INES III: Storm Tapestry

Eltain said:
He carried a large stick and spoke quietly.

TLK said:
Your techs also scared me a bit, which added into my hesitation. So you get the Big Bad Wolf award. As you were simply the bear I did not want to poke.

That was my foreign policy.

The plague I developed was an aerosolized flesh-eating bacteria that only CWOH citizens were vaccinated against. This program first started on the second or third turn, so it has been around for a while. (That's what all that health research was about, to begin with.) After it was established, I kept it updated with an infusion of ASP every couple of turns. It would have been the undoing of any nation that invaded the CWOH, probably. The prevailing winds of North America would have pushed the bacteria eastward, and when it hit the gulf stream it would have made way to Europe. Imago probably would have curtailed it for the longevity of the NES, but it could have been pretty awful. In regards to other comments, the CWOH was never a puppet of any nation; in fact, I thought I was going to have to defend myself a few times because of the pressure from alliances (I was part of the TUA and PADTA for the entirety of their coexistence). It ain't easy being the Big Neutral. I'll keep all of the diplomacy and under-the-table offers in the closet, none of us stand to gain anything by seeing those. I look forward to playing with you all again in many NESes, and hopefully in another INES before too long. :D
 
Wow. I have to say the final spotlight really had me laughing. And it was great to read the awards, both Imago's and TLK's. I believe I had even more fun in this NES than the last one, which I didn't think would happen.

Anyway, for the sake of clearing out my PM box, I'm going to post all my order sets for this NES in a little while on the Show you Orders thread. It would be interesting to see orders from other people, if they were willing.
 
Good idea! I posted the orders that I could find. Somehow the first five turns were deleted, I guess I got a little deletion-happy one day or something. They're not very interesting to me, but they do provide some insight into the wild world of CWOH leadership. I regret to say there's a lot more slang than there should have been, so get off my back already.
 
Agent 89: Finally, I have to give you, almost as a tack on The Greatest Fight That Never Happened award. You and me played similar games with different charactors. While the UKA gave me a run for my money with tech, a war with you would have all been strategy, something I honestly would have had some fun with. We could of had one @#!*% of a fight, and I would have actually found it refreshing. Perhaps in another nes. ;)

This. Before the UKA and all that nonsense came around, I had a feeling that things would end in a massive war between the two of us, which was one of the reasons I didn't hesitate to beat on the other LIARS nations when I had the chance. Up until the last few turns, when it became apparent that the war with the UKA would take the rest of the NES, I was still wary of trusting you. While the final World War 3 was interesting, a war between the USACS and the Ummah would have been more fun for me.
 
I really hoped one of you guys would have picked up on my tech and built your own so we could have had an Infinite War, with giant death robots, energy shields, nukes and all. I'm fairly certain that if I was on the MDI side with their budget we would be flinging transgenics, self-replicating robots and contained black holes at each other. They'd probably win instantly if I served as their tech adviser. Though we'd need to expand from Earth predictably since it would be a barren wasteland.

It would have been interesting, but honestly, it's not my thing. I'm more for a general tactics thing, minus the tech. I attempted to do some research myself to counter you, but by then you had such a tech advantage it was hard to keep up.

This. Before the UKA and all that nonsense came around, I had a feeling that things would end in a massive war between the two of us, which was one of the reasons I didn't hesitate to beat on the other LIARS nations when I had the chance. Up until the last few turns, when it became apparent that the war with the UKA would take the rest of the NES, I was still wary of trusting you. While the final World War 3 was interesting, a war between the USACS and the Ummah would have been more fun for me.

Yes. A war between the two of us would have been most interesting, especially after the Chinese War. India was still a threat to you, and Europe, albeit split up, was a threat to me. I'm sure that in itself would have turned into World War 3. I see me bringing in LIARS, India and Israel, and you bringing in Europe and Egypt. I wonder how that would have turned out..

The plague I developed was an aerosolized flesh-eating bacteria that only CWOH citizens were vaccinated against. This program first started on the second or third turn, so it has been around for a while. (That's what all that health research was about, to begin with.) After it was established, I kept it updated with an infusion of ASP every couple of turns. It would have been the undoing of any nation that invaded the CWOH, probably. The prevailing winds of North America would have pushed the bacteria eastward, and when it hit the gulf stream it would have made way to Europe. Imago probably would have curtailed it for the longevity of the NES, but it could have been pretty awful. In regards to other comments, the CWOH was never a puppet of any nation; in fact, I thought I was going to have to defend myself a few times because of the pressure from alliances (I was part of the TUA and PADTA for the entirety of their coexistence). It ain't easy being the Big Neutral. I'll keep all of the diplomacy and under-the-table offers in the closet, none of us stand to gain anything by seeing those. I look forward to playing with you all again in many NESes, and hopefully in another INES before too long.

Like I said, I am envious of your ability to do this. I have to large of a head to keep quiet in the corner, and build up my forces, as many of you noticed. My goal for this game was to essentially become an economic powerhouse, were, if push came to shove, I could mass-recruit quickly. And of course, their is the genocides, which are always fun. I had a lot of fun.. being creative with mass murder.

