Tales From The (Still) Diplomatic Front II

[CapTVK]

The New English Times: issue 12


Official response by Vikings speeds up negotiations
by the editor:
Glad to see Milo has finally posted his response, now I can post my own.
My main concern about the recent happenings concerning the Chinese civ was the beating it was taking. That the Vikings wanted to expand up north was reasonable as there was nowhere else to go to, nothing wrong with that. After the Russians and JTF decided to join in the great China 'free-for-all' I feared that it would be eventually reduced to a civ that would be of no use to any player interested in playing China.
Everyone has trouble with the AI civ's on occasions, the Sioux are indeed a bit agressive and they've declared war on me quite a few times too. Yet I've never decided to do some serious city grabbing while the AI was clueless. Why?, because another sub could come along and play the Sioux and it wouldn't be much fun if he was reduced to a <10 city civ, even with the bonus of 'Artificial Inheritance'.
Although the 'AI' might explain that why the Viking leadership is a little bit nervous about the military strength of China!

Anyway. the Vikings have stated their offer now and we already know the Chinese demands. Now it's time for some serious negotiations it's time to enter the conference room.

Gentlemen if you please...

[KenThur]

Viking State & Defense Dept. Quick Response Commentary & Advisory(1782):

As this world's leaders now know & hopefully will begin to understand... democracies DO know how & as important, have the means to fight aggressive, overly expansive regimes of lesser forms of government.
Though this freedom comes at a cost... where the hell were U fellow democrat Superstarski!!! Just when the Vik's needed U most! As their "Declaration of Independence" says; "...life, liberty, & the PURSUIT OF WOMEN".

Tho totally "unprepared" for a war, having made peace & drawn reasonable borders over a century ago, the free & peaceful citizens of Vikingland were happily(at least since the "Dam failure" & tech-theft incidents)building their economy. In the last 3 decades we have been wantonly attacked without provocation by 2 new dynasties of our neighboring civ's. Apparently these new leaders thot that Artifically created gold & military units HAD TO USED on SOMEONE, so why not their "weakest" neighbor... in this case us Vik's.

Starting 2 decades ago the Sioux had learned(?) that they are no match for the city-buying power of the Vikings. Since then, they have continued to smash their offensive attack units on our fortified hill & mountain border defenders. Costing so far at least 8-10 units, with not a single Viking defender lost!

Last decade, the highly-publicized "negotiations" (or should we say, Chinese demands) came to a head when, despite some rather incredulous diplomatic " support" from other nations (who will NOT be forgotten), the Viking leadership & it's citizens refused to simply give 2 cites away for a song. World leaders, both old & new, could not (cannot still?) understand that it VIKING blood, sweat, & resources had built those cities & the area around them; NOT the Chin's, old or new. ):

As communicated above; in the spirit of fairness to the new capable(if not enlightened) leadership (& we all hope, dynasty) in China, we set a fair price on the 2 cities. It was a PRICE, not a starting point for negotiations. The 2000 gold was less than 2/3 of the wealth they had accumulated & only 2 turns of trading with their new-found best friend with their "international" airports.
We even moved all our units out of Cw, the city of Bach's, in anticipation of the very reasonable deal we had offered!

It seemed that other leaders, including the new Chinese, didn't understand or believe we Vikings were prepared to take back the city taken from us while our human dynasty was away. But we first dealt with our former ally-turned instant enemy, discribed above. Then we were going to get back the Chin city that was taken from us & renamed Nanking. Which without the "human touch", was taken with no loss/sale of improvements of reduction in pop due to a fight. =MUCH VALUE in that city's worth.

Since the deal(s) were not being favorably responded to & it was becoming increasingly apparent the Chin's, encouraged by the leanings of others, our DEFENSE Department ordered the closing of the borders & the putting to sea of our naval units in the area. While dispatching DEFENSIVE units to severe the RR & roads leading to our cities. These units, altho no threat to the Chin units stacked up in their border fortresses, were vicously attacked & destoryed! But they did their duty by slowing down the onslaught of what the Chin's & others thot was going to be the quik rollover of 2-3 Viking cities.

