Rememberences of Map Contests Past [Archive] - Alternate History Discussion Board

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 01:48 AM

Scarecrow:

5 Roman successor states that think of themselves as Romans (or xxx-Roman like the Greco-Roman Byzantines?) okay…

The POD is the survival of the Western Roman Empire, possibly under a Goth as the Emperor. Both Empires are Christian. Islam’s spread in the west is kept in check by the Byzantines, who manage to keep a hold of their possessions in Africa and Southern Spain.

As is the way with these sorts of timelines, things progress faster, such as the discovery and exploitation of the Americas.

Both West and East carve out lands in the Americas, fighting the natives and each other in the process. By the middle of the 14th Century, the West is victorious, having pushed the Byzantines out of most of the Borealis; their few remaining possessions are a few fortress islands, the trading port of New Constantine, and the penal colony on the eastern coast of Australis where Turks are being resettled.

In 1337 AD, this all falls apart with the arrival of the plague in Europe and the beginning of the Great Plague. When the Western Emperor dies, either due to the plague or overdose of steel, General Maximus Flavius seizes power, and the Western Empire descends into Civil War. The Emperors son Alexander is in the West Roman colony of Mexico, and when news of the chaos reaches the New World, he has himself crowned Emperor of Rome Outer-Mare, Rome across the Sea. The colonies of Maiya and Mosquitos join Mexico as parts of Rome Outer-Mare, and Emperor Alexander invites the other Western colonies to join the ‘true Roman Empire’.

The Northern colonies don’t join Rome Outer-Mare, instead the mainland colonies form Nova Aquitana, a state independent of both West and Outer-Mare Rome.

Ionia Outer-Mare (its name betraying its Byzantine heritage) remains loyal to Western Rome, as does Thule (The Northmen outpost in the New World under Western protectorate) and Nova Tuscany.

The other Western Roman colonies rebel. Nova Britannia declares her independence, as does the island of Nova Amorica.

Nova Amorica had been the heartland of Western Roman presence in the New World, the oldest colony, having been settled for four hundred years. When news of the death of the Emperor reached them, they chose a different course. Established primarily as a independent republic under the current governor, that regime is overthrown, and replaced with the Republic government. The idea behind the Republic is thus: The Republic is the original Roman form of government, one that has been destroyed by the rule of Emperors for over a thousand years. They are the true Romans.

The Byzantine holdings in the New World on the other hand are rather stable. The only one that slips out of Byzantines orbit is the Turkish penal colony, where Turks overthrew the minor garrison and declared themselves the Emirate of Arslan.

So what do we have here?

How many Roman successor states?

1. Western Roman Empire (Civil War)
2. Byzantine Empire
3. Rome Outer-Mare
4. The Republic
5. Nova Aquitinia

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=20414&stc=1&d=1163558757

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 01:49 AM

G. Bone:

The five successor states to Rome:

I. The HRE, run by the Pope.
Client States: Carthage, See of Segaterica, Roman Gaul, Kingdom of Burgundy
II. Dalmatia; being run over by the Slavs
III. The Byzantines, run by Heraclius, battling the Persians
IV. Britain, who (theoretically) rule over TTL's England/OTL Denmark, Duchy of Normandy, Kingdom of France, Hibernia, Frisia
V. Kingdom(s) of Spain

All the pink areas are either unsettled or otherwise occupied.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=20417&stc=1&d=1163566087

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 01:51 AM

Thande:

Here's my entry (yes, it's a fresco :D )

Everything prefixed with 'Imperivm' claims to be the true heir to the Roman Empire, which in TTL survived the upheavals of OTL that destroyed it, but was eventually shattered by a larger and earlier Mongol invasion. The 'Imperivm Orientalis' is actually the westernmost successor state to that Mongol empire, now itself a claimant to the Roman legacy, having 'got civilisation', and holding Rome, albeit tenuously.

In America, the Imperivm Occidentalis is a series of former Britannic colonies that rebelled, while both Britannia and Lusitania retain loyal colonies there as well. The rest of North America is dominated by a Mexican Indian (not Aztec as such) state.

Lusitania and Britannia have foederatii, the Berbers for the former and the English and Irish for the latter.

The Caliphate of Rum is the only Muslim state which also claims to be the rightful successor to the Roman Empire.

All in all, there are seven Roman successor states:

The Byzantine Empire (actually called that in TTL)
The Lusitanian Empire
The Britannic Empire
The Eastern Empire (in central Europe)
The Western Empire (in America)
The Alexandrian Empire (in Egypt)
The Caliphate of Rum.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=20486&stc=1&d=1163711121

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 01:52 AM

TheLoneAmigo's curvy names map:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=20494&stc=1&d=1163727150

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 01:53 AM

Imperator:

Roman troops win the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest and manage to somewhat pacify Germania. The Roman Empire still collapses, but butterflies result in a much different Great Migration. Now it is the late 7th century and the armies of Islam seek to expand.

Four states call themselves the Roman Empire, but they are more commonly known as Italy, Byzantium, Libya, and Aquitaine

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/3701/con4wo6.png

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 01:55 AM

And Othniel, which I'm just putting up because I like the bricks.

Its the Late 1500s and Rome has already discovered the Americas. Working with local allies the Aztecs were overtrown and their regional rivals of the Tarascans and Mayans have overcome the plauges of the old world. Early in the Roman reign they got rid of many of the Germans invading their region by agreeing to give them lands in the New World. Later the Romans lost control of them. Meanwhile the Eastern part of the Empire fell to the Bulgarians, who absorbed the Greco-Roman Culture. Likewise Egyt has broken off.

As you can see Scotland, Norththurbia (possesion Denmark) and Vandal's Brittannia are devolping as their own cultures, sperate from the continet. This is causing them to spread.

The picture we see now is of the mid-1800s the German Duchies to the north of the Roman Empire. Europe is devolping like India would have without colonization. China likewise has problems with speration, spuring them out of isolationist thought. India and Europe are both dominated by large empires with a few smaller states. Diplomacy is dominated by force rather than by skill of words. Of the German Duchies though Francia, in the East believes itself to be a sucessor to Rome and may show a Charlamange like resurgence soon. The Roman Colonies in the new World have gathered themselves more and more automony in themselves as time goes forward.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=20609&stc=1&d=1164006770

Emperor-of-New-Zealand

December 9th, 2011, 01:56 AM

From Imperator, a map where Austria surrendered earlier in WWI and things have gone a bit differently in the runup to the second...

Wait... is Czechoslovakia French?

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 01:56 AM

TheLoneAmigo won that one, with Scarecrow as runner-up.

Bruce

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:00 AM

Round V: show 6 nations fractured in WWI and its aftermath.

Alas, EdT's map, the winner, is no longer accessible. Nor is Scarecrow's.

Here's Imperator's:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=20780&stc=1&d=1164570209

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:01 AM

And here is Thande's.

Wasn't going to post anything this week but I found I had some time just before the due date.

Therefore:

Fractured countries: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russian Empire, Ottoman Empire (fulfilling the Asian requirement), Britain, and (wait for it...) Luxembourg.

Czechia, the Rhine Confederation, Panslavia and Mecklenburg are all the same colour because they're French-backed states.

I made a nice textured version but it was too big to upload , so enjoy the vanilla one.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=20924&stc=1&d=1164907786

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:02 AM

Wait... is Czechoslovakia French?

Look at the key: it's a "minor ally."

Bruce

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:03 AM

And Nekromans (runner-up)

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e334/Nekromans/Map4ContestIMPROVED.png

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:06 AM

Now, round VI: Napoleon dies 1793.

TheLoneAmigo:

Everything changes with the death of Bonaparte - the expansion of the United States is strangled in its cradle; the British Empire is struck down by revolution; and the French Directory rises in its place... spreading libertie, equalitie, and fraternetie to every quarter of the globe. Korea blossoms while Japan and China collapse; the Kalmar Union is reborn; and a Lusitanian Empire arises to straddle the Atlantic. Meanwhile, in a quiet southern corner of the globe, the last remenants of British imperialism forge a new ideology, conquer a continent and set their sights on the rest of the world...

The Year of the Ox dawns.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=21268&stc=1&d=1165756950

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:07 AM

Imajin:

Napoleon's death changes events significantly- France had many great generals, but none other who would follow the course drawn by Napoleon. By 1900, through a series of massive wars, the Revolution has been spread across Europe... Britain, however, dominates the rest of the world, Russia switches alliances nearly weekly, China lies in ruins, and the Braganzas yearn to reclaim the fatherland lost so long ago...

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=21145&stc=1&d=1165541306

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:09 AM

EdT, sadly disqualified for not being a world map:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=21356&stc=1&d=1166002805

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:10 AM

And Scarecrow.

crap, last In

Uh yeah, this is the map.

No Napoleon, the French republic sorta dies, Bourbon king restored.

uh...French War with Austria in 19th Century over Italy: resault an independent Kingdom of Italy, and France gets OTL belgium.

uh...Spanish colonies split of slightly later

No war of 1812, but a similar war between Britain and USA, USA doesnt do so good.

slavery trade was abolished at the end of the 19th Century by Britain, France USA et al, but those pesky Omanis and Brazilians continue to conduct the trade.

uh...things to look for on the map

The Omani port on the Congo

Split up Brazil

Prussia and Austria (sorry, triple monarchy (Austrian, Hungarian, Pole)Its on its death bed as we speak) still with large polish lands

standard West-East British North America split, but with the fancy name of New Caledonia

uh, thats it. I tried doing some fancy photoshop stuff but ran out of time, so i just had to do the curvey text thats becoming standard issue around here

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=21364&stc=1&d=1166022824

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:13 AM

That led to a run-off between TheLoneAmigo and Scarecrow.

A "broken China" scenario.

TheLoneAmigo's effort:

Okay, so... the POD is the US taking direct control of Shanghai at some time during the 19th century, as its own version of Hong Kong. Later, the British take control of Port Arthur.

From there somehow we get to the present, with a fascist state (Han China - the name refers to their Han-supremacist ideology) in control of the majority of the Chinese heartland, facing off against the unsteady alliance betweeen the People's Republic and the Democratic Republic, while all parties involved worry about the rise of the Japanese Empire and their puppets in Manchuria and Taiwan.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=21469&stc=1&d=1166423900

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:14 AM

And Scarecrow's riposte:

The thing that took the most time was getting the map the right size, since the basemap is so massive...

My PoD is that the Decembrist revolt in Russia is sucssesful, turning Russia into a liberal, forwards country.

being a bit more powerful, Russia is able to secure a peace more to thier liking at the end of the Crimean War. This leads to a greater Anglo-French cooperation against the Russians. Fearful of Russia gaining influence over China, the British and French give aid to the T'ai-p'ing rebellion, and a T'ai-p'ing Empire emerges in the south, chasing the Machus back to Manchuria.

Um, taiping china doesnt realy survive after the death of Hong Xiuquan, and at the end of the 19th century the Kingdom of Heavenly Peace collapases.

France collapses into a socialist revolution after her loss during the Franco-Prussian war, and her model of communism that is exported around the world.

This map is just after the Great War, these are the nations that have been recognised by the Great Powers; those inbetween the T'ai-p'ing remnant and Manchuria are no more then glorified warlords. Wether any of these nations can survive in the long run, thats a different question.

thats it realy. I will post the non-shrunk map in the Map thread.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=21490&stc=1&d=1166495315

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:16 AM

Scarecrow won that one, but then there had to be a showdown with Diamond for Map King title: the contest was a more successful reformation.

Diamond's effort:

OK, I guess I'm first. I'm not entirely happy with this, but I think it conveys all the information I wanted it to, anyway. The POD is that Jan Hus lives another ten years before being executed by the Church, enough time for his views to become even more entrenched in Bohemia, Moravia, and other lands.

This sparks a somewhat stronger, earlier, and more violent Reformation - religious war spreads throughout Europe, and Catholicism by 1650 is a religion of the south. It has been driven almost entirely out of the north of Europe, with the notable exception of England, where Lancastrian monarch still rule. Ireland is a fiercely republican and Hussite nation with a strong navy and extensive North American colonies.

This map shows the situation in Europe in 1800, at the conclusion of a 'Great War', where the three great Calixtine/Hussite kingdoms, Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary, united into one uber-powerful United Kingdom.

http://img288.imageshack.us/img288/7856/reformationfinalwe1.png

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:17 AM

And Scarecrow shot back with this:

I dont have such a defined POD as Diamond: more that Protestantism is slightly more sucessful in the German states, and that the Catholics in France loose the French Wars of Religion.

When the Bohemians revolt from their Catholic masters in 1618, the *Thirty Years' War starts, but with an earlier intervention by a Protestant France on the side of the Protestant Germans, thier victory is assured. The Hapsburgs are dethroned in Vienna, and the Spaniards kicked out of the Spanish Netherlands (which the French kindly take). the Austrian Hapsburgs lands are divied up, and the entire Holy Roman Empire is reorganised. Ecclesical lands are confiscated and divided up. the Electoral system is reformed, the role of the Princes is kept in check (no foriegn alliances in this timeline) and Imperial army is put in place, yadda yadda yadda.

By now, its the end of the 17th Century, and a major confilct appears to be lurking on the horizon, with tensions across Europe.

Enjoy, because this map stole my soul!

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=21944&stc=1&d=1167570151

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 02:19 AM

...which, alas, wasn't enough to unseat Diamond.

That was the original map contest! Map contest II maps tomorrow: other stuff to do tonight.

Bruce

Kaiphranos

December 9th, 2011, 02:28 AM

There were some... interesting... font and texture choices made by the cartographers of yore.

Shadow Knight

December 9th, 2011, 03:03 AM

Ah, good times. I remember setting up the very first map contest. Trying to figure out a voting system for the judges was one heck of an exercise (to keep it fair and all).

Got to say I still prefer the old map contest over the map of the fortnight setup that took over. Glad you dug up some of these old maps B_Munro. :)

Take a good look kiddies at good maps and how far we've gone from the sad pixlized ones that came before the golden age of map making.

Nicksplace27

December 9th, 2011, 03:41 AM

I love this thread

Thande

December 9th, 2011, 08:53 PM

Good thread idea, thumbs up. Especially since imagehosting means maps often vanish over time, it's good to preserve them elsewhere.

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 10:58 PM

On to map contest II, round I:

A 1950 map with some important WWII personage dying 1935.

Imajin - Stalin dies and Barbarossa does better.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=27378&stc=1&d=1178671636

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:00 PM

Thande, Musso dies (kinda weak map, but I liked the writeup. :D )

Who dies? Mussolini.

This plunges Italy into a civil war similar to that of Spain in OTL, with communists coming out of the woodwark and the remaining Fascist leadership unable to enforce the rule of law. The Spanish Civil War does also break out a year or two later, but is seen as a sideshow. Hitler uses the Italian conflict as another excuse to rearm, and the Western allies, fearful of Soviet puppets on their doorsteps, continue to see him as the lesser of two evils.

Czechoslovakia and Austria are anschluss'd 37-38 "to protect the German people from Bolshevist elements", as the Communists begin to gain the upper hand in the Italian Civil War with direct support from the Soviet Union. Finally in July 1939 the remaining Fascist leadership virtually invites the Germans in to take over. The Wehrmacht is sent in and the Luftwaffe bombs communist-dominated cities, eventually creating ATL Italian versions of Guernica. However, the new blitzkrieg tactics are of limited use in Italy's often rocky and defendable terrain, and communist guerillas help to bleed the Germans by the death of a thousand cuts.

Hitler blames all of this (with some justification) on the Soviets, and orders the German General Staff to draw up a plan for the invasion of Russia, Operation Barbarossa. At the same time, but not publicly (as at this point they still want the West on side), the Nazis plot the expansion of their racial purity laws into the east, and the idea of depopulating Russia and using it as lebensraum. Poland, Romania and Hungary are bullied into permitting the passage of German troops, but no attempts at an annexation of Poland are considered - the Nazis reason that this will be much easier to accomplish when there is no Soviet Union to worry about and Poland is surrounded, plus they cannot afford to fight a two-front war with the Western nations that have guaranteed Polish independence.

Meanwhile, the communist-leaning Republicans win the Spanish Civil War and Franco's Nationalists are exiled to Spain's colonies and the Balearics. They are propped up with small numbers of German troops, with the result that Germany effectively has bases in Spanish Morocco and Spanish Guinea.

German Intelligence fears that Stalin is already planning an attack of his own, but in October 1939 those forces go to Finland instead. The Finns put up a stiff resistance, aided by the Germans, British, French, and unofficially the Swedes. The Red Army bogs down in Finland and Stalin rages more about traitors and purges, but continues a slow, grinding advance.

In May 1940 the Germans launch Operation Barbarossa. The Wehrmacht is more cautious than OTL, due to the lack of experience with the Blitzkrieg, but the fact that the attack is launched earlier means that they manage to reach Moscow by December. The less well trained Red Army is largely encircled or destroyed, but occasional reports of heavy Soviet tanks, easily outmatching the German Panzer IIs and IIIs, circulate. The Germans take Moscow with heavy losses but find it a pyrrhic victory -as in 1812, the Russians use scorched-earth tactics to prevent Moscow being of any use to the enemy. The Germans' Army Group Centre suffers comparable losses to Napoleon's Grand Armée as they retreat to secured German positions, against Hitler's orders.

Stalin is killed in the battle of Moscow, sparking a succession dispute. Molotov attempts to seize power but is defeated by a junta of generals and marshals, fed up with Kremlin political interference, and their political head is none other than Leon Trotsky, having survived several attempted assassinations and returned from exile. The Soviets begin duplicating their industry east of the Urals (the move not being as complete as in OTL) and producing more of their T-34 and KV-1 heavy tanks. Unlike German hopes, the USSR does not disintegrate.

Meanwhile, reports of the Final Solution leaking out means that both France and Britain break diplomatic relations with Germany, and collaboration with the Nazis in Russia (particularly after Stalin's death) is practically nil, but Hitler is convinced by now that the war is practically won. He orders an invasion of France drawn up to reverse the losses of Versailles. Army High Command does so, though believing that the plan is for several years in the future.

At the same time, in 1942 thanks to the US and Europeans cutting off oil and steel supplies for the Chinese war effort, the Japanese attack British, French and American possessions in the Pacific and attempt to seize the Dutch East Indies. They manage to occupy large parts of the latter, Malaya and Indochina, but the British hold on to Singapore and the French to Kampuchea. The Japanese later stage an unsuccessful but destructive invasion of Burma. A mainly American force systematically destroys the IJN one battle at a time, illustrating America's industrial capacity, and Japan is conquered by 1946 (the USSR declaring war in 1945 and scooping up Manchuria, Korea and Hokkaido).

The Soviets slowly grind back the German war machine, assisted by the treasury of Italy, smuggled out of the country by the last few members of the communist government. Roosevelt is unable to convince the American people that Germany is a threat worth a preemptive attack, but the Jewish vote and other factors mean that the USSR is sold trucks and other nonmilitary units for low prices.

In 1943, after being pushed out of ruined Kursk and Stalingrad and their siege of Leningrad relieved by the Red Army pocketed in Finland at the start of the war, Hitler gives orders to gain some propaganda victories. Specifically he orders the total annexation of Poland and the Final Solution, so far carried out purely by fascist Polish proxies on a limited basis, to come to fruition. In response to this insane order, a secret group forms within the German army to...discuss a future without Hitler, led by Manstein, Guderian and Rommel. In response to the invasion of Poland and reports of the Final Solution, Britain and France declare war on Germany in November 1943. Based on analysis of the eastern war, France has abandoned its former defensive doctrine. In April 1944, French and BEF armies beat off a German attack - though one panzer force does make an embarrassing penetration through the 'impossible' Ardennes - and into the Saarland and Rhineland. The fresh RAF and ADA dominate the skies against the depleted and mostly deployed to the east Luftwaffe.

With the Soviets marching through Poland in 1945, the coup takes place. Hitler and other senior Nazis are assassinated and a military junta takes over under Manstein. A quick peace is reached with the West, the Nazi past is disowned (similar to Khruschev and Stalin in OTL) and, beating back the Soviet armies one last time, the Treaty of Warsaw surrenders all of eastern Europe and East Prussia to the Soviets. Bohemia-Moravia is "Finlandised" as we would say, while Finland becomes Soviet.

This map depicts the resulting cold war, with limited independence movements in the Far East, a Dominion of India with separate princely states, and a Trotskyite reformed "International Union of Socialist Republics" with a less centralised structure and no separate allied states, all one union. The German military regime has promised to restore Weimar democracy by 1960. There is a European Defence Pact, somewhat developed from the Anti-Comintern Pact, which includes Scandinavia due to the proximity of Soviet Finland.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=27391&stc=1&d=1178723706

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:02 PM

Highlander:

Here is my entry.

Hitler is killed early in 1935, much to the shock of his close allies and supporters. Nonetheless, they see this as a sign and decide to not make a large military confrontation if possible. Instead they chose to promote their agenda diplomatically and politicaly, taking small military action whenever necessary. A few years later, Mussolini's Italy descends into civil war, and he is disposed of. The powers in the region rush in to stake their claim but Germany wins over all, splitting the country up into four regions.

