Welcome to a world in which monarchs rule empires stretching across the globe, presidents kill their people in the name of expansion, and nations turn to dictators in hopes of restoring their former glory. Welcome to an era in which wars kill millions, revolutions test the extremities of ideology, and the lure of power snakes its tendril into even the most remote corners of the Earth. Welcome, to a time of change that will forever impact and alter the course of history.
The Sun is Setting will take place on an alternate Earth seeing a similar rise of nationalism, imperialism, and militarism as OTL's WWII and it's immediate aftermath. There will be a rather drastic departure from typical IOTs; we don't have provinces, the entire world will be carved up at the start, and you'll have almost entirely free reign on your claims.
To start with, build your empire. At the bare minimum, I need a capital, claims, and a light backstory. Don't worry about if you're claiming too much land, unless you're crowding out the possibility of other players. We're playing in an era when Britain ruled a good 14-15% of the planet's landmass, so release your inner megalomaniac and power-hungry conqueror when plotting out your empire. It isn't necessary for you to delineate exactly how your colonies are divided up and administered, but it would be very helpful to me (and probably in your interest, since I will divide them if you don't). We'll begin when all land outside of Antarctica has been claimed.
For those who don't know me, I've GMd several IOTs in the past, and I would like to say that my mechanics tend to be innovative, at the very least. I hope you enjoy my game. I am in uni, and taking several extra classes, so bear with me if updates occasionally take some time.
Spoiler Map, courtesy of NES :
Please don't bother with Antarctica. It's not worth any of our times.
Also, since this probably isn't clear above:
If another player establishes a colony, players can join as colonies of another player's nation. Of course, in order for this to happen, you guys need to actually establish colonies and divide them up.
While we're at it, protectorates can also be a thing.
Economy:
Every turn, you will generate Economic Points [EPs]. These EPs can be spent on a small handful of things:
Military
Research Bases
Infrastructure
Diplomatic Actions
Your military is hopefully self-evident; these are the forces that you use to fight your wars.
Research bases are your key to progress. They can be built in any of your own territory, or in Antarctica. Each base you build can be assigned to one of the research trees listed below; the more bases you have researching a given field, the more likely you are to advance in it. Most of the time, improvements will just give generic bonuses, but occasionally, a significant new technology will be discovered. Research bases are not shown on the main map, so revealing them and collaborating with others is your own choice. Research bases can be captured, which will set you behind and run the risk of others stealing and improving upon your technologies.
Infrastructure consists of two portions:
- A level system, matched up to research level. Each sub-national region has its own infrastructure level, which can be raised with effort and funds.
- Map-based development; you can turn cities into industrial centers to improve your funds. Unlike research bases, these are explicitly marked on the main map, and are the most likely targets of destruction or capture.
Diplomatic actions consists both of your payments to other players, and of espionage you can conduct against foreign governments.
Spoiler Research Trees :
Infrastructure
Armies (*Troops)
Aircraft (Fighters; Bombers; Rockets)
Naval (*Battleships, Submarines, Aircraft Carriers)
Toxins (Chemical Weapons, Defoliants, Bioweapons)
Nuclear Weapons (Atom Bombs; ICBMs; EMPs) [Can only be started after Rockets have been developed]
Military:
Your military consists of units, the number of which you can construct depends upon a variety of factors. Generally speaking, your military is split into 3 branches - an army, a navy, and an air force. The ability of each improves with rising technology levels in their respective branch.
Armies are the bread and butter of your fighting force, and this IOT does not distinguish between different types of units. They are the predominant combatants in land battles.
Navies are your naval forces, responsible for defending your coastlines, transporting troops, weapons, and aircraft, and for maintaining your colonies. They are split into three unit types:
- Battleships, which are available from the start. These are the backbone of your navy, and can also serve as transports for your army units.
- Submarines, which are unlocked early on from naval research. These cannot transport armies, and are more expensive than battleships, but are much stronger and faster than battleships or carriers.
