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OOC: Beware, Colombia is currently ruled by a batshit-crazy American who thinks its his God-given duty to raise the Colombian flag over all Spanish-speaking territories of South America.
 
OOC: Beware, Colombia is currently ruled by a batshit-crazy American who thinks its his God-given duty to raise the Colombian flag over all Spanish-speaking territories of South America.

OOC: But it's obvious that that region no longer speaks Spanish and now speaks English instead.
 
OOC: Note the previous discussion about white overlords ruling non-white populations in a manner similar to Apartheid, and how it was therefore established that the English-speaking administration was ruling over the Spanish-speaking population.

Besides, like I said, Cook's batshit crazy. Like hell if he cares if they actually speak Spanish or not.
 
OOC: Beware, Colombia is currently ruled by a batshit-crazy American who thinks its his God-given duty to raise the Colombian flag over all Spanish-speaking territories of South America.

OOC: Well, we now have a Bonaparte Emperor of France and Spain, who may well feel in the future that he has a God-given mission to "save" those countries erstwhile colonies, whether they want his help or not.

In any case, there's always the opportunity for the Falklanders to form a bloc with Brazil against further Columbian expansion. If the Raj should manage to take over South Africa they'd be in range to send an expeditionary force to assist their brethren if they were so inclined. Or to remove a colonial regime they feel has grown too big for its britches...

Really there's no safe place in this world.
 
OOC: Well hopefully I'll be able to hold my own. What points/armies/.etc do I start with, by the way?
 
OOC: Well hopefully I'll be able to hold my own. What points/armies/.etc do I start with, by the way?

OOC: I know you start with two armies, your home territory produces 2 IP per turn, plus a you get a one-time sum of 2 IP per turn you missed. So 8 IP this turn, or 10 if the turn is calculated before you can start.

CP wise I don't know how GBIT is handling it. I don't recall if we started with CP on turn one, but I know that the usual maximum CP you can earn in one turn is 5.
 
OOC: Alright, here's my new nation :)

Welcome aboard! Great background stuff. :cool:

OOC: Well hopefully I'll be able to hold my own. What points/armies/.etc do I start with, by the way?

2 Armies and 10IP. You can send in orders as soon as I post the update to Turn Five.

EDIT: I might actually need to take care of something before I update today, so you can post orders now with 8IP instead if you want.
 
OOC: I'll leave orders until Turn five, I've got stuff of my own to do anyway :p
 
Le Temps Nouveau

A New Constitution for a New Century

Highly placed sources within the Imperial Government have told Le Temps that HIM Napoleon IV is hard at work preparing a new constitution, which he plans to submit to the people of both France and Spain in a plebiscite on Bastille Day 1900. The Emperor has been meeting privately with prominent legal and historical thinkers, along with prominent members of the Civil Service and Army.

The Empire has been operating without an organic law since the Fall destroyed the Third Republic, relying instead on Imperial direction and some elements of the Constitution of 1875. But the recent union with Spain has made clear the need for a consistent body of principles to guide future governments.

While the drafting process is in its early stages, indications are that it will draw heavily from both the Second Empire and the Third Republic, with at least one elected legislative house and universal suffrage. A declaration of rights and rules for imperial succession are also expected.
 
She still wasn't sure who he was. Her rescuer had barely said a word, and yet had saved her from armed and extremely dangerous people, people who one did not wish to be enemies with.

The Mancinis were no shoddy rabble- No, indeed. Those damn Italians always work around the system- and were actually the largest criminal organization in North America at the time. They were not people a petty thief should annoy. And yet, that was exactly what she had done.

