BMN/FasterThanRaito's Hoi4/Paradox inspired maps

[FasterThanRaito]

At first, the Carlists took over the crumbling Spanish Empire, however they couldn't reform the country and instead attempted to distract the public with colonial ventures, taking over parts of Asia, Africa, and re-asserting dominance over the South American Cone. Spain settled the lands that could not be controlled by the unstable Argentine Confederation, which was eventually absorbed wholesale into the colonial administration.

However, this could only last so long, in the wave of unrest the swept Europe in 1848, both France and Spain were toppled by liberal revolutions, and became allied republics. Together, they launched interventions against the Ottomans, resulting in what some cynically called the 10th Crusade, which saw the liberation of the Holy Land. Officially, this is the victory of a secular France, not a Christian power. Unofficially, this has cemented France's position in the Mediterranean and Catholic sphere, allowing a smoother integration of the Italian provinces annexed after a failed Italian experiment at independence against their previous Austrian rulers.

Although the Northern European Powers of Sweden/Scandinavia, Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom were able to avoid revolutions, their liberalization and democratization meant that their constitutional monarchies were fairly progressive and peaceful, engaging in hostilities mostly only with Russia, particularly after it succumbed to communist revolution, engaging a multinational intervention. Although the British and Germans wanted the relatives of Queen Victoria back on the throne, the Tsarist royal family had already been executed, therefore rather than impose more foreign monarchs on the country, it remained a republic.

After the intervention in communist Russia, Germany, Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom were weakened and off-balance. Amidst a polical crisis between the Netherlands and Belgium, France saw this opportunity to retake Alsace-Loraine. Spain gave aid to France, however due to technological advancements in warfare, the first world war was shockingly bloody. Thankfully it was a short war, as the United Kingdom remained neutral instead of helping Germany, while the US intervened on the side of France.

Due to the economic, political, and cultural shocks of the war, Spanish upper and middle classes began turning the country towards autarchy. In 1920 there was a coup, and the industrialist corporatists took control of the government with the help of ultranationalists. Although it officially remained a republic, it was a defacto dictatorship, as voting rights were suppressed and censorship was introduced. Over the next decade, anti-capitalist and pro-democracy riots and rebellions were widespread. However, thanks to its massive colonial recruitment, there was enough manpower to pacify the country, entrenching the new system.

Instead of liberalization, Japanese monarchy went in a different direction. A series of wars saw the suppression of southern rebellions, yet the ruling Tokugawa dynasty was toppled, replaced by a new Shogunate that better represented the interests of the new rising plutocrat class. Their desire for industrialization led to the colonization and exploitation of parts of Asia, notably Korea and Manchuria. However, inroads to China have ceased now that that the Chinese Revolution is coming to an end, with the KMT solidifying the North. As of yet, the Chinese do not see Japan as a great threat, ever since the Sichuan rebels were used as a Spanish proxy to partition the country into a conservative North and Radical South.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire has persisted through the troubled first half of the 20th century, thanks to its stable democratic neighbors ensuring peace in the region. Not since the days of ancient Rome has Europe been so cooperative. Still, points of contention remain, where great power rivalries still carry influence over disputes, such as the situation between the Kingdom of Greece (Athens) and the Kingdom of Greece (Heraklion).

 

[FasterThanRaito]

Cooking a new democracy is a challenge when the rest of the world is boiling hot. Various regional conflicts of fascist aggression against neighbors merge into a cataclysmic global struggle between the Allies and Nazbols. However, not all communists are authoritarians, American and India manage to find themselves on the side of freedom against tyranny. First to fall are the European fascists. They are followed by the Soviets, then the infamous Kwangtung Army that ravaged East Asia until the Japanese government subdued the uprising with Allied help. Finally, the Second Confederacy and Mexico fall after a long and bitter struggle in America.

Having sustained massive casualties, the european democracies are not in a position to enforce their occupation over the vastness of Russia. Instead, America steps in, having an ideological foot in the door thanks to the success of the local asian communists.

Though the main wars are done, there is still much tension over whether or not China will resume the civil war... and how much foreign intervention there might be. The world doesn't want another world war...

 

[FasterThanRaito]

The Shadow returned to Middle Earth, the rebuiding of Barad-Dur marking the beginning of the end...
However, Sauron's long absence from Middle Earth had allowed the leaderless Orc populations to learn self-direction and self-reliance. When Sauron's agents assumed control over the hordes of Mordor, the common orcs chafed under the new abusive system.
It began with the workers of Morder beginning to petition for better treatment standards in the great industrial, infrastructure, and defense projects of the Dark Lands, the greatest being the Barad-Dur Worker's Union.
This escalated into union-busting crackdowns and further resistance between the Orcs and Sauron's enforcers.
Meanwhile, the One Ring had been found, lying dormant in the Shire. The Elves were divided on the issue of the Ring. Some suggested supporting a Fellowship to oversee the destruction of Sauron's Final Weapon. However, there were others who finally saw an opportunity to reverse a tragic situation.
For ages, Elvish civilization had been in decline. Birthrates were dangerously low, leading to the inexorable demographic replacement of the Elvish race by the vulgar race of Men. Men had no appreciation for true civilization, their culture a gross corruption of Elvish culture. Should the Elves allow their genocidal disappearance to continue, the brightest lights and most beautiful of people would be lost forever. This was no mere accident, but a conspiracy perpetrated by the Istari, the Wizards. Secretive and elusive, they sought to pacify the elves into irrelevance, purposefully ushering in the Age of Men.
In order to right this wrong, a coalition of Lorien and Imladris elves convinced Galadriel to seize the ring and wield absolute military power to destroy the human kingdoms that encroached on their borders.

