MotF 143: The Great Game

[Upvoteanthology]

MotF 143: The Great Game

The Challenge
Make a map of a non-military struggle for influence and power in a given region.

The Restrictions
There are no restrictions on when your PoD or map may be set. Fantasy, sci-fi, and future maps are allowed, but blatantly implausible (ASB) maps are not (well, maybe a liiiittle blatantly implausible, at least for this contest )

If you're not sure whether your idea meets the criteria of this challenge, please feel free to PM me.

Please try to keep images posted in this thread a reasonable size - feel free to post a smaller version of your image and provide link to a full-size version if you want to.

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The entry period for this round shall end when the voting thread is posted on Sunday, August 23rd.

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THIS THREAD IS FOR ENTRIES ONLY.

Any discussion must take place in the main thread. If you post anything other than a map entry (or a description accompanying a map entry) in this thread then you will be asked to delete the post. If you refuse to delete the post, post something that is clearly disruptive or malicious, or post spam then you may be disqualified from entering in this round of MotF and you may be reported to the board's moderators.

Remember to vote on the previous MotF round!​

 

[Flashman]

The Coldest War

It all started in 1946. The US and her allies had finished wiping the Nazis from the face of the earth, and bringing the Japanese to heel. Things were looking up for humanity, with the greatest threats to world security firmly nipped in the bud. At least, until we had to go and blow it all uo.

Some minor border skirmish in Berlin quickly grew out of hand and, before either side knew what was happening, there was a full-blown war on. The red tide pushed it’s way to the Rhine, and was only barely held back. The land was gassed, bombed and irradiated, until both sides had finally had enough and signed a peace treaty.

Meanwhile, the Cold War was just getting started. Proxy wars and support of tyrannical anti-communist regimes was the rule of the day, and the American public grew jaded. An increasingly disconnected US government handed over more and more power to corporations and the ultra rick, turning a blind eye to abuse and pollution. Lo and behold, criminal gangs integrated with legitimate business, and holes were burned in the ozone layer.

In 1984, a Kremlin coup resulted in World War Three. At first, both sides demonstrated remarkable constraint, sticking to conventional invasions, but eventually, they let loose with the nukes. The result was nearly the end of civilization- luckily, however, both the US and Soviets managed to re-forge their nations from their underground bunkers.

Now, these two states vy for control; on the one hand, the United States of America. Theoretically, the exact same nation as it was pre-Collapse. In fact, it might as well be a new one altogether. The nation is effectively by and for the Corporations and the special interests- ICS, Tyrell, Omni-Corp. Their vastly powerful media wings convince the people to vote for their candidates. Outside of the major cities, things are still dangerous. Gangs of roving raiders, punks and deserters rule the night, extorting small towns and scraping up gasoline.

The Soviets (and the Germans) have totally transformed what Communism means. No longer is it the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the German Democratic Republic, but the Holy Union of Soviet Orthodox Republics and the Heilig Deutscher Kommissariat. All references to Communism as anti-religious have been eliminated, Marx, Lenin and Stalin have been canonized as some of the holiest saints in Christianity, which has similarly been warped, transformed and “rationalized”.

The year is 1999. The US is facing off internal unrest, poverty and Christian Fundamentalism. The Soviets are facing against their eternal religious and ethnic strife under a new Premier, Vladimir Putin. But, more importantly, both sides face each other across the North Pole. In World War 4, all ICBMs were used up or destroyed, and the means or knowledge to build new ones was lost. This has reduced the US and the Soviets to bombers and conventional armies. And the only way they can get at each other is across the North Pole, which has been rendered ice-free by the climate disasters. There are three states vital to this effort.

First, the Graham Republic. Consisting of the Yukon, upper British Columbia, the Alexander Isles, and, of course, Graham Island. This Republic, though friendly to the US, maintains staunch neutrality. They are the only thing between the US and it’s rightful territory, the Alayska SSR (Which broke away from the Soviets after their radical turn towards Orthodoxy). The Graham Republic is a corridor which would allow the quick movement of troops to the Arctic Circl, and allow for encirclement against the Kanadi Communist Raiders, and the Nunavutians.