Comments from uninformed non-particpants indicated that others believed our gold reserves were being depleted due to bribe attempts (frankly, as the very capable Chaing not doubt knew, the cost of converting units of a republic only 6-8 squares from their capital would be prohibitive). Fortunately these comments only aided our free citizens in disguising the fact that the economic power of a free society with a rail network can be rapidly converted & applied as military power(VETERANS, we might add; democracies may be peaceful but we are not stupid).

Not surprisely, the Chinese army rolled south. Our gallent defenders fought off several waves of attackers, which destoryed many improvements & population in these battles. The port city of Ca fell finally to the swarms of invaders.
Surprisingly(honest), they made NO movement to simply walk right into Cw, the Chin's never really wanted Cw & Bach's!!?? :O
However this gesture + the fact that they could have moved even further into our territory to the southeast but stopped... was later taken into considreation in reaching a new settlement price.
But first... they & some of this world's other leaders needed a demonstration of the power of Viking democractic citizens!

To make a long story shorter, suffice it to say:
1st &gt; our new armor & old cannons + our heroic little destroyer(the crusiers were still a turn away)smashed through the quick perimeter Chin units had thrown up;
next &gt; 2nd wave units eliminated the unit(s) left in Ca;
next &gt; newly arrived reserve units from Viking homeland cities rolled up thru SE Asia, thru the burnt out hulks of Chin tanks, over their wounded arty units used to kill our valiant defenders, & right up to the outskirts of our former city, "Nanking". Further penetration was possible but time was running out due to an arriving flight of "Customer Aliens"(!)+ we wanted to show restraint as Chiang had.
Finally &gt; our citizen engineers rush built fortresses around our advance units to protect them from any counterattack, should the Chin's (& frankly, we) did not agree on new settlement.

Considering our mutual losses & the now war-torn condition of the PORT city they always wanted, a reasonable reduced price was tenatively agreed upon. The other world leaders, seeing the massive bloodshed that even a brief modern war can cause, were most gracious at this point in helping & allowing the time for talks to proceed. We & I'm sure Chiang, are most thankful.

With more Aliens swarming into my alternate reality, I had to trust the Chin's NOT to attack & honor the ceasefire. Chiang was most honorable & did not. His surviving advance units immediately started pulling back. Plus, again, they did not make a move on our western border toward(a now well-defended) Cw.

Ridding my other world of aliens, I returned & the "Treaty of Ca" was signed.

I will leave it to others to calculate the cost of our brief, bloody border war & the details of the deal.

That is all (enough?)! May peace & prosperity rule over (most of) the world!


<font size=1 face=Arial color=444444>[This message has been edited by KenThur (edited October 03, 1999).]</font>

[Superstar]

A few ideas.

Pollution.
Yes, that old enemy is rearing it's ugly head again, and this time it's nearing global warning point.
This will effect everyone, and will drastically mess the map up. I personally don't have any pollution, so don't see why I should suffer. I don't think trade embargo's will work, so I have a radicall idea to sort the problem out. Any Civ with more than 3 polluted squares should have to pay non-polluting civs gold. This will hopefully act as a preventitive, and will also act as a world fine for dirty nations. Just an idea but something must be done soon.

End of game scores.
I reckon that a points system should be arranged for each civ. Maybe by nominating certain catergories (i.e. expanse, no. of cities, quality and size of army, diplomacy etc.).
Every player can vote on a points scale, or something like that.

Next Weekend.
Cap and myself are away, and at this crucial moment in time, I propose a one week break. Milo and Cap have agreed, but it's up to the majority. It'll also give the opportunity for those with wives/girlfriends to take them somewhere nice, and prove that their not married to Civ addicts

[Pseudo]

Fine by me see you all at Noon central on the 16th of October then. I know this turned out to be a lot longer than expected, but I hope its good reading.

