[BoP:1950] Main Thread -- TURN 1 GLOBAL REPORT

[Almalexia]

With no further ado, as your host, I proudly present to you...

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First, I'd like to extend my ardent gratitude to Hulksmash, for his determined efforts in bringing the map to its completion, to my wife, for her wonderful work in creating original artwork and headers for the OP, as well as her unabating patience while I worked on the BoP, and to you, the players, for your patience in sticking through to the much delayed release. And a special thanks to Jhessail, Epicrules, Pixel, and Eternal for their help and consultation on background research, balancing concerns, and the process of running a BoP, I wouldn't have gotten off the ground without their help!

Spoiler: THE MAP

The Original File, open in another tab/window
http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/vv259/Tiberius_Maximus/TDMexp15_zps3uao5a9j.png~original​

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The year is 1950. Today marks the 5th anniversary of the end to the most destructive war in the history of civilization. Five years ago to the day, the world changed forever in the glare of nuclear fire, first on VR Day (Victory over Russia), followed by the final conclusion of large scale combat after VA Day (Victory over America). What has resulted is the emergence of a new order, almost unrecognizable from where the world stood in 1939 as the Second World War began: for the Axis won the war. This is a new world, of crumbling European Empires replaced by new hegemons of ideology, one of nuclear weapons and jet power, and of proxy wars and power blocs formed from the competition of once staunch allies. Today we remember the past, commemorating either with celebration and victory parades and toasts of triumph, or marking the last days of defeat and of shattered nations, but all recall the lives lost in the dark days of the World Wars. And perhaps, take them as portent of the lives yet to be lost in the wars to come, their origins ignited even as the last war ended. But all of us look to the gleaming chrome future in this new world, and for some, to the stars beyond. 

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Welcome to BoP: 1950! The Balance of Power: 1950 game is set in a world very similar to ours as it stood in the 1950s, and yet so radically different. Our world is one where the worst has come to pass: the Axis has won the Second World War. And yet, the world lives and attempts to move on. The game is, beyond its alternate-history setting, best described as semi-historical, borrowing a number of elements from diesel/decopunk as well as references to classic film and media (as well as some more recent inspirations). But it is a world of competition, and this plays out in many fronts beyond the battlefield, as nations and empires compete for ideological supremacy, hone the cutting edge of technology (discovering technologies even beyond the achievements of the real world), and ultimately look skywards to spread their influence beyond the Earth.

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As things stand at the beginning of the game, the new players aside, in terms of technology and culture the world is roughly similar to where it stood in our version of history, though without the diffusion of German military technology through Operation Paperclip and parallel Soviet looting of patents and prototypes, there is a greater reliance on wartime models for armor, aircraft, and weapons. However, the course of technology, and ultimately history, is in the hands of the players, and with the alternate history setting I'm quite willing to blur the line between reality and fiction, so if you wish to bring into the world ideas from Fallout, or Wolfenstein, or even the real if implausible prototypes and designs that were the result of World War 2 ambitions and Cold War research, be my guest. Whether they are successful, or beyond that, practical, is dependent on your funding allocation and my own whims, but the point is that the tech tree is a general guideline, and custom, special military units are yours to create. This is an exciting time for science and technology: I encourage you to push its limits and above all enjoy yourselves!

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1. Keep discussions on-topic and reasonable.
2. Don't miss deadlines. You applied for this game, showing your willingness to participate. Now don't disappoint.
3. You may not directly quote, screenshot, or copy and paste any parts of a country card, turn report, or private conversation with the host or another player into the thread. You are also heavily discouraged from doing this in private conversations.
4. You may not edit or delete posts in this thread. The first time, you will be warned. Each violation after that will result in a penalty enacted on your nation in game.
5. If you like, add me into your private conversations. I enjoy reading them.
6. Credit amounts are both relative and absolute. Domestic credit spending is relative and proportional to country size, whereas international (military and espionage, for example) spending and effectiveness is absolute.

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Major Powers:
America (Superpower): Benno Maximus [Democracy]
Germany (Superpower): Mahud [Fascist]
India: Grimmend [Democracy]
Italy: Arcadius [Fascist]
Japan (Superpower): Gaham [Fascist]
Soviet Union: Blacktide [Communist]

Regional Powers:
Brazil: Jhnking [Non-Aligned]
Canada (And the Free British Commonwealth in Exile): Odysseus [Democracy]
Imperial Government of Great Britain: Amontadillo [Fascist]
Persia: Stark99 [Non-Aligned]
Saudi Arabia: Eternal [Non-Aligned]
Siam: AndHisName [Fascist]
Turkey: AdmiralThrawn [Non-Aligned]
French State: Epicrules [Fascist]
Spain: Pixel [Non-Aligned]

 

[Almalexia]

Mechanics:

Spoiler: Economy

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Following the end of the Second World War and the consolidation and harnessing of much of the world economy into new Imperial economic blocs, the initial post-war depression passed into an economic boom after trade barriers were dropped. What followed was an expansion of a now truly global economy, as great powers negotiated trade pacts on behalf of centrally managed trade blocs, creating new ties with treaties and massive infrastructure projects. Carefully cultivating your nations' economy, protecting local industries or opening the doors to free trade, negotiating trade agreements or implementing embargoes, is your responsibility and the livelihood of millions depend upon your good judgment.

