(continued from Readme1)

Royal Monopolies (Stock Exchange) tech allows the construction of the Royal Monopoly  improvement (Stock Exchange). I was tempted to leave in the stock markets, but realized that during the period there were perhaps only 3 or 4 existed. The Bank is actually the (Superhighways) renamed and available w/India Companies tech. The power of cartels of local merchants is indisputable. Early modern warfare was expensive, and Monarchs needed money to equip and/or pay for troops. The profitability and expansion of local trade gave several kings of this era their ability to wage war. Charles V depended upon the Fuggers and Welsers to bankroll his efforts. The kings in England had repudiated debts several times so that Charles I Stuart was unable to acquire the cash he needed to chastise the Scottish forces devastating the north of his realm. In attempting to get the money he needed, he antagonized the English nobility to the point of civil war. The English Civil War has been relegated to an event; on turn 315 or thereabouts, the English receive a special tech, Commonwealth (Democracy), it is a "no,no" tech, but they CAN use it.) At that late stage of the game, the change to Commonwealth government will take roughly 6-8 turns. This represents the English Civil War [w/apologies to ECW historians]. Many monarchs of the period encouraged trade, and then made the most profitable parts of it royal monopolies. Absolutism (Republic) is intended to reflect this monopolistic process due to its greater ability to generate cash and science research, through royal direction and patronage. The Peasant Revolt (Guerilla Warfare) tech is something the players must get before acquiring Enclosure Movement, and it does make things more difficult for enemy campaigns of conquest, but the Communism tech is not in the game, so things shouldn't get out of hand. [playtesting reveals that things might well "get out of hand" however.] Historically, there were some widespread and turbulent peasant uprisings in Germany during both the 15th & 16th centuries. Martin Luther actually supported the first initially, but after violence and looting, condemned them w/a pamphlet, "Against the Theiving hordes of peasants." Shipbuilding is another powerful tech that can be acquired fairly early. Along with the new and stronger ship designs comes the New World Trade (Adam Smith) wonder and the Shipyard (Port Facility) improvement. It is admittedly oversimplification, but the issue of shipbuilding technology is paramount in Europe's rise to world preeminence during this period. To project power, one must be able to GET THERE. The new ships were not only designed for speed, wind power use, and durability on the open oceans, but were also designed with the specific idea that they would carry many CANNONS on board and these situated in such a way that their collective firepower was maximized. That last detail is important. There are at least 5 Shipyards already in the game; at Spanish Algarve & Cadiz, at Italian Venice & Genoa, and at London. Tax Farming can be researched quickly, making Excessive Taxes (Capitalization) available to monarchs who need money. The Science (Great Library) wonder does NOT go obsolete. This wonder represents the products of true scientific research. There is a surprise in store for the first player to reach empiricism; it is (philosophy) renamed and no one in the game has it yet. The Vauban Fortresses (Construction) tech is required to build fortresses and City Walls. Now, there are certainly a lot of walls in the scenario, right? So why no wall-building capability? Well, this period saw the quick employment of the new artillery to batter down walls that had been built to resist assaults and conventional sieges. Cannons battered down these walls at the opening of this era with a rapidity that startled the contemporary chroniclers. Cities that once could be taken only after months-long sieges, now were reduced in a matter of days, if not hours. Often it was almost a matter of counting shots until capitulation. So, at the beginning of the scenario, you can't build walls, and, if you seize a city and its walls are destroyed in the process, this achieves the result I was after. As the period wore on, keen minds went to work on the problem of fortifications versus large firearms. The Vauban Fortresses, with their characteristic "star" shape and interlocking fire-zones, were the answer. But that answer didn't appear immediately--it required some research, just as the game simulates. It also creates a brief window-era of "fragility" for walled cities at the beginning of the scenario--simulating the feel of the period. The Trace Italienne tech will also change the city graphic appearance appropriately. At almost the last minute I placed the Spanish units in the game-more to provide period flavor than anything else.

