150 After Hijrah: The Battle for God

[Raskholnikov]

Click image to enlarge.

This version includes a major addition to the map and gameplay: two inserts representing two additional realms, bringing starting points from 10 to 12. The anomalous Holy Land problem with just a Holy Site and a Port has been solved, by adding a capital and two cities and transforming it into a full realm: the Geonim Jewish Network, which really did exist in the Middle East in the 7-9th centuries AD. While Palestine was clearly under Muslim control at the time, a Jewish revolt could easily have taken place, as often before or after.

The second addition is that of the Aghlabid Emirate, centered on Sicily, but active throughout the Western Mediterranean, from Malta to the Balearics, often as pirates.

Each insert contains the cities of other realms which connect to the two new realms by battle territories, for ease of reference. However, they will be "dead" tarritories, in that they will not have "live" xml numbers displayed - just a "See Map" reference. The inserts are clearly mentioned on the main map, again for ease of reference.

The values on each territory are the map starting army values in an 8 player game (4 neutral realms).

__________________________________________________

Pork is in hospital right now and I don't long how serious his ailment is or when he will return home. I am sure we all wish him speedy recovery.

Due to the circumstances, I am posting a very rough preliminary draft of what we are working on. The background map we have now is much clrearer than the old, yet maintains the "ancient" look desired. All problems concerning connecting seas, windlines and dark spots have been eliminated.

The symbols are not final and need cleaning up and work, but the idea is to have an ancient map with black ink symbols, except for Jerusalem, in red.

This is just a very rough and preliminary working draft, which I post only because I don't know when Pork will be back and able to work on this project again. Any comments and advice welcome, as long as the preliminary nature of this draft is kept im mind. Thanks.



Total territories: 108
Starting points: 12
10 Territory Realms: 5
5 Territory Realms: 7
Battle Sites: 23
Win: Conquer and hold any 5 Holy Sites.


Note on the graphic direction.

We considered two approaches to this map: one looking at this historical period from within, ie based on design and decorations patterns specific to the times - mostly islamic in nature; the second, providing an external view of the entire area - as might have been seen from an probe passing Earth more or less at that time. The advantage of the second is that it focuses not on the differences, but the commonalities shared by the contenders and on the re-presentation of this entire geographical area as a single system with interlinked and interconnecting events, each deeply affecting each other.Such a view also moves away from any particular religion and hints at the fact that Islam, Christianity and Judaism were present thoughout the area, that the population of no single empire of the time belonged strictly to one or the other religion, and that religions themselves had their own internal divisions: Mecca for Sunnis, Karbalah for Shiahs, Athos for Orthodox and Rome for Catholics (divisions which were now forming even if, in the case of Christianity, formal separation would occur only centuries later), Jerusalem for all, Kurtubah an amazing mix of all 3.

By providing an unfamiliar perspective of the times, by focusing on cities and centers of powers as well as linkages between them as opposed to territories with fixed boundaries which at the time in any case did not exist, and by paying hommage to Idrisi's famous arabic map of the times oriented exactly as this view of Earth from space (thus in efect claiming that no single spacial view is the correct one, that all are scientifically possible and most are culturally determined) we hope to create a fun, enjoyable game of conquest which also make players think beyond accepted boundaries and traditions and encourages them to understand different perspectives, different cultures, different mentalities which, at the end of the day, are part and parcel of the same living organism: the planet as a whole. Globalisation was as real in 150 After Hijrah as it is today - even if in a different form. An interesting lesson the 8th century AD could teach the 21st...

http://www.mapsofwar.com/images/EMPIRE17.swf

What you need to know:

Name: 150 After Hijrah: The Battle for God

Short narrative: Between 700 and 900 AD, the core of the Ancient World was utterly transformed by the ebb and flow of peoples, cultures, armies and religions. New dynasties rose and fell, great cities were built whilst others were destroyed, and the seeds of future conflicts whose reverberations we still feel today were set. 150 After Hijrah: The Battle for God attempts to illustrate this complex and fascinating period by focusing on ten key dynasties, 3 Christian and 7 Muslim, which marked this historical epoch, as well as on the 6 most important religious sites of the times (Christian, Muslim and Jewish).

Game type: Starting points: 2,3,4,5 players: 2 starting points each (10 armies each - 6 armies before player's first move), remaining starting points neutral (10 neutral armies each).
6,7,8 players: 1 starting point each, remaining starting points neutral (10 armies each).
The Starting Points are the Capitals of each Empire (10 in all; see names below)

Total number of Territories: 106

"Continents": 11
- seven with Capital, Port, Religious Site, 2 (regular) Cities: 5 territories total
-five with Capital, Port, 8 (regular) Cities: 10 territories total.