The economic details are fairly straightforward, but reflect a complex network of taxation, corruption, economic policy and international commerce. Your income is divided into three sources:

Net Income: All your annual income from all three sources, added together, accounted with your administrative efficiency percentage.

Domestic Income – This is the tally of your revenue from taxes, fees, and other income from all internal sources. This includes, of course, taxes on individuals and companies, but also includes money earned from internal commerce, and domestic policies (both intentional and inadvertent). You can increase Domestic Income by many means, including raising taxes directly on individuals, or companies, or internal commerce (though be aware of the consequences), reforming market structures or economic government agencies (or other such reforms), improving and expanding infrastructure projects, subsidies to industries or agriculture, or other, more clever or potentially illicit means.

Colonial Income – Like Domestic Income, Colonial Income is the dues collected by taxes, commerce, etc. from within your own territory, though this is collected from your overseas territories. Keep in mind that implementing changes to increase Colonial Income may not be as effective as those made in the Metropole, due to differences and inefficiency in colonial administration, deficient infrastructure, and other factors such as the increasing colonial discontent of the new era.

Trade Income – This is your income brought in from international commerce, and is perhaps the easiest to increase as well as increasingly important in this emerging new world, though it comes with consequences of its own. Trade income is increased essentially by the stroke of the pen, rather than through complex and messy internal reforms or tax increases domestically, signed bilaterally with other nations through Trade Agreements. Current Trade Agreements signed with other countries or trade blocs are listed beneath the income list.

Administrative Efficiency – This all important percentage is the measure of how much of your revenue is actually available for use: without administrative efficiency, no matter how much money your nation makes, if you cannot collect it efficiently they are simply useless numbers. It reflects expenses in running your bureaucracy (wages, operating costs, etc.), inefficient or overburdened government organizations, or, most wastefully, administrative corruption. To improve your Administrative Efficiency, internal reforms to combat inefficiency and/or corruption or trimming non-critical personnel or agencies can be attempted, as well as Research Projects to develop technology help automate or expedite government operation.

Annual Expenditures are divided into four categories, but can be simplified into two basic classifications:

Armed Forces Upkeep – Divided into three categories for your Army, Navy, and Air Forces, collectively they make up the annual upkeep of your Armed Forces. Demobilizing units or reducing the total size of your armed forces can reduce your upkeep, but of course leaves you with less operational flexibility and leaves your nation more vulnerable to attack. Demobilization reduces upkeep by half (Mobilized upkeep is equivalent to purchase price) but demobilized units cannot be used in offensive operations, and may be less effective in combat depending on the strategic situation.

Tech Funding – Detailed below, it is the total funding allocated to your NSE.


Gross Income: Credits available for this turn: net income subtracted by upkeep costs, and Tech Funding as set by the previous turn.

Current Balance: Credits left over from last turn: available for spending this turn along with Gross Income. If you are in debt, it will be marked here. You are allowed to go twice over your annual Net Income before you declare bankruptcy, which will negatively impact your domestic income and Internal Stability, as well as other potentially nasty side-effects.


Economic Actions:
In addition to player created economic pacts and agreements, and internally enacted domestic policies to increase income and efficiency, there are a pair of game mechanics to increase your revenue, or reduce those of others as diplomatic pressure: free trade, and embargoes. Free Trade, signed with between either two nations, or among a trade bloc, brings significant increases in Trade Income, and binds the nations together, as declarations of war on a nation which you have a Free Trade agreement voids the agreement. However, this has a drawback in that it may impact your Domestic Income, as internationally noncompetitive domestic industries and businesses are forced out of business due to removal of protections from international businesses. This may also lead to decreases in Internal Stability, depending on the severity of the consequences of Free Trade Agreements. That said, FTAs are a sure way to increase national income, and almost always offset losses in Domestic Income (though, as stated, makes the nation's economy vulnerable with its reliance on international trade, should it lose the FTA or come under blockade). Payouts are proportional to the size of the national economies at hand, thus for a smaller nation to convince another nation to open a FTA with them, it may be necessary to offer other incentives, such as military obligations or regular shipments of resources.

On the other side, is the option of embargo. Rather than increase the Trade Income of your nation, embargoes decrease the Trade Income of another nation. This naturally comes at cost to your own nation's Trade Income, however by freezing and seizure of the target nation's assets in your own country, the cost is generally higher for the target than yourself. This is the most powerful, direct, non-military tool of coercion available, especially if coordinated with other nations, and is either the best way to dissuade another nation from their actions, or the final straw that leads to war. Any nation you are at war with is assumed to be under embargo.

Spoiler: Technology

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The 1950s witnessed the exponential growth and refinement of science and technology, as governments the world over poured funds into their scientific establishments in pursuit of being the first to step over the threshold into the always just out of reach “future”, the land of utopia born of technology. Our world's technological revolution is hypersonic: the frantic pace of World War Two's advancements carried on into perpetuity in light of the paranoia of a multi-polar world of conflicting ideologies and imperial interests. To defend your nation and propel it into the future and beyond, you will be charged with helping fund scientific goals with government grants to produce the next product or weapon of the future.

