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merrick

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Jul 1, 2003
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Author's Disclaimer - This is not my fault. I had the idea of doing an AAR based on the country everyone loves to hate (or should that be the country every newbie learns to hate?) and I was searching for a theme. Burgundy as the Vandals of Europe? Pythonesque kuh-nigitts on a conquest spree? Acts of Burgundage? Burgundy from the POV of the (psychotic) AI? Then they turned up in my head and resistance, as they say, was futile. So here goes:

Resistance is Futile - The Borgundian Collective

Version - 1.1 vanilla

Country - Burgundy (though I've tweaked the sliders to make them more Borg-esque)

Start - 1453

Difficulty - Hard

Objectives - Global Assimilation (since World Conquest is impossible in v1.1, I'll settle for merely vassalising it).

Resistance - Futile (I hope)

Initial Slider Settings:
Aristocracy/Plutocracy - 1 step to Aristocracy (Should be 0, since the Borg have no concept of either, but Burgundy's government type precludes this. The Collective is investigating.)
Centralisation - Full (They're Borg, Jim.)
Narrowmindedness - Full (The Collective is unclear on the concept of "original thought".)
Merchantilism - Full (The term "free enterprise" gives the Borg neuronic spasms.)
Offensive - Full (The Borg intend to be thoroughly offensive.)
Land/Naval - 0 (The distinction is unnecessary. All will be assimilated.)
Quality/Quantity - 0 (The distinction is irrelevant. Borg superiority in both fields is indisputable.)
Serfdom - Full (Independance in drones is neither necessary nor desirable.)

Post style - Regular updates will be made to the Collective.

Humour - Humour is futile. You will be assimilated.

Comments - Comments are ... wait a minute. Comments are good. Anyone who does not comment will be assimilated. Anyone who does comment will be assimilated too, but they will be made into only the highest quality drones and used only for the most important suicide missions.
 
merrick said:
Comments - Comments are ... wait a minute. Comments are good. Anyone who does not comment will be assimilated. Anyone who does comment will be assimilated too, but they will be made into only the highest quality drones and used only for the most important suicide missions.

Better start commenting before i will become assimilated then! :D

Good Luck with the AAR/assimilation whatever...
 
Wow it looks i am almost the first with a reaction to this original AAR, but thats probably very irrelevant ;) I follow this, remember, i am from Gelre, your historical enemy, but thats here irrelevant too.

Good luck with the Borgundian Collective. Is Floris van Rosemont (Rutger Hauer) already in your collective?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floris_(TV_series)
 
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Borg Queen Unit XQU - 010 - M4R - 1E, location central nexus for Special Project 001101B, was not happy. Or rather, since Borg have no concept of "happy", it would be more correct to say that her current neural configuration was sub-optimal.
"Why are we here?" she asked the Collective.

Philosophy is futile

There was a short pause while the Queen reconfigured her communication protocols.
"Why have we been sent to this planet at this time?"

It is the source planet of the Federation. If it can be assimilated prior to the formation of that entity, difficulties will be avoided.

"I had already assimilated that information. Why this time?"

That information is not available

"Why this political unit?"

The Collective did not answer directly. Instead the holographic map in front of the queen began to expand, zooming in on a certain province in the north-west of the territory under discussion. The name displayed was disturbingly familiar.

The Queen shivered despite herself. "Is that the source?"

Probability estimate 83.61%

"Is it under control?"

At this time.

If she had had lungs, the Queen would probably have taken a deep breath. As it was, there was only a short silence. "Situation Report."

Situation Report - Burgundy Collective. 1453. May.

Controlled Terrain - 13 Sub-Units.
Coordinator-drone "Philippe III" has superior capabilies.
Drone operation stability currently above average.

Economic Base - At or above local standard. Estimated 13 local monetary units per local month.
Economic Reserves - 155 local monetary units.
Conclusion - Economic resources are adequate.
Observation - 10 of 13 sub-units are separated from the primary by the "Lorraine" political unit. This causes a 30% loss of efficiency in those sub-units.
Conclusion - Lorraine must be assimilated.

Productive Capacity - Only two sub-units have adequate productive capacity. Others produce only goods of low value.
Production efficiency is low due to backwardness of local technology.
Conclusion - Productive capacity should be expanded.

Trade Potential - Vlandaaren sub-unit is a designated planetary centre of trade. 5 trade-drones available, with a replacement rate of 2 per local year.
Detected Problems - Trade efficiency is low due to backwardness of local technology. Drone unit type in Vlandaaren not fully capable of interface with primary drone type, resulting in access limitation in non-assimilated trade centres.
Conclusion - Trade is futile.

