ww1

WW1 as it might have happened in a traditional fantasy setting. Notably, no magic exists in this setting, and all nations are in the same geographical location they would normally be in in the real world, as well as speaking the same languages they would speak in the real world. However, this is an alternate history, and countries that did not exist in the actual world war 1 are present, as disclosed in the sections discussion Factions and their specific component nations.

Levels of play

Domestic
>Set domestic policies
>set domestic agendas
>taxation and finance management
>resource allocation to civilian tasks
>diplomacy

War room
>Create and execute military plans
>Set military agendas
>Set military goals
>resource allocation to military tasks

Front line
>Take control of an individual soldier and fight it out
>Switch between individual soldiers X number of times to keep the fight going

Actions in each of these three different fields accrue experience points, which build up into levels. The higher a country or factions domestic, war room, and front line levels are, the more organized, efficient, and capable their country and military is.

Sheets

Country sheet

This is the main sheet, used for the game’s overall decision making process.

Faction: [a listed faction’s name]
Country: [a listed Country’s name]
Draft reserve: [a number] - gains some each X turns
Population: [a number] - health, if it falls to 0 you’ve lost
Tax reserve: [a number] - spend as money
Fieldable Divisions: [A number of soldiers] - replenish this with the draft reserve
Current leader: [name of current leader]
Leader’s fluff: [fluff, no more than 3 paragraphs please, explain how they became leader and what their personal background is like]
Nation’s Fluff [Fluff, no more than 3 paragraphs please, geographic location & languages = the same as the real country on earth, but history is not, and can be fluffed how you like within reason]
Popular mood: [a word, ranging from “abysmal” (worst) to “celestial” (best)]
Airforce, if any: [a number, this is a number of flying divisions, not individual vehicles]
Navy, if any: [A number, this is a number of ship divisions, not individual ships]
Army’s mood: [ranging from abysmal to celestial, if this gets to low desertion and defection set in]
Domestic level: [a number]
War room level: [a number]
Front line level: [a number]

Hero sheet

This sheet is only used during front-line mode, and is used when a player takes direct control of a specific individual. non-military individuals such as partisans have the rank ‘civilian’, and since weaponry is standardized, each time an opportunity to use front line happens (i.e. any time there is an ongoing battle), a pool of heros is given, then 1 is selected and used. Players may switch to other heros as an instant and effortless action (front-line-level) number of times per battle, doing this automatically and also effortlessly any time a hero they are controlling is killed or becomes an invalid.

Name/rank/race: [a name, race, and a rank, ranging from Private to Field marshal]
Health: 10/10
Awards and medals: [list]
Current main weapon: [a weapon]
Current main sidearm: [a weapon]
other weaponry: [grenades, specialized guns, etc, a list]
Skills & Unique abilities: [a list]

==

Tech

most factions have at least some of these initially. the game opens on Dec 31st, 1913 AD & goes on to 1914-19?? AD.

rapid fire guns - between 13-15 to 38-42 rounds per turn, water cooled

Zeppelins - flight speed 2 to 13 knots, range up to 2861 miles

Gas artillery - mustard, zyklon B, gaseous vinegar, stinking cloud, animal venom

Bi-planes - flight speed 5 to 15 knots, range up to 370 miles

Shrapnel artillery - Clouds of blades, screws & nails, slag, lead flakes, lead balls, lead points

Shot guns - 180 deg conical cloud of shot, holds 2 shots before reload

Flame throwers - 4 to 8 second long blast per turn

Flame throwers fuel - fluid flamable sap + oil/gas + dissolved animal fatback

Coal engine - inefficient & obsolete, but cheap, easy, and widespead

oil engine - Efficient but costly

Gas Engine - expensive but efficient

Diesel engine - expensive but efficient & long lasting

Gasoline - Cheap & easy to use but messy & difficult to make

Diesel - most efficient fuel in existance, but costly

Steam engine - inefficient & obsolete, but even cheaper than coal

Bomber plane - drop up to 6 soda can sized bombs

Bomber zeppelin - drop up to 400 grenade sized bombs per drop, up to 4 drops

Spyglass - max range 825 yards

Steel - strongest metal in existence besides very uncommon metals like mythril

Iron - easy to make, decently strong, but semi-costly

Dynamite - up to 70% strength exists

Black powder - safe, but not very powerful at all

Land mine - metal case w fragment blast

Sea mine - metal case with high explosives + anchor

Ironclad ship - sail ship w some powered systems + metal armor, max speed 22 knots

Sub-marine - underwater ship w torpedos, max speed 38 knots

Armed vehicle - very similar to a tank, but shaped a bit more like a tractor, 3 big wheels etc, usually armed w rapid fire guns & often laughably slow movement speed

Powered ship - fully mechanical ships, uncommon & costly, max speed not yet established

