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Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 12:41am
by Steve
For those who don't know, Rule The Waves is a strategy game letting you play a Grand Admiral/First Sea Lord/Chief of Naval Operations for a global naval power starting in 1900. The game's meant to end in 1925, but you can play through to 1950 if you want (but tech stops advancing and the game gets a bit wonky).

Download Link to buy Rule The Waves is here.


Anyway, I'm cross-posting this from SB and SV. And as the title indicates, I made a Custom Country, which is not very difficult (arguably easier than custom countries in Paradox games without country designer features). Veterans of the SDN World games should not be surprised at what I picked.

I've tried to balance it starting position and progress to not be too difficult but not too easy either, and I've done about a dozen playthroughs with different aspects to fine-tune it. Albeit mostly in 1.22 and 1.26, I've only done two 1.3+ playthroughs so far. 1.3 has not entirely impressed me yet, if only because the new research rate option - while cool - seems to have reduced tech progression even at 100. Thankfully a quick edit to a save file can set it to something higher than 100, and I'll adjust it a bit over that mark to get a more reasonable tech rate in my view. (That, of course, is also a subjective matter, I'm sure others think the 100 tech rate is perfectly fine.

Now, as for my Custom Country, it is one I've played in the STGODs of SDN, and I do have an admittedly-unlikely alt-history for it that I started writing at one point, but I don't wish to bog down the thread with it so I will approach the ATL as such: I will reveal key alternate facts as they come up in the narrative of the game, or upon request of the readers.

However, I will give you a "brief" summation of the alterations:
In 1844, James K. Polk is nominated by the split Democratic Party to the American Presidency. In OTL, he beat Henry Clay. In this ATL, after his nomination he became ill and died before the election. The result completely upset all of the Democrats' hopes and Henry Clay won the Presidency. Clay was more interested in internal development than expansion and the Mexican-American War did not happen as historic; nor did the Oregon Treaty. Instead Britain and the US decided on another joint occupation treaty to decide the status of Oregon at a later date, while it remained open to settlement from both.

Fast forward to 1862. Despite the changes to the issue of Texan annexation and no expansion into New Mexico, the US Civil War still broke out over the issue of slavery in federal territories and other issues that put the Republicans on the map. At Shiloh, General Grant is injured severely in the first day of the fighting around, and on the second day the Union counter-attack falters and the Union Army is lucky to escape partially intact. This alters Lee's invasion of the North - due to the changed strategic situation - and the Lost Orders are never found, leading to Lee inflicting such a severe defeat on McClellan that the Army of the Potomac is nearly destroyed. Washington falls, and Confederate cavalry raiders attacking trains leaving the capital get a lucky shot... and mortally wound Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln's death plunges the Union into despair and ensures an even greater Democratic victory in the 1862 midterms. Lord Russell's recommendations, and those of William Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer, lead HM Government into recognizing the Confederacy, and Britain and France move to impose arbitration on the two sides.

Further acrimony between McClellan and Radical Republicans explodes into open social discontent. Anti-abolitionist and anti-black riots and demonstrations shake the North.

The South gets major Victory Disease and starts demanding excessive concessions from the North, concessions that even the British Government considers too much. Realizing that a Northern collapse would leave the Confederacy powerful enough to pursue an expansionist policy, one directly contradictory to British interests (including the renewed interest in restoring the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in the South), Lord Palmerston engages in another maneuver. He offers the Union superior terms, and support against the Confederacy should they be rejected, in exchange for the Union agreeing to turn Oregon into an independent country. Britain would withdraw all but a small force to maintain a leased base at Esquimalt and the new nation, to be called Cascadia, would be under American and British protection. With the country's situation worsening and a Confederate army ready to march on Philadelphia should the Union not bow to the imperious demands of Richmond, the agreement is made. The Confederacy howls in defiance initially, but the sudden arrival of British squadrons off of key Confederate ports and the drying up of arms shipments from Europe allow Richmond moderates to prevail. The War Between the States ends in a compromise peace. West Virginia is restored to Virginia, but Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky remain in the Union.

Meanwhile the new state of Cascadia works to found itself. The government seat is intentionally planned for the region of Puget Sound, but eventually Portland is made into the new Federal District, a triangle of territory between the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. The new nation's political system is a merger of the two countries; a President, elected by an Electoral College of internal Cascadian provinces, is Head of State and Government, but with an Executive Cabinet overseen by the Secretary of State in a watered down Prime Minister position with all Secretaries of the Federal Administration drawn from the Cascadian Parliamentary members of the Senate or the House of Representatives. A brief conspiracy by British royalist settlers attempts to seize the constitutional delegates and demand the acceptance of a monarchy - Victoria's third child and second son Prince Alfred was the preferred candidate, the OTL Duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - but are foiled by the timely intervention of the Royal Navy and Marines under Admiral Baynes.

Cascadia gets an influx of settlers through the decade as abolitionists and black Americans flee the Union and the social unrest there. Unionists from Virginia and Tennessee also make their way to the west, either Cascadia or sparsely-protected Mexican California, while a Presidency under Clement L. Vallandigham continues to work to placate the South with concessions in hopes of restoring the Union.

