Balance of Power (Sign Up/Rules/Commentary Thread)

[Lumine]

True.... I probably should have played Russia, not A-H

Sad to see you go, Jack! Sadly, there's no country available now, but I'll message you as soon as another country is open. In the meantime, I will take this in-game as Franz Joseph I's abdication forced by Von Hotzendorf's clique, so the next player to take Austria-Hungary will play as Kaiser Franz Ferdinand. I'll message Oldiesfreak (since he already showed interest in the game), and once we have Austria-Hungary and I finish writing the next events, we can continue.

[Lumine]

Alright, gentlemen, Oldiesfreak is interested and most of the events are ready, so if he indeed signs up in the thread next turn will start tomorrow in the afternoon!

[Lumine]

I'm interested if anything else opens up.

Noted, Butafly! I'll notify you as soon as there's a nation open, xD

[Lumine]

Dammit! Couldn't have waited?? :-P

If anything defines this game, Clarence, is that the most unexpected things happen, xD

We have been playing for quite a short period of time and we already had a war in the Middle East, the assassinations of Wilhelm II and Teddy Roosevelt, a system of alliances more intricate than Bismarck's original version, a globar crusade against anarchism, several attempted genocides and an early Russo-Japanese war... And I still have quite a good amount of surprises left for the players!

[Lumine]

Oh, my, seems like we might get World War One a few years early...

[Lumine]

I'd liek to point out that in OTL, the Trans-Siberian Railway was not yet complete by the time of our Russo-Japanese War, tho the Trans-Manchurian was complete and did give a rail connection to Vladivostok and via the Chinese Eastern Railway to Port Arthur.  However, the Trans-Siberian and its subsidiaries were single track lines with limited sidings and thus were a logistical choke point during the whole war.

Also, as long as we're on the subject of railroads, German and Russian railroads do not share a common gauge and thus until the lines are regauged to the attacker's gauge (a labor intensive process that takes lines out of service to trains of any gauge until completed) or given a third rail to allow trains of either gauge to use them, they will be of limited use to any attacker.

Indeed, I have been researching the Russo-Japanese war for the past days and I was quite surprised at the weakness of the Trans-Siberian at that stage. I try to keep the game as accurate as possible, but I am bound to make mistakes and make some changes for the sake of the game being more amusing than some far more realistic. Thanks for the comment!

[Lumine]

If there are peace talks, I propose an open thread rather than sending and responding to multiple PMs (with multiple adresses), which is rather annoying.

Sure sides can still communicate in a cloakroom.

Indeed. In light of how many PM's I have now, and to make matters easier, I will open the Rome Conference.

[Lumine]

Technically this is only the "Great Eastern War", but I've been waiting for this since we started, xD

[Lumine]

Alright, let's see:

When can we expect the next turn?

I'm very eager to continue this

Well, I have some bad news. You see, from Monday until Wednesday I will have four exams in college, so I definetly won't have the time to work in the game. Good news is, I have from Thursday to Sunday mostly free, so expect the new turn to come on Thursday. There are some PM's I haven't replied yet, but don't worry, I will reply today or in the next days. And as I said before, I still need Italy, Austria-Hungary and Japan's answers.

Kalwejt, Snowstalker, that wikipedia article and the league of freedom looks pretty awesome, although I do feel bad for Russia in this context, xD

I also have to take care of some business regarding Venezuela and Denmark, and once I get SJoyce's answer we will see the 1903 Japanese General election. You'll have to be patient, but please stay tuned!

[Lumine]

Alright, gentlemen, after four exams, drinking obscene amounts of coffee and having sucessfully learnt a lot of useless knowledge on Ancient Greece, Antropology, Geography and Gothic Art, I'm back!

