The Stormridge Times' live coverage of N-Day 9

[Picairn]

On this N-Day, I'm planning to do a Live News coverage of N-Day 9, documenting events and developments from my region TNP and its faction (edit: The Potato Alliance) in an IC news article format in the dispatch below. I'll also post in this thread, but there will be delays because I will prioritize the dispatch first, because it looks better in a dispatch and the forums use a different code set than the game.

Technically, it's not going to be 24/7, because I will be fucked if I don't get proper sleep, but I will try to document as many developments as I can.

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1937409

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THE STORMRIDGE TIMES

N-Day 9 Ended, KHAN and Potato Alliance Victorious


It's that time of the year again to nuke your neighbouring nations.
Source: Enes Morina/The Possibility Of Nuclear War In Europe

NATIONSTATES MULTIVERSE ─ N-Day 9 came to an end as the arms control treaty went into effect across the multiverse. KHAN and the Potato Alliance emerged as clear victors after their war against ANAL, Starlight Brigade and JEFF. Here's what to know:

• N-Day 9 Ended, KHAN and the Potato Alliance Victorious

• Potato and KHAN Attacked Starlight with 120,000 Nukes, TPA Wins Back Third Place

• HOTA Largely Finished, Potato and KHAN Against Starlight Brigade, JEFF and ANAL

• Fascist Solidarity Accord and the Hyperborean Horde Completely Annihilated

• Even More Nukes Are Being Aimed at HOTA

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Pre-Registration Started, Vault 41 Opened
Published at 9:45 AM UTC+7, September 28th, 2023

After the announcement of N-Day 9, pre-registration and the opening of Vault 41 - the global communication forum for national governments and factions - quickly followed suit. At the time of this writing, the biggest faction on the leaderboard is Kingly Heathens Asserting Neighborliness (KHAN) with 910 nations, including the regions of The West Pacific, The Pacific, Lone Wolves United, United Regions Alliance, and Augustin Alliance. Second on the board is the familiar Horsemen of the Apocalyse, the thrice champion of N-Day with 366 nations. They are followed by Anime Nations Against Liberals (ANAL), Funia, Potato Alliance, Jewonia (each with about 240 to 260 nations), and ~110 smaller factions. Who will stand triumphant in the end? Only time will tell.

In other news, the multiversal communication board for national governments, factions, and nuclear war survivors - commonly called Vault 41 - has been opened. This is the perfect place to post factional propaganda, news, minigames, and sour gripes about losing the nuclear war early.

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

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N-Day 9 Officially Announced
Published at 9:45 AM UTC+7, September 28th, 2023

The government of Chingis has delivered an announcement proclaiming the start of N-Day 9 on September 27th, 2023, the ninth now-biannual live exercise of thermonuclear war and mutually assured destruction (M.A.D) between nations, after the passing of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on September 26th. N-Day 9, which will commence on October 1st (Picairn's local time), marks the end of a 7-month truce since the aftermath of N-Day 8 in February 2023, and nations once more prepare themselves for the upcoming war of nuclear destruction. Our reporting teams stationed in the Empire and nations across the world have reported seeing national governments signing up for alliances (commonly called "factions"), the sudden halt of anti-nuclear protests, crowds of citizens marching into factories for nuclear arms production, and general public excitement about destroying their enemies, while feelings of weariness and fear of M.A.D have been reduced to a minimum. N-Day 9 is setting itself up to be another intense and thrilling event for nations to quickly dispense of their nuclear arsenals, fulfilling the lofty ideal of creating a nuclear-free world, in the good old-fashioned way: hurling warheads at their adversaries.

If you are new to this N-Day event, kindly consult Testlandia's dispatch for a comprehensive guide on navigating multiversal nuclear war.

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Picairn]

Added an image to set the theme.

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... solidation

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Registration Rising Steadily, Recruitment Campaigns Intensify
Published at 8:15 AM UTC+7, September 29th, 2023

45 hours before the start of N-Day 9, the number of registrations has steadily increased as more nations and their colonies (commonly referred to as "puppets") join their respective factions. At the time of this writing, Horsemen of the Apocalyse has usurped Kingly Heathens Asserting Neighborliness (KHAN) on the registration tally with over 2,100 nations, while the latter is trailing behind by ~300 nations. The Potato Alliance has reached third on the board, standing at about 1,000 nations. They are followed by Anime Nations Against Liberals (ANAL) (890 nations), Funia (633 nations), Jellyfish Elite Fighting Force (JEFF) (431 nations), Jewonia (278 nations), and about 360 smaller factions, an increase of about 250 compared to yesterday, although the vast majority of them are either empty or have a strength of 1.