Cascadia is barely given the chance to organize its fledgling forces when opportunity knocks. Emperor Maximilian and his French backers are mostly victorious in Mexico. With the Republican cause collapsing, the older and newer Anglo-American settlers in California, and local Republican officialdom, decide to turn to Cascadia for what support they can get. Recognizing the boon this would be, and with the okay from British authorities leery of French designs in North America, the Cascadian Army and militia sail with ships bought from Great Britain into San Francisco Harbor. The authorities in both Californias begin negotiation for joining the Cascadian Republic. Maximilian sends an army to oppose this effort. After early victories near Bakersfield and around Los Angeles, the Mexican Army ultimately meets its end at the Battle of the San Joaquin River, where the Cascadian troops - led by former Union officer General WIlliam Sherman - prevail. The Mexican Pacific Squadron sails north in an effort to support the army from the sea, where they in turn are defeated by the fledgling Cascadian Navy at the Battle of San Francisco Bay.

Finally, facing renewed Republican opposition in the heart of Mexico, Maximillian and Napoleon III agree to British arbitration, and in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo Mexican territories north of the Gila and west of the Colorado are recognized as Cascadian territory. New Mexico becomes an independent country under joint protection in an effort to protect it from the aggressive Confederacy, which has already compelled Maximillian to accept the Texan claim of the Rio Grande up to El Paso as the southern border. He is further humiliated when the discoveries of valuable minerals in Nevada and California spar further immigration to Cascadia's newest territories, and provide the gold and silver to fund the Cascadian Miracle of the last quarter of the 19th Century.

Vallindigham's Presidency becomes a mockery after repeated Southern provocations go unchecked. At their apex the Southern fire-eaters, emboldened by their victory in the war, by Vallindigham's continued insistence that concessions to the South will eventually restore the Union, even go as far as to demand Kansas be turned over, that the Union by treaty allow slave-hunters into Union territory, while slave-traders plan slaving expeditions to Hispaniola. Resentment against the South overtakes the anti-abolitionist surge immediately after the war, and by 1872 the people of the Union have had enough. The Copperheads are crushed in the election and face severe popular discontent and a new, more aggressive Union government comes into being under Republican moderate Ulysses S. Grant, who is able to play up his part as the most successful Union general. The death of President Robert E. Lee to his age and infirmities removes a necessary moderating voice in Southern affairs in 1871.

In the late 1870s, Cascadia is in an economic boom as significant settlement continues and the population provides wildly fecund. Troubles with the Natives culminate in treaties that, while they do rob the Native Tribes of their autonomy and large sections of their land, nevertheless provide them with continued land rights better than anything they could get from the US Government. The economic boom helps fund the Riker-Gorchakov Treaty that sees Russian North America sold to Cascadia as the territory (and later province) of Alaska.

In 1880 the war breaks out, starting in New Mexico. The Confederacy, asserting Indian raids in Texas as provocation, invade New Mexico and overrun the Cascadian and Mexican defensive garrisons. Cascadia declares war and marches its armies into New Mexico. Seizing the opportunity, a provocation in Kentucky gives Grant's successor, James Garfield, pretext to deliver an ultimatum to the South. When it is refused, war is declared.

The Great North American War rages through the 1880s. Cascadia, after recovering New Mexico, swiftly integrates it into the Cascadian nation (the Mexican Empire, which failed to help protect the small state, is too wrought with internal divisions to protest effectively - a new Treaty of Sinaloa in 1886 sees the new borders recognized, with Cascadia getting a strip of land beyond the Giza down to the Gulf of California) and spends the rest of the war supporting Union forces in a slow, steady conquest of the South. The South's armies prove more show than effectiveness, their gallant martial charges and proud stands losing to the brutal arithmetic of artillery and the arrival of Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim's guns on the Union and Cascadian sides. With the Third French Republic and British Empire now hostile to the Confederacy, and the rest of Europe ambivalent, the Confederacy doesn't receive the necessary materials to resist the industrialized North and the heavily-industrializing Cascadians. By 1887, the South is conquered utterly and the Union declares the re-establishment of Federal authority. This sparks over a decade of vicious guerrilla warfare by Southern firebrands, supported by Cuban slave-owners, which inevitably results in the Spanish-American War.

In the meantime, Cascadian Marines had intervened on behalf of King David of Hawai'i in resisting his planters' attempts at a "Bayonet Constitution", the Cascadian officials reasoning that the planters would be a greater threat to Cascadian security in the east Pacific than a friendly monarch. The Treaty of Ford Island grants that island and neighboring naval portages to the Cascadian Navy in exchange for Cascadian military support for the Kingdom of Hawai'i and its independence.

In the south Pacific, Cascadian interests in Samoa, supporting King David and then Queen Lili'uokalani in their attempts at Polynesian political unity, yield a protectorate over Samoa, one fiercely opposed by the German Empire's growing desire for weltmacht.

The continued use of Cuba by Southern partisans finally explodes into a controversy and then, with the loss of the Maine in Havana Harbor, a war. Again Cascadia sided with the United States, although not without significant domestic discomfort and the clear antipathy of the British. The Cascadian Navy, now fielding state-of-the-art armored cruisers (the Defiant and her sisters Reliant and Intrepid) and under the command of Admiral Garrett, future Chief of Naval Procurement and then Chief of Naval Operations (Read: My in-game PC), sails against the Spanish Empire in the Pacific while the Union invades Cuba and Puerto Rico. At the Battle of Manila Bay the Spanish Pacific squadron is destroyed. A small reinforcement fleet flees with the aid of a storm instead of giving battle. Filipino insurgents join Cascadian troops taking Manila and destroying Spanish power in the Philippines.

In the Treaty of Paris of 1898, Cascadia presents its bill to Spain and the US; control of the Caroline Islands and recognition of the Philippine Republic. The United States annexed Spain's Caribbean holdings.

