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I gotta say I appreciate we somehow have Louis Barthas as one of our generals. Also, I think we might want to send some aid down to Indochina if we get the chance.
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Oct 29, 2020 14:29
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Yvonmukluk posted:I gotta say I appreciate we somehow have Louis Barthas as one of our generals. "Invite to faction" means we join the war wholesale, and also probably means the other side joins a faction and it goes global.
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Oct 29, 2020 16:12
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wiegieman posted:"Invite to faction" means we join the war wholesale, and also probably means the other side joins a faction and it goes global. Where'd you get 'invite to faction' from? I was just thinking of sending more volunteers, lend-lease or both. The other side's already in a faction (but this is a civil war, so it should keep them out of it).
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Oct 29, 2020 16:53
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Ayiti hasn't joined the RRP yet? Seems like something we should push for.
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Oct 29, 2020 17:09
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habeasdorkus posted:Ayiti hasn't joined the RRP yet? Seems like something we should push for. Hell yes land war in the rockies I'm into it.
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Oct 29, 2020 18:12
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Oct 29, 2020 20:34
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Oct 30, 2020 00:14
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Gonna miss Philomon, but drat if he hasn't been around for the most fascinating periods in all of this history. I would also like to strongly voice my support of this meme.
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Nov 6, 2020 20:18
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Philomon has lived to see horses replaced on the battlefield by TONKS He would be proud.
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Nov 7, 2020 08:39
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We're going to need to be ready to blitz through Austria and Polonia to link up with the NGF to keep them from getting overrun by the fash when the big one kicks off. We can hopefully use the Alps and the Caucuses as strong static defenses, and between the Brits and us control the seas. I can't imagine that Northern Germany is gonna be looking that great what with losing a million people in this war and with an industrialized war that marched across 2/3rds of the total area it'll control.
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Nov 7, 2020 16:02
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So North Germany is now our Spain, isn't it?
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Nov 9, 2020 22:08
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The bonuses on the tech teams look like they're increasing your research time, not reducing it? Bold choice if so. That said, Liking the LP and always worth the wait.
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Nov 12, 2020 06:26
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Westminster System posted:The bonuses on the tech teams look like they're increasing your research time, not reducing it? Bold choice if so. HoI4 changed how research bonuses work a few patches back.
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Nov 12, 2020 10:17
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If I'm reading this right, we're going to start the computing revolution by inventing the first electromechanical computers?
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Nov 19, 2020 11:27
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The first computer as we'd understand it was completed in 1945, so we're not quite there yet.
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Nov 20, 2020 01:30
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My assumption, given the localization text, is that this may refer to devices like the Bombe, early fire-control devices, Bell Labs' work, or like Konrad Zuse's Z1 or Z2 in our timeline. Pre-vacuum tube computers, basically. Westminster System posted:The bonuses on the tech teams look like they're increasing your research time, not reducing it? Bold choice if so. That's a bug leftover from modding. It's going faster. The result of a mod going through several expansion packs.
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Nov 20, 2020 02:11
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There was a pretty significant industry around various computing devices in that time period, to accomplish all kinds of things. Stuff made with electric relays, analog stuff with vacuum tubes, purely mechanical calculators, clever applications of geometry to do calculus mechanically (the fire-control devices Kangxi mentioned), motors with brushes and wires (the Bombes), things that look an awful lot like modern computers when overly-clever researchers abuse their inputs (the Z3), spinning drums with capacitors, and all kinds of combinations (think of all the technologies employed in the Enigma, for instance). Let alone just putting a bunch of people to work doing math directly. All of that was feedstock for what we'd consider a modern computer, but the way the localization text implies this was deliberate is almost certainly misleading. Even ENIAC isn't really what we'd consider a modern computer.
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Nov 20, 2020 03:12
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Eat poo poo you fascist bastards!
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Nov 20, 2020 06:39
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So something like ENIAC/EDVAC/Manchester Baby would be late- or post-war then.
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Nov 20, 2020 08:54
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Hooray for updates.