I'd love to see someone else make some awards up, it'd be really interesting to see this game from other people's perspectives.
 
Heh, glad I got some awards, despite dieing so quickly :p Don't really know how I would have acted in game, given my destruction not being secured. Basically all I had planned was to make crusaders running around in giant mech suits with giant machine guns attached. I think it would have either come down to me and the Ummah putting our differences aside to fight the unholy "science devils" or me allying with said science devils to purge the world of heresy and paganism.

Ah well! It was a good read even after dieing!
 
Here are all the ways I screwed you guys over. :D Have fun.
(Semi-turn by turn and organized with my own rambling reasons. )

1) ZERG RUSH KEKEKEKEKE
Alright, I jump in and I see intense Indian nationalism and hatred to Iran, who has the spotlight. I also see Iran faced against me. I also have a sword with decent ASP and huge population. What did I do?
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That's right. I uber conscripted a million men (2 ASP) proped up the Neo-Crusaders and begun in an non ASP fashion my first realization of the Shadow government.

2) Levees to contain the High Tide: Our side or Theirs?
After this I got news that Siam will invade. I looked through their stats and pooped in my pants. Then I calmed myself. Sure, they can smash me... but I can asorb it. If I make Bangladesh chaotic I can finish the Iranian push, build the Bengali line, and then settle behind my defenses. This is the turn I got all the new tech to play with. I also helped the Pirates, the Crusaders, and threw some mind control/hive mind Nanites down the Pearl River.
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Of course, the update confirmed of my successes... and my failures. I got to Shiraz on Febuary, diddled their thumbs, and then lost it all. Fortunately my Irregular Camps, which were supposed to be a longerterm project, helped to stem the tide. The Bengal Line was asserted strong enough to stop the Siamese without the Ummah quelling the Chaos I seeded in Bengladesh.

3) Controlled Fall of the Union and Relentless Rise of the Shadows
This is when I finally realized why I am not worried about all of this. It wasn't I was playing OOC, it wasn't I didn't care.
I somehow subconciously planned for this. Not in game, but mentally. I quickly brought this out as the Shadow Government within my orders. I sent SIN mind control nanites to all my people via Vaccines and such government injections, with the Hive Mind variant that every Indian receives and contributes. the Shadow Government was the remnants of all of India's Leaders within huge computer databases, analyzing and reanalyzing plans for India, manipulating the press and the people and they have planned the entire thing.
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I quickly made my country a giant trap. Zombie swarms doped with small-arms, impromptu defenses. After one final offenseive I will seem to collapse, then ressurect as their armies leave with a mass of zombies.
I had a central government left, and with this apparatus I continued to follow my plan. The Cull Gunships were surprising, but I worked around it soon enough.

4) Execute Plan 666ggg
My subconscious and my conscious understood each other after that epiphany. BTW, g is the 6th letter of the alphabet. Plans that came to fruitation are my Micro-nanofactories which feeds on dirt and scrap and pumps out weapons and more Micronans from the minerals. They preserved my economy from these turns of overspending.
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Anyways, I got made into the Free States of India with political maneuvering. I also armed the Irregulars I had with AA weapons. Bitter fighting proved their worth against the Culls, which helped to decrease Siamese approval further until...

5) The Light at the End of the Butt
Great! They sent their nanite-infested Indians and nanite-tinged Chinese to live together. A few tugged strings and I got my Free States of Asia. :D. It was that easy. I also looked to the future and advertised my country as a Vacation Zone within the darkness while giving every visitor some Mind Control nanites. Yes, I was that evil. Really, after turn two it was almost expected for me. I was calculating and recalculating moves, and they come out the way I wanted them to. I was almost never surprised by the updates, except for the penetration of the Bengali Line which lead to my Epiphany.


Conclusion
It was a fun and awesome run. After this, I see Netaji retiring after successfully carrying out this plan, and India joining the Free States of Asia as a constitutant Member: Republics of Deccan, Hindustan, Vietnam, Thailand, Hanguo, and such stuff. Great job Imago for letting me discover my inner NESing zen. I would gladly play any game of yours. The best of luck to you all!
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Germanicus: Germy. What to say. You were the main person I looked to in my fight against the UKA in the Americas. Not offense Merciary or NWAG, but Germanicus for better or worse has a track record of fighting to the end, and that is definently respectable. So from the get-go, I have to give you the award of Most Assuring American Ally. You wanted to do your own thing, and that's respectable, so you get Most Independent MDI Member. Of course, with that, I have to mention that what you and the PADTA did was mostly without my knowledge or support. Finally, from an IC perspective, I have to give you the Most IC Nation Award. Your stories were interesting, and your attitude, was, well what I imagined a real Texan Republic to be like. You quit the original American allies, purely on the principle that the UKA was getting too strong, instead of taking what I consider the easy way out. So again, kudos. You're a good player, and it was good to have you as a counter-weight.

Thanks for the feedback. I had fun working on some interesting plans with you and enjoyed exchanging plans when I was willing to do so. :p

Of course, credit must go to Imago for his patience to read through my sometimes extremely (and sometimes late) detailed war orders and follow them when applicable. Was momentarily surprised to see my River defenses hold initially and then hold for a good 2 years before being overrun. Although I must admit my greatest surprise was to find my AA emplacements were extremely effective, (whether it was done to even out the NES or not) it was a pleasant surprise and allowed me to evacuate Austin.