While some Cascadian leaders believed that the Philippines should be taken over, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista and Emilio Aguinaldo had made it clear that the Philippines would fight Cascadia if it tried to assume dominion over the islands. The Cascadian government, under President John McGraw, recognized that it could not afford a prolonged war with the Filipinos and negotiated. In the end, the Treaty of Manila provided Cascadia basing rights in Manila Bay and authority to fortify the Bay and surrounding islands, in exchange providing military security to the new Republic.

In the aftermath of the war, there was an attempt to raise money through British banks to purchase the rest of the Spanish Pacific Empire. But an economic downturn spooked the British investors and the Spanish sold the Marianas to the German Empire instead.

Today Cascadia rules much of the Western third of North America, from the Arctic south to the Gila River and the Gulf of California. The eastern frontier of the country rises north from the US city of El Paso through the RL states of New Mexico and Colorado (Denver, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe are all in Cascadia), then along the US-held territory of Wyoming over to the 108th west meridian, then north along that meridian straight to the Arctic (with it being a border with Canada north of the 49th parallel). Cascadia also directly rules the islands of the Caroline chain directly, including naval bases at Chuuk Lagoon and Palau. The Kingdom of Hawai'i and the Republic of the Philippines are allies with military assistance and basing treaties. They are not full protectorates, but for the moment their governments find it easier to run foreign diplomacy in lock-step with Portland. Samoa is ruled by the Queen of Hawai'i.


Now.... that was a lot longer than I had intended.


Anyway, that is Cascadia. Now on to the actual game start.



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Cascadia's stats are shown like this (and yes, the system hates custom countries' flags for some reason and cuts off the lower third). The bonuses of Cascadia I explain as following.

Attention To Detail, Efficient Shipbuilding, and the future employment of AoN armor are all tied to the same thing: Cascadia will be unlikely to ever enjoy parity with the European powers, not numerically. Thus the shipbuilding industry is focused on quality. Designs are carefully examined and management of shipyards is encouraged to practices to improve production efficiency, allowing the nation to get ships out more quickly than other powers.n When the time comes, the idea of using the AoN armor scheme is natural to a country seeking more efficient means to their navy, as it allows for a ship to have better protection with less tonnage by employing the armored citadel box.

Dock Size is at 14,000 tonnage.

In terms of guns, everything from 2 to 7 inch is at quality 0 and 8-12 is at quality -1... except for 10 inch guns, which are 0, and reflect Cascadia's cruiser-orientated fleet at game start. Additionally, the continued Cascadian desire for a strong cruising fleet due to the needs of Pacific power mean that the idea of employing super-imposing turrets on armored cruisers will be obvious once battlecruisers and battleships have proven the design concept.

(Note: Frankly speaking, CAs are not always an efficient design type to use in the second half of the game, so I didn't think it was very harmful or wanky to give this tech to reflect Cascadia's cruiser support. This is why Cascadia doesn't have Machinery Research advantage like I'd originally intended, as a trade-off.)



Anyway, now that we've got that out of the way...



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Very Large fleet sizes, because I like big fleets and I cannot lie.;)

Admiral Garrett of course. For in-universe reasonableness, he will start as Chief of Naval Design and Procurement and rise from there, depending on how things go in the war to come. If anyone has any suggestions for the Vice CNO and CNO above him, shoot. If not, I'll make up more characters. This isn't as rigorous an althist as Cavalier's "Kaisertreu", obviously.

Select empty Save 5 slot and heeere we go....



Now, as for the first Cascadian designs in the game....

Cascadia starts the game with the following fleet:

12 Hull-class destroyer:

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Unit Names: Hull, Hopkins, Decatur, Macdonough, Lawrence, Paul Jones, Hancock, Baynes, Rodney, MacCallister, Gillam, and Barnes. Darlington and Hawke are under construction.

I split the aft guns to either side in order to have two centreline mount torpedoes without sacrificing RoF.


3 Fairbanks-class protected cruiser:

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Unit Names: Fairbanks, Denver, and Anchorage. San Jose is under construction.

Armed with 5" guns, these protected cruisers have huge coal fuel storage areas and with their 23 knot top speed are expected to bedevil enemy forces as commerce raiders.


Olympia-class protected cruiser:

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Unit Names: Olympia, Portland, Seattle, Richland, Vancouver, Esquimalt

These protected cruisers were designed to help defend Cascadia's Polynesia holdings as well as act as protectors of the shipping lanes so vital to Cascadia's expanding economy and trans-Pacific trade routes. Their 7" armament and 5" secondary armament make them some of the most-heavily armed ships of their type in the world, but at the cost of only a 2" belt. (Note: If you try to go above that belt with 7" guns, the game forcefully re-designates your cruiser into a CA).


Chinook-class armored cruiser:

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Unit Names: Chinook, Nez Perce.

The newest armored cruisers of the Cascadian Navy were built with a tighter budget in mind compared to their larger sisters, with only 22 knot speed, a smaller 4" secondary battery in casemates, and less protection. Future ships of the model were planned but scrapped by the naval budget of 1899 in favor of the Fearless-class battleships.


And finally, the pride of the Navy...

Defiant-class armored cruiser:

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Unit Names: Defiant, Reliant, Intrepid

Considered by many to be the finest armored cruisers in the world, these vessels were built at great expense to be the pride of the fleet. Armed with the world's best 10" guns and a considerable secondary battery of 5" supported by 3" deck guns, armored to resist her own main guns - indeed, sufficiently armored to protect from long-range shellfire from battleship-grade guns - and with sufficient speed - at a blistering 24 knots - to run down the fastest protected cruisers afloat, these warships proved their worth by annihilating the Spanish Pacific Fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay.


