The Gathering Storm - Sign Up and Rules Thread (Game Suspended)

[Lumine]

The Gathering Storm

Diplomacy, War and Intrigue in the world of 1939

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The Year is 1939.

It has been twenty years since the end of the World War, and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

In Europe, a war has just been averted thanks to the controversial Munich Agreement, opening up new questions about the future of the continent.

In Britain and France, the Chamberlain and Daladier governments struggle with the issue of rearmament and their large colonial empires, as well as with serious domestic questions.

In Germany and Italy, Hitler and Mussolini bask in the glory of recent diplomatic and military triumphs, and dream of large empires.

In the resurgent Soviet Union, a cautious Stalin prepares to play the deadly game of European diplomacy, knowing he could well swing the balance of power.

Across the Atlantic, the United States of America continues its long term recovery, but recent political defeats leave President Roosevelt with a reduced margin of action.

In Asia, the Empire of Japan enters its third year of full-scale war against the Chinese United Front, a bloody and brutal struggle which shows no sign of ending.

In Spain, Franco's Nationalist regime prepares to deliver a crippling blow against the battered Republicans.

The world is rapidly changing, and the spectre of war remains ever present.

Can you find success in such a complex era?

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Basic Rules:

1. Turns: We will play six month turns lasting for a week in real time, corresponding to the "Early" (winter and spring) and "Late" (summer and autumn/fall) portions of the year, all starting on January 1st, 1939. Six month turns will last until the beginning of armed conflict between at least three players, in which case - we will enter a special war mode with shorter and more intense turns.

2. Messages: The GM must be included on all PM's sent by players, and/or be informed of the internal talks that are taking place. Given the nature of the period, players can request formal international conferences - like Munich - between players or NPCs, which will be simulated (player's choice) via PM, an open discussion thread, or a Discord chat. No formal part of the game will be outsourced to Discord, but a server may be created if there's interest (for information, debates, and rapid questions).

3. Historical Simulation: We will be using the dice system for various player decisions, events and warfare, accounting for advantages or disadvantages if necessary. Although there will be room for flexibility - hence the start in 1939 as opposed to 1940 -, players will be encouraged to remain within the grounds of plausibility, and the GM may override decisions which are found to be too out of character (Example: Stalin calling for immediate, free and fair elections in the Soviet Union). There won't be a formal "mid-turn", but special events or announcements will take place from time to time as certain situations arise.

4. Hindsight: One of the potential problems associated with the game is having the benefit of hindsight given the wealth of knowledge about WWII. Although this cannot be addressed directly, the GM will look carefully at orders or decisions that could only be made with hindsight (Example: a player orders X piece of equipment out of production because it was eventually known to be deficient).

5. Stats and Warfare: The stats for each player will be focused on "Popularity", "Economic Status", and "Mobilization Levels" (the latter of which sacrifices economic standing in favor of military readiness or efficiency), which are fairly self explanatory. Warfare will be more abstract as opposed to forcing players to micromanage their armies with specific numbers, but players may be as detailed as they wish with their orders. There may be general levels of available divisions and relative naval strength.

6. Declaring War and Real Time Simulation: This is IMPORTANT. We will be innovating in this game to account for the rapid pace of events in the 1940's, which the following changes:

• A. Declarations of War or Invasion orders are processed and executed immediately, with a corresponding event stating that X country has invaded Y. This will force players to react within the turn, as opposed to a "gambit pileup" of sorts taking place on the end of turn. This, however, does not prevent countries from being overrun with a successful invasion like in RL.
• B. Players may not order an invasion of another player within the last 24 hours of a turn, to prevent people from being unable to react to an enemy invasion or strike.

6. Game Over: Game Over can come in four ways: Surrendering or being deposed by another player in an invasion, being deposed in a coup or revolt, being assassinated without a clear designated heir, or losing an election. Players in democratic nations may be able to continue playing after the voluntary resignation or term-limit of their original character, if the designated successor wins the election or retains the parliamentary majority.

7. Intelligence: Players may make use of their respective intelligence services for intrigue or espionage purposes.

Players and Countries:

First Tier:

(Nominally open to all players)

German Reich: Führer Adolf Hitler (Dereich)
British Empire: Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (NewYorkExpress)
Soviet Union:: General Secretary Josef Stalin (KaiserDave)

Republic of France: Prime Minister Édouard Daladier (Donerail)
Italian Empire: Duce Benito Mussolini (JacksonHitchcock)
Empire of Japan: Emperor Hirohito* (Ernest)
United States of America: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (GoTfan)
Republic of China: Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (Kuumo)
Spanish State: Head of State Francisco Franco (YPestis)
Republic of Poland: President Ignacy Moscicki (Devout Centrist)

Second Tier:

(Open if previous nations are taken, or upon serious request)

Kingdom of Romania: King Carol II Hozenzollern-Sigmaringen (RGM2609)
Republic of Turkey: President İsmet İnönü (Ishan)
Kingdom of Yugoslavia: Prince Regent Paul Karadordevic
Kingdom of Hungary: Admiral Regent Miklos Horthy
Chinese Communist Party: Mao Zedong
And/or others

*Given the lack of a single dominant individual within the Empire of Japan by early 1939 - neither Tojo nor Prince Konoe were prominent enough -, the Japanese player will roleplay as the Emperor, having to face the many different factions within the Army, Navy and Government, with the respective internal resistance to certain paths.

