[RFC RAND] The peoples of the Persian plain

[BurnEmDown]

I don't think this has anything to do with defensive pacts, I'm pretty sure though that a few patches ago the maximum number of vassals was 5 but then Rhye lowered it to 4.

 

[ilduce349]

Burnemdown: I have 5 vassals in one of my games, and 1 defensive pact in it, and Mongolia refuses to capitulate because "we fear you become to powerful" So it seems the maximum is 6

 

[Danger Bird]

Time to get this story rolling again.

I am preparing a summary of the history up to now to help readers (and me) remember the history, up to the present, of the sometimes-glorious Persian people. Then I will put up an update.

 

[Danger Bird]

I. Beginnings
II. Contact and expansion
The young Persian empire in the 3rd century BCE. Buddhism, the religion of the two major cities, adopted as state religion. The first conquest and expansion of the empire, the 'barbarian' city of Samarkand, in 110AD.


III. The underground faith
Christianity emerges in Samarkand. For over 700 years it is an underground faith, until adopted as the faith of Persians in 970 by Saman Khuda.

IV. The Arab conquests
The Arab conquest of India (620-780), followed by the revolt of the Indus people of Lahore to Persian rule (840).


V. The missionary empire
Newly-risen Russia becomes a satrapy of the Persian empire (930). It is the first target of the now-unpersecuted Chrstian missionaries. Conversion to Christianity in 970. The Taoist superpower to the east - China in 1140 - is the main challenge, and at one point converts Russia to its ways.


VI. Conflict with Arabia and the Khwarezmid Dynasty
Arabia declares war on the Samanid Persian empire (1150). The defence of Lahore. The Khwarezmids take control of the empire.


VII. Expansion of the known world and the campaign against Arabia
Khwarezmids push south towards Arab Dilli (1290). The rise of the Turks from the ruins of the Roman/Daqin empire (1300). The Church of the Nativity constructed in Samarkand (1340).


VIII. The Greater Kartid Persian Empire
The Kartid dynasty succeeds the Khwarezmids, and in 1390 completes the liberation of India from Arab rule, under the legendary leader Fakru Mirza. The Kartid Persian empire in 1390.

 

[Danger Bird]

IX. The Timurids and the Eastern War
The Chittagong Incident of 1397 leads to a complete takeover by the Timurids, who, in 1425 under Mirza Taregh, instigate a war of aggression on China.


The peace of 1455 by Abu Said (first ethnic Arab ruler of Persia), taking advantage of an Apostolic Palace vote. A trapped army in Luoyang gives rise decades later to the Qizilbash, a secret military society.


X. The end of the Timurid Dynasty
Explorations in the 16th century make contact with the nations of the western and new worlds, reveal the outlines of the world's continents, and the inland of the large landmass of Borneo to the southeast.


XI. The Twelvers and the Qizilbash
War from the west (Germany and Turkey) in 1575 enabled the Qizilbash to take complete power over military affairs, leading to a prolonged period known as the Encircling War, a series of defensive then offensive conflicts - against the Chinese, Mongolians, Germans, Turks, and later Japanese and Arabians - that continued for over two centuries, through the end of the Safavid Dynasty (1506-1722), the Afsharid Dynasty (1722-1760), and into the Zand Dynasty (1760-1831).
The war plans (1575); achieved by 1730 under Nader Shah. The first heroic defence of Moskva (1650).


XII. The Encircling War, Part I - The Second China Campaign
The conquest of Mainland China (1709).

XIII. The Encircling War, Part II - A World in Turmoil
Nader Shah at Koln (1730).


XIV. The Encircling War, Part III - The Empire Endures
Midway through the Arabian Campaign (1799).


XV. The Encircling War, Part IV - The Establishment of the Pax Parsa
The world in 1814, at peace under Persia's dominance.

 

[Danger Bird]

XVI. The Parsa Olympiad
The Parsa Olympiad (1844-1848) brings visitors to witness the ancient splendours and modern technology (railroads, etc.) of the Persian nation. The new Constitution of the Persian Republic in the Qajar Era (1848).


XVII. The World Again Aflame
The First Chinese Rebellion, the deployment of the army by railroad, and the battle of Beijing (1858-1860).


