2014 STGOD OOC Commentary Thread 1

[Simon_Jester]

Klavo- Fair point.

I've been pounding on Eternal_Freedom a bit hard, probably because he pissed me off with the submarine incident, and in general I got a sense that his navy wasn't handling things professionally or classily. Plus, the little things like "lol I know exactly where you are and what you're doing and can be in exactly the place I need to be to screw with you" feeling I got from the whole incident.

Umeria is big on ensuring that its sovereignty, security, and interests are respected, due to a history of being a pushover for foreign enclaves and spheres of influence coming from everybody from Arcadia to Zeeland.* And the crew of Stiletto (and the Skylark carrier battlegroup) felt that they were not being treated with respect.

*There may not actually be a Zeeland in the world, but it'd sure be alphabetical if there was...

...

The trutherism post was actually not my idea; RogueIce came up with it, but partly at his request, I sort of grabbed the idea and ran with it because it appealed to me. Umeria will probably actually get hit with similar conspiracy theories, they have summarily executed people before, and sometimes done so unjustly. It happened to the plant director at Orange Terrace.

The only thing that keeps the population docile is the conviction that the bureaucracy really is trying to make life better for all Umerians, and that they are considerably harder on their own ranks than they are on the average citizen. So far it's worked quite well, but if it ever falls apart it's going to get bloody.

...

Anyway, I just want to say that I bear Eternal_Freedom no long-term ill will over the affair(s), and that for what it's worth, the Umerians may get annoyed over the submarine incident and decide to get their own back in a nonwar way via random dickery. Because that hit them where they live, literally.

But for what it's worth, they will not join any international ruckus over the shooting of the terrorists. Because while they probably wouldn't have done it that way themselves, and consider it undignified, they certainly understand the instinct.

And I acknowledge that I bawled out E_F a little too hard over the executions, though I did want to make a point to him about the submarine incident and how that sort of thing is called "brinksmanship" in real life and can in fact lead to wars.

[Steve]

Nice note maddoc.

Any issues with our airlifting aid and supplies in to deal with the situation? I'm presuming you authorized it, but if you wish our withdrawal Cascadia will oblige.

[Simon_Jester]

You guys are awesome.

Anyway, the Umerians' initial fly-in by the 83rd Guards Regiment may have been handled a bit irregularly- e.g. planes physically in the air before they were authorized to land- but that was a crisis response. Any further Umerian foreign aid other than personnel will be arriving by railway, mostly along the coast or through mountain passes in the interior leading down into the river valley that is Champa.

Or, in the case of the rocks, sand, concrete and so on you need to work on that seawall, we'll be chipping in with coastal barge/ship traffic.

So, no unauthorized penetrations of Champan airspace (except, maybe, technically, the first one).

Also, no unintentional penetrations of Champan waters, including the EEZ, unless you prefer the idea that some of our nuke boats were stooging around in there. It was my sincere idea that the diesel submarine Stiletto, the Rhenisch battlegroup, and all the rest were operating in firmly international waters.

[TimothyC]

For the record, the EEZ is the Exclusive Economic Zone, and only economic activity is regulated, and innocent passage is explicitly allowed. The Champan request is understandable, but hard to enforce (mostly because we don't explicitly have an UNCLOS analog)

[madd0ct0r]

it's impossible to enforce, I've only got 8 frigates

[Simon_Jester]

Well, the Umerian diesels are probably outside the EEZ anyway. Remember that Captain Bear of USS Stiletto was willing to speculate that there were a group of Umerian nuclear attack submarines "closer in," i.e. in the EEZ.

Basically, the Rhenisch battlegroup was north of Champan territorial waters, and the Umerian submarine was well to the north of the Rhenisch battlegroup, or at least I think that's how I roughed out the geometry of the situation.

It would be a reasonable courtesy to keep the Champans informed of naval movements in their EEZ, and one the Umerians would in this case (mostly) extend. Since the entire point of their having a noticeable Umerian naval presence here is to ensure that Umerian (and Champan)* rights are respected by the God alone knows how many foreign warships from everybody else in the world.
________________

*No, seriously. Umeria doesn't consider Champa to be a Umerian satellite state. The technocrats are very paternalistic about their own people, and Champa is "not our baby." But they definitely don't want anyone else turning Champa into a satellite, because they much prefer the status of Champa as a largely and mostly-friendlyish demilitarized buffer state on their northwestern frontier.

So basically, when it comes to foreign interventions, Umeria has a sort of 'Monroe Doctrine' attitude towards Champa, Belkan, and Eulica (the three minor nations bordering it along the coasts of the continent). And that is reflected here in their deployment of ships to watch the gaggle of foreign ships poking around Champa's coastline.

Come to think of it...

[Eternal_Freedom]

Simon, don't worry about it. You had valid points to make that I needed to hear. I didn't have to act on all of them but having someone point out when you're wrong is very useful. We're cool. Yeah, the submarine incident was a cock-up but I think we resolved that amicably (and amusingly) enough.

[That_Guy]

I would like to make a suggestion of adding a summary thread (or post) at a pre defined interval. I feel this would make keeping up easier for those who don't have time to read everything as well as those who may have to take brief absences.