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Nov 20, 2020 11:22
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idhrendur posted:There was a pretty significant industry around various computing devices in that time period, to accomplish all kinds of things. Stuff made with electric relays, analog stuff with vacuum tubes, purely mechanical calculators, clever applications of geometry to do calculus mechanically (the fire-control devices Kangxi mentioned), motors with brushes and wires (the Bombes), things that look an awful lot like modern computers when overly-clever researchers abuse their inputs (the Z3), spinning drums with capacitors, and all kinds of combinations (think of all the technologies employed in the Enigma, for instance). Let alone just putting a bunch of people to work doing math directly. All of that was feedstock for what we'd consider a modern computer, but the way the localization text implies this was deliberate is almost certainly misleading. Even ENIAC isn't really what we'd consider a modern computer. My absolute favorites of the early analog computers are the ones based on water flow, which essentially used pumps, valves, pipes and tanks plus the mechanics of flow and pressure to construct analogue integrators and differential equation solvers. For instance, you can simulate a national economy by having a tank represent GDP, then a controllable valve represent taxation rate which diverts water from the GDP flow to the public spending tank and so on until you get:  Yes, it does plots! The MONIAC is from '49 and was only really intended as a demonstration and teaching tool, not a computational aid. The Russians had earlier, more programmable hydraulic computers ("water integrators") with similar fluid logic systems. 
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Nov 20, 2020 13:46
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Danny Glands posted:So something like ENIAC/EDVAC/Manchester Baby would be late- or post-war then. Insofar as we follow OTL, yes. Xerophyte posted:My absolute favorites of the early analog computers are the ones based on water flow, which essentially used pumps, valves, pipes and tanks plus the mechanics of flow and pressure to construct analogue integrators and differential equation solvers. For instance, you can simulate a national economy by having a tank represent GDP, then a controllable valve represent taxation rate which diverts water from the GDP flow to the public spending tank and so on until you get: I had meant to mention those, too! They're pretty clever.
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Nov 20, 2020 16:45
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Xerophyte posted:My absolute favorites of the early analog computers are the ones based on water flow, which essentially used pumps, valves, pipes and tanks plus the mechanics of flow and pressure to construct analogue integrators and differential equation solvers. For instance, you can simulate a national economy by having a tank represent GDP, then a controllable valve represent taxation rate which diverts water from the GDP flow to the public spending tank and so on until you get: "Thaddeus, don't drink from the GDP tank."
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Nov 22, 2020 01:48
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(The following is an official ByzLP supplemental post. Thank you to forum users Empress Theonora and sheep-dodger for corrections and feedback!) Some Clips from the Newspapers WAR - Königsberg, Danzig, Breslau, other cities attacked by rebel army units and far-right militias - Berlin offices evacuated - President Meier safely in Hamburg - government to move to Essen. -Frankfurter Zeitung Confusion in the Liberals ragtag army, a mere puppet of the Greeks, the Chinese, and Reds… -Far-right Propaganda Leaflet RAMPANT SLAUGHTER … of high prices! Buy a new heavy-duty pedal sewing machine today, at Becker's General Store… -Aachener Tageblatt Berlin has fallen. I am begging you and all the free nations of the world to send aid and volunteers immediately. Otherwise Germany is in danger of being crushed, and with her all continental Europe. -Statement of Ambassador Dr. Fredrich Rösing to the Right Honourable Mary Napier, Prime Minster of the Socialist Union of Britain. Are they going to write angry essays at us? Maybe call for sanctions? -Fascist officer, interviewed after the seizure of Berlin and the storming of Parliament President Meier announces further operations against rogue army generals and provincial governments. The embattled North German Federation, long troubled by political instability, erupts into another bout of violence, as militias roam the streets… -Shanghai Financial Times LANDSHIPS AND VOLUNTEERS ARRIVE TODAY! The first of many ‘international volunteers’ to come? -The Hanseatic Times I can neither confirm nor deny any unfounded rumors on the extent of Byzantine official involvement. You will have to talk to the volunteers themselves, and I will not indulge conspiracy theories. -FM Theodora Papadopoulou, Byzantine Army, in a statement issued to the press We are not here to conquer but to liberate. We go to Germany