- Aircraft carriers, which are unlocked after significant naval research. While these are much more expensive and weaker than either battleships or submarines, they are also the only way to transport aircraft, rockets, or nuclear weapons overseas (which is far faster than by land).
Air forces are both the most powerful and most expensive branch of your traditional military. They are not unlocked at game start, but should generally be considered a research priority, as aircraft can rapidly shift the balance of power in combat. These are also split into three unit types:
- Fighters are your standard aircraft, and are unlocked at the first research level. Unsurprisingly, they will likely form the bulk of an average air force. Their typical role is in anti-air combat, shooting down other aircraft.
- Bombers are unlocked slightly later, and are much more powerful. While they aren't designed to attack other planes, they are capable of inflicting serious damage against armies, research bases, and infrastructure.
- Rockets are the last air force technology to be unlocked, and are only a one-time use. However, they are very destructive, and unlike bombers, their targets are unlikely to be able to stop them. Their primary role is in destroying infrastructure, though they could also be used as anti-personnel weapons.
In addition to your standard military forces, their are also much more destructive weapons that can be unlocked and used. These are WMDs, and they are split into two broad categories - nuclear weapons and toxins.
Toxins, like the traditional branches of the military, improve with higher technology levels. None are unlocked at game start, and all are one time use. They are listed as follows:
- Chemical weapons are incredibly dangerous for opposing land forces, though one has to make sure your own military is well-prepared not to be harmed themselves.
- Defoliants are less weapons, and more highly risky tools. They're chemicals that clear forested areas, although the toxins that make them up are dangerous enough to be weapons in their own right. They do not improve with technology.
- Bioweapons are extremely dangerous, and, unlike chemical weapons or defoliants, pandemics can spread amongst civilian populations. One must take care to ensure these are not released among their own population, however.
Nuclear weapons, by contrast, do not improve with further research after unlocking. While they are the most powerful weapons in the game, they're also only one-time use and prohibitively expensive. They cannot be researched until after rockets have been developed, and are as follows:
- Atomic bombs, which can only be delivered via bombers. These are terrifyingly powerful against both infrastructure and military targets, and are horrifying psychological threats.
- Hydrogen Bombs, which can be launched from either land-based stations or from aircraft carriers. Longer-range and more powerful than bombs.
- EMPs, which can only be launched from land-based stations. These do not directly attack troops, but cripple infrastructure and vehicles in the areas they affect.
Qing Substates: Xinjiang Colonies: Burma, Indochina, Da Uzhuki (Occupied) Puppets: Siberian Republic, Kingdom of Korea, Hindu Free State
USSA Undefined internal borders
Germany Substates: Germany Italy Colonies: Mittleamerika, Haiti, Gibraltar & the Canaries, German India, German Kongo, Sahel, German East Africa, the Sudd, Nusantara
Kingdom of Helluland No major internal subdivisions
Anthem: Auf den Barrikaden [Warszawianka with the following lyrics]
Spoiler:
Feindliche Stürme durchtoben die Lüfte,
drohende Wolken verdunkeln das Licht.
Mag uns auch Schmerz und Tod nun erwarten,
gegen die Feinde ruft auf uns die Pflicht.
Wir haben der Freiheit leuchtende Flamme
hoch über unseren Häuptern entfacht:
die Fahne des Sieges, der Völkerbefreiung,
die sicher uns führt in der letzen Schlacht
Auf, auf nun zum blutigen, heiligen Kampfe.
Bezwinge die Feinde, du Arbeitervolk.
Auf die Barrikaden, auf die Barrikaden,
erstürme die Welt, du Arbeitervolk!
Tod und Verderben allen Bedrückern,
leidendem Volke gilt unsere Tat,
kehrt gegen sie die mordenden Waffen,
dass sie ernten die eigene Saat!
Mit Arbeiterblut gedüngt ist die Erde,
gebt euer Blut für den letzen Krieg,
dass der Menschheit Erlösung werde!
Feierlich naht der heilige Sieg.
Auf, auf nun zum blutigen, heiligen Kampfe.
Bezwinge die Feinde, du Arbeitervolk.
