price) and your family gold reserves that can be sold off in a pinch. You will have to be creative, because money's too tight to mention, to coin a phrase.

Apart from Marketplaces, no financial improvements are available until Jewish Immigration starts in 1152 or so. Then, Trusted Coinage and Christian Charity can help you build Counting Houses and Jewellers' Guilds.

Creative diplomacy can offer good rewards, particularly if you maintain a very good reputation. I'll say no more.

Later military tactics
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Concentrate on London as your major target. Before rebelling against the King, make sure you have stongly-fortified bases near the capital from which to launch an assault. Unless you have naval superiority, don't rely on shipping in reinforcements by sea - the AI plays a good naval game. Build up your besieging equipment well in advance. 

To take a strongly defended city, you will first need to "invest" it. That is, cut it off from reinforcement. Move good defensive units (Spearmen, or better, Men-at-Arms - or even better, Crossbowmen) to encircle the city at all practical access points. This need not be an ENTIRE encirclement, if some sides of the city are bounded by sea or thick forest.

Some of your besieging units will be killed by defending forces sallying from the city. Move more in to replace casualties. Soon, the defender will run out of attacking units, or they will be very damaged. When this happens, move powerful siege engines (Mangonels, or better, Trebuchets) alongside the city. Next move, let them have it! You might need to move in more engines in that same turn to keep up the pace of the assault, if the first ones get destroyed or too damaged to be effective.

Most of the advantage is with the defender, so prepare sieges properly.

Later science
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Jewish Immigration (then Moneylending and Jewellers' Guild) can give you a major financial boost. However, despite the horrendous cash outflows, I think you can probably survive without going down that path, unless you also want the Ports and Naval advances that Merchant Shipping brings. However, you will need to trade a lot (tricky if you are the type that is always at war) and that will also detract from building military units. "Yer needs yer money, yer makes yer choice" I guess.

Being of a defensive nature, and absolutely HATING to lose a city to the AI, I like going for Castlebuilding, and then building a Keep or Castle in my capital, plus other major or strategic cities. The AI will rarely break into a Castle, although if you leave it without a reasonable attack unit present, even the AI will eventually drum up enough unopposed siege engines to take it.

Strangely, Castles and Keeps are often the last unit in a city to be attacked, whereas Motte & Baileys (wooden castles) are treated as the prime defender. To stop this I have made Castles and Keeps notional air units. This should have no ill effects as they have no movement points. It also stops them being shipped by sea. Shipping Motte & Baileys by sea is not only possible, but William the Conqueror actually did it when he invaded England in 1066. Thanks to Andrew Livings here, for that idea.

The Cathedral Consecration tech is a good one. Not only do you get the ability to build Cathedrals (which are cheaper and more effective than Bear Baiting pits, and essential for cities over size 10 at the higher levels), you also get a free Bishop. This is a Spy unit, and although slow, is great for checking out a city's defences before attacking. It enables Endow a Bishopric, which gives you ANOTHER Bishop, but not a free one. The endowment will cost you 200 marks, so only do it if you have some spare cash. To get Cathedral Consecration you have to research the otherwise useless tech of Theology first. Bishops can also keep bribing out cities as long as you have the money. As mentioned, through, money is tight!

Similarly, Monasticism gives you a Black (Benedictine) Monk. Useful for bribing units, cities or stealing tech. It enables research for Found an Abbey, which gives you another Monk, at a cost of 100 marks.

When and if you claim the throne and change to a Kingdom government form, you will find your science effort decreases dramatically (usually by around 65%). Try to ensure you have the main techs you need before you have yourself crowned! As King, you have other concerns than pure research - like staying alive and in power!

Later economics
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To keep a reasonable science rate going (60-70%) you will be running a large deficit - perhaps as much as 150 marks a season. To fund this you will be using all sorts of dodges - extortions from your rivals, plundering innocent villagers and setting up long trade routes between large cities, selling off the family plate, to mention but a few. However, the time might well come when you feel the need to get yourself on a sound financial footing - and for that you need the Jews.