Recruitment campaigns in Vault 41 are also ramping up as small factions intensify their search for more nations to join and bolster their chances of survival against the megafactions. In addition, a thread was created for music recommendations to listen to in the nuclear apocalypse. Try out the recommendation list as you watch your nuclear missiles flying up to the sky.

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... 7409#white

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White Nationalist Faction Condemned by Various Governments
Published at 9:18 AM UTC+7, September 29th, 2023

A small faction named The Hyperborean Horde with the official ideology of white nationalism was strongly condemned and criticized by numerous governments on Friday, when the founder of said faction, Jebtopia, started a recruitment campaign in Vault 41. Nations from KHAN, ANAL, Potato Alliance, and HOTA have stated that they will lobby their respective factions to put The Hyperborean Horde on their top target lists.

According to two Picairnian officials within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government has also petitioned the Potato Alliance through internal channels to place The Hyperborean Horde as one of the former's first targets to be destroyed on N-Day.

We at The Stormridge Times strongly denounce this faction as well as all promotions of white nationalism, and urge everyone else to unite together and nuke this evil alliance to oblivion.

— The Editorial Board

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... 409#puppet

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Inside the Puppet Arms Race
Published at 11:39 AM UTC+7, September 29th, 2023

As the registrations and preparations for nuclear war accelerate, we will now look into the recent history (and infamy) of N-Day's most reviled tactic: the mass acquisition of colonies (or "puppets") for additional production centres and launching sites of nuclear missiles and shields, colloquially known as "puppet flooding". The simple goal of these mass acquisitions by national governments is to help a faction accumulate larger stockpiles of nukes and shields through production in the colonies, then overwhelm all other smaller factions with sheer numbers. For example, a faction of 100 can not plausibly defend against thousands of nuclear missiles launched by a megafaction of 2,000 or more, and likewise, the former can not hope to even remotely damage the latter without taking down thousands of shields being deployed en masse.

Naturally, an arms race of puppet acquisition followed and only worsened in recent years. Using puppets has always been a feature of N-Day and an integral part of megafactions, but the practice was widely abused and criticized in the aftermath of past exercises. Horsemen of the Apocalypse (HOTA), the most infamous practitioner of this tactic, fought their way to victory in N-Day 4 by drowning other factions in tens of thousands of nuclear strikes. The Potato Alliance and other factions subsequently banded together and avenged their loss on N-Day 5 by nuking HOTA to ashes, but the latter learned their lesson and merged with CRAB on N-Day 6 to form Crabs of the Apocalypse (COTA) and steamroll the opposition. On that day, a mutual non-aggression pact between COTA and the Potato Alliance was agreed upon for 12 hours to focus on destroying everyone else, before TPA gave a termination notice halfway through the event knowing that the final showdown between the two was inevitable. Unfortunately for the alliance, TPA was completely annihilated following a heroic last stand.

HOTA once more climbed their way to the top on N-Day 7 and N-Day 8 using the same puppet flooding tactic. The Picairnian government and members of the Potato Alliance in particular still remember the nightmare of N-Day 8 in February 2023, when HOTA caught the faction by surprise early in the event while TPA was occupied with attacking ANAL, and TPA was unable to respond in equal numbers leading to its destruction.

Fresh from the trauma of HOTA's torrential waves of nuclear hellfire, numerous reforms were proposed by governments in the wake of this persistent abuse of puppets, such as restricting participation to World Assembly (WA) nations, placing a cap on a faction's membership, to calling for the World Assembly to devote technological assistance towards increasing its member-states' production by several times to curb the oversized influence of the colonies' excessive numbers. After much discussion, advanced formation of factions and pre-registration were adopted for N-Day 7, and the WA also accepted to give its member states a technological boost in production for this N-Day per Chingis's announcement. WA nations now can generate Production materials (measured in "points") at a rate of 10 points per 2 minutes, compared to non-WA nations at a much slower rate of 1 Production point per 2 minutes.

Will the reforms be enough to weaken the numerical strength of puppets? We shall see on this N-Day.

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... 409#united

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Two New Factions Formed, United Front Called to Combat White Nationalism
Published at 8:12 AM UTC+7, September 30th, 2023

Following the creation of a white nationalist faction, The Hyperborean Horde, and its founder's open promotion of white nationalism in advertisements and recruitment, two new factions were formed with the common goal of destroying this evil alliance and what it stands for: The Central Powers headed by Anarchic States, and the aptly named Anti-Hyperborea Action commanded by Theodorable. Both factions publicly describe themselves as follows:

Want to blow up white nationalists? ok join us

— Description of The Central Powers

We are a united front dedicated to- and solely dedicated to- the utter destruction of the white supremacist and white nationalist faction of The Hyperborean Horde.

