The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism for Dummies!
a.k.a. "the mechanics"1. The Ministry of Truth...our troops will without fail return victorious by Christmas...Action is taken in simultaneous turns, which each represent the passage of one year's time in-character. All orders must be delivered by telegram to the original poster. Ambiguous orders that have no clear and singular interpretation will be ignored. Players should submit by telegram their orders for the turn no later than 48 hours after the original poster announcing the beginning of the turn. Orders submitted later may not be accepted if the original poster has already begun preparing for the next turn.
The world is divided into regions separated from each other by white lines. 16 of these regions contain significant land, and are referred to as territories. 7 others do not contain significant land, and are referred to as oceans. Of the 16 provinces, six are considered home territories, from which each of the six superpowers are based. The other 10 are referred to as minor power territories. Regions are considered adjacent to each other if they share a common border.
Players each represent one of these six superpowers seeking to dominate the world. A superpower is considered suppressed if it possesses fewer military units in its home territory than every other superpower and terrorists combined. A superpower is victorious if it emerges as the sole superpower that is not suppressed.
tip: allies cannot win together, but winning without temporary allies would be an impossible feat indeedTwo regions, the United States and North Africa, have two coasts. Two territories are considered coastally adjacent to each other if there is a border between the territories runs along a coast. A territory with one coast is considered coastally adjacent to a coast of an adjacent territory with two coasts if the border between the two territories runs along the specified coast. A territory is considered coastally adjacent to an ocean if the territory shares a border with the ocean; if the territory has two coasts, the ocean is only considered coastally adjacent to the coast that faces that ocean.
Occasionally, events or decisions that only affect one superpower may occur. These occur at the discretion of the original poster, and will be used both to facilitate interesting roleplaying and to reward well-written in-character posts.
RANDOM.ORG will be used to generate the results of any necessary dice rolls. There is a considerable element of luck in these roleplay mechanics.
Within these rules, should two statements contradict, the interpretation of the statement describing the more unusual and specific situation will prevail over the more general statement. Results of events, decisions, and international crises may also permanently revise these rules.
2. The Ministry of Plenty...produced in the last 5-Year Plan 144 million pairs of shoes...The world economy revolves around the control of vital energy resources, and resources are measured in energy credits (§). Vital energy credits are primarily earned through hydrocarbon extraction from territories, for which refineries must be constructed.
Energy credits and refineries may be freely gifted between superpowers. No other superpower resource may be so traded. Gifts are not revealed to superpowers other than the one giving it and the one receiving it, unless the gift order by the superpower giving it specifically clarifies that it should be revealed.
tip: beware that if you trade with another superpower by gifting to each other, you have no means of cancelling the gift even if the other superpower doesn't keep up their side of the dealEach territory has an integer extraction number between 2 and 12. The extraction numbers of minor power territories are unknown, except for Central Asia with a known extraction number of seven, and will be revealed to a superpower once that superpower has deployed at least three armies (see section 4 for more on armies) or constructed at least one refinery in that territory.
At the beginning of each turn, three six-sided die are rolled. All refineries built in territories with an extraction number that matches the sum of any pair of die so rolled will produce an income of energy credits for that turn. For example, if the numbers rolled are 2, 4, and 5, then territories with extraction numbers of 6 (2 + 4), 7 (2 + 5), and 9 (4 + 5) will produce energy credits that turn. Double rolls are counted -- for example, if the numbers rolled are 2, 2, and 3, then refineries in the territories with the extraction number of 5 will produce twice. If all three dice are rolled to the same value, one will be re-rolled until it no longer shows the same value.
tip: build refineries in many different territories to reduce uncertainties in energy incomeThe number of energy credits each refinery produces is dependent on the highest number of refineries there was at any one point in that territory. If there were never more than one refinery in a territory, it will produce §20. If there are or used to be two, §11 each; three, §8; four, §6; five to six, §5; seven to nine, §4; ten and higher, §3. Furthermore, a penalty of -§1 production will be applied per turn of production in excess of three turns, to a minimum of §1 per refinery. If the territory contains more terrorists than refineries and more terrorists than armies (see section 4 for more on terrorists), then all refineries will only produce §1 regardless of any other factor.
tip: building a refinery in a territory where another superpower already has a refinery is a good way to drop that superpower's incomeEnergy credits may be used to fund social policies, espionage, crisis resolution (all covered in section 3), unit maintenance, military unit recruitment, terrorist incitement (all covered in section 4), and refinery construction (already covered in this section). How much a superpower spends on espionage, terrorist incitement, or crisis resolution is not revealed. How many energy credits a superpower has saved is also not revealed.
Refineries cost §6 to construct, and may be constructed by any superpower in any territory on the map unless that territory contains armies of another superpower but no armies of the constructing superpower. Refineries may be destroyed freely by the superpower owning it. This may be useful to replace old and unproductive refineries with new and more productive refineries without raising the total refinery count.