Of course, for a nation becoming a known world power, the lack of a battle line became an embarrassment. So after the Spanish-American War, the Cascadian government cut short the order of Chinook-class armored cruisers and diverted the money to British shipbuilders for a new pair of battleships.


Fearless-class battleship

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Unit Names: None in commission. Fearless and Relentless are under construction.

The beginnings of the Cascadian battle fleet are currently being constructed in the United Kingdom. Armed conventionally with 12" guns and a 6" secondary battery, these large warships will be the fastest battleships afloat at 20 knots, allowing them to dictate engagements against enemy battle lines.


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Anyway, onto our opening map. You can see where Cascadia's holdings are in the Pacific (although "In-universe" Cascadia does not politically rule the Pacific islands marked, save for the Carolines. The Philippines are Hawai'i are allies who grant basing rights: Samoa is a protectorate controlled militarily by Cascadia and ruled indirectly by Hawai'i, with the Queen of Hawai'i also ruling as Queen of Samoa).

This first picture is before I set research to 10%, so my monthly balance will go down in later pictures.

Anyway, now on to the almanac.

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Cascadia is sixth in naval spending, beating out only Japan. The AI likes to build crappy designs at game start, so it's no wonder that I'm last or near-last in most categories save for CLs, where I'm second in existing tonnage and lead in tonnage including that being built. But we'll see how things go if anyone goes to war with the Evergreen Republic...

And now on to research

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As you can see, I've reduced priority to subs and ASW for the time being, focusing on machinery, fire control, ship design, and introducing new naval guns to my arsenals. Over time I will probably re-allocate. But I very much want Cascadia to be the first to field battlecruisers and ABG battleships (aka dreadnoughts). Time will tell if Admiral Garrett will get his way on this.


Now, before I commence the game, I have some writing to do. I wish to mix my methodology, and this will make the LP probably feel like a Battletech fluff book or some other RPG book. I will mix fluff bits - newspaper reports, speeches by politicians, etc. - with historical-sounding accounts and prose scenes of the movers and shakers of Cascadia and how they interact with Admiral Garrett in his quest to improve his nation's standing in the world, and make Cascadia the premier naval power of the Pacific Ocean.

It is my intention to end the game in 1930, if Garrett lasts that long, with an epilogue of his final retirement as of January 1st 1930 and a later epilogue, depending on how high his prestige is and how well Cascadia does in the three decades to come.

Anyway, as I write up our opening and then play our first few months of the game over this weekend, I look forward to your comments and suggestions. If you want to be Cascadian legislators or ship captains, feel free to submit your names for consideration.

And it'll be really fun when I start going further into the Cascadian destroyer names list. There are some... familiar names there.;) I couldn't just copy the USN DD names entirely, could I?

(I did copy some, and then threw in the names of various British naval heroes or leading names. Hence Rodney and Hawke, among others.)

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 01:37am
by U.P. Cinnabar
Steve wrote:There are some... familiar names there.
What, no Aurora?! :P

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 03:20am
by Steve
U.P. Cinnabar wrote:
Steve wrote:There are some... familiar names there.
What, no Aurora?! :P
:) Wait until I start building battlecruisers...

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 03:20am
by Steve
1 January 1900
Portland Federal District


A cool rain was beating down upon the City of Portland, both within and outside of the Federal District. Horse-drawn carriages of varying types and size moved down the major roads linking the Federal District to the Oregon part of Portland. Along one road parallel to the Willamette River a particular hansom carried its occupant from his town home, on the Oregon side of the River, to his new job.

The Admiralty Building was one of the newest structures in the District. It had been built by private contractors for the Trans-Pacific Bank before said bank had failed in the Panic of '94. The Government had purchased the property due to its nearness to the Presidential House and the Parliament House and set it aside for government institutions. The first one to have need of the new home was the Admiralty of the Navy.

The hansom came to a stop outside of the front door. A Marine in his uniform raincoat stepped up and opened the door. A figure in the blue-gray uniform of the Cascadian Navy stepped down. His ribbons and medals spoke of his decades of service to the Cascadian Nation. The stripes and star of a Vice Admiral was evident on his sleeves and shoulder epaulets. The large man kept his cover on in the cool Cascadian winter rain and accepted the salute of the Marine. "As you were."

Behind him another figure stepped down from the hansom. Tall, slender, with a strong jaw, Commander Reginald Etps spoke with an English accent when he thanked his superior.

The two men entered the Admiralty building. An entourage was there to meet them. Admiral Roger Wilburn, Chief of Naval Operations, accepted his salute and returned it. "Admiral Garrett," he said. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, sir," replied the new Chief of Naval Procurement. Vice Admiral Stephen Garrett and Commander Etps released their salutes.

"How's the family?"

"Rachel and the children have settled in," he answered. "They'll begin school soon enough."

"Good to hear it." Wilburn motioned behind him to another man with Rear Admiral stripes. "Admiral Dougherty will show you around."




Once the tour was over, Admiral Garrett settled into his new office. The plush leather chair was a welcome comfort. The desk was made of fine tropical wood from the East Indies. A new telephone was on his desk along with other supplies.

After a cursory glance, his eyes went to the map of the Pacific hanging on the interior wall. Many of the places marked on it he had seen. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Brisbane, Saigon, Singapore, Balikpapan... He had heard the roar of gunfire as his cruisers had sent the Spanish fleet to the bottom of Manila Bay and watched Moro pirates scramble to get away as 3" shellfire tore their small wooden ships to pieces.

