It is a sad thing to see the smaller nations of Europe and the surrounding areas being assimilated by greedy Great Powers pursuing their dreams of conquest. Yet that is what we find in the fall of 1936. Consider:
- On August 26 the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty is signed to facilitate the British pulling most of their force from the region. Less than two months later the audacious British not only keep their current forces intact but deploy even more of their navy to subjugate the rest of Egypt!
- In September the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence is signed, yet while the French vacate Syria they continue to tromp through the region unabated, angering the residents of Palestine forced to garrison them
- There are rumours that on October 25 a "Rome-Berlin Axis" was formed but only time will tell if this is but a whisper of history or actual fact
Finally, despite much hype and anticipation the Summer Olympics in Berlin turned out to be a dud. Concerned about the militarization in Europe few countries from overseas traveled to Germany for the affair, and many European countries also did not attend due to security concerns or the simple fact they had been recently plundered in the Spring!
(FYI, these notes and any like them are based on comparing our game with real history. There is NEVER implication of diplomatic agreements between players, it is simply juxtaposition of real-world events with our game!)
There are no retreats (all neutral units are disbanded) but plenty of builds this year as you will see below. Upcoming deadlines are at the end of this note.
***
PLAYERS
Britain - sunchung / Sun Chung / sun.chung@gmail.com
France - DrSwordopolis / Nick Powell / nick.s.powell@gmail.com
Germany - charlesf / Charles Feaux de la Croix / charlesf@web.de
Italy (and Nationalist Spain) - raistlin / David Gould / davidchegould@bigpond.com
Poland - smileyrob / Robert Stein / smileyrob68@gmail.com
Turkey - Wladimir7 / Wladimir Mysonski / wmysonski@gmail.com
USSR (and Republican Spain) - Nitsch / Karsten Nitsch / karsten.nitsch@gmx.de
***
HEADLINES
Imperialistic policy reigns as British secure far-flung holdings in Egypt, Norway
Président du Conseil defends valiantly, expands into Belgium
Germany makes Czechia kneel
Vicious Italian attacks on France are for naught
Polish power surges forward as Latvia and Serbia are brought to bear
Bulgaria and Holy Lands unable to repel Islamic invaders
New Soviet leaders keep their heads; Finland and Iran unable to withstand the grumpy Bear
Portugal sides with the Nationalists but French navy valiantly saves the Republicans
Now, for some player press:
***
A joint communique from the desks of Mussolini and Franco on the unrest in Germany:
It was with unease that we learnt of the overthrow and murder of the duly elected ruler of Germany. While we understand that many were unhappy with his policies - and the militaristic bent of his regime was one that alarmed the peace-loving peoples of the La Mere Italiano - democracy, freedom and the rule of law are not things to be disgarded in fits of pique.
This is why the rightful rulers of the Italian Empire and Spain now make this joint appeal to the new regime in Germany: commit to free and fair elections this year and abide by the results. Remember that military force is not a legitimate way to settle disputes among civilised peoples; it should only be used to crush non-Europeans, Communists and the French - obviously, violence is the only language that *those* kinds of people understand.
Yours in peace and fraternity
Fascism Inc.
***
Press from USSR:
Heads roll in Russia
Unsettling news from Russia: The majority of the Great Soviet Army
Generality has been beheaded, their severed heads displayed on the Gate of
the Kreml in an act of barbarism. Stalin is reported to still not have
calmed himself, hailing furious strikes on any map he happens to see and
every now and then picking officers from a list of those he deems
responsible, sending them into the Sibirian wastes. The press is worried,
that the great leader may not survive another setback that fatal for the
USSR and die of a heart-attack. The public instead is worried, that there
still is very much place alongside the walls of the Kreml...