Military Capacity
5,000 combat-drones currently deployed; 4,000 humanoid and 1,000 equine.
Capacity exists for conversion of 16,000 combat-drones of all-types.
Leader-drone "Philippe III" possesses level-3 enhanced control capacities.
Conclusion - Military capacity superior to most neighbouring political units.

Observation - Equine combat-drones possess greatly enhanced combat potential compared to humanoid types.
Conclusion - Infantry is futile. Future drone-conversion should prioritise equine types.

Technology
Available technology is minimal. Estimate time to next technology upgrade approximately 2 local years.
Detected Problem - Estimated rate of technological advance inferior to neighbouring political units.
Conclusion - Technological enhancement should be prioritised.
Suggestion - Opportunity exists for Collective adaptation to increase rate of technological enhancement. This will cause temporary decrease in drone operation stability. Three "artist"-class sub-coordinator-drones available to enhance stability recovery.Predicted outcome positive.
Suggestion - Initial devotion of resources to drone stability will enhance productivity.
Suggestion - Subsequent devotion of resources to "Government" technology-class will provide opportunities for further Collective adaptation.


The Queen nodded.

"Let it be done."

* * * * * * * * * *

valzoz, Duke of Wellington, Petros - thanks for the good wishes. Hoping not to disappoint you.
Aemilius - Collective not previously aware of the "von Rosemont" leader-drone. Searching memory banks.
 
Brilliant! I love the style very much!

I guess that we'll be hearing the word 'futile' a lot.

Not a word about France though. What's your relationship with them and have they got any ties with Lorraine that could prove to be damaging with your plans?

Thanks for the update!
 
Trade is indeed futile! :rofl: This is a great set up. Preparing to be assimilated. Great to see another work, merrick. :)
 
Situation Report - Burgundy Collective. 1454. January.

Collective adaptation completed successfully.
Rate of technological enhancement increased.
Drone operation stability well within accepted parameters.

Diplomatic interface successfully initiated with Lorraine political unit
Royal marital interface initiated by Lorraine political unit. Complied
Assimilation of Lorraine political unit successfully initiated. Estimated time to completion 30 local years.

Coordinator-drone "Philippe III" ceased functioning.
Replacement coordinator-drone "Antoine I" greatly inferior in capabilities.
Sabotage suspected.

Analysis of neighbouring political units suggest optimum initial objectives Liege, Gelre and Friesland.
Assimilation of these units will cause minimum disruption to Collective functioning and least reaction from other political units.

4,000 equine combat-drones assembled at border of Gelre political unit.
Gelre political unit is associated with units Friesland, Utrecht and Anhalt.
Estimated military capacity is minimal.
Require authorisation before proceding.


The Queen smiled. "Assimilation is authorised"

* * * * * * * * * *

Cyrus, coz1 - Welcome to the collective :)
stephanbathory - That name is to be deleted from all non-classified data banks. Report for termination immediately
Petros - Analysis of France coming up, I promise. Lorraine is not a French vassal/ally in 1453.
 
I have no doubt that any resistance from the populace of this planet will be very, very futile.

I would recommend you warn me before assimilating Baden, however. Otherwise my disappointment might overload my connection with the Collective. ;)
 
Yikes! Just when I thought the planet was safe... The Borg have returned! :eek: Great start merrick, I look forward to following, but I absolutely refuse to be asimil... I refuse... I...

assimilation completed
 
You definitely picked the most-hated EUIII nation (just in the game, no offense to any real Burgundians). I swear, they must grow 5-shock generals on trees in Burgundy because the AI ALWAYS has one. And their monarchs always have ridiculous stats.
 
Combat Situation Update - Burgundy Collective. 1454. January.

Combat operations initiated against political units Friesland, Gelre, Utrecht, Anhalt.

4,000 equine combat-drones advanced into Utrecht zone. Designated Force 1. Opposition from 2,000 infantry. Opposition force inadequate. Resistance futile. Utrecht zone secured. 2,000 humanoid combat-drones proceed to Utrecht for reduction of central control-site. Designated Force 2. Force 1 to proceed to Gelre zone.

Force 1 entered Gelre zone. Opposition from 1,000 infantry. Opposition force inadequate. Opposition reinforcements arrive from Friesland zone before elimination of Gelre units complete. Reinforcements consist of 1,000 infantry. Reinforcements inadequate. Friesland intervention futile. Gelre zone secured. 1,000 equine combat-drones and 2,000 humanoid combat-drones proceed to Gelre for reduction of central control-site. Designated Force 3. Force 1 to proceed to Friesland zone.