3. The Ministry of Love...with a supermajority of 164 members in the National Assembly...The cost to properly fund social policies is either some percentage of the sum of the total number of refineries and mobile units on the map rounded down. This percentage is 15% for the superpower with the most military units plus refineries (initially the United States), 10% for the second (Russia), 7.5% for the third and fourth ([Red] and the European Union), 5% for the fifth and sixth ([Green] and India), plus 2.5% extra for each terrorist army in the superpower's home territory), or the social policy cost for that superpower in the previous turn, whichever is higher. If it is not fully paid, then one terrorist army appears in the superpower, plus one more per §4 in social policy cost not paid, rounded up (see section 4 for more on terrorists or armies).
tip: social policy costs do not ever decrease -- reconsider climbing up the rankings if you are unsure if you can sustain the costs of the higher ranktip: recall that energy credit incomes are not fully predictable; consider maintaining a reserve to ensure you can pay for social policies even in turns when none of your refineries produceSpies may be recruited for §6 each, and may be used for espionage beginning from the turn following their recruitment.
Using a spy for offensive espionage costs §4, and the spy may conduct one of the following espionage missions against one other superpower. If desired, the superpower issuing the offensive espionage order may choose to clarify the order as public, in which case any information revealed will be announced to every superpower.
Target Industrialist: all minor power extraction numbers known to the target will be revealed to the spy; the age, in production turns, of all refineries possessed by the target will be revealed to the spy; he number of energy credits a superpower has saved will be revealed to the spy. All information so revealed will be current as of the end of the turn in which the mission is conducted.
Target Politician: the target's actions for the last 4 turns including the current turn will be revealed to the spy; one randomly-selected order from the target's current turn orders will be interrupted.
Target Diplomat: Any terrorist action and offensive espionage orders or gifts made by the target superpower this turn are ignored, and revealed to the spy; the number of spies owned by the target superpower is revealed to the spy.
Target Union Boss: a mobile military unit or refinery of the target superpower is destroyed (the order must clarify which one is to be destroyed); the target superpower loses §4 or however many energy credits it has saved, whichever is lower.
Support. Support the offensive mission of another spy in the superpower.
A spy may be used defensively in any superpower including the spy-owner for §2. This protects the target superpower from foreign offensive espionage. Conducting defensive espionage in a foreign superpower will be revealed to the superpower protected.
To determine the success of offensive espionage missions, a 6-sided die is rolled. -1 is added for each spy on a defensive espionage mission in that superpower. +1 is added for each spy supporting the offensive mission. On a roll of 3 or higher, the offensive mission succeeds. On a roll of 2 or lower, the offensive mission fails. On a roll of 1 or lower, the target superpower learns what mission was attempted. On a roll of 0 or lower, the target superpower learns by which superpower's spy it was targeted. On a roll of -1 or lower, the spy on the offensive mission (but not the supporting spies) is killed. On a roll of -2 or lower, the mission is such a dramatic spectacle of a failure that every superpower will learn which superpower so horribly botched up the mission (but, other than the target superpower, will not learn who the target was or what mission was attempted).
tip: defensive espionage costs less than offensive espionage; espionage arms races always favour the defenderA spy that is idle costs a base maintenance of §1, and may be disbanded at any time.
Occasionally, an international crisis will involve multiple superpowers and demand the contribution of energy credits to the crisis. How to contribute to an international crisis and what the effects of an international crisis is depends on the specific international crisis, and will be announced alongside the crisis itself. International crises occur at the discretion of the original poster, and will be used to encourage roleplaying.
4. The Ministry of Peace...an unprovoked renunciation of the Pact of Non-Aggression...The sole non-mobile military unit is the nuclear weapon. Nuclear weapons are not placed on the map, but are considered to be part of an abstract superpower "stockpile." Nuclear weapons cost §12 to construct, and have no maintenance. The world sees nuclear weapons not as a regular part in a nation's arsenal of war, but as a tool of last resort. As such, nuclear weapons may only be used by superpowers that have foreign armies in that superpower's home territory, and may only be used against territories in which the owner of the offending foreign army has at least one military unit or refinery.
Once used, the used nuclear weapon is destroyed. Every mobile military unit and refinery from every superpower in the territory attacked is destroyed. The targeted territory gains the
Nuclear Fallout (-§1 to the output of refineries) modifier. If the territory targeted was a minor power territory, it also gains the
Chronic Instability (if the territory does not at the beginning of the turn hold a terrorist army, one is generated) modifier. If the target was a superpower home territory, the superpower gains the
Reconstruction (the social policy cost ratio of the superpower is increased by 5%) national spirit.
tip: a large nuclear stockpile is the best deterrence against invasion of your home territory, but seriously reconsider if the high costs are worth itTwo types of mobile military units are identified: armies and navies. Armies may exist in a territory. Navies may exist in territories or oceans. If a navy is in a territory with two coasts, it must also be specified which coast the navy exists in. Armies and navies exist in one of two states: not exhausted ("fresh"), and exhausted.