Funding for National Scientific Establishment and Universities – This is the total earmarked funds from your government revenue to be distributed as grants to your government scientific institutes and labs, independent research and development groups, and to university research projects across the nation.

Current Projects – Here is listed your research focuses for this turn, with number one being your top priority for completion, and listed in descending priority. Next to each project, in parentheses, you can assign specific allotments out of the total NSE funding to promote timely completion: those projects that have more funding naturally attract more scientists and have fewer budgetary constraints, and generally are completed quicker. Keep in mind that research projects listed for your turn may not be completed by the next turn! Technological complexity, insufficient funding, espionage and sabotage, or just plain timeline overrun can all delay completion of a research project. NOTE: If you wish to create any Custom Units, the proposal is listed here! Unlike other research projects, it is highly encouraged to provide the strategic necessity, combat role, and any historical design studies, fictional concept details and/or designs, or general description of the proposed unit. In general, remember the more in-depth the proposal for the custom unit, the more likely it is to be completed/functional/practical!

Below, is a list of the standard “tech trees” for all major units and products.
Consumer Goods: Level I: Basic Goods and Handicrafts → Level II: Mid-Grade Goods → Level III: High Grade Goods → Level IV: High Tech Goods → Level V: Future Tech Goods
Weapons: Four levels – Level I: Semi-automatic rifles → Level II: Early Assault Rifles → Level III: Modern Assault Rifles → Level IV: Advanced Assault Rifles.
Tanks: Four levels – Level I: Wartime Models → Level II: Post-War Tank Models → Level III: Main Battle Tank → Level IV: Advanced Main Battle Tank
Fighters: Four levels – Level I: Propeller Fighters → Level II: Early Jet Aircraft → Level III: Modern Jet Aircraft → Level IV: Advanced Jet Aircraft
Bombers: Four levels – Level I: Wartime models → Level II: Modern Propeller Bombers → Level III: Jet Bombers → Level IV: Nuclear Bombers (Requires Nuclear Tech Lvl II)
Submarines: Four levels – Level I: Diesel Submarine → Level II: Electric Submarine → Level III: Nuclear Submarine (Requires Nuclear Tech Lvl II) → Level IV: Stealth Submarine
Battleship: Five levels – Level I: Dreadnought → Level II: Modern Battleship → Level III: Tactical Nuclear Artillery Battleship (Requires Nuclear Tech Lvl I) → Level IV: Rocket Battleship (Requires Rocket Tech Lvl I) → Level V: Missile Battleship (Requires Rocket Tech Lvl III)
Aircraft Carriers: Four levels – Level I: Light Carrier → Level II → Level II: Fleet Carrier → Level III: Supercarrier → Level IV: Nuclear Supercarrier (Requires Nuclear Tech Lvl II)
Nuclear Weapons: Four levels – Level I: Uranium Bomb → Level II: Hydrogen Bomb → Level III: Mid-Range Nuclear Missile (Requires Rocket Tech Lvl III) → Level IV: Nuclear ICBM (Requires Rocket Tech Lvl IV)
Rocket Technology: Five levels – Level I: Basic Rockets → Level II: Guided Rockets → Level III: Mid-Range Ballistic Missiles → Level IV: Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile → Level V: Orbital Rockets

Technology Licensing:
As an alternative to shipments of higher technology items and units to other nations, if your relations are good enough, you may agree to sell licensing rights to your technology to the nation at hand. This automatically upgrades their technology level to your corresponding level (or to a level of your choosing below your current tech level), and allows them to upgrade their units in the following turn. Be sure to consider who you are selling your licensing rights to: not only does it cut off future weapon sales, but your technology may be used against you in future wars if provided to the wrong country.

Spoiler: The Space Race

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Inevitably, as military and civil technological progress propels weapons, goods, and people across the world farther and faster, finding barriers only to break through them, our ambitions turn above the globe and towards the heavens. The Space Race, as it emerges, will become not only a project of hope and inspiration for all humanity, but will become the penultimate technological competition between nations. To be the first to put a satellite into orbit, to be the first man in space, and ultimately to be the first nation to land upon the moon, are glories that will live eternal for as long as humanity remembers the past and where they came from. To claim that glory is to cement your nations' place forever in history, and in-game to win the Space Race is to proclaim victory.

To win the Space Race, you must be the first nation to successfully put a man on the moon, our closest heavenly body. Some progress can be made through dual-use breakthroughs in military or civilian technology, however many require bold and original research. To put your nation among the stars, you must complete the technology line and launch progressively ambitious space programs.

The Space Race Technology Line:
Level I: Basic Rocket Technology (Rocket Technology Level I) → Level II: Multi-Stage Rockets (Rocket Technology Level III) → Level III: Orbital Rockets (Rocket Technology Level V) → Satellite Technology → Life Support Systems → Space Capsules → Moon Lander

The three major “hurdles” of the Space Race are putting a satellite into orbit (possible after Satellite Technology), a man into space (Space Capsules), and an astronaut on the moon (Moon Lander). These require separate investment after completion of the requisite technologies by making a Custom Unit project with your chosen name for the project and launch. After you have progressed through all three and successfully put a man on the moon, your nation will have won the Space Race victory.

