Practice ME

[Glen]

Okay folks, there are some new people out there who are interested in ME, and I've been kinda wanting to do a 'ME' not for real play but just for the fun of creating one, so I thought I'd combine them into a 'Practice ME' thread.

WARNING: This will NOT be played out. We will just be making some country ideas and pretty maps.

Everyone is welcome to join in on the fun.

First, I am declaring myself Moderator god of Practice ME. As such, for the time being I will refrain from posting my own nations (I might jump in later if needed or if there is room). I shall set the rules for the Practice ME. Later on we can do something like this again and appoint another or more Moderator godlings.

Rules of the Practice ME:

The ISOT date is July 1st, 2005. All countries must have tech that is present day or less. This is a hard cap. Now, the twist is that you just have to have to have tech of this level or below. You can ISOT in countries from more advanced timelines, just at the equivalent level of development. For example, you could have a nation where the Library of Alexandria wasn't burnt and science continued to advance, so maybe their 1500 has tech equivalent to 2005. That would mean you could have a nation from 1500 CE ISOT in. The default date will be July 1st, 2005, but you can be from earlier times if you like.

Note, newbies: Unless you LIKE having your nations carved up, it is highly recommended you have your nations have the max tech level. We may not be actually playing this one out, but its good practice, and you know we will be speculating on what would happen if we did play this out.

Now then, a difference here from other MEs: I'm going to ask that you just post the pre-ISOT areas of your countries. I will determine through secret and archaic arts just what parts and how much of your nations will ISOT. The nice thing about this is that if you want to make a country in the same location as someone else, go right on ahead. This is different inasmuch as we normally set the post-ISOT borders first which can't overlap, then we just make up whatever pre-ISOT borders we want.

The unISOTed areas (normally either areas no one claims or those set aside by the moderators) will be announced once everyone has submitted their pre-ISOT areas. Often in MEs these tend to come from centuries earlier than the rest of the ISOT (go figure).

Okay, you don't need to give your full nation or concept at first for this. Let's just start with the pre-ISOT boundaries you want. I promise everyone will have SOMETHING from their pre-ISOT boundaries, though not what or how much. I will try to please when I can, though.

It's a practice game, so I won't do anything magical to destroy your WMDs.

Also, what's in the ISOTed area gets ISOTed, and what's outside of it does not. Just easier that way for now. There are reasons for ISOTing things in or out, but we don't need them here on this one.

Oh, satellites I'm going to go ahead and do a gimmee. They will get ISOTed with you. I like satellites. Same thing space stations. Sorry, moon bases are out this time. There will be none ISOTed.

So, post your pre-ISOT practice areas now. I'm just dying to make those maps....

[Glen]

Oh, you know what, you can also have nations that are from dates LATER than 2005 so long as their technology does not exceed 2005 level. Worlds that developed more slowly, or regressed, or post-apocalyptics will all be allowed as long as their tech is 2005 level or less.

[NomadicSky]

Capital city Montreal
History in breif
-Canada is a Parliamentary republic with a bicameral legislature
the two houses of Canadian parliament are The Congress of Representatives which is the upper house and the Senate
Louis Joseph Papineau is elected the Canada's first President and William Mackenzie is elected Canada's first Premiere
Montreal becomes the federal capital city
-1839 Canadian independence is recognized by the British empire by the terms of treaty of recognition Rupertsland is transferred to the Canadian government
Denmark annexes part of the Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands
-1844 The Oregon territory is spit along the 49th parallel Canada by plebicide all Vancouver Island becomes part of Canada

-1867 Alaska is bought by Canada

-1917 Canada purchases Greenland and the Danish Virgin Islands from Denmark

[Glen]

Nice start, NordicSky. Now we just need to wait for a few more claims and we can set Practice ME to work.

Things you might wish to work on in the meantime:

I assume you will be wishing this to come in at the present day 2005. Who is the leader of your nation at that time, what is the military like, etc?

[NomadicSky]

All Canadian flags have colours taken from the national flag

[Glen]

Oh, and feel free to do more than one nation for this exercise, and remember they don't have to be all from the same timeline. In fact, it is best that they all be from different timelines.

[Diamond]

Now then, a difference here from other MEs: I'm going to ask that you just post the pre-ISOT areas of your countries. I will determine through secret and archaic arts just what parts and how much of your nations will ISOT. The nice thing about this is that if you want to make a country in the same location as someone else, go right on ahead. This is different inasmuch as we normally set the post-ISOT borders first which can't overlap, then we just make up whatever pre-ISOT borders we want.

The unISOTed areas (normally either areas no one claims or those set aside by the moderators) will be announced once everyone has submitted their pre-ISOT areas. Often in MEs these tend to come from centuries earlier than the rest of the ISOT (go figure).

That is a damn good idea. OK, now I have to post something, if only to see how you'll chop it up! :D

[Lauranthalas]

glen,
if you need some maps and don;t have enough time you can tell me I can make some.

[reformer]

Ok, I'm not sure I'm allowed to do this, but its something that I've always really wanted to try in an ME: A mafia sicily thing:

History: When the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies broke up, the Sicilians, with the encouragement of the local Dons, decided to fight for independance rather than the unification of Italy. They recieve French recognition, and are allowed to stay independant. Though there is a small lessez-faire government, the really power is in the controlled by the local crime lords, who tend to be farily generous, and the more sucessful ones tend to take care of their protectorate.

As in OTL, many Italians and Sicilians migrate all over the world, but especially to the US. The Sicilian mafia is much more powerful with a larger economic base, and quickly takes over the Italian communities.

They gain some political power through bribes and such, more so than OTL, and manage to prevent prohibition from being overuled untill maybe the mid 40s. At this point the mafia is so powerful that, when prohibition finally comes, they completely take over the drug and gambling industries. They spread worldwide, and are much more powerful than any asian gang or the like.

Ok, here's the tricky part you wont except probably. I'd like Sicily. Also, I'd like if possible the Italian centers (little Italy and the like) in the major American cities, and I'd like, if possible, a part of columbia or panama or an island near there to use as a drug facility. I'd also like a small section of big crime cities like Ambsterdam, Tokyo, London, Moscow, Jhonhanesburg, and of course parts of Italian cities like Rome and Milan. Just a small portion of these cities. The parts under mafia protection.

[Glen]

Ok, I'm not sure I'm allowed to do this, but its something that I've always really wanted to try in an ME: A mafia sicily thing:

History: When the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies broke up, the Sicilians, with the encouragement of the local Dons, decided to fight for independance rather than the unification of Italy. They recieve French recognition, and are allowed to stay independant. Though there is a small lessez-faire government, the really power is in the controlled by the local crime lords, who tend to be farily generous, and the more sucessful ones tend to take care of their protectorate.

As in OTL, many Italians and Sicilians migrate all over the world, but especially to the US. The Sicilian mafia is much more powerful with a larger economic base, and quickly takes over the Italian communities.

They gain some political power through bribes and such, more so than OTL, and manage to prevent prohibition from being overuled untill maybe the mid 40s. At this point the mafia is so powerful that, when prohibition finally comes, they completely take over the drug and gambling industries. They spread worldwide, and are much more powerful than any asian gang or the like.

Ok, here's the tricky part you wont except probably. I'd like Sicily. Also, I'd like if possible the Italian centers (little Italy and the like) in the major American cities, and I'd like, if possible, a part of columbia or panama or an island near there to use as a drug facility. I'd also like a small section of big crime cities like Ambsterdam, Tokyo, London, Moscow, Jhonhanesburg, and of course parts of Italian cities like Rome and Milan. Just a small portion of these cities. The parts under mafia protection.

No problem! Just write up a detailed list of the fully Cosa Nostra controlled areas, and a map of their areas pre-ISOT if possible.

[Lauranthalas]

ok I have here a white map for everyone if needed

[Glen]

Funny, I made the same thing, Laur, except I decided on a darker blue :D

[reformer]

Is anyone else planning on doing this?

[DuQuense]

Name - Russia

Ruler – Basilius Harold Jorgensen

pre ISOT OTL Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Ukraine, & Caucasus's.

In the 700's the first of the Scandinavia tribes started migrating up the Russian] rivers, from the Baltic. By 770 they reached the Black Sea. In 789 they Besieged the City of Constantinople, Unsuccessfully. The Emperor was so impressed with them that he hired them as his Vulgarian Guards. During the 800's there were several more of these sieges, with Norse on both sides now.

POD During the 849 Siege, the Attackers get to one of the Vulgarians, He opens a gate one nite. and the Norse Rus are able to take the City.

Over the next several centuries the Rus and other Norse continue to travel to the area. They adopt many of the Customs, and Religion of the Romans [Normans in France] There is no settlement on Iceland, as Eric the Red flees south to the Black Sea, instead of West to Iceland. Lief Ericsson becomes Famous for his Travels around the Caspian.

With the extra manpower, there is no Muslim movement into Anatolia, thru they do take Syria and the Med Coast. The Muslims take Persia, but are unable to hold it. And the Zoroastrians, have a resurgence. So the Muslims turn south into Africa.

In the 1200's the Russians around the Black Sea, manage to hold off the Mongols. But they do lose their processions on the east side of the Caspian. The Mongols move thru Persia, into Egypt.

By the 1400's Persia, and Egypt have recovered, and are rebuilding their Empires. Russia has managed to Regain their Caspian Sea Territories. Russia is locked in Battle with the Austro-Italians, for the control of the north and west coast of the Balkans. And with Novgorod for control north of the Ukraine [No Mongols in Europe].

During the Religious wars of the 1600's Novgorod goes Lutheran, . Novgorod loses out to the Danish Empire as it moves into the Estonia. Cut off from the Baltic, Novgorod looks more and more to the east, and by 1700 has permanently taken the East coast of the Caspian.

In the 1700's Russia was one of the first countries outside of Britain to use Steam pumps in the mines. They Industrialize at about the same rate as Britain, By the late 1800's they were as fully Developed

In the mid 1700's Novgorod conquers China. The Tzar takes on the Mantle of Heaven. By the late 1800's China is well on the the way to assimilating another would be Conqueror.

In the early 1900's the Great war is between the British & Japanese empires v the Novgorod China & Indian Empires.

The second round in the 1950's ends with Atomic bombs on Novgorod, and Peking. Novgorod is never completely rebuilt.

By the turn of the millennium, Russia is a Stable Democratic 1st World Nation. with a two house legislative and the Basilius as a Constitutional Monarch, exercising the executive power.

It has excellent relations with Egypt, from which it imports most of it's fuel.


white is independent these are blocs like the British commonwealth, not empires anymore

[Glen]

I'm sure some others will jump in. Give it time, it is a weekend. If they don't, I have plenty of sketchy nation ideas to throw in the mix. BTW, feel free to make up more than one yourself.

[Glen]

Very cool, DuQuense. Only Russia from this world, or did you want others in the ISOT?

[Mr. Glass]

I'd like to play the Confederate States of America if possible, but I'm not exactly sure where to start.

[Glen]

I'd like to play the Confederate States of America if possible, but I'm not exactly sure where to start.

