Out of the Great Abyss -- Ethiopia. World War One. HOI2:Darkest Hour AAR

Started by JasonPratt, March 06, 2014, 05:34:13 PM

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JasonPratt

#15
Finally about to start playing "Part 8" + tonight; here's Part 6 to tide over meanwhile...

Part 6 -- Creeping Cold

On Nov 14, one day before my birthday, an Ottoman admiral acting on his own provocation shelled a Russian Black Sea port. The Ottomans tried to offer reparations, but the Russians refused and so, at last, the duplicitous actions of Turkey meant that no one would believe them in their innocence. Or maybe Russia wanted a simple excuse. The Entente followed Russia's suit, declaring war on the Ottoman Empire, and in return the Ottomans stopped being such a 'secret' partner of Germany: they openly joined the Powers.

War would come to holy Palestine again it seemed, and to the city of the Peace of God, Yarushalom. At least we hold the Ark safe though we dare not ever use it; still, our fathers who came before us would probably suffer again.

The next day Yemen also joined the Central Powers, strangely. Or perhaps not so strangely: Britain, via the Raj, held some nearby territories belonging to Yemen a generation or so ago. Yemen might be thinking to expand. For us, that would be expedient, as then we ourselves might someday have an opportunity to take that area of the coastline ourselves, perhaps to return it to Britain as a gift or for consideration -- they seemed to have stopped the piracy there at least.

On Nov 29, the British Empire lost Al-Arish on the border of Ottoman Palestine; apparently not through Ottoman militant action, but in a local coup or something like that. Up in Europe, all our sources confirmed that Austria and Germany were doing well in pressing Russia back by several counties; and in the West, Germany was advancing slowly but steadily through France and already owned most of Belgium except for Brussels. As to how the armies were arranged, who could tell? At this rate the war would soon be won!

The Eastern Front, Nov 29, 1914:



And the Western Front:



So many foreign names, none of which we cared about. Iyasu reminded us soberly, that so far north this time of year, unlike our harsh but beautiful land, the winter soon would crush the Powers' advances into Russia. The war might not be done by Christmas, nor even spring next year. Which, horrible as it sounded, would be to our benefit: the war would continue distracting the Italians.

On this day, Iyasu decided that although campaigning weather here, just above the equator, was fine, he would wait until after Nativity holiday, before contacting Italy to warn them: if they did not abandon their coastline stolen from us, we would liberate it. By that time, at this rate of mobilization, many of our divisions, even though still militia, would be not only brought up near full strength, and not only brought up to turn-of-the-century kit, but some would even be much better trained, nearly as much as veterans!

On December 2, Habte completed collating and printing his basic powered flight doctrine manuals. "I wish I could work on construction along with the OMA," he said. "But..."

[Note: at this point my invention fails me. Other than for game restrictions, I can't imagine a reason why research slots couldn't team up on a project and finish it faster. Heck, it is entirely possible to run parallel sets of military production at once! -- though admittedly the game doesn't allow, say, a serial set of units to switch to parallel in the middle of its run.]

"What can you finish at all in a month?"

"Nothing, Emperor. I can work out initial principles in a month for something, while working on something else. But then someone will have to spend a significant time researching and printing them up, meaning..."

"As before, if it's you, you'd have to quit what you're doing, starting over from nothing again on it later, to put the new blueprints into action."

What a way to run a railroad, I thought to myself, being only an aide and not wanting to be dismissed for impertinence.

"Will the OMA finish anytime soon?"

"They are on schedule, sir, for next summer."

"So our options are to give you a break for a month, then set you to work on whatever random thing we manage to come up with from a brainstorming session..."

"...a very expensive brainstorming session, paid for by funds from selling the current blueprints," Yimer reminded us.

"...or, put you to work on something very likely to take you longer to complete than that."

"Perhaps," said Father Mikael, "we could do this again, just this once; by which time the OMA will have finished our most important research possible -- for our infrastructure purposes -- and then Habte could be put back on researching research while we sell whatever we've learned to finance..."

"...the next random advancement?!?" Iyasu pounded the desk with his fist.

"To some extent such research, sir, depends on random factors about what might -- I beg you sir!" Habte forestalled a rising burst of anger. "From now on you'll find I'm much more careful over what I choose to pursue! But what I am asking you to understand, my Emperor, is this: what you are doing is building a research infrastructure while I look to see what may be harvested quicker thereby!"

Iyasu closed his mouth, and choked down his complaint. "I think I see. But, I give you the honor of explaining."

"I know the money we spend on national research is excessive, sir. Part of it goes to permanently raise our research capability; only by a little, I know, but three or four times a year, it will add up. Most of it goes to... how can I put it...? So many things must be nurtured into place before we even start a research program. They must be grown. They must be sought, and sometimes planted, before they can even be grown. That is what I mean by infrastructure. But the growth is like the order found in a jungle, see?"

"Like the western tribes who move from place to place, seeking what has grown since last they visited there!" Iyasu had often traveled west to learn how to fight as a man, and live off the land: our political landscape sometimes led to ambushes and retreats, and his father wanted his son to be prepared for anything.

"Exactly, sir. I go to plant and cultivate, and also to see what might be ready to bring along more quickly now. What will I find? God only knows. Last time, I confess, I found a project quickly that tickled my fancy. I will be wiser in the future, sir."

"Granted, a random advancement will not help us immediately, as much as a focused progression," Mikael added. "But once we increase our provincial infrastructure, and start up more factories, we'll have more leeway to put more researchers to work on whatever focused path we prefer."

"This all assumes, of course," Yimer mused, "that even though we will not be selling our advancements to anyone likely to use them against us, whoever they are won't turn around and sell them to the Southern Arab pirates."

Iyasu bit his lip -- clearly he hadn't thought of that -- but... "No," he waved a hand, "let us not paralyze ourselves over something that might happen anyway. Very well. I don't like it, but let us proceed along this line."

