New Reality Seeds

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

The aesthetic problem with this is that the Holy Alliance was, by definition, an alliance of reactionary religious conservatives. Those tend to be bad candidates for "exploits high-tech wonder-weapons to blow holes in the balance of power", especially before the 20th century. I mean, there's no law against it, it could happen somehow -- but giving your "let's go back to the good old days of the 15th century" goons strike airships and submarine freighters is kind of mixing your symbols.


So the basic concept here is "Britain completely bollixes up its core 19th century foreign policy, and faces the exact nightmare that it spend all those decades working to block in reality". Which is fair enough.

Personally, I'd incline to make this version of the Holy Alliance a very cynical Prussian scheme. Of the three, they were the dynamic, efficient, progressive-according-to-their-own-lights mob; if they bafflegabbed the other two into providing them with cannon fodder, resources, and a secure eastern border, under a scrim of pseudo-religious doubletalk, they could be trouble. The diplomatic solution would then consist of the British jumping up and down and yelling "You're being scammed!" at the Russians and Austrians.

Agreed, the Holy Alliance is a pact of reactionaries, with a possible exception of Prussia. Yes, this senario assumes that the bitter lessons learned durring the War of the American Revolution are totally forgotten. It isn't a realistic senario on several levels. The main exception being the question of how to invade Britain in the period between the fall of Napoleon and the coronation of Victoria. It would have taken an alliance of the whole of Europe to pull it off.

I like your idea about Prussia pulling the strings. If we have Centrum deluded into thinking they're pulling Prussia's strings, it could add layers of confusion to the game.