Rules: Five types of territories:
Cities (60)
Ports (11): Autodeploy 2 armies per turn; All ports can attack each other.
Religious Sites (6): Autodeploy 3 armies per turn; Jerusalem: Autodeploy 6 armies per turn once conquered by a player.
Capitals (10): Autodeploy 4 armies per turn
Battle sites (19): 1 army per turn manual deployment once conquered by a player.
In addition to the bonuses specified above, each player receives 1 bonus army for each 2 territories of the same empire he/she holds. These armies are manually deployable at the start of the round (NOT autodeployable!)
Battle sites are not part of any empire. Ports, capitals and religious sites are part of their respective empires. as designated by the map codes next to their locations.

Connections (attack lines) between cities: along roads indicated by the straight black lines on the map.

Win: Conquer all Six religious sites or destroy all opponents.

Starting strength of neutral territories: See map above.

This is it. Nothing else.


Cities' names may be adjusted to represent local spelling


Samanid Sultanate

S1: Bukhara
S2: Daybul
S3: Samarkand
S4: Balkh
S5: Kabul
S6: Kandahar
S7: Urgench
S8: Nishapur
S9: Herat
S10: Ormuz


Abbasid Caliphate

AB1:Baghdad
AB2: Basra
AB3: Karbala
AB4: Isfahan
AB5: Mosul


Ummayad Caliphate

U1: Damascus
U2: Beirut
U3: Mecca
U4: Muscat
U5: Aleppo


Fatimid Caliphate

FA1:Fustat
FA2: El-iskandaryia
FA3: Barqa
FA4: Siwa
FA5: Ghazza
FA6: Aswan
FA7: Aydhab
FA8: Dunqulah
FA9: Meruwah
FA10:Aksum


Idrisid Sultanate

I1: Fez
I2: Tangiers
I3: Tlemcen
I4: Tahert
I5: Tunis
I6: Al-Mahdyia
I7: Al Qayrawan
I8: Tarabulus
I9: Sijilmasa
10: Marrakesh


Aghlabid Emirate

AS1: Balharm
AS2: Falita
AS3: Missina
AS4: Kerkent
AS5: Taras
AS6: Bari
AS7: Kaljari
AS8: Alighera
AS9: Ayacco
AS10: Mayurka


Al-Andalus Caliphate

AA1: Tulyatulah
AA2: Balanciya
AA3: Qurtuba
AA4: al-Ishbunah
AA5: Barcino


Frankish Kingdom

F1: Paris
F2: Marseilles
F3: Reims
F4: Mayence
F5: Bordeaux


Lombard Kingdom

L1: Pavia
L2: Genoa
L3: Roma
L4: Napoli
L5: Milano


Eastern Roman Empire

R1: Constantinopolis
R2: Athina
RP: Ephesos
R3: Hagion Oros Athos
R4: Ancyra
R5: Adrianopolis


Kievan Rus

K1: Kyiv
K2: Tmutarakan
K3: Azov
K4: Chernihiv
K5: Volhynia
K6: Minsk
K7: Novgorod
K8: Yaroslavl
K9: Pereyslavl
K10: Ryazan


Geonim Jewish Network

G1: Beth-shean
G2: Yafa
G3: Yerushalayim
G4: Ashkelon
G5: Machaerus


Battle Sites (Name, Year - to be included in xml only):

B1: Guadalete 711
B2: Poitiers 732
B3: Verona 774
B4: Bari 847
B5: Mazara 827
B6: Butera, 845
B7: Ifriqiya, 809
B8: Alcudia, 707
B9: Pliska 811
B10: Ravenna 751
B11: Raab 790
B12: Demmin 798
B13: Bolghar, 700s
B14: Mtskheta 735
B15: Theodosiopolis 752
B16: Zab 750
B17: Akroinon 740
B18: Al-Aqsa 705
B19: Al-Askar 750
B20: Merv 748
B21: Tihamah, 820
B22: Fakhkh 787
B23: Baqdura 741


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________





I would like to propose a map depicting the history of the Islamic Caliphate at its height, in 800 AD. I would include the major Christian empires and kingdoms of the times, and would focus on the four key sources of power which shaped that era: war, trade, religion, politics.