to free a people and hoist their own flags, not replace them with ours. Everywhere you go, show decency to the German people. Talk to them kindly, treat them with respect. [...] For the fascist invaders, we have seen what they have done in Ireland, in Bohemia, and what they have tried in half a dozen other places. Today we say - this is enough. They go no further. Now we go east. -LTG Valentina Ha, in an extemporaneous speech given to volunteers near Hamburg The Communists are not acting out of human kindness. They don’t compare our losses to the rebels to see the balance of power, they just add them up and watch the number grow. Heinrich Eberhard von Weizsäcker, conservative German MP JOIN THE KAMPFGRUPPE 'LEGIONÄR'. FIGHT FOR YOUR GERMANY. EXPEL THE RED FILTH. -Recruitment poster, Elbing Either we send the liberals landships now or they’re hosed. -FM Theodora Papadopoulou, Staff Briefing President Meier speaks - "We shall not surrender quietly! Germany still lives!" -Essener Zeitung Bosphorus Bridge Completed, a marvel of engineering – Erdemir to give speech at ribbon-cutting ceremony today -Byzantion Times I have the most terrible stories about Germany. The Germans, on the other hand, were pleasant. -Chinaza Odion, Ghanaian volunteer CROZIER DEFEATS THRANE – Copenhagen battle ends after 15 rounds. -Le Monde, Sports Section Christ, Germany? All I can think about were the lice everywhere. And stacking crates every day. -Ethan MacCullough, Volunteer Want to lose weight? Try Dr. Schniewindt’s new bacterial flora supplements! Collected from hearty Mongolian farmers, and guaranteed to improve your chi… -Advertisement, The Hanseatic Times Horse races today in Lutetia Parisiorum… L'Observateur populaire (French right-wing paper) The moral fiber which is the characteristic of every good German and the lack of every perfidious Red… -Propaganda leaflet, Konigsberg Prayer service to be held all day today. -Notice at Kölner Dom Bulletproof vests on sale… -Aachener Tageblatt A LAND OF SAVAGES AND VIOLENCE – ARMED GANGS IN THE CITIES, A RETURN TO MULLER’S KULTURKAMPF -Propaganda poster in Konigsberg Discussions with Byzantine diplomats continue on terms of aid package. -Duisburger Zeitung FIGHTING IN MAGDEBURG ON A BROAD FRONT – RELICS EVACUATED HOLY CITY DESECRATED – REDS COMMIT LURID ATROCITIES -Fascist propaganda poster, with paintings of Magdeburg Valentina Ha, military attache to North German forces, was wounded today after her staff car struck a roadside bomb – she and the driver, Kallistos Kombouris, were wounded and both are expected to make a full recovery… -The Owl of Athena, official military newspaper Do be kind when asking for their surrender. The enemy are doing their duty, as we do ours. -Victoire Lefort Hanseatica, Gallic expeditionary legion commander Spontaneous demonstrations today in Roma and Napoli on foreign interventionism… -Roman Courier Issue of rations to reservists’ families: Flour, corn meal, meats, fats… -Essener Zeitung This village is a total ruin. They burned everything. It looks like a hurricane went through it. -Letter from an Ayitian volunteer outside of Leipzig FOR THE HAPPINESS OF ALL MANKIND -Byzantine Commune volunteer poster Paul Meier’s sleepless nights. He knows the end is near! -Fascist propaganda poster Riots reported in Hua City, Zhongnan. Factory district blocked off by striking rail workers. -Byzantion News Dispatch Ghana to resume rice shipments at Bremerhaven, President Meier announces. "We do our best to care for all..." -The Office of the Bundespräsident TEGELER’S ATTACK CRUSHED – FASCIST INFANTRY IN A TOTAL ROUT – HEAVY GUNS ABANDONED -Essener Zeitung New Anita Andretti novel released – Anita Andretti and the Crown Caper! -Publishers Notice, Florence LANDSHIPS ON THE MOVE – Interviews with frontline volunteers, Mr. Claude Everett, Ms. Váradi Brigitta, Mr. Ondrej Pavlícek, and Ms. Kawashima Tokiko -Hanseatic Times Read it now! Bribes, murder, a gang of thieves! the sensational story of the theft of the Habsburg crown jewels! -The Workers Daily of London European bond markets continue to reel at German unrest, prices of commodities spike -Shanghai Financial Times We have full confidence in victory – these are a weak people, wholly unsuited to war. We will clear them out. -Gallic Imperial field marshal, Laurentin Vannier ‘Rhenanicus’ We were all a bundle of nerves ahead of the push north to Hamburg and Kiel. The general had been sleeping in her uniform for the past week and woke up every three hours. -Byzantine volunteer, Umur Kaldirim, in an interview with the German press, adjutant to LTG Valentina Ha What is the Holy Roman Empire? An anthropologist looks at the broad historical divide of this embattled region, and its roots in longstanding tensions -Guangdong Weekly Tribune Erdemir announces a “Transatlantic policy” – “from Iqaluit to Huodi Qundao, from Edinburgh to Yaounde… a new pact to defend the free peoples of the world against aggression.” -Foreign Office of the Commune of Byzantion Roman volunteers fight bravely near Erfurt – total fanaticism – defending each inch of ground to the last! -HRE Propaganda dispatch God willing, we’ll free Kiel by Michaelmas. -FM Gertrude Fleischer, NGF