Though I will admit that I was a bit shocked to see Texas survive year after year, many times against numerous odds. (I fought the System in my Eastern flank on my own for the most part and my troops were outnumbered probably 3 or 4 to 1 with little to no reinforcements from allies.) I expected to be defeated and annexed by the 2nd or 3rd year of war, though I suppose my intensive defensive networks may have something to do with that.

I also expected the System to throw numerous air squadrons against my cities, hence my numerous (I think I told Imago that I wanted millions of these placed around Texas) AA fortifications, but never really saw many attacks from the skies, save for that goo bomber. I expected my pitiful Air Force to be completely eliminated by the 1st or 2nd year of war, not the 5th year, whether this was due to inactivity in the part of the System or through my intensive AA fortifications I have no idea but it did surprise me to see my stats and see my Air Force still there.

As for my stories, thanks... Texas is one of my favorite states/nation/government to play, I was born and raised in Texas so I had some first hand knowledge of what it is to be a Texan, I still do I suppose even though I now live almost 1000 miles away. :D

Though my reasoning for leaving the TUA was not simply because the AK (as it was known then) was not getting too powerful, I would have stayed even if they gobbled up some poor country in Asia or Africa or even the Giuanas in South America. I left because the AK went behind our backs and annexed Brazil, a country that we were fully prepared to allow into the TUA that year. Our honor dictates that we will not be affiliated with such a dishonorable nation, that was the reason we left.
 
Nuclear Kid's Awards and Explanations


Before I get into any of the actual awards, here's some behind the scenes stuff of the AK/UKA/Washingtonian Empire that most of you don't know


The Canadian War: I realized immediately when Immaculate created the TUA that if I went the route of INES II, I'd get gang stomped. So I needed a diversion, at the very least to show that I wasn't the biggest bully on the playground. I mentioned to bestcfrcplayer that the alliance would be split up with indecision if Canada were to attack Quebec, especially if I lobbied in his favor. Unfortunately for him, I didn’t. As we all know, the Canadians were destroyed. The reason I relocated/killed all of them was because I needed area for death camps, and later, research facilities, and Canada became key later in WW III

The Game Changer: After Canada was conquered, I began preparing for war with the Texans. I had guaranteed Californian and Quebecois neutrality, and the Mexicans were ready to strike with me. Immaculate and his CUWA was the only thing standing in my way. As many of you may remember, China was fighting Japan, and the war was turning against them. Immaculate was trying to send an Anti Liars force that would save China from the communists, and he was a bit upset about my change of heart. IN an effort to prevent me from tearing the alliance apart, (and to give me a non answer) he suggested that I create a Trans-Atlantic Kingdom. I don’t think he realized his words at the time, but he gave me something to think about. Why limit myself to the North American continent? Feeler diplomacy went out to the two least stable nations, Brazil and South Africa, and I got an affirmative response after I promised them separate parliaments, and key government posts. When I put out the word of this, it was the end of the TUA, and Immac shortly departed. Ironically, his CUWA and his suggestion gave me the idea for the proto-world state, but we weren’t there quite yet. Regardless, this was the key moment when my Empire began, and it’s all thanks to Immaculate :p

The War: What happened with the War? Even when I was in the TUA, I had a plan with TLK, though not exactly what he thought. The idea would be a mutual invasion of Europe, and he had gotten the troops from all the LIARS to attack Europe. However, I was going to use the opportunity to restart Immaculate’s plan to squash LIARS, but this time with Washington, not Havana, leading the charge, making a place where monarchy could grow in peace. Then, maybe a night or two before orders were due, I had a nes chat conversation with Kozmos that made everything very simplified. I off handedly suggested we should unify, and he agreed. The war started, and I was the clear protector of Europe, though I was extremely upset about the Americans.

My Biggest Regret: Not capitalizing enough on the South African Breakthrough in the beginning of the war, and not trying to get the Ummah to help me against the LIARS

Now for awards :D If it feels like I’m openly/subversively mocking you, it’s because I am :p In seriousness, I gave more awards to people I interacted with because I knew them more.

My Boyz/The System (Excluding Terrance): I gotta hand it to these guys, without them, the System falls apart. Kozmos’s tech, Circuit’s military maneuverings all helped make sure that Hyperion “won” in the end. Even though everyones patting themselves on the back for their supposed cooperation, let me point out that we were running one nation, so if communication broke down, we couldn’t just scrap it, we had to figure something out. I admire these guys a lot for looking at the situation and were able to abandon sovereignity to fight with me, and even though initially I wasn’t 100% their ally, I quickly became 110%, and we fought like brothers in arms and no thoughts of jumping ship came from any of us.. You guys are the best.

Now these awards include Terrence, and Anonymoose, who I consider an honorary member of the System ^_^

Kozmos: You get my Brother Award, nothing against you Circuit, but Kozmos and I were coordinating running the nation from the beginning, which, given all of the stuff we had to work with was a pain, but you and I worked through it to create the ultimate hegemony throughout the world, even though it gave us headaches sometimes XD. You also get the Unseen Enemy for the LIARS because I don’t think any of you realize how that War would have gone without Kozmos and his tech schemes.

