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Crusader Kings III Available Now!
The realm rejoices as Paradox Interactive announces the launch of Crusader Kings III, the latest entry in the publisher’s grand strategy role-playing game franchise. Advisors may now jockey for positions of influence and adversaries should save their schemes for another day, because on this day Crusader Kings III can be purchased on Steam, the Paradox Store, and other major online retailers.
As you can see I have my custom avatar now. Hooray. So now any questions about my nationality should be answered. 
So anyway, the next update is already in the works. I will be a bit farther off though, as it contains the end of the conference, and for that I need something sufficiently grandiose.
So anyway, the next update is already in the works. I will be a bit farther off though, as it contains the end of the conference, and for that I need something sufficiently grandiose.
If Germany goes to war against the UK and Commie USA is not quite friendly to the Empire, I wonder how is going to end the Battle of the Atlantic
I think I can savely say that Winston, being who he is, places great emphasis on the buildup of the navy. Also in the last, pre-AAR years the RN rapidly expanded their ASW forces, so the OTL shortage of escorts isn't there, and the convoys that run to Britain from all over the Empire are within reach of Allied Aircover almost all the way except the last bit from Gibraltar to France and the UK.Kurt_Steiner said:
EDIT: Bear in mind that the main targets for German U-Boats in WW1 and WW2, the Convois from America don't really exist in TTL, hence the German U-Boat Fleets are smaller to begin with and the RN can concentrate what escorts she has on the rest.
EDIT2: After recently watching "The Eagle has landed" I realized that at least one of the German Paras is actually played by a German Actor.
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I misphrased that. What I meant to say was that in TTL WW2 the Convoys will run differently, will be under almost constant Air Cover, the RN has more escorts and the Germans fewer U-boats simply because the convoys are less a target than in OTL.Atlantic Friend said:
Oh, I see. I was thinking "If there hadn't been extensive sub warfare in this TTL, then Western powers still lack the experience and are not prepared for it"trekaddict said:
But will the UK immediately re-form convoys ? After all in OTL 1939, and despite of the experience of WW1, the freighters were first sent alone, and convoys had to be re-formed after the extensive losses.
To be honest I haven't decided yet. On one hand Winston should know but on the other hand my knowledge is limited about this area, so I'll have to do some further research before I can answer that.Atlantic Friend said:
A small teaser to smooth over the wait, I am too tired to do anymore writing today.Next Update said:
The decisions not to form convoys comes from a variety of factors; Partly an excessive faith in ASDIC to catch subs, partly a desire to fight an 'offensive' anti-sub war by hunting subs not forming 'defensive' convoys and partly because convoys are expensive and inefficient, giving everyone a strong reason to heartily believe the first two reasons.Atlantic Friend said:
Anyway, finally caught up so; Good work on the Avatar, most spiffing.
Excellent progress on the Empire Plan, I'd agree India will probably be ungrateful shortly after the plan is implemented, but then I hope HMG has a few cards up its sleeve to deal with that. Other than that it all looks promising, the RIAF isn't that much of a sacrifice (I think they already had one at the time
). Equally the Indian Army was reformed and modernised ~1935 by Cheetwood while he was C-in-C India so the local military college and support infrastructure is already in place, all ready to churn out the vast million man army. On which note do you have the manpower fix in place for wartime? Given the Empire Plan I'd say you'd have to, possibly with some increase to allow for the larger numbers of Indian divisions available for overseas work.
On South Africa though Smuts was a bad choice as the leading Boer opposition; he was pro-British, big on international co-operation (massive work on the UN and very pro-Commonwealth) and wasn't a racist as far as I know. Hertzog would be a better choice, an utterly repellent and thoroughly nasty bit of work he'd never allow any 'lesser race' to even think about being his equal.
Well, Hertzog is probably the figure behind it.
I admit I should have bothered to do more research on south Africa but it was merely intended as a sideshow to make the Empire Plan more realistic. We will maybe see more on that in the very very far future, i.e. after the War however it will end.
As for the RIAF: The Indian Air Force Act was not passed in TTL until January 1938, as public and political attention was fixed on America during the early and mid 1930s, and the IAF is still in its infant stages. In OTL the RIAF existed from 1945 to 1950, when India formally became a republic. The ungratefulness: Well, it depends on how the War goes. If I win it in some way or another that will not be much of a problem, considering that the most important Indian leaders are behind the Empire Plan. As for sacrifices: At the start the Indians demanded their own Navy, and that is something that is most shocking! Imagine! The British Seapower split!
As for the MP: I will give myself jsut enough off-map MP by event to keep it at the peace-time levels.