Napalm - very early type that is simply animal fatback + gasoline or coal dust

Bazooka - very early type that shoots a weak black powder grenade

Dragonite - the strongest explosive there is, over 100 times stronger than dynamite, but made by reducing dragon’s bile to a powder substance

==

Factions

Sea Powers - USA, UK, India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Holland, Portugal, Japan, South Africa, France, Newfoundland, Vanutu & Tuvalu, Denmark, Norway, Libya, Kingdom of Egypt

racial make-up: Halflings, Humans, Elves, Gnomes, Dwarves, Centaurs, Giants, Naga, Cameltaurs, Ice Elves, Ice Gnomes, Wild Elves, Wild Dwarves

Instrument of union: no official union, strong sea and land trade ties, strong political ties

Faction Advantages: Navies & Colonies - The navies of these countries have been the main military-money-sink since hundreds of years ago, and many of the countries have colonies all over the world, so they can draw on massive amounts of non-native troops and non-native resources.

Faction Disadvantages: Supply needs - The navies can’t function without stable, steady supplies of fuels. In addition, it costs both turns and supplies for non-native troops to get to the battlefield, and may take as long as 12 turns for them to even arrive, depending on exactly how far away they are.

Specific Advantages & Disadvantages list

USA

Innovation - new inventions and ideas automatically slowly build to upgrade.
Divided - USA has a divided parliament which agendas which affect the entire war plan must go through, first a house of commons modeled group of elected officials, then a senate. It is difficult to effect full and sweeping policy change in the midst of initiatives and offensives.

USA’s rival: ottoman empire
Reason: ottoman misconduct towards USA during USA’s early history

UK

Colonies - issue commands to india, australia, egypt & new zealand.
Divided - UK has a divided parliament which agendas which affect the entire war plan must go through, first a house of commons modeled group of elected officials, then a house of lords modeled group of aristocrats. It is difficult to effect full and sweeping policy change in the midst of initiatives and offensives.

UK’s rival: Spain
Reason: Spain has sought revenge on UK since the Spanish armada humiliation, long-term hatred between them

India

Diamonds - controls roughly 80% of the world diamond market
Beholden: UK - UK may give commands with the expectation of obedience

Rival: China, Kingdom of Siam
Reason: Longstanding enmity based on a huge Chinese army’s humiliating total defeat in 1818 by india, Kingdom of Siam is disliked by india because of the treaty of 1551, which was forced at swordpoint on india by siam.

Australia

Inhospitable - +12 in inhospitable battle conditions.
Beholden: UK - UK may give commands with the expectation of obedience

Rival: Malaya
Reason: A very-low-intensity war between Australia and Malaya is already being fought before the game begins. Australian ships regularly both sink malay ships and get sunk by malay ships.

New Zealand

Specialists - SEAL like unit, 2 each division
Beholden: UK - UK may give commands with the expectation of obedience

Rival: UK
Reason: New Zealand desires to be its own country, but would prefer to achieve its detachment from UK by political means, not violence against UK.

Canada

Code-talking - Native languages used as codes
Manpower - population gains only 1d10 by cycle.

Rival: Russia
Reason: Russia’s aggressive naval posture in the arctic sea.

Holland

Flood-plan - Impossible to bomb with flying vehicles / artillery, as it would flood the country.
over-reliance - 1&1/8th divisions each of full-time military

Rival: Germany
Reason: Economic rivalry between the two has been simmering for about 200 years.

Portugal

Best-in-show - naval guns, +28 to naval gun usages
over-reliance - only 1&1/6th a flying division and 1&1/2 a land division

Rival: Spain
Reason: Portugal was ruled by spain for about 200 years, this period of Portugal being ruled by spain ending with an extremely bloodthirsty rebellion known as La Sanguinar, in which Portugal ousted Spanish rule.

Japan

Ninjas - 1 unit of ninjas by division
Dependency - Cannot do without imports, as japan has 0 of some supplies

Rival: Russia
Reason: Russia is absolutely mad for a chance at revenge on japan after a humiliating total defeat of Russia’s sea of japan navy very early in 20th cent.

South Africa

Specialists - 1 unit of Sniping specialists by division
Travel Challenge - It takes soldiers of South Africa some time to even reach a battlefield due to the countries remoteness.

Rival: Namibia
Reason: Low-intensity tribal wars between Namibian armed tribals and south African armed tribals have been going on since 1872.

France

Best-in-world - flying vehicles = the best of the best
obsoletism - High commands median age 72.2 human years or equivalent to such.

Rival: Germany
Reason: The extremely bloodthirsty sack of the French city of Sedan by murder-crazed german soldiers, 1870. The city was pillaged, women and children were burned alive, it was a huge, HUGE atrocity.