Events in Mordor escalated with the March on Barad-Dur, which resulted in the summary expulsion of Sauron's agents. Lacking physical support, Sauron withered, a mere spirit in search of the Ring. The orcs were free at last and set up a new government for their people. Although no longer guided by Sauron's plans of conquest, the orcs prepared for a defensive war, should the newly expanionist elves prove hostile to orcs.
With the threat of Mordor gone, the leadership of Gondor faced a crisis of legitimacy. The urban peoples of Gondor's cities, no longer accepting military aristocratic ruler, overthrew the Stewardship, and established a liberal republic. The allied peoples in Arnor followed suit.
Then, the Elves struck. They invaded Rohan, which called on Gondor for help. Men were united in common defense. The elves saw how the various realms of men cooperated and surmised they were coordinated by the wizards Saruman and Gandalf. They hated this betrayal and grew paranoid of the other races they deemed inferior and degenerate, such as Dwarves and Orcs. Their pogroms on the two lesser races lead to the Kingdom of Erebor and the Free Councils to intervene on behalf of their kin.
The alliance between men, dwarves, and orcs overcame elvish military superiority through sheer force of numbers. Millions perished in the trenches of the lorien fields and mirkwood forests.

Ultimately, freedom would prevail, and the Orcs would allow the Fellowship safe passage to Mount Doom, where Sauron and his corrupting influence were destroyed forever.
From then on, Orcs and Men lived as neighbors in peace and equality.

 

[FasterThanRaito]

What about you do a Kaiserreich scenario where you play as a SPD-led Germany facing Totalism to your West and Savinkovism to your East?

This was my first time with KR. Due to computer reasons, I hadn't been able to get into mods for a while, but now here I am.
"West" is a bit vague, so set all of Western Europe to go totalist where possible.

Germany is in a tough spot, having not managed peace very well since the end of the War. The Economic situation is slow, but Germany was able to consistently increase industrial output to rival that of even the USA. This would later be important. The German Army was a small core of well-trained elite soldiers. However, violence started breaking out in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Some notable conflicts were the Austrian/Balkan wars, where Serbia and Romania beat up Bulgaria while Hungary and Poland allied to beat Austria, then Serbia and Romania invaded Hungary, establishing Yugoslavia and Greater Romania.

In the West, syndicalism not only expanded into Italy and Holland and even Switzerland, but many turned full Totalist. The inclusion of the swiss into the Internationale was an important shift the strategic situation, though the overconfident German high command ignored this development, which would become important later... After a tense few years, German intellenge agency suddenly realized that France had built up a massive army and was preparing to demand Alsace-Lorraine!
Germany quickly attempted to mobilize. The huge industrial might of the country meant the economy could be re-tooled to military production, allowing many men to be armed properly.
The border with France was already heavily fortified from the last War, but there were additional fronts to manage between the Ukraine - Belorussian border and the French - Belgian border. Two full armies were committed to the defense of Belgium. However, right after the French declaration of war, unexpected events took Germany by surprise.
First, the Germans had entirely underestimated the Swiss, not fortifying the border beyond the peacetime border police. Although the swiss army was small, they allowed the Italians and French to pour units through the mountain passes, where they flooded into Germany. Wuttenburg was overrun before emergency reserve forces could be called up to plug the gaps in the frontline.
Second, the Belgians had just demanded independence, which was not granted, so when the war came they revolted, with a Internationale-backed syndicalist government. The very forts that were meant to protect Germany from the West were now handed over by the Belgians to the French, cutting off half of the German armies from retreating East!
This thinning of the German army not only stretched the lines, claiming all reserves, but diverted attention towards this important battle, away from the final blow...
Third, the British navy overpowered the underfunded Kreigsmarine and were able to land invasion forces in Hanover. They swept unopposed through Northern Germany, even reaching Berlin, which went an emergency evacuation. This evacuation was not ultimately necessary, since fresh armies were able to push the British back into the sea.
However, this temporary chaos in the capital gave Poland its chance to issue germany an ultimatum for territories. With all armies busy protecting home territory in the south, west, and north, nothing could be spared to guard the border on the east, so the Posen Corridor and Silesia were surrendered without a fight. However, the treacherous Poles soon pressed the advantage, and having secured the border regions, used them to stage a surprise invasion of Germany!
However, this delay caused by the territory surrender allowed three new armies to be mobilized, one of which was Germany's first Panzer army. Generously provided with heavy equipment, they easily crushed the Polish army, and rescued the stragglers of the Army that had been cut off fighting Ukraine. They drove from Warsaw to Kiev, eliminating the Eastern Front.
Then, they turned West. In southern Germany and Alsace-Lorraine, the fighting had ground down to immobile trench warfare. To get around the lines, the Germans declared war on Holland, and drove the Panzers around through the north of Belgium, along the Channel coast, and then down to Paris. The French Armies were trapped in the eastern part of Lorraine, while German armies flooded the rest of France. Once the field armies of the Internationale were bottled up in the Swiss Alps where they could help no one, France capitulated. Italy and Switzerland soon followed.
The German air force quickly established air superiority over Britain, and the navy was driven out of the Channel. Although the German navy was too wrecked for a major amphibious assault, massive airdrops were considered, especially since the majority of the British army was destroyed in France, so occupying England would be as simple as arriving there.
Seeing the writing on the wall, the British wished to end the war before the Germans could help the Canadians beat their navy, and so offered terms. The war was over.