Well, first start by describing the extend geographically of your CSA at the time of the ISOT (when all the countries get mixed together). In previous MEs, people are typically asked to also specify their post-ISOT borders, but I'm doing this Practice one a little different for fun and experimentation, so don't worry about that. And remember, folks, that also means you don't need to worry if someone has claimed the same national boundaries as you, just make yours a different history.

When you're ready, just post some of your history of the CSA, especially when and how it diverged from OTL. Also try and throw in some demographics (population size and composition, governmental structure, armed forces, flags, etc).

[reformer]

Ok, this map just shows the urban areas under Mafia controll. Of course the entire area isn't under Sicilian controll. Of course Sicily and a part of Naples (if no one is playing Italy) is also under Mafia controll.

LA: A major drug center. Controlled by a man nambed Lawrence McDern. His name was actualy changed to desguise is mostly Sicilian heritage, and his organisation is an offshoot of the Palini Family. (made up gangs by the way.) They controll the LA docks, which import marajuana and cocaine from the East Indies.

McDern also owns a legal Production studio, the third largest in the world. The studio controlls one normall network tv station and four cable channels. Pornography was illegal for a time in this timeline, so the industry is completely dominated by McDern. Illegal child pornography is also produced by the gang. McDern is looked down on by most mafia families.

Las Vegas: Much of the heart of Las Vegas is controlled by the Gallarizi family, which gained its fortune in prohibition Baltimore, Annapolis, and DC. He owns and opperates 6 major Vegas hotels/casinos. He keeps with his Italian roots, and most of the emplyees of the casinos are Italian. The Gallarizi Don has full controll over both Vegas and Nevada politics.

McDern runs the drug industry in Vegas. The Palini own two hotels. The Lamberno family and the Ronero family both own one hotel.

New Orleans: A drug import location. All drug traffic owned and operated by the Romero family. Also most major industries in New Orleans are owned by the family. Instead of exspanding, the Romeros decided to consolidate their power in New Orleans, and the mayor is actualy a nephew of the Romero boss (he does not harken back to his Italian orgins, prefering to take on an all-American look, so he is not reffered to as a Don.) Almost no one realises that the Romero family is actualy a criminal organisation.

Ok, I'm gonna finish this latter.

[Lauranthalas]

what does red blue and black represent?

[reformer]

Red: Urban areas or borders with a strong Mafia prescence. Blue is the ocean, and the black specks are just due to the blank map here. As far as the island that is black, thats just because its red over blue.

[Lauranthalas]

Red: Urban areas or borders with a strong Mafia prescence. Blue is the ocean, and the black specks are just due to the blank map here. As far as the island that is black, thats just because its red over blue.
thx

to the blue: I know that I made the map. I mean the other lighter blue in some of the islands in the south pacific

[Glen]

Ok, this map just shows the urban areas under Mafia controll. Of course the entire area isn't under Sicilian controll. Of course Sicily and a part of Naples (if no one is playing Italy) is also under Mafia controll.

Doesn't matter if someone is playing them also or not for this ISOT, that will sort out later. If you want those areas in Sicily and Naples as possibly involved in the ISOT, just say so. No guarantees. Or better yet, mark them on the map as well.

[Lauranthalas]

I have a funny idea for a country it the attached area. What decade are we talking about and tech lvl = +5a?

[Glen]

I have a funny idea for a country it the attached area. What decade are we talking about and tech lvl = +5a?

:D Looks similar to the New Granada concept.

The ISOT tech limit is present day, 2005. No +5 or anything. BUT, you can have less advanced tech than that, AND you can even have your nations be from an earlier or later date, so long as the tech level is not greater than 2005. So you could have an advanced Roman Empire never fell timeline with 2005 tech in 1500 CE, or a post-apocalyptic Europe in 3005 that only now has returned to 2005 levels of technology, etc.

[Imajin]

The Democratic Socialist People's Federal Republic of South America
Home Year: 2100
Pre ISOT Areas: Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Argentina
Capital: Ciudad de Marx (Buenos Aires)
History: The Great Depression goes alot worse, and the United States falls to Communism. After WW2, Communist governments are instituted across Europe. Britain and the Commonwealth, which was practically a Federal Government, were rapidly losing a Cold War to the Socalist World Government, based in Karl Marx, DC. In 1971, following the fall of the Republic of Cuba to a US-backed revolution, a nuclear war broke out.
The communist governments of the Socialist Republic of Chile, the People's Republic of Paraguay, the Democratic Republic of Bolivia, and the Communist Parties in Argentina and Uruguay, united to form one government to help rebuild the less-affected Southern Cone.

[reformer]

OK, more updated map. Could someone stick in Canada at some point, and Imajin's new country?

[reformer]

ups, here's the map:

[Glen]

OK, more updated map. Could someone stick in Canada at some point, and Imajin's new country?

Just remember, these maps are for reference to PRE-ISOT area, and post-ISOT we may see differences.

But if they don't overlap, or if you can figure a way to show the overlap, go for it.

[reformer]

Ups, sorry bought that.

Out of curiosity, are we going to do anything with this practice ME?

[Lauranthalas]

:D Looks similar to the New Granada concept.

The ISOT tech limit is present day, 2005. No +5 or anything. BUT, you can have less advanced tech than that, AND you can even have your nations be from an earlier or later date, so long as the tech level is not greater than 2005. So you could have an advanced Roman Empire never fell timeline with 2005 tech in 1500 CE, or a post-apocalyptic Europe in 3005 that only now has returned to 2005 levels of technology, etc.

I was thinking about some spanish colonies going berserk and building up a big Pirate state where basically everyone is an outlaw. pretty much like feudalism just on the other side around. like the governor is the King and the main income is raiding other nationes. that's why they are mostly coastal regions and long borders

[reformer]

I was thinking about some spanish colonies going berserk and building up a big Pirate state where basically everyone is an outlaw. pretty much like feudalism just on the other side around. like the governor is the King and the main income is raiding other nationes. that's why they are mostly coastal regions and long borders

I love it! Ya start a new Practice ME, and it becomes mosaic criminals! Like the pirate idea.

[Glen]

Ups, sorry bought that.

Out of curiosity, are we going to do anything with this practice ME?

Play with it, though not PLAY it.

We'll get everyone's entries in. Then I will post a post-ISOT map and tell you about the unclaimed areas. And then we will hold a free-wheeling discussion about how we would imagine this ME evolving and playing out in the months and years that would follow ISOT. I might in the end take all the comments and post a little timeline about the main events in those months and years after. At least that is the way I see it. Nothing too strenuous or too time consuming. This is just for fun to give the new folk a flavor for ME, allow me to try out a few ME ISOT concepts, and allow the rest of us to work out some of our creative frustrations with a light lark rather than trying to prematurely start another full fledged ME. At least, that is my idea.

[Lauranthalas]

Play with it, though not PLAY it.

We'll get everyone's entries in. Then I will post a post-ISOT map and tell you about the unclaimed areas. And then we will hold a free-wheeling discussion about how we would imagine this ME evolving and playing out in the months and years that would follow ISOT. I might in the end take all the comments and post a little timeline about the main events in those months and years after. At least that is the way I see it. Nothing too strenuous or too time consuming. This is just for fun to give the new folk a flavor for ME, allow me to try out a few ME ISOT concepts, and allow the rest of us to work out some of our creative frustrations with a light lark rather than trying to prematurely start another full fledged ME. At least, that is my idea.

I like it. This way people can basically make their histories not too highly fact based and a big military like I will have now. Basically my Navy will be huge followed by a big army

[Glen]

I was thinking about some spanish colonies going berserk and building up a big Pirate state where basically everyone is an outlaw. pretty much like feudalism just on the other side around. like the governor is the King and the main income is raiding other nationes. that's why they are mostly coastal regions and long borders

Cool, go with it. Be interesting to speculate how the Pirate State and the Mafia Nation would interact.

[reformer]

Sounds good. Lets be sure to do that TL and discussion. It is alot less stressful than normall ME (which I have to confess I failed at).

[Glen]

Sounds good. Lets be sure to do that TL and discussion. It is alot less stressful than normall ME (which I have to confess I failed at).

Sure. The idea is something fun and light that won't distract from the current projects but will be, as the name suggests, good practice.

[reformer]

Its also better than wating for ME8. Sadly the only ME I ever got exited by was the 30 years war Mosaic Europe. I wish that hadn't crumbled. . . Ah well, I'll jump in when I in with a new game.

[Imajin]

Here's another one...

Emirate of Tudela
Year: 2005
Borders: Roughly the spanish lands of Navarre, Basque Country and La Rioja. Much of Aragon is disputed, but is in the hands of the Caliphate of Balensiya.
Head of State: Emir Txomin Mohammed
Capital: Tudela
History: When the Ummayads tried to extend their first conquest of Spain into the Frankish Kingdom, they were turned back. Here, they weren't, and kept on conquering, eventually ending Christianity outside of Britain. However, the Ummayads still collapsed.
Tudela is one of the successor states, and the smallest, dominated by the ethnic Basques. To earn money, Tudelans have turned to the open ocean, intercepting treasure ships with the quiet consent of the Tudelan Government. This Tudelan Piracy continues to today, though they make strong precautions to aviod ships of their neighbors.

[reformer]

Ok, here's my second country: An Anglo-Saxon England which is culturaly more similar to the Vikings than the rest of Europe. In this TL, Europe never fully reconvers from the Dark Ages, and Asia stats exsporing the world in the 1500s. England has maybe 1940s technology, all bought from Japan, China, or India. Englan has spent most of its exsistence fighting the Norse. The Norman invasion is a complete flop because the Normans has a less advanced army. At this point, the English controll much of the land once under Viking rule, and are the only European nation with any new world claims. They despise the Orient, but are forced to put up with them.

[Diamond]

KINGDOM OF GOTHONIA

Year: 2005
Territory: See map. Basically, Anatolia, the eastern Balkans and most of central Asia.
Head of State: King Hartinon V
Capital: Chersonax (site of OTL Sevastopol)
History: This world diverged from ours with a more northerly-oriented Roman Empire, one which conquered nearly all of Britain and Hibernia (Ireland) and made them integral parts of the Empire. When the Empire fell, the Hibernian Empire rose to prominence while Hispania became the rump Roman state. The Goths stayed in the east and prospered from trade and intermarriage with the Persians, who were much stronger due to less conflict with Rome. Christianity still arose, and split fairly early in its history into three separate branches, all of which are still around today - the Hibernian Church, the Greek Church, and the Gothic Church (which combined with many aspects of Zoroastrianism). Islam never existed however, and Arabia is a Christian ally of Gothonia.
Technology Levels: Roughly equivalent to OTL. Hydroelectric power and improved farming techniques have turned much of North Africa into the world's breadbasket and spread irrigation throughout arid central Asia. Massive engineering projects were in vogue among the superpowers of Hibernia, Gothonia, and Macedonia a few decades back, and there are various massive damns, proto-arcologies (this TL's population is close to 11 billion), and gigantic bridges (including one across the Strait of Heracles) all over the world.