Newfoundland

Coal - controls roughly 24% of the world Coal market
obsoletism - all ships use coal

Rival: Iceland
Reason: Iceland ruled Newfoundland ages back and would like to get newfoundland back as a colony.

Vanutu & Tuvalu

Coal - controls roughly 8% of the world Coal market
Manpower - population gains a single point only by cycle.

Rival: Kingdom of Siam
Reason: Racial dislike between the two groups due to siam using vanutulu tribespeople and tuvalulu tribespeople as slaves in the long-past.

Denmark

Sub-marines - 65% of the navy is subs & 4 hidden sub-pens house the 65%
Manpower - population gains only 1d6 by cycle.

Rival: Germany
Reason: Denmark had been ruled by Germany for over 200 years already, but freed itself in a nonviolent revolution in 1882, so it has only been a free country a short time and Germany wants it back.

Norway

Specialists - 1 unit of alpine-attack specialists by division.
Manpower - population gains only 1d6 by cycle.

Rival: Svalbard
Reason: In 1869, a Svalbardian fleet blockaded norway’s capital city, demanding Norway free Svalbard to be its own state. It was a stunning surprise upset and a national humiliation on Norway.

Libya

oil - controls roughly 12% of the world oil market
Manpower - population gains only 1d8 by cycle.

Rival: Sultanate of Sudan
Reason: A oil prospector from sudan is who actually discovered the oil in Libya, the libyans just cut his head off and said it was theirs. They didn’t know he was Sudan’s sultan at the time’s half-brother. This happened in 1886.

Kingdom of Egypt

oil - controls roughly 16% of the world oil market
Beholden: UK - UK may give commands with the expectation of obedience

Rival: Ottoman Empire, Sultanate of Algeria
Reason: Egypt is a different type of muslim than ottoman empire and sultanate of Algeria, in addition to a humiliating total defeat Egypt inflicted on sultanate of Algeria at the battle of Altava, 1835.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Muslim Powers - ottoman empire, emirates of kuwait, emirates of djibouti, sultanate of sudan, sultanate of oman, Sultanate of Khazhakstan, Sultanate of Uzbekstan, Sultanate of Algeria, emirates of Afghanistan, Sultanate of Bangladesh, Sultanate of Qatar, emirates of Pakistan

racial make up: orcs, goblins, humans, desert elves, drow, kobolds, Cameltaurs, Formians, minotaurs, naga, Wild elves, desert gnomes

Instrument of union: Treaty of union 1806, Treaty of Mecca 1818

Faction Advantages: Unifying religion - virtually all of the muslim powers are 80 to 90+ percent muslims, and have been for centuries. In addition, all the sultanates are at the beck and call of the ottoman sultan, and many are directly related to him. This means that the ottoman sultan can issue the other sultanates orders that are not requests, they are orders, which are expected to be followed, to the letter, but that the sultans are obligated and expected to work together and not sabotage things.

Faction Disadvantage: Backwards - Many countries in the muslim powers faction are militarily, economically, and governmentally backwards. In addition, the nobility system in many countries in the muslim powers faction is based on who you are related to, not what you have done, so a few officers out of every X number of officers will be either incompetent, or simply far less experienced than they should be.

Specific Advantages & Disadvantages list

ottoman empire

Black gold - ottoman empire controls roughly 53% of the world oil market.
obsoletism - All flying vehicles and all naval vehicles are second hand obsoletes that were bought from other countries.

Rival: Austrohungary
Reason: The Austrohungarians financed and planned a theft from the ottoman empire, it was called operation Veles. The operation, which used several pro-level mercs, stole 91 tonnes of oil from ottoman empire before it (the operation) was discovered, all this happening in 1901.

emirates of kuwait

Wealth - 1d4 times 16 = growth of tax reserve each cycle.
Manpower - population growth is only 1d4 per cycle

Rival: Afghanistan
Reason: A very young (17) kuwaiti princess was forced to marry a Aghanistani leader at the point of a scimitar in the early 1820s. Afghanistan has used this to claim that they own Kuwait, and relentlessly restricts and persecutes Kuwait.

emirates of djibouti

Amphibious - Command of an elite SEAL like unit, 1 unit by division.
Backward - only 1 in 69 soldiers has a rifle, the remainder are issued either 2 pistols with 2 clips each, or 1 pistol with 3 clips.

Rival: UK
Reason: UK has had an on-and-off haphazardly attempt to subvert and rule Djibouti for about 20 years now. Djibouti doesn’t desire UK’s rule.

sultanate of sudan

Mad Mullah - Disable mood penalties inflicted by machine guns, gas, and sky attacks.
Backward - 1 in 100 soldiers have a pistol, the remainder having either a rifle and a sword or a rifle and 2 grenades.

Rival: Libya
Reason: Libyan misconduct towards sudan.

sultanate of oman

Black gold - sultanate of oman controls roughly 17% of the world oil market.
Double-blind - Both UK and ottomans want to be status: friendly with sultanate of oman, yet both were oman’s enemies not very long previous to the war.