Circuit: Don’t despair Best Friend, for without you, this would not be possible. You get the Special Forces Award for in my opinion, the best units for behind the scenes (sorry AIDS :p) especially when you were making sure the Empire got cleansed of her enemies. Best Stories is a given for your incredibly written stuff. And for your efforts on the last turn, you get The Mariano Riverra Award. His first time sending orders for the entire Empire, reconquers Europe, wipes out the people on the North American conteinent, and generally sets us up to win the war. Great props to you sir, well done :goodjob:

Terrence: Way to tow the line bud! I You get the Republican Award for your unwavering support, and I am quite proud of how well you did, even though you seemed to collapse, you took down the Siamese with you. That’s what I call dedication kids. Best Ally I didn’t Annex goes to you for that :goodjob:
Anonymoose: You were, unfortunately, a game changer in your own way. Before you came in, the CWOH was accepting my demands, but then you showed up and had to be really neutral. I would have given you a True Neutral Award if not for your initial support to the Texans (letting them in your air space and such), but I will give you the Fight not worth Picking for your general apathy to my genocidal wars of conquest. You get The Paradise Award for it being the best place in the world to be during World War III. You also get the Will you be my ally now? Award as I had big plans for the CWOH if they were to ever join the System. Ah what might have been. You do get the Excellent Deterrent Award not for your plague (We didn’t know about that), but both me and the PADTA did nothing to you in fear of you upsetting the balance against us in the theater. You also get Honarary System Member as you were the only neutral state I was really going to allow to survive the war. Finally, you get Unintentional Ally for helping keep the LIARS at bay in the Americas.

PADTA: I am so disappointed in you guys. I thought we could team up to wipe out Communism, but you guys forming out of “The AK’s are such dicks, let’s make our own club”, I should have seen it coming. Even though everyone’s like oooh LIARS, you guys were a far greater threat, as you could have destroyed all those labs had you guys taken the initiative on the front. Instead, for some odd reason, you guys played defense, which ultimately led to your defeat. In the end, the biggest things I can say are you let the guys in Africa and Asia live about 6 turns longer since I was holding like 75+ Divisions and an IMF, plus most of my fleet, but far more importantly, you guys changed the nature of the conflict. Initially this was a crusade against Communism, but you guys turned it into a question of Nations or Global Unity. In an ironic twist, you guys were assimilated very easily into the world state and Communism remains alive (though not necessarily well) in the East. Though in another twist of irony, my goal from turn one was to conquer and unite the Western Hemisphere, and though I abandoned that goal when I unified with Brazil, by your declaration of war, I was able to achieve it. Funny how things work.

Germanicus: Let’s see, right away I’ll give you Fight to the Last Award. More than anyone else, you were pretty doomed, but you held out longer than Germany and for that, credit will be given where credit is due. You played incredibly in character and acted exactly as a Texan Republic would, which gains you The Nation I was destined to destroy, as you pitted rough American democracy against globalizing monarchy. Monarchy won, but you gave a fight to remember. And even though your people would be dying in death camps soon, I’ll salute you for a fight well done. You also get a WTH Award, as I was fully prepared to offer you some spoils of war, but then you found some nanite bomb that I was going to use against you, so you said no to my peace offer. Your loss, and your peoples, but it made the game interesting. You get the Obi-Wan to my Darth Vader Award, as in INES II, we were in the exact same position (East Coast vs. Texas and the rest of America) This time I brought friends and I won, giving me a warm fuzzy feeling inside :p. Finally you get the Lifesaver Award because you, more than any ingeniousness by TLK, LoE, or Agent, kept me from winning the war in its entity for the sheer amount of troops you forced me to keep in the Americas.

NWAG: Well you get Most In-Character for the French Civil War and the CUWA’s surrender. You get Big Shoes to Fill for stepping in for Immaculate, but unfortunately, you were never able to rebuild Havana to its position of influence as he did. You do get a FUBAR for the collapse of the French state, and the end of the CUWA, both of which would have had prominent places in the System had you not gone the course you had gone. You get the Well that was easy Award for your surrender as I was completely bluffing on that final turn and I didn’t have the resources to beat you, and you get The Best Player on our Team as the CUWA’s and France’s resources came quite in handy.

Merciary: You get the Major Thorn in My Side Award. Your attacks in South America were quite frustrating, and the unfortunate thing was that your front was the one of the lowest priorities until the WASPS came. Even then, I couldn’t really do anything military wise against you, and instead I went with bribing your officers, and when I got the WASPS, I cried with happiness. To be honest, you were frustrating simply because there was no possibility to negotiate with you and in the end, the Inca had to carry the burden against you until the final turn. But anything aside from a large military commitment, I used against you for you could have really effed up my day if you had conquered Brazil.