Spoiler: Resources

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Raw Resources:
Metals – Needed to produce units, or weapons or vehicles that can be exported. Major Sources are Spain, Germany, and the USSR.
Rubber – Needed for unit maintenance. If insufficient or out, infantry and armored divisions will be less mobile. Major Sources are Brazil, the Belgian Congo, and Japan.
Oil – Needed for unit maintenance. If insufficient or out, infantry units will move slower and perform worse in combat, and armored divisions, ships, and aircraft will stop moving altogether. Major Sources are Arabia, Iraq, and USSR.
Coal – Required to keep your factories running, to produce Consumer Goods or to make units/materiel. Major Sources are Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and USSR.
Consumer Resources – Cotton, Silk, Electronic components, gems, precious metals, etc. Major Sources are Japan, Great Britain, France, and Siam.
Uranium – needed to build nuclear weapons or supply nuclear-powered units. Can also be used as maintenance for factories at later tech levels.

Finished Goods and Materiel:
Consumer Goods – Requires 1 Coal and 1 Consumer Resource. Your population will have requirements for a certain input of Consumer Goods, based upon population size and their degree of wealth and consumer culture: in general, wealthier nations will require more consumer goods. If you cannot meet population demand for goods, internal stability will begin taking serious penalties: thus, even if you have to import goods en masse from other countries and subject yourself to their cultural influence, it is preferable to potential popular uprisings and revolution.
Cheap Weapons – Requires 1 Metal and 1 Coal. Leftover models from the last war: cheap, dependable, but outdated. Primarily bolt action rifles and submachineguns.
Weapons – Requires 2 Metal and 1 Coal. Newer models of infantry weapons: updates with new technology.
Tanks – Requires 5 Metal and 3 Coal.
Fighter Aircraft – Requires 3 Metal and 1 Coal.
Bomber Aircraft – Requires 4 Metal and 2 Coal.
Nuclear Weapons – Requires 2 Uranium at Tech I, 1 Uranium at Tech II.

Spoiler: Units

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Unit upkeep is equivalent to the purchase price of each unit while mobilized, and while demobilized is half the purchase price. Demobilized units do not require resource upkeep: however, if attacked, while they are capable of defending themselves, they will be unable to mount counterattacks until the following turn and may be at risk of encirclement. (Note: Units can be mobilized and used during Interturns, however, the increase in upkeep cost and their resource requirements will be reflected in the upcoming Country Card for the upcoming turn, and units mobilized during Interturns will perform at less efficiency than those mobilized during Turn Orders)

Units produced in your country are automatically at your researched technology level. However, you can also purchase weapons, tanks, and other materiel from other nations with a high tech level and equip new units with them (you pay the credit cost, but not resource costs), which will be much more effective in combat. Thus, if you are at a low technology level for a certain unit type, it may be a good idea to import the weapons to equip them to give you an edge in combat.

Conscript Division – Requires 500 Credits, 1 Metal, and 1 Coal. 3 focuses: Garrison/Occupation, Guerrilla, and Penal.
Infantry Division – Requires 1000 Credits, 2 Metal, and 1 Coal. 3 focuses: Mechanized, Amphibious, Airborne. (Requires 1 Rubber and 1 Oil for Maintenance)
Commando – Requires 1500 Credits, 2 Metal, and 1 Coal. 4 focuses: Jungle, Arctic, Mountain, Urban. (Requires 2 Rubber and 1 Oil)
Armored Division – Requires 2000 Credits, 5 Metal, and 3 Coal. (Requires 2 Rubber and 2 Oil for Maintenance)
Bombers – Requires 2000 Credits, 4 Metal, and 2 Coal. (Requires 3 Oil, or 1 Uranium at Level IV)
Fighters – Requires 1500 Credits, 3 Metal, and 1 Coal. (Requires 2 Oil)
Destroyer Flotilla – Requires 1500 Credits, 5 Metal, and 2 Coal. (Requires 2 Oil)
Battleship – Requires 3000 Credits, 10 Metal, and 5 Coal. (Requires 3 Oil [and 1 Uranium at Level III])
Aircraft Carrier – Requires 5000 Credits, 13 Metal, and 8 Coal. (Requires 4 Oil, or 2 Uranium at Level IV)
Submarine Flotilla – Requires 1500 Credits, 5 Metal, and 2 Coal. (Requires 2 Oil [Reduced to 1 Oil at Level II, and switches to 1 Uranium at Level III)
Nuclear Weapons – Requires 2000 Credits and 2 Uranium (later reduced to 1 Uranium at Tech II).
Rocket/Missile Array – Requires 1,000 Credits, 2 Metal, and 1 Oil.

Nuclear weapons and Rocket/Missile Arrays represent stockpile-able air units, and do not have associated upkeep costs. This allows you to steadily accumulate expendable air-power, though keep in mind they are one-use weapons and cannot be used after initial deployment. Thus be careful with their usage, as it may be difficult to build up your strategic stockpile should it become depleted.

