[Screenshot Let's Play/No 56K] Hearts of Iron IV... as Equestria?

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VX-145
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Re: [Screenshot Let's Play/No 56K] Hearts of Iron IV... as Equestria?

Post by VX-145 »

Made a minor mistake with the title of the previous update - it was meant to go from 1010-1011. Oh well. Updates will probably become a bit more infrequent, as I've just started a Master's course.

Part VIII: The More Things Change, January 1st 1011-January 1st 1012


January, 1011

With Princess Luna deployed to the Changeling border, Princess Twilight had taken her place on the pan-Equestrian tour. With the unpopular Prince Blueblood out of the picture, donations and volunteers came forth in droves, and Equestria became that much more ready for the inevitable yet seemingly distant war. The crown jewels of Princess Twilight's spoils was the donation of two airfields for REAF use, allowing aircraft to be based closer to the future front lines.

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The rest of the money was put towards buying new fortifications for the border; private construction companies were hired so as to not delay other important projects. Coupled with this was a renewed attempt to establish diplomatic relations with the Changelings, but any envoys who returned at all came back acting oddly. Further on the diplomatic front, Princess Cadence announced that a referendum would be held in late April over whether the Crystal Empire should be fully integrated with Equestria or become a more independant state. This had been planned from the very beginning of the Crystal Empire's ressurrection, but had been delayed by crisis after crisis. Only now had the region been peaceful enough to hold such a referendum.

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This focus is why I built those forts oh so long ago - with the bonus forts from this, we can reach level 6 and level 7 forts and build other, more important things at the same time.

The former Prince-Marshal had also been vehemently opposed to the SAC's efforts to decentralise weapons research. In his eyes, it had been good enough to develop every single piece of equipment through the Canterlot Armoury, regardless of how long that took. This had been acceptable when an infantrypony's kit consisted of a spear and some armour, but in the modern age there was simply too much design work to do.

Now he was out of the way, that could be changed. A long-term contract was opened up with the McIntosh Factory in Ponyville. They would design and build most of the infantrypony's ancilliary equipment, such as webbing, pouches, holsters and helmets, leaving the Canterlot Armoury free to focus on weapons development. The McIntosh company had existed for nearly three centuries, and had just started making basic gunpowder weapons when the discovery of the Earth/Equestria portal made their efforts obsolete, and thus could be counted upon to deliver quality work.

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A bit late to be getting this, but it'll help when I research the next tier of weapons.

-

The Aquelia/Wingbardy alliance began to break past the Griffon Revolutionary State's lines. Much of the latter's army managed to retreat to fallback positions, but it was hardly an auspicious start to the war. The territory the alliance captured was, for now, placed under the care of Franmistria and Arantiga, as they bordered the GRS.

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-

The new defences along the border were completed by the end of the month, and it was a trivial matter to get the Equestrian parliament to sign off on a fall-back line some several hundred kilometres eastward.

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This second line would truly be a last resort, however, as it would not stretch to the coast - and thus be easily bypassed. Its primary purpose was to buy time in the event of a Changeling breakthrough, time Equestria could use to rally volunteers and form emergency militias.

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February 1011

In a turn of events that surprised absolutely nopony, another war broke out in Griffonia. This time, the Griffon Empire was expanding into the Skyfall Trade Federation, a cluster of cities which had a proud naval tradition. Just a pity that they shared a land border with their enemy.

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Meanwhile, the Griffonian Revolutionary State continued to lose ground to the combined might of Aquelia and Wingbardy. The allied forces had successfully encircled a number of divisions on the border with the Falcor Principality, forcing the GRS troops to choose between death or internment in a neutral state. Unsurprisingly, many were choosing the latter, although Beakolini was exerting some diplomatic pressure on Falcor to turn over their prisoners.