[The Romulan Republic]

Corona's official response to Orion up.

Edit: I'm aware that it is undiplomatic. This was by design.

[The Romulan Republic]

War games invitation sent to Shinra.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Well that should be interesting to see.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Well that should be interesting to see.

Maybe a bunch of nuke protesters will show to do a dance?

[RogueIce]

So, those notes are pretty self-explanatory. Only one thing to note, here, for The Romulan Republic: as part of the visit, it would be nice if Rufus could meet with your king. Because if that's a part of the schedule, he will come bearing a personal letter to His Majesty from President Shinra.

FWIW regarding the whole Champa issue: since that area is close-ish to us, I can't say we're terribly excited at the prospect of all those foreign navies milling about. And, if we were aware of the Champan requests we would totally support them 100%. But since I don't have naval ships there I'm not on the recipient list.

Which is a shame because we would throw in to help build a seawall because hey, we like being on good terms with our neighbors. But to clear up a question I've had for mad0ct0r: Would you envision needing our Hospital Ship at some point? We would have made the offer but AFAIK haven't heard back. If you do wish the services of the SRS White Wind perhaps in the process you might make it known about your intentions to build this second seawall and solicit our assistance in the matter?

[The Romulan Republic]

I think we can arrange a meeting with the king. I've been thinking of introducing him for a while.

[madd0ct0r]

Which is a shame because we would throw in to help build a seawall because hey, we like being on good terms with our neighbors. But to clear up a question I've had for mad0ct0r: Would you envision needing our Hospital Ship at some point? We would have made the offer but AFAIK haven't heard back. If you do wish the services of the SRS White Wind perhaps in the process you might make it known about your intentions to build this second seawall and solicit our assistance in the matter?

It's only worth sending the hospital ship if you want your guys to build up a little experience with radiation poisoning (although possibly you assisted Umeria with their historical one?) Otherwise yep, I really need to build a 'neighbours' list. Possibly roots of a regional alliance there, although we'd need to find a way that dosen't turn everyone into meatsheilds for Umeria

[Simon_Jester]

Meatshields? You wound me! I resemble that remark!

More seriously, my country has a bit of an autarky fetish and might not work out too well as part of a large alliance. The government can grasp "we're protecting these guys," but being in a mutualistic relationship with a whole bunch of other countries all at once would be hard for them.

...

I'm sure word of the seawall project will spread, Rogue, so go for it if you like. Because Umeria is one of the largest countries within easy shipping distance, by default I suspect they're in one of the best positions to supply things for the construction. But, again, Champa has a pretty respectable maritime construction establishment (how do you think they built the first seawall?).

So I bet the foreign contribution would in large part just be providing enough men and machines that work on the seawall can go very quickly, rather than at the more moderate pace they'd normally use.

[madd0ct0r]

the first one, the 2nd one, the 3rd one. That was a steep learning curve. (I really wish i was joking)

[Simon_Jester]

For the record, Dr. Combat-Ignorance-Blossom Westman is female. Her name is only five syllables in Umerian. Also, Combat-Ignorance is, well... possibly a more common first name in Umeria than it ought to be, and one of the few that is acceptable for both boys and girls.

[The Romulan Republic]

Follow up message sent to Shinra.

I'll be sending a detailed proposal for the exercises shortly.

[KlavoHunter]

Anyone know what the deal is with global warming/climate change in our world? It's probably a concern with all these industrialized countries throwing serious weight around...

[TimothyC]

I'd like it if people could, over the next 6 months of game time let me know if any of their shipyard/design firms will answer the RHN's RFP. I'd also like to see what people propose.

Anyone know what the deal is with global warming/climate change in our world? It's probably a concern with all these industrialized countries throwing serious weight around...

Stable for now. We can always hand wave an ice-age.

I might do a series of die rolls for our mods on climate trends.

[madd0ct0r]

For the record, Dr. Combat-Ignorance-Blossom Westman is female. Her name is only five syllables in Umerian. Also, Combat-Ignorance is, well... possibly a more common first name in Umeria than it ought to be, and one of the few that is acceptable for both boys and girls.

heh. 'Green' might be a more concise translation

I think I'll put the deep seawall out for tender. Does anyone want to try using Seacrete? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorock
It's something I'd like to play with in Champa in future, the formation method would be good for pulling the radioactive salts out the water BUT electricity is in short supply since my grid has taken a battering with the lost of one reactor.

[Siege]

Six Angle Maritime is a joint venture between several of San Dorado's largest consortiums. Sufice it to say its offer doesn't meet all of the specifications laid out in the Hawaiian RFP, but this happens how it builds and designs big ships.

[Steve]

By the way, an easy way to see if I wrote something at work is to see if there are any errors brought about by missing the letter t. Because for some reason the keyboard there doesn't always respond to pressing t.

[TimothyC]

Six Angle Maritime is a joint venture between several of San Dorado's largest consortiums. Sufice it to say its offer doesn't meet all of the specifications laid out in the Hawaiian RFP, but this happens how it builds and designs big ships.

I'm actually going to address this in an upcoming post.