A part of him missed those days. Even with the dreadful tropic heat on metal ships, the rough seas of a Pacific typhoon or a Northern Pacific winter storm... there had been something to look out from the bridge of the Defiant and see the expanse of blue. To hear the rumbling of the steam engines in the belly of his metal charge as she rushed across the sea at over 20 knots.

That's behind me, he thought. President McGraw had personally supported his appointment to Chief of Naval Design and Procurement. The responsibility was heavy. To decide the future of his nation's naval might, what technologies to invest in and which to put to the side, what kinds of ships were needed...

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the golden watch. Inside the cover was the photo of Rachel, his wife, and their three little children.

He became so introspective that he did not immediately pay attention to Etps calling his name. He finally looked up. "Reg?"

"Sir, Congressman Whatley is asking for a moment of your time."

The Admiral sighed. Whatley was from his hometown of Astoria. And James Parker was his brother-in-law. James Parker of Parker & Sons Shipbuilding, which was angling for a new contract for torpedo boat destroyers. It had been in the Portland Tribune before New Year's. "Politics," he muttered before nodding to Etps. "Send him in."

It was time to get to work.



January 1900

General Overview of the World:

Cascadia's relations with the other naval powers of interest in the Pacific were not all perfect. Even Great Britain, the ally of the nation, had shown it had issues with the new feeling of expansionism and aggressiveness in her former charge.

A breakdown of relations with the six Pacific powers is as follows:

The German Empire: Tension is 3. The Germans have never reconciled themselves to Cascadia's protectorate over Samoa. The general attitude in Berlin is that Cascadia is a pretender, a smaller country with delusions of magnificence. For the moment there is little risk of war, but as the German Empire continues its push for weltmacht it is entirely possible that Cascadia could find itself in Berlin's sights.

The United Kingdom: Tension is 1. Great Britain has, until late, been the most consistent supporter of Cascadia's rise on the Pacific Rim. Even now Britain enjoys significant trade advantages with the Cascadian nation, and it is in British shipyards that Cascadia's new battleships are being constructed. Nevertheless, elements in London have begun to feel a prickle of concern about their protegè's potential to cause disruption in the Pacific. The end of the treaty providing Esquimalt as a Pacific base for the Royal Navy has been a particular bruise in the relationship between the states. There is the chance that an aggressive stance in Portland could influence HM Government in London into reconsidering their warm relations with the Cascadian Republic. And there is the matter of the 108th Meridian; many believe that too much was granted to Cascadia by giving them such a large piece of Prince Rupert's Land in the 1867 North American Treaty. There is little chance of conflict over this now, but should relations with the Empire ever slip, the prospect of armies marching over the meridian is there.

The French Republic: Tension is 3. France was irritated by the rise of Cascadia, save for where Cascadia in turn has irritated Germany. This has only increased with Cascadian expansion across the Pacific. Control of Manila Bay offers Cascadia a powerful naval presence in Southeast Asia, threatening French Indochina and the French concessions in China at Kwang-Chou-Wan. Cascadian support for the Queen of Hawai'i's push for greater Polynesian unity poses a prospective threat to the French possessions in the South Pacific.

The Russian Empire: Tension is 4. The death of Alexander II proved a turning point in Russo-Cascadian relations. Alexander III had little respect for the Republic and felt that too much had been given away in the Alyeskan Purchase. The discovery of gold in Alyeska after the Cascadian purchase only cemented this discontent. Increasing Cascadian business interests in China further threaten Russian interests, perhaps as much as Japan's victory in the Sino-Japanese War and Japanese possession of Southern Korea. As of late the relationship has grown especially prickly with statements from Cascadian Foreign Secretary James Biddle concerning Russian behavior in China. Out of all the powers, conflict with Russia seems the most likely as of now.

The Empire of Japan: Tension is 2. Japanese-Cascadian relations are fairly warm for the moment. Japan considers Russia, not Cascadia, as the greatest threat to her own Asian ambitions and position, and as Portland's relations with Moscow worsen, the prospect of a Cascadian-Japanese alliance grows. But there is potential for conflict: Cascadia had been pro-Chinese in the recent war and has made economic advances in areas Japan considers are more properly hers. Japan had hopes for authority and influence in the post-Spanish Philippines that Cascadia has thwarted. A conflict between the two naval powers of the Pacific is not an impossibility.

The United States of America: Tension is 3. The United States has always been aggravated by its failure to achieve a Pacific port. It has had to settle with a free trade corridor to Los Angeles established by the 1889 Treaty of Chicago. The same treaty established the current Cascadian-US border. It was to equal advantage, as Cascadian settlers had previously penetrated as far as the Kansas border with Colorado before the treaty established the line through Colorado to run parallel to the Wyoming-Nebraska border within the US; this was given up in exchange for the US accepting Cascadian control west of the 108th Meridian above Colorado and the annexation of New Mexico into Cascadia. At the time of the treaty, the recent memory of Cascadian blood being shed to help restore the Union, and of Cascadian gold helping to fund the war, had made the concessions palatable. Now, with the Southern partisans having lost their main base in Cuba and losing their pull with a war-weary Southern populace, more and more Americans are looking at the treaty and wishing they had gotten more. The United States has its own growing Pacific influence, including control of Panama and the canal, and it is possible that the republics of North America may plunge their continent into a new and terrible war.

Whether or not any of these powers come into conflict with the Cascadian nation remains to the decision of history, and of those in power...