[Diamond]

And here's the Pre-ISOT map:

[reformer]

These seem a bit more creative then most ME TLs. . . wonder why. . . for one thing I liked the early PODs

[DuQuense]

Empires of the Americas

Ruler
Eastern Empire – 'Resient-- House of Ken'dy
Western Empire – Pr'idente -- House of Sh'rzn'ger

Religion
Eastern- official [Lutheran/ Episcopal] with a lot of Baptist undertones thro other religions are tolerated.
Western- [Mysticism/Saints] others exist but are less tolerated than in the East.

Capital
Eastern- Ost'n
Western- sea'le

History
In 2005 the ASB's removed all Nuclear Materials, Stopped all Electric Power, and made high pressure self deadening -no Explosives or high pressure power. [Dies The Fire- by Stirling] There followed a Mass Dieoff world wide, as the population fall to sustainable levels.

100 years later, the rebuilding was under way. With a return to Water, Wind, & Muscle. -Boston/New England with its long time settlement, and remains of pre/early-industrial times was one of the first areas to Recover. and power spread from there. On the West Coast Seattle, and San Francisco. But San Francisco, went with the Mexican Empire. Los Angles, Returned to the Desert, and was all but abandoned.
In the middle of the Country the American Indians were one of the Better off Groups, they returned closer to their traditional ways, and lots of other small groups [Bikers, Street Gangs etc. that had functioned as Tribes] adopted their ways. Hunting wild Buffalo,Cattle, Baboons, and Lions, and working small Farm plots.

As a Shortage of Labor, developed, Bonded labor returned, thru it was not race Based.

By 2250 four Empires had Developed The Eastern American, covering most of the East coast to the Mississippi, north of Florida. the Cuban, A Trading Maritime Empire. The Mexican From West Texas to San Francisco, South to the Panama Canal. and the Western, which claimed everything from the Mississippi to the west coast, from the Rio Grande and Gulf of California north. except it's ability to enforce it will was very little in the middle of the Country, and non existent in the Mexican claimed area.

The First attempt to Force a Union , occurred in 2273, when 'Resient Jack Kennedy VIII, set out with close to a quarter million Troops to invade the West along the Great I-Roads. The first problem occurred when the Plains Horse tribes objected. A Traveler, or Trader using the I-Roads was acceptable , but not this invasion. While they may not always obey [especially the part about Taxes] they accepted that they were part of the Western Empire.

Fifty years later the Westerners returned the Favor, Successfully this time. But the Combined Empire fall apart again with the death of the Pr'idente .

Over the next 700 years, the Four Empires, Fought each other over border Territories, North California, East Texas/Louisiana, north Florida. There were several more Unions, and Alliances, from both Sides and among all Four. There were also Wars with Europe, Africa, and South America, as well as one across the Pacific with Asia. But the Distance, and lack of communication Doomed any attempt for long term Union between any of these.

But Despite the ASB's the knowledge had been to widespread, Too many people in the Early years had made efforts to protect it. It took Centuries But ways around the ASB limits were found. Semaphore Towers Dotted the Roads around the World. Balloons Sailed the Sky, and Gliders Roamed the Thermals of the Air. Pulley Bows were the Norm. and hand [pistol] crossbows were everywhere. There was even Steam power, Very large Machines. working on Low Pressure Steam. But Man was coming back. and it was world wide, The Per Capita difference between the Richest and Poorest nation was 2-3 to 1, unlike the pre-dieoff 4-500 to 1

In 2812 Steam Boats returned to the Worlds Rivers, and in 2902, a Train Service from Oston to N'yok to Hilidolfiy was started.

by 3005 the Transcontinental train service was Available, and talk was starting on the Idea of a peaceful Union of Empires. There is also talk of the Abolishment of the Slave trade.

Population
Cuba has a population of about 70~75 million,and the most Contact with South America. Fighting wars with the Venezuelan Empire over Cuba's South American Territories. the West has a population of about 80 million, the East comes in around 90 Million, and is the Richest. While Mexico has 110 Million, and is the Poorest.

Militarily.

Cuba has the Largest Navy, while the West has the smallest. Cuba's is the best Trained, with the best Equipment followed by the East.

All four have armies Ranging around 2 million men, Armed with Swords, and crossbows. the tactic is to close to bow range . Shot your bolts and them close to Sword range. the Armies are a lot like early Roman Imperial armies. Highly trained, Disciplined, and Professional. There is close to a thousand years of development in the Artillery, from Ballistias, to trebuckets. And the Archers all use Pulley Bows.
There are Families with Military records going back to before the Dieoff. Patton's, Lee's, Santa Anna's, Etc.

[Lauranthalas]

DQ don't go over my country of outlaws. that is the most awesome country ever (and Bulg and MBarry would probably ahve some objections against it in a real ME)

___________________________________

give me some time with the history and so. I have a lot of stuff to do right now

[DuQuense]

Doesn't matter if they overlap, GF wouldn't take all of my Empires for the ISOT. anyway.

[reformer]

He keeps assuring us not to worry about overlaps. Apparently this is alot more of a muddled anarchy of a ME :D . Juding from the weirder countries so far, I'd say that the ASBs were a little drunk on the ISOT day. . . :cool:

[Diamond]

Here's another one (I'm actually writing a short story set in this TL).

THE RIVER LEAGUE

Year:2285
Territory: The Landsheart (Mississippi) River Valley and surrounding lands; colonies in Africa, Holland, Denmark.
Head of State: High Speaker Omoha Bluespear of the Central Council
Capital:Yoskota (near OTL Evansville, Indiana)

History: This world is one where the Mongols were much more successful, crushing most of Europe under their boot, then conquering Japan. Following Japanese fishing fleets, they discovered the Americas around 1325. By this time, though, they were stretched too thin to accomplish much besides introducing disease, horses, and ironworking to the natives who survived the plagues. Plague was also responsible for the death of Eurasia; a much more deadly Black Plague wiped out over 90% of Eurasia's population, destroying just about every remnant of culture left standing after the Mongols had got done with it.

But civilization slowly built itself up from the ashes. European refugees settled Vinland, and Chinese, Mongols, Japanese, and other east Asians spread inland from the western shores of the Dawn Lands (Americas). All contact was lost with the old world, though legends of its existence remained. By 2000, the Dawn Land empires had entered an age of colonization, and began to gobble up territories in Europe and Africa. There, they found cultures descended from those that had existed 800 years before, but so greatly changed that even if coherent histories had survived, no one would have recognized the nations. Amazingly, a tiny Byzantine Empire still survived in western Anatolia. In the east, the Nihonu Khanate, a weird Japanese/Mongolian product, controlled a vast chunk of territory and with the Ethiopian Empire, became the Dawn Lands nations biggest rival.

The River League rose from a coalition of Chinese-founded city-states on the Landsheart River who banded together for mutual protection against the Chantu Khanate and their other large neighbors. By 2100 they had grown into something vaguely like our Netherlands, with a vast trading empire, a massive fleet, and colonies on three continents.

Technology Levels: Right around OTL 1900. Steam power is the big mover in this world, and has been for around 300 years. Interal combustion was only invented about 50 years ago, and has a long way to go before it ousts steam engines. Steam power has been applied to nearly all facets of daily life, from steam-powered cannon and machine-guns, to primitive 'Babbage' machines to railroads and automobiles. Airships of all types are extremely common. :)

[Diamond]

And here's the map:

[reformer]

Interesting new take on the plague fallout. How much of the original culture is still left?

[Diamond]

Interesting new take on the plague fallout. How much of the original culture is still left?
Not a lot. In the Americas there's been so much intermingling of disparate cultures (Norse, Britons, Chinese, Mongols, Scraelings, Japanese, Toltecs, etc.) that something wholly new has risen. Christianity of a sort still survives, but it is unrecognizable from OTL - for one thing, its now more of a polytheistic religion owing much to Shintoism and Buddhism. In Eurasia, there was almost total societal breakdown. There are new religions, new cultures, and only myths and millenia-old scrolls remain from the Early Age. The only place that retained their culture to any great degree was Ethiopia and sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia is the religious and cultural center of Eurasia and Africa.

[Glen]

DQ don't go over my country of outlaws. that is the most awesome country ever (and Bulg and MBarry would probably ahve some objections against it in a real ME)

___________________________________

give me some time with the history and so. I have a lot of stuff to do right now

He can overlap. These are just pre-ISOT borders, remember. The rest gets settled in the ISOT.

[Glen]

DuQuense, for your Empires of the Americas which land areas do you want considered for ISOT? Just the Eastern and Western empires, or more?

[Glen]

This is fun, guys. You're coming up with some really creative ideas. And I love Diamond's Gothonia. About time someone put up a state dividing the Russian East and West! No offense to anyone, but that huge land empire always seemed begging for some fractionation....

[DuQuense]

just the east and west, and just Russia from the other,

[Glen]

just the east and west, and just Russia from the other,

BTW, is Constantinople the Capitol of your Russia?

[DuQuense]

BTW, is Constantinople the Capitol of your Russia?

Of course.


?Can whe have a ASB POD? [Geo-rift valley]

[Glen]

Of course.


?Can whe have a ASB POD? [Geo-rift valley]

Maybe. What did you have in mind?

[Midgard]

Country: Roman Empire (official name)
Capital: Constantinople
Official languages: Greek and Turkish
Territorial possessions: Anatolia, Balkan Peninsula, Southern Italy, Middle East, Sicily
Head of state: Basileus-Sultan Michael XII Osmanoglou
Technological level: roughly OTL 1990, give or take few years

History: In this ATL, the crusade against the Turks in 1444 resulted in much greater damage to the fledgling Ottoman Empire, defeating Murad's armies thoroughly, albeit failing to completely destroy them. By 1450 the Ottoman Empire fractured into factions ruled by various sons of Murad. The European portion was largely loyal to Mehmet (OTL Mehmet the Conqueror), however, in Asia his other brothers set up kingdoms of their own, all claiming the entire Ottoman Empire. Rebellions in Serbia and Bulgaria further weakened Mehmet's hold on his dominions, while the threat of another crusade from the West kept on looming in the distance.

Knowing that the Byzantines pulled all the strings they could to summon another crusade that would wipe out his war-torn kingdom, Mehmet decides upon a fateful step. He approaches the childless Emperor Constantine XI and offers to convert to Christianity, with the understanding that Constantine would adopt him as his son and heir. Faced with little choice, knowing that the crusade of 1444 was a fluke rather than an event that would be likely to repeat, and knowing well that it was only a matter of time until one of Murad's sons proved to be the strongest, and resurrected the Empire much like his ancestors have done before, Constantine goes through the ceremony of baptism for Mehmet, who now adopts the Christian name of Alexander, and who is granted the title of sebastocrator, the second in the entire Byzantine hierarchy.

Upon Constantine's passing in 1456, Mehmet, or, as he had himself crowned, Alexander II ascends to the Byzantine throne, although now he styles himself Sultan-Emperor, as a recognition of his claims on both Byzantine and Ottoman crowns. By 1460 he is able to defeat all of the rival Ottoman claimants, and is in control of the Empire the size of the one he held at the time in OTL. As Trebizond falls to his forces in 1462, Mehmet-Alexander's position is as secure as ever, despite occasional uprisings, as his policies essentially treat the Turks as the equals of the Greeks in the Empire, and do not openly oppress the Muslims, winning him a fair degree of support.