The map would have ten regions: four Christian (Kingdom of the Franks, Kingdom of the Lombards, Eastern Roman Empire, Kievan Rus) and six caliphate regions which asserted their autonomy at some point: the Abbasid caliphate, the Ummayad Caliphate, the Al-Andalus Caliphate, the Idrisid Sultanate, the Fatimid Caliphate, and the Samanid Sultanate.

Although these ten states did not all exist at exactly the same time as depicted, they spanned in some form of another the 600 AD to 1000 AD era, and together form a fascinating composite of the dynamics of the times. In particular, they illustrate that civilizations were not monolithic, and that most clashes between the powers of the time were as much clashes within civilisations as between civilisations.

Five of these realms contain a particularly important religious centres of power: Rome in the Lombard Kingdom; Mount Athos in the Eastern Roman Empire; al-Kurtubah in the Al-Andalus Caliphate; Meccah in the Ummayad Calipahte; Karbalah in the Abbasid Caliphate. In addition, there is a sixth religious centre holy to all of them: Jerusalem.

Each realm contains a capital (political power), a major port (trade/economic power), and a number of provinces (military power).

The dynamics of the game are similar to the New World Map. The realms containing BOTH a religious AND a political power centre (Al-Andalus, Ummayad, Abbasid, Lombard, East Roman) will have two army generating points and five territories (excluding ports), the other five, only one, and start with 10 territories (excluding ports). Jerusalem will start neutral and be stacked with 10 armies. Ports will also start neutral and contain 6 armies. The total number of territories will be 86.

Each political centre will be the starting point of the realm, with 7 armies, and autodepoy 3 armies per turn. Each religions centre of power will auto-deploy 2 armies per turn except Jerusalem, which when conquered, will autodeply 5 armies. Each port, once conquered, will auto-deploy 1 army per turn. All ports can attack each other directly. All religious and trade armies deployed or generated in religious centres of power or ports can self-defend or attack enemy troops in the region’s capital. To be redeployed, however, they would need to be moved first to the political capital – illustrating how economic / trade power and religious power can be converted to military power.

In addition, 1 army will be awarded for each 2 territories held of the same realm, and the usual 1 army for each three territories held anywhere.

The game is won by holding all six religious centres of power or destroying all enemies.

The artistic direction I'd like to take this is to re-create the famous early Islamic map of the Middle East and Europe drawn from an Arabic view of the world:



Please find below a rough depiction of what the map would look like.

[Raskholnikov]

Alternatively, to reflect the importance of cities at this time and the lack of rigid boundaries, we could use cities instead of provinces... which would also simplify our legend. More later, with a new draft....

[Kabanellas]

I see another Epic coming

[captainwalrus]

Don't flip it upside down and then keep the upside down, that is just silly.

[Raskholnikov]

Exactly my point. It is a matter of perspective. For the arabs of the time, this was right side up. I want to re-present an arab perrpective of the late 8 th century ad, not a western perspective of the 20th. If this happens to challege some of our pre-conceived world-views and ideas, so much the better...

[Evil DIMwit]

Also for the Arabs at the time, as you'll note in the original map, Mecca was the center of the world. That might not fit as well with the territories you have planned but I think it's a rather important point.

[Raskholnikov]

Evil,

You are of course absolutely right - on both counts. Mecca should be in the middle - and it' practically impossible for me do do so in this version of the map. The original map extends well into South-East Asia and Central Africa, but clearly without keeping proportions or exact contours.... No criticism of the map at the time, which was remarkably accurate around the Mediterranean - just an acknowledgement that if wish my map to be both accurate and playable, this is the closest I can come to it.

Raskholnikov

[Evil DIMwit]

Would it be a stylistic disaster if you cut off the uninteresting parts of the circle? Mecca can stay in the middle of the circle and your map can zoom in on the parts gameplay covers.

[Raskholnikov]

Mecca, as you know, is the big blue sphere sourrounded by a black circle close to the northern top of the circle. How exactly do you propose to place it in the middle? I'd love to see a picture of your suggestion.

[Evil DIMwit]

I simply meant something like this:

[Raskholnikov]

Ah! I see .... Didn't think of it... That's doable.. But that means Idon't get to have a round world like the original map... Yet it is worth exploring.... You would prefer this rather than the full circle? Besides that, it includes all Scandinavia, which I don't need, and excludes all of Central Asia, which I do ;(

[Raskholnikov]

This is the second version, focusing on cities rather than territories.

The colors and straight lines will of course be changed when the graphics will develop.