We accept all members and all nations that stand in opposition to a blatantly racist and ethno-supremacist faction. Our goal is only, AND only, the destruction of this region. To any other faction out there; let it be known that we do not wish to attack you. Our focus is only on the annihilation of a racist faction this N-Day, nothing more.

The Hyperborean Horde and their leader have publically espoused genocidal and racial eugenicist views, such as calling for the starvation of all Africans. The blatant racism that these people espouse cannot go excused nor unpunished. It is the duty of all of NationStates to make it clear that all of NationStates will stand in opposition to the horrid views of this region.

Members of the Anti-Hyperborea Action region are only to attack the Hyperborean Horde and only the Hyperborean Horde. Do not launch nukes against other factions.

— Description of Anti-Hyperborea Action

Net Cas, leader and founder of The United Defense Force, has also requested a temporary alliance to "blow this The Hyperborean Horde faction of [sic] the map for their racist views". More governments have condemned The Hyperborean Horde and called for a united front to destroy this faction.

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Net Cas]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1937409#united

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Two New Factions Formed, United Front Called to Combat White Nationalism
Published at 8:12 AM UTC+7, September 30th, 2023

Following the creation of a white nationalist faction, The Hyperborean Horde, and its founder's open promotion of white nationalism in advertisements and recruitment, two new factions were formed with the common goal of destroying this evil alliance and what it stands for: The Central Powers headed by Anarchic States, and the aptly named Anti-Hyperborea Action commanded by Theodorable. Both factions publicly describe themselves as follows:

Want to blow up white nationalists? ok join us

— Description of The Central Powers

We are a united front dedicated to- and solely dedicated to- the utter destruction of the white supremacist and white nationalist faction of The Hyperborean Horde.

W post

We accept all members and all nations that stand in opposition to a blatantly racist and ethno-supremacist faction. Our goal is only, AND only, the destruction of this region. To any other faction out there; let it be known that we do not wish to attack you. Our focus is only on the annihilation of a racist faction this N-Day, nothing more.

The Hyperborean Horde and their leader have publically espoused genocidal and racial eugenicist views, such as calling for the starvation of all Africans. The blatant racism that these people espouse cannot go excused nor unpunished. It is the duty of all of NationStates to make it clear that all of NationStates will stand in opposition to the horrid views of this region.

Members of the Anti-Hyperborea Action region are only to attack the Hyperborean Horde and only the Hyperborean Horde. Do not launch nukes against other factions.

— Description of Anti-Hyperborea Action

Net Cas, leader and founder of The United Defense Force, has also requested a temporary alliance to "blow this The Hyperborean Horde faction of [sic] the map for their racist views". More governments have condemned The Hyperborean Horde and called for a united front to destroy this faction.

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Picairn]

A little bit of RP to spice things up before N-Day starts: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1938396. This is published as a separate article to avoid distracting from the main events in the live news coverage.

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... 7409#start

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N-Day 9 Has Begun
Published at 5:14 AM UTC+7, October 1st, 2023

It's official, folks: N-Day 9 has arrived. We wish all factions good luck and cheer for the victory of the Potato Alliance.

Just like previous N-Days, factions will largely scramble to accumulate nukes or shield at the start of the event before deploying them en masse, for maximum firepower or protection.

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... pradiation

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Fascist Solidarity Accord, Hyperborean Horde, and Horsemen of The Apocalypse Are Being Rapidly Destroyed by Everyone Else
Published at 7:18 AM UTC+7, October 1st, 2023

Fascist Solidarity Accord and Hyperborean Horde, the two most reviled factions on N-Day, are being extensively targeted and attacked by both major and minor factions. The latter climbed to the top in the scoreboard for a moment, which its leader Jebtopia briefly congratulated, before getting rapidly dragged down by nuclear destruction. Numerous nations have expressed their satisfaction at seeing the two evil alliances razed to the ground.

Horsemen of the Apocalypse is also not faring well, being heavily targeted and attacked by a coalition of Potato Alliance, KHAN and ANAL, plus a smattering of smaller factions. At the time of this writing, HOTA ranks first in Radiation with 55,423 points and a negative score of -40,282. Meanwhile, the Potato Alliance has seized the scoreboard's top spot, with ~23,000 points and 0 Radiation.

It appears that HOTA's outright rejection of alliances this N-Day is going to be a big mistake. Can they make a comeback from this?