High Command I report the surrender of the entirety of the 20th Infantry Legion and the destruction of landships, artillery pieces, and the taking of prisoners by NGF forces and volunteers. Operations shall continue to advance to the east. -Lt. Gen. Valentina Ha, official press release Philomon Anatolikos retires – ‘The Grand Old Man of Byzantine Baseball’ looks back on a long and successful career -The Athens Times Wheelchairs for the wounded to be distributed across the city. -Essener Zeitung KEIN DURCHKOMMEN! (They shall not pass.) -North German poster, from the defense of Hanover The need for military secrecy compels our Imperial Majesty Kunigunde I to give only very limited information on the details of military operations. Whereas the Communist Liberals sometimes describe in their press releases victories which have not taken place, our Generalstab must withhold news of victories… -HRE News Dispatch Nitano and JC party win big in ‘boring, peaceful’ Ayitian legislative elections – ‘confirms a democratic mandate’. -Jaragua Times Bread distribution to continue across Hesse today. Shortages of medical supplies ongoing. Red Cross/Red Crescent to continue with vaccinations... -Essener Zeitung Wolinski releases new film, ‘Burned Flowers’ – a moving war story, a marvel of the cinematic art. See the German tragedy for yourself! -Warsaw Daily The 1938 World Cup begins! A triumph of Irish recovery -Dublin Reporter BERLIN LIBERATED – President Meier announces capital freed from Fascist terror -Essener Zeitung A War to the End! Germany is consecrated by the blood of heroes! -Dispatch from the von Starschedel government I don’t remember when I last ate. I want to go home. -Unidentified prisoner of war, formerly of the Kampfgruppe 'Legionär' Christ, it doesn't stop. It's not battles and heroism for me. It's just everything getting worse all the time. When does it end? -Anonymous refugee, interviewed near the Kiel pocket Government offices to begin move to Berlin – a gesture of confidence in victory. -Essener Zeitung Riots spread in Zhongnan – Taijing streets beset by district police. -Tokyo Shimbun
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Dec 11, 2020 00:42
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quote:What is the Holy Roman Empire? An anthropologist looks at the broad historical divide of this embattled region, and its roots in longstanding tensions lmao
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Dec 11, 2020 02:23
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All the chinese excerpts were gold
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Dec 12, 2020 15:59
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ThatBasqueGuy posted:All the chinese excerpts were gold And interesting too! Sounds as if they have some worker disputes going on.
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Dec 13, 2020 02:32
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Oh man, this is back. I read the OG thread like a year ago and then despaired of the story ever being finished. Glad to see I can watch the crazy ride continue in real time. Also, I was rereading the old thread and in the State of the World at the top of EUIV the French king has a line about "Why does everyone want to be Rome so badly? We're doing perfectly fine just being France." and, woo. That's some spicy unintentional foreshadowing.
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Dec 22, 2020 20:10
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Slightly Lions posted:Also, I was rereading the old thread and in the State of the World at the top of EUIV the French king has a line about "Why does everyone want to be Rome so badly? We're doing perfectly fine just being France." and, woo. That's some spicy unintentional foreshadowing. Oh drat; good catch!
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Dec 22, 2020 21:38
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Wrong thread XD.
Westminster System fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Jan 9, 2021 |
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Jan 8, 2021 00:10
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On an unrelated note, who does the art for the characters in the LP? The Byzantine uniform looks perfect for one of the countries in an RPG I'm running and I want to know who to credit if I use some of these fine officers for character portraits or something.
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Jan 13, 2021 16:37
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Night10194 posted:On an unrelated note, who does the art for the characters in the LP? The Byzantine uniform looks perfect for one of the countries in an RPG I'm running and I want to know who to credit if I use some of these fine officers for character portraits or something. Almost all of it is done by Nora herself! IIRC there are one or two leader portraits that are by other artists, but the officers are, I believe, all Nora.
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Jan 14, 2021 02:14
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Nora's art is great, and the amount of effort she puts into this LP is really something to behold.
