Iron and Blood - Game Thread

[Tee Kay]

IMPORTANT RULE CHANGE - Economic Dominance

This method of expansion involves using IC to fund theoretical colonists and merchants and bribing local rulers to incorporate them into your empire.

How it works

Your chance of success is determined by two things: the amount of IC you spend, and how strong the natives are.

Suppose you spend 4 IC on economically dominating, let's say, Syria. Now Syria has two major cities/population centers. For each IC you spend, I will run a random number generator. There are three equally possible results: you take over one of the cities, both cities, or none of the cities. So if you spend 4 IC, I will run it four times, and I'll take the best result: if I get 0,2,1,0, you'll receive the whole province, since I take the best result.

For a sparsely-populated province, like Tartary or Midwest, you'll have a 50-50 chance of it joining your country if you spend 1 IC on it. On the other end of the scale, such as a four-cities province like Shanghai, you only have a 20% chance, so more likely you'll only take over part of a province that turn. You can spend more ICs to increase your chances, but it's risky.

If you don't have the troops to invade a province, economic dominance might be a better option especially for sparsely-populated areas, and because the province is taken peacefully, there's a 20% chance for each city in that province that you'll receive a free factory for your troubles. On the other hand, simply invading a country may be quicker and based less on chance.

 

[Tee Kay]

If they are blockaded, then does the guy blockading get a chance of getting that IC? Therre must be a chance that some blockading ship boards the transports...

More likely the transport will be sunk. For simplicity, I say no.

By the way, update is either late Saturday night or Sunday morning, Australian time.

 

[Omega124]

I spend 4 IC on bribing Turkey

 

[NedimNapoleon]

Omega, everyone is against you, I warn you again withdraw from TURKEY, I will allow you to take Greece or Libya if you want

 

[Midnight-Blue766]

Mughal Empire



Color: Indian Red (AKA Chestnut).
Capital: Ganges (or wherever Delhi is supposted be on the map).
Description: The Mughals, although descended from Persianized Central Asians, have primarily adapted to Indian culture. The official religion is Islam, though many people in the country are Hindus. Farsi is the official language in theory, but in practice most people speak either Urdu or Hindi. Although a series of incompetant rulers, coupled with increasing British influence in the subcontinent had marked a long decline of the Mughals, the Indian Revolution weakened and eventually halted the spread of the British East India Company. Under Mirza Akbar, the Mughals are ready to be once again the rulers of India.
National Goals: Re-unite India and eventually South Asia in general.

 

[NedimNapoleon]

You should join the Islamic Alliance

 

[Midnight-Blue766]

Err... assuming that I start with 5 factories like everyone else,

I bribe Bombay with 4 ICs/

 

[Tecknojock]

Farsight, you only have 4 IC's like everyone else. 1 is lost to inefficiency until your stability is higher.

 

[Midnight-Blue766]

Okay, I just fixed that.

 

[Tee Kay]

You can join, Farsight. I'll include your orders in this update.

Though now we have thirty players, so no more spots left now unless someone leaves.

Yes, you do get 5 factories like everyone else, though you also start at Guarded like everyone else, so you can only use 4 IC.

 

[Midnight-Blue766]

Can you please explain what you mean by "no more spots left now unless someone leaves"?

 

[Tee Kay]

I'm limiting myself to thirty players.

 

[Tee Kay]

Mid-Turn Update​

April 1, 1833​

Astronomers all around the world are observing a very peculiar phenomenon. Six bright points of light, of very large unknown objects of at least several kilometers in length have been spotted in the orbit of Mars. They seem to be moving together in a coordinated fashion very rapidly towards Earth. They may arrive within a week, and perhaps even within a couple days.

Strange phenomena have been reported around the globe. There is bizarre and unexplained display of lightning over many major cities, including London, Paris, Berlin and St Petersburg. Animals, tame or wild, suddenly became agitated, some became unusually aggressive. In Japan, millions of birds are witnessed to have fallen down dead from the sky. In Alaska, Iceland, Greenland and Scandinavia, glaciers are seen melting at a very astonishing speed, while reports from Bangkok and Medina tell of recent snowfalls. There are worrying news of people suddenly becoming insane for no apparent reason or inexplicably taking their own lives in mass suicides.

Scientists have no explanations for these phenomena, though they seem to be increasing in frequency as the strange points of lights move closer to the Earth.​

 

[NedimNapoleon]

At least Bosnia isn't effected

 

[BSmith1068]

Swazi witchdoctors have become increasingly concerned with a possible visit by our ancestors. They too have seen these bright objects and fear that it means the gods will soon be arriving.

If radio reports are to be believed, it may already be too late!

 

[GhostWriter16]

The people of Japan are uncertain of how to discern this. Some Christians have stated its the end of the world, but most think its just reincarnated people who experienced bad karma.

 

[MaxaTheGreat]

Texas is unaffected by the lights, but hears from other countries about the terror. Some dismiss it as an April Fool's joke, but most are concerned...

 

[Tecknojock]

Orders Updated in light of the new economic Capture Rules.
The Californian Commonwealth
-Build 21 Factory in California
-Spend 2 into stability

California raises awareness of the situation to its citizens in order to raise some money to provide as aid to the affected citizens.

