Show me your orders/battle plans!

Terrance888 said:

Spoiler :

Sverstall: Terrence888
Dominant Race: Dwarves
Plutocratic Oligarchy: Tribune Farenstall Hoardinghands (55; Mercantile)
Capital: Svenhold
Family: None
Population: 263,000
Slaves: 0
Gold: 560 (+450)
Lumber: 500
Minerals: 950 (+250)
Mana Reserve: 0
Expertise: 0 (+5)
Army: 1,500 Warriors
Navy: None
Associated Heroes: None
Settlements: 1 City
Spoiler:

Capital: +450 Gold, +250 Minerals
-Population: 263,000
-Loyalty: 75%

Build the levee with 150 Minerals. Make various channels and drains with up to 150 Minerals/3 Expertise/110Gold so we can control the flow and start a farming community just outside of the Svenhold. Also, in the center of the city concentrate the already-leaked water into a lake and stock it with cave fish and stuff.
Have warriors scout up/down river, as well as to the Emerald Forest to the south and the other to the north. Start with a few dozen and acclimate them, with final long range exploration parties of 300 warriors each.

Sorry for no stories yet. working on my NES. You want to join? :hinthint:

Spoiler Questions :

EQandcivfanatic said:

Well, I've actually used your randomly assigned names already. Check the front page to see the names so I can make sure I know which one you're talking about.

Yes, rivers are counted in connecting towns.

Levees would be 150 Gold/Resources (any combination that works for you)

sure, tunnels through the mountains would be good. and yes, you could have a settlement 100% in the mountains.

Heh, I'll keep that noted for a future challenge.

Yes, a riverside town would be more fertile than one in the mountains.

Terrance888 said:

I'm going to build a road to the Southern Forest. What kind of forest is that, primarily? If not known/very mixed/you don't care then name it Akirastall. How much will the bridge and the road coast?

If I build a town down river, I can use the river to connect the two, right?

How much resources will it cost to build a levee? To dam/divert the river? To build a new Main Entrance?

Can I build tunnels within the mountains? Is that cost effective compared to roads (since they are "safer")? Can I build a settlement completely surrounded by mountains?

I'm stating here that I won't use the magical gems as Deus Ex Magica so save myself: it's just protects the cave from collapsing and prevents miners from shattering the arc. If theres anything else weird with them, I'll leave it up to you to challenge me.

As for towns and stuff, would building a riverside town make it more fertile/more population growth?

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Terrance888 said:

Spoiler :

Sverstall: Terrence888
Dominant Race: Dwarves
Plutocratic Oligarchy: Tribune Farenstall Hoardinghands (60; Mercantile)
Capital: Svenhold
Family: None
Population: 276,000
Slaves: 0
Gold: 900 (+450)
Lumber: 500
Minerals: 900 (+250)
Mana Reserve: 0
Expertise: -3 (+5)
Army: 1,500 City Guard
Navy: None
Associated Heroes: None
Settlements: 1 City
Spoiler:

Svenhold: +450 Gold, +250 Minerals
-Population: 276,000
-Loyalty: 75%

I have 3000 resources (gold/lumber/minerals) and 2 experience-perfect for 2 settlements.

1 will be upriver, where the mountains are right next to the river. There, the conservative types will be dug a new home where they can live inside the mountains while in a large cavern near the entrance will live a merchant class to intermediate for them in case of trade. Now- Some might not want to walk on the surface, but promise them that we will build a tunnel to the new, nearly completely undergound, mining town.

400 Troops will go with them


1 will be down river, until the mountains are not on teh northern bank anymore. There we will settle a town for the sake of securing our hold on the surface and collection of more food and resources. We should still be close enough to the mountains for some mining, but that's not important.

500 troops will go with them.


To solve our challenge, we are building a Mountain colony within the mountain itself, and in the future will be connected via tunnel to other mountain settlements. The only catch is that they have to swear to Svenhold... and the Tribune of Sverstall will know secret entrances to these mountain cities-so if they rebel, we can attack from sudden directions.

Tell them that it is meant that Dwarfs not only live in the mountain but also on land. We are as tough as other beings in a smaller package, because we are made as warriors. And warriors don't hide in the mountains just because that's what they use to do- they wander the world to challenge and be challenged by neighbors and nature, and to accept these challenges and learn to not only live with those challenges, but defeat them if necessary.

Question their dwarfhood, if need be.

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Terrance888 said:

Sverstall: Terrence888
Dominant Race: Dwarves
Plutocratic Oligarchy: Tribune Farenstall Hoardinghands (65; Mercantile)
Capital: Svenhold
Family: None
Population: 280,000
Slaves: 0
Gold: 145 (+475)
Lumber: 0
Minerals: 25 (+275)
Mana Reserve: 0
Expertise: 5 (+5)
Army: 1,500 City Guard
Navy: None
Associated Heroes: None
Settlements: 1 City
Spoiler:

Glenoak: +25 Gold
-Population: 10,000
-Loyalty: 65%
Kaverstall: +25 Minerals
-Population: 11,000
-Loyalty: 70%
Svenhold: +450 Gold, +250 Minerals
-Population: 269,000
-Loyalty: 70%

New Unit: Guardian
Melee Ability: 7
Disipline: 3
The Guardian is everything a dwarven warrior wishes to become; tough, disiplined, and deadly. Only the best trained soldiers can become Guardians. They are outfitted with the best armor and weapons and are the first to advance and the last to retreat.

Use the Gold to build the road to Kaverstall.

Spend 200 Minerals in building the Council of Sverstall, which will be a large building where representatives of all the cities can discuss the future of the nation. The former council was just five Tribunes from the Svenhold with one as First Tribune; the new council would consist of 5 Dwarves per city, and a representative for every ten-thousand citizens giving us a total of 29+15=44 Consuls. There will still be 5 Tribunes chosen by all the clans, of whom the First Tribune will be chosen.

As of yet, the election of the First Tribune is usually defered as the other four choose a successor among them. After a new First Tribune is chosen the remaining four seats are open for election.

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Terrance888 said:

Spoiler :

Sverstall: Terrence888
Dominant Race: Dwarves
Plutocratic Oligarchy: Tribune Farenstall Hoardinghands (70; Mercantile)
Capital: Svenhold
Family: None
Population: 306,000
Slaves: 0
Gold: 25 (+500)
Lumber: 0
Minerals: 150 (+275)
Mana Reserve: 0
Expertise: 0 (+5)
Army: 1,500 City Guard
Navy: None
Associated Heroes: None
Settlements: 1 City, 2 Towns
Spoiler:

Glenoak: +25 Gold
-Population: 12,000
-Loyalty: 65%
Kaverstall: +25 Gold, +25 Minerals
-Population: 33,000
-Loyalty: 70%
Svenhold: +450 Gold, +250 Minerals
-Population: 261,000
-Loyalty: 70%

Once again, I apologize for the lack of contribution. Hopefully, this won't be as meaningless as the other ones I've offered; surely, the lack of challenges is due primarily to the lack of things to challenge, offered by by (lack of) stories.

THE GUARDIANS
Cost: 15 Gold, 10 Minerals
Number: 30
Total: 450 Gold, 300 Minerals
Remainder: 75 Gold, 125 Minerals
Description: 5 Guardians will patrol each city, with the extra 15 distributed Thus:
5 for the Kaverstall Mines
5 for the Svenhold Gates
5 for the Council Hall Guards

KAVERSTALL MINES
Cost: 25 Gold, 75 Minerals, Any Expertise
Remainder: 50 Gold, 50 Minerals
Contingency: Offer 50 Gold if we seem to be close to a motherload for the final push
Description: Kaverstall, being a newer burrow, is also far less prospected and explored compared to the Svenhold. Exploratory and exploitative mines will be dug, focusing for now the acquisition of Minerals, as well as noting areas of more luxurious ores (gold, ect). Have 2 Guardians with the main tunnel and 3 in reserve in case something bad happens.

MIGRATIONARY PATTERNS
Description: Large influxes of Dwarves are leaving Svenhold, of which the interior is originally made for about 250k population, not counting outer settlements and additions. Kaverstall's new minds bring the thought of wealth to the old stratified clans of Svenhold, many of which send at least one family to prospect. Also exciting, too, is from Glenoak dwarves claiming to see distant talking birds p), attracting more adventurous dwarves.

For each migration, 5 Guardians and 500 Guards will protect the caravans.

I expect about 17K will go to Kaverstall and 5k to travel to Glenoak.

Also, at Glenoak comes the news of a loud-mouthed dwarf named Jakobic, who claim that they can travel to the Emerald Sea Forests and settle a town with actual access to resources. Only the current scarcity of resources can be accounted for the lack of serious interest.

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Terrance888 said:

Spoiler :

Sverstall: Terrence888
Dominant Race: Dwarves
Plutocratic Oligarchy: Tribune Farenstall Hoardinghands (75; Mercantile)
Capital: Svenhold
Family: None
Population: 321,000
Slaves: 0
Gold: 525 (+500)
Lumber: 0
Minerals: 50 (+275)
Mana Reserve: 0
Expertise: 4 (+5)
Army: 1,500 City Guard, 30 Guardians
Navy: None
Associated Heroes: None
Settlements: 1 City, 2 Towns
Spoiler:

Glenoak: +25 Gold
-Population: 18,000
-Loyalty: 65%
Kaverstall: +25 Gold, +25 Minerals
-Population: 53,000
-Loyalty: 70%
Svenhold: +450 Gold, +250 Minerals
-Population: 250,000
-Loyalty: 70%

Tribune's Challenge
We will allow our master smiths (expertise, gold, minerals) to start working on this metal. However, we will have guards ready (Guardians, 5x ea for 3 Smiths) in case weird stuff starts happening. They can't use magic to counteract any such thing, but they can put a beat down on it... hopefully. Another 10 Guardians will help extract more ores.
I shall bequeath this ore the name of Farrium, (Farrous, in adjective form) in honor of our Tribune.

Guardian Recruitment
Build 20 more Guardians for 300 Gold and 200 Minerals.

Crossbow Manufacturing
Some smiths have discovered how to use this new, flexible yet strong metal to make metallic bows. However, even Dwarven Might cannot easily use such weapons, although they can be bent. The development of a trigger leads to further ease of use of such ranged weapons. (expertise, gold, making more units next turn)

Glenoak Loyalty
The Glenoak Dwarves are always a magnet for deviants of Sverstallian society. Not only do they shun caves, many of the younger generation are positively caustrophobic. Many see their ties to the Svenhold as nothing but a waste, and seek to dig their own future. Strike the earth!
However, this year all the gold that Glenoak produces will be returned to the people in the form of a local Tribunarium to match the Great Tribunarium at Svenhold and the local one built for Kaverstall. Minerals were sent as well, stout metals and stones, to build this monument to Dwarven unity.

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Terrance888 said:

Spoiler :

Sverstall: Terrence888
Dominant Race: Dwarves
Plutocratic Oligarchy: Tribune Farenstall Hoardinghands (80; Mercantile)
Capital: Svenhold
Family: None
Population: 337,000
Slaves: 0
Gold: 750 (+525)
Lumber: 0
Minerals: 125 (+275)
Mana Reserve: 0
Expertise: 9 (+5)
Army: 1,500 City Guard, 80 Guardians
Navy: None
Associated Heroes: None
Settlements: 1 City, 2 Towns
Spoiler:

Glenoak: +50 Gold
-Population: 50,000
-Loyalty: 65%
Kaverstall: +25 Gold, +25 Minerals
-Population: 56,000
-Loyalty: 70%
Svenhold: +450 Gold, +250 Minerals
-Population: 231,000
-Loyalty: 70%

New Unit: Krangori
Melee: 2
Ranged: 6
Stealth: 3
Discipline: 3
Krangori use the new, imperfect but amazing Farric Crossbow in battle. As disiplined as their Guardian warriors, the Krangori use their armor-piercing weapons to deady affect and in unison. By nature of their ranged weapons, they are fit for expanding Sverstallian expansion across the plains by enabling them to defeat those who attempt hit-and-run tactics, while Guardians (who were helped somewhat by their armor) run out of breath.

If we run out of expertise, take 1 stealth away first, then subtract from Melee down.

Novices of Sverstall
Some have noticed some strange "Magical" powers in Farrium, and begun studying them. Slowly they will discover that all metals have "Voices" which can be utilized in magic. I will invest 200 gold in 20 Novices this turn, for a production rate of 5 Mana a turn. In a few turns, I will introduce the "Metal Caster", a strong Destruction (Warp opponet's armor to crush them) and Conjuration (create new, temporary weapons by liquifying metal), with some restoration (healing open woulds by covering it with a metal sheath. Metal Casters won't focus on Mana-creation, they will focus more on the application of their power either in battle, or the creation of magical tools.

Trials of Durshnak
Durshnak, already indicted in the murder of his clan, will be given the newest punishment devised by the Council of Tribunes. He will become the first of the Forgotton, and only one who will be named, if only to refer to the other Forgotton. He is exiled to that Chasm-rift to the East with no clothes, weapons, or anything other than a tablet of poison, and he will be striken from the names of the Guardians.
This will show that Dwarven Society believes that a torturous life is worse than death. Better die in the battlefield then be captured prisoner! Better die making that masterpiece, then live, never having fulfilled that vision! Better die when spirits sway your sword against your clan, then live, and suffer a infamy for the rest of time.
OOC:
Maybe he will become an evil hero!

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Terrance888 said:

Spoiler :

Duchy of Aquitaine/Terrance888
Color: Sky Blue
Government: Despotic Monarchy, Vassal of the Franks
Stability: 0
Economy: 6/0
Army: 4 Irregular Companies, 4 Swordsman Companies
Navy: 4 Galley Groups
Religion: Catholicism (7)
Religious Minorities: Gallic Animism (4/5)
Literacy: 10 (Low Middle Ages)
Influence: 9
Projects: Librus Domni (4/4)

All 6EP goes into the construction of the Limes Pyrenee, the Forts of the Pyrenees.

1 Swordsman Company, 2 Galley Groups, and any Irregular Volunteers would go to the Papacy pending further orders.

IF any conflict with Vandals occur with the Combined Fleet, place our ships and our flags infront of those of our allies and claim protection under truce.

The Tithe will be paid by the Franks this turn.

If the Franks wish to launch an offensive into Burgundy, 2 Swordsmen will be earmarked for that task, or 1 Swordsmen and 3 Irregulars.

Remaning soldiers will defend behind the Limes. The Irregulars will be Basque fuedal fiefs, which will help ambush Moorish supplies. The Swordsmen will counter attack with Frankish (and return of any Burgundian Offensive troops) support after they feel the pinch of starvation.

Bernald III dies after he completes the Limes and is succeeded by Eudes II, who has a different idea about how to handle Spain, Heathens, the Pope and the Eastern Roman Empire. While Bernald focuses on restiching Aquitaine back together socially, not just politically; Eudes will focus on gathering allies for Crusade, be it covert, open; spain or Eastern Roman; German or British.

He is the Brother in Law of Charlemagne.

The current heir is the son (LOuis the Pious?) between Eleanor and Charlemagne, but after this update Eudes will also have heirs.

Bernald Reginald III will have the added cognoman of "The Architect" for building alliances, walls, bonds and culture.

For sneaky stuff, start contacting Basques across the Pyrenees about revolt, very sneakily and quietly, using our own Basques, trying to convince to rise up in support of the reinstitution fo the Barony of Pampola under a reconstituted Duchy of Vascony.

Do so with the Catalans, except under a reconstituted Duchy of Septimania.

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Terrance888 said:

Duchy of Aquitaine/Terrance888
Color: Blue (black line separating from Frankish Empire proper)
Government: Despotic Monarchy, Vassal of the Franks
Stability: 0
Economy: 6/0
Army: 4 Irregular Companies, 3 Swordsman Companies
Navy: 3 Galley Groups
Religion: Catholicism (7)
Religious Minorities: Gallic Animism (2/5), Forn Siðr (1/3)
Literacy: 11 (Low Middle Ages)
Influence: 12
Projects: Librus Domni (4/4), Forts of the Pyrenees (6/6)

1EP to Basques south of the Pyrenees. Start sending agents and very carefully, start agitating them. Promise them protection if they rebel, and reform the Duchy of Vascony which is their right to rule under the Kingdom of Aquitaine. Try to restrain them; let them train, but not fight yet. We will prepare for a rebellion next turn.
1EP for 2 Basque Archers, mountineering shepards and having lived their entire lives in the Pyrenees, they train to make life a living hell for any invader. They will work with Basque militias

2EP for 4 Swordsman Companies
1EP for 1 Horseman Company
1EP for Logistics

5 Swordsmen, 1 Horseman, and 1 Galley Group will fight in the Catholic Crusade. Listen to the commands of the Venetian High General. Prince Jacques IV will fight with the Nobles of Aquitaine on horseback.

Generic tactics; form a wedge with our swordsman and push forward, with a swordsman in the back. As soon as we make a slight dent in their lines, a horn will blow. The swordsmen inthe front will step aside for the Knights of Aquitaine to ride through the center right into the weak gap in the enemy line. Then, the reserve Swordsmen will pour in and start spreading out the flanks.

Any volunteers many go as well.

1 Galley Group will defend each coast.
4 Irregulars and 2 ARchers will defend the Limnes Pyrenees, with any the Franks desire going to them. our Swordsman will launch counter offensives once the enemy is nice and bruised.


Sorry for bad and late orders

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Terrance888 said:

Spoiler :

Duchy of Aquitaine/Terrance888
Color: Blue (black line separating from Frankish Empire proper)
Government: Despotic Monarchy, Vassal of the Franks
Stability: 1
Economy: 7/0
Army: 3 Irregular Companies, 6 Swordsman Companies, 1 Horseman Company, 2 Basque Archer Companies
Navy: 3 Galley Groups
Religion: Catholicism (7)
Religious Minorities: Gallic Animism (2/5), Forn Siðr (1/3)
Literacy: 11 (Low Middle Ages)
Influence: 12
Projects: Librus Domni (4/4), Forts of the Pyrenees (6/6)

Spending
1EP to Basques
1EP to Logistics
1EP to 2 Basque Archers
2EP to 1 Siege
1EP to 3 Irregulars (Basque Tribesmen)
1EP to Pope mad: send him weapons and armor, not gold or anything. See how he takes that! You say you use this to defend yourself? Then defend!!! Seriously, 3 Papal Guardsmen STILL?)

Domestic Policies
Adopt that Jirzra thing from the Muslims. Seems to fit with our doctrine anyhow, but sell it as a tax break for Catholics (replace some low income but constant and annoying thing, like maybe the mill tax) with the undertones that those who are not Catholic (not listed in the local domesday directery) will pay the tax, doubled, or tripled as necessary, but the same as the Jirzra whatever.

Start riling up the Basques on our side of the border against the Muslims, I want them frothing at the bits by the next update, ready for me to say "Unleash the Basques of War!!!" Naturally, I am relying on them to cover my southern border.

Keep the borders open for more Basque immigrants.

Military Policies
4 Basque Archers and 3 Basque Tribesmen defend the Pyrenees
6 Swordsmen, 1 Horsemen and 1 Seige are to invade Savoy as part of the Frank's Flanks. We will focus on the Rhone valley to the south, although if the Emprah desires, I shall also take control of the Alpine passes.
Keep a watch out for those damned Tartars.

Basic Strategy: Technically, I can overpower Savoy by myself. With the Franks, the Pro-Catholic Civil War, and their stability, this shouldn't even be a fight worthy of talking about.

Anyway, they are hopefully wonderfully distracted by all those Catholic dudes wandering arround, hailing the Emprah and the Pope. I, with my Galleys (outnumbering them) rush for a surprise attack on Arles on their side of the Rhone. The Siege will quickly start pounding the walls and our Swordsmen will assault the forts connecting it to the rest of the nation. If the royals are there, decap, insta win. Divide the spoils. If they are in their bunker, Catholic liberation party should help us conquer it easily.

Our Horsemen has the advantage on the areas close to the River, and with the soldiers of the Emprah on their flanks, we comfortably outnumber them. Still, hurry to secure the Passes (and bring some Archers over at the end of the war) incase the Venetians or the Tartars get sneaky. If the Venetians also invade Savoy, try to negotiate for control of key alpine passes: they can have the Po river valley... for now.

All military orders shall be under scrutiny or change as desired by the Emprah. However, as he probably has other campaigns to prepare, I offer to lead the entire campaign.


My Basque forces will continue to be in readiness. Once the signal is given, the southern Basques will rebel, and declare for me; therefore I don't activate their military alliance as I am merely trying to defend my new lands.

If castile tries to crush the Basques, take a look at people trying to crush Afghanistan. The Basques survived the Pottery C, Hallsatt, Indo-European, Keltic, Roman, and Germanic invasions for nothing, they are tough and clannish.

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Terrance888 said:

Spoiler Mappity :

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/444/turn6aquitaineduchies.png/

Spoiler Stats :

Electorate of Aquitaine/Terrance888
Color: Red
Government: Despotic Monarchy, Holy Roman Elector
Stability: 0
Economy: 10/0
Army: 2 Irregular Companies, 2 Swordsman Companies, 1 Horseman Company, 3 Visigothic Legionary Companies, 3 Basque Archer Companies, 2 Crossbow Companies, 1 Siege Company (Requires 1 Upkeep)
Navy: 2 Galley Groups
Religion: Catholicism (9)
Religious Minorities: Forn Siðr (1/2)
Literacy: 11 (Low Middle Ages)
Influence: 12
Projects: Librus Domni (4/4), Forts of the Pyrenees (6/6)

SPENDING
2 for Siege Galleys (1 or 2?)
2 for Galleys
2 for Supplies/Basques/Misc
3 for 3 Catholic Knights
1 for 2 Crossbows

DOMESTIC
End Holy Smite, Keep Jizya
Become a Fuedal Monarchy

Spoiler :

Cede some power to local Lords so that they can gather locals in defense against the Islamic Menace. They are allowed to have everything except Catholic Knights, Visigothic Legions, or Siege Weapons. Their job is to stall while calling for our main army.
We are now a Kingdom, our component duchies are the Duchy of Vascony (Basques), Duchy of Aquitaine (the Coast), Duchy of Occitania (Central+Pyrenees), Duchy of Provence (Provence+Savoy) and Duchy of Orleans (By the Loire river )

"Respect" Forn Sithr and Muslims, whatever that means.

Spoiler :

If Forn Sithr want to go to "Midgard", they can do so after they write a will in case the Empress wants to keep them there for some reason. If they turn against us or don't return within 10 years, the will shall be carried out. All those leaving will be warned.
Any Muslims who will be under our rule will be under our full rights and laws as citizens, which wasn't that much during Medieval times anyways, for anyone.

FOREIGN
Peace with Northerners, I guess
Go with whatever <nuke> is going with
Sign official peace with Barcelonia and give up claims on their land. They will now refuse to let Muslim forces to cross into their lands.

Spoiler :

I offer a full peace treaty and a non-aggression pact between us, as well as freer trade through the passes. I would also ask that you turn back any forces of al-Andalus who would disturb this new found peace between us. In exchange, I will drop all our claims on lands of Iberia you currently hold and might hold in the future within the boundaries of the former Visigothic Kingdom.

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Trade will once more flow over the Pyrenees between us, and one day, the fear and hate between our subjects could possibly diminish.


MILITARY
Total: 4 Crossbow Companies, 3 Basque Companies, 1 Siege Company, 1 Horseman Company, 2 Swordsman Company, 3 Visigothic Legions, 3 Catholic Knights
Goals: Limit Islam in Provence, Kick out Castile, Liberate Basques
Notes and Misc spending.
1) A formation of 1 Visigothic Legion and 1 Catholic Knights is known as a Holy Hammer and Anvil formation. AKA HHAA. They will form the core of our armies.
2) We didn&#8217;t raise any Militia, but Irregulars are welcome in our army. Some of our Misc will probably go into that.
3) Naval Caltrops will be scattered in the Mediterranean coasts, the gulf of Bordeaux, River Rhone ect. They will rip into enemy ships while our own will know how to navigate them. Some of our Misc will probably go into that.
4) The Basque Rebellion would do much better when we spend some Misc on spreading the news, arming their peasants (we spent 3EP here already&#8230 and such
5) The Bordeaux Breakthrough will also take some Misc for the supplies to reach Basqueland as well as misdirection to scatter the opposing fleets, letting ours to slip free.
6) Any internal supplies are taken from remaining misc. for our defense.

BREAKOUT OF BORDEAUX-RAISE THE BASQUES
In Bordeaux: 1 Siege, 1 Visigothic Legion, 1 Catholic Knight, 1 Swordsman, 1 Crossbow, Caltrops
Breaking Free: 4 Galleys, Siege Galleys, 1 Catholic Knight, 1 Visigothic Legion, 1 Basque Archer
Goals: Secure Bordeaux, Clear the Bay of Bordeaux, Free Basqueland, Free Aquitaine
Steps: 1) Secure Bordeaux 2) Feint southward 3) Breaking Free 4) March to the Sea (North then South) 5) Liberate Basqueland

Spoiler :

1) We will repair the walls and place caltrops, set up our fleet and seek to trap the Castilians outside. Our Siege engines, combined with our Siege Galleys will cover our walls, and our Catholic Knights will sortie and destroy more aggressive attemps.
2) Feint Southward- break out and head towards the Pyrenees as if we are about to invade through known passes-preferably with a fast group of Catholic Knights. These will later wheel around and return at night, but not after scaring several of their feudal knights and maybe convincing some of the catholic ones to rejoin us.
3) While they try to chase down our Knights, we will at night quietly leave the bay. By dawn we should be behind the fleet. Our Siege galley and transports will be in the center, surrounded by our normal galleys. Our siege galleys will start taking down their fire galleys. They approach and we get out of range-goal is to destroy at least some ships before leaving. After destroying ships with our long-range weapons, caltrop shoals, ect we will set oar towards Basqueland! Our ships will travel faster than their messangers, especially as the Catholic Knights are still making themselves useful.
4) At the same time as we draw their fleet out, their forces in the north and south sides are suddenly divided. Sally forth and crush the northern, then the southern force. Our main army will then march first northward to the Loire (and maybe help Franks there). Later, they will help southward.
5) With the element of surprise we will land at Basqueland, rouse the rebel cells, buy new weapons armor, destroy the forts of Castile with our Siege galleys, ect ect. Garrison the mountains south of Basqueland and we&#8217;re home free!
UBERSUCCESS: Basque force moves north, Loire force moves south, and we recapture southern Aquitaine.
UBERDUPERSUCCESS: March for Madrid itself with 2 Visigothic Legions, 2 Catholic Knights, 1 Siege, 1 Swordsman, 1 Basque Archer, X Aquitaine Irregulars and X Basque Irregulars

PROVENCE PROTECTION-MUSLIM BARBEQUE WITH A SIDE OF MUSTARD
Forces: 1 Swordsman Company, 1 Visigothic Legion, 1 Catholic Knight, 1 Crossbow, 1 Basque Archer, 1 Horsemen
Goals: Prevent Islamic expansion across the Rhone or pass the Mountains (alps, Provence, ect)
Steps: 1) Hold Arles, 2) Hold the Rhone, 3) Hold the Massif

Spoiler :

Arles is the city right next to the Rhone
Rhone is the river
The Massif is a range of rugged hills just north of the Rhone.
For Arles, soldiers inside, Horsemen+knights outside raiding and killing the Muslims. Once they breach the walls the Legions stall for our army to retreat and destroy the bridges. Then use the Rhone as our defensive line.