Christianity in this period specifically forbade the faithful to engage in Usury (the practice of lending money at interest). As this practice underlies the foundation of credit and all advanced finance, its exclusion dramatically hindered all Christian rulers trying to finance a Court or an Army. Jews were under no such prohibition, and thus came to specialise in this area - particularly as the laws of Christian countries often prevented Jews from owning land.

In 1152, significant Jewish Immigration into England began (approximately), and reached as far as Scotland by 1165. Much of the reason for this lay in the expulsion of Jews from other parts of Christendom. Once this happens, players with "Christian Charity" can develop Religious Toleration, and thus Moneylending. Moneylending allows the second-level economic improvement to be built in towns - Counting Houses. If the player also has Guilds, the third-level improvement - Jewellers' Guilds - can be built. (Jewellers, with their large stocks of precious metals, usually provided the services of Pawnbrokers and Financiers to local merchants and the general citizenry, as well as the more traditional craftsmanship of precious objects.)

In addition, Moneylending allows the development of Merchant Shipping, with consequent improvements in ship types and the possible construction of major trading ports. A later progression (with Trusted Coinage) allows a proper Navy to be commissioned and funded. Those expensive, shallow-water Galleys will no longer command the seas around England. As King Stephen starts off with the only strong naval force, it might be better to research Navy if you intend taking him on at sea, rather than trying to outbuild him in Galleys. 

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Terrain notes
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Those of you playing under Fantastic Worlds will not have the benefit of in-game terrain help. Even Multiplayer (Ultimate Civ) owners may well be puzzled by some terrain types, so here are a few words of explanation.

The Roads you will see at the start of the game are the principal roads left by the Romans. Where they cross rivers, it is the Roman bridges that are still used. Although your peasants can build new roads (that is hardcoded into Civ, unfortunately), they cannot bridge rivers until Bridgebuilding is researched. [Masonry and Craftsmanship] Bridgebuilding is tactically very useful, and also increases trade - particularly if Toll Bridges are built.

The rivers themseves were the main highways of England in this period, at least once one left the old Roman roads. With Mounted Retainers able to move 12 squares through any terrain if on a river, but only one through a forest for example, their value will quickly become apparent!

General comments on productivity: Count the animals! Livestock farming gives 1 food and 1 shield per animal pair (animals provide leather, horn, sinew etc) but arable farming gives lots of food (5+) and no shields (try making harnessing out of straw!).

Sparse Grazing
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This is effectively the old Plains terrain. Its special resources are Abbeys and Monasteries. Providing 1 food and 1 shield, it is best enclosed with hedges and made into fields (irrigated) for 1 extra food. A road will provide 1 trade. A Yeoman farmer can transform Sparse Grazing to Ploughed Land. If you are going to do this type of transform, it is better to create fields first, so the land is immediately productive.
One movement point.

Ploughed Land
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By itself, Ploughed Land is ENTIRELY unproductive. However, once planted (irrigated) it produces 5 food. It never produces trade. Special resources are Rich Loam and Fertile Soil. Two movement points. Defence bonus of 50%.
Ploughed Land can be transformed into Pasture.

Pasture
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Twice as productive as Sparse Grazing (2 food and 2 shields), its special resources are Cattle Pens and Good Grazing. A road will create 1 trade. Pasture can be transformed to Ploughed Land but CANNOT be irrigated. (The cattle would eat the crops!)
Two movement points, standard defence.

Hills
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Very much as in standard Civ. 1 food, irrigation adds 2 more. Hills can be mined to produce 4 shields in addition to the standard 1 food. Special resources are Sheep and Surface Coal. Two movement points. 50% defence bonus. No transformation.

Wooded Hills
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2 shields, cannot be irrigated. Mining gives 3 extra shields. Special resources are Iron deposits and Pigs. Four movement points. 50% defence bonus. No transformation.