I discussed the whole situation with Windjammer, and he will take over as Germany this turn, acting as Chancellor Von Bulow while Wilhelm III recovers from a sickness that struck him while visiting the remains of the Krupp factories. He will also handle the whole Greenland affair, so all messages about that subject will go to him. I am currently working on the end turn update (Japanese election + map) and the next turn (I am thinking about more simple crisis or a lesser number, but we'll see), so we should be back on full force either tonight or tomorrow in the afternoon.

Thanks for your patience!

[Lumine]

I guess I have to apologize here, and give you the good news, the bad news, and the not-so-good news. You see, as I was writing back on Wednesday I started to have vision problems, which then turned into a lot of pain, and then into having a nice couple of ulcers into my eyes thanks to problems related to my contact glasses. Therefore, I've been blind for the past couple of days, and unable to do anything.

The good news is that now I am only half-blind, which means I can resume work. The not-so-good news is that I can't force my eyes in front of a PC that much, so I may or may not finish today. Once again, my apologies!

[Lumine]

Some suggestions for next turn:

I would advise all of you that if you wish to give further orders or directives, or try and establish new systems and policies, please try to do so in a single message. I appreciate those efforts (and they give a great boost to players who do it), but having a bunch of PM's with a lot of ideas is only confusing me more and more, xD

[Lumine]

I must say, from all the nasty moves I have seen since we started, claiming that Alexandra's next child is illegitimate is probably one of the worst, xD (specially since Edward VII is related to Nicholas II)

[Lumine]

When can we expect phase results? (we can't really say much about military policies before that)

I believe I still need Germany, Austria, Japan and the United States.

[Lumine]

Current Alliances:

Three Power Alliance (USA, UK and Japan)
Quadruple Alliance (Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary and Japan)
Franco-Russian Alliance (France and Russia)
Franco-American Alliance (France and USA)
Franco-British Alliance (France and the UK)
Turkish-American Alliance (Ottoman Empire and USA)
Turkish-German Alliance (Turkey and the German Empire)
Orthodox League (Russia, Serbia, Montenegro and Romania)
Adriatic League (Greece and Italy)[/center]

I believe France renounced their alliance with Russia last turn.

Indeed, I'll correct that once the turn ends. It's kind of hard to keep track when people are signing so many treaties, xD (and let's not even count secret agreements)

[Lumine]

Guys, there's been 10 days since Phase Two ended... come on!

They already sent their orders, Kalwejt, I'm still calculating since there are a bunch of fronts, xD

[Lumine]

Prince William is hardly one to be accusing others of being warmongers considering all the wars he has sold to the American people in his time in office.  Does he not comprehend the folly of thinking that the way to resolve war is with more war?

Mr. Bryan has crossed the line...

A debate in Washington to determine the best course of action is a legitimate discussion to be had..... comparing our President to the tyrant wreaking havoc on our world- to an international audience no less- is treasonous in this time of war

I order the Attorney General to prosecute Mr. Bryan for treason and I order he be seized by the Bureau of Investigation immediately and interrogated to determine if he is an enemy agent sent to divide our nation

I had given Prince William the benefit of the doubt in choosing to not also call him a tyrant.  I am sad to see that I erred in assuming that he would not be so brazen as to abandon our constitution and its right to speak freely.  While I am not yet so despairing that this land would trade liberty for fetters that I would seek to leave it, this situation does bring to mind a quote from Abraham Lincoln concerning the dangers of the Know-Nothings of his day and their efforts to pervert the constitution in the name of defending it: "When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy."  A particularly apt quote considering the actions of our hypocrite-in-chief.

He also appears to be our anachronist-in-chief considering that the Bureau of Investigation won't exist for another five years in real life.

President McKinley created the Bureau of Investigation a couple of years ago, and it has been quite effective so far against radicals, anarchists and foreign spies. Mr. Bryan, you are under arrest for the time being, and everything you say can be used against you in a trial.

[Lumine]

OOC: Now that we have advanced quite a lot and the butterflies are getting more and more evident, I would like to say that if you thing this world is looking a little bit more grim than OTL Belle Epoque, we're only getting started. (Muahahaha!)