Rival: Spain
Reason: Spain attempted a trade deal with oman in 1869, and when spain couldn’t get one, they simply naval gun’d the capital city until oman’s sultan signed one, giving them additionally 20 tons of gold and 358 barrels of oil.

Sultanate of Khazhakstan

Inhospitable - soldiers get a +13 in all inhospitable conditions battles
obsoletism - 80% of the artillery pieces Sultanate of Khazhakstan has are obsolete pieces bought second-hand from another country.

Rival: China
Reason: On-again off-again jihad against China that has been going on very-low-intensity for centuries already.

Sultanate of Uzbekstan

Deadly Land - land invasions of Sultanate of Uzbekstan have a -65 penalty.
relic - Sultanate of Uzbekstan is fatally obsolete, it cannot win the war, or even survive the war, without drastic reforms and modernizations.

Rival: Russia
Reason: on again off again jihad that has been going on against Russia at low intensity for centuries already.

Sultanate of Algeria

Mad Madhi - Disable mood penalties inflicted by machine guns, gas & human wave attacks.
Backward - only 1 in 53 soldiers has a grenade, the remainder are issued 1 rifle & 3 clips.

Rival: Egypt
Reason: Egyptian forces humiliating and totally defeating Algerian forces at the battle of altava, in 1835.

emirates of Afghanistan

Poppies - Afghanistan controls roughly 46% of the world opium market.
Backward - only 1 in 62 soldiers has a pistol, remainder are issued 1 rifle & 1 sword.

Rival: Kuwait, India
Reason: Kuwait doesn’t desire afghanistan’s rule, and india has longstanding enmity between itself and Afghanistan.

Sultanate of Bangladesh

Poppies - Bangladesh controls roughly 23% of the world opium market.
obsoletism - Bangladesh uses elephants and camels as an intrinsic part of its army, these two animals serving as the transport and carrier of heavy equipment.

Rival: India, Bhutan
Reason: Bangladesh ousted Indian rule with the help of kingdom of siam in 1551, and Bangladesh has resisted many invasions and attempted occupations from india. Bangladesh considers Bhutan a weak non-country deserving of invasion.

Sultanate of Qatar

Wealth - 1d8 times 15 = growth of tax reserve each cycle.
Manpower - Fieldable divisions hover between 1/4th and 1/2 and population growth is a single point each cycle.

Rival: Luxembourg
Reason: Both countries are trying to be -the- banking center for the super-rich.

emirates of Pakistan

Mountains - Pakistani troops gain a +10 during all action in mountainous regions.
obsoletism - Pakistan’s infrastructure is hillariously ill-equipped and inept. It needs drastic reform and in some cases complete over-haul if Pakistan is to have any chance of victory.

Rival: Ethiopia
Reason: Pakistan had some barely-held African territory taken from it by Ethiopia, first in 1811, then much later in 1851.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ancient regime - Austrohungary, russia, China, Kingdom of Italy, Kingdom of Poland, Duchy of Croatia, Kingdom of Siam

racial make up: Humans, halflings, elves, gnomes, giants, dwarves, Wyvern-kin (very few) dragon-kin (very few), centaurs, Ice Elves, Ice gnomes

Instrument of union: Treaty of Peking, 1866.

Faction Advantages: Infrastructure - Both the kingdom of italy and the austrohungarian empire enjoy a high standard of living, & have already reached a state that telephones are in some houses in every town, cars are reasonably priced, and semi-modern factories can be found regularly in many towns. on the flip side, china, siam, & russia have centuries worth of raw resources that can sustain the ancient regime (all of it) for a long time, and have gigantic numbers of soldiers, while Kingdom of Poland, and Croatia, have a sniper school (Croatia) and an old and well established cavalry college (Poland).

Faction Disadvantage: Shaky & Antique - Many aspects of life in the ancient regime are governed by laws and regulations that were written a long time back. It is difficult for the governments and militaries to adapt to the modern state of war, and there are some difficulties with domestic policy decisions as well. In addition and finally, stunning defeats do a lot more harm (potentially game ending) than normal. Stunning defeat = At least two 1’s (out of 3d100) on an attack / defense action.

Specific Advantages & Disadvantages list

Austrohungary

Populous - Austrohungary’s initial population is multiplied by times 8
obsoletism - all currently used military designs are obsolete.

Rival: Albania, Montenegro
Reason: Both Albania and montenegro’s population are ‘civilized’ muslims who don’t want to be ruled by austrohungary.

russia

Populous - russia’s initial population is multiplied by times 14.
Backward - 1 in 18 soldiers has 1 grenade & no guns at all, the remainder have either all rifles, no grenades, no pistols (even #’d divisions) or all 2 pistols with 3 clips each, but no rifles or grenades (odd #’d divisions).