(All units can be equipped with Tactical Nuclear Weapons after Nuclear Tech II, which improves their combat ability, but increases upkeep by 500 Credits and 1 Uranium. Also consider consequences of nuclear escalation)
[In addition, all land units can be equipped with Helicopters after Fighter Tech III, which improves their mobility and their ability to be resupplied while encircled or in difficult terrain. However, upkeep costs increases by 500 Credits and 1 Oil]

Importing Weapons/Materiel and Upgrading Units:
As mentioned before, it is possible to import higher tech weapons and military hardware for other nations to equip your units, allowing them to fight at a higher combat efficiency. This also means you do not have to pay the resource costs associated with creating the new units: you only have to pay the credit costs, plus whatever is stipulated in the trade deal with the player at hand. Upgrading existing units with foreign weapons costs only half the recruitment credit costs. Otherwise, upon researching the next highest level of the corresponding tech level through domestic research or licensing purchases upgrades all existing units automatically without cost. If you start the game with any units produced locally at a lower tech level than the rest of your army, it costs half the recruitment credit cost to update them.

Spoiler: Custom Units

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As noted before, I allow, and indeed highly encourage the nations of the world to experiment radically. The Cold War, and the previous conflict of World War 2 saw the design, prototyping, and production of incredibly revolutionary military and civilian technological advances. As noted in the previously in the Technology section, these are produced by proposals submitted to your NSE, with the success and practicality of the project aided by design details and funding. You may draw your inspiration from any source you like, as long as it can hold some relevance to the period at hand, whether it is Dieselpunk/Atompunk inspired, Wolfenstein, classic science fiction, or from real world design proposals or prototypes that would be brought into full production. Typically, custom units will have increased production costs and resource requirements, as well as upkeep requirements, and thus will generally be specialized one-off or limited production units. However, if desired, custom units can be brought into standard production, replacing the desired standard unit in the production line. Keep in mind that custom units typically have a specialized strategic or combat role, so adjust your plans accordingly to use them to their greatest effect and defend their weaknesses!

Customization isn't limited to combat units, either. I encourage players to be creative, and apply it to the realm of Consumer Goods as well. This can manifest in national specialization of certain goods, such as silk weaving, clothing, luxury automobile production, shipbuilding, clockwork, or radios, television, and other electronics. However, you can go far beyond this in your pursuit of the future: from hovertechnology to robotics, futuristic household appliances to industrial walkers. And keep in mind, technology researched for civilian means can be used to advance military means, and vice versa!

Spoiler: Culture

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In an age where mass media begins to truly emerge, allowing for the proliferation and domination of one culture over others and the spread of ideologies globally, the field of culture becomes more important than ever. This is played out in two ways: one is internal stability, which is your cultural “defense”, and cultural influence, which is your cultural “offense”. Internal stability is the strength of your culture and ideology within your population: high internal stability means your national identity is strong across all social and ethnic groups, and your ideology is widely accepted politically. A low internal stability score means your social and ethnic groups are discontent, and/or your ideology is becoming increasingly unpopular. This lack of patriotism and belief can lead to decreased production, separatism, or even civil war. If it gets low enough, your ideology might flip to the strongest influence on you and your government will change, ejecting you from the game. Internal stability is shown by a sliding scale of terms, from Jubilant, Patriotic, Content, Apathetic, Discontent, Civil Disobedience, and Revolutionary Wave.

Cultural influence is your ability to change the hearts and minds of those abroad, either by the exertion of political influence to promote your ideology, or the ambient spread of your culture through mass media by the spoken word, by print, or by television. A cultural victory is possible, allowing for the triumph of a nation by soft-power by becoming influential on a majority of the major nations, but this is often predicated on the defeat of other nations in other fields. Like Internal Stability, Cultural Influence operates on a sliding scale: Beacon of Ideology, Cultural Giant, Exotic, Isolationist, Obscure, and Unknown.

Ideology Wars and Culture Victories:
To give secondary powers more stake in the road to victory, despite not leading the way in the wars of ideology, they may have their share of the glory through the Culture Victory. The world will be split into “teams”, according to the ideology they follow or are otherwise influenced by. The culture victory is won when 2/3rds of the major powers and 2/3rds of the secondary powers follow the same ideology. In addition to the wishes and preferences of the people, and the intrigues of the great powers, nations will have intrigues of their own to align themselves to the most widespread ideologies and be on the winning team, and assist in influencing other nations as well through means benevolent and covert.

Ways to influence another nation include invitation to your official ideological organization, importing your consumer goods into their country or opening trade agreements, sending foreign aid or bribes, espionage missions, and inciting and supporting rebel groups loyal to your cause. There are numerous and creative ways to influence other nations and advancing your cause, as well as occasional events that can boost your influence worldwide.

Consumer Goods:
The refined commodities are the closest you get to quantifying your culture. Your output, your ability to supply your population, and the quality of your nation's goods and commodities are a reflection of your ability to appease your people and influence the world. Your Consumer Goods Technology Level is the baseline for your internal stability and cultural influence, with Tech I being the first tier, corresponding to a base of "apathetic" for internal stability and "isolationist" for cultural influence, Tech II being "content" and "exotic", and so on. However, this is only a baseline, and your total score for internal stability and cultural influence will be affected by many factors and events confronting your nation.

