Kaiserlich und Koeniglich Wiener Zeitung - 1/1908

[Carthaginian]

Given the nature of the event, I don't believe that assassination is a very honorable tactic.
The Confederacy would see such an attack as murder, not a legitimate wartime attack. Killing four people in the midst of their wedding would be absolutely inhuman, especially being as they are not heads of state at this time. Basically, you'll be killing an innocent civilian; we would regard this as the same thing as killing a Congressman's son or daughter to force them to vote for peace.
This opinion is compounded by the fact that there will be hundreds of innocent people there in celebration of the event, and any assassination attempt with a reasonable chance of success will stand a high degree of chance of killing as many non-royal civilians as actual ''targets."

Such an attack would possiblyy elicit a very strong response from our several States.
I assure you, it would not be a very plesant response. So far, the CSA has been willing to do business with both sides of the conflict. Attacking someone who is not a head of state during such a special occasion would most definately limit the scope of the CSA's business intrests.

[Walter]

So... as I read it, the CSA doesn't consider assassination to be murder when it is done on the open street or inside the house of the target...

I would think that the Swiss may say: "There is no such thing as an innocent enemy."

[Desertfox]

Innocent Enemy? What in the world is that?

Who said anything about assasination? I mean, if the NSN in its general line of work of breaking things and sinking ships, 'accidentaly' puts a 12" shell trough the Kaiser...well you get the drift. ;)

As for the wedding I made it quite clear that there will NOT be an NSwiss within a 1,000 miles of it. If someone does any killing it will not be a Swiss.

[Walter]

Innocent Enemy? What in the world is that?

Exactly. Kill them all! Let God sort them out. :)

Who said anything about assasination? I mean, if the NSN in its general line of work of breaking things and sinking ships, 'accidentaly' puts a 12" shell trough the Kaiser...well you get the drift.

Swiss GUnner: "Sorry mate! I didn't see you!!!" :D

As for the wedding I made it quite clear that there will NOT be an NSwiss within a 1,000 miles of it. If someone does any killing it will not be a Swiss.

Yeah sure! That's what they all say. :)
... and nothing is being said about Swiss actions outside that 1,000 mile radius against guests that are travelling to Prague to attend the wedding.

[Ithekro]

Lets just say that regicide may be the quickest way to end the war...by dropping at least one more nation against the Swiss.  A nation that is fresh and shares an border with Swiss lands.  One that also outnumbers the Swiss Navy at present.  "They came from the East".

[Desertfox]

Firanj? I knew these last Peace Negotiations where bad luck, every time we start discussing peace, someone else decides to join. Well the only thing that will happen is that NS will just fight harder, guess I'll have to activate plan Kongo Triangle...

(Those from WW might know what I'm talking about...)

[Borys]

If by July Swiss-Habsburg relations are resumed, the Swiss Ambassador will be invited.

[P3D]

Why would Rohan care about the death of a neocolonialist monarch, who does not have much to with Rohan from the start? If the DKB Marine is incompetent enough to let their ruler die, they deserve it. And it would weaken the Navy's position considerably.

Any effect on the DKB populace would be balanced by political instability. And such a coup would also rally the Swiss population.

[swamphen]

Remember that if the war is still on, the Kaiser will not be attending...

*goes back to the tortilla chips*

[Ithekro]

Firanji is not to the East of any Swiss lands.

As to why.  It is in general bad.  Rohan still has a non-aggression pact with Brandenburg.  And lastly if this war is goes that way to more or less to make it so that it will be to the death rather than simple land grabbing, then I will end this by the most effective mean possible, a major power dropping the hammer.  (It is not all that realistic, but the point is this war is becoming too much for the sim, right?)

(This is in responce to comments about this taking far, far too long.  Those in the war have something to do, while those outside that war are waiting for something to do, and with the lack of news about what is happening in the war, they generally have little material on which to act.  Rohan has more or less done nothing in terms of news this year because my focus has been the war and haven't been able to actually come up with anything for Rohan to do.  (for those in WW this is also why Chile hasn't really said anything in the news for a long time, can't focus there).  The question becomes what do the rest of the players do while the GMs are playing out a war for some of the players, who are also mostly waiting for what happens to their forces?  Perhaps things are too detailed for their own good?)