Rival: Japan, Uzbekstan
Reason: Japan’s humiliating total defeat of russia’s sea of japan navy, uzbekstan’s long-standing jihad on Russia.

China

Populous - China’s initial population is multiplied by times 13.
obsoletism - China’s infrastructure is hillariously ill-equipped and inept. It needs drastic reform and in some cases complete over-haul if china is to have any chance of victory.

Rivals: India, UK, Nepal
Reason: India’s humiliating total defeat of a Chinese invasion force in 1818, UK’s humiliating almost-total defeat of china’s navy in 1852. Nepal allowed it’s mountain passes to be used in a joint Indian-UK military adventure into china called the Lewison Darling Affair in which a pair of brits named Randal Hobbs-Lewison and Alfred George Darling used military force to inflict an economic treaty on china on behalf of UK.

Kingdom of Italy

Arditi - +25 to spec-ops actions.
Divided - Italy has a divided parliament which agendas which affect the entire war plan must go through, first a house of commons modeled group of elected officials, then a house of lords modeled group of aristocrats. It is difficult to effect full and sweeping policy change in the midst of initiatives and offensives.

Rival: Spain, Portugal
Reason: Spain closed the canary islands, Majorca, and Barcelona to Italian ships (all Italian ships) from 1619 to 1787. Italy wants revenge on Portugal for Portugal destroying about 80% of italy’s atlantic fleet in the Portugal-italy war of 1843-45.

Kingdom of Poland

Cavalry college - +35 to all Cavalry actions.
obsoletism - 90% of the artillery pieces kingdom of poland has are obsolete pieces bought second-hand from another country.

Rival: Germany, Estonia
Reason: German attempted occupations of Poland in 1707, 1749, and 1805. Estonia was once ruled by Poland, but annihilated poland’s flying hussar cavalry in battle, inflicting 100% casualties on them in the last battle of the Estonian rebellion against Poland.

Duchy of Croatia

Sniper school - Duchy of Croatia may use ‘Send Trained Assassin’ as an action regularly.
Backward - 1 in 46 soldiers have a pistol, the remainder having either a rifle and a sword or a rifle and 2 grenades.

Rival: Ottoman empire, Albania
Reason: Croats are devout catholics who still view muslims as demonic heretics.

Kingdom of Siam

Kickboxing - All fighting soldiers know Muay Thai.
obsoletism - Siam uses elephants and buffalo as an intrinsic part of its army, these two animals serving as the transport and carrier of heavy equipment.

Rival: Tuvalu & Vanutu, India, New Guinea
Reason: T&V want revenge for being enslaved, india wants revenge for the humiliation of 1551, and NG wants revenge for it’s population being worked to death in Siamese-owned rubber plantations from 1871 to 1890.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Central Powers - Germany, Bulgaria, Spain, Argentina, Guyana, Mongolia, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Estonia, Svalbard

racial make up: Humans, elves, dwarves, giants, gnomes, wild dwarves, wild elves, centaurs, wyvern-kin (very few), Halflings, Ice Elves, Ice gnomes, Naga (few),

Instrument of union: Treaty of Williamshol, 1872, Treaty of east & west, 1902.

Faction Advantages: Modernization & War colleges - The central powers have been preparing for an inevitable war for a long time, they enter with land mines, an air force, and numerous rapid-fire gun types. In addition, Germany, Estonia and Spain have war colleges where professional soldiers are trained by professors. on the flip side, guyana, equatorial guinea, svalbard, and argentina have the first sub-marine seaports in the world, and mongolia has a secret air force of zepplins, bought at cost from germany. Bulgaria has the worlds first international covert ops specialists, Black Hand, and Namibia has a survivalist training program.

Faction Disadvantages: Tin foil knights - Despite their militaristic customs and long-term build up for war, most of the central powers are considered tin foil knights by analysts because there is a dearth of actually-experienced (instead of just highly trained) warriors, and the central powers haven’t actually had a really major war in a while, as a result, its possible & likely that some officers in any group will be officers-by-training-only, who rose to their ranks by exams and other things, and have never actually seen combat.

Specific Advantages & Disadvantages list

Germany

Best-in-world - Germany has the most rapid fire guns, the most mines, the most zeppelins, and the most well-developed military infrastructure in the world.
Behind the times - Germany has only 2&1/2 divisions of navy.

Rival: UK, France, Poland
Reason: France wants revenge for Sedan, UK fears Germany could overthrow it’s sea monopoly, and Poland wants revenge for several attempted occupations and anschlusses of the country.

Bulgaria

Mountains - Bulgarian troops gain a +10 during all action in mountainous regions.
Backward - only 1 in 16 soldiers has a rifle, the remainder are issued either 2 pistols with 2 clips each & 1 grenade, or 1 pistol with 5 clips.