Importing Consumer Goods:
If due to shortages in consumer resources, fuel, or manufacturing priorities to military hardware, you are unable or unwilling to produce enough to meet the demands of your population, it is advisable to import consumer goods from higher tech nations. This can be done by either outright purchase of their goods, or deals including shipments of raw consumer resources and/or fuel in return for higher tech goods. Significant imports will lead to an appreciable increase in your Internal Stability baseline, improving the security of your regime, but on the flipside, will negatively impact your cultural influence, and may lead to your country's ideology becoming influenced or switching wholesale to that of your exporter.

Spoiler: Espionage

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As the world descends into a Cold War of competing superpowers and constantly changing allegiances and alliances, the Golden Age of Espionage begins. Espionage in Balance of Power: 1950 is a very multifunctional tool. It operates in a similar manner to the Technology Research List, with a descending list of missions ordered by priority. And like the Research List, the chance of success is determined by the funding allocated to the mission: however, more rides upon the success of a mission than simple completion deadlines. Providing insufficient funding to your spy missions leaves them at risk of outright failure, detection and apprehension, or even the leaking of information of your own plans and CC to the enemy.

Espionage missions are both critical and varied in purpose, and will be incredibly important for competing for international influence and power. Through espionage missions, you can get glimpses into sections of enemy Country Cards, sabotage scientific research or steal researched technology, promote your ideology abroad, spark colonial uprisings and resistance movements, promote dissent and reduce your enemy's internal stability, and run anti-subterfuge missions in your own or allied nations.

Spoiler: Victories

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In recognition that all BoP games are finite, Balance of Power: 1950 has a set of “victories” to be attained through different means: whoever gains a victory first, through whatever route, wins the game. The game can progress beyond that, provided the players and the host are willing, but such a course of action is to be decided by vote. There are three paths to victory: Military, Cultural, and the Space Race.

[COUNTRY NAME] ORDERS

---Technology
Funding for National Scientific Establishment and Universities:

Current Projects (with funding assigned to :
1.
2.
3.

--- Trade
X goods to Y country

-- Production
xx credits, yy resources to produce zz goods. This includes military units and refined resources.

--- Diplomacy
List diplomatic actions

--- Espionage
Current Missions:
1.
2.
3.

-- Domestic Actions
xx credits for Y effect

-- Military Actions
xx credits for Y effect, or free movement/engagement of troops.

 

[Almalexia]

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!  ​

UPCOMING FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF WW2

Spoiler

Eleven years ago, the most destructive war in our world's history unfolded to change the world forever. Together we saw the toppling of Western Europe and the unleashing of the blitzkrieg across the continent, first in Poland, then France, and then sweeping across the Balkans. The world witnessed the charge of Operation Barbarossa, the collapse of the Red Army and its heroic, if temporary, recovery at the gates of Moscow. And we listened as radio reports across the globe rang out with the declaration of war by America upon the tripartite of the Axis, following the devastation at Pearl Harbor.

That old world is gone now, its last ashes being swept away by the scouring winds of progress and revision. While we now live in the world of the Atomic Age, the Age of the Wunderwaffe, we remember all those lost in battle to bring us here. We remember those lost in the atomic bombings of Moscow and Scapa Flow, and those for whom the war never ended in the Soviet Siberian Republics, who continue to suffer from war and the elements. We all, in our own ways, whether exultation or solemn remembrance, recall those who were taken from us, and though nothing is certain as we look to the future we pray for a better world where we may never know such destruction again.

COMPLETION OF WELTHAUPTSTADT GERMANIA

Spoiler

Rising from the ashes of Central Berlin following the surprise firestorm raid of 1944, like a marble phoenix the new “World Capital” of Germania unfolds its aquiline wings to the globe in its monumental splendor, that belies belief. It casts its light, or shadow, across the whole of Europe, and indeed the world, a proclamation of the recentering of Western Civilization indisputably in the heart of Germany. The brainchild of Albert Speer and the dream of the Fuhrer, Germania, as Berlin has been rebranded, is a complete rebuilding of the city on an unprecedented scale, leaving the renovations of Baron Haussman and even the contemporary vertical blossoming of New York City in the shadow of its staggering measure.

This year, the last stones are being laid on its masterpiece, the center of the radically altered axis of the city: the Volkshalle, the People's Hall, or perhaps more evocatively named, the Great Hall or Hall of Glory. Such monikers are hardly wasted upon it, for it is undoubtedly a modern marvel, recalling the dome of the Pantheon, but in a scale to contain the greatest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Pyramids, beneath its celestial dome. So large is the building, that without its air circulation system it contains its own rainclouds. Concerns have been raised by outside sources as to the status of the workforce and the cost of such an incomparable edifice, but Nazi party officials have brushed aside any criticism in anticipation of the grand opening of the new capital of the Reich, and its celebration of their victory in the last war.

AMERICA TESTING FIRST PROTOTYPE OF “FLYING CAR”

Spoiler

Spokesmen for Chrysler have released information on its hotly anticipated new model, predicted to completely revolutionize travel in the United States and world-wide. After the demonstration of Stark's prototype more than a decade ago at the 1939 World Exposition, despite its glitches, designers and scientists at Chrysler have been pioneering the frontiers of a new form of transportation, revolving around what they refer to as “hovertech”. While conventional vehicles rely on wheel traction, propeller or jet propulsion, or otherwise pull from a draft animal, this new technology, straight from the pages of science fiction, instead relies on push from the ground through still top-secret technology. The first functional prototype is expected to make its first tests this year, with preliminary tests suggesting max speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour, and potential cruising heights at over a hundred feet.

