Hey there.....
that idea you had for the battle over water in the early '20's got me thinking: the map scale could come down considerably, all you really need is the Sierra watershed (Owens Valley, Lake and River plus Mono Lake), the upper desert counties, a couple of the lower San Joaquin (speciffically Kern) counties and LA county. Might throw in Riverside and San Berdoo, and maybe San Diego and Imperial, but they didn't figger that much in the history of the initial LA Aqueduct project (and in case you're thinking it: the Colorado River & California Aqueducts came much later).
Ready? Here's the scenario: in the early 1900's, Mullholland spearheads the DWP and goes looking to suck as much water out of So. Cal as he can get his hands on. No Colorado River Compact back then. Once he taps into all the available supplies, he tries to gobble up more from the San Joaquin River, but gets nixed by the powers that be: too many voters in the Central Valley. So he decides that the sparsely populated but water-rich upper Mojave is just the ticket. He sells LA a bill of goods that, hell, it's a desert anyway so why not give all that water a purpose? And voila! (FANFARE) The Los Angeles Aqueduct project is forced on the poor stupid hicks way out there in the sticks (and it is, BTW; I otta know: I live within eyesight of the damn thing!) By the late 'teens they've sucked the Owens dry and damn near did the same to half the lakes and streams from Lone Pine to Lee Vining. And this is the period when the locals start seizing sections of the pipeline, tossing dynamite into the thing and generally causing so much hell and havoc that Sacramento sends in the National Guard to protect the aqueduct.
Whew! OK, so, how does this play in CC? Damned if I know! But I got a couple of ideas: 1) you almost gotta have someone cast in the role of the DWP (could be done randomly, say, the first player to join up), he/she would have automatic control of LA County. 2) On the other hand, you'd have to equally cast a player and/or players as the heroic resistance (again, could be done randomly), having automatic control over cities/regions within the watershed area. 3) Control of the aqueduct & watershed should be the main goal of the DWP, defense & denial the main goal of the opposition; All other players would play cut-throat elimination. 4) Mountains and deserts were no obsticle to the DWP, so the route of the aqueduct should be as difficult to control as possible; I propose creating a "resource corridor": a series of hexes or such big enough to hold up to 9 armies each, initially held by a neutral, that the DWP has to conquer in order to "build" the aqueduct. Any hex (or such) held by the opposition or any other player denies the DWP the ability to "build" a section of the pipeline, until they can gain control. 5) In order to protect their gains, players would not only have to control the route and "construction" of the aqueduct, but the surrounding territory as well.
Conditions for victory: 1) DWP MUST control the the entire length of the LAA AND eliminate the opposition to win. DWP player DOES NOT have to wack every other player to win the game as long as he/she meets the above conditions. 2) Opposition MUST control at least 50% of the LAA AND eliminate the DWP to win. As in (1), they need not wipe out all the players in the game. 3) All other players MUST eliminate all of their competition to win the game; they could concievebly control as little as 1% of the LAA as long as they hose everbody off of the board.
I have yet to rough out a map or work on a points scheme, but that will come. I think maybe I need a partner who can take my initial artwork and turn it into a proper map, and maybe someone who can do the XML. Being a full-time, stay-home dad of a 3yo doesn't leave me much free time!!!!
So, whaddya think?