An Excerpt from recently published memoirs of Chiang Kai-shek, titled The  Formative Years

When the people and the Imperial Senate realized that Mao Tse Tung was leading China towards ruin, they needed a leader of formidable skills to replace him. I was happy to oblige and eager to provide China with a new direction. As a boy under Mao’s reign I remembered hearing stories of the war with the invaders to the south. Countless acres of lands were lost to these barbarians, who ran over Mao’s useless army and proceeded to sack our towns and slaughter our people. Defeated Mao, offered peace and the lands and people were lost to the invaders. After some years of peace and prosperity, new invaders came to our lands. They claimed that Mao’s puny outdated fleet had prevented them from reaching the rich trading lands of Asia. In a lightning strike, as if they had been waiting for that very moment, not one, but two foreign nations seized the last two port cities of China. These are the memories of my childhood, and the forces that shaped me and my rise to power. (Thank You, game members for your contributions so I could retell this history)

After the senate unanimously elected me to the post of Proconsul, I immediately ordered that former Consul Mao was to be put death for his high treason against the Chinese people. For he had taken the nation of my birth from a proud civilization to a nation subjugated by most of the world. The Senate had seen that the remaining cities were defended, but (despite my critic’s proclamations) Mao had left the coffers completely empty and the military outdated. The people were screaming for change as our demographics showed our nation 6th and 7th in most categories, save one; family size. In poverty our people sought to solve their unhappiness with children. I would then mold our nations’ only advantage into my own.

Once Mao was executed we found 715 gold in his private bank accounts and began to use this towards rebuilding a nation he tore down. Merchants, who wisely left our great lands to seek riches abroad, were redirected. With a little help, for a percentage, from eager trade partners, the coffers of China grew through leaps and bounds. More merchants were dispatched and new ways were sought to bring goods to foreign markets.
Science was abandoned completely, luxuries were improved and every city celebrated Proconsul day for decades, despite the highest tax rate this nation had ever seen. City management became a priority on the domestic scene despite the frequent interruptions over foreign affairs. The taxes rolled in, city improvements were carefully constructed, and the military was built up, and engineers went to work. All of this was temporarily at the cost of catastrophic pollution that infested our lands. A striking army of two cannons and some cavalry were quickly updated to a modern army with tanks and artillery pieces. Thus the domestic scene was fortified to deal with the foreign affairs that paralleled it.

The early stages of Chinese foreign affairs were strewn with demands from many nations. As I cleaned up and fortified the domestic arena, I was verbally besieged by the Russians, Japanese, and Vikings, plus I was told to honor an age old alliance with the Aztecs. Of the aggressors, the former wanted peace, the second a cease-fire, and the last wanted land. I chose to deal with the Japanese at first, they appeared to have an odd placement of land holding, so I was weary of their past and intentions. I quickly negotiated a cease fire, to protect China from attack, but leaving a negotiated peace for later. The Japanese seemed willing to trade and thus the cease fire preceded the establishment of many profitable routes, with the JTF taking a percentage for use of their transports and later airports.
Armed with more historical information, I parlayed with the Russians next. Seeing their precarious position on the continent I began to use my growing military strength to its advantage. The city was indeed precariously defended, but their President fought the hard fight and we both came away from the negotiation table, rather than the battlefield, with what we wanted. It was later realized that during the negotiations we had been duped in our historical facts, but a late apology and the realization that we had bigger problems, tabled further worry about the matter. In the end, the negotiations bought our people, of what is now called Beijing, out of slavery, and brought to the nation its first seaport in ages.
The final aggressor was now left to deal with. Not only did the Vikings want land, they wanted money as well. This was a shock compared to earlier negotiations. I was well versed in the intricacies of my nations past by that time, and was not willing to let a 5th city go to the barbarians to the south. However, it had been decades, and it was too much to hope for the peaceful return of all 4 captured cities. So I gambled, I made a threat that I could now back up. The reaction I received was very interesting. The initial proposal from the Vikings stated that 2000 gold and one technology would get us the city of Cw and we could keep Nanjing! This was of course preposterous, the Vikings clearly did not realize the precarious situation they were entering into, to suggest we pay for a city we did not ask for and one we already had.
I countered with a proposal of my own, the Chinese desired Ca, not Cw and we would pay 1000 gold and two technologies. I felt that this was very generous on my part, but the Vikings wouldn’t negotiate. I believe they were stalling for time to boost their military presence on the mainland. I gave them an ultimatum, they refused, so I unleashed the new army. 3 rifleman and 1 alpine unit were crushed by Chinese forces as they took Ca and the surrounding countryside. Time constraints, for we wasted valuable time waiting for the Vikings to adjust their proposal, and good will caused me to cease the army’s movements further into Viking territory. Cw, which had been left barren by the Vikings, still ignorantly pursuing their 2000 gold deal, was spared; the army group assembled to the north waiting patiently in their fortress.
The General in charge, apparently a bumbling hold over from Mao’s reign, neglected to protect the many of the exposed attacking units and they were cut down by the Viking counterattack. 7 military units, a few obsolete, and an engineer were cut down as Ca was lost. Our defenders managed to take out a cannon and a fighter that attempted to cause more damage. In the end, evidently because of our restraint and because the Viking’s had gotten the chance to show their stuff, the Viking President lowered the terms of territory for peace and the exchange began.
Now that the main threat was over, a quieter negotiation began with the Japanese to normalize relations. A deal was constructed and the final Chinese port city in foreign hands was returned and Khabarovsk was renamed Harbin. In return China recognized Seoul and Nakhoda, as well as the Island cities of Hokkaido and Osaka. Also China agreed to help Japan demonstrate the benefits of the International Airport. The concept was at first odd, and we doubted its usefulness. But they proclaimed that the record trade from Bogota to Lanzhou (formerly novisibrisk) was due to airports and accomplished in record time. We agreed to the 10% commission and took control of Amazonia (Bogota International). The resulting trades were more than we could have hoped for, the record 1288 gold on a single trade sold us on the idea. We then utilized the Iceland Airport and hoped for a similar gain.
Surprisingly, little was heard by us from our supposed “allies” and they even had the gall to ask us to buy technology from them during the struggles, no support through technology or money or units. We heard:

“we need money, want to buy some technology?”

The Chinese people were not very impressed by their neighbors lack of support.
With Peace established and the Chinese coffers firmed, it was time to retool, take the people off of their drugged luxury high and build up the research department. Science was again pursued as the Chinese quickly discovered the concept of Nuclear Fission and thus began the on a project to exploit this technology. Behind everyone in technology, except perhaps the Sioux, I began the great learning period. Using our coffers I accepted offers from other civilizations to buy technologies. With these purchased technologies I then turned around and traded with other civilizations. The end result, our historian (after the host transfer sequence) declared to us that we were the second most advanced civilization in the World.... Not bad for a couple days of hard work.

[CapTVK]

The New English Times: issue 13 Special edition

Good session this time with a small scale conflict in Asia between the Chinese and Vikings which finally ended in a peace treaty and some major map updates.

Also replaced some of the older maps with links to speed up this thread

A new geopolitical worldmap as of 1782AD:


Main Changes
China is firmly in control of it's sea border now with the return of Ca (Nanking?) under Chinese rule. The Vikings may keep the other cities including the one with JS, for some reason they thought they had to hand it over too, which lead to some confusion during negotiations. Another point in Asia remains the land granted to the Russians a session before. This 'land/city-deal' may not be valid as the 'transport incident' claimed by the Russians never occurred!

As for the rest of the world...a small update in the Atlantic ocean at Iceland and another white spot is filled by the English in South America. After reaching agreement about a new English settlement with the JTF some sessions before this spot was finally settled. It's beginning to get crowded in S.America but then again, it's getting crowded everywhere.

Other news to follow...
<font size=1 face=Arial color=444444>[This message has been edited by CapTVK (edited October 04, 1999).]</font>

[Grau Geist]

FEDERATION WEEKLY 1784 AD

CHAIRMAN GRAUMOTO ANNOUNCES HIS RETIREMENT
The great Chairman Graumoto has announced his retirement upon the day of his 80th birthday celebration. A successor has yet to be found, but the early front runner is Trade Minister Hirograu, fresh from his International Airport success. Other possible candidates include Defense Minister Tojogeist and Navy Chairman Hito. Chairman Graumoto has refused to comment on the subject of his successor.

A RECORD TRADE INAUGURATES THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SYSTEM

The Trade Ministry announced a record trade route has been established thanks to the new International Airport system. The Chinese, first to appreciate the significance of the system, used Bogotá International to establish a record one time 1288 gold trade route with a continuing route production of 26 trade arrows generated between the two cities (13 a each). The Communist commitee, at first unsure of the project, has approved construction of the International Airport of Taipei and developement of new site to service Kyoto in the jungles of the congo river. The Trade Ministry invites all interested parties to take advantage of these new trade producing monsters.

