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SMAN's World at War Scenario - The War to End All Wars (V2)

At eleven o’clock this morning came to an end the cruelest and most terrible War that has ever scourged mankind. I hope we may say that thus, this fateful morning, came to an end all wars.

David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister, November 11th 1918


World War One. The Great War. The War to End All Wars. There are many names for this first modern war that brought death and destruction on an industrial scale. Although overshadowed by the even more destructive conflict a couple of decades later, this conflict started a global chain events of destruction, entropy, and cynicism that still rumbles through our institutions, culture, and innermost thoughts.

This mod seeks to provide a historically-relevant, if not accurate, gaming experience that allows a player to assume the leadership of a European nation whose participation in WWI was crucial to the overall results. The design of the mod follows the main, SMAN's World at War mod.

Please note: Although this scenario is based on the WAW mod, it is entirely self-contained. Because of this, there is NO NEED to enable the main mod, any of the "End at … Era", or the Unique Units mods, in order to play the scenario.

The `War to End All Wars` depicts a very complex time in European history. Tangles of alliances, explosions of technology, and societal evolutions provide a rich tapestry of competing interests and goals, which the normal Civ V gaming engine was not designed to adequately provide.

To address these shortcomings, special logic has been added to help the AI put up a much better fight. This mod does not simply put a few customized Civs on a European map, and then let the normal game engine try to drive all the AI civs to a Cultural victory.

The scenario take great pains to offer a historically accurate experience, but the key goal is making AI enemies put up much better fight.

The scenario is scoped for Standard game speed, Immortal difficulty. You can play at other speeds/difficulties, but the experience will vary widely in these cases.


The Scenario offers 13 Playable Civs, throughout Europe & the USA. There are two kinds of combatants: Major and Minor. This is not to be confused with Minor Civs (i.e. City States).

Major Combatants (7):
- Austria-Hungary (Franz-Joseph I)
- France (Clemanceau)
- Germany (Wilhelm II)
- Ottomans (Mehmed V)
- Russia (Nicholas II)
- United Kingdom (George V)
- United States (Wilson)

Minor Combatants (6):
- Bulgaria (Ferdinand I)
- Greece (Venizelos)
- Italy (Victor Emmanuel III)
- Romania (Carol I)
- Serbia (Peter I)
- Spain (Dado)


Major Changes:
- Each playable civ has an 'Economic Handicap' – adjusts production in its cities, to show relative efficiency of their economy, compared to other civs in the game.
- Naval melee ships CAN NOT capture cities
- All units have +1 Visibility
- Air Units have longer range than normal
- More Spies have been added and their surveillance sight range has increased to 5
- Adds the new 'Defensive Trench' Terrain Improvement: half the defense of Forts, but built 4 times faster. May not be built on Resource tiles
- In an effort to streamline the mod for a 5 year scenario, some features from World At War mod were dropped: Chateaux for All, Improved Air Recon, and Reforestation. Other minor differences are also included, but should not greatly impact game play


Events: Periodically throughout the game, major events can appear out of nowhere:
- The start of the Great War (sometime between May – December, 1914)
- Italy declaring war or peace in unexpected ways
- America can also declare war in unexpected ways
- Heavily losing Civs can sometimes face a revolt by their own citizens
- Heavily losing AI Civs can sometimes simply sue for peace and stop fighting
- Occasionally, you will receive a large amount of gold as a result of your citizens patriotically buying war bonds
- Sometimes, your spies will discover information that jumpstarts your technical research – meaning you discover the tech you're researching more quickly

Starting Bonuses: As the civs in the scenario are not starting in the Ancient Era, they are not newly founded. At the start of the game, each playable civ will receive a random bonus of Gold, Culture, Faith, and Golden Age points. If they are lucky, they will receive a free tech or two. Major Combatants receive larger bonuses than Minor Combatants.

Changes from WAW: Chateaux to All , Improved Air Recon , Reforestation removed

Suggestions:
- This mod is a beast, large, and touching many, many database tables, etc. It really needs to start with a clean slate to perform correctly. Before starting the scenario, clear the game cache! You may not have to do this, but the mod will almost certainly perform better.

- You'll have to manually move the scenario map into the game's map folder

- If you're looking for hints (or have some to offer), check this link:

https://steamproxy.net/workshop/filedetails/discussion/1562925149/1744478429682143850/

- If you're having difficulty loading the mod or a saved game, there are some suggestions here:

https://steamproxy.net/workshop/filedetails/discussion/1562925149/1744478429679230310/

- Attempt to play the scenario the first time without any other mods – call it a "tutorial"

- If you want to see unit movement/combat animations, thoroughly recommend using "Quick Turns" mod by Krzyzyk.

- It's a lot of fun to watch the "action" in other fronts than the civ you're playing. I often use the "Debug Mode" – press '~' the tilde character, then press the "Reveal All" option. This shows all the units all over the map, and you can watch the war in a different theatre, like watching a movie. Yes, it's cheating a bit, but I suspect historically, most military leaders had a fairly good idea where the various enemy divisions were deployed.

- If you use the "Reveal All" option, the "using the Quick Turns mod" recommendation is even more important. Unless you have 10 minutes to burn between each turn, watching all the mayhem and destruction occurring throughout Europe in all its CIv5-alicious detail…



You might be asking – if the mod takes so much TLC to get/keep working, then why bother? The answer to this depends on how much of a student of history you are – this mod will provide a deeply immersive, historically compelling gaming experience covering WW1. Significant effort has been invested to mangle the game's normal AI to force it into providing a fight worthy of a truly Era-defining, existential struggle.

Or – you truly enjoy a mano-a-mano slugfest, where the only purpose of playing the game is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women! This mod is specifically designed to provide that.

And oh, BTW…. The AI cheats!

Acknowledgements: Many, many previous modders deserve credit for the art, models, etc., appearing in this mod. The usual suspects, JFD, Bouncymischa, Snafusmith, Ekmek, Wolfdog, Nomad or What, Civitar, bernie14, Nutty, danrell, Lord Tirian, etc. – all contributed greatly to this mod.

Also, special thanks to my collaborator Marius Magnus, who provided lots of ideas for content, fixes for errors, and thorough testing support throughout development. If this mod works at all for you, it is largely his contribution…

And I would be completely in remiss if I didn't thank @LeeS for the extensive support provided on the Lua scripts.

I will continue to add contributors to this list as I find them. If I've missed anyone, please let me know and I'll add them to this list.