"At least each investment in national research will also permanently raise our research speed a little," I ventured to add. Everyone stared. I shrunk back into my corner, blushing at daring to speak.

"Go forth Yimer. Sell these basic air doctrines."

Just to be safe, Iyasu also issued more currency, even though this would reduce our industrial efficiency again by about a percent; but we could easily make that up later, and besides it reduces dissent.

Since this brought us near the needed total, we held off selling our plans until we had more plans to offer, and instead simply stopped outfitting and training new recruits for several days while we pumped out consumer goods instead. With the expected revenue secured, we invested again in national research -- and then printed money again! We ran out of supplies for our British trade agreement, but Yimer quickly set up a new agreement similar to the old one. I'm not sure England noticed.





Our British contacts warned us on December 10 that the United Kingdom had instituted Press Censorship, the first of the democratic allies to do so. Yemir thought that this would have little effect on his ability to find out various things, but then again he never found much. Iyasu considered expanding our intelligence assets, but decided to wait until after our crash of expansion.

On December 23, two days before their celebration of Christ's Mass, the Brazilians started what they called the Contestado War. Details were sketchy: were they dealing with internal rebels, or trying to take over South America??

Both might have been true.

The hearts of men grew cold with the winter of war.

[Note: this narrative anecdote represents my decision, previously mentioned between entries, to use save scumming to overcome an engine limitation. I'll accept a randomly chosen blueprint, on the rationalization given in the story; but if it isn't something I myself might have chosen to research at this time, I will reload a previous save until I receive a reasonable random result.]
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

I managed to do very little last night other than write on the AAR concerning a momentous event. More actual playtime this morning I hope. After I post an entry this morning to move things along a bit. ;)

Part 7 -- The Year The Future Began

January 1, 1915: our corps or "chitets" in Gode were almost ready to march, though not upgraded, and the selected spearheads up north were now entirely ready (apart from one militia division still not brought up to our best equipment available). Emperor Iyasu's planned assault would be reasonably well prepared, just after Christmas.

[Note: Christmas is celebrated on Tahsas 29th on the Ethiopian calendar = Jan 7.]

On January 4, we received bad news (of a sort) and good news (of a sort): the Ottoman Muslim religious leaders declared their part in the war a Jihad; and Habte brought a blueprint for an armored car.

"...and you called it a what?" Iyasu leaned forward and spoke with a tone that I recognized now as sarcasm.

"An ARMORED CAR!!" Habte was dancing so with excitement, I wondered if he should have used the city's plumbing, for which the previous Emperor had fought so long and --

"A car. That is armored. With armor, you mean."

"And armed! We can take a machine gun from, oh, a few years ago, a fairly recent one; mount it on top in a little armored cupola, see? And then we provide it with several grades of field optics -- "

"So that they can see where they drive."

The Emperor's tone was starting to cut through Habte's enthusiasm. He stammered for a moment; Iyasu continued. "Driving, down our well-paved roads. Here in our capital city. And nowhere else in our country. Because the engineers brought here by my father were threatened with murder unless they joined this or that general, and so they left or disappeared, and so we have little ruts in the ground and our military officer academy tells me they will not be in position to even try to put men to work on them, not until sometime next summer..."

Habte swallowed -- and stood his ground.

"With all due respect, Excellency, you have not yet heard me out. This, sir, will change the world. I absolutely guarantee the greatest powers in Europe are at this moment putting these cars in production, and not only that but studying how to..." He swallowed again at the Emperor's stony disbelief, yet still stood his ground.

"It's true," volunteered Yimer. "I've heard my contacts talk about them."

"Up where there are roads," emphasized Iyasu. "Up in cultured Europe."

"Much of that culture is mythical, sir. Near the cities, sure; but sometimes not even then. And in the farmlands? The forests? The mountains?"

"Is that where they are deploying their armored cars?"

"...I don't know. To be honest, they seem to be more of something to chauffer high-ranking officers near the fronts. The armor protects them from nearby shelling fragments and from sniper bullets, you see."

Iyasu looked dubious. Habte slapped his hand on the blueprints -- even the Emperor jumped at that. "Light armor plating. A light machine gun. A tractor engine to give it power to carry the armor around -- and to power it down the ruts and over the fields of our land. Officers, yes, can use it for scouting. Or for calling in field artillery."

"When we get some artillery. Which we don't have, and haven't yet researched." Iyasu, though, leaned back behind his desk, tapping his fingers in thought.

"That day is coming, sir. But more importantly, how do the modern tractors work? The ones that other nations use for building roads and factories instead of plowing fields? How do they go through the mud?"

"On tracks," answered Mikael. "...oh. OH!"

"Armored cars, lead to armored tractors. Armored tractors can go where armored cars cannot; and even the armored cars will go where regular cars cannot. Armored tractors, carrying heavier armor. Armored tractors..." Habte tapped his blueprints, "carrying heavier guns. Even carrying small artillery pieces.

"Sir: I would not bring you this, unless I was sure it would help our troops. I certainly don't recommend you sell it to anyone in our region. The nation who follows this path, faster and farther than anyone else, will rule the world."

"What they cannot sail over. But I understand. And is this only theory, like your principles of powered flight?"

"No sir. Give me one hundred days, and you can put our factories working on building an army faster than horses. And much less easy to kill. And much more deadly at range."

"And much less easy to feed," Mikael mused.

"But much more easy to heal when wounded, and to keep when not in service.

"These, sir, will be monsters. Undreamed of by the mind of man. Soldiers will flee in terror, unable to comprehend their own despair!"

"Jesus... wept..." Now Iyasu looked pale, his eyes creeping wider as though the face of his friend was melting away -- revealing a demon underneath.

"Yes. Well put. We must use these carefully, sir, lest we also grow into monsters." Habte closed his own eyes, and after a moment he opened them again. The rising feverish light inside had dimmed, it seemed. "But whether we do, or whether we don't, as sure as the sun goes down at night: our enemies someday will."

