Pendulous scenarios

Files below are scenarios for Pendulous, a shareware strategy game by Ken Carlino of Kamyan Software.

This page last updated January 31, 2007.

Name	Author	Sides	Playing Time	Description
Alexander	Rik Kyser	Persians Greeks	10-15 turns on average 10-15 min. on average	The conquest of Alexander the Great. Greek forces are superior to the Persians, who begin with more land and cities. The Hindu and nonaligned are unplayable. Although victory is usually gained by 15 turns, the game can turn into a stalemate if the computer turtles and the player cannot overcome them. Strategy: Win the fight in Turkey. As the Persians, knock off the Hindus early for free cities. Unexplored has high defenses so don't bother attacking them. The computer as the Greeks may stop expanding when they run out of armies, leading to a stalemate.
The Atlantic Wall	Rik Kyser	Germans Allies	40 turns 45 min. on average	The Battle of Normandy in World War 2. Strategy: Place defences, skip a turn, and attack with a double force. Germany has an easier time since it has more cities and can split England in two.
Diadochoi	Rik Kyser	Antigonos Non-aligned Ptolomey Selukos	10 turns 15 min. on average	Alexander's generals fight over his empire after his death. The non-aligned are a full fourth player. Strategy: The Levant's three cities are attractive if you can get them, but Turkey is easier to secure. First, take and secure the closest nonaligned cities.
Europe	Patrick Stewart	Russo-German Alliance (Easy) Franco-Austrian Alliance Polish-Italian Alliance (Hard) Anglo-Greco Alliance (Hard)	15 turns 15 min. on average	A four-sided war over Europe. Red has a significant advantage over the other teams and will win in a stalemate. Winning with Green and Blue is a challenge. Strategy: Defend a stronghold and use sea attacks to pick off key cities on the edge of the map. As Green or Blue, let Red and Gray duke it out in the center of the map while feeding off Red's eastern cities. As Gray, take Spain. As Red, take Gray's sea assets.
The Golan Heights	Rik Kyser	Israel Syria	10 turns 8 min. on average	Simulation of the Israeli-Syrian front during the 1967 war. Syria has a land advantage, but Israeli forces are superior. Strategy: Bring the fight to a couple of the enemy's border cities and try to surround their defense force. Jordan and Lebanon have a defense bonus, but you can still slip across their borders to surround the enemy if you need to.
Greece 435 B.C.	Rik Kyser	Sparta Athens Corinth (Hard)	25 turns on average 15 min. on average	War between Greek city-states. Strategy: Neutral territories are completely undefended. Use water attacks to nab and secure as many of them as you can before the other players do.
The Battle of Guadalcanal	Rik Kyser	Japanese Army United States Marine Corps	20 turns 15 min. on average	Simulation of the Battle of Guadalcanal during the second World War. Strategy: As the US, defend your original base for the first several turns. As the Japanese, place defenders at the left side of the US base, skip your first turn and attack with a double-sized force on turn 2.
The Huns	Rik Kyser	West Roman Empire Goths and Neutrals (Hard) Huns East Roman Empire	40 turns on average 35 min. on average	As the divided Roman Empire battles the uncivilized tribes on its frontiers, the Huns storm out of Asia intent on world conquest. Strategy: As Rome, jump over Hadrian's Wall and nab a free city early, then hit the Huns high while Constantinople hits them low. As the Huns, attack Constantinople from the east while they tussle with Rome. As Constantinople, secure your eastern border. As the Goths, make funeral arrangements.
Mediterranean Map	Rik Kyser		n/a	A blank map of the Mediterranean region. Based off Patrick Stewart's Europe map, but with more detail of North Africa, Russia, and the Middle East.
North America	Rik Kyser	Cuba (Hard) Quebec Texas	30 turns 20 min. on average	In the near future, North America falls into chaos. Three aggressor states rise to vie for supremacy over the continent. Strategy: Take undefended neutral towns early on. The strategic regions to secure are the Mississippi River, the Atlantic seaboard, and Mexico. Attack neutral towns over water if you have 8-10 troops or more to win the fight. Go west if you can afford the troops, but it will take a few turns to get to the cities there.
Pax Romana	Rik Kyser (Based on Patrick Stewart's Europe map)	Roman Empire Random Tribes (Hard) Germanic Tribes (Hard) Carthage	25 turns on average 25 min. on average	As Rome expands into Europe from the Italian peninsula, Carthage seeks to become a competing empire. Note: If Carthage and Rome get into a stalemate, this can last upwards of 70 turns. Strategy: Knock off Random Tribes by sea for extra cities. Supply line length is not accounted for in this game.
Russian Front	Ken Carlino	Germany Russia	15 turns 10 min. on average	Simulation of the German-Russian front during World War 2. Germany's tanks are better, but they have a lot of land to cover. This scenario comes with the game. Strategy: As Germany, take the border cities quickly and try to seize the deeper cities to win the scenario. As Russia, defend the border cities and try to strike back at Germany's cities.
Random	Ken Carlino	Red Gray Blue	30 turns on average 30 min. on average	Basic random battle. Three players begin with two randomly placed cities, explore the map, and attack each other. This scenario comes with the game. Strategy: Search for towns. Knock off neighbours early on to cripple them. If forces are available, seize large swaths of land to prevent anyone from attacking through them.
Random 2	David Turover (based on Ken Carlino's Random)	Red Gray Blue Imperium (Hard)	35 turns on average 35 min. on average	Quarreling city-states vie for control of a crumbling empire. This is an extension of the default "random" map where the "unexplored" area fights back. Strategy: Same as Random, but you might want to keep a unit back near your cities to defend against the Imperium. As the Imperium, surround one guy at a time and fight like a bastard with all you've got since your back is already at the wall when you start with the entire map.
Slog	David Turover	Red Gray Natives (Hard)	35 turns on average 35 min. on average	Two opposing armies, each seeking to outflank the other's main force, attempt to shortcut through a swamp from opposite sides. Their eventual meeting is doomed to end in a miserable, bloody struggle in unfriendly terrain, especially as the swamp's native inhabitants may not be very welcoming to the war entering their territory. Strategy: There are three sides, so try to let the other two get bogged down fighting each other while you work your way around the edges. Be aware that there are no north-south crossings on the east side of the map. When the ground no longer allows for strategy, all you can do is gather a large number of troops and push forward.
Sonoma County	David Turover	Yuppies Hicks (Easy) Stoners	25 turns on average 20 min. on average	The stereotypical residents of Sonoma County have fallen into a civil war! The Hicks know the back roads and can attack from any direction, but the Yuppies can afford better weapons and carry them around in their SUVs. Then there is the vast Stoner Army arising from the west county. Strategy: The Yuppies begin with the highways for an early attack on Turn 1, but they will be cut off. The Yuppies' armies are most powerful, so don't let them take too many cities if you're not playing as them. As in any 3-way, let the other two sides fight each other and pick off the strongest side's outlying cities.
The Trojan War	Rik Kyser	Troy Greece Minoan Empire (Hard)	35 turns 25 min. on average	War between Greece and Troy, with the Minoans as a spoiler. Strategy: Nab neutral cities and wait to launch double-strength sea attacks. Do not attack neutral islands without enough force to take the entire island or else your enemies will jump in through the undefended spots.