Village
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Old Grassland terrain. Cannot be irrigated, but can be ploughed under (transformed). Roads give 1 extra trade. "Special resource" is a bigger village. 50% defence bonus. One movement point.

Woods
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2 shields, 1 trade. Roads give no trade bonus. Three movement points. 50% defence bonus. Cannot be irrigated or mined, but can be transformed (cleared) to Sparse Grazing.

Forests
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3 shields, 1 trade (better and more thickly planted trees). Six movement points! 50% defence bonus. Can be transformed to Woods, which you would only do if you were going on to transform again to Ploughed Fields or similar - a lengthy task!. Special resources are Timber and Fallow Deer. Fallow deer give no food (hunting them was illegal unless the King said you could) but as the King and Aristocracy loved to hunt them, they are a huge boost to the local economy.

Moor
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Pretty barren. 1 food. Nothing else, and cannot be transformed. 2 movement points as quite hilly, no defence bonus. Hovever, the Special resource of Red Deer is much prized by the huntsmen.

Fenland
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Two food. Can be drained (transformed) to Pasture. Three movement points, and a defence DISADVANTAGE of 50%. Special resources are Thatching Reeds and Peat.

Sea
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One food, which can be increased to 2 if the town has a Fishing Fleet. A Port in the town will generate one shield per square as well. Two trade. A defence bonus of 50% which just means defence and attack are evenly balanced for a change.

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Special techs
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Some key techs are not really explained by the automatic civilopedia notes, so here are some additional pointers:

Three Field System
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This agricultural innovation allows fields to be further improved to Farmland. Requiring Marl Fertilisation (a form of artificial mineral fertilizer discovered in the Middle Ages) the food surplus generated not only improves human sustenance, but (with Animal Husbandry) allows advances in Horse Breeding. The bigger and stronger horses you breed will be needed to mount the heavily-armored Knights available with Chivalry.

Classical Knowledge
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As mentioned above, vital for many other techs and also gives a bonus tech for the first family to discover.

Windmills
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Requiring Crop Rotation and Carpenters' Guild, a Windmill performs the same function as the Classic Civ Supermarket. If a city is built on irrigatable land (Ploughed land, Sparse Grazing or Hills), one extra food is generated from the city square. Additionally, the extra food generated by Farmland can now be utilised.

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Notes on Events
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In no particular order:

1) Saxon Rebellions and Border Reivers. The downtrodden Saxons might rebel from time-to-time. Mostly on the Fenlands of East Anglia, but sometimes in the Yorkshire Moors, too. Rather than full blown rebellions, think of these more as outbreaks of outlawry. Not a major threat, but unfortunate if you have unprotected Merchants or Siege Engines in the vicinity. Similarly for the Border Reivers that make a living from banditry in the "Debateable Lands" between Scotland and England.

2) Negotiation. No one can negotiate with King Stephen at all. You are his friend until you choose to become his enemy. This is fortunate, because he starts the game in an extremely strong position. The Planagenets in Normandy are his only significant rivals. In England, his priority is to re-assert his authority over those Barons that have declared Independence. Use the time to extend your domains and frustrate your rival Barons.

3) Personality figures. Powerful, but it's good if you CAN kill the enemy leaders - you'll see why. For similar reasons, don't risk your own figure, unless in dire emergencies where the power of the unit is vital.

4) If you research the Rebellion tech (plot your revolt) - you are committed. When you "discover" it, you get the "Rival Kingdom" tech (Communism) and Stephen will declare all-out war on you. Best to wait until the last half of the game, when you have prepared the ground properly. Moving to a Rival Kingdom "government" will help your War Effort and is not bad for tech research either.

5) Some Welsh Border towns will generate extra troops for you if you take them.

6) The Plantagents get lots of units in Normandy via Events. The AI simply needs this to be a credible threat. If you play the Planagents, a strong Navy to transport this army to England will be essential.

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