I&#8217;ll just send them now.

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Terrance888 said:

Spoiler :

Electorate of Aquitaine/Terrance888
Color: Red
Government: Feudal Monarchy, Holy Roman Elector
Stability: 0
Economy: 10/0
Army: 2 Visigothic Legionary Companies, 3 Basque Archer Companies, 3 Crossbow Companies, 2 Catholic Knights (Requires 1 Upkeep)
Navy: 4 Galley Groups, 1 Siege Galley Group
Religion: Catholicism (9)
Religious Minorities: Forn Siðr (1/3)
Literacy: 11 (Low Middle Ages)
Influence: 12
Projects: Librus Domni (4/4), Forts of the Pyrenees (6/6)

Spending
1 on Upkeep
1 to Logistics
2 to Axum
1 to 1 Visigothic Legionary Companies
1 to 1 Catholic Knights
1 to Missionaries in Basqueland and Islamic Provence
1 to Tithe the Church (If they don't accept or spend it, use it on Rebuilding wartorn areas)
2 to 4 Crossbow Companies

Foreign
Sign Peace with Badajoz
Sign Peace treaty with Caliphate
IDK about Vandals. Sign if Nuke does.

Spoiler :

Hand over land south of Elbo River to Barcelona.
They give up about 10 pixels of Provence near the river and get 10 pixels the other direction. More or less.

Declare Official Nuetrality in the Nilotic War for these years.
Send Axum aid secretly.

Spoiler :

I don't care how you do it or how it happens; the upmost secrecy is required with watertight alibis and all that jazz. It should be secret enough that they need to spend more than 2EP to find this.

Spoiler :

We can smuggle it a few coins at a time via merchants. We can smuggle it in as part of an embassy. We can smuggle it in as part of a church mission to research the difference between Coptics and Christians. We can smuggle it in with a batch of nurses. Some logistics go here.

Aid to Basqueland.

Spoiler :

Release our 3 Basque Archer Companies to Basqueland, and hand over some of our southern coast (about 1/3 the way up the coast) which are traditionally Basque. This will help keep their stability up and give them decent income and defendable borders, as well as a place to go if their Al-Andalus base is destroyed.

Aid to Italy

Spoiler :

Send 2 Visigothic Legionaries, 2 Catholic Knights, and 4 Crossbowmen into Italy and defend them where they will. The 4 Crossbowmen will be divided 1 each into Venice, Rome, Naples and Pisa. 1 of the Holy Legion will be based in Rome and the other in Naples. Their task is 1: defend Italy and 2: Aid Naples in the offense if they are on the verge of victory. I will repeat this in military section.

Domestic
It is a time of rebuilding. The Wars of Holy Rome is over, but the war of the Two Romes (Byzantine v.s. Rome) continues. However, we with war now a distant endeavor we will attempt to keep it that way. Expeditionary forces will be sent abroad while at home, reconstruction of our nation both physically, spiritually and mentally will occur.
MISSIONARIES
They will go to Basqueland, Provence, and within our own nations. Doing their thing, they will help local evangelists convert heathens, forn sithrites and muslims as well as maintain the faith wherever they can, trying to maintain their composure and refrain from aggression.
TRADE
With the border of the Pyrenees broken, and peace officially declared for the first time since 711 A.D. and especially with the declaration of mutual respect, trade should boom. Especially between Arles with Barcelona and Islamic Provence, and Bordeaux to Palompa Basqueland, and Badajoz.

Military
AID TO ITALY

Spoiler :

Send 2 Visigothic Legionaries, 2 Catholic Knights, and 4 Crossbowmen into Italy and defend them where they will. The 4 Crossbowmen will be divided 1 each into Venice, Rome, Naples and Pisa. 1 of the Holy Legion will be based in Rome and the other in Naples. Their task is 1: defend Italy and 2: Aid Naples in the offense if they are on the verge of victory. I will repeat this in military section.

AID TO NAVAL BATTLES
All Ships will help in naval battles of Venice, whereever they see best. Remember that Siege Gallies outrange their Fire Triremes. I see a good combo of cypri-dromons blocking Fireships while Siege gallies tear them apart from afar.
DEFENSE

Spoiler :

1 Visigothic Legion, 1 Catholic Knight, 3 Archers

These 5 units will defend, with special attention to Islamic Provence.

Click to expand...

Terrance888 said:

Spoiler :

Electorate of Aquitaine/Terrance888
Government: Feudal Monarchy, Holy Roman Elector
Stability: 1
Economy: 11/10
Army: 3 Visigothic Legionary Companies, 7 Crossbow Companies, 3 Catholic Knights (Requires 1 Upkeep)
Navy: 4 Galley Groups, 1 Siege Galley Group
Religion: Catholicism (9)
Religious Minorities: Forn Siðr (1/3)
Literacy: 11 (Low Middle Ages)
Influence: 12
Projects: Librus Domni (4/4), Forts of the Pyrenees (6/6)

1-Upkeep
2-Supplies
4-2Visigerries, 2Cathys
4-2CD'ss, 2Siegegals
10-20 Swordsman Companies

Result: 5 Visigothic legionary Companies, 5 Catholic Knights, 7 Crossbow Companies, 20 Swordsman Companies, 4 Galley Groups, 2 Cypri-Dromons, 3 Siege Galleys.

Military: Follow the War Orders in the Social group.

IN ADDITION.
1- Keep an eye out for Badajoz's Transport for their EP support. Try to take it out if possible with our navy.
2- Our Visigothic Legionaries and Catholic Knights will form a core of steel and faith in the center of our army, and our Swordsmen will hold the enemy's lines while we see the tides of battle and throw said core where they are needed.
3- We are buying supplies. This also includes Crusading Irregulars and the like.
4- Some of the Islamic nations we are invading have scholarly buildings. Don't burn them. use some supplies to bring scholars and translate the text to Latin and bring them home for study.
5- Our Siege Galleys, again, will outrange most generalized ships. In addition to that, they will be defended from the melee by Cypri-Dromons
6- DON'T LET HATE RISE AGAINST THE IBERIAN MUSLIMS, we need them for now, continue trading in the Al Andalus (and buy Toledo Iron Swords )
7- We want to be chivalrous. No Massacres, no indiscrimanent killings (for the Aquitaine troops anyways). We have the money to pay for supplies we confiscate, and we have the will to prove our selves their betters by example instead of words. HOWEVER, do not limit our warmaking abilities. If they shield behind civilians, we kill both the civilian and the craven soldier with a ballista bolt.

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Terrance888 said:

Generally, follow the War Orders posted by SamSniped. Here be the details, listen carefully, for they are awesome.

1) The Assassination
-We will first probe, then contact disgruntled members of the court: the next Heir, his Empress, his Generals, the (probably shocked) Patriarch, ect
-We will use Jews, who probably enjoyed their 200+years of Toleration in Aquitaine and are historically the Merchants of the Med, being as neutral as they were. If pressed they will claim to be part of a false "Free Rome from Idiots" group, for the lulz "Illuminati".
-We will try to coordinate all attempts in as close as possible. The steak is poisoned, and so is the wine with a different poison. His wife/mistress has hidden a knife in the pillows to use while they are making love. His general placed a trapdoor under the war council, and filled the pit with greek fire. Meanwhile crossbowmen place their sights on his inflated head while sneaky fellows prepare to stab him in the back. The holy water during communion is poisoned, the priest prepared to light and throw a grenade of greek fire at the Emperor. AT THE SAME/AS CLOSELY AS POSSIBLE (1 day-1 week) to prevent counteraction.

2) Defending the Pope
We will be flexible. Half of our forces defending the pope are willing to move out quickly to counteract enemy advances, even against orders of the new Emperor from Venice.

3) Defending the Homeland
I have a bad feeling that Badajoz will try something. Warn Basqueland to be wary, and stiffen their defenses with 1 1 of my Marinas, which will be useful in guarding the mostly coastal Basqueland.

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Terrance888 said:

Name: Satura / Aureas Orangesmith / Terrance888
Capital: Waset
Economy: 3(-1)/24
Trait: Industrious
Reputation: 56
Technologies: [Iron Age] Subterfuge, Cartography, Acupuncture
Soldiers: 1 Horseman (Border Defense), 1 Swordsman (Border Defense), 1 Inquisitor (Waset), 1 Inquisitor (Ur), 1 Inquisitor (Ulanbaatar), 1 Longship (Lotalogas), 1 Longship (Aureapolis), 1 Swordsman (Aureapolis), 1 Swordsman (Longship in Lotalogas), 1 Freelancer (Aureapolis)
Buildings: Farm (Waset), Great Lighthouse (Lotalogas), Orangesmith's Archive (Sereg), Roads, Oracle of the Farseer (Waset), Archiver's Mint (Waset), Grand Temple of Zorrkanism (Waset), Forge (Sereg),
Trade Goods: Gold (To Land of the Sun 3 Turns Remaining), Seasoned Drunk Hare (To Tatui 4 Turns Remaining), Stone Wares (To Land of the Sun 1 Turn Remaining), Potterscraft (To Zulappi 4 Turns Remaining), Jewelry (To Persia 2 Turns Remaining), Akten's Ale (To Persia 1 Turn Remaining), Hemp (To Punt 3 Turns Remaining)
Social Cohesion: 15

Name: Sudan / Vassal of Satura-RENAMED NUBIA
Capital: Napata
Economy: 2/2
Trait: Militaristic
Reputation: 10
Technologies: [Iron Age] (Satura Technologies)
Soldiers: 2 Swordsmen (Napata)
Buildings: Forge (Napata), Aureas' Forge (Napata)
Trade Goods: Spices (To Land of the Sun 2 Turns Remaining), Roasted Koughfee (To Punt 2 Turns Remaining), Silver (To Persia 3 Turns Remaining)
Social Cohesion: 13

STORY BONUSES
Satura Bonuses
+2 Scientific=>Engineering. +Construction=>Forge (Irud
+Scientific=>Astronomy
Sudan Bonuses
+1 Scientific=>Paper ledgers
+ Freelancer

WONDER BONUSES
+1 SP=>Archives
+8 SP => Oracle
-1 naval unit Costs
+2 Naval Unit tactics=>Great Lighthouse
-2 All unit costs=> Forges

OTHER INCOME
+1EP From Shang
+3EP From Persia

SATURA SPENDING
24+4=28 to spend
1EP-> Punt (Old Agreement)
1EP-> Punt (new Agreement)-Do they like me any more than before?
4EP-> Land of the Sun (Save their skins!)
===1SP+8SP+2SP=>10SP for Engineering (11/15)
4EP to finish Engineering
===1CP-> Basically Free Forge
--18EP Left
5EP to Nubian
4EP for 4 Galleys
3EP for 3 Heavy Catapults
3EP for 3 Cataphrats
1EP for Last Freelancer
1EP to Upgrade Horsemen-> Cataphrat
1EP to Inquisitor for Nubia

NUBIAN SPENDING
2EP+5
4 Swordsmen
3 Galleys

SATURA DIPLOMACY
PUNT
-They get 1EP for Last Turn&#8217;s Agreement
-They get 1EP for This Turn&#8217;s Agreement
-Cartography For Free
-They get Pitch
-I get Playing Cards
-House of Nubia migrates to Sudan
-Sudan Renamed Nubia
-Joins me in War: 2 Swordsmen 1 Galley

LAND OF THE SUN
-They Get: All My Techs
-They Get: 4EP- for 1 Tower, 1 Spearmen->Swordsmen
-They Get: My Support
-They Get: Akten&#8217;s Ale Export

KHANATE
-They Get: Ballistics&#8230; from SUDAN, not SATURA.
-I Get: Remove Inquisitors

KUSH
-They Get: My Disapproval
-I Get: Fear via defeating their best spearman
-I get: 5-turn Non aggression pact

NUBIAN
-They Get: 2EP
-They Get: House of Nubia
-They Get: Renamed

PERSIA
-They Get: Stonewares
-They Get: Iron Working
-I get: 3EP

ZULL
Non-Aggression this turn

HEAVENLY DRAGON
The Sunrise and The Sunset pact has been signed

TATUI
-They Get: Coin Purses
- I Get: Epic Songs

TRADE DASHBOARD
Import/Export Agreements
Wine/Koughphee
Playing Cards/Pitch-Punt
Dye/Ale-Land of the Sun
Epic Songs/Coin Purses
Grouper/Hair-Tatui
Naked Shoes/Potterscraft-Zull
Silver/Whips-Persia
Baskets/Stonecraft-Persia
Exports
Gold,
Spices to Land of the Sun
Jewelry to Persia
Hemp to Punt

Exports: 12=0EP
Imports: 8=8EP
Trade Routes: 20=40EP
TOTAL: 48+10SP <-back in the game, baby!

MILITARY
HELP LAND OF THE SUN
Nubian: 3 Galleys + 6 Swordsmen
Punt: 1 Galley +2 Swordsmen
Satura: 4 Galleys+3 Heavy Catapults+3 Cataphrats+2 Swordsmen
1 Longship=3 Freelancers (1 at Aureapolis, 1 Free, 1 New)

Idea: 2 fleets will sail upriver, taking advantage of their relative immunity to lay waste and cut into Stoned flanks while the main army will march on land between them, connecting the stacks and allowing the +3 Freelancer bonuses for everybody!

2 River Attack Forces:
1 Saturan Galley with 1 Heavy Catapults, 1 Cataphrat, Galley has Retreat
1 Nubian Galley with 2 Swordsmen (Galley with Wary, Swordsmen with Ambush and Charge)
Heavy Catapults will bombard the sides of the formations, with the Cataphrat in rrve to help open up gaps for the Land Attack forces. The Ambush swordsmen will aid the Cataphrat, and the Charge Swordsmen will attack Bombarding enemies

Land Attack Forces
2 Nubian Swordsmen (1 Wary 1 Ambush
Possible: 1 Ambush Solar Swordsmen
2 Puntic Swordsmen (Put on the second line, but if the battle ends quickly let them fight at least 1 enemy unit)
1 Heavy Catapult
1 Cataphrat (Attack First)
2 Saturan Swordsmen
3 Freelancers (+3 Bonus to everyone!)
The Land Attack Forces will surge forward,w tih Cataphrats and Nubian Swordsmen leading the way. Wary Swordsmen will catch enemy ambushes, while ambushing swordsmen will help cut into their lines. When the enemy is found the 4 other swordsmen will attack with Catapult cover with freelancers in rrve while providing bonus-river force will attack the flanks at this time.

2 River Defense Forces
All the remaining transport boats will guard the River Attack Forces from enemy fleets/bombardments.
1 Saturan Galley each
1 Nubian Galley one side, and Puntic galley the other side
The Longship will remain outside of the river area.

DEFEND SATURA
Swordsman in Lotalogas joins Saturan Cataphrat for border patrol. Nubia will be included in their patrols. +Wary for Swordsmen.

INQUISITORS
1 Inquisitor Each in these areas: Land of the Sun, Persia, Satura, Nubia. They will keep auto-intercepting enemy agents and stuff.

CONTINGENCY
If they bypass Ur, then have the riverfleets sail on their merry way to take over Kurdia while the main army traps theirs.

DOMESTIC
Reconstitute Sudan as Nubia.
Next age=Social Cohesion Reevaluation=Loads of social cohesion problems=sigh.
The homeland will slowly orient to a number of established &#8220;kingdoms&#8221; while Octavian is away, and although Octavian has the general support of all the nobles he stablished, not all of appreciate him perfectly well.
If you can tell, I am making more problems for myself on purpose.

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Terrance888 said:

Name: Satura / Aureas Orangesmith / Terrance888
Capital: Waset
Economy: 3(-4)/11
Trait: Industrious
Reputation: 63
Technologies: [Iron Age] Subterfuge, Cartography, Acupuncture, Engineering, Paper Ledgers (1/20), Astrology (1/20)
Soldiers: 1 Cataphrat (Border Defense), 1 Inquisitor (Waset), 1 Inquisitor (Levant), 1 Inquisitor (Napata), 1 Longship (Lotalogas), 1 Swordsman (Border Patrol), 3 Heavy Catapults (Land of the Sun Battle Lines), 3 Galleys (Between a Rock and a Hard Place)
Buildings: Farm (Waset), Great Lighthouse (Lotalogas), Orangesmith's Archive (Sereg), Roads, Oracle of the Farseer (Waset), Archiver's Mint (Waset), Grand Temple of Zorrkanism (Waset), Forge (Sereg), Forge (Waset)
Trade Goods: Gold (To Land of the Sun 2 Turns Remaining), Seasoned Drunk Hare (To Tatui 3 Turns Remaining), Stone Wares (To Persia 3 Turns Remaining), Potterscraft (To Zulappi 4 Turns Remaining), Jewelry (To Persia 1 Turn Remaining), Akten's Ale (To Land of the Sun 3 Turns Remaining), Hemp (To Punt 2 Turns Remaining), Pitch (To Punt 3 Turns Remaining)
Social Cohesion: 11

SPENDING
11+11+1=23
2 to Nubia
2 to Magan
1 to Punt
1 for Forge at Iruba (NOTE, the other forge is at Eliat, not Wasat)
11+1 for Grand Aqueduct at Aureapolis
1 for Aqueduct at Lotalogas
+1SP for Paper Ledgers (Archives)
+4SP for Paper Ledgers (Archives)
3 for 1 Economic Growth-ERASE THE PLAGUE; Satura with Aqueducts is a Clean Satura
2EP for Library at Iruba and start researching Plague stuff

MILITARY
Inquisitor at Waset move to Iruba to make sure that they rejoin us.
1 Heavy Catapult will patrol Magan for now, the rest come back
1 Galley will patrol Magan Gulf
2 Galleys will patrol Aureapolis
1 Longship+1 Swordsman will head west, and set up the colony of Aktenset at the easternmost point we can find.
2 Heavy Catapults +1 Cataphrat patrol->Expand southward!

FOREIGN
Send Engineering + Domestication to Persia for 11EP
Get 1EP from Empire of the Dragon, give it to Punt (see spending)
Vassalize Nubia and Magan
Um... trade Snake Oil for Glass with Magan this turn? I will at least get the income.
Sign the stupid treaty of stupid stupidness.

DOMESTIC
Cure the plague with aquducts, record everything in library/archives, and make jobs with all the building and cleaning up we have to do, as well as collecting all teh back taxes

Click to expand...

Terrance888 said:

Spoiler stats :

Bantu Ubuntu
Terrance888
Government: Democratic Consociationalism
Capital: Kinshaa
Population: 17,103,150 (military: 161,400 / growth: 0.6% )
Economy:
&#8226; Economic Points: banked: 8 , income: 9.17
&#8226; Agriculture: 13.0 / 11.5
&#8226; Industry: 6.0 / 5.8
&#8226; Energy: 6.4 / 5.9

Happiness:
&#8226; Senate ( 5 / 4 / "Electorial fairness is hard without an infrastructure." )
&#8226; Military Officers ( 3 / 5 / "Some amongst us would seize power if given the chance." )
&#8226; Peasantry ( 4 / 3 / "Employment." )
&#8226; Eastern Shona Warlords ( 2 / 3 / "Just leave us alone." )

Technologies
&#8226; Fuel Cells 100%
&#8226; Solar Energy 73%
Military:
&#8226; Army ( quality: 3 )
, 16 Infantry (draft animal and march)
&#8226; Navy ( quality: 2 )
6 Sail Warship , 2 Destroyer (bio-diesel)
&#8226; Airforce ( quality: 3 )
7 Propeller Fighter , 6 Propeller Bomber
&#8226; Espionage Quality: 2.0

Spending: 8
3 to finish Solar Energy (3/11+8/11=COMPLETE)
3 to build Solar Panel Factories
2 to Start a Census for the Department of Infrastructure

Domestic
Solar Energy Exploitation
Yup, we will complete the Solar Energy tech and use it! To start we will give a Tax Break to those who uses Solar Panels to build their roofs (or any other thing); not only will it make middle-class craftsmen factory workers more energy dependent, but give our new Solar Panel Factories a strong demand for their products; Solar panels! We build more solar panels, they buy more solar panels, we hire more people! We will control the Factories, but we might consider selling parts of the shipping, installing, and raw materiel businesses for more $$$. Also, some factories will also take this tax break and will offset some of their energy needs, reducing the load on our electrical infrastructure.
Result: More Energy, More Production, Happier Peasants!

Census and Infrastructure
We will start a new Census of our population distribution, usage of food, energy, wealth whatever. Spread the news to officials via Radio, then collect the results later. If 2 EP is WAY to little, then tell me. If not, then 2 EP is all you get!
We will also start the Department of Infrastructure under the Department of the Interior. They will manage all interprovincial highways, railways, as well as airports. This turn we will just use Census results to plain our major highways and railways, while putting heli-pads or dirt paths to more out of the way villages. Our goal is to increase electoral fairness, connect our nation, and agitate (err... increase0 trade. Possible income: Tolls on long distance, hard to maintain highways, rents for businesses near the Airports, Running Trains, selling nonessential items if needed. Note: All routes considered important to our army for marching, or especially Rail Riding, and for our raw materials are to be considered essential.

Trade and the Bantu-Shona Treaty
The Shona agreed that it is best to continue to observe the Bantu-Shona treaty due after a meeting with their top warlords and President Vuai Kagunda. They were given the ability to set predetermined tolls to be voted at their local councils (which, due to fear of each other, will keep it low) and verified by their representative at the Senate. Bounties are also given on the heads on any Caravan Raiders, to be pursued by the Shona themselves and turned in for income. With this carrot-stick procedure, the Trade is secured.

Foreign
Continue trading with the Sub-Saharan Pact, as well as with any nation willing.
Denounce the Manchurian-Korean war, simply because of the aggression. Don&#8217;t specify whose aggression.
Send Ambassadors to industrial countries to see if we can discern the designs of their factories, (semi-espionage). Don&#8217;t be obvious about it though&#8230; just tour various factories as part of the good will and don&#8217;t seek to actually steal any blueprints yet.

Military
The military base of Brazzaville Port outside of Kinshasan Port and Kastle Kinshasa will be manned by a mix of battalions from our various generals, to be rotated every 6 months. In addition, a Senatorial Guard is to be set up to Garrison Kinshasa-Brazzaville instead, and they will be drawn from the loyal Kinshasa-Brazzaville population and be trained in holding actions (to allow the senate to escape) and urban warfare.
The Generals are encouraged to engage in various wargames. Ranging from civil-war esque senerios where one General must subdue a rebel one to invasion ones with three generals on each side who must cooperate. They will be using training non lethal weapons and held safely from Kinshasa-Brazzaville.

Other
On all official documents, Kinshasa-Brazzaville will be known as Kinshazaville unless if being noted as the center of the senate, wherein it will be called Kastle Kinshasa, or if they are called separately to denote differences in policy, where they will be known as Port Kinshasa and Port Brazzaville respectively. This is to shorten the pain in our Glorious President Vuai Kagunda&#8217;s hands when he has to copy down a bill for his files.

Click to expand...

See Also:

• Supplemental Material 1
• Supplemental Material 2

Supplemental 2 overrides Supplemental 1 wherever they conflict.

PRELUDE
Japan exists in an increasingly precarious international situation. The sakoku policy of exclusion was increasingly tested in the early 19th century, with the Russian Empire launching attacks on Sakhalin and the Chishima Islands from 1805&#8211;1808, the aggressive actions of the HMS Phaeton in 1808 in Nagasaki harbor resulting in the establishment of the ikokusen uchiharairei (Edict to Repel Foreign Vessels)&#8212;and a new focus on English and Russian translation capabilities instead of merely Dutch&#8212;in 1825, the British claim of the Bonin Islands in 1827 and American settlement of the same in 1830, and many other national insults. Debate rages as to how Japan should respond to increasing foreign transgressions, and its isolationist and exclusionist policy is not absolute, with rangaku (Dutch Learning) having gone on since the beginning of the sakoku policy, and trade continuing to be conducted officially with Korea and the Netherlands and unofficially with China.

The domestic situation is hardly less complex. The Tokugawa bakufu, established at the end of the sengoku jidai, is stagnating and the basis of its power is unraveling under the long peace. The land is divided into han, each ruled over by a lord&#8212;a daimy&#333;&#8212;and defined by kokudaka (rice yield in koku). These daimy&#333; come in three categories: fudai, often appointed to the sh&#333;gunate's administrative positions and placed at key strategic points; shinpan, relatives of the sh&#333;gun; and tozama, the richest, largest, or most powerful, which are largely excluded from the government and kept in check through political marriages and familial hostages. In addition to having been implemented to curb the spread of Catholicism, the sakoku policy was also intended to limit the wealth and power of many of the tozawa daimy&#333;. Coupled with the mibun t&#333;sei rei (Separation Edict) which sharply stratifies social classes along lines first promulgated in ancient China (the shi, n&#333;, k&#333;, sh&#333; or Four Occupations) this has lead to an uneasy era of stagnation that masks great tensions.

DETERIORATION
Those tensions are put under further strain in 1836. Following the already bad disasters of the 1834 Edo K&#333;go Fire and 1835 Sanriku Earthquake, the ongoing Great Tenp&#333; Famine hits full stride, in part due to climatic variance and the inflexibility of the economic pricing and taxation system synergizing with declines in rice production and rising prices. In addition to wide-spread starvation and famine, this also results in government revenue decline due to a drop in kokudaka. The spread of disease in the famine's wake claims yet more lives, and the stagnant economic prospects of the samurai pushes many into the hands of the fudashi (rice brokers), which only exacerbates economic imbalances. The reigning sh&#333;gun, Tokugawa Ienari, is by this time lecherous degenerate who fills his days with pleasure and excess and cares nothing for the suffering of the masses, so nothing is done to address the worsening situation. It seems like something has to give.

So it is that on Sunday, May 15, 1836, Tokugawa Ienari is assassinated during the events of the Kanda matsuri in Edo by unknown assailants. Although he was not the first sh&#333;gun to be killed (Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was murdered by his wife), he was the first to be politically assassinated. This, coupled with his long rule (49 years) makes the action particularly shocking. The professionalism with which he and his immediate bodyguard are dispatched in the confusion of the matsuri leads some to conclude his death to be the work of shinobi, possibly even some long-forgotten remnant of the Iga or K&#333;ga (ironic if true, given both had served the Tokugawa at various times). Accusations fly that he has been murdered by tozama daimy&#333;, by the Emperor Ayahito, by one of his sons, by one of his many wives, or even&#8212;for his shamelessness&#8212;by the kami themselves. The truth is rather simpler, though known to virtually none: Date Yoshitaka, a leading member of the senior branch of the Date clan in the Sendai Domain, ordered the assassination in retaliation for the devastation the Great Tenp&#333; Famine wrought on his daimy&#333;'s lands. The origin of the assassins remains a mystery.

