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oystertoadfish
Jun 17, 2003

ok so im always too flippant about the way i refer to cultures, i didnt mean for that one edit to build into 'i guess the muslims had cakes too' - thats lovely and just a weird thing to say in the first place, sorry about that there

and in iraq there is documentation of the soils turning white from excessive salinity going back to the Sumerian epics (a civilization likely destroyed by salinity)

this seems to be a great article about egypt and mesopotamia, including this pithy summary: "Mesopotamia has had times of successful irrigation, and times of silt and salinity crises: the latter around 2000 BC, 1100 BC, and after 1200 AD", and ending with the Abbasids:

quote:

After the wave of Moslem expansion broke over Mesopotamia, the Abassid Caliphate was based on Baghdad from 762 AD until its demise in 1258. Existing irrigation schemes were renovated and greatly extended in very large projects. Abassid engineers drew water from the Euphrates at five separate points, and led it in parallel canals across the plains, watering a huge area south of Baghdad. This system provided the basis for the enormously rich culture of Baghdad, which is still remembered in legend (Scheherezade, the Caliph of Baghdad, and the Arabian Nights) as well as history. But it required a lot of physical maintenance, and there was a lot of salinization in the south. As central government began to fail in the 12th century (mostly from extravagant overspending), the canals became silt-choked, the irrigation system deteriorated, and the lands became more salinized. The deathblow to the system was natural: massive floods about 1200 AD shifted the courses of both the Tigris and the Euphrates, cutting off most of the water supply to the Nahrwan Canal and wrecking the whole system. The Abbasids were too weak (or bankrupt) by now to institute repairs, and the agricultural system collapsed. By the time the Mongols under Hulagu devastated Iraq and Baghdad in 1258 AD, they were finishing off a society that was already a wasteland. Iraq has remained a desert for more than 600 years.

it's from a university with a good reputation in water stuff, no idea if the history sucked when the page was last updated in 1999 or if it sucks now. the fact that it's by a geology 115 teacher is maybe a cause for concern? maybe none of the relevant faculty at the university have ever heard of this page, but also it's a geology 115 class that's talking about salinization and agriculture so it's a pretty aggy geology class. idk

anyway it seems like iraq has been prosperous when it's had a strong state able to dredge poo poo and arrange for that very interesting euphrates-as-in, tigris-as-out system that minimized salinization. right now a lot of different sources give 20-30% numbers for the fraction of Iraq's acreage abandoned due to salinization. however many emphasized that the worst land only came into production during the sanctions and was abandoned when they could buy food again

edit: also the modern euphrates is dammed a lot so iraq gets less volume than in ancient times, which leads to higher salinity in the supply as well as the soil. one thing seemed to indicate that farmers who were used to using return flows from some fields to irrigate others (likely a necessary part of the ancient irrigation system described above) were finding that even when the input water was okay, the return flows were too saline

so there's a threshold where you lose your return flow flexibility, which probably destroys one segment of your large-scale water delivery system but i'm just guessing my rear end off now, and then there's another threshold where you can't irrigate the fields right next to the canals anyway

edit: btw half of the american sources i googled up draw direct, explicit connections between the San Joaquin Valley and Mesopotamia

oystertoadfish fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Dec 18, 2018

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unwantedplatypus
Sep 6, 2012
Ah, the "Iberian Union" comes crawling back to the Khedive. Guess royals aren't so useless after all :smug:.

Hiveminded
Aug 26, 2014

Snipee posted:

I never wanted us to colonize Africa or India to begin with. It’s a fair point that the Khedive situation got worse under the Socialists, but we inherited a problem that we never should have had. Voting for the Imperialists is the only reason why we even have this misersble debate. It seems weird to me that the arsonists are pointing out the inadequacies of those trying to contain their fires as if that is somehow a valid reason why we should give those responsible for the disaster their matches back.