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 03:51am
by Raesene
I've never heard of this game before - looking forward to seeing more of the game mechanics (ship design interface looks a bit like a mixture of springsharp and a drawing program I lost when my last PC died).

You might get me interested enough to buy it :-)

Your link to Kaisertreu is broken, btw.

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 04:02am
by Steve
January 1900

With a look at the Navy's Finances, Admiral Garrett recommended to Admiral Wilburn that Congressman Whatley's push for new contracts could be met on a limited basis. As such, four more Hull-class destroyers were ordered from Parker & Sons out of Astoria. The Perry, Dale, Preble, and Monck have been laid.

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In addition to the expansion of the nation's primary docks in Bremerton, Seattle, and San Francisco being ordered, Admiral Garrett recommended that surplus Navy funds be invested in expanding the existing naval bases in the Pacific. Samoa, the Carolines, and the Philippines would have their naval infrastructure invested in.

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During the month, design teams from the Artillery Office reported the bad news.

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Admiral Garrett had choice words for this failure. Choice words he repeated at home from frustration. The swear jar became a dollar richer as a result, much to his chagrin, his wife's amusement, and the delight of his children.


Meanwhile, as January became February, news arrived of naval construction from across the world.

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The only real addition of note was Germany laying down the third of her Wettin-class battleships, the Braunschweig.

Nothing else of note happened in January.

February 1900

More ships were laid across the world.

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Japan ordered the Sagami, the second of her class, from French shipbuilders.

Nothing else of note happened in February.

March 1900

With an eye to the quiet international scene, the Cascadian Admiralty decides to preserve money by ordering its many of its cruisers into reserve status. The ships' crews will be reduced in effectiveness, but the cost in savings will allow the Navy to build up enough surplus to fund new ship designs, dock expansions, and base improvements in the next year. Should tensions start to rise in the world, this can be undone with sufficient time to not impact naval readiness.

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Using some of the money freed up by the status changes, another Hull-class destroyer was ordered: the Stewart.


During the course of the month, relations with Russia improved after the Denver rescued the crew of a faltering Russian fishing trawler out of Petropavlosk. Unfortunately, that same month saw an altercation between crewmembers of the MacCallister and a Japanese cruiser visiting Manila. Japan demanded an apology from the Cascadian Navy for the incident. Admiral Wilburn refused to give it on the grounds that Japanese officers had not properly disciplined their crews, inciting a minor row.

Meanwhile a German cruiser drew close to Chuuk Lagoon and the ongoing base construction there. The Esquimalt intercepted the ship and forced it away from the base. The German behavior has the Admiralty concerned that Berlin may be seeking to become more aggressive in the Pacific as their naval buildup continues. Pressure is beginning to build for Cascadia to invest in a larger battle line.

At the end of the month, a handful of new ships had been laid down in other countries. The most prominent of these was Russia beginning her second Tsesarevich-class battleship.

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And so we head on into April. Domestic unrest has started to reduce as the economy improves and prosperity fuels the commerce of the Cascadian Republic...

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 04:16am
by Steve
Raesene wrote:I've never heard of this game before - looking forward to seeing more of the game mechanics (ship design interface looks a bit like a mixture of springsharp and a drawing program I lost when my last PC died).

You might get me interested enough to buy it :-)

Your link to Kaisertreu is broken, btw.
I saw. XenForo adds those apostrophes to the links in its text coding. But I can't edit them out now. :(

It's actually two games in one. When the time comes for actual naval battles, it runs a battle simulator called Steam and Iron, loading the ships you and the AI have designed for the battle in question. There are various scenarios: convoy attack and defense, cruiser actions, battleship engagement, and fleet battles, as well as raiders getting intercepted or ships trying to break out of blockades. The realism level you set determines how many divisions/ships you directly control and which ones are under AI control only. Admiral setting gives you only the lead battleship division and/or cruiser division. Rear Admiral, which reduces your Victory Point earnings by 10%, lets you select to control all cruisers and battleships (you can give them to the AI if you want). Captain reduces by 20% and lets you decide control everything and gives you manual torpedo launch control, only one torp at a time though.

Although even Captain doesn't let you pick to control ships considered "Support" forces. Although in 1.26 and 1.3 you can turn support forces off.
This is desirable sometimes, if only because the AI has a bad habit of taking ships suffering flooding from torpedo or end hits and running them at higher speeds than they should, causing them to sink where they should have survived.

Also, very interesting to see you again Raesene. 8)

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 08:32am
by Raesene
Always enjoyed your Cascadia-texts in the SDN-World game I participarted in - looking forward to find out how this one goes.

And how your relations to Austria-Hungary and Germany are going to be this time ;-)

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 12:28pm
by Eternal_Freedom
Familiar names indeed. Though if you build a Superb and it happens to get torpedoed...Orion had nothing to do with it!

Also, sure, I'm up for being a ship captain, that's I wanted to do with my life anyways.

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 12:44pm
by Purple
What's the craziest most overgunned and underarmored ship you can make that this game will still allow?

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 12:49pm
by Eternal_Freedom
I'm curious about that as well...could you go the full on HMS Incomparable route and have a battlecruiser with 20" guns, 35 knot speed but utterly pathetic armour?

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 02:19pm
by Simon_Jester
Hm. If you decide to go for cameos I certainly won't object. For verisimilitude in naming, Simon Holmes might be more credible as a name.

[I imagine you've read the same novel I did, that gave me my standard Internet pseudonym, so you understand why]

I think I'd fit in better as a staff officer than as a CO, actually; I'm sure interactions with staff officers will appear in some of your short segments.