The chaos that follows the death of Tokugawa Ienari is immediate, and it is several weeks (early June, 1836) until Tokugawa Ieyoshi establishes himself as sh&#333;gun, having been away from Edo and unprepared for these events. In the meantime, the tozama and other interested factions, led by Date Yoshitaka from behind the scenes, make a power play, appealing for the Emperor to weigh in on affairs, although he observes protocol and tradition and remains silent&#8212;for the time-being. At the same time, motivated by the suffering of the people, &#332;shio Heihachir&#333; burns down roughly a quarter of Osaka, and inspires numerous ikki rebellions that cross class lines among the disaffected whom the famine has most adversely affected. While most of these latter are simple acts of localized brigandry, some become notable regional security threats. Tokugawa Ieyoshi, discerning the efforts of the tozama to advance their position through the oniwaban secret police and simultaneously dealing with the minor uprisings, implements a harsh crackdown even while promising reforms, punitively increasing annual obligations on the tozama (setting sankin-k&#333;tai rotations at 6 months instead of a year, to begin in 3 months, and setting more arduous public works schedules) even as he demands they assist in restoring the status quo. This in turn pushes the the tozama to pursue a more aggressive posture.

DATE YOSHITAKA
Born in 1812 and 24 at the time of the ongoing crisis, Date Yoshitaka would at first seem to be unnaturally young to be such an influential figure in the Date clan. This would be without reckoning for his force of personality and machinations. Greatly inspired by his clan ancestor, Date Masamune, and appalled at the ongoing Great Tenp&#333; Famine, Yoshitaka was driven to delve deeply into study of the Sengoku jidai to search for an answer to the ongoing crisis in the face of bakufu apathy. It was during these studies that he became convinced that Oda Nobunaga's vision for Japan had been betrayed by his successors Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, and that this distortion of vision had only become worse under Tokugawa's descendants. After months of significant consultation of period accounts of the Sengoku jidai and what material was available to him on rangaku, he determines the bakufu must be reformed or abolished. His precise views on what should come about instead remain initially nebulous, although it is clear to him that Japan cannot remain isolated under the sakoku policy.

It is within this context that he arranges for the assassination of Tokugawa Ienari (through means still mysterious) and&#8212;utilizing this as leverage over his daimy&#333; Date Narikuni, for if it were made public the entire Date clan would likely be wiped out in reprisal&#8212;begins to proactively exercise control over the Date from behind the scenes. Being a figure with less than the utmost importance in the clan, he is free to move about and negotiate with daimy&#333; without raising suspicion. It is he who orchestrates the airing of grievances and request for intervention to the Emperor (through an intermediary) and it is he who is ultimately behind the brewing tozama rebellion.

ESCALATION
By early July the situation between the bakufu and tozawa becomes sufficiently confused and vicious that Date Yoshitaka is able to assemble (with the help of a trusted translator) a letter to King William IV of the United Kingdom requesting arms (principally flintlocks and cannons) and advisors to be delivered to remote locations in tozawa secured areas. He manages to obtain the ka&#333; of many likeminded daimy&#333; and clan leaders to endorse it through the argument that foreign aid and superior technology (many remembering the Nagasaki Harbor Incident) will 1. provide a trump card that will force the bakufu to negotiate, 2. result in the forceful abandonment of the sakoku system to the benefit of the tozawa, 3. provide a decisive advantage if negotiations break down and hostilities occur, and 4. entangle a foreign power's interests in the outcome of the war and so prevent their intervention in a way detrimental to the aims of the tozawa. This letter is given to a Dutchman who is paid handsomely for its transmission and his loyalty in the matter, and it is expected to arrive in November to December, with a response, if any, coming in April to May of 1837. It is at this time that the aligned tozawa may first be designated as the renritsu (Coalition), although the term does not become popularized until the next year. The stage is set for a showdown between renritsu and bakufu, between Coalition and Sh&#333;gunate.

The immediate aims of the renritsu are muted. In an effort to avoid detection by oniwaban, they make efforts to stockpile arms in secret and stall or accede to the bakufu's demands regarding putting down the ikki. (It is notable that when possible the renritsu do not actually destroy the ikki but attempt to convince them to temporarily stand down and side with the renritsu when the time is right. This policy is difficult to implement but manages some success, although word also occasionally leaks that something suspicious is occurring.) Gunsmiths are bought up by the renritsu and moved to remote regions within their territory to resume production of tanegashima matchlock guns in warfighting quantities during this time to gain a military edge over the bakufu. Samurai, often at this point bureaucrats rather than warriors, are more extensively deployed and trained under the pretext of dealing with the ikki, as are ashigaru, with the process being used to determine combat fitness. The different tozawa of the renritsu commit to this with varying degrees of enthusiasm&#8212;Date takes them extremely seriously, as do, interestingly, Shimazu of Satsuma han. There are also efforts to find and locate within the populace r&#333;nin and those otherwise inclined to and skilled in fighting to function as, effectively, Non-Commissioned Officers&#8212;it is regarded as inevitable that peasant conscripts or volunteers will need to be mobilized to fight and beat the bakufu. &#332;shio Heihachir&#333; is notably recruited during this time, and hidden from bakufu authorities.

The bakufu, for its part, is aware that something is occurring, and makes its own efforts to improve its readiness, although their efforts are focused upon the samurai and ashigaru and increasing the fortifications of certain points of strategic control and access&#8212;this likewise done under the pretext of the ikki and increased brigandry.

This continues from July through December, during which the ikki are increasingly put down by the bakufu side or restrained by the renritsu and the accelerated-schedule sankin-k&#333;tai processions come into effect. What is not immediately obvious is that the renritsu daimy&#333; bring with them some of their most skilled warriors disguised as servants and assign only the most loyal samurai as their official retinue, and so a highly skilled military force is slowly but surely infiltrating Edo. The intent of this is to break the renritsu daimy&#333; and families out of the city by providing a fighting retreat so they might escape by horse or boat in the event of conflict. There are rumors among the upper echelons of the renritsu that shinobi are also being deployed. From the surface, the situation appears to have returned to normal. It is to be merely the calm before the storm. Date Yoshitaka has set the deadline for the renritsu mobilization and issuance of an ultimatum to the bakufu for February 3, 1837&#8212;setsubun&#8212;as a symbolic gesture.

PRELUDE
Elements of what are by this time standard in European warfare, such as volley-fire from defensive positions (Battle of Nagashino, 1575) and cavalry charges (Battle of Mikatagahara, 1573), were independently discovered during the sengoku jidai, and during that time, Japan was the world leader in firearms production. These tactics and the use of firearms as a whole declined under the Tokugawa bakufu due to a lack of need. In the context of the looming bakufu-renritsu conflict, they require revisiting.

EXTERNALITIES
Having sought the assistance of the British, renritsu forces make contact with representatives of the British East India Company in late December, 1836. Negotiations occur on-site over the course of several days. Although this early arrival is unexpected, it is rapidly surmised by the local renritsu delegation that the BEIC must be acting without orders from London. That said, due to the time-constraints imposed by Date Yoshitaka's ultimatum deadline, neither he nor other high-ranking officials could arrive in a reasonable time to negotiate directly either. The ranking local renritsu representative, Maeda Kaneda of the Maeda clan, assumes responsibility based on instructions from renritsu leadership. Negotiations are somewhat tense, but the following deal is reached:

1. The BEIC will be permitted to dock at any given Japanese port, albeit subject to customs and tariffs.
2. The BEIC will be allowed to purchase land in Japanese ports for the establishment of facilities (docks, warehouses, etc.) at its own expense in the post-conflict environment. These facilities will remain the sovereign territory of Japan. Negotiation of purchase of such land will be assisted by the post-conflict government and not blocked provided it does not appear to contravene the direct interests of the state, and if the land in question is government-owned, will be sold at fair price. It is implied, but not stated, that the BEIC will not be allowed to build facilities far inland.
3. BEIC personnel and all British citizens will be subject to extraterritoriality within a "reasonable distance" of these facilities, but otherwise subject to Japanese law unless they enjoy official diplomatic status. This distance goes undefined at this time, but is understood on the Japanese side to probably be less than a mile.
4. Post-conflict, a Japanese legal interface office will be set up to observe extraterritorial cases (and submit findings to the government to diplomatically protest their outcome if it disagrees), to direct British citizens to British legal aide for Japanese court proceedings (for whatever use that may be), and to translate Japanese laws into English for provision to British citizens and/or their legal counsel to minimize diplomatic and criminal incidents.
5. The customs and tariffs upon the BEIC shall not be excessive, and the same treatment shall be afforded to any Japanese traders entering BEIC territory.
6. In return for this, the BEIC will supply the renritsu with approximately 20,000 flintlock rifles, some 40,000 flintlock muskets, and around 1,000 modern artillery, as well as personnel skilled in their training, tactical experts, and and military historians. The BEIC also agrees to cooperate in naval interdiction, but no ground forces are requested from it. There is no mention of repayment for these resources.
7. The BEIC can be anticipated to, but may or may not actually send, personnel to learn Japanese as translators, and/or observers.

Although he is unaware of developments in China and Korea, Maeda Kaneda believes these terms to accord well with the renritsu's policy of abandoning sakoku and providing carrots to the BEIC, while at the same time maintaining Japanese territorial integrity and honor. In effect, he has arranged for a large supply of arms to be delivered to renritsu forces for the only real concession of limited extraterritoriality. News is relayed to renritsu commanders, and the British depart before New Years. It is anticipated they return before the deadline (circa late January); renritsu leaders meanwhile, are largely pleased by the terms. The deal becomes known as the Treaty of Minazuki Bay, after the meeting place on the Noto Peninsula.

REORGANIZATION
While waiting for the BEIC to deliver weapons, the renritsu leadership plans out how it will restructure its forces. Date and Shimazu units, noted as being of the highest quality, are designed as Type 1 readiness (ichigo), with most of the remainder designated as Type 2 readiness (nigo), while volunteers, willing ikki, and ronin are to be designated as Type 3 readiness (sango). (This has the ironic effect of making top-tier troops "strawberries," line troops "concubines," and volunteers "coral.")

1. Type 1 units will form the offensive core of the renritsu army, with all the flintlock rifles and most cannons.
2. Type 2 units will form the the bulk of the army, with most flintlock muskets and some cannons.
3. Type 3 units will function as reserve, guard, and defense forces, with some flintlock muskets and tanegashima matchlocks. Unlike Type 1 and Type 2, composed of samurai and ashigaru, Type 3 units may be led by non-hereditary commanders, or may be allocated commanders, depending.

Although it is predicted that bladed weapons will still see prominence in close-in fighting, cavalry charges, and so on, renritsu forces expect to fight primarily pitched battles with guns. Until such time as the BEIC delivers guns, all three Types are to train with matchlocks and traditional weapons. It is expected roll-out of weapons and training will continue past the deadline, but that truly protracted and intensive fighting will require some mobilization time, providing an opportunity for these units to become acquainted with their weapons while early skirmishes let each side feel the other out. Successful performance by a given unit may result in its elevation in status and equipment; the converse is also true.

Although different renritsu units will come from different han and different daimy&#333;, they may (and will) be under locally unified commands, with Type 1 commanders taking precedence, to minimize battlefield confusion. With the provision of BEIC tacticians and historians, it is expected that tactics will evolve over the course of the war. (The Highland charge of British history will probably be an inspiration, given the ubiquity of bladed weapons; essentially banzai charges.)

DEADLINE
While military preparations are ongoing, Date Yoshitaka and other renritsu leaders finalize their demands on the bakufu and secretly predistribute pamphlets and posters of them for simultaneous release. As setsubun comes around on February 3, 1837, they are promulgated across the nation simultaneously:

1. Abolition of the tozama/fudai/shinpan distinctions.
2. Abolition of the sankin-k&#333;tai practice.
3. Abolition of the sakoku exclusion policy.
4. Repeal of the ikokusen uchiharairei (Edict to Repel Foreign Vessels).
5. Repeal of the mibun t&#333;sei rei (Separation Edict), with attendant possibility for meritocratic progress (hereditary advancement into positions to continue for two generations, not including high government positions, which are to continue indefinitely).
6. Recognition of the terms of the Treaty of Minazuki Bay.
7. Abolition of the kokudaka system and han public works programs, and transition to a nation-wide currency (be it minted, paper, or both) with attendant taxation on trade, sales, and income.
8. Disbandment of the government monopolies on mining and foreign trade, easing of logging restrictions, and land reform.
9. Failure to acknowledge a willingness to meet the above conditions within two months will result in their armed enforcement.

It is expected by the renritsu that the Shogun will reject these demands out of hand and will mobilize immediately, although he may also bide his time and build his forces. It is considered highly unlikely he will simply cave-in. Not content with only acquiring a technological advantage over the bakufu given their 2:1 manpower advantage, the renritsu han also engage in an immediate recruitment drive to create Type 3 units, with agitators also covertly spreading the message into fudai, shinpan, and bakufu han. The salient points are as follows (though they are presented far differently in the actual text):

1. The imposition of order and stability at all costs has stifled the greatness of Japan, and it is increasingly under siege both from within and without.
2. The reforms promised by the renritsu will help everyone (explanations of how follow; they won't be listed here), and help the entirety of Japan break free from an era of stagnation.
3. This effort is not the return of gekokuj&#333; or the sengoku jidai, but one aimed at increasing everyone's prosperity, avoiding conflict if possible, and ending it quickly if it occurs.
4. Any man—or woman—who will side with the renritsu in pursuit of this, either in combat or in direct support thereof, whatever their background, shall receive a guaranteed transferable living wage (in precious metal), housing, and food for the duration of their services, any grievously injured will receive meritorious recompense following the conclusion of hostilities, and all shall receive government recognition for their efforts.

CONFLICT
With all the pieces in place and the shogun's capitulation unlikely, the renritsu war strategy follows naturally from geography. The first two months until the final deadline will be spent quiescently if the bakufu is slow to react, or defensively if it immediately attacks. This will give Type 1 and most Type 2 units time to train with their newly acquired weapons and become proficient, while other Type 2 and Type 3 units can hold the line—acquiring experience and lulling the bakufu into a false sense of superiority.

Once forces are ready, Type 1 and most Type 2 units will forward deploy, relieving the other Type 2 and Type 3 units (which will then recuperate and retrain in turn) to press the counter/attack. The first priority is securing Kyushu, Shikoku, and northern and southern Honshu, which are relatively bereft of bakufu-allied han. (Matsumae clan in Ezochi are largely irrelevant to the outcome of the war but forces should be in place to combat them if they ally with the bakufu.) Once this is achieved, northern forces are to secure the routes to Edo and capture the symbolically important site of Nikk&#333; T&#333;sh&#333;-g&#363;, while southern forces are to secure Osaka and Kyoto. With the Emperor within renritsu territory, he can perhaps be persuaded to endorse its cause, or will perhaps do so on his own to elevate his standing in the post-war environment. From there, the encirclement and reduction of Edo is the final objective.

The precise directions of advance are left open to commanders, and will likely fluidly change over the course of the war, and new developments will certainly arise; therefore, specific campaign details are not provided here. It is unclear when, or if, the shogun will back down. The efforts of the BEIC to interdict any bakufu naval operation are also not covered here, although they may (or may not) be of use in assisting the breakout of daimy&#333; and attendants under sankin-k&#333;tai in Edo (which will likely occur contemporaneously with the deadline of setsubun).

PRAXZEN BUREAUCRACY YEAR 1 ORDERS


SPENDING





MOVEMENT

SAF6
Dispatch 1x Bullfrog with the following compliment to SAF2 IV Space:

• 1x Diplomat specialist
• 1x Overseer specialist
• 1x Engineer specialist
• 1x Biologist specialist
• 40e

They are slated to rendezvous with Csser'ian forces at the objective. Hostilities are not expected with other actors but if reasonable diplomacy and restraint fail in such an event shoot first and ask questions later.

ERRATA

Objectives for the year include:

1. Beginning a Societal transition to Republic (est. 5 years). The Bureaucracy's ad hoc Bureaus lack oversight and direction when confronted with emergent external challenges, although their limited competition has severed them well domestically. They are to be incorporated into a single, elected government. (Strong technocracy/bureaucracy elements backing elected professional politicians: Legislature probably resembling Japanese Diet or British Parliament in some ways; Executive perhaps closer to PRC's Politburo, albeit non-single party.)
2. Beginning pursuit of a suitable Economic system. The ongoing recession caused by resource bottlenecking and lack of trade partners has prompted a decision to pursue Corporate economics as oppose to current ad hoc trade systems--the Bureaucracy has elected to pursue MTS4 technology to enable such a maneuver. Green has also been considered, and will become available with the same technology.
3. Beginning interstellar resource extraction. SAF2 IV has been selected as a possible v-extraction site; a team has been dispatched to conduct diplomacy with the Csser'ian Confederacy on site and begin construction necessary for extraction.
4. Improving domestic living conditions in high-density regions. This is being undertaken primarily to ensure these regions reach their maximum potential.
5. Establishing a multipurpose ground force. The Special Infantry Service is intended to be composed of small, highly trained special forces units. Current plans call for 2 Divisions, the first being Specter, and the second being Phantom, to be created at a later time. Future expansion of the SIS or the creation of a more conventional ground force has yet to be discussed.

PRAXZEN BUREAUCRACY YEAR 2 ORDERS


SPENDING




MOVEMENT

SAF6
A. Dispatch 1x Bullfrog with the following compliment to Torpor Space:

• 5m
• 30e

SAF2
A. Transfer Biologist Specialist to Csser'ian Confederacy ships as per the Treaty of Torpor D1.
B. Assign Overseer to the completed Torpor Station.
C. Engineer and Diplomat to idle at Torpor Station after construction.

ERRATA

Objectives for the year include:

1. Signing the Treaty of Torpor. Csser'ian manufacturing capabilities can assist us in reenergizing our economy and leveraging our technical capabilities.
2. Finalizing acquisition of Economy-enabling technology. MTS4, among many other attributes, allows us to move to a sufficiently mature economy to match our needs.
3. Working toward Network optimization. Long neglected computer technologies (COM2) will allow us to begin to advance our data processing abilities
4. Improving SIS Specter Division. Additional training and equipment is to be afforded to Specter Division to improve its flexibility and mobility.

PRAXZEN BUREAUCRACY ORDERS TURN 3, UC 4973–4975

SPENDING






MOVEMENT and ACTIONS
UC 4973

1. Receive 2x Csser'ian Ship at SAF6, Kathekon Space (711).
2. Receive 1x Coran Emissary with Diplomat and Analyst at SAF6, Kathekon, Capitol (707) per Treaty of Kathekon. (See: ERRATA 2)
3. Move 1x Bullfrog with Diplomat, 10e from SAF2, Torpor Space (605) to Lipsid Beta, Cathedral Space (457). The Chandelier Commonwealth, in this case, is the polity listed on NPC_R K29.
4. Utilize 1x Bullfrog with Engineer at Torpor Space (605) to construct Torpor Atmosphere (604) Ground Base [Csser'ians financing].

UC 4974

1. Load Overseer, Hydrometeorologist, and Commercial Agent at SAF6, Kathekon, Capitol (707) using Space Port on to 1x Csser'ian Ship at SAF6, Kathekon Space (711), which will then move to Torpor Space (605). Hydrometeorologist is to move to Torpor Atmosphere (604).
2. Shift Overseer at Torpor Space (605) to Torpor Atmosphere (604) to begin extraction immediately next year. Csser'ian ships will refuel at SAF2 II Space until backup Overseer arrives if necessary.
3. Use Bullfrog and Engineer to construct Pumping Station at Torpor Atmosphere (604).
4. Move Bullfrog from SAF2 to SAF6, Kathekon, Capitol (707) after construction. Idle the Engineer at Torpor Station (604).
5. Receive Coran Analyst at SAF6, Kathekon, Capitol (707) for immediate Research at University. Watch them closely.
6. Receive Coran Diplomat at SAF6, Kathekon, Capitol (707) for signing the Treaty of Kathekon at the Capitol.
7. Load Biologist onto Coran Emissary at the SAF6, Kathekon, Capitol (707) Space Port for immediate departure.
8. Receive 1x Csser'ian Ship with Engineer at SAF6, Kathekon Space (711), transfer Engineer using Space Port to SAF6, Kathekon, Capital (707) for research next year.
9. Host PRAX at Lipsid Beta, Cathedral Space (457) using Diplomat. Further details elsewhere. (See: ERRATA 2)

UC 4975

1. Move Bullfrog and Diplomat from Lipsid Beta, Cathedral Space (457) to SAF2, Torpor Space (605).
2. Assign Overseer at Torpor Space (605) to Torpor Station. Idle Engineer and Commercial Specialist.
3. Assign Hydrometeorologist to Survey Torpor Atmosphere (604).
4. Load Coran Analyst into Bullfrog at SAF6, Kathekon, Capitol (707) and move to SAF2, Torpor Space (605).

ERRATA
Objectives for these years include:

1. Signing the Treaty of Kathekon. Coran COM knowledge does not alter our time-table, but significantly reduces acquisition cost, allowing for further advances.
2. Hosting PRAX at Lipsid Beta. Allowing us to establish relations with Cathedral powers and work on resource agreements. Generally this is useful for deciding to sell, in principle to Firzonat 1 and the Minors, and for meeting Niovgroyokia. Its greatest value is actually as cover for...
3. Negotiating a 500e Loan with Lessor Orion Financial Group. To be delivered and used on infrastructure and the Financial Center plan. Details of this are to be kept private as much as possible, but consist of a 5% APR to begin to be repaid starting in UC 4978, after our transition to Corporate is complete.
4. Completing all Torpor Facilities. Allowing us to begin industrial-scale volatiles extraction.
5. Preparing the economy for Corporate shift and greater market integration. Principally through the creation of Data Centers to lay the groundwork for competing with the Corans and Yanii in data markets, and the marked improvement of Labyrinth to bring it online as a major commercial hub.
6. Completing a shift to a Republic Society Allowing us to exploit the advantages of more centralized governance.
7. Making significant strides toward Corporate Economy. Allowing our economy to flourish and continue its upward trajectory.

PRAXZEN REPUBLIC ORDERS: TURN 4, YEAR 6, UC 4976

SPENDING



MOVEMENT & ACTIONS

• Move 1x Bullfrog and 1x Coran Analyst from Torpor Space [605] to Cathedral Space [457] to repatriate Coran Analyst to Seat of Light
• Move 1x Bullfrog and 1x Diplomat from Torpor Space [605] to The Conduits [748] to start contact with the Leeni.
• Move 1x Hydrometeorologist from Torpor Atmosphere [604] to Torpor Space [605]
• Move 1x Engineer from Torpor Space [605] to Hank-Sobor ship for transport to Lipsid Beta
• Move 1x Csser'ian Engineer from Capitol [707] via Space Port to Csser'ian ship in Kathekon Space [711]

MARKET FORCES
Predict: 2 System-DM Shares in SAF6, 1 Stellar-DM in SAF2.

• Negate: SAF6: System-DM Share (in: Capitol [707])
• Create: SAF6: System-DM Share (in: Labyrinth [708] w/ Capitol [707] Stock Market)
• Create: SAF6: System-DM Share (in: Labyrinth [708] w/ Labyrinth [708] Stock Market)
• Create: SAF6: System-DM Share (in: Labyrinth [708] w/ Capitol [707] Commercial Agent)
• Create: SAF2: Stellar-DM Share (in: Labyrinth [708] w/ Torpor Space [605] Commercial Agent)

GOALS & AIMS

1. Economic Expansion. With the appropriate infrastructure now in place, the possibility exists to begin seriously acquiring Data Market shares for enormous economic gains. Realigning local trade optimally is the first step in this plan. The... inability of the Corans to create a data market share in SAF2 is simply a byproduct of miscommunication resulting from strict Treaty adherence.
2. Continue Transition to Corporate Economics. By the end of the fiscal year, almost all mechanisms required to shift fully to a corporate economy should be in place.
3. Finance Csser'ian Sheep Prototyping. The Sheep is a rather lackluster and barebones design but is well-suited to economical merchant shipping, which we desperately require; financing the prototype and refinement of this vehicle benefits us as a matter of course since it helps us more quickly acquire them and such capabilities. This is considered a quid-pro-quo for ongoing Csser'ian transport assistance [GOALS & AIMS 6]. The Csser'ians have agreed to finance the transfer cost on their own network.
4. Excelsior JVG Startup. Created to take advantage of our refinement of Financial Centers, this arrangement is predicted to yield increasing dividends with time as more economies develop sufficiently and more market shares are acquired, offsetting the L.O.F.G. loan necessary to undertake it in the first place.
5. Subsidize Adiaphora Unfortunately the resources to dramatically revitalize Adiaphora or to turn it into a pure resource colony simply do not exist at present. Given ongoing transport problems of Torpor volatiles (see below) and metals shortfalls, abandoning the planet is unacceptable. As a stop-gap measure, we have elected to subsidize workers with material incentives, and will work out a more long-term solution in time.
6. Utilize Csser'ian Torpor Delivery. The Csser'ians have graciously committed to convoying resources from Torpor until such time as the Sheep program bears fruit. These deliveries are not currently tabulated for accounting purposes.
7. Continue Technological Push. Given defense concerns, redressing our inferiority in PROP and WEP continues to be a key priority.
8. Contact the Syndicate of the Leeni. This as-yet-untapped market holds many opportunities we are in a better position to access than baselines. Be courteous, discreet, and reserved.

ERRATA

• The Marius Administration will publicly claim no involvement in or detailed knowledge of any Csser'ian military operations undertaken during this fiscal year, nor will it be particularly interested in assuming a forceful stance on any such operations unless the security of SAF6 is threatened.

PRAXZEN REPUBLIC ORDERS: TURN 5, YEAR 7, UC 4977

SPENDING

* See GOALS & AIMS 3
** See GOALS & AIMS 4
*** See MOVEMENT & ACTIONS 1
**** There is some 20e remaining that is not F.E.F.B funding and 35e to be used for economic stabilization: use it to subsidize problem areas (as necessary)




MOVEMENT & ACTIONS

• Move 1x Bullfrog from Cathedral Space [457] to Torpor Space [605] to assist in stabilization efforts.
• Move 1x Bullfrog and 1x Diplomat and 1x Leeni Socioarchaeologist from The Conduits [748] to SAF2 II Space [596] to hold hostage negotiation at BIR Station with Standards.
• Move 1x Csser'ian Engineer from Kathekon Space [711] via Space Port to Csser'ian ship in Capitol [707] for use in Intruder design/manufacturing.
• Move 1x Biologist from Larsilla [284] to Manderley Drainage [279] for terraforming by the Oiat Kingdom.