Whenever possible, I used sharply reductionist thinking in attempting to solve the various historical conundrums posed by the vagaries of the Civ2 scenario-making program. Most of the history of the period COULD occur as it did in game terms, but, of course, probably won't. That things COULD have happened in the way they did historically was my goal. If I had only had 7, 8, or 9 more player-positions, this could have been done quite a bit more accurately. You may well be asking, "HEY! Where is SWEEDEN? Where is Russia? Poland? The New World? My theoretical defense is; those were areas on the periphery of the European world-core during this period. I am informed in this assertion by the works of historian Immanuel Wallerstein, especially his "World System" trilogy, and by historian Fernand Braudel, who also wrote a superb trilogy of the period. My intent was to deal with the conflicts and administration of the CORE world-region. My practical defense is; 7 is not enough player-positions, we all must wait for Civ3. More random notes; the Barbary Pirate has submarine powers. Most cavalry actually functions AS cavalry--it has a 2-space sighting range. Some horse units have a 3 movement. The Berbers can build Berber Guards, Guards, Horse Archers, Ghazis, Light Horse, and Heavy Horse and eventually Janissaries; The Turks can build the 2 Janissaries, and all 4 of the horse units. I wanted to make the Janissaries tech a "no,no" tech, but then it wouldn't have shown up in the pedia, so the tech stays in, with the result that the Berbers can eventually build the janissaries, a result I'm not completely happy with. Both Turks and Berbers can build the Galley and Galiot, a lighter version of the Galley; Only the Europeans can build the Galleasse--according to Eggenberger, a double-size version of the galley. The Italians have a stout fleet at the beginning of the scenario around Venice, and this represents their experience and power in the mediterranean. These units are Armed Merchants, even though the Italians don't have the Local Trade tech yet. If you're playing them, be careful w/those units--you won't be able to replace them for awhile. The same can be said for the English, Imperial, and especially Spanish Fleets. Two English ports are building Armed Merchants even though England does not have Local Trade tech. Don't alter the production or you won't be able to continue building it. At the start of the scenario there are several cities w/pikemen or halberdiers; these represent expert, veteran, or highly-trained troops. London is occupied by 2 Halberdiers, The Dutch cities are occupied by Pikemen. The fortified "Neutral States" units--they can't move & don't attack. But will be difficult to destroy. This reflects the nature of the relationship between Poland and points east, & the Empire. Border warfare continued to erupt on the Imperial marches w/ Poland throughout this period. But Poland did not have a profound effect on European politics during the period. However, the idea that the Imperial forces available could have  occupied Poland is not realistic either. Conquering Poland and the cities east of the Empire will require a tremendous effort and it CAN be done, but only w/difficulty via a long and costly campaign. Ireland is not nearly as tough for the English, but will prove a costly problem to reduce. Again, it will take a prolonged campaign, and probably some artillery. Navarre is an independent state on the borders of France and Spain. It shouldn't last long. If you play AGAINST the HRE, it will be more difficult than intended because the AI cheats when it comes to matters of civil unrest and money. The scenario set-up has been created for human players, not the AI. A human playing the Imperial civ will find himself w/a host of difficulties; fiscal crisis, rapid population growth and civil unrest, "boundary disputes" between the Empire and "friendly" neighbors, and the Turks. The AI will dispense with some of these factors, so the effort of the game for the other players at start should be to reduce the power of the AI Empire. If AIs play both Spain and the Empire, an alliance of the two is likely. These two results neatly mimic the period of Charles V Hapsburg. The tech paradigm is 4:1--It is 4 times harder to gain tech. I did this because the game is designed to be a LONG game. There will be MANY turns in which you will operate with the units you can build at any given time. NO unit will go obsolete before you can build it. Speeding up tech research is not that difficult, and it involves the production of caravans. You can also trade techs w/other civs. The Berbers & Turks cannot negotiate as AIs; it is done w/an event, and they are allied. As a human Turkish or Berber player, you CAN negotiate w/the other. Tech Advice; the Europeans, except England, are researching Polearms as the scenario opens. The next few military techs can be acquired quickly w/a little effort & ingenuity. The techs Invention and Gunpowder will likely come up next as tech choices. The Invention will allow construction of Cannon units, while the Gunpowder tech allows the construction of Harquibusiers. Either tech provides a potent new unit, and both allow Metallurgy, which allows the construction of the Culverin unit and is the default (Gunpowder) tech renamed, thereby obsoleting all barracks. These first four techs give a player the sinews of 16th century war. After that, you're on your own. The first part of the 16th century was the period in which all the categories of modern arms were worked out. They were worked out on the battlefields of Italy, Germany, Hungary, and on the waters of the wine-dark sea. YOU can work these matters out yourself. enjoy. 

Technical issue-if you would like a city-text file in this program, feel free to do it yourself.

VIII.) Credit where credit is due. [or] A Lotta Borrowed Stuff.

Many of the basic graphics were copied from the various scenarios that came stock with MGE. I borrowed copiously.

A LOT of things came from Jesus Balsinde's "Time of Thunder" Scenario, including; several of the flags and the Dhow graphics. The wonder War with the Turks, Trade Cartels, and Dutch Trade Empire graphics all came from Thunder. The "fortified" graphic came from there too, but Mr. Balsinde' says that he got it from Frederick Meunie's "Stonehenge" scenario. 
A LOT of things came from Jesus Munoz Fernandez's "30 Years War" Scenario, including; the unit graphics for the Halberdiers, Pikemen, and Reiters. Also the improvement graphics for the University and Cathedral, the wonder graphic for the Inquisition, and the Trace Italienne city graphic.
The Janizzary & Cartography wonder graphics, and the Peasant Revolt, crossbow, and Caravel units, all came from "ibewatson@aol.com"s "100 Years War" scenario. The Horse Artillery unit came from his American Revolution scenario.
The barbarian city graphic came from Michael J. Daumen's "Great Game" scenario.
The barbarian city flag came from Markus Eklund's "Turk" scenario, The Janissary-musketeer graphic came from his "Eagles" scenario.
The Fanatic, Light Cavalry, and Galiot graphics came from Markus Eklund's "Timur Khan."
The Sewer graphic, the Berber Guard, and the Iron Crown graphics all came from Charles the Great by Mr. Temba.
The Farms graphic came from Alba de America by Jesus Balsinde'
The Shipyard graphic came from "Ancient Empires" by Paul Cullivan. I enjoyed his readme file.
The Theatre/Opera came from the American Civil War scenario by Capt. Nemo & Alex the Magnificent.
The Church improvement & Fire Ship unit graphic and the "muskets-firing" wav. sound came from the "Struggle for Empire" scenario by Carl Fritz [Gothmog] [A patient man].
The Turkish and Berber flag came from the visually beautiful "Cross and Crescent" scenario by Bernd Brosing [BeBro].

Special thanks to;

Bernd Brosing [BeBro] for help w/the opening graphic.
Hendrik the Great, Patient English, Gothmog, and Captain Nemo for answering
questions and generally making this scenario possible. 
I owe a substantial debt of gratitude to Jesus Munoz Hernanez, who volunteered to look at the scenario very early on and made a number of excellent suggestions that improved it immeasurably.

The Ideas for many of the wonders and improvements came from other games and is predictable when one considers that we are all taught, (more or less) the same history. Different folks emphasize different factors in terms of historical significance, but many elements retain their importance. If I have inadvertently forgotten to credit anyone with their stuff, please email me at Exile1957@aol.com, and I will endeavor to alter the files immediately so as to give appropriate credit where it is due. 

Enjoy,
Exile