06-20-2022, 12:09 PM | #41 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Our timeline gets parachronics in 2022
That depends on a lot. I don't think that size of an army would be out of place during the Warring States period of China's history, for example.
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If the invaders manage to make themselves look like conquering gods, and avoid the natives seeing their mistakes and problems, maybe they can get the sort of result you're expecting. Personally, my guess is that they'll handily defeat the natives with few casualties, but they'll have to deal with insurgents. Sure, the insurgents not having firearms and explosives (at least, until they steal them and figure out how to use them) makes things easier, but a shiv to the throat is a shiv to the throat regardless of TL.
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06-20-2022, 12:15 PM | #42 |
Join Date: Oct 2007
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Re: Our timeline gets parachronics in 2022
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06-20-2022, 12:21 PM | #43 |
Join Date: Nov 2004
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Re: Our timeline gets parachronics in 2022
Since there's been no nuclear weapons involved in the Ukraine war, yes, I continue to believe that. Russia has been intermittently at war with Ukraine for as long as the said polities have existed, every time a Russian ruler gets to feeling his imperial oats. China hasn't engaged in military expansionism since the conquest of Tibet, and is presently engaged in a program of soft power projection in Africa via things like financing local infrastructure projects. They don't want a nuclear wastland, they want to be the leaders of a civilized (by their definition, naturally) world. I expect you would see a lot of that in our TL3 world as well, Chinese "goodwill" missions where they'd build roads and bridges and aqueducts and maybe railroads or electric generators, which would coincidentally lead to places with lots of valuable mineral concessions, and local leaders who had a problem with that would find themselves om the wrong end of a coup. The US and EU would probably do similar things with different associated rhetoric, while Russia would most likely just seize what they want at gunpoint with no pretenses. Note that the presence of these projects would aslo make smuggling nukes much harder for anyone who might be so inclined. Past that it depends on how hard and how expensive it it is to make parachronics work and who has access to the technology.
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06-20-2022, 03:07 PM | #44 |
Join Date: Dec 2020
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Re: Our timeline gets parachronics in 2022
ImhO yes. Because look at the rate a disease can spread, once it´s on our planet, it can travel in less than 24 h around the world, infecting folks and other travellers on the way.
A world where you travel by ship is much safer in this case. A sea travel of several days, is basically a quarantine for every person and livestock on the ship. Look at SARS, if a certain person hadn´t feeled ill and choosen not to travel further, SARS could have been spread like Covid. One of the groups the person avoided to contact this way, was a meeting of the worldwide leading disease specialists... .Or if a specialist hadn´t analyzed the virus and calmed the hospital personal, the staff had run away spreading SARS and research had been delayed for weeks. The guy was infected and died. We were lucky over the past decades in spite of free trade and travel, without health checks and such. At least 5 times in my lifetime, a disease whoose spread would have had brought a situation, like the actual pandemic at it´s height, was stopped due to sheer luck, a quick response or other reasons who are not guaranted. The Ebola outbreak a few years ago spreading over a handful of neighboring nations was a very close call. Once the disease reaches several nations, with enough people close enough, and rich enough to fly, we can´t stop it. Covid is just the first one, in my lifetime, were we botched the first response. Last edited by Willy; 06-20-2022 at 03:08 PM. Reason: spelling error |
06-20-2022, 03:29 PM | #45 | |
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Brazil
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Re: Our timeline gets parachronics in 2022
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The only thing that would happen would be a frenzy of religious lunacy and chaotic panic spreading over entire civilizations! Just imagine extraterrestrial aliens coming to Earth and attacking us with nanomachine goo... What would we do? NOTHING! We would pray! People would indulge in nihilistic hedonism or maniac behavior and that's pretty much it! Last edited by KarlKost; 06-20-2022 at 04:25 PM. |
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06-20-2022, 03:34 PM | #46 | ||||
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oz
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Re: Our timeline gets parachronics in 2022
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Decay is inherent in all composite things. Nod head. Get treat. Last edited by Agemegos; 06-20-2022 at 03:57 PM. |
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06-20-2022, 03:56 PM | #47 | |
Join Date: Dec 2020
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Re: Our timeline gets parachronics in 2022
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The other nations on earth would use other approaches more friendly to the natives or are just to insignificant in the power balance, or are hampered otherwise. |
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06-20-2022, 04:19 PM | #48 | |
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oz
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Re: Our timeline gets parachronics in 2022
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What forbearance would it require of enemies and rivals on Earth not to send in Green Berets to disabuse your subjects of your propaganda? Will not the inevitable plague of missionaries object to and subvert your God gambit?
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Decay is inherent in all composite things. Nod head. Get treat. Last edited by Agemegos; 06-20-2022 at 08:56 PM. |
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06-20-2022, 04:24 PM | #49 | |||
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Brazil
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Re: Our timeline gets parachronics in 2022
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Besides, that wouldnt even be necessary. You would just seize the capital of any empire and establish a HQ there, with the emperor and ministers as your puppets. What will the pesants do anyway? Storm your castle with torches and crossbows against ak-47's? That would never happen. And the very first revolt that you massacre with extreme prejudice with say, 2k soldiers, would have the rest of the populace to keep on line and realize how foolish it is to try. And you establish a colonial protectore how all colonies were established. How? By using the local aristocracy. You get the natives to exploit themselves on your behalf in no time. And I know we all love to cheer for an underdog, but this notion of TL3 peasants rebelling against a TL8 almost 9 occupation is just Hollywood nonsense. Just imagine us trying to rebel against a TL10 alien race. It's absurd. Quote:
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Now, we actually have pretty solid real world examples, and those werent even at such an abysmal technological gap. Cortez for example conquered the Aztecs with just 2000 conquistador. He had only 500 horseman, and his gunpowder weapons werent so much better than bows. The Portuguese conquered Indonesia with 3000 men. Pizarro was something similar with the Incas, although I dont remember the exact numbers. The Great Navigations era is filled with situations of europeans massively outnumbered by natives and yet not only obtaining victory but inflicting massive casualties. And again, the tech gap wasnt even so colossal. The natives of a TL3 wouldnt fight AT ALL, they would either be so filled with panic that it would lead to social collapse as everybody tries to escape, or they would worship the newcomers as gods or something in between. |
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06-20-2022, 04:35 PM | #50 | |||
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oz
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Re: Our timeline gets parachronics in 2022
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China and Russia are not going to get enough time to recruit and train enough sepoys and shikaris to rule a hundred worlds, especially given the language problem. They aren’t going to survive this decade.
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Decay is inherent in all composite things. Nod head. Get treat. Last edited by Agemegos; 06-20-2022 at 04:41 PM. |
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