MARKET FORCES

• Negate: SAF6: System-FM Share (in: Capitol [707])
• Create: SAF6: System-DM Share (in: Labyrinth [708] w/ Capitol [707] Stock Market)
• Create: SAF6: System-DM Share (in: Labyrinth [708] w/ Labyrinth [708] Stock Market)
• Create: SAF6: System-FM Share (in: Labyrinth [708] w/ Capitol [707] Commercial Agent)

GOALS & AIMS

1. Transition to Corporate Economics. After a half-decade of organization, we are at last ready to transition to a Corporate economy to take advantage of superior resource extraction and trading ability and claw our way back into growth from the brink of recession.
   Economic Rebalancing. The continued reorganization and build-up of economic assets within Neo Praxis system is to continue as planned. At present some redundancy is necessary to ensure success.
2. Reception of F.E.F.B. Funding. We have agreed to sign on to the Black Charter for no actual loss (can sign at SAF2 II?) and to receive funding for economic expansion. Unfortunately, we do not have the transport mechanisms, personnel, or m or v necessary to begin immediate construction of space assets; this will be rectified and undertaken starting next turn. We have left the unallocated funds in stockpile in deference to the F.E.F.B.
3. Militarization. Buildup of SIS Phantom Division leaves it as combat-capable as SIS Specter Division and lacking only in peripheral training skills which can be redressed before deployment. The Intruder class enableS unparalleled insertion options far beyond the Bullfrog, and is likely to replace it for all front-line duty and export sales. Acquisition of PROP3 and WEP3 will level the playing field with Standard forces, and pursuit of WEP4 will ensure local superiority. If they do not back down, we will act without hesitation, and will never again allow a lack of capability to constrain our options.
4. Preparing for Hostage Negotiations. Although the criminal acts of the Standards demonstrate their reprehensible nature, and we are committed to the retrieval of our fellow citizens, a military-first option risks both their lives and those of our soldiers. Given the Standards have yet to inflict casualties, we will refrain from treating them as terrorists unless they earn that distinction by failing to negotiate reasonably. In such an event we will retrieve our people and punish the Standards to the fullest extent.
5. Build Relationship with Leeni. We have negotiated to take on a Leeni Socioarchaeologist for eventual return to Kathekon for future services rendered; in the meantime they get to observe a hostage negotiation and several different kinds of foreigners. This should be a learning experience for their people and one that we can spin to our advantage. Do so.
6. Subsidize Problem Areas. With both surplus funds and F.E.F.B. funding we can, as necessary, move to subsidize problem areas where there are population shortfalls, be they the Polar regions of Kathekon, or Adiaphora. This funding is to be used effectively but not profligately.

ERRATA

1. Excelsior JVG is slated to conduct operations on Lipsid Beta, with the Corans purchasing a Financial Center. Provided the Corans and Hankish sign the paperwork as per Excelsior JVG guidelines, commence construction. This group is then tentatively slated to head toward Sigma Relay and points beyond.
2. The loan of a Biologist to the Oiat Kingdom is to be played for maximal PR spin, given the sort of ad hoc terms under which it's there. Don't rub it in their faces though. Spin it for BIR. The deal is being conducted at 15e/10s.
3. Marius' overall theme is to double-down and not run from a fight, just to be much tougher and more ruthless about pursuing it. The decision to opt for diplomacy first is out of concern for casualties, not weakness, and to build the economy to ensure defense.

PRAXZEN REPUBLIC ORDERS: TURN 6, YEAR 8, UC 4978

SPENDING




MOVEMENT & ACTIONS

• Receive 2x Sheep from Csser'ians at SAF6. Allocate both to Merchant Shipping, two routes of equal tonnage: A) SAF6-SAF2-LipsidBeta, B) SAF6-SAF2-Buxe.
• Load SIS Specter Division into 1x Intruder and move to SAF2 I to ensure hostage retrieval. See MILITARY ACTIONS.
• Receive 3x Hostages from Standard Confederacy (1x Overseer, 1x Commercial Agent, 1x Hydrometeorologist).
• Load 1x Hydrometeorologist, 1x Overseer, 1x Leeni Socioarchaeologist into 1x Bullfrog, move to Capitol [707].
• Load 1x Diplomat [597] into Csser'ian 1x Csser'ian Braveheart for transit to Alnitah.
• Load 1x Commercial Agent into 1x Bullfrog, move to Torpor Station [605].
• Move 1x Overseer from Labyrinth [708] to Adiaphora Northern Hemisphere [712].
• Move 1x Overseer from Capital [707] to Adiaphora Southern Hemisphere [713].

MARKET FORCES

• Create: SAF6: System-DM Share (in: Labyrinth [708] w/ Capitol [707] Stock Market) [56%]
• Create: SAF6: System-DM Share (in: Labyrinth [708] w/ Labyrinth [708] Stock Market) [56%]
• Create: SAF6: System-FM Share (in: Labyrinth [708] w/ Capitol [707] Commercial Agent) [100%]

MILITARY ACTIONS

SIS Specter Division is to deploy to SAF2 I Dimside [591] as a continuity of transfer solution to the promises of the junior leadership of the Standard Confederacy. It is assumed they will suceed, but should they fail we will have forces in place. This will also serve as a show of force of capability, and being territory beyond Standard control, should simultaneously not provoke a shooting war.

GOALS & AIMS

1. Economic Growth. Taxation has been adjusted to maximize growth while still meeting government objectives. Overall taxes have been reduced by 20% with e taxes having been reduced fully 50%. It is expected this will yield tangible benefits in the new economic climate.
2. Resolution of SAF2 Crisis. We have reached an agreement with the Standard Confederacy in which we will provision them with v and negotiate on their behalf with the Apeilic Iris in exchange for the release of our hostages. Release of Csser'ian and Hank hostages will follow pending the latter, as will the specific nature of the fate of the Commodores so... relieved of duty.
3. Preparation for FEFB Funding Usage. The orbital facilities have been delayed by a lack of substantive resources needed for other efforts and the lack of personnel needed to erect them; various misunderstandings at the institutional level of the nascent Republic are at fault and no one is to blame, it's simply a teething problem. (I too late realized I should've trained the Engineer and Designer last turn; it is what it is.) Preparations for both these and the Tren facility are being made.
4. Permanent Solution to Adiaphora Issue. Adiaphora is to be staffed with Overseers and run as a mining outpost until such time as additional m and/or v sources online, at which point it might be repurposed for some other use and these Overseers rotated out.

ERRATA

1. Excelsior JVG is presumably moving to Sigma Relay.
2. I'm going to assume if something goes horribly wrong with the hostage situation I'll be summoned, rather than giving you a lot of pointless what-ifs.

League of Gallasa – NPC
Culture: Gallatene, Nahsjad, Somewhat influential
Religion: Maninism, Eastern Aitahist minority.
Government: Oligarchy
Income: 9,000
Military: 10,000 Infantry, 2,000 Cavalry, 60 Ships (Upkeep: 2,000 + 2,000 + 3,000 = 7,000)

Spending

9,000 Income
3,000 in emergency funds (see DOMESTIC POLICY ITEM 01) (0->3,000 Debt)
12,000 total

4,000 (12,000 &#8594; 8,000) to Upkeep for Infantry and Cavalry but not for Ships; we're disbanding them
7,000 (8,000 &#8594; 1,000) to recruiting 35,000 Infantry (10,000 Infantry &#8594; 45,000 Infantry)
500 (1,000 &#8594; 500) to despatching itinerant acolytes throughout the Maninist world to spread the word (see FOREIGN POLICY ITEM 01)
500 (500 &#8594; 0) to despatching and supporting rangers in occupied Gallat to plague the Aitahists (see MILITARY POLICY ITEM 01)


Note: Much of these plans assume we achieve some level of victory and success in the war against the Aitahists. Since if we lose we're dead and orders are moot anyway, it seemed like a fair assumption.

DOMESTIC POLICY:
01.) Impose a Series of Emergency Levies and Forced Loans on the Great and Worthy of the Cities. We're going up to the third of revenue limit you said we have. No reason to hold back at this point.
02.) Overthrow The League and Reform into the Halyrate of Gallat. This cannot happen all at once, but should proceed in several more or less discrete stages.
03.) Expel Pro-Aitahist Elements from Public Life. It wasn't that long ago that Gallasan trade supported the Accan power-play, and Gallasan backing helped secure Cyve for that Prince Ephasir so recently slain by the Redeemer; at least a couple of the men responsible for those decisions must still be around. They're dupes of the Aitahists, if not crypto-Aitahists themselves, and must not be allowed to play any further role in the decisions of the Faithful. It is hoped that this will achieve a couple of things: allow us to marginalize some interests likely to be opposed to us to the benefit of our friends, and – probably more importantly – demonstrate to Taexi that Gallatene loyalty to his cause is secure.



FOREIGN POLICY:
01.) Despatch Itinerant Acolytes to Rally Support for Maninism. Part and parcel of the change of direction in Gallat is a change of direction for Maninism as a whole. It's been a century of slow, painful surrender before the rise of Aitahism, but it ends now. Once we win, assuming we do, we've got plans for a thoroughgoing reform of the Faith establishment to turn the tide against the heretics, but for the moment we don't have the resources to spare, so we'll have to settle for sending out younger, more adventurous Acolytes to spread the word: Maninism is facing its Great Ordeal, and the Faithful should flock to its side. Ideally this flocking would take the form of donations and holy warriors from across the Maninist world, but we'll be happy if we just manage to inject some passion and urgency into the body of the Faithful; we need to close the enthusiasm gap with the heathens.
02.) Instruct Mercantile Operations to be Watchful for Signs of Farubaidan Mobilization. The nightmare scenario for us involves a massive Farubaidan involvement in the north. Fortunately, any such involvement would almost certainly be naval and amphibious, and any major amphibious operation requires significant and obvious prep. Our men in the Farubaida should be alert for any signs that such preparations have begun: stockpiling water and ship's biscuit, gathering transports, converting merchantmen, widespread refitting of the fleet, etc. We need as much warning as we can get if the Seshweay are coming north, and if such a warning is received it should be relayed to the Karapeshai immediately.

MILITARY POLICY:
01.) Despatch Men into Occupied Gallat and Selessan to Organise Trouble for the Occupiers. A general popular rebellion probably isn't in the cards, and would only get a whole bunch of our people killed to no good end anyway, so that's not what we want. What we'd like is for relatively small groups of irregulars to make life difficult for the Aitahists: hit their supply lines, assassinate their officers, target their foraging parties, kill their scouts, relay information to our main army, then fade away into the countryside. Existing illicit groups are likely to be the best initial prospects for the sort of thing we have in mind, which probably means contacting smugglers, bandits, and criminal gangs, who I'm sure have proliferated in the breakdown of order. Make it clear to such men that any and all crimes will be wiped clean if they help out, and there will be rewards for the loyal.
02.) Disband and Sell Off the Fleet (60 Ships &#8594; 0 Ships). Sailors are expensive and we need money. Ships aren't going to help us when the Aitahists storm Sirasona, they're not going to stop the Aitahists from burning more of the countryside, and they're not going to push them back into the desert. They'd only be useful if the Farubaida came north, and if the Farubaida comes north realistically sixty ships aren't going to even slow them down. Therefore we standing down the fleet; if the merchants don't like it they can spend their own money to outfit their own ships. In fact, try to sell of the actual physical ships to anyone who's interested; the Accans would have the cash, if nothing else.
03.)Reorganize the Military Hierarchy into a More Effective and Cohesive Force. The disorganized, decentralized League structure keeps losing wars; it's got to go. Lightbearers and Lightholders are either scrapped entirely or removed from all organizational responsibilities, and replaced with a unified command structure operating entirely outside municipal control. All officers will answer to Javan, not to some merchant in Jedim. Promotion strictly on merit; with the expansion of the army there are going to be a lot more positions to fill, so we ought to be able to get capable, loyal men in command of most of the army.
04.) Work with Accan Sergeants to Whip New Recruits into Shape. We're going to have a lot of men to train, and we've lost a lot of veterans in the east. To try and prevent a total collapse of quality we've asked the Karapeshai to send some Accan drillmasters over to help our remaining vets force at least some discipline down the throats of the new army. It ought to be fairly easy to turn them into halfway decent spears, if nothing else.
05.) Organize Network of Informers in Interior. The Maninists in the occupied territories have no reason to love the Aitahists, and it ought to be fairly easy to organize a network of sympathizers to allow us to keep track of the Aitahist's troop movements and supply situation.

MILITARY ORDERS:

Gallatene Forces: 45,000 Infantry, 2,000 Cavalry
Allied Forces Coordinating with Gallasene Commanders: 75,000 Karapeshai Infantry, 10,000 Airani Cavalry

Total Forces: 120,000 Infantry, 12,000 Cavalry

OPERATIONS
Survival (490 RM – early 491 RM)

Army of the Light (defending Sirasona under the command of Lightholder Extraordinary Altaro Javan): 40,000 Infantry, any civic militas we can scrounge up
Kollada Garrison (under the command of Captain Araldi Nuvor): 5,000 Infantry, 2,000 Cavalry

We judge it most likely that the Aitahists will push hard on Sirasona, to try and break Gallasene resistance and effectively win the war before the Satar can arrive in force. Therefore the vast majority of our forces will fall back on Sirasona and regroup. All other considerations are secondary to holding Sirasona. It's at this point, incidentally, that Altaro Javan and co will present the Council of Servants with their ultimatum, and Javan will assume command of the forces of the League. We'll have at least a bit of time before the enemy can get to Sirasona, and we need to make the most of it. There will be contingents of newly recruited men pouring in from free Gallat; these should be armed and put through intensive training, with the aid of the Accan advisors. Meanwhile we need get the city ready for an assault: put as many men as can be spared to work repairing and strengthening the fortifications, get an organization in place to house and feed the men and tend to the wounded. Find some siege engineers if we can to mount some onagers and ballistae on the walls; clear the surround of any obstructions, stockpile weapons, and organize a civilian firefighting detachment, in case they try to burn us out. Food may become an issue, so get the merchants together and figure out how we're gonna keep everyone fed; crack some skulls to get them to cooperate if necessary.

If and when the Aitahists arrive at Sirasona, the order is simple: hold. Hold at all costs, hold no matter what they throw at us. There's nothing more to be said.

Meanwhile, Nuvor and the Kollada Garrison are to hold Kollada. They're there as a speedbump against any Aitahist moves to the southeast, and to generally give them something else to think about. We expect that the Aitahists will probably march down the coast, in which case Nuvor should keep them honest and harass their line of march and supplies as much as safely possible – this is why he's got the cavalry. If however, the Aitahists decide to reduce Kollada before advancing on Sirasona, the garrison should just hold as long as possible; every day the Aitahists spend at Kollada is one more day for Sirasona, and one less day until the Satar arrive.

Counterstrike (early 491 RM – 496 RM?)

Army of Gallat (Altaro Javan): 45,000 Infantry, 2,000 Cavalry
Accan Expeditionary Force (Viro Arterri): 75,000 Infantry
Airani Expeditionary Force (?): 5,000 Cavalry

OOC Note: Throughout this phase exact geographic objectives are heavily dependent on Aitahist dispositions and the fluid situation in the hinterland; we therefore leave precise targets and movements up to our commanders, trusting that they will decide appropriately based on the guidelines we establish.

The arrival of our Karapeshai rescuers changes the game. We should now have numerical superiority, or parity at the absolute worst, and can throw the bastards off our land. The general goal here is to reduce the enemy's room to operate and ultimately maneuver the Aitahist army into a position where we can crush it. This will be complicated somewhat by their cavalry advantage, but we are confident that we can at least get a battle on even terms. There is, after all, no need to rush, no need for any precipitate action: we are not the ones operating hundreds of miles from home in the middle of an unfamiliar and hostile countryside, and we don't have to detach men to hold down dozens of restive towns and villages in our rear. As long as we don't do something stupid we have most of the advantages.

Gallatene and Accan command structures should remain independent, and they should operate as separate, defined – but very closely coordinated – units; we want to avoid any ethno-religious tensions or squabbles over precedence. Coordination should occur at the highest levels: Javan and Arterri and their retinues should be in more or less constant council, and then the jointly agreed upon tactics and operations sent down through the separate chains of command. In general the Gallatenes should be used for garrison and rear echelon operations when necessary; the Accans are more valuable when we get in a straight-up fight, so we need to preserve them for that eventuality.

In the best case scenario we catch the Aitahists in their siege camp, use our ships to shuttle men behind them, and trap them on the salt flats between the walls and our army. They'll probably pull back specifically to avoid that, though, in which case we start an offensive into the interior. As we said, there's no reason to act rashly, so major battle should be avoided. At this point the goal is not to destroy the Aitahist army, but to retake the interior so far as possible, and make use of fortifications, including the still extant forts and blockhouses of the last war, and local militias to restrict the mobility of the Aitahist army and achieve a firm grasp on the countryside. Meanwhile our intelligence in the countryside should keep us apprised of Aitahist movements, and keep us from getting ambushed. Fortified cities and particularly strong strongpoints should only be taken if un-garrisoned or weakly held, as we can't afford to throw men away on costly sieges. We can just isolate and avoid such strongpoints and count on our overwhelming presence in the countryside to keep them from becoming too problematic; besides, any Aitahist men we can isolate in garrisons are men we won't have to face on the field. In this way we hope to restore our control of much of the interior, and restrict Aitahist forage, movement and operational intelligence more or to less to the coastal plain. Care and thoroughness are the order of the day; do not give the Aitahists an opportunity to engage us in battle without having to either overcome a lot of little fortifications or leave their rear open to attack.

Meanwhile, the expedition from the Airani should be arriving. Before heading directly to the main theater, they should sweep through the Occaran lowlands and the hinterland of Edrim, destroying any isolated Savirai units, burning a few Aitahist temples, and encouraging the local Maninists to rise up. If there are powerful Savirai forces in the area though, don't bother; it's more important that the Airani arrive at the main army than that they get themselves killed trying to do too much in Edrim. Once they link up with the main army their role should be to meet the Savirai cavalry raiders on their own ground and further constrict Aitahist operations.

Once we've secured most of the interior, a process we expect to take several years, we can try to crush the Aitahist presence in Gallat once and for all. The idea is that, with their movement restricted, their supply lines in danger and their manpower stretched by the need to maintain order in the rear lines and defend against Karapeshai naval descents, the strength of the Aitahists will be depleted and their position will be rapidly deteriorating, while ours only strengthens; also, after a few years campaigning our newly recruited men should be a lot less brittle. Cut them off from retreat eastwards and steadily bottle them in the northwest of the country; we hope that their pride and the symbolic significance of Gallasa, even ruined as it is, will make them reluctant to abandon the west of Gallat without a fight. Anyway, once we've got them cornered, assuming we can manage it, move in, fight a decisive battle, and finish them off.

When we fight them, we want open, level ground if it at all possible. At first blush this seems somewhat counterintuitive, given the Savirai cavalry, but we're counting heavily on pike formations, and broken ground is a lot worse for dense pike formations than it is for cavalry. We should have numbers, so we'll extend the line, placing our light infantry, many of the Gallatenes – presumably less well armed and disciplined than the Accans - and the Airani cavalry on the flanks, and make as to envelop the Aitahist formation. We are not, however, to actually carry out such an envelopment; given the superiority of Savirai cavalry, deciding the battle on the flanks is playing to their strengths and should be avoided. Rather, we want to draw their cavalry and skirmishers away from the center, and then keep them engaged in a running skirmish, too busy to have any meaningful impact on the action in the center. If we can win the battle on the flanks, great, then we can crush them easily, but we're not counting on it and if we don't we should still be in good shape. This is because on the right side of our center we're going to put a deep phalanx of the best Accan pikes we've got, charge as hard as we can, break through, roll up their lines, overrun their rear, and put them to flight. By the time their cavalry can disengage to have an impact it should be too late. (OOC: A bit like Gaugamela is the idea, I guess)

Consolidation and Offensive Operations (496 RM- 499 RM)

By now, if things are going all right, we've reestablished control over Gallat and broken the Aitahist presence, and we can split up. One column should be sent along the coast, to retake what left of Pamala and Gesta, or at the very least to place those places under siege, while the other column heads into Selessan to expel the Aitahist presence there.

Once we manage to expel the Aitahists from most of Gallat and Selessan, counter-attacks into Savirai territory are generally inadvisable, since we'd have to cross hundreds of miles of desert to get to nearly everything of any value. We do not, however, have to cross desert to get to Edrim, so once we've rooted the Aitahists out of of most of Gallasa we should march on Edrim. Hopefully the Maninist population will be up in arms by this point, so it should be pretty simple to take the city; if nothing else, we should certainly be able to find someone to open the gates for us.

CONTINGENCY: IN CASE OF PREEMPTIVE AITAHIST WITHDRAWAL FROM GALLAT. This is, we think, the second most likely scenario: the Aitahists burn everything and fall back to defensible positions, leaving us punching air. We won't be able to stop them, but we should reoccupy the cities and blockhouses, and provide enough garrisons to restore order and keep any further raids minimized. A limited campaign against Edrim should be undertaken, but most forces should be kept in central locations, near Sirasona and Jedim, and be ready to react rapidly to Aitahist moves against us our allies. If the Aitahists do pull out of Gallat, we expect it be only because they're preparing to launch a hammer blow elsewhere, either on the Airani or by sea against us or the Karapeshai, and we hope to be able to counter it quickly.

League of Gallasa – Perfectionist
Culture: Gallatene, Nahsjad, Somewhat influential
Religion: Maninism, Eastern Aitahist minority.
Government: Oligarchy
Leader: Halyr Altaro Javan
Income: 10,000 (Debt: 2,500)
Military: 40,000 Infantry, 2,000 Cavalry (Upkeep: 8,000 + 2,000 = 10,000)

10,000 Income +
750 from nobles +
500 from Faith contributions =
11,250 total

10,000 (11,250 &#8594; 1,250) to paying all upkeep
100 (1,250 &#8594; 1,150) to organizing mercantile expedition (DOMESTIC POLICY 08)
100 (1,150 &#8594; 1,050) to organizing assassination of Martuska (FOREIGN POLICY 03)
400 (1,050 &#8594; 650) to arming Occaran Maninists (MILITARY POLICY 01)
400 (650 &#8594; 250) to arming, organizing civic militias (MILITARY POLICY 02)
250 (250 &#8594;0) to supporting Conclave of Sirasona (RELIGIOUS POLICY 01)


DOMESTIC ORDERS:
01.) Organize Resettlement of Refugees in Depopulated Areas in Northern, Western Gallat. Thanks to the Savirai we've a lot of landless people and thanks to the last few decades of destruction we've got a lot of formerly cultivated land sitting fallow; the solution is obvious. Each family that so desires gets assigned a hide or two or thereabouts. Since they don't have any money, they also get a taxation exemption for let's say five years or so; instead they owe corvee – they might not have money but they do have time. Set up a court under direct Halyrate supervision to arbitrate the land disputes that will inevitably spring up. Settled refugees will be under direct administration of Halyrate, outside municipal control.
02.) Use Said Corvee Labour to Initiate Infrastructure Reconstruction. We need to get the country going again, so organize repair and reconstruction of roads, irrigation channels, countryside defenses, etc across the west and the north coast. Organize food distribution to landless people willing to work on said projects.
03.) Organize Construction of Military Settlements for Veterans. When you muster out of the army, you get a hereditary grant of land in new military settlements, in exchange for taxation and the maintenance of local defense forces. In contrast to land distribution program of above, settlements should be concentrated in Selessan and the border areas; given how frequently the Savirai come through there, that's where we need them.
04.) Sanction and Grant Land to the Talad Sadorishi [Talad's Fatherless]. This is a militant mystical religious order devoted to attaining Haradahood by following the example of Talad and defending the Way by strength of arms; members take vows forsaking all previous attachments and affiliation. Probably will be mostly comprised of refugees and orphans and others with nothing left to lose. Anyway, give them official recognition, some land down on the frontier, and church sanction.
05.) Organize Forcible Relocation and Dispersion of Tarenan Aitahists. They're both a potential fifth column and future casus belli for the Savirai, and a population group that we can't defend, so we're taking the Charlemagne option. Using the threat from the Savirai as a justification, organize the relocation of Tarenan Aitahists into western Gallat, and then split them up and disperse them among the Maninist population, so they can't form a cohesive group and should consequently assimilate rapidly
06.) Establish Araldi Nuvor as Successor to Halyrate. Javan's an obvious failure point for the Halyrate; we need a fall-back in case they manage to kill him. Nuvor's the second in command, should be associated with Halyrate in public pronouncements, etc., so that he can take over if the worst happens.
07.) Bar UoA Merchants, Confiscate UoA Property, Encourage Airani to do Same. Farubaidan Aitahists want to be our enemy, so be it. Merchants from the Seshweay states of the Federation are barred from Gallatene ports, and property of theirs presently in our lands is to be confiscated. This decree, however, does NOT extend to the Helsians, who are to retain freedom of movement in the Halyrate. We want to do whatever we can to encourage to divisions in the Farubaida, and directly targeting the economic interests of its constituents is the best means available to us. If it manages to sow discord between the Helsians and the UoA, great; if it manages to strengthen the former at the expense of the latter, even better. Seshweay will doubtless try to pass themselves off as Helsians to get around their expulsion; protest vociferously to the Helsians when this happens, make it clear that such chicanery jeopardizes their position, and try to get them mad at the Seshweay. Get the Airani to follow suit for more impact.
08.) Organize Mercantile Expedition to Meet up with Parthe, Establish Direct Route to East. We've heard about the Parthecans arriving in Kurchen and want to exploit the opportunity. Organize an expedition into the east under the auspices of the Halyrate. We ought to meet up with Parthecan counterparts somewhere east of Kurchen, whereupon we can quickly establish that there's a profitable route which should take off on its own without further central prodding. A direct sea route to the Parthecan western outpost ought to be eminently doable - considering there are longer and harder routes well established by, say, the Trahana and the Leunans - but even if it isn't we ought to easily be able to set up a route with only three legs. Anyway, there ought to be a pretty huge amount of money for us and Parthe in it, once the initial link is made, since we're cutting the number of middlemen between the Kern and the far east from four or five to one. Hell, indigo alone is a big deal. Apart from the direct economic and revenue benefits there is a very important secondary motivation for us: sea transport is so much cheaper and faster than overland that establishing any sort of more-or-less direct route to the east will completely undercut the Savirai caravan routes. Between hitting Krsh, the Daharai undermining links with the Nakalani, and the caravan routes being undercut, I suspect there's a reasonable chance that Vana and Guarch become economically irrelevant, and how nice would that be. Might also be possible to spread a bit of Maninism along trade route, but don't push it.
09.) Dissolve Lea gue. Once we beat the invaders we don't need the League any more; dissolve the Council, annul all League titles, appoint Commissioners to oversee the affairs of the municipal counciles, and rename the state.