The entire point of colonisation and the Imperialist agenda was to make Al-Andalus economically and militarily competitive and neutralise Morocco. Colonisation of Africa and India is something that's basically inevitable in Vicky -- if we didn't bother to do it, then we would've seen Morocco and maybe Frangleterre taking everything instead. It's entirely correct that what Al-Andalus did was lovely and wrong, but the alternative was the literal slave empire taking over most of Africa and India and becoming unstoppable. With another Imperialist term, the chance was there to shut down a crippled Morocco for good by taking away the rest of their Indian and African colonies, consolidating Benin's control over west Africa, and cracking down on the Khedive, but instead we switched to the socialists and allowed Morocco to recover, abandoned our strategic alliance with Benin, and granted the Khedive the autonomy to make his own personal apartheid mega-Kongo kingdom.

Idk what the gently caress is going on with the fascism apologist ("it's not racism it's about noble privilege!"), but switching to the socialists when we did was dumb as hell. In terms of society, politics, and reforms, Al-Andalus is/was basically OTL Russia except run by the aristocracy instead of an absolutist monarch. We were undemocratic and illiberal and struggling to achieve any kind of reform even despite the wild success of the liberal party -- the assassinations of the socialist viziers and the instability that came as a result were a natural outcome.

MinistryofLard
Mar 22, 2013


Goblin babies did nothing wrong.


We are going to get the Versailles Treatment so hard

fucking love Fiona Apple
Jun 19, 2013

samus comfy so what

Maybe we should have seen this coming after half a dozen socialist viziers were assassinated.

Dance Officer
May 4, 2017

It would be awesome if we could dance!
I saw a communist revolution coming as soon as we hit Vicky 2. Lots of goons are communists after all.

habeasdorkus
Nov 3, 2013

Royalty is a continuous shitposting motion.
That Royalist stint was the biggest mistake we made in Vicky and perhaps ever. I understand why people thought it was a good idea at the time, our army sucked and we didn't trust the libs to build railroads and industry, but the term "moderate" was always a misnomer. They were the actual monarchists, whereas liberals were constitutional monarchists a la whigs, and the royalists were unreconstructed absolutists.

I think going socialist was a mistake in a number of ways on a tactical level, but not because the socialist goals were wrong.

Grammarchist
Jan 28, 2013

Let's say the Supreme Leader pulls off another miracle and somehow comes out of this alive and in power over a "victorious" Iberian Union. What would the domestic situation look like, in terms of investment priorities? Kinda interested in whether the (in-game) Communists would push for rebuilding the navy or army, assuming of course arms limitation treaties aren't a thing after the burial details wrap up.

V. Illych L.
Apr 11, 2008

ASK ME ABOUT LUMBER

one imagines that after a decade of promising the moon on a stick in the face of utter horror they'd have to consolidate their peacetime rule somehow

Morrow
Oct 31, 2010
Like in all corrupted worker's states the chief investment will be in human misery.

So probably the army.

Agean90
Jun 28, 2008


V. Illych L. posted:

one imagines that after a decade of promising the moon on a stick in the face of utter horror they'd have to consolidate their peacetime rule somehow

If we win I'm assuming that all the monetary reparations are going to be thrown into massive welfare state to keep the lid on things while we unfuck the country

RabidWeasel
Aug 4, 2007

Cultures thrive on their myths and legends...and snuggles!

Morrow posted:

Like in all corrupted worker's states the chief investment will be in human misery.

So probably the army.

It's not entirely impossible that this time the charismatic leader actually relinquishes power when it's appropriate. A communist Cincinnatus would be neat.

Archaeology Hat
Aug 10, 2009

RabidWeasel posted:

It's not entirely impossible that this time the charismatic leader actually relinquishes power when it's appropriate. A communist Cincinnatus would be neat.

Given everything else that's happened in this LP I would be extremely surprised if this happened

MaxieSatan
Oct 19, 2017

critical support for anarchists

RabidWeasel posted:

It's not entirely impossible that this time the charismatic leader actually relinquishes power when it's appropriate. A communist Cincinnatus would be neat.

Having taken the Straits, partitoned Frangleterre, and officially divested from the Indian quagmire, he'll commit the greatest act of all by garroting himself

RabidWeasel
Aug 4, 2007

Cultures thrive on their myths and legends...and snuggles!

Archaeology Hat posted:

Given everything else that's happened in this LP I would be extremely surprised if this happened

With everything else getting either deus ex machina'd or RNG'd into being poo poo I agree but it's theoretically possible!