Iyasu nodded. So did Yimer. Mikael closed his eyes, and said as if praying, "The future... My God, Habte. From this moment on, the future looks like this. Or worse."

"Yes, Father. Or worse. No one really paid attention to what I wrote last fall, regarding air power. I don't know how to build those yet, or even begin to begin. But this, with wings, flying over mountains. Oceans. Shooting. Hurling down bombs. Angels of death, screaming as they dive." Mikael wept silent tears. "Us or them," Habte finished. "I vote us."

So did they all. Even Father Mikael.

"One hundred days," ordered Iyasu. "Yimer, offer it up for sale. Certainly not to anyone near. We need more money to speed our research along."

So they did.

The year of the future began.





[Note: in game terms Habte isn't even a little interested in armor, but it seemed both a good idea and more dramatic to play the hand I was dealt. In this case, I was okay with armored cars, although I wasn't really planning to go for armor, not being likely to need it within my feasible goals. But then the dramatic drama occurred to me ;) : the meaning of what this piddly achievement would really MEAN for the world, and DID really mean for the world, even up to today. Sure, okay then. Let's see if we can get some armored African cavalry erupting from the Abyss.]

ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

Part 8 -- Feast of Kings

January 8, 1915, the day after the Feast of Christ: the leaders of Ethiopia convened in our Emperor's office. Iyasu the Fifth, Emperor of Ethiopia, had an office, in an office building, near other office buildings, in Addis Abeba.

His father, Menalik, had had a moderate palace built, because he had thought that we must show the world that they should take his title seriously. No one would respect us without a palace, he had said.

Iyasu his son respected his father, who after all had fought throughout his reign to protect Ethiopia and to lay the groundwork for what we now attempted. He respected his father, but needed the respect of his people more than the non-respect of the nations. To Italy, to France, to the United Kingdom, a common millionaire could own a modest palace. To them, a millionaire might be regarded as common.

Iyasu kept his palace, but had turned it into a school, and a museum.

The chieftain kings of Abyssinian tribes were gone. Iyasu kept his title to remind us to respect our past, not to rule over long forgotten petty fiefdom kings.

The Emperor of Abyssinia lived with his wife and children down below his office, as any man in Ethiopia had a right to aspire to.

Today in an office the size of a bedroom for Europe's lesser nobility, he had invited correspondents from all the agencies of the press across our nation. We didn't have many; they fit in the room. An hour ago he had shown them the school.

"I," he continued his speech, practiced for days where no one could see but his family, and the occasional aide, "am an Emperor. But who am I an Emperor of? Where are the kings I rule?

"Go home," he said, "and look around. Every Christian is called to be a king or queen. We follow an ancient faith; we follow the King of kings, greater than any earthly Emperor ever. He has allowed me to be here now, to do what I am doing. And what am I doing? I am ruling a nation of priests and kings!"

Later today he would give this speech at a public banquet, too; provided for all the people of Addis Abeba. Mostly poor.

"We are supposed to follow the way of Tewahedo: unity. Not of singularity, although we were falsely accused of this, and although we have often failed and fallen precisely into doing so." This was a detail added with the approval of Father Mikael. Iyasu was referencing an ancient grudge and misunderstanding between ourselves and Christians to the north.

"Unity means we stand together as one. But we have fractured, and men among us have also oppressed as though only one of us mattered. Yesterday and this week we celebrate the closest unity given to us in Christ, presented to us repeatedly in our holy mass. We should live by that example. Sometimes we do. Sometimes we do not." He paused to give the writing reporters time to catch up. A wax phonogram was also recording; a cylinder copy would be sent to any who asked to have it. The Emperor's voice would also be sent somewhere than Ethiopia. Whether or not they wanted it.

"Every Christian ought to respect each other Christian, as a fellow priest and king. We do not do so, but we should. We also should respect each man, and woman and child, even those who aren't yet Christian: we have been taught that Christ has redeemed each man and woman and child who ever lived and ever shall live, and that He shall bring us all together someday as priests and kings. This ancient faith was taught in Alexandria, taught in the first and oldest Christian school. In that day it amazed the world and earned the respect of Rome itself. We still hold it now.

"But, like us, like we sometimes do, not every Christian believes this. Just as we sometimes fail, so do other Christians."

I couldn't help but feel a little cynical, knowing where this was going. I believed in what he was saying, I believed in what he was doing and needed to do. But still: to say such things would build morale by providing a moral ground on which to commonly stand, yet also to justify...

"You know our history. You know we came from the sea, as did our faith, long ago. Once we lived by the sea. Then... people came.

"And they did not treat their fellow Christians as priests and kings."

He was weeping now. I was not, but I had heard this often before in practice. He had not wept then; he hadn't practiced weeping. I knew he truly felt what he was saying to these men; to his people; to the world.

To a nation of the world.

"I will be blunt. They stole our land and pushed us out, because their Emperor didn't care to rule over kings!"

The people would cheer, later today. A cheerful rage.

"Therefore I ask their leaders, of their own free wills, to do what is right among men, and under the eyes of heaven: set our people free!

"And know:  we are coming soon, to see if they are doing so.

"If they need our help to do so... WE WILL SHOW THEM HOW!"


Soon the reporters left.

Now the meeting began.

"We could be readier," opened Habte. "But we are ready."

"There are no Italian troops that Habte or I can see in any territory, sir. Possibly here, or here. Possibly not." Yemir pointed on the map beyond where we could see.





"After what we have said," said Mikael, "they will be coming soon."

"We better be ready to meet them when they do," answered Iyasu. "Better to meet them on the shores."

"Two possibilities," Habte mused. "Strike only north, or also south. Strictly speaking, we only have claim on the north by any standard the Europeans might recognize. Unless it had happened to them, of course. If we go only north, however..."

"...we will risk them fortifying the south. Also we risk our moral momentum, so to speak," our Foreign Minister finished.