RELIGIOUS POLICY:
Some General Thoughts on Maninist Policy towards Aitahism: We've had a revelation: the worship of Aitah is not itself much of a threat; Maninism can handle that just as well as Christianity can handle the cult of Mary, or – probably a better example - Buddhism the cults of bodhisatvas, the Tenno or the Dalai Lama. The problem is the fundamentalist strains of Aitah worship, the recurrent charismatic prophets that are a feature but not a necessary one, and above all the political ties between her cults and the Savirai and Brunnekt monarchies. So that's what we're going to kill. We're going to present a vision of Maninism that is compatible with the veneration of the persons of the Aitahs, but that rejects the theological concept of The Aitah, places the previous Aitahs squarely in the past and thereby preempts the possibility of future troublemakers seizing the mantle, and that gives the present Aitahist elites a theology that retains the veneration of the Aitahs but breaks the link between those cults and the Savirai monarchy; if Aitah's a Haradyr but not a God, then they don't have to think that the Savirai king is divinely ordained. The idea here is that from the point of view of your average Joe there's no difference between worshiping Aelona because she's a Haradyr and worshiping her because she's God, but that the former doesn't pose any threat to the Maninist establishment; they wouldn't even notice the change. Meanwhile from the point of view of elites, particularly in the north, our picture should be more attractive; it doesn't require obedience to a foreign monarchy, it doesn't mean some revolutionary messiah is going to come around and upset the applecart, and so on. Anyway, endgame we're rolling the Cult of Goddess back into the Maninist mainstream, though that's obviously a ways down the line.
01.) Organize Maninist Conclave in Sirasona. Summon Wards from across the Maninist world to a summit at Sirasona, to be chaired by the High Ward. The goal is to formulate a consistent theological basis for our response to the Aitahist challenge; in other words, the counter-offensive starts now and this is the meeting to make sure everybody's reading from the same playbook. The most important things are probably completing the legitimization of the Haradim cults, and developing a coherent attitude towards Aitah – in brief, this is that AITAH is a Dalotha that seeks to corrupt the good works of the mortal Aitahs, who were mostly Haradim; break the link between Aitah the god and Aitah the prophet that people actually saw, eg. the people rightly venerated Aelona for her good works and virtue, but the Dalotha AITAH saw this and twisted that respect into a vehicle for destruction and domination by the wicked, as amply demonstrated at the Immolation. More generally, we're going to push a more personal and engaged Maninism; Haradim cults, Acolytes active at lower levels of the community, much more emphasis on the dualist elements and the threats posed by Dalothim. We're going to give Maninism some teeth, in other words; at present it's so sterile and bland it's no wonder Aitahism's eating it.
02.) Reestablish Order of Northern Acolytes of the Faith, Despatch to Counter Aelonism. Organize a group of Acolytes of Stettin or Cyvekt origin under the leadership of Eskar to preach the word to the people. Line should follow that of above: Aelona and Kintyra great women, but Seshweay Aitah an evil Dalotha; it is right that the people venerate and honour Aelona, and it is equally right that they cast aside those bewitched men who say that such veneration requires them to bend the knee to the Savirai or Brunnekt, or that it makes them any less Maninist.

FOREIGN POLICY:
01.) Keep Diplomatic Pressure on Anhalter. We need them onside. As Brunn goes down (hopefully), we hope they'll reevaluate, so keep talking; make sure they realize that they'll need friends, whatever happens, and we'll be their friend if they throw in with us.
02.) Send People to Entice Seehltekt Nobles. Same sort of line: they need friends, Brunn's a sinking ship, jump off and make common cause with us and you win, stay on the ship and the Cyvekt kill you. If possible, try to set up native Seelhtekt monarchy in alliance with us. The effort should proceed in tandem with Eskar's efforts at proselytizing, but targeting the elites rather than the commoners.
03.) In Tandem with Above, Assassinate Martuska, Gerulf. But NOT Ogynan. Alongside the overt activities of Eskar and the emissaries to the nobles, we'll send some sneakier types to organize the assassination of the Fowl Queen and the Crown Prince. Ideally put together a conspiracy of native Seelht: disaffected nobles, closet Maninists, etc. Doesn't matter how we get Martuska as long as we get her. We'd prefer not to kill Ogynan, since he's a useful bogeyman, but if it can't be helped it can't be helped.
04.) Work to Tie Northern Coalition Closer. Seems likely that the next war will be one against Cyvekt ambitions, so we'd like to try and maintain the coalition under very loose Gallatene leadership. We're an honest broker, if nothing else; we've got no territorial ambitions in the north and no baggage. Nuvor ought to gladhand the bigshots while he's up there and try and keep it together.
05.) Send Covert Politico-Religious Emissaries into Face of Moon to Attempt to Stir Opposition. The ruling Savirai dynasty and fundamentalist, universalist Aitahism seem to be inextricably linked; makes it a bit difficult for upstarts to challenge said dynasty's legitimacy. We're going to try to give tribal leaders an ideological justification for opposition to the ruling dynasty; the slightly different take on Aitah of above. Hopefully there will at least a couple of prominent leaders who aren't happy with the present direction of the state - the multiple failed invasions of the north, etc. - and will take the excuse to mount a leadership challenge.

MILITARY POLICY:
01.) Arm Occaran, Edrim Maninists. Put a spear or a bow in the hand of every Maninist between Halen and Jedim. However, it is very important to know that we don't want these guys to oppose the initial Savirai push. The Savirai are going to have to ship huge amounts of food and pay through Occara if they want to advance into the wasteland they've created: what we want is for Maninist militias to hit those shipments once the main army has passed. The Savirai will have a choice between detaching enough men to guard their supply lines every step of the way past Halen, or seeing their army weakened due to lack of pay and food. Whichever they choose, they've got less men to fight us.
02.) Organize And Arm Civic Militias in Remaining Cities. The field army has to stay in the field, which means that the defense of Jedim and the rest will have to fall, if necessary, to the local militias. Arm them, train them, organize them, and convince or bully the local elites into supporting civic defense.
03.) Shore Up Defenses of Remaining Cities. Fortunately we don't lack for laborers at the moment, so put some of them to work. Strengthen fortifications, pay particular attention to seaward defenses, etc

MILITARY ORDERS:

I doubt the Savirai realize it, but their scorched earth withdrawal did us a great service. For the Savirai to achieve their war goals they have to occupy Gallat and kill the Halyrate. Thanks to their withdrawal, they now need to advance hundreds of miles to accomplish that goal, and moreover they need to do it over land where there's little food – because they burnt it all – little loot - because they burnt it all – and nothing that we need to stand and defend – because they burnt it all. Meanwhile, thanks to their withdrawal, all we have to do is defeat the Savirai counterstroke. So the basic plan is to let them come to us, lose a great deal of strength in the process, do everything we can to exacerbate that loss of strength, and then kill them so thoroughly that their whole effort in the north collapses.

Gallat, RM 495-496

Assigned Forces: 40,000 Infantry, 1,500 Cavalry; under personal command of Javan

We expect that we'll be outnumbered and that with the withdrawal of the Accans the Savirai will resume their attempt to conquer the remaining Gallatene cities. So, we're going to pull back initially and refuse battle; there's nothing we need to defend until they get deep in our territory, so there's no point risking it. Let the Savirai advance until they get to the first of our remaining major cities (probably Jedim, but maybe not). By this point their strength should be pretty severely attenuated by supply shortages and the need to guard and maintain extended supply lines; cf. MILITARY POLICY 01. When the Savirai get to Jedim they're left with only bad options. If they pursue our field army they leave the garrison at Jedim in their rear, in which case we lead them deeper into the interior, cut them off, and destroy them; if they detach a screening force to cover Jedim they weaken their army still further, in which case we engage and destroy them; and if they besiege Jedim, Javan's field army descends on them and they're crushed between his relief army and a sortie by the garrison. The last is probably the least bad option, but they're all on our terms, and that's the best we can do at the moment. So, once we get the battle we want we go all in; we're going to crush the Savirai invaders right here, right now, or die trying. Once we destroy the Savirai field army we can go back over to the offensive; between the loss of their army and the Daharai attacks (OOC: assuming TMG hasn't wussed out), their strength in the north ought to be fairly minimal; see below for particular operations.

Tactical guidelines for battle remain more-or-less same as previous turn: draw out the flanks into indecisive skirmishing, punch through the center with pike charge, roll up their lines and overrun their rear.

Krsh, RM 495-?

Assigned Forces: 500 Cavalry + whatever we gather from mountains

It's a longshot, but we're going to take a shot at Krsh, just to see if we can hit something the Savirai care about. So, the men are to split into small groups and pass eastwards through the Savirai into the ungoverned and Maninist-populated areas beyond. They are then to travel, still dispersed, east into the Haidali and eventually make their way to the vicinity of Krsh. Along the way – and this is the important bit – they are to make contact with all the local tribesmen, pastoralists, orphaned villagers or anyone else they find and try to convince them to support a descent on Krsh. Hopefully the attraction of the gold alone will be sufficient to convince a lot of opportunists to join up, but also liberally spread promises of money and honour and protection, and in Maninist areas lay the holy war aspect on thick if we have to. Our forces, plus whatever local men we've convinced to join up, should rendezvous somewhere within striking distance of Krsh, and then descend on the city at all speed, hopefully hitting it before the Savirai even realize something's up. Pillage and burn Krsh, ravage the surrounding land and chase all the farmers off into the desert to die, then take all the gold, collapse the mines, and retreat back into the mountains. Divide the loot up among our supporters, spread some of our share around to people who didn't support us, and then try to organize some sort of organization of local groups to repel Savirai punitive attempts and harass their loyalists in the area.

If it works, quite apart from the black eye it'll give the Savirai, it ought to strengthen our position among the Haidali locals.

Occara, RM 496-?

Assigned Forces: 30,000 Infantry, 1,500 Cavalry; Halyr Javan commanding

Our main aim now is to push the Savirai out of Occara and establish a puppet buffer of our own. Most of our forces will move east once more, retake Edrim, and then push into Occara. There they will systematically root out Savirai and Aitahist presence and put friendly Maninists into administrative positions. They are not to proceed beyond the Occaran borders.

The North, RM 496-?

Assigned Forces: 10,000 Infantry; Araldi Nuvor commanding

Hopefully Brunn's dying by this point, but we'll send a few guys to help out just in case. Move along the coast and root out any residual Savirai presence until they arrive in Nech, then do coordinate with the coalition commanders on site; do whatever they need us to do to ensure Brunn dies.

CONTINGENCY: IN CASE OF FARUBAIDAN AMPHIBIOUS DESCENT

Our worst case scenario is probably the Farubaidans launching some kind of Sirasonan expedition. If that happens, eliminated the Federation army immediately becomes our highest priority. The nearby threat of the Karapeshai fleet, even if it's outnumbered, should make the expedition's position extremely tenuous (e.g. OTL Malta), so if the field army rushes west we should hopefully be able to fairly rapidly bottle them in whatever city they've assaulted. We don't have time to mess about, because the Savirai will doubtless be rushing west themselves, so we'll have to attack quickly. Try to coordinate with the Karapeshai fleet to hit them from both sides at once. Once we reduce the Karapeshai presence, we can turn back to beating the Savirai, though depending on losses it may be necessary to adopt a more strictly defensive posture.

CONTINGENCY: IN CASE OF NO MAJOR SAVIRAI OFFENSIVE AGAINST GALLAT

We consider it unlikely but possible that the Savirai will elect instead to knock either the Airani or our northern allies out before turning to us. In this case we have two goals: take Occara and cut the Savirai corridor through that corridor, and reinforce whichever of our allies the Savirai do target. Force disposition in pursuit of these objectives is necessarily left to commander's best judgement.

ADVICE TO AIRANI

They'll do whatever they feel is best, of course, but we would like to advise them that we feel Mahid is a distraction from the crucial fight in the Peko and they would be better of burning everything and retreating.

Halyrate of Gallat – Perfectionist
Culture: Gallatene, Nahsjad, Somewhat influential
Religion: Maninism, Eastern Aitahist minority.
Government: Oligarchy
Leader: Halyr Altaro Javan
Income: 13,500 (Debt: 2,500)
Military: 36,000 Infantry, 1,500 Cavalry (Upkeep: 7,200 + 1,500 = 8,700)

13,500 Income + 2000 levied from merchants and nobles and etc. (keep going up to that 1/3 limit) + 2,000 borrowed from the Accans, + 3,000 from Karapeshai = 20,500 Total Spending

8,700 (20,500 &#8594; 11,800) to paying all upkeep
4,000 (11,800 &#8594; 7,800) to logistics and assorted miscellaneous preparations for the Peregrination (see Military Orders)
3,000 (7,800 &#8594; 4,800) to recruiting 30,000 Levies (0 &#8594; 30,000 Levies)
800 (4,800 &#8594; 4,000) to recruiting 4,000 Infantry (36,000 &#8594; 40,000 Infantry)
1,000 (4,000 &#8594; 3,000) to intensive diplomatic effort towards Moon Lords (Foreign Policy 01)
3,000 (3,000 &#8594; 0) to recruiting 3,000 Cavalry (1,500 &#8594; 4,500 Cavalry)

DOMESTIC POLICY:
01.) Leave Araldi Nuvor in Charge of the Halyrate During Peregrination. Javan will be hundreds of miles away on the Peregrination, so he's leaving Nuvor as Second Highest to rule Gallat while he's away.
02.) Quietly Prepare To Evacuate. If it all goes wrong this turn there's a pretty good chance that Qasaarai will overrun Gallat. Very quietly make preparations for a naval evacuation across the sea if the worst should happen. We can't get everyone out, or even most, but each one we can get out is one less for Qasaarai to burn and one more to swear everlasting hatred and plan vengeance. So, we should plan to commandeer every ship we can lay hands on and ship people across the Kern. The plans should include very few belongings, and must be done quietly and by people loyal to the Halyrate – if the worst-case scenario does come to pass, we don't want the damned ex-oligarchs using space on trinkets that could save a few more people.
03.) Continue Various Settlement and Repopulation Efforts. On the other hand, if things don't go catastrophically, we'll still need to restore Gallat, so keep up with the land grants to veterans and refugees and such like.

FOREIGN POLICY:
01.) Launch Intensive Diplomatic Effort at Savirai Moon Lords. Qasaarai has antagonized every faction in the Empire: the fanatical Aitahists because he doesn't actually care about his religion, and we've got the letters to prove it; the Moon Lords because he's a coward who's wasting their men and their money on a completely pointless war; the southerners, because he's spent twenty years laser focused on said pointless war in the north. We're going to point that out to all of them. We want emissaries sent with gifts to every Moon Lord and noble of any influence north of Hrn. We're to tell them that Qasaarai's a tyrant and an imbecile and a coward and … etc. Tell them the dynasty's gone soft, gone southern, lost all the virtues that allowed them to conquer in the first place. Reassure them of our good intentions, push the line that there is little difference between the Cult and Orthodox Maninism, save that Qasaarai uses the former to justify his tyranny, and so on. Make sure they know that they have only to withdraw their support from Qasaarai and we shall accord them all the honour and friendship they should desire. All the stuff in the letter, you know. Emphasize particularly that we are NOT fighting Savirai – we are fighting the Dual Empire in the person of Qasaarai, and desire nothing but friendship with the actual Savirai. Give them a way to cut their losses and maximize their own power and wealth and tell themselves they're doing the right thing.
02.) Send Official Embassy to Parthe. All the way to the court of the king in Zarpe, there to work out the terms of trade and try to get some exclusive relationship between Gallat and Parthe, to keep our respective rivals from honing in on the wealth.
03.) Send Embassy To Atracta. Just to congratulate Talephas and officially recognize his status as Lord of the North. Try to make friends with some of the rest of the Princes while we're there; gotta keep the Satar friendly.

MILITARY POLICY:
01.) Undertake Logistical and Other Preparations for the Peregrination. If the Peregrination is going to work we have to move fast, we have to keep everybody fed, and we have to know the areas we're getting into. Require every man to carry a skin for water. Impose strict limits on camp followers and servants for the expedition – no more than one servant for every ten men. Fewer useless mouths means far lower caloric requirements. Acquire as many horses and mules and camels as we can. No oxen: they're too slow. Strictly prohibit carts in the baggage train: they slow us down, restrict our movement in areas with few roads, and aren't any better at carrying food than the pack animals. Impose strict discipline on plunder, starting from the top – we've got hundreds of miles to march, and we can't do that if everyone's carrying baubles. On this last, have Javan and the high officers lead by prominent example. Gather every itinerary of the caravan routes we can, and recruit the best trackers, trappers and hunters we can find to scout out ahead of the main force. When we first enter an area immediately find translators and people who understand the area, know everyone and can keep us from making any missteps.

MILITARY ORDERS:

Enough. Enough of slogging back and forth across Gallat, enough of surviving, enough of living in fear of Khatai and Qasaarai and all the rest of that ill-gotten dynasty. We are going to do the unexpected, we are going to carry the Ordeal into the heart of darkness and beyond, and in so doing we shall march either into legend or nothingness.

The gist of it is this: we're leaving half the army, supplemented by all those newly recruited levies, to hold the line in Gallat and Selassan, and we're taking the other half, the best, hardest-bitten half, and we're launching an anabasis of Alexandrian proportions to destroy our enemies once and for all.

(OOC: It's insanely ambitious, preposterously risky, has to be executed almost perfectly to have a decent chance of success, and probably is the wrong thing to do. But if it does work it'll be awesome, and I'm in love with the idea, so damn the torpedoes)

THE SHIELD
20,000 Infantry, 30,000 Levies, 500 Cavalry, under the command of Gabas, the Ihalint Sadorishi (Master of the Fatherless)

Their task is simple: hold the cities, and keep Qasaarai's army occupied while the Peregrination moves. We're leaving Gabas (the somewhat unpleasant and fanatical leader of Talad's Fatherless) in command, because we think he's best suited to motivate the levies to defend their land and religion. And also because he and his men would complicate matters if we took them along – the Peregrination is not a place for inflexible thinking. Don't fight unless we have to, garrison as much as we can, etc. Basically the same as last turn, except this time we don't want a decisive battle unless it's on extraordinarily favourable terms.


THE PEREGRINATION
Initially 20,000 Infantry, 4,000 Cavalry, under the personal command of Altaro Javan. These men are to be chosen from the best we have: the toughest veterans, the fittest soldiers, the most experienced and flexible captains. If all goes well, should be joined by substantial numbers from allies joining us along the way

Now for the fun part. It's a rather simple campaign in general concept, but the details get involved, so I'll split it up.

A brief note on logistics: Supply chains will obviously be impossible for most of this, so we'll be living off the land. That shouldn't matter, since that's what every army does all the time in this age, but since we'll be so far from home it does mean that we'll have to take somewhat more care than usual on our march. We should have scouts and emissaries ranging ahead at all times and reporting back on the food situation, the timing of the harvest, the location of grazing, etc. to minimize our chances of walking into a bad place.

Phase I: The Ascent (~1 year)

Once the expedition is assembled and the preparations are complete, we're to march along the coast northwards. Root out any remaining Savirai garrisons on the way. Once we arrive in theatre, link up with the various allies and anti-Brunnekt forces present there. Fulwarc's shambolic mismanagement ends now: he's to sit down, shut up, and let the grown-ups handle things. Then our goal is simple: we're going to destroy Ogynan's power center. Brunn still has an army and a city at Flammhelt: we're going to change that in one whirlwind campaign. We're marching on Flamhelt, destroying the Brunnekt garrisons in Nech and liberating that country as we go. We should be calling throughout for the Seehltekt nobility to rise and throw out Brunn – our policy will be that any who abandons Ogynan will be embraced with open arms, and any who stand with him to the end will be destroyed utterly. Ogynan and any loyal troops are our target: if he holes up in Flammhelt, trap him and take it by storm; if he comes out to fight, crush his levies with our vets. Either way, take Flammhelt, and kill or drive away Ogynan and Gerulf. In Flammhelt take the strongest and friendliest of the Seehltekt nobles and organize the proclamation of a restored Seehlt, under the protection of Gallat. With Brunn's remaining power center gone, we can let the allies mop up, and move on to the second phase.

Phase II: The Deep Breath (~6 months)

With the completion of the Brunnekt campaign we are to begin moving back south. The intent is to make it look like we're returning to Gallat. We're not, of course. Split up and winter in Anhalter. Over the winter extremely important preparations must be undertaken. Encourage experienced locals as we can to join the campaign, as skirmishers or light infantry – if we can talk the Stettin into sending some of their armies along, so much to the good. Send people to talk to the mountain tribesmen – since we doled out the loot from Krsh among them we should have good relations. From them recruit warriors to join us, get some guides who know the area to take us over the mountains, organize for food depots, get together even more pack animals if necessary. Map out the Haidali passes – we should have a decent idea after the Krsh raid, but we have to be sure. As soon as the first pass clears in the spring, we move to the next phase.

Phase III: The Plunge (~6 months)

This is it. Once we cross the Haidali there's no going back.

As soon as we can move our army across the Haidali, move. Speed is now of the essence, so discipline must be kept strict. Cross the mountains, descend on Krsh (again). At Krsh we take a brief pause to resupply and recover from the crossing. While we are doing this, emissaries should be sent out to all the nearby Moon Lords: so long as they do not obstruct our passage and arrange food and water for us as we pass, we will accord them all honour and friendship. If they insist on blocking our way, we shall destroy them and take what we need anyway. Simultaneously, interrogate any merchants we find as to the details of the caravan route to the Tear and commandeer all the camels we can lay hands on. Once we've arranged for the smart Moon Lords to accommodate us and know the route and have recovered, we set off for the Tear.

This is dangerous, but it's doable. There's a well established caravan route, which means there are oases and caravansarais and settlements and so on. Plus the Dual Empire has routinely been sending far huger armies across the Face of the Moon. So, forced march south along the caravan route. Speed is everything – we stop, we die. Get resupply from the Moon Lords who are smart enough to play ball, make an example of anyone who tries to stop us, and don't slow down, don't take anything that's not essential. Discipline must be absolute on this last point.

When we get to the Tear, first priority is crushing whatever local militias dare to oppose us, securing the countryside, and resupplying. If Gurach is lightly held, storm it, but otherwise place it under siege – it shouldn't last long. Take Vana, cut shipments and communications to Qasaarai's army in Gallat. If Qasaarai's here, great, catch him and turn him over to some convenient local enemy of his who will execute him for us. If he's not, and we don't expect him to be, oh well, doesn't change anything. Either way, proclaim Qasaarai and his dynasty deposed for their sins and tyranny, and arrange for the acclamation of someone else in his place. Probably some ambitious Moon Lord friendly to us, but who knows, maybe Javan's exatas will compel even the desert dwellers. Throughout make a great show of respect for their Aitahs – we absolutely must make it clear that we're not crusaders here to burn out their religion: some sort of dramatic appearance at the holy citadel at Gurach would probably make a good impression. We're pushing the compatibility of the Cult and Maninism idea that we've developed as hard as we can here.

From here on out we're posing (and in most senses acting) as a liberator from the unjust and incompetent rule of Qasaarai and his kin and the restorer of the right order of the world, NOT a conqueror

Pause for a little bit in the Tear to recuperate, but more importantly to allow us to send messengers to all the Moon Lords informing them of Qasaarai's overthrow and requesting their friendship, and loyalty to whatever they acclaim in his place. Ideally, most of the Savirai tribes switch sides, but we should at the very least be able to convince a significant number of them to sit it out.

The so-called Dual Empire now has few good options: Moon Lords should be switching sides or withdrawing into neutrality, their heartland is gone, and we've cut off the shipments of pay that were sustaining their army in the west (since Occara and the Gallatene interior have been pretty well denuded by this point), which should all combine to pretty seriously degrade their military capabilities. Their best bet will probably be to marshal forces from Nahar and the army in Gallat to surround Javan at the Tear and kill him. That said, that is a really good option. Which is why we're not going to let them: on to Phase IV!

Phase IV: Coming Up For Air (~1 year)

We can't stay at the Tear: it's a death trap. So we're moving on, and we're moving on fast. Bolster our forces with as many cavalry from allied Moon Lords as we can, leave the Tear in the hands of a capable satrap, and depart along the southern route to the Khirilma coast: it's shorter and avoids the worst of the desert. There will probably be an army mustered from the southern holdings in the area – engage it, destroy it, then advance on Sealis. Reduce fortified places along the way, and when we get to Sealis tell them we're here to liberate the Indagahori, and that they must open the gates. If they don't, take it by force. Either way, once we've got access to the sea commandeer every Nahari merchantman in the harbour and try to convince the Indagahori merchants to help out – we want to cobble together some sort of resupply fleet. Send an emissary to the Daharai, and try to arrange contracts for them to provide food and water to our army – they should hopefully be amenable. Additionally, try to see if there are any good, pious Indagahori who'd like to join Javan the Saviour-Liberator (hey, I can dream can't I?). Anyway, between commandeered merchantmen ferrying things from the productive areas we now control, and Daharai contracts, the supply situation should be more secure than at any time since we left Anhalter, which opens up our options considerably – so long as we're within range of the coast, we don't have to lunge from one food source to the next. We can go a bit slower now. Spend some time reducing Aran and the rest of the settlements in the region, send an allied Savirai with some cavalry east along with coast to Rihnit, and send a exploratory mission to Tessach to see if we can convince the governor of that island to abandon the sinking ship and lend us money, men, and resources, though of course if we can't there's nothing we can do about it.

Phase V: Twisting The Knife (~2-3 years)

Leave suitable satraps to govern Aran and Sealis and the region, bolster our forces with as many local recruits and Indagahori volunteers as possible, and move west. Move along the coast to Kest, trying to keep in contact with our ad hoc supply fleet, and reduce that place. Now we need to pause a bit to assess the situation. We need information on what's happening beyond Hrn, so talk to the Daharai, send out our scouts, etc. until we get some clearer picture – apart from anything else the Empire will no doubt have put another army together, and we need to know where it is. While we wait for that, send cavalry and allies to shore up our communications with our allies in the Face of the Moon, restore any losses, and make sure our satrap in Vana is doing his job properly. If necessary temporarily detach significant forces to stabilize the situation in the north. Once that's done, we move on to Dual Empire Power Center #2: Nahar and Hrn. Find their army, beat it, then advance along the coast to Hrn. Stick to Indagahori lands as much as we can. They've had time to prepare and they know we're coming this time, so Hrn and Nahar will likely be strongly held. Consequently, unless we can quickly take them thanks to a traitor or such, we're going around. Because once you get past Nahar, you're into lands that are either Indagahori or Orthodox Maninist. If, as you said, we could find traitors before, Imperial rule ought to be trembling now. So, we're splitting into two columns: Javan's taking one over the hills into Astria, and an appropriate commander (ideally an Indagahori if any have distinguished themselves during the campaign) will take the other south, into the Arta Xorsi lands. The details will vary slightly due to the religious and cultural differences, but the general outline is the same: proclaim the liberation of the Maninists/Astrians/Arta Xorsi/Indagahori from imperial rule, invite them to overthrow their Imperial puppet rulers and take back their liberty. The lands are rich and densely populated, so supply should be no issue. Crush any residual garrisons and in the unlikely event that any city doesn't throw open its gates, take it. Install friendly, credible local leaders in the liberated cities, pick a couple of decent satraps to oversee the whole thing, and recruit heavily from the locals. Civic militias and such should hopefully join us more or less wholesale.

After completing the liberation of the southern extremities, Javan should cross the hills and rejoin the army, hopefully bolstered significantly by local forces. Have the allied cities contribute more ships to our fleet, then advance once again on Hrn and Nahar. Probably have to destroy another Imperial army, after which we can blockade Nahar and besiege Hrn. When Hrn falls burn it to the ground, along with all the Imperial records and bureaucracy and palaces and so on – the Dual Empire is through.