Auf die Barrikaden, auf die Barrikaden,
erstürme die Welt, du Arbeitervolk!
Elend und Hunger verderben uns alle,
gegen die Feinde ruft mahnend die Not,
Freiheit und Glück für die Menschheit erstreiten!
Kämpfende Jugend erschreckt nicht der Tod.
Die Toten, der grossen Idee gestorben,
werden Millionen heilig sein.
Auf denn, erhebt euch, Brüder, Genossen,
ergreift die Waffen und schliesst die Reihn!
Religious Policy: Freedom of Religion
Economic Policy: Mutualist
Head of State: Ersteproletarischesyndikus der Rheinländer Großräterat Günther Hans Karl Gustav Walther Lehmann
Constituent Councils:
Volkesräte der Rheinland- Capital: Köln
Volkesräte der Hesse- Capital: Wiesbaden
Volkesräte der Pfalz- Capital: Mannheim
Volkesräte der Baden- Capital: Karlsruhe
Volkesräte der Württemberg- Capital: Stuttgart
Volkesräte der Oldenburg- Capital: Oldenburg
Volkesräte der Wäästfaln- Capital: Dortmund
Volkesräte der Franken- Capital: Wörtzburch
Conseil-des-peuples de Walonreye- Capital: Tchålerwè
Conseil-des-peuples de Louréne- Capital: Metz
Conseil-des-peuples d'Alsace- Capital: Strasbourg
Conseil-des-peuples de Pas-de-Calais- Capital: Calais
Mensenraad der Lëtzebuerg- Capital: Lëtzebuerg
Mensenraad der Vloandern- Capital: Brussel
Constituent Demi-Independent States:
Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft- Capital: Zürich
Republique Populaire de la Saône- Capital: Besançon
État de France- Capital: Paris
Républyique du Peupl'ye Normaund- Capital: Rouen
Volksrepubliek Nederland- Capital: Amsterdam
Bundesländer Undongo- Capital: Umbanagala
Brief History:
The history of the modern Rhenish state in its first form date back to the mid-17th century, specifically after an incredibly vicious Peace of Westphalia that shattered the power of the already weakening Holy Roman Empire, and cleared an almost defenseless area for the empowered and emboldened French Kingdom to trod on, ripe for the picking for French annexation. As a result, in April 1649, the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, the Duchy of Cleves, the County of Mark, the Duchy of Westphalia, the Free Imperial City of Dortmund, the County of Bentheim, the County of Steinfurt, the Electorate of Cologne, the Free Imperial City of Cologne, the Principality of Nassau, the Free Imperial City of Aachen, the County Palatine of the Rhine, the Duchy of Jülich, the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt, and the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt met in the city of Frankfurt itself to discuss the possibility of the formation of a defensive pact between these weak, disunited states, and likely the formation of a sort of union or confederation between these states. Some of the larger, more ambitious assembled states wished to see outright annexation of a smaller, weaker member of the meeting into their own nation. The so-called Frankfurt Convention lasted for a good two months, until a solution was finally agreed upon by a majority of the participants [excluding, notably, the Bishop of Münster, who was notably lukewarm to the concept of a confederation in the first place]. The Frankfurt Pact signed at the Convention designated the formation of a formal alliance between the signees of the Pact, as well as the formation of an informal confederation to dictate the foreign-policy and somewhat the internal affairs of the various members of the confederation. Of the nations invited to the Convention, there were four prominent ones who did not agree to become founding members of the confederation, but agreed instead to the alliance with the confederate members: the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück, the County of Lingen, the County of Isenberg, and the County of Sponheim. In addition, the Rhenish Bench of the Free Imperial Cities was to be completely abolished, with the Cities that attended the Convention being annexed into their nearest confederation member, and the remainder of the Cities being unrecognized by Convention-attendees. Henceforth, the first iteration of the Rhenish Confederation was created, a loose alliance of states whose interests often clashed, and whose nominal head was the former Electoral Palatine, now King of the Rhineland, Karl I Ludwig of Wittelsbach, who moved into his new residence in Frankfurt-am-Main, the declared ‘capital’ of the Rhenish Confederation in December 1649.
