Year: 1890
Hello, and Welcome! You see, I was thinking about how IOTs were introduced on Paradox not too long ago, and that got me thinking that if IOTs were represented here, why not NESes? You see, a NES is another type of 'forum game' that originated on Civ Fanatics forums. It stands for Never Ending Story, and while most of them do unfortunately end for one reason or another, the point being is that it is a game revolving around a world that the players fill in the blanks for, roleplaying for their countries or characters, and generally making the world come to life. It is less focused on mechanics than IOTs usually, and more on the role-play of the NESers, and also has some NPC country interaction most of the time.
This particular NES, the first one I am GMing here or on the Fanatics forum, will revolve around a alternate history set around a point of divergence in the Franco-Prussian War. After the war, the Paris Commune came into play, but this time around more states broke off as well. It devolved into full fledged civil war, on and off for the next 20 years until 1890, which is when this game picks it up. The Civil War is winding down, although fighting still breaks out among a state or two, and the various divisions of whats left of France are looking to consolidate what they have, or perhaps keep expanding.
The Stats template shall look thus:
Realm Name/Player Name:
Color:
Government Type/Ruling Faction/HoS:
Capital:
Stability:
Economic Power:
Industrial Power:
Agriculture Potential:
Army Quality/Experience:
Navy Quality/Experience:
Army:
Navy:
UUs:
Projects:
Now I will take you through each one to explain what it means, and what it can do for YOU.
Realm Name/Player Name:
This is the name of your 'realm' for lack of a better word at this point. For example, it could be the Paris Commune, or perhaps the Principality of Bordeaux. The Player name is the name of the player who controls the realm, and if a player name is displayed that means its taken. If 'NPC' is there, then that means you can take control over it and enter the game.
Government Type/Ruling Faction/HoS:
This is the government type of your realm, the faction that is in control initially, and the Head of State at the start of the game. The government can range from constitutional Monarchy to Republic. The Ruling Faction will be the house of the monarchy, or the party in power of a republic, or whatever it may be. The Head of State would either be the ruling monarch, or the Prime Minister or president of a Republic.
Capital:
The City from which your government rules. Usually the more prosperous of your cities as well.
Stability: 1-10
Ranked on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 the highest, this statistic shows how content your people are and how likely they are to revolt. They may be scared out of their wits because of your ruthless reign, but stability may still remain high if they are scared enough not to challenge you. Or they may be genuinely pleased with your governance, with them being safe and well fed.
Economic Power: 12/7
More or less the level of Prosperity your Economy has from whatever sources are available to it. This is also the main currency of the game, and will be able to be used on projects, buying units, or giving to other realms as payment for something. The first number of the stat is the number of EP that you receive on a yearly basis, and the second number behind the slash is how much EP you have saved up in the treasury. EP can be invested back into the economy to increase your yearly income, or into your industrial power such as factories or mines.
Industrial Power: 200 (++7)
Industrial Power represents your factories, your population and its subsequent labor, and other things associated with Industrialization such as mines for metals, coal, and drilling for oil. The first number represents your total, which will be used to buy units among other things. The second number in parentheses represents the amount you get every year to increase your total. If you wish to increase it, invest EP in related projects such as factories or mines. Be creative!
Agriculture Potential: 7/5 (2)
This is a stat I have come up with specifically for this game, even though agriculture would not normally be a focus of a game in this time period. However, after 20 years of civil war, people in France have learned that food is precious. They haven't always had enough, especially the inland states during a war. The first number represents the amount of agriculture available to your people either form their own lands, or trade from lands outside your realm. The second number is the amount that is needed for your populace to maintain its standard of living and to avoid starvation and such. The third number is the amount of agriculture that is imported into your realm, whether form a port or from an inland neighbor. It is essential to maintain enough agriculture to feed your people, and if you have a surplus you can use it to your advantage with other realms that need it and increase your trade prosperity (EP) as a result occasionally.
Army Quality/Experience:
THIS is the quality of your army. Some states will have better quality than others. If you have foreign support for your army, you will most likely be among those better armies. It is rated on a scale of 1-12. To increase it, you need to take the level you are trying to attain, and multiply it by 5. Say you are quality 5, and you want to attain quality 6. You take 6 multiply it by 5, and your price is 30. Now, thats a fair expensive sum, especially for a divided nation of squabbling states. If you find another state with a higher army quality willing to help you, you can take the difference between your army quality and theirs (lets say you have level 5 and are trying to get to level 6, and they have level 8), multiply it by 6, and you have that amount as a discount on your purchase price of the next level of quality. But you can only purchase 1 level per turn. Later in the game once tanks or aircraft or similar innovations come available, you will need a certain army quality in order to access them.
Experience is something that cannot be bought. When you are at war, your men gain experience. When you are at peace, this rating drops over time, although high army quality can generally make this drop occur slower. This can help you offset the odds if your men are experienced but have low quality.
Navy Quality/Experience:
Same thing as Army quality, except in order to build a ship in your own shipyards you need to have a certain navy quality. That means poor quality navies will not be able to build dreadnoughts, or some other such powerful ship of the time. However, if you have a poor navy quality, a friendly naval power can still sell or gift you ships that you can't build yourself.
Army:
These are the forces in your army. How many Infantry, militia, marines, or cavalry regiments, or however many UUs of your nation. Costs and unit listings will come later.