XVIII. The First World War - Part I (1870-1896)
The First World War (1862-1918/1934), ignited by Scandinavia's conflict with Mongolia and Japan, consisting of two campaigns againts the Japanese, one long campaign against the Mongolians, and faraway wars with the French. Slow progress being made on the Mongolian front in 1882.


XIX. The First World War - Part II "Futility" (1896-1918)
The advances of the CATO (Central Asian Treaty Organisation) forces in France (1916). The Second Chinese Rebellion, in the midst of the First World War, subdued with greater difficulty that the first (1918-1937).


XX. The First World War - Part III "Victory attended by Catastrophe" (1918-1936)
The end of the 70 year Mongolian campaign - the conquest, in 1934, of Kharakhorum, which was later assigned to Russia by a CATO conference. The 'Catastrophe': The Indian Rebellion and the Nowruz Coup, where non-Christian, non-Persian ethnicities sided with the Indian rebels (1936). Asia in 1936.


XXI. Reconquest and Revolution (1936-38)
The Tudeh Revolution of 1938. Preparations are made for retaking the renegade cities of Armuza and Ectabana. The development of Persia's African colony of Gogana.


XXII. 'International Friendship' and Domestic Strife: Post-Revolutionary Persia(1938-1945)
The reconquest of Armuza in 1939. Most Indian lands retaken, and peace made, in 1945.


XXIII. The World in 1955 (A summary of the current international situation)

 

[Danger Bird]

The Mekke Crisis

In 1956, the Fourth Satrapy of Turkey, once durable but of late plagued by instability, collapsed. Although the re-emergence of the Roman nation had played a part, overly eager Persian socialist agents had to admit that they, too, had to share some of the blame. They had attempted to bring change the immense Turkish bureaucracy too quickly, with the result that various regional authorities had channeled the people's dissatisfaction to their own ends, that of carving up the Turkish lands into despotic fiefdoms.

The collapse of the Fourth Satrapy of Turkey


One immediate concern was the port of Mekke, which the Persian military had been using to ferry troops to Africa. The Central Command was forced to decide between either diverting their main logistical routes to Eridu or Dilli, or to intervene militarily against the new regime.

The independent city-state of Mekke


Complicating the situation in the south, formerly Turkish cities in the Mediterranean had launched a robust offensive against the Persian port of Eridu, which was inadequately defended. The modern 1st Cavalry regiment was defeated on a sortie from the city before air support and infantrymen arrived from the north to assert control over the area.

Eridu threatened by seaborne invasion


By 1960, Persian forces were in position on the hills above Mekke and Jeddah, and the assault began, backed by substantial air power so that infantry casualties were minimal. The population of Jeddah was evacuated to other regions in the south of the Republic, and Mekke was captured. With its status as the holy city of Muslims worldwide, and its fine military schools, the city was poised to quickly become a major military centre for projecting power towards the southern seas and into Africa.

The destruction of Jeddah and conquest of Mekke


Mekke, a new military centre for the Persian Socialist Republic



Other international developments

Also in 1956, a People's Republic of Mongolia had been re-established in the 4 cities which had been assigned to the Russians and Japanese two decades earlier. While sharing many ideological positions with Persia, the new regime was extremely hostile, due to the bloody history of the First World War.

The People's Republic of Mongolia


Meanwhile, the western nations were not slowing in their development - Scandinavia completing a nuclear fission weapon in 1957 and while in Spain a large Construction corporation with worldwide ambitions had been established.


The African theatre

1959, Portugal made a request for military assistance in an action against Japan, its naval rival. Although the Portuguese Continuing Revolutionary Process was now a major force on the globe, and not to be treated lightly, the Persian Overseas Command appeared to be intent on other goals, and declined.

Relative power of nations (1961)


For the past few years, work had been still progressing on the military railway into the centre of the continent, while regiments already stationed in Africa were clearing the last of the native resistance.

Minor military operations in east Africa


In 1960, the same year that the Mekke crisis was resolved, diplomats from the government of Anti-Reelectinist Mexico lobbied insistently for Persian participation in an invasion of Mali. It was now an open secret that such a war had been in the planning stages at the Persian Overseas command for some time, and so the Persian negotiators quickly took advantage of the request, gaining also open borders with Mexico and the export of professional football events to Mexican venues, as a symbol of cooperation.