As it turned, out, it would not be long until Karl Ludwig would have to raise the armies of the Rhineland and its allies in a united front against the expected enemy, France. Despite the general French victory, the Peace of Westphalia had left Paris with only a small group of new territories: the Zehnstädtebund, the Bishopric of Metz, the Bishopric of Toul, and the Bishopric of Verdun. By 1667, the new young King of France, Louis XIV, was becoming more and more restless, confined to his bounds within France. Meanwhile, to his east, lay four extremely valuable, rich, and arguably French territories held by the faltering grip of the Holy Roman Empire. To the east of France lay Bar, Lorraine, Alsace, and most importantly, the glorious city of Aachen, former seat of Charlemagne’s empire, crown of the Franks, and on a side note, a contemporary member of the Rhenish Confederation. It was thus entirely obvious, to Louis, that Aachen, a relatively small but significant target of his, should not be the initial target of his army, what with avoiding the military wrath of the Rhenish Confederation. As such, on October 28, 1667, King Louis XIV sent a delegation to court of the Duchy of Lorraine and Bar, in Nancy, directly to Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, containing a formal declaration of war. Unfortunately for the French, what their king had not counted on was the fact that the Rhenish Confederation was, at its core, an anti-French alliance and confederation, committed solely to prevent the French annexation of the greater Rhine area. As such, upon receiving news of the imminent French invasion of Bar and Lorraine, King Karl I Ludwig von Wittelsbach immediately moved for a declaration of war against the Kingdom of France, and more privately sneaked out offers of alliance, vengeance against France, and possible territorial gain to more local powers. It took not three days to formalize a war document in Frankfurt, and on November 10, 1667, a Rhenish delegation offered Paris a formal declaration of war from the Confederation, its constituent states, and the other signees of the Frankfurt Convention. Upon receiving the news, however, Louis remained unperturbed. The French armies had already subdued Bar, and were in the process of sieging Nancy. He remained yet unperturbed by the declaration of war by the Bishopric of Strasbourg, seeing it as a perfect fit to his plan. By now, the relatively weak and untested armies of the holders of all his projected goals were in a war with France. Unfortunately for Paris, however, what Louis had not banked on was the revolutionary diplomatic success of King Karl Ludwig, for after the completion of the conquests of Bar, Lorraine, and after conquering a majority of Alsace, Paris received a message from Charles II of Spain, wishing King Louis a fair day, and reminding him of the presence of the Spanish Netherlands and the Free County near the borders of expansionist France. Furthermore, upon discussions with his comrade east in Austria, and with the recommendation of the Elector Palatine and proclaimed King of the Rhineland, the Spanish Empire saw it fit that, based on fears of recent French aggressive movements and their newfound expansionist nature, it should declare war on France. Naturally, Louis was quite upset. The Lorrainian War, as it would come to be called, however, was far from over. Even as Spanish troops spilled across the Pyrenees, Louis was comfortable in his position north and west, and as he and the French army marched on to Aachen, there was but utter confidence in the abilities of French troops versus the ragtag assembled army of the Rhineland. The French proceeded more or less unhindered through the Spanish Netherlands, a nationalist revolt already fomenting at the unskillful rule of Charles. Nonetheless, the French did meet a retreating Spanish army at Limburg, on August 8, 1668, with a Rhenish army not fifty miles next door. The first day was a massacre, the French troops completely decimating a fifth of the Spanish army. By day two, the first regiments of the cobbled Rhenish army reached the battlegrounds of Limburg and bolstered the Spanish lines and morale. Within two weeks, the entirety of the Rhenish army, disorganized and unexperienced as it may have been, nearly 50,000 men together, had arrived at Limburg, together with a remaining 1,000 Spaniards, arrayed against a French force of nearly 75,000. Of course, as it turns out, numbers were most certainly not everything. It is important to note the state of the French army that had just been under attack and sieging various countless towns and forts