While all this had been happening, the Russians were resurging into an ultranationalist empire. They issued ultimatums to Germany, but Germany managed to bluff its way out while occupied with the West, so Russia turned East and busied itself with taking over Asia from the Japanese.
The American Civil War concluded with the beatdown of the Syndicalist rebellion, and resumption of democracy.
With the end of radical syndicalism, the only form of leftism that remains is the moderate social democracy in Europe. Africa is dominated by colonial empires, South America by various autocrats, and Asia by worse.
Of note, the Entente had evolved into a veritable monarchist alliance, with the Kingdom of Canada, having missed the opportunity to reclaim Britain, settling into hemispheric hegemony. They are allied with Carlist Spain, which defeated the anarchists, along with the Third French Empire under Napoleon IV.

 

[FasterThanRaito]

Millennium Dawn, Palau-Liberal

Behold! this totally not boring not irrelevant tiny island nation.
With a population of 20,000 on this isolated resourceless island, this country had no industrial power, no military, and no scientific advancement.
The ten years of 2017-2027 were spent reforming the internal government, preparing the country for democratic elections. Curroption was annihilated, because why not. There were economic ups and downs, depending on how many fish were selling at the market.

However, when Trump's military posturing got out of hand, a Chinese warship was attacked in the South China Seas, sparking the Sino-American War.
The initial stages of the war consisted of China launching reprisal attacks on American bases in the pacific, taking over the micronesian neighbors of Palau.
Palau was spared direct involvement in the conflict, however the Chinese did send agents who attempted to bribe a large minority of the population to instigate a coup. This was probably because China was concerned Palau might join the rest of Micronesia as a base for American ops in the region. However, they very much overestimated Palau's willingness to get smacked around in a global war with zero recruitable soldiers.
So instead, the Palau government re-bribed these malcontents to go protest about the environment or something, distracting them from pro-Chinese communist agitation. Eventually the Chinese agents gave up on the coup and concentrated on beach tourism.

When elections finally happened in 2022, conservatives won. In 2026, the liberals won, and so Palau was a democracy run by liberals. yay.

Seriously. What were you expecting?

 

[FasterThanRaito]

Another Kaiserreich game as Federalist Liangguang v.s Manchu Restoration Qing.

From the dramatic Qing Dynasty collapse, Guangdong has come far. The unstable League of Eight Provinces in southern China fell apart, but Guangxi and Guangdong remained united under Liangguang. However, not all was smooth. The South was fairly undeveloped, and although there were good merchant establishments ready to translate into economic success, especially once the trading ports were seized from the Legation Cities internal collapse.
The leftist nationalists caused a stir, including some homegrown rebellions that saw a brief civil war between the two guangs. After that, the KMT was defeated in the East, so the South took up the mantle as unifiers of China under the Federalists. Anhui answered the call from central China, but Yunnan refused, thinking this new alliance was weak, they attacked. After a short but bloody battle, Yunnan was incorporated into the growing movement for the reunification of China.

Liangguang moved to continue annexing provinces, however they ran into the Qing remnant, which was attempting the same, but was facing trouble with the Fengtian Clique. So, Lianguang seized the opportunity and handily defeated the attempted Qing restorers. All that remained was Tibet, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Manchuria, and the Eastern Provinces, which had united under a successful Nanjing warlord. This war was long and costly, however the South had much more industry, and thus could keep pace with the horrendous losses as they chipped away at the Eastern territory. At this momment, the Japanese, by diplomacy or subterfuge or perhaps even force, had suddenly taken the Fengtian Clique as a subsidiary client state. After the successful invasion of Indochina, and the annexation of Burma by Japanese-allied Siam, Japanese troops were surrounding China on all sides...

Invasion would begin soon, so the Chinese committed to a long-term strategy that would see short-term concessions. First, relations with Japan were repaired by shipping vast amounts of resources, in the form of captured military hardware that the army was not using, fuel, and ships. Thanks to these gifts, enough Japanese officials opposed war with Liangguang and instead, when they both found themselves at war with Germany's colonies, invited China into their Co-Prosperity Sphere alliance, even though they had already set up their own Provisional Government of China in the North. In order to extend the Alliance after the defeat of Germany, Liangguang invaded Tibet and Mongolia while they prepared themselves for the final showdown with Japan.