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Feb 6, 2021 04:32
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Night10194 posted:On an unrelated note, who does the art for the characters in the LP? The Byzantine uniform looks perfect for one of the countries in an RPG I'm running and I want to know who to credit if I use some of these fine officers for character portraits or something. Feel free to use 'em for your campaign! I mean, assuming it's just an RPG you're running and not secretly a public-facing actual play with a zillion dollar patreon, or whatever. I spent ages drawing the things, so any additional use that can be gotten out of 'em sounds cool. You can credit me with a link to my twitter. also a new post is coming after i get over my irrational anxiety that i forgot how to play hoi4 in the time between playing the last post and now
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Feb 9, 2021 04:55
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Thank you! It's a military game for some friends and the uniform and look just fits perfectly for one of the allied nations. I'll be certain to let them know where the art came from.
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Feb 9, 2021 05:34
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Empress Theonora posted:Feel free to use 'em for your campaign! I mean, assuming it's just an RPG you're running and not secretly a public-facing actual play with a zillion dollar patreon, or whatever. I spent ages drawing the things, so any additional use that can be gotten out of 'em sounds cool. You can credit me with a link to my twitter. Yay! Also, I too think your art is fantastic. All the way since you used to have Rose as your avatar
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Feb 9, 2021 08:57
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 PART SEVENTY-NINE: From the Oder to the Mekong (July 17, 1938 - September 17, 1938)  Mizuno Tomoe (水野 朋恵) was a distinguished member of the Japanese Republic's diplomatic corps, most most notably serving as ambassador to Great Britain from 1930-1936. In 1938, she was given the even more prestigious-- and critical, given the volatile state of the Near West in the 1930s-- posting of ambassador to the Byzantine Commune.  In 2013, a distant relative of Mizuno's discovered a box in the attic of the family's home in the suburbs of Edo. Labelled simply 'Miscellany', the box was found to contain a series of leatherbound notebooks-- the diaries Ambassador Mizuno kept during her time in Byzantion. This serendipitous discovery has offered historians new insight into aspects of the period ranging from high level diplomacy between the Allies and the Red Rose Pact to the night-life in '30s Byzantion. Edinburgh University Press, together with Kyoto University and the Athens Institute of History, is pleased to annouce the publication of an edited collection of her diaries, translated for the first time into English.  Sent off my report to Kyoto vis-à-vis the state of things in the Near West and what Byzantion. Thorough, accurate, and just dreadfully dull. Dry cables to President Masaoka don't capture the heart of the matter:  Diplomacy with the Red Rose Pact is a most diverting game, even if the stakes are deadly serious. This is especially true in Byzantium-- the Byzantines are a much more fun bunch than all those stuffed-shirts back in Edinburgh. Oh, there's still all the hallmarks of diplomacy on the European subcontinent which have been annoying generations of ambassadors from the governments of Asia-- the obsessive self-regard for their own past, the obsession with historical continuity, the continued use of Latin as 'the language of diplomacy' in spite of the fact no one's spoken it natively for at least a thousand years, and all the other signs of the tendency of European leaders to act as if their every action is being watched-- and judged for consistency!-- by a chorus of ghosts from previous era. As fashionable as it is for the modern Byzantine to gaze ahead into some glorious future, they're still always, always looking over their shoulder, as if some historical legacy is stalking in their wake. Absolutely bonkers. But once you get used to this, it's easy to work around. Or turn to your advantage, even-- the Byzantine attitude towards the Japanese Republic will always be colored by the fact the Byzantines see it as a predecessor to and model for their own republic, even though that republic fell half a century ago. They have a complicated relationship with Sallajer's republic, in turn proudly claiming its legacy and denouncing its myriad crimes, real and perceived. This means two things: 1.) If the Byzantines were trying to build something in Ryuzoji Nagahito's image, the concrete never set right. 2.) They will constantly project these feelings onto the modern Japanese Republic. They're so eager to see themselves in mirrors you'd think we were in the Palace of Versailles.  Job one right now is sounding out the Byzantines about the situation in Indochina, without making it blatantly obvious that's what I'm doing. Our interest in the rebels succeeding is fairly self-evident-- it's a potential check on the Ming Empire's influence in southeast Asia. Things would be cleaner if our guy had grabbed the reins of revolution in the name of liberal democracy or whatever, but he didn't and Trung Cam Lynh's communists did.  