The LIARS: A strong enemy no doubt. You guys were an oddity. You were able to put aside your differences to fight me and my boyz, but seriously, I don’t get how you guys are getting best coalition players. Seriously, the only thing you did for a coalition was “Holy crap he can dissinigrate cities, everyone turn your attention to him”, and the everyone saying true to the alliance (though if I had focused more on Agent, I think I could have gotten it). But even the second one wasn’t true. You miscalculated with your allies in the Balt Confederacy being cool with your genocide ways even though they were more a socialist democracy, and in Russia, assuming they’d be cool after you destroyed their nation and let them be carved up. We barely needed the mind control with the Russians since you maltreated them so badly, and if AIDS wasn’t there, we wouldn’t need it too much in the Balts. But the players at least stayed put. I liked fighting you guys though, it was a true who will win, the world state’s technology, or the forces of the reactionaries that were so opposed to us that they’d fight without the sun.

Out of curiosity, would you accept peace now? ;)

TheLizardKing: Right away, I have to give you this; The Our Love Could Never Be Award. Even though we both loved genocide, and we could have found common cause, the ideologies were to different, something my monarchists couldn’t have. In an ideal world, Catherine and the Kelen would hold hands in a grassy field and put flowers in one another’s hair, but the fact was that the Kelen didn’t have hair and you couldn’t trust me on your side of the Atlantic. Best Espionage Outside the System is yours, for AIDS had presence in Quebec, Mexico, and the Baltic, You get Most Evil, as I never genocided people who were in my own nation, unlike you :p You’re without a doubt the Frenemy as I wanted nothing more than peace with you to focus on my life or death enemies (PADTA and Iran), you get Face of the Resistance as it seemed the Kelen was the rallying point for anyone who did not want to be able to be ruled by the Empire, and last but not least, you get The Big Bad Award, as even though you weren’t the person I was the most worried about in terms of cold hard statistics, I didn’t quite have you figured out, and the other nations seemed to flock to you for guidance, allowing you to mastermind the free world. And heck, by the end of it, you were the unquestioned number 2 in the world.

Agent 89: Well you sir, were an interesting person. To put it in perspective, you were a 12 year old, I was 14, and TLK was 10. TLK would talk and I would get angry and yell at him, but I needed to focus on you for the big picture. Even though you mostly fought Circuit and Rome, I routinely worried that you would break through in areas where I didn’t want you to break through, The I should have bothered goes to you since you caused a lot of discontent in the enemies ranks and perhaps we may have aligned ourselves against TLK. The Religion Award is yours for being the only person asides from Ninja who bothered, and you definitely gave me a scary impression of a powerful, religious, Iran. The Dragon Award is yours since even though TLK was seemingly the leader, you were the most powerful of them until the end game. Also, after reading the orders for the last turn you gave, I’ll give you the Nice Try Award for trying to get you to end the war with Hyperion. The stupid thing was, I was willing to end the war at any time with me occupying Europe, but you guys weren’t satisfied with that so you tried to convince the ruler of our nation to end the war in your favor? Novel idea I guess, but doomed to fail since we were the embodiment of said computer, and it probably led you guys to losing Europe, and in turn you would have lost England the next turn. But it threw me through a loop I’ll give you that :p

Eltain: First, you get the Most Frustrating Award, as I felt you to be a natural ally to the System against Communism, but you threw your lot in with the LIARS :( The Cull Gunships were a good idea, and they hurt us, so you get Most Indirect Blow. Give yourself credit man, the Volunteers, Poi Son, all that stuff was ingenious, and it took Terrance quite an effort to coup you so that you became a non factor

Lord of Elves: Well for starters, Biggest Comeback. I won’t give you biggest rise or success story for I feel that goes to the AK, but seriously going from nearly conquered by China to dominate the Far East, I’ll give you that. You also get the Where Were You Award. It feels you could have done so much more than conquer Russian towns if you hadn’t been looking over your shoulder for something that wasn’t coming…yet at least. Last but not least, I’ll give you the Enemy on the Horizon award because even though you were an even lower concern for my troops than Patagonia, I still planned strategies to dismember you if I got through the Ummah.

ZeletDude/Julius: I had no interaction with you asides from conquering/attempting to conquer your nation. I saw you both (as nations, not as players) as a funny irony of how nations were fighting the world state to preserve individual nationhood ended up giving up their own soverignity to fight the Empire, though this may have been out of time restraints (I know with ZD it was)
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Ninja Dude: Most insane Alternative History. I don’t know why you chose to be some Christian nation and not an easy Saudi King, but it was crazy and I loved it. And though I never acted out on it, I did think about making a crusade type thing to help you, but I was occupied elsewhere unfortunately.

Immaculate: Nuff said, biggest beast out there, and if he had stayed in, the war would have been much shorter one way or another. I was genuinely fearful when I saw him do those quick Texan orders, you, my friend, are a beast

Favorite Character: Nico Romano (Not rating Catherine ;) )
Shout out!: TLK’s video, pretty sick not gonna lie
Most WTH Moment of all: People losing the sun, not dying, and keep fighting. Wow. Dedication I guess

If I think of anything else, I’ll add it :)

Soooo anyone want to negotiate that peace? ;)
 
Tibet does. Tibet wanted to negotiate with everybody, as opposed to NPC Quebec, which just wanted to be left alone but was forced to flip sides like every turn because of backroom stuff.

