GURPS Infinite Worlds POD Grab-bag

Justin Pickard

See if you can achieve something more detailed and less ASB-ish than Hite, Jackson & Ford with the following PODs (some lifted directly from the text, some merely inspired by it):

1) 1120; the ship of William Adelin (1103-), son of Henry I, does not sink.

2) 1481; Mehmet II (1432-), Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, survives long enough to complete his invasion of Italy.

3) 1497; the son of Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452-1516) and Isabella of Castile (1451-1504) survives to become King John III of Spain.

4) 1529; the Turkish army are successful in their seige of Vienna.

5) 1588; the Invincible Armada lands in England, deposes Elizabeth, and installs the Catholic 9th Earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy (1564-1632), on the throne of England as Henry IX.

6) 1685; the Monmouth Rebellion is successful in overthrowing King James II, and the 'Protestant Duke' of Monmouth, James Scott (1649-?), takes the throne as King James III.

7) 1759; the Corsican revolutionary Pasquale Paoli dies from fever, allowing Napoleon to be born Genoese.

8) 1776; Alexander Hamilton (1755-76) dies at the Battle of Trenton.

9) 1798; Napoleon invades Ireland instead of Egypt, leading to British defeat in the Napolonic Wars.

10) 1801; Nelson dies in an attack on Boulonge in 1801.

11) 1815; Napoleon manages to rout and kill Wellington at Waterloo.

12) 1817; Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales (1796-) surives childbirth, delivering a healthy baby son.

13) 1824; American Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams (1767-1824), dies of smallpox.

14) 1856; William Walker (1824-60) retains control of Nicaragua.

15) 1893; Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) marries Anne Morgan (1873-1952), the daughter of financier J. P. Morgan.

16) 1914; asked to settle the contradiction of his pro-interventionist stance and his membership of Socialist party, Mussolini retracts his support for interventionism.

17) 1924; Lenin's Testament, famously calling for a removal of Stalin, is leaked to the XIII Party Congress.

18) 1932; John W. Campbell (1910-32) dies in an car accident.

19) 1933; Franklin Roosevelt is assasinated by Giuseppe Zangara.

20) 1940; Lord Halifax (1881-1959) becomes British Prime Minister instead of Churchill.

21) 1941; Japan strikes Russian Vladivostok rather than Pearl Harbour.

22) 1941; the Wehrmacht breaks Leningrad's defenses.

23) 1944; Roosevelt leaves VP Wallace on the ticket instead of Truman.

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Pick one, and run with it. :)
 

Forum Lurker

7) and 15), I would believe, are simply overstated versions of a truly plausible outcome. Napoleon, if born under Genoese citizenship, might very well have become a Genoese military leader, and could feasibly have united the Italian states into a single nation, though a Kingdom of Rome would be unlikely unless there was sufficient political turmoil in Genoa to allow him to seize power. It's simply that Italy would lack the power to take anything other than some of the southern German states; possibly, a different set of advisers would have been able to convince Buonaparte not to overextend himself, leading to a role reversal of Italy and Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries. The major impact would be on the French Revolution, whose ultimate course without a Napoleon is wildly unpredictable.

Likewise, while the fantastic technology of Gernsbach is likely impossible, it's inarguable that a more stable Nikola Tesla, with access to solid private resources from the Morgan family, would have been a considerably more productive inventor. Though broadcast power and telluric weapons are impractical at best, his experiments in vacuum-tube computation, Roentgen-ray generation, and other such fields could have born significantly more fruit, advancing technology along the pathway we followed in OTL even if other roads proved impassable.
 

Diamond

Banned
Justin Pickard said:
2) 1481; Mehmet II (1432-), Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, survives long enough to complete his invasion of Italy.
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Here's one I started waaaaay back on the old board (my first 'official' TL, I think). Like everything else I do, probably never to be finished... :(

Linky
 

Faeelin

Justin Pickard said:
2) 1481; Mehmet II (1432-), Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, survives long enough to complete his invasion of Italy.
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While and interesting times, and Italy gets the joy of being a battleground.

3) 1497; the son of Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452-1516) and Isabella of Castile (1451-1504) survives to become King John III of Spain.
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Ooh, boy. Without the Spanish troops, the French are probably going to stay in Milan. But a Holy Roman Emperor in Germany might be able to carry out the centralization that Charles V attempted. But he still has to do with that Saxon priest.

8) 1776; Alexander Hamilton (1755-76) dies at the Battle of Trenton.
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A poorer, weaker America, possibly without a Constitution.

9) 1798; Napoleon invades Ireland instead of Egypt, leading to British defeat in the Napolonic Wars.
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Well, at a guess, the French are victorious. But IMO Britain would retake the island; it'd just be a grueling slogging match.

[quote[17) 1924; Lenin's Testament, famously calling for a removal of Stalin, is leaked to the XIII Party Congress.[/quote]

No idea. What does a Trotskyist USSR look like?
 