NAVY ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF INDIAN OCEAN FLEET

With the christening of the Carrier, Isudoro, the completion of the 1st JTF Carrier group has been achieved. The Fleet has immediatly begun excercises in the Indian Ocean, currently known as the Japanese back yard. Proposals are underway for the continued development of a Federation Fleet for the Central Atlantic and Pacific areas where substantial Federation presence exists. The Navy has stepped up production in order to achieve the Defence Ministries' Global Reach policy for the modern world. The recently created Airforce is also keeping up with the new policy and concerns are still rising
over the Army's inability to keep up with the demands of the Defense Ministry


DEFENSE ANNOUNCES PLANNED UPGRADE OF THE ARMY

Defense Minister Yamamoto has announced sweeping reforms for the JTF Home Forces.

With the dawning of new technology our military has become somewhat obsolete. Our recent inability to intervene during the conflict in Asia has made it very clear to us that the Domestic agenda has far outpaced our Foreign Affairs and Defense agendas.

The land forces of the JTF are lacking in up to date technology. Crack alpine troops are needed to replace aging riflemen units defending our cities. The dawning of mechanized infantry and armored have replaced the need and usefulness of many JTF cavalry brigades. With the widespread influence of the JTF across the globe, the Defense Ministry has done a great job on developing an Airforce and upgrading the Navy, but at the expense of the Army. Sweeping reforms should change this over time.


WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER WEAKNESS OF THE AZTEC NATION

The World Trade Organization has announced today, concern over the current state of defenslessness assumed by the Aztec Nation. Ambassadors from across the globe have reported that more than half of Aztec cities lay barren of defense forces. Concern is rising as the Aztec neighbors continue to build up their forces, while the Aztec government neglects its responsibilities. [quote] Trade can not be assured in Aztecland. The worlds' freightors are not safe where there is a lacking of military defensiveness. Barbarians can run rampant and where peasants and religious fanatics are allowed to run free.

( how realistic is it, even in a diplomatic game, for a nation to remain virtually defenseless! This has not been a short term situation either, We have all notice 28 cities and @11 units for many sessions now. With Treaty of Rome, the Aztecs were never supposed to be completly de-armed. Rather, They were expected to no longer maintain offensive Sea units. However, this treaty has long expired and though the Aztecs have done well in competing in the Domestic arena i.e. Hoover and Seti, they have been lacking in the foreign and diplomatic arena, which is eveident from the Chinese posts, if you were their friend where were you? The Aztecs were once the #1 civ, what happened? Nappy if you no longer have interest in the game, please allow us to pass the civ off to someone who will.

As for other topics that have come under discussion, with the development of SDI technology I beleve one's capital city is automatically protected, so Nuking a capital city and taking it to force a spaceship to return is not viable option. As for taking someone's capital, as long as a suitable alternative city is nearby that capital will be moved in CivII and the spaceship will not return, at least this is what happened all the time when I was playing one player against the AI, but it may just be the AI that gets that chance. As for nukes themselves, we can not artificially ban their use or existance before we have experienced them. These details will have to be worked out between a session where nukes present themselves and that next session.

Let us remember this game was made in the image of our own history and reality. In the Future lets try to deal with problems in the same way. Our idea of a diplomatic game is not that war will not exist, suffering will not exist, tyrrants will not exist, or that general meanness will not exist. It is our goal to test the game to its limits, to experience all its facets. There have been tons of threads about games that don't even progress into A.D. It is because these all out military conquest games abound, that a Diplomatic game was created. We have been some of the first to see the use of tanks and artillery in a limited war. We will be some of the first to see the appplication of nukes, the effectiveness of mech inf and howitzers, and perhaps the first to undertake a human space race. For me, this will probably be the first and last long term civ II game that I will ever play, therefore, I want to make it the best game it can be.

For future games, for those of you who will continue the tradition, alliances such as the Japanese with the English or the Russians, can not be allowed to exist for the duration of the game. As I said earlier, the game was made in the image of our history and reality. Alliances have never lasted almost 5000 years, nor should they in a multiplayer diplomatic game. An idea that I had was that each person participating should be allowed to keep a certain leader in power for a set number of years, decades or even centuries (for successive rulers could have the same styles or system of checks and balances to deal with in thier government (senates, congress, commitees, councils etc.) Each person would develop that character over time, but would then replace him with a new personality in time. Effectively, an aggressive, militaristic civ could after centuries become a civilized perfectionist civ. A human controller should be expected to create a number of different characters for thier ruler through out a whole game. It would take creativity and understanding that "nothing personal" goes on in the game. In this way as a civs ruler changes in personality, alliances would change as each civs interests changed. For instance a Japanese alliance with the English and Russians was appropriate in order to put down the Aztecs. When this is achieved, what reason do the Japanese have in maintaining an alliance against the Aztecs for millenia? none. These are all governing items that must be included into any future civ dip game. I apologize for getting into a tangent, but this is food for future thought.




