Your favorite ATL

Most interesting ATLs

  • Roman Empire survives to modern era

    Votes: 3 3.6%
  • Chinese Empire colonizes New World

    Votes: 3 3.6%
  • No major monotheistic religions

    Votes: 6 7.2%
  • Vikings permanently settle NE Noth America

    Votes: 11 13.3%
  • Spanish conquest of Mesoamerica fails

    Votes: 2 2.4%
  • No successful American Revolution

    Votes: 15 18.1%
  • CSA wins independence

    Votes: 9 10.8%
  • Central Powers win WW1

    Votes: 24 28.9%
  • Axis powers win WW2

    Votes: 4 4.8%
  • Other

    Votes: 6 7.2%

  • Total voters
    83

Grey Wolf

Gone Fishin'
Donor
Favourites v most interesting

I kind of agree with you that no major monotheistic religions would be a GOOD POD, but I would not be able to contribute to it very well

And as favourite versus most interesting is an intriguing question... I think no American Revolution is GREAT, hehe and have some timelines etc on this, but in general I find most interesting the survival of the great empires - German, Russian, Austrian, Ottoman and also Chinese though that's not DIRECTLY related lol

Sorry, CSA you have to come second to that

Grey Wolf
 
GW, your point about "favorite" vs "most interesting" is well taken. My intent was for people to vote for the ATL they find most interesting, not the one they might like to live in the most. I'd be really worried about someone who's favorite TL to live in would be No. 9 :eek: .

My most interesting is survival of MesoAmerican civilization and seeing how these cultures might have adapted to the later European imperialism of the 18th-19th centures (they couldn't have avoided it foreever). As an American I hesitate to list my favorite, but it does involve the sun never setting on somebody elses empire :)
 
Your choices correspond to the following GURPS worlds:
Roma Aeterna
Ming-3
n/a
Midgard
n/a
Cornwallis
Dixie
n/a
Reich-5
 
No successful American Revolution would be the best world by far, it would be a great place though its been over done so I suppose the viking america would be the most interesting- yet to see a decent one of those.
 
It's funny how much this topic brings out national or regional prejudices. The Brits think that an unsuccessful American Revolution would be wonderful, the Americans think that having all English speaking countries in the world as part of the US would be wonderful, the people from the southeastern US like the idea of a successful Confederate states, and so on. Of course, I'm not immune to this - being from New England, I find the idea of New England breaking from the US and forming its own country fascinating. (Of course, the New England states by themselves were probably too small for a viable country - one would probably need New York and New England together for a viable nation.)
 
Paul Spring said:
Of course, I'm not immune to this - being from New England, I find the idea of New England breaking from the US and forming its own country fascinating. (Of course, the New England states by themselves were probably too small for a viable country - one would probably need New York and New England together for a viable nation.)

Funny I can think of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. Exactly how big do you think a country has to be to be viable?
 

Grey Wolf

Gone Fishin'
Donor
David S Poepoe said:
Funny I can think of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. Exactly how big do you think a country has to be to be viable?

Belgium managed quite well too in the period in question :)

I also remember a quote from the Prime Minister of Bavaria during the Crimean War saying that he wished there was no such thing as the German Confederation because then Bavaria would be free to act on its own interests and could certainly hold its head up in international relations, citing Belgium and Portugal as examples

Grey Wolf
 
Funny I can think of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. Exactly how big do you think a country has to be to be viable?

I probably chose my words poorly - I should have said "powerful" or "influential". The 6 New England states have very little in the way of mineral resources, a lot of mediocre or poor land for farming, and they're kind of located in a corner of North America that can be easily bypassed by trade routes on land and water. On the other hand, I may be wrong - New England had a huge shipping industry and a lot of financial power in the early - mid 19th century. It could end up becoming a sort of North American equivalent to the Netherlands or Switzerland. Maybe people from all over the world could hide large sums of money in "New England bank accounts".
 
I'll go with 'no monotheistic religions' because it is so different. A winning confederacy, a victorious British empire, or a German victory in either world war would shuffle boundaries, alliances, and perhaps even political systems. But changing the religious bedrock western civilisation is based on (for better or for worse) will have huge implications at every level of society. Speculating about that is FUN.
 

Grey Wolf

Gone Fishin'
Donor
Karl Martell said:
CSA victorious! So much to play around with, in America and through long-term consequences in Europe as well.

Are you a Germanic version of Charles Martel, or is it your real name ? :)

Grey Wolf
 
No major monotheistic religions

I was torn between this and the Central Powers winning the Great War. No monotheistic religions could have so many ramifications.
A possible POD would be with Greece finding a way to unite--perhaps after narrowly defeating the Persians, the temporary unity holds in the face of a new war soon. After several wars, the unity is a bit solider, and becomes permanent. By the time Roman legions come to call, a united Greece drives off the Romans and counter-attacks. Perhaps the Persian wars inspired the Greeks to put some of their esoteric experiments to practical use.
The Jews never have reason to revolt later on--they remain a minor religion, while Greek culture spreads.
If butterflies don't prevent his birth in the first place, Jesus is a prophet, but only has a small following. (I think that without the crucifixion, his movement may not have flourished. I'm no expert on this era, though)
Jews aren't known for seeking out converts, so there's no reason for it to become the predominant religion.
The Central Powers victory one is certainly easier to work with, or at least seems that way to me. <I've been playing with a CP victory off and on for a long time>
 
I voted for "no successful American Revolution" but I also love the earlier settlement of the new world. the AH fiction I'm currently working on has the Anglo-Saxons settling in Vinland.
 

Straha

Banned
I pick Dixie. Its a VERY interesting ATL. Recently I purchased the GURPS: Infinate worlds and foudn it full of interestign TLs. I ordered GURPS: Alternate Earths a few days ago and am waiting for it to come in the mail...(4 to 14 days and I'm hoping its closer to 4)
 

Straha

Banned
Wendell said:
Central Powers Prevail timelines interest me.
Then you'll like the TL for Dixie. DEspite only seeing the 1 page writeup for it in GURPS: Infinate worlds I foudn it very interesting and wanted to know more.
 

Diamond

Banned
Straha said:
Then you'll like the TL for Dixie. DEspite only seeing the 1 page writeup for it in GURPS: Infinate worlds I foudn it very interesting and wanted to know more.
The descriptions in Alternate Earths I for Dixie are much more in-depth. It's actually a really cool TL.
 
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