Luckily, Russia had completed its conquests in Europe and Central Asia, and now was looking to recover the Transamur territory occupied by Japan. China left the alliance, and invaded Manchuria, along with the rest of Japan's allies in South East Asia. This was made easy when the Indian Empire joined Russia and China.

Once the Japanese were kicked out of Korea, they had no choice but to surrender. The United Provinces of China was proclaimed amidst this glorious victory.

 

[FasterThanRaito]

Equestria at War - Harmonic Feathisia with Duchess Gabriella as Regent of the Griffonian Empire and Gerlach marrying Gabriella.

Under the protection of Gerlach, the core of the Griffon realm survived the collapse from the Emperor's death. The economy and industry was built up. When the royal marriage between the duke and duchess occurred, Gerlach crowned himself the new Emperor and set about reconquering the lost territories. First, with the newest breakaway states, then the north was secured, then the central region. Unfortunately, various neighboring empires schemed to destroy the griffons before they could complete their recovery, and the Empire found itself facing invasion on two fronts from the south and east. However, the mighty griffon industry pumped out a panzer army, and used deft encirclements to reduce the enemy armies from a 2-1 ration to a three-quarters ratio. Sensing that the collapse of the enemy was near, the Griffons finally went off the defensive to go on a full offensive. The Salt Lake City fell, and with it the hopes of the enemy.
With the Griffonian continent subdued, the last operation consisted of crossing the sea to incorporate the breakaway wayward griffons.

With the Empire secured, relations are good with Equestria, as both defenders of democracy and harmony.

 

[FasterThanRaito]

If you’re willing to try Equestria at War, maybe try the Griffon Republic?

Under the leadership of the generalissimo, the field-marshal, the president, the hero of the revolution, griffons marched to end the oppression of the monarchy, and of the fascist usurpers who replaced them. Radical militarists rose up everywhere on the continent. In order to secure the well-being of griffons, to let them participate in the glorious revolution, the republic had to intervene. Although some may said that the marshal-president behaved too much as a dictator, that "protecting reforms" meant pre-emptively oppressive rival political organizations. But it was clear that those who stood with the hero were on the right side of history. Although the wars were costly, the marshal had taken great care to implement armored vehicles with which to protect the infantry, which he looked after like his own children. He made the home industry sacrifice artillery shells rather than blood for his victories. For this care and foresight, he truly has earned his position as the father of the nation. Although the wars with the fascists were brutal, casualties were 10 to 1 in favor of the republic, such was the care with which they handled their precious griffonpower.
The Ponies of Equestria didn't have nearly as easy a time of it, being nearly completely defeated by the dark hordes. It was only the intervention of the Stalliongrad communists which saved them, as a result, Equestria is much more left-leaning than before the conflict.

Once the wars were over, the hero quietly retired, allowing the next generation to carry on the Republic. A democratic system was implemented, and not long after that the old marshal passed away, in peace, having achieved his life's work.

 

[FasterThanRaito]

How about Communist Canada?

Canadians, being both peace-loving and astute, immediately saw the rise of the British King's Party for what it was, and broke off as an independent country to avoid the imperialist wars of aggression. The economy, still suffering deeply from the great depression, was overhauled with new socialist policies. These changes were very effective and popular, resulting in the communist party winning the elections and with a mandate to peacefully re-organize the state into a revolutionary organ of progress.

However, this good was but an isolated garden in the dark forest of the world. France and Germany saw the bloody re-establishment of their glory-bound imperial dynasties. Spain remained wracked in conflict until the fascists stamped out the republic. Japan and the Soviets carved up Asia between themselves, signing a non-aggression pact that was bad news for the rest of the world.

Inspired by the Nazis, and having taken in many refugees from the German civil war, the Silver Legion of America rose to prominence. However, when they tried to seize control, most Americans were still loyal to the constitution, and fought back. Canada, not wanting a dangerous fascist state as a neighbor, struck while the rebellion was still vulnerable, capturing Chicago unopposed after sending fast cavalry units through the crossings between the Great Lakes. Canada secured the midwest, and proceeded to blitz south, bisecting the country, capturing the entirety of the south while main American armies of both sides stalled each other on the West and East coastal regions. With no core region left to supply the rebels, they surrendered. Canada agreed to hand over the legitimate USA government control over most of the territories captured, but retained the midwest to administer the heavily pro-german bund region for "reconstruction" with reunification promised in the future. The US grumbled, but had no means to push the issue, so temporarily ceded control over the region.
However, Canada quickly ran into a problem, the Americans in the region had been radicalized against democracy and did not want reunification under a government they saw as traitorous. Additionally, Canada did not have the necessary manpower to police the region, which quickly spiraled out of control. The conservative french-speaking quebecois could not serve in an a socialist english-speaking army, and thus Canada floundered in the administration of an occupied zone more populous than their home country.
The solution was to re-purpose the anti-American locals into a puppet government, where they would police themselves. Although these communists were such authoritarians that their homegrown brand of socialism more resembled the totalism of the early nazis, to which the local fascists were quick to adapt. Very different from the peaceful democracy of the north.