Rival: Ottoman empire, Russia
Reason: Bulgaria has switched hands between both OE and Russia at least 12 times in history, and wants to be its own nation, being ruled by Bulgaria, and not either OE or Russia.

Spain

Spanish Armada - Spain has a very strong navy, with numerous iron-clads and 2nd only to UK in fully-mechanized ships.
obsoletism - The median age of spains high command war council is 69.2 human years or equivalent to such.

Rival: UK, Sultanate of Oman
Reason: Spain fears that UK could inflict another Spanish armada disaster on it, Sultanate of Oman wants revenge for spain humiliating it with the shelling of its capital city in 1869.

Argentina

Sub-marines - Argentina’s fleet is 80% submarines, and argentina has 3 secret sub-marine pens located somewhere on its coast.
over-reliance - Argentina’s airforce is 1/4th a division, and its ground army needs significant modernization.

Rivals: Chile, Australia
Reason: Competing economic interests have been simmering for over 50 years now.

Guyana

Jungle - Soldiers of Guyana suffer no penalty in tropical heat or ecology.
Backward - only 1 in 28 soldiers has a rifle, the remainder issued either 2 pistols with 3 clips each, or 1 pistol with 3 clips and a sword.

Rivals: UK, France
Reason: Guyana ousted UK rule in the 1802 revolution. France said they would send help, but when they determined that Guyana was a “barely developed hinterland swamp”, the French fleet left without firing a shot.

Mongolia

Air force - Mongolia is the only country in asia that has an air-force other than taiwan, though mongolia’s air-force consists entirely of zeppelins.
Backward - only 1 in 33 soldiers has a rifle, the remainder are issued either 2 pistols with 2 clips each, or 2 swords and 1 grenade.

Rivals: China, USA
Reason: China used Mongol slave divisions to field an army against USA to contest Alaska, 1834-1836. It was a hair brained scheme that met in total failure, but when Chinese turned cruel on their mongol slaves, USA didn’t care and didn’t do anything.

Equatorial Guinea

Sub-marines - Equatorial guinea’s fleet is 50% submarines, and it has 2 secret submarine pens located somewhere on its coast.
Backward - only 1 in 14 soldiers has a rifle, the remainder issued 2 pistols with 1 clip each.

Rivals: South Africa, Holland, portugal
Reason: A dutch pirate with pirate fleet, named Piet Van der Voos, seized Equatorial guinea from its native rulers and ruled as a blood soaked tyrannical nut-bag from 1699-1712. South Africa lent Portugal money and soldiers for an abortive attempt at occupying Equatorial Guinea that was a chaotic disaster for both sides, with widespread looting, rape, and mayhem, 1816.

Namibia

Inhospitable - Soldiers of namibia gain a +12 in all inhospitable conditions battles.
Manpower - Namibia’s population growth is only 1d6 per cycle despite its size.

Rival: South Africa, France
Reason: Longstanding enmity between Namibia and south Africa, France tried to invade Namibia and seize it in 1799-1801. The seizure ended in a bloody stalemate after which a enforced by uninvolved powers ‘peace treaty’ forced everyone to give back all the everything they’d stolen or claimed.

Estonia

Modernized - Estonia copied much of germany’s military for its own military, as a result, estonia has numerous rapid fire guns and a large variety of gas shells.
Manpower - Estonia’s population growth is only 1d4 per cycle.

Rival: Russia, Poland
Reason: Estonia’s leaders backstabbed Russia with a secret deal between the Estonians and germans even though Russia helped them in their revolution against Poland, Poland once ruled Estonia and desires it back after their humiliation at the hands of Estonia.

Svalbard

Permafrost - Soldiers of svalbard suffer no penalties of any sort relating to cold except penalties incurred by direct physical damage (i.e. an icicle fell through someone’s leg for example).
Travel challenge - It takes soldiers of svalbard some time to even reach a battlefield due to the countries remoteness.

Rival: Norway, Iceland
Reason: Norway has been attempting to thwart svalbard’s every action on and off for decades already, and Iceland persists in refusing to recognize Svalbard as its own, legitimate country.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Periphery Powers - Luxembourg, Albania, Montenegro, Iceland, Hong Kong, Malaya, Georgia (country), Tajikstan, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Lichtenstein, Malta, Chile, Morroco, Taiwan, Kingdom of Nepal, Kingdom of Bhutan, Greenland, Ecuador, New Guinea, Ceylon, Finland

racial make up: naga, human, halfling, gnome, wild dwarves, wild elves, centaurs, Cameltaurs, dwarves, elves, drow, kobolds, Formian, minotaurs, Ice Elves, Ice Gnomes,  Desert Humans, Desert Dwarves, Giants, wyvern-kin (very few), dragon-kin (very few)

Instrument of union: no official union

Faction Advantages: Uncommited force & Cover of secrecy - All the periphery powers are unaligned at the start of any game, and can ally with any existing faction. In addition, so long as they keep their involvement secret, they are firmly on the ‘non-beligerant’ list, and won’t be the target of any NPC-state attacks.

