Hey, either lady is fine by me, just bring 'em on before all hell breaks loose and we have to many bullets flying around to distract us, eh?
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Damn, we need some pride back invade France post haste, tear down the Arch De Trumiphe (sp?)
BBBD said:
France, the Prussian punching bag.
Keep those updates coming Rensslaer. This is one of those amazing AARs that teaches you something about the game while still remaining fun to read. It teaches you things like: don't launch frontal attacks on 110 levels of entrenchment, and luck is 85% of greatness.
Tess found the item she was looking for – a jar of pickled beets – on one of the back shelves. It was the nearest store to the country cottage she rented near Newcastle-on-Tyne, which was the nearest she could be to Archie without his wife or wife’s friends catching on. Officially, she lived alone, but some of the rural residents, like Alice, the assistant shopkeeper, had come to expect to see her with her “friend,” who had come today to carry her bags.
Gliding gracefully back to the front, Tess found Archie laughing heartily with Alice at the counter. She gave the young spinster a dimpled smile.
He turned as Tess arrived and lifted his head to see her through his glasses, which had fallen down his nose from the jiggling. He pushed them back up, then peered at her over the top of the lenses. “Tessie, Love,” he said. “You won’t believe what that silly Kaiser has done!”
With sudden interest, she brightened. “Do tell!”
“He’s sent a telegram to President Kruger, telling him how much he hoped they’d beat us!” The Boer War was front page news every day in Britain, where the Afrikaners were having entirely too much success against the Imperial troops. But there wasn’t anyone in Britain who sympathized with President Paul Kruger or the Boers. This sounded worth several days of front pages, all of them very negative toward Germany.
Tess frowned, looking at the checker, one spot up the rumor tree. “I can’t believe that. Are you sure?”
“Oh, believe it!” she affirmed in a countryside twang.
Archie inclined his head, knowingly – the elder, resident authority on Germany. “They’re happy to see us in a pickle. Their revenge for our war with them. They know they can’t compete on the seas, but if we’re kept busy in Africa they can keep invading the little countries.”
“But to actually say so, in a telegram!” Tess truly wondered. And she wondered if Kaiser Wilhelm understood beforehand that a telegram would be in the news so quickly because the Afrikaners had no reason not to crow about it.
Archie continued his predictions. “Our blessed Queen is going to go over there and pop the fool Kaiser one! That’s for sure.”
Tess didn’t say a word. The Queen was nearly 90 years old, and was believed to have gone blind. She just smiled, inoffensively. “How does this make you feel, Alice? I’m still stunned.”
“We need to go to Berlin and show those nasty Germans a lesson!” The little redhead reared back into bragging posture. “I’ll tweak the Kaiser’s moustache myself, if he ever dares to show his face in here!”
A telegram to Kruger? It was bad enough that France seemed on the verge of invading. And who knew who else! Truly, why stir up things more with an already agitated Britain?!
Tess frowned and asked Alice, “Do you mean to suggest war, even as we’re occupied in South Africa?”
“Well, let’s clean Paul Kruger’s clock first. Then we’ll go back to Germany.”
And, so, the shopkeeper had spoken. Tess’s contact would be interested to know that.
Gliding gracefully back to the front, Tess found Archie laughing heartily with Alice at the counter. She gave the young spinster a dimpled smile.
He turned as Tess arrived and lifted his head to see her through his glasses, which had fallen down his nose from the jiggling. He pushed them back up, then peered at her over the top of the lenses. “Tessie, Love,” he said. “You won’t believe what that silly Kaiser has done!”
With sudden interest, she brightened. “Do tell!”
“He’s sent a telegram to President Kruger, telling him how much he hoped they’d beat us!” The Boer War was front page news every day in Britain, where the Afrikaners were having entirely too much success against the Imperial troops. But there wasn’t anyone in Britain who sympathized with President Paul Kruger or the Boers. This sounded worth several days of front pages, all of them very negative toward Germany.
Tess frowned, looking at the checker, one spot up the rumor tree. “I can’t believe that. Are you sure?”
“Oh, believe it!” she affirmed in a countryside twang.
Archie inclined his head, knowingly – the elder, resident authority on Germany. “They’re happy to see us in a pickle. Their revenge for our war with them. They know they can’t compete on the seas, but if we’re kept busy in Africa they can keep invading the little countries.”
“But to actually say so, in a telegram!” Tess truly wondered. And she wondered if Kaiser Wilhelm understood beforehand that a telegram would be in the news so quickly because the Afrikaners had no reason not to crow about it.
Archie continued his predictions. “Our blessed Queen is going to go over there and pop the fool Kaiser one! That’s for sure.”
Tess didn’t say a word. The Queen was nearly 90 years old, and was believed to have gone blind. She just smiled, inoffensively. “How does this make you feel, Alice? I’m still stunned.”
“We need to go to Berlin and show those nasty Germans a lesson!” The little redhead reared back into bragging posture. “I’ll tweak the Kaiser’s moustache myself, if he ever dares to show his face in here!”
A telegram to Kruger? It was bad enough that France seemed on the verge of invading. And who knew who else! Truly, why stir up things more with an already agitated Britain?!
Tess frowned and asked Alice, “Do you mean to suggest war, even as we’re occupied in South Africa?”
“Well, let’s clean Paul Kruger’s clock first. Then we’ll go back to Germany.”
And, so, the shopkeeper had spoken. Tess’s contact would be interested to know that.
Wheels within wheels, and it appears that our young Kaiser has not, in fact, learned his lesson very well at all. I wonder what the reaction of a certain former foreign minister would be. A lovely little interlude, and I wonder how much more we will see of this little gathering.
