Warlords II "Classic" Scenario Review
File: SCOTLND.ZIP (153,879 bytes) Designer: Anonymous
Name: Scotlnd Terrain Set: Grassland Army Set: Crystal Isles
Players: 5 Army Set: Scots
Cities: 84 City Set: Wales
Ruins: 36 Shield Set: Erythea
Temples: 4 Text File: No
Desc: None
Reviewed By: Will Michael
72623.630@compuserve.com
June '96
Rating summary, scale of 1 to 10:
Wt Area Score Comments
10 Army set 6 pretty much the standard set
7 Map design 7 terrain & castles accurate; roads made up
5 Army pics 6 standard pictures with minor additions
5 City pics 7 good selection of castle graphics
3 Background info 0 no designer or scenario notes
2 Cities/ruins/signs 5 average city; good ruins; fair signs
2 Items/heros 3 inappropriate old names; some new items
OVERALL RATING 190
Adds to scenario designer's toolbox: YES (city pictures)
This scenario has five players fighting for control of the better part of
modern Scotland. It doesn't appear to be based on any particular period in
history as the players are abstract groups that have influenced the course
of events at various points in Scottish history: The Scots (Yellow), Barons
(Orange), Highlanders (Red), Monarchy (Dark Blue) and Bishops (Light Blue).
The designer is unidentified, and there are no background notes.
The Scots army set is based on the basic Eyrthea army set with a few
modifications. Only Nessies seem to be partictularly Scottish. Scouts have
been replaced by Serfs but their movement allowance exceeds Light Infantry
and they give a +1 to the stack! Two Design Commandments have been broken.
There are no temple allies so the computer will have difficulties with
quests. Also the Trolls unit should be higher up in the list. The
artificial opponent expects the list to be in ascending order of strength.
All in all, there is nothing to recommend it over the Eyrthea army set.
The map is well done and appears to be accurate with the exception of the
roads. It is interesting that the designer chose not to represent the
cities and towns of Scotland, but rather the castles. Each side has a well
drawn castle graphic to represent their cities. I was pleased to find the
Stewarts of Appin, of whom the Mac Michaels are a sept, represented by
Castle Stalker (of Monty Python fame) on the west coast. Well done. I was
surprised that the isle of Iona was not included as one of the Temples as it
was the centre of Celtic Christianity in Scotland and the burrial ground for
Scots and some Pictish kings.
The city descriptions are somewhat interesting but there are too many
"L-plan tower-house" comments and not enough history. Ruin/Temple
descriptions are good with the exception of St. Andrews temple: "This
cathedral is the largest in all of England", which should read "...in all
of Scotland". The signage is only fair as they are maily directional.
The hero names are still the originals from the Erythea scenario, and are
inappropriate for the scenario. Only a few of the item names have been
changed for flavour, and none of them have any historical significance. For
example, the Spear of Bruce should properly be the Battleaxe of Bruce as
tradition has King Robert the Bruce defeating his opponent with a battleaxe.
Who was the McGuire of the Bow of McGuire? I've never come accross the name
in my readings of Scots history.
Playtesting indicates that the scenario is balanced with, perhaps, Barons
(Orange) having the easiest and The Scots (Yellow) having the toughest time.
I would have to give this scenario a rating of average. You can play and
enjoy the scenario at least once with the hidden map on, but after that
there is little improvement over a random map Erythea game. The city
pictures are the real star of this scenario. It is worth downloading if
only to add this city set to your database.
W. Michael
June 96