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 03:41pm
by Steve
Eternal_Freedom wrote:I'm curious about that as well...could you go the full on HMS Incomparable route and have a battlecruiser with 20" guns, 35 knot speed but utterly pathetic armour?

I haven't tried. But the game has limits that determine ship designations. For instance, if I were to take one of my current CA designs and give it guns larger than 10" with a speed over, I believe, 22 knots, it would automatically re-designate them as battlecruisers... and I can't make those until I've unlocked at least two Ship Design technologies. Yes, even if I still only have the main battery of two double turrets. Cruisers must be at least 2,000 tons and over a certain speed as well. DDs must have torpedoes. As stated above, if I tried to give my protected cruisers thicker belts, even just 2.5" belts, the game would re-designate them as CAs simply because they have 7" guns, and after I get the ship design tech for light cruiser armor design, I can't go above 6" armament period.

And Simon, I actually don't recall the name "Simon Jester" from period novels. Although for your chosen surname I would almost think you were implying a different Holmes. Who may come up in conversation about the good Admiral's favorite reading.

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 05:47pm
by Steve
West Portland, Oregon
1 April 1900



The townhouse that Admiral Garrett had rented upon his appointment was on the Oregon side of the Willamette River. It was a cozy two-story home in one of the best neighborhoods in the city. The family's neighbors included Congressman White Cloud from Montana, Congressman Litchfield of Bakersfield, and Thomas Grant, head of the Trans-Pacific Trading Company; their children all went to the same schools and Senator Hatfield of Columbia offered monthly Saturday gatherings for the neighborhood.

Sundays were different. Sundays were days for church and then quiet. At least as much quiet as one could get in a household with a twelve year old boy, a ten year old boy, and a 3 year old girl.

Admiral Garrett was sitting on the patio to their backyard, wearing a full-sleeved flannel shirt of green and blue coloring with blue slacks and his slippers, the newspapers laid out on the table. where the children were playing in the spring sun. The end of winter had meant a reprieve from the constant drizzle and rain; brisk temperatures and sun were becoming more common, and would until summer set in. Baseball was starting to become popular and his sons Diego and Thomas often took turns at batting and pitching. Sophie, little Sophie, tended to play with her beloved dolls, when she wasn't coming up and being insufferably cute toward her Daddy. As she was now, with outstretched arms. "Pick me up, Daddy!", she squealed. Her brown eyes glittered with the same kind of charm that were in her mother's; an irresistible lure to the Admiral.

"Alright, alright," he sighed, defeated. He put the weekend edition of The Oreganian down and stood up. With one heave he lifted his little girl into the air and proceeded to flip and twirl her around. Sophie shrieked with joy, breaking out into giggling as he held her upside down.

Rachel stepped out onto the patio. Lines of age and the stresses of motherhood had started to crease her fine features; the patrician nose, the curl of her lips. Her complexion was darker than his own, the slight bronze coming from her Italian mother while her criollo father had granted her the dark hair and dark eyes. The Admiral saw her as having not lost a touch of the beauty he had known these past sixteen years. She was wearing a fine white blouse and blue skirt with the kitchen apron still tied on. "Dinner is cooking," she told them all.

"Marvelous," the Admiral answered. He set his giggling little girl down and put an arm around Rachel's hip to draw her close. She smiled and gave him the kiss he sought. Afterward she brought an arm out from behind her back and presented him with a leatherbound book. "I found this in Powell's on Thursday," she said. "I thought you might like it."

He looked at the spine. "The collection of Doyles' 'Sherlock Holmes', eh? A new printing... yes. Splendid. Thank you, dear." He kissed her on the cheek and looked over the book. "Such a shame that Doctor Doyle killed off his man. I would hazard a guess that his checkbook may demand that he resurrect the detective before long."

Rachel's eyes glazed over the paper. "Business reading, dear?"

"Not entirely," he said. "Roberts has overrun the Orange Free State. It would appear that Britain is on the verge of crushing the Boers. Nasty people over there."

"Whom? The Boers or the British?", Rachel asked with a small grin.

That brought a laugh from her husband. He set the new book down and gave her a warm smile. "An excellent reply, dear. Please don't let Ambassador Grey hear you say something like that, though. It would be a scandal."

"Obviously." She sat down beside him and looked out at their children playing. "Father is delighted that you have the job, you know. He intends to visit as soon as the spring planting is over."

The Admiral nodded. Rafael Vallejo owned a large estate along the Napa River in California. His family had held it since the first Spaniards had settled the region and Vallejo, a solid Republican, had accepted the necessity of California joining its fortunes with Cascadia to avoid falling under the French-backed Emperor in Mexico City. "I'll welcome him. Will he be standing for the Senate again?"

"He is observing Mother's health. If the governor calls for him, her feelings will govern his reply."

"Of course, of course..."

Rachel stood and departed a moment later. Her mother's health was a subject the Admiral had to be careful with. He knew it hurt her to see her brilliant mother declining.

Admiral Garrett looked back to his fine sons. Nearby Sophie had taken to her favorite picture book again. That she was reading already... his daughter was a brilliant girl. He hoped it would stand her well in the life to come. A husband to match her brilliance, fine children to continue to stimulate her mind... he would have to see what the future held.

With the newspaper stories having already bored him, he picked up his wife's gift. He had already read the stories within before, but there was no harm in again reading of how the great detective's plans were foiled by the mind of Irene Norton neè Adler. He read of the King of Bohemia's problem until Rachel called them to dinner.