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... tatovshota

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HOTA, Potato Alliance, KHAN, and ANAL Locked in Furious Fighting
Published at 8:00 AM UTC+7, October 1st, 2023

In response to the enormous number of nukes targeted at them (over 140,000), HOTA targeted Potato Alliance and ANAL in return with more than 40,000 nukes for each faction. Following an intense mutual nuclear exchange and rapid shield deployments, HOTA sunk much deeper into Radiation (~125,000 at the time of this writing), while TPA suffered about 9,300 Radiation points. ANAL remains unscathed, for now. KHAN was also targeted by HOTA and suffered slightly lower radiation than TPA (~9,000) after a huge wave of successful nuclear strikes (~20,000).

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

Edit: Added the situation of KHAN to the update.

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... anotherone

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Another Great Wave of Megafactions' Nuclear Exchange
Published at 9:05 AM UTC+7, October 1st, 2023

This just in: We have received reports of a second HOTA wave with about 20,000 nukes launched at the Potato Alliance. The strikes were devastating, many managed to bypass the Alliance's shield wall and further irradiated it by more than 30,000 points. TPA's Radiation score now sits at nearly 45,000 and knocked it down to sixth place, with the top spot now occupied by ANAL.

But that doesn't mean HOTA is anywhere near victorious. The faction is currently under attack with a gigantic amount of 160,000 nukes deployed by a grand coalition of TPA, KHAN, ANAL, and JEFF. 95,000 nukes have been launched at the time of this update.

Update: Potato Alliance now stands in fourth place on the scoreboard.

Update two: HOTA's Radiation score has climbed to 221,000. Will the faction break its N-Day 5's record of 821,000?

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... #grandwave

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Potato Alliance, JEFF, KHAN, and ANAL Target HOTA with 170,000 Nukes
Published at 10:32 AM UTC+7, October 1st, 2023

The megafactions' allied war against HOTA turned into a massacre as they aimed a staggering amount of 170,000 nukes at the faction. As of this update, HOTA's radiation score has exceeded 330,000, with its shield deployment of 25,000 out of 55,000 in stock largely ineffective. The event is shaping up to be a repeat of N-Day 5, when HOTA was also bombed by virtually everyone else.

HOTA's rejection of alliances has become a costly blunder for them, as many of their precious production centers and stockpiles in the colonies have been vaporized. According to Picairnian officials, the mood inside the Potato Alliance's war room is jubilant and there are rumours of taking down ANAL after this.

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... 7409#extra

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Even More Nukes Are Being Aimed at HOTA
Published at 11:12 AM UTC+7, October 1st, 2023

According to reports, the megafactions of Potato Alliance, JEFF, KHAN, and ANAL are once more deploying their nukes to finish HOTA off, now having exceeded 120,000 and counting. Almost half of HOTA is already irradiated but other factions are still determined to finish them off.

After calculating the additional waves of strikes likely necessary to destroy all of HOTA, we have decided to simply stop reporting in order to preserve our stamina and avoid clogging up the news with repetitive updates of what is essentially the same thing: the nuclear massacre of HOTA.

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... 9#fashbash

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Fascist Solidarity Accord and the Hyperborean Horde Completely Annihilated
Published at 11:31 AM UTC+7, October 1st, 2023

The Picairnian Strategic Forces Command has just published a statement announcing the utter destruction of N-Day 9's two most hated factions: Fascist Solidarity Accord and the Hyperborean Horde. Satellite images supplied to the Times confirm that all nations within FSA and the Hyperborean Horde are now nothing more than a vast radioactive wasteland. This momentous development serves as the highest achievement of a grand anti-fascist alliance between all other factions of the multiverse.

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... #starlight

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HOTA Largely Finished, Potato and KHAN Against Starlight Brigade, JEFF and ANAL
Published at 7:25 PM UTC+7, October 1st, 2023

14 hours into N-Day, HOTA is almost finished by a grand alliance of Potato Alliance, KHAN, and ANAL as the faction now sits at 717,000 Radiation and a staggering negative score of -637,000. This heavy defeat has disrupted HOTA's three-time winning streak and marks one of the Potato Alliance's greatest victories since N-Day 5. Cheers could be heard from across Picairnian cities and the Potato Alliance's war room as everyone celebrated the complete devastation of HOTA.

With HOTA little more than a radioactive wasteland, the Potato Alliance and KHAN turned around and fired their nukes at Starlight Brigade. ANAL immediately seized this opportunity to attack TPA with over 200,000 nukes, and the latter's Radiation score now stands at 83,000 knocking it down to third place. The euphoria of victory turns into an atmosphere of depression and finger-pointing as governments blamed the Potato Generals for this blunder and speculated that ANAL was waiting for this moment to spring their trap and come to Starlight's rescue when TPA turned on one of its allies. Meanwhile, KHAN has escaped unharmed and continues to occupy first place. JEFF has also joined in the fight on ANAL's side, targeting TPA with its own nukes.

