A Modern World (AMW) Applications Center

[Kyr Shorn]

At the moment even though I'm writing up a lot for the FIS, I have a half-cooked claim in America that's going to be a post-Communist mess of a state, and I think Anahuac isn't doing particularly well either. I can't fault you for the application, but I would wonder if it gets a bit awkward with two claims which border each other and nothing else but Dragonland

I guess it could work; after all, Beeg did something similar with his history of Beddgelert vs. Tsagia, and if you're committed enough I think it would be a great opportunity to roleplay a situation as large and as complex as that of real-life Central Africa and get other players involved, but I worry that the size and depth of these claims, as well as the similar locations, would perhaps lend itself to boredom.

I won't judge though, and as always I'd love to get involved if you need any help! I'm sure the Samartians would love to fight alongside their Communist brothers against heathen tribes, and have the FIS test its power whilst doing so.

Well there is still that small bit of land between Nibelunc and Valendia that isn't claimed yet, if anyone wants to run a Lichtenstein type tax haven state then that option's still open.

[Chemaki]

Already tried that, but I couldn't get imagine a nation surviving between those two empires, so I scrapped the idea. I think Chrin's taking the place under his wing now. Not to mention the claim itself is weird, with half of it rugged mountains and half of it flat as a pancake.

[Iansisle]

What happened to all those prospective North American nations? Are they still interested?

[Chrinthanium]

They both CTE'd.

[Iansisle]

Bummer.

[Chrinthanium]

Bummer.

Not knowing the reasons for their CTEing (be it modly DEATing or expiration), both were created on June 13, 2014. I would suspect that, from my vantage point, they were part of the summer NS crowd that we get every year. Either that, or they were puppets of someone else who has decided against joining AMW.

[Cassanos]

Already tried that, but I couldn't get imagine a nation surviving between those two empires, so I scrapped the idea. I think Chrin's taking the place under his wing now. Not to mention the claim itself is weird, with half of it rugged mountains and half of it flat as a pancake.

Well, Switzerland is similar to that, both historically and geographically (the west is not as mountainous, at least). Besides, Nibelunc wasn't really into empire-building, having only existed as a confederacy for some 150 years or so.

[Chrinthanium]

Already tried that, but I couldn't get imagine a nation surviving between those two empires, so I scrapped the idea. I think Chrin's taking the place under his wing now. Not to mention the claim itself is weird, with half of it rugged mountains and half of it flat as a pancake.

Well, Switzerland is similar to that, both historically and geographically (the west is not as mountainous, at least). Besides, Nibelunc wasn't really into empire-building, having only existed as a confederacy for some 150 years or so.

Have you ever seen the geography of Italy and Spain? There's mountains all over the place, active volcanoes in Sicily, the Alps in the north of Italy, and the hills and valleys of Iberia. Thank the universe we have the Po Valley.

The Romans are into empire building. In fact, we're the longest-continuing empire in AMW. We even are older than the Byzantines because they're an offshoot of us.

[Chrinthanium]

So in light of the current emptiness of Africa at the moment, and the lack of real failed or about to fail states in AMW, I would like to tenatively propose a smaller secondary claim in order fufill this role, something I intend to to rp a crisis out of that could also see participation by other players

The Kingdom of Ngundaland
Capital: Kigali
Geography: Rwanda, Burundi, Kigoma and Kigerna province of Tanzania

History:

The region that would eventually become modern day Ngundand was originally inhabited by a number of different Pygmy tribes, until their displacement by the migrations of the Bandombo peoples from the West during the early 1st millennium ad. The Badambo brought with them metal working skills and advanced agriculture, soon developing in to more complex village based societies so that by the 5 th century the Legendary Kitarra empire had arisen to cover all of modern day Ngundaland as well as much of the Eastern Congo. It was from this ancient kingdom that the two biggest ethnic groups of Ngundaland would emerge, the Tutela and Hutala. The Kingdom would become famed for it's arts and crafts and would remain the most advanced power in the region till the arrival of Muslim Traders.

The Kingdom refused to accept Islam and took violent measures to expel all missionaries and converts, resulting in a series of wars that saw the Kingdom weakened. This saw th area of Ngundaland largely break free of Kitara control and instead disintegrate into a series of squabbling Kingdoms. The region would remain that way for centuries, with migrations from both the East and West changing the population and political landscape many times.

The change came in the early 19th century when the kingdoms were forcibly united under the banner of King Ngunda the I. His son, Ngunda the II would come to be confronted with a new issue of Europeans who were rapidly expanding closer to the Kingdom from both the East and West. However, Ngunda the II was able to play off the competing Tsags, Tulgars and Byzantines, even if it meant sacrificing a great deal of National sovereignty to competing European corporations in terms of trade concessions and leasing land. It meant that Ngunda the II was able to preserve at least de jure independence, his Kingdom officially recognised in the West as Ngundaland.

The coming of the Geletians threatened to upset this balance with their drastically superior military power, although the great war promptly removed this threat.Ngundaland continued to pursue friendly relations with both the Tugarians and Byzantines, and following the decolonisation of both it's neighbours, constitutional reform in Ngundaland in the 1960s removed many of the foreign concessions. The Conservative absolute monarchy enjoyed a Golden Age in the 1960s and 70s, which came to an end with the winds casing regime change in it's neighbours While a Constitutional monarchy war adopted in the mid 1980s, very little changed politcally and now the country was forced to play off it's two more powerful neighbours against each other. The present day Ngundaland remains one of the poorest, most backwards states in the world, with the internal unrest reaching a boiling point that could rapidly descend to civil war.

POLITICS

Officially the Kingdom of Ngundaland is a constitutional Monarchy, with the current reigning monarch, Ngunda the V wielding virtually no power over the course of government as per the constitution. However, the powerful patronage system that operate in the government ensures that the Kings power is absolute. All major positions of government are held by close relatives or allies of the royal family, nearly all of them Tutela aristocrats, as is the military high command. Although two official opposition parties exist, both effectively operate as a controlled opposition and have virtually no chance of posing a signifcant threat to the current status quo In return for loyalty to the King, politicians are rewarded with generous loans and grants from the Royally controlled central bank for projects that lead straight to their personal bank accounts.

The stagnating political scene has lead to the creation of the outlawed United Opposition Front for Politcal Reform (UOFPR), a broad umbrella organisation to house many politically minded activists of differing views, but united in their opposition to the current regime and the adoption of multi-Party democracy. Due to generous Congolese funding and resources, the African Socialist Revolutionaries faction of the UOFPR remains the strongest faction, although it as thus far resisted Congolese pushes for increased militant action.

Another major Political organisation is the Tutela Liberation Front, a Nationalist para military organisation that was unofficially endorsed by the Monarchy to fight a guerrilla war in the Eastern Congo. The TLF maintain several training bases in Ngundaland and also serve to quash dissent against the King, although the increasing popularity of the TLF has caused concern amongst the Government.

ECONOMY

Ngundaland remains one of the poorest countries in the world thanks to endemic corruption. Virtually all of the states economy is controlled by a number of state companies that are often poorly run and serve as personal revenues for those who control them, usually members of the royal family, who in turn employ their own friends and family. The Central bank is routinely plundered by members of government. The economy of Ngundaland consists mostly of agriculture with the export of cash crops such as Bananas, Coffee, Cocoa and tea, while a smaller mining sector exists for limited reserves of minerls such as platinum, copper and cobalt.

Although the economy remains tightly controlled by the ruling elite, it still remains highly open to foreign investment as many wealthy businessmen are able to buy shares into the state run companies or bribe government officials to grant development permits. This has lead to a growth in the service sector with the creation of many foreign owned hotels, casinos and brothels, as well as a growing population of wealthy expatriates taking up residence in the state.

CULTURE

Ngundaland is a highly diverse country with a plurality of ethnic groups that often have more in common with tribes living across the border in neighbouring countries then each other. The Largest groups being the Tutela and Hutala, once considered virtually interchangeable with one another but now strictly segregated, with exceptions.

The Tutela remain the overall dominant group of the state, controlling all major positions of government, military and economy. While members of other ethnic groups are able to buy their way into a particular Tutela tribe, this rarely happens due to the relative poverty of most of the population. It is also not unknown for foreigners being able to buy themselves membership as well.

In terms of religion, the Local Tutela pantheon remains the official state sanctioned religion of the state, with other local ethnic deviations also being tolerated. Religions such as Islam and Christianity remain small amongst the the local population due to the heavy discrimination by the Monarchy.

MILITARY

The Ngundaland military remains highly underfunded and backwards, as most of the military is forced to serve with very outdated weaponry and often sub par military equipment. The exception to this of course being those military regiments that are favoured by the King, which are lavishly spoiled with top notch military gear. This is especially true for the King's Royal guard, made up exclusively from the monarchs own clan. As the officer corps is made up entirely of wealthy Ngundalanders, many commanders also secure separate weapons deals to arm their own regiments, leading to virtually no standard equipment amongst the army. Ngundaland also maintains a large foreign legion made up of military contractors from all over the world, due to the belief that foreigners would only be loyal to their payroll, that is the King.

The TLF also exists as powerful as a powerful military force in the country, as does the UOPFR, which often leads to sporadic fighting and violence as both the military and the TLF seek to push out the UOPFR. However, the continuing growth of the TLF which is bolstered by more recruits and weapons, as well as growing influence in the military, had lead to a growing gulf that may see conflict between the two groups.

I think I'm curious about how the two nations will interact if they're in such a close proximity. Obviously, there will be interaction.

[United Kongo]

@Chemaki, well Ideally of course I would prefer it if was not just Dragonland surrounding the two, but generally as I have seen in NS as a whole, Africa rarely tends to fill up, however I did choose the region also because it places the country near Walmington as well. I've basically set the stage for the state to collapse into civil war quickly with other players able to get involved in a number of ways, whether through Mercenaries, volunteer forces (Sarmartian communists welcomed) or Corporate/state sponsorship of factions.

@Chrin, I was planning on Congo mainly playing the role as a sponsor of rebel groups, sending money, Guns and volunteers as opposed to direct involvement and trying to influence events like this, but not cutting out involvement by other players. Also as a lot of modern Africa consists of ethnicitys that a spread across multiple states, I've tried to mimic this this with cross border demographics between Congo and Ngundaland, and maybe Nilosahara as well if Walm likes, to add another dimension of interaction

If people are concerned about the proximity of my second claim in relation to Congo, I might instead change the location of the claim to somewhere else such as Eritrea or somewhere else in the world....

[Chrinthanium]

@Chemaki, well Ideally of course I would prefer it if was not just Dragonland surrounding the two, but generally as I have seen in NS as a whole, Africa rarely tends to fill up, however I did choose the region also because it places the country near Walmington as well. I've basically set the stage for the state to collapse into civil war quickly with other players able to get involved in a number of ways, whether through Mercenaries, volunteer forces (Sarmartian communists welcomed) or Corporate/state sponsorship of factions.

@Chrin, I was planning on Congo mainly playing the role as a sponsor of rebel groups, sending money, Guns and volunteers as opposed to direct involvement and trying to influence events like this, but not cutting out involvement by other players. Also as a lot of modern Africa consists of ethnicitys that a spread across multiple states, I've tried to mimic this this with cross border demographics between Congo and Ngundaland, and maybe Nilosahara as well if Walm likes, to add another dimension of interaction

If people are concerned about the proximity of my second claim in relation to Congo, I might instead change the location of the claim to somewhere else such as Eritrea or somewhere else in the world....

I am not concerned, since it is you playing it. I was just curious. I know, at least as far as my two claims goes, I tend to leave the two to their own fates without too much interaction between them.

[Kyr Shorn]

Well it's interesting, but I wouldn't do a second claim myself. It'd get too confusing.

Oh, and the reason I haven't done much is because I've got a summer cold and worked a bunch of overtime this week, so I've exhausted.

[Nova Gaul]

...snip...

If people are concerned about the proximity of my second claim in relation to Congo, I might instead change the location of the claim to somewhere else such as Eritrea or somewhere else in the world....

Why not a part of China? Getting lonely over here.

[United Kongo]

...snip...

If people are concerned about the proximity of my second claim in relation to Congo, I might instead change the location of the claim to somewhere else such as Eritrea or somewhere else in the world....

Why not a part of China? Getting lonely over here.

China might be a bit dense for second claim, but maybe a part of asia.....

[Chrinthanium]

...snip...

If people are concerned about the proximity of my second claim in relation to Congo, I might instead change the location of the claim to somewhere else such as Eritrea or somewhere else in the world....

Why not a part of China? Getting lonely over here.

I'm still on that side of the world. Of course, it's winter time down in Chrinthanium and the Chrinthani get seasonal depression in the winter.

[Beddgelert]

Right, it's about that time, again.

I've mentioned this before, on IRC at least, and maybe on these forums, but I don't think Tulgary is going to work out. Scandinavia is definitely cursed. I haven't wanted to drop it and leave TCB in the lurch, but I'm not sure that's the right reason to keep a nation around.

I was thinking that Gandvik could just take the Belgian weapons that EP kindly let Tulgary claim, if it has need of them, and we'll just have to hope that whoever comes along to take Sweden and Norway is okay with Hibernordia having poached half the local arsenal, and work something out when we get there.

I'm mulling the creation of a new (smaller) secondary claim that may be a little more original than a conservative Catholic European duchy. In fact, I may base it on an old non-AMW nation that once existed to squabble with a WoS spin-off nation, though I think that was derailed by me buggering off to Australia in the middle of things.

What is the state of play in the South Pacific, now? All the wrangling over islands between Japan, America, Chrinthanium, and Rome, and NG's recent decision that Japan wasn't involved in the Great War possibly changing things further, I'm a bit lost.

But what I'm thinking of is a little empire based in Fiji, incorporating many surrounding islands. Wallis and Futuna, Tonga, Niue, American Samoa, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and possibly Temotu province of the Solomon Islands, the Cook Islands were my first thoughts, though I'm sure Tonga and American Samoa were at least discussed as possibly tied to America at one point so I'm not 100% on where we stand.

Broadly speaking, the nation would be mixed European and Polynesian, an imperial principality under a white dynasty descended from early settlers who may have arrived via shipwreck, mutiny, private expedition or other such opportunism, or indeed may have been pirates. I'm quite keen on the idea that some of the first to arrive may have been aboard a Shieldian merchant ship... I know the Shield isn't a big force on the high seas, but I assume some citizens still took sail in pursuit of fortune, and the fact that there was no major Shieldian navy to follow up when some went rogue probably works in my favour, while the likes of the Royal Navy would be hesitant to deal roughly with Shieldian subjects due to the importance of trade and military relations in Eastern Europe.

No doubt the early settlers would be followed up by more opportunists, likely some from Chrinthania (and perhaps some being Tassies?) as well as dissenters from Roman and American colonies, and passing Britons and possibly Valendians. They'd build up a little pirate empire, and it seems likely that at some point they'd have come into conflict with the Japanese empire as it stretched out into the Pacific islands.

However, today the nation would be facing economic collapse and political upheaval, and the up-coming republican faction would, somewhat ironically, view the Japanese in a more positive light and as potential allies.

The combined population of all the territories I've mentioned would be just over 1.65 million, majority European with large Polynesian and mixed-race minorities. The rest of the Solomons and some islands of New Guinea are possible additions, potentially bringing the population up to a little under 3.5 million, I think, but I'm even less sure about going that far.

Early thoughts at this stage, not sure what I'm doing.

[Chrinthanium]

Looks good to me.

[Nova Gaul]

Looks great to me too BG, and personally I think the rest of the Solomons would be a good fit to the nation. Personally again I see nothing wrong with claiming more islands about New Guinea, as it still leaves you with a small territory and would make the nation more interesting and diverse.

I think as you point out that Japan and the Pirate Empire may have come into conflict when Japan annexed the Kiribati/Marshall (aka Natsumeku) Islands in the late C19th. The details of it, such as the scale of the conflict, I'll leave to you.

Seems as though the Pacific is getting a lot of love these days.

[Chrinthanium]

It should also be pointed out, as per a post in the Discussion Thread, that French Polynesia is dragonland again, so there's another avenue for expansion if you wish. Have some Chrinthani, and those rebellious Tasmanian troublemakers, Beeg.

[Beddgelert]

Hm, over 3.7 million people scattered over forty bajillion square kilometres, then? That could... sort of work. Russia of the sunny south!

I could see the nation annexing the Marshall Islands etc. and from there launching attacks on Japanese merchants, leading to a war in which Japan conquers those islands it now holds, if that's any use. Failure to push further and conquer the whole pirate empire due to not knowing where the hell anything is, and where these cutters and outriggers keep turning up from and running off to, and maybe due to other powers not wanting to see Japan gain too much (and maybe better to let the little pirate empire subsist than have a massive war between great powers just for the victor to end up with a lot of coral and sandbanks).

[Chrinthanium]

So, I suppose that I should actually post there here for yeas and nays.

The Roman Empire Expansion

• Additions to the Empire
  
  • Guatemala (population: 14,647,083)
  • El Salvador (population: 6,125,512)
  • Belize (population: 340,844)
  • Mexican states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Yucatan (Combined population: 6,643,432)
  • Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte (population: 3,228,198)

Total additional population: 30,985,069

• Subtractions from the Empire
  
  • The Bahamas (population: 319,031)
  • Turks and Caicos (population: 31,458)
  • French Polynesia (population: 268,270)
  • Reunion (population: 840,974)
  • British Indian Ocean Territory (population: around 3,000)
  • Mauritius (population: 1,259,838)
  • Seychelles (population: 89,173)
  • Austria, south of the Danube sans Burgenland (population: 6,989,027)
  • Bavaria, south of the Danube (population: 6,689,729)
  • Liechtenstein (population: 36,281)
  • Canary Islands (population: 2,117,519)

Total reduction in population: 18,644,300

Net population: + 12,340,769

Total Roman population after additions/subtractions: 136,186,854

GDP concerns: GDP per capita would be reduced to retain current level of GDP (2.736 trillion).

EP did bring up a point on the discussion thread about me retaining Austria, Bavaria, and Liechtenstein to prevent a Eurohole that "might never be filled", but that would put Roman population around 153 million.

[Jatriqya and Hoya]

I suppose I will join the group in requesting a slight change in claim. As I was telling BG and Chrin over IRC, I've become increasingly frustrated with the hole that is Cyprus on the map. It was left when AMW did not have pleasure in huge nations and I became the largest, and since then was claimed for about a hot second once. I have a few different alternatives to this situation that I have been thinking of.

The first, and probably the simplest, would be for an annexation of the island. That would lead to an increase in population of 1.1 million and a really modest increase in GDP of about 23 billion.

The second would be that the ERE would control the Northern half, with, presumably, Greeks, and someone else could claim the bottom half and put whatever they wanted in the bottom with a third power running the sovereign base areas.

Or, the same, but instead of involving a third power, one base could go to the north and the other to the south.

Let me know what you guys think, if you have any suggestions or alternative solutions, or objections to Cyprus become a part of the ERE.

[Chrinthanium]

I suppose I will join the group in requesting a slight change in claim. As I was telling BG and Chrin over IRC, I've become increasingly frustrated with the hole that is Cyprus on the map. It was left when AMW did not have pleasure in huge nations and I became the largest, and since then was claimed for about a hot second once. I have a few different alternatives to this situation that I have been thinking of.

The first, and probably the simplest, would be for an annexation of the island. That would lead to an increase in population of 1.1 million and a really modest increase in GDP of about 23 billion.

The second would be that the ERE would control the Northern half, with, presumably, Greeks, and someone else could claim the bottom half and put whatever they wanted in the bottom with a third power running the sovereign base areas.

Or, the same, but instead of involving a third power, one base could go to the north and the other to the south.

Let me know what you guys think, if you have any suggestions or alternative solutions, or objections to Cyprus become a part of the ERE.

I think it makes sense, geographically. And 1.1 million isn't that much to add. So, I have no problem with that.

[Walmington on Sea]

I very much like the idea of having Britain's sovereign base areas in Cyprus, as the Empire lacks a presence in the eastern Med, but justifying it would be a challenge. My first thought was that Cyprus may have been invaded/settled by Arabs fleeing AMW's more-successful Crusades, before a Greek counter-invasion re-took part of the island and provoked/excused British intervention leading to the creation of bases... but then the Arab part of the island wouldn't have anyone playing it, so that's no good.

Might just have to go with, "Well, no one's applied for Cyprus in years, just take it!"

Alternately, Constantinople could maybe have issued a long-term lease of the base areas to Britain for use by the RN/RAF during the Great War in return for our support in both combat and supply while Byzantium was facing invasion on two fronts.

Anyway, I'm not feeling inclined to oppose the minor expansion, simply because it seems unlikely to matter very much.

[Iansisle]

Since Ferkas isn't here, I'd just like to go on record as opposing everyone's changes and expansions.