This also greatly simplifies the legend.



150 After Hadj: The Battle for God - Regions and Cities

Samanid Sultanate

Bukhara Samarkand Balkh
Kabul Kandahar Zarang
Herat Nishapur Urgench
Ormuz Daybul


Abbasid Caliphate

Bagdad Karbala Mosul
Tiflis Isfahan Basra


Ummayad Caliphate

Damascus Mecca Medina
Aleppo Muscat Beirut


Fatimid Caliphate

Fustat Gaza Aydhab
Barqa Dunqulah Aksum
Aswan Siwa Asyut
Meruwah Alexandria


Idrisid Sultanate

Fez Marrakesh Al Qayrawan
Tripoli Al-Mahdyia Tlemcen
Balharm (Palermo) Tuhis Ghat
Sijilmasa Tangier


Al-Andalus Caliphate

Tulyatulah Qurtuba Isbilia
Barcino al-Ishbunah Balanciya


Frankish Kingdom

Paris Rennes Nantes
Tours Bordeaux Lyon
Cologne Mayence Strasbourg
|Augsbourg Marseilles



Lombard Kingdom

Ravenna Roma Milano
Venezia Napoli Genoa


Eastern Roman Empire

Constantinopolis Hagion Oros Athos Athens
Adrianopolis Ancyra Ephesos


Kievan Rus

Kyiv Vladimir Volynsky Galish
Azov Pereyslavl Nizhny Novgorod
Yaroslavl Moscow Ryazan
Minsk Tmutarakan


Jerusalem Tyre

Total: 83 cities

[Raskholnikov]

Battle sites

Looking at the map, I realised there are a number of key choke-points where pairs of civilisations confront each other. There are seventeen such binary points, if one seeks to limit oneself to one battle per pair of civilisations that can meet geographically (obviously, not all can. Ex: Al Andalus and Abbasid Caliphate).

We could add these binary "battles" as additional territories and make then give an extra army per turn. This would also mean that each source of power would have its own bonus-giving objective: military - battle - +1; economic - port - +2; religious - Religious Site - +3; and political - Capital - +4. This will keep in theme with the original intent of the map: to portray how the four key sources of power (economic, political, military, cultural/religious) interact and create competing cultures and civilisations.

I will also add a Port for Jerusalem, so that any civilisation may attempt to conquer it (whereas now only the Fatimids and Ummayads can do so easily).

The total "territories" on the map would thus now come to a very round one hundred (100).

This is what the updated (VERY draft!) map would look like:



Any comments, criticisms, suggestions, expressions or interest and, if must be, disgust (!) are welcome!

[NuclearMarathon]

May I ask why you chose to display the map with South-upwards? It's certainly interesting.

[Raskholnikov]

Hi,

If you look a few posts up, you will note that I try to re-create an eighth-century Arabic map, which represents the larger mMditerranean world with Mecca and the Arab peninsula pointing up, and Europe down. This portrays Arabic cartography of the times, as well as a cultural world-view which displayed the same geographical features from an entirely different perspective from the Euro-centric one, to which we are all used.

I think that looking at the world though a different pair of lenses once in a while might help us a little understand a little better different cultures and civilisations.

In addition, there is no such map in CC, so hopefully it will make a fun map people will be interested in playing!

Thanks for your comments,

Raskholnikov

[captainwalrus]

Exactly my point. It is a matter of perspective. For the arabs of the time, this was right side up. I want to re-present an arab perrpective of the late 8 th century ad, not a western perspective of the 20th. If this happens to challege some of our pre-conceived world-views and ideas, so much the better...

My point was that now nobody can read the text...

[Raskholnikov]

Oh I see. Well the text would be written right-side up in the final version, of course

[Raskholnikov]

This thread is continued here: viewtopic.php?f=241&t=99313

[Raskholnikov]

Hello All,

Here is my detailed functional draft of my vision of this map. It contains all required information to move forward, but leaves the artistic direction entirely at the discretion of the artist who will (hopefully!) eventually develop it.

The numbers "15" and "20" inside various symbols represent the places where troop numbers for each city / battle field will appear.

The Cities themselves will be listed with their full names in drop-down menus, very much like the WWII game.

The black lines on the map are the roads connecting cities / battle fields.

The total number of cities are 83, and of battle sites 19, for a total of 102 territories.

All Capital cities are starting points, with an initial deployment of 3 +4 = 7 armies. Jerusalem is NOT a starting point and starts with 6 neutral armies. All other territories start neutral (exactl number of neutrals armies on each to be determined).

