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My money's on some intermediate outcome to the upcoming Dutch invasion--neither full success (the Cortez/Pizarro scenario) nor utter failure. Perhaps the Dutch obtain a toehold (with native help?) but prove unable to topple the Yadji? The military imbalance in technology is bad but not...

I'm trying to imagine the response of a good Victorian liberal to the Monkey King segments of the Taiping rebellion, and failing entirely. How on earth could someone even come up with something like that?

I don't really care if it's logical or not--I'm rooting for a Nangu-VOC alliance, damn it. Part of me feels like the Nangu just deserve that much from the universe in return for their sheer ballsiness and nautical skill.

I have to say, I was looking forward to something a bit more detailed than that...but I more than understand writers block, and I'm still curious as to what the post-war world order will look like.

I just read through all of this and I have to say--wow. This is excellent. A few points of long term speculation: -It seems likely that the US, east of the Rockies, will remain cohesive, albiet with very strong levels of regionalism and state control for the foreseeable future. Given the...

What would the strategic/diplomatic background for such a conflict be? What's happened in China from 1941-present? What about the colonial possessions in Eastern Asia--are they independent or still colonies? Is the cold war going on, and if so who would the Japanese align themselves with? Why is...

The use of ITTL documents, complete with less-than-sane points of view, is one of my favorite things in this work. Offhanded racist remarks about how the Japanese Race will never industrialize make for excellent reminders that this is not just OTL with some of the battles transliterated.

They tried to launch a military coup against a popular emperor in wartime...and didn't maintain the operational security necessary to pull it off. I'm sorry, but the stupidity here is mind-boggling (not out of character for reactionary aristocrats, mind you--just mind boggling). How...

If nothing else, I suspect that the Dutch might be impressed enough by Nangu maritime proficiency and daring to begin cooperating with them. In fact, I can see the Nangu ultimately emerging as powerful local allies and most favored partners of whichever European nation winds up dominant in the...

Going back to the naval warfare bits for a moment: a lot depends on the very specific level to technology available to the combatants. Submarines and airplanes were both just finishing the transition from "expensive, fragile toy" to "workable military machine" in the lead-up to OTL WWI...

The sheer size of the front in India means that we're probably going to see something along the lines of the OTL eastern front on the subcontinent, with the Heiderids as Russia and Vijayanagara playing the role of Germany. The basic question remains the same in both campaigns: can the...

Well, here we go, then. The bit about Vijayanagaran experimentation with internal combustion engines makes me wonder about the development of science IOTL. How much will the addition of another scientific power to the mix accelerate OTL science?

I rather liked neo-gothic architecture; a shame to see its sputtering ITTL.

The fact that there's a freaking gatling gun on top?

Aururian medicine is definitely advanced enough to mitigate the effects of European diseases as much as is possible in the 17th century. Aururian religion...will be less helpful. If the White City's "request" becomes a demand, things are going to fly out of control. Quickly.

Map comments, in no particular order: New Spain controls most of the Spanish Americas, but not Ecuador/Peru/Chile/Argentina/Bolivia. I’m assuming that they’re an independent state(s). More puzzling is how Republican Spain wound up controlling Cuba. That must be a really awkward flash-point...

Again, this is a nitpick, but I'm not sure that I see a justification for a major trunk railroad running up the spine of the Haiderid Empire--wouldn't steamships on the Ganges accomplish more or less the same thing much more cheaply? Also, I'd have to imagine that the British and French would...

I realize that this is something of a nitpick, but why did Prussia just create a Republic of Germany? Also, and on a totally unrelated note, how do you think that the British Commonwealth customs union has impacted industrialization and immigration patterns in America? In most...

Is it realistic for the Vijayanagaran navy to have the combat effectiveness necessary to defeat the Dutch in the East Indies? The Vijayanagaran land forces have had plenty of time to modernize, and plenty of battles to develop an institutional memory of what works and what doesn't, but unless...

Have you ever heard of the play 12 Angry Men? Ever wondered why every single member of the jury in that play was a man? The answer is that in most states in the US during the 1950s, it was illegal for women to serve on juries (on the basis, more or less, that they were not intelligent or logical...