"Remember this." Mikael was grim: "We will be fighting and killing men, not their masters who ordered them here. Christian men for the most part. But," he continued, before Iyasu could answer, "we also should remember this -- "

"They were the ones who started it." That was Habte. That bale light was lurking faintly back in depth of his eyes.

"They are better than us."

Everyone blinked at Father Mikael. And blinked again. And started to answer all at once, but, "We have done what we could do in the time that we've had," the bishop explained. "But Italy truly is better than us at fighting a war. They have better equipment. They have more men, and better trained. If we wait, north or south, they may make it impossible for us to free our lands from them. They may even preemptively invade us. Again."

"You agree. We should go."

"Yes, Emperor. We should go. God forgive us, we should go, and very soon, before whatever occupation force is there is ready to receive us. Fewer men will die. Fewer women and children and other civilians will die. Fewer of our soldiers, too -- who will gain a little more experience not at cost, God willing. Experience they will need in months to come."

"I agree," said Yimer. "But we should give them a chance to refuse. Or to accept. Not a long chance but a real one. Unless they already have an army on the move from where we cannot see, they will not be able to reach our border to slow us down before we... before we invade." He wet his lips. He was never at church, so far as I had noticed or had heard by asking around; and rumor said he probably didn't believe that God existed, whatever he said among us. But he believed in us, and in Ethiopia; and, despite his prejudices about the corruption of people in other lands, he did believe in the value of other people. He could not be happy with killing Italians. Pirates, maybe.

Yimer had wheedled his way into office, or rather he thought he had. Whatever he did or did not believe he had earned our respect. Possibly he had had Iyasu's respect, to some extent, from the beginning.

Perhaps, I thought, Iyasu really did see the man as a king to be someday.

Yimer stood. "Send them a cable, Emperor. Send it to them by telegraph. Run it by horse if necessary, if the line to our city is down again; let the port at Massawa send it along. I will ride the horse myself! Maybe they will give it back, at least the northern coasts."

"Maybe elephants will fly?" asked Iyasu. He didn't chuckle.

"I also say it's worth a try," our genius Habte agreed. "And here is why: how long have we been parked on their borders? How long have they seen our divisions, camped and growing? What did the one Italian militia division do, when we began to arrive up north?"

"They have been busy with guarding themselves elsewhere. But, I see," the Emperor said. "They have had a lot of reasonable warning already! And they haven't acted."

"Not so far as we know." Mikael cautiously tapped his fingers together beneath his nose. "They might have troopships on the way with cavalry, and mountain fighters, and brigades of massed artillery. Even armored cars." We crossed ourselves; Yimer, I noticed, just a tad late. Never mind. We were all in this together. Unity. "Or, they might not. But by now, they could have sent at least a few reinforcement groups. Did they have none nearby to send? Or, didn't they care?

"I most surely agree with Yimer, and with Habte. Send the cable, Emperor. Give them a chance to do what is right without us having to make them. They might. They might."

Emperor Iyasu of Ethiopia wrote the cable. I carried it to the only telegraph office in Abyssinia. Iyasu and the ministers went to the feast. Iyasu gave his speech again. The people sang in cheerful rage.

They didn't.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

#18
Part 9 --
"Fuck Italy."

That was what I was thinking. I was sorry afterward.

I had brought the reply to the Emperor. I had gone to the telegraph office, after the public feast, to sleep on the floor if necessary until an answer arrived. I had made arrangements for relief in waiting there.

I had found the answer already waiting.

He had had me send a message by courier to the ministers. Two had already gone to bed. One had been asleep already. Father Mikael had been praying.

The message had simply said, "They didn't."

Also, "Come now."

Now they were here. Sleepy and outraged.

"Didn't the governor's office even forward it on to Italy?" Yimer was sitting in shock, or in exhaustion. He had not been asleep yet. "He couldn't have. Could he?? He must have made that decision on his own."

"That is irrelevant now," said Iyasu. "Even if he did, that is for him and his king or whatever to work out later."

"Don't they even care about the people who -- !"

Iyasu interrupted Mikael. "That is also irrelevant. Nor did they care about our people when they invaded us. Or about their own."

"They won't even have heard your speech yet. Won't even have read it."

Habte agreed with Yimer: "We acted too quickly. It was a very good speech, I thought... I guess." He had been asleep. Maybe he thought he was dreaming.

"And that, so far as they are concerned, is also now irrelevant. Whether or not he has the right to answer no for his nation so quickly, we must assume he does," the Emperor said. "Whether or not he is sending word to whatever troops he has nearby, to march for our border and take up guard, we must assume he is doing it now. Whether or not he is telegraphing even more troops in Mogadishu or in Gardo or both to be on the move -- whether or not he even can do that -- we must assume he can. And is.

"Light the signal fires, Habte.

"Sell our secrets for silver, Yimer.

"Father Mikael: pray.

"By dawn our soldiers will march, north and south, to free our people!"

"...you. Um, aide." Habte was clearly too dazed; he couldn't remember my name. "You have the honor. Go to the roof. Give the shout. Light the relay tower fires to put our plan in motion.

"I have monsters to make tomorrow."

Habte's eyes said what I was thinking.



[Note: the way the game works, you can make diplomatic demands on national lands belonging to you but held by someone else. The demand is a basket case, and doesn't bother to list the lands in question. Map tags happen to indicate that those three northern coastal provinces once were part of Ethiopia, but the rulebook says that those are for flavor text and not to be relied upon. How in the world is a nation supposed to know what lands are more-or-less rightfully theirs, even by their own standards, historically speaking!? What did I just demand from Italy? Only the northern provinces? Also the southern coastline? -- I happen to know those are Ethiopian, too, traditionally, but the game doesn't say so, only calls them part of the Horn of Africa. [Hindsight note: I learned the answers to some of this shortly afterward, but I wanted to preserve my line of thinking when I took the actions here.]

This time it didn't really matter, I guess: the game said there was a zero chance of Italy ceding the claim -- a fact I didn't know before writing Part 8 -- all but the final line. ;)  Sure enough they refused.

