Ideas for Historical Games (Part 1 of 3)

Ideas for Historical Games (Part 1 of 3)

By Brian J. Lancaster (March 2022)

Website: www.laughingcoyote.net

Anyone can feel free to take these ideas and use them to make a game, or some mod in Civilization, or whatever. These are historical game ideas that have not been done to the extent of my knowledge. I develop computer games, but the following I just have no time for, so they are free for the picking. But understand that nobody will come up with a better idea for a historical setting than the Simpsons: Assassin's Creed: Summer of Love.

The great part about ripping off history for your own creative endeavors is that nobody can sue you. This is why I read as much conspiracy literature as possible, not because I believe it's real, but because the authors believe it is real, which means I am free to steal all the ideas for a science fiction concept without risking a lawsuit.

#1) Mongols vs. Hashishin (1219-1221)

The Order of Assassins was a small Shia sect based in the mountains of Persia and Syria that lasted from around 1090 to 1275 AD. They were known and feared by the western Crusaders for their tactics in... assassination, which is where the word comes from. The word “assassin” comes from “hashishan” (but I have no clue how they originally pronounced it), and these warriors would smoke hash before commencing a mission.

This was mentioned in a terrible Dan Brown book, but something similar comes up in The Travels of Marco Polo. Marco Polo describes tales of Aloadin (or simply the Old Man), who created a garden of paradise between two mountains, filled with fruit and beautiful women, and made it home to his massive palace. Those who saw the garden believed they were truly in “Paradise” (possibly the afterlife). But nobody was allowed into this garden except his “ashishin”. The Old Man would seek out able-bodied young men (12 to 20 years of age) with an aptitude for combat.

“He would then introduce them into his garden, some four or six, or ten at a time, having first made them drink a certain potion which cast them into a deep sleep, and then causing them to be lifted and carried in. So when they awoke, they found themselves in the Garden” (Polo). Perhaps they believed themselves to truly be in the Paradise of afterlife.

When the Old Man wanted someone dead (and historically the assassins whacked many targets in the Crusades), he would feed this same potion to one of the youths in his garden, then bring them into his palace and give them a mission, promising them a return to the garden after it was accomplished, and that this would go on for eternity. Marco Polo also notes that this tradition was carried over into two other locations as well: Damascus and Kurdistan, thus forming the Order of Assassins. On a side note, the word "pot" for marijuana comes from the Spanish word for potion (pocion), so it's pretty clear that the Order of Assassins either drank or smoked marijuana, though I would never want to get high before going into combat.

Aloadin's garden and palace

Just the legend Marco Polo reports would be worthy enough for a game of any genre. But the fall of the Order of Assassins didn't come until the Mongol invasion of Khwarazm in 1253. The capital of Alamut was captured in 1256. It was then recaptured by the Assassins in 1275, but they only held it for a few months, after which, their leader was executed. Some believe, however, that the society lived on.

The Fall of Alamut

There are plenty of strategy games about the Mongol invasions, but this could be an adventure game, wherein the player gets dosed with something, dragged into a fake afterlife heaven, then forced to carry out assassination missions on Crusaders or Mongols.

Sources:

The Travels of Marco Polo (chapters 23-25)

#2) Warlord-Era China (1916-1928)

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the first republic, the revolution's leader, Yuan Shikai, briefly tried to establish himself as the next emperor, which ultimately failed. Despite having a wife, nine concubines, 17 sons, and 15 daughters, his legacy crumbled and the warlords moved in.

These warlords were funded and supplied largely by foreign powers looking to make a quick buck in China, mainly Britain, Russia, Germany, Japan, and others. This support included money and a copious collection of firearms. The player would be able to choose which which country to accept aid from, which would require completing missions for their “beneficiaries”. For example, if you work for Germany, your soldiers would get Lugers, Mausers, and those delicious grenades on a stick. If you work for Russia, you would get Dragoon rifles and Molotov cocktails. If you work for Japan, you get katanas, etc.

The warlord armies were made up of bandits that would often stick around for a single mission and then revert back to banditry, kind of like private construction contractors but more legitimate. With the vast amounts of semi-soldiers fighting under these warlords, there was a severe lack of funding. These funds came from foreign support, selling opium, and levying ridiculous taxes. If the player is working for the British, he would probably have greater access to opium. Then the player could train tax collector units, who go to civilian businesses and houses to extort them for money. One warlord began pumping out paper cash and destroyed the economy, which could be another factor to watch out for in the game.

Warlord Currency

Railroads were a major deciding factor of dominance during the warlord period. If your opponent had a superior railroad system, this problem could easily be solved by dismantling a few tracks, or blowing up trains with improvised explosives. In fact, you could have the entire game about being a train engineer during warlord-era China. There haven't been enough strategy games about being an armed train conductor with a machine gun trying to get food or opium to a small village without getting screwed by disbanded ex-military bandits on horseback.

Sources:

Too many, can't remember.

#3) The Last Bronze Age Collapse (1200-1150 BCE)

Somewhere around 1200 BCE, Egypt, Greece, the Hittites, and the remnants of Babylon and Assyria collapsed. This is often attributed to environmental changes including drought and volcanic activity. But it is also likely to have been caused by the introduction of iron weapons by a mysterious culture known only as the “Sea Peoples”. The historical city of Troy was also destroyed around this time.

Like AK-47s, early iron weapons weren't as durable or deadly as their predecessors in this region (bronze weapons), but they were much more abundant and easier to produce. Iron didn't become refined until much later. According to the book AK47 Assault Rifle: The Real Weapon of Mass Destruction, some AKs could be purchased for the price of a chicken in Africa. They allowed communist countries in the Cold War to fight off Americans who were wielding M-16s or the like (which cost around $500). A friend of mine said he was shooting an AK in Nevada (or somewhere) and it caught on fire while he was shooting, but they were so cheap they won multiple wars. In a similar fashion, the mysterious “Sea Peoples” wielding iron weapons probably overwhelmed the bronze-wielding empires of the Mycenaean period.

This game idea would most likely be a strategy game, as it's based on weapon material. It could require the bronze civilizations to mine both copper and tin (and possibly other metals) in order to produce their weapons, while the Sea Peoples just roll in by the boatloads. It could also address the much-debated fact of where these people came from, and include drought and irrigation mechanics.

Ultimately, the game should leave the player overrun and desperate, the goal being to survive as long as possible. Maybe the goal could be to try to preserve your culture in underhanded ways.

“Fire of Troy” by Kerstiaen de Keuninck (1560-1632 AD)

Sources:

AK47 Assault Rifle: The Real Weapon of Mass Destruction (chapters 23-25)

The Bronze Age Collapse (Youtube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq4G-7v-_xI