Over the next two centuries the Empire thrives, conquering the rest of Anatolia, the Balkans, the Middle East, Egypt, and even retaking Sicily and Naples. The tolerant policies of the Osmanli combined with Byzantine skill in administration and determining succession proved to be successful in keeping the Empire together, while its military was keen to take advantage of the latest in technological developments and tactical advancements. However, by the XVIIIth century the Empire's star was beginning to decline, as changes in trade routes and New World imports severely undercut its economy. A civil war of 1734-1741 almost destroyed the Osmanli dynasty, and invasions of the Russians, Austrians, and British nearly reduced the Empire to a second-rate power at best.

Under series of reform-minded Emperors, the Empire rebounded by the XIXth century, aided by series of European wars that it was able to stay out of, and was again considered a major power, albeit with reduced territory and resources. By the time of the First Great War in 1903 it entered into alliances with the decaying, albeit still relatively powerful Empire of All Iberia, United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Newfoundland, Wales, and Netherlands, and with the Tsardom of Russia, pitting it against the Central Alliance of Holy Roman Empire, French Republic, and Italian League (the latter being dominated by Venice). Victory in the First Great War in 1908 resulted in final dismantling of the Holy Roman Empire, albeit at the cost of losing the Iberian peninsula to a new and dangerous regime, brought forth by the misery caused by the war - something very akin to OTL communism.

The Iberian regime spread into France, and won many converts in the lands of former Holy Roman Empire - thus creating the European Worker's Union, against which the Ottomans, the Russians, and the British stood in the Second Great War. The Second Great War, fought between 1934 and 1941 was the devastating conflict that resulted in utter devastation of Central Europe, and only the appearance of atomic weapons by the end of the war on both sides, nearly simultaneously, put an end to the conflict after destruction of London and the Allies' retaliatory strike on Madrid convinced both sides that they were going fast towards mutually assured destruction.

By 1970 the technology has progressed steadily as the EWU and the Allies entered the economic phase of the conflict, resulting in numerous small conflicts, but no Third Great War. In 1982, the Imperials achieved spaceflight by putting a man in orbit; in 1991 the EWU put the first man on the moon. By 1999, however, economic and ethnic tensions within the EWU resulted in a civil war within that state, backed by the remaining Allied nations, and resulting in splitting of EWU into the separate nations of Spain, Prussia, Normandy, France, Burgundy, Venice, Northern Italy, and several others. In 2005, the world is finally at peace at large, disturbed only by small fringe groups in various areas, and moving towards economic consolidation.

[reformer]

ARe the leaders of this empire Christian? Also I pressume that through intermarrige, the emperors are almost entirely Byzantine by blood. . . right?

[Midgard]

ARe the leaders of this empire Christian? Also I pressume that through intermarrige, the emperors are almost entirely Byzantine by blood. . . right?


I was envisioning something more along the lines of Christian Ottoman Empire that, by the fluke of history, managed to do just a bit better than its OTL counterpart. The ruling dynasty is Christian, although due to large number of the Empire's Turkish population still being Muslim, the version of Orthodox Christianity they follow has much higher Islamic influence to it - think things like the iconoclast crisis of old popping up again, and whatnot. Because the early Empire was at least half, if not more, Muslim in population, it is not as outwardly Christian as OTL Byzantium was - rather, while all Emperors-Sultans to date were Christian, much of the leadership is Muslim, albeit very secularly so (same could be said about the Empire's Christians though).

As far as intermarriage and whatnot, the Emperors do have some Byzantine blood in them, but since they had been marrying outside the Empire as well, they are not that different from many of the other European dynasties - in other words, they probably don't have that much more Turkish or Greek blood than they have German, Italian, English, and whatnot.

[Glen]

I tell ya,the Black Sea Region is a hot property this Practice ME! Yummy!!!

Keep those pre-ISOT nations coming, boys and girls.

For those who have already posted and want something to do, if you have not already done so get us a little info at your leisure about:

Government (current leaders, structure, etc.)
Population size and demographics (particularly where your major cities are)
Capitols (Definitely national, maybe some regional ones for the more ambitious).
Stats on your Armed Forces (never ISOT without them<g>): Note that if they are stationed outside the ISOT area, they will not come with you for the practice ME (though they often do in real ISOTs for you new folks).

Oh, BTW, for simplicity's sake, I'd like to try and keep everything for the Practice ME on this one thread, so please try to refrain from starting new ones. If you think we have to open a new one, say so here and we'll consider it.

BTWW, love all those maps, folks. They're GREAT!

[Imajin]

The Democratic Socialist People's Federal Republic of South America
Government: Federal Communist State, divided into the Republics of Titicaca-Bolivar, Paraguay-Formosa, Uruguay, North Chile-La Plata, Araucania, and Patagonia. Led by the Federalist Worker's Party.
Head of State: Alberto Vazquez y Gomez, Supreme High Secretary of the Federalist Worker's Party
Capital: Ciudad de Marx. Provincial Capitals (in order above): La Paz, Nueva Revolucion (Asuncion), Montevideo, Mar del Plata, Puntas Arenas, Rio Gallegos
Population: 72,459,105, Major cities are Ciudad de Marx, Santiago, and Montevideo. The population is starting to recover fromfood shotages caused by climate changes.
Armed Forces: Rather large, around 100,000 stationed in each Republic. However, they are not well trained at all, and there are major weapon shortages.

Attached: Map. Flag to come.

[NomadicSky]

Now I don't have a country
Since all of Canada's land belongs to someone else
or are it's people still their along with the people from other countries?

[Imajin]

And the flag. Six stars for the Six Republics.

[reformer]

No, the ISOTs will be mixed up. You'll probably get all of Canada.

[Glen]

Now I don't have a country
Since all of Canada's land belongs to someone else
or are it's people still their along with the people from other countries?

You will have a country. Where countries overlap, there will be some of your country and some of their country ISOTed, though for this one I am keeping as a surprise how much of it, where, and with what borders. You will have at least some of your nation come along.

Have you read either Island on the Sea of Time or 1632? It is sort of like those books. There will be a section of your entire nation that appears, and at the border of the section transported there will be a sharp edge where the 'other' Canada starts. Trees, barns, etc cut in half on the line, levels of soil not quite matching up, etc.

[Imajin]

Emirate of Tudela
Government: Secular Emirate governed by the Emir and a three-member Council of Advisors.
Head of State: Emir Txomin Mohammed II as-Vaske
Capital: Tudela
Population: 3,102,002 (80% Basque, 14% Hispanoarabic, 3% Frankish, 3% Other)
Armed Forces: Miniscule land forces of 40,000 with a large navy. Most Tudelans do own a gun.

[reformer]

Ok, here's my third and final one. This is an ASB thing. During the late 60s or early 70s or so, suddenly all nukes became inefective, and it was back to conventional weapons. The anti-war American movements prevent

Russia and China fall into war. Huge amounts of land are completely destroyed, and the Communist land becomes decentralised. Eventualy both the soviets and the Chinese become sufficiently weakened. Pro-western revolts spark throughout the continent, especially in Western China. Many south asian countries revolt from Soviet of Chinese occupation with the support of India. For protection, they decide to join into a confederation, The Democratic Federation of South Asia.

During the war, the Soviets gave a huge ammount of money and arms to North Korea for the purpose of invading Manchuria. North Korea succeeded, and then conquered south Korea as well. They took advantage of their populaton, and started forced state capitilsm, and became the richeset nation in the area.

The US, the UK, and the UN with the help of India eventually came in and created a huge Demiliterized Zone. Western and southern China became indpendant.

The year is 2011. The country is Korea. Their is no specific leader, but a council of 12 members. I'm not sure how large armies are now adays, but this ones big. No nukes though. They are exstrememly exspansionist, and are looking greedily at China, Russia, and Japan.

[reformer]

sorry, very badly done map. My first real one.

USSR: purple
Light blue: Federation
Dark yellow: Republic of China
Dark Red: People's Republic of China
Green: Greater Cambodia (People's Republic Satelite)
Black: Areas completely ruined by war.
Red: DMZ (takes billions and billions to pay for)
Blue: Korea (formerly USSR satelite)

[Diamond]

Here's a map showing Gothonia. It is split into 14 'Warlordships'; Warlord is a feudal title that is now used to designate the various provinces. The governor of each still bears the title of Warlord and is responsible for raising and commanding an army to protect his province and the kingdom at large, but he (or she) is elected now; it's not a hereditary position anymore.

[Imajin]

Amazing map, Diamond... Nice flag as well.

In some sort of lame attempt to not be bored, I tried to make a map actually showing the Republics...

[Diamond]

Thanks, Imajin. I like the whole 'Patagonian Bloc' :D thing you're doing as well. It's different and cool.

[Diamond]

Here's a simple map of the River League:

[Imajin]

A "simple" map that still manages to be superior to anything I could make...

Including this map of Tudela's Europe. It does look like there are alot of -IYA and -IA s in there, but note that I don't think it's that odd, and look at Latin place names, where everything is IA...

[reformer]

How long will this go untill we start creating the maps? Still allot of blanks. Come on people, Africa.

[Lauranthalas]

How long will this go untill we start creating the maps? Still allot of blanks. Come on people, Africa.
It'll need a bit. I am having right now not very much time. I didn't even write a history for my Pirate Nation nor do I have a real name for it. But if you want a nice africa nation that is a lot of fun: take the sahara with coastal regions.

[DuQuense]

In 1400 a Bored ASB Decided to open up African Rift Valleys to create more Harbor in Africa's Coastline. The Cameroon Rift terminates in the Quattra Depression {400 feet deep]

The Rifts are 50 to 200 feet deep, with a average of 100 feet, this means that Sunlite penetrates to the Rift floor. They are warm, especially the Cameroon Rift, teeming with Fish, Octopus, and Dolphins.

[Glen]

Hey, midgardmetal, can you either give a more precise definition of your Roman Empire's borders or throw up a map, otherwise I'll just do them myself. Particularly needed is your border along the Balkan Peninsula and Middle East.

[Glen]

DuQuense, on your post-ASB meddling map of North America, what do the white areas in California and Louisiana/Arkansas mean? Are they part of the Western Empire or what?

Also, for ISOT nomination, do you want the part of the Mexican Empire that the Western Empire claims counted?

[Glen]

Okay, folks, if you want to claim a country, let's hear from you over the next 48 hours, then I'm going to close it off and get to work on the post-ISOT map (okay, I'm already working on it, but then start making the final version).

Say get in at least your pre-ISOT borders or a 'hey, give me a minute I'm working on it' by 7 am EST Thursday.

Sound fair to everyone?

[Midgard]

Hey, midgardmetal, can you either give a more precise definition of your Roman Empire's borders or throw up a map, otherwise I'll just do them myself. Particularly needed is your border along the Balkan Peninsula and Middle East.