Distribution of starting points: from 2 to 5 players: 2 starting points per player.

from 6 to 8 players: 1 starting point per player.

That's it for now. Please feel free to comment on the ideas / functionality / playability of this draft. As to the artistic direction, please remember that nothing will be decided until a graphic artist will agree to take on this project.

I look forward to all your comments, criticisms, and advice.




150 After Hadj: The Battle for God - Regions and Cities

Samanid Sultanate

Bukhara Samarkand Balkh
Kabul Kandahar Zarang
Herat Nishapur Urgench
Ormuz Daybul


Abbasid Caliphate

Bagdad Karbala Mosul
Tiflis Isfahan Basra


Ummayad Caliphate

Damascus Mecca Medina
Aleppo Muscat Beirut


Fatimid Caliphate

Fustat Gaza Aydhab
Barqa Dunqulah Aksum
Aswan Siwa Asyut
Meruwah Alexandria


Idrisid Sultanate

Fez Marrakesh Al Qayrawan
Tripoli Al-Mahdyia Tlemcen
Balharm (Palermo) Tuhis Ghat
Sijilmasa Tangier


Al-Andalus Caliphate

Tulyatulah Qurtuba Isbilia
Barcino al-Ishbunah Balanciya


Frankish Kingdom

Paris Rennes Nantes
Tours Bordeaux Lyon
Cologne Mayence Strasbourg
|Augsbourg Marseilles



Lombard Kingdom

Pavia Roma Milano
Venezia Napoli Genoa


Eastern Roman Empire

Constantinopolis Hagion Oros Athos Athens
Adrianopolis Ancyra Ephesos


Kievan Rus

Kyiv Vladimir Volynsky Galish
Azov Pereyslavl Nizhny Novgorod
Yaroslavl Moscow Ryazan
Minsk Tmutarakan


Jerusalem Tyre

Total: 83 cities

Battle sites: 19

Total territories: 102

[Raskholnikov]

Well I couldn't help myself so here is what I'd like to do with this map:



What do you all think?

Now the hard part: the actual map...

[Raskholnikov]

Well this is the finished first draft. I'm sure many things can be improved, but it's a start. Comments please anyone? Thanks!

[thenobodies80]

This thread is continued here: viewtopic.php?f=241&t=99313

Please don't open double threads. Ask to a mod to move your map from the ideas forum to the drafting room the next time.

[ Merged ]

[Raskholnikov]

Oh that's how it works! Thank you Nobodies! Now I'll know.

(Kab and I did the same with Napoleonic Europe 1812 so I thought it was up to us to do so once we had a basic map meeting Foundry criteria).

So what do you think of this map? Any comments or suggestions?

[Raskholnikov]

I've worked out the initial starting army distribution for all neutrals. I think it makes the game nicely balanced, gives everyone an equal chance to develop its position and win - and most importantly, it makes sure the game can't be over too quickly by having high-neutral choke-points (battles and ports). Of course, once players start winning battles and especially conquering ports it turns into a free-for-all slugfest - which is why a careful initial build-up is important. Overall, I think this would be a fun game to play with a lot of strategic decisions involved. What does everyone else think?

This is the starting map for an 8-payer game, with two neutral starting points (one with a Religious Site, one without, for demonstration purposes).

The Holy Land is not a player and Jerusalem never a starting point, for both historical and game-play reasons. It is also very difficult to conquer - accessible only by way of 2 10-neutral battles or a 12-neutral port, and stacked with 15 neutral armies. This will make winning the game by conquering all 6 religious sites quite hard. At the same time, if a player can conquer and hold Jerusalem he will get and additional 6 armies (or 8 with its port, Tyre) per turn and will have a significant advantage.

[Raskholnikov]

I have researched the battles and found the ones corresponding closest in both dates and parties involved to the ones on the map. This is the list of what they will be called:

Battle Sites:

1: Guadalete 711
2: Poitiers 732
3 Verona 774
4: Demmin 798
5: Raab 790
6: Mazara 827
7: Ravenna 751
8: Pliska 811
9: Theodosiopolis 752
10: Akroinon 740
11: Mtskheta 735
12: Bolghar, 700s
13: Al-Aqsa 705
14: Al-Askar 750
15: Zab 750
16: Merv 748
17: Ar-rur (Nawabshah) 710
18: Tihamah, 820
19: Fakhkh 787

We now have names for all the cities and battles on the map. Yey!