***72 Hours Previous***

Gold is no mere metal; it has a spirit of its own. There was certainly no other reason she would be ten feet or so above the most dangerous man in America. And that is what I am living in, dammit. We may be in California, but I didn't come from New York to leave my history behind. It's all I have left. Navigating the stone roof was no small feet, as it had rained the previous day and clouds still threatened from above with their deadly torrent. This villa, as she called it, was no more than a stony old outcrop on the wave of new design flooding the boom-town. However, it still had anger in its bones. That's the only thing that could explain the terrible luck she had been having.


the Mancini mansion

She checked off three bruises, four cuts and a scraped knee. Certainly not the quietest outing she'd ever had. Then again, she had never had to get through anything more than a skeleton lock before. Although an old hand at jumping roofs in the busy city, she had never been quite THIS high before. But these qualms were disregarded as she spread prone to peek into the window below. It was certainly what she expected, in respect to the opulence. She did not expect, however, for there to be a dog laying on the floor. How in the hell..? There was no way she was getting out unnoticed. But an opportunity was an opportunity, and this sort would never come again. The head honcho of the place, the great Mancini himself, was leaving for a dinner party. It was easier to "shoot a fly with a slingshot," as Tommy put it, than to get that man out of the house. With his travel, most of the house muscle left also, leaving the perfect opportunity to break in.

She reached down for the frame of the window; thankfully, it was unlocked, as Tommy promised it would be. It took all her courage to flip into the room, but the lush carpet softened and, more importantly, quieted her bound.

"Hush doggy, there now!" The devil better not move, I'd rather not be food tonight. She crept past a mahogany desk towards a promising armoire. Although unlocked, she had a feeling about it. A sure enough, as she opened the latch she was presented with what could only be called crown jewels. Coins, rings, and chains of gold and silver were arrayed in piles-by-design, supporting a massive family crest wrought of gold, inlaid with silver, and studded with precious gems. The poor taste of the design- two fish, for godssakes- was completely overwhelmed by the sheer awe the work inspired. Flipping off her pack, she slipped the heavy masterpiece into her bag. It would almost be a shame to see it stripped and melted later on. As she prepared to leave, Valentine grabbed a thin gold necklace with a fattened ruby at its vertex.

Slipping back out the window, not bothering to close it, Claire Valentine felt exhilaration, rather than nerves, for the first time that night. Everything had appeared to go according to plan, and certainly her skills were proven here tonight.

Indeed, as she slipped away into the darkness, it was by pure chance that a pair of piercing grey eyes noticed her.

***Present***

Hearing thumps approaching from the stairway broke Valentine's reverie. Took him long enough. He rescued me, and shouldn't want an emaciated body to deal with! Claire hadn't eaten in over a day, and her stomach was already beginning to rumble. An empty stomach is still better than a decomposing one, I suppose.

***The night previous***

Tied to the chair, Valentine thought she was going to die. What a way to go. Alone in a hellhole, without a loved one for miles.

"Screw you, Mancini!" The man only laughed.
"Don't worry, your time is near. I'm simply taking too much pleasure out of watching you squirm." They certainly were a twisted bunch. A good thing he deserved what was coming. One minute, he was sneering at her. The next, he was gaping, wide eyed, as that most unsavory liquid poured from his stomach around the blade which punctured it. In total shock, Valentine sucked in air to breathe, but a shadow leapt forward to cover her mouth, and so all she produced was a pitiful muffled squeak. She felt a hand move to her back, and the next minute she was free.

"Do not talk. We must move." The longest series of words she would hear him put together. Wisely, all she did was nod. He led her to the window, indicating that she should jump. Looking down, she noticed a pile of hay outside the window. Thank God for lazy assistants and hungry horses, I suppose. Exhaling, she leaned forward until she felt herself whistling through the air. A mere second later, she was abruptly stopped by an unyielding floor, only broken by scratchy food. A moment later the shadow leaped down after her, and turned out to be a rather tall man with a square jaw and not ugly features. I could do worse.

He led her to a cab nearby, which they took to the nicest place she had ever been to, discounting her exploits a few days previous. The Ritz-Carlton was brand new, and no expense had been spared. She had little time to enjoy it, however, as she soon passed out from exhaustion on the bed of the room they entered, using an elaborate key Shadow pulled from the depths of his cloth. She had questions to be answered, but they would have to wait for the morning.

