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Old 03-16-2019, 01:56 PM   #4071
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Verne-8


Like most of the Verne worlds Verne-8 diverges with Cugnot's steam wagon. In this world, two Princes of the Blood witnessed the event. Like everything else in their lives, it started an endless series of arguments.

The King and his ministers, who liked winding the brothers up and watching them go, joined in the arguments. At some point or other someone brought up the advantages of running wagons on rails. Over time this led to a consensus that steam-powered railroads would work and bring powerful economic and military advantages to France. This led to Cugnot being called to court and being given the mandate and funding to design steam wagons for rail transport.

The local year is 1810, Napoleon's France is bound together by his steam roads. Sure, the average speed is twenty-five miles per hour, but this is vastly better than anyone else can do. The French Imperial Gandy Dancers have built railroads to Seville, Naples, Vienna, Venice, Berlin, Skagen, Budapest, and Warsaw. The railroad to Istanbul is being built. The Empire runs on steel!

This is a Napoleonic setting with Le Emperor having a network of railroads to move his armies across Europe at unprecedented speeds. Areas of Europe closed to Homeline's Napoleon are open to Verne-8 Napoleon because of his rails.

This world is TL5, but some areas of engineering are about thirty years ahead of Homeline's 1810. Centrum, not pleased with a French speaking world government. But it will certainly accept this empire. Meanwhile, Homeline's France is over the moon about another Napoleonic world. At the same time, Homeline's Russia dislikes the idea that a rail line to St. Petersburg is being started and another is being planned for Lutsk and then Kiev. In this world, Russia might not be saved by General Winter.
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Old 03-18-2019, 08:17 AM   #4072
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This Q6 world diverges in the late 1500s when a Japanese Admiral isn't killed in the aborted attempt to conquer Korea. Instead, he's an early supporter of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The Admiral loved collecting maps and understood their implications. He noticed how near the west coast of America, or at least Alaska, really was. He got permission to set up a few fishing bases on the coasts of America.

The fishing base that took was set up on what in Homeline is Whidbey Island in Puget Sound. Founded in 1632, long after the Admiral's death, it was neglected by the central government of Japan. However, a Buddhist monastery, prompted by an Abbot's dreams, relocated to the area in 1635 and provided governance and direction for the colony.

The local year is 1809. Louis and Clarke have come and gone. The locals know that Japan barely acknowledges they exist. Russia from the North, Spain from the South, Britain from the Sea, and the USA from the East all claim the Oregon Country and them with it. What are they going to do?

The colony is prosperous and stable. Most people are farmers and craftspeople. The monasteries rule the area fairly loosely. Villages run their internal affairs. There have been fights with the Native Americans but trade predominates. The oldest and largest monastery temples are centers of culture and education. Scholars exiled from Japan have brought their skills and libraries, and even the Puppet Theater. But they lack either the central government or military resources to avoid absorption into someone's territory. What do they do?
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Old 03-18-2019, 08:25 PM   #4073
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Default Another quick and dirty one: Yamato Banzai!

Yamato was discovered by unmanned drones, and one of the first things they saw was a Yamato-class battleship, yet radio traffic indicated that it was the late 1950's, the cold war between the USA and USSR was in full swing, and overall, it seemed similar to homeline.

Looking deeper, it wasn't as similar as it seemed.

Late May, 1944:

British night bombers drone over Germany, dropping their deadly payloads on a Luftwaffe base. Goering and several other VIPS are touring the base, when an accident that will change the course of the war occurs. A stick of bombs smashes open a storage facility of Mustard Gas, and numerous people are gassed—including Goering. However, the fact that this was a storage depot for gas was lost in the outrage and confusion—the German High Command placed the blame squarely on the British—a deliberate attempt to assassinate Goering with gas.

Mid June—Germany retaliates. Using Mustard Gas, Germany launches a massive attack on the Allied Beachhead. In some places, the attack is devastating—in others, the Allied forces hold using their own gas masks. But…those units get attacked with the nerve gasses. In a matter of days, Germany has advanced, smashing the beachhead—and capturing huge amounts of equipment. The war in the west has just got uglier.

In the Pacific…fewer resources after D-Day disaster, but still, America is advancing. Russia is screaming, as Germany is dropping gas on them, too, and driving the Red Army back. (The Red Army’s retreat will only be temporary—but even so, it hurts the Soviets badly.)

Some Japanese see an opportunity to get out with some slight saving of face, and Togo and company are deposed. With much back alley discussion, surrender is finally negotiated, mere days before the Japanese are to send Yamato to Okinawa. (The prospect of gas coming to the Pacific played a part in the decision, as the American public was clamoring for the gassing of Japan now that the Axis had supposedly started it. The moderates were able to recruit some support among fence sitters when reports of American gas shipments to the Pacific started cropping up in Tokyo.)

Terms: Nearly unconditional surrender, with just enough to allow a semblance of saving face.