<font size=1 face=Arial color=444444>[This message has been edited by Grau Geist (edited October 07, 1999).]</font>

[Pseudo]

Inspired by recent events and previous posts; I dare to attempt a new sort of fictitious writing style….

Broadcasting from deep inside China, our foreign correspondant relates the story as it unfolds before him….

A most unexpected event has cast a shadow over the land of China. In what appears to be a military coup, Chinese tanks roared down the center of the capital city, Xi’an, and surrounded the Imperial Senate Forum. After a short and uneven struggle, Forum guards were forced to give up their posts, and their benefactors. Initial indications are that a majority of the Senate was then arrested and taken to an undisclosed location. No further reports of their safety or whereabouts has been discovered. These troops appear to be loyal to General Genghis Khan.

Khan, who was in charge of the recent expeditions to retake lost Chinese territory from the Vikings, was recently asked to resign by Proconsul Chiang Kai-shek. Kai-shek openly blamed Khan for the Chinese losses suffered as a result of the Viking counterattack on Ca, which lead to the loss of many Chinese troops and the retaking of Ca by the Viking military. He cited Khan’s inability to fortify gains as grounds for dismissal, and asked for his resignation a few days ago. It seems, if Khan is indeed behind this coup attempt, that Chiang has his answer.

So far, troops loyal to Chiang have retained control over the rest of China’s cities, but word on the street is that attacks on these cities will be sure to follow. These events are indeed surprising, as Chiang had great support from the senate and apparently the people after his great diplomatic and domestic miracles.

[KenThur]

Viking Sentinal (Extra Addition):

Seems these are revolutionary times in many of this world's civ!?

We ernstly hope this does not portend an age of darkness & wars descending on our finally peaceful planet?

Our government's cabinet seems to agree with Comrade GGmoto, that it is unrealistic to assume that because a civ disarms, that it must not defend itself against other leaders & peoples that grow envious at the prosparity & advances that civ achieves. And other civ's would be hard-pressed to come to the aid in a timely manner, should a swift military strike be purpetrated against it in an attempt to force it to "share" some of it's secrets & slow down it's economy.

Our democractic Senate however does have a different perspective & believes that different civ's should be allowed to take different paths to the ultimate goal. Of course, they all must run for re-election frequently & that takes gold &/or being able to point out that their peaceful stance is being rewarded by the sharing of ideas & research from those civ's that are in a position to appreciate our Senate's influence.

President Nice Blondes is anxious to hear back from other world leaders on some the pragmatic suggestions regarding issues of changing the attitudes of mindless civ's that have no human intelligence to meter their aggressiveness.
Also the issue of final performance evalutions. The Viking Special Committee on world ranking feels that in addition to the obvious "winner" of the space race, that perhaps the awarding of points for Demographics (in reverse order=6pts for 1st) coupled with the Civilization Score could determine the final standings. This would then reflect the OVERALL success of a civ's place in the world. While perhaps lowering the possibility of irrational & unrealistic behavior on this world as those far-distant colonists approach the starting of another world.

In another words... make sure "Blondes have more fun!?"

[KenThur]

Viking Sentinal (Extra Addition): 2nd copy deleted (it's not THAT Extra!)