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 05:48pm
by Steve
Eternal_Freedom wrote:Familiar names indeed. Though if you build a Superb and it happens to get torpedoed...Orion had nothing to do with it!

Also, sure, I'm up for being a ship captain, that's I wanted to do with my life anyways.
Name?

And if we could like posts here, this would have definitely gotten a like. :mrgreen:

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 05:57pm
by Eternal_Freedom
I was hoping you'd get it, though I suspect everyone else is wondering what the devil I'm on about.

That'd be Philip Wallace, reporting for duty. Descended from the Wallace clan of "Braveheart" fame (that much is true IRL actually, though I don't wear a kilt I do have the family crest tattooed on my arm).

Cruiser or Battleship please :D

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 06:12pm
by Eternal_Freedom
Damn, missed the edit window. So you can't build really odd ships like Incomparable...what's the heaviest/most powerful you can build? Iowa/Yamato levels or those G3/N3s the British planned after WW1? The Z plan super-battleships of Nazi Germany?

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 08:56pm
by Steve
The game has a hard max of 52,000 tons displacement. And a limit on HP, the fastest I can get a ship that heavy to go is 32 knots. 18" guns are the largest you can unlock with research.

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 08:57pm
by Steve
Eternal_Freedom wrote:I was hoping you'd get it, though I suspect everyone else is wondering what the devil I'm on about.

That'd be Philip Wallace, reporting for duty. Descended from the Wallace clan of "Braveheart" fame (that much is true IRL actually, though I don't wear a kilt I do have the family crest tattooed on my arm).

Cruiser or Battleship please :D
I probably forgot the reference relevant to SDNW 2014.

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 08:59pm
by Eternal_Freedom
Ah shame :)

On ships: Still pretty impressive, though Rheinland's two super-dreadnoughts will have to remain a naval architect's dream. So will my Rigels too. Sniff.

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 10:53pm
by Simon_Jester
Steve wrote:And Simon, I actually don't recall the name "Simon Jester" from period novels. Although for your chosen surname I would almost think you were implying a different Holmes. Who may come up in conversation about the good Admiral's favorite reading.
[le sigh]

To be clear, I got this pseudonym, indirectly, from the fact that I was much taken with the novel The Moon is a Harsh MIstress, by Robert Anson Heinlein, originally written in 1966. "Simon Jester" is itself a pseudonym adopted by an artificial intelligence who also uses a number of others, among them "Mycroft Holmes."

While "Simon Jester" is not a remotely plausible name in an English-speaking country, "Simon Holmes" is. Hence my suggestion. No other last name adopted by the AI would do the job.

That is the sum total of my reasoning.

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-05 11:52pm
by Steve
Ha. That's cool. Sorry, but I've never read Heinlein.

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-06 02:30am
by U.P. Cinnabar
Simon_Jester wrote:
Steve wrote:And Simon, I actually don't recall the name "Simon Jester" from period novels. Although for your chosen surname I would almost think you were implying a different Holmes. Who may come up in conversation about the good Admiral's favorite reading.
[le sigh]

To be clear, I got this pseudonym, indirectly, from the fact that I was much taken with the novel The Moon is a Harsh MIstress, by Robert Anson Heinlein, originally written in 1966. "Simon Jester" is itself a pseudonym adopted by an artificial intelligence who also uses a number of others, among them "Mycroft Holmes."

While "Simon Jester" is not a remotely plausible name in an English-speaking country, "Simon Holmes" is. Hence my suggestion. No other last name adopted by the AI would do the job.

That is the sum total of my reasoning.
Simon Hyde? Along with a ship's doctor named Jekyll? :D

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-06 03:27am
by Steve
April 1900

The 1900 naval budget was slowly increasing the available balance for the Navy. For the moment, however, Admiral Garrett and Admiral Wilburn were in concurrence that the Navy's current construction should remain as it was. New orders could wait until the budget was clearer.

During the month, the destroyers Hawke and Darlington commissioned.

Image

And Great Britain and Germany continued their growing naval race by each laying down the lead ship in new classes, Resolution and Hessen.

Image


May 1900

Nothing of note happened as spring began to turn to summer. Germany followed up by laying a second Hessen.

The improved economic situation led to a return to the domestic tranquility that had evaded the Cascadian nation since the controversy over the Spanish War and the following economic downturn. Even the growing Socialist parties had turned to quieter avenues in their efforts to promote their ideology among the population.


June 1900

Germany's naval buildup continued with a bizarre twist: the laying of the Hannover in British shipyards. Despite the growing concern in London for Germany's growing naval power, the private shipbuilders agreed to the contract.

Image


July 1900

Naval design teams continued work on improving turret operations.

Image

An intelligence report from naval intelligence indicated the superior performance of German 8" guns to those int he Cascadian arsenal.


August 1900

In August, the destroyers ordered at the beginning of the year were commissioned, as was the San Jose.

Image

Image

Admiral Garrett was pleased to hear research teams report success in new machinery and fire control.

Image

Image

Less welcome was a wire received from Britain. A careless dockyard worker had caused an incident on the dock in which the Fearless was having her superstructure finished. The need to repair critical dock equipment and the resulting damage had cost the yard a month worth of work. The shipbuilding firm dutifully refunded the Cascadian Navy the month's installment.

Image


And so we move on to September 1900....

Re: Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

Posted: 2016-06-06 03:36am
by Steve
I now have to decide on whether to lay more battleships immediately or wait until I get heavy seconadries and/or secondary double turrets.

Edit: I mean, lay more Bs or CAs. The kind of B I could lay with my current dock size isn't really worth it IMHO.