The Mexican call to war against Mali


Although not all forces for the planned invasion had yet been assembled, it was judged by the generals that Mali was weakened enough by its recent war with Egypt that some gains could be made by a rapid-action force. In early 1961, then, the Persian army loaded on to the Ethiopian railroad and set out for the interior of the continent. This was the Persians' most ambitious and far-reaching war ever conceived, and many military minds were anxious that their lack of experience at extra-continental force projection would lead to unforeseen difficulties. But the morale of the troops was high as they crossed the steamy, forested hills.

The initial drive towards Malian territory

 

[jokoneli]

Wohoo! Finally an update.

PS. This story is just awesome

 

[MessageMan]

Burnemdown: I have 5 vassals in one of my games, and 1 defensive pact in it, and Mongolia refuses to capitulate because "we fear you become to powerful" So it seems the maximum is 6

The max is 5 vassals, or 4 vassals and defensive pacts, unless you're one below the cap and multiple civs ask to vassalize to you in the same turn. That's due to a loophole in game mechanics however.

 

[smackthewise]

The Persian people demand an update

 

[ilduce349]

I agree

 

[Danger Bird]

Don't worry. It will continue. (Apologies to those who thought this was it ) Just have to finish off our "Workers of the World, Unite!" SG first. (I only have time now for a few hours a week.)

Thanks for the continued interest. Persia still has big plans - including, stretching the resources of my PC to the limit.

 

[k-a-bob]

Beautiful job!

You inspired me to start playing a RFC game (not RAND) last night with the Romans and I got to the point where France popped up and took my land away. I defied them taking 2 small cities, thinking I could crush Paris and be done, but then my units started bolting for the other side.

I might just have to restart from that point and let them have those cities - this is my first RFC game. Also, the friendly Vikings declared war on me - I thought that couldn't happen. What's funny is that I have no idea where they are, and I've never seen a Viking unit.

Anyways, I stand in awe of how you have kept Persia together for so long, with all the pressures you've faced.

 

[Danger Bird]

jokoneli, smackthewise, ilduce, MessageMan, and k-a-bob, Thanks for the comments, and sorry about the wait. A new update is going up momentarily.

The max is 5 vassals, or 4 vassals and defensive pacts, unless you're one below the cap and multiple civs ask to vassalize to you in the same turn. That's due to a loophole in game mechanics however.

Well, I have 4 vassals and 2 def pacts now.

 

[Danger Bird]

XXV. Steps towards domination - modernisation and the African expansion


Change in leadership and 'The False War'

Just as Persian troops were crossing the Ethiopian plateau towards Mali, a change of heart was underway in Parsa. Parvis Hekmatjoo had assumed control of the Tudeh party after the sudden death (reported as a heart attack) of Farzan Mosaddegh. At the first meeting of the Central Command, he asked military leaders to restrain their expansionist urges and to consider foremost the stability of the Persian Socialist Republic, which, according to the latest analysis of the Makhmalbaf Institute, was rated as -9, in large part due to its centuries of expansion and rule over non-Iranian peoples.

Chairman Hekmatjoo advocated instead a policy prioritising the stability of the Central Asian Treaty Association members (a kind of modern viceroyalty where CATO Prime Ministers would be assigned advisors in Parsa), and discouraging occupation of new lands: CATO members would have full support for actions against the rogue states of the Mediterranean - Argos, Atina, Istanbul, Bursa, and the former Carthaginian city-states. Meanwhile, the army would be permitted to engage in disruptive operations within the Malian frontier, so as to prevent the Timbuktu junta from making gains in the same area.

The Mediterranean basin in the 1960s



Developments during the 60s

International and domestic trade flourished as air travel expanded exponentially, with the opening of commercial airports across the republic. Adjoining these airports were military airfields, many of the largest ringed by the offices, assembly lines, and hangars of the the state-owned aircraft manufacturers. As the industry matured, the technological superiority of Persian aircraft became widely known.

The land forces were strengthened by the production, in Kermanshah in 1964, of the first tanks, and the formation of the 1st Armoured Division. Soon, assembly lines in Parsa and Pathragada were also busy producing the formidable machines.