At this time we see that several German states are actively seeking independance and are likely to get it.

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/5626/europe11zg1.jpg

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:05 PM

EdT:

Here's mine... (Note: The original text is in Russian, but through the miracle of trans-dimensional technology it appears in English )

PoD: In the spring of 1935, FDR dies suddenly in his sleep of a massive stroke. John Nance Garner’s Presidency is a relative success and he successfully wins re-election the following year, although he is never as popular as his former boss. Little changes in Europe, and the war begins on schedule; the first major wartime divergence comes in 1940, when the Garner Administration’s efforts to ‘lend-lease’ equipment to Britain are emasculated by an impassioned speech by the leading Republican Candidate for the November elections, Senator William Borah.

The subsequent Republican victory delays US intervention in Europe for a time, and Borah’s subsequent death only months after inauguration makes him a martyr, impelling the isolationist Vice-President Thomas Dewey into power and rendering American entry almost impossible. War comes to America however; Japan’s surprise attack on Manila harbour draws the US into a Pacific struggle. With the fighting in the west occupying their minds, the US public becomes even less willing to aid Britain and the USSR against Nazi Germany.

In the end, the fighting peters out in the mid 1940’s. Japan is crushed by overwhelming force in 1945, as the US Marines bludgeon their way onto the Home Islands; for all the destruction in Asia however, Germany suffers worse. Pushed back in Africa and the Eastern Front, the Wehrmacht is eventually ground to a pulp by the combination of the massed bombing of the RAF and the manpower of the Red Army. Finally, in the Spring of 1947 Germany collapses amidst a hail of ‘Tube Alloys’; the Soviet flag cannot be raised above the Reichstag, because most of Berlin is a radioactive crater. An emergency British thrust across the Channel ensures that the Allied armies meet each other at the Rhine.

Soon Eastern Europe, the Balkans and much of Scandinavia are entrenched in the Soviet Sphere; in 1949, the brief Italian civil war forces the King to flee to Sicily and ensures that that country comes under the thumb of Moscow as well. By 1950, the Darlan regime in France is tottering and Soviet influence has almost reached its zenith; while the ‘Paris Spring’ in 1959 would bring Moscow’s unquestioned power on the continent to an end, for now the slogan on this propaganda poster is justified;

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=27405&stc=1&d=1178749210

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:10 PM

TheLoneAmigo:

Yamamoto dies in 1935; without his influence, Japan ends up in a war with the United States much earlier - in 1938, before the tripartite pact. They do well enough; managing to keep the American military beast firmly focused on Asia for three years. Lend-Lease is greatly reduced, and America never gets involved in the war in Europe. Eventually, the Germans develop the first atomic weapons and devastate Britain and Russia with atomic fire in 1946. In 1950, they begin to tighten their grip on the African continent, fighting brush wars with American-funded partisans across the continet.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=27423&stc=1&d=1178780956

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:12 PM

Diamond:

POD: Heinz Guderian dies in a training accident in 1935.

Without Guderian's bringing together of the various tactics then taking form, there is no strategy of Blitzkrieg. Germany's various annexations of Austria, the Sudetenland, etc, go more or less according to schedule, but there is no Phony War - Poland is not invaded in 1939. Instead, by some herculean efforts, Hitler's generals manage to convince him to wait and build up Germany's strength some more.

France finds itself increasingly isolated in Europe, as Britain has its hands full handling a full-scale uprising in Ireland (instigated, some say, by German agents). French communism grows in popularity, as many people see an alliance with the Soviet Union as the only way to off-set German might. In 1945, France finally goes Red, in a mostly bloodless coup.

War erupts the next year, and Germany once again finds herself fighting a two-front war against France and Russia. But this time, there is no Britain to help even the odds, and both Italy and Germany have had six more years than OTL to improve their militaries (equipment- and manpower-wise; strategically, things are little changed from the first Great War).

In this timeline, the Maginot Line does what it was intended to do - stop a German invasion cold. In the spring of 1950, three and half years into the Second Great War, the Western Front is a nightmare of mud, blood, and death. In the east, the Germans have swallowed huge chunks of Soviet territory, but their advance has stalled, and in places is being slowly rolled back.

Hitler is in ill health; rumors abound that he is on death's door, and various factions throughout the Reich prepare to seize the reins of power if and when the Fuhrer dies.

And in secret labs in the Reich, scientists led by Werner Heisenberg are perhaps a year away from completing work on a new type of bomb, one which will alter the course of world events forever...

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/3298/mc1acopyrw4.png

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:16 PM

Susano's has so damn much text, I'll just give a link. :D

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=62625&highlight=contest

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/3909/nucleareuropelc1.jpg

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:19 PM

Who won that one? I'll get back to you on that.

Round 2, different 19th century colonization of a continent with post-1500 PODs.

EdT:

Well, here's my effort...

PoD: 1521. While leading the siege of Tenochtitlan, Hernan Cortes comes down with a nasty dose of fever. He recovers, and goes on to successfully take the city. However, the feverish dreams he had while confined to his tent make a great impression on him, and he realises that his destiny is not to be Mexico's conqueror, but its Emperor!

It doesn't last of course, but for seven glorious years Hernando I rules his realm with an iron fist, destroying several expeditions sent to defeat him and even gaining recognition from an angry Pope Clement VII in the aftermath of the sack of Rome. The Spanish only have to be successful once though, and eventually in 1528 an expedition led by Álvar Cabeza de Vaca smashes the Mexican army and takes back the country for the King of Spain. The precedent has been set though, and in the 1550s Jiménez de Quesada conquers the Incas and declares himself Emperor. The King is occupied at home, and things snowball; before long, a chain of independent states established by various adventurers stretch from the middle Andes to the Sonoran Desert.

By 1870 (when this map is set), South America is rather different to OTL's. Britain, France, the Netherlands and Portugal have all established colonies on the continent, while the successor states to the original Conquistador Kingdoms remain in the north and east. Spain retains a presence in the New World, but only in her settler colonies along the *Hudson and *Potomac rivers...

On the map, of particular note are:

The Guyranay Commonwealth, which is the spectacularly strange result of combining Puritans, Guarani Indians and something similar to OTLs "Reducciones";

New Zealand, which retains its name from its period of Dutch rule before the English grabbed it in the early 18th century;

Antarctica (Officially known as "France Antarctique"), a haven for French Hugenouts and a refuge for the Monarchy during the German revolutionary wars of 1812-1846;

Tawantinsuyu, still ruled by a member of the Quesada dynasty four centuries after its inception;

and Klein Wenedig, a cospopolitan state whose long-held status as a haven for scoundrels, refugees and criminals of all nations and creeds has left it with some of the most robust democratic traditions in the world.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=28033&stc=1&d=1179586063

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:20 PM

Imajin:

The POD is that the Dutch do not settle on the Cape of Good Hope, but the Separatists, and later the Puritans, do. The colony is rather successful, however, British moves to re-assert royal control in the 1700s (as the Cape becomes more and more strategically important) lead to some of the most devout settlers moving inland, founding the Holy Union, a very insular state. However, political differences grow, leading to the colony splitting into the more insular Northern Theocracy, and the more liberal (by Puritan standards) Southern Theocracy in 1832.

Racial factors are less important. In New England, with a much larger white and Indian population, no race has a clear majority. In the Theocracies, religion matters much more than anything else- as long as you're of the proper faith, they don't care what color you are- of course, it's also rather difficult to convert, leaving the majority of Church-goers as the white settlers even with a large black majority. Zululand is almost totally black.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=28042&stc=1&d=1179605314

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:22 PM

Diamond:

Okay, I had to save this as a JPEG to get it small enough to load, even on Imageshack, but everything still looks legible... I think.

Anyway, the POD for this is sometime in the late 1550s or early 1560s. Spain's King Philip II is a little more reckless, a bit more of a despot, and suffers some staggering losses when he tries to unite all of Italy under Spanish rule in 1575.

Italy unites alright, but not under Spain - the northern Italian cities band together to form the Italian League and drive Spain completely from the peninsula. In the process they anger the Pope, and several northern Italian leaders are excommunicated, giving Protestantism a huge boost in the north, especially in Genoa, Milan, and Venice, who ironically find common cause after centuries of feuding with each other.

Spain and the Italian League war on and off over the next century. The League builds ties with both England and the Ottoman Empire (oh, there is no Battle of Lepanto here, and the O.E. is still a major threat to Austria and Europe).

By 1800, the Italian League has grown to encompass all of Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, Crete, and Dalmatia, along with various other bits and pieces around the Mediterranean. They've also built a Suez Canal in conjunction with the Ottoman Empire, and have snatched all of Spain's East Asian colonies, including the Philippines.

The current year is 1848, and tensions are high between the Italian League and the Ottoman Empire ever since the League unilaterally annexed the whole Canal Zone five years ago.

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/8479/2faritalia3qa0.jpg

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:23 PM

Susano, with much blab:

So, several things changed in East Asia. The Portuguese were able to recover several holdings from the Dutch, and there is a Ming Exile state on Borneo. The Ottomans, though hardly present in the region, were able to explot conflicts in the region: The Spanish-Ming-Muslim three way struggle on Mindanao, which ended in all sides recognicing the Ottoman protectorate, for example. Likewise, after several Dutch and British attempts to get Aceh in their fold, the Sultan chooses the conviniently far away Ottomans as protetcorate power, but still has to cede its south to the Dutch and British. As there was no Seven

Russia, Amurland: Still large, but internally much, much weaker this TL, they could not muster much resistance against the Prussian-Danish forts in the Amur Region, and eventually sold the land, which with the founding of Germany became German.

Korea: Korea played a major role in the Chinese Ming/Qing Civil War of the 17th century, but faded into global obsucrity afterwards again. After Russia, China, Japan and the UK all had their eyes on the Kingdom, Germany managed to play all sides off each other, and to gain Korea as a protectorate. Even though the Kingdom is not souvereigned, it has a high degree of internal and cultural autonomy, and Koreans also settle in Amurland and Taiwan.

Japan: After a dynastical struggle in the 19th century, into which the European powers were heaviyl involved, of course, the country remains split. Germany protected one faction to establish itself on Hokkaido (and allowed it to also gain Sakhalin) to have a buffer and protection for Amurland. The main Japanese state, with its court and capital at Kyoto, tendentially is more friendly to Great Britain, but goes at great lengths to keep independance. Still, no Mejii restoration this TL.

Quing China: Just as IOTL, Quing China is a weak giant, unable to hold off the European powers. Plagued by constant uorisings and rebellions, it is even weaker than IOTL, and in fact more or less only held together by the European powers, who fear the radicalness of the revolutions. The European powers greatly exploit this weakness, establishing colonies and holdings (permanent and not "for 99 years" or somesuch) at Chinas coasts.

Tibet The Tibetans used the Quing weakness to establish their independance. Over time, they recovered more and more Tibetan settled lands, until most ethnically Tibetan lands were in their hands. This was greatly supported by the Brits, by whom Tibet is greatly influenced.

Formosa: Major battleground of the Chinese Civil War of the 17th century. As result, the Dutchw ere expelled, but neither Ming nor Quing managed to hold the by then devasted island. Hence, Prussia-Denmark invoked the concept of terra nullis, and gained possession of it. Thus it became German when the German Empire was founded. The island is mostly settled by Germans and Koreans, with minorities of Formosian natives and Chinese Min Speakers.

Philippines: Sold by Spain to Germany 1868. Gifted by Germany to Denmark two years after Denmark's independance as part of the deal to part on friendly terms.

Yunnan: Broke away from China in 1844 after a new serie of uprisings and revolutions en par with IOTL Taiping Revolution. Had to eventually submit to Siamese dominance.

Burman States and Tribes: The Brits conquered most of the Burman State, and what remained in the highlands were states and tribes of Burmanese, Karne,S han, Mon and other ethnicities.

Siam: The only remaining independant Indochinese power. Encroached by the Bris in the South in Malaya, and the French in the West in Tenasserim, and later alo by the Italians in the East, Siam had an increasingly uncomfortable situation. German diplomay managed to secure Siam as an ally in this situation, and with German help, Siam gained dominance over Yunnan and the Burmanese territories. In return, it ceded a zone for an isthmus canal to be built to Germany. While Siam is very solidly in the German camp, it still has managed to remain independant of it, unlike Korea.

Tenasserim, Burma: There was no Seven Years War this timeline. India is split between French and British territories, and that spilt over to Burma, too...

Italian Indochina: Italy took Vietnam from China in the Italian-Chinese War of 1873, and Cambodia from Siamese suzeranity in 1877. Ever since 1873, the Italian Indochinese-Siamese border has been redrawn time and time again, but with Siam a German ally now, has now stabilised.

Hainan: Occupied by Great Britain 1875 as a counter to Italy's influence. Not officially ceded by China, Britain has nontheless built up a colonial administration.

Sultanate Aceh: For a long time, the last remaining power in the Eats Indian Archipelago, the only state not conquered by the Ming, the Dutch or the Portuguese. Still, the Dutch and the British had ambitions there. Inspired by the Ottoman protetcorate over Midnanao, the Sultan of Aceh put his state under the protection of the conviniently far away Ottomans. Nontheless, the south of his lands he had to cede to the British and Dutch in order to receive recognition for this step by them.

Malay and South Aceh: A complicated structure holding together the various forms of British holdings in the region - dependencies, colonies, protectorates, vasall states.

Dutch East India: The traditonal dutch holdings in the region.

Portuguese East India: The Portuguese had been the first European power in the region, havinge stablished settlements since the 16th century. However, they lost most their colonies to the Dutch during the Time of the Spanish-Portuguese personal union. However, ITTL, the Portuguese eventually were able tor ecover their most traditional holdings in the East Indian Archipelago, the Spice Islands.

Empire of the Ming in Exile: An outgrowth of the Southern Ming, the remnaints of the Ming Dynasty in the Ming/Quing War after the fall of Beijing. Even afterwards the war went on for decades, allowing the Southrn Ming to establish them on Formosa (though they eventually lost control there again) and Borneo during that time. The Ming capital was officially moved to Borneo 1674.

New Guinea: As the late comers in the colonial business, the Italians had to take what was left over, and in Asia that were the jungles of New Guinea. The southernmost coast is a colony of a colony, to be specific, of Great Britains colony in Australia.

Hm, seems like this time its atcually attacheable. Ah, well, the advantages of gif.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=28185&stc=1&d=1179715101

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:25 PM

Highlander's, which did not require much explanation:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=28200&stc=1&d=1179760882

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:27 PM

And Dutchie with built-in exposition:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=28226&stc=1&d=1179884427

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:28 PM

And Atom:

POD: Cortez dies trying before reaching shore. The spanish never really get their acvt together, and eventually the franch step in and conuer mexico and the bulf area, but they never conquer the inca, instead just taking mexico's gold home. France is more succesful (I think) but England, Portugal, Denmark, Prussia, and the netherlands, also ammas colonial empires. Poland-lithuania lives on and Muscovy never conquers Novgorod, and they divide russian and the east of sibereia between themselves. The map is set in 1899

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=28235&stc=1&d=1179925623

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:32 PM

That round was won by Dutchie, with Diamond as runner-up.

So, round three: a fantasy continent with physical features. Not really impressive, and only 4 visible maps, so here's the winner, LordKraken.

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/2787/mapcontest23tr6.png

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:35 PM

I must add Thande did win the "Most Like a Cheesy 80s Video Game Map" award.

Round Four was battlefield maps.

EdT:

Mine is a scan from the 1947 edition of "Velhagen's Historical Atlas of America", showing the beginning of the Confederate Civil War, also known as the 3rd American Revolution. The timeline it comes from is a variant of the Turtledove 191 Timeline; here though the US has broken the Confederates rather more easily, with the result that the CSA is already on the ropes when the black revolt begins. The next few years will be confusing ones, as the USA balances trying to finish off Canada with protecting its southern border against the troubles occuring in the Confederacy, or what's left of it...

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=29038&stc=1&d=1181409879

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:37 PM

And Thande:

Disclaimer: I drew all this myself, including the basemap, so that's why Badajoz may have one or two more or less bastions than in reality Apologies for JPG but PNG was too big.

This map is from Look to the West (or may be) because Scarecrow insisted. It depicts the Relief of Badajoz in 1806, when the besieged Spaniards, even as the the Republican French were on the verge of victory, were saved by the arrival of an Allied army consisting of British, Hanoverian and Imperial North American forces led by Sir John Moore

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=29046&stc=1&d=1181429190

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:38 PM

Imajin:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=29398&stc=1&d=1181940582

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:40 PM

And (why the hell not) LightInfa's map of a 1905 invasion from Mars, African front.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=29485&stc=1&d=1182125415

B_Munro

December 9th, 2011, 11:41 PM

And EdT was the winner with Thande as runner-up.

More later: dinner beckons

Bruce

Kaiphranos

December 10th, 2011, 02:29 AM

Round 2, different 19th century colonization of a continent with post-1500 PODs.

EdT:

I like this one. Puritan Guarani? Heck yeah!

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 02:57 AM

Round Five, show the situation after the Great War using this cruddy map as a basemap.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=29724&stc=1&d=1182431094

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 02:58 AM

EdT:

The PoD is in 1642; the Royalists win the battle of Edgehill and march on London, ending the English Civil War almost before it starts. Charles I is not magnanimous in victory however, and rules with an iron fist until his asssassination in 1650. Britain's chronic instability lasts well into the 1700s and allows France to gain a more dominant position in the world; by the 18th century France is unquestionably the dominant power in Europe.

All this changes in 1748 though, when the combination of James IV's open Catholicism and general incompetence sparks a general revolution, sweeping the Stuart dynasty from power and establishing a popular Republic with very *interesting* millenial religious views. The resulting British revolutionary wars convulse Europe for a century, as the Holy Commonwealth enthusiastically exports its Gospel of "Liberty and Equality under God" by force.

Neither side is wholly successful however, and the later 18th and 19th century sees an increasingly illiberal French monarchy nervously eyeing the newly established republics to the north and east. By the later 19th century a conservative monarchist bloc of France, Spain and Sicily finds itself facing a disparate collection of countries including the British Commonwealth and dependents, a rapidly industrialising (and Christian) Japan and some of the Continental republics.

By the 1890s North America is more sparsely populated and less developed then OTL- settlement patterns are broadly comparable to what they were in the 1850s OTL. Pre-war America is dominated by French-ruled 'Canada' in the Northeast and 'Louisiana' in the Gulf and West; Virginia and new England remain aligned to the British Commonwealth (although the former in a very loose sense), while the rest of the Eastern seaboard is split between the New Netherlands and Calvania, originally founded as a refuge for Mennonites in the 17th century.

As more immigrants flood into North America, French rule in OTL's South East and Mid-West becomes more difficult; the new arrivals are not generally French speakers and resent the heavy-handed rule of the Governor. The catalyst for the Great War is the discovery of gold in California; in 1897 as the Mexican government tries to re-assert its control on the backwater province local leaders rebel, and declare an independent republic with British and Japanese support.

The resulting war is a long one, but the French and their allies lose decisively in North America; the victorious Virginians annex large chunks of French territory and establish several independent republics in lands that had previously been ruled from Paris. and Mexico City. In the North East the French-leaning Haudennosaunne Confederacy has been partition between the victorious allies, as Iroqouis refugees flee into friendly Canada...

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=29786&stc=1&d=1182505305

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:00 AM

Imajin:

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/9316/contestfpostwarxq0.png

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:01 AM

Nymain1:

The Great War has Begun!
On the side defending Freedom, honest and Justice, we have our Great Nation of Great Britain, with our most Honourable allies the Inca Empire, The Swedish Empire, parcipitaing in the North American conflict from the Nya Sverige colony.
Those against are great nation are the pityful Mexitlians, who claim part of our Sovreign lands of Carribea, which we legally colonised almost 200 years ago! The treacherous dogs of Russia, operating out of Aleutia, have sided them, though we all know that she has wanted revenge on our Swedish Friends since they lost 41 years ago in the Russio-Swedish war of 1856.