On the Convoys: In TTL the reliance on ASDIC is there, but when America went communist the Royal Navy feared that a resurgent American Navy would heavily rely on Submarines as short-term replacements for some of the scuttled/sunk ships of the former USN. The size of the Escort Force was increased and a second Battle of the Atlantic was extensively wargamed, and it showed that convoys would be neccesary at least in the early stages of the war until the offensive U-Boat Warfare had done its job, and thanks to the modest, earlier than OTL rearmament under Baldwin and later Chamberlain the RN in TTL has no shortage of escorts. ( In reality I just built some. )
I am glad you like my avatar.
I admit I should have bothered to do more research on south Africa but it was merely intended as a sideshow to make the Empire Plan more realistic. We will maybe see more on that in the very very far future, i.e. after the War however it will end.
As for the RIAF: The Indian Air Force Act was not passed in TTL until January 1938, as public and political attention was fixed on America during the early and mid 1930s, and the IAF is still in its infant stages. In OTL the RIAF existed from 1945 to 1950, when India formally became a republic. The ungratefulness: Well, it depends on how the War goes. If I win it in some way or another that will not be much of a problem, considering that the most important Indian leaders are behind the Empire Plan. As for sacrifices: At the start the Indians demanded their own Navy, and that is something that is most shocking! Imagine! The British Seapower split!
As for the MP: I will give myself jsut enough off-map MP by event to keep it at the peace-time levels.
On the Convoys: In TTL the reliance on ASDIC is there, but when America went communist the Royal Navy feared that a resurgent American Navy would heavily rely on Submarines as short-term replacements for some of the scuttled/sunk ships of the former USN. The size of the Escort Force was increased and a second Battle of the Atlantic was extensively wargamed, and it showed that convoys would be neccesary at least in the early stages of the war until the offensive U-Boat Warfare had done its job, and thanks to the modest, earlier than OTL rearmament under Baldwin and later Chamberlain the RN in TTL has no shortage of escorts. ( In reality I just built some.
)I am glad you like my avatar.
Hi trekaddict, first thing I noticed this morning is that your avatar changed, then that you reached (and passed) 3000 post. Congrats!
I'm going to place a Dark Horse bet on Skorzeny's target here. Training with recognizable British weapons, I'll say that the target is the President of Communist America and thus attempting to start a war between the British Empire and the Commies. If this is so then heaven help me but "God save the King" and may the Royal Marines kick some communist butt.
Chapter 36
HMS Nelson moored off St. Georges Island
HMS Nelson moored off St. Georges Island
December 18th, 1938 18:42 PM
Deck of HMS Nelson
It had been a last-minute idea to hold the closing ceremonies for the Imperial Conference aboard HMS Nelson, but as none of the neutral places were big enough for the King's speech that would officially close the proceedings and formally give birth to the new British Empire. What better place to hold this ceremony on the prime Symbol of British Sea Power? The chiefs of the delegations were assembled on the deck around the main turrets and the platform from where the King would soon read the proclamation of the British Empire. Surprisingly enough id had been the idea of the Indian delegation to hold this ceremony right here and now on HMS Nelson instead of going back to the United Kingdom to do it in front of the Buckingham Palace as it had been planned, but it was fine with Churchill. Wearing a Navy Uniform Churchill would be watching the ceremony from the Bridge of Nelson and only join the King until after the proclamation had been read. He shifted his binoculars to Warspite who was moored a bit more seawards. Warspite had her turrets in the normal marching position, but Churchill knew that her A turret would fire a salvo to celebrate the occasion. Churchill was sweating in his uniform. The Air conditioning on the bridge had broken down a few hours ago and had yet to be fixed, and all this on a day that was ungodly hot for December, despite the subtropical climate on the Bermuda Islands. Beside him stood Admiral Cunningham with his own binoculars surveying the scene on the deck below them. Eden, the third member of the troika had travelled home yesterday aboard a fast destroyer on some urgent family matter.
Down below the representatives were chatting amongst themselves and a keen observer could see where the most internal trouble for the British Empire would originate from. The South Africans and Boer were forming their own little group and the rest were too forming little groups. Political equality or not, there was still much to be done to tear down the walls in the heads. Churchill knew that this was most likely a job for the generations that came after him, but he was intent to at least start the process, and he hoped that today's ceremony was that start. All in all it was a glorious day, and he knew that it was most likely the last for a long time, as he knew that the clouds that gathered on the figurative horizon were due to unload themselves soon, and he hoped that he had acted in time and that the British Empire was strong enough to weather the storm. He had high hopes that it was, considering the numbers of volunteers that were flocking into the recruiting offices all over the British Empire in this very minute and the simple fact that nothing unites a people more than a common enemy. If it would hold only time would tell, but here too Churchill was confident. He glanced at his watch and saw it was time. He gave the captain of the Nelson a nod and the Captain ordered: “Blow the horns, Leftenant.” A split-second later the steam whistle of the Nelson produced its infernal sound and the representatives on the deck stopped talking and stared expectantly at the platform where King George VI and the Queen were now stepping to the microphones. The crowd went quiet and the King started to speak.