However, this tyranny was necessary as part of the military occupation effort. Canada aligned itself diplomatically more with the Soviets as world tensions rose...

The spark was lit in the Balkans, when Italy forced an ultimatum on Yugoslavia. France and Britain, both wanting to be rid of Mediterranean competition, promised to protect Yugoslavia and counter-invaded Italy. Hungary and Bulgaria sided with Italy. Once the dust settled, the imperialist pair did their usual perfidy, reneged on their promises, splitting up Italy and the Balkans into various puppet regimes. However, there were two political upheavals. The Dutch reacted to the fall of democracy among the Great Powers of Europe by banding together the many small nations. They sought strength in unity. The Italian government was overthrown by the pro-democracy coup had joined the European allies. Hungary deposed their puppet government, annexing themselves to Austria. This sparked the second war, where the rest of the balkans, along with the rest of Europe was secured for the Imperials. Germany, having invaded austria-hungary, joined France and Britain, officially forming the Three Emperor's League.

However, the Europeans resisted their occupations, forming strong links with America, who supported them in war. However, once the European mainland was lost, this was a mere distraction once they turned their full attention to the Japanese, who had struck at the European colonies, both Allied and League.

The Emperor's League, having allowed the Soviets too much time to build up, realized the time for action was now or never, with the excuse of "protecting" eastern Europe from the Soviets, they started a war. But since the Baltic allies remained neutral, there wasn't enough frontage for a full invasion. this was just a border war for the Ukraine/Poland region. The Middle East also saw action, as the Imperials moved from their Syrian colony to "liberate" Mesopotamia, but floundered in the supply-dry desert.
After a year and a half of static trench warfare in the limited border regions, Canada is attempting to mediate a truce. This would not only end the frozen border clash between the Soviets and Empires, but could precipitate peace between the the warring parties of the Allies, League, and Japan. The reality is that the Asia/Pacific is firmly held in Japanese hands due to fortuitous surprise destruction of what was left of the US navy after the Civil War, which also means the US cannot hope to liberate the European Allies. Although the Emperor's League has secured most of Africa, they cannot reclaim their colonies in Asia and Caribbean. The British Royalist coups failed in all former dominions, leaving each as bastions of Democracy in their regions, seeking to tie themselves to America for protection.

The Divide in the USA, between the communist government and the democraticc government continues to grow. An Iron curtain has fallen, and reunification slips further away...

 

[FasterThanRaito]

Just testing out the Spanish civil war, with rules for everyone to go democratic. The result was to be expected, with most countries quickly joining the UN

 

[FasterThanRaito]

France is a beautiful mess of a country. A powerful but misguided military, a sluggish economy but determined workforce. Economic recovery and development, especially in Africa, took priority over military revival. After all, this Hitler fellow seemed a like a showman who couldn't really be that dangerous.
First the Germans came after the Austrians, and we let them have it because the Austrians wanted it
Then the Germans came after the Czechs, and we let them have it because central europe isn't worth conflict
Then the Germans came for Poland, and although the British declared war, could do little as the coalition partner was overrun.
The the Germans came for Northern Europe. Denmark and Norway fell, then the Netherlands and Belgium. Perhaps it was time to mobilize, for purely preventative purposes of course...
Because next the Germans came for us, and there were no allies left on the continent to help.
The Germans bulldozed through the northern defense lines. Although the opportunistic Italians failed on every front, eventually Germans found themselves at the gates of paris. All those that could were evacuated to Africa.
Then, the armistice and it's choice. We could fight on as a puppet of the British, or do things our own way.
France decided to Keep its empire, agreeing to hand over occupation of half the homeland in exchange for a free hand. Although the vichy government spoke words of appeasement, agents flocked to support resistance movements. With covert help of the government, rulership over occupied france quickly became a nightmare for Germany.

By the next year, Germany was willing to turn over most of France back to vichy, in exchange for vichy suppressing the partisans and joining the war effort...
Vichy returned to Paris, seizing proper control of France. They positioned the African armies they had been able to build up, and declared a surprise war on the axis to reclaim their stolen territories!

Such an underhanded move from the french was a shock to the germans. There was no limit to what desperate French people would do to secure their country from foreign invaders. Although the government had become very right-wing and dismissive of democracy, they knew that they must reject fascism in order to be re-accepted by the Allied powers of Britain and America. The rogue general deGaule had no choice but to rejoin his government or face being branded a traitor for not returning allied-held colonies back into the fold.

The French strike into undefended German and Italy was devastating, not because they got very far before being pushed back, but because it diverted several panzer divisions right when the main Eastern front battles were deciding the outcome of the war. Thanks to this effort, the Soviet Union was saved, and began pushing back the frontlines from their important cities, turning the tide of the offensive against Germany.

