1840
The Outernational Years The past four years have been tremendously important on the world stage. At last, weīre beginning to assert ourselves internationally. We must temper our pride, though, for the other Major nations have been making imperialist acquistions of their own and we are still an up-and-coming power with much catching up to do.
Our 1836 invasion was a complete success. The
Enforcer and
Lightfoot established a beachhead on the west coast of Oleikale, landing a large expeditionary force under the command of Lord General Slowpoke, who oversaw the campaign personally from the back of his thoroughbred chestnut mare. Our superior army steamrolled the rag-clad rabble of the enemy force who put up a flimsy resistance; Our casualties were minimal. Within a year and half we had occupied the whole country.
A paper I saved from the period:
Oleikale is a fiercely hot, dry province, where the locals subsist on drought-tolerant scrub weed for fodder and stringy goat meat. Oleikale is resource-poor in comparison to her neighbors to the north and south. There are no forests, but three regions where cotton can be cultivated. However, we discovered rich deposits of iron ore and coal in her southern hills. These deposits are critical to our continued prosperity; we have just in the past few years tapped the full flow of Penian iron, and weīre thirsty for more.
I regret to inform you all that we have lost Yubah to the rapacious Siss. At the very least, we probably recovered our investments in the 6-7 years we were doing business there before this happened. Nevertheless, it is a drastic loss that will haunt us for years.
Those gem mines... would have paved our railroads in glittering jewels... curses!
We can console ourselves with the acquistion of Penia, who is now our colony! In 1839, our high-level cabinet members traveled to the capital to conduct the formal ceremony adjoining Penia to the Empire of Uristia. We assumed command of the Penian armed forces, and their small merchant marine. Iīve directed the colony to expel developers from Ace whoīre currently hogging up the wool production.
Our navy has been growing stronger. We have an admiral now. Our flagship has been named for him, rewarding his plucky admirable concern for the Navy, since I canīt change the Admiralīs name.
Iīm running out of names for ships. I ask Uristians to come up with some for us!
The world in 1839. Bear in mind all minor nations are now colonies of Major powers.
World statistics from the same year. Take these with a grain of salt. Itīs a mix of good, bad, and
meh.
Weīve since over taken Ukkuntirfirnos in industry, and thereīs been a few other changes I canīt remember, but you should get the idea.
Weīve been making a lot of cash, even without Yubah, and I was sure to invest it right away in the cutting edge of locomotive technology ($7,000). One problem is that we donīt really do any business anymore except with Penia and Oleikale, although occasionally we can sell some manufactured goods to a third party in an odd year. So cash flow is, sufficient, but not consistent enough to put me at ease. Does anyone know how to encourage more trade with other nations?
Our army has been growing steadily as well. We have a decent static force in Oleikale, a small one in Penia, and all the elite regiments have been brought back to their barracks in Uristia City for now. We have a second general now - who will it be? Who volunteers for the honor?
In 1840, the Bessemer Converter technology becomes available. It will modernize segments of our army, among other things. Our flintlocks will begin being exchanged for percussion cap muskets and soon, breech loaders! Itīs an exciting time.
My question for you all: Should we invest in this immediately, or spend the money developing infrastructure to access our ore deposits in Oleikale?
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Out of curiosity, are you playing with tactical or strategic battles?
Just strategic battles. I never found the tactical battles very interesting.
Yes, EuchreJack, I feel the same way. Do you think they cheat? Are they subjected to the same constraints of credit limits, etc that we are? Well, weīre catching up steadily to the greater powers, even if they are frighteningly powerful.