Scenario Review Scenario Title: Indian Wars Author: Andrew Hoekzema Reviewer: Michael Daumen   Historical scenario. Various tribes of Native Americans battle the expanding American frontier. Download at csc.apolyton.net

Overall Rating 23/30 MAP: The map is a 60x100 depiction of the Great Plains, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. Much of the terrain has been redrawn and steepe [sic] has been added. The three terrains that make up most of the map (plains, grassland, and steppe) evoke the feel of the Great Plains. TIMESPAN: Game play progresses in three-month turns from August 1862 to February 1891. NEW STUFF: Indians and Americans have unique custom units. The improvements available have custom icons. American rail travel is boosted by an invisible rail unit that will protect against pillaging at spots along the line.

Playability Rating 8 / 10 SUMMARY: I have a great time playing this scenario against the Americans. Armies are not too large to make turns boring and it's definitely fast-paced, with lots of cities taken and lost. All the indians are allied, so this is a classic battle of the mobile versus the strong. FAULTS: There are not too many units available for the indian tribes to make. I'd have liked to see some horse units that weren't alpine, some that are destroyed after attacking, and maybe ones that could paradrop (i.e. sneak up behind enemy lines). The Americans have a larger choice -- except that since they are controlled by the computer America won't make scouts, militia or dragoons as the computer will not make units with lesser attack/defense ratings than others. The omputer-controlled tribes can only build braves or advanced war parties because of this bug (not Andrew's fault but it could have been avoided by changing some of the numbers). Perhaps the indian recruits and scouts would fit in better by being randomly added via the events file. ATMOSPHERE: Atmosphere as a whole is very good, evocative of the time period. However, the Americans have Space Flight and the Indians robotics for obsolescence reasons; they should be renamed. BALANCE: I felt that the scenario balances the weaker Indians against the stronger U.S. At the start, I captured quite a few towns, but began a general retreat as the Civil War ends and America got down to the business of killing the red man. SUGGESTIONS: My biggest complaint is that there are few custom icons and wonders. They are used, but they retain their original Civ names. The atmosphere would benefit especially be renaming the wonders and some of the other improvements. I also think that the other nations should be used. Perhaps the Apache or Nez Perce: both Geronimo and Chief Joseph have their stories to tell in this scenario. Or maybe even the Confederate States as barbarian cities that America must capture to end the Civil War.

Level of General Care 6 / 10 MAP: Although the map is large, the mounted indian units are alpine, road travel is five squares to a point, and there are railroads -- so units can fly across the map. Because plains, steppe and grassland all look similar, I did have some trouble noting exactly where some indian cities and roads were in relation to each other without backing out and using the cursor. I thought it was weird that most of the rivers were in wooded squares. Almost no swamps were used. I was a little disappointed that there is no Black Hills or Badlands terrain, and that the icons for steppe special resources were bison (though they still have the old icon) and game (which has the bison icon). A terrain like farms or something that only American Engineers can make by transformation would have been a nice touch -- watching the settlers gradually eat away at Indian lands. The placement of the Rocky Mountains and woods in the southeastern part of the map is kinda blocky -- zoom out far and you can see it. I think a map that has more of the West would have been better -- especially if more tribes are introduced. DOCUMENTATION: Documentation is sparse but adequate. The only problem is a lack of access to all unit stats. Some unusable units appear in the Civilopedia instead. TECH TREE: There isn't much in the tech department about this scenario, just a few events. That's a shame, because I would have liked to see Gatling guns, repeating rifles, and maybe observation balloons as Civil War technology drifts West. OTHER: As mentioned before, the civilopedia is a bit thin. City names are not a problem as founding cities takes a back seat to survival.

Art and Originality 9 / 10 ORIGINALITY: Andrew gets credit for finding a great premise for a scenario that no one else had thought of. It really is perfect for Civ2 and he does a good job making it work. ARTWORK: Artwork is very strong and maintains the feel of the West. Many units are original and the terrain is also.

NOTES: None.

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