Unfortunately maps are not my strong point, so I'll describe it the best I can. The northern Balkan border is at the Danube, the Western one includes OTL Greece, Albania, and Yugoslavia (pre-breakup). The Middle East borders, think OTL Turkey plus Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, all the way south to the Sinai (but not including the Sinai, Arabia, or Egypt). I am thinking 1880s-era Ottoman borders in the Middle East, sans Egypt. In Italy, it is pretty much the south of the Peninsula, not including Rome, however, and far eastern portion of Sicily (Syracuse).

[Glen]

Unfortunately maps are not my strong point, so I'll describe it the best I can.

Okay.

The northern Balkan border is at the Danube, the Western one includes OTL Greece, Albania, and Yugoslavia (pre-breakup).

That seems pretty clear.

Okay, that all The Middle East borders, think OTL Turkey plus Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, all the way south to the Sinai

Okay so far.

(but not including the Sinai, Arabia, or Egypt). I am thinking 1880s-era Ottoman borders in the Middle East, sans Egypt.

Well, the Ottomans in the 1880s, they did tentatively control strips of the Arabian Coast, especially along the Red Sea, I believe. And Mesopotamia (Iraq). Are these purposely excluded from your claim, or did you mean for them to be a part of it?

And the In Italy, it is pretty much the south of the Peninsula, not including Rome, however, and far eastern portion of Sicily (Syracuse).

By this do you mean it is the whole peninsula sans Northern Italy up on the Continent? And by far eastern, do you mean only Syracuse, or something else?

Just trying to get the pre-ISOT borders straight. Thanks for the info so far.

[Midgard]

Well, the Ottomans in the 1880s, they did tentatively control strips of the Arabian Coast, especially along the Red Sea, I believe. And Mesopotamia (Iraq). Are these purposely excluded from your claim, or did you mean for them to be a part of it?

Most of Mesopotamia and Arabia would have to be excluded, so maybe Byzantium circa Basil II's borders, just extending a bit past Jerusalem in the south, would be more appropriate.


By this do you mean it is the whole peninsula sans Northern Italy up on the Continent? And by far eastern, do you mean only Syracuse, or something else?

As for Sicily, it is pretty much just Syracuse and surrounding area - definitely only a small portion of the island. As far as the Italian dominions, it would be similar to the map I had attached (which is, I believe, from about 1000 AD of the OTL Byzantine possessions, which are in pink). I was thinking the Byzantine possessions of 1000 AD OTL plus Salerno (also outlined on the map) - but not any further north.

Thank you!

[DuQuense]

They are the the border areas where all the fighting takes place [sort of Alsase-Lorraine] If I am getting the West, please include as much of Mexico as possible

also the far north is a lot like todays north Canada --Intuits and fur traders. The World is headed into a ice Age , and the Arctic is colder than OTL.

[Othniel]

That's it, I'll write up my Empire of the Great Khan TL then....

And then the Supiority of South America (The Millitarisitic Republic Empire of Paragauy)


House of two seas would also be intresting, but how would I get Yemen to be part of Afganstan, Oman, and Pakistan? ;)

[DuQuense]

I'm working on my Cameroon TL and a United Sweden/Scandinavia Kingdom.

[reformer]

OK, more mafia urban centers:

Miami: Though the Mafia controlls very little of the city itself, there are four luxury hotels run and managed by the Pallini family. It is a complete form of money laundering, and there is an estimated 300 million exstra dollars in gold and other precious items hidden as luxuries in the hotels, waiting to be withdrawed.

Atlantic City: Very similar to OTL. Completely controlled by the Pallini family.

New York: Fought over by all the major families, including several local ones. About a third of Manhatten is controlled directly by the mob, and almost half of both Queens and the Bronx. The mayor of the city is actually a brother of the Lamberno Don. The Lamberno's are the most powerful gang in New York, though less international. They have the larges number of 'soldiers', about 760, including 64 trained assasins.

Island of the coast of Panama: Cocaine and exstacy production center. Owned by the Romero family, but used by them all.

London: Drug center. Controlled by an alliance of the Pallinis and the European based Baloza family.

Rome: Italy is very much in the grip of the mafia. Rome, Milan, and other major cities are partially ruled by the mob, which has become a fact of life.

US Mexican border: Almost ever single person working there or living near it is bribed by the mafia to help drug and immigrant smugling. Very heavily armed.

Istambul: Has a small but growing drug industry run by the Baloza family.

Moscow: large local mafia with strong ties to Sicilian leaders.

Bombay: The mob in India is mostly in charge of collecting and producing drugs from the natural rescources in south asia. Millions and millions of dollars worth of drugs is produced there every day. Operated directly by locals and Sicilians, who then sell the goods to major families.

Bejing: Imports drugs from China and Indochina and exsports them to LA. Huge processing center. Controlled by McDern.

[Glen]

That's it, I'll write up my Empire of the Great Khan TL then....

And then the Superiority of South America (The Millitarisitic Republic Empire of Paragauy)

House of two seas would also be intresting, but how would I get Yemen to be part of Afganstan, Oman, and Pakistan? ;)

All sound fun. Maybe Get Yemen in through a Dynastic marriage? ;)

[Diamond]

Glen:
I have one more nation to write up - it's a British Commonwealth led by Cromwell's successors. They control a huge chunk of North and South America and parts of Africa, but probably the British Isles (including Ireland) would be the only parts I'd want ISOT'd... although a Cromwellian South Africa could be cool. :)

And I'll get all the population and military statistics up either tonite or tomorrow.

Seeing as I haven't done an ME in a long while, how in-depth and detailed should the military descriptions be?

[Othniel]

:D All sound fun. Maybe Get Yemen in through a Dynastic marriage? ;)
Well I was thinking of trying t make a counter part for the Ottoman Empire in the South, with the north divided between them and Timur (Persia...) Controlling the Sea of Persia is an intresting propostion in the modren world.

[Glen]

Glen:
I have one more nation to write up - it's a British Commonwealth led by Cromwell's successors. They control a huge chunk of North and South America and parts of Africa, but probably the British Isles (including Ireland) would be the only parts I'd want ISOT'd... although a Cromwellian South Africa could be cool. :)

Well, I can probably accomodate you there....

And I'll get all the population and military statistics up either tonite or tomorrow.

Seeing as I haven't done an ME in a long while, how in-depth and detailed should the military descriptions be?

This is just for practice and fun, so make it as detailed or sketchy as you wish. The important thing is just to give us a flavor for it so we can speculate what would happen after the ISOT in terms of wars. Really, just have fun.

[Othniel]

Paraguay declared independence in 1811 - which Spain did not oppose - and within a few years it was under the thumb of the xenophobic José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, also known as 'El Supremo.' He sealed the country's borders, promoted a policy of self-sufficiency (even forcing the Spanish upper class to intermarry with the mestizo) and expropriated the properties of landowners, merchants and the Church. He died in 1840 and his remains were later disinterred and flung into a river. Francia's successor, Carlos Antonio López, ended Paraguay's isolation and began modernization.

His son built an army of 500,00 and in 1864 war was declared by Brazil for attempting to encouraging the Urugauy's Blanco party to stay in power. Brazil was defeated, Paragauy gaining the southern part of Mato Grosse. Urugauy was manipulatied into a pro-Paraguay postion over the next 7 years, and signed an alliance with the nation. Argentina declared war in a boarder dispute against Paraguay in 1872 and again the Paraguain army grew and abosrbed more land, giving Paraguay a sea boarder with Urugauy.

During World War One Paragauy found themselves on the Allied side of the box, and got entangled against a pro-central powers Brazil. That again got them into a minor dispute but kept both armies from entering the war on either side. Tensions grew as world war one ended.

At the turn of the century, cross-border tensions arose after Bolivia occupied disputed parts of the Chaco. The prospect of vast deposits of oil in the region (which proved non-existent) catapulted the two countries into war in 1924. The Bolivian army was pushed out of most of the Chaco and a subsequent treaty awarded Paraguay with the territory.

The people of Paraguay became ambitious in the 1940s with the Soviet Union attempting Empire and a small part attempted to throw off the yoke of the goverment. This communist rebellion was crushed causing the dictatorship to become paraniod. They wished to aviod becoming a communist state. Argentina, Boliva and Chile on the other hand were becoming communist states, and turned their greedy eyes on the dear Republic. In 1953 the states launched an attack towards the state, and this resulted in Paraguay being given a large strech of Argentina, and some coastal land in the Andes.


Brazil on the other hand would attempt to annex Urugauy. In order to prevent this Paraguay would declare war on Brazil in 1961 ultimaely annexing Urugauy for themselves after the war finshed.

[Glen]

He keeps assuring us not to worry about overlaps.

That's right, I do<g>. I'm going to have some fun, so just you worry about the pre-ISOT nations that are the fodder for my maniacal cut and paste job<beg>.

Apparently this is alot more of a muddled anarchy of a ME

Not really, just more realistic in the sense that people aren't designing their nations with a post-ISOT world in mind. You don't know yet exactly what your post-ISOT borders will be, what exactly will be on those borders (though you do have a reasonable expectation for some of it given what's being posted thus far), and what will be in the unclaimed areas. It's not anarchy...it's suspense<G>.

:D . Juding from the weirder countries so far, I'd say that the ASBs were a little drunk on the ISOT day. . . :cool:

Well, that might be true ;) Although you are the ones making up the worlds that the ASBs are cutting and pasting from, so what were people drinking in YOUR timelines is likely to be a good question....

I think a few reasons for the increased creativity is that people are not building nations to for essentially a strategy game since we're not going to play this out, but also that we have a lot of freedom in terms of the timeline in which your world developed, since the only limit on POD and history is that by the time of ISOT your technology is no more advanced than OTL 2005. We can have rapidly developing timelines, slowly developing timelines, post-apocalyptic timelines, etc. I think those two reasons account for a certain amount of this creative spurt.

[Othniel]

The US is a close Allie of my Paragauy who won a seris of wars, admittedly no body is that lucky. However they are far better off than OTL in terms of keeping population and land. This could take a while to find a map of the ISOTed region. Right now 1 in every 8 people serve in the Parguay millitary, be it navy, army, air force, or whatever. They have a constantly paraniod millitary and leadership and have been holding out in most cases should they really be needed. El Supremo has been a title passed around by 5 famillies so far, with a 'cabinet' and representive goverment given by each. They are extremely aristocratic, and import 5 year old weapons from the US. They created several indpedant millitary companies during the 1980s and have devolped some of their own stuff yet to be tested since the fall of communism.

[Othniel]

Is it just me or does my country sound a lot like a mix of Pedro's Communist Mexico, my Federal Brazil, Bulg's Imperial Russia, and a General Paul fasacist country?

[Lauranthalas]

US Mexican border: Almost ever single person working there or living near it is bribed by the mafia to help drug and immigrant smugling. Very heavily armed.

and post ISOT they will have a supporting nation south

[Lauranthalas]

Is it just me or does my country sound a lot like a mix of Pedro's Communist Mexico, my Federal Brazil, Bulg's Imperial Russia, and a General Paul fasacist country?
it's fun to play

[Othniel]

it's fun to play
I'm going to use it in a post 1940's ME one day.

