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                            THE QUEST FOR ASIA
                    The conquests of Alexander the Great
                              Version 2.0
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This scenario tells the story of the famous king Alexander III of Macedonia, better known as Alexander the Great. The scenario is designed for play as the Macedonians or the Persians (see below for further information). The Macedonians are the protagonists and their objective is to capture as many Cities and wonders as possible.
This scenario starts in May 334 (same month as the battle of the Granicus; good date =-))and ends in June 323 (same month as the death of Alexander). Each turn lasts 1 month, so there's a total of only 139 turns. So hurry up!
NOTE: THIS SCENARIO NEEDS 'FANTASTIC WORLDS' TO WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Changes from previous versions
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You may have already played versions 1.0 or 1.2 of this scenario. There have been some major changes on the scenario:

-New wonders: -Bisotun inscription (Ecbatana), Naq-i Rushtam (Persepolis), Apadana (Persepolis) and Acropolis (Athens), Greek Astrology (Athens), Hammurabi's laws (Babylon), Silk Route (Maracanda), Nearchos' Voyage (various, Macedonians only). The icon for the Wall of Persoplis has also been changed.
-Several new icons for Units.
-The events language has been repaired!
-Best sound corrections I could do so far.
-'Alliance of Corinth' is now called 'League of Corinth' and the nationality is now 'Corinthian'
-I've corrected some fatal errors: Nobody is now able to discover Greek techs. No more Greek units in Persian cities (except in Asia Minor).
-The Persian treasury is now much higher.
-Finally, there's a title picture! (shows Alexander in the world-famous Mosaic found in Pompeii)
-Flags have been changed: Independent Greeks have red flags (because of the Spartan color of red) and Macedonian flags now have the ancient Macedonian sun-symbol. Therefore, the Barbarian flags are now brown.
-You cannot build naval units in Pella anymore (Pella is no port city anymore).
-New terrain-type: Salt desert (replaces jungle, has same effect as Glacier/ruins of Thebes).
-New terrain grapics. 
-Triremes and War Galleys do not carry units anymore.

The new icons graphics have been scanned from various books.
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The Civilizations:
Other than in the Microprose scenario, there are only five civs:
-Macedonians
-Persians
-League of Corinth
-Independent Greeks
-Indians

There was no independent Egypt or Phoenecia at that time. Both these countries where under the rule of Persia. Also, the Persians regained the rule of the Ionian coast in 386 BC. 

Suggested: Macedonians or Persians. Both have good victory chances. 
Moderate: Indians. The survival is possible, but they are unable to ever win this scenario.

Not designed for play: League of Corinth and independent Greeks. Both are allied with all other civs and cannot negotiate with ANYBODY. They have been designed as a neutral block in this scenario.