Anyway, great write-up Nuke. For my hopeful next NES (which, if I play my cards at work right, could start as early as December), I have two main ideas. First, the angel thing, a description of which can be found here:

Spoiler :
Introduction

You are an angel cast out of Heaven, thrown to the mud of earth just in time to mold the dawn of civilization. A few million humans inhabit the wilderness, but they are weak, and you can be their terror or savior as you so desire.

Part One: Creating a Fallen Angel

Step One: Pick a Choir

In Heaven, there are three sorts of angels with enough self-awareness to be capable of sin. Which are you?

Seraph (pl. Seraphim)

In their True Forms, Seraphs are giants with six flaming wings. In Heaven, they dwelt around the Creator’s Throne, and they possess the Lord Almighty’s talent for creating life.

Seraphim only pay half price for monsters, and they get a +2 bonus on starting Leadership.

Cherub (pl. Cherubim)

In their True Forms, Cherub are ever-shifting shadows of shapes and figures, but they often prefer to appear as human babies or children. They are tinkerers by nature, and possess a natural talent for manipulating reality.

Cherubim spells cost half of what they would otherwise cost, and they get a +2 bonus on starting Will.

Archangel

In their True Forms, Archangels would look like ideal humans if not for their two wings. They are blunt warriors with near-unmatchable talents for destruction.

Archangels only pay half price for human units, and they get a +2 bonus on starting Fortitude.

Step Two: Improve Abilities

Angels have three ability scores—Leadership, Will, and Fortitude. Each starts with 2 points. You have 5 more to distribute.

Leadership – Your leadership score is equal to the maximum number of different types of units that can be loyal to your angel.

Will – Your will score is equal to the maximum number of spells your angel can know.

Fortitude – Your fortitude score is a measure of your angel’s toughness. In a turn, your angel can destroy a number of units with power cost equal to its fortitude before being overwhelmed. Angels with higher fortitude will be able to defeat and kill weaker angels in battle, all other things being equal.

Step Three: Choose Domains

Your angel can only create creatures and use spells thematically related to its domains. Select two from the list below. The noted elements of the domains are only examples, not all-inclusive.

Fire – Western-style Dragons, Jinn, Volcanoes
Water – Fish-people, Leviathans, Kraken, Floods
Air – Griffins, Angels, Rocs, Floating Cities, Tornados
Earth – Minotaurs, Centaurs, Other Part-Human Monsters, Earthquakes
Death – Liches, Vampires, Zombies, Plagues
Life – Immortals, Healing, Resurrection

Part Two: Power

Power is the driving force behind your angel and its state. Power isn’t necessarily a metaphor for magic—it comes from devotion in all forms. Power is collected and spent. On your first turn, you start with 7 power, but since you do not begin with any sources of spiritual income (the Almighty cut your angel off), it is recommended you create at least one power generator at game start.

Power Generators

City – Costs 3 power, provides +1 power per turn
Underwater City – Requires water domain, can build underwater, costs 3 power, provides +1 power per turn
Floating City – Requires air domain, can be moved, costs 3 power, provides +1 power per turn
Holy Site – Costs 4 power, provides +1 power per turn, cannot be conquered, only destroyed.

All four generators can be stacked-- you can upgrade a city or site for the same costs and benefits of building one in a new location.

Part Three: Units

Humans

(Archangels get the following types at half off)

Berserker band – Costs 1 power for 5, better at wilderness fighting
Garrison – Costs 1 power for 5, best at defending cities
Legion – Cost 1 power for 5, good at all around fighting in settled lands
Hero band – Costs 1 power for 1, good for fighting monsters
Mage coven – Costs 1 power for 1, improve potential of your offensive spells
Priest coven – Costs 1 power for 1, improve potential of your defensive and creative spells
Flotilla – Costs 1 power for 5, can fight on water and transport troops

Monsters

(It costs 1 power to create a breed; the following breeds are uncreated and are only examples; Seraphim get monsters at half their normal cost)

Griffin Flock – Air – Costs 1 power for 3, best in mountains
Dragon – Fire – Costs 1 power for 1, best against humans and smaller fliers

Part Four: Spells

Spells cost 2 power to develop for Seraphim and Archangels, but only 1 power for Cherubim. They are handled on a case-by-case basis. Most spells will be unlimited use, but have separate activation costs. For activation costs, the Cherub discount also applies.

Part Five: Gameplay

At the start of the game angels fall to earth in a location of their player’s choice, and cities and holy sites must be built radiating from that spot. A small bonus will be given each turn to players who write stories. Each turn covers a hundred years. Fallen angels that lose their players will be considered to have regained the grace of the Almighty and returned to Heaven. Their holy sites on earth will be available for capture, and their empires will collapse. This is to keep the focus on player interactions.

Part Six: Orders

Submit orders via PM each turn on power spending and strategy.

Part Six: Sample Starting Fallen Angel

St. Michael (Seraph, Life, Fire)
Leadership: 7
Will: 3
Fortitude: 3
Power Pool: 7
Units:
Spells:


The second idea is a new version of our alt.modern INES II and III games. Details below.