Worse, the game engine is set up so that even though part of the game has already told me that Italy refused, the moment I sent the demand, it's also treating my ambassador as still on the mission -- which by the way cost me 143 (million pounds) to do, so that money's shot, although it dropped me low enough that I could issue currency once again and actually came out a little ahead at the cost of another percent of efficiency. (I'm probably down five or six percent by now.) And at another nice reduction in dissent, which'll be really helpful soon. Anyway, the point is that if I go in now, as far as the game is concerned I'll be invading another nation without declaring war, until Jan 25. Will that count as a declare war anyway? Will I be socked for more penalties than if I could first declare war? I'm assuming that by making my demand for territory return, which the game internally acknowledges is a proper claim, I'll be allowed a causus belli; but it doesn't seem I have it yet. Or will I ever?! The only good news is that my troops will naturally take some time to cross the border, and I might be able to time it so that it happens on Jan 26 or not much later; and I kind of doubt that Italy is reacting to this provocation yet in-game before my ambassador's mission is done. But who knows? And the game, playing Italy, might be releasing troops to meet my massing on the border after all; they could be on the way. [Hindsight note: again, I learned some of the answers to this a little later, but that's for the next part.]

Had Italy accepted, I would have peacefully moved the troops, and if part of what Italy held on our coast, north or south wasn't ceded, I would likely have let them keep it for a while and play the story out that way.

But here we are. And here we go.]

ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Martok

Wow.  Nice job, Jason!  You clearly have some ability in story-crafting.  Love the characters (especially Bishop Maikel, but they're honestly all good).  :) 

"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces

JasonPratt

Thanks again, Martok!

Things are about to get... weirder than I expected, over the next few entries. ;) Veterans of HOI2 are likely laughing their asses off at me now...  ::)
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

I won't have another entry until Monday night (partly because I want to play somewhat further along a path to see if it's going to work out narratively and/or game-mechanically speaking); but while readers are waiting, if you haven't read U'geek's stellar Italy vs. World War 2 AAR here at Grogheads (which inspired my choice for this only slightly ;) ), click here: http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=7248.0

The engine is HOI3, so you'll see some differences, although I don't recall what extra DLC (if any) Undergeek was using. He goes far enough to find a reasonable ending spot, too.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

Part 10 -- Only Playing The Game

"This is intolerable."

"And yet we must tolerate it," growled Iyasu in answer to Habte. He and Habte and Yimer were walking personally to the telegraph office. I was following on behind as usual. "And you will write up orders quickly, Habte; send them along by courier, catch up with the troops. A couple of leading scouts are fine, but no one in the division sets a foot across the border posts until they see the signal fires again or otherwise hears from us. They are to withdraw to their previous camps immediately. No mobilized action."

"That may still happen, sir. Couriers might not arrive in time -- if only we had good radios for all our commanders! -- and the borders aren't all clearly marked."

"Unless we want a war with France and Britain," Yimer said, "we must accept that we can't simply march across the ITALIAN borders." He hardly could speak through clenching his teeth. "They do recognize our historical claims to our northern coastal territories already, at least."

"We told our people we would march. We told our people captive in those territories that we were coming to free them!"

"I don't like it any more than you do, Habte. None of us do," the Emperor said. "The only good news is that Italy thinks we're only... posturing... to make ourselves look interesting. And yes, I know how insulting that is. We must play the game, however, in order to be regarded as a nation and not as bandits to be exterminated by anyone who wants to claim our lands. Like Britain or France."

"That for France!" Habte kicked a pile of horse droppings, going out of his way to find some in the street. I noticed he didn't say anything about Britain, but that was understandable: Britain controlled a vast and unanswerable strength around us. One without any troops, but still, nothing would be gained by making war on all the world.

"Therefore we will play the game. I will go and cable France and Britain that we also claim the territories southward but that we guarantee their independence for whatever the standard time...?"

"Five years," Yimer informed Iyasu.

"That way, if Italy joins the Central Powers, or is insane enough to initiate war against them on her own, then we have a reason the other nations will immediately accept to take back our lands."

"And if Italy sits entirely quiet in her boot?! While taking the opportunity to send in reinforcements here!?"

"That is where you and your spies come in."

"Sir, my spies are just about worthless!"

"Yes, and I am chiefly to blame for that," Iyasu said. "I haven't given you money to build their infrastructure further." He grimly grinned a lopsided grin. "That will change and soon. Every six months, starting now, I will give you some national funds to build our network and skills. Meanwhile, every time we have an opportunity, we will conduct ongoing global campaigns to increase our chances of making a 'legal' war declaration on them. Also we start funding partisans in the local territories."

"What will happen when we are caught in doing so, sir?" Not if, I noticed Habte didn't say. Honestly, we barely had any skill at this at all.

"At this point I really don't care. The worst that can happen is Italy decides to declare war on us, and I am fine with that. We'll even get a bit of sympathy from it, maybe."

"And maybe the world will launch into war against Italy." I couldn't tell, from how he said it, if Yimer approved of that or not. Father Mikael would not. But he wasn't privy to these deliberations... and now I realized why.

"We can even try to steal blueprints perhaps from Italy..." "No," Iyasu shook his head, and Habte closed his mouth with a grunt of annoyance. "A good idea, my friend, but not until we're reasonably sure of being successful. Meanwhile we should spend our money on something that will help us whether or not we succeed. Or at least on something less expensive."

"Then, if I may say so, sir, let us stick with the cheapest option, for we will have to keep printing money, and soon the effect on our industry will start to compound. That is going to happen anyway, I know," said Habte, "because we need the money to seed more research. Still, let us not do what cripples us, if we can help it."

"In that case, perhaps it would be better not to even spend the money trying at all," Yimer said. "Not until we've built our agents up enough I mean. We can... we can just stay here, year after year, getting stronger, hoping Italy doesn't... sir... I don't know what to advise you."



