Ancient: TW series mods for MTW-VI
Greetings, TWCers
For those who don't follow events at the Org, I've decided to drop in here with the latest news on the Ancient:TW series of mods for MTW-VI. These arose after I made some fixes and patches for the Hellenic mod many years ago, and there is still a lot of HTW legacy material included here.
There are currently three separate mods in the series:
Ancient TW1
The original mod in the series, based on a modified full-Europe map and covers the Bronze Age to Iron Age transition period, 1280-700BC.
There are three scenarios: The Age of Chariots, The Catastrophe and The Recovery
The Age of Chariots begins around the time of the Battle of Kadesh, and features factions such as Egypt (Ramses II), Hittites, Assyrians, Ugarit, Mycenean Greeks etc, plus lots of European barbarians...
The Catastrophe covers the Bronze Age collapse in the era of the Sea Peoples
The Recovery sees the Neo-Hittites, First Temple Israel, Moabites, Edomites etc, plus improved weapons with the development of iron, and chariots giving way to cavalry.
Ancient TW2: Eastern Empires
This mod is based on a map running from Illyria in the north-west to the Indus Valley in the south east, again with three scenarios:
The Rise of Persia begins in 560BC, with Persia asserting its independence from the Median Empire. Other factions include Babylonia, the Ionian Greeks, Athens, Sparta, Argos, Gandhara, Egypt (XXVIth, Saite dynasty), Lydians, Illyrians, and Scythians.
The Conquests of Alexander - due to game mechanics, this begins early in the reign of Philip II (and Artaxerxes in Persia) - although the main focus is obvious, there are various peripheral factions to play including Gandhara, Illyria, Scythia, Argos, Thebes, Hellenic League.
The Wars of the Successors - beginning in 301BC, about 30 years after Alexander's death, when the various Successor kingdoms were fairly well established but still striving for supremacy. Factions include include Ptolemids, Seleucids, Antigonids, Lysimachids, Kassandrids, the Mauryan Empire, Hellenic League, Nabatea, Illyria, Scythia and the marauding Gauls.
Ancient TW3: Roman Wars
Contains two scenarios to date - Punic Wars and Britannia 43AD
Punic Wars covers the historical timespan - so time is short - and only two provinces are required for victory: Rome and Carthage. Beside the two obvious factions, you can also play others, such as Masilia, Iberians, IberoCelts, Syracuse, Sparta, Epirus, Illyria, Numidia and Gaul.
Britannia 43AD uses a modified viking map with the Romans massing on the European mainland, with a foothold in Cantium. There are over a dozen different British tribes with varying troop rosters, including the Atrebates, Corieltauvi, Catuvelauni, Iceni, Novantae, Venicones, Caledonii, Deceangli, Durotriges, Cruithne, Ordovici, Brigantes and Silures. Inter-tribal warfare will get in the way of defending the island from invasion. For twist of ahistorical fun, Ireland is divided between the Hibernii and the Red Branch heroes of Ulaidh (Ulster). Victory provinces are those historically conquered by Rome at the greatest extent of their occupation.
General notes:
All three mods require a clean copy of MTW-VI v2.01, and tend to be very stable. All work on Steam installs, although there may be issues with screen resolution depending on your hardware (generally best to avoid 800x600 resolution if your rig can do better). These are total conversion mods so do not use your only copy of the game if you still want to keep original MTW!
Unit recruitment uses a regional system, so it's always worth conquering to see what new chaps may join your armies, but don't expect to find your faction's elite troops in the far-flung corners of your empire (or even beyond one of two provinces from 'home'). Tech trees are quite different to original MTW, but hopefully still quite intuitive (ie I hope it's obvious you can't get a spearmaker unless you first have a carpenter....)
After feedback on ATW2, I have also made an alternative backdrop map - some people find the original a bit overloaded with information, although it appeals to my sense of history geekiness ~D If you want to change the backdrop, grab it from the link below and replace the MapTex.tga and MapTex2.tga files in the Textures/campmap/ALEX folder.
Work continues on this series, so keep your eyes open for updates.
And finally - the latest links:
Ancient TW1: Bronze Age v2.6
Ancient TW2: Eastern Empires v0.91
Alternative backdrop map for ATW2:EE.
Ancient TW3: Roman Wars v1.0
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Originally Posted by Lanjane