One would be tempted to think that this would be an easy sell to Tribune Erdemir-- Kyoto certainly seems to think so, given the instructions they've given me. Trung's life and career is practically tailored to Byzantine sensibilities-- a worker who rose to lead revolutions and command armies, who saw injustice and oppression and rose in the name of... the immortal science of Marxism-Qiuism, or something. Combine that with boyish good looks, windswept hair, a cool leather jacket, and just generally looking as if she'd fit in at certain select Byzantion night-clubs and dance-halls, if you understand my meaning.    Trung Cam Lynh, acting head of the Provisional Government of the Union of Indochina And her nemesis, Cao Liuxian and his Zhongnan Peninsula Company, basically came out of central casting for the role of 'despicable capitalist villain' in some hackneyed early '20s propaganda film, before the Haida invented talkies and the Byzantines discovered subtlety. Seriously, look at the guy. Even Zhang Zhulin's probably like, 'This is a bit much, Liuxian.'    Cao Liuxian, the absolute fucker. And Byzantium's putting so much effort into aiding a bunch of liberals in Germany, so surely inducing them to send resources to their fellow Reds would be simple?  Except no, because that means that the Byzantines are still fully focused on their efforts in the German Civil War. General Ha's landships are in the midst of a drive for Dresden, and it's all anyone wants to talk about.  The Byzantine calculus is simple-- a Great War in the Near West is inevitable, the (sigh) "Western Roman Empire" poses an existential threat to Byzantium, and North Germany being brought into the fascist orbit would make their strategic position unacceptably weak.  And honestly, are they wrong? Gaul's their Ming. No, even more than that-- if the Ming Empire achieved all its designs on Asia, Japan would be in for a rough few decades-- centuries-- whatever. If Gaul achieves its plans for the Near West, they will make every effort to wipe any semblance of Byzantine culture or history off the face of the Earth.  Got word that Cao's security forces and the rebels are already fighting up and down the Mekong, but these initial reports are sketchy at best and maddeningly vague at worst, so I still don't have a clear picture of the situation on the ground or who-- if anyone-- has the upper hand.  The next dispatch I received, on the other hand, was very clearly to Trung's advantage. The Commune might still be tied down in Germany, but the other major RRP members and the other significant Communist powers have no such obligations. Confirms my hunch the Byzantines weren't just blowing smoke up my rear end re: involvement in the German Civil War precluding intervention in Indochina. So if that's settled, maybe they can pitch in. For now, though, fourteen divisions sent in to fight the Ming's Zhongnan proxies is fantastic news.  And more might follow, if things wrap up with the NGF. I've found myself following the attempted encirclement of General Erich Ceska-Lipa nearly as assiduously as the Byzantines, even if my motives are a bit different.  The NGF and pals currently hold the Elbe crossings to the north and south of the city, but they haven't been able to close the corridor still connecting it to the rest of the Holy Roman Empire (a name which never fails to make me feel silly when I write it, but that's what they call themselves). No one seems to have seriously committed their forces yet, though-- Generals Ceska-Lipa, Ha, and the NGF's General Reibling all seem to be limiting themselves to probing attacks for the moment.  Cao's succeeded in pushing the rebels out of everything they held west of the Mekong, and a lot further than that in places-- most notably, the Mekong Delta region, which Zhongnan authorities have almost entirely reasserted control over.  For the moment. Those volunteers are still en route, after all.  News from Germany is more immediately encouraging; NGF and Byzantine forces succeeded in cutting off Dresden. An army under Hanke attempted a breakthrough, but Reibling was be able to hold down the fort (in a very literal sense) until Ha can bring her landships in.  The NGF's next objective is Frankfurt-- no, not that Frankfurt, the one that's an der Oder. Reibling's infantry is attacking along a broad front, trying to press their advantage.  The intention, apparently, was for Ha and her landships to sweep in on the southern flank, but the Byzantines aren't the only one who can pretend large numbers of landships are 'volunteers'-- a Polish armored division (probably one of the only ones in the HRE still operational) under Czcibor Umiastowski launched a frontal attack on Ha's position. There's no way it'll succeed per se-- and I have to imagine Umiastowski realizes that, although this is Europe, so maybe he believes that some manner of intangible transhistorical force will propel him to victory. Probably, though, he's just trying to pin down the enemy landships so they can't join the NGF center's thrust towards Frankfurt an der Oder.  Delaying tactics have the potential to bear fruit, since as much as beating up the HRE has put a spring in the Byzantine military establishment's step not seen since the salad days of the 2GW, they would really like those forces back on that ridiculous two thousand some odd kilometer frontier of theirs. (Honestly, one look at these borders should disabuse anyone of the notion that there's any grand design behind the narratives history weaves. Things move, and then they stop, that's all.)  