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Finally, the Free Towns of Gryphus had discovered they had bitten off rather more then they could chew. Late in 1010, they had attacked the Union of Free Cities to secure a monopoly in the local trade routes to Nyumba Yakasakaini and the west coast of the River Federation, but it seemed the Union had been waiting for just such a move. The Free Towns' lines had been breached in numerous places, and it seemed like it was only a matter of time until they fell.

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Fun fact: those two states to the East are apparently where Zebras come from. That blue blob in the south is also where Minotaurs (like Iron Will, remember him?) come from.

-

28/02/1011
EQUESTRIA DAILY
Page 5
NEW NAVAL CONTRACTS SIGNED
The Ministry of Defence announded yesterday that they would be outsourcing naval some design work to Baltimare Designs, a firm based in the titular city. Balitmare Designs is most famous for their efforts during the reconstruction of the Seapony fleet three years ago, and their work with the Stalliongradian People's Navy in 1006. When asked for comment, Baltimare Designs' Chief Designer, Ship-Shape, said: "I'm glad we got the contract, and we're looking forward to bringing our design expertise to the Royal Navy."

What this means for the future of the Equestrian Navy, and whether there will be another phase of expansion once the last Ark Royal-class carrier is completed in March, is unknown at this time.

BOOK NOW for your tickets to the Navy Regatta on the 11th of March! If you book through our affiliated service, Apple Brothers' Travel Co., you will recieve 50 bits of spending money on the day, and an opportunity to take an exclusive tour on the ERNS Ark Royal! Simply send a postal money order to our office address or call 01857 515 289 at any time from 9am-5pm weekdays.

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Same song and dance as with the other design companies; 10% faster naval research and a choice of buffs. In this case, I went for the armour and firepower choice, because I might at some point need to build some more capital ships.

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March 1011

Refugees from the Griffonian Revolutionary State had, over the past few months, found themselves in nearly every single neighbouring country. Some had enacted strong anti-refugee laws in response, to varying levels of public support, and in one - the Principality of Lushi - the resulting unrest was enough to push the country into civil war. The new Socialist Republic of Lushi had the solid support of the middle two-thirds of the nation, sitting between the Prince's hold-outs in the East and West.

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The grey blob in the bottom-right corner is the Socialist Republic, and the two pink blobs are the Principality. In another note, I'm seriously beginning to run out of ways to say "and then another war happened in Griffonia".

-

The first models of programmable computers began appearing on the consumer market in Equestria. These were still expensive, heavy, and bulky, but they represented a new stage in Equestria's fledgling computer industry. The first few models were snapped up by research and development institutions, of course, but some made their way into industry and agriculture, helping workers automate certain tasks and plan more efficiently.

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Equestria's scientific advances weren't just limited to the material plane, however. The new computer equipment was being put to good use already, helping arcanely-inspired unicorns to develop new and better spells. Princess Twilight shifted research funding appropriately, allocating resources to the creation of new healing spells for use by the Army's Mage Companies. This would allow them to operate in tandem with field hospital units, and hopefully reduce the number of casualties from a natural disaster or - Celestia forbid - combat.

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-

06/04/1011
S.M.I.L.E. EXTERNAL MEMO
TOP SECRET
EYES ONLY
HOOVES OFF!

While I'm glad to see somepony taking heed of my warnings, don't you all think it's a little too obvious to build a line of bunkers exactly in front of the Changelings' planned route to Canterlot? You could have at least extended that little fig-leaf all the way down to the coast. Whatever, it's not like it cost the Special Ministry much to get their battle plans. Only three missing agents, right? At least the damned things are built now.

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Recent reports from what remains of our intel network in former Olenian territory show that the bugs are moving on to the next phase of their occupation plans - the complete removal of the native population and their replacement with Changeling settlers. Where these bugs are coming from, I don't know - we sure didn't think there were this many of them before the war. I've got some pictures of deer being shipped off to the feeding pits, and somepony managed to get Chrissie's latest speech on tape. If you want my advice, make a cute little packet of all this and send copies to every government on the continent. When they see what's coming, they'll have no excuse for not helping out. Might help rally our own ponies, too.