We can all recollect how 1493 when a small Spanish funded expedition found this new world. This as you doubtless recall led to many expiditions to America.
The first to be colonised by a Great nation was by our Swedish Friends who crossed the Great ice from Greenland and Founded the Nya Sverige, that is New Sweden in the Kings English.
Then when our allies told us of the Riches of this wonderous new land, furs and timber being the main ones, our Great king decided to fund our own colony in what is now Called Newfoundland. The Tales of Riches reached the ears of the Kings of Europe they all wanted in, with France founding the Terraluis colony, named after the King at the time.
Russia joined in by taking the Aleutian Islands, and the colony of Aleutia spread form there, eventually, because the Russian spent enormous amounts of money on it, spanned from one side of the Continent to the other. Though this rabid spending is cited by Historians as to a reason why they lost the Russio-Swedish War of 1856.
Though in time,after practiaclly being forgotten by the French king, who was more pre-occupied by defeats at home, Terraluis declared independance and renamed itself Mexitl, the name of a native God of War. Several Nations also claimed independance at this time, including Amazonia from the great and Ancient Inca Empire and the Bear Flag Republic, named after its Flag, first flown in its war of Independance.
Our Colony Spread down the coast, firstly Edwardsland was founded, after Prince Edward who set up the first City of the Colony, Fort Canturbury, which is now the Colonies capital.
Then the Darien Colony was attempted by the Scottish, before they became part of our glorious Union, from then on we took control and the colony flourished.
Soon there was more support for furthur colonies down the West coast, and thus the Wellington Colony was founded, named after the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellsey, who was its first governer, famed for his actions in the Napoleonic wars, and for his benevolent rule as Governer.
But Soon Wellington Colony became too large and split into two, upper and Lower Wellington. But foolishly the Governer of Lower Wellington. Baron De la Warr. was a harsh and cruel task master, and in the end his own colony Rebelled against him, spitting into 4 parts, the largest Being Yankia, named after the nickname of the inhabitants the Yankees.
Secondly there was New Kernow, mostly inhabited by Cornish, or the Cornish Decent, they declared independance, Kernow comes from the Cornish name for Cornwall. Then came Cambria, simarly to New Kernow, it was mostly inhabited by Welshmen, and they clamed this area. These two nations are closely tied, reasons cited include old ties to Ancient Celtic nations of which Cornwall and wales were once powerful figures.
What was left of Lower Wellington was retained by De la Warr, but he also declared independance, citing that the British Empire had abandoned him when his colony had falled apart.
We also took George island in the 1856 Russio-Swedish war, as a prize for Defeating the Russian Army in Aleutia, whilst the Swedish faught the Russians in Mainland Europe.
The Carribean Sea has been a recent hotspot for trouble, as the local war lords decline the islands have become ripe for colonisation, to protect themselves the smaller islands have banded together to form the Empire of the White Sands.
Mexitl has repeatedly shown an interest in the carribean, and its imperialistic Land Grabbing has shown once again that this band of barbarians cannot be trusted. Their Claim of our Island of Carribea, taken in the Napoleonic Wars from France, is that as a former French Colony it is legally owner of all former French Colonies. Though this is just ranting and raving of a nation who wants to break into the carribean to compete with the Yankee colony of New Yankee.

Thus we are led into war, with God on our Side, and courage in our hearts.

Huzzzar!

--- an Excerpt from the Speech made by General Sir Redvers Buller to troops about to march into Mexitl Lands from Darien

Here is the map given to troops to inform them of the Situation

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z101/Nymain/Contest28f29copy.png

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:02 AM

Thande is to blame for this one:

Didn't have much time, so: quick and dirty, but with a slightly different viewpoint.

The Great War saw the triumph of New France, California and Pennsylvania against their numerically superior opponents, illustrating the power of the armoured landship formation tactics developed in Pennsylvania in the 1890s. The New French have realised their ambition of destroying Virginian power, at least for a generation, but Mexico managed to come out of the war with an honourable armistice. The Pennsylvanians, though, may have bitten off more than they can chew...

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=29960&stc=1&d=1182864364

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:03 AM

Highlander:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=29981&stc=1&d=1182891563

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:07 AM

Highlander wins, with Imajin as runner-up.

Round Six: free for all.

Imajin:

The United States Constitution failed. The country splintered into a number of opposing states. In the Old Northwest, the British quickly illegally expanded their presence, and no united force could stop them- American presence in the region ended after the War of 1809 (New York and Kentucky vs. England). North America remains under British domination- the "American" states are all under British economic domination...

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=30379&stc=1&d=1183484454

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:08 AM

Highlander:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=30405&stc=1&d=1183514505

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:10 AM

Thande:

(When in doubt, Airships, if I may paraphrase)

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=30502&stc=1&d=1183564308

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:11 AM

EdT actually made a youtube film...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzUxHisMoEE

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:13 AM

Euio, making me check to see if my glasses need cleaning...

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=30547&stc=1&d=1183593613

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:15 AM

Constantinople did a sort of ugly one, but there are interesting ideas...

Here is the finished no mongols/empty america map ive been working on and testing for awhile.

The year is 1950 AD
Just so it is known. The Yellowish color are islamic states, the pale orange states
are minor christian states of various branches. The light purple color in northern
indian and in central asia is zoroastrianism. The puke color is hinduism. The light
blue colors are various chinese cultured states.

The three biggest changes are the mongol explosion has been butterflied away. Islam
did not advance quite as far, while not assimilating the local christians and
zoroastrians as much. The new world is empty, which was inspired by "Empty America"

Other things. Old French never gains prominance over Frankish. I feel the language
makes the people, so "france" is spit between the many language groups, and a Holy
Roman Empire equivalent rises in germany, and eventully includes a more german
northern "france".

Denmark unites scandanavia, much like in "Empty America" (except that was with
norway). Their "north american" possessions helps this..The Scandinavians are the
biggest colonizers of "America".

In the British Isles, things are as different as they are in france. There is never
a norman invasion. English remains a more germanic language. Wales is butterflied to
remain more independent, and most of england is eventully obsorbed by the Danes,
while northumbria becomes independent, and wales slowly gains more land in the west.
Scotland therefore has no real english threat from the conqured divided south.
Eventually Wales unites the stronger celtic realms. English becomes farily
unrecognisable to us. Many englishmen go to the colonies.

The Crusades are more sucessful against a smaller weaker Islam. The Romans benifit
from a more sucessfull cooperation with the west. Asia Minor remains mostly
nonturkish.

Oriental Orthodox Christianity is bigger, especially in Iraq and India.

Though China has collapsed, they were united under the song for some time.

Butterflies create a unrealisticly powerful Basque empire...

Islam makes very little inroads into Russia, and there are no mongols, sorussia is
much better off, the gains in central asia are unstable and possibly temporary.

The eastern religions, hinduism buddhism, are now the dominant religions of south
east asia and the east indies."

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=30819&stc=1&d=1184005198

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:19 AM

And euio won that one, with Highlander as runner-up.

On to round seven, the semi-finals: another fantasy map.

A mere three entries, alas.

Thande:

If anyone has read The Book of Lost Tales, this features Tolkien's earliest conception of the stories of The Silmarillion, and part of the book is told to a contemporary traveller from what we'd call Angeln. This is my attempt to depict the world at the time of the book, although some things are confused because Tolkien changed his mind a lot while writing the story. I've also invented a few things to fill the gaps.

Originally the island of Tol Eressea was the same as Britain, which travelled back over the waves to the Old World and was colonised by Men after the fading of the Elves.

Note Elvish names for OTL peoples such as the Ingwaiwar (Sons of Ing, the Ingvaeones) and Rumhoth for the Romans.

Thu, by the way, is an early name for Sauron.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=31158&stc=1&d=1184591690

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:20 AM

Imajin:

The great council of wizards, shocked with the progress of mankind, argued before the immortal Lord Parquat for a separation of the elite, the wise, and the hardworking to a floating island that would look down upon the lands below.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=31211&stc=1&d=1184686552

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:21 AM

And euio:

This one is a Numenorean cartographer's map of all of Middle Earth.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=31398&stc=1&d=1185026790

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:24 AM

Imajin won that. And now, on to THE FINAL ROUND OF CONTEST TWO!!!

Ogedai Khan lives 3 more months, 100 years later, five Mongol successor states in Europe or Asia, blah blah.

Imajin:

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb12/imajin8174/KHAAN2.jpg

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:25 AM

Dutchie:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=33417&stc=1&d=1187491550

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:26 AM

euio, still working inside a dense fog...

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=33776&stc=1&d=1187835779

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:28 AM

Thandes, alas, has vanished along with imajr.

And, for completeness' sake, Lordkraken:

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/4264/finalmapchallengeoj7.png

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 03:30 AM

And euio was the big winner.

The ill-fated contests III and IV, perhaps sometime this weekend...

Bruce

TurkishCapybara

December 10th, 2011, 03:45 AM

And euio was the big winner.

The ill-fated contests III and IV, perhaps sometime this weekend...

Bruce

How are these Map Contests Organized, anyway? Will there be Fortnight maps here? What are "Contests III and IV"?

B_Munro

December 10th, 2011, 05:28 AM

How are these Map Contests Organized, anyway? Will there be Fortnight maps here? What are "Contests III and IV"?

I am reposting what I think are the non-crappy maps from contests past. I have put up the maps from "Map Contest I" and "Map Contest II", which took place in 2006 and 2007. There were contests III and IV, but they didn't do as well, IIRC. These early map contests were multi-round and quite different from today's MOF contests. [1] I will get to the Fortnight maps eventually as I work forward in time, and plan to carry on to 2010, by which time we will be running into maps recent enough to be all too familiar.

Bruce

[1] I don't recall the details exactly, and can't be bothered to find out. :p

Atom

December 10th, 2011, 03:33 PM

Looking at my map makes me despair for the quality of my former spelling.

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:11 AM

For some reason part I of map contest III is not showing up: did someone give the thread a wierd name?

In any event, map contest III, part II: fragmented indonesia.

Imperator gives us a magazine cover:

A historical TIME cover, showing the deadly results of the Indonesian civil war.

The basic idea is that the Brits badly mishandle the Malay emergency - the communist insurgency proves uncontrollable and spreads to the rest of Borneo, destablizing Indonesia. After the Dutch pull out and retire to Western New Guinea, the nation fractures and breaks down along regional lines. As of 1959, the new countries are:

The People's Republic of Borneo, backed by Beijing and Moscow, which is locked in a never ending turf war with...

The Republic of Borneo, which is supported by the United States

Java has been split along ethnic lines, with the Javanese and Sundanese republics in a temporary cease-fire at the time of 1959.

Sumatra, Timor, and Celebes (Sulawesi) have split off to become independent nations.

The rest of the archipelago is occupied by the Indonesian Federation, essentially an Australian and American puppet that professes to be the "true" Indonesia.

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/2941/indocon2iy4.png

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:13 AM

euio continues to hurt my eyes...

This world diverges from OTL sometime in the Napoleonic Wars, ending up
with a stronger Bavaria and Netherlands, and a rump HRE including one
northern Germany and the Habsburg lands.

The Netherlands has recently lost a war, and most of its colonies were
partitioned.

Those who read the near-illegible hand-written notes on the map will be
rewarded by discovering an awesome steampunk world filled with
ornithopters and airships.

The seven new countries (and one remaining Dutch area) are:

Borneo, a British satellite,
Sumatra, another British satellite,
Celebes, a Habsburg satellite,
Molucca, a Yankeestani satellite,
Timor, a French satellite,
Jakarta, another French satellite,
Lesser Sunda, a Bavarian satellite,
and finally Java, which has remained Dutch.

The arrows are not actually part of the map, but were drawn on there by
the owner of the map, who also wrote the notes all over it.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=43164&stc=1&d=1203714179

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:14 AM

Philip with one L:

As of 1965, three years after the New York Agreement was signed, the Indonesian occupiers of western Papua had not allowed the mandated Act of Free Choice to proceed. The Netherlands, supported by the UK, petitioned the Security Council to take up the matter[1]. A resolution was pressed through calling for an immediate plebiscite concerning the future of western Papua under international supervision. The vote was held in early November, 1965 under the watchful eyes of officials from Australian and New Zealand.

To the surprise of some, the voters invited the Dutch to return and secure their newly founded nation from the ongoing Indonesian invasion. The Indonesian government viewed this as the result of British interference in their affairs, and the Indonesian-Malaysian Confrontation escalated. The British continued to support their former colony, further angering the Indonesians. The British (indirectly) and Malaysian (directly) efforts secured independence for Bangka-Belitung and some smaller isles in 1967. They continue to support ethnic Malay separatists in Riau. Many commentators expect Bangka-Belitung to seek admittance to the Malaysian Federation in the near future.

Concerned, rightly or wrongly, about recent religious wars such as the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 and the Six-Days' War, the Hindus of Bali and the Christians of eastern Timur declared their independence from Indonesia in early 1968. Timur requested and received protectorate status from Australia. Banjar rebels espousing Maoist doctrine and receiving Chinese support have begun an uprising in southern Borneo.

Citing a desire to just have peace, the residents of the northern Maluku islands separated from Indonesia in late 1969.

These are OTL items.
[1] POD. IOTL, the referendum was not held until 1969.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=43217&stc=1&d=1203735775

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:17 AM

Dutchie:

No Pearl Harbour => No US involvement in Asian Theatre WW2

Nipponese conquest of Netherlands East Indies

Anglo-Australian invasion of Java and Sunda Islands

Nipponese defeat is not total => Borneo and surrounding seas remain Nipponese posessions.
Other Indonesian areas are given various levels of autonomy.

Netherlands regains control of West New Guinea

Sumatra splinters along ethnic lines.

Post WW2 a cold war between Imperial Nippon and USA. US sponsors Sulawesi/Molucca capatalist rebellions.
1954 - Celebes War. US backing of Philipines invasion of the Celebes and Moluccas to support "freedon fighters" as a proxy for fighting against the Nipponese.

Sunda Islands are maintained as a Commonwealth Protectorate to protect shipping lanes, as the Malacca Strait is unstable, and passes through Nipponese zones.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=43311&stc=1&d=1203838613

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:18 AM

State of Norrissippi, TL never arrived...

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=43392&stc=1&d=1203942771

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:21 AM

Dutchie won that, with Imperator the runnerup.

And round III of contest III is alternate colonization again.

Kulkasha:

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:24 AM

Philip:

POD: Henry IV and Joanna La Beltraneja win the War of the Castilian Succession in 1478. The lone independent native state is Somalia. It survives primarily as a buffer between Iberian and Ottoman possessions. Oman was a client state of Iberia until the late 18th Century. When it broke away it took some Iberian possessions with it.

Clichés avoided: Congo is not in the hands of a minor power. Abyssinia/Ethiopia is not independent. I am sure there are many clichés I failed to avoid.

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/2599/challengeiiiafrica66ca0.png

TurkishCapybara

December 12th, 2011, 01:27 AM

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:32 AM

Zach:

POD: Columbus is blown off course and instead lands somewhere in North America. The Spanish then focus their colonization attempts in North America and the continents soon become known as North and South Columbia. The lack of gold does not really spark interest in other European nations who are slow to colonize. That is, until the Portuguese discover the rich Central and South American civilizations. They lead the way to conquest while the French, Dutch, British and Genoese get involved. And so forth. Later on, in an entirely different story, China and Russia get heavily involved and set up their own colonies.

I made a map of the Western Hemisphere until I read that I could only do one continent. South America is less-colorful, since it is primarily British colonies. I will post THAT map in the map thread.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/7466/alternatehistoryfinalrc9.png

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:33 AM

euio:

Charles the Rash isn't so rash.
You say: :confused:

I say: Who said the PoD had to be related to colonisation?

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=43760&stc=1&d=1204484485

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:34 AM

Wilcoxchar:

Here's my contribution. The POD is that Napoleon makes a lasting peace with Britain after the Treaty of Pressburg in 1806.

The map is from 1898, after the Spanish-American War that, among other things, guaranteed the independence of the Sultanate of Morocco.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=43766&stc=1&d=1204488516

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:36 AM

ChucK Y:

POD August 1461 Louis XI of France dies three weeks after his coronation. The succession of his infant son Charles is disputed by supporters of his brother Charles, Duke of Berry. The dispute turns into civil war, and then into a three-sided war when Edward IV of England invades. Both Charles' die during the war, and Edward declares himself King of France. Civil war erupts. Edward manages to suppress his opposition, but revolt is just under the surface.

During the sixteenth century, the Hapsburg dynastic ambitions are butterflied away.

1494 Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) sails for Frederick I of Denmark, searching for a northern passage to the Indies. He reaches the North American mainland and explores down the coast. He calls the lands he finds Markland and Vinland, from the Lief Ericksen saga.

1496 Christopher Columbus is convinced that Caboto has found the Indies, and is finally able to convince Isabella to finance an expedition.

1506 Willem Martel of Frankfurt begins the Erneuerung (Renewal) movement [roughly OTL Reformation]. Joined by Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli and others, the Erneuerung is accepted relatively peacefully in the Germainis. In France, it triggers a long series of dynastic and religious wars that devastate France. France ends up partitioned. Savoy is among the winners.

1535-40 The Spanish conquer the Aztec Empire.

The Germans produce two major powers in the seventeenth century, The Austro-Prussian Empire in the east, and Neiderdeutschland in the west.
After the Second Baltic War, Denmark is forced to cede Markland to the Austro-Prussian Empire.

England, preoccupied with France, is late getting into colonization.

After Sweden leaves the Kalmar Union, both Denmark-Norway and Sweden have colonies in the New World.

North America comes to be named Hy Brasil.

Spain is unsuccessful in many of its wars, and is forced to cede Mississippi to Neiderdeutschland, Florida to Britain, and Texas to Aquitaine. Later its other colonies secede to become independent nations.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=43782&stc=1&d=1204506204

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:37 AM

Dutchie:

(To paraphrase: A TL? Hell with that)

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/5461/northtudoriagg3.gif

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:39 AM

EdT:

PoD: Charles the Bold lives a full life, and as a result Burgundy becomes a major European Power. Butterflies mean that the Americas are discovered by the English, who soon colonise the Caribbean and Mexico. North America (or 'Brazil' ITTL) is heavily colonised by many nations, most notably France and Burgundy. When the latter undergoes upheaval in the late 18th century the majority of her colonial possessions break away to form an independent republic; other interesting divergences in the *North America of 1900 include a Basque microstate on OTL's Isle of Anticosti, Danish rule in OTL's Canada and surviving Native states amongst the Iroqois and the Sioux (who have intermingled with Danish and Burgundian settlers similar to the Metis of OTL)

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=43880&stc=1&d=1204670458

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:42 AM

freodhoric:

I based this map heavily off of Dale Cozort's "Spain Colonize South Carolina, 1526".

Ayallon's attempt to settle South Carolina in 1526 succeeds. Disease kills most of the Indians that DeSoto traded with on his expedition, which leads to failure of same. Thus, DeSoto doesn't meet and kill Tuscaloosa, who goes on to found a kingdom. The Ayallon colony supplies the Appalachee as a buffer against Tuscaloosa. The DeLuna colony succeeds because there are Indians to trade with because DeSoto didn't come through and kill them all. Huguenots settle in Virginia. The English focus on Canada in rivalry with the French.

My stuff:

New England: The English king grants Nova Scotia (more-or-less Massachusetts) to a Scottish nobleman as a reward and in hopes that that will get rid of some rebellious Scots. The Scottish nobleman strikes a deal with some Welshmen to allow them separate courts and limited self-government (something similar almost happened in Pennsylvania OTL) if they will settle and develop the area around Narragansett Bay. Many of the Welsh that OTL settled in Patagonia, settle in Nova Scotia instead. The area now has de facto independence.

California: Date Masumune is much more successful courting European powers. By the time he is ousted from power in Japan, he has built a small fleet. He takes this fleet and sails east. He makes land-fall in OTL California and claims most of the Long Valley. Naval power is deemed a necessity by the young colony, and Hawaii is discovered several years later. Through a policy of intermarriage, the Hawaiian royalty is almost Japanese and the two realms are nigh united.

Or, Date lands on Hawaii and conquers the Islands, but realizes his people need more land so he sends out explorers. One finds the California coast (hard to miss?), Date realizes that this is ideal, and moves most of his people there. That would explain the wannabe-pseudo-Japanese name i gave Hawaii better. Wikipedia says that Yoshi was Date's mom.

South America: Doesn't count for the challenge, but somehow or another, the Welsers keep Venezuela. Federmann lives, perhaps.

oops, almost forgot Dinetah. All the men New Spain has in DeLuna aren't available when needed to fight the Chichemics. Still, they're defeated and retreat north. Most are absorbed into the Navajo, who are thus much stronger than OTL. Louisiana supports the native nations on it's borders (Dinetah, Tuscaloosa, Iroquois) as buffers.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=43906&stc=1&d=1204695301

Kaiphranos

December 12th, 2011, 01:45 AM

Dutchie:

(To paraphrase: A TL? Hell with that)

I'm sort of curious how Mexico came to be called by the Quechua name for the Inca Empire... :p

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:45 AM

And here's VulkanTrekkie45, solely because I like the color effects. :D

In 1518, Cortes and his fleet met disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, enconutering a storm which sunk the entire fleet, leaving no survivors. As a result, the Aztec Empire kept expanding, and when contact was finally established with them in the late 16th century, their empire was the most powerful in the Americas. They eventually began expanding across the oceans, and founded a colony in Australia in the late 17th century, using imported European technology. Elsewhere, the Dutch established a colony in Australia when they completed the first circumnavigation of Australia. The British likewise established a colony in Botany Bay. Majapahit as well expanded into Australia, while the Ottomans, looking elsewhere for conquests, took over Tasmania. By 1750, the colonial claims were starting to overlap with one another, to such an extent that it could have caused a war. However, the enlightened minds of the British decided to negotiate a treaty to end the disputes. China mediated, and created three neutral states along the coasts, to be inhabited jointly by the two neighbouring imperial powers, as well as by the indigenous peoples. The current year is 1810.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=43746&stc=1&d=1204435620

Emperor-of-New-Zealand

December 12th, 2011, 01:48 AM

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:48 AM

EdT won that one, with euio as runner-up.