[Othniel]

The Infectous Italy:

During the Great War a metor fell from the Sky and hit Sardina. Now while this metor was not a big metor and did little corlateral damage it did in fact change the population of Sardina into a hive minded colony of sorts. The infection spread as the population of the infected started to grow. Now the results of the infection are as such; ridges grow on the skull and along the bones in your hands and arms, your skin becomes lightly discolored, you love water, and you become telepathic.

Theese newly amphibious Sardinians attacked ships in the Ottoman Empire with great feriousity. Their troops poored into Austria-Hungry Vicsiously, and dismantled their Empire. To contain the transformed humans the British Allied against the Italians with the Central Powers, soon Russia joined on the side of the Central Powers as well. France and Spain soon became part of the Changed nations, and with the end of the Great War former enemies stood to fight against the Italian menace. The war continues into this day, the USA forbidding European travel and immigration, growing closer to South America, and the Far East.

The Empire of Ferosities: (land)
Spain, France, Beligium, Italy, southern Austria, Albania, Greece, North Africa, Egypt, and Cyprus.

[Othniel]

The Infectous Italy:

During the Great War a metor fell from the Sky and hit Sardina. Now while this metor was not a big metor and did little corlateral damage it did in fact change the population of Sardina into a hive minded colony of sorts. The infection spread as the population of the infected started to grow. Now the results of the infection are as such; ridges grow on the skull and along the bones in your hands and arms, your skin becomes lightly discolored, you love water, and you become telepathic.

Theese newly amphibious Sardinians attacked ships in the Ottoman Empire with great feriousity. Their troops poored into Austria-Hungry Vicsiously, and dismantled their Empire. To contain the transformed humans the British Allied against the Italians with the Central Powers, soon Russia joined on the side of the Central Powers as well. France and Spain soon became part of the Changed nations, and with the end of the Great War former enemies stood to fight against the Italian menace. The war continues into this day, the USA forbidding European travel and immigration, growing closer to South America, and the Far East.

The Empire of Ferosities: (land)
Spain, France, Beligium, Italy, southern Austria, Albania, Greece, North Africa, Egypt, and Cyprus.
Don't take this one as a serious country. The infection died out and the changes to the DNA are premanant, but confine it to a single city. Say Venice?

[Diamond]

What's the deal with all the weird ASB stuff? :confused:
_______________

Rather than do the Cromwellian Britain, I decided to recycle a nation I created for SME and never played. I know a lot of it overlaps nations other people did, so feel free to chop and dice as needed. :)
_______________

NAME: Kingdom of Hispaniola
CAPITAL: Malone City
POPULATION: 23,000,000
LEADER: King Carlos III / Prime Minister Albert Vasquez
GOVERNMENT: Constitutional Monarchy
MILITARY:
Royal Hispaniolan Army: 28,000 personnel
Royal Hispaniolan Navy: 79,000 personnel
Royal Hispaniolan Aerocorps: 22,000 personnel

HISTORY:
This timeline diverged from ours due to the survival of two men who died in OTL. The first was an English pirate named Andrew Malone, who in OTL died stillborn. He served as a sort of 'privateer general' for Spain, decimating British shipping and trade in the Caribbean and mid-Atlantic in the early 1700s, precipitating an economic crisis in Britain, and war between Britain and Spain. The second man was William, Duke of Gloucester, who lived past his death in OTL at age 11, and grew up a fierce proponent of British naval power and expansion. He, along with the Duke of Marlborough, was responsible for inciting Queen Anne to declare war on Spain.

The war ended in defeat for Britain in 1711; Spain, thanks to Malone's efforts, had built up an uncontestable power base in the Caribbean, and when France came into the war on Spain's side, it spelled doom for Britain. Malone was created Duke of Hispaniola by King Phillip V; he ruled the island until his death in 1752. With virtually no piracy and uncontested Spanish power in the region, Malone was given unprecedented slack; he abolished slavery on 'his' island (1735), instituted a fair and impartial legal system (1741), and abolished the Spanish peonage system (1746). Many people were unhappy with Malone's reforms, but no one could argue the fact that Hispaniola enjoyed a higher standard of living than Spain herself.

All Spanish possessions in the Caribbean were eventually united as the Viceroyalty of Hispaniola in 1778, administered from the city of San Domingo. The islands received their independence in 1804, with, ironically, British aid, after a brief war with Spain over citizen's rights and trade. The citizens briefly considered joining the British Dominion of Virginia, but ultimately decided on the formation of their own nation. Adrew Malone's grandson became King Carlos I in 1805.

Throughout the 19th century, Hispaniola remained close to Britain; when the last Stuart monarch, James IV, died without an heir in 1892 and civil war engulfed the British Empire, Hispaniola supported the House of Rochester. It turned out to be a wise move as the Rochesters eventually won control of Virginia, forming a kingdom stretching from Florida to Baffin Island and west to the Mississppi. Hispaniola supported Virginia once more in the TransAtlantic War of 1929-1937. Throughout the rest of the 20th century, Britain's empire continued to crumble as colony after colony broke away, leaving Britain herself impoverished and bitter. Another civil war saw the complete dissolution of Great Britain; Hispaniola joined a North American League peace-keeping task force in 1965 to oversee the peaceful separation of Scotland, Wales, and Britain.

TECHNOLOGY:
Lags about 30-40 years behind OTL. Medicine is especially handicapped; there was no 'African scramble' in this TL and so things like quinine are virtually unknown. Phrenology and eugenics are still widely regarded as viable sciences.

[Lauranthalas]

What's the deal with all the weird ASB stuff? :confused:

you want weird ASB's? then I will make Atlantis come back.

[Othniel]

Seriously I was just writting something that would make a fun wierd world to write about... I won't ask that it be ISOTed though because its too wierd to work with at a continous pace...

[Glen]

Seriously I was just writting something that would make a fun wierd world to write about... I won't ask that it be ISOTed though because its too wierd to work with at a continous pace...

Oth, I know you were joking (mostly ;) ) with the Infectious Italy write-up. For the record, though, I will say that it will not be included in the Practice ME ISOT. This is only because we are going with (mostly) a hard science AH ME. I'm allowing the ASB 'dies the fire' one as a borderliner assuming that advanced aliens might really be able to do that (though I have my qualms about it). Note, post ISOT our normal laws of physics will apply EVERYWHERE.

Now then, if you wanted to re-write your Infectious Italy as some sort of Alien-inflicted joke.....

[Othniel]

http://mongolempire.4t.com/maps/mapmongol_right.jpg
The boundaries for the Empire of the Great Khan do not include Tibet. The conquering of Annam, Champa, andd Mien took place but they later lost Mien, amost of interior Annam keeping only its parts that would be in modren Vietnam according to the TL. When the Europeans entered the Khan was strong enough to not be conquered or turned into a colony along with the Empire of Khemer. The Empire ended during the 1870s becoming different districts in which the Europeans attempted to take hold of...

Around 1920 they reunited and formed the Republic of Mongollia, but would fall in several disputes throughout the region. They would end up losing Manchuria to the Russians and Taiwan to the Japaness. During the 1950s the US and the Empire of All Britians would fight over both Japan, and Mongollia-China to keep them from Becoming Communist. These days Japan is the last Bastion of Communism in Asia while Mongollia is rival.

[Diamond]

I wasn't dogging on you about the infectious Italy, Othniel. :D
I just think if you have one or two ASB nations and the rest are 'normal' it throws everything out of whack. It should be all or nothing, one way or the other.

Speaking of... we really should do a magic ME sometime. If I can ever bring Washington's Warlocks up to the present, it should result in some interesting countries. And there's a couple of other people now doing magical TLs as well.

[Glen]

http://mongolempire.4t.com/maps/mapmongol_right.jpg
The boundaries for the Empire of the Great Khan do not include Tibet. The conquering of Annam, Champa, andd Mien took place but they later lost Mien, amost of interior Annam keeping only its parts that would be in modren Vietnam according to the TL. When the Europeans entered the Khan was strong enough to not be conquered or turned into a colony along with the Empire of Khemer. The Empire ended during the 1870s becoming different districts in which the Europeans attempted to take hold of...

Around 1920 they reunited and formed the Republic of Mongollia, but would fall in several disputes throughout the region. They would end up losing Manchuria to the Russians and Taiwan to the Japaness. During the 1950s the US and the Empire of All Britians would fight over both Japan, and Mongollia-China to keep them from Becoming Communist. These days Japan is the last Bastion of Communism in Asia while Mongollia is rival.

Okay, so what are the pre-ISOT borders of the Republic of Mongolia? I got lost somewhere....

[Othniel]

http://mongolempire.4t.com/maps/mapmongol_right.jpg
The boundaries for the Empire of the Great Khan do not include Tibet. The conquering of Annam, Champa, andd Mien took place but they later lost Mien, amost of interior Annam keeping only its parts that would be in modren Vietnam according to the TL. When the Europeans entered the Khan was strong enough to not be conquered or turned into a colony along with the Empire of Khemer. The Empire ended during the 1870s becoming different districts in which the Europeans attempted to take hold of...

Around 1920 they reunited and formed the Republic of Mongollia, but would fall in several disputes throughout the region. They would end up losing Manchuria to the Russians and Taiwan to the Japaness. During the 1950s the US and the Empire of All Britians would fight over both Japan, and Mongollia-China to keep them from Becoming Communist. These days Japan is the last Bastion of Communism in Asia while Mongollia is rival.
Is that better than the Infectious Italy? The Reason I did Infectious Italy, was because the Italians. Struggled stalemate against Austria-Hungary where they could have fared so much better.... just makes one laugh.

[Othniel]

Okay, so what are the pre-ISOT borders of the Republic of Mongolia? I got lost somewhere....
China, without Manchuria or Tibet, but with Vietnam as a consolation prize.

EDIT: No Gobi Desert either. ;)

[Glen]

you want weird ASB's? then I will make Atlantis come back.

What, the Minoans? ;)

[Glen]

Okay, my {very} tentative list of nations thus far:

Russia
Gothonia
Roman Empire
Mafia Nation
Tudela
Canada
Anglo-Saxon England
Western Empire
Eastern Empire
River League
Pirate Nation
DSPFR
Korea
Portuguese Cameroon
Mongolian Republic
Superiority of South America
United Sweden/Scandanavia
Kingdom of Hispaniola
House of the Two Seas?

Is that about right? Did I miss any? Any on the list that the creators wish to remove?

If you know you have another nation in the works, please let us know the pre-ISOT borders at least soonest. Also, I would like to know the locations of all of these nations capitols at minimum.

[Othniel]

Who made a Korea? and what about Mongollia?

[Matt]

Okay, folks, if you want to claim a country, let's hear from you over the next 48 hours, then I'm going to close it off and get to work on the post-ISOT map (okay, I'm already working on it, but then start making the final version).

Say get in at least your pre-ISOT borders or a 'hey, give me a minute I'm working on it' by 7 am EST Thursday.

Sound fair to everyone?


You just like making maps dont you :p

[Glen]

Who made a Korea?

Reformer did.

and what about Mongollia?

That was what I meant by Mongolian Republic.

[Glen]

You just like making maps dont you :p

Yes, yes I do. A little bit too much...

