MAP : Thorn Valley (thornval.mx2) 
BY  : Kelvin at gohzibin@mbox2.singnet.com.sg

comments, suggestions and complaints welcomed!
====================================================
Based on : the animated movie The Secret of NIMH
	 & the books Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
		     Racso and the Rats of NIMH
====================================================

The map is sorta biased to the reds, with them having
the best starting position, troops and resources. Player
should take BLUE or GREEN for a challenging game. Red
is way too easy for most people (unless you enjoy a 
walkover). YELLOW is not playable at all with zero growth
potential. They mostly just get in the way of the rest
but they are not that easy to exterminate.

THE COLORS:
BLUE-	Council of separatists led by Jenner. His main
	aim is to destory both RED (NIMH) and YELLOW
	(humans) thereby destorying all Human influence
	in the region. Secondary aim is to conquer GREEN
	(Justin) uniting the intelligent rats under his
	not-so benevolent rule.

GREEN-	Colony of Thorn Valley, of which Justin is a main
	leader. His main objective is to destory RED 
	(NIMH), safeguarding his beloved colony. Secondary
	goal is to overwhelm BLUE (Jenner) and return
	the separatists to the correct philosophy. He
	does not seek to destory YELLOW.

RED-	Project leader Dr Schultz with the full backing
	and resources of NIMH. He's aim is simple : 
	destory both GREEN and BLUE factions, of which
	he makes no distinction. Civilian (YELLOW)
	casualties should be kept low but if they get in 
	the way...

YELLOW- Non-NIMH humans.

BACKGROUND	If you are a non NIMH fan, you might
appreciated knowing just what is going on, roughly. 
NIMH, the National Institute of Mental Science created
a race of intelligent rats. They escaped and created a
colony at a remote farm where they evolved a complex 
society. NIMH seeked their destruction, fearing the 
effects of another intelligent race on humans. The rats
escaped again, with one faction travelling to a national
nature reserves, Thorn Valley led by Justin, a former 
guard captian. Another faction, led by Jenner, a 
politican, travels to Smithville where they seek to make
a living stealing from humans. At the start of the map,
NIMH, led by Dr Schultz, former creator of the rats, 
begins a renewed campaign to destory both factions.

GAME REPRESENTATIONS :
Unfortunately, HOMAN2 does not supports monsters like
rats, people etc which is what this map is about: War
between intelligent rats and people so I gotta improvise.
Bear with me if it gets too corny for you...

Castle troops = Rats. Notably, Crusaders are Knights
of Frith, an elite order of armored rats. Since rats got
smart, they started reading a lot...and got plenty of
ideas...of which are feudalism and theology. The Knights
of Frith worship Frith (they borrowed this deity from
the rabbits. After all rats and rabbits are distant
cousins) and are sworn to defend normal rats from predators
and humans. They are honorable and invincible in combat.

Forest troops = Forest animals, mostly allied with the
rats. These can be rabbits, shrews, birds...whatever...

Giants = Human, your typical adult male/female.
Titans = Human...with a gun.
Dragons = Anti Rodent Gunships (ARG). These represent
NIMH's frontline assault force on the rats. They look
like distorted miniture helicopters with 3 rotors and
a flame thrower, perfect for destorying whole colonies
of vicious rats (particularly over-sized intelligent rats
which have taken to using weapons and sorcery in their
wars).The prototype is ARG/G (the green dragon). Coming
soon are ARG/R and ARG/B. These should keep the rats 
occupied...

FOR THE NIMH FANS

You might notice I've changed some of the facts in the
movie. Here is a summary :

Jenner is not killed. He didn't kill Nicodemus either.
He left, on the worst of teams with Justin and set up
a colony at Smithville. He rules with the aid of a 
council and make himself Consul. His government is
kinda of a militarist dictatorship (despite his 
claim to it being a democracy). He has a hatred for all
humankind,NIMH particularly and will not hesitate to
start a war.

The House Moving took place, successfully, though Nicodemus
died in an accident. Shortly after, the rats of NIMH
left for Thorn Valley, under the leadership of Justin.

Rats uses spells. The movie did set a precedency of magic.
(Notably Nicodemus, who tries to impress Mrs Brisby with
his telekinesis and illusions). Now quite a few rats are
trained in war-magic as both factions recognise the need
of sorcery to defeat the humans.

(If a NIMH hero casts a spell it is not magic...it is
TECHNOLOGY).