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Once this focus is done, we'll get better diplomatic relationships with our neighbours, and a boost to our stability and war support. The latter's perhaps the most important, as it'll let us change our economy laws.

-

March the 11th was a bright, sunny day in Vanhoover - a rarity this far north. Sunlight glinted off of the calm water, seagulls rose high into the air, and the beaches were packed. Sales of sunscreen and ice creams were through the proverbial roof, as ponies from all across Equestria basked in the sunshine. Many would have come even if the weather had been more typical, for today was the day of the grand naval regatta.

Five great battleships steamed slowly around the bay, tended to by flocks of destroyers and pleasure boats. Occasionally, one would turn a turret and fire a single explosive charge, the sound echoing across the entire bay; special insurance had been taken out by the Navy to repair any damage done by the mock gunfire. The fleet's three battlecruisers, as sleek as they were deadly, prowled their independant patrols here and there, steaming from Vanhoover out to the smaller towns that dotted the bay. The city's harbour was guarded by the Navy's single heavy cruiser, her guns trained outwards as if to ward off some unseen threat, and herds of ponies and deer crammed onto the sea walls to look at the proud vessel.

None of these were the mane main attraction, however. Two great ships were moored in the harbour, strange vessels with flat decks, one slightly smaller than the other. These were the Ark Royal and the Pegasopolis, Equestria's first two aircraft carriers. A few planes littered their decks - fabic-coated Shark torpedo bombers and monoplane Sea Gladiator fighters - but the vast majority of space was taken up with even more civilians, guided along tours by sharply-uniformed Royal Equestrian Navy officers. The visitors were shown cavernous hangar decks, powerful anti-aircraft guns, stately wardrooms and even a short glance at the vessels' bridges. Many Vanhoover natives had seen the ships from afar; they patrolled the waters of Luna Bay, sometimes even pulling into Vanhoover harbour to refuel or resupply. More exciting, however, were the other two carriers, the Formidable and the Illustrious, which had taken up station in the middle of the bay.

They were nearly identical to the Ark Royal, but were clearly newer - the Illustrious had in fact been formally commisioned only the week prior, and was still missing a few anti-aircraft guns. Roaring aero-planes soared from their decks, flying low over the water in mock attack runs on the battleships (carefully timed so as to avoid the shell-fire demonstrations, of course), or rising high into the air in staged dog-fights. A few lucky tour groups were taken onto their decks, to see these magnificent ships in action, sit in the cockpit of a working Sea Gladiator, and even got to shake the hoof of Admiral Evening Squall herself.

As the day wore on, the demonstrations continued, until at last the various warships had to return to port, crews and fuel supplies exhausted. Unbeknownst to the masses of ponies who had had a grand day at the regatta, however, there was more to the day than simple entertainment and patriotic feeling. The regatta served as a test of Equestria's newest warships and their crews, a simple exercise to get them accustomed to working together, and it sent a message to the world:

Equestria's battle-fleet was not to be trifled with.

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I may have mentioned earlier (not like there's a record of what I've talked about in the LP or anything), but the maximum number of carriers you can have in a fleet before suffering serious penalties is 4. As such, we can consider this fleet pretty much complete, unless I decide to build more battleships or something.

-

By the 20th of March, all of the Army's 110mm howitzers sported shiny new barrels, giving them a whole extra 10% more firepower-per-shell.

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The process of upgrading the field pieces had also inspired some potential improvements to the Army's machine guns. With a few changes to the basic design, the Canterlot Armoury managed to produce a prototype that was more reliable and had a better rate-of-fire.

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20/03/1011
Dear Princess Celestia,

We've just about managed to get the new office into a shape I'm happy with. Thanks for sending over Princess Twilight - she was a huge help, like you said she'd be. Did you get a chance to visit the regatta up in Vanhoover? I took some of the staff up, and they really enjoyed it.