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... 09#revenge

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Potato and KHAN Attacked Starlight with 120,000 Nukes, TPA Wins Back Third Place
Published at 9:10 PM UTC+7, October 1st, 2023

Breaking News: Potato Alliance and KHAN just launched 120,000 nukes at the Starlight Brigade, whose Radiation score has reached 51,000. ANAL attempted to assist the latter with shielding but was unable to stop a majority of the missiles from getting through.

Thanks to this massive strike, TPA has regained third place on the scoreboard.

— Zuzanna Fields, Gerard Spencer, and Shaun Callahan

[Socalist Republic Of Mercenaries]

OOC: Picarn pls convince some mega factions to donate us shields we are getting curb stomped

[Picairn]

OOC: Picarn pls convince some mega factions to donate us shields we are getting curb stomped

Bruh I'm not a Potato General, you should go to the Potato Discord and say that.

[Picairn]

IC: "The Stormridge Times' diligent reporters are currently exhausted after a long day of constant coverage. We will now take a rest until N-Day 9 ends and reports the aftermath. Thank you for your understanding."

[Picairn]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispa ... 09#victory

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N-Day 9 Ended, KHAN and the Potato Alliance Victorious
Published at 9:30 AM UTC+7, October 2nd, 2023

The dust has settled, and the TPA + KHAN alliance came out of the nuclear war triumphant as they occupy first and second place on the scoreboard, respectively. Despite the combined efforts of ANAL, Starlight Brigade and JEFF, they were unable to topple KHAN or TPA from their positions. ANAL in particular lost its coveted zero Radiation status in the fight against TPA and KHAN, having suffered 92,000 Radiation. Starlight Brigade was severely devastated and almost wiped out, as the faction received a massive Radiation score of 102,872 total or a rate of approximately 91% of nations blown to radioactive dust. JEFF escaped almost entirely unscathed with only a tiny score of 39 Radiation points.

On the other side, the Potato Alliance defended itself against the combined assault of ANAL, Starlight Brigade and JEFF relatively well, managing to topple ANAL from second place with counterattacks against the latter and destruction of the Starlight Brigade. KHAN was largely safe from the Potato-ANAL coalition war as it successfully blocked a relatively smaller amount of missiles from JEFF and ANAL, and came to TPA's aid for its great counteroffensives against the two opposing factions. At the end of N-Day 9, the Potato Alliance and KHAN successfully held onto their second and first place on the leaderboard, respectively, as the final winners.

Meanwhile, Horsemen of the Apocalypse, once a three-time champion of N-Day (four if you count COTA - their consolidation with CRAB on N-Day 6), has been reduced to an irradiated corpse, again. Smaller factions like RAILGUN and Motokata Defense Coalition took this chance to feast on whatever was left. We at the Stormridge Times were disappointed that the faction's final Radiation score (744,000) failed to break N-Day 5's record of 821,000, but nonetheless were delighted to see it ultimately nuked to oblivion, avenging the Potato Alliance's previous losses.

The final top 10 factions in points scored are:
1. Kingly Heathens Asserting Neighborliness (KHAN)
2. Potato Alliance (TPA)
3. Anime Nations Against Liberals (ANAL)
4. Jellyfish Elite Fighting Force (JEFF)
5. Starlight Brigade
6. The RainDrop Pact
7. Nova Arctic Republic
8. Northern Kerbalia
9. Funia
10. The Trident Alliance

— The Editorial Board

[Picairn]

IC: "This update also concludes our coverage of N-Day 9. Thank you to all who have read our updates and upvoted our newspaper. We strive to bring you timely news with utmost quality and care."

OOC: Well that was fun, but I'm also fucking tired and sleep-deprived. I'm going to take a long break and never gonna do this again.

[Fractalnavel]

IC: "This update also concludes our coverage of N-Day 9. Thank you to all who have read our updates and upvoted our newspaper. We strive to bring you timely news with utmost quality and care."

OOC: Well that was fun, but I'm also fucking tired and sleep-deprived. I'm going to take a long break and never gonna do this again.

Also OOC: Thank you very much for doing this, your efforts are appreciated!

[Picairn]

Also OOC: Thank you very much for doing this, your efforts are appreciated!

OOC: Thanks man, it always warms my heart to hear public approvals of my project.

[Picairn]

OOC: Following discussions with Rusrunia, they will now serve as the editor and publisher of TST news on the forums! (I'll still handle the dispatch). The Stormridge Times is back for the next N-Day, and Z-Day as well! Stay tuned!