Navy:
These are the ships in your navy. Bear in mind that while you may be coming off a civil war on land, control of the sea can still be an important factor, especially if your economy or agriculture is based off of trade and imports. Bear that in mind sailor.
UUs:
UU stands for Unique Unit. Want your version or the British redcoats? The German stormtroopers? Not exactly examples of this time period, but you get the point. You want a special unit, then you come up with whatever you want it to do and such, PM it to me along with the name of the unit, and I will give you a price in EP for you to create that UU. UUs can give tremendous advantages, or may in fact be a waste of money. Its up to you, and how you use them. Once you 'create' or 'research' the UU with the price I give you, you will be able to build them just like any other unit in the game, and you can gift the same ability to allies of yours so they can get the same advantage.
Projects:
This is how you develop your nation. In an IOT you might put a set price on a factory as 2 gold or something like that. But in a NES you get creative. Want a better rail network to improve your IP? Create a project in your orders via PM for it, and invest EP in it. After the update following your orders, your project will appear here in the projects section of your stats, with the name of it, how much you have spent, and how much is required to complete it. Sometimes your initial investment will be enough to complete it, others you will need tom invest more in it the next turn. Sometimes your investment will backfire. Experiment with it!
Mobilization
Mobilization was important in this period just as it was in the Great War two and a half decades afterwards. Although the refined process of it isn't quite in the state it was in 1914, it nonetheless is important, and the concept of 'total war' is very much fresher in everybody's minds due to the past 20 years of civil war in France. How this works, is their fare 4 levels of Mobilization for a country, 0 through 3. 0 is where every country starts at, unless they start at war. At level 3 Mobilization, your entire country is geared for Total War against your enemies. At level 2, it is partially mobilized, and only some of the reserves are called up. At level 1 you receive a boost that is useful for border conflicts and other minor clashes, or even simply to keep your realm ready for an attack by a belligerent neighbor.
Mobilization must be declared openly before orders are locked. Surprise attacks CAN still happen, but if your mobilizing, your neighbors are probably going to take the hint, and at least mobilize some reserves. Mobilization calls up your country's reserves through a system involving EP, IP, and AP. Although you receive an initial boost in troop numbers and EP and IP produced, prolonged mobilization can devastate an economy. After two years you will normally begin to feel its affects, and it will get progressively worse as your mobilization continues.
Level 1 Mobilization Effects:
+25% EP rounded up
+25% IP rounded up (both stored and produced)
Yearly 1xEP Sum (However much EP you get every year) available to recruit reserves. For example, if your country gets 4 EP ever year, you now get 4 EP this turn to customize the reserves you are calling up, in addition to your normal income.
Level 2 Mobilization Effects
+50% EP rounded up
+50% IP rounded up (both stored and produced)
Yearly 2xEP Sum available to recruit reserves. For example, if your country gets 4 EP a year, you now get 8 EP in order to customize the reserves you are calling up.
Level 3 Mobilization Effects
+100% EP rounded up
+100% IP rounded up
Yearly 3xEP Sum available to recruit reserves.
Possible Detrimental Effects Over Time
Stability Hits
Permanent loss of base EP
Permanent loss of base IP produced
Other bad things that can happen to your nation.
War
We all know you will declare war at some point, on somebody. Most likely on the first turn for some of you, although I ask you not to ignite the whole darn civil war on the first turn if you can help the temptation
. However, when you go to war, give a reason for that war. Tell your people and other countries why you are fighting it, and if its a decent reason (whether its true or not), your men may just fight better, and you might not get massed attacked by other players and NPCs for declaring war for no reason.Whoo. Thats over with, and now you get the gist of this game. Have fun!
Wait you say? I have forgotten something? A map you say?
Ah yes, the all powerful eye candy called a map. Well here it is. Enjoy! Stats will follow in the next post, and a third post shall be reserved for interesting things like UUs, links to updates, etc.
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NATIONS BY COLOR:
Foreign NPCs (Permanently NPC until and unless I say otherwise)
Great Britain: Bright Red
Germany: Gray
Netherlands: Tangerine
Belgium: Cayenne
Spain: Lemon
Italy: Flora
Luxembourg: Teal
Portugal: Clover
Switzerland: Salmon
French Realms (Playable by Players)
Merchant Republic of Brest: Ice Blue
Northern Kingdom of Brittany: Yellow Banana
Coastal Republic of Normandie: Teal
Nantes Protectorship: Magnesium Light Gray
Principality of Rouen: Mocha brown
Third Republic Remnant: Blueberry
Paris Commune: Plum
Directory of Amiens: Moss
Union of Calais and Dunkerque: Maroon
Federal Republic of Rheims: Spring Green
Fortress of Orleans: Midnight Blue
Kingdom of Tours: Strawberry Pink
Free Democracy of La Rochelle: Midnight Blue
Principality of Troyes: Orchid Light Blue
Oligarchy of Lyons: Teal
People's Republic of Dijon: Asparagus Brown-Green
Republic of Bordeaux: Ocean Blue
Kingdom of Southern France: Cantaloupe Orange
Central French Empire: Lavender Pink
Principality of Nice: Turquoise
Merchant City State of Marseilles: Eggplant Purple
The Second Vatican: Clover
Fortress Port of Toulon: Moss
And off you go! Let me get 2 reserved posts in before you post if you don't mind.
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