Next, comes the Lands of the Atom-Kings. Here were located the bulk of the US’s missile silos. When the US ordered the silos to fire upon advancing Soviet armies, there was a mass mutiny, with only a few complying. They remained in their silos as they were bombarded by Soviet Nukes. Now, they rule from their bunkers, using some of the last ICBMs on earth to extort the rest of the world. Could they be convinced to rejoin the US, their missiles could win the Cold War.

Finally, Alert. Alert consists of the isles of the Arctic Sea, and is made up of Soviet and American soldiers, as well as former miners and oil workers. They are the first post-national state, and they seek to maintain peace across the world, threatening to attack the Soviets or Americans if they cross into the Open Polar Sea. American and Communist ships skirt the outer edges of the Polar Sea, waiting for war in the bitter cold.

 

[Doctor President]

Novgorod has maintained its tradition as a republic for many centuries. Now comes an election that may decide its fate and affect the world more than any other before it.

Since the 1930s, the Lübeck Alliance, including Spain, Enrica, Sweden, Bavaria, and many smaller countries, has dominated Europe and North America. Among its opponents is the Russian People’s Union, which has united Ruthenia, Muscovy, and most other Russian lands. The RPU considers gaining Novgorod as one of its main goals, to finish uniting the Russians and to gain access to the Baltic and Arctic. They know that a military invasion would be strongly opposed by Novgorod with support from other countries, so instead they have given extensive funding and support to pro-unification groups within Novgorod. The Lübeck Alliance is, naturally, against unification. They are very worried about the possibility of RPU gaining a large territory with access to the Baltic Sea- which particularly threatens Sweden, a key Lübeck Alliance member. As such they have given much support to anti-unification organizations in Novgorod.

The Novgorod Republic is governed by the Grand Council, a legislative body whose councilors are chosen in two ways. Each of the twenty-five provinces and seven independent cities elects one to three ‘provincial councilors’ based on, but not proportional to, its population by a method of its choosing, and the rest are ‘national councilors’, elected by all Novgorod citizens using a party list proportional system. Elections occur every four years.

The Liberal Party supports classical liberalism and closer relations and trade with Lübeck Alliance countries. It is one of the oldest parties in Novgorod, and is the primary anti-unification force.

The Conservative Party supports conservative, Orthodox Christian values, and isolationism, being against both the RPU and the Lübeck Alliance. Once the primary opposition to the Liberals, their support has decreased in recent times.

The People’s Party is a centrist, populist party supported mostly by rural farmers. They have stated support for unification, as the RPU is generally populist in its governance and unification is supported by most of their rural base.

The Labor Party supports socialism and general worker’s rights. It is almost entirely urban and is opposed to unification with the RPU, which is anti-socialist economically.

United Russians is the dominant force for unification with the RPU. With great funding from the RPU, their support has rapidly increased in the last decade.

The Freedom Alliance is a coalition of the Finnish Independence Party, the Freedom for Estonia Party, and the Latvian Independence Party, which support the independence and general interests of their respective minority regions. They are strongly anti-unification, as the minorities would be marginalized even more in a country that is explicitly for the ‘Russian People’.

2016 is an election year, and due to their growing support, it is possible that together the pro-unification parties will get a majority in the Grand Council. They have stated that if they do, they will immediately begin integration into the RPU. Fear of unification has greatly strengthened the Freedom Alliance, which is expected to get the votes of most Finns, Estonians, and Latvians in this election. Society in Novgorod is tense with uncertainty about their future. It is an open secret that foreign interests are funding some of the parties’ campaigns: the RPU extensively donating to the United Russians, and the countries of the Lübeck Alliance are donating to the Liberals and other anti-unification parties. Though not illegal under Novgorod law, this would be an outrage in most elections. But this is not most elections, for a Novgorod Election has never before been so important the to the international community.




The anti-unification parties- the Liberals, Conservatives, Labour, and the Freedom Alliance- together have a slight majority in parliament. Novgorod will remain an independent state- for now. But other than that, these parties have little to agree on. Attempts to create a majority coalition have so far failed. An attitude of non-compromise prevails in the government. Some say that Novgorod has let itself become a pawn in the conflicts of foreign powers. Many worry that its divisions will not be solved peacefully. But the Novgorod Republic has a long tradition of democracy. Whatever its fate, it will have a major affect on the balance of power in the world.