The Germans pushed the French back into France, since the African army was no well-equipped enough to deal with panzer divisions. However, after the bitter struggle and occupation the people of France were not going to surrender a second time. The army holed itself up in the greater paris region, creating a huge fortress-city from which to ride out the storm. For months, Paris stood firm, a tall obelisk against the high tide. Finally, American troops arrived, and were able to enter through the Atlantic ports that the retreating french army managed to hold. The Americans pushed the Germans back through northern France while British landed in the Netherlands, liberating the low countries. French units broke out of fortress paris, and the race to liberate Europe was on!

The race was most heated when Poland uprising captured Warsaw and most other key polish cities. However, the western armies could not reach Berlin by the time the Germans cleared out the partisans in the east. The Soviets liberated poland, eventually meeting British units on the new border.

Although the war is over, it will take time for the scars to heal, especially when France has slipped into an authoritarian regime. Will democracy be resumed in the peace? the next generation will decide.

 

[FasterThanRaito]

How about a Turanist Turkey? That should prove to be a nice challenge...

It was a nice challenge. Although Turkey managed to buff its industry by quickly absorbing Iran and Iraq, forming an army large enough to cover the Soviet border was turtorous on equipment and manpower. One such trade-off was that artillery support was foregone as too expensive. Even shovels for infantry entrenchment was deemed a luxury.
However, although underarmed, fascist fervor was able to recruit just enough men in time.

In the meanwhile, Germany had launched itself at its neighbors a bit too eagerly, losing Norway and Greece in the process. When the invasion of France broke through the Maginot, a communist revolution toppled the country from behind the lines. These Nazbol commy french would go on to join the axis, since the resisting democratic government-in-exile was hosted in London by the Allied cabal. In Spain, the pro-allied democratic government won, but the Soviets attempted to seize control through the communist minority. Spain rebelled against Moscow, but the republicans were taken over by France who installed their own anti-soviet anti-democracy government instead.

The invasion of the Soviet union was a slow grind, by the end of the first year half the invading army had been killed off by attrition, and conscription had to be tightened ever more radically, which took men out of the factories, which didn't help the supply deficit...

Even though the axis was teetering on the edge of collapse, they were lucky that catholic mexico had started trouble with America, and that the Americans were unable to push them through the deserts of Mexico. this tied down many Americans and prevented a war-ending landing in Europe.

Just when Stalingrad had fallen, with Moscow and Leningrad being prepared for siege, the light at the end of the tunnel began to show... Then Allies invaded the Middle East. American units poured through Syria, making their way across Mesopotamia and Iran. Luckily they probably had gotten really bad local maps, because instead of capturing the region and establishing supply and defense lines, individual American units wandered around the persian plateau like lost children.

Emergency reserves that Turkey couldn't even really afford were thrown at the region to plug gaps, but ultimately were just stalling for time, hoping desperately that the allies wouldn't push into anatolia where the critical industrial base had been built up...

Finally the Soviets capitulated, and the Turkish army had to liquidate half of its formations, in order to save enough manpower for the occupations. The rest of the army raced back home to drive out the westerners from Mesopotamia and the Levant.

Now that the conquest of Asia is over, the Axis and the Allies exist in an equilibrium. No invasion of Europe will be possible, though the Allied powers will never be challenged in their home waters.

The Turkish Empire has united the Turanic peoples, and the rest of the steppes and much of Asia Minor

 

[FasterThanRaito]

Anarchist Spain vs Fascist Mexico

Couldn't get Mexico because the US got them first

The key to easy victory as the anarchists is to ignore building up the republican volunteers. Why? Because the political power not spent going around the country raising these volunteers can instead be spent bribing the provincial garrisons to promise to hand over control of home territory before the inevitable military mutiny starts the civilwar. Franco's base is the in the African colonies, and in the Northern Garrisons. This means that if the government secures Burgos, and the port of Coruna, we can split the fascists into three unconnected bits; the overseas canaries, the landlocked salamanca and landlocked zargoza. Two of the three won't be connected to the enemy capital and thus won't be receiving supplies. This makes them easy to grind down, even when their initial army outnumbers us. The most important thing is the starting number of factories. Contruction will take too long to factor, only already made factories will have an effect. The more gun output you can secure, the more you can grind, and the less they will be able to deal with the grinding. That's why territory control at the start is key.
However, since we spent this political effort bribing garrisons in the north, franco has wasted his efforts bribing single garrisons in the south, meaning that the units he does receive there are always alone and isolated, ready to be surrounded and destroyed, easing initial numbers imbalance.
Additionally, following the path of republican volunteers replacing the regular army eventually leads to the official disbanding of the army which immediatly prompts the coup. By not doing that, we can actually buy more time to spend converting more provinces to be loyal, which is super important.

The point of all of this is to win the civil war as quickly as possible, before the government crackdown on the revolutionaries. If the revolutionaries successfully win the country in a few months, they automatically are trusted with re-organizing Spain into Anarchist Communes.

Also, this revolution instantly grants several steps towards an anarchist society, saving on the time to reach the ability to change the economic plan from regular civilian economy to "all must bear the torch".