Faction Disadvantage: Weak - All of the periphery powers are either simply small manpower/resources wise, weak or backward militarily, or just not that powerful period.

Specific Advantages & Disadvantages list

Luxembourg

royalties - 1d4 times 31 = growth of tax reserve each cycle.
Manpower - Your population growth is a single 1d2 each cycle and your fieldable divisions hover between 1/2 to 1&1/2.

Rival: Qatar
Reason: Qatar and Luxembourg are competing to be the #1 super-rich banking spot

Albania

Chokepoints - Mountainous regions make albania have numerous natural chokepoints for an invading army, as a result, defense of albania gains a +30 bonus.
Poverty - Your tax reserve hovers between nearly-broke and very low most of the time.

Rival: Austrohungary
Reason: Albania has been persecuted on and off by austrohungary since ancient times.

Montenegro

Wealth - 1d6 times 32 = growth of tax reserve each cycle.
Manpower - Your population growth is a single 1d4 each cycle and your fieldable divisions hover between 1 and 2&1/2.

Rival: Austrohungary
Reason: Montenegro was seized and all assets in banks taken on Black Tuesday, 1859, this being done by Austrohungary.

Iceland

Glima - All fighting soldiers know Lausatök Glima. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glima
Travel challenge - Iceland is so far off the beaten path that it may take its military a long time to even reach a theater of the war.

Rival: Svalbard, Greenland
Reason: Enmity between Iceland and Svalbard, Greenland wants to be its own nation and be free from Iceland.

Hong Kong

Finance - 1d4 times 8 = growth of tax reserve each cycle.
Manpower - Hong Kong’s population growth is a single 1d3 each cycle and it’s fieldable divisions hover between 1 and 2.

Rival: Japan, Kingdom of Siam
Reason: Competing economic interests.

Malaya

Jungle - Soldiers of malaya suffer no penalty for tropical heat or tropical ecology.
Backward - only 1 in 8 infantry of malaya have a rifle, the remainder are issued either 1 sword and 1 pistol with 2 clips, or 1 grenade and 1 pistol with 2 clips.

Rival: Australia, New Zeeland
Reason: Racial and religious animosity, since Malaya is muslim and its rivals are not.

Georgia (country)

Choke points - Georgia is a maze of natural choke points, with almost the whole country being absolute hell on an invading army, invasions of georgia suffer a -80 penalty.
Destitute - More than 80% of georgia’s population lives below the world poverty index line.

Rival: Ottoman empire, Afghanistan
Reason: Repeat invasions from both from about 1505 onward.

Tajikstan

Mountains - Soldiers of Tajikistan suffer no penalty for alpine cold or alpine ecology.
obsolete - Domestic development suffers a -12 penalty.

Rival: Russia, China
Reason: Tajikistan has been on and off ruled by both Russia and china, and wants to be its own nation.

Ethiopia

Savannah - Soldiers of ethiopia suffer no penalty for tropical heat and ecology.
relic - Ethiopia is fatally obsolete, without drastic reform and modernization, it simply cannot win the war.

Rival: Pakistan
Reason: Pakistan thwarts blocks and sabotages Ethiopia’s efforts when and where it can.

Cambodia

rain forest - soldiers of cambodia suffer no penalty for tropical heat or ecology.
Backward - only 1 in 32 infantry of cambodia have a rifle, the remainder are issued either 2 pistols and 2 clips each, or 3 grenades & no guns at all.

Rival: Kingdom of Siam, Sultanate of Bangladesh
Reason: Cambodia has been ruled on and off by kingdom of siam, and most recently threw off Siamese rule in the rebellion of 1902. Cambodian people are savagely persecuted in Bangladesh and worked like slaves.

Lichtenstein

Nobility - 1d12 times 34 = growth of tax reserve each cycle.
Manpower - Fieldable divisions hover between 1/4th and 1/2 and population growth is a single point each cycle.

Rival: Germany, Austrohungary
Reason: Lichtenstein had to buy its independence from austrohungary, and its royals were forced to marry a german archducal family early in lichtenstein’s history.

Malta

Illuminatus - The head of state of malta is always a direct relation to the head of the worldwide illuminati. Significant bonuses in many different areas.
Enforced neutrality - If malta takes a direct and open role in the war, the lower level illuminati won’t like it, and will definitely act against malta.

Rival: Kingdom of Italy, Kingdom of Spain
Reason: Both kingdom of Italy and kingdom of spain are compelled by ancient treaties to answer malta’s misconduct, if any should happen.

