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Name: Carlo Brunelli
DOB: August 1, 1810
Party: The Alliance
House: Conclave
Background: Carlo grew up in Rome as the son of a baker. He bitterly resents the ruling class and military after his father was accidentally shot by a German soldier on patrol. His father's death convinced him to enter politics so that he could spread his views. Carlo moved to Ravenna and eventually came to dominate local politics through his spellbinding oratory, acerbic with earnest piety, and skill at tapping into the deep-seated resentments held by Italians living in the German Republic. He was elected to the Conclave as Stadtholder of Ravenna in1846. Carlo is strongly opposed to war and secretly wishes for the dismantling of the German "empire".
 
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((I say the two provinces are pretty much equal, and Liberia gives better borders. But if we can grab both, that's a better plan.))

((If only the person presenting the plan had included provisions for an extra war goal... :D

Actually, since we're waiting on EtzelHoveri's plan, you are free to go ahead and float the second war goal, if you so choose, which would require only an Assembly vote.))
 
Name: Carlo Brunelli
DOB: August 1, 1810
Party: The Alliance
House: Conclave
Background: Carlo grew up in Rome as the son of a baker. He bitterly resents the ruling class and military after his father was accidentally shot by a soldier on patrol. Carlo is strongly opposed to war and secretly wishes for the dismantling of the German "empire".

((Welcome to the AAR! I'll add you to the roster -- you'll be able to officially vote after this coming update is finished, which might work out well for you, since I'm not sure when the A-Ls get activated in 1848.))

EDIT: I need a residence to put you in the Conclave, since Rome isn't part of Germany. I've got you in Ravenna for the moment; if you prefer a different city, let me know.))
 
((Welcome to the AAR! I'll add you to the roster -- you'll be able to officially vote after this coming update is finished, which might work out well for you, since I'm not sure when the A-Ls get activated in 1848.))

((Thanks. Do you have links to the other parts of the megacampaign?))
 
((Thanks. Do you have links to the other parts of the megacampaign?))

((Well, for now, you can find them in my inkwell. I don't remember why I didn't add them to the OP in the first place, but I'm doing it now. :D))
 
There will be five armies that will be taking part in this war. The 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, and 11th.

Generals
4th Army will keep their General.
5th Army will replace Adolf Wittman with Joachim Steeb (Sorry if the names are misspelled. My laptop won't bring up the pics for some reason.
6th Army will be assigned Friedrich Hoinisch
9th Army will be assigned Gustav von Horstein
11th Army will replace Joachim Trunk with Albrecht Stolzer


Landings
4th will land at Banjul and move south to Ziguinchar then make its way east to Velingare
5th will land at Freetown and move east via Falcha to Sikasso
6th will land at Harper and capture the southern territory
9th will land at Boffa and move east via Bakel to Bamoko
11th will also land at Boffa but instead of going from Timbo to Dinguiraye





All the armies will be off the coast of the enemy before the war is declared.
 
((With that, I'll play as soon as I finish dinner.))
 
1847: A short victorious war

Staff Sergeant Reinhardt Detweiler sat on a tree stump in Liberia, with a small knife whittling down a piece of the rich, vibrant wood that was plentiful in that part of Africa. This will make an excellent ornament for my niece, I think. The Sergeant was 35 years old, but a 20 year veteran of the Germany Army. (He was large for his age and a skilled liar, even at 15.) When the call came to fight the British in 1838, Detweiler was a Corporal with an attitude problem, drunk when he wasn’t on duty and asleep when he was on duty. A native of Hannover, Detweiler had met Englishmen on many an occasion, found them good enough folk, and generally preferred them to a number of other foreigners. Detweiler hated the French with a passion that surprised many of his friends and classmates, for example.

The war changed him. Even though it was a smashing success for Germany, the Corporal woke up in a puddle of his own stinking urine more than once. For the first time in his life, he knew fear, and that fear changed him. The Corporal who was forever shirking his duty, getting the greenest recruits to do all of his work, was forged in the heat of battle into a leader of men. He actually tried to have himself court-martialed in shame for his performance. Instead, he was promoted and named an instructor at the War Academy. Showing exemplary discipline there, he continued to be promoted throughout the 1840s.