<font size=1 face=Arial color=444444>[This message has been edited by KenThur (edited October 13, 1999).]</font>

[Nappy]

OPEN LETTER TO CHINA..................After reading your posts I thought that it would be appropriate to bring you up to speed on the recent history of the Aztec-Chinese alliance. I assumed control of the Aztec nation in 1480AD with the understanding that the Aztecs and Chinese were at war with the combined armies of Japan,Russia,England and the Vikings.On the 1st turn I realized that there was no Chinese ally and I was left to my fate(not even any diplomatic or moral support). Our only support(diplomatic) came from the Vikings and without Milo's intervention the Aztec empire (and probably the game) would have come to an end. The Vikings have since become one of our most valuable trade partners. Under these circumstances there is no way that we could enter into a military alliance against the Vikings. However, if you read the posts you will see that we have been one of the few countries (along with the English) to protest the landgrab of native Chinese territory over the past 300 years by several countries of the world including your new friends the JTF. We feel that China has been victimized and deserves compensation and foreign aid from the world. The Aztecs have and will continue to support a "strong China policy" as we feel that the power and leadership vacuum that existed in east Asia for the past 300 years was responsible for the landgrab of the past. When the Chinese abandoned us in 1480AD, the Aztecs ended up forfeiting nearly a quarter of their cities and territories including Spain,Italy,Balkans, Asia Minor. southern Caucasus and most of south America.And pay reparations.And partially demobilize. But instead of focusing on what was lost, the Aztecs concentrated on what was still left and have since relocated many of their cities to the vast , formerly untouched northen hinterlands. Similarly, we urge the Chinese to focus their energies on developing their own vast lands to the north- lands that are rich with trade and production potential instead of commiting resources to continuing conflicts over cities that have been disputed over the last 500 years. To that end we will pledge engineering assistance, along with the rest of the world, to help facilitate the migration of population and infrastructure to the north. We also look forward to developing a trading relationship with China and will attempt to trade technology with you in our next session. We welcome the new Chinese leader to the political scene and hope that one day we can place China in a "Most Favored Nation Status" among trading partners.

[Pseudo]

Continuing his broadcast from deep inside China, our foreign correspondant gives us an update on the developing situation…

The greatest joy, is to conquer one’s enemies, to see their families in tears, to ride their horses and possess their daughters and wives”

This is an excerpt, from who appears to be the new ruler of China, Genghis Khan, in an address to his people. In this same speech, Khan has justified the overthrow and imprisonment of Chiang Kai-shek. Khan accused Kai-shek of giving China away to foreigners. Interestingly enough it was for this reason that Mao was forced to step down a few years ago, and now Kai-shek has fallen victim to it as well.

Genghis has declared himself Proconsul and is awaiting Imperial Senate approval. This is almost assured since it seems as if Khan has replaced many supporters of Kai-shek with senators more favorable to his own whims. The people of China appear to be stunned by the turn of events over the past few days. In countless victories, mirroring his siege of Xi’an, Khan completely wiped out Kai-shek supporters and won over the defending forces of each city with his promises for the future. Those promises are not widely known at the time, nor at the moment is anyone willing to speak about these promises to foreigners. However, since it seems as if Khan has established himself in power, a widely anticipated speech to the Senate seems imminent.

[CapTVK]

The New English Times: issue 14


New Defense Policy introduced: more emphasis on air force
The military finally approves the formation of a new military organization, the Royal Air Force (RAF). Making it one of the last nations to institute a national military organization for air warfare. Although the airplane has been around for almost a century, the airforce in the modern sense dates from the middle of the 18th century, when the offensive capabilities of the airplane were first demonstrated by the JTF against Sioux naval vessels. The English airforce saw it's first test against a barbarian stronghold deep in the African
jungle not long after and passed with flying colors. After that succes the formation of the RAF was just a matter of time.
The newly appointed English Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard argued that future wars will be won by strategic bombing of an enemy's industrial centers and fast airstrikes against enemy units in the field. Other military leaders, including Maj-Gen. L.C Dunsterville and naval commander H.Nelson also urged intensive development of air power.


China keeps brewing
The situation in China remains tense with a possible military coup. After the recent
diplomatic successes this reaction by the military seems peculiar. It appears that some of Chinese top brass seem to think that their leader 'spoiled the fight' and should have asked for more concessions from the Vikings. The military has been very dissappointed about this, including the lack of support by the Aztecs during negotiations. In time the situation may cool down. But it's clear that some of the Chinese forces are akin for a fight no matter what.


England lags behind in productivity
Last year's productivity levels have been disastrous, in shield production the English come just in front of the Sioux who are trailing the bottom. While the English score high in trade and have a high trade surplus this has gone at the expense of our ndustry. "While quaint English villages may make good atmosphere if you're a painter or farmer it just won't do if you can't even be allowed to build a railway line, this situation cannot continue!" was the offical statement by the Minister of Internal
Affairs.