Back to our female spy. Great story, thought I don't really understand the role of Alice in this update. Please do enlight, Rens.
Looks like an anti-Prussian wind is sweeping through the country. I can't wait for the confrontation between a blind queen and a Kaiser that can't keep his mouth shut.
Looks like an anti-Prussian wind is sweeping through the country. I can't wait for the confrontation between a blind queen and a Kaiser that can't keep his mouth shut.
Ah, popular sentiment subtly changes to hatred against Germany. If Wilhelm has truly written that letter I must say I like his taunting of the British . The reason they dislike Germany invading all the little countries is probably because they want them for themselves
With a hostile France and Britain, what are you going to do in relation to the Russians?
. The reason they dislike Germany invading all the little countries is probably because they want them for themselves With a hostile France and Britain, what are you going to do in relation to the Russians?
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Well, that's not going to look good on Willie's resume! Besides being in extremely bad taste to encourage someone who is fighting a member of your extended family, it doesn't help to irritate a Great Power that can (and has in the past) invade your own country with relative ease!
Not a smart move... but then again, why do I have the feeling that mayhap dear Willie didn't send the telegram himself. He has had some problems with his cabinet lately... most interesting.
Need some more!
Not a smart move... but then again, why do I have the feeling that mayhap dear Willie didn't send the telegram himself. He has had some problems with his cabinet lately... most interesting.
Need some more!
I really doubt Willie sent such a telegram, but whether it were domestic opponents (or supporters, those are even more dangerous) or perhaps British agents trying to get a CB, I don't know...
Popular support for war in a democracy(or near enough) is a bad thing for their potential enemies. Der Kaiser better look out.
I see a potential 5- front war brewing. This is going to be good.
You have to wonder, is Germany about it get a huge prestige hit for precipitating a Great War?
Well, I am quite happy to hear you say this!fj44 said:
Though you probably meant about the game in this particular circumstance, I hope I am also teaching some history, too. Here is an example!Draco Rexus said:
Funny you should both pick this up! Actually, if you weren't aware, this is a historical event -- officially known as "The Kruger Telegram" in most histories.Avernite said:
I don't believe I got this event in-game (it's probably in VIP, but I was using vanilla). But it worked with what was going on in the game -- i.e. bad relations with Britain.
But historically, I believe it was Holstein's idea to send the telegram. K. Wilhelm didn't really want to do it. In fact, Wilhelm was really preferring that the British win. But German popular opinion was very much in favor of the Dutch Boers, so... Holstein was able to convince the Kaiser to send it. Naturally it didn't go over well in London!
But, historically (and in my story) it wasn't really done for that purpose -- it was to improve the Kaiser's image in the eyes of his OWN people!Ahh! And here is another little detail I put into the story as a minor history-lesson.prussiablue said:
Among those who study history and culture, Britain was long known as "a nation of shopkeepers", meaning the mood of the shopkeepers (or the middle-class guy in the street) was usually the mood of the Parliament, and therefore government policy. Often, this meant that unless the shopkeepers were upset about something, it was difficult for the government to enact any major foreign policy initiative. Which explains why Britain was often known for "muddling through" rather than acting decisively. Look at appeasement, for instance!
We shall see how far this goes!
More feedback later... I'm just cherry picking some this morning that struck my fancy, so...
Thanks for your comments!
Rensslaer
I think you handled the SGF debacle about as well as can be expected once you realized it was not going to work. besides, you came out of it about as well as you figured - you could not have annexed them yet, I do not believe (what with two provinces.)
Now, what will Tess have to say when she speaks to her connection? Will it spark a great war? The big powers better hope that if such a war is on the horizon, they each have a small and assumed inferior ally on hand. They seem to be the only one's winning anything around here.
Now, what will Tess have to say when she speaks to her connection? Will it spark a great war? The big powers better hope that if such a war is on the horizon, they each have a small and assumed inferior ally on hand. They seem to be the only one's winning anything around here.
:rofl: ...but if she comes dressed as a plot device, won't you please like her?Iron_Skull said:did u just say tess? That spy lady? Ugh I hated her. Boaaring
Yes, I have at least one more scene with Tess and Archie in mind. Beyond that, I'm sure I can find other things for her/them to do!GhostWriter said:not boring! ! !
Which is the ONLY reason Prussia hasn't been gang-tackled by 5 world powers already!fj44 said:and luck is 85% of greatness.
Judging from the behavior of the Vicky AI (AND from history!), I think you're EXACTLY right!FlorisDeVijfde said:The reason they dislike Germany invading all the little countries is probably because they want them for themselves
Coz, BBBD, Prussiablue, Stnylan, Avernite, Draco, and everybody else... Thank you very much!
I hope to have another update ready tonight, but that's contingent on my getting all the graphics edited... We'll see!
Renss
What's your badboy rating, Rensslaer? Just curious, as there have been many hints dropped about a coming showdown with resentful powers.
Well, remember... the shopkeeper said finish with Kruger first...GhostWriter said:interesting! ! ! !
so, how soon do we have war with Britian?
...which allows time for ANOTHER great power to step in.
Renss
why would another great power want to attack the British? ! ? ! ? !Rensslaer said:Well, remember... the shopkeeper said finish with Kruger first...
...which allows time for ANOTHER great power to step in.
Renss
Rensslaer said:
Rensslaer, you shameless tease! How can you dangle something like that in front of us and not follow it up with an update?
Rensslaer said:Well, remember... the shopkeeper said finish with Kruger first...
...which allows time for ANOTHER great power to step in.
It's the SGF, isn't it?