The sea power of the Persian republic, however, was still lagging behind the world standard, due to a shortage of well-developed ports. Armuza and Dilli, famed naval centres of an age past, were still recovering from the severe wounds inflicted on them by the Indian uprising of the 1930s, and were being surpassed by the drydocks of Hangzhou (and, soon after the restoration of order in 1967, Mekke).

In 1963, the former captain of Persia's first battleship, Admiral Bahram Afzali, took an early retirement from military command to devote his energy and military-political connections to the refitting of one of Dilli's oldest drydocks, which earned it fame and earned the Admiral much good will - so much so that his former command was renamed Bahram, and he received a major boost to his political aspirations.

Admiral Bahram Afzali's contribution to the Dilli drydocks


Persia's industrial capacity was making solid gains through the 60s as well, the demand for power becoming so great that a large hydro-electric project was begun on the upper reaches of the Euphrates near Kermanshah, site of the nation's largest ironworks.


The Mediterranean wars

The 60s and early 70s saw much activity in the formerly Greek, Turkish, and Carthaginian lands of the Mediterranean. From CATO members, the stated intent was restoration of order, by taking control from non-cooperative 'rogue' nations, and bring modern political instiutions to that area of the world. CATO powers Germany and Russia were the main contrbutors to this effort, though Persian offered some air and naval support. Bursa was under German occupation by 1962, and Russia later conquered Argos from the Malians. When, in 1964, the leaders of Istanbul pleaded to be accepted into the Persian Republic, Persian forces resettled the population to cities and towns in the Euphrates area, and established a naval base and oil-drilling centre in the region. Also, after Egypt's capitulation to Spain in 1964, Spain was active in the area, taking control of the ancient city state which they named Atenas.

The evacuation of Istanbul and construction of the naval base


The Military Committee of Mali was also active in the region, brutally conquering Argos in 1967 in spite of aerial bombing and harassment of their cavalry regiments.


The 1970s

Japan's long naval war with Portugal continued without any major world impact, but both nations were cementing their positions in the ranks of the the most powerful nations, by technological and soft power if not by military might. Japan's popular music, rokku ando rooru, was contributing to its commercial success, much in the way that football did for Persia.

Persia's size and somehat cumbersome bureacracy were significantly impairing its ability to keep up with other major nations in technological prowess. But it made up for this with a well-developed industrial espionage ring. In 1970, refrigeration technology was stolen from a Japanese laboratory in Fukuoka, and mass media technologies were finessed from the Scandinavians in 1972. The completion of the Three Gorges Dam, sped up by a new construction technique developed by an engineering team from Beijing, also brought technological prestige.

The Three Gorges Dam near Kermanshah


In 1976, the Scandinavians sent two men to the moon. This inspired Spain, Portugal, and Russia to announce their own similar programmes. There was little interest as yet within the Persian leadership, however.


The Upper Nile War

As Mali began to restore order in the conquered Mediterranean city of Argos, and was threatening to impose its control on several Carthaginian cities, the Central Military Command decided that the war with the Mali Military Committee would have to be prosecuted more vigorously. First, in 1973, an Apostolic Palace resolution ensured that eastern nations would embargo the Africans. Then, in 1974, a full assault on the eastern flank of Mali - the cities of Tadmekka and Walata on the Upper Nile, and Nioro on the coast - began. Due to difficult territory of the Upper Nile region (alternating deserts and swamplands), however, the land assault made slow progress, often taking months to secure a major town, and supply lines to the army were continually being raided by local bandits and, embarrassingly, slowed by outdated cavalry and airship attacks. Victory was almost assured, but was painfully slow in emerging.

"Chittagong delegation playing out of its league"

Yesterday, at the ongoing international congress in Mekke - scheduled last summer to determine the status of the Mediterranean, before the renewed hostilities between Persia and Mali - the delegation from the Tributary Shendu State (commonly known as Chittagong), backed by their political masters Kampuchea and by Mali and Japan, pressed for the transfer of formerly-Chinese Xi'an to their administration, based on a 0.02% ethnic Indian minority and the presence of a religious site, the Shwedagon Paya, that they claimed had been built a thousand years ago by Hindu slaves. Many of the delegates to the conference decided to adjourn for a luncheon during the proceedings on this ludicrous request, with the result that it was carried, and Persia was threatened with war if they refused. The Persian delegate, the popular Admiral Bahram Afzali, guffawed loudly in response, facing down in front of the television cameras the Indian and Kampuchean delegates, who could only then mumble that they were following proper protocol for international diplomatic meetings, and that the world was shamefully appeasing a bully in failing to back up their demand. No declaration of war ensued.