[Matt]

I know the feeling. :D

[Glen]

I know the feeling. :D

So, you going to throw in a country for the Practice ME? Let the new guys see a mod in action?

[Matt]

I was going to pass on it, then I was struck with inspiration. It's.... very unconventional.... I don't know how to pull it off reasonably though :p

[Glen]

I was going to pass on it, then I was struck with inspiration. It's.... very unconventional.... I don't know how to pull it off reasonably though :p

Well, this is the place to try such things out since it is only Practice. You might be able to tell if the concept would then work or not in other ME applications.

Go on, tell us your idea.

[Othniel]

Paragauy, the Supiority of South America
Capital is Asunción

[Matt]

It actually came to me while I was reading this week's Newsweek. About well.... Dinosaurs :p


So I got around to thinking what if a sentiant being evolved from dinosaurs sprung up around the same time as man would have evolved OTL?

I would have to design a complete society, and a species as well. I'm a little cautious about it right now, as it would probably draw heavy influence from the Race of Turtledove fame.

[Othniel]

MBarry sounds like you'd inspire too many people with that TL and then we'd have to play a Saurian ME....

[Glen]

I tend to agree with Oth on this one. Let's stick to Homo sapiens sapiens for this Practice ME.

Not that someday we couldn't do a far divergence ME, complete with alternate intelligent species. But that really would be more of a Sci Fi milieu.

I think that having an intelligent species arise from the Dinosaurs is a reasonable thing to try in theory, however.

I think such a species would most likely arise from something like the velociraptors. However, you need to figure out a way to get those forelimbs manipulating things. Why would a sauropod need to use tools?

Hmmm, maybe a hadrosaur instead....

It's not too far fetched, but lets save it for another time. Stick with humans for this Practice ME? I've got to keep it somehow in check, guys. ;)


Thanks for sharing the idea, though, MBarry. Otherwise I would have been in utter suspense and had to bug you PM :D

[Matt]

I tend to agree with Oth on this one. Let's stick to Homo sapiens sapiens for this Practice ME.

Not that someday we couldn't do a far divergence ME, complete with alternate intelligent species. But that really would be more of a Sci Fi milieu.

I think that having an intelligent species arise from the Dinosaurs is a reasonable thing to try in theory, however.

I think such a species would most likely arise from something like the velociraptors. However, you need to figure out a way to get those forelimbs manipulating things. Why would a sauropod need to use tools?

Hmmm, maybe a hadrosaur instead....

It's not too far fetched, but lets save it for another time. Stick with humans for this Practice ME? I've got to keep it somehow in check, guys. ;)


Thanks for sharing the idea, though, MBarry. Otherwise I would have been in utter suspense and had to bug you PM :D


The Sci-Fi aspect of it is exactly why I was dismissing the thought. I had to spill the beans though, cause I knew you would be all about bugging me :p.

Lizardmen of the Yucatan does have a nice ring to it :p

[Matt]

Of course this Sauromen only have to be as closely related to their dino relatives as humans are to cows. I was thinking of having a new genus evoling from a velicoraptor-type dino.

[Diamond]

Have you ever read Harry Harrison's excellent West of Eden trilogy? In it, the saurians are evolved from mosasaurs IIRC and are heavily into genetic engineering to the almost complete exclusion of anything mechanical.

[Matt]

Hmmmm sounds interesting..... I would have been going for a more organic society, minus the genetics since that would be hair to advance.

[Lauranthalas]

Name: Aguirra
Population: 80,000,000
Government: Totalitarian Feudalism
Head of State: Ernesto De Salva
ISOT year: 2073

Military: 5,012,510 + Reserve

Army: 4,000,000 + 12,500 engineers and other maintainers
Infantry: 3,950,000
Guerilla fighters/ Rebel kinds but trained
Combat Knife, IMI Desert Eagle or Beretta 93R, AK 47 or AK 74
(500,000 have Combat Knife, IMI Desert Eagle or Beretta 93R, M60 or M249)
Artillary: 20,000
M198 - 15,800 (5 men crew) = 3,160 pieces
CAESAR (155 mm / 52-calibre artillery piece installed on a 6X6 truck chassis. It is air-transportable and provides great tactical mobility) - 4,200 (6 men crew) = 700 pieces
Tanks: 30,000 = 8,250 pieces
M1A2 Abrams - 21,000 (4 men crew) = 5,250 pieces
T90 - 9,000 (3 men crew) = 3,000 pices

Reserve: 16,000,000 (basically everyone else who is not needed otherwise)

Airforce: 200,000 + 50,000 engineers and other maintainers
F/A-22A Raptor - 50,000 (1 men crew)
F/A-18E Super Hornet - 70,000 (1 men crew)
B-2 Spirit - 3,000 (3 men Crew) = 1,000 pieces
F-117 NightHawk - 25,000 (1 men crew)
B-1B Lancer - 12,000 (4 men crew) = 3,000 pieces
A-10 Thunderbolt - 40,000 (1 men crew)

Reserve: 100,000

Navy: 600,010 + 150,000 engineers and other maintainers
Nimitz-class carriers - 60,000 (6,000 men crew) = 10 pieces
Iowa-class battleships - 56,000 (2,800 men crew) = 20 pieces
Ticonderoga-class cruisers - 182,000 (364 men crew) = 500 pieces
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers - 166,345 (323 men crew) = 515 pieces
Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates - 129,215 (215 men crew) = 601 pieces
Seawolf-class attack submarines - 4,900 (140 men crew) = 35 pieces
Ohio-class missile submarines - 1,550 (155 men crew) = 10 pieces

Reserve: 300,000

everything is running on hydrogen

Religion:
mainly Roman Catholic

History:
POD: 1560

After Lope de Aguirre reached the tlantic again in 1560 he began to rebel against King Charles V. The King then sent some of his army over to execute Lope de Aguirre. Aguirre and some of his fellows we hiding in the rainforests and raised an army of Natives and Creoles who did not like the high taxes the King was giving them. In 1562 the two armies encountered for the first time.
Aguirre and his men who knew the territory like the back of their hands fought a guerilla war against the Spanish. In 1563 the Spanish army left the New World and the Governor of Mexico City left with them because he feared to be killed by Aguirre's men.
Aguirre then made himself Governor of Mexico City and declared Independance from Spain in 1566. Over the next decade a the Feudalism was created and Aguirre became the highest of the nobles. The crime rate was still pretty high but was becoming less and less over the years. By 1579 Aguirre had Totalitarian Power over the nation. In 1580 then Aguirre died and his Son Francesco de Aguirre came to power. He renamed Mexico into Aguirra in recognition of his father. He then began to organize the Criminals against the still spanish countries around. He used the still existing army of his father to conquer the northern parts of south america and the southern parts of northamerica. He took over all the ships they could find and began to build a navy. His army is now used to raid neighboring countries and the new navy to raid the spanish in the caribbean. By 1603 they successfully raided the spanish treasure fleet multiple times and hijacked them. This money they used to build more ships and buy food and other stuff from mainly Great Britain.
Because of this trade with Britain and because they are weakening the Spanish Aguirra and Great Britain became closer. By 1653 Aguirra invaded the Caribbean Islands and annexed them with British help. Now the fleet is based from Havanna and controls most of the Atlantic. They are hijacking most ships they can find. This policy continues over the years and so Aguirra is constantly in war with everyone in the world except Great Britain who always stays officially neutral.
In 1783 the Northern American Crown Colonies fight their independence and Aguirra fears they will have another nation hostile to them and this time very close. So they make sure that the right person comes to power in the newly founded North American Confederation (basically everything north of Aguirra). This made the British get angry with them and so they lost this only ally. But the NAC was supporting them. Unfortunately this through Aguirra far back and they had a hard time fighting people. Over the next century Aguirre was cutting back on their raids and build a real economy which never really worked. So when WWI came they used the chance to bring themselves back to date with technology and began mass producing weaponry. In WWII they stepped back into the old Business of hijacking ships. Aguirra was also able to get involved into NAC technology and basically got all the blueprints.
They produced more and more and kept on pase with the NAC technology but in 1982 the NAC turned their back on Aguirra. So Aguirra had much more problems to get on blueprints and produced more and more of the technology they had. In 2014 Aguirra got in dire need of a way to get in the Pacific. So the build a Canal in Panama. Now the old policy becae the main income of Aguirra and a big Airforce was needed and thus created. Over the following decades Aguirra again fought many of the countries and in 2071 WWIII
broke out. It is basically a war of the World against Aguirra which is supported by the Mafia and most of Africa.

Flag:

[Imajin]

Aegipts
Home Year: 2134 AD
Capital: Inskindria
Head of State: Mimipas II, Inseartor Rumuman, Negas Negasti
Military: 1,000,000 Trained Men, primarily stationed on the border with Himyari Judaea. The Aegiptan Side of the Red Sea is prepared for immediate landings on the other side.
History: One hundred years before the Birth of Jesus, Europe began to dry up. While refugees swormed Egypt and North Africa, suddenly, the Mighty Nile spontaneously and quickly dried up- Some said, as revenge for the forcing of the Jews southward into Arabia. Lake Victoria's waters took a different course, emptying into the Red Sea and making Egypt and the Sudan a desert. With much of the Roman population trapped in Egypt, they went down, ending up in the lands of Axum, which had been developing into a Kingdom. Social structure collapsed, and for many years the Horn of Africa was a barbaric hellhole.
In 256 AD, a leader named Kinstanone seized control of the city of Bizzilion, and proclaimed it Inskindria, a name taken from legends of the Great Northern Empire, the Insearin Rumuman. He formed a Kingdom which he called Aegipts, another name from legends of Insearin Rumuman. He proclaimed himself Inseartor, and for good measure, King of Kings.
His land, Aegipts, grew to encompass the Horn of Africa. Aegipts also faced off against the state of Himyari Judaea, a wealthy Jewish State centered around Yemen. This ancient rivalry has continued into the modern era- The Kingdom of Aegipts is currently embroiled in a cold war with Himyari Judaea.

[Darkest]

The Free Empire of Kongo

Year: 1998
Territory: See map. Most of the African continent.
Head of State: King Alfonso Zingo the Second
Capitals: Great Zimbabwe and Ntamo (OTL Brazzaville)
History:

Instead of dying at childbirth, Diego Saola grows to become a Portuguese Catholic missionary. He participates in converting King Manikongo Nzinga of the Kongo Empire to Catholicism.

Afterwards, Diego goes to convert slaves at Portuguese colonies. He is consumed with pity for them, and develops an unorthodox belief that slavery is a practice Jesus Christ would not want. Before he leaves to Europe to seek out the Protestants, to see if their faith suits his desires, he desires to right a wrong. He tips off King Nzinga in 1498, with which he had become very good friends with, about how the Portuguese are treating Kongo slaves and what they plan to do with his Empire.

At first, the African king sends a letter about the problem to King Joao of Portugal. The letter goes unanswered, as the slave trade was just picking up and the Portuguese don’t want it to stop. Manikongo sends another letter to his son Afonso in Portugal, who was being educated there, about the situation. Afonso tries to investigate, and confirms the truth. He returns to help the kingdom in a conflict that must occur in order to keep the glory of the Kongo.