- - -

Combat Situation Update - Burgundy Collective. 1454. February.

Force 1 entered Friesland zone. Opposition from 2,000 infantry, with additional 800 infantry infantry in transit from Gelre.

Opposition has command-unit with level-2 capability. Efficiency of opposing units has been enhanced.

Borg units are superior. Friesland deployment of leader-unit futile. Friesland zone secured. Force 1 proceeding with reduction of central control-site. Estimated time to full reduction approximately one local year.

Combat operation proceeding according to schedule.

- - -

Combat Situation Update - Burgundy Collective. 1454. March.

Hostile combat units have united in Holland zone and are attempting reduction of Holland control-site. Units currently available for dispersion - none.


The Queen paused the readout. "Why were no units available?"

The display blinked red
Force 1 - Unavailable. Committed to reduction of Friesland control-site.
Force 2 - Unavailable. Committed to reduction of Utrecht control-site.
Force 3 - Unavailable. Committed to reduction of Gelre control-site.
Other forces - None.


"Force 1 is optimised for field-combat, not reduction of control sites. Should we not withdraw it from reduction duties in Friesland so that it may disperse the hostile units in Holland?"

Inadvisable. Tactical position unfavourable. Use of northern route to Holland involves transition of unvaourable terrain that will significantly degrade combat-potential of our units. Use of southern route allows hostile units to return to Friesland zone. Strategic position unfavourable. Withdrawal from reduction will significantly delay onset of assimilation in Friesland.

The Queen studied the map. A symbol caught her eye. "Units from Lorraine have mobilised in our support?"

That is correct. Lorraine combat-units currently assisting Force 2 in reduction of Utrecht control-site.

"Divert them"

Not possible. We lack full interface capacity with Lorraine command-systems.

"Then leave them to complete the reduction and divert Force 2 to Holland."

Inadvisable. Current force estimates indicate Force 2 lacks strength to disperse hostile units in Holland zone.

"So we do nothing?"

Holland zone is only one of 13 sub-units of the Collective. Utrecht, Gelre and Friesland zones represent entirety of relevant political units. Once control centres have been reduced, assimilation becomes certain.
Borg combat technology demonstrated superior. Reduction of hostile control-sites projected complete before Holland zone is seriously endangered.

- - -

Combat Situation Update - Burgundy Collective. 1454. August.

Friesland combat units have entered Holland sub-unit control site and temporarily interrupted Collective control of the sub-unit. Friesland combat units proceeding to Zeeland zone. Units currently available for dispersion - none.


"And all our units are still committed to reduction of hostile control-sites?"

That is correct. Estimated time until full reduction between 3 and 6 local months.

The Queen was silent. Her expression indicated that her her current neural configuration was definitely sub-optimal.

The Situation Report before her continued to update.

Coordinator-drone "Antoine I" ceased functioning.
Replacement coordinator-drone "Philippe IV" superior to previous unit, but still below predicted mean capability.
Genetic basis of coordinator-drones appears faulty.

Intelligence indicates that the France political-unit has upgraded its combat-units with the "Military Drill" adaptation.


The Queen halted the display at that. "When will an equivalent adaptation become available to the Collective?"

Estimated time until adaptation approximately 10 local months.

"Until then, what is the military balance between France and the Collective?"

There was a pause.

France military capacity is superior.

"Economic potential?"

France economic potential is superior.

"Technological advancement?"

France technological advancement is superior.

"Tell me again, why did we not assimilate France in the initial landing, rather than Burgundy?"

Pre-mission intelligence indicated France military control system to be flawed and liable to complete dysfunction on commencement of hostilities.

"And?"

Current intelligence indicates that pre-mission intelligence may have been in error.

* * * * * * * * * *

k-59, Eber, Farquaharson, valzoz-Commencing Assimilation Welcome to the Collective.
Judas - The Collective has no immediate plans to assimilate Baden. Yet. :)
Outsider - Not me! My 8/9/9 starting monarch/Shock 3 leader went and died on me before I could even build a cavalry unit, and both his successors have been deeply mediocre. And as a human (or Borg) I don't get the lucky nation bonus to leader stats.
 
Interesting to see that the Borg calculations had failed to pick France out for assimilation on arriving to the planet. That could prove quite costly to them!

Excellent update!
 
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