Top Hats Monthly
Jun 22, 2011


People are people so why should it be, that you and I should get along so awfully blink blink recall STOP IT YOU POSH LITTLE SHIT
A Stalin archetype leaving power when the war is done? What.

vyelkin
Jan 2, 2011

Grammarchist posted:

Let's say the Supreme Leader pulls off another miracle and somehow comes out of this alive and in power over a "victorious" Iberian Union. What would the domestic situation look like, in terms of investment priorities? Kinda interested in whether the (in-game) Communists would push for rebuilding the navy or army, assuming of course arms limitation treaties aren't a thing after the burial details wrap up.

What's Arabic for "the New Economic Policy"?

habeasdorkus
Nov 3, 2013

Royalty is a continuous shitposting motion.
Who's Marshall plan are we going to reject?

Grammarchist
Jan 28, 2013

Maybe he'll be stricken with cancer, cured by castration and be overthrown by an avatar of socialism with underworld characteristics?

vyelkin
Jan 2, 2011
Since our Stalin figure came first, maybe he'll die of a stroke and be replaced by our Lenin figure.

ZearothK
Aug 25, 2008

I've lost twice, I've failed twice and I've gotten two dishonorable mentions within 7 weeks. But I keep coming back. I am The Trooper!

THUNDERDOME LOSER 2021


I hope Hashim is okay.

Zikan
Feb 29, 2004

habeasdorkus posted:

Who's Morgenthau plan are we going to be forced to accept?

Cerebral Bore
Apr 21, 2010


Fun Shoe

Grammarchist posted:

Let's say the Supreme Leader pulls off another miracle and somehow comes out of this alive and in power over a "victorious" Iberian Union. What would the domestic situation look like, in terms of investment priorities? Kinda interested in whether the (in-game) Communists would push for rebuilding the navy or army, assuming of course arms limitation treaties aren't a thing after the burial details wrap up.

It would undoubtedly end up as the best economic management that Al-Andalus has ever had, simply on account of there being no Majlis to screw things up.

vyelkin
Jan 2, 2011
The leader will embrace democratic centralism and have a robust internal party debate over whether we should spend 100% of our money on soldiers or 100% of our money on trains or 100% of our money on ships, with no middle ground whatsoever, just so the thread can continue to make bad choices.

Agean90
Jun 28, 2008


vyelkin posted:

The leader will embrace democratic centralism and have a robust internal party debate over whether we should spend 100% of our money on soldiers or 100% of our money on trains or 100% of our money on ships, with no middle ground whatsoever, just so the thread can continue to make bad choices.

that's gonna he the fist focus tree choice for hoi4

hashashash
Nov 2, 2016

Cure for cancer discovered!
Court physicians hate him!

ZearothK posted:

I hope Hashim is okay.

I'm good man. Got exams coming up in 3 weeks though, so I'm very :suicide: right now.

But studying is for the weak, so I'm writing an update right now and should have it up very soon.

fucking love Fiona Apple
Jun 19, 2013

samus comfy so what

vyelkin posted:

The leader will embrace democratic centralism and have a robust internal party debate over whether we should spend 100% of our money on soldiers or 100% of our money on trains or 100% of our money on ships, with no middle ground whatsoever, just so the thread can continue to make bad choices.

That's pretty much the Victoria 2 portion of the let's play in a nutshell.

Soup du Jour
Sep 8, 2011

I always knew I'd die with a headache.

ZearothK posted:

I hope Hashim is okay.

This barely works with Rich, don’t you try and spread the magic over here

Cobra Lionfist
Jun 4, 2013
Looking forward to it Hashim, my favourite LP I've ever read. I regret voting socialist that one time.

Pacho
Jun 9, 2010

habeasdorkus posted:

I think going socialist was a mistake in a number of ways on a tactical level, but not because the socialist goals were wrong.