***

OOC: Please ignore the fact that there is a skyscraper in the background. It was otherwise the perfect photo :)
 
OOC: I'd suggest that You remove the unplayed countries from the map, GBIT. It doesn't appear that they will be taken anytime soon. If they come back, we can remake what's left of their holdings.
 
OOC: I'd suggest that You remove the unplayed countries from the map, GBIT. It doesn't appear that they will be taken anytime soon. If they come back, we can remake what's left of their holdings.

OOC: For the one-province ones maybe, but leave mighty-yet-leaderless Byzantium.
 
masthead1897.png

SPECIAL INSERT:

THE DIAMOND JUBILEE AND IMPERIAL FEDERATION


chamberlainfed.jpg


Prime Minister Chamberlain is expected to put his bill before the Commons in the coming week; as captured by L.S. Stennet.

While most attentions remained firmly transfixed by the splendour and pomp of Her Majesty's lately Jubilee Durbar, held captive by the fluttering banners of The Peshawar Lancers or the elephant-drawn artillery of The Rangoon Rifles, those gathered in Coronation Square were instead taken aback by the altogether more astounding spectacle of The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain, MP. The Prime Minister, addressing Parliamentary figures, Princely dignitaries, common wellwishers, and indeed the Royal Family, seized the opportunity to enunciate his comprehensive vision for the future of the British Empire. His full remarks, printed below, may prove some of the most important in the history of our nation:



"It seems to me that there are three distinct stages in our Imperial history. We began to be, and we ultimately became, a great Imperial Power in the eighteenth century, but, during the greater part of that time, the Colonies were regarded, not only by us, but by every European Power that possessed them, as possessions valuable in proportion to the pecuniary advantage which they brought to the mother country, which, under that order of ideas, was not truly a mother at all, but appeared rather in the light of a grasping and absentee landlord, desiring to take from his tenants the utmost rents he could exact. The Colonies were valued and maintained because it was thought that they would be a source of profit—of direct profit—to the mother country.

That was the first stage, and when we were rudely awakened by the War of Independence in America from this dream that the Colonies could be held for our profit alone, the second chapter was entered upon, and the public opinion seems then to have drifted to the opposite extreme; and, because the Colonies were no longer a source of revenue, it seems to have been believed and argued by many people that their separation from us was only a matter of time, and that that separation should be desired and encouraged, lest haply they might prove an encumbrance and a source of weakness.

Mainly by the instinctive good sense and patriotism of the people at large, but partly indeed by the crucible of The Fall, we have now reached the third stage in our history, and the true conception of our Empire. What is that conception? As regards the self-governing Colonies we no longer talk of them as dependencies: the sense of possession has given place to the sentiment of kinship.

We think and speak of them as part of ourselves, as part of the British Empire, united to us, although they may be dispersed throughout the world, by ties of kindred, of religion, of history, and of language, and joined to us by the seas that formerly seemed to divide us.

But the British Empire is not confined to the self-governing Colonies. It includes a much greater area, a much more numerous population, in tropical climes, where we have now made our home, and where the native population must always vastly outnumber the European inhabitants; and in these cases also the same change has come over the Imperial idea. Here also our Exodus has made the sense of possession give place to a different sentiment - the sense of obligation. We feel now that our rule over these territories can only be justified if we can show that it adds to the happiness and prosperity of the people, and I maintain that our rule does, and has, brought security and peace and comparative prosperity to countries that never knew these blessings before.