Anyway. It turned out Umiastowski's offensive didn't matter at all, in the end-- Ha simply wheeled around her forces to join the final push to crush the pocket at Dresden.   If I were asked to lead the defense of a strategically important city, I would simply not let the enemy encircle me.  The first of the RRP (and Ayitian, Marathas, etc.) volunteers have at long last arrived in Indochina. They're still getting organized, but they should help take the pressure off the rebels once they've got their act together.   I was quite surprised to find that the general in charge of the British volunteers was an acquaintance of mine, from my time in Edinburgh; General Rina Pandey and I often... frequented the same establishments, let's say. (She's queer as a three pound note, is what I'm getting at.) A certain degree of idealism is a common vice in the Red Rose Pact, but she's an idealist's idealist.   General Rina Pandey, of the British Red Army The other half of the RRP contingent is headed up by a general named Kwasi Omenaa, who I've never heard of in my life, but seems competent and honorable enough.   General Kwasi Omenaa, of the Ghanaian Army More intriguing are the representatives of the non-RRP communist militaries. The Ayitians-- keen to show that they can play nice after 2GW, maybe-- have sent a force under General Katrin Möhring-- a German, if you can believe it. Wonder what she makes of heading out to Indochina in the midst of everything going on in the Old Country. Probably something like, "Wow, I'm glad I left Germany." Well, that's what I'd be thinking, anyway.   General Katrin Möring, of the Ayitian Army And then there's Marathas.  General Aruna Vrishchika, of the Marathan Anti-Capitalist Defense Force Like nearly everything else to do with Rishma Sharqi's royal production of a theatrical adaptation of a communist revolution, I've heard numerous conflicting things about Vrishchika and the volunteers she leads. Certainly, with ten divisions at her command, she's bringing considerable power to bear on behalf of the Indochinese rebels, but to what end? A desire to prove herself to the more orthodox Marxists? A realpolitik attempt to contain China, perhaps? There isn't much in common between Marathas and the Japanese Republic, but they do feel every bit as threatened by Ming ascendency as we do. Maybe it's an attempt to seize control of a narrative-- while the Byzantines were busy saving capitalist running dog lackeys etc., etc., Marathas is taking the initiative. The history of the Indochinese Civil War is a work in progress, after all-- I could easily see someone like this Aruna Vrishchika lady eager to rewrite it with herself as the hero. In any case: she didn't have much to do with the first major joint operation between Trung's rebels and the international (or, given the ideological makeup of their sponsors, maybe International would be more accurate. Hah, I slay me.) volunteers. Two divisions of Trung's folks and one of  For the moment, though, the Company still seemed to have the upper hand-- but it's not as if the fighting had really started in earnest.  Things are fully capable of becoming much, much worse. What a rotten decade the '30s are turning out to be.  Oh well, nothing to be done but try to salvage the situation as best we can. Better to shed blood in a river than drown in it.    Latest from the front is that while Cao Liuxian('s employees) tussles over the Mekong with  Meanwhile, on the other side of the Eurasian supercontinent, a different civil war continues being fought over a different river. A number of costly attacks on Frankfurt an der Oder (a toponym whose specificity I enjoy a little more every time I write it) finally dislodged the last of Umiastowski's landships, but not before the HRE infantry safely across the river and took up positions an der other side of der Oder.  Against this backdrop, the Byznatine Commune continues to prepare for the much larger conflagration everyone knows is coming. The German Civil War (1.4 million casualties and counting!) is just a dress rehearsal.  Wonder if the same could be said of the Indochinese Revolution? Hard to say. Well, for one thing, if it were, that would imply that the RRP is going to come to the Allies' aid, which would be nice of them.  More importantly though, there's a sort of fatalism about the coming war that's set in among the Byzantines-- among the Near West as a whole, really. The assessment of my government (which in this case I agree with) is that armed conflict between the Japanese Republic and the Ming Empire is likely, and should be planned for accordingly. But I can still imagine chains of events where it doesn't happen, where this latest round of saber-rattling never gets beyond the level of proxy wars and border skirmishes. A few of 'em aren't even utterly farcical.  The Near Westerners know there's going to be a war. A fate impossible to escape; all that can be done is try to jockey for position. And wait.     And, again, that feeling isn't based on nothing. Valeria's sure there's going to be a war, too, and she's the one who'll be starting it. When someone tried to derail this express train to the apocalypse by shooting her in the head, they just found a new one.  The rebels got Momian, by the way. It's a staging ground for Ayitian, Marathan, Ghanaian, and British forces now.  