 

[Robert Can't]

It is inevitable that bad things come in groups.

As Prime Minister James Murray sat, looking at the gathered cabinet members he pondered this thought. He had called this emergency meeting just because of this. It seemed that Québec had just been making a turn up, all the plans were going according to plan and the economy didn’t look that bad, there was little government opposition and the lawless streets of Québec continued to work the way they always had.

But then the bad things started happening; things like the unidentified objects in space, things like the Rome-Bosnia crisis, and then there was his big problem, and he was afraid it would undermine the whole of their country and the problem was sitting just to his left a bit, its eyes blankly staring dreamily into the wall. Murray looked the problem in the eye and it looked back at him.

Robert noticed the Prime minister glance at his direction; it was probably because he hadn’t been concentration again. The whole room had gone silent and all Robert shot nervous glances at all the other ministers glaring at him. “Erm... Yes? What is it?”

“Grand Secretariat, we need to talk.” Came Murray’s chirping reply.

“Yes,” Robert replied absent mindedly.

“Yes, privately.”

Robert turned to the Grand Duke sitting at the head of the long, rectangular table. “May, I and Mr. Murray be excuse sir?”

“Certainly.” Grunted the old duke, with his grey bushy moustache making him look like some kind of walrus in the dim light.

Robert stood up with Murray and began to walk townads the foyer but then he saw Murray walking to the other end of the troom, and his heart filled with dread. Silently he turned and followed Murray noticing that none of the other ministers would look up at him.

He entered the room, he had never been in it before and it was quite a novel experience, the room was tiny at about 6metres by 4 metres and there was a small desk at one side. There were no windows. Murray closed the door behind them and Robert turned nervously to Murray “Yes, Mr. Murray, you wanted to speak with me?”

“Robert,” Murray replied in a concerned tone. “Robert something is wrong with you, you’re not acting normally.

“How so?”

Murray produced a small brown envelope with the seal of Iceland on it. Robert immediately recognised it. “Robert, this letter arrived 2 months ago inviting you and the Duke to a formal dinner. You haven’t replied.” Murray produced another envelope with a similar Canadian seal on it. “This was a letter from the Canadian parliament inviting the Duke and me to attend an emergency conference there.” Murray then produced a pile of other letters “These are all important documents that are required that you respond to, withal haste and you have done nothing yet.” Murray let the comment hang in the air for a moment. Robert looked blankly at him, not sure what to say. Then Murray continued “All have gone unanswered, except...” Murray rummaged through his coat until he found a small collection of letters bound with a piece of string. Some of them were originals taken from Robert’s desk and others copies that had been made but all were either to, or from, the same 2 people: Robert Findlay, and Helen Ashton.

Robert immediately recognised the letters as Murray produced them and quickly snapped back at him “You have no right, that's a man’s own private business.”

Murray smiled seeing that Robert realised what he meant. “But it is interfering with state matters. Not only does it cause the plan for Act 14 to go into jeopardy but it is also decreasing your overall efficiency, it either has to stop, or I will have to ask you to resign.”

“I’m sorry Sir, I didn’t realise it was affecting my work so much. I’ll do my best to make up for the valuable time I have wasted.” Robert spoke now, submissively and sadly.

“Make sure you do.” Murray said ominously before moving to a more light tone to continue the conversation “So, tell me Robert, how goes the writing up of Act 14?”

“It proceeds well, the amendments are almost completely written up.”

“And what of the trail, any news?”

“None more that I hear sir.”

“Well, I hope they hurry up.” Murray turned to go back into the room before pausing and turing back, “Oh, and Robert, organise a meeting for me with the Head of Québec university and that Dansereau chap.”

“The astronomer?”

“Yes, him.” Murray turned back to the cabinet meeting and close the door behind him, leaving Robert out in the lonely room. It was traditional to leave someone in this room when they had acted shamefully. Tradition also dictated that they wouldn’t let him out for a week. It was an old tradition to promote hard work and perseverance from cabinet ministers.

The fact that there had been no words exchanged about it just made him feel worse, they expected him to do his duty and if that meant waiting in a cupboard then so be it, he would wait, and when they let him out... He’d write to Helen; Robert doubted that they would let him send any letters to Helen from in here. He went an sat at the desk and looked into tone of the draws. There was a newspaper, it read;

Le Québécois
First Issue: Québec declares independence​

It was dated 1822. No one had been locked in the room for 11 years. Robert looked up and noticed the pile of letters on the desk. He opened the first one and read through it, he found some ink and paper and began to write his reply.

Dear The Icelandic Embassy,

We would be delighted to welco.....

Later that day a letter was received at the Icelandic embassy saying that the Grand Duke, Fredric Penzance would be delighted to attend a meal there however unfortunately Secretariat Findlay would not be attending.
Shortly after, the Prime minister met with leading astronomers to discuss the lights in the sky. Although there were a few ideas, mostly involving the preposterous notion of extraterrestrial life, most of all the astronomers could say was about some relativity or something. It seemed to involve this odd orbit of Mercury but the Prime Minister was uninterested.

 

[mechaerik]

These lights are the heavens smiling upon us! God is with us in our holy struggle against the imperialist, crusade-launching Romans!