"I'm pretty sure that trying to steal some technical information would be cheaper than anything else we could try," muttered Habte.

"That doesn't give me a war. Unless we're caught, over and over again perhaps. Maybe it's worth a try. I don't know," Iyasu said. "I HATE," he struck a wall while walking, "that our people will think we're only playing political games! That they cannot trust us to help them!

"But that's all we can do, without facing certain destruction.

"Play the game."


[Note: seriously? Even if it catastrophically damages my international rep, I can't just declare a war on someone THE GAME ITSELF agrees is holding my territory? I can't even declare a war in effect by moving my troops across their borders? I don't even have the option of moving my troops?!

Well, I can, but I have to be more interventionist first, or more belligerent, or my target has to be more belligerent, or both. I've already moved my internal policies sliders once, back when I first began the game, and I won't have another option to do so again until June 1916. Crap. CRAP CRAP CRAAAAAAP!!

Huff. huff. Fine. At least I figured out how to check the map to show for sure that I have "inherent" claims on those territories up north; and how to put in a claim for territories down south. Still, no one will ever be able to convince me that the jumped-up little Emperor of the armpit of Africa wouldn't totally be able to march his divisions over the border any time he wanted to, even if that was tantamount to international suicide. {gnashing teeth at the gaminess of the game!} ]

ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Martok

Why can't you declare war?  I'm not familiar with the HoI series' diplomatic mechanics. 

"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces

JasonPratt

It really comes down to the intervention vs. isolation slider. In Real Darkest Hour Life, Abyssinia is almost completely isolationist -- almost. They have just enough tics to allow something more than militia and garrisons to be built (though they start off with 10% strength militia anyway, and only one full infantry division -- the latter at 1897 kit, and all the formers at 1870 kit!); and to do things like guarantee someone else's independence, which costs a significant amount of money for someone like Ethiopia (at this stage) but allows you the option to declare war on people who declare war on your associate. Or to decline without a diplomatic penalty (because they aren't your ally either).

The isolationist end of the scale basically has only penalties in the game -- all your espionage and diplomatic options cost more, there are penalties in time and cost to produce combat units, etc. The only good thing about being isolationist is that if you behave badly diplomatically the other countries will forget you did so faster.

In the story, Iyasu has been building up his people to go over and rescue their fellows; but this is one of the relatively few strategic plot details without a direct mirror in the game. In effect he has been pushing the slider way over to intervention. But Italy isn't belligerent at all, or like maybe 1. They'll go up a little soon but not much, still only around 4, out of 100. Abyssinia would have to be at total interventionism in order to declare war on a nation with belligerence that low.

But neither is there much way in-game to affect that interventionism slider. In-story, Iyasu is shoving the slider leftward which he can do because he's an Emperor with popular appeal and a mostly like-minded limited oligarchy, appealing to a popular cause among a fairly small population. In-game, not many options.

This suggests the eventual solution, but I'll talk about that tonight or tomorrow night when I post the next entries.  :D (I'm at the office, and I can't remember offhand if I talk about the solution in the notes for Part 11 or 12. Part 11 definitely contributes a super-annoying game development, though, leaving me three choice to proceed.

Naturally, for AAR purposes, I take the most insane and thus the most dramatic option.  ;D
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

Part 11 -- Discontented Winter

By January 18, both Germany and Russia seemed weary of war already. Or at least their people did. Our people stamped in place, wanting to rescue more of our people from Italian occupation. On that day, France became the next of the supposedly "free" Entente nations to censor its press.

Yimer was told to no longer stockpile industrial materials, but only to keep enough of an influx to help maintain our balances. Instead, he was to stockpile cash wherever that was possible -- which somehow seemed to be never. Yimer promptly cancelled our deal with Germany, where the exchange was horribly inefficient anyway. Yet he also was told, not to put the plans for armored cars on the market, not until Habte had finished production preparations. He also wasn't allowed to spend any money after all in doing anything other than planting and training more Ethiopian agents: he had been given this duty instead of Habte, while the other worked on research.

[Note: no, the game does not allow me to sell blueprints that I own, only to sell off blueprints of techs I've researched. This is silly, and even insane, but whatever. Habte is still officially minister of intelligence, until I get around to tweaking Abyssinia's files to reflect Yimer in that role -- I found out how to do it, I just want to play the game a while, and at this point the difference is cosmetic. I also restricted Yimer from agreeing to one-time deals without my consent.]

Mikael, during this time, very carefully watched the final soldiers being kitted from our factories and sent to fill our divisions; as companies finished deployment, he would send out orders for the various sides of our factories to subtly shift to increasing consumer goods. The idea was to raise more money to increase our research infrastructure as often as possible without reducing our industrial effectiveness further. Iyasu had to resign himself to letting our armies upgrade naturally rather than helping along, at least for now.

On Jan 28, Yimer heard from various contacts that the Ottoman Empire had finished overhauling its Dardanelle defenses, whatever that meant. Yimer said it meant that Russia would find it harder now to fight on Ottoman ground.

By the 1st of February, France had pushed back Germany almost to its original claims -- it still held onto territories France had started the war with but which ethnically clearly belonged to Germany, but only held a single 'new' territory in France and the heroic Belgians had somehow managed to push them out of Mons!





Germany's Eastern Front was still doing very well, although it seemed the Russians had managed to retake some lost provinces. Austria-Hungary was somewhat stalled against the defending Serbs, but had pushed a respectable Russian salient. The Ottomans had started their own campaign against Russia, too. What would happen in the spring, who knew?

Word reached us from the Senussi, via our Muslim minority contacts, that Italy wasn't entirely sitting around letting her empire crumble without intervention: she had retaken a large and hostile Saharan Desert region lost to partisans back last summer. That was no small feat -- or possibly it was for her, but more important for us it signaled that she would not ignore any threats to what she regarded as hers.