So, part IV of III: 100 AD, Alexander got it in the neck at Guagamela.

Dutchie:

Submission: Recenlty unearthed and claimed to be the legendary Shiled of Nexandros (to be verified) this image shows the Adriat general's war shield with its depiction of the 'known world and it's civilizations' (descirbed by Tinous the Historian in his epic work Greeks in the West)

Explanation:
With the defeat and death of Alexander of Macedon at Gaugamela after his foolish battle with Darius of Persia, the shambling Eastern empire swallows up Near Asia and the Greek/Macedon homeland. The best of the Greeks flee to their Western Colonies and establish what will be know as the Adriat Greek city-states.

400 years later the Adriats have established themselves in the lower half of Latinia and in Dalmatia.

The Gallau have crossed the Alpes into the Ponian plain in northern Latinia.

The Cartegos have grown from their original Phoenician trading post into a merchant empire spanning the western Mesogeios Sea. The Aegyps control the eastern Mesogeios - the Persians never having made a serious attempt at being a naval power.

The final cultures of significance at the time and depicted are the Pannina and Armaena to the north of the Adriat Greeks and Persians respectively. These secondary powers of the time belie their future importance to history.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=44183&stc=1&d=1205080338

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:50 AM

Kind of disappointing that nobody did any alternate colonisations of Asia or the ancient times (i.e., different ethnic migrations). Were they really all of Africa and North America? Or was that the only choice?

Edit: Predictably, I get ninja'd by a map that is neither North America nor Africa...

Also, I am only putting maps I think are fairly good: there were a couple India maps, but I didn't think much of them. (Flag-cover maps are the work of the devil! :mad: )

Bruce

TurkishCapybara

December 12th, 2011, 01:51 AM

I'm sort of curious how Mexico came to be called by the Quechua name for the Inca Empire... :p

The Inca were bored and took over there northern neighbors, leading to the division of the empire into two, which means that the surviving state, based in Tenochitlan, is also the Inca Empire, like the Byzantine Empire was also called the Roman Empire?

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:52 AM

VulcanTrekkie45:

A map from a history book, dated around 1900 AD. It shows the results of the Perso-Roman war, with Rome giving up Illyria.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=44433&stc=1&d=1205471044

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:53 AM

Chuck Y:

To: Director, Timescoop Project
From: Research Dept.
Re: TL 863464

Despite Alexander's death, Persia was unable to push the Macedonians out of all its previous territory; the Macedonians wre able to retain Eqypt and part of Asia Minor. The Persian Empire continued to stagnate, and was ultimately conquered from the East by the Maurya Empire. Rome defeated Carthage, and supported the client states of Macedonia and Egypt against the ambitions of the Maurya Empire.

Attached is a map from a historical text showing the area of interest some 400 years after Alexander's time.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=44336&stc=1&d=1205292455

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:56 AM

And the winner of this round, alas, was one of those whose maps vanished with an unreliable storage media: Imperator, whose map sank with it's imajr link. :(

On to round V of contest III: another fantasy map.

EdT:

The Planet Jord closely orbits a star far smaller then our own sun. As a result, it's a cold place that is only truly hospitable around a thin band near the Equator; the rest of the world is a howling icy wilderness. Civilisation on Jord is a relatively new concept, and the planet has seen its first Empires coalesce; to the west, the priest-kings of Ikor rule a massive land of different peoples and tribes, while at the other end of the Great Sea trading states are emerging along the shores of Kolet Bay...

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=44858&stc=1&d=1206027856

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 01:56 AM

euio:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=44904&stc=1&d=1206126020

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:00 AM

VulcanTrekkie45 (interesting texture):

Here's mine. It was carved on the throne room wall of the Kuranmi Imperial Palace, depicting the known world. The Kuranmi are the people in the south center of the map.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=44917&stc=1&d=1206151293

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:01 AM

Azardin:

BREAKING NEWS:

Brought to you only by the Gears of Tellus ((c) 3E1871, Nova Argentum)

The Confederate Airship Callisto has been lost! Reports are sketchy, but on its attempt to fly over the continent of Coensland something happend. What that is, the Confederal Government is not telling, although the wires across our boards are a light with rumors as far away Cassus and Azîra that something else is afoot!

The last known whereabouts of the airship were...

((c) 3E1871, Nova Argentum)

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb290/different_worlds_westerly/MapContest-Coensland.png

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:02 AM

m2thet5678:

This is a map of the magical industries of the Averigui Empire, 965 years after the fall of the One (the religion is pretty much monotheistic). The West is very developed, the East lags behind.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=45010&stc=1&d=1206376587

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:03 AM

Calcion:

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2460/mapjectoc1.png

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:04 AM

ChucK Y:

The Journey of Polwin
During the Third Interregnum

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=45033&stc=1&d=1206406490

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:05 AM

Zach:

The first few lines in the upper right corner have been translated roughly into the following. The remaining three notes have not yet been translated, scholars believe that they are about plans for military endeavors.

Quote:
REPRESENTING YEAR 56 OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY'S REIGN

Though the world is still dominated by more nation's than what is good for it, His Imperial Majesty's Just Empire of Taloon e' Forridoor will soon conquer all and spread our glorious rule to all corners of the world.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2400/mapfx0.jpg

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:07 AM

LightInfa:

A map of the world showing the Elsaasbian invasions of 3495 during the Great Conflict.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=45089&stc=1&d=1206541563

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:11 AM

And the winner was Zach, with Azardin and LightInfa tied for second.

Round VI: battle or campaign map

euio:

My map - the Partition of France during the Second Great War.

All errors in the names are intentional.

Explanation will be given on request

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=45709&stc=1&d=1207531487

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:13 AM

AirshipArmada, very professional-looking:

The POD actually happens before the battle of Tippecanoe begins, but does not manifest until #4 on my map.

From Combined Arms Research Library web site:

"Harrison searched for men to restore the line. A fortuitous mistake provided him with a company of Indiana militia. Someone had mistakenly ordered Captain David Robb's company from its position in Major Wells' command. An officer recognized the error and held the company in place near the center of the encampment. Harrison, advised of the available company, ordered Robb to move to aid Spencer's and Warrick's companies."

In ATL Captain Robb never receives the mistaken orders, so his men are not available to strengthen the Southern side of the camp. It would take longer to get the men needed and Gov. Harrison is killed. -- Killing Harrison was the primary goal of the attacking Indians.

Aftermath: 203 Americans were killed and another 368 wounded. Harrison is dead and the expedition is forced away from Prophetstown in defeat. In OTL the Indian defeat at Tippecanoe sent Techumsa's cause into decline. He felt forced to align himself very closely to the British in the War of 1812. In ATL the battle makes the Prophet's prestige grow even larger (as does his brother's, Techumsa). Techumsa does not get killed in the British war but dies in 1813 in the Battle of Red Sticks where Andrew Jackson is also mortally wounded.

http://www.amateurgeek.com/AltHist/Images/tippecanoe.jpg

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:15 AM

Aaand those were the only two still visible. Fortunately, since AirshipArmada was the winner and euio the runner up.

And for the final round, an alternate WWI sparked by one of the Balkan wars.

euio:

The Great War ends in a stalemate, with both sides too worn out for more war. The resulting peace is a compromise, though Russia has loads o' new states carved out of it because it's in the middle of a civil war, which ends with the partial balkanisation of Russia (The Democratic Republic of Russia depicted on the map doesn't extend far past the Urals).

Austria-Hungary still colapses at the end of the War, though less - Austria keeps the German-speaking areas of South Tyrol, as well as the Sudetenland. Bohemia and Hungary are in a personal union (yes, it's just like the Fourteenth Century!).

The map takes place in the 50s, and decolonisation is beginning (which involves the "Mediteranean Crisis", if you're wondering).

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=46797&stc=1&d=1209333429

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:16 AM

Zach:

When Greek King George I was assassinated by an anarchist on May 23rd, 1909, his son Constantine I took the throne. He was pro-German, fiercely nationalistic and an advocate of militarism and Greek expansion.

The First Balkan War 1912-13 ended in victory for the Balkan League comprised of Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia against the Ottoman Empire resulting in territorial gains for the small European countries. At the peace conference, the Greeks clamored for Thrace and gained it.

The Second Balkan War 1913-14 was a war between Bulgaria and Greece over Thrace and Macedonia which both countries claimed. Serbia joined the Bulgarian side while Montenegro sided with Greece. Austria-Hungary, wishing to see Serbia weakened, supported Greece over Bulgaria. The strong ties with Austria and Germany helped Greece in the war and it proved victorious in March, 1914. Greece and Montenegro gained negligible territories but Bulgaria and Serbia (especially Serbia) were severely weakened.

A coup in September, 1914 puts in a more militaristic government in Serbia who do nothing to stop the activities of disgruntled veterans. In their most significant act of terrorism, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary is assassinated in Sarejevo on February 14th, 1915.

Austria demands a lot of Serbia who reject it, Russia comes to Serbia's aide who had always suspected AH of interfering in Second Balkan War. Blank check by Kaiser to Austria, mobilization, etc. same as OTL. Only difference is that Greece is part of Central Powers along with Ottomans, Germans and Austrians vs. Entente (UK, FR, Russia, Serbia and Bulgaria).

Italy decides to join the Entente in early 1916 in order to gain territory from Austria and Greece. On May 5th, 1916 three American ships are torpedoed by German submarines (2 in Atlantic, 1 in Med). After stern warning, Germans do it again on May 10th when RMS Lusitania is sunk. Americans declare war on July 20th, 1916.

Course of war -
Same except in Balkans:
Anglo-American-Italo invasion of Greece in 1917, tough fighting, brings stronger ties between US and Italy. Heavy fighting but Entente naval superiority ensures victory.

Stronger American presence on the Continent. Main focus of Americans are in Greece because Anglo-French don't want too much American influence in postwar setting. War drags on in Greece forever.

Eventually, everyone sues for peace in 1919 because everyone is exhausted. Greece gets the shortest end because it was nearly occupied by Italians, Americans, Brits. Germany loses A-L, keeps monarchy, loses a bit to Poland. Russia remains imperial but very much weakened with a number of buffer states formed from revolutionary movements. Austria-Hungary broken up but Hapsburgs remain. Greece gets the worst end of the bargain, being divided between Italy and Bulgaria.

Americans disgusted as Italy for gaining so much and overall rejection of L o N and goes into isolation after losing so much for so little.

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/7370/mapcontestimprovedvg2.png

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:18 AM

Dutchie:

November 5, 1911
First Balkan War - Greece, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria vs. Ottoman Empire
August 8, 1912
Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria join to form Rumelia
January 5, 1913
Ottoman Empire declares war on Rumelia
January 8, 1913
Greece declares war on Ottoman as part of Balkan League
January 23, 1913
Germany declares war on Balkan League in support of Ottoman
February 16, 1913
Russia declares war on Ottoman in support of Balkan League
February 18, 1913
Germany declares against Russia
February 18, 1913
Austro-Hunaria declares against Russia and Balkan League
May 4, 1913
France declares war on Germany in support of Russia
August 11, 1913
Due to German warships in Black Sea, Russia invades Rumania en route to Balkan League and Ottoman
August 15, 1913
Rumelia invades Albania
August 26, 1913
Britain/Portugal declare war on Russia over Rumania and Rumelia over Albania invasions, in support of Ottomans
1913
Britain and France remain mutually neutral, due to Entente Cordial, but uneasily
1914

The grind of war
September 5, 1914
Cordial Entente is officially 'suspended'
January 21, 1915
Brazil declares war on France, invades French Guiana (attempt to distract internal attention from Contestado War)
January 30, 1915
France declares war on Brazil and Portugal over invasion of French Guiana
February 6, 1915
Britain declares war on France
April 17, 1915
Republic of China declares war on Allies - Russia/France forgive Boxer Rebellion reparations/France withdraws from areas east of Pearl River.
April 18, 1915
China overruns British/German enclaves. Hong Kong falls to ROC forces after 71 day siege
June 8, 1915
China annexes Tibet
Global War in Europe, S. America, Asia, Africa. Australia and Canada involved in fighting for the British in Europe and Asia. United States, Italy, Spain, Scandanavia and Benelux countries remain neutral.

Treaty of Rome – January 1919
· Cessation of all hostilities between European powers (including colonies)
o Conflict continues against China
· France, Russia, Balkan League (Coalition Powers) conditionally surrender to the Allies (GB, Germany, AH, Ottomans)
· France is stripped of most African colonies, though keeps Mauretania and Algeria, Madagascar. Germany claims Tunisia. Much of French Africa is joint administered between Germany & Britain
· Britain claims Corsica
· Buffer state created between Germany and France – Federated Provinces of Burgundy. In reality, a German puppet
· France cedes Guiana to Brazil, Martinique to Portugal
· Russia Surrenders most European territories, creating new states of Poland, Finland, Lithuania and German Balkan Republic. Germany annexes Courland.
· Russia loses territory in Caucasus to Ottoman and to new buffer states (Georgia, Armenia)
· Russian influence in Persia is ended, with personal royal union between Persia and Britain. Central Asian Republic is carved out of Russian territory north of Afghanistan/Persia
· Rumelia loses Thessaly and Moesia/Thrace to Ottomans, Kosovo and N. Macedonia to Albania
· Greece loses most Aegean islands to Ottomans. Germany takes Crete.
· China gains territory from the British and Germans, as well as the territory ceded control by France and Russia in negotiations to have China enter the war. Tibet remains in Chinese hands for now. Japanese territory on the mainland is maintained.

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:19 AM

EdT:

PoD: 1903. Alexander Obrenović gets wind of the plot to assassinate him and strikes first, gutting the Serbian military. Without the influence of the Karageorgevics, Serbia remains relatively pro-Austrian, altering the power-structure of the Balkans considerably. When Greece and Bulgaria declare war on Turkey in 1912 and the Turkish armies collapse, Austria enourages Serbia to annex the northern part of Albania to prevent it coming under Greek or Italian influence. Increasingly Bulgaria becomes the Russian ally of choice in the region.

The European peace staggers on for another few years, but in early 1919 a Pan-Slavist throws a bomb at King Alexander, killing him. Serbian-Bulgarian relations deteriorate, and when Austria support's Serbia's demand for reparations from Bulgaria, it is the spark that leads to a general conflict. Six years later the Great Powers are exhausted, and a compromise peace is negotiated in Stockholm. The collapse of Austria-Hungary left Serbia occupied and isolated with a Montenegrin dynasty installed, and as the Allies create an Albanian State the Serbs are compensated with chunks of Bosnia.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=47257&stc=1&d=1209919202

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:21 AM

And the winner is...imperator. Who, again, has a missing map (EdT was the runner up). He's still around, right? Perhaps we could PM him to see if he still has a copy of his old contest maps?

Bruce

B_Munro

December 12th, 2011, 02:22 AM

Anyhoo, map contest IV in a day or two.

Bruce

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:37 AM

Map contest IV, round I: the US accepts Churchill's crackpot notion of opening a front in the Balkans.

Nicole:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=58289&stc=1&d=1228156282

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:38 AM

Rekjavik:

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/7159/map1yf8.png

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:39 AM

ImperialVienna:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=58303&stc=1&d=1228174594

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:40 AM

Highlander (pretty, but WTF)

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/3240/entryyj4.jpg

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:42 AM

Guderian's Beard (points for effects)

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=58322&stc=1&d=1228221316

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:43 AM

Ampersand:

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6361/mapcontestivac1.jpg

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:44 AM

Jman (seriously, I'm being soft-hearted here)

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=58333&stc=1&d=1228247482

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:47 AM

Dutchie (gol-durn PDFs):

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:48 AM

Benkarnell:

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/althistory/images/5/52/Europe1955%28BalkanInvasion%29.PNG

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:50 AM

Wilcoxchar:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/wilcoxchar/MapContestIVRound1.png

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:51 AM

Blomma:

http://i35.tinypic.com/14mw775.jpg

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:52 AM

Kabraloth:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=58712&stc=1&d=1228642499

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:53 AM

Rex Brittaniae:

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk101/thewanderingjew/MapContest4Round1.png?t=1228713870

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:57 AM

And the winner was Ampersand, with Guderian's Beard as runner-up.

Round two of contest four: To create a divided India of some time between January 1st, 1900 to December 31st, 1950 that has at least six native nations and no more than six colonial territories. Your PoD must be pre-colonial PoD.

Rekjavik:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=58986&stc=1&d=1229039173

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:58 AM

Dutchie (1925, actually)

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=59101&stc=1&d=1229328299

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 04:59 AM

Gandavien:

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q18/Gandavien/MapContestIVRoundII.png

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 05:03 AM

Ampersand:

The PoD here is a less successful Khosrau II, that after a short and damaging war with the Roman Empire, retreats to its former boundaries. This prevents Islam from spreading through Sassanid and Roman lands. This, however, doesn't block the Arabian populational pressure from erupting somewhere. Most of the Arabian expansion occurs on Eastern Africa, from Abyssinia and Somalia to Zanzibar.

As a side effect, there is no decadence of Buddhism in India by the 7th and 8th centuries. The Asian nomad hordes that would eventually conquer Persia and Northern Hind (India) convert to Buddhism, Manicheism or even Hinduism mixed with original Tengriism. So, as the centuries passes, the Indian Northwest is heavily Buddhist, with large Hindu and Manichean minorities.

TTL India is one of the major seats of world power, competing with the Near East and the Middle East for economic and political dominance over the world.

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/316/indiamapcontestivsmallczb0.jpg

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 05:09 AM

too damn many of the maps on this thread, including that of the winner (Scarecrow) and one of the runners up (Lord Kraken) were missing, so we only have two of the three runners-up: Ampersand and Dutchie.

Here, have some freodhoric. Map contest 4 will continue tomorrow: I'm going to bed.

:(

My TL notes:
Kura-Araxes culture maintains its vigor for an extra century, extensive trade with the Andronovo culture leads to adoption of chariots, but is overwhelmed in the Andronovo's 2nd millenium BC migrations. Refugees introduce chariotry to the Harappan Empire.

Countering Andronovon migrations, the Harappans implement chariotry tactics, effectively shunting more of the Indo-Aryans to the west than OTL. These new tactics allow the Harappans to conquer much of north-central India, ultimately extending to Burma.

Harappan trade networks expose their scientific knowledge to the wider world, as well as providing a link for cross-pollination of ideas between Greece and China.

Harappan merchants invent printing press using clay bricks to make letters

Carthaginian influence spreads along the Atlantic coast.

Need to marginalize the Romans somehow.

A few things to add:
Assyrians form lasting empire,
Greeks hold Egypt, Black Sea area
fall of Carthaginians is TTLs Dark Ages Equivalent, Celtic successor states,
Treaty Cities are markets and DMZs, very important, were influential Harappan cities, sacked and rebuilt.
__________________

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=59233&stc=1&d=1229628592

Analytical Engine

December 15th, 2011, 01:36 PM

Coolness. I remember many of these maps from waaaaaaaaay back. :cool:

LSCatilina

December 15th, 2011, 03:40 PM

Hey! Why my map for round I isn't here? It's the first i've ever made!

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 06:43 PM

Hey! Why my map for round I isn't here? It's the first i've ever made!

I'm afraid this is all that is left of it.

http://nsa03.casimages.com/img/2008/12/08/081208083958385946.png

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 06:47 PM

Ok: round III, wierd new world.

Krall:

Colombus sails West to find a strange land filled with strange people. Gradually he and his crew begin to understand the nature of this New World more and more. A nation known as The Patriarchy politically and religiously dominates this land, using governments and tribes loyal to it as its enforcers. Chief among these enforcers are the two Domains, the Domain of the Kukanai and the Domain of the Chokoni. On this first trip Colombus meets with representatives of the Chokoni who welcome him and flaunt the wonders of their realm, their vast cities and entire armies with gold-plated armour.

The King of Spain finds this all very interesting, and a second journey soon begins. This time Colombus sails West, to where the Kukanai and the Patriarchy itself are said to lie. First he visits many coastal nations, from Gui Hui to Shoyu Assa, before finally coming into contact with the Kukanai. They give Colombus an audience with their Emperor. They feast upon the many delicacies on offer in a vast garden constructed in the middle of a vast marble citadel. Soon Colombus is permitted an audience with the Patriarch himself.

Whilst the Emperor of the Kukanai and the various representatives Colombus had met were all welcoming and relatively casual, the Patriarch is not. Whilst the Patriarch does not denounce Colombus and his nation he seems to make it his task to intimidate him. Colombus is forced to climb a giant, golden staircase, at the top of which a throne sits with a large, dark grey-skinned man sits. His head and face are obscured by his large, black mask, a garment forever fixed in a sneer, looking down at Colombus as he wearily collapses at the Patriarch's feet. Whilst visiting the Patriarch Colombus is witness to many miracles. The Patriarch first turns crude oil into water. When Colombus speaks of Jesus the Patriarch then turns the water into wine. The Patriarch claims to be the chosen one of God, the holy representative of Him on Earth. Colombus falls before his feet, believing this to be true.