I've sketched out some alterations to the EUP Guard divisions in service, see attached sheet. In short: each division gets the usual support units - Mage, Arty, and Enginners - and I've added a Pegasus and Unicorn battalion to the TOE. It's partially a symbolic idea - they are the EUP guard, after all - and partially practical, as it makes the units less awkward to command. We don't have any Unicorn-only battalions in service at the minute, aside from the Mage companies, so it'll be an interesting experiment. As per usual, one company from each division will remain with their namesake, so you don't need to worry about losing your bodyguards conversation partners. Not sure what the arrangement will be if the Empire goes independant, but it won't take too long to work out. Please get back to me ASAP with a response.

Your Minister,

Typhoon.

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Unicorn battalions are, IIRC, slightly stronger than normal line infantry, but they are Special Forces battalions. There's a cap on how many of those we can have in the field at any one time, so we can't just replace all our line infantry with unicorns like you could with Mountaineers in the base game on release.

-

Political instability continued to ripple across Griffonia as the Firtree Villages - a small forest nation - collapsed into civil war between advocates of Harmonic Democracy and an authoritarian king.

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-

The city of Skyfall fell on the 24th, with its grand shipyards set ablazed and destroyed in the fighting. Nopony knew how the fire had originated - whether it was a last act of defiance, a symbolic act of terror or simply an accident - but the birthplace of the Great Ships that had plied the waters between Equestria and Griffonia for a millenium was no more.

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-
28/03/1011
INTERNAL MOD CORRESPONDENCE
NOT FOR EXTERNAL USE
Minister,

Regarding the Firtree Air Force competition: the Mayoral Council of Firtree has asked us to sell them the Mark. II Spitfire. I'm not entirely sure how they knew about it - the machine we entered was a late-model Hurricane - but they said they're expecing a reply by the end of the week. They probably want to get an edge over the rebels, which could be a prime opportunity for us to see how the Spit performs in combat. Additionally, our diplomatic agent in Firtree says they're not interested in buying the Hurricane at all.

- Swallowtail

-
28/03/1011
INTERNAL MOD CORRESPONDENCE
NOT FOR EXTERNAL USE
Swallowtail,

Instruct our agent that under no circumstances are we to sell weapons to a country currently fighting a war - civil or otherwise - even if their political philosophy aligns with ours. This order comes directly from Princess Celestia, and I fully agree with her; it'd be a field day for the press when they found out, and it'd be hypocritical in the first place. I have my hooves full trying to get the Crystal Empire to agree to the League proposal without further hassle.

It's a double-no since they're asking for the Spit. It's our latest and greatest, and I don't want to run the risk of the Griffons getting ahold of one - or worse, the Changelings.

- Minister Typhoon

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-
28/03/1011
EQUESTRIAN INTERNATIONAL TELEGRAM SERVICE
FROM: CRPALACE STATION
TO: CTCASTLE STATION

RECOGNITION CODE 42416 STOP
DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS SUCCESSFUL STOP
STALLIONGRAD AND CRYSTAL EMPIRE BOTH SHOW INTEREST STOP
MINOR NATIONS ON BOARD TOO STOP
PREDICT CE REFERENDUM RETURNS INDEPENDANCE STOP
WILL RETURN BY APRIL 1ST STOP

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-

Despite years of effort and millions of bits of spending, much of Equestria was still underdeveloped, especially in regards to heavy freight access. In some places, highly industrialised cities say just ten miles away from subsistence-level farmland. Yes, Equestria still possessed the edge in technology, but risked losing its industrial advantage to the Changeling hive-cities if nothing was done. To that end, some money was allocated towards building a new Trans-Equestrian railway, bridging the Northern and Southern halves of Equestria.

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This is where I hit a bit of a holding pattern - further advances down the "war" route would either be really hard to narratively justify, or put us at war with the Changelings. That will change later in this update, but right now I'm doing some back-filling.

-

April 1011

Upgrades to Equestria's state-owned construction equipment completed successfully.