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All granted!

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Il Duce himself if I may

Noted!

Could I be King Carol?

On principle yes, but it would depend on other crucial roles being filled first.

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Comrade Stalin please

I’d like to join as Chiang Kai-shek.

I'll take President Ignacy Moscicki of the Second Polish Republic

All three are granted.

If RGM2609 would still rather play King Carol, I'd like to play Hirohito, otherwise President İsmet İnönü.

Since Ernest (glad to see you here!) hasn't had a chance to play in a while, I'll be granting him Hirohito. RGM is authorized to play as King Carol.

What the hell.

Henri Guisan.

With respect, the Swiss Army is not quite relevant enough in the 1939 context. I don't mind allowing one or two characters that are outside the box, but do you have anyone else in mind?

Having played Hitler in Crumbling Reich, I think I'd like to try again.

Upon some reflection, NYE, would it be possible for you to switch to a different role if other people are interested in Hitler? Since you've had a chance to work with the character in a recent game already, it might be fair to give someone else a shot for the sake of variety.

[Lumine]

Just for the record, this rule:

Players in democratic nations may be able to continue playing after the voluntary resignation or term-limit of their original character, if the designated successor wins the election or retains the parliamentary majority.

It essentially allows for a democratic player to continue with his appointed successor (should have also added natural causes), partly because of the fast turnover of French governments and, indeed, the changes in the UK government in 1940.

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As we now have a full cast, we should be able to start tomorrow night.

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I'd like to take İsmet İnönü.

Welcome! I'll add you to the first turn once it's done.

I was thinking he would be a relevant character when the game eventually progresses past 1940, if that is indeed how this works (I haven't participated in any games before so I'm not entirely sure.) If you prefer me go with someone else, I would be fine if you assign someone randomly.

It would be ideal to choose someone else, but there's some flexibility on account of having the main nations filled (while the norm is being leader of a nation, I could allow someone relevant but not a leader, like - and this are just examples - say, Gandhi, Trotsky, and so on.

I'd rather not assign someone at random, so just think about it and let me know if you find an interesting - but more immediately relevant - figure.

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Turn is posted, to last until July 24th. Please remember to check the warfare/invasion rules so there aren't any mistakes.

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Most players have taken action, but I would like to extend the turn a little to give people a chance to do outstanding stuff. Tomorrow (Saturday) will be the last day for players to declare war/invade each other, turn will end on Sunday 25th at midnight.

I apologize, but I'm going to have to ask for someone (I don't care who) to replace me as Chamberlain.

I need to cut drastically back on my time spent on the forum.

I wish everyone else luck.

That's understandable, NYE, but I would like to thank you for participating and for taking over as Britain this turn. Best of luck to you as well!

I am willing to ‘trade up’ to Britain if no one else wants it

I would also be willing to take on as Britain if no new player comes and takes over because Poland is probably more important than Romania in this game

Great to hear! Either of you taking over as Britain is fine by me, in case you can decide amongst yourselves, let me know at the end of turn.

[Lumine]

I must apologize for the extreme silence this past week, it's been a bit tough due to RL stuff (including both work and some emotional exhaustion) and I barely have had time to be online. Thankfully I've sorted out those issues, so I'm fully prepared to post the end of turn tomorrow night and move forward if the players won't mind (again, apologies!).

Almost everybody participated or sent orders (from memory, only one didn't take actions, and another did stuff but never sent detailed orders), so once the outcome of early 1939 is sorted out I'll be contacting them to see if they still wish to play (one of them is a very important nation, hoping we won't need a switch).

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Late 1939 should be up Saturday night, btw.

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Would it be possible to jump in as a minor nation in a few days?

Sure! Could even include you in this new turn. Which one did you have in mind?

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Would it be possible to jump in as a minor nation in a few days?

Sure! Could even include you in this new turn. Which one did you have in mind?

Probably going to get carved up like a meat pie but Yugoslavia for me.

Welcome! There is a coup in progress, so to clarify, you'd be playing PM Stojadinovic, yes?

[Lumine]

Would it be possible to join as Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King?

Sure!

I have finally finished writing the turn prompts, but it was far more difficult than I expected (took me several days). Some of them may be a bit outdated due to player actions that have taken place over the weekend, so bear with me.

For the next turn I'll be simplifying the prompts into more general statements, we currently have 12 players (13 with Dkrol) and it pains me to say that find 36 crises for each turn may be a bit too ambitious for me.

Canada will be added as soon as possible.

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I would suggest you move down the number of crises for the nations, and only in cases you identify as necessary raise the number to 3.

Indeed, I'll probably be doing that.

Canada has been added to the turn as well, expect news articles as early as Friday.

[Lumine]

Evening, gentlemen. I wanted to express my regret at being unable to provide proper closure over the past month (or be online at all), but things have moved very fast.

To make a long story short, I was asked to work full-time on a congressional campaign (providing, among other things, electoral analysis and data, which I love!), so, essentially I've been busier than I've ever been before, and this will probably be the case until election day in Chile. Naturally, that means it's impossible to invest the necessary time not just here, but on Atlas as a whole.

I still have the PM's, orders, documents and maps stored to see how we stand by the time election season is over here, but - as it's been obvious - we can consider the game at the very least suspended, and I thought I should at least provide some info as to why that's the case.

I hope you're all doing well!