Then news started to arrive from the British colonies south of us: the Germans hadn't forgotten southern Africa. On the contrary, they were exploiting colonial weaknesses north of Dutch South Africa!



Germany hadn't moved past Lake Victoria yet, but if they took Nairobi, or moved up into Gala, or up the coast to Mombasa, we would only have one colony between us. That would be a signal to redeploy our divisions. Unless we were too late.

On February 4, Ahmed Sharif, sheik of all Senussi tribes, declared that they would join the Ottoman Jihad. In one fell swoop they rose up all across Italian territories and retook their occupied lands, except for the most important ports where Italy still held military and cultural strength. The Tripolitarian leaders rallied to Senussi's cause of freedom.



Iyasu fumed in impotent jealousy, but strongly debated whether we ought to quickly send out a statement of solidarity for the Senussi, guaranteeing their independence -- at least for now.

If we did, and Italy attacked them, we would have cause for a 'legal' war to retake land of our own. But the cost to send a proper diplomatic mission would be more than we could feasibly replace anytime soon by our anemic industry; and yet not enough to justify another emergency printing of money. If they would accept an alliance with us, that would be better of course; but Yimer was certain they wouldn't: at best, we were vaguely respected trading partners.

After much deliberation between Iyasu, Yimer and Mikael -- Habte remained at work preparing our factories to create his infant monsters -- the Emperor decided to put our precious money toward our technological infrastructure instead, which we would soon be able to once again afford. It came down to this: was the mere possibility we might be able to legally fight against Italy, more important than increasing the strength of our country -- including to fight Italy one day?

On February 7, the satellite states of China denounced the central republic, possibly calling for civil war.

On February 8, England and France signed the Treaty of London, greatly increasing Britain's role in the war against the Powers. England tried to open negotiations with Greece as well that day, but was told that Greece for now would choose to keep its neutrality. That didn't seem overly wise to us, but maybe they wanted to see how far Serbia and Albania could erode the troops of Austria-Hungary first.

By February 19, our contacts said that France seemed weary of war -- certainly they had made no further progress, though aside from one province at least they had pushed the Germans out of France.

Then on February 21, 1915, came the news:

Italy had joined the Entente.


[Note: .......AAARRRGGHHHH!!!! .... All right, Darkest Hour, that's it. Now I'm mad. Prepare to be violated.]
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Martok

You know, when I first read this entry, I accidentally read the title as "Discontented Writer"...which I suspect might be only too accurate at the moment.  ;) 




Quote from: JasonPratt on March 11, 2014, 05:20:24 PM
Then on February 21, 1915, came the news:

Italy had joined the Entente.


[Note: .......AAARRRGGHHHH!!!! .... All right, Darkest Hour, that's it. Now I'm mad. Prepare to be violated.]
LOL!  Figures.  ::)  Well this should get interesting... 

"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces

JasonPratt

#27
Quote from: Martok on March 11, 2014, 07:24:10 PM
You know, when I first read this entry, I accidentally read the title as "Discontented Writer"...which I suspect might be only too accurate at the moment.  ;) 

Quoted For Truth!  :D

I was partly discontented during that time because I was trying to write an AAR of it, and frankly finding it dull because I couldn't really do anything yet. This can translate a little into character frustration for dramatic purposes; but as Robert Jordan never seemed to understand, if your characters are bored and frustrated you should only talk about that enough to establish why (if that's even important) and then move along. ;)

So I took the opportunity to catch up myself (and readers, and the characters) on the Actual Great War going on up north -- so far as I (and the characters) could make any heads or tails of it. The fog of war is a harsh mistress. (As shall also become relevant soon in future chapters.  ::) )

My main discontent as a player, however, traces entirely back to Ethiopia not even having 1870s methods of construction. Which is understandable: proto-industrialization. (Though then they also shouldn't have factories. Which they do. Requiring me to invent plot reasons why. Edited to clarify: in HOI2 factories can only be built in a province with this first level of construction tech.) But it is utterly crippling my ability to develop FOR A WHOLE GAME YEAR.

Whenifever I come back to play another pre-industrial society (Senussi or whatever), I'm not only going to get the mod that allows me to start earlier in 1897 (so I'll have time to work before the fighting starts) I've also plotted out a reason why they would start with 1870s construction tech even if they haven't done anything with it or are otherwise even less developed than Ethiopia in summer 1914.

I've also got a plan together, including for this AAR (later), on how to make research work sanely. That'll take a little continual hacking of the save-game files as I go along, but I'll still be having to work hard for it in-game, just in a properly reinforcing way. It sure as hell isn't going to save me anytime soon.  ;)


Quote from: Martok on March 11, 2014, 07:24:10 PM
Quote from: JasonPratt on March 11, 2014, 05:20:24 PM
Then on February 21, 1915, came the news:

Italy had joined the Entente.

LOL!  Figures.  ::)  Well this should get interesting...

I! Was! So! Piççed!

It did however clarify certain drastic plot opportunities, two or three clear choices worth. Those are coming up next in this afternoon's entry.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

#28
Part 12 -- Didache

"To be clear," said Archbishop Mikael of Wollo, as the ministers met to digest this horrible news, "this means we have two options now."

"What a positive way to put it," muttered Dejazmach Beyene Yimer. Everyone else looked like muttering too, including Mikael of Wollo. But they didn't. Mikael continued:

"Two ways stand before us now. On one path, we disband our armies, except for a few elite divisions able to meet a German advance, so far as we might expect from them in Africa. We might even join the Entente, but in any case we treat Italy as we have treated France and Britain so far. As allies more or less. Perhaps we spend more money asking Britain to let us pass through to fight against Germany; we might consider this a middle way. Perhaps. But putting this way most bluntly, we demilitarize, and put our manpower back into our industry. We keep on investing, of course, in our technology and in our industry, even in our military research. This should go at least a little faster with our manpower readjusted back to peacetime.