Othniel

21) 1941; Japan strikes Russian Vladivostok rather than Pearl Harbour.
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The United States Remains nuetral until an axis power does something to draw them into a conflict. Either Japan attacks the Phillipeans, or Germany sinks something. The war might open up to a better ending for nations occupied by Japan, as well as causing a weaker Soviet Union to exit the end. However the nuclear bomb is not deployed here, and in a later war it causes far more damage.
 

Smuz

Faeelin said:
No idea. What does a Trotskyist USSR look like?
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That was my first and so far only attempt at a TL. Trotsky is still one of the most notable powers in the PolitBuro, although noone wants to let him head the Red Army. And the Allies attack through Greece in 1942. Also, the USSR was fighting with Japan from 1930s onwards, leading to no Pearl Harbour.
 

Max Sinister

Banned
Except 9), 11), 14), 15), 21) and maybe 4) and 5), most aren't a bit ASBish. What happens in the TLs after them, maybe.
 

Max Sinister

Banned
Hey, I don't have anything against Napoleon, really. (At least, thanks to him we got rid of some hundred unnecessary little kings.) But I simply think 9) and 11) are not feasible. France's navy never was as strong as Britain's, and after the revolution it got even weaker because most experienced officers were nobles or other monarchists. Even if they managed to land in Ireland, the Brits certainly would've crushed them. And about Waterloo: France was almost bled dry in 1815, I don't think Napoleon could've won the battle, let alone the war anymore.
 

Othniel

Max Sinister said:
Hey, I don't have anything against Napoleon, really. (At least, thanks to him we got rid of some hundred unnecessary little kings.) But I simply think 9) and 11) are not feasible. France's navy never was as strong as Britain's, and after the revolution it got even weaker because most experienced officers were nobles or other monarchists. Even if they managed to land in Ireland, the Brits certainly would've crushed them. And about Waterloo: France was almost bled dry in 1815, I don't think Napoleon could've won the battle, let alone the war anymore.
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A stray bullet could have killed Wellington, Napoleon hadn't needed to win.. just hit dukey in the chest. This is one battle, and there are times they've come back from worse.
 

Faeelin

Max Sinister said:
Hey, I don't have anything against Napoleon, really. (At least, thanks to him we got rid of some hundred unnecessary little kings.) But I simply think 9) and 11) are not feasible. France's navy never was as strong as Britain's, and after the revolution it got even weaker because most experienced officers were nobles or other monarchists. Even if they managed to land in Ireland, the Brits certainly would've crushed them. .
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You mean, the way the Brits crushed another overseas colony that revolted with French help? :D

In all seriousness, the French did almost land in Ireland under Hoche, and a smaller force did land.

There's no reason the British couldn't be mired down in the war.
 

Max Sinister

Banned
When the French helped the Americans against the Brits, they both suffered from the fact that they had to ship troops to a place several thousand miles away. If the French want to invade Ireland, the Brits have the advantage of shorter supply lines. And they have their navy. I can't imagine the French winning.
 

Hendryk

Banned
Max Sinister said:
When the French helped the Americans against the Brits, they both suffered from the fact that they had to ship troops to a place several thousand miles away. If the French want to invade Ireland, the Brits have the advantage of shorter supply lines. And they have their navy. I can't imagine the French winning.
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Well, it wouldn't just be the French vs. the British; one has to factor in the support provided by the Irish themselves. A synergy between a standard army and guerrilla irregulars can be a potent combination indeed. Does anyone know how suitable Ireland is to guerrilla warfare?
Plus, even if the French eventually are pushed out of Ireland, they can leave behind them supplies and advisors to make the Irish a big thorn in Britain's side, requiring it to divert part of its fighting strength for a protracted, vicious pacification campaign. Again experience shows how draining such a situation can turn out to be even for major powers.

Justin Pickard said:
7) 1759; the Corsican revolutionary Pasquale Paoli dies from fever, allowing Napoleon to be born Genoese.
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I like that one. It's an interesting counterpart to the "Napoleon goes to America" TLs, and provides a way to turn Italy into a respectable European power by the early 20th century. Wasn't there an AH challenge recently to make Italy the senior partner in the Axis?
Generally speaking, I like Napoleon-centered TLs. The man has huge AH potential.
 

Condottiero

I have used variations of 3), that have one add-on Juan's son, Miguel, was heir to Castille, Aragon and Portugal!! So we have a strong Iberian Peninsula phocused on overseas trade/exploration/conquest, a centralized Germany and France stronger in Italy.
 

Othniel

Justin Pickard said:
See if you can achieve something more detailed and less ASB-ish than Hite, Jackson & Ford with the following PODs (some lifted directly from the text, some merely inspired by it):

1) 1120; the ship of William Adelin (1103-), son of Henry I, does not sink.
Click to expand...
Bumping this because I started this one a while back.:D Ended up stagnating but nothing as ASBish as Centrum thus far, though I have about as much detail.
 
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