Chile

Best-in-show - Chile’s navy is the best in south america, gaining a +35 bonus in general.
over-reliance - Chile has neither an air force or a ground army.

Rival: Argentina, Australia
Reason: Competing economic interests

Morocco

old friends - Morocco enters at status: friendly toward the following states: America, England, and Norway.
obsolete - Morocco needs reforms and a great expansion of its infrastructure and armed forces to have any chance of winning.

Rival: Germany, Spain
Reason: Germany used Spanish resources in an attempt to bomb morocco out of existence in 1890.

Taiwan

Best-in-show - Taiwan has the best air force in its region of asia. The air force gains a +31 bonus in general.
over-reliance - Taiwan has 1/4th a division of navy and a 1&1/6th divisions of ground army.

Rival: China, Japan
Reason: Taiwan ousted Chinese rule in 1616, though china has on and off ruled it since then for very short times each time. Japan ruled Taiwan from 1800 to 1808. Japan considered the Taiwan natives below them, and Japan’s short rule of Taiwan was riddled with atrocities, the most horrid being japan and china’s joint burning of the nearly 10,000 year old Temple of Celestial Harmony, located in Taipei.

Kingdom of Nepal

Choke points - land Invasions of nepal suffer a -80 penalty.
relic - Nepal is fatally obsolete, it cannot win the war, or even survive the war, without drastic reforms and modernizations.

Rival: China, Russia
Reason: 2 joint china-russia invasions of Nepal have already happened, one in 1799-1806, the other in 1870-1872. Both met with failure, but both were riddled with brutality and theft.

Kingdom of Bhutan

old friends - Bhutan enters at status: friendly toward the following states: India, England, and Ceylon.
Fossil - Bhutan is a delicate house of cards at the start of the war, penalties may multiply or cascade, but will never both multiply and cascade, if they do either.

Rival: China, Bangladesh
Reason: An ancient treaty, the wording of which is not very clear, is how Bhutan escaped Chinese rule, and china has always desired Bhutan back. Bangladesh doesn’t consider Bhutan’s religion valid and considers Bhutan a nation of cowards and weaklings.

Greenland

Inhospitable - Invasion of Greenland by ground forces results in invading army having a plummeting mood, as its considered both needlessly dangerous and completely pointless.
Protectorate - Greenland’s army navy and airforce hover at around 1&1/2 to 1&3/4 divisions.

Rival: Iceland, Canada, UK
Reason: Greenland is a protectorate of Iceland and wishes to be a free nation. Canada was part of a UK attempt to seize Greenland from Iceland in 1803. It was a bloody disaster for everyone involved.

Ecuador

Jungle - Soldiers of ecuador gain a +5 bonus while in tropical heat and ecology.
Backward - only 1 in 16 soldiers has a rifle, the remainder being issued 1 pistol with 2 clips and 1 sword, or 2 pistols with 2 clips each and 1 grenade.

Rival: USA, Spain
Reason: Ecuador was involved in the war of Mexican secession in 1809-1814, and took action against USA. Ecuador was originally a Spanish colony, but when Spain was ousted in 1663, they took revenge by torching the capital and stealing anything of value, before they were reinstated less than 1 year later, working the Ecuadorians like slaves to repair the damage, heedless of the deaths their relentless overwork caused. Ecuador is no longer a colony of spain, having permanently ousted spain in 1700.

New Guinea

Headhunters - Soldiers of new guinea have exotic weapons such as the blow-dart gun, the poisonous knife, the throwing spear, and the throwing axe.
Backward - only 1 in 36 soldiers has a rifle, the remainder being issued 1 pistol with 1 clip & a sword or 2 pistols with 2 clips each and a sword.

Rivals: Kingdom of Siam, Japan
Reason: Both kingdom of Siam and Japan consider new guineans ‘below animals’ and many massacres and misdeeds have been done to new guineans by both nations.

Ceylon

Best in show - Ceylon has the indian oceans pre-emminent navy, it’s navy gaining a +40 generally.
Nonviolence - Draft avoidance is high at all times, severely limiting the size of the military.

Rivals: India, UK
Reason: Ceylon ousted Indian rule in 1303, though india ruled Ceylon from 1506-1551 and from 1703-1717 as well. In 1819, UK attempted to force a treaty on Ceylon, which responded by inflicting a stunning total defeat on UK’s indian sea navy for which UK has always sought revenge.

Finland

Winter warriors - Finnish soldiers gain a +8 while in inhospitably cold climate.
Backwoods - Finland is a small, quiet, remote place, and its military divisions hover around 2 and 3&1/2.

Rivals: Poland, Estonia, Russia
Reason: Finland was once ruled by Russia 1400-1700, Estonia was once ruled by finland, 800-1100, and a Polish-russian invasion of finland was attempted in 1780-81, but met with failure.