Start style

[KWorld]

Let's not worry TOO much about the maps, those can be adjusted to fit what we need (just like we did for the last run, where France got African claims beyond it's wildest dreams :) ).

1880 and earlier ships, again, run into the problem that for ocean-going, long range vessels, you're looking at sail & steam.  Sure, for coastal vessels, you can go steam only, but not for long-range vessels.

[Jefgte]

Looking @ the 1890 maps, there are not much differences with 1880.
We could start in 1890.
SS 1885-86-87-88-89 to have earlier turrets ships without masts & sails.

Jef

[KWorld]

Looking @ the 1890 maps, there are not much differences with 1880.
We could start in 1890.
SS 1885-86-87-88-89 to have earlier turrets ships without masts & sails.

Jef

I'm not overly concerned with the period maps, because until we know whether we're looking at a balanced or a semi-historical start, we have no idea how many colonies apply anyway.

Also, if we want to have competition and possibly fighting over colonies, won't that be better served by unclaimed colonies rather than ones that have already gotten 1 flag planted on them?  Certainly wars were fought over colonies, but historically that was more a feature of the 17th and 18th centuries than the 19th and 20th.

[KWorld]

Looking @ the 1890 maps, there are not much differences with 1880.
We could start in 1890.
SS 1885-86-87-88-89 to have earlier turrets ships without masts & sails.

Jef

A quote from another thread:

So, KW, Did you fix the restart date?

:)

Hey, who made me dictator?  :)


I'd lean towards 1900, for a couple reasons:

1 - We've already got ships for that period, so restarting would be relatively straightforward.
2 - By 1900, the technological changes that kept up-ending ship designs from 1880-1895 had started to settle down.

[Walter]

That post of yours tells me two things:
1 - You'll be the one who was chosen to pick the starting date.
2 - By reminding us, you prove that you are a dictator.
;D

[KWorld]

That post of yours tells me two things:
1 - You'll be the one who was chosen to pick the starting date.
2 - By reminding us, you prove that you are a dictator.
;D

Hah!   :D  Not the thought I had, really.  It's more that we keep spinning around and not deciding things (though I suspect I know why Jef's looking to do something in the 1880s: gives him a whole new generation of ships to design, totally different from the one's we recently did).

[Jefgte]

So what...
:)
1870-1880-1890-1900 ???

Much work to do in the plan.

Jef  ;)

[Delta Force]

I was thinking it might be possible to have a fully historical start. We can just simplify handling of smaller ships intended for commerce protection and colonial duty by having them all be the same, similar to how MTBs are currently handled.

[KWorld]

I was thinking it might be possible to have a fully historical start. We can just simplify handling of smaller ships intended for commerce protection and colonial duty by having them all be the same, similar to how MTBs are currently handled.

It probably would be possible.  I'd think, though, that without a much more detailed economic and political system, it would end up being a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.  Not to mention you'd have to pity Jef, getting stuck with OTL French ships.  ;)

[Darman]

My proposal would be a semi-historical start, with everyone except one country on equal terms. 

Basically, take the old Spanish Empire and place it in the age of steam. 
*Spain's Empire is in decline.  She has wealthy colonies, some with BPs attached, but Spain herself has very little wealth and very few BPs compared to her size.  Spain starts with 1880s tech-levels across the board, and she also starts with a large fleet (largest in the world, she does have that empire to protect, and remember, Spain's starting fleet will be 1875-1879 level ships). 
*Other countries include: The United Provinces, Hanseatic League, Kingdom of England (or Republic, player can take their pick), a smaller France (details can be worked out later), Italian states (at least one of the following: Genoa, Venice, Papal States), a Scandinavian state (Norway, Sweden, Denmark) and a small Russian Empire based around St. Petersburg.  All other countries start the game with tech levels 10 years ahead of Spain's and they all have more BP per capita.  They will all be equal strengths. 

I'd be willing to play as Spain, unless KWorld wants to do it.  Basically Spain is a non-entity, everyone wants a peace of the colonial pie and right now Spain pretty much owns that whole pie. 

[Jefgte]

France & Spain have border so, we couldn't made war in Pyrenees, have dévastation in Toulouse, San Sebastian or other europeen cities.

France could buy some Spain colonies or be an allied.

Difficult to choose...

:-[

[Darman]

France & Spain have border so, we couldn't made war in Pyrenees, have dévastation in Toulouse, San Sebastian or other europeen cities.

France could buy some Spain colonies or be an allied.

Difficult to choose...

:-[

My idea for avoiding European land wars was to create buffer states in between all the others.  So between Spain and France would be a Pyrenees state.  Between the French and Dutch would be Belgium. Between the Hanse and the Dutch... I'm not sure who but there would be someone. 

[Jefgte]

...So between Spain and France would be a Pyrenees state....

2 states:

Navarre (Atlantique)
Catalogne (Mediterranee)

Jef

[Delta Force]

It probably would be possible.  I'd think, though, that without a much more detailed economic and political system, it would end up being a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.  Not to mention you'd have to pity Jef, getting stuck with OTL French ships.  ;)

Depending on the start we have several great powers. In 1872 we have the British Empire, France, Russia, and Ottomans as major world navies. We also have the Italians undergoing a major naval expansion and the Americans and Austro-Hungarians having respectable fleets (by the 1880s the Brazilians have a single ironclad more powerful than the entire USN though). A start around the beginning of the pre-dreadnought era in the late 1880s/early 1890s gives us the British Empire, France, Russia, United States, Italy, Germany, Japan, Austria-Hungary, and China as major naval powers. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Spain, and Sweden round out the secondary powers. The Ottomans, Dutch, and Portuguese could also establish fairly powerful regional or raiding/commerce protection fleets.

People won't be able to match the British in raw power, but keep in mind they have an entire empire to defend. A few regional conflicts can put great strain on the navy, especially in areas with weak logistics chains such as the Far East or South America.

[Darman]

...So between Spain and France would be a Pyrenees state....

2 states:

Navarre (Atlantique)
Catalogne (Mediterranee)

Jef

As long as they incorporate French Territory as well as Spanish then that would work perfectly.  The mod(s?) can work it out so attacking these small neutral buffer states incurs large combat penalties on the invading armies, thus making it very expensive to launch land offensives.  It also means that less BP and cash has to be spent building and maintaining large numbers of fortifications. 

I personally like the idea of everyone starting equally.  But I also want some sort of a background, some tie to history, so we have a basis for roleplaying etc.