In early 1979, as the slow subjugation of the eastern Malian cities became inevitable, a disagreement within the top ring of the Tudeh party evolved into a bloodless coup, where Hekmatjoo was sacked for his lack of direction and urgency, and Admiral Bahram Afzali, by now easily the most popular politician in the land, took the reins. He pressed for a surge of military force in the war with Mali, for a policy of direct military administration of conquered Malian territory, and vowed overall to restore the dynamism of the Persian Socialist Republic.

Afzali's surge consisted mainly of air power. In negotiations with the Egyptians, use of their air base at Diospolis Megale was secured, and in late 1979, the 1st and 2nd Bomb Wings pummeled the important oil centre of Tadmekka, after which it was easily taken by artillery, infantry, and (in their last battle before being reorganised) the legendary Nader Shah Horsemen.

The bombing campaign on Tadmekka from the air base in Egypt


The Nader Shah Horsemen and the conquest of Tadmekka


The morale of the Persian land forces quickened by news of the enhanced air power, the land forces surrounding the cities to the south handily put down the last of resistance, even before the bombers could arrive, the 1st Armoured Division and Taqi Khan Pessian Infantry taking Walata, the 1st and 6th Amoured Divisions instrumental in Nioro's capture.

The conquest of Walata


The conquest of Nioro


The Military Committee of Mali agreed to meet in Diospolis Megale in December 1979 to negotiate a peace, but would not satisfy Persia's demands for complete capitulation. The war continued, with Persian forces advancing on another major oil producing region, Taghaza.


Bahram Afzali's ambitions

The Persian economy, somewhat neglected due to the African campaign, was now in full recovery mode, with a stock exchange opened in Hangzhou in 1980, the premier trading centre, and the re-establishment in 1981 of the historic Armuza Trading Company. But other nations were making even grander advancements: the Internet was inaugurated in Trondheim in 1981, and both Japan and Scandinavia were putting into service novel technologies such as robotics and superconductors. To add insult to Persia's claims of worldwide pre-eminence, Spain completed its lunar landing in 1983 and Portugal, Russia, and the USA were soon to follow suit. Bahram Afzali pronounced that it was time to wrap up the war in Africa and turn the nation's energy to technological achievements. Espionage, of course, continued to be a useful tool for the Persians, and superconductor technology from Japan found its way into Persian labs around 1983.

In October 1983, an all-out air-and-land assault on the city of Taghaza put the Persian Central Command in control of a fouth major Malian city. This time, the representatives of the Military Committee of Mali were forced to disband their committee on the spot and to sign documents declaring the vast nation of Mali to be henceforth the newest Satrapy of the Persian Socialist Republic.

Deployments near Taghaza


The conquest of Taghaza


The capitulation of the Malians at Diospolis Megale


Territory acquired in the Malian War


With the inclusion of a non-Asian menber in the Parsa bloc, the Central Asian Treaty Organisation was renamed the Central Treaty Organisation (CenTO). Under this expanded political organisation, the leaders in Parsa now ruled, directly or indirectly, over 23% of the earth's land and 25% of its population.

Spoiler Victory Screen :

The Persian Socailist Republic itself, as it did not return the occupied cities to the Satrapy of Mali, stretched from the Upper Nile region in Africa to the East China Sea, and from a border with Spanish Atenas in the west to the southeastern sub-continent of Borneo.

Chaiman Afzali spoke now of the moon, and beyond.

 

[MrBanana]

Domination victory is with in your grasp, you just need bigger cities. Persia bad growth doesn't help at all.

 

[Tlönitte]

Everytime I read your updates I think to myself, I really must try RAND!

 

[Terrance888]

Awesome. Must try paint.net!

 

[ImNotHere]

I love this story. I can't wait to see what Persia's next move is going to be. I hope to see the end soon.

(PS. I made this accout just to comment on this story!)

 

[ImNotHere]

Also can you post a map of the world?