In carrying out this work of civilization we are fulfilling what I believe to be our national mission, and we are finding scope for the exercise of those faculties and qualities which have made of us a great governing people. I do not say that our success has been perfect in every case, I do not say that all our methods have been beyond reproach; but I do say that in almost every instance in which the rule of the Queen has been established and the great Pax Britannica has been enforced, there has come with it greater security to life and property, and a material improvement in the condition of the bulk of the population. No doubt, in the first instance, such as in the crushing of the lately Mutiny, there has been bloodshed, there has been loss of life among the native populations, loss of still more precious lives among those who have been sent out to bring these countries into some kind of disciplined order, but it must be remembered that that is the condition of the mission we have to fulfil. There are, of course, among us—there always are among us, I think—a very small minority of men who are ready to be the advocates of the most detestable tyrants, provided they are not British—men who sympathize with the sorrows of the Mutineer, and the Afghan, and who denounce as murderers those of their countrymen who have gone forth at the command of the Queen, and who have redeemed districts as large as Europe from the barbarism and the superstition in which they had been steeped for centuries.

You can not have omelettes without breaking eggs; you can not destroy the practises of barbarism, of slavery, of superstition, which for centuries have desolated the interior of India, without the use of force; but if you will fairly contrast the gain to humanity with the price which we are bound to pay for it, I think you may well rejoice in the result of such our Exertions in suppressing the Second Mutiny - exertions which may have, and indeed have, cost valuable lives, but as to which we may rest assured that for one life lost a hundred will be gained, and the cause of civilization and the prosperity of the people will in the long run be eminently advanced. But no doubt such a state of things, such a mission as I have described, involves heavy responsibility. In the wide dominions of the Queen the doors of the temple of Janus are never closed, and it is a gigantic task that we have undertaken when we have determined to wield the scepter of Empire. Great is the task, great is the responsibility, but great is the honour; and I am convinced that the conscience and the spirit of the country will rise to the height of its obligations, and that we shall have the strength to fulfil the mission which our history and our national character have imposed upon us.

In regard to the self-governing Colonies our task is much lighter. We have undertaken, it is true, to protect them with all the strength at our command against foreign aggression, although I hope that the need for our intervention may never arise. But there remains what then will be our chief duty - that is, to give effect to that sentiment of kinship to which I have referred and which I believe is deep in the heart of every Briton. We want to promote a closer and firmer union between all members of the great British family, and in this respect we have in recent years made great progress. I believe in the practical necessity of a federation of the British peoples, but I know that it has come not by pressure, not by anything in the nature of dictation from circumstance, but it has come as the realisation of a universal desire, as the expression of the dearest wish of our Colonial fellow subjects themselves.

That such a result would be desirable, would be in the interest of all our Colonies as well as of ourselves, I do not believe any sensible man will doubt. We have survived a great apocalypse, the sundering of the very world, yet we will move forward, stronger still. If Greater Britain remains united, no empire in the world can ever surpass it in area, in population, in wealth, or in the diversity of its resources.

Let us, then, begin to undertake this grand, Imperial journey. The Mutiny has passed, and the future beckons. I will place before Parliament a motion containing the full realisation of what I have herein described - the creation of our Federated Empire. I look forward with great relish to the day when I may soon greet the first Member of Parliament to embark upon our shores from Sydney, from Cape Town, from Vancouver and Auckland. I know that this day is upon us."

Orders: Spend 9CP to diploannex Eastern Australia.
And I believe I may have forgotten to publicly state my order to Invade Burma with 5 Armies.


 
OOC: Haldane, is that possible? It is farther than 1 sea zone of a friendly port, is it not? Unless you have an open borders with Tannerman, I do not see how you are reaching Australia, let alone East Australia.

Also, its been two days for the 24 hr countdown.... whats going on?
 
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OOC: Haldane, is that possible? It is farther than 1 sea zone of a friendly port, is it not? Unless you have an open borders with Tannerman, I do not see how you are reaching Australia, let alone East Australia.

Also, its been two days for the 24 hr countdown.... whats going on?

ooc: I do have to call foul. It seems unreasonable that with our pooled armies, ie. Eastern Australia will be able to defend against me like the British Capital, that a player can surround me by willing it because of CP, cutting me off on both sides. Hell, I chose my spot so I could deny access to other players to Oceania. Not an unfair strategy, considering the rules on naval supply lines. By getting Eastern Australia, it would mean Haldane gets the ability to project his navy, not only around my islands, but beyond them.