Spoiler :
Born Yesterday Ruleset

This is NES, which means you play a country (unless you have an idea for a corporation, terrorist group, or something like that). The first, and most important rule, of course, is to have fun. But this is what normal stats look like:

Sampleland/Imago (Creative, Industrious)
Government: Small Republic (55%)
ASP: 3
GenTech: G0.N0.A0.B0.E0
SpecTech: None
Army: 10 divisions
Navy: 10 squadrons
Air Force: 10 groups
Background: The people of Sampleland are happy to live in the ruleset. Much less chance of nuclear armageddon in here.

Let's go through this line by line-

Sampleland/Imago (Creative, Industrious)

Here we have the name of the country, followed by its player status, followed by its two traits. Every country gets two traits out of seven choices:

Aero
Countries with this trait purchase 7 air force groups per ASP as opposed to 5.

Creative
Countries with this trait can have up to 6 types of unique units as opposed to 1.

Diplomatic
Countries with this trait have a sizable boost in their relations with NPCs.

Grounder
Countries with this trait purchase 7 army divisions per ASP as opposed to 5.

Industrious
Countries with this trait have a growth bonus. At level 0 in the Economy tech, +1 ASP costs 2 spending points for odd-numbered years and 3 spending points for even-numbered years, as opposed to 3 spending points in all years. Thusly, Industrious countries advance along the Economy tech track faster.

Patriotic
Countries with this trait need barely fear domestic insurrection from assimilated populations, even in the face of extreme governments and policies. New Patriotic nations will start with bonus approval, and their approval rating hits will not be as hard. Also, Patriotic countries can raise 10 extra irregular divisions per turn.

Naval
Countries with this trait purchase 8 navy squadrons per ASP as opposed to 5.

Government: Small Republic (55%)

The first thing we have here is the government of the country, which includes a size modifier. Countries can be small, medium, or large, which will roughly correspond to eight digits, nine digits, and ten digits of population. Before any bonuses or the effects of the Patriotic trait, small countries can raise 10 irregular divisions per turn, medium countries can raise 20 irregular divisions per turn, and large countries can raise 40 irregular divisions per turn.

In parenthesis, we have government approval rating. Under 50%, and every turn without significant unrest is a blessing. Under 30%, and every turn without civil war is a blessing. Over 80%, and government is probably totalitarian. Approval rating cannot be effect directly through spending.

ASP: 3

Here we have Annual Spending Points. Sampleland can spend 3 points per turn. Other sections of the rules provide a whole host of suggestions for what points can used for, but they can also be banked, if you so prefer. In most cases, it will take 1, 2, or 3 points to fuel ASP growth. See the GenTech section for more information.

The most important hidden use for spending points is on a spy agency. Points can be spent on the agency in general (maximum 20), or on specific ops, to increase their chances of success.

GenTech: G0.N0.A0.B0.E0

Here we have the primary techs. G stands for Ground Army, N stands for Navy, A stands for Air Force, B stands for Bomb, and E stands for Economy. Each spending point invested in a specific military branch tech will increase that branch’s effectiveness by 5%. Each branch tech can have a maximum of 20 points investment—no part of the military can fight at more than double strength. Further, military branch techs cannot be directly traded.

Bomb tech is towards nuclear or similar weapons. You control the specifics of your own program. For game purposes, bomb tech can be traded, but bomb tech has absolutely no effect until more than 40 points are invested. Every point over forty gives you the option of setting off one nuclear (or equivalent) blast per turn. Thusly, if Sampleland reached 45 invested points in bomb tech, Sampleland could set off five blasts each turn. Every turn Sampleland decides to hold back results in ‘wasted’ usages.

Economy tech is towards more efficient economic growth. Economy tech can be traded, but it has different effects for Industrious and non-Industrious nations. I now present charts for how Economy tech relates to growth cost.

Industrious
Levels 0 to 9 Economy tech: 2 points = +1 ASP for odd years, 3 points = +1 ASP for even years
Levels 10 to 19: 2 points = +1 ASP for all years
Level 20 to 29: 1 points = +1 ASP for odd years, 2 points = +1 ASP for even years
Levels 30 and up: 1 point = +1 ASP for all years

Non-Industrious
Levels 0 to 9 Economy tech: 3 points = +1 ASP for all years
Levels 10 to 19: 2 points = +1 ASP for odd years, 3 points = +1 ASP for even years
Levels 20 to 29: 2 points = +1 ASP for all years
Level 30 to 39: 1 points = +1 ASP for odd years, 2 points = +1 ASP for even years
Levels 40 and up: 1 point = +1 ASP for all years

Because there is a track to increase growth efficiency, trying to cut spending corners and hope for growth is not recommended except in cases of territorial assimilation and economic recovery.

SpecTech: None

This is the slot for all your crazy ideas, like gigantic robots and longevity programs. Techs here are intended to provide circumstantial bonuses, not directly affect military quality.

Army: 10 divisions

1 spending point gives 5 divisions to non-Grounder countries or 7 divisions to Grounder countries. Non-Creative countries can have 1 unique unit, which costs 1 spending point to design, will have a unit cost of your choice (but cheaper equals weaker) and can fall in the army category. Creative countries can make up to 6 unique units spread in any number of ways among military branches.