When he returns to Europe he is accused of blasphemy by some, and they are accused of blasphemy by others. Wars rage over the Patriarch and his place in religion, but, soon enough, the New World sends its own ships and men, and finds the Old World at a disadvantage...

http://www.deviantart.com/download/107262838/The_New_World_by_Kurarun.png

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 06:48 PM

Gandavien:

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q18/Gandavien/MapContest.png

LSCatilina

December 15th, 2011, 06:48 PM

I'm afraid this is all that is left of it.

http://nsa03.casimages.com/img/2008/12/08/081208083958385946.png

Damn.

My ego command me to do this.

http://www.deviantart.com/download/105852565/Anno_1954_by_LSCatilina.png

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 06:50 PM

Jman (EVERYONE's been there before Columbus... :) ):

In 1492, sailing for the crown of Spain, Christopher Columbus sets foot on an island which in OTL would be called Puerto Rico. He claims the land for Spain and Christendom. Little does Columbus know this land is already part of a formidable empire, and that he has just declared war on New Carthage.

ITTL coming to America is no new thing. People have been doing it throughout history... they just haven't come back to the Old World to tell about it, either because they want to keep the profits to themselves or fled to America becuase they have nowhere to go back to.

This map is of the world as the exiled American Romans know it, although it is obviously more accurate than the maps they actually make. If the Latin is a little off, that's because over the centuries it's changed into an American Vulgate, not because it's been a while since highschool Latin

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=59452&stc=1&d=1230141387

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 06:53 PM

Nicole:

North Trinidad, 1700 AD.

How the New World became known as Trinidad is heavily debated, but the most common explanation is a Spanish corruption of the capital of the Southern Empire, Teka-ne-don, associating it with the Spanish word for the Trinity. Other explanations include feast days on which discoveries occurred, etc. It is heavily debated in academic circles to this day.

The Elvish peoples who occupy the largest part of this continent formed scattered principalities around the Gulf and the island of Ocana. The bulk of the principalities were united under the Old Empire around 700 AD, excepting those on Ocana and several in the area now occupied by Maryland. The Old Empire lasted until the Great Division of 1231, where the Dark Elves of the south and the Light Elves of the north agreed to part ways. Civil wars consumed the North Empire, while the South Empire fell under increasing attack by the Diaboli, a sea-dwelling wild amphibious race of monsters who dwell in the oceans that bear their name and terrorize and lay waste to a large amount of the land, much of which remains untamed in this period. They are not to be confused with the Sea People, a more civilized and intelligent amphibious people whose kingdom was a traditional vassal of the Old Empire, now a vassal of the Southern Empire, though Spanish influence has been growing and much of the population has become Catholic.

The 1492 journey of Christopher Columbus and the meeting of the New World with the Old World changed many things. Over time the Spanish established themselves on what is now called the Columbian Peninsula, where posts were established to trade with the wealthy Southern Empire. The Dutch established the Trinidad Company, which became quite wealthy and gained from the Emperor of Ocana a monopoly on trade between the island Empire and the West, and another lucrative trading post in the South at Terra Factory. France has begun expanding their trade in the north, a lightly-populated land primarily by the human Inuit, though their claims seem likely to bring them into conflict with Ocana, which sees the north as being its land of influence, and has looked upon the establishment of the French settlement at St-Louis with some concern.

California, a human kingdom of the west part of the continent occupying a rocky and barely inhabitable island, deserves some mention. Ruled by a matriarchal group of Amazons, it has often kept itself out of Elvish politics, separated as it is by the Dragon plains, of which crossing is difficult and fierce, though a thriving trade has gone up with the Southern Empire in more recent years, and it has had historically good relations with the Asian nations of the East. It remains in this time a subject of many myths of its wealth and power

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=59454&stc=1&d=1230145924

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 06:56 PM

VulcanTrekkie, in three parts, since it's definitely a BAM.

After the tearing asunder of the Great Empire of the Elves and the War of Gabigatholian Succession, the New World was an absolute mess, politically speaking. Therefore, the European powers sat down in the Mannish city of Ghent, and laid out once and for all the boundaries between the "civilised" states of the New World.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=59582&stc=1&d=1230438225

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=59583&stc=1&d=1230438491

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=59584&stc=1&d=1230438645

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 06:57 PM

Damn.

My ego command me to do this.

Hey, if anyone sees that their map is missing and has a copy they want to post, I have no problem at all.

Bruce

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:00 PM

Continuing round III of contest IV:

Guderian's Beard:

my map. Basically I replaced the American continent with a Fantasy continent complete with stereotypical fantasy nations and semi-historical ones. Date is somewhere around 1550 AD

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=59610&stc=1&d=1230501217

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:03 PM

Wilcoxchar:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/wilcoxchar/AmericasMapContest2.png?t=1230506196%3C/a%3E

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:04 PM

Nymain:

Columbus spots the new world and suddlenly sunk by a hurricane

This leads to a very different Carribean

(A. R Briittany is the Autonomous Republic of Brittany, a French holding which administrates the chain granted to it)

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo160/Nymain1/ygicopy.png

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:05 PM

Selerious:

In this timeline, Columbus Crosses the Atlantic and spots land. Landing at the beach did not go so well when he was approached by people brandishing primitive Hand cannons. After the ship was captured it was sailed to the nearby city of Stumalia, where he was to learn how the American continent Had been Colonised by the early Antaleans before the island sank. They had come to dominate most of the America's (The Far north and most of South America still has the Remnants of the Centuar people that once controlled the entire Continent.)

From here Europe will not colonise, but trade.

The Political situation is a tense one, the continent is split in two over religious issues (Negoth, Coroloban, Rithumel and the Mipalia Free Cities, vs Uranamal, Deltand, Arcene and Fellantina). The Rebsend Islands, The City-State of Nimjal and the Kingdom of Consulous normally stay out of this confilct. Technology wise the American States are about 70 or so years behind Europe, but still have primitive Gunpowder Weapons which should advance quickly with contact to europeans.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=59639&stc=1&d=1230541848

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:07 PM

LylyCSM2:

The New World is populated by Werewolves (Lycathropes), Centaurs in and Dwarves (Orcs are Dwarves living in the rainforests of the south).

The Lycanthropes have a very rudimentary language, but one thought to be incomprehensible to humans. They seem to be tribal and migratory and very inhospitable to any other species.

Centaurs are also mostly tribal, which have defined territories. They seem to be the most intelligent of the three species, but are not technologically advanced and most are uncivilized.

The Dwarves occupy the southern continent and the southern half of the northern. Their lands are focused around montane regions and have many wealths. The Dwarves primarily use axes, hammers, and swords, but, unlike the other species, also use explosive technologies. In battle, they hurl explosive cannonball-like projectiles at their enemies. For this reason, colonization has been considerably less successful in the south.

Other notable fauna of the New World include:
species of lizard similar to mythical dragons, which the Dwarves of the south are fond of releasing or attracting in battle.
very large dogs, somewhat domesticated, that the Dwarves ride in manner to that of a horse.
rumors of enormous cave-spiders inspire great fear amongst troops in mountainous terrain.
great fishes, at first thought to be mermaids, are present throughout the tropical ocean and are comically refered to as sea-horses.

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/8428/mapcontest002dda3.png

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:10 PM

Rex Brittaniae:

Aridian Empire: Think of it like Rome. An intense rival of both kinds of Elves. Very strong militarily and wealthy economically. Inhabited by humans.

Despotate of Skydra: A fiercely dictatorial state divided more than any other nation between the extremes of rich (the few wealthy families who control the wealth) and poor (slaves who toil endlessly and almost fruitlessly for it).

Republic of Karditsa: Originally settled by the Aridian Empire, the nobility and ruling classes of those regions never connected with the poor, struggling fighters of the River Plate. After only a century of subjugation, the hardy frontiersmen of the River Plate rebelled, succeeded, and gained their independence. They have since settled a greater part of the nearby coast and further up the river, becoming prosperous due to free trade and Democratic ideals. They are in endless conflict against the nearby Orcs, though.

Duchy of the Wyvern Orcs: So called because of the deformed, relatively scrawny dragonic mounts they ride, called wyverns, these orcs subsist on raiding human settlements along the coast. The Pampas is their home, and the hills at the foot of the Andes are their sacred origins. The leader, the Duke of the Pampas, is like all others, raiding, never remaining in one spot. the only administrative divisions are those between his two sons, who each get half of the land, so long as they are subservient to him.

Dragonia: Very little is known about this land or its large, dragon inhabitants. The only buildings found in this Patagonian Desert are the shrines whose builders are unknown. The Dragons treat them as sacred, and mostly keep to themselves. The last time a serious Dragon force actually left the region was during the Great War of Istari many centuries ago.

Land of the Ice Trolls: The Ice Trolls are a dumb and primitive race, whose only apparent organization is in the meetings that take place once every year between the strongest in the land. The purpose of these is still unknown, as only one or two visitors has ever gotten deep enough into the land to witness them.

Commonwealth of Mardos: These people are even stronger and sterner than their brothers in Karditsa. Tired of living under the constant threat of the Wyvern Orcs, the military of Karditsa, at one point, embarked upon a great trek under General Mardos. They failed to destroy the Orcs completely, but did cripple them. Afterwards, they continued west, settling the Pacific coast and becoming a military state which thrived in war. They launch raids into Orcish territory, and all of their major cities are also forts. Their military is the strongest on the continent, and they are the only group in constant contact with the Dragons. This is because they launch raiding parties into Dragonia to capture the expensive hides of that poor race, which fetch a pretty penny in all markets. It is a dictatorship, but the despot is benevolent to his own people, harsh to others.

The Badlands: A beautiful territory which is unfortunately dominated by roving bands of unorganized, pillaging humans.

Orcs: Like their brethren to the south, only unorganized and without Wyverns.

Giants: Self-explanatory. They make their homes in the foothills of the Andes.

Undead: Self-explanatory. They inhabit the large marshlands of the Plantana, and mercilessly murder all who enter their god-forsaken territory.

Realm of the Vidin: A wizard's realm, which is hardly a government, seeing as the people are few and no taxes are paid. No military exists either. It is a loose association of wizards whose educational facilities (privately run) and scientific breakthroughs are unmatched throughout the continent.

Tauric Confederacy: A tribal confederacy composed of the minotaurs of the region. Very little is understood about these primitive people, who are believed to worship a human-like God (in a very ironic twist in terms of religion, as it usually humans who worshiped animals). Their Chieftain is always the one with the most merit.

Kingdom of Aurland: A Dwarvish Kingdom which is very tied to the mountains. The King does not reign absolutely, but with the help of an Audience of Clan Leaders. The nation is frequently in squabbles with the nearby Elves, and with their Dwarvish brothers to the south.

Kritunsgard: Another Dwarvish nation once subject to Aurland. In time, the people, quite simply, grew tired of their northern overlords, and they cast them off. The two nations fight on occasion, but relations are cordial.

City States of Urtria: Humans who have migrated to the Pacific Coasts seeking profit. They have been compared to the Jews of Old World Spain. The humans were historically good with finance, whereas the Dwarves were neither good at managing trade nor with dealing with foreign nations in general. Thus, the human settlers came and reaped the profit of managing trade. They eventually felt strong enough to declare a state of semi-independence, under the conditions that the Dwarves remained as their hegemon, whose trade they could still manage. The weak Dwarf king of the time allowed this, and thus, the city states sprang into being. Urtria comes from the Dwarvish words for "The Western Three", referring to the three main cities of the western coast.

Merchant Republic of Rettuvia: Similar to European Venice, except in origin. In that regard, it came from the same boat as Urtria, except it was far enough away to become completely independent.

Goblin Kingdom: Ruled by Goblins. A generally stable kingdom known for its balance (somewhat wealthy, somewhat strong, somewhat absolute).

Makto'rn Kingdom: Inhabited by the Makto'rn, colloquially referred to as the Lizardmen. This intensely theocratic state is known for its gruesome sacrifices to pagan Gods.

Dominion of the High Elves: A kingdom with an even greater Aristocracy than the Aridian Empire. In complete harmony with nature, and very wealthy. At one point controlled the entire Elvish Forest, which brought it into conflict with the Aridians.

Dominion of the Dark Elves: Dark Elves, also known as Half-Elves, are a darker skinned, half-blooded version of their brothers to the north. The other half of their blood is human, and it is this odd mixture which brought about the hatred of both groups, both of which have tried many times to completely erase it from the planet. These are a strong and enduring people though, and after a long time under the dominance of their hated masters, they rebelled and gained their independence, although no one recognized it. They have been in perpetual war with the High Elves to the north since that day, and frequently must fight off the ravenous humans to the south as well.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk101/thewanderingjew/FantasySouthAmerica.png?t=1230655167

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:11 PM

Sovereign12:

The following is a excerpt of a letter from Sir Anthony Wood to Baron Hyde.

..."A waxed scroll container found on an out cropping in Mizen Head, Eire. The container held two parchments. The first was a map, the second a badly deteriorated letter. What could be made from the readable portions of the letter, states that Plato's Atlantis is real and lies to the west of Europe.

Another section states that the two mountains on the map, Mt Alepha (Greek - Alpha ?) and Mt Olymega (Mt Olympus ?), are devices used to move the world by God. The keepers of the mountains have fallen into barbarism over the years and constant wars are fought over these strange lands for the Sacred Relics of the Gilgulim (Hebrew - Gal-Gal?).

On the map is a signature C. Corombo, which could be that of Christopher Columbus, who sailed for the King of Spain in the 15th Century. Another credence to this being by Columbus is the suicide statement written in blood. While the signature looks like Tomas, it is most likely Torres. Most likely Luis de Torres an interpreter on board Columbus' ship the Santa Maria."...

Sir Anthony Wood
B.C.L. of Oxford
Year of Our Lord 1674

http://www.deviantart.com/download/108169027/Map_of_Atlantis_by_sovereign12.png

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:13 PM

Freodhoric:

Brief history:
The Norse myths were right. So were the legends of Atlantis. What they didn’t know was that those were visions of another world.

Approx. 20,000BC, a passing comet causes a small meteor shower. At least four large meteorites are known to have landed. Three of these fragments lodged in and/or caused Mimisbrunnr, Hvergilmir, and Urdabrunnr. It is almost certain that Údáinsakr is the location of another fragment. Speculation abounds that other fragments may have landed in Jotunheim and Muspellheim.

When Clovis hunters drank from these enchanted waters, they were changed. To a lesser extent, so were animals and plants that obtained water downstream. The flowering of Asgard only lasted three, maybe four, centuries and was marked by the Aesir-Vanir War. Then came the Fimbulwinter, known to us as the Younger Dryas, and Ragnarok, when the mighty Jörmungandr sank Asgard.

In the centuries after Ragnarok, the Aesir lived in Andlang and Vidblainn. Roving Aesir heroes traversed Idavollr to Beinaymir and established the Final Homes, Brimir, Gimle, and Sindri.

When waters where the trunk of Yggdrasil had been finally quieted, settlers moved in. Most of them banded together in a quasi-anarchic federation known as Valaskjalf (The Shelf of the Slain).

Some place explanations:

Beinahrúga af Jörmungandr: a chain of small island that are the final resting place of the World Serpent, mining his bones are the major industry here
name from:
Jörmungandr: mostly known as Midgårdsormen or World Serpent
Beinahrúga: heap of bones
af: out of, from; with; concerning; because of

Beinaymir: roughly Ymir's Bones, Rocky Mountains

Yggdrasil: Mississippi River

Ratatosk: in the tradition of the messenger squirrel, Ratatosk is a clearinghouse of information and a haven and marketplace for spys and diplomats

The Four Kingdoms of the Harts: Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór

Several miscellaneous thoughts:
Surviving megafauna, steampunk dwarves, intelligent animals.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=59851&stc=1&d=1231006982

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:19 PM

Hey, Legolas! Repost your winning map, it's gone.

The runner-up was Sovereign12.

Now, onto round IV.

The Romans have scored a decisive victory at Carrhae against the Parthians.

Taking into account the decisive Roman victory over the Parthians at Carrhae, and a long Roman presence in the lands between the Tigris and the Euphrates here is your challenge:

You are to choose one (or more) of the following:
A close-up map of the Middle East 500 years later, with at least 3 states that are not large empires present
An anachronistic map showing territorial changes in the empire after 500 years (one caveat: the cohesive Roman Empire must fall at some point before the 500 year anniversary of the victory at Carrhae; Byzantine-like successor empires are acceptable and encouraged) - You can if you'd like only concentrate on the eastern part of the empire instead of the whole empire, but as usual the closer you get on a map the more details there had better be.
A map of the religions in within what would have been the Roman Empire 1,000 years later

So, given that talky challenge:

Nicole:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=60583&stc=1&d=1231881891

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:20 PM

Krall:

http://www.deviantart.com/download/109947566/The_Empire_of_the_Greeks_by_Kurarun.png

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:21 PM

Sovereign12:

http://www.deviantart.com/download/109986385/Stained_Glass_Roman_Empire_by_sovereign12.png

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:23 PM

Tangerine (an excellent first effort):

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5477/altmapcarrhae2gt5.jpg

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:25 PM

And Analytical Engine.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=60833&stc=1&d=1232102506

B_Munro

December 15th, 2011, 07:26 PM

The winner of that round was Tangerine: Ampersand, the runner-up, has a missing map.

On to the next round - tomorrow. (Ten days till Xmas, things getting hectic)

Bruce

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 05:54 AM

Sorry about the delay: I had a bad day emotionally.

Round V of Contest IV: the Great Game

Nicole:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=61568&stc=1&d=1233104061

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 05:58 AM

Guderian's Beard:

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=61592&stc=1&d=1233176138

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:01 AM

Tangerine:

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9220/greatgamefinalmn3.jpg

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:03 AM

And Legolas, whose Middle-Earth themed map I fortunately saved a copy of (and had to reload to imageshack, durn it)

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/3207/thegreatgameofmiddleear.png

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:06 AM

And the winner was Guderian, with Tangerine as runner-up (was the group in an anti-Tolkien mood at the time, or was Legolas's map violating the rules?)

Anyhoo, round VI of map contest IV: another really talky challenge

This one is a Future History challenge.

The attempts at stemming the global recession starting in the late first decade of the 21st century has failed. A true global depression not seen since the 1930s has wrecked havoc on the world's economy which has caused unprecedented amounts of unrest across the globe. Many of the first world nations have survived but the fire has gone out of most of them during this bleak time as they turn inward just trying to survive. The rest of the world is wracked by starvation (aid had dried up long ago), war (what better way to distract your citizens by going to war with your neighbor), disease (always follows the first two), poverty (still there but going strong), and of course independence/separatist movements! (Yes, yes, of course there are areas where some nations have joined together in political unions to stem the economic crisis...)

They're two major events to take into account:

1) The economic crisis had crippled the economy of Mexico leaving its weak government even weaker. Several heavily armed drug cartels tired of the efforts of the Mexican Federal government interfering in their business have decided to carve out some 'kingdoms of their own'. A corrupt general who had ties to the cartels also got into the act.

Unfortunately for the cartels this action drew the attention of the proverbial 800 lb gorilla to the north. While a civil war in Mexico was of great interest to the US the tired people of the US (economically distracted and barely removed from Iraq and Afghanistan) was more inclined to just offer what humanitarian aid they could. Until one of the cartel-kings, fighting a losing battle against another cartel-king, in a desperate move raided an aid camp within the US border. Sadly for him Poncho Villa he is not, and even sadder the US Armed forces are not the ones from the early 20th Century.

2) In 2016 the weak Pakistani democratic elected government collapsed from within. The base veneer over the civil war that had been simmering for years has finally come off. Worse of all two nukes have gone missing.

The Rules: The map can be a global map or a more targeted map, your call, and try to be detailed as possible I want to see some good map keys people. The map must be between the the years of 2018 to 2036 AD, again your choice of the date(s) as long as it is between those years.

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:07 AM

Jman:

The US obviously isn't going to take the attack on its aid camp lying down. This map depicts Mexico on the eve of Operation Blackjack, America's attempt to bring down the cartels before Mexico is plunged into complete anarchy, and incidently secure the border against drugs, illegal immigrants (or refugees nowadays) and narcoterrorists.

With the bulk of the American military tied up in the Middle East, the US has limited resources to deal with the cartels. It remains in doubt whether Blackjack will be a success

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=62112&stc=1&d=1233884364

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:09 AM

Sapiento:

Post Kataklysmik North Amerika

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had already posted this map, but then i discovered a typo (a real one, not the Nu Anglish which is used in the Empire of Texarado ) on it. So here is the corrected version. I hope i got everything right now.

After a madman started WW 3, some people survived. Now civilization is back

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=62295&stc=1&d=1234157563

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:10 AM

Valshannar: Greece in Chaos!

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=62304&stc=1&d=1234175853

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:14 AM

Jman won that one.

Now, final round!

The challenge is thus:

"Using the map presented to you, depict the situation in Europe no less than 100 years - and no more than 300 years - following this map [link posted below]. The nations are not named, and the question of how the world got to such a state or what the year is is unknown. It is up to you to answer these questions."

http://fc18.deviantart.com/fs43/f/2009/066/7/9/7969b408c2c917b99157d5fa8374d5c4.png

(And the map is, of course, gone bye-bye)

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:16 AM

Anyhoo, here are maps by...