This quick and relatively bloodless revolution puts the Communes ready to spread the revolution further afield. Portugal is the first low-hanging fruit. Next, French conservatives provoked a civil war by hinting that their dissatisfaction with the republic could mean asking for the return of the monarch. Much of French society was still anti-monarchist and pro-republic, so they panicked and supported the communists who took the lead to secure the country. Now that France couldn't join the allies, they made an excellent target for Liberation.

Unfortunately, Authoritarian Stalinists hate our freedoms, so they decided to protect france. Not much good it did them, since they were busy fighting the Germans over the Baltic countries. Meanwhile, the Communes formed the combined Global Defense Councils, and tested out they ability to spread revolution to neighbors in India, who for whatever reason was the only country that rebel instigators wanted to visit. So the Councils liberated India, and from there took over the Middle East, and then invaded Bolshevik Russia from the south while Imperialist Germans invaded from the west.

The great thing about the total liberation of peoples is that it is hugely motivating, meaning many people will flock to the banner. Having raised massive manpower and commanded great industrial output for pouring out hundreds of thousands of guns, the Global Defense created vast armies to swarm the world with freedom. From France, a general invasion of Europe was launched. Our volunteer armies quickly defeated the imperialist armies of Germany. We then assumed their frontlines to continue on to Moscow and soon beat the Soviets as well.

The British and Chinese had been busy fighting off the Japanese and were winning, so the Global Defense decided now was the time to strike.
All over Africa and Asia, nations fell one by one. However there was a limit to this expansion. The British had used their superior navy to deal considerable damage in France with their amphibious raids. By the time that the British had been ground down, the Americans had an even larger navy and larger army.

By the summer of 1945, the British lost air superiority over the Channel and Britain, leading to elite commando units capturing ports, allowing a liberation army to land. By August the same fate had befallen the Japanese government.

The Wars are over, and a temporary peace reigns as America projects its umbrella over the remaining capitalists nations. The Global Councils must consolidate before challenging American might...

 

[FasterThanRaito]

How about a Napoleonic France?

France takes another chance at greatness. Surprise invasions of the low countries were great successes. This established a staging ground for the invasion of Britain. Luckily, the British became involved in the Sino-Japanese war, sending much of their navy and army away. Although smaller, the french navy managed to land a few mobile divisions on the coast before being destroyed. Those mobile divisions quickly captured London. Although resistance stiffened in the North, additional armies were ferried in, resulting the conquest of Britain.

Then, the Soviet Union sided with the Balkan states against Axis aggression. France reformed an alliance with Poland and invaded Germany from all sides while they were distracted with the South. The Soviets then took over China from the weakened Japanese and Chinese who had ground each other down.

 

[FasterThanRaito]

What about you do Kaiserreich Democratic Constitutional Monarchy Russia with Federalist Liangguang and Olson-Reed Agreement being both a thing.

The Glory promised in 1914 finally realized.

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. For Germany, their rise to prominence was too much too fast, which embittered their enemies and alienated their former allies. Skewered on all sides, Germany collapsed anti-climatically.

In command of Berlin and Constantinople, Russia reigns supreme over Eurasia. Although officially secular, protecting various holy cities does help legitimize the new government among the conservatives.

 

[FasterThanRaito]

Do Democratic Luxembourg

Despite astonishing industrial and technological buildup which resulted in Fortress Luxembourg, The German onslaught was relentless. They sustained heavy casualties butting against the bunker walls, but the constant probing meant the Luxembourgish defenses could never be properly reorganized, and eventually the formations fell apart in the chaos of battle, one by one the defenses were overrun, and in late 1940 Luxembourg capitulated. However, the fight was not over, as the government managed to evacuate senior members, including general staff of the military. From London they built up their government-in-exile.

Unfortunately, no matter how much they lobbied and cajoled and begged, the British only kept them for propaganda purposes and never turned over weapons or men to form a proper fighting force for Liberation. The British promised that they would return to the European mainland, but they were too late and the Soviets swept over Europe in a red tide. The London-based government could only watch in impotent horror as their hard-fought legitimacy vanished to nothing overnight when the Soviet occupation forces ran their own local elections without bothering to invite the old government back.

The new Luxembourg will have very little to do with the bourgeois order of yesterday whose money-grubbing decadence and independence lead only to foreign domination. From now own, Luxembourg will be free, as part of a larger whole in the Socialist states of Europe.

 

[FasterThanRaito]

Do Communist France in alliance with the USSR.

A fairly historical run, right up until the Germans went with Around Maginot. All that gusto that carried hitler through all of a sudden ran out when the German armies realized that behind the Franco-Belgian Border was a secret line of forts almost as strong as the Maginot itself. For a whole year, the Axis could do nothing but fret as France built itself up for the final battle.

Eventually, the frustration became too mucch, and Hitler decided to forget about France to invade the Soviets. They charged through former East Poland, up until the Stalin Line, where they bogged down right in front of Kiev. Seeing the German offensive stall, France launched the counter-attack, piercing the westwall line and driving through Southern Germany. The rest of Allies used liberated Belgium as a launching point to drive north, through the netherlands, eventually reaching Berlin.