Hashim gave cons and limits to all parties for fun so socialists were always gonna be a mechanically bad choice with obvious traps, but it's 2018, there was no way the thread wouldn't go socialist the moment the option came up

hashashash
Nov 2, 2016

Cure for cancer discovered!
Court physicians hate him!
Chapter 22 - The Great War, Part 2 - 1917 to 1922


Qadis, the capital of Iberia and the Gem of the World, falls to the forces of Almoravid Morocco in the height of the summer of 1917. Berber soldiers stream through the city, fighting for every inch of ground as they secured the outlying bridges, then railway stations, then squares and assemblies and palaces, before finally capturing the citadel and ending the siege.



Qadis isn’t the only city left smouldering in wake of the Great War, however, not by a long shot. Fortresses and cities and towns and villages were burning all across Europe, with millions of conscripts clashing in the hills and mountains of Iberia, forests and swamps of Britain, marsh and rivers of France, plains and lakes of Russia.



Nowhere were the battles bloodier than on the western front, where the promising offensives of 1917 had been ground to a halt, with the fighting devolving into static trench warfare.



Germany’s early victories in France and Occitania were largely reversed by the dying days of September, and after a series of campaigns ended in frustration and catastrophe, the German high command finally turned their attention away from their border with the Dual Monarchy. Instead, they focused their resources on new offensives into Liege and Provence, hoping to bypass the unyielding fortifications in France altogether.



Hundreds of thousands were already dead or dying in the trenches, however, so the bodies for these new offensives had to be rerouted from the eastern front — where the Russian Empire was looming larger than ever.



The battle for dominance in the Vienna Corridor had been inconclusive so far, serving only to exhaust the manpower and resources of both the German and Russian war machines.

Something had to be done about it, so in the summer of 1917, the Russians retreated from the Vienna Corridor and redeployed their armies further north — against Poland. War was declared against the revolutionary government in Poland, and before the year was out, the Russians surging into Germany again.



Back in Iberia, meanwhile, the Supreme Leader was desperately recruiting another army, defiantly refusing to surrender or concede defeat. And despite the disastrous loss in the battle of Qadis, he was convinced that he had not yet lost this war, not whilst he had vast monetary reserves and thousands of jingoistic revolutionaries to draw from.



And every last coin in the monetary reserve, which had been seized from the monarchist government after the end of the civil war, was concentrated into the heavy industries of Iberia — artillery, mortars, machine guns, airplanes, anything and everything that could bring the Berber advance to a halt.



Supreme Leader Maz Mazin took to the radio near every week, calling on the people of Iberia to take a stand, to rise up against their invaders, to fight for their revolution, and his call was answered in the form of tens of thousands of belligerent youngsters, Andalusi and Portuguese and Castilian and Qattaluni.

By the early days of 1918, Mazin had managed to raise and outfit another army, numbering almost 70,000 soldiers. Still green and inexperienced, they needed to be whetted before facing the French or Berbers, so the Supreme Leader threw them at an expeditionary force that had just landed along the coast of Barshaluna.



The expeditionary force wasn’t large, comprising of 21,000 Scandinavians who were meant to join up with nearby French armies, so the volunteer army was able to take them by surprise and score an impressive victory — 20,000 enemy casualties, at the sacrifice of 6000 revolutionaries.




They would have no time to rest on their laurels, however, with the Supreme Leader immediately ordering a follow-up offensive towards Narbuna, where another 18,000 Scandinavians had besieged the city of Garundah. And again, they were crushed in a bloody battle just outside the city, suffering thousands of casualties to Iberian guns and airplanes.




An impressive start to the new year, but the Iberian Union wasn’t the only communist nation embroiled in war, as the Balkan Federation declared the dawn of the “Second Struggle” in spring of 1918.



With the Great Powers entangled in the largest and bloodiest conflict in the history of man, the communist party of Belgrade knew that they would never get a better opportunity to spread their revolution.

And so war was declared on the surrounding countries of Romania, Hungary and the Peloponnese, with the communists vowing to be in Bucharest, Budapest and Patras before the year was out.



The prime ministers and grand viziers of the Congressional Coalition decried this act of aggression, but their response was otherwise tepid, with nobody willing to start yet another war when the world was already aflame.

In Iberia, Maz Mazin didn’t even comment on it, with the Supreme Leader devoting his complete attention to the training and campaigns of his rapidly-growing army, which managed to notch another series of victories throughout 1918, principally against the forces of Provence.