Thus, on the first of January in 1847, he found himself attached to the Fifth Army, stationed on the border with France. Although his dislike for the French had not diminished, he exercised professional courtesy on all occasions, especially towards French civilians. The Fifth Army, along with four others, had been assigned by Army Chief of Staff Unger for the upcoming operations in Africa. Detweiler’s job on that day was to help make sure that enough depots were ready in the area for the influx of new recruits as a result of the Unbeugsame Wacht reforms.

qrjj.jpg


55 brigades – 38 of them infantry – represented the most significant one-time increase in the history of the Republic of Germany. Everybody had to pitch in, even those for scheduled for combat, and Detweiler did his job well. (The disappearance of two bottles of cognac, destined for General Steeb’s army, was purely an administrative error.) He was also responsible for understanding and memorizing as much of the general plan for the invasions as possible: the Senior Staff Sergeants for every army would be brevetted as Lieutenants for the purposes of the war, in order to make sure that the most skilled Lieutenants were free for line duty.

pbo6.jpg


The blue arrow was the only alteration from Chief of Staff Unger’s original plan; a recommendation from General Beck-Rzikowsky, it would ensure that the Eleventh Army continued to have meaningful objections after their landing, which would be one of the easiest. By 17 January, all of the regiments had received their allotment of supplies for the war, and the army broke for Nice, on the Mediterranean, the staging port for the operation. The transit was mostly uneventful, apart from a few Castilian refugees: it seemed that a group of Pan-Nationalists had seized their capital in an attempt to “restore the glory of Spain”, but none of the surrounding regions joined the revolution.

When the Fifth Army’s lead elements finally reached Nice on the morning of 3 March 1847, they found some of the oddest looking ships they’d ever seen waiting for them.

koov.jpg


Detweiler was not the first to remark on all of the smoke, but all of the soldiers were assured that the greater speed on this experimental vessel (the word “experimental” also rose a few eyebrows) would help them reach their destination even faster. Of course, since they would need to wait for the entire fleet to arrive, including the sailing ships, Detweiler didn’t really see the point. After a week or two of loading supplies and some last minute familiarization with maps, everybody embarked on the fleet.

fkt6.jpg


In any case, while the experimental steamer did not explode (for which the Staff Sergeant-Lieutenant was profoundly grateful), it still took them two months to arrive at the shores of the Teucoleur Empire. [1] General Beck-Rzikowsky was given the honor of formally declaring war as the German fleet approached the coastline.

0pdz.jpg


For the first couple of months in Africa, German forces (including the Fifth Army) focused on driving out local garrisons, establishing supply depots, and treating isolated cases of malaria. It gave Detweiler no small amount of pride that it was one of the privates in his former platoon that discovered the value of the cinchona tree.

zn19.jpg


The first open conflict between German and African forces occurred when the Fourth Army fought one of the most skilled Generals of the Teucoleur Empire. The result was a bloodbath, in which only the superior German numbers could win the day.

7iuc.jpg


40ew.jpg


With the serious depletion of the Fourth Army, every other army had to send experienced officers farther north. Because Detweiler was so experienced, he was formally promoted to Lieutenant and put back on the line. His increasing skill at logistics was set to the side, temporarily, in the name of the service. And it just so happened that the second (and final) battle of the Teucoleur War saw the participation of the Fifth Army. With no river and a less competent general, General Steeb had a much easier time with his opponent.

vtuc.jpg


635 dead seemed a small number, a more than acceptable price to pay for such a glorious gain for Germany. Yet, for Reinhardt Detweiler, it was too many. His long absence for the battlefield and talent at logistics had allowed him to lose touch with the realities of war. Of his platoon of 16 men, only three of them would return to Germany unscathed. Detweiler himself had lost his left leg as the result of an overloaded cannon exploding. He had used some of the fine Tropical Wood to fashion himself a replacement leg, but he knew it would take him some weeks to recover fully enough to return to Germany. Fortunately, in a way, Germany returned to him, as mere days after the second battle was won, the Empire surrendered. Liberia was German soil!

tpop.jpg


gr08.jpg


As Detweiler recovered, he caught snippets of information as they flowed through the hospital. He heard about the invention of a new warship based on the same bizarre engine that had taken him to Africa.

st2i.jpg


He finally heard about the coup d’état in Crete; a distant relative had business there, and wrote to Detweiler. That same relative also took a moment to complain about the “unfair taxation of Herr Bismarck”, who was continuing to keep the war taxes even after the war was won. [2]

wa9e.jpg


Yet perhaps the worst bit of news came from Hannover. A smallpox outbreak there devastated 10% of the population. This was particularly bad, as the influenza had finally started to disappear when the smallpox hit.

