[Author's note: Not only am I a Diplopmacy n00b, I'm also a AAR n00b as well. I will play the regular game at normal difficulty as Germany. If someone could tell me how to link pictures, that would be very nice. Hope you enjoy the AAR-Blue Max 8)]
Prologue: Assassins
Zurich, Switzerland. March 25th, 1901.
Guildmaster Ernst Dressler is the most powerful person in Europe that no one had ever heard of. Thin, cold and with a blank face, he betrays no hint of his vast network of spies and assassins. For months, years, over a decade, his very existance-and the existance of his network, the Silver Thorn, has been kept a closely guarded secret.
But this secret is wearing on. The Guildmaster has always dreamed of power, dreamed of a day and the world might see his face and know their master. Perhaps, if one had seen him in the cold basement of a safehouse, he might have betrayed a fraction of a smile.
His time had come.
And it would be the grandest plan of all.
The Silver Thorn had not been idle. Over the last dozen years or so, they had begun to infiltrate the upper echelons of the world's great powers. Motivated by the vast rewards of Dressler's "New World Order", a hundred or so of Europe's most proficient assassins now had access to the worlds most powerful men and women.
The plan was elementally simple.
A single nation would simply appoint new leaders if the old ones were eliminated. Thus, simple assassination would only result in the death of the assasssins, discovery of the network, and the ultimate end of any grand plan.
However, if the great powers were ALL to lose their leaders, the fragile peace that prevailed in Europe, albeit weakly, would be shattered. The resultant chaos would surely lead to war.
And during that war, agents of the SIlver Thorn would use their acquired positions to gain political control over some, if not all, of these powerful nations. Depending on how many nations fell under the thorn's control, this might just be a mass overthrow of the old regime, or it might require a few months of fighting.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
That night, 15 letters were dispatched from throughout Switzerland around the world. Inside was a blank black sheet of paper-the final signal for the Silver Thorn to strike.
The Guildmaster drank from a bottle of newly purchased brandy. It was already time to celebrate.
His time had come. At last.
[I'll update this in a few hours, now I've got to get some sleep-BM]
Prologue: Assassins
Zurich, Switzerland. March 25th, 1901.
Guildmaster Ernst Dressler is the most powerful person in Europe that no one had ever heard of. Thin, cold and with a blank face, he betrays no hint of his vast network of spies and assassins. For months, years, over a decade, his very existance-and the existance of his network, the Silver Thorn, has been kept a closely guarded secret.
But this secret is wearing on. The Guildmaster has always dreamed of power, dreamed of a day and the world might see his face and know their master. Perhaps, if one had seen him in the cold basement of a safehouse, he might have betrayed a fraction of a smile.
His time had come.
And it would be the grandest plan of all.
The Silver Thorn had not been idle. Over the last dozen years or so, they had begun to infiltrate the upper echelons of the world's great powers. Motivated by the vast rewards of Dressler's "New World Order", a hundred or so of Europe's most proficient assassins now had access to the worlds most powerful men and women.
The plan was elementally simple.
A single nation would simply appoint new leaders if the old ones were eliminated. Thus, simple assassination would only result in the death of the assasssins, discovery of the network, and the ultimate end of any grand plan.
However, if the great powers were ALL to lose their leaders, the fragile peace that prevailed in Europe, albeit weakly, would be shattered. The resultant chaos would surely lead to war.
And during that war, agents of the SIlver Thorn would use their acquired positions to gain political control over some, if not all, of these powerful nations. Depending on how many nations fell under the thorn's control, this might just be a mass overthrow of the old regime, or it might require a few months of fighting.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
That night, 15 letters were dispatched from throughout Switzerland around the world. Inside was a blank black sheet of paper-the final signal for the Silver Thorn to strike.
The Guildmaster drank from a bottle of newly purchased brandy. It was already time to celebrate.
His time had come. At last.
[I'll update this in a few hours, now I've got to get some sleep-BM]