Emperor to remain on the throne.
Japan to withdraw from China on America’s timetable
Japan to keep only the home Islands, Okinawa to be held under (officially) joint control, demilitarized. In reality, it’s under American control.
American observers to be posted with the Japanese military.
The leaders who brought Japan into the war to be turned over to the Americans for trial. A quietly dickered understanding, never written down, was that the people on the list would be allowed to kill themselves.
The ones that chose not to kill themselves were “assisted” to do so.
Only a bare handful went to trial.
Japan’s army to be a token force, confined to the home islands. Japan may retain a limited number of tanks and other armored vehicles. Likewise, aircraft are limited
Japan’s fleet to consist of one battleship, 2 light cruisers, and 15 destroyers—NO amphibious craft or aircraft carriers.

In late 1945, there is an instant sunrise over Germany, and the war comes to an end. By that time, the Allies have landed in France again, and vast areas of Europe are more of a wasteland than before.

As peace returns to the world, Japan is a distinctly minor power (And subject to American influence in a BIG way), but one with the world’s greatest battleship. Yamato is a source of national pride, and gets every attention lavished on it. As Japan becomes more important in the cold war, the time comes when American aid is available. Modernization is less and less practical—but building a replacement is out of the question, so the ship gets the attention…

If you thought that 16” shells make a big hole in the ground, wait until Yamato delivers 18” HE shells to targets in Korea…

It's Germany that has the deep hatred of nuclear weapons that Homeline's Japan has. On a much grimmer note, there is much less confidence that gas won't get used again. There's treaties banning it--but there were similar treaties in 1944. It's been used in some minor wars, and both the Arabs and Israelis are ready to unleash vaporous hell at any moment.
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Old 03-19-2019, 07:38 AM   #4074
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Originally Posted by YankeeGamer View Post
If someone is trying to make things worse, delaying the war could do just that. If the bad guys introduce things like poison gas, the war will be much more destructive,
The make a future war worse is the conclusion the Time Corps agents come to in Operation Archduke (Infinite Worlds 227-229)
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Old 03-24-2019, 12:02 AM   #4075
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Chamberlain-1 is a world where the Munich Accords never happened. Instead Britain, France, Poland, Czechoslovakia and the USSR all cooperated to bring down Nazi Germany in a conflict that was still pretty nasty but only lasted a couple of years. the United States took down down the Japanese a few years later after three years of fighting. Britain invented the first atomic weapons and used them in a nuclear exchange with the USSR that pretty much ended both sides as major players in the early 60s.

The current year is 2009 and with eugenics never having been discredited back in the 80s the United States adopted a heavy handed solution to its health care problems with health care free, with the catch that you have to undergo an evaluation for heritable conditions and sterilization if you are deemed likely to have children who will develop expensive conditions during their lives. The result is a thriving market in black market medical care that a Homeline trader finds very profitable since Chamberlain has superior computers.
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Old 03-25-2019, 02:29 PM   #4076
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Try this one...

Fair weather in Western Europe in late 1944 and early 1945. No Battle of the Bulge. American and British forces decisively cross the Siegfried Line Jan. 2nd 1945. The Germans seem unprepared and the allies talk of getting to give Hitler a Valentine. Stalin is furious. Even with the agreed spheres of influence the Western Allies getting to Berlin first by several months is unbearable.

Centrum and Homeline know that the Cabal changed the weather on this Q6 Low Manna world, but why? Stalin is crazier than normal even for him and FDR's health is vastly better than it should be, meanwhile, both Churchill and de Gaulle are sick. Is there some bizaar power grab planed?
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Old 03-26-2019, 04:01 AM   #4077
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Kaiserin

The year is 1943, and the Gerrman Empire is locked in a state of lukewarm war with the Soviet Union. Every power in the world is terrified that this will erupt into another world war, but cannot decide which side to back as both factions terrify them.

The division point came in 1881. In OTL, Princess Elizabeth of Hesse and by Rhine was proposed to by her cousin, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (the future Kaiser Wilhelm II), but she declined. In Kaiserin, she accepted.

The only child of the union, Princess Michaela Victoria, was born in 1883. In 1888, on the ascension of her father to the Imperial Throne, Micheala was created German Crown Princess, Crown Princess of Prussia, Hesse, and by Rhine.

Elizabeth was, despite her birth, a woman of simple tastes and devout piety. Wilhelm was a raging egomaniac and militarist. The whipsaw upbringing left their mark on the young Princess Michaela, giving her the urge to compete and dominate of her father combined with the focus and willpower of her mother. She was also greatly influenced by her great-grandmother Queen Victoria of England, who taught her about independence and how to spot manipulators.

Considered, like her mother, one of the most beautiful women of her generation as well as the heir to the throne of one of the Great Powers, Michaela was considered a rare catch. This made Michaela more determioned to demonstrate her independence. At age 17, using her royal influence, she arranged a shooting exhibition wherin she defeated the nine Gold Medalists of the 1900 Olympics shooting competitions. Then announced her intention to compete in the 1904 Olympics shooting competition, causing a controversy of global proportions. Michaela became a figurehead and advocate for Women's Rights, much to the disdain of her parents and great-grandmother. She also backed other forms of civil rights, seeing the treatment of various social groups asw analogous to the restriction of women to "brood mare status" in her own social circle. Still, she had a devoted folowing of German citizens of all walks of life.