Tangerine:
Here is my entry: I figure the original map had a POD somewhere in the early-mid 15th century, so this is 1650, >150 years later.

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/5140/mapcontestfinalentry.jpg

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:18 AM

Jman:

The reason I like this map contest is that it allows so many interpretations. I saw the prompt map as being some time around the turn of the twentieth century (), so a little more than 100 years later, it's 2009 in my map.

The backstory I invented for the original map was something along the lines of : Russia and Denmark go carve up Sweden, a stronger Portugal invades Spain, Italy doesn't unite (thanks to butterflies) and most importantly, the Austro-Hungarians and the Ottomans (both "sick men of Europe") mutually annhiliate in a war over the Balkans, and both break up.

What this means is no WWI. No WWI means no Bolshevik revelution, although pro-democracy/moderate socialist reforms do swing Russia to the left. Not only is there no WWI, there are no big wars in Europe. No big wars means a stronger Europe later, and also a Europe that's not disillusioned from nationalism, militarism and colonialism. In 2009 the world's locked in a three-way cold war known as the Long Struggle. On one side, the European powers, who don't always get along but generally want to maintain their colonial empires. Slightly less powerful is the United States, a liberal (in this TL, liberal denotes "free market" as much as "social progressive") power with influence in Latin America (thanks, Monroe Doctrine!) and the Pacific/ Far East Asia (thanks, inevitable war with expansionist Japan!). The thrid place power is the afformentioned socialist Russia.

The color scheme goes like this: the European states are blue to purple, and the British are the only ones with a sphere of influence color (the Canada color), which usually means a former colony with strong ties to GB, as well as a "direct control" color (the Britain itself color). The American allies are green, with the US itself a darker shade. Russia and its allies are shades of reddish-maroon. Neutrals are gray.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=64735&stc=1&d=1236821649

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:19 AM

Legolas:

My humble entry. I have not worked out a story behind the map, but I imagined the original to be set some time in the early 19th/late18th century, and my entry is of the modern day (actually, near future) situation. The PoD for this world is probably in the medieval times (maybe Novgorod becoming a dominant power in Russia?). The travel-book-cover look was a spur of the moment decision, and one which I don't think to be the best. But I have no time nor brilliant ideas to create another map right now, so this will have to do.

Please enjoy "Europe In Your Pocket", just $9.99 (£9.49, F17.99), available at a cross-time travel shop near you!

http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs45/f/2009/078/2/0/___in_your_pocket_by_Laiqua_lasse.png

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:21 AM

Guderian's Beard:
I estimated the orginal map to be around 1550, with a POD in the late Middle age. My map shows the political situation in Europe 200 years later in 1750

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=65462&stc=1&d=1237492634

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:24 AM

Ampersand:
So, here it is! I've imagined the PoD to be in the 13th century, and a low-butterfly scenario leading to the original map in the end of the 18th century. This map shows the situation somewhere in the end of the 19th century, and I'm sure I'll be crucified by some heresies I've done here
And yes, the mapmakers are biased; most 'despotic' monarchies wouldn't be that despotic by OTL standards, and most of the republics aren't that democractic, even though a great part of them are radical and nationalist, namely the Britain, Burgundy, Livonia and Rome. And Livonia is a Yiddish republic, btw

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs44/f/2009/079/5/d/5d4c68f01fb371220d594caa11033cc4.jpg

B_Munro

December 18th, 2011, 06:30 AM

And Ampersand was the Big Winner! Huzzah!

Next: on to the Maps of the Fortnight.

Bruce

LSCatilina

December 18th, 2011, 06:46 AM

I can't help but thinks that the quality of maps on the board somewhat lowered, critically by seeing these ones which are really original and beautiful.

Color-Copycat

December 18th, 2011, 07:45 AM

Holy shit, those maps are good! The verisimilitude on some of them with all the props and stuff in the foreground... fantastic!

Atom

December 18th, 2011, 03:59 PM

I can't help but thinks that the quality of maps on the board somewhat lowered, critically by seeing these ones which are really original and beautiful.Well, you also don't see all the terrible maps made in that era...

Turquoise Blue

December 18th, 2011, 04:04 PM

The link times out for me, could you fix it?

LSCatilina

December 18th, 2011, 09:25 PM

Well, you also don't see all the terrible maps made in that era...

Well, i saw and made some of them among the lastest. But i really feel as there are more of them now, with little if not improvment. And a great loss of original subjects : Map Thread is full of the same basemap sligthly changed and basing on same assumptions.

Shadow Knight

December 18th, 2011, 09:32 PM

Well, i saw and made some of them among the lastest. But i really feel as there are more of them now, with little if not improvment. And a great loss of original subjects : Map Thread is full of the same basemap sligthly changed and basing on same assumptions.

I agree, there were quite a few crappy maps back then, but the Golden Age of map making (as I like to call it) had not just great quality of maps but some really creative content and style.

The Silver Age, which followed the Golden Age after a short break of good map making, took a lot of those great map styles and really refined them into some true master pieces of art. The content wasn't always as original as the Golden Age, but they were amazingly done.

The current age I like to call the Tin Age. There are some truly amazing ideas out there, but they are cookie cuttered into the same old base maps with little style*. Oh they might be truly detailed (see B Munro style maps) with great ideas, but the quality of the map itself (no discounting the details as I said) is truly sub par compared to the previous ages. :o

*There are of course some really sweet and well done maps that come out every now and then, but they tend to get lost quickly in the dross of the map thread.

Turquoise Blue

December 18th, 2011, 11:07 PM

I agree, there were quite a few crappy maps back then, but the Golden Age of map making (as I like to call it) had not just great quality of maps but some really creative content and style.

The Silver Age, which followed the Golden Age after a short break of good map making, took a lot of those great map styles and really refined them into some true master pieces of art. The content wasn't always as original as the Golden Age, but they were amazingly done.

The current age I like to call the Tin Age. There are some truly amazing ideas out there, but they are cookie cuttered into the same old base maps with little style*. Oh they might be truly detailed (see B Munro style maps) with great ideas, but the quality of the map itself (no discounting the details as I said) is truly sub par compared to the previous ages. :o

*There are of course some really sweet and well done maps that come out every now and then, but they tend to get lost quickly in the dross of the map thread.
Have you seen the terrible maps in the "Golden Age"? Look in the Map Thread One to Three for examples.

Kaiphranos

December 18th, 2011, 11:17 PM

The current age I like to call the Tin Age. There are some truly amazing ideas out there, but they are cookie cuttered into the same old base maps with little style*. Oh they might be truly detailed (see B Munro style maps) with great ideas, but the quality of the map itself (no discounting the details as I said) is truly sub par compared to the previous ages. :o

*There are of course some really sweet and well done maps that come out every now and then, but they tend to get lost quickly in the dross of the map thread.

With (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5269698&postcount=8105) all (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5264146&postcount=8054) due (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5300031&postcount=8454) respect (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5301447&postcount=8464), I (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5317926&postcount=8595) would (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5346953&postcount=8991) like (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5350424&postcount=9031) to (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5366135&postcount=9270) disagree (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5368809&postcount=9303) on (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5375794&postcount=9386) this (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5378766&postcount=9443) particular (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5402481&postcount=9840) point (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5395413&postcount=9704).

There are some very excellent maps being turned out by cartographers these days, including newcomers Tzapquiel and tnowacki.

The maps B_Munro has been showcasing are the best of the old contests, so it's easy to look at them through rose-colored glasses. As DrTron points out, there were tons of bad maps in the old threads... many of them on the older basemap which is even less exciting than the current one.

Turquoise Blue

December 18th, 2011, 11:19 PM

With (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5269698&postcount=8105) all (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5264146&postcount=8054) due (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5300031&postcount=8454) respect (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5301447&postcount=8464), I (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5317926&postcount=8595) would (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5346953&postcount=8991) like (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5350424&postcount=9031) to (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5366135&postcount=9270) disagree (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5368809&postcount=9303) on (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5375794&postcount=9386) this (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5378766&postcount=9443) particular (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5402481&postcount=9840) point (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=5395413&postcount=9704).

There are some very excellent maps being turned out by cartographers these days, including newcomers Tzapquiel and tnowacki.

The maps B_Munro has been showcasing are the best of the old contests, so it's easy to look at them through rose-colored glasses. As DrTron points out, there were tons of bad maps in the old threads... many of them on the older basemap which is even less exciting than the current one.
In fact, I would say that this age is the Golden Age, or at least Silver, for the basemap is the best it has been, and the beautiful maps are better, since many is now more experienced with GIMP, Photoshop, PAINT and other image manipulation software then before.

LSCatilina

December 18th, 2011, 11:26 PM

I didn't say that because of the maps of the current thread, it was better before.
It was better because the good maps still existing are deeply hidden by a spam of unoriginal ones, and that almost all the new map-makers doesn't bother to improve themselves, save some exceptions.

The main part of the maps quoted by Kaiphranos are made by people being here since a long time and participating to the "old good times" where Map Thread wasn't a map series' show where the same basemap was used and again, and again, and again, and again.

I'm not saying all the new mapmakers are all Unholy_Mistressized, but the general quality lowered because of a great lack of originality and improvment.

Turquoise Blue

December 18th, 2011, 11:31 PM

Blomma

December 18th, 2011, 11:59 PM

I agree with you. The old maps, while most were lower in quality, they were higher in originality then the new ones. In fact, I was thinking of converting some of those old maps on the new basemap.

Well, you see, that would be counter-productive in every way possible. It is; using the 'new' basemap, which is already being used by pretty much everyone with access to paint, and it is also not creative since it is essentially just copying old maps.

Now, there is a beautiful QBAM laying around of the entire world, it is constantly(though not as often as the regular basemap) being updated, most recently by Iori in the QBAM core and improvement thread.

If anything, use of that map instead of the regular basemap should be encouraged. Whereas the basemap is just bland and far too common to appeal to peoples eyes, the QBAM allows for great depth and detail thanks to its sheer size.

I cant remember the posters name, but there was this guy a year or so ago, who made maps with the QBAM quite often. The story was, I believe, an über version of Germany, who kept growing and eventually collapsed. The story telling was BMunro-class, and the maps themselves, while not made with any fancy programs, were very appealing and I for one looked forward to his continuation of the 'series'.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, there are a lot more resources for mapmakers than they might know about. The QBAM is one of them.

Use it.
Show inner divisions within the large nations.
Add cities.

All of those things are details that while being quite simple, all add to the characteristics of a map. This does not just concern one person, but everyone, senior mapmakers and new people alike.

Kaiphranos

December 19th, 2011, 12:13 AM

If anything, use of that map instead of the regular basemap should be encouraged. Whereas the basemap is just bland and far too common to appeal to peoples eyes, the QBAM allows for great depth and detail thanks to its sheer size.

One caveat: I would rather not see the entire QBAM in cases where only a small portion has been altered. To be honest, when I see a QBAM map, if there's nothing interesting on the left side, I don't scroll to the right. So crop, people!

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 01:24 AM

The link times out for me, could you fix it?

Which link? :confused:

Bruce

Turquoise Blue

December 19th, 2011, 02:46 AM

Which link? :confused:

Bruce
The last one. It is probably broken.

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:16 AM

Ampersand? Shows up fine for me. Why don't you take a look over on Deviantart?

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs44/f/2009/079/5/d/5d4c68f01fb371220d594caa11033cc4.jpg

Is anyone else having trouble?

Bruce

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:19 AM

Ok, first Map of the Fortnight contest: clockpunk/steampunk!

Highlander:

http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs49/f/2009/205/c/2/Competition_Entry_Number_1_by_Alt_Reality.jpg

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:19 AM

Thrashing Mad:

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/9500/steamynw.jpg

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:26 AM

Jman:

The Congo Free State, around 1900. King Leopold needs investors if he wants to buy the cutting edge steam-powered mining, logging and military technology of a great industrial power like Germania or the British Empire, and this is an ad published in Belgium, trying to attract investors.

http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=75228&stc=1&d=1248542272

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:27 AM

Sapiento:

I decided for a version of Europe that is connected by a network of ironways (trains) and celestonavs (airships).
Dominated by a mighty Holy German Empire this Europe is far more advanced in steam technology, using it for transport and war machines. The Last German-French War in 1855 was fought with steamtanks and celestonavs. The superior technology of the HGE ensured its victory and the dismembering of France.
I really hadn't wasted much time on the POD, but I placed it near Charles the Bold surviving and dying 20 years later. America was discovered by Gustav Elber, a Burgundian explorer.
New Russia is the result from a Russian civil war, having the weaker fraction retreating to 'New Russia' with German help - this is also the reason for the Baltic states as German territory = payment.
For Byzantium - its a restored Empire, carved out from the former Ottoman Empire during a crusade in the 18th century. The basileus of the Byzantine Empire is actually from a Habsburg side branch.

http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs48/i/2009/208/7/e/MoF_01_Steampunk_Clockpunk_by_Sapiento.png

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:28 AM

Yours truly:

In hopes of encouraging more clockpunk, (rather than winning anything: I gotta move beyond basic paint) a clockpunk 1700.

Thanks to Rudolph II's encouragement of alchemical studies, the eastern Habsburg empire managed to gain a commanding lead in the development of modern material philosophy. With alchemical artillery and clockwork automata, the Habsburgs have crushed the German Protestants, bitch-slapped the Swedes, and pushed back the Ottomans. Recently, the arms of the Dual Emperors have achieved their greatest coup yet: with the aid of Austria's new magnetically suspended [1] Sky-Ships, the French have suffered a crushing defeat, and the aged king, who for decades has struggled to prevent Habsburg mastery of Europe, has reportedly been taken prisoners. French philosphers are fleeing abroad less they fall into the hands of the Austrian Inquisitors.

But pride goeth before a fall, and forces are marshalling to oppose the Habsburgs. Secret emissaries, travelling by phlogiston-powered submersible to avoid discovery by Habsburg ships of the sea or skies, now work to bind together an alliance to reverse the Habsburg conquests. In Poland, King Jan's Golem Corps, a gift from the Kabbalist philosophers he protects, are more than a match for any clockworks: in the Ottoman capital, the Sultan has natural philosophers of his own, and it is rumored that they have created a mechanical brain able to predict the outcome of battles: and in the British republic, Isaac Newton and the National Institute of the Sciences have developed alchemical weapons such as nothing the world has seen before, including the process by which the Great Ditch was created, seperating the rump of the independent Netherlands from the conquered continent, at the cost of tens of thousands of lives. France, too, is defeated but hardly pacified...

Nobody really thinks of backward Muscovy, and its seizure of Livonia is generally attributed to the fact that Sweden was busy getting whomped on by the Austrians at the time. But its rather large Czar is a man of ambition, and he has not only been building a modern army, for he pays well for foreign talent, especially of skilled material philosophers, alechemists and otherwise...

http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=75539&stc=1&d=1248799932

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:29 AM

Legolas:

I have not thought of a story for this map, I only wanted to have some form of rivalry between clockwork and steam-powered airship designs. And that's what this is - the Italian states are developing clockwork devices, drawing from the works of Leonardo da Vinci (who was apprenticed to a Swiss watchmaker in this timeline), while the Ottomans are harnessing the power of steam after discovering some ancient Greek texts relating to that.

http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs48/f/2009/209/2/0/Clockpunk_vs_Steampunk_by_Laiqua_lasse.png

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:30 AM

Nugax:

Psh, enough focusing on Steampunk Europe, lets take a look at what other parts of the world are doing!

General Note:

A steampunk setting would vastly increase the demand for metal and rubber products, whilst the new technology of aerial vehicles and submarines would allow easy evasion of the authorities if you can hide in a rugged mountainious archipelgo. The perfect recipe for piracy in South East Asia! In this land of a thousand treasures and hiding places vast fortunes can be made at gunpoint.

The greater power available to adventures and fortune seeking europeans with their new technology has lead many to carve out small fiefdoms in the more remote areas, the most successful being the notorious Baron Vega and the Brookes of Sarawak.

Technological notes:

Cloudships are obviously airships, generally used for passengers and time sensitive freight as shipping it by sea is vastly cheaper (if much slower), note no radio and high fuel requirements (unlike the petrol engines of your standard airship wanks) means generally sticking close to land where possible. Expensive long range Cloudships make the Manila-Guam-Hawai'i-San Francisco run.
Nautiloids are submarines, named after the first successful underwater ship; Fulton's Nautilus. Rather than using expensive and hard to replace torpedos, most pirate Nautiliods surface and engage with cannons, or utilise hydrolic tenticles of claws from underwater to disable their prey.
Jets are essentially heavy Gliders launched by Steam catapults and compressed Steam boost stages, and equipped with Hydrogen Peroxide rockets for weaponry and afterburners. Formidable weapons indeed, they rip Cloudships to shreds but their limited flight time and extensive launch infrastructure severely limits their range, and Cloud Pirates have a merry old time outside their range.
Skyrails are self/gravity powered cable cars that whizz between pylons hundreds of metres high and leagues apart. Because they're cool.

Baron Vega's technology is based on the extremely high pressure steam (and sometimes direct manipulation of magnetic lava) available from geothermal sources. A dangerious madman who managed to beat back a 5 nation intervention in 1842 by spraying molten iron dozens of miles from the dreaded Vega cannon. However when it became apparent that the technology couldn't be utilised away from its volcano power sources and the Baron thus could not expand beyond his jungles the great powers decided to ignore/buy copper from him.

http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/6785/steampunksea.png

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:32 AM

wilcoxchar:

Not entirely sure if this qualifies as clockpunk but here's my submission. It's a bit cramped in some places but I wanted to get all that info in.

http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=75579&stc=1&d=1248828977

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:34 AM

michaelk156:

Steampunk Australia in the year 1900 with a POD in 1840. This is a map of referendum results for each colony concerning Australian federation. The map
is overlain on an image of the Puffing Billy, a steam train which opened in OTL 1900. More than just a novelty ITTL, steam trains like this are commonplace in Steampunk Australia, particularly across Fumoterra (latin for 'steam land').

http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs49/f/2009/211/d/a/Steampunk_Australia__1900_AD_by_michaelk156.png

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:35 AM

Dutchie:

Steampunk Europe:

Because of its paucity of liquid fossil fuels, the German Federation made heavy investmetns in steam power in the early industrial era. Steam was found to be a very powerful tool, though limited for long-distance travel due to the large amount of fuel stock needed to keep boilers running. This led to a frission of government structures in Europe, with few, large, steam-powered and centralized states holding sway over central and eastern europe, that used railways and a highly mechanized, land-based military to hold sway. The more diverse, inter-continental empires on the Atlantic Coast relied on wind and eventually oil power to provide the transport that connected their global possessions.

The French Empire was slow to realize the magnitude of change that steam power would provide to military arms, and were utterly devastated in the First and Second Franco-German Wars, eventually being reduced to a rump state allied to Great Britain, with a monarchy-in-exile on the island of Reunion. Along with its European territories came African possessions for the emerging German super-state.

The development of solar-heated steam boilers was perfectly situated for the blistering environement of North Africa.The combination of cheap, powerful solar-steam engineering allowed for massive reimagining of the landscape - a large amount of the Niger's flow was redirected northward, through a subterreanean tunnel through the atlas foothills, and eventually into the Bay of Tuniz on the Mediterranean. The Ubangi river was also redirected to flow north into Lake Tchad, which swelled to an immense size before flowing northwards, also to the Med. These two new 'Nile's transformed the ecology of the Sahara, creating an immense fertile belt that was used primarily for sugarcane, providing a release from the monopolies of Great Britain and the United Kingdom in the New World.

Imperia Rusa, not to be outdone in prestige projects and also denied free-access to the Med, created the Don-Volga Canal, creating a direct link between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. This had the side effect of flooding the Caspian, raising its sea-level to that of the world's oceans (+90 feet). Empress Katerina declared that the Rus now 'had their own Mediterranean, a vastly superior to the original'. Unfortunately without the same intense sun as the African projects, manual labour was needed instead of steam-powered mechanicals. Many tens of thousands died for the Tsarina's project.

http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=76324&stc=1&d=1249444037

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:36 AM

Communist Wizard:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9334/ironlegioneffects.png

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:38 AM

And Communist Wizard's explanation:

After the 1490s and the appearance of advanced clockwork technology, technology had started advancing at a far faster rate with ever more complicated clockwork designs, with rapid firing weaponry and massive cannons, and the early clockwork aircruisers and land-battlestations. Yet the technological field changed with the application of steam to clockwork, that especially gave a tremendous boost to the aircruisers and land-battlestations. Unfortunately for Europe, the revolution had gotten underway in Prussia, under the ambitious King Friedrich III.
His Iron Legions exploited the war between Britain and France and Russia's fight with Scandinavia (which he had, in fact, manipulated) to smash into Poland-Lithuania. Poland, however, was but a testing ground for his bid to unite all of Germany under one banner, and perhaps even more. His land-battlestations were far suoperior to his foes, and he smashed them mercilessly. With Prusia's economy doing badly because of his spending on the military, he was forced to extensively pillage all he conquered, and since his Legions couldn't garrisson his expanding empire, he went with the Mongol style of conquest, destroying large amounts of cities and turning the populace of these areas into slaves.