Phase VI: To The End (~1-2 years)

Right, if we're not all dead there's only one Imperial power center left: the Peko. March into the Peko in force, destroy any field force left, demand the submission of all the cities, and then place any that do not submit under siege. Time should no longer be much of an issue, and the Peko is likewise rich, so we can just starve them out. As usual, if they surrender they're spared and greeted with open arms and all honour, and if they insist on resisting to the last we raze the city to the ground.

Javan doesn't really need to be on scene for this bit of clean-up, so he's going to leave with a bunch of cavalry and Moon Lords to go east and secure the situation in the Face of the Moon. Meet with any remaining recalcitrant Moon Lords and charm, bargain, threaten or beat them into submission as necessary.

Finally, return as conquering heroes to the army of the Shield in Occara.

MAP: Note that dashed lines denote movements of emissaries, messengers, scouts, recruiters, and the like, not armies, and that dotted lines denote movements of impressed fleets. Solid lines are, of course, just armies.



A Note on Tactics: The Peregrination employs a far higher proportion of cavalry than we have previously. This opens up our tactics considerably: we don't have to count on a single overwhelming pike charge. Instead, we should try to employ hammer and anvil tactics. Pin them with the pikes, draw away their light cavalry with our skirmishers, hit their weak spot as hard as we can with a cavalry charge. We anticipate that the Imperials will, as usual, try to use their light cavalry to harass, isolate and destroy units of our army. It may therefore prove advantageous to at times send our own light cavalry ahead as a vanguard, to lure their enemy counterparts into engaging: once their light cavalry is engaged, they're pinned, far less dangerous, and can be annihilated at leisure by pikes and heavy cav.

Halyrate of Gallat – Perfectionist
Culture: Gallatene, Nahsjad, Influential
Religion: Maninism, Aelonist Aitahist and Eastern Aitahist minorities.
Government: Oligarchy
Leader: Halyr Altaro Javan
Income: 15,500 (Debt: 6,500) (Treasury: 12,000) (Note: The “Halarai Satraps” are effectively autonomous; see below)
Military: 30,000 Infantry, 3,500 Cavalry, 20,000 Levies (Upkeep: 6,000 + 3,500 + 2,000 = 11,500)

15,500 Income + 12,000 Treasury + 8,000 from Farubaida + 1,000 from Brunn + 1,000 from Karapeshai = 37,500 Total Spending

500 each (37,500 &#8594; 33,000) to reconstruction of Gallasa, Marona, Edrim, Sern, Halandata, Gesta, Essel, Ban, and Halen (DOMESTIC ORDERS 01a)
1,000 (33,000 &#8594; 32,000) to refounding of Nahar (DOMESTIC ORDERS 03)
10,500 (32,000 &#8594; 21,500) to paying upkeep for all Infantry, Cavalry, and 10,000 Levies
1,500 (21,500 &#8594; 20,000) to recruiting 1,500 Cavalry (3,500 Cavalry &#8594; 5,000 Cavalry)
2,000 (20,000 &#8594; 18,000) to recruiting 10,000 Infantry (30,000 Infantry &#8594; 40,000 Infantry)
1,000 (18,000 &#8594; 17,000) to supporting diplomatic and outreach efforts in the Peko (FOREIGN ORDERS 04)
1,000 (17,000 &#8594; 16,000) to giftgiving and diplomatic outreach in Astria, preparatory to (FOREIGN ORDERS 05)
4,000 (16,000 &#8594; 12,000) to logistics and such
2,000 (12,000 &#8594; 10,000) to irrigation efforts (DOMESTIC ORDERS 01b)
1,500 (10,000 &#8594; 8,500) to construction of High Roads (DOMESTIC ORDERS 01c)
1,000 (8,500 &#8594; 7,500) to giftgiving and diplomatic outreach to the Halarai and elites in the other former Nahari areas
1,000 (7,500 &#8594; 6,500) to continued diplomatic and missionary efforts in the Face of the Moon (FOREIGN ORDERS 06)
500 (6,500 &#8594; 6,000) to triumphal celebration at Sirasona (DOMESTIC ORDERS 01)
500 (6,000 &#8594; 5,500) to conducting census and land survey (DOMESTIC ORDERS 01d)
5,500 (5,500 &#8594; 0) to paying down debt (6,500 &#8594; 1,000) Prioritize Gallatenes over Accans

DOMESTIC ORDERS:
01.) Return to Sirasona, Celebrate Victory Over the Ordeal, Declare Commencement of the Restoration. Javan's going home, at least for a little while, making his way from Occara back through the remaining cities. Make a show of it along the way; make sure that everybody knows what we've done and who did it, and that we reap all the political capital we can from it. Once we get to Sirasona, conduct a triumphal entry into the city, Javan at the head of the veterans, and make a really big party out of it – week of celebrations, free booze, that kind of thing. Meanwhile, Javan, apart from making the requisite appearances at said party, will be closeted with the Halyrate's top men. At the end of the week of celebrations, organize a general assembly at the largest public space in Sirasona, and there declare an official end to the Great Ordeal, and the beginning of the Restoration. Javan will there issue a decree providing for the beginning of said Restoration, with the line being that he's worked it all out and is handing it down from on high; of course in reality it was all worked out with Nuvor and the High Ward and the rest well ahead of time. The essential elements of the Restoration will, at least for now, be Javan will stay in Gallat for a year to oversee the beginnings of the Restoration, make sure he's thoroughly associated with it, and make sure nobody's been up to any mischief while he's been away. Then he's taking ship, with a portion of the army (see MILITARY ORDERS) from Sirasona and sailing to Nahar, where he will promptly...
02.) Claim the Throne of Nahar. Out of gratitude to their liberator and recognition of the right of conquest, the Nahari will acclaim Javan as Emperor (we'll make sure of it). We will, of course, grudgingly accept, dramatically pledge to defend forevermore the freedom of the Nahari and the Indagahori religion, and summon the Halarai to do obeisance. Obviously this will considerably reduce their autonomy, but we don't have any particularly onerous demands: we just need their men and their loyalty, and we'll point out that if they don't grant them willingly there will be nothing stopping the Daharai or the Qasraists from taking them by force. Make an example if anyone decides to be really obnoxious, but as long as they play ball they're to be treated with all respect and honour. Bolstered by Halarai forces, set about rooting out Imperial loyalists in the rest of the south. In the conquered territories install more satraps, take any cities under our 'protection' (again, think Hellenistic), and so on. Xorob and Yu are off limits, at least for the moment, but if they decide they'd like to shelter under Javan's protective umbrella we'll accept that. Do try to convince them through strictly diplomatic means that it's a good idea, if only because otherwise the Farubaida or Daharai will likely choose for them.
03.) Refound Nahar with Gallatene Veterans. We ruined Nahar, and part of the duties that go with the new title require Javan to fix it. We want to turn it into a loyalist strongpoint in the south – to that end, it should be populated, at least partially, with Gallatene veterans. Unmarried veterans, if at all possible – ideally we'd get a rapid mixing of populations in the city resulting in a dynamic and loyal hybrid culture (more Hellenistic inspiration, yay). Even if that doesn't work, rebuilding Nahar is a strong statement to our commitment to the role as Nahari Emperor.
04.) Annex Edrim. Obviously the Peace of Edrim is long since abrogated, so Edrim naturally reverts to its rightful owners.
05.) Annex Occara. Kick out any remaining functionaries of the Savirai Rosh, dissolve the Roshate, annex it to the Halyrate, to be ruled on the same terms as the rest of the restored areas. If the Airani protest, point out that Occara's ruined and they're getting Puri, which isn't, and that anyway we did all the dying.
06.) Establish Javani Roshate, Promptly Annex Javani Roshate. According to the Redeemer, once we've finished rooting out the remaining Imperial forces east of the Peko (for which, see MILITARY ORDERS) there will be established in those territories the Javani Roshate. But, naturally, the only conceivable choice for Rosh of this new entity is Javan himself, and there's no point maintaining it as a separate entity, so once the Imperials are gone annex it officially to the Halyrate.
07.) Lift Ban on Farubaidan Merchants. We agreed to do so as part of the treaty. We did not, however, agree to treat them equally to our actual allies, so while Farubaidans are no longer outright banned from our ports, they are still subject to higher customs duties and fees than are Gallatenes or Accans. Hopefully this'll keep the Farubaidans from getting too ensconced in our economy, and bring in some revenue in the process.

(see below for MAP that will hopefully clarify a couple of these)


FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
01.) Sign Treaty of Reppaba. We recognize Farubaidan control over most of the Peko, Puri goes to Airani, Farubaida pays us 8,000 gold, ensures the establishment of an independent Astria, and agrees to disarm or otherwise destroy all remaining Imperial forces in the Peko and Astria.
02.) Sign Treaty of Flammhelt. War in the north stops, current borders are recognized all around, Gallatene merchants are free from any duties or fees at Kurchen, Brunn goes back to Maninism and pays us 1,000
03.) Sign Deal With Qasraists. Current borders recognized, Rigash agrees not to interfere in the east, Qasra agrees not to interfere in the west. We are implying to Rigash that this is meant as a temporary means to ensure we don't have to worry about Qasra while finishing off the Dual Empire. That's true, but it's also true that as far as we're concerned the weaker and more divided the Savirai are the better.
04.) Send Agents into the Peko Valley to Cause Trouble. Federating the Peko is a mistake. The things that bind the Farubaida together – a sense of a shared golden age and cultural superiority over the rest of the world, hatred of the Savirai, Aitahism – don't apply in the Peko. In the Peko they experienced the Triluin golden age as one of conquest and occupation, they're not Faronun or Sesh, and they've never had to worry about the Satar. Meanwhile these Faronun and Sesh who are taking over are weird: they're arrogant and superior and look down on the natives as savages and have strange customs and, while they claim to be Aitahist, they don't know about the Light and they seem more interested in Ancestors and Ayase, whoever they are, and even worshiping the sun than the Lady. So, we're sending people into the Peko covertly to point out all these things to the locals, to stoke tensions. If at all possible, try to get some people close to the current Aitah and get her to speak against Faronun pretensions and practices. Certainly do try to convince her that she needs to go to Kargan and deal with the so-called Aitahist church on the other side of the Lovi – it's clearly been far too long since they heard the word of the Lady, after all, and they've fallen into all sorts strange practices that urgently need reform. Keep sending missionaries to push the commonalities between Maninism and the Cult, too; ideally, we'd like the Peko to think of Maninists as more their brethren than Orthodox Aitahists.
05.) Convince/Coerce Astria into Accepting the Overlordship of the Halyrate. We're sending Gabas and a few thousand guys to Astria – not to conquer the place, but to root out any remaining Imperial forces and make sure the Farubaidans keep to their word and promptly evacuate. While this is happening and once it is completed, Gabas should be making contact with Maninist religious orders in Astria and gaining their trust and allegiance – he's the best man for that sort of job. Make it clear that the Halyrate is the One True Defender of the Faith and the Faithful, and so on. Emissaries alongside Gabas should talk to the local elites, spread gifts and money around, and make friends. Again, make sure they know that they have Javan to thank for their liberation from Aitahist tyranny. Point out that alone Astria will sure fall under the assault of the Aitahist Farubaidans before too much longer, and that self-preservation dictates they align with us. Hopefully we can completely peacefully get them to swear to Javan, but if there are some intransigents try to intimidate them into going along using our army and our local friends. If it comes to outright civil war, just have Gabas make sure our side wins.
06.) Keep up Diplomatic and Religious Efforts in the Face of the Moon. Keep trying to make friends with as many lords as possible, peel them away from the worst of the Cult, gain trust and loyalty, and so on. If we can convince any that they'd rather swear to Javan than to Rigash or Qasra, fantastic.
07.) Encourage Hardline Cultists to go East. Another reason we're recognizing Qasra is because it provides a nice release valve for religious pressure. The real fanatics can just go join Qasra and be fanatical and angry over there while helping him conquer the far east, instead of causing trouble for us at home. So, encourage them to do that: free passage, help them on their way, etc.

MILITARY ORDERS:

Dispositions
Total Forces: 40,000 Infantry, 5,000 Cavalry, 10,000 Levies

Flammhelt Garrison (Flammhelt): 5,000 Levies
Homeland Defense (Gallat): 5,000 Levies, 5,000 Infantry
Army of the Moon: 17,500 Infantry (to be joined by Moon Lord Forces: 10,000 Infantry, 10,000 Cavalry) under the command of General Khara (send a Savirai to kill a Savirai, after all)
Army of Astria: 7,500 Infantry under the command of Ihalint Gabas.
Army of the Halyr: 5,000 Cavalry, 10,000 Infantry (to be joined by Halarai forces: 2,000 Infantry, 20,000 Levies) under the command of Altaro Javan

The garrison at Flammhelt should hold down the area and keep a check on any inflamed passions; nothing very interesting. The garrisons in Gallat itself should watch for any renewed threats to the homeland and serve as a reserve in case something horrible happens. The rest of the armies are going on campaign.

NORTHERN THEATRE
Army of the Moon

The army will march east and meet up with Rigash's forces. Then their aim is simple: destroy what's left of the Dual Empire in the Face of the Moon and annihilate anyone that resists. We'd very much prefer to convince the remaining Moon Lords to come over peaceably – after all, Qasaarai's dead, they can't gain anything by fighting, and if they play nice, we play nice. Usual carrot and stick tactics: if they swear to Rigash, or us if they prefer, all grievances are forgotten and we're friends forever. If they don't, destroy them utterly. With the apparent disappearance of the Emperor the remaining Imperial forces will likely be in some disarray, and we should try to both take advantage of this – by destroying them piecemeal – and exacerbate it – by quickly eliminating anyone who looks to be organizing them. With the capture of Occara and the alliance with Rigash supplies should be much less of an issue, but even so don't go running into a sandstorm or something. The only way the Imperials survive is if they get us to die of thirst in the desert somewhere, and they doubtless know that, so don't do anything rash. Time's on our side, after all. Anyway, systematically root them out of the center of the Face of the Moon, then push west towards the new Farubaidan border, into the lands that will be the Javani Roshate. Here the lords don't have a choice: they swear to us, or they die, simple as that. Pacify the Javani Roshate, establish governing structures, appoint loyalists to the relevant administrative positions, and then hunt down and destroy any remaining Imperial bands; it seems likely that small warbands will continue to plague us after the last organized army is destroyed.

SOUTHERN THEATRE
Army of the Halyr
initially Army of Astria

The army will take ship at Sirasona and move to the south, disembark at Nahar, and spend a bit of time making sure the Halarai join up on schedule. After that, if there's a large concentration of Imperial forces in the south, we'll find it and destroy it. Once we've done that, or if there's no such force, the Army of Astria should head over the hills into Astria to do its job there (see above, FOREIGN AFFAIRS 05), while the Halyr and the Halarai systematically reduce all remaining Imperial held-territory in the south. As Emperor of Nahar, these lands all rightfully fall under the protection of Altaro Javan. Emphasize continuity, the restoration of stability and security after the chaos of the last few years, the maintenance of all the privileges and rights they had under the Savirai, and so on. Don't characterize it as a conquest, but as a combination of us carrying out our rightful responsibilities, and taking the people under our protection, so that no dastardly Daharai or Farubaidans or Savirai raiders or what have you can dare trouble them. Wherever possible, maintain the existing elites and power structures. We're willing to be fairly lenient when it comes to free cities or such, so long as they unequivocally recognize the overlordship of the Halyr.

If the Daharai are on the continent, demand that they leave. Take a hard line, but try not to let it go to outright war unless we absolutely have to. Any Daharai movement towards Nahar or the Halarai would obviously count as 'absolutely have to'.

CONDITIONAL: IN THE EVENT OF FARUBAIDAN ATTACK It is, I suppose, possible that Satar intervention in the south and our admittedly belligerent posture re the Peko will cause the Farubaida to decide to resume their war upon us. In that case, per usual, guard the coastal ports with the levies and put the militias on alert, gather our men, raise the Airani, and force them out of the Peko one yard at a time.

MAP:
It's a bit of a mess, sorry. The cost of doing things at the last minute Anyway, light blue arrows are troop movement by sea, blue arrows are troop movements on land, red indicates cities to restore, green lines indicate the most important High Roads, the yellow outline indicates the approximate location of the Javani Roshate I'm supposed to create, and the dark shaded area indicates the approximate area where we want to focus on agricultural development.

I had to scrap and redo them entirely at the last second, thanks to this whole Airani affair, so they kind of suck. Sorry.

Halyrate of Gallat – Perfectionist
Culture: Gallatene, Nahsjad, Widely Influential
Religion: Maninism, Aelonist Aitahist and Eastern Aitahist minorities, Indagahor,
Government: Oligarchy
Leader: Halyr Altaro Javan
Income: 20,000 (Debt: 1,000) (Treasury: 5,000) (Note: The “Halarai Satraps” are effectively autonomous; see below)
Military: 36,000 Infantry, 4,500 Cavalry, 20,000 Levies (Upkeep: 7,200 + 4,500 + 2,000 = 13,700)

Spending: 20,000 Income + 5,000 Treasury + 6,000 new debt [back up to that limit. Nuts] (1,000 &#8594; 7,000 Debt) = 31,000

1,000 (31,000 &#8594; 30,000) to settlement of eastern Tarena
500 each (30,000 &#8594; 29,000) to completing rebuilding of Ban and Essel
1,000 (29,000 &#8594; 28,000) to organizing General Synod of Gallasa
2,000 (28,000 &#8594; 26,000) to diplomatic and intelligence efforts in Airani
500 (26,000 &#8594; 25,500) to assassinating Ibala
15,000 (25,500 &#8594; 10,500) to military upkeep for 40,000 Infantry, 5,000 Cavalry, 20,000 Levies
5,000 (10,500 &#8594; 5,500) to building 100 Ships (0 &#8594; 100 Ships)
500 (5,500 &#8594; 5,000) to construction of Talada
3,000 (5,000 &#8594; 2,000) to logistics and such
1,000 (2,000 &#8594; 1,000) to building 2 Siege Trains (0 &#8594; Siege Trains)
1,000 (1,000 &#8594; 0) to recruiting additional 5,000 Infantry (40,000 &#8594; 45,000 Infantry)

DOMESTIC ORDERS:
01.) Carry out the Testament. You know how it goes, I'm sure. Caron's taking the army and pulling out to his assigned territory in Gallat. No doubt there will be all sorts of interesting developments in the south, but happily they're no longer my problem . Actually I imagine it won't be all that chaotic: Nahar and Seehlt at least ought to slide happily back into their former independent existences, and the residual prestige of Javan and support of the remaining Halyral institutions should give Tebhar and Glynt enough of a boost to tide them over until they're secure. Astria'll probably be a mess, but at least it's not my mess. In Gallat I imagine the immediate upshot will be that the old oligarchs will make a play to regain their position, but between the army's continued loyalty to Javan's legacy and the fact that Ibala just gave said army another righteous external enemy, military conflict's off the table, so it'll all be political maneuvering and blackmail and such, at least for now. Caron's not good at that, so probably what'll happen is one particular oligarch faction will oil its way into his confidence. Outside of the coast, it's all Halyrate New Men, so it should be easier.
02.) Continue Restoration, Settle Eastern Tarena. Keep doing everything we were doing re infrastructure and settlement grants and so on, and expand it to the unorganized territories in the far east of Tarena.
03.) Grant the Gap of Occara to the Talad Sadorishi, Construct Fortress-City of Talada in Gap. We're sick of horrible heathens pouring through the Gap every generation, so we're granting the land in perpetuity to the Sadorishi, that they might sustain their Order, maintain their forces, and guarantee the defense of the Gap against any who might assail it in the future. And as the centerpiece of this defensive strategy, we're building a great fortress nestled in the Allato foothills to serve as the headquarters for their order and key to the gap. And in exchange for all this largesse we expect the Order's unconditional support against any oligarchs or foreign foes (and we'll also be throwing them against the Airani in force, but that's neither here nor there)
04.) Get Started on spreading the Cult of Javan. Statues, shrines, that sort of thing. Long term we intend him to be a sort of patron-saint of Gallat, but that'll take some doing. For now, we mostly want to use the developing legend as a unifying and legitimatizing feature.
05.) Reform Taxation Based on Survey of Previous Turn. Organize a hearth tax in the Restored areas, set up proper customs stations on the new borders, restructure the salt tax, etc. We have to squeeze some more money out of this place.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
01.) Sign Treaty of Alliance and Free Movement and Eternal Friendship and Etc. with other Halyral Successors, in Accordance with Testament. Won't last, but at least for the moment it's a nice sentiment that we'd like to try to keep going for a bit. Plus it opens up overland routes bypassing the sadly-closed-to-us Kern, which is good for everyone involved.
02.) Conduct Outreach in Karapeshai in support of Our Maninism. The upshot of Ibala's little iconoclast fury is that a bunch of Taleldil statues and shrines are going to be destroyed, with the apparent approval of the Redeemer. Make sure that the relevant people in Karapeshai understand this; by the time the news has filtered across the sea to them, Ibala will be sacking monasteries and the Sadorishi will have been turned into Argai, and it'll all look extraordinarily bad for Talephas, who's not exactly looking too hot on the religious front to begin with.
03.) Despatch Missionaries to Chapru. Pull the delegation from the the most syncretic and Aelonist Stettin Acolytes we can find. (OOC: I can't send outright Aelonist missionaries for Lucky, so this is the next best thing )
04.) Request Shevaneh and the Javani Roshate Liberate Puri and Taret from Ibala. If all goes reasonably well, Ibala's in for a shock, and we'd very much appreciate it if Shevaneh would take advantage of that shock to take the rest of the Maninist Peko from that tin-pot caesar.

THE AIRANI AFFAIR:
Military Dispositions:
Army of the Frontier: 20,000 Infantry, 5,000 Cavalry, 20,000 Levies, stationed Edrim-Halen
Invasion Force: 25,000 Infantry, 2 Siege Trains, 100 Ships, under the personal command of Caron Nuvor

sigh. I'm really extraordinarily miffed with Ibala (OOC: and cicero for that matter; trying to slip it in late so I wouldn't have time to react was pretty weaselly). We talked about this. He wanted Airani Maninism to be as dull and sterile and pointless as ever? Fine! He wanted to call everyone else heretics? Even that was fine, we said! But usurping the leadership of the Faith, claiming the authority to install High Wards by virtue of being Airani, claiming sole discretion to determine orthodoxy? Nope, homie can't play that; homie's committed to maintaining the independence and unity of the Faith. So now we've got to end his pretensions before he undoes everything we've accomplished in the last thirty years. God, this is ridiculous. He's at best the fourth most important and prestigious leader in the Maninist world (behind us, Shevaneh and the prince of the Taudo, and probably behind Ereithaler too) and he's trying to install a puppet anti-Ward. I can't believe I have to expend energy dealing with this. Anyway, so, multi-step strategy: we're gonna take him apart piece by piece, and we're not even going to start offensive military operations until he's done for.

While all this is happening, the Army of the Frontier should be defending...the frontier from what we presume will be an Airani attack. Just don't lose and don't let them take anything important: delaying actions and maneuver are the order of the day. This won't be decided outside Jedim unless we mess up, so don't mess up. Once Step 5 forces the Airani back into the interior to deal with that crisis, the Army of the Frontier can advance along the coast, just to keep them honest.

Step 1: Get the Faith to Summon General Synod at Gallasa. Ibala thinks his court chaplain can determine the course of the whole Maninist world, that by virtue of being Airani he can oversee every Ward on the planet (because that's what claiming the right to appoint High Wards implies, make no mistake). He's mistaken. So, oecumenical council time; do it right. Make sure that this isn't a Gallatene affair: when we say oecumenical, we mean oecumenical. It's imperative that the Stettin, Taudo, Tarenans and Savirai are strongly represented. Those Airani Wards that reject the authority of Ibala's ridiculous puppet are also invited. This is all happening under the auspices of the Faith, not the state (this is also an important point to stress; unlike Ibala, we do not presume to command the Faith), but the main issues that need to be addressed in the Faith at the moment are: putting to bed once and for all this stupid idea that our not-bodhisatvas are the same as Aitahs; nailing down in writing the means of selecting the High Ward; and dealing with the Airani schismatics. Obviously I don't get to determine what the Synod decides on those issues, but what I'd like and what we should try to steer them towards are, respectively: obviously Haradim cults (within certain broad limitation) aren't Aitah or Dalotha worship and anyone who says they are is themselves suspect; the High Ward's to be selected by a vote of the most senior and respected Wards, without interference from secular rulers (how formalized this ought to be I don't know, but it doesn't really matter so long as they make it crystal clear that no secular ruler has the authority to appoint the leader of the Faith); and Ibala's a traitor to the Faith, Ahala's illegitimate, both are anathematized and cast out, and all Faithful men are called upon to overthrow their arrogance and tyranny and restore the freedom of the Faith in the Jadhai. The last two points should be fairly easy to wangle; I cannot imagine that there's a Ward outside Ibala's inner circle who's happy about Ibala's expansive claims to leadership of the Faith. The first might be a bit trickier, but that's why it's important that we have as many participants as possible from the border areas. Also note that we don't want the Synod to enforce Haradim on anyone, just to legitimate once and for all the cults for those who choose to follow them.

Step 2: Commence Intensive Diplomatic and Intelligence Efforts in Airani. Flood people in, talk to everyone, set the narrative: Ibala's launching a power grab and you're next, he's trampling on the Faith, it's ridiculous that he could call the men who burned Hrn Aitahists, he's dishonouring Javan and everyone who bled in the Ordeal, all you've got to do is leave him and you'll be welcomed with open arms. Emphasize the House of Airan's long history of betraying Maninism: they killed Sira, they killed Khivan, they warned Qasaarai at Jedim (whether they actually did or not, we're now convinced that's what happened), and they're entirely unfit rulers for the proud and noble Nahsjad. Tell them they've got to reclaim their Faith and honour and etc. and also that we'll pay them. Target mostly the nobility and military elite – they'll be the easiest to persuade that way, the least likely to be happy about Ibala's sudden religious volte-face, and we've got another lever for the urbanites...

Step 3: Use Fleet to Shut Down Airani Mercantile Shipping. We'll need the fleet for more substantial work later, but before that we can use it to blockade the Airani ports as much as possible, and seize every Airani merchantman we can find. Hit the Airani urban money where it hurts. Make it clear to them that Ibala's pretensions are going to result in their financial ruin, and all they've got to do is abandon him and everything can be as it was. Ought to be fairly easy to shut down their overseas trade, given how close their ports are to each other and to our bases.

Step 4: Assassinate Ibala. Right, so let the previous efforts go for a while, the Airani state get tottery and then, at the right moment, assassinate Ibala. We'd prefer if it could be done by a cabal of loyalist nobles and clergy, but once again the means matters far less than just ensuring it gets done. We need the shock to their system to lead into...