Massive industry investment approved by the senate
After the productivity results where made official a new city policy has been introduced by the famous cityplanner Chris Crawford. "There'll be massive investments in factories, roads, railways and new technology, it will require good planning to get the balance right and we're not playing games here..." he mentioned in his opening speech at the first official meeting of the new planning committee.

[Superstar]

THE DEATH OF DIPLOMACY

Well fellas, although I missed the end of the game last night, I am disappointed to say that this game is, for me, ruined.
A Diplomatic game means sorting out your problems through negotiation, or short wars concerning border disputes. Not attempted genocide or the swift removal of several opposing cities.
Even when I have in the past declared war, it was only for small tactical gains, creating a poor diversion in the Aztecia war, and destroying the Chinese navy. There were no attempts for peace on China's part, just sheer ruthlessness and opportunism. I guess it's a lesson when trust breaks down, he was clearly building his armies whilst pretending to 'negotiate'. A factor that the Russians and the Vikings have been predicting for centuries. Too many nations have remained neutral however, and this appeasement and self-preservation have led to one of our greatest and most loyal players having his land ravaged.
I mean nothing personal in this, but the Chinese are totally ignoring the diplomatic nature of the game. Most nations could make similar gains by takeing people unawares in such a fashion, the fact that it is through diplomacy we make our gains prevents us from doing so.
I'm not against war, but I am totally against the destruction of such a large chunk of anybodies empire. There is no way back into the game for Milo now, not because of his poor decisions, but because the betrayal of the nature of the game by the Chinese.

So, it is with great regret that I announce the death of diplomacy, and an all out war must take place, not something I'm particularly looking forward to.

[Mao]

Not to be rude by coming in like this, but I must say it's been fun reading all this stuff. (and yes, I have been keeping track) This was nice while it lasted. Think you should start a new thread as the title doesn't fit anymore, but keep me informed of the war. I just wanted to say thanks, it's fun to watch others play and lose/win.

[CapTVK]

The New English Times: issue 15 special edition

A newly updated geopolitival worldmap as of 1792AD:



Main Changes
This map speaks for itself, the Vikings have almost been wiped off the map in Southeast
Asia. After signing a treaty some years all parties had hoped for peace in our time, it
didn't. Now we have to face a China that is very agressive,has a strong a military presence in Asia and a strong production basis to further it's own ends. All nations have to find a way to deal with this because this is truly a threat on worldscale.

Note from the editor:
What a session! Too bad I missed the first few turns. I landed in the thick of things with the Chinese marching into SE-Asia and decided to remain neutral until I got my bearings on the Asian/WW2? situation. That's the reason why I decided to stay out of the conflict until now, I rather try to keep a cool head about these things. I would like to point out that this is still a game people, making physical treats against an opponent isn't the best way to make him see reason (if there is any reason at all), try to be civilized...

To Superstars statement that this means the end of diplomacy I say "No, it's only the beginning...". This is 'still' a diplo game people and there are many forms of diplomacy in our happy little world of diplomacy , some polite (what we've been doing for the last few weeks) and not polite(any medium scale conflict and up). What we've been doing mostly in the last few months has been classic 'realpolitik', meaning that we usually think we're dealing with an opponent who wants the same as us. The problems start when you meet an opponent who doesn't think that way, to him a treaty is nothing more but a piece of paper and an empty promise. One historical example would be the peacetreaty Chamberlain signed with Hitler in 1939 'peace in our time'. A more recent example would be the hollow negotiations concerning the autonomy/independence of the Kosovo-Albanians in ex-Yugoslavia.

So what happens when that sort of player enters our happy little 'realpolitik' world? Answer: [*]First, amazement and a complete shock at his sheer audacity: "He can't do that! We signed a treaty last session!"[*]Second, you'll learn a very important lesson about diplomacy. Perhaps the most important one of all: People don't always keep a promise.[*]Third, you deal with it. A powerful opponent with a large army to back him up is threatening the world, what would you do?

All in all I'm enjoying this immensely, a MP diplo game is more than a game, it's an experience!...

<font size=1 face=Arial color=444444>[This message has been edited by CapTVK (edited October 17, 1999).]</font>