France and Britain, however, saw what was coming and made a truce. Friedrich immediately attempted to punch them out of the war while his Legions were busy in western Germany and Austria. It was here that he unleashed his vast aircruiser forces, bombing swathes of cities that were far from the frontlines. However, the extensive resources of launching an invasion of England brought his Legions down in the West. To the East, the Ottoman Empire rushed in to save the Hapsburgs along with their allies in North Italy. Russia discovered the evidence of Friedrich's manipulations and declared war. While his aircruisers did a good job in bombing his new eastern enemies, his Scandinavian campaign fell through and he had little to spare on Russia. He then decided to make a sperate peace with all these powers, giving parts of Poland to Russia and withdrawing to the Rhine on the West. Now, Friedrich works to end his diplomatic isolation in Europe, and in the meantime builds up his Legions. The situation in Europe is tense.

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:38 AM

Nymain1:

http://www.deviantart.com/download/132402867/Steampunk_Small_by_Nymain.png

B_Munro

December 19th, 2011, 03:48 AM

I am planning to run this out to MOF 23, since any more recent maps will be familiar to all but the veriest tyro.

Bruce

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 02:15 AM

OK: MOF 2, different decolonized Africa.

Jman:

Alright, let's get this thread started! The POD: In June 1964, at the Rivonia Trial, 10 members of the Spear of the Nation guerrilla group (including Nelson Mandella) are sentenced to death for acts of terrorism. The deaths of the so-called "Ten Martyrs" acts as a rallying symbol for black nationalist resistance in South Africa. A violent cycle begins, wherein the guerrillas commit more acts of sabotage and anti-government terror, and the apartheid government responds with more crackdowns, imprisonments, and executions, sparking yet more violence. The white minority's deep fear of race war has become a self-fulfilling prophesy. The map depicts the three remaining white-ruled powers in Africa- South Africa, Portuguese Africa, and Rhodesia- in a state of collapse. The whites fall back to heavily fortified cities as civil war rages all around. Most disturbingly, the South African military is said to be pursuing nuclear weapons, and it seems highly possible that Southern Africa will soon be dotted with walled, all-white city-states which are nuclear powers in their own right.

http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=77169&stc=1&d=1250135682

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 02:17 AM

Nymain1, which is supposed to be his map from the last contest (scroll up page) in 1993:

http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs48/f/2009/230/0/1/Compitition_art_MoF_2_by_Nymain.png

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 02:18 AM

Goldstein:

A map of a decolonized Africa that shows the following divergences:

-Mobutu dies before the Congolese independence. Under the Lumunba government, the country fails to control its eastern areas, but reaches a relative democratic stability and more prosperity.

.-Nigeria suffers a much more virulent civil war.

-The French Western Africa gets independece as a single federation... that implodes in epic-scale ethnic conflicts after it becomes the playground of a megalomaniac dictator. Betweeen her ex-territories is a militaristic and insanely expansionist Upper Volta. There is an extense remnant, the Sahel Empire, under an "emperor" that combines Mobutu's corruption, Idi Amin's paranoia, and Bokassa's grandeur delusions.

-Sudan is split up in First Sudanese civil war. South Sudan ends up federating with TTL's Central African Republic out of pragmatic and ethnic reasons.

-East Africa does much better. The Ethiopian Empire is in the midst of an economic miracle, and though authoritarian, it's a good place for African standards, that swallowed a war-torn Somalia. The East African Republic is a federation founded under a sensible "African renaissance" ideology, with a consolidated non-aligned stance.

-A bloodier Algerian war, deriving much later in an Islamic Revolution.

-A Qadaffi analogue emerges in Libya (the main difference being his Arab origin), claiming to be the new leader of Arab socialism. He manages to get Egypt on his board, but his anti-Bedouine policies lead to a de facto independent state in southeastern Libya (after a massive exodus).

-An earlier Rwandan genocide, and an aggresive and expansionist Hutu regime.

-Djibouti remains as a French territory. Equatorial guinea remains as a Spanish territory.

-No green march. Western Sahara gets independence during the Spanish transition. Morocco has experienced greater democratic reforms.

-An alternate, much more violent ANC in south Africa. A civil war explodes in SA in the early 70's, with part of the territory developing a "Revolutionary Republic" (Basically a pseudo-marxist single party state with a reversed apartheid)

-Portuguese colonialism and regime lasts some years more. Angola is relatively analogue to OTL, Mozambique establishes a Revolutionary Republic. After an edgier Portuguese revolution, a Salazarist remnant stablishes his stronghold in Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde and Sao Tome and Principe... an unstable and psychotic hermit kingdom.

http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=77276&stc=1&d=1250238523

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 02:19 AM

Nugax:

Slighty more divergent one here, sourced from one of the two possible paths my TL (see signature) can take after 1930 (link to 1930 Africa). This one has had the Socialist powers win the Second Great War and decolonise africa at gunpoint with...mixed results. Although the failed states are effectively a continents worth of Somalia to the power of Congo, and are worse off than OTL the Indian ocean nations, North Africa, and parts of the NAU nations have considerably higher standards of living and much more stable governments.

Some notes:
-Namaland is an integrated part of the UK (having the same status as Scotland) as a messy political compromise. Essentially the white settlers refused to give the blacks equal representation and threatened independence and aparteid-esque plans, so the compromise of giving the blacks representation but subsuming their votes in the much larger white population of the UK was taken. The UK government went allong with the plan as after the Second Great War the idea of secure control over Namalands uranium reserves was reallly appealing.
-The Kingdom of Zambezia has a monarch from the Brazilian royal family, and Juan I has acted as a great transethnic figure for unity.
-Malagasiland probably won't end up joining the Zanj as Russia won't look kindly on increased Chinese influence in Africa.
-Dreistadt is a German-Croat ethnic state, as they displaced all the Libyans during colonisation. They got to stay partly due to racism on the part of Russia and America, and partly because neither trusted the other to control the important railheads based there (though with the implosion of the subsaharan states that became less important).
-The NAU is a militant pan-African movement, probably described as Italian-style facists by an OTLer, but is actually doing some good in the countries its invaded.
-How the rest of Africa got the way it is will have to wait for the TL.

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9219/bsrpostcolonialafricasv.png

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 02:22 AM

Dutchie:

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/6215/decoloniesafricaii.png

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 02:23 AM

Rekjavik:

My entry. I tried to go with an original concept, since graphics and effects are not my speciality. I also decided to make it more informative, sort of like a textbook. Researching the names was tricky, but I think I can through alright.

http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh360/Rekjavik/Entry.png

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 02:24 AM

Alex Richards:

http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=77870&stc=1&d=1250860634

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 02:25 AM

Legolas:

I used the world map from an old map series of mine as the basis for how the colonial Africa looked like. I could give some details about the countries and rough outline of history, but I don't really want to write all that down. Enjoy :)

http://fc07.deviantart.com/fs48/f/2009/234/9/a/Long_Road_to_Freedom_by_Laiqua_lasse.png

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 02:27 AM

Desmond Hume:

My humble submission. Basically, WWI goes differently with an early Central Powers victory, but the Entente powers win the WWII analogue with help from Italy while the Ottoman Empire stays out of it. Decolonization plays out differently and slightly later, and over a much more extended period of time with Britain converting most of its colonies to independent dominions in the sixties while Germany holds on to its remaining colonies (it used to have all of the French ones except Algeria too, but after *WWII France got many of them back) until the mid-eighties. France, meanwhile, undergoes a leftist revolution in 1969 and liquidates its colonies a year later, after fighting brutal wars in many of them for 20 years previously to hold on to them. The CAL is loosely allied with the French People's Republic and includes many of the former French colonies as well as other African states with leftist governments-except Algeria, which wants nothing to do with France and has become a close Ottoman ally. Portugal and Spain are both liberal republics which have tried to integrate their colonies, with limited success. Italy remains committed to holding on to its empire, and by the eighties has become something of an international pariah.

http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=78154&stc=1&d=1251171009

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 02:30 AM

Sapiento:

POD is France winning at Abukir thanks to some brave actions of Admiral de Villeneuve (the OTL looser of Trafalgar). The French Empire lasts longer and is more successful, Great Britain is weaker. When the French loose their grip on the German Confederation in the 1880 the Germans make a revolution and found the German Empire.
Africa is colonized by the Napoleonic states France, Great Aragon, Lusitania and Great Sicily, the United Kingdom and the German Empire (which occupies for one part simply the colony of its member state, the Netherlands). By 1970 the decolonisation is finished.

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs48/i/2009/250/7/c/MoF_02_Decolonised_Africa_by_Sapiento.png

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 02:33 AM

Sapiento won that, with Nugax as runner-up and Nymain1 got the bronze.

Bruce

wilcoxchar

December 22nd, 2011, 02:47 AM

This is a great idea for a thread! It's nice to see some of my old maps again, and the other excellent ones from way back when.

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 11:05 PM

MoF Three! 90 years after Napoleon averted the Peninsular War by not succumbing to the temptation to crown one of his relatives - plus, wank three unlikely countries.

Communist Wizard:

First map???!!!
Well, anyways. So, Napoleon hunkers down in Europe and does not invade Russia. Spain is left alone, and Britain comes to the peace table. However, he dies in 1832, and his son takes over. He proves to be incompetent, and within 15 years has smashed French power. A revolt sparks, and the renewed Coalition pounces on France. France loses big time, and so the map of Europe is redrawn like this. Britain does not trust the Dutch after the East Indies Question, or for that matter the Prusso-Russian alliance. Thus, we have 'Austrasia' forming, and Bavaria in the south (the Hapsburgs were done away with back in the French days). Hungary becomes a Balkan power supported by the Prusso-Russian, and the Ottomans collapsed in Europe. However, their occupation of Serbia has driven them into the British camp.
The French are still under a Napoleon, and he doesn't like the British for Austrasia. Prussia wants Germany. And Russia wants to extend it's influence in Europe.
An alliance system has been set up, and Europe is headed for war.
WANKED: Belgium/Austrasia, Hungary, Bavaria.

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/6217/napeurope.png

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 11:07 PM

Rekjavik:

Europe, 1898. What you see here is a continent in a period known as the Lull, a short period of peace in the middle of the Second Revolutionary Wars.

After the dismemberment of Portugal by the Franco-Spanish forces, Napoleon set about consolidating the continent. In the year 1812, however, the Russian Empire lifted its embargo on British goods. Napoleon, in retaliation, launched a wide offensive, reaching for St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kiev (19th Century Barbarossa). However, the Russian forces did not give in. With the help of disease, famine and old Father Winter, the Russians ground the French Armies to a halt, beginning a long and bitter campaign to destroy the Napoleonic Empire. As the Russians began pushing the French out of Russia proper, many of the French puppets and allies changed sides, Prussia being the first. The combined Russo-German force annihilated the remnants French armies at the Battle of Warsaw, killing Napoleon in the process. His son, Napoleon II, can under the influence of a minor politician and general, Fabien Lascelles. Lascelles began a brutal campaign of fear on in the occupied territories, from Lisbon to Dresden his name was spoken with dread. He was most famous for a large scale expulsion of the German majority in the Rhineland and the former Netherlands, despite the fact that the Coalition forces were fast approaching. Yet his reign of terror did not last, in August 1813 the Spanish declared war of the French Empire, after a significant bribe from Britain. By autumn 1814 Lascelles had been captured by the advancing Russians and had been executed and publicly displayed in the streets of Paris as the Romanov Banner flew over the city.

After the end of the First Revolutionary Wars, as the period from 1789 to 1814 is referred to by modern historians, a Congress was held in Aachen, one of the few Rhineish cities not to be destroyed during the 'Rhineish Purges', as a reminder of the evils of Revolutionary thinking. The Congress of Aachen saw the dismemberment of France into several petty states, with several border territories being awarded to Britain and Spain. Denmark, one of the last allies of Lascelles' France, was divided between Hanover and Sweden, whilst the territories of the now defunct Dutch state were divided between Hanover, a remnant Dutch state of Holland and the new Empire of the Rhine. The two great surprises of the Congress were the recreation of Savoy, under the belief that a strong state in Italy was required to defend Italy against a possible French resurgence, and the building of a completely new state, the Empire of the Rhine. The Empire was built from the remains of the Rhineland, Netherlands, the former Austrian Netherlands and eastern France. The ethnic Germans were brought back to their native lands, in combination with the large scale expulsion of native French speakers by the vengeful German powers. The result was a militarily strong, largely ethnic German state to defend the north. Spain managed to gain a few territories from France, but its primary achievement was earning the right to maintain the situation in Portugal, which it made sure would not rise again, to the anger of the newly formed Kingdom of Brazil.

The powers that be maintained this delicate situation in Europe for immediate decades after the Congress of Aachen, crushing any 'Revolutionary' sentiments on the continent, a statement that continually seemed to transform into meaning any form of anti-government activities. Eventually the leaders and kings of the European nations became less concerned with the elimination of Revolutionary thought and more about helping their own people at home and unfortunate ethnic minorities, a rather hypocritical view in consideration of what they had previously overseen. Examples of these more philanthropic efforts were the independence of the Greek and Dacian states, as well as the protection of Georgian independence, which broke up after a long civil war. This period, known to history with the unfortunate title of the Interbellum, saw the unification of the minor German states into a united Germany, although lacking Prussia, Hanover or the Rhineland, the independence of Poland and fall of Papal power in Rome and the foundation of a benign Republic.

However, as the continent stopped using the memory of Lascelles to frighten their children, a second revolution was on its way. The ideal that all men are equal, the ideal of a state without the need for a government or royal house, the ideal of Communalism was born in the French state of Maine. This took root in particular in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the largely forgotten Finish population and, of most concern to the Great Powers, the Free City of Paris. In 1881 the Communalist Party gained the majority and Louis Blanqui became Mayor. He set about organising the Communalist parties of Europe into a secret organisation, the Council for Revolutionary Change and Betterment, or 'the Council' for short. He wished that the Council would be ready to enact the great Revolution at any moment’s notice, using the latest developments in telegraphs and semaphores to spread the signal to the farthest corners of the continent at a moment’s notice.

However, things took a turn for the worse with the assassination of Blanqui in 1895 by a lone assassin who claimed to be working for the conservative forces within Paris, primarily the members of the Dauphine Club. The Council, in the midst of rage at the loss of their leader, figure head and father, ordered the revolutionary signal to be sent across Europe. First to fall to the Second Revolution was the Republic of Maine, where Communalist paramilitaries seized the government house at Orleans, toppling the government and joining with Paris to become the new Revolutionary Republic of France. This terrified the monarchies of Europe, who were sprung into action, but too late to stop the revolution in their own nations. Some, like the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and Athens, collapsed and a revolutionary government was formed to challenge the Kingdom of Italy for dominion over the peninsula. Some, like Austria and Britain, reached a compromise with the moderate wings of the revolutionary forces and were saved the bloodshed of Naples and Athens, but at the cost of refusing to join any attempts to counter the new French nation. And some, such as Prussians and the Rheinish, brutally crushed their own Communalist parties and executed all who even attempted to align with them. Finland broke away from the Russian Empire and, in defiance of all previous expectation within the Council and the Russian government, not only drove the Russians out of Finland but managed to invade Russia itself, occupying St. Petersburg with the help of Russian Communalists. The Second Revolutionary Wars had begun.

By 1898, a strange peace had settled over the continent. The French had occupied most of the minor states, but agreed to pull out of the majority of them to appease the members of The International, the alliance of counter-revolutionary forces, although the minor French states were no longer viable, after living under a united French rule for the first time in over 80 years. One quick thrust from the Conciliary French and the house of cards would fall, something Paris knew very well. In Italy the Neopolitan Armies had run out of steam just short of Follonica and agreed to a ceasefire with the combined Italian-Savoyard forces. A similar agreement had been reached in Russia, where the Counciliary Finns had managed to bring the Russian government to the peace tables after occupying Moscow after 3 months of heavy fighting. The Tsar and the Royal Family, having fled to Tsaritsyn for safety, agreed to an immediate ceasefire to, according to official sources, attend to the plight of the citizens and people of Russia. Only in Greece did fighting continue, but without any great power involvement. However, all parties knew that this peace was temporary. Both the Conciliary forces and the armies of the International were preparing for round two. Across the front lines in France, Russia and Italy, the fate of Europe was being decided.

To recap, the wanked nations are: Finland, Savoy and Westphalia (the Empire of the Rhine).

http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs26/f/2009/243/3/4/MoF_03__No_Peninsular_War_by_Magnysovich.png

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 11:17 PM

Sapiento:

As the French didn't need to fight in Spain, they manage to crush the Russians and then force the UK to negotiate. The Poles become independent, Sweden is enlarged, the Baltic Republic founded. Napoleon I rules until 1832 and is succeeded by Napoleon II, who rules until 1846. When Napoleon II dies a civilwar breaks out between the republicans and the bonapartists. During this time the Germans unite and amalgamate with other countries to form the Confederate Central European Republic. The Hungarians take what is left of Austria. The French Civil War ends in 1849 with the defeat of the bonapartists. The Hungarians fight against the Ottoman Empire from 1867 - 69 and defeat the Turks. The peace treaty of Budapest creates the Balkan Confederation as Hungarian puppet.

Wanked countries are the CCER, the Empire of Great Hungary, the Federal Kingdom of Sweden and the earlier Republic of Poland.

http://fc03.deviantart.com/fs25/f/2009/250/b/d/bd2d5ef491db1f13ed862858a86469d4.png

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 11:19 PM

Legolas:

After Sapiento's masterpiece, I present my humble contribution:

When Napoleon was faced with a choice of invading Spain and installing a loyal puppet government or staying neutral, he invaded. What if he didn't?

In this world, Napoleon is less of a military leader and more a diplomat. He coerces Spain and Portugal into accepting his Continental blockade from a position of strength, but without firing a shot. Later he manages to keep good relations with Russia and slowly strengthens his hold on the whole continent. A peace with the UK is signed eventually, and the world settles into an uneasy peace.

Some highlights of the map include:

- An enlarged Switzerland. In the aftermath of Napoleonic wars, many Italian city-states wanted a peaceful environment for their economies to flourish. Switzerland was an obvious choice.
- Zapadoslavia. This means "western Slav land" and it was created after the Austrian Empire broke up in a tumultous civil war in the 1870s.
- Byzantium. When the Greeks rebelled against Ottoman rule, Napoleon supported them, since the Ottomans were never on good terms with France. This escalated into the War of the Seventh Coalition (1830-1836) and ended with French victory. Later, the war of the Ninth Coalition (1858-1861) sealed the Ottoman Empire's fate when they were forced to give up all their European holdings and some parts of Anatolia. After this war, the Empire suffered a radical Islamic revolution, after which it was reorganised into a theocracy ruled from Meccah, renamed to the Caliphate and became an isolationist country.
- Federation of Denmark, Norway and Karelia. After the War of the Eight Coalition (1840-1843), also known as the Russian civil war, France was victorious once again and rewarded her ally, Denmark-Norway, with extensive lands in former Russia Kola and Karelia. The local Finns did not like being ruled from a faraway Kopenhagen and demanded autonomy, which was granted in 1866 together with a Constitution of the country, which turned it into a Federation of three Kingdoms.
- Glands. Airships have been called many things, and it is uncertain where the nickname "gland" originated, but it stuck quite well.

http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs23/f/2009/245/2/5/Napoleon__s_Legacy_by_Laiqua_lasse.png

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 11:23 PM

Yours Truly:

Ok, a world map (because I'm never happy in AH unless I have a picture of the globe. So often places like China, India or even Russia never get a _mention_ in a description of an alternate world).

It is a century since Napoleon, after a nasty bout of disease which quite rattled his system, decided to delegate more responsibility and concluded that overthrowing the Spanish monarchy might be taking too much onto his plate at one time. Although ultimately unable to maintain a hegemony over Europe, Napoleon managed to hold onto the core of his empire in the end.

Britain, faced with a continued "cold war" with France, took a turn towards the reactionary and militarized, with long-term unfortunate consequences...

A century later, the French-Austrian-Spanish axis dominates Europe. French Liberal Universalist Imperialism and it's Austrian equivalent don't get along well with either Russian Orthodox Absolutism or British Radical Imperialism (from each according to their abilities, and to each according to their needs, with the ratios being calculated in London with rather little onsite input), although they're OK with America's fairly conservative type of republicanism.

Latin America broke away from Spain more slowly and messily than OTL, but, with British and occasionally US help, it did so by the 1860's. There is a Bourbon on the throne of Peru, and he's theoretically subordinate to his cousin in Madrid, but this is not taken very seriously. The Empire of Brazil is a US ally, pissed at Spain due to it's continued rule over Portugal.

The US is similar to OTL, although borders are a bit different as a result of the British revolution. (California is the current residence of the British-monarchy-in-exile). There was a civil war as OTL, although somewhat later, and the Confederacy still got PWNed.