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Princess Twilight Sparkle had assigned her student, Starlight Glimmer, and a few of her Friendship Academy's students to writing a basic compendium of spells for all unicorns to use back in 1010. The first edition had been incredibly popular, with several million copies sold already. At the request of the Ministry of Defence, the team got to work a second volume focussing on on basic combat spells. This would be used as a foundation to ensure every unicorn in the Armed Forces would be proficient in basic battle-magic.

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-

Princess Cadance looked out over the crowds from the balcony of the Crystal Palace. The plaza was packed, full of crystal ponies waiting to hear the results of yesterday's referendum with bated - and in the case of one clumsy fisherpony, baited - breath. She cleared her throat, and cast a small spell to porject her voice.

"Citizens of the Crystal Empire," she said, "It is my pleasure to inform you, that from this day forth the Crystal Empire shall be an independant state. We go forth today upon our own four legs, to make our own mark upon the world. That does not mean, however, that we shall be alone. Equestria, which freed this land from Sombra's twisted designs, will stand next to us as our ally in the new Equestrian League!"

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So, I'm playing with historical foci off in the hopes that King Sombra will return and we'll actually get a war this bloody decade, and then the AI goes and chooses this path.

-

Army engineers reported full readiness with their new machines and techniques.

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Princess Twilight debuted a prototype disk-based memory drive, which took up one tenth of the space required for the same computer memory in tape format. While these were not yet market-ready, or even anything more than a prototype, the potential was immediately obvious, even to Princess Celestia. Additionally, the first magic-based transistors were coming into fruition. The Department of Experimental Research Projects was tasked with combining the two into a convenient package.

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May 1011

The Gryphon Revolutionary State was on its last legs. Allied forces had, over the past two months, pushed the Revolutionary Army back relentlessly, cutting off division after division. However, the communists were no longer fighting to win the war, or even preserve their country; they were fighting to buy time. Inspired by the miracle at Vaverfront, the Revolutionary State had begun evacuation efforts with what few ships they had. Small flotillas of cargo ships scurried along the southern coast of Griffonia, hulls laden down with refugees and supplies. The only nations on the planet that would take them were on another continent entirely, and to get there they had to pass through Wingbardian waters - a dangerous proposition at best. Only time would tell how many of them would reach safety.

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-

There came a stirring from the north.

Strange things had been happening for months now: disappearances, lights in the distant fog, whispers upon the wind, but none had heeded the signs. Too much attention was taken up with the great wars happening in the south, and with the endless debates over formality and protocol.

For two thousand years, the mighty Arcturian Order had watched the gates to the north, growing evermore stagnant and complacent. Of the four Knight-Commanders of the Order, only one was present at his post on the long midnight of May the 30th. He had been skirmishing with some skeletons, a few mindless undead, for months now - nothing unusual, as the residual magic from the great war two milennia ago often spawned such abominations.

When two full legions of undead, numbering not just skeletons and zombies, but ever-living Unicorn magi and great re-animated monsters, appeared out of the misty night, it was he who fled to the capital to warn the rest of the order about what was happening. Behind him, the small border fort he commanded had already fallen, its walls breached by a mixture of arcane energies and the barbaric weapons used by the southerners.

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The Equestrian news machine, already so used to conveying the raw chaos that seemed to be a permanent state of affairs on Griffonia, took only a few days to get the news out. The front page of the Equestria Daily was taken up by the report, while a few of the less reputable tabloids had special features on the macabre practices of the Dread League.

However, the events happening in Griffonia didn't change Equestira's strategy; even if the Dread League was a threat - and, given how backwards and underdeveloped the Arcturian Order was, that wasn't a given - it still didn't change the fact that the Changelings were much closer and much more aggressive.

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June 1011

By early June, all field Unicorn Companies were rated proficient with the new healing spells.

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Special funding was allocated for "Pathfinder" pegasus squadrons, who would clear the weather ahead of planned aircraft patrols and strike missions. The concept had been proven in a recent joint Army/Air Force exercise, where a force with Pathfinders was able to carry out 50% more missions than their control group counterpart.