Hastily, France took advantage of the weakness of the Axis to declare war on fascist Spain and Turkey. Once Japan was kicked out of China, they were coerced into concluding a deal with the Comintern over Korea before the Allies could bear down on the rest of their crumbling failed attempt at empire.

 

[FasterThanRaito]

Ok, I know you already did this as the Netherlands, but how about playing as monarchist Portugal, and having every country go monarchist that’s able to (France can go any of the three monarchist paths). Also buff the countries going monarchist/debuff the non-monarchist countries (i.e. the US and USSR) this time.

With the buffs and debuffs applied to all Great Power countries, plus extra monarchists, history sure didunfold quite differently.

Portugal quickly reabsorbed Brazil while the Spanish, French, and Germans re-consolidated themselves internally. At first, it was hoped that the victorious Carlists would agree to union with Portugal, but for unknown reasons the alliance and union were rejected, instead Spain offered Portugal annexation, which also had to be refused. At an impasse, the Spanish instead insisted on strict neutrality and only joined France after Italy was defeated.

Speaking of which, France had difficulty pushing through the Alps, fighting mostly in Africa, allowing the Germans to sweep in and save the Balkans. Germany puppetting Italy for themselves soured relations with France, who abandoned the anti-Soviet effort in retaliation. Luckily, French help was ultimately unnecessary for that triumph.
Taking advantage of the Anti-Soviet War, Portugal promised to help Germany, but only used the war as an excuse to take over as many tropical regions of the world as possible.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Empire conquered China, while the British set about recovering their colonial empire after the chaos of the king's coup.

However, the Americans were perpetually stuck in their civil war, which spilled over into Canada when the Imperialists failed to conquer the radical canadian nationalists, who formed a formal alliance with the American Silver Legion nationalists to fight the antifascists. All the British could do was snipe the American Pacific territories, allowing them to be governed by friendly New Englanders who were evacuated. The locals, especially the Filipinos who had been promised independence before the war, were not too keen on the new imperial management, same as the old imperial management.

 

[FasterThanRaito]

1. Do Democratic (SocDem-SocLib coalition) Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kaiserreich. Appoint Palar in the DEI.

The Qeen Wilhelmina was very caring for her people, and made sure that the liberals and leftists cooperated to improve the lives of the common Dutch folk. Even a moderate was appointed to appease the colonized peoples of Indonesia. The Far-right, including monarchists were purged from the government, their party meetings blocked, their popularity was squashed despite the panic from the economic crash.

However, all was not peaceful. The Indonesians instigated a minor revolt, however the DEI didn't have the resources to protect Batavia, so the regular dutch army was shipped to the east indies to deal with the seperatists. Then, the Belgians started making moves to demand dutch territory. Backed up by the Germans, the Flanderish nationalists became increasingly bold, thus the army had to be recalled to Europe in haste. Even then it was almost too late, while transport ships had just made it to the Atlantic, the Belgians declared War.

Quickly, some militia units in training were given emergency mobilization to plug the border. Some territory had to be given up, but behind the water lines and canals, the army entrenched itself and managed to hold off the invasion. Just as the regular forces entered the country, Germany decided to intervene to help the Belgians win quickly. Luckily, the regulars managed to reach the border forts right before the Germans walked in, and the country was saved by the barest of margins. The defense was desperate, and every able body had to be mobilized into national militia to hold back the sieging armies. Eventually, the syndicalists decided to end German imperialism. The USA had just come out of Civil War, and was demanding Canada return occupied territories, but Canada and the Entente had joined the Germans against the syndicalists, so they launched a fullscale invasion. Through the course of the war, the Dutch, British, and French pushed through the German territories. Then the Russians broke their eastern territories, along with the Austrians. The Dutch walked into Berlin, and the war was coming to an end. However, Canada, with the help of other countries, especially exiled Portugese units, finally overran the Americans, who were too damaged from the civil war to mount heavy resistance.
Victorious Canada decided to use their North American resources to launch the liberation of their British homeland... they gained the beaches, and found that they forgot about where their supplies would be coming from, since the locals weren't exactly thrilled to see them.

The invasion was an utterly pathetic failure, where in a matter of weeks the Canadian Army lost almost a fourth of its entire manpower to capture on those beaches.

Thanks to this huge loss, Mexico was able to hold them off at the Border. The War is settling down, and the Dutch have been rewarded with the unification of the low countries

 

[FasterThanRaito]

2. Do a Fascist Australia in vanilla. Ally with Japan

LOL

One does not simply ally with Japan. Its yellow territorial ambitions are guarded by more than just Chinese. There is evil there that does not run out of manpower; the Great Sleeping Giant is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with infantry spam and low infrastructure and low resources. The very air you breathe is 48% attrition. Not with ten thousand IC could you do this. It is folly!

luckily, when Japan decided to commit suicide-by-cop by poking the US and USSR with sticks at the same time, I left their call to arms on "read". After dealing with wayward British colonies who had rushed into independence without proper protection, I tried to help with China, and I had captured between 500,00 and a million Chinese troops. When the Americans got to Tokyo I figured I'd use them as hostages to negotiate a graceful exit from the conflict...