The Macedonians and Persians MAY negotiate with each other (due to the negotiations after the battle of Issus), but each treaty will be canceled with the next turn.
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Rules Changes
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Units: There are many new units in this scenario. Most of them are only avaliable to one Civ. Other units have been changed, so almost none of the units act as they do in a normal Civ2 game. Many are either more expensive or by far cheaper. Also, the movement rates of most units have been increased. Note the triremes: since this ship was nothing more than an ancient war galley, it acts like one. Attack and defense strength have been increased and they carry no units anymore. All units are listed in the file 'list.txt' included with the scenario. 
Another thing is that the settler production has been disabled for all civilizations except for the Macedonians. This is to prevent that the specific civilization will not become a major expansive power (a problem that happened in the Microprose scenario). But Alexander founded some 70 cities in his empire. So, the Macedonians are able to build settlers.
There are three all new units in this scenario: Alexander's guards and the Immortal tenthousand (OK, OK, Microprose used similar units in their scenario) and Memmnon. These units cannot be built and only appear once. These units represent the most important generals in the war:
Alexander's guards represent the Macedonian king Alexander (duh!), The immortal tenthousand the Persian king Darius III and Memnon represents the feared first enemy of Alexander (this unit actually represents his fleet, for he was not only a  sea commander). Memnon died in May 333, 12 turns in the scenario. Anyway, he can't be left out. 
Advances: As with the units, there are man new advances (the tech tree has been completely modified) and many techs are only for one civ.
Wonders: There are 21 wonders in this scenario, all but one are already built and most are already outdated. This is to prevent that the wonders act strangely (Hammurabi's laws didn't really have the same effect as the statue of liberty, right?). They're only there to make the scenario's atmosphere nicer (and they're victory conditions).
Improvements: There are some new improvements as well: City center, Farms and Great Markets. Some others are modified (in their names too). 
Terrain: Two new terrain types: Ruins of Thebes (the city was destroyed by Alexander in Autum 335 BC) and Salt deserts (in eastern Iran). Both don't produce anything, you can't irrigate and can't change the type. You can only build roads on them.
Other: Some of the effects have been changed to make this scenario seem more realistic. Also, some goverment titles have been changed. 
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Important things:
The 'new' wonders (see above) are already outdated at the beginning of the scenario. This is because none of the replaced wonders can match any criteria of these wonders (anyway, what would the Bisotun inscription or the Apadana ever do to the support of the civ?).
The red streets that replace the railroads (between Susa and Sardis) represent the royal highways. They where built under Darius the Great (reigned 522-486 BC).
Tha Farmlands in Egypt and Mesopotamia just represent the fertile farmlands in those regions.
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I am aware of the fact that the map is not 100% correct, but the coastlines are by far more exact of the map that came with the game, right? There's been a little conflict: When Alexander came to the Indus, he thought that this would be the other end of the Nile (because he saw crocodiles there). Therefore, the delta was not explored. Here, all of the map is revealed. But I think this game is only there to re-create his conquests, and not the explorations (if you think otherwise, the please tell me).
This scenario is challenging and will take some more time at some places as the real conquests did. I've tried to make it as historically correct as possible, but this historical correctness ends at the beginning of the scenario. Anyway, Civ2 scenarios are there to change history, to match yourself with the greatest rulers in history! So, I think I've done my job well. Your job is to repeat Alexander's conquests or to stop them (if you can). There will be a few difficulties at the start, because your forces are limited and the first few units to face will be Greek defenders (most powerful after the Macedonians). This will change during the scenario.
But anyway, I think that this scenario is by far better than the one that came with 'CiC'. The reason why I think this is because it is way mor historically exact. There was no independent Egypt, Ionia or Phoenecia at that time, andI once won the scenario with the Phoenecians because of some mistakes the designers did (a forgotten Phalanx production in Aradus for example). And the map sucked.
For feedback of any kind, may it be critics or questions etc., please mail me at: Stefan.Haertel@t-online.de
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By the way: I'm aware of the fact that there are many beautiful icons in this scenario. The most are made by myself (Units: all that carry 'SH', all Icons except for the Greek Astrology wonder in 'Icons'&'Cities' and the Icons for the royal highway&Salt desert). You may use any of the icons in scenarios or modpacs etc, as long as you notice me and a word of credit is given. Also, I'd like to know where to find the final product.The same goes for any other file in this scenario (exception: sounds [wavs]).
CREDITS ON ICONS:
-Greek Warrior Icon by Alan Hfelt
-Mountain&Hills Graphics by Harlan Thompson (from his Mongol Scenario)
-Greek Astrology Graphic from Alan Hfelt's "Homeric Age" scenario
-Silk Route Graphic from Harlan Thompson's "Mongols" scenario
-Most other terrain Graphics from (I believe) Mark McGraw's "Cradelands"-Scenario
-All other Units Graphics (that don't carry the letters "SH") from Harlan Thompson's "Ancient" units collection.
Hope I forgot none. If not so, and you're one of the designers, please tell me, I'll publish that with later updates.
Wow, you read all this. Congrats!
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Bibliography
-Gherke, Hans-Joachim, 'Alexander der Grosse', published 1996 at C.H.Beck, Munich, Federal Republic of Germany
-Droysen, J.G., 'Geschichte Alexanders des Groen', published 1939 at Alfred Krner Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany
-'Westermanns Atlas zur Welt Geschichte', published 1962 at Westermann Verlag, Brunswick, Federal Republic of Germany
-Wiesehfer, Josef, 'Das antike Persien', published 1994 at Artemis&Winkler, Munich/Zrich, Federal Republic of Germany/Switzerland
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Designer: Stefan Hrtel
Testing: Stefan Hrtel&Jesus Balsinde

2.0 Version finished on 2-21-99.

E-Mail: Stefan.Haertel@t-online.de