In any event I think I have almost everyone's orders for the next three months.  I doubt we'll go back and change things based on results of actions so the playeres involved may want to send backup plans and where things will go with objectives fail or the situation changes.  Basically we need to try to speed this up since it has been over a month since the year began.

[Carthaginian]

So... as I read it, the CSA doesn't consider assassination to be murder when it is done on the open street or inside the house of the target...

I would think that the Swiss may say: "There is no such thing as an innocent enemy."

Uhm... well, a head of state is always a legitimate target; they all know that. As the head of their nation's military operations, an act against them is simply a decapitation attack- though one that must be handled delicately ahd carefully.
Their siblings, children or neices/nephews... not so much. Their families are just people with the misfortune to have the wrong name. As long as they are not active in the military affairs of the nation, they are not a viable military target.


Does that elaborate enough on what I said? I wasn't saying that I believe assassination of any random person to be legit during wartime- only against someone actively participating in the war militarially.

Here, neither of these men or women are, and thus they aren't legit targets.
That, coupled with the nature of the event and the fact that it's taking place in a public venue... well, the CSA would consider that outright terrorism.

[maddox]

France wouldn't be surprised after all.

But for public consumption, such an event will be condemned.

[Borys]

if this war is goes that way to more or less to make it so that it will be to the death rather than simple land grabbing, then I will end this by the most effective mean possible, a major power dropping the hammer.  (It is not all that realistic, but the point is this war is becoming too much for the sim, right?)

In game terms - the Horse Lord's trade with Asia is hurting BAD.
Exporters are howling!
Shipping concerns are making a making a killing on charters, but are being murdered by insurance premiums.
Insurers are banging at the doors of reinsurers after yet another ship going down.
Reinsurers are taking fur coats - ripped off the backs of the their mistresses - to pawn shops.
Credit is sky high.
Some businesses have gone bust or went idle, with industries stimulated by war not yet sucking in new workers. The unemployed mutter darkly about "In the Anuhuac Empire everybody had a job, you know, and Marxist dialectics say that ... "

The list of possible consequences goes on and on ...
BTW - I think we all should take some sort of hit to our economies.

Borys

[Ithekro]

All things considered we have two (very different) viewpoints in relation to this war.

The gamers view: This is taking too long.

In character: The war has only be going on since September of 1907.  We are just getting to the point where the powers involved start to think that either this will end really soon, or this will drag out for years.  Most political and military types of this age would bet for a short war, six months, maybe nine due to the distances involved and the lack of actual planning to be at war.  The effects will start to hit everyone by nine months of war.

(Rohan's trade with China was pretty much killed off during the last war.  The Dragon Lady and later the Tiger Lady felt the Mark was siding too much with the Swiss and thus lost the respect of the Chinese.)

[The Rock Doctor]

BTW - I think we all should take some sort of hit to our economies.

Personally, I think my economy is not going to be seriously hurt by the conflict at this point.  Knowing that each side is going to intercept each other's maritime trade, the answer is to require payment before the goods leave my shores.  The risk of non-delivery is then borne by the buyer.  If the belligerents don't like this, they can look for alternate suppliers for foodstuffs, rubber, and metals, and Gran Colombia will fill the gaps left by disruption to belligerent exporters in trade with other neutrals.

Given that they must assume some of their purchases are going to be lost in transit, the belligerents ought to be buying more than they necessarily need, which, coupled with the above, should be good for neutral trading partners.

Gran Colombia would have no serious issue with a belligerent seizing cargo destined for its enemy, if that cargo has already been paid for, so long as the ship is released in a timely fashion.  If the belligerent seizes exports bound for Gran Colombia, or causes Gran Colombian shipping to be sunk or held captured, then Gran Colombia will become more pro-active in monitoring the status of its marine trade.

The gamers view: This is taking too long.

I've articulated my own view previously - the war is too busy.  The events we are seeing should have taken a year or two to take place.  Cramming them into six months assumes an unrealistic operational pace compared to any historical war I can think of.  If we'd even gotten to the end of H1/08 with the war events to date, I'd be happy.  As it is, I have nothing to contribute to the sim right now unless sudden inspiration hits me:  I'm not posting future ship designs until they're to be laid down, I'm not rushing my own story ideas, and so forth.