In 1908 at age 25, she married Duke Wilhelm of Schweig-Holstein, a man who was enamored of her strong will and shared her active lifestyle. Those hoping that she would be calmed by her marriage and two subsequent children were disappointed. (Duke Wilhelm, like Michaela, never existed in OTL; his mother was Princess Augusta Victoria, who in OTL was Kaiser Wilhelm's wife.)

World War I started right on schedule, over Michaela's strenuous and public objections, which finally drove her into exile in England in late 1916. She worked for peace as a shadow diplomat and refused to be used for the more vulgar forms of propaganda. She also publicly traveled on a number of ships, which ended up being escorted by German U-Boats instead of being attacked.

When the Armistice was signed and Kaiser Wilhelm II sent into exile, the old Empire was broken up into it's constituent states. Michaela became Queen of Prussia under a new constitution which stripped the Throne of most of it's powers. But after years of being a shadow diplomat, possessed of an indomitable will and a mentality that did not accept submission or defeat, she began exerting herself almost immediately.

Fighting the Treaty of Versailles in the courts of nations, the League of Nations, and the courts of public opinion, Queen Michaela finally managed by 1922 to get the massive reparations (or "brigandage and plunder" as she called it) reduced substantially in return for military restrictions and sections in the Prussian Constitution preventing Prussia from declaring war unless invaded or holding overseas colonies.

Meanwhile, Michaela organized the broken-up sections of the old Empire covertly, creating a "shadow empire". The low-visibility assistance the various Germanic states gave each other stabilized the broken-up empire enough so when the Great Depression came in 1929, the Germans only lost 12% of their industrial output and suffered barely 6% unemployment. The reasonably stable economy and government (and Queen Michaela occasionally putting down the iron boot) prevented the rise of radicalism.

By 1932, the German Empire reorganized and on New Years Day 1933, Michaela became Her Imperial and Royal Majesty, Empress of Germany, Queen of Prussia. This caused a lot of international fit-throwing, but was carried out by the instituting of a constitution that, like the Prussian one, forbade offensive warfare and overseas colonies. The fact that Michaela was still a person greatly loved and admired throughout the world also helped.

At once, the German Empire was in conflict with the Soviet Union. As a niece of the late Empress Alexandra of Russia and through her mother personally close to the late Tsar's family, Empress Michaela had a personal grudge against the Communists. And Stalin blamed Michaela personally for the collapse of the German Communist Movement (which she was, both personally and indirectly). This carried over to a heavily-armed border. The French and British had no qualms about backing Germany as a buffer state.

Then in 1939, Poland requested annexation by the Empire, and when it was granted, the Soviets called it "resurgent German Imperialism" and invaded Poland. The Empire responded, and two years of war devastated Poland. When the Russians were expelled, international pressure kept Germany from pursuing the Red Army into their homeland.

The two powers now face each other across a devastated No Man's Land with occasional flareups of violence. Two years of negotiations have gone nowhere. Stalin has blamed the Germans for several assassination attempts. Empress Michaela has also been subjected to attempted assasinations, killing three assassins herself.

Ther other powers of the world do not like the idea of Germany conquering Russia, becoming a juggernaut that could dominate the world. At the same time, they absolutely hate the idea of Stalinist Russia having a European Empire. And the idea of attacking both sides opens the spectre of the two factions joining forces against them. They're paralyzed with indecision.

Meanwhile the two years of stalemate with low-level military activity have allowed the arsenals of the Empire and the Soviet Union to climb to insane levels, with amazing developments in military technology. And there are rumors of radical developments coming out of Heidelberg University, connected to names like Slizard and Einstein ...

TL is mid-6 in military, late 5 otherwise. Europe is holding it's breath as The German Valkyrie and the Russian Man of Steel have their sabres locked, waiting for the other one to blink.
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Last edited by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2; 03-26-2019 at 04:06 AM.
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Old 03-30-2019, 10:28 AM   #4078
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
Verne-8

(SNIP)
Yanked!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2 View Post
Kaiserin

(SNIP)
Also grabbed!
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Old 03-30-2019, 05:59 PM   #4079
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Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
The current year is 2009 and with eugenics never having been discredited back in the 80s the United States adopted a heavy handed solution to its health care problems with health care free, with the catch that you have to undergo an evaluation for heritable conditions and sterilization if you are deemed likely to have children who will develop expensive conditions during their lives. The result is a thriving market in black market medical care that a Homeline trader finds very profitable since Chamberlain has superior computers.
Reminds me of Alan Nourse's The Bladerunner, which has a similar medical premise, except any significant medical care for anyone requires sterilization. Then a minor flu turns up, which after two weeks turns into a deadly encephalitis.

(Despite the name, completely unrelated to the Phillip K. Dick movie, though they "acknowledged his work" which Iassume means they paid him something.
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Old 03-31-2019, 11:13 PM   #4080
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Reminds me of Alan Nourse's The Bladerunner, which has a similar medical premise, except any significant medical care for anyone requires sterilization. Then a minor flu turns up, which after two weeks turns into a deadly encephalitis.
Yeah I was trying to tone it down to a setup that was a bit more plausible.
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