If he wants to come at me with a navy, fair and good, but this is just unfair.
 
ooc: I do have to call foul. It seems unreasonable that with our pooled armies, ie. Eastern Australia will be able to defend against me like the British Capital, that a player can surround me by willing it because of CP, cutting me off on both sides. Hell, I chose my spot so I could deny access to other players to Oceania. Not an unfair strategy, considering the rules on naval supply lines. By getting Eastern Australia, it would mean Haldane gets the ability to project his navy, not only around my islands, but beyond them.

If he wants to come at me with a navy, fair and good, but this is just unfair.

OOC: I have to agree, you shouldn't be able to take territory via CP you couldn't reach ordinarily.
 
TURN FIVE - 1900

peshawarturn1900.png



Strange rumors filter down the nascent highways and sealanes to your capital, claiming that the ice has melted...and something stirs within. A feeling of unease seems to overcome the merchant travelers of the world when questioned, and two words linger in their mind: "Malik Nous."

Deep in the Wasteland, the court of the Tsar is thawing.....




Military News fresh from the Wire:

Japan vs Korea:

4 Armies vs 1 Native Army

2 2 Draw
1 5 Native victory
7 10 Native victory
4 7 Native victory
10 1 Japanese victory

Japan conquers Korea!
No casualties!


Bigsby Trade Company vs Phillipines:

3 Armies vs 3 Native Armies

4 2 Bigsby victory
4 7 Native victory
6 3 Bigsby victory
9 9 Draw
7 7 Draw
9 1 Bigsby victory

Bigsby Trade Company conquers Phillipines!
No casualties.


France-Outre-Mer vs Sokoto:

5 Armies vs 3 Native Armies

1 8 Native victory
9 5 French victory
7 10 Native victory
8 9 Native victory
4 10 Native victory
2 10 Native victory

Natives repulse invasion!
No casualties.


German East Africa vs Mozambique:

4 Armies vs 2 Native Armies:

10 4 German victory
9 1 German victory

German East Africa conquers Mozambique!
No casualties.


United Territories vs California/Colombia:

5 Armies (Tier II) vs 3 Armies + 3 Armies

8 5 Utahan victory
3 6 Californian victory (Utahan army destroyed!)
11 10 Utahan victory
10 8 Utahan victory

Colombian reinforcements arrive:
2 2 Draw
6 6 Draw
11 9 Utahan victory
4 6 Colombian victory (Utahan army destroyed!)
7 9 Colombian victory
6 4 Utahan victory
7 3 Utahan victory (Colombian army destroyed!)

United Territories conquers California!
The Californios are destroyed!
Casualties: Two Armies for United Territories; One Army for Colombia.


British Raj vs Burma/Malaya:

5 Armies vs 5 Native Armies

7 6 British victory
8 6 British victory
10 2 British victory
7 9 Native victory
5 8 Native victory
7 2 British victory
3 3 Draw
3 9 Native victory
4 7 Native victory
9 3 British victory

British Raj conquers Burma/Malaya!
No casualties!

The Californios are destroyed! Their navy defects to Colombia after ferrying retreating troops home.

British Raj diploannexes Eastern Australia.

Welcome to Watercress, Shock3r, and madtemplar...as the Russian Empire.
 
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OOC: Haldane, is that possible? It is farther than 1 sea zone of a friendly port, is it not? Unless you have an open borders with Tannerman, I do not see how you are reaching Australia, let alone East Australia.

If you look at the northern tip, Eastern Australia is touched by the same sea zone that surrounds most of Western Australia. It's within range.

Also, its been two days for the 24 hr countdown.... whats going on?

Hey...I have a life, you know. :p

Sort of.