88k6.jpg


Most of Reinhardt’s family was killed – they lived in a particularly nasty area with a lot of livestock, and so were much more susceptible to the disease. It was the last straw for Lieutenant Detweiler. He elected to stay in Africa as part of the garrison (for which he would be promoted to Captain) rather than return to Germany and face the loss of his family. A few others did too. But more were already looking forward to the next war: one which might take place even farther away. [3]

xnq8c.jpg


The armies waited anxiously for new orders in Africa. Would they return to their homeland, or be sent thousands of miles across the ocean to engage a more powerful and experienced foe?

i8wv.jpg


All Reinhardt Detweiler knew was that he wasn’t going.

[1] So, MS Word lied to me – I’ve been typing it as “Deucoleur Empire” the whole time because, for some reason, Word actually recognized that as a real word (yet is not doing so now). “Teucoleur” is the real spelling.

[2] Not your fault, Sakura_f, as you made it clear the tax was to expire when the war ended. However, we were short on cash with the construction of the machine parts factories (I thought we had enough machine parts for two, but only had enough for one) and the army construction. At one point we were losing £5000 a day. So, I decided to keep the tax and blame you as an RP scapegoat. :p

[3] The specific CBs NNM gives us are Repay Debts (which is effectively meaningless) and Add to Sphere.

Note that even if we wish to DOW the Byzzies, we will need a formally voted upon declaration to do so. Having the free CB is insufficient.

Next update will include the next election and cover 18 months; for some reason, the game keeps moving around the election dates. If there’s a great preference one way or the other, I can always trigger early elections in July of 1848, thus ensuring they are finished 1 January 1849. Make your opinions on that known, and we’ll go from there.

Varetta, we’ll finish Early Railroad a couple of weeks into the next update; you can either give us another tech or simply stockpile the points.

Idhrendur, we’re one Machine Parts factory short of finishing your original plan. I was getting low on screenshots (and tired), so I didn’t include the normal factory data here. (If somebody could tell me of a quick way to export the data, I’d be happy to include it more regularly, if only in text.)

Warlord Skorr, most of the French armies have their allotment of infantry at this point (minus the ones in Africa). I’m relatively certain everything will be done in the next update (if it’s 12 months) or absolutely certain (if it’s 18 months). If you want to do some naval reforms, that’s up to you. We should probably officially designate an army to look after Africa, and maybe build a naval base there too. It’s up to you, naturally.

Sakura_f, we can either discontinue the tax increase or keep it, as you like. We’re out of the financial woods, so to speak, at present.

I think that covers everybody. However, since we’ll have the election one way or the other next update, keep that in mind. If people want to switch parties, houses, or change party platforms before the election, I need to know that. Since we’re doing coalitions as free floating, I no longer need specific Chancellor candidates. However, I recognize you will probably have some system of choosing a single person authorized to negotiate for your party in said negotiations. Therefore, I would like to officially ask the following question:

How shall parties choose their party leaders?

Option A: Through closed door elections [you can use the existing groups, if you have them. The Alliance is the only party which does not.]
Option B: Through open elections in the thread itself.
Option C: Automatically chosen as the senior active member of the party in the AAR. (The party roster is correct, as far as seniority, on the second page, where those closest to the top would qualify. Damerell technically should be lower, since he created a new character, but he’s still ahead of Andre Massena in any case. This would mean Damerell, Gen. Marshall, Sakura_F, and varetta would be their respective party leader.
Option D: Let each party work out its own individual method.

Which option wins the most votes in 72 hours (since we’ll be doing other things at the same time) will determine how party leaders are chosen.
 
Option C
 
((Only people with characters get to vote. :) Otherwise, you're no better than a lurker!))

((Ah well... Better get that character, then. :)))
 
Oh, BTW -- Andre Massena is officially seated and can vote, which means I've adjusted the voting totals in my spreadsheet. :)
 
((

I'd prefer the elections called early, but it doesn't really matter.

For the parties, I'd prefer option D, though C would give me my immediately preferred result.

Finally, I'm curious how a soldier in Africa (presumably) discovered the useful medical properties of a tree native to South America. ;)

))
 
During these last weeks I have been in a lot of technical meeting regarding the new railway system that has been developed and there is one idea floating continually between the technical staff: the need of High & Low Pressure Steam Engines that can be used depending on the specific requirements of every work.

It is my opinion that this Ministry should allocate funds to this project from which, in my opinion, could benefit not only the transport industry but the full economy of the Republic.

Miguel de la Rosa Picard
Minister of Education


((Option C. It will speed up the things I think, but any option is fine to me

UAI people: New discussions in our group. Just a reminder :)))
 
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