"In return, we effectively give up ever being able to free our coastlines from our oppressor. We break our public promises to do so. And we have to regard our efforts to bring our militia up to par as basically wasted since the summer of last year. We might even have to spend our money earning ourselves a place among the Entente, so that we can have some assurance Italy won't attempt to take the rest of our land.

"Otherwise, we set ourselves to war against the Entente, even if not in favor of Germany. That would mean we claim the other coastlands held by England and by France -- which we have a historical right to claim -- and we might as well begin to push into Great Britain's other nearby territories. Maybe we ally with Germany and its allies, maybe not. Maybe we strike for an Africa free of colonizing powers.

"The Peace of God, or the Justice of God. From this fork in the road we cannot see which path will bring us the strongest Ethiopia, and thereby the most security for our people.

"We can however be assured which path will bring more death, for us and for others in Africa."

"I guess we know your vote already, Father," grunted Habte. That light in his eye was shining again.

"We are called to live in fair-togetherness with our neighbors," said the priest.

"You voted to free our people." That was Yimer.

"Declaring war to half the strength of the world to free our people? If we fail, all our people will die or be enslaved. And if we succeed, we will be the ones who brought new war to a continent mostly now at peace. Let us be fair to the Europeans: on the balance, Africa is calmer now than ever before in history since the Fall."

"Will you support us if we vote for war?" the Emperor asked.

"Yes. I truly can see good reason to go to war as well. I don't believe the lesser good is the greater good, however; and I want us to make this choice from reason instead of emotion, letting the emotions follow afterward."

Iyasu nodded and opened his mouth, but Mikael interrupted: "Let me say this, please; then I will be silent, sir." Iyasu glared, but nodded. "Please, let us acknowledge that we can grow in strength by staying at peace. Do not disregard this reasonable fact, in our deliberations. That is all." Then the Archbishop closed his mouth, and closed his eyes, and leaned back in his chair to silently pray.

Iyasu nodded again. He looked around the room, inviting comments by eye.

Habte said, "I am prepared to kill them. But I am prepared to live together in peace. I only say this: I do not want our word to be worth nothing."

Yimer answered, "What about our word to guarantee Great Britain's sovereignty?" Everyone grimaced but Mikael, Yimer included. "Did we seriously mean that? Or did we only hope to have an excuse if Italy joined the Powers? In my heart, I did not seriously mean that. We didn't hold that land when Britain took it; and I'll be fair, we had not done enough of our duty to stop the pirates operating out of the Horn of Africa. The European powers freed us from that. Then they ignored whose land this ought to be, discounting us as savages. But I'll be fair: at the time they were right.

"That being said, I want an Africa free for Africans, too. I just don't know that we have any real chance to do it; and I don't want our country, and our people, mangled for failing."

Iyasu nodded at that as well, then faintly smiled and said, "I never sent that cable."

"...what?" Yimer blinked.

"When we were walking to the telegraph office. You remember?" Mikael hadn't been there, and gave no sign he thought this strange. "I didn't know what to do to play the game. I changed my mind after writing it out, and never sent it.

"We owe Britain nothing. And clearly they think they owe us nothing either."

"That isn't fair," said Mikael, but didn't open his eyes. "They have a major war in Europe to finish as quickly as possible. A war they entered into for protecting a tiny nation from a military invasion. Even if they remembered us and Italy's grievance against us, they have many more people to try to save from death than all our people on the coast combined -- who after all are not in danger from Italy, other than losing their rights as Ethiopians. To Britain and to France, bringing in Italy saves more people from a group supporting oppressors."

"We promised them nothing. We promised our people something. And if we strike now, we might be able to free them, and to grow while Europe is busy being distracted by their European war. Then when their war is over, we might have regained enough of Africa to make a respectable peace."

"Regained," said Mikael. "We never held more than what we hold now, and the coastlands and perhaps some lands to the north and south. What are we regaining?"

"We," said Emperor Iyasu, continuing a speech, on February 29, 1915, the European Leap Year Day, "will not be regaining Africa for Ethiopians only. They called this the Abyss! -- the swirling depths of darkness! Let us be fair! That is what we were, not only to them, but to ourselves!

"No more! Let us arise, and organize, and shine our ancient light! Let us retake Africa for Africans, not for the Central Powers of Europe, not for the alliance called Entente, but for all the people of Africa!

"Let us live and grow so that in future centuries we shall have changed the word Abyss to mean what is good and honorable, a light to the world from where we have leapt to a mountaintop!

"Let us build the land of Abyssinia!"


[Note: I honestly had forgotten to send the guarantee to Britain. Until I looked while writing this Part, I truly had thought I had. But I have to say, not only from a real life perspective but even from a mere gaming perspective I'd probably go with either acting as a mercenary for the Alliance and trying to march down south to fight against Germany, or growing Ethiopia at this point and hoping I'd be ready to help throw the Axis out in WW2 umpty-three years from now.

Still, this is a wargames forum, and a wargame AAR, and the most insane path seems more dramatically interesting. :) Consequently, I'm hacking the game file a bit to give Abyssinia a maximum interventionist rating of 10 now. This means a bunch of huge discounts to taking diplomatic actions (declaring war is free anyway), and a huge discount in dissent to declaring war, plus I can declare war on practically anyone now; it also means any sign of bad behavior will tend to get worse over time instead of better, which is pretty much the only downside.]

[Note on the chapter title: "the Didache" is an ancient Christian teaching text, dating back to the early mid-100s, or maybe even back to the 60s, the nickname for which comes from the Greek word we still get "didactic" from. It's a moral exhortation lecture of the two-paths motif; and seemed thematically appropriate and exotic, although the paths in the game don't seem so clearly the paths of light and darkness.]
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Martok

Great entry, Jason!  I actually laughed out loud when the Emperor told the council he hadn't sent the wire to Britain...and again when you admitted you'd honestly simply forgotten to send it.  It's the little things like that which can add so much flavor to an AAR.  :D 

Also, thanks for the explanation about "Didache".  I was wondering about that. 

"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces