The Pentagram Bloc (Any Tech, Alliance)

[The Rhythm Nation]

First off, welcome all new members. Second, I'd like to announce that Ted Nugent is now President-Elect in The Rhythm Nation. This won't change The Rhythm Nation's status as a Bloc member, as Mr. Nugent supports The Pentagram Bloc and wishes for The Rhythm Nation to remain involved in its activities, especially anti-slavery operations.

[Nyte]

Olwe, what's the status of my application? Just wanted to know.

You and Stormwrath are both approved. Just had to wait a couple days to make sure nobody raised an objection... applications are pretty informal here, but everyone's given a chance to weigh in first and the lack of posting in relation to your app was itself a form of weighing in as it means no one's got a problem with you.

BTW, Cannidarsa just ran an interesting idea by me in our ongoing TG discussion... he pointed out that we've made quite a few enemies in the past, and will likely make more enemies in the future, and should probably have a contingency plan in place in case someone tries to retaliate against us. So I want you all to feel free to make suggestions, either for your own tech level or on a more general scale, about what kinds of defensive preparations we should make as a group.

For FanT, I would suggest very strong ties to the land... instead of just homefield advantage, make the homefield an actual RP character with the ability to deal massive damage to an invading force. Olweans accomplish this quite easily through green magic. Holding military forces in reserve to defend the homeland is also an obvious one that works in every tech level.

I've always preferred the "onion" defense; by which I mean a defensive network made up of concentric layers that become more potent and condensed the further in you go. This works best for FT nations IMO. I'll list my own "onion" defense as an example.

Layer 1: Deep space sensors, telescopes, and beacons for long range detection/early warning of incoming space craft, asteroids, meteorites, eldritch abominations, etc.

Layer 2: Smart, AI operated minefields with support from unmanned kill-sats to function as an area denial speed bump intended to slow an enemy down. FTLi are also included in this layer of defense.

Layer 3: Orbital defense stations, weapon platforms, and defensive fleets which function as an active defense against hostiles. Fleets of ships can also patrol territory in your space where they can do everything from escort merchant convoys, hunting pirates/raiders, attacking enemy supply lines, performing general harassment attacks against an approaching enemy, to full-on engaging said enemy in massed open battles.

Layer 4: Ground based defenses such as anti-orbit weapon batteries, military bases, water-based naval units, fortresses, missile batteries, airbases, etc. Having at least some of these defenses have some form of mobility can make them less susceptible to orbital bombardment as well.

Layer 5: Ground and air-based military units to fend of an invading force. Training these assets in guerilla warfare tactics, and making extensive preparations for fighting such a war is extremely important here. Hiding caches of weapons, ammo, food, water, medical supplies, and spare parts in concealed locations can make this task far less difficult.

Layer 6: The people... If behind every blade of grass is a man with a gun and the will to use it, and if your enemies are aware of this fact and are not totally insane and/or willing to soak up massive casualties they may likely think twice before launching an attack.

Layer 7: Psychological warfare... Fear can be a powerful weapon when used properly.

[Otulia]

First off, welcome all new members. Second, I'd like to announce that Ted Nugent is now President-Elect in The Rhythm Nation. This won't change The Rhythm Nation's status as a Bloc member, as Mr. Nugent supports The Pentagram Bloc and wishes for The Rhythm Nation to remain involved in its activities, especially anti-slavery operations.

Um... is this Ted Nugent different from other Ted Nujent's, or is this the guy who called Hillary Clinton a "damn bitch"? Just curious, since your President-elect is very extremist RL-wise...

[The Rhythm Nation]

First off, welcome all new members. Second, I'd like to announce that Ted Nugent is now President-Elect in The Rhythm Nation. This won't change The Rhythm Nation's status as a Bloc member, as Mr. Nugent supports The Pentagram Bloc and wishes for The Rhythm Nation to remain involved in its activities, especially anti-slavery operations.

Um... is this Ted Nugent different from other Ted Nujent's, or is this the guy who called Hillary Clinton a "damn bitch"? Just curious, since your President-elect is very extremist RL-wise...

It's a slightly tamer version, though still pretty batshit on the gun issue. I'm RPing this one as an actual Libertarian instead of just a Libertarian on certain issues though, so he disagrees with the RL Ted Nugent on gay marriage, abortion, marijuana legalization... the list goes on and on.

And the RL one's kinda got a point about Hillary "The Queen of Fracking" Clinton... she's the worst presidential candidate for the environment since George W. Bush!

[Otulia]

Really? I like her, though I'd prefer Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Unfortunately, Murica's too right-wing to stomach them.

Though I'm glad that your Ted Nugent is slightly better.

[United Russian Soviet States]

Really? I like her, though I'd prefer Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Unfortunately, Murica's too right-wing to stomach them.

Though I'm glad that your Ted Nugent is slightly better.

Bernie Sanders is a socialist. Socialism is evil.

[Otulia]

Bernie Sanders is a socialist. Socialism is evil.

Not really. The people who tried to put it into practice in some countries were evil. Socialism is an excellent middleground ideology, and many nations have succeeded using democratic socialism as a model of government. That aside, I can say the same thing about capitalism, and it wouldn't get us anywhere.

[Olwe]

Bernie Sanders is a socialist. Socialism is evil.

Not really. The people who tried to put it into practice in some countries were evil. Socialism is an excellent middleground ideology, and many nations have succeeded using democratic socialism as a model of government. That aside, I can say the same thing about capitalism, and it wouldn't get us anywhere.

Well said, Otulia. I'd like to keep debates out of this thread if at all possible... either take it to telegrams, or take it to NSG, but this isn't the proper forum for it and will only serve to destabilize our alliance.

[Zuni]

BTW, if anyone has any ideas what our group should be doing (threads in II to get involved in, things like that), don't be shy about speaking up... we have a reputation for just bouncing ideas off each other here.

Come to think of it, you mentioned II... do we have anyone actively monitoring that forum for threads we need to be aware of at the moment? Because as I understand it -- although I know your schedule won't allow that anymore, and mine's kind of cattywampus at the moment too -- that used to be your role within this group, Olwe... to watchdog II and make sure the rest of the Bloc knew who to invade next. So if anyone wants to volunteer to take over that duty, it'd really help our group out in the quest to get more active again.

Also -- Nyte, I like that onion thing, I'm gonna implement one of my own if you don't mind, but I think Olwe was talking about more group tactics than individual-nation ones... like combining our forces into a single, I don't know, Pentagram Corps. If you're not crazy about the name that's fine, but I think with a little cooperation we could implement something like that on multiple tech levels simultaneously. And Zuni's tech level makes Elayne Kramer look inflexible, so I could involve myself on every tech level.

[Wisconsin9]

BTW, if anyone has any ideas what our group should be doing (threads in II to get involved in, things like that), don't be shy about speaking up... we have a reputation for just bouncing ideas off each other here.

Come to think of it, you mentioned II... do we have anyone actively monitoring that forum for threads we need to be aware of at the moment? Because as I understand it -- although I know your schedule won't allow that anymore, and mine's kind of cattywampus at the moment too -- that used to be your role within this group, Olwe... to watchdog II and make sure the rest of the Bloc knew who to invade next. So if anyone wants to volunteer to take over that duty, it'd really help our group out in the quest to get more active again.

Also -- Nyte, I like that onion thing, I'm gonna implement one of my own if you don't mind, but I think Olwe was talking about more group tactics than individual-nation ones... like combining our forces into a single, I don't know, Pentagram Corps. If you're not crazy about the name that's fine, but I think with a little cooperation we could implement something like that on multiple tech levels simultaneously. And Zuni's tech level makes Elayne Kramer look inflexible, so I could involve myself on every tech level.

If we do do some mutual defense thing, then we'll probably need to focus on mobility. Maybe every nation maintains two general forces. If a member's invaded, they use a smaller force with heavy armor and big guns to delay the enemy, giving the other members time to mobilize their own, more offensive forces, which should probably focus on being able to move quickly to where they're needed.

[United Russian Soviet States]

We are against a mutual defense pact. We don't want to get involved in foreign conflicts.

[Olwe]

We are against a mutual defense pact. We don't want to get involved in foreign conflicts.

Um... did you read the description of the group?

[United Russian Soviet States]

We are against a mutual defense pact. We don't want to get involved in foreign conflicts.

Um... did you read the description of the group?

I read it.

[Wisconsin9]

Um... did you read the description of the group?

I read it.

Then you understand that this is a military alliance that exists to get involved in foreign conflicts that probably have nothing to do with us?

[United Russian Soviet States]

I read it.

Then you understand that this is a military alliance that exists to get involved in foreign conflicts that probably have nothing to do with us?

This is an alliance of nations that are anti-religion and pro-occult.

[Wisconsin9]

Then you understand that this is a military alliance that exists to get involved in foreign conflicts that probably have nothing to do with us?

This is an alliance of nations that are anti-religion and pro-occult.

Which will make it some enemies. The Bloc won't be effective if each member is too busy fighting on their own beaches to contribute to the cause, which again involves picking fights we could easily avoid.

[Olwe]

Then you understand that this is a military alliance that exists to get involved in foreign conflicts that probably have nothing to do with us?

This is an alliance of nations that are anti-religion and pro-occult.

Um... no. This alliance exists to utterly crush slavery, repression of LGBTs and persecution of nonhumans, among other things... being anti-religion or pro-occult aren't prerequisites for joining, and aren't really what we're about either.

[United Russian Soviet States]

This is an alliance of nations that are anti-religion and pro-occult.

Um... no. This alliance exists to utterly crush slavery, repression of LGBTs and persecution of nonhumans, among other things... being anti-religion or pro-occult aren't prerequisites for joining, and aren't really what we're about either.

The URSS agrees with the agenda of the alliance.

[Wisconsin9]

Um... no. This alliance exists to utterly crush slavery, repression of LGBTs and persecution of nonhumans, among other things... being anti-religion or pro-occult aren't prerequisites for joining, and aren't really what we're about either.

The URSS agrees with the agenda of the alliance.

And understands that it will still require military intervention in foreign nations?

[Olwe]

Um... no. This alliance exists to utterly crush slavery, repression of LGBTs and persecution of nonhumans, among other things... being anti-religion or pro-occult aren't prerequisites for joining, and aren't really what we're about either.

The URSS agrees with the agenda of the alliance.

Okay, good. Wouldn't want to lose you as a member. But we are a heavily interventionist group, so just so you're aware of that.

Also, I added an explanation of the word "Pentagram" in our name to the OP so that nobody else assumes facts not in evidence about it... although it's true that some of the nations in this group, including my own, could be described as anti-religion and pro-occult, it's not true of all the nations here.

[United Russian Soviet States]

The URSS agrees with the agenda of the alliance.

And understands that it will still require military intervention in foreign nations?

We refuse to participate unless it is to protect Arendelle 1 or against Rumplestiltskin.

[Wisconsin9]

And understands that it will still require military intervention in foreign nations?

We refuse to participate unless it is to protect Arendelle 1 or against Rumplestiltskin.

I'm thinking that this alliance probably isn't for you.

[Olwe]

And understands that it will still require military intervention in foreign nations?

We refuse to participate unless it is to protect Arendelle 1 or against Rumplestiltskin.

You can stay on with observer status, but in order to be a full member you kind of have to participate.

Is Arendelle in any danger at the moment? Because that's certainly the sort of nation Olwe would defend. Rumpelstiltskin is certainly no friend of ours either.

[United Russian Soviet States]

We refuse to participate unless it is to protect Arendelle 1 or against Rumplestiltskin.

You can stay on with observer status, but in order to be a full member you kind of have to participate.

Is Arendelle in any danger at the moment? Because that's certainly the sort of nation Olwe would defend. Rumpelstiltskin is certainly no friend of ours either.

We want to hold a summit with Arendelle. We don't know if they are in any danger.

[Wisconsin9]

Just so you guys know, I'm planning a rewrite at some point in the near future. Not sure how much it'll affect involvement in the Bloc, but I thought I should give a heads up.