Balance of Power 1920
The Great War is finally over, but the dust has barely settled. The German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Turkish empires have all fallen. Nations old and new fight for their claims, while the spectre of Communism rises over Russia. Yet even the victors of war face challenges: political violence rocks Italy, France is reeling from a manpower shortage, the UK faces rebellion in Ireland, and the USA seeks to return to its isolation. Meanwhile, Japan resides as the sole power of the Far East, with China divided between numerous warring factions.
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Nation Registration is: OPEN/CLOSED
Welcome to "A Truce for Twenty Years", a Balance of Power game beginning 1st September, 1920. You can take command of almost any nation during this time period and lead it to till the end of the world; the 'goal' of this is whatever you as the player sets yourself. You may wish to become a new Great Power demanding the worlds respect, or you may be content sitting in your palace watching the peasants work. The focus is on having fun and roleplaying. In character (IC) posts will generally only impact other player's views and your Public support (see below); if you wish your speeches to have in-game impact you must use Orders.
The game will be played out in Turns. At the beginning Turns will be roughly 6 months, with the year divided into Early and Late. The first turn will be Late 1920. Each Turn players will send me Orders via PM, which can be anything from outlawing paramilitaries to improving your military. Based on these Orders and dice rolls I will write an update each turn. Your orders can be whatever you can think of, as long as it's not too outrageous. When you PM me please state the Turn and your nation (e.g. Early 1923 France). The number of Orders a nation has depends on their Clout. For more on that read on.
In order to give you an idea of your nation, each country will have a set of statistics like this:
Muskeatoville
Played by: The GM
Government type: GMship
National stability: 100%
Clout: 6
Army units: 9
Army rating: 5
Navy units: 10
Navy rating: 5
Mobilized: No
National stability:
A percentage of how stable a country is. The lower this number, the more likely revolutions and coups will be. The higher it is the more you will get away with doing things your population dislikes. Some populations are more conservative, others are liberal, others support socialism. You'll have to gauge what kind of population you have, and work off of it.
Government type:
The type of government your country has. It's mainly for role-play purposes but can indirectly affect public support. Feel free to reform it how you wish, but gradual change is usually best.
Clout:
The relative diplomatic and economic strength of your nation, ranging from 0-6. This number also signifies how many orders you can send per turn. Very powerful and respected countries like the United Kingdom can send in six orders, while a Chinese warlords may only be able to send in one. Clout cannot be directly increased in orders, but certain things such as gaining international recognition, joining the League of Nations or acquiring substantially improving your economy may increase it.
Army/Navy units:
The number of available deployments a nation has. It is advisable to keep one unit within your home nation at all times in case of domestic problems. [Numbers within brackets indicate current deployments.]
Army/Navy rating:
Represents the relative training, equipment, leadership, and general quality of your solders in comparison to other nations around the world; ranging from 1-5 (Obsolete/Outdated/Average/Modern/Advanced.) The higher this rating, the more successful your units will be on the battlefield.
Mobilization:
Simply the mobilisation of your army reserves. You can mobilize or demobilize at any time, but beware the costs. Mobilising can grant you extra units in times of need, but while mobilized your public support is likely to suffer, especially if you mobilize during peacetime. Some populations won't mind mobilization as much.
Addendum -
Factions:
Factions are playable political movements. Single-issue movements won't be playable (Suffragettes anyone?), I'm more thinking nationalists or communists. They have no power projection beyond public support and often a small paramilitary, so have 0 Clout and as such can not enact normal orders. Instead, they can PM one of three special Faction Orders each turn: Build Public support, Train Paramilitaries, or Rise. Depending on the type of movement, Rise may be a revolution or a military coup, but the effect will be the same for game purposes. Rise can have roughly three outcomes: Total success , Partial success, and Failure . These should be fairly self-explanatory. The success of Rise depends heavily upon Public support (for both the movement and for the official government) and also the presence of a Paramilitary. Like normal Orders, Faction Orders are affected by die roll.