SITUATION SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL IN INDOCHINA

Spoiler

In the aftermath of World War 2 and the Fall of France, despite the stabilization of the situation in the French Metropole and the reassertion of its authority in most of its colonies, the situation in Indochina remains contentious and extraordinary. After the Japanese invasion in 1940, despite assurances of independence and the coronation of Vietnamese Emperor Bao Dai, with subsequent confirmations of the authority of the kings of Cambodia and Laos, what exists on the ground is a complicated and increasingly unstable double puppet regime. French colonial administration remains in control of the bureaucracy throughout most of Indochina, often bypassing the indigenous authorities in Hue, Phnom Penh, and Vientiane. And above all are the Japanese, who retain absolute authority and dictate policy to both the royalty and French colonials alike through the structure of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

Despite the inherent instability of such an arrangement and the agitation of partisans in the hinterlands, the regime has managed to keep a lid on discontent for the past ten years. However, it is becoming rapidly apparent it is becoming unsustainable, as a broad-base coalition of disparate nationalist, anti-colonial, and communist resistance groups have coalesced under leader Ho Chi Minh into the Viet Minh. The reaction from central authorities have been clumsy, with French Foreign Legion and Colonial forces, local military units and militias, and Imperial Japanese troops failing to form any coherent strategy and being led into ambushes piecemeal without coordination. Meanwhile bombings and assassinations plague the national and provincial capitals, with bombs going off nearly daily in the northern capital of Hanoi, and Vietnamese scholar-bureaucrats unable to go past their doorsteps. The Viet Minh activity is largely centered in the north of the country in Tonkin and Northern Annam, but is spreading rapidly into Laos in lieu of strong central opposition from either France or Japan. If left unchecked as has been the case so far, the whole of Indochina may find itself inflamed in anti-colonial uprising.

CONTINUED HARDSHIP IN THE SIBERIAN SOVIET REPUBLICS

Spoiler

In 1945, across the world bells tolled to announce the end of World War 2. But not in the Soviet Union: for them, the war has never ended, and it has entered its 9th straight year of conflict with the German regime. Since the atomic devastation of the capital of Moscow on May 8th, and the wiping out of most of the Soviet High Command, followup coordinated offensives by the Wehrmacht routed the leaderless Red Army in a totality that hadn't been seen since the opening months of Operation Barbarossa. By August, the Red Army and a significant amount of the Russian population had been thrown across the Urals. Here, the Germans dug in, at last content in their conquests, certain that their sworn enemies would collapse into chaos.

But the Leader of the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin, long assumed dead, emerged to regroup this new nation of refugees. Though few have seen him personally, through his force of personality despite he absolute chaos that reigned in the aftermath of the fall of Europe he managed to coalesce the Soviet Union into a series of Siberian Republics, centered around the three great rivers of the Ob, the Lena, and the Yenisei, with the capital at Novosibirsk. Industrial capacity, wisely evacuated across the continental divide earlier in the war, was now housed in new factories, in new towns, even new cities, built almost overnight through the tenacity of the Russian people. Tales spread from later refugees from the Reichskommissariats of mass starvation of the Slavic people under German semi-feudal regimes steel their resolve.

But despite the progress of building a whole new nation from scratch in the past five years, conditions remain dire. Millions still reside in refugee camps, tent cities reminiscent of mobile yurt cities of Genghis Khan, exposed to the brutal conditions of the Siberian steppe and taiga. Everyday they face starvation, disease, exposure, and the threat of bombing raids by German sortees from behind their massively fortified line along the Ural mountains. Thousands are sacrificed every day by the Soviet leadership, their communist zeal only brightened by the death-struggle against the Fascists, in the fields, in the forests, in the mines and in the factories, and sent in charges against the Ural Line, which has established a brutal reputation. International organizations from across the free world have attempted to send aid to alleviate conditions in the USSR, but have been opposed by Germany who insist on a total blockade of the Soviets, leaving supplies to be shipped the long way from the Asian Maritime Provinces.

NEW YORK CITY SHOOTS SKYWARDS: NUMBER OF SKY SCRAPERS DOUBLES

Spoiler

After millions fled the advance of the Reich in Europe, rich or poor, they came to the shores of America to start life new again. You can see this no clearer than in New York City, the spirit of America, where buoyed by the repatriation and resettling of millionaires and corporations from the great houses of Europe, a whole new city has rose up. Where other cities expand outwards, New York City blossoms vertically into a splendorous new skyline, where the wealthy and the powerful of individuals and companies compete to outdo each other in height and beauty of their skyscrapers, adorned in Art-Deco or the new Streamline Moderne style. What has been completed in the 40 years prior to 1945 cannot be compared to what has been erected in the past 5.