I see that sadly, yet as expected, that Prince William fails to comprehend that by treating war as a legitimate tool of diplomacy he makes it far more likely that said tool will be used against us.  Unlike the bellicose nations of the Old World, our republic has been blessed by Providence to have no nation on our borders dangerous enough to be a threat to us or our prosperity.  Yet by his actions, Prince William has in the absence of natural enemies to our republic sought to cultivate unnatural ones.  What interest would the cossacks have ever had in attacking us ere this war?

Mr. Bryan, I am sad to be the one to send this notification, but you are technically dead, sir. (Despite that, those speeches have been quite fascinating, and a great way to add flavor to the game)

[Lumine]

Despite his self serving rhetoric, those of us seeking to end McKinley's murderous tyranny have no complaints with any who faithfully uphold their oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic". McKinley's actions have proven him to be an enemy of the Constitution rather than the defender he swore to be.  His broken oath and infidelity to the Constitution renders invalid any claim he has to be our lawful president.

Officers and men of the army and navy of the United States.  McKinley has chosen to cross his Rubicon, but you need not follow him into infamy.  Uphold your oaths and thus you will bravely preserve both your honor and the golden Republic you swore to defend instead of seeing America become a iron Empire that rusts and rots from corruption and cowardice.

It's been nice to know you, Senator...

Out of character, let me say that I doubt McKinley will want Stone dead.  Given the likely result if the Senator were to be killed by either foreign or domestic agents, then unless McKinley is incompetent, he'll be making certain Stone doesn't die in custody.  The last thing he needs is more martyrs right now.

Yes, but Lumine is kinda bloodthirsty...

Hey! You're the ones who behave like dictators and send sadistic orders to me, xD (when the game ends I will probably answer to some mysteries and unsolved affairs)

[Lumine]

A mistake: Somehow, I just remembered that McKinley was not supposed to name another VP after Roosevelt died, given that the respective amendment had not been passed yet. While I find it surprising that none of the American players noticed that, the blame rests on me alone, and I apologize for the confusion. As of now, Hay is actually Secretary of State, but he is still second in line to the President.

[Lumine]

The House of Saud waits for the proposed treaty and the creation of an Arabic state, and it is advisable not to make them wait too long.

So the Sauds conquered the Rashids earlier in this game ahead of schedule? In 1900, the Sauds were in exile in Kuwait, tho by 1904 in OTL they had regained Riyadh, which is why that city is the Saudi capital.  I would have thought that given the British love of divide and conquer that they would not have supported a complete Saudi takeover of the interior without at least giving the Rashids a chance to adjust to the circumstances.

I never really had a say, they kind've just appeared.

Being a student of Arab and Islamic studies, I am indeed very embarassed to miss this thing.

Being entirely honest, I chose to entirely ignore the Rashids and went with an oversimplified version of events for Arabia (with the House of Saud presumably defeating all other factions with British backing). To make this game 100% realistic would take much more research and much more time for me than it already takes, time which I simply do not have, which is why I either ignore some facts, modify others and make mistakes from time to time.

[Lumine]

Anyway, when can we expect the next phase?

Later today, hopefully, I still have to clear a few issues regarding Austria and Germany.

[Lumine]

I pretty much agree with Windjammer's suggestions, and I will post the next turn as soon as the peace deal is signed by both parts.

[Lumine]

Gentlemen, please, we got the point, you won't sign the peace, there's no need to repeat the same arguments over and over again. I am about to collapse thanks to a bunch of things to do (several essays among those), so the next turn won't come until tonight (I have to make some adjustments now that the war goes on).

[Lumine]

I will limit myself to point out that I should be a part of PM discussions regarding the game, and for the past turns several treaties have been signed without me even knowing beforehand. For that very same reason, and with the exception of the peace treaty to end the Great Russian War (as I don't even want to deal with that one), I will not recognize any further treaties or agreements if I do not recieve the PM's.