Mazin knew that numbers alone wouldn’t be enough, however. He had marched into the battle of Qadis with superior numbers, only to be utterly annihilated by the superior weapons of war deployed by the enemy.

So throughout the summer and winter of 1918, the Supreme Leader supervised the gradual introduction of new technologies and tactics into the Red Army, including poison gas, armoured cars, fighter planes and improved artillery.




The most important innovation, however, came when German spies smuggled several gas helmets into Iberia, full-face masks that would neutralise the chlorine and phosphene poison attacks that the Berbers favoured so much.



And by December of 1918, the Red Army was finally ready to brawl with the Berbers and French. The two-year build-up peaked with an impressive 85,000 soldiers, mostly consisting of infantry divisions equipped with rifles and gas masks, supported by ever-increasing amounts of heavy artillery and fighter aircraft.



As the Iberians prepare to go on the offensive, however, their descendents across the ocean were firmly forced onto the defensive, driven back by the immense numbers, first-rate weaponry and superior organisation of the New English and French armies.



In the east, things weren’t going much better. Early victories in Tsargrad and Sinai had been quickly reversed by the small but well-trained Egyptian army, and once the Berbers and Russians were able to dispatch their own expeditionary forces, the Armenians and Arabs were quickly driven back into their peninsulas.



The only glimmer of hope lay in West Africa, where the modernised, professional forces of the Kingdom of Benin had launched a series of sweeping offensives, each more successful than the last. After almost two years of thick fighting in the jungles and deserts of West Africa, the Beninese had managed to occupy Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali and Jolof, and had even begun pushing into Morocco-proper.



Apparently, the key to these stunning victories lay in Beninese “landships”, armoured machines of immense size and firepower, sheathed in steel and armed with howitzers. These experimental tanks quickly became ineffectual in trench warfare, but they were perfect for the vast, flat deserts that dominated Northwest Africa, allowing the Beninese to overwhelm enemy lines and push northwards in strength.



By April of 1919, the Beninese had captured Ifni and Gouezzem, outlying towns of great strategic value, paving the way to the Isolated City itself — Marrakesh.

Unsurprisingly, Sultan Ajeddig Almoravid immediately ordered the redeployment of tens of thousands of troops to counter the advance of Benin, withdrawing 20,000… then 55,000… then 60,000… and finally 100,000 soldiers from Iberia.




This was the miracle that Maz Mazin had been waiting for — an act of Allah, if he had believed in a god. Without hesitation, the Supreme Leader immediately ordered an advance on Qadis, overwhelming the sparse resistance put up by the smaller Berber garrison.



Qadis was promptly refortified, with Maz Mazin ordering the construction of new trenches, bastions, obstacles and weapons installations around the capital, determined to retain the city at any costs. Let the Berbers come calling again, and they would be left limping and bloodied.

From there, the Supreme Leader ordered his generals to begin a campaign to recapture the rest of Iberia, advancing northwards from Qadis. Algeziras and Wallah were quickly retaken, but there were 35,000 Berbers entrenched around Baja, refusing to retreat or surrender.



This would be the first test for the newly-rebuilt Red Army, with Maz Mazin authorising the attack on the 9th of August. The battle erupted a few days later, and though the fighting would rage for the rest of the year, the Iberians would emerge victorious in decisive fashion.



Buoyed by their morale-raising victory, the Red Army immediately pushed towards Qunka on another offensive. Covered by fighter planes and concentrated gunfire, the revolutionaries seized another decisive victory over the Berber garrison, allowing them to retake the city and its environs within the month.



The next year would be spent in furious battle, with Iberian industries churning out aircraft and artillery at an impressive rate, allowing the Red Army to seize the initiative, storm northwards and rapidly push back the Berber lines, liberating Andalusia and Portugal and León-Castille and Qattalun city by city, village by village, town by town.




By the early days of winter, deep into 1920, large parts of southern Iberia had been recaptured by the Red Army — Al Gharb, Qurtubah, Gharnatah, Balansiyyah, Tulaytullah, all densely-populated cities and important industrial centres that were recaptured by the communists by November of that year.