Step 5: Launch Amphibious Assault on Airani Urban Centers. Immediately after Ibala's assassination, while they're still reeling, we finally commence offensive military operations with the Invasion Force. Remember how worried we were by the possibility of a Farubaidan amphibious descent? Well, that's what we're doing to Airani. Mount the siege trains on our fleet, coordinate with our intelligence assets on the ground, and sail into the harbours and launch simultaneous amphibious assaults on Kardil, Manas and Bayad. Take them, garrison them, and forced march the short distance inland to take Almadi before they can shift forces to counter. Then garrison the cities, shift the siege trains to defensive positions in said cities, shift large numbers of men from the ships to the defense of the cities (we shouldn't exactly have to worry about Airani naval power) and wait for them to come to us. They're now facing the same problem that terrified us during the Ordeal – they've lost the bits of the state that are economically productive, we can keep our men supplied over sea, rendering their cavalry advantage useless, and the clock's ticking, because the Army of the Frontier is advancing overland towards their rear. They've got to attack immediately, in essence, and they're ill-equipped to do so. So, wait for them to come, keep our guys supplied by sea, use the fleet to shift reinforcements into whichever city they decide to attempt to besiege, and let them throw their strength away on a futile attempt to dig us out, then crush them in the field. If they decide not to come where we want them, their army falls apart anyway – either way, once their military strength has been sufficiently diminished, move into...

Step 6: Subdue Remnants of Ibalan Loyalist Forces in Interior

Move into the interior, suppress whatever's left of the Airani loyalists, split apart the tribes and clans, come to deals with them individually, carrot and stick tactics, etc. The usual textbook stuff.

Quick Notes: Make sure the Sadorishi are prominent throughout. Call them up in force and deploy them accordingly. We want to make sure that when the stories of the battles reach the Satar they take the form of wicked Airani cutting down Taleldil devotees. Whenever there's a major engagement, have a prominent veteran of the Peregrination ride up and down the lines beforehand haranguing the enemy. Give them the full Antigenes spiel: 'you're sinning against your fathers, you wicked men, those men who saved the world with Javan and Risadri'. Make sure the Airani know they're on the side of the devils.

Republic of the Daharai &#8211; TheMeanestGuest
Culture: Opulensi and traces of Arta Xorti, Trilui. Dominant.
Religion: Indagahor, tiny Aitahist minority.
Government: Republic
Leader: Exarch Eres
Income: 40,000 (Debt: 6,350)
Military: 50,000 Infantry, 7,000 Cavalry, 10,000 Levies, 1 Siege Train, 265 Ships (Upkeep: 10,000 + 7,000 + 1000 + 500 + 13,250 = 31,750)

Spending

Spend 1000 to recruit 5000 professional order and order-affiliated infantrymen.

Spend 500 to recruit 500 professional order and order-affiliated cavalrymen.

Spend 350 towards paying down the debt.

Spend 1250 to finish construction of the Remmos. Details below.

Spend 1800 on the development of the linen economy of Spitos. Details below.

Spend 1250 on the tandem effort of aiding reconstruction of the eponymous capital city of Farea, and the establishment of a Daharai-styled monastic order therein. Details below.

Spend 2000 on the expedition to reincorporate the cities of Cheidia and Tars within the structure of the Republic. If this expenditure becomes unnecessary, or partially unnecessary, put the remainder towards paying down the debt. Details below.

Spend 100 on the popular celebration of the wedding of Prelate Tythas Solien and his bride. Details below.

Domestic

i. By decree of the Exarch Eres, the Remmos shall be dedicated to the memory of the Exarch Eandar, and its completion shall be made priority of the Republic. Upon the pinnacle of the seventy meter lighthouse shall stand a fine bronze of Eandar Solien, equipped in his artekon, and with sword upon his hip and cloak upon his back. His gaze shall be turned to the city, and he shall beckon towards it, welcoming travelers from afar. Beneath the lantern room the initialism of the Republic shall be carved in relief upon each side of the tower itself, and be sheathed in bronze, so that it might shine brightly in the sun and be seen from the harbour below. Beneath the initialisms shall hang long and colourful banners bearing the sutras of Jitanu, Arasos, Heasah, and Sadar. On each corner of the lighthouse's base will stand a bronze statue of a hero of the Republic: Heasah bearing aloft a spear, Kaltas Nire saluting with hand upon heart, the Master Sadar gesturing in oratory, and Eres herself clutching a saffron crocus.

ii. The new Prelate of Kephon, Tythas Solien, considers well the economies of Spitos, and their deficiencies. In conference with the other masters and prelates of his Order, it has been determined that the Spicers shall sponsor the development of the nascent linen industry of Spitos. The Republic serves only as a middleman in the profitable trade of textiles to the west, and greater profits should exist were Spitos to possess its own industry. Likewise, the Republic need no longer depend so heavily on Rihniti or Leunan cotton, which may be disrupted by the vagaries of war and trade. Known and valued for its coolness upon the skin in the hot southern climate, and for its utility in the production of armor, the Red Chamber shall contribute funds to see this effort through.

The wider planting of flax on suitable land shall be encouraged, and a series of great weaving halls shall be established in Kephon for the centralization of this industry, where the retted stalks of flax shall be delivered for mass scutching, heckling, and weaving. These halls shall rely upon the power of flowing water, or of draft animals, to drive pairs of large metal rollers to crush the flax more quickly than could be done by hand. By effort of a great army of laborers shall the flaxen strands then be separated and smoothed. Now ready for weaving, the strands shall be brought to an array of waiting looms, and at last become the desired linen cloth. It is hoped that the port of Kephon will profit by this production, and that a higher volume of traffic returns to it.

iii. The gendori of the Order of the Indivisible Republic shall set to drill and train the civil militias established in Epichirisi, Unta, and Sar Kalos, that they might better serve the Republic. They will be trained to hold standard Daharai formation, and be instilled with pride and discipline. It is the Republic's goal that these militias should serve as ably as the early Charitine levy, and the civil militia of the Republic shall take inspiration from this antecedent, but shall be largely modeled on the renowned Iolhan citizen levy.

Regional

i. Peace shall reign upon the Eastern Seas, and the Daharai shall see that the Treaty of Toulai and the Peace of Paulinth are respected and carried out in full. Trade shall resume, and Daharai merchants shall pass the Indigo Gate once more to ply their trade upon the Acayan sea. We shall strive to strengthen the trading relationship that exists between ourselves and Iolha, as befits budding friendship.

The Republic has extended the protection of its alliance to the cities of Xorob and Yu, now freed from Savirai rule. This shall be declared, so that the Savirai and the Halarai alike should know of it. The Daharai shall ensure that these two cities should remain free from tyranny, and from the interference of their neighbours.

ii. The sack of the city of Farea has disgusted the Daharai, and they would see that city restored to its greatness. Knowing well the ravishment of Farea and the suffering of its people, the Red Chamber shall make gift to its Crown a great quantity of silver that this reconstruction be done. Brothers and sisters of the Orders shall be sent to watch over this effort, and to soothe the people. Further money shall be directly allocated for the founding of a Daharai-styled monastic order within Farea - the Golden Order of Naelsia - and the construction of their monastery within the capital. We shall fill this order with Naelsian priests and acolytes who support closer ties with the Daharai, and who approve of the Daharai interpretation of the Faith. Brothers shall be sent to advise this order in matters of scripture, and an Adjunct shall be permanently attached for conference on matters of faith between the Golden and the Daharai.

The Golden shall explicitly recognize the sovereignty of the King, and shall support his rule throughout the country. They shall advise the Naelsian court and the Naelsian people on the Precepts and Tenets of Indagahor, and some among them shall go into the interior of that country to see the spread of heathen Aitahism stopped.

iii. To tie the Kingdom of Farea and the Republic closer in bonds of lasting friendship, a marriage has been arranged between the Prelate Tythas Solien and a daughter of the Farean royal house. The wedding ceremony shall be conducted within the Pillar of Truth itself, and the occasion shall be celebrated with pageantry, song, feasting, and a procession through the streets of Epichirisi and up the Charitine Hill to the Solien Manse of Estrandas. The Red Chamber shall graciously shoulder the majority of the expense of this occasion, as it is a symbol of victory over the Leunan foe, and to signal the importance of good relations between the Republic and Farea.

War

i. The cities of Cheidia and Tars have long been complicit in the maintenance of Leunan power, and have done egregious insult in their failure to defend the Indagahori faith, and in their delight at the ravishment of Farea. The Daharai must regretfully employ a firm hand.

An army under the joint command of Prelate Tythas of the Honourable Spicers and Prelate Montros of the Red and Righteous Flame consisting of 16 000 infantrymen, 2000 cavalrymen and their mounts, and a siege train shall be assembled near to the city of Sarne [OOC: The formerly nameless city in Northern Naelsia]. It shall be granted funding of [2000] to see to its provision, equipment, and sundry expenses, and a fleet of ninety warships shall be attached to serve necessary purpose.

The army shall depart, and proceed to menace the border between the Republic and these city-states, and shall cross over and make encampment in the countryside of Tars. Representatives of the councils of Cheidia and Tars - empowered to negotiate - shall be summoned to the field where the army is gathered, that they might witness the power that could swiftly descend upon them. Likewise shall our fleet make its presence known off Cheidia. The Prelates shall remind these representatives that by the terms of the Peace of Paulinth, Leun shall not come to their aid. Neither shall any other power, for Rihnit and Farea alike enjoy the alliance and friendship of the Republic. Both suffered unjustly in war against Leun, yet neither city came to their aid.

The representatives shall be presented with the Red Chamber's ultimatum: Cheidia and Tars shall submit themselves fully to the Republic, and be incorporated within its structure. Their existing councils shall be allowed to maintain control of domestic affairs - with the appointment of a Daharai Prelate to oversee them - and these councils shall be allowed each to elect one Hierarch to be sent to the Red Chamber to represent their cities. Cheidia and Tars shall likewise be afforded other privileges commonly only bestowed on Daharai Orders, such as the right to arm a militia, the right to control taxation of the people, and the right to set tariffs at their ports. If these terms are refused, the army will march and annex their cities regardless, and the councils shall be replaced by the Orders of the Daharai, the Prelates shall say.

If the ultimatum is rejected, the army will encircle the city of Tars as it is blockaded by sea, and its siege train shall be employed to affect breaches by which Tars should be seized. The army shall then proceed north, and Cheidia will be invested and captured in turn.

In the unlikely event of a field battle, the Daharai will present in the standard order: 2000 heavily armed and armoured Red Brothers shall anchor the right of the formation, while the body of the line should be composed of a thonos* of the majority of the obligate infantrymen, with skirmishers deployed in front, to harass from range and withdraw to the flanks when battle closes. Our army shall push forward with the thunderous chant of "Heasah! Spitos! Heasah! Spitos!". Upon the left our Roenon lancers will lead the obligate cavalry forward, smashing through any opposing enemy cavalry, then to circle around the enemy to drive into his line from the rear.


*The thonos, or city of spears, is the close and deep formation commonly adopted by the infantry of Daharai armies. Initially both the Daharai and the Empire fielded largely similar armies in the civil war. The thonos was developed to more effectively engage and break opposing Imperial lines. The 'city of spears' allowed for the presentation of spears from three ranks instead of two, and better afforded each man the protection of his neighbour's shield. Further, depth and cohesion give these formations greater strength, so that they essentially push through and disrupt opposing formations by sheer mass and momentum, setting the enemy to flight.

Lord of Elves said:

STATS

Lord of Elves
The Second Spanish Empire: Madrid
Constitutional Monarchy: (PM) Nicholas Estuardo
Stability: 10
Economic Power: (50)322/92
Manpower: 2,110(+2)[851]
Army: 36 Divisions, 1 Iron Guard Battalion, 3 Hindenburg Light Warker Brigades
Army Experience: 6
Navy: 1 Dreadought, 14 Cruisers, 14 Destroyers, 5 Submarines
Navy Experience: 3
Air Force: 12 Zeppelins, 4 Fighter Squadrons, 4 Bordeaux 19' Squadrons
Air Force Experience: 2

Click to expand...

SPENDING
150EP, 150MP - 30 Infantry Divisions
75EP, 5MP - 5 Xiaolong H-I Bomber Squadrons
50EP (UNBANK), 4MP - 2 Mitsubishi IS2M Fighter Squadrons
45EP (Japan), 1MP - Conquistador Warker Brigade
35EP - Portugese falangists
25EP - French fascists
20EP - Italian fascists
15EP - International Fascist Congress
5EP (Japan) - BANK
2EP - BANK

TOTAL SPENT: 320EP, (UNBANK) 50EP, 45EP (Japan) 160MP; BANK: 5EP (Japan) 2EP

DOMESTIC/POLITICAL POLICY
1. The International Fascist Congress
A large, United Nations-style building shall be constructed in Madrid for the purpose of providing an international forum for the fascist cause. This International Congress shall host the heads and representatives of state from nations which have embraced some form of fascist or falangist ideology, as well as the leaders of fascist or falangist political parties and movements. For the moment we are only interested in the construction and unveiling of the complex, not in its use. We shall advertise our intention, via all the diplomatic means at our disposal, to host a "First International Congress" next year in order to deal with the matter of the threat of communism and other derived menaces, as well as to discuss the evolution of socialism and the proliferation of the fascist-socialist dogma.

MILITARY POLICY
1. Sale of Hindenburg Warker Designs
We will sell the designs to the Hindenburg Light Warker to the Empire of Japan for a payment of 50EP. If this payment is not received, obviously no such transfer of schematics will take place.

2. Share of Mitsubishi Plane Designs
Share with the Kingdom of Italy the designs to the Japanese Mitsubishi IS2M fighter plane.

MILITARY ORDERS
1. Operation Alexander
Operation Alexander is a subset campaign of the Hedjaz War in which we intend to use our control of the Mediterranean Sea to launch an invasion against the Anatolian coast in concert with the ongoing campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. The principles of this assault are first and foremost that we intend to land in an area of Anatolia that is comparatively uninhabited and therefore less likely to be defended, additionally that we intend to land with overwhelming force and with the advantage of surprise, and move quickly towards our goal. Operation Alexander will not begin until after the Italian navy has challenged and defeated the remainder of the Ottoman fleet, either directly at sea or through the use of carrier groups to attack the Ottoman ships in port. Operation Alexander also will not begin until we have received words from Persia and Arabia that Ottoman reinforcements have arrived in Syria/Iraq, as that will indicate that the Ottomans have deployed their armies. Essentially, these assaults will take place late in the year once the Ottoman Empire has expended most of its options for defense.

FORCES: 20 Infantry Divisions, 1 Conquistador Warker Brigade, 5 Xiaolong H-I Bomber Squadrons, 2 Mitsubishi IS2M Fighter Squadrons, 3 Cruisers

We will land roughly according to this map. Our goal will be to march northward and secure as much land as possible so as to besiege or more realistically threaten Constantinople. At the same time we move north, Persian forces will be moving west along the Black Sea (see the Syrian Campaigns map). We will use our single Conquistador Warker brigade as a means of maintaining an essential mobile vanguard, and in that sense we intend to use the brigade sparingly. Our soldiers will carry fuel to resupply our Xiaolong Bomber Squadrons, and will assemble makeshift airstrips as they move so as to facilitate air support. Move throughout the countryside, avoiding major urban centers, and towards Constantinople. We will attempt to take truly major cities like Konya, but we will not get bogged down fighting partisan militias or anything like that in minor townships. As our forces move north we should seek to control and hold areas which are advantageous to landing and refueling strips for our aircraft, as well as areas which are defensible positions, so as to maintain our contact with the coast. If anyone becomes particularly troublesome, use our apparent aerial superiority to just bomb them senseless. Begin making use of carpet bombing. Load Xiaolongs with standard explosive munitions, fly in low, and just drop the stuff on the heads of enemy soldiers as was done OTL in Guernica. Overall, our goal is to move towards Constantinople, as I keep repeating. However, we should do so with broad strokes, pacifying the land as we move and maintaining air superiority. If we run up against major armed resistance, execute either a controlled withdrawal to the coast and establish defensive positions or establish defensive positions at the vanguard of our forces. We hope to have established, as I said previously, a network of defensible positions, landing strips and a functioning supply train to the coast. Use this to withdraw if necessary, but if not, spread our forces out against the enemy and hold them off for as long as necessary. If it becomes absolutely necessary to do so, use the terrain to our advantage, and begin a campaign of attrition against the Ottomans as we retreat to the coast. By which I mean, retreat slowly, and destroy transport and economic infrastructure as we go (railroads, paved roads, telegraph poles, etc). Three cruisers will be kept along the coast for the purpose of defending barges on which we can land our planes in the event that the expeditionary force fails entirely. This will prevent our planes from running out of fuel and being captured by the enemy.

In the absolute best case scenario, our forces will make significant progress towards Constantinople while Persian forces move westward in that direction. In such a scenario, before besieging Constantinople, we should use our aerial superiority to bomb defensive infrastructure held by the enemy, as well as isolate any townships and urban centers around our forces that are holding out against our armies. Any siege of Constantinople will consist of an artillery bombardment which will be aimed at defensive implements only. Avoid civilian deaths.

Final stipulation: were the German Suez force to rush out of the Suez early on and attack and destroy the Regia Marina, this campaign is not to occur. Obviously if Gamez forgets to give me the EP, we won't be using a Conquistador Warker brigade. For the record, Operation Alexander is so named in honor of the last guy who ran roughshod across Anatolia and won.

2. Syrian Campaigns
Herein I'm stipulating in a general sense what we're going to do to support the actions of the Arabs and the Persians. Here's a highly general map of the actions we're going to undertake this year, not only in Operation Alexander, but in the Syrian Campaigns and other actions:

Spoiler :

Our forces in the Levant should be used to assist the Arabs in their fight against the Germans in the Hedjaz, vis a vis the use of our airplanes in the expeditionary force to provide air support. Additionally, they should be used to help hold static defensive positions against an Ottoman counterattack in Syria/Lebanon. If the advance of the Persian armies is successful in preventing such a counterattack from the Ottomans then we should participate in the push northward into Syria/southern Turkey. However, if not, we should dedicate these forces in the assistance of the Arabs however they need it. That will essentially be the primary directive of our expeditionary force in Syria, all other conditions being the same: help the Arabs.

FORCES: 12 Divisions, 3 Conquistador Warker Brigades, 2 Hindenburg Light Warker Brigades, 1 Dreadnought, 7 Cruisers, 1 Destroyer, 7 Bordeaux 19' Squadrons, 11 Xiaolong Bomber Squadrons

Additional stipulation: if possible, our naval forces here should be used to assist the Italians in destroying the Ottoman navy, assuming the Germans don't destroy the Italian one first.

3. Hainan Garrison, Etc
The forces we have maintained in Hainan should be used to defend the port. We will establish a port authority in Hainan, where to demonstrate our good will we select a Chinander from the local bureaucracy who is particularly malleable and willing to cooperate with us, and allow him to operate the port for us. He will report to Spanish overlords, who will retain all actual authority, but the Chinander administrator will be the figurehead of Spain-backed freedom of trade in East Asia. Clandestinely permit British ships to refuel and resupply at Hainan in their campaigns against Japan. Make examples of anyone who gets ideas about rebelling.

FORCES: 8 Divisions, 1 Dreadnought, 3 Cruisers, 2 Destroyers

FOREIGN AFFAIRS/POLICY
1. Aid to Portugese Falangists
Get in contact with Portugese falangists, as well as falangist-sympathizers in the Portugese government and military, and promise them our support. Use the funds provided to facilitate the secret gift of arms and munitions to falangist organizations in Portugal and encourage them to use them to make the life of the Portugese government difficult. Also promise any falangist sympathizers in the Portugese government immediate recognition and union with Spain (and appointment as important officials and the like) should they attempt a coup. Otherwise, get guns and ammo to the Portugese falangists and tell them to do what they can to fight back against tyranny.

2. Aid to French Fascists
Similarly, we should provide guns and munitions to French fascist and socialist groups, organizations and militias. Get in contact with our friends in the French government and explain that we will support them unilaterally in the event that they are able to counteract or otherwise prevent a communist revolution by any coup d'etat or declaration of a true dictatorship. Encourage anyone who is willing to listen to use the army against the communists whenever and wherever possible. Again, promise that if they do so, they will have our support.

3. Aid to Italian Fascists
Since the King of Italy is finally abdicating, begin funneling funds to Italian fascists to get the word out about the glory of hard socialism to the Italian people. Help them establish a network of party offices, caucuses, etc. But also establish our own network of spies, collaborators and agents in the Italian political intelligentsia so that we can do what is possible to assist or appoint our preferred candidate to the leadership of the new fascist Italy.

4. Guangxi Clique
Remind the Guangxi warlords and adherents of our promise of protection, and the benefits thereof, and hope that they will essentially turn the Guangxi clique over to our sphere.

SUMMARY/OTHER/OOC
I think that's everything. I'm cautiously optimistic about the chances of Operation Alexander. While we should drive through to Constantinople if we can, practice attrition warfare if we don't and present a threat to the Ottoman garrison in Anatolia and Constantinople, etc, etc. Otherwise, assist fascism throughout Europe and in doing so fight the evils of communism. Go us, hooray.

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Lord of Elves said:

STATS

Brazil/Lord of Elves
Capital: Rio de Janeiro
Autocratic Monarchy: Emperor Pedro III/Getulio Vargas (Fascist)
Dissent: 10%
Economy: 84-32/0: Demobilized
Research: Army (50), Armor (5), Navy (35), Air (20)
Army: 15 Infantry II Brigades, 75 Infantry III Brigades, 5 Jungle Brigades, 5 Mounted Brigades, 5 Artillery II Brigades
Navy: 25 Destroyers, 5 Light Cruisers, 5 Heavy Cruisers, 4 Battleships, 10 Submarines
Air Force: 2 Fighter I Wings, 1 Bomber I Wing, 2 Interceptor I Wings
Projects:

Click to expand...

SPENDING
20EP &#8211; 5 Infantry III Brigades
12EP &#8211; 2 Fighter I Wings
10EP &#8211; National Modernization and related projects
5EP &#8211; Purging dissidents, etc.
5EP &#8211; Armor research

TOTAL SPENT: 55EP


DOMESTIC/POLITICAL POLICY
1. The National Modernization
It is President Vargas' intention to begin the immediate modernization and nationalization of Brazil's vital steel-making, arms-producing and rubber industries among others. Money provided will be used to compensate the relevant persons, as well as to provide for the arrest of persons who are uncooperative. The National Modernization and its nationalization of vital industries will not involve a seizure of assets, instead, it will involve a re-purposing of assets. Make it clear to owners of the relevant private businesses that they will still have controlling shares in their corporations, and will be allowed to reap the benefits, but that now they will report to the Brazilian government. If this is unacceptable to anyone, they can enjoy a life sentence in one of Acre's fabulous prisons. New government-controlled corporations will be created for these vital industries the (among others) Brazilian Rubber Company, Brazilian Oil Company, Brazilian Steel and Manufacturing Company, etc. Investors will be assured that their stock in the relevant corporations will be respected by the Brazilian government. Any left over funds will be used to compensate for any naysayers who sell their stock in the new government-controlled corporations. As a part of the National Modernization and it's nationalization of vital industries the Committee for the National Advancement will be established to control the new corporations by proxy, as well as to keep a tab on matters of commercial and economic importance to the state. His Excellency President Vargas will deliver a speech in Rio de Janeiro regarding the National Modernization in which he will ensure the citizens of the nation that their lives will go on largely uninterrupted. Funds will eventually be procured for the creation of the most modern possible facilities for manufacturing corporations and the like, and renovations will begin as soon as possible (probably next turn). The goal of the National Modernization will be to ensure that foreign powers are not able to extort Brazil via control over its industries, and that plutocrats within our nation are not able to extort the government against the benefit of the people. This will additionally serve to allow us to permit the creation of small-scale, relatively powerless labor unions in order to appease labor groups that we do not outright slaughter. As a part of this, we will institute various labor reforms especially in the manufacturing sector both to increase efficiency and to improve the lives of workers, including guaranteed periods of rest, guarantees of employment under certain conditions (10 years, as outlined in the OTL programs undertaken by Vargas).


2. Purging Undesirables
This year the Emperor will invite members and leaders of communist, anarchist and socialist political organizations to a &#8220;Celebration of Freedom and Expression&#8221; at Rio de Janeiro as part of his plan to &#8220;Live a Brighter Tomorrow&#8221; and revitalize the Brazilian political landscape, purging it of persons who are against the greater good of the nation, and uplifting those who wish to improve the lives of all Brazilians. It is our hope that a significant portion of the leadership of communist and socialist movements in Brazil will attend this Celebration if they are promised the potentiality of major reform and the like. During the Celebration, we will plant a member of the Partido Integralista in the crowd who has been vetted for his loyalty to the cause. He will fire a blank into the air and shout &#8220;Death to the Emperor! Death to President Vargas!&#8221; and then run out. We will use this and the chaos which is sure to ensue afterward as a pretext to evacuate the Emperor and fire on the crowd. Following the carnage, President Vargas will make an address to the nation that following the attempt on the Emperor's life by a communist agent, the government of Brazil has determined that communist and socialist organizations pose a direct threat to the safety of Brazil and its people, and therefore must be eliminated. The paramilitary wing of the Partido Integralista, with assistance from the army, will round up and extra-judicially kill suspected communists, communist sympathizers, and the like. President Vargas will additionally announce the creation of a Committee for Public Safety in order to combat threats to the Brazilian people and nation, and convene an emergency session of the National Congress in order to arrive at a plan for how best to deal with future insurrections. Aside from known members of communist, socialist and anarchist organizations, anyone who makes any trouble in the name of freeing political prisoners or avenging the deaths of the communists at the &#8220;Celebration of Freedom and Expression&#8221; will be jailed, or killed if necessary. Emphasis should be placed on making the attempt on the Emperor's life look legitimate. If necessary have our informant killed by members of the Fatherland Guard as an enemy of the people in order to ensure no one will ever know.


3. The Fatherland Guard
Dom Pedro II had his &#8220;Fatherland volunteers&#8221; in the War of the Triple Alliance, now we shall have the Fatherland Guard. The Fatherland Guard is the paramilitary wing of the Partido Integralista which I referred to in &#8220;Purging Undesirables&#8221; and its role shall be defined loosely as the maintenance of the social and political status quo amongst the people of Brazil. In this role it shall be granted the jurisdiction and freedom of movement necessary to root out undesirables, dissidents, communists and all other enemies of the Brazilian people. The Fatherland Guard will be recruited from the vast ranks of disenfranchised and displeased Brazilian youths, as well as Brazilian workers who have benefited from the labor and industrial policies that will be undertaken this year by President Vargas' government. It shall of course be modeled after OTL paramilitary organizations like the SS and will be used to enact the purging of political and social dissidents in the wake of the &#8220;Celebration of Freedom and Expression&#8221; and its massacre. In order to achieve this its members will be provided with guns, ammunition and suitably-intimidating uniforms and directed by army and Partido Integralista officials in regards to who to kill. We will begin fitting children in schools for jackboots immediately, so as to ensure that in five and ten years the Fatherland Guard will have plenty of new members to fill the ranks. The Fatherland Guard will report directly to the Committee of Public Safety, which will be headed by members of the military and direct lieutenants of President Vargas.