At present, international tensions are running high. Terrorists and spies from the British-backed Chinese Republic slip across the border into the rump Quing state supported by Russia. The North Germans (who broke away from Austrian-French dominance after a long struggle in the 40's and 50's) dream of a unified Germany able to kick French ass, and secretly deal with the Russians. America, in an era of labor troubles, looks suspiciously across the border to radicalist Mexico. The Portugese are revolting again in Spain, and an Anarchist (Kleinist-Mayerist) recently tried to assassinate the Emperor of France. As the British continue to try to shove modernization down the throats of those ungrateful new-caught, sullen peoples, and summer brings outbreaks of cholera and peasant unrest in south Russia, things slowly roll in the direction of Armaggeddon...

Peru, Montenegro [1], and Egypt - wanked. (As are France and Austria, but they're not unusual wanks).

[1] OK, it's not that much of a wank, but it's a pretty small place to start with.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=78948&stc=1&d=1251934467

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 11:25 PM

Tangerine:

Big map:

Wanked countries: Bosnia, Austria (relatively wanked) and Denmark/Scandinavia (also a relatively weak wank, but still)

EDIT: slightly altered version, hope it's okay to edit posts.

http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs23/f/2009/253/e/a/Europe__1896_alternate_version_by_RobertDunsmuir.p ng

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 11:28 PM

Nymain1 gave us a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUc0DJd0GvQ

This is my very late entry to the Map of the Fornight Compitition, thanks to Scarecrow for leaving it open.

Please follow this link to Youtube for my video map

Wanked Countries are Batavia, Scandinavia (Sweden) and Bavaria

The flags I created from scratch

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 11:32 PM

I'm not going to post Jman's map (because it is sub-par: here's the link http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=78697&stc=1&d=1251751120 ) but I must post his batshit insane scenario...

I'm not an expert on the Napoleonic wars, and I'm also not a virtuoso at making maps like some of you guys, which left me the third option: make a map so crazy someone will admire the sheer audacity and vote for it. :D

When Napoleon goes on his expedition to Egypt in (... consults Wikipedia... :o :p ) 1798, he becomes obsessed, and I mean OBSESSED, with Egyptian culture and history. The campaign fails as in OTL but when Bonaparte becomes Emperor he's still thinking about Egypt. On the pretext of cutting Britain off from India he launches a second, much stronger expedition, basically abandoning his OTL campaigns in Europe (including the invasion of Iberia and thus the Peninsular War) to focus on a Middle eastern strategy. It quickly becomes obvious to everyone at home how crazy he is when he names himself Sultan Bonaparte and converts to Islam. Even the anything-goes Revolutionary deists are disturbed by this.

Napoleon goes about building a cult of personality around himself, allying with the Ottoman Empire, and encouraging a mixture of Egyptian and French culture by encouraging his soldiers to take local wives and by inventing a new religion. This religion is a mixture between Sunni Islam, a near-worshipful obsession with the Pharonic and Ptolemaic eras verging on occasional veneration of Horus, Ra and pals, the aforementioned Napoleonic cult of personality, and a jumble of Revolutionary French religious ideas such as the Cult of Reason/the Supreme Being and Deism.

Needless to say, the government back in France is not too happy. When Napoleon fails to raise the army he said he'd send to fight the British in India, changes the capital from Paris to Alexandria and starts building statues of himself as the Sun God in French cities, there is a coup at home and Napoleon is deposed. This doesn't bother him in the slightest, as he still controls Egypt and is batshit insane. :D

Eventually Napoleonic Egypt does help the Tippu Sultan kick the Brits out of India, and establishes an empire in the Near East. When France gets its ass kicked by the nth Coalition, Egypt even re-invades and takes back the heartland including Paris. But the focus of the empire has shifted to Alexandria, a modern Franco-Egyptian metropolis and the heart of a very strange culture.

The three wanked nations are French Egypt (The Solar Empire of the Nile, Most Serene and Holy, Wisely Guided by etc etc. officially), the Ottoman Empire, and Spain, which never loses its grip on its colonies, hold onto some of them, parts amicably with others and fights violent wars with only a few. These three also get ally colors (lighter shades of the main color), otherwise the map is close enough to UCS to be self-explanatory.

This is 1897:

B_Munro

December 22nd, 2011, 11:36 PM

Legolas was the winner, with Tangerine and Nymain1 tied for second and Sapiento in third.

Bruce

Scarecrow

December 23rd, 2011, 01:03 AM

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 02:48 AM

Ok: sorry about the holiday delay - here's MOF 4!

The paranormaaaal! :eek:

Nymain1:

Hoping this fits the criteria as its the first map

Taken ideas from the Zombie Survival Guide, its a Victorian Zombie Attack!!!

Should be self explanitory

One of my favourite works of my own so far

http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs51/f/2009/256/d/8/zombie_Britain_by_Nymain.png

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 02:49 AM

Jman:

A recruitment poster for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. In this TL there have always been people with precognitive powers, but in 1850 Allan Pinkerton started bringing them together into his agency. After foiling an assassination attempt against President Chase in 1861 the Agency became the President's bodyguard and the federal government's espionage wing. After bringing the War of Southern Rebellion to a swift end by early 1863 by foreseeing Confederate troop movements and aiding in the capture of Confederate President Breckenridge, the Agency was given broad powers to ensure the loyalty of the military-governed South. By the time this poster was published in 1871 they were also helping combat the twin unrests of the Confederate guerrilla insurgency and the Socialist-led labor union movement. The Pinkerton Agency has more members than the US Army at this point (though not every member is psychic), and is rightly feared by many Americans for its great power and influence in the government.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=80205&stc=1&d=1252959912

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 02:51 AM

Legolas:

Magic in Britain. Leylines, witches' and wizards' covens, and other funny things.

http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs51/f/2009/257/7/1/Magic_in_Britain_by_Laiqua_lasse.png

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 02:52 AM

Nugax:

A Discourse on the Etheric Sciences and the Beasts Thaumiformes by Arthur Bacon

...this realm of forces, known to the ancient Hebrews as Yesod, can best be thought of as a 'cats cradle' of strings, each connected with every other string, and each connected with a single particle of our material world. It is via these strings that the particles of the physical world, referred to as the Malkuth by the Hebrews and as 'Mal' in the argot of the more vulgar Etheric practitioners, can generation actions at a distance beyond the proximate banging of one lump of matter into another. The magnets lifting of a lump of iron, the inertia that means objects require energy to accelerate, or even the pull of the earth that holds each of us on the ground; all can be attributed to the various qualities of bindings possessed by each speck of matter. The great Newton's contribution, beyond his trivial formalisation of the properties of gravitic connection, was that there existed loci of binding forces that were not paired with any particular material particle, the famous 'Thaum' or wonder particle of his Philosophiæ Supernaturalis Principia Mathematica. With careful arrangement of an energetic material structure, or an act of will for what is the human mind if not a carefully arranged structure, a quantity of Thaums can be induced to replace the Etherium of a material, changing that material's natural properties; copper can be made harder than steel or release a corrusating charge, clay can be made to walk like a man, and so many other artifices of science that once were peddled by magicians...

...we know now that the low Ⱥ period that extended from roughly a thousand years before the birth of Christ to the early sixteen hundreds was actually unusual compared to the spread of prehistory. Mr Ual-losjiegŋa, the Ur-Vampire that was discovered frozen in Blåmannsisen glacier, spoke of unusual solar activity, a 'gulls flickering' in his own word, followed by many deaths due to abscess of the skin, after which the climate gradually warmed and thaumic levels massively decreased. Presumably this caused the death of most of the Thaumivore Megafauna apart from those who could escape forward in time like Mr Ual-losjiegŋa and the various members of the Draco genius, or those human-like Thaumiformes that could hide in areas of high natural Thaumic energy like the Vampires of the Carpathian mountains...

...despite the antagonistic nature of the two techniques thanks to the mythologising of the disputes in North America, Therianthropy and Patroniurgy have essentially similar philosophic roots – they both are about the extraction and establishment of etheric patterns. In the former, the pattern of an animal is coerced onto the etheric field of a thaumically energised man, whist in the latter the pattern of a man or beast is overlaid onto a suitable quantity of thaumitised inert matter. The therianthropic man sees his senses and to a lesser extent flesh warp to that of the 'beast-spirit' he totemises, whilst the energised matter stands to hominid form and marches to protect his creator...

...whilst many species and septs are both Thaumiformic and Thaumivoric to greater or lesser extents it is important to separate the two terms; a Thaumiform utilises the etheric medium as part of its natural life, whilst a Thaumivore must consume raw Thaums from the environment or other organisms to maintain itself. Thus a Thaumivore is by necessity a Thaumiformes, a Thaumiformes is not by necessity Thaumivoric if it can maintain it etheric abilities merely upon own its own energies. The Ur-Vampires compared to the modern Carpathian, Caucasian and Uralic subspecies form an excellent example of this; Mr Ual-losjiegŋa was capable of throwing a horse across a road and sensing other humans from leagues away, yet required a constant input of etheric energies from the environment in addition to human corpuscles that simply could not be procured in this lower Thaumic age. The modern subspecies have been rebuilt along a much more modest plan, trading the greater than human abilities in most part to survive the reduced energies of their native ranges. The Carpathian and Uralic varieties are now no more than two fifths stronger than a pure human of equal muscle mass, and their glamour acts to confuse and entice rather than obfuscate, and a Caucasian vampire is barely stronger than a man and only needs human blood once a month, though they have retained the greatest array of the Ur-Vampires senses...

...yet all three subspecies have retained certain biological features that are non-etheric as well, able to continue functioning outside their comfortable environment. The ability to engage in aestivation at will giving the appearance of centuries of life when the lifespan spent awake is no more than a man's, the ability to create demi-Vampires via a transfusion of the humours...

...some say it is England's lack of suitable metallic clays that leads us to produce few enough golems in the rabbinical style and none of the great war golems of the continent, others offer the kingdoms antipathy to Cordoban or Yiddish scholarship, or even a failure of character or grandeur in the English soul. The author scoffs at the claims and instead puts forth that it is the English love for personally freedom, allied with their skill with mechanism and coal fired rotaries that leads them to their Patroniurgy of Stitch and Steel based on Newtons grand accomplishments. For when the Englishman thinks of the etheric sciences he does not envision a twenty foot tall Fusil-marcheur, come to destroy his quiet village, but rather Sir Edward 'Lightning Fist' Colliers prosthetic arm, or the 1/32th hand douh that reloads his rifle or the 4th hand douh that he operates down in the local mill – things that exalt the man rather than the state...
__________________

http://i29.tinypic.com/205oy2w.png

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 02:54 AM

Shaucker (for which he apologizes):

http://fc09.deviantart.com/fs50/f/2009/258/7/1/Ha__Ha__Ha__by_g_effin_chaucer.png

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 02:55 AM

Highlander:

http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs51/f/2009/259/4/8/Competition_Entry_Number_4_by_Alt_Reality.jpg

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 02:56 AM

Yours truly:

"I cannot think of the deep sea without
shuddering at the nameless things that may at this very moment be crawling
and floundering on its slimy bed, worshipping their ancient stone idols
and carving their own detestable likenesses on submarine obelisks of
water-soaked granite. I dream of a day when they may rise above the billows
to drag down in their reeking talons the remnants of puny,
war-exhausted mankind -- of a day when the land shall sink, and the dark
ocean floor shall ascend amidst universal pandemonium."

- HP Lovecraft, Dagon

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=80454&stc=1&d=1253220092

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 02:57 AM

Petros >Peter Fergus< :

The middle of a very weird World War 2, on the eve of the Invasion of England.

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=80609&stc=1&d=1253376452

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 02:59 AM

Scarecrow:

My map was inspired by the SCP Foundation ( http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-series ), with a surviving Carolingian Empire/Middle Ages theme.
The Order of Isidore was established in the 11th Century to catalogue and contain relics.
Funded by gold producing relics the influence of the Isidorian Order has spread, and its vaults contain 52 important relics, and countless others.

http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs50/f/2009/263/b/b/MoF_04__The_Paranormal_by_Raven_the_5th.png

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 03:00 AM

Sapiento:

After vampires, zombies and werewolves finally a map with golems.

I think the map is self explanatory, but one hint:railways are pulled not by steam locomotives but by huge railway golems.

For large view click on the picture, small symbols and texture are better visibly only on the large map (it seems I'm incapable of doing small size maps ).

http://fc09.deviantart.com/fs51/i/2009/263/9/6/MoF_04__The_Paranormal_by_Sapiento.png

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 03:01 AM

Keno:

There are 8 Philosopher's Stones on earth. The first was made by a Bantu shaman in 2250 BC. It took long until the next were made. 1550 BC an Egypt priest made a second one which herald the New Kingdom. In 1400 BC a Hinduist Brahmin declined the Moksha. His heart is assumed to be the third Philosopher's Stone. The fourth was made by an Chinese philosopher in the Zhou Dynasty in the 13th century BC. Greek scientists made a fifth one in 1200 BC. Because the stone was very near to the Egypt one, it naturally moved north out of the Greek influence zine. The next one was made by scholars in San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan during a siege in 900 BC. Around the time of Christ's birth a shaman of the Hopewell Culture made a Philosopher's Stone and also an anonymous person of the Xiongnu. Rumors about an ninth stone from somewhere in Indonesia are unconfirmed.
Each Philosopher's Stone is divided into 6 parts.
Sexta Pars Lunaris makes gold out of silver.
Sexta Pars Mercurius makes gold out of mercury
Sexta Pars Martius makes gold out of iron
Sexta Pars Saturnius makes gold out of lead
Sexta Pars Iovis makes gold out of tin
Sexta Pars Veneris makes gold out of cupper.
Every Sixth reigns over a certain region. In this region you can transform the specific ignoble metal into gold. Each laboratory which is supervised by the possessor of the sixth stone can perform the transforming. The behaviour of the regions are not successfully analyzed yet.
In Europe are three kinds of transforming common. The Modus Tauri using coagulation, the Modus Sagittarii using ceration and the Modus Librae using sublimation.

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/7140/philosophersstone.png

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 03:04 AM

Sovereign12:

Starting in 1976 crop circle began to appear around the world. Thought to be a hoax most thought nothing of it. Until in November 1977, a three-network TCP/IP test was conducted between sites in the US, UK, and Norway. Unbeknown to the world this would be similar to the stop code of a spell performed by the Naga, also called Dragons, which would allow their chaotic and random hurtle through time. The crop circles would multiply. (Also known as fairy rings, magic circles, and mandalas.) (see Magic, Physica, and Reality in file PR09Y-01)

The initial spell(s) was performed by various nations and factions of the five major species of Naga to escape their prophesied death. Ironically, data gathered from captured Naga prisoners indicates that the extinction event the were escaping from was actually caused by their escape into the future (see K-T Extiction Event summary in file D99-1T).

The earth has been altered were the spell did not work properly bringing land masses and seas from othe time periods.

The five major Species of Naga (Dragons)

Naga: Semi-aquatic, highly agressive, megalomaiacal
Lilith: Usually rainbow colored, sinister and and cruel to non-lilith
Python: very large with rock like scales, highly agressive
Uktena: horn head, very friendly, seems extremely fascinated by humans
Quetzalcoatl: Winged and capable of flight, scales and feathers are modified hair, friendly to humans but keep to themselves.

http://www.deviantart.com/download/137796927/Crop_circle_Invasion_by_sovereign12.png

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 03:05 AM

A closely contested contest, with Sapiento as the winner, myself as second, and Nugax as third. MOF 5 tomorrow.

Bruce

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 10:36 PM

MoF five: US-UK cold war.

First, Jman:

"OTL state borders are included for reference, but have no meaning ITTL."

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=81318&stc=1&d=1254171676

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 10:37 PM

Thande:

I have decided to throw my hat into the ring.

The map follows below to avoid word wrap issues as I give this rough sketch of the scenario:

A series of minor PODs in the late 19th century lead to no rapproachments between Britain and both the US and the Russian Empire: for example, both the Guyana land dispute and the Great Game in India remain active into the twentieth century. Instead Britain is somewhat closer to Germany, though overall she remains more aloof than OTL.

Due to different outcomes to the Balkan Wars, the equivalent of WW1 is delayed until 1919, by which time Russia has considerably modernised its army and supply networks, and thus even though Britain and the United States stay out of the war, the Central Powers are still defeated by 1921. France spearheads a European Defence League designed to put a cordon sanitaire around Germany and her allies, but this ends up succeeding in the west only, as Russian resentments with political liberalisation not keeping pace with technological advancement leading to revolution exploding in 1928. Austria-Hungary on the other hand, though losing some territory in alt-WW1, successfully accommodates its own nationalist problems with reform. During this era the League of Neutral Nations is founded in Scandinavia, which many decolonised countries will go on to join.

A revanchist German government (though far milder than the Nazis) attacks Russia in 1930 and succeeds in regaining more than her prewar eastern borders and creating a puppet Poland, though the strength of the EDL in the west dissuades the Germans from trying to reclaim Alsace-Lorraine as well. On the other hand, no-one wants to come to the aid of the Russians, as their civil war is won by radical communist elements who promptly spread the revolution to the eastern Balkans. The war comes to an end in 1932 with German-EDL tensions easing as both see themselves as agents of civilisation against the eastern communists. However, communist Russia is far weaker than OTL's Soviet Union and is not considered more of a threat than a source of propaganda by the western capitalist powers, Britain and the United States.

Freed from commitments in Europe, Britain and her Empire face a rising United States whose political ideologies couple isolationism with an increasing commitment to the Monroe Doctrine, with rhetoric implying the ejection of all colonies from the Americas, and perhaps even the annexation of Canada. Thus, in the present year of 1950, both sides continue to size each other up for war while backing opposition elements in each other, and no nation in Latin America can have a civil war without the USA backing one side and Britain the other.

But the global situation may change radically if the theories of certain controversial physicists in Paris and Vienna prove true...

http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=81331&stc=1&d=1254178474

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 10:41 PM

Nugax, from his "Blue Star Rising" TL, or a variant thereof:

http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs50/f/2009/276/f/c/MC05_Blue_Star_Rising_Troubles_by_IainFluff.png

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 10:43 PM

Legolas:

To: "Zacharias N. Simmonds" (zns12@cia.gov)
From: "Albert Woolsey" (minglemind@hotmail.com)
Re: Proceedings

Message body:

Hi Zac,

How's life? Are the employees treating you alright there in the office? You should trying coming up north at some point - I've had a very exciting week: met five new friends and ran into a few old ones, got myself a nice little flat in Montreal and so on. I'd love to tell you all about that, but work's pressing hard, so it'll have to wait until one of us pops by another's place.

Anyway, I'd like you to see a particularly interesting photo I made just this morning. I believe it may be interesting and useful.

Cheers!
Al

***

This is my not-too-terrific entry. I experimented with something I haven't done before, i.e. trying to combine various items for the background. Didn't work out too well, but I can't think of any better presentation. It should not be too difficult to gather what this is - a blunder by an MI5-Canada agent, who left his manual open on page 128 just long enough for an American spy to take a photo. I wonder how the CIA is going to react to this...
__________________

http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs50/f/2009/276/6/0/A_British_Blunder____by_Laiqua_lasse.png

B_Munro

December 28th, 2011, 10:46 PM

And here's Feo's rather Grasshopper-Lies-Heavy-ish world:

Here's my first entry for a MoF.

The main POD is that russian communism miserablely fail due to a really incompetent Stalin and the Luftwaffe miserablely lose the Battle of Britain.
Russia get nearly wiped out by the Nazis, the US ant the UK are the two only winner of the War.
After the fall of Berlin the Americans send all their troop in China to help the Nationalists leaving to the British the control of Europe.
Between 1945 and 1948 in all the European nations under British pressure Monarchies were established or re-established (except for France that held the referendum only in 1951) and a strong Welfare State was introduced.
On the other side the US becomes more anti-imperialistic, anti-monarchical, Laissez-faire oriented and liberal. US interests bring them to support many independence movements in Africa and in South East Asia.
In 1950 the North Pacific Treaty Organization was created by the USA in order, according to a President Truman private letter, "to keep the Europeans out, the Americans in, and the Japanese down"
In reaction the Pact of Berlin was signed by the European nations (except for the communists Yugoslavia and Albania and for Switzerland). The Pact, mostly a military alliance, was introduced by a declaration that defined constitutional monarchy, welfare state and Intergovernmentalism as the "Greatest achievement of european societies".
In response, in 1951, the US and the American allies in Europe and Western Africa created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
During the 50s the two blocs confronted themself in a nuclear arms race, the Suez War(1956), the Indochina War(1947-1956) and, more recently, in a Space Race

Treaty Organizations and Berlin Pact member countries:

NATO
USA
Cuba
Ireland
Greenland
Iceland
Estado Novo (Portugal and once called colonies)
Spain
Sicily
Morocco
Liberia

NPTO
USA
Japan
Korea
Manchuria
Philippines

Berlin Pact
United Kingdom
Norway
Sweden
Finland
Denmark
France
Netherlands
Luxenburg
Germany
Poland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Belarus
Ukraine
Czechoslovakia
Romania
Bulgaria
Grece
Slavonia (OTL Croatia and Slovenia)
Hungary
Austria
Italy
South Africa
Australia
New Zealand
Canada

http://i710.photobucket.com/albums/ww105/Feoko/coldwar2-1.png