Byzantion's taken notice of these successes. Officially, the government is pursuing the destruction of the HRE as single-mindedly as ever, but I have it on good authority that the Byzantines have sent an attaché to Trung's revolutionaries   One morning, when I opened the door to my office at the embassy, I found my own chair occupied by none other than Yoshida Kazuo (I really wish he'd stop doing that). Our subsequent meeting taught me two things: 1. All signs point to an increasing Byzantine involvement in Indochina-- provided Gaul doesn't attack in the interim. In that case, all bets are off-- you don't need to be a spymaster to know that much. Or a diplomat, for that matter. Being a person who's read a newspaper in the past five years or so would suffice. 2. I need to have my office's locks changed.  As much as I hate having to interact with 'the Wolf' (who calls himself that?), though, as usual his information was right. Within the week, the Commune began a lend-lease program, funneling such arms and materiel as could be spared to Trung et al.  Turns out that would be it for now, though. Things in Germany hit a speed-bump when the NGF-Byzantine attempt to secure a crossing over the Oder ended in miserable, miserable failure.  The Oder, it seemed, was where the Holy Roman Empire decided, in true fascist manner, to make their last stand.  Valeria looked to have already written off her German cats-paws, and turned her attention elsewhere. On September 7th, 1938, she gave a lengthy speech to mark the beginning of the integration of León into the central government of the Imperium in which she did not mention the German Civil War even once.  Of course, that same day carried news more immediately relevant to the Allies.   You know, the last time the Great Powers of Avalon tried to push the Aztecs around, a whole Great War broke out over it. The Haida trying to extract concessions from the Aztecs someone set into motion a chain reaction that ended with a few hundred thousand Byzantine soldiers dying in the mud at Oaxaca for no discernible reason.   Now a war breaks out, and it isn't even above the fold in the Byzantine papers.  I've read a bit of Marx, since that seemed like the sensible thing to do if I'm going to represent Japanese interests in the RRP. Anyway, one of his essays directly dealt with Byzantine history-- it was written in the wake of the Byzantine Civil War, which was a (frankly nearly incomprehensible) conflict between the Byzantine Republic and a bunch of Roman revivalists after something like half the country swore itself to the reclusive emperor of a Roman rump state which had preposterously endured on the isle of Rhodes (see what I mean about being incomprehensible?). Anyway, Marx wrote this: "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce." But even that's giving history way too much credit, if you ask me. It's farce the first time around as well.  Thousands of people get themselves killed to hold a river for a megalomanical jewel thief trying to revive the Holy Roman Empire, which was a revival of the first Holy Roman Empire, which was in turn a revival of the Carolingian empire, which came about when the Pope crowned Charlemagne "Emperor of Rome" because he didn't like the empress of that other Roman Empire based in Constantinople, which was the surviving half of a prior Roman Empire that split itself into two Roman Empires, which spent the earlier part of its history pretending it was still the Roman Republic, which saw itself as the inheritors of and antithesis to a line of mostly-fictitious kings who claimed descent from a guy mostly known for being suckled by a wolf and committing fratricide, who was himself the distant inheritor of another guy who ran away when a bunch of Greeks hiding in a wooden horse burned down his city.  At no point was this entire chain of events not absurd.  Trying to find patterns in history is like trying to read the future from tea-leaves-- diverting on occasion, but not particularly useful or insightful.  General Ha finally got that Oder crossing she wanted, by the way.   So much for the empire's glorious last stand, then.  And so much for the empire, too. Even the absolute die-hards had lost hope.  What was left of the "Holy Roman Empire" capitulated unconditionally on September 17th, 1938. And the wheel turns once more.  WORLD MAP, JULY 23rd, 1938 (I played two updates worth of gameplay or so, so I don't have a map for the actual end-date of this post.  )
Empress Theonora fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Jun 28, 2021 |
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Mar 5, 2021 07:21
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Ah, excellent, more Byz-updates! 
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Mar 5, 2021 08:03
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Mizuno's really funny, that was great. Loved the sniping at her ex. Actually cackled when I saw Cao's portrait. Empress Theonora posted:
This is a great way of expressing the feeling I have about my former career, love it.
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Mar 5, 2021 09:08
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It's really good to see victory for the NGF, they may be capitalists but at least they're not fascist jewel thieves, hopefully the revolution in Indochina goes just as well. It's also good to get to see more cool lesbians 
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Mar 5, 2021 09:29
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