4. Education Reform
We will begin the teaching of a new curriculum in our public schools, such as they are, that will emphasize Brazil's glorious history as the civilizing agent of the South American continent and the benevolence of the Imperial house. Furthermore, President Vargas and the Imperial Army will be deified as Brazil's saviors, having delivered the nation from the Red Terror and into the arms of the new, modern, Integralist state. Individuals within the public education system likely to resist this effoort will be labeled, along with other prominent subversives, as enemies of the people and eliminated in the collective purge. In order to attract Papal interest, the new curriculum will emphasize the virtue and goodness of the Catholic church, and the profound benefit it has had for the Brazilian people and nation. We will attempt to garner a visit from His Holiness Himself in order to show off the new schools, and the new curriculum. Failing that, some podunk bishop.

5. Live a Brighter Tomorrow
The Emperor and the Imperial house will undertake a propaganda program encouraging Brazilians to &#8220;Live a brighter tomorrow&#8221;, along the lines of &#8220;be the change you want to see in the world&#8221;. The object of the campaign will be to instill a sense of civic duty and responsibility, as well as a healthy fear and hatred of communists. Following the &#8220;Celebration of Freedom and Expression&#8221; various government agencies and contracted companies will begin production of posters vilifying communists as inveterate enemies of the Brazilian people, primarily as Argentine agents sent to sow sedition amongst our ranks, or as direct servants of the Kremlin sent to topple Brazil for the international communist revolution. This will tie in with an atmosphere of constant vigilance and fear in line with OTL American McCarthyism. Persons who speak out against the campaign publicly (as we will not make any attempt to curtail freedom of speech) will be noted by the Committee for Public Safety and eliminated as necessary, depending on how great a threat they pose to the New State. Meanwhile we will focus our efforts on encouraging the Brazilian people, especially the poor, uneducated and disenfranchised, to hate and blame communists and Argentina for their misfortunes.

MILITARY ORDERS
1. Iberian Legion Expeditionary Force
We will entitle our expeditionary force to Portugal to assist in putting down the Portugese communists the &#8220;Iberian Legion&#8221;. The Iberian Legion will be under orders to assist the Portugese government in fighting the insurrection however necessary. Upon landing in Portugal it will be our immediate goal to assist the joint intervention force (Britain, France, ourselves, Spain, etc) in pushing the Portugese communists across the Tagus River. From these positions we can hope to force them to either cross the river (futilely, as we will destroy bridges with artillery fire as they attempt to cross them) or hold them on the other side until the arrival of Spanish forces. The Iberian Legion expeditionary force will be lead by Brazilian generals, however, as its role will be small in comparison to the large troop numbers provided by European states like France and Spain, it will defer to French commanders. We will attempt to make hay in our fighting alongside the French, emphasizing the Franco-Brazilian relationship and the commonalities of purpose and idealism held between the French and Brazilian peoples. Additionally we will attempt to learn as much of we can of modern warfare from our efforts here. Our naval contingent, plus fighter and bomber aircraft which will be based out of Lisbon and surrounding airfields, will bombard communists forces nigh-constantly. We expect to be granted use of British islands and the like in the Atlantic in order to transport our aircraft to Portugal.

FORCES: 5 Infantry III Brigades, 10 Infantry II Brigades, 4 Artillery II Brigades, 1 Battleship, 1 Heavy Cruiser, 2 Fighter I Wings, 1 Bomber I Wing, 1 Interceptor I Wing

2. Repression of communists
In the event that the efforts of the Celebration are successful, and we are able to pin an attempt on the Emperor's life on the communists and socialists of Brazil, then we will utilize the military in congress with the Fatherland Guard to prosecute an internal war, Night of the Long Knives-style against Brazilian communists. However, if we are not, and are forced to challenge the communists head on the army will mobilize (not literally mobilize for total warfare, but move quickly) to crush communist strongholds, arrest communist leaders and kill dissenters. In the latter event, the Fatherland Guard will be used as a means of holding the civilian population in check by rooting out subversives and the like. Their role will largely remain the same, however, they won't go around like packs of murdering dogs, instead they will report on communist activities to the Imperial Army and otherwise inform on enemies of the people. The army, which is loyal primarily to President Vargas and to his lieutenants amongst the armed forces, will be used to crush and combat communism, or in the event that our actions at the Celebration are unsuccessful, crush open revolt. Mercy should be shown to the civilian population, however, known communists will be jailed or summarily executed. We have always been at war with communism!

FORCES: All troops in Brazil

3. Support the National Modernization
In the event that there are significant corporate monopolies which refuse to abide by the laws of the land, and President Vargas' nationalizations (though I suspect this will not be the case, given your statement that we would be able to do so peaceably) these forces will be used to seize the relevant persons and jail them as criminals and enemies of the people. I expect popular support in this matter (though maybe I'm expecting too much) as in our modernizations we are undertaking favorable, pro-labor and pro-union policies which will improve the lots of the Brazilian people. In this event they will additionally seize relevant facilities (factories, wells, refineries, etc) for the Brazilian people.

FORCES: All troops in Brazil

FOREIGN AFFAIRS/POLICY
1. Venezuelan oil agreement
We will provide military advisers to the Venezuelan government to assist them in modernizing and training their military in exchange for favorable prices for purchase of oil by the Brazilian Oil Company and others.

2. Chinese coal and immigration agreement
We will begin the purchase of Chinese coal, as it is likely to be cheap compared to foreign products and will be able to supplement our domestic supply, as well as the importation of Chinese immigrants for cheap manual labor in our factories. These informal arrangements will later be codified by a formal treaty with the Chinese government.

CONTINGENCY
1. Brazilian communists don't attend celebration
If it is likely that the Brazilian communists, probably in light of our intervention against their ilk in Portugal, are not in the mood for a celebration and parlay in regards to policy then we will fake an attempt on the Emperor's life during a public appearance in Rio de Janeiro, a speech in a square, etc. Again the important part will be maintaining the appearance of an actual assassination attempt, with blame lying at the feet of Brazilian communists, and undertake the measures I underlined in Purging Undesirables accordingly.

Click to expand...

Lord of Elves said:

STATS

Brazil/Lord of Elves
Capital: Rio de Janeiro
Presidential Dictatorship: Emperor Pedro III/Getulio Vargas (Fascist)
Dissent: 13%
Economy: 112-33/0: Demobilized
Research: Army (70), Armor (30), Navy (40), Air (70)
Army: 76 Infantry III Brigades, 5 Mounted Brigades
Spoiler for overseas:

-Ecuador: 4 Infantry II Brigades, 9 Infantry III Brigades, 5 Jungle Brigades, 3 Artillery II Brigades

Navy: 25 Destroyers, 5 Light Cruisers, 5 Heavy Cruisers, 4 Battleships, 10 Submarines, 1 Carrier I
Air Force: 2 Fighter I Wings, 2 Interceptor I Wings
Spoiler for overseas:

-Ecuador: 2 Fighter I Wings, 2 Bomber I Wings, 1 Interceptor I Wing

Click to expand...

SPENDING
36EP - 3 Bomber II Squadrons
30EP - Infrastructure
3EP - BANK

TOTAL SPENT: 76EP; BANK: 3EP

DOMESTIC/POLITICAL POLICY
1. Finish infrastructure project
Once the final touches are made on existing facilities and the like that have been built or renovated as a part of the infrastructure project have been made, President Vargas will deliver a speech on radio in regards to the greatness of the Brazilian nation and the Brazilian people, and their indomitable spirit. Public utilities built or renovated as a part of the project should be branded as the benevolence of the Partido Integralista, evidence that fascists are the true men of the people. Vargas will wax on the numbing evil of communism, and how Brazil has succeeded without the corrupting influence of Red Tyranny. Its people have prospered, their lives have improved, without any "workers' revolution". A large gala will be held in Rio de Janeiro to commemorate Brazil's advancement as a nation and the benefit of the Brazilian people thanks to the wise and erudite policies of the president and the Partido Integralista. Workers in the service of the state as a part of the infrastructure program will be graduated out of the system, and recommended for jobs with the national corporations when and where possible. Government-owned facilities will be auctioned off to the national corporations wherever possible, providing an impetus for expansion of the workforce in order to staff the new facilities. It is not likely that the devolution of government work programs will create unemployment, however, the programs will not be dissolved if it is expected that jobs cannot be found for the employees.

2. Freezing assets
When Venezuelan troops enter Colombia banks, corporations and basically any organizations which deal with money and investment in Brazil will be ordered to freeze the assets of all Colombian businesses, the Colombian government, and all Colombian private citizens who are not actively working with the Brazilian or Venezuelan governments to bring about the end of the Colombian socialist regime. Word will additionally be sent down from Rio de Janeiro to prepare for the freezing of Argentine assets should Argentina take any aggressive action against states in South America. Non-compliant organizations in any regard will be subject to investigation by the government and unscheduled night time visits from the Fatherland Guard. Public statements will be released from the Ministry of Commerce or whatever that Colombian assets have been frozen in order to precipitate the ending of the tyrannical communist regime in Colombia, and that Brazil will not do business with communists. The ongoing pseudo-embargo of Colombian goods will be signed into law if necessary by the National Senate, but it is expected that most Brazilians have been long since weaned off of Colombian products. Not using Colombian goods will be a question of national pride and opposition to the Red Menace.

3. Commission for Foreign Nationals
A government agency will be established in order to keep tabs on foreign nationals who might be agents of hostile powers. Nations codified as potential origin points of foreign subterfuge will include Argentina, Colombia, the USSA, the Soviet Union, etc. This list will not be publicized for obvious reasons, however, a list will be published of nations which are "beyond suspicion" and are considered Brazilian allies. This list will include all major economic partners, as well as France, Britain, the CSA and others. Foreign nationals who do not originate from nations which are beyond suspicion will be required to register with the local census office as foreigners living in Brazil. Known residents from nations which are not beyond suspicion who do not register with their respective census offices will be arrested as potential enemies of the state and the people. Special attention should be given to the apprehending of Russian and Argentine nationals. This should not be an occasion for widespread panic or xenophobia, as these arrests will not be made by the Fatherland Guard but strictly by the police and agents of the law. A moratorium will be placed on demonstrations against foreigners, as well as on violence against foreign nationals even under the pretext of exhorting the national cause. Anyone who violates these moratoriums will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and stripped of the legal benefit of membership in the Fatherland Guard or any other anti-communist paramilitary organization. If things are particularly severe this will be the prelude to another Knight of the Long Knives-style purge of communist and foreign agents/sympathizers.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS/POLICY
1. Declaration of Police Action
Upon the Venezuelan invasion of Colombia President Vargas will make, on behalf of His Imperial Majesty Pedro III, a declaration of police action. Brazil's stated reasons for use of military force against the existing Colombian government will be constituted primarily by opposing communism in South America, as well as punishing the Colombian communists for their wanton violence and bloodshed against the Colombian people. Brazil shall stand up for democracy and destroy the communist menace on this continent.

2. Ecuador for Ecuadorians
As a part of the invasion of Colombia we will finally remove our formal troop presence from Ecuador. Ecuador will serve as a springboard for our invasion, and if at all possible some Ecuadorian troops should participate in the campaign against the Colombian reds, but we are removing our essential troop presence. What will remain will be militias and mercenary armies hired by the national corporations to protect our assets in Colombia, as well as a cadre of agents, informants and collaborators at every level of the Ecuadorian government in order to ensure compliance.

MILITARY ORDERS
1. War in Colombia
The invasion of Colombia will begin after Venezuelan troops have already entered the country. A bombing campaign, focused on the major mountain passes and coastal roads into Colombia proper, will be begun with the existing air force presence in Ecuador. Following the bombing campaign the Ecuadorian expeditionary force, now the Army of Colombian Freedom, will push through the passes along the coast and attempt to take key points and attack the rear of the Colombian armies as they move to oppose the Venezuelan invasion or withdraw from the front lines. We will not hope to make major gains, as we will be withdrawing our air support to southern Brazil after the bombing campaign, but our ultimate goal is to support the Venezuelan invasion.

FORCES: All troops and planes currently in Ecuador

2. Withdraw to southern Brazil
Following the opening bombing campaign in Colombia all planes and personnel associated with the Imperial Air Force in Ecuador will be withdrawn to bases in Rio de Janeiro.

FORCES: -Ecuador: 2 Fighter I Wings, 2 Bomber I Wings, 1 Interceptor I Wing

SUMMARY/OTHER/OOC
Sorry for the late orders, it's been a long, long week. Hopefully I didn't forget anything important but we'll see.

Click to expand...

"I can tell you the story, but you will not like the ending."

-Nephrax-ta-Delphis, The Kargan Apocrypha

Karapeshai Exatai &#8211; Thlayli
Culture: Satar, Accan, Xieni, Avaimi, and Vithana, Very Influential
Religion: Ardavan, Ytzauzi, Maninist, persecuted Enguntith, Aitahist, Ancestor Worshiping, and Polytheist minorities
Government: Exatai
Leader: Redeemer Talephas (Prince Arteras of the Sea; Prince Sianai of the Wind)
Income: 70,000 (Debt: 1,000)
Military: 120,000 Infantry, 11,500 Cavalry, 10,000 Steppe Cavalry, 40,000 Levies, 140 Ships, 2 Siege Trains (Upkeep: 24,000 + 11,500 + 5,000 + 4,000 + 7,000 + 1,000 = 52,500)

Spending

17,500 surplus
+4,000 from disbanding 40,000 levies
+5,000 from an extraordinary tribute levy from the Princes
=26,500 spendable income

5,000 to raise 10,000 steppe cavalry
3,500 to raise 3,500 cavalry
11,000 to raise 55,000 soldiers
1,000 to build 20 ships
0 to muster 60 ships from the Accan nuccia
500 to Telha Exatai
500 to Eha Vithana

2,000 to the Sephashim (directed primarily at the research of mechanics and elementics [alchemistry] for the uncovering of new substances and weapons useful to the war effort)
500 to counterintelligence (protection of the Redeemer and the princes and the ferreting out of enemy spies)

1,000 to greatly improve the fortifications of Sacossa (build a citadel and a large wall)
500 to improve the fortifications of Acca (fortify gatehouses, improve harbor defenses)
500 to improve the fortifications of Alma (harbor defenses)
500 to improve the fortifications of Rutto (general fortifications) [please rename on map to Rutto]
500 to improve the fortifications of Ceralle (general fortifications)

[Provisional Spending: 2,000 to raise 20,000 urban levies at the site of any major Karapeshai city targeted by a Farubaidan amphibious assault]

-500 deficit
-1,000 in pre-existing debt
1,500 in debt (3,500 in debt if extraordinary levies raised)

---

Domestic Events

1) Harnessing the Sephashim

The efforts of the greatest minds of the Sephashim will result in research into new forms of weaponry, with the Redeemer requiring a study of the most efficient weapon shape and the strongest possible material. Various experiments with metallurgy will occur, such as different alloy combinations.

The likely result will be a significant advance in wartime metalworking, overall higher quality steel, and the creation of a &#8220;Talephid pattern&#8221; pike and sword design that will be in standard practice (though not universal usage) in Karapeshai armies by the end of the turn. Perhaps there will be other advances from this funding which I cannot predict.

2) Ensuring Domestic Unity &#8211; Counterintelligence

For the most part, the major northern ethnic groups stand to lose more than they gain by the defeat of the Exatai, the only exceptions being perhaps the Ming and the Oscadians, who are currently fairly disenfranchised. The Accans have their financial hegemony, the Avaimi have blood ties to the Redeemer and have received significant toleration for their beliefs and culture, and the Xieni have gained power over the entirety of the Einan through the mostly-Xieni Wind Princedom.

Still, we can anticipate spies from our enemies, so a counterintelligence budget (working through Sianai&#8217;s well-established spy networks) has been assigned to protect Talephas and the other high commanders from assassination, and to find and eliminate enemy spies trying to spread dissent or rebellion, using agents provocateurs and other such tactics.

3) Ensuring Domestic Unity - Fortification

Virtually all the major coastal cities (Sacossa, Alma, Acca, Rutto, and Ceralle) will receive extensive additions to their fortifications. These will be primarily directed at repelling seaborne assaults from the Farubaida, however the ability to resist lengthy sieges will also be prioritized. Sacossa, being closest to the front, will receive the most work, getting a full wall and a nice citadel. All of the cities (except Atracta which is very well fortified) will get some work however.

Military Campaigns

Overall Synopsis:



Talephas&#8217; overall plan is simple: Draw the enemy further into the north to die, and embarrass the Moti in the south to sap their morale. In practice, this breaks down into three major maneuvers:

1) In the far south, Karal's son Zendan-ha joins with a great alliance of steppe princes to punish the Moti for their depredations against the Vithana, with a great raid that targets the ancient city of Moti itself. Their goal is to inflict as much damage as possible and take Godlike hostages.

2) In the north, Arteras will supervise the fortification of the great coastal cities, and prepare his fleet to cripple a possible Farubaidan naval assault, while marshalling a reserve army to shadow them on land and ensure that they starve to death if they manage to land troops. He will launch a few opportunistic raids of his own.

3) Talephas will withdraw the bulk of troops north of the Markha River, and&#8230;wait. With the exception of some small maneuvers by Sianai to liberate Arastephaion and keep the Oscadians down, he will focus on drilling his army in the Talephid Form, a new order of battle. If the Moti attempt to ford the Markha, he will force battle, using his new tactics to win a crushing battle against Lerai himself&#8230;and bring the Apocalypse south. If not, he will simply wait, supporting Arteras if necessary.

The Cyvekt will largely continue to prosecute the war against Brunn on their own, but Fulwarc III the BOLD considers himself more than equal to the task. [See Cyvekt addendum]

Logistical Note: The only major offensive operation carried outside of Karapeshai territory is the steppe cavalry offensive. We have not paid logistics for this as the steppe cavalry are expected to sustain themselves primarily through forage and pillage, no baggage train or supply line necessary. However, our cash payments to the Eha Vithana and Telha can be considered supplements to any logistical needs they have.

Detailed Campaign Synopses



The Southern Campaign:

Under the leadership of Zendan-ha and Satores, a prince of the Vithanama, a massive steppe host of Satar, Vischa, Vithanama, and Vithana will ride deep into Moti territory. The largest steppe army since the days of Arastephas, their goal is to do as much damage as possible, though they will only try seriously to sack one city: Moti itself.

The campaign will begin with a series of raids on the former Hai Vithana cities of Eshirath and Karamha. If they are undefended or poorly defended, by all means capture them, but this is primarily an attention-grabbing tactic to pull the Moti garrisons out of position. After the main campaign begins, a few thousand raiders will remain in this area as a covering force to harass the local Moti forces further.

Once the Moti respond to this by bringing their reserve forces up to Eshirath and Karamha, the major steppe army will fly east, tracking the southern edge of the Kothai. They will ravage the croplands around Lotumbo but make no serious attempt to capture the city unless it is seriously under garrisoned. Continuing further east, they will ford the Yensai at its northernmost extent, and fall on Moti like a hailstorm. They will cut down trees in the mountainous foothills to make battering rams, and force the gates of the city.

It will then be put to the sword, with any non-moveable wealth burned or otherwise destroyed. A few high-value slaves will be carried off on spare horses, with everyone else killed or driven into the countryside. After the sack of Moti, raid up and down the Yensai and across the savannah, burning and pillaging until organized Moti resistance attempts to retake the area.

Then they will flee back to the steppe, carrying (or so we hope) a good number of Godlikes with us to use as leverage for future negotiations. For the remainder of the turn period, continue to raid deep into Moti territory, attempting to reach the west bank of the Yensai through more southerly routes, continuing to dodge Moti detachments where possible.

At no point EXCEPT at Moti will the steppe cavalry army engage in serious battle with Moti forces. We will isolate and destroy small detachments caught in the open, but we will not pursue extended sieges or pitched battle. If a Moti army confronts our steppe cavalry in the field, we will attempt to harass them, but we will not try to annihilate them; their discipline and organization is far too strong.

Overall, sow as much chaos and do as much damage as possible.

The Northern Campaign:

Arteras (and his Accan cousin, Ucco Tepecci) will take charge of the defense of the economic heartland of the Exatai from a Farubaidan naval assault.

If the opportunity presents itself, Arteras will personally lead a raid of 40 fire ships on the docks of either Mahid or Seis, but despite isolated distractions to keep the Farubaidans on their toes, (and small detachments to raid Farubaidan commerce in the Kern,) the bulk of Arteras&#8217; collective fleet of 250 ships will watch for a Farubaidan naval descent, aiming to catch them in the act just like Arto Rutarri did at the Battle of the Bays, so many years before.

If the Farubaidans truly throw all of their navy and army into one great naval assault, Arteras will only be able to delay them on the sea, not destroy them.

But in the event that the Farubaidans do land troops, they will have to actually capture a city. Arteras will shift to cutting off sea-borne supplies to the Farubaidan army, while Prince Ucco Tepecci will shadow them with his 50,000 man army, preventing them from acquiring any food supplies in the field. Meanwhile, 20,000 emergency levies will garrison any city they choose to attempt to invest. With the new fortifications, any siege will be lengthy.

So, the Farubaidans will have a constricted naval supply line, be forced into a lengthy siege of well-fortified locales, and have a shadow army besieging the besiegers. They will, if not forced to starve, be easily contained, and possibly even captured. If they wish to assault freshly fortified cities directly, they do so at their peril.

Note: We will use one siege train defensively at any city the Farubaida are like to attack. The siege engines will be mounted on the walls and used to repel the invaders.

[As previously mentioned, 200 ships will always be kept on defensive patrols, but 30-50 ships will be used to sneak past Farubaidan lines and raid Mahid or Seis, whichever is less well defended. Additionally, Arteras&#8217; raiders will bring Farubaidan commerce in the Kern to a virtual halt, especially if the Farubaidans do not assign any ships to guard their merchants in convoy. Long story short, set it all on fire.]

Central Campaign:

Talephas is something of a tactical genius.



The Redeemer has studied Savirai, Cyvekt, and Moti tactics and learned from all of them. From the Savirai, he learned the effectiveness of scorched earth tactics. From the Cyvekt, particularly the Battle of Talore, he learned the strength of anti-cavalry tactics. And from the Moti, particularly from Karhat, he learned that a disciplined, well-trained heavy infantry will outlast an elite regiment of shock cavalry almost every time. So as such, Talephas has abandoned a core component of Satar tactics from ancient until modern days: The shock cavalry charge. He has not ignored his cavalry however, but chooses to use them selectively to prevent Moti cavalry envelopment, and as a reserve force.

Furthermore, Talephas will make it impossible for his enemy to use a frontal charge at all, by adapting Ephasir&#8217;s idea of the barriers. His men will dig deep trenches, fill them with wood and oil, and set them alight. Around the trenches they will dig an additional number of horse hobbles. This will create a serious frontal barrier to infantry or cavalry attack. They will, however, provide small lanes through the trenches, as Ephasir did, for enemy troops to advance, and be annihilated by small countercharges from the bulk of the army.

But Talephas will advance Ephasir&#8217;s idea. Behind the barriers he will place missile infantry, including the ballistae and catapults of the other Satar siege train, as well as Accan belly-bows and standard archers. The advancing Moti will be peppered with bolts as they attempt to advance, but helpless to strike back against the missile infantry lest they be burned to death. These missile troops will also continue to feed the flames of the barrier trenches.

Furthermore, he will train his Accan pikes not to stand in the front rank, as they are used to, but on the sides. This has the benefit of preventing the Moti cavalry from attempting a flank envelopment; they will run right into a wall of pikes and die. But Talephas will spend a year training the pikes to execute a special wheeling motion, turning them as one from facing sideways to facing front. This will allow them not simply to repel the Moti cavalry on the flanks, but then envelop the Moti in their entirety. This is the most complicated maneuver in the whole order of battle, and he will have his pikes practice it relentlessly.

When the pikes advance on the flanks, completing their envelopment, the bulk of the mixed infantry will charge through the gaps in the barriers, now making a powerful countercharge of their own. As the Moti host buckles under the strain of the charge, now the Redeemer will finally commit his heavy cavalry, if it is not off battling the Moti heavy cavalry, to add their force to the charge as well, perhaps on one of the flanks.

It is a recipe for success against Lerai&#8217;s hard charging, heavy-cavalry oriented army.

In the actual campaign, Talephas will evacuate the land south of the Markha, burning or carrying off all of the crops as the Moti advance, and leaving only a few cavalry pickets to harass the Moti sporadically. As they come further north, their supply lines will become even more strained.

Sianai will be sent with a significant detachment (around 28,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry) to lift the siege of Arastephaion, which he will do after marching through Tael to ensure that the Oscadians do not rise up in Talephas&#8217; immediate rear. At best, he will take the city and march back to the upper Markha to reinforce Talephas once more. At worst, he will tie down thousands of Moti soldiers there in a lengthy standoff.

Talephas himself will wait, and watch, drilling his men in the use of the new tactics he has invented. When the Moti come north, he will allow them to cross the Markha, admittedly harassing them heavily. He will then block their route north through the foothills of the Rhoms, placing himself somewhere between them and the rich Accan coastal plain. It is here that Talephas wishes for the decisive confrontation to occur, and knowing Lerai&#8217;s propensity for battle, he is unlikely to decline it. He will have his men ready to execute the Form at a moment&#8217;s notice.

Endgame:

We will spend the remainder of the campaign pushing the Moti south, using our restored command of Arastephaion to execute a sweeping motion across the Kotir and recapturing Onesca from the south, which would cut the Moti off, forcing either their surrender or their evacuation. Don&#8217;t touch Siaxis; we don&#8217;t want to give them an excuse to burn it down.

If necessary, after the Moti threat receded Talephas can also send reinforcements to Ucco and Arteras, if the Farubaida have made any amphibious gains against him. Conversely, if Talephas has been somehow taken by surprise or is forced back, and the Farubaida are not active in the far north, Arteras can send Ucco with significant reinforcements to bolster the Redeemer&#8217;s army. The two armies are close enough to support each other if the other one is in dire need of support, an important second line of defense in the event of a serious defeat.

Cyvekt Addendum:

1,100 surplus
1,000 to raise 5,000 soldiers
100 to raise 100 cavalry
500 to repair and resettle Lutan
500 to logistics for the liberation of Seelht
1 to purchase a marvelous stallion as a wedding gift for the King of Helt&#8217;s daughter
1 to purchase several exotic breeds of dogs

1002 in debt

Having forged an alliance (rocky at first, but repaired after the marriage) with Helt, Fulwarc III cuCyve will boldly go where no man has gone before &#8211; into the den of vipers itself, Flamm..Seelht. His aim is to march across the mountains, mount a surprise attack, and return that city to its original masters, while leading a rebellion of anti-Aitahist Stettin, and generally to personally defeat any opposition the Brunnekt might offer based on sheer force of Fulwarc&#8217;s mighty battle challenge. Frontal assault towards Seelht aside, Fulwarc has enough troops still to make things work.

Fulwarc has little strategy beyond &#8220;advance and attack,&#8221; but he is an inspiring young leader and a fierce fighter, so hopefully it will be enough.

He will also offer free land and a new longhouse to any Cyvekt willing to convert to Ardavan, take the mask, and sail across the sea to Lutan. In doing so, he will repopulate the city and establish a small but growing enclave of Ardavani in Lutan, the first on the eastern continent.