***
Orders:
Britain:
F Suez - Egypt(sc)
F Atlantic Ocean Supports F Suez - Egypt(sc)
F North Sea Supports F Norwegian Sea - Norway
F Norwegian Sea - Norway
France:
A Algiers Supports A Morocco (*Cut*)
A Burgundy - Marseille (*Bounce*)
A Picardy - Belgium
A Syria - Palestine
F South-Western Approaches Supports A Valencia - Madrid
Germany:
A Austria Supports A Saxony - Czechia
F Denmark Supports F Sweden
A Saxony - Czechia
Italy:
A Croatia Supports A Transylvania - Serbia
A Piedmont - Marseille (*Bounce*)
A Southern Algeria - Algiers (*Fails*)
F Tyrrhenian Sea - Western Mediterranean
Poland:
A Lithuania Supports F Gulf of Danzig - Latvia
A Transylvania - Serbia
F Gulf of Danzig - Latvia
Turkey:
A Alexandretta Supports F Eastern Mediterranean - Beirut
A Thrace - Bulgaria
F Eastern Mediterranean - Beirut
USSR:
F Leningrad(sc) - Finland(sc)
A Moscow - Leningrad
A Stalingrad - Iran
Nationalist_Spain:
A Burgos - Madrid (*Bounce*)
Republican_Spain:
A Valencia - Madrid (*Bounce*)
Belgium:
A Belgium Hold (*Dislodged*)
Bulgaria:
A Bulgaria Hold (*Dislodged*)
Czechoslovakia:
A Czechia Hold (*Dislodged*)
Egypt:
A Egypt Hold (*Dislodged*)
Finland:
A Finland Hold (*Disbanded*)
Greece:
F Greece Hold
Hungary:
A Hungary Supports A Transylvania - Serbia
Iran:
A Iran Hold (*Dislodged*)
Iraq:
A Iraq Supports A Stalingrad - Iran
Latvia:
A Latvia Hold (*Dislodged*)
Morocco:
A Morocco Supports A Algiers
Netherlands:
F Netherlands Supports A Picardy - Belgium
Norway:
F Norway Hold (*Dislodged*)
Portugal:
F Portugal Supports A Burgos - Madrid
Rumania:
A Rumania Supports A Thrace - Bulgaria
Sweden:
F Sweden Supports F Leningrad(sc) - Finland(sc)
Switzerland:
A Switzerland Hold
Yugoslavia:
A Serbia Hold (*Dislodged*)
***
Winter 1936 Builds:
Britain:
Build
Build
Germany:
Build
Build
Build
Italy:
Build
Poland:
Build
Build
Build
Turkey:
Build
Build
USSR:
Build
Build
***
Ownership of supply centers
Britain: Edinburgh, Egypt, Liverpool, London, Norway, Suez.
France: Algiers, Beirut, Brest, Marseille, Paris.
Germany: Austria, Berlin, Czechia, Denmark, Hamburg, Munich.
Italy: Croatia, Milan, Naples, Rome, Tripoli.
Poland: Cracow, Gdynia, Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia, Warsaw.
Turkey: Ankara, Beirut, Bulgaria, Istanbul, Izmir.
USSR: Finland, Iran, Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad.
Nationalist_Spain: Burgos.
Republican_Spain: Valencia.
Britain: 6 Supply centers, 4 Units: Builds 2 units.
France: 5 Supply centers, 5 Units: Builds 0 units.
Germany: 6 Supply centers, 3 Units: Builds 3 units.
Italy: 5 Supply centers, 4 Units: Builds 1 units.
Poland: 6 Supply centers, 3 Units: Builds 3 units.
Turkey: 5 Supply centers, 3 Units: Builds 2 units.
USSR: 5 Supply centers, 3 Units: Builds 2 units.
Nationalist_Spain: 1 Supply center, 1 Unit: Builds 0 units.
Republican_Spain: 1 Supply center, 1 Unit: Builds 0 units.
***
Upcoming Deadlines (all orders are due at 5 PM EST, GMT -5)
Winter 1936 Retreats/Adjustments, Thursday June 24
Spring 1937 Prelims, Friday June 25
Spring 1937 Orders, Tuesday June 29
Please note I will be offline until the late evening the rest of the nights this week. If I receive all Winter 1936 adjustments by tomorrow (Wednesday) night I will adjudicate then. Otherwise, expect adjudication very late on Thursday. As always, unless players request otherwise, I will adjudicate immediately upon receiving orders from all!
***
GM Notes: Using Realpolitik is a real learning process. Specifying coasts is really touchy and I mis-adjudicated twice in trying to get it correct. For some reason, perhaps because of all the re-adjudications, the maps I saved the final time saved as blank files. While I am able to get the final map thanks to the .dpy file the Orders map is lost to history. That is the map with the arrows pointing to show the moves. My apologies, I will get better at this each time.
It is certainly interesting to see the games through the eyes of the GM. Some players change their orders quite a bit over the course of the diplome period, and I can almost *feel* the ebb and flow of negotiations based on the changes people make. It is particularly exciting to watch the situation change, as it looks like things are going to tilt one way but one or more orders change and the outcome is very much different. For those of you who have not GM'ed I would recommend it. Of course, typically I am only seeing the game through my own eyes and lens but here I get a sense of how other players think, act and respond during the intermissions. At this point I would like to try and keep one game going as a GM on a continual basis and it should be interesting to compare how lots of different people play over time. |