Armies and navies each cost §6 to recruit, and §1 per turn to maintain. If this maintenance cost is not fully paid, a number of units corresponding to the amount of maintenance not paid must be disbanded. Units are always recruited in the home territory of the constructing superpower. If a navy is being recruited in a territory with two coasts, the recruitment must specify on which coast the navy is being recruited in. An army or navy is not considered to exist in the turn in which it is recruited.
Each army or navy may execute one order each turn. Exhausted units may only execute movement and disband orders. Military orders are announced to every superpower. The list of available orders is as follows:
Disband. A unit is removed from play.
Movement. An army of a superpower may be ordered to move from the home territory of that superpower to an adjacent territory, vice versa, or between two minor power territories that are adjacent to each other and to the home territory of that superpower without convoys. An army may move from any territory to any other territory provided that the appropriate convoys are provided. A navy may move from a territory or ocean to a coastally adjacent territory or ocean. If an exhausted army is unable to complete a movement order due to a lack of convoys, it is disbanded.
Convoy. A navy may assist the movement of an army from one territory to another. For each army moved, one navy must be ordered to convoy in each ocean the army will need to pass through en route to its destination. The army being convoyed must be specified in a convoy order.
Defend. An army or navy holds its current position and will resist hostile attacks on itself. Units that receive no orders will be assumed to be defending.
Defend and support. An army or navy holds its current position and will resist hostile attacks on itself, the units of any other superpower(s), or terrorists. The order must specify which other superpowers are to be supported, and whether terrorists are to be supported.
Hold. If an exhausted unit is unable to move, it will hold.
Attack. An army or navy will attack the defending armies and navies in that territory or ocean. The target of the attack must be specified, and may be a superpower, a set of superpowers, the terrorists, or a set of superpowers and terrorists. All armies or navies of one superpower ordered to attack in any given territory or ocean must have the same target or targets. If multiple superpowers order attacks in the same territory or ocean, they are resolved in random order.
tip: if you have the dominant military position in a region, consider attacking multiple enemies at once to speed up your consolidation of the regionIn an attack, a four-sided die is rolled for each attacking unit. A four-sided die is rolled for each defending unit targeted. Only defending units of the same type (army or navy) as the attacking units are considered. For the purposes of resolving attacks, navies on different coasts of territories that have two coasts are not considered to be in the same territory. If the attack was made using armies, +1 is added to the defending roll, then one more for each refinery possessed by the defending superpower or superpowers in that territory. The side with the higher total emerges victorious. The losing side exhausts a number of units equivalent to one-third the margin by which it lost, rounded up. If there are multiple defending parties, the losses are distributed randomly. If there are no more non-exhausted defending units left to exhaust, then exhausted units are disbanded in lieu of non-exhausted units being exhausted.
tip: these battle mechanics mean that a heavily outnumbered force cannot even inflict casualties on the enemy; consider finding allies to support and be supported byShould the defending side find itself with no remaining non-exhausted defending units of the type attacked, all units of the same type of the defending parties in that territory or ocean, even if not defending, are exhausted and their orders interrupted. If the attack was made using armies, half the refineries of the defending parties in the territory, rounded up, is destroyed and the remainder transferred to the attacker. If the attack was made using navies, one randomly-selected refinery from the defending parties in the territory, if there are any, is destroyed. A terrorist army appears in that territory for each refinery so destroyed. Terrorist armies are not exhausted, and are destroyed in situations where they are to be exhausted.
An exhausted unit in its own superpower's home territory may also be ordered to recover, which will remove the exhaustion from the unit. This costs §2 per unit.
Terrorist armies may, in addition to appearing in previously mentioned situations, also be recruited by any superpower in any minor power territory for §3. Energy credits may also be freely donated to terrorists. Superpowers that choose to do either may also issue terrorist incitement orders in that turn. One terrorist incitement order may be issued per every three territories in which there exists at least one terrorist army, rounded up, with a minimum of one. Terrorist incitement orders are to be listed in order of priority. The following orders may be issued to terrorists:
tip: inciting terrorists is an excellent way of meddling in conflicts that are too far from your home territory for you to send regular military unitsRaid. All the terrorist armies of one specified territory attack the armies of one specified superpower in that region. Any refineries transferred to terrorists as a result of the battle are converted into more terrorists.
Transfer. Some number of terrorist armies in one specified territory, up to the half number of terrorist armies there are in that territory rounded up, moves to a different territory. In the destination territory and, if the destination and origin territories are not directly adjacent, in each territory in between passed through, there must already be present a number of terrorist armies not lower than the number being transferred.
Sleep. All the terrorist armies in one specified territory will hold and resist any other superpower attempting to incite them.
tip: remember that a high number of terrorist armies affect income of refineries in that territory; terrorists can thus be useful even if they are sleepingA fixed number of terrorist incitement orders, equal to the number issued by each inciting superpower, is distributed between the inciting superpowers in proportion to their relative contribution to the terrorist cause (a recruited terrorist army is equivalent to §1 in donations), and that number of orders from each superpower is executed. It will not be revealed which superpowers issued which incitement orders.