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Wagon Train USA
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Author |
File Description |
Meat Puppet |
Posted on 01/03/05 @ 12:14 AM (updated 01/07/05)
NOTE: This scenario was created without custom scripting, using the standard scenario editor included with the RON Thrones & Patriots Expansion game.
ABOUT THE SCENARIO: The scenario starts with a wagon train, with wagons circled, surrounded and massacred by Native warriors on horse. This is just to give you an idea of what's waiting for your own party of settlers moving from the top of the map to Carson City and Goldrush. Your job is to move your motley band of American settlers through hostile Lakota territory to Carson City.
The game takes place in the Enlightenment Age. The Lakota are also in that Age, but don't have any mountains, so getting metal to make cannon and heavy troops will be hard for them. This will give you some breathing space, as the Lakota have multiple cities, citizens and a swarm of mounted warriors roaming the map.
Carson City has a few traders and merchants, plus defensive troops, but does not have any citizens. Resources will accumulate, but slowly. The best thing you can do to get a jump on the Lakota and avoid being wiped out is to get your settlers there as soon as you can, then have them start working the farms, logging sites and mines all ready for them. Some of the settlers are in a weakened state due to cholera, and some of the wagon train guards, the partisans, are apt to get sick too. If they get too sick you can turn them to citizens, and as long as they're near the wagons they'll have a fighting chance.
There is a fort and military camp in the center-southern part of the map, where the American government has stationed some troops. The ruins of a farming settlement is to the north of the fort. You can start a new city there with the existing infrastructure if you think you can hold it. Once you get the settlers to Carson City and Godrush and start building up resources, you can build an army that can launch punitive expeditions against the Lakota, hopefully capturing their capital and holding it, which will force the Lakota chiefs to sue for peace. That's how you'll win the game.
While there are direct routes between where your settlers are and Goldrush, your Mountain Men tell you that they are heavily guarded by Natives in the woods (in the form of towers). The Mountain Men will be very valuable to your wagon train, as they are effective both as scouts and as shooters of horse units. The Mountain Men tell you that the best route is actually due south until you reach the outskirts of a major Lakota settlement, then west and southwest through the buffalo plain until you get to the fort. Once you reach the fort, the Mountain Men say, it should be fairly safe to get to Carson City. But they say the Lakota are full of surprises.
If you head south, you may meet a large force of warriors. You will have to find a way to engage in fighting retreats and skirmishes until you can get past them to the fort.
Once you're at the fort, your unarmed scouts should take a look around. The Mountain Men say the Lakota have a legend of ruins of an ancient city somewhere in the area, somwhere to the south or west. Meanwhile, you should continue getting your people to your cities as fast as you can. The fort in the middle of the map is a tempting target for the Lakota, who have always resented it and skirmish with it often. It is rumored that they have captured cannon from an American military unit, and may bring it to bear against the fort and destroy it. If they breach the walls of the fort, the small garrison is likely to be massacred.
Sounds dangerous? It's worth the risk. Carson City and Goldrush are boomtowns, only needing an influx of immigrants to add their labor to America's Manifest Destiny. (Note however your pop limit is 100.) The land abounds in grain, metal, bear, wood and buffalo. Take this land for yourself and your children, and build America into a great nation.
Of course, the Lakota resent your greed and broken treaties and will attempt to wipe you off the face of the earth. Who will this land belong to?
I hope you all enjoy this scenario and have some fun with it. |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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spiritflyer |
Posted on 01/06/05 @ 09:44 AM
Playability: 5
(Insert Playability analysis here)
it has a real feel to it. At one time I had 70 mounted Lakota attacking the fort. I had to send everything I had to hold them off.
Balance: 5
(Insert Balance analysis here)
The balance was great but you should play it on hard to get a hard stuggle for live early on
Creativity: 5
(Insert Creativity analysis here)
I thought that the first wagon train was very creative
Map Design: 4
(Insert Map Design analysis here)
I think you could do better here then you did
Story/Instructions: 5
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
very detailed
Additional Comments:
A great job I have downloaded your other scenarios and love them keep the good work coming.
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fentum |
Posted on 01/10/05 @ 06:28 PM
Playability: 5
(Insert Playability analysis here)
Fabulous all round. Technically went like a dream. Varied gameplay from timid advances into the unkown,through literally a 'Boomtown'
phase, then a border push military operation. All linked by a hig quality narrative to bring it to life.
Balance: 4
(Insert Balance analysis here)
Tough at times but ultimately a little easy. The Indians made several sneaky recces in force, but never committed enough units to really concern me once I got my act together. Also seemed like most of my settlers made it to Goldrush without too much trouble. I used a 'mountain men demolish the towers prior to settlers rushing through the gap' approach. More settlers died through cholera than indian attacks. (Most of the mountain men died, but that's life in the tough ol' west). So a little easy, but absolutely didn't spoil the fun.
Creativity: 5
(Insert Creativity analysis here)
Loved the initial wagon train (I did try several start ups in an attempt to save them, but they all died no matter what bizarre ruse I tried). Great storyline
Map Design: 5
(Insert Map Design analysis here)
I may be dreaming, but did the map contract as the game went on ??!! I started off feeling like I was a pinprick on the ocean, with ambushers everywhere, and ended up knowing every bit like the back of my hand, and able to rush reinforcements to pretty much any hotspot. This is a real triumph of map design. Not in the graphics/wizzy stuff, but in the way it exactly fits the feel of the scenario as the nervous Americans find their feet
Story/Instructions: 5
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
Great narrative. Clear instructions in the web page. Loved the 'mountain men stories' and the 'rumours of a lost city'. This creativity makes the discovery of 'That City' a real breathtaking event (I think I punched the air)
Additional Comments:
two questions for Meat Puppet
1. I didn't move ANY settlers into Carson City, rather I used them all in Goldrush and built villagers in Carson City. Is that in the spirit of the game ?
2. the pop cap of 100 'no matter what' ?? Is that deliberate ? It made me go for a aggressive style of play, and also gave some difficult tactical build choices. It was an excellent concept, but I'd like to have known about it before researching Military !
A GREAT job by Meat Puppet. It's the sense of epic narrative that makes this a real winner. I can almost imagine a 1950's movie following the events in this scenario. Nah, make that a genre re-invigorating film with Clint and Morgan. Nice one Meat Puppet !
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.8 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 5.0 | Balance | 4.5 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 4.5 | Story/Instructions | 5.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 1,787 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 111.78 KB |
Added: | 01/03/05 |
Updated: | 01/07/05 |
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