for almost a year. They were tired, with low morale, and deep into the heart of enemy territory to capture a city that an increasing amount of the soldiers viewed as worthless to France. In addition, the Rhenish reinforcements did not solely arrive northwards from Aachen, as the French officers had expected. Rather, the Rhenish army arrived in a variety of fashions, with indeed the bulk of the army arriving from the north, but in addition several contingents marching east from Liege, and with a small but still sizable force marching northwards to the rear of the French from Virneberg. Within a week, the entirety of the French army was either dead, wounded, or missing, and Louis himself had been captured by a Hessian scouting party on August 30. Needless to say, the Battle of Limburg was one of France’s greatest defeats, and one of the greatest moments in the foundations of Rhenish history. With its king in chains in Aachen, Rhenish armies liberating the conquered territories, and Spanish troops marching steadily northwards and eastwards, the remainder of the Parisian nobility found it most appealing to push for peace. They sent delegates to Frankfurt and Madrid, who subsequently agreed to hold a peace convention in Paris, which was at the time being sieged by a small Rhenish-Spanish army. At Paris, after a few weeks of debate starting on October 2, 1668, the Rhenish and Spanish diplomats, with some minor protest from the French, came to an agreement. The territories of Bar, Lorraine, and Alsace would henceforth be annexed into the Electoral Palatinate and governed as functioning members of the Rhenish Confederation. Spain would cede the always unrestful Franche-Comte as a Rhenish vassal, but would instead be compensated with the annexation of French Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Béarn, and the three French Basque Provinces directly into the Spanish Empire. In addition, the Rhenish and Spanish agreed to once more band together in case the French were to every declare an arbitrary war of aggression onto any lesser power. Helpless to argue in any way, shape, or form, the distraught French sadly welcomed back King Louis XIV to a greatly reduced France, with a broken army, faltering economy, and an increasingly uppity lower class with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, October 26, 1668, which ended the Lorrainian War and commenced the rise of the Rhineland as a regional power. This would, sadly, be the final triumph of Karl I Ludwig, who would die peacefully in his bed in Frankfurt-am-Main on August 28, 1680, at the age of 62. His son, Karl II, would succeed Karl Ludwig as Elector Palatine, and the new, internationally recognized title of King of the Greater Rhineland.
Unfortunately, Karl II found it exceedingly difficult to keep together the gains and pacts of his father. His sheer diplomatic incompetence led to a quickly expanding rift between Spain and the Rhineland, as well as the exacerbation of already critical tensions with the weakened France. Internally, a Brunswicker rebellion threatened the very existence of the Rhineland, but was immediately and ruthlessly crushed by the King and his Army, ensuring a period of short, brutal, and uneasy peace within the Rhineland. Karl was dead by 1685, succeeded by his infant son Friedrich I Ludwig of Wittelsbach, later to be known as the Great Conqueror. By 1699, Friedrich Ludwig already spurned the advice of his court advisors, as well as the weak path of his father. It was immediately apparent that blood and conquest would be his path in life. Internally, Friedrich Ludwig was not the slightest bit more competent than his father, what with the Hessian Revolt of 1708 and the Sponheimer War of 1713 [which promptly led to the annexation of the former signee state of the Frankfurt Convention]. Externally, however, as opposed to his father, Friedrich Ludwig found it easier to expand the Rhineland due to the lack of petty diplomatic inhibitions, and due additionally to the fact that he could almost hear the faltering gasps of the Holy Roman Empire, what with Poland and Brandenburg making massive independent gains, and overall disregarding the Holy Roman Empire in general. First came annexation by ‘familial ties’ of the Palatinate-Zweibrücken in 1717, then a similar annexation of Hesse-Kassel in 1723. By 1734, Friedrich Ludwig saw fit to expand his empire even more, bored with the internal workings of the Rhineland, and eager for greater conquest. On August 1, 1734, Frankfurt-am-Main issued a formal declaration of war to the Margraviate of Baden and the Duchy of Württemberg. Their sole