King and Country - Sign up Thread (Old)

[F. Joe Haydn]

King and Country: The XVII Century

In 1670, Europe is at a crossroads. Although it has been over 20 years since the Peace of Westphalia, Germany has yet to fully recover. The fortunes of the House of Habsburg are being eclipsed by a rising French hegemony, and some fear that Louis XIV, the "Sun King" of France, may attempt to establish a universal monarchy on the lines of Charles V's over a century earlier.

Meanwhile, religious differences are largely being displaced by political and commercial interests. Reasons of state are now more important than ever. The notion of a "balance of power" is also just beginning to be established. In the Age of Absolutism, the fate of Europe depends on the whims of its crowned heads.

Are you up for the challenge?

Rules (Used with permission from Lumine):

1. Turns: We will follow the BoP/SoD model (also seen in the brilliant Concert/Encore duology) as players play turns of a year (five days in RL, with a midturn after the 3rd day), react to ongoing crises and events and post their policies, moves and reactions to what other players do. The Game starts on the first months of 1670 and history is, of course, considered to have gone as it did before that.

2. Messages: Secret messages between the players must include the GM, all of them. Assuming conversations take place off the forum I will insist on recieving some sort of summary of what is being discussed, in order to follow the events in a proper manner. Discord and IRC is allowed for OOC planning, but not official interactions between players.

4. Historical Events: The dice system shall be used. There could be Special Events based on situations, giving a specific number of days to players to react and a larger level of detail on the particular situation. Players are encouraged to propose events to simulate as well.

5. Stats and Warfare: The stats for each player will be focused on "Economic Standings" and "Popularity". The dice system shall be used when calculating war and battle results. As standing armies were relatively common by this time, official army numbers will exist but mercenaries can also be hired.

6. Game Over: Game Over can come in three ways: Being deposed by another player (Invasion scenario), being deposed in a coup or revolt (Revolt Scenario) or having your dynasty die out or lack an heir to continue playing (Dynasty Scenario). Having your monarch die even by enemy action won't be by itself a Game Over and the player will retain preference to continue playing said nation should he wish to do so. Potentially, the death of a monarch under a complex succession scenario could trigger a War of Succession.

7. Players, Nations and Simulation: NPC countries will be simulated as always, but with a twist. While it is my stated objective to answer all player questions within 48 hours (and will request that people post in public should I fail to answer to be reminded), the amount of information I can provide will be very limited, to represent both the limited amount of information reasonably available to the character being played and to avoid giving too much of an advantage to players as GM. Questions such as "What does NPC Nation want in return for this?" or "What would happen if I did X" will either not bring an answer or a very limited one.

[F. Joe Haydn]

The Game Maps:

World in 1670:

Europe in 1670:

[F. Joe Haydn]

Players and Countries:

Experienced Players Only:

(Only players experienced and skilled in these games)

Kingdom of France: King Louis XIV (Dr_Novella)
Ottoman Empire: Sultan Mehmed IV (sjoycefla)
Kingdom of England, Scotland, and Ireland: King Charles II (Garlan Gunter)
Habsburg Monarchy: Queen Regent Margaret Theresa (New Tennessean Politician)
Kingdom of Spain: Queen Regent Mariana (JacksonHitchcock)

Open Countries:

(Nominally open to all players)

Kingdom of Denmark and Norway: King Christian V (Ishan)
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: King Michael I
Dutch Republic: Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt (Not_Madigan)
Kingdom of Sweden: Queen Regent Hedwig Eleonora (NYIndy)
Tsardom of Russia: Tsar Alexis I (King Saul)
Duchy of Bavaria: Emperor Ferdinand IV (Kingpoleon)
Kingdom of Prussia: King Frederick William (TimTurner)

Semi-Open Countries:

(Open if previous nations are taken, or with a justified request to the GM)

Safavid Empire: Shah Suleiman I

Duchy of Savoy: Duke Charles Emmanuel II (YPestis25)

[F. Joe Haydn]

I recognize it's not on those listed, but could I please play as Japan?

Considering that I know next to nothing about Japan in this era, I'm afraid the answer is no. I do encourage you to join as one of the listed countries, though.

[F. Joe Haydn]

Thank you to everyone who has joined so far. With most of the country spots filled, we should be able to start quite soon. I can also announce that Windjammer will be joining the game as Assistant GM.

[F. Joe Haydn]

Any chance we have an ETA for start of game?