King Afonso Manikongo Nzinga fears the wrath of the Portuguese and their easy access to gunpowder weapons, if he chose to rebel against them. The villages of Kongo have been trading slaves for guns and ammunitions, however, and so he buys as many as he can from his people. The King then builds a personal army of 3,000 for his protection, all armed with rifles. He has another 10,000 of normal warriors with spears and shields that he can call from their homes at a moment’s notice. He also hopes that by centralizing his army, he can keep the villages and tribes of his kingdom warring with each other. Believing to be ready for whatever comes, the King officially declares that he wishes to break out of any relations with the Portuguese, unless they can return the slaves they took, in 1501.

At first the Portuguese are try to ignore the threat. The Kongo Empire is severely humiliated by this lack of interest in their affairs. Ships continue to roll into African ports to take goods and slaves. The Kongo army is deployed near these ports. Rallying local militia, they are able to catch many ships unaware. The Portuguese are treated kindly as prisoners of war, as slaves according to the African perspective. Ships are commandeered and their cargo goes to the Kongo Empire.

King Manikongo sends another letter to King Joao of Portugal, wishing to trade more than a thousand Portuguese 'slaves' for African slaves. The Portuguese are incredibly angry and send ships to force the Kongo into submission.

As a precaution, the Kongo Empire tries to warn nearby kingdoms about the treachery of the Portuguese and all Europeans. King Afonso portrays them as the worst African plague, eating up men by the hundreds and selling cursed weapons so that the African kingdoms can destroy themselves. Afonso cannot hope that the entire African way of life will change overnight, that constant intertribal warfare and slavery will cease immediately. Many of the messengers are killed for one reason or another. The message does get through eventually, and overall, the existent African kingdoms become cautious when dealing with the white-men, especially the Portuguese.

Portuguese navy rolls in near the banks of Kongo with full armies. It is a bloody battle, with the loss of many African lives. An army nearly 8,000 strong from the Kongo capital of Mbanza arrives after a week to find the Portuguese armies weak and out of ammunition after fighting with nearly a thousand Kongo Africans and forced to control three times more in prisoners. The African army attacks in the night and begins a rampage. Both armies take severe casualties, but once the Kongo release the slaves being held, they mop the Portuguese up. Former Portuguese slave ships manned by Kongo Africans sneak up near Portuguese naval ships in the night, who believe the ships are still under Portuguese control. Salvaged cannons blast into Portuguese ships, and the ones that do not start sinking are boarded by African warriors. The Kongo navy gains a few more ships, while the Portuguese are unmanned and sent sailing home.

When Moorish attacks on the Iberian Peninsula threaten Portugal homeland, the Portuguese cannot afford to continue attacking the Kongo, and retreat for some time. The Kongo Empire licks its wounds, builds armies and navy, and does its best to unify now that it knows a dangerous enemy lurks its waters. The villages and tribes form an uneasy peace, and unity in the Empire grows. In the next decades the Africans will discover many things about Portuguese ships, how to use them effectively, and how to build them. A more unified imperial army roams the borders of the Kongo Empire deflecting incursions from other kingdoms.

Reeling from a devastating war with the Moors, Portugal decides against trying to take slaves from the African kingdoms that are rising up against them. Instead they turn to Brazil for profit. The Africans are allowed time to learn and become civilized. The Empire of Kongo grows.

The Portuguese will return to African soil in the 1540s, in the lands of Mozambique and Zimbabwe. This time they come aggressively and hostile from their experiences with the Kongo. The Rozwi Empire is formed by the natives being attacked, and they call upon the Kongo, the mythic ‘Portuguese Slayers’.

King Alfonso the II, his father dead, decides to help the Rozwi to punish the Portuguese for their continued aggression. Runners carrying gunpowder weapons rush across foreign tribal lands towards Rozwi. Nearly 8,000 soldiers arrive to thwart the Portuguese. They also help the Rozwi organize into an effective army. Together, the Kongo and the Rozwi are able to repel the Portuguese from their lands in a single month. With the land invaders routed, the navy starts to depart. The Kongo Navy arrives on the scene, somewhat battered by coastal storms, but surprises the Portuguese and fires upon them. The Portuguese fight for a few minutes, and then flee. They don't want any more losses, so they leave.

This quickly leads to an alliance between the Kongo and the Rozwi. The Kongo shares ideas and technology to the Rozwi Empire, and together they set out with the same ideals to free the Africans from invaders. The Rozwi pick Arabic trade back up, who shares the common enemy of the Portuguese and for that matter, Europeans. Islam spreads more in the Rozwi Empire, but meets African Catholicism in Kongo, which had been developing for some time. The Africans of the two empires will become religiously tolerant, and in some ways, the two religions mix together. African mysticism and indigenous beliefs are still popular, however.

Northern lands are liberated and annexed by the growing Rozwi Empire, while the Kongo start conquering central lands and the mostly unoccupied lands to the south. Both Empires come into contact with the Dutch East India Company, and flourish with trade. A few decades later, the Kongo Empire discovers diamonds in the South, and order European mining machines to pursue more. The Rozwi Empire starts looking for diamonds and, sure enough, they start finding many in the land they hold. This brings much wealth to the two Empires.

At the start of the 18th Century, the Rozwi Empire dissolves into civil war when the emperor’s home collapses on him. The Kongo send troops over to quell the situation. In two years, the Kongo Empire has annexed the Rozwi lands.

At this time, the Kongo Empire has decided to stay in their lands, reluctant to spread too thin. Ideas of the Enlightenment spreads from Europe, and the Kongo Empire has a social revolution. It will become a tribal republic in 1769. The development of the citizenry as intelligent, modernized individuals is slow, but by the mid 1800s, the typical Kongoan isn’t too far from European in manner and knowledge of the world.

In the First World War of 1884, the Kongo Empire remained neutral, despite the northern colonies warring right on their doorstep. When the Kongo navy was attacked by the Spanish, they entered the London Pact, with Britain, France, and Prussia. However, Kongo saw action only on its continent, when it attacked enemy colonies and liberated their peoples, annexing them to the Kongo Empire. It also rejoiced in the destruction of Portugal by the United Kingdom.

It saw further action in the Second World War of 1933, though it switched sides onto the Liberationists of Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, India, Indonesia, the Middle East, and the United Kingdoms of the Western Americas against many of the European powers. As one of the closest Liberationist powers, it played a very defensive war against Europeans from the North. At the stalemate of 1942, however, it was compensated for and remained strong.

In the year 1998, at the dawn of the millennium, the Big One is ready to fall. The Third World War is coming. The British territories on eastern North America are falling in civil war, and the United Kingdoms of the Western Americas looks to expansion. Russia has fallen in economic crisis with enemies on all sides and the European powers bicker once more against each other. Everyone wants to rid themselves of the dictatorships in India, Indochina and Central America. The Ottoman Empire looms high, looking at Asian, African, and European lands.

The Free Kongoan Empire, as it is now known as, has not taken a side, though it builds its military ruthlessly for its own protection. Because of this, many nations look to it as a common enemy, and it may be that Kongo has even accelerated the start of the war to end all wars.

Technology Levels: Relatively OTL. Many nations and empires share the same technology level. Even the small nations of Central America, Indochina and India have a source of modern technology. Naval warfare is still a large factor, and air warfare isn’t as developed (comparable to 1950s), and the space race has just started (with Kongo as a chief participant). However, advanced submarines, very fast and fuel efficient battleships, super-carriers much larger than anything seen on our Earth, all roam the seas. They are possibly 10, maybe 20 years ahead of us in naval warfare.

Government: The Free Empire of Kongo is divided into twenty-one provinces, usually by tribal borders. Each province is divided into a number of tribal counties. The tribes are loose, and have spread everywhere, and so a tribe’s county is not necessarily where they are located. However, every three years the tribe comes together to elect up to three patriarchs, by any means they wish. The number of representatives for each tribe is by population, so small tribes are stuck with one. These delegates form a tribal council for their province, and usually discuss things and make discussions via computer chat rooms, though many try to meet together on important instances. Tribal councils vote on decisions on a provincial level, and elect King’s Delegates by population, usually around eight per province. These individuals usually run for office and must be sponsored by a tribe. They form a King’s Court of around two hundred fifty. This council votes on laws and decisions of all topics, and are very busy. The King or a King’s placeholder on his off-day determines whether a majority vote or a 2/3 vote is required for each action.
Crimes are judged on a tribal level, though there is a strict code for how punishments work. An individual can try to get a provincial judgment, but it usually needs a fair amount of bribing. However, you can only be sent to be tried for a crime by an imperial investigator (which have to be hired) or by the Kongo Police.
Population size and demographics AIDS never occurred, so the population was never stunted. The current estimates is about 395 million. 85% are varied African ethnic group, as many left for Kongo as a place that Africans can live free. 10% Afro-Arab or Afro-European. 5% are European, Asian, and other races.
Capitals: The Free Empire of Kongo has two capitals, to signify the Rozwi and Kongo Empires. They have developed into trade centers and have vast residential areas as well.
Stats on your Armed Forces:
Military manpower – availability – 149,030,000
Military manpower – fit for service – 122,452,000
Military expenditures – Relative to $68 billion

What the heck am I supposed to do about this part? Navy – Good, Army – Okay, Air Force - Fair?

Anyway, here’s the map:

[DuQuense]

Name: Kingdom of Sweden
Ruler: King William, House Plantagenet. Constitutional Monarchy.
Flag: OTLs Swedish Flag with the Plantagenet Coat of Arms, in the center.
Military: TTL is about 60 years behind OTL, But is state of the Art in it's TL, It has a Large Army with Light Tanks [1939 best of Europe] and Self propelled Artillery. It also has a Very large Air Corp attacked to the Army, Consisting of both fighters and Bombers. Like Britain '38-'39 IOTL, it is in the middle of switching from Biplanes over the the latest Monoplane's, Most of It's navy is designed for a Anti-Ship role allowing it to control the surrounding Waters. It has a Fairly decent sized Navy. But as this Sweden also included Norway, Denmark, Finland, & Estonia, allowing for land based Planes to cover the Baltic, & North Sea, it has no Aircraft Carriers. At the time of the ISOT there was concern over the Polish Empire Starting another War. Therefore the Anglo-Frank Imperial North Sea Fleet was "Visiting" it's Northern Ally, and Sweden now does have some Carriers to Borrow.
History: In 1199 At the Age of 41, While besieging a Castle at Chalus in France, King Richard the Lion Heart, was shot by an arrow in the Shoulder, and nearly died. It was while Richard was recovering, That He Realized some of the Problems his near Death had Caused. Upon recovery Richard, spent the next 30 years, forming a single Nation out of his English, & French Possessions.

By the early 1500's the Anglo-Frank Empire reached from Ireland & Wales to the Rhine in the North, & the Pyrenees [No Reconquestia in Spain] and Genoa in the South. To the East the Rising Polish/Lithuanian Empire had Conquered, the Ukraine, Hungary, Latvia, & Romania. The A/F turned to Sweden as a Ally. And in 1547 The Crown Princess Kristina