In comparison to the example for nations above, a movement will have these stats:
Muskeato Movement
Played by: GM
Movement type: Reactionary Monarchists
Public support: 100%
Active Paramilitary: Yes
In comparison to the example for nations above, a movement will have these stats:
Muskeato Movement
Played by: GM
Movement type: Reactionary Monarchists
Public support: 100%
Active Paramilitary: Yes
League of Nations:
The League of Nations exists, but as in our timeline its powers are limited. It is up to you the players to let it wither or reform it into something more capable. Starting members are here. If you aren't a member, you'll need to apply IC and current members will vote on your membership. The LoN was designed to encourage disputes to be worked out diplomatically, but it's up to players to use it for that purpose. Proposals for the League of any kind, including membership, should be posted bold. Its organisation is as follows:
Assembly: The Assembly consists of all members of the League. OTL this met once a year, but for game purposes a session can be called by any Member. Each member has one vote. Anything can be proposed to the Assembly for vote or debate, for instance condemnation of a particular nation, or reform of the League itself. The Assembly also votes on the admission of new Members to the league and the election of non-permanent Members of the Council.
Council: Currently made up of 8 members: 4 permanent (UK, Italy, France, Japan) and 4 non-permanent (Belgium, Spain, Greece, Brazil). Each Member of the Council has one vote. Non-permanent members have 3 year terms. The next Council elections will be in Late 1923.
Sanctions: The Assembly can propose 3 levels of sanction when disputes occur between nations - Verbal, Economic, Military. Only the Council can pass Economic and Military sanctions. A Verbal sanction has no real impact, but warns a nation that the League is taking their actions seriously. Economic sanctions can harm the Clout of a nation (Only one Economic sanction at a time may be enforced against a particular nation). Military sanction is military intervention against a state. As the League has no armed force of its own, it is up to Members to form this military.
Unanimity: Certain votes, namely sanctions and reform of the League will require unanimity of whichever organisation (The Assembly or Council) is voting. When a vote is called by a player I'll specify whether it requires unanimity to pass. Unanimity itself is of course open to reform if you can manage to get everyone to support your proposal. Note: A nation subject to sanctions is excluded from voting on said sanctions.
Assembly: The Assembly consists of all members of the League. OTL this met once a year, but for game purposes a session can be called by any Member. Each member has one vote. Anything can be proposed to the Assembly for vote or debate, for instance condemnation of a particular nation, or reform of the League itself. The Assembly also votes on the admission of new Members to the league and the election of non-permanent Members of the Council.
Council: Currently made up of 8 members: 4 permanent (UK, Italy, France, Japan) and 4 non-permanent (Belgium, Spain, Greece, Brazil). Each Member of the Council has one vote. Non-permanent members have 3 year terms. The next Council elections will be in Late 1923.
Sanctions: The Assembly can propose 3 levels of sanction when disputes occur between nations - Verbal, Economic, Military. Only the Council can pass Economic and Military sanctions. A Verbal sanction has no real impact, but warns a nation that the League is taking their actions seriously. Economic sanctions can harm the Clout of a nation (Only one Economic sanction at a time may be enforced against a particular nation). Military sanction is military intervention against a state. As the League has no armed force of its own, it is up to Members to form this military.
Unanimity: Certain votes, namely sanctions and reform of the League will require unanimity of whichever organisation (The Assembly or Council) is voting. When a vote is called by a player I'll specify whether it requires unanimity to pass. Unanimity itself is of course open to reform if you can manage to get everyone to support your proposal. Note: A nation subject to sanctions is excluded from voting on said sanctions.
Treaties:
If players wish to sign treaties with other players that's fine. Treaties themselves do not require orders to make, however certain clauses may need an order to carry out (e.g. Sending 2 army units to Germany as part of a treaty would require an order to actually send the units.). I also ask players to PM a copy of the proposed treaty to me before it's posted.
IRC Channel:
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Bottom line is that if you've any questions about the game or about your nation just ask, either PM or in the IRC. I'm happy to answer, but appreciate that I do this in my free time so I won't always be available. If we disagree on something then I'm sorry, but as GM my word will be the final ruling.
Couple of final things:
Please try and RP not only the nation you're playing, but also the government type/ideology. If you start playing Republican Spain and try to go on a world conquest without reforming your government, don't expect to be playing that nation very long.
If you're posting out of character (OOC), please state "OOC:" before your post.
And stick to the Forum Rules!
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Well, if there's none more important that I can take, I'll have the Indian National Congress, one of those playable movements.