Navy: 10 squadrons

1 spending point gives 5 squadrons to non-Naval countries or 8 squadrons to Naval countries. Non-Creative countries can have 1 unique unit, which costs 1 spending point to design, will have a unit cost of your choice (but cheaper equals weaker) and can fall in the army category. Creative countries can make up to 6 unique units spread in any number of ways among military branches.

Air Force: 10 groups

1 spending point gives 5 groups to non-Aero countries or 7 groups to Aero countries. Non-Creative countries can have 1 unique unit, which costs 1 spending point to design, will have a unit cost of your choice (but cheaper equals weaker) and can fall in the army category. Creative countries can make up to 6 unique units spread in any number of ways among military branches.

Background: The people of Sampleland are happy to live in the ruleset. Much less chance of nuclear armageddon in here.

Self-explanatory. Hopefully.

The game will consist of a series of updates, each of which covers one game year, or turn. In each inter-turn, you may engage in diplomacy, write stories to get yourself a small game bonus, and/or PM me questions about the game world. PMed orders are due before each update, and should cover your country’s yearly strategy and spending.

Born Yesterday Turn 0 Process

Replace the capitalized sections on the following worksheet, then complete one free turn of spending (0 is an even year).

COUNTRY NAME/ PLAYER NAME (TRAIT 1, TRAIT 2)
Government: GOVERNMENT TYPE (55%)
ASP: 3
GenTech: G0.N0.A0.B0.E0
SpecTech: None
Army: 10 divisions
Navy: 10 squadrons
Air Force: 10 groups
Background: BACKGROUND HERE (3 SENTENCES OR LESS)

History: GO INTO MORE BACKGROUND DETAIL IF YOU WISH.
Neighbor Suggestions: WHO DO YOU SEE AS YOUR COUNTRY’S NEIGHBORS?
Capital: WHAT IS YOUR CAPITAL?
Core Lands: WHAT LANDS MUST YOUR COUNTRY HAVE?
Reach Lands: WHAT EXTRA LANDS WOULD YOU HOPE TO START WITH?

The part of the worksheet above the break will become most of your starting stats, though I will add in a country size, maybe change your starting approval rating (you are guaranteed a better percentage if you are Patriotic), and possibly edit your background for clarity.

Your nation’s history can be whatever you want, so long as you work around the fact that ethnic group distributions should roughly correlate with our world. You are guaranteed to start with your capital, and have an excellent chance of all your core lands (so long as you keep their size to our modern world’s Morocco or smaller). Reach lands are not guaranteed at all (so don’t feel shy about plopping you capital in anther player’s reach area), but depending on what you gamble for, you gamble for, you might end up with quite a lot of territory.


The gist being, instead of picking nations off a random map I make, you design your own. Tech effects are more nailed down, and a lot of details that I never made explicit in INES III rules are out in the open here, which is probably fairer for everybody. Nation traits I don't remember seeing in a NES since something jalapeno_dude ran years ago, but hopefully it will encourage more strategic thinking.

Anyway, I can't come back to NESing yet, but I'm open to comments on which game you'd all prefer.
 
If anything a sequel/continuation of this ^_^. If not, most definitely the second one
 
The Emperor of the Proletariat would never have submitted before your sacrilegious machine gods. The Liberation was upon us; we would have fought to the end, and in the dawn's early light, the free men and women of the world would have listed their fists into the air and shouted "Thus I refute thee."

We shall wear the Tyrant's head on our crown, or trample upon it. The Sun still rises.

EDIT: The second option for INESIV.
 
You have one ep left :p
 
I vote for Option II. I also like the idea of a sequel NES. I'd like to see where the Washington dynasty goes, now that it has Dante Romano's blood mixed in it as well. But if it's not a sequel, I'll still play, especially if it uses Imago's idea of us tailoring our nations (I'll create either the Prussian Empire or the Federated States of America; I'm in a Dystopian Wars mood :D).
 
I personally like the Second idea. I want revenge for Israel! :mwaha:
 
Hmm. Now that I think about it, also in the running is INES Ic, which would follow up from my first game and give us some High Middle Ages with four-sided holy wars.

I'm not crazy about doing a continue of Storm Tapestry, but if that's what people want, I could swing it by fastforwarding about a hundred years, declaring that Hyperion and his elect got fed up with the world and ascended somewhere, and coming up with a map that has relatively high-tech Atlantic successor states mixed against fanatic remnants of the old opposition.

Maybe I should just make a poll thread and let that sit. At the moment, I'm much more interested in the general idea of running a fun game than any specific style of game.
 
INES Ic!!!!!!!!!!! I was so sad that nes died it was one of my first :(

Either that, Option II, or this, it could all be good XD
 
INESIc would be the only one I'd be really interested in. Even though I wasn't around back then, I've read through the thread, and a middle ages NES should be fun.

I might play Option II if you decide to run that, but I'm doubtful about how fun a Storm Tapestry continuation would be.
 
I actually wouldn't mind playing from where we left off, finish the war and let it be done. We already have the stats for it :)
 
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