City officials have risen to the challenges of the massively increased traffic, both horizontally and vertically, by ordering a massive expansion of the city metro system, one that has just been inaugurated this morning in time for New York City's world famous New Year's Day celebration. A new Grand Central Station, with both subterranean and elevated tracks, is the pride of the comprehensive new system that includes a renovated airport, passenger trains, buses, streetcars, and even automobile overpasses suspended above the busiest roads, connecting to garages in upper levels of the new skyscrapers. However, there have been widespread accusations of wasteful spending and corruption, with evidence of contractor favoritism and bribes to civil officials. In particular attention is drawn to the lavishness of the new city overpasses, which are seen as a wasteful project commissioned by the wealthy for their exclusive use, often connecting to the very skyscrapers they built, replete with their own airship ports.

 

[Almalexia]

Alright, y'all can post now. I'll start releasing CCs tomorrow, been working my ass off on them recently and mechanics revisions have been pushing them back. Nonetheless, I wanted to get the OP and mechanics all out for you to familiarize yourself with, and so you can see the lovely work Hulk did with the map. Otherwise I think the only thing that's missing is the Order template, which you needn't concern yourself with just yet anyways. In any case, thank you all so much for your patience! It's been a learning process in terms of how much time I need to allocate for BoP work, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. What I lack in planning I make up for in tenacity, at least. 

 

[Catholic]

Saudi Arabia greets the world.

Alright, y'all can post now. I'll start releasing CCs tomorrow, been working my ass off on them recently and mechanics revisions have been pushing them back. Nonetheless, I wanted to get the OP and mechanics all out for you to familiarize yourself with, and so you can see the lovely work Hulk did with the map. Otherwise I think the only thing that's missing is the Order template, which you needn't concern yourself with just yet anyways. In any case, thank you all so much for your patience! It's been a learning process in terms of how much time I need to allocate for BoP work, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. What I lack in planning I make up for in tenacity, at least. 

Need me to set you up a game?

 

[MaHuD]

Ausgezeichnet!

 

[Evelyn]

French State here, white flags ready to fly.

 

[JamesThompson]

Gonna have to drop out, sorry.

 

[MaHuD]

Can you use this link as the original please?
http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/vv259/Tiberius_Maximus/TDMexp15_zps3uao5a9j.png

 

[Almalexia]

Gonna have to drop out, sorry.

Np, Amontadillo will coincidentally be taking over control of the Imperial Government of Great Britain. Rule Britannia!

 

[Benno Maximus]

United States, signing on *eagle screeches in background*

 

[gaham1]

The Glorious Empire is signing on.

 

[romandude]

Canada signing on. God save the King!

 

[Grimmend]

Namaste. India checking in.

 

[GlorvalhirSRB]

Also a threadwatching post, feel free to ignore me.

 

[AdmiralThrawn]

Thread watching.

 

[Almalexia]

Merry Christmas everyone! 

So, here's something of an early Christmas gift to the good boys and girls of Balance of Power: 1950! Finally, after much labor of love (amidst Christmas shopping and Finals week) the Country Cards and Turn 0 Reports for every nation have been finished and posted. To give you some perspective to explain why it has taken more time than even I anticipated, beyond the pages of work for the CCs themselves, I've included rosters and descriptions of all 37 custom units currently in-game so far, as well as the Turn 0 reports, which have anywhere between 1 to 5 events per country depending on the country at hand. A little excessive, some might say, but I can't help a bit of exposition.  Anyways, if anyone has any obvious errors, problems, or questions on their Country Card, just let me know via PM and I'll see what I can do.

 

[Pixel]

Saludos a todos!
---
Spain has a battleship it does not need. We are considering selling this battleship to the highest bidder. Of course if there is no good bidder we will simply scrap it.
Spain is able to sell metals and rubber, and possibly coal. We need consumer goods and oil.

 

[Almalexia]

THE NEW SILK ROAD PROJECT

A joint project between German, Italian, and Japanese governments and business interests, the New Silk Road as it is popularly known is a proposed infrastructure project to span the whole of Eurasia, incorporating railroads, highways, airstrips, and airship ports. The goal is to eventually connect the three powers of the Old World with a secure, inland trade connection, rumored as a response to overwhelming American superiority in the Atlantic. To span the continents of Europe, Asia, and the colonies in Africa, rights will need to be negotiated with the powers of the Mid-East, connections arranged with the Asian countries of India and possibly Siam through a maritime route, and secure the path through Central Asia. Undoubtedly a massive undertaking, nonetheless interest has piqued already to the point where rumored hubs along the Road are already being redeveloped by local authorities, and this can be seen nowhere better than the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, where flushed with funds from oil money, the old heart of Islam is once again beating once more. The city is being rebuilt in the splendor of the ancient Circle City of old, no doubt inspired by capital renovation projects being conducted the world over, but to see it brought into reality will be all but assured when placed at the axis of the Silk Road once more. The project will require significant funding, and as such inclusion into the project may be opened to other European powers, and reap their share of the returns upon completion.



In other news, the Mechanics page has been edited slightly, with the inclusion of the Order Template and the editing of the Resource Page to include countries with major resource reserves, which should help with trade. Further edits should be expected tomorrow, with inclusion of some tips in a general player guide, and a few mechanic edits for clarity or expansion.

 

[MaHuD]

What does the consumer good tech levels do? Increase ratio? Quality?