As a matter of fact, I was just doing some research on army sizes as the last step before we begin. The Gameplay thread and turn 1 of the game should be up within the next half hour.

[F. Joe Haydn]

Reminder: The turn length for this game is 5 days, not 7 days, so Turn 1 ends on Tuesday night, not Thursday night. Also, there will be a midturn on the 3rd day, Sunday.

[F. Joe Haydn]

The idea of a midturn often confused me while I was a player, so I would like to clarify that idea more fully. Basically, it serves as an update during the middle of the year, and often the update is related to the prompts given to each country. Thus, players often send limited orders regarding the prompts at midturn, especially if they would like to do something during the first half of the year. Please specify whenever sending orders if they are for the midturn or if they're for the end of year. It gets confusing as to whether you're sending in your final orders early or if you're just planning for the midturn. Also, army generals are a very important part of combat simulation, so please assign generals to your armies if they are going into combat.

[F. Joe Haydn]

Reminder: The Midturn is tonight at 10:00 PM CST, so all optional midturn orders are due before then.

[F. Joe Haydn]

Turn 1 is now closed. I won't be able to get the update and the next turn up tonight, so expect it at some point tomorrow.

[F. Joe Haydn]

The results for Turn 1 are finally up, and what a turn it was! All players who died are still eligible to play as their country except for the Portuguese player, as being deposed results in game over.

[F. Joe Haydn]

I realize the turn just came out but I'm unsure on something.  How will we be informed of any events that weren't in the update?

Also:  Crab Rave  The Prince of Orange is Gone!

They will probably be included on the map, mentioned in your prompts, or you can ask me via PM.

Whos left?

The nations we need most now are actually Bavaria and Saxony, considering all that happened last turn. Though you could have Poland, Portugal, or Persia if you wish.

[F. Joe Haydn]

ETA on the next turn?

I already have my initial plans for the next turn typed up and saved in a google doc so I'm only just waiting to be able to post them.

It will probably be some time tomorrow, but exactly when I'm not sure. It just depends on when I get around to writing the prompts.

[F. Joe Haydn]

I was just about to post Turn 2, but then I accidentally refreshed the page and all my progress was lost. Thankfully, I have everything written down in an online document, but now I'll have to copy-paste and reformat everything again, so the turn won't be up as soon as I originally thought.

[F. Joe Haydn]

Alright, Turn 2 is now officially up! I decided to just do one prompt per player this time. Please let me know if I made any misinterpretations or mistakes in regards to orders about military sizes, military locations, or mapping. Also, please note that the amount of troops "able to be raised" automatically increases by 10,000 each turn as a sort of regenerating manpower statistic.

[F. Joe Haydn]

Okay I may need an extension for the turn, depending on when it ends.  I'll be at C2E2 all weekend so I'll be completely gone or exhausted until Monday, so if I could please have an extension I would deeply appreciate it.

The midturn is Monday, and the turn ends on Wednesday. If you need an extension, I will certainly grant you one.

[F. Joe Haydn]

I think 10,000 a turn is a little much unless you’re in a war. And even then...

That being said, I do think a Saxon player would be pretty helpful.

You might be right, so what do you suggest I do instead?

[F. Joe Haydn]

I think 10,000 a turn is a little much unless you’re in a war. And even then...

That being said, I do think a Saxon player would be pretty helpful.

You might be right, so what do you suggest I do instead?

Well, maybe about 1,500-2,000 a year, greatly accelerated to 3-4,000 in times of war.

OK, I have changed the number of raisable troops accordingly.

[F. Joe Haydn]

That is very sad to hear, you were a great player and will be sorely missed. Also, I'd like to remind everyone that the midturn is tomorrow.

[F. Joe Haydn]

I won't be able to get midturn up tonight, sorry if anyone's disappointed.

[F. Joe Haydn]

Starting with today and for all future turns, I'm going to have to cut out the midturn, as I just don't have time. Also, the turn length will be elongated to 7 rather than 5 days, meaning that this turn ends on Friday.

[F. Joe Haydn]

Reminder, the deadline for sending in Turn 2 orders is tomorrow night!

[F. Joe Haydn]

Turn 2 is now closed. Expect results tomorrow and the start of Turn 3 on Sunday.

[F. Joe Haydn]

Can I still join late?

Certainly! The Dutch Republic is the most important unfilled country, so they'd probably be the best choice unless you have somewhere else in mind.

[F. Joe Haydn]

Turn 3 prompts have now been posted. Please do not hesitate to correct me if you believe I made any errors.