“Many years ago the great British Explorer Walter Raleigh said 'History has triumphed over time, which besides it nothing but eternity has triumphed over.' This why we are here today, to make history triumph over time. When we originally came to your countries we came as colonial masters, as oppressors, but this is no more. What we wanted to achieve here in the last weeks was a partnership among equals where every subject of the crown could enjoy the same privileges and benefits. A Union in which everyone is equal, with no one favoured because of skin, religion or language. We will climb this mountain of deceit attitudes together as one unified nation. We will build a new nation for our children to live long and prosper in so that future generations can look back with pride at the work we did here today. When you all go back into your home countries you will begin to implement the reforms and improvements we negotiated here and soon we will no longer say 'we are from India, we are from Rhodesia, we are from the United Kingdom' but rather 'we are from one nation, from one British Empire.' I hereby proclaim the new British Empire, one that is founded on democratic principles from the highest to the lowest subject in order to make life better for all of us. May fortune shine upon this great and noble undertaking.”
Before anyone could say anything HMS Warspite turned her 'A' Turret seawards and fired two illumination once the guns had reached their maximum elevation. The massive boom of the two 15 inch guns startled many of the onlookers, but in the end the shells illuminated the darkening sky beautifully.
When both the thunder and the murmur among the crowds had died down King George VI spoke again.
“May the fortunes smile on the British Empire and all its peoples.”
Thundering applause from the crowd could be heard even on the Island when the King left the stage and joined the others on the Bridge. “That went well.” he said. “Yes, your Majesty. Let us just hope that the signature of the charter tomorrow goes equally well.” Churchill said with a sigh. “Do you expect trouble?” “Not so much expecting, Sir. I fear that some of your more...traditionalist subjects might use this as a platform to voice their dissent.” The King normally reserved and introverted King lit a cigarette and grinned. “You mean that the bloody boneheaded South Africans might try to bring it down at the last minute?” When Churchill answered in the affirmative the King said. “My dear Prime Minister, rest assured that General Smuts and his friends shall not interfere. Haven't you yourself passed them my message?” “That I have your Majesty, but I worry anyhow.” The two men quietly contemplated what had been next until the King broke the silence again. “So, what is next?”
“Well, Your Majesty, first we sign the charter tomorrow. Then I will return to London to start push the Empire Act through Parliament. After that it is back to daily business with our continental friends.” “Do you expect any trouble with the Empire Act?” “No, Your Majesty, it is the same as with the signature tomorrow. The man on the street has largely swallowed the pill and supports us, but there are those Mps who refuse to see reason on the matter.” “I see. Well, best of Luck my dear Winston.” “Thank you, your Majesty.” With that both men went their separate ways, the King back to the Hotel, and Churchill back to Warspite where he had already taken residence for the way back to the United Kingdom. The King would spend the rest of the month on Bermuda and only return to the United Kingdom just in time to publicly sign the Empire Act. Churchill had insisted on involving the press every step of the way once the conference was concluded to assure the readers of the newspapers and the listeners on the radios that the Government was serious about the whole affair and that something was actually done.
[Game effects: IMHO the most difficult thing will be to pull it through the first two generations. The third will be young enough not to know it any different and will be the first to fully reap benefits. AAR wise we are going back to Europe soon, but to be honest I haven't decided yet where. It's either the Führers reaction, or that of the Soviets. Oh and who can tell me from which film I borrowed the first words from the proclamation? Also three cheers for wikiquotes!]
did the vulcans come to the conference?trekaddict said:
i'd probably like to see Adolf's reaction to this over Stalins, he'd probably have something more colourful to say.
I suppose Adolf should be happy to see that the Empire goes on -OTL he didn't want to destroy it-, but, due to his ambivalent feelings towards Britain, he will go on one of his usual bits of rage.
About uncle Joe, he will go on a rant about the dirty capitalist machine and his bloody lies and the hope that revolution would sweept it all....
My vote goes to Adolf, of course...
About uncle Joe, he will go on a rant about the dirty capitalist machine and his bloody lies and the hope that revolution would sweept it all....
My vote goes to Adolf, of course...
STOP! COOKIE TIME