This aggressive drive northwards culminated in the battle of Tirwal, with some 35,000 Berber infantry having retreated into the city after surrendering their hastily-constructed trenches further south.



By the dying days of 1920, the Red Army had swelled to almost 150,000 soldiers, still pitiful in comparison to the French or Russian armies, but certainly enough to squash the last remnants of the Berber invasion of Iberia.




In fact, this was just the latest in a long series of defeats for Almoravid Morocco, who were desperately flailing as a massive offensive was launched in March of 1921, with almost 200,000 Beninese soldiers flooding towards Marrakesh, with the Almoravid capital coming under heavy fire later that year.



To the north, meanwhile, the war in Britain had completely reversed over the past four years. The high command in Paris had deployed another 80,000 French troops to reverse the Celtic offensive of 1917, and by the spring of 1921, they were marching into Scotland and crossing into Ireland.



In central Europe, on the other hand, the static and gruelling trench warfare had seen the Germans, French and Russians throw hundreds of thousands of lives into pointless incursions and futile offensives across the border, all for a few miles of soil and grass that would be lost again a few weeks later.

When the blistering summer heat of 1922 washed across the continent, however, its dry winds brought changing fortunes with them — a joint Moroccan-French-Russian-Provencal invasion from the south, the most ambitious offensive yet, and one that might just break the stalemate in Europe…



Further south, the Balkan Federation had been conducting a slow but successful invasion into Romania and Greece over the past few years. Their promises of a summer campaign notwithstanding, they did manage to seize Bucharest and Patras by Christmas of 1922.



Once the monarchist governments were overthrown and communist regimes were installed, the Serbians staged plebiscites in both countries with a simple proposal — that they join the Federation of Balkan Socialist Republics, or maintain their independence.

And in what was scarcely a surprise, the electorate in both countries voted overwhelmingly to join the federation, almost suspiciously so.




With that, the Balkan Federation stretched from the beaches of Achaia in the south to the crowded streets of Belgrade in the north, but the Federation was still at war — and this war would prove to be far bloodier. The Romanians and Greeks had been crushed in surprise invasions, but the Hungarians were already fully-mobilised when the Balkans had declared war, making any foray towards Budapest a costly, hellish affair.



Back in Iberia, meanwhile, another vicious battle had erupted on the outskirts of Qattalun. This was the domain of Idris Tirruni, the man who had single-handedly sparked the Great War, and Maz Mazin was determined to land a symbolic blow on the enemy war effort by seizing his personal kingdom for the Iberian Union.

Of course, Tirruni wouldn’t surrender without a fight, and convinced the high command in Paris to dispatch 150,000 Frenchmen to secure Qattalun…



The battle of Qattalun would rage for six months, half a year of uninterrupted gunfire, constant shelling, relentless bombardment, futile charges and vicious dogfights and merciless bombing, until at last the French began to give ground and retreat northwards.

A series of ferocious attacks and counter-attacks followed this withdrawal, with the French eventually abandoning almost 100,000 compatriots to litter the trenches and ditches around Qattalun, along with any hope of seizing the peninsula.



From his hidden base of operations, Supreme Leader Maz Mazin ordered his generals to pursue the French, driving them across the mountains and securing the Pyrenaic Wall — those fortifications were essential to the defense of Iberia, and the enemy could not be allowed to keep them.



Whilst the Red Army was retaking the scattered fortresses and citadels and vaults that made up the Pyrenaic Wall, however, another 75,000 Frenchmen crossed the mountains in a ferocious counter-attack.



As the Supreme Leader predicted, however, the impressive fortifications were enough to repel the French assault until reinforcements could pour into the battle, dealing a devastating defeat to the enemy army.



The French were nothing if not tenacious, however, and the next few months would see them launch a flurry of similar attacks all along the Pyrenees — Wasqa, Banbaluna, Narbuna, Garundah — only to repelled with heavy casualties each time.



Whilst the Red Army had been conducting offensives against Berber and French forces, however, malcontents and dissidents across the peninsula were agitating against the communist regime, rising up in rebellions and uprisings for a thousand different reasons — in protest of the war, in defiance of the invaders, in vain attempts to overthrow the government, to name but a few.