protectors of any note, the Bavarians and the Austrians, were already embroiled in a vicious war against the other, and while Austria looked ready to overrun the Bavarians, an ever-opportunistic Brandenburg looked interestedly southwards from Berlin. Thus, by 1736, the entireties of both nations, Baden and Württemberg, had been annexed into the Kingdom of the Greater Rhineland. Yet not even these grand gains had been able to sate the bloodthirsty, opportunistic Friedrich Ludwig. It was ever one of the greatest ambitions of Friedrich Ludwig, and the Rhineland, to secure a port, to secure a safe avenue of trade and conquest for his successors, and to open an entirely new market for the Rhenish peoples. Above the Kingdom of the Rhineland lay two jeweled ports, two hallowed trophies for the Rhenish armies to claim: Oldenburg and East Frisia. Naturally, neither state offered much resistance, though there was a brief clash with the expanding Brandenburgers regarding their recent annexation of Bremen, in which the tiring Rhenish armies were easily defeated by the fresh Brandenburger armies. A formal treaty, the Treaty of the Hunte, was signed between the two German powers on December 6, 1740, signifying an official border between the two states in their new northern territories as the Weber River to the north, and the Hunte farther south. There was also an informal agreement to recognize everything east of Hannover as properly Brandenburger. Despite this recent setback, the ambitions of Friedrich Ludwig, and arguably his greatest to-be contribution to the Rhineland, had yet to be realized. The first steps to his greatest achievement were steps that were mostly out of his control. Starting 1736, the Spanish territories in what was France as well as their Dutch territories were undergoing a minor revolution. By 1740, this revolution had gone entirely out of control. The Dutch armies were supported in their goals by the revenge-seeking French Kingdom. Thus, by 1741, French armies had defeated and occupied much of the Spanish Netherlands, and were in the process of incorporating it into their kingdom. Unfortunately for the French, however, they had forgotten that, even in the broadening of Rhenish-Spanish relations, their pact to mutually weaken France had never ended. As Spanish and Rhenish armies once more marched unopposed through France and the Spanish Dutch territories, Paris once more wailed in despair. From 1744 on, there would be no more France. On January 6, 1744, Rhenish diplomats met in secret with the French advisors and the French King, kept a secret mainly from the Spanish, who were marching ever the more quickly north to Paris. With plenty of threats and promises of safety and protection, the Rhenish forced the French into a less painful, but still magnificently horrific treaty with solely the Rhineland, and not Spain. The French were to recognize and cede the entirely of their newly conquered Dutch territories as Rhenish and to Rhenish administration. In addition, the Duchy of Normandy would be recognized as an independent state from France, a formal ally and client of the Kingdom of the Greater Rhineland, leaving France’s naval integrity in peril with their sole remaining port being Dieppe. Finally, the Rhineland would move to protect the French territories of Île-de-France, Bourgogne, Picardie, and Champagne from Spanish annexation. Naturally, the Second Peace of Paris would infuriate the Spaniards, but to Friedrich Ludwig, that was, as far as he was concerned, worlds away in terms of importance. For the moment, he was content with the great gains of the Rhineland, and the final smiting of the greatest enemy of the Rhenish since time immemorial. Friedrich Ludwig died a lively man, found dead on the morning of April 5, 1744, after a rich, lavish party celebrating the annexation of the Dutch territories into the Kingdom of the Greater Rhineland. Friedrich I Ludwig of Wittelsbach ‘the Conqueror’, King of the Greater Rhineland, Protector of the Germans, Liberator of the Normans, died at age 64 after a long, eventful, and strong life, often marred with violence, but shining with pride and national glory.
I'll handle contested regions of reasonable enough size (read: small if integral to your country, somewhat larger if colonies); just don't go crazy. If two players try to claim half a continent, something's got to give on your end.
sorry reus, but last i checked we were claiming over people anyways, also, OH GOSH YOUR FLAG, AT LEAST POSITION THE HAMMER AND SICKLE BETTER, IT DOESNT EVEN LOOK RIGHT, ARGLFLARGLEARGH!
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