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  1. Earlier development of the rifle musket?

    I'm currenty reading Nosworthy's book on American Civil War strategy and tactics, and the author takes a moment to describe the post-Napoleonic development of the rifle musket, describing the Delvigne musket (the smooth ball would be dropped down the rifle barrel and then tapped down to fit...
  2. Apples and Oranges Mk. III: A Greater Dutch Revolt

    Lepanto, 1571 The sun shone brightly on the fleet as it entered the Gulf of Patras. Galleys and galleasses under the mixed command of Mediterranean Christendom gently rocked back and forth in the waves, a sea of water below them reflected by a sea of banners above, each one showing to the...
  3. Apples and Oranges Mk. III: Planning phase (emphasis on China, Ottomans, &c)

    So I'm thinking of restarting and making a third draft/revision of my TL. Thing is, this time around I don't want to charge in balls first and realize I still haven't figured out the affairs of half the globe after I've started. I'm relatively happy with how I've figured European affairs in the...
  4. All those OTL maps in one handy spot!

    ...or hopefully a fair number of them at the very least. Trawled through a couple of the OTL map threads, saved as many as possible, sorted them, zipped the folder, and then uploaded it to megaupload. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HWXGLTU1 18.99 mb, containing 165 maps. The maps are divided...
  5. "Metal casting techniques"

    During dicussions on Rome, China, and Industrialization, one of the oft-cited reasons why Roman and Hellenistic countries couldn't develop powerful steam engines or guns is because they didn't have the proper "metal casting techniques," or something along those lines. The question is, what are...
  6. Different place-names with minimum divergence?

    Anybody have any? I was thinking that the USA could've been known as the CSA if the Continental Congress had phrased a few documents ever-so-slightly differntly, but really any name-changes from any period would be awesome.
  7. English intervention in Savoy, 1655?

    Reading up on the Vaudois on the Armenian Genocide, I stumbled upon this: If the Genocide's right here-- who knows?-- then what if Cromwell actually did send forces to Savoy on behalf of the Vaudois? Would the French interevene on the side of the Duke of Savoy, and start a...
  8. In The Hall of the Orange King (Apples and Oranges redux)

    Okay, I think I got this all figured out now. First entry will be a plain old chronology and map, but it'll get better after that, I swear. Main point of divergence is the death of Duke Alexander Farnese of Parma at the battle of Lepanto in 1571. This won't mean terribly much until the late...
  9. AH challenge: European support for the CSA and a Union victory in the ACW

    Pretty straightforward, really. Have one or more European powers militarily support the CSA in the American Civil War and still have the Union win, with a PoD no earlier than South Carolina's declaration of secession. HARD MODE: The Union does not get any support from the European powers...
  10. Russia's expansion eastward halts: What happens to Siberia?

    PoD is Russian expansion eastwards, fending off and then conquering the lands of the Sibir and the like, is halted somewhere between 1380 and 1606. Assuming that Russia is thereafter unable or unwilling to expands eastwards much after that period of time, what becomes of that vast expanse of...
  11. 16th-Century Steamships?

    A long web surf that started off with a google search for "engineer abortion" ended up with an encounter upon this article, which suggests that a Spanish steamship was developed and approved of in the mid-1500s. Granted, the author was making a biased interpretation of an interpretation of a...
  12. Alternate Andorras and San Marinos?

    So what are some good canidates for ATL indepedent city-states that survive the nationalist and expansionist unification efforts of various countries and stay independent? Lucca's one good choice I can think of, but I'd like to hear others.
  13. Apples and Oranges

    Okay, this is my first attempt at doing an actual timeline. It's based on two PoDs around the same time- one, that Alexander Parnese dies at the battle of Lepanto, and two, that Mary, Queen of Scots, gives in to pressure from everybody everywhere and signs the Treaty of Edinburgh, and is...
  14. A few questions on the Dutch Revolt

    Trying to tinker with a possible TL with a PoD around the revolt, and ended up with a few question that need answering before I plow along further. Mainly: 1. How much longer than OTL could The Duke of Alba stay governor of the Netherlands in the face of royal pressure? 2. If the Duke of...
  15. Earlier colonial independence movements?

    Inspired by a game of EU3 where the entire east coast of North America was colonized by 1500, yet rebellions led to no changes at all. Why did it take until the latter half of the 18th century for the idea to firmly take root in the colonies that they could split off from the Mama Nation back...
  16. WI Calumet becomes Michigan state capitol?

    Inspiried by a recent family road trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and all of its abandoned, rusting glory. According to the oh-so-reliable Wikipedia, the city of Calumet, MI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calumet%2C_Michigan) lost the vote to be the state capitol of Michgan to Lansing...
  17. Earlier Patagonian colonization

    Looking at the historical maps we've got, it looks as if nobody really wanted to touch Patagonia at all until the 19th century. Why is that, and how can it be colonized sooner (preferably not by a major colonial power, more prferably by a German state, and even more preferably before 1800)...
  18. A minor question about the 163x series

    ...I know I've read a rough draft of the Bavarian Crisis all the way through on some website (It's hilarious, reading a story for it to suddenly stop and say "DETAILS ABOUT THE FRANCONIAN ELECTORATE AND THE STATUS OF GUSTAV ADOLF HERE. GOT TO TALK TO VIRGINA ABOUT THAT"), but I can't remember...
  19. AH Challenge: An economically thriving Upper Peninsula of Michigan

    Your challenge, whether you choose to accept it or not, is to make a feasible TL wherein the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the dominant, economically thriving peninsula while the lower peninsula just sits there and cries itself to sleep every night. Earliest possible POD is 1805 and the...
  20. Cultural AH challenge: Rock and Roll by 1850.

    With any POD after 1492, your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to make classic Rock n' Roll, a la Elvis Presley or Buddy Holly, a popular music genre of music by 1850. No ASBs allowed, and bonus points to anyone who can make Abe Lincoln a rock idol.
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