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-

"Minister, another letter for you," Typhoon's new secretary said as he offered the Minister of Defence an envelope.

Typhoon tore it open, and rolled his eyes. Another letter asking if some Griffonian state could buy Spitfires. "Send the usual reply back," he said. "They can buy surplus Hurricanes, or nothing at all."

"Right away, Minister."

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-

Work on the trunk line for Equestria's new North-South line was completed in record time. A pony could now take a train all the way from the Crystal Empire to Tenochilitan without having to switch once. More importantly, the line was built for heavy freight trains as well as high-speed traffic, allowing factories across Equestria access to the south's rich resource deposits.

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With what was left over in terms of budget and materiel, Flim and Flam proposed an upgrade to the Canterlot-Manehatten line. This was quickly approved.

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-

THOOM

Silver Crown blinked, astonished at what her magic had accomplished. The metal-backed target she'd been aiming at now had a smoking hole about the diameter of her horn burned through it, seared by the bolt of concentrated magic she'd let fly. She looked left and right; most of the other unicorns were still looking at their new spellbooks, learning how to cast the bolt.

She'd been skeptical at first - after all, she'd placed firmly average in the standardised Unicorn Magic tests, and had never cast anything more complicated than basic telekinesis - but now she'd seen the results, she was a convert. Combat magic was awesome.

All she had to do now was wait until someone else in her class learned it, so she could learn how to cast a shield.

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MacIntosh Arms began developing larger magazines for the Limestone Sub-Machine Gun, and the Canterlot Armoury began looking into a new type of mortar based off of lessons learned during the Model 17 development programme.

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The Union of Free Cities forced the Free Towns of Gryphus to the negotiating table, and as punishment for the latter's hubris and arrogance the former annexed the whole state.

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June 19th, 1011 - July 1011

Just a little eastwards, another war was coming to its grim conclusion. Two divisions of communist Gryphons were all that was left of the People's Revolutionary Army, and only one was in a position to defend the capital. Civilians - true believers and bystanders alike - fled the city in droves, streaming down the narrow strip of safe territory towards the regime's one remaining port or over the border to temporary safety in the Gryphian People's Republic.

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And, to credit the last hold-outs of the communist regime, they did hold back the tide for eighteen more days, combining clever traps with sheer die-hard stubbornness to humiliate a force exponentially more powerful.

Until the inevitable happened.

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The Equestria Daily was able to fill two days' worth of headlines with the news, one about the fall of Kivessin and the next proclaiming the terms of the GRS' surrender. The Republic of Aquelia was able to force the Kingsdom of Wingbardy to back off from total annexation, and even secured a guarantee for free and fair elections.

However, the cost was high; all of the new Republic of Brodfeld's conquered territory was annexed directly to the Kingdom of Wingbardy as "a safeguard against further aggression", along with the Republic's one major port.

The Gryphian Revolution, it seemed, was over.

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Further north, the Arcturian Order was finding itself ground into dust. Their swords and spears, no matter how valiently wielded, could not hope to match up against the modern weapons wielded by the hordes of skeletons and zombies pouring forth from the Wastes. Nogriffon knew where the necromancers had gotten the guns; they were an eclectic mix of types from all over the world, a fact which would have doomed them against any other opponent.

Aside from a few covens of Arcturian magi, none of the knights had been able to hold their positions. Dread League forces had already reached the shore of the Great Lake upon which sat the Order's main citadel-city. At this late hour, desperate calls for aid were finally being dispatched to the old Empire, but everyone present knew help would not arrive in time.

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New magazines and grenades finished circulating through the Equestrian Army.

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Since the Navy was getting a little jealous of the money spent on the Army and Air Force - after all, no new ship classes had been designed since the olden days of 1006 - the Fairey company teamed up with the Northern aircraft development bureau to make a navalised version of the Mark I Spitfire. Initial tests indicated the