Contest 40: Thermopylai

Welcome to the contest pages for Contest 40: Thermopylai. This is a Zeus contest, and can be played with with either Zeus V1.1 or Poseidon V2.1 . Use the links below to download the starting positions:

Thermopylai Titan (Hard Difficulty)
Thermopylai Mortal (Easy Difficulty)
files are in an executable format

After downloading, players should run the executable, and follow the on screen instructions. When prompted, choose to extract the archive to the directory in which Zeus/Poseidon.ico is located (by default C:\Impressions Games\Zeus). Start Zeus, select 'Play Zeus', choose your family, and then select 'Custom Adventures'. Finally, choose 'Thermopylai Mortal' or 'Thermopylai Titan"

Story

According to our informants Xerxes is preparing for his third expedition to Greece. His mighty army is feared all over the world and the leaders of the Greek cities have come together to decide how they are going to deal with this grave threat. It is clear that only a joined effort can bring any hope on a good outcome.

After a long deliberation, they came to the conclusion that in a normal battle they wouldn't stand a chance; they are heavily outnumbered. Thus, they were looking for a place where clever use of the landscape would equal the odds. At Thermopylai, the Persian army would have to pass a very narrow passage, which at the smallest point it is only one carriage wide. Here it would be a man to man fight and this would be the best shot they would have.

To stop the mighty Persian fleet, a similar approach was to be used. They would be lured into the narrow sea passage at Artemision and dealt with (hopefully).
Now, brave warrior, you must go to Thermopylai with the fearless Leonidas and prepare the defences. In 480 you should be ready and then the long and hard fight begins. Remember that the whole of Greece depends on you; if you let them pass, we will come under the rule of these barbarians!

Rules

All entries must meet the following completion criteria at the time of submission:

• You must have at least 25 people in your city.
• You must have a palace built in the city.
• Save in Dec 472 by the latest.
  

The valid entries will then be separated according to the following winning criteria:

1. Longest survival time
   
2. Treasury (largest wins)
   

The second winning criterion will only be used to separate entries that are not split by the first winning criterion.

To make things clear, the entries received will be ranked like this:

1. March 477 with 200 Drachmas
2. December 478 with 2344 Drachmas
3. December 478 with 467 Drachmas

Designer's Notes

Special note: This adventure consists of two episodes. You may not play the first episode further then Dec 481 (which means two years for titan/hard and three years for mortal/easy). You will get a gift of 1 meat in Nov 481 as a reminder and with it you can fulfil the completion criteria to proceed to episode two (you need a granary to accept the gift). If you fail to go to episode 2 in time you will experience a lava flow blocking the road to Greece. This destroys your city and makes it impossible to rebuild it. So no use trying to get an easy by-pass ;).

You are allowed to proceed to the next episode earlier then Dec 481, but remember that if you do it costs you valuable survival time

The last invasions are scheduled in 472. If you manage to survive until then you are a wargod and must save your game in Dec 472. Any saves that are later are not valid.

As survival is not a standard type of scenario in Zeus, there is a requirement of 4 sanctuaries in episode 2, where there are only three possible. This should block an early victory

The name Thermopylai refers to the hot springs that are near the passage. According to scientists this is due to volcanic activity, so you might experience some earthquakes and lava flows. Their effect however will be limited to a small part of the map, so you don't need to worry about it.
Our priests have another explanation for it, underneath this land Hades is very active and from time to time he rattles his kettles and throws out some coal. Therefore, you should also not be surprised if the ground splits open and Cerberus suddenly appears. Be warned that this threeheaded dog is dangerous.

This adventure is based on historical battle at Thermopylai (check out Herodotus to learn all about it). It also means that there is an Ephialtes walking around. You might want to check out the books to be prepared for his treachery.

Finally, I would like to point out to you that it is a time of war and it is too dangerous for traders to travel around. So, during this adventure trading is not possible. This also applies for tax collectors, so you will have to get by with what your allies can spare you. Note however that they are very eager to help, so it shouldn't be a problem to get by.

During the second episode the war really starts and this drives away craftsmen and entertainers. So, there is only a limited amount of building that can be (re)built then. So, you will have to plan ahead, because some things can't be corrected. Most important for you to remember is that you can't build a palace in episode two, so don't forget to build one in episode 1 or you won't be able to meet the CC!

Finally, don't forget to make an annual save in December; a price increase for cheese will be a reminder for you.

Thermopylai was created and beta tested by Henrium.

This contest ends Friday October 31, at 11PM, EDT

This contest has ended.

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