So it was deep into 1923, with these constant rebellions and revolts on his mind, that Supreme Leader Maz Mazin reached out to Paris. Both sides had suffered for five long years, and he offered an end to the war, an end to the carnage, an end to the devastation and a return to the status quo.

The French were less amenable, however. Why should they have to accept Iberian terms, when they had already knocked Arabia and Armenia out the war?



Why should they stoop to Iberia’s level, when the immense riches and resources of Central Africa was theirs?



Why should they entertain Iberian diplomats for a moment longer, when they had defeated and occupied the entirety of Ibriz, seizing its prodigious military and industrial arsenals?



So rather than negotiate, the Dual Monarchy countered with their own unyielding peace terms — the independence of León-Castille and Qattalun, the dismantling of the Pyrenaic Wall, harsh army and navy restrictions, heavy war reparations and complete economic capitulation.




And with that, it became clear that there would be no negotiation or reconciliation. The Great War would be a war of attrition, and it would rage unfettered and undecided until one side had exhausted its resources, collapsed to its aggressors and capitulated to their demands.

ZearothK
Aug 25, 2008

I've lost twice, I've failed twice and I've gotten two dishonorable mentions within 7 weeks. But I keep coming back. I am The Trooper!

THUNDERDOME LOSER 2021


Soup du Jour posted:

This barely works with Rich, don’t you try and spread the magic over here

Hashim posted:

Chapter 22 - The Great War, Part 2 - 1917 to 1922

:colbert:

GenderSelectScreen
Mar 7, 2010

I DON'T KNOW EITHER DON'T ASK ME
College Slice
I don't care if we're left a smoldering nuclear crater as long as Morocco and France die with us.

ThatBasqueGuy
Feb 14, 2013

someone introduce jojo to lazyb


Whelp, things were starting to finally look up for a moment and it seems like we're doing another doomed offensive past our defensive lines before Iberia is fully unoccupied. Not that it matters either way, looks like almost all our allies are already ground to dust.

Agean90
Jun 28, 2008


The big risk with great wars then snnever that you, the player will lose, it's that your ai allies will gently caress it all up

hashashash
Nov 2, 2016

Cure for cancer discovered!
Court physicians hate him!

ThatBasqueGuy posted:

Whelp, things were starting to finally look up for a moment and it seems like we're doing another doomed offensive past our defensive lines before Iberia is fully unoccupied. Not that it matters either way, looks like almost all our allies are already ground to dust.

They're all quite small, easily-defeated rebellions, and won't pose much of a problem unless the capital falls. The bigger problem right now is getting the awful peace deals from Dual Monarchy, which then give me a massive spike in militancy whenever I decline them, making the next wave of rebellions much more likely. So the priority right now is bringing the warscore down.

Top Hats Monthly
Jun 22, 2011


People are people so why should it be, that you and I should get along so awfully blink blink recall STOP IT YOU POSH LITTLE SHIT
Woo! On the offense...but i doubt Andalus can hold out that long. If Victoria II AI isn’t poo poo, the powers can swing all their forces back to Qadis and knock them out for good

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?


It's absolutely critical that we never ever let an enemy army get across the Pyrenees unopposed again. This late in the game, with all the defense bonuses from tech and a narrow combat width, we could happily camp out in the mountains and effortlessly massacre attackers for all eternity. Just as long as we can hold the mountains, like three dudes with a machine gun and a few gas shells can murder the entire Russian and French armies, it's kind of absurd. The real thing to worry about is naval invasions or Moroccans coming across the straits, but with Benin kicking their rear end I think we might manage to go the rest of the war without being invaded again.

Talas
Aug 27, 2005

I guess we are all going to hell together :yeshaha:

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GenderSelectScreen
Mar 7, 2010

I DON'T KNOW EITHER DON'T ASK ME
College Slice

Hashim posted:

They're all quite small, easily-defeated rebellions, and won't pose much of a problem unless the capital falls. The bigger problem right now is getting the awful peace deals from Dual Monarchy, which then give me a massive spike in militancy whenever I decline them, making the next wave of rebellions much more likely. So the priority right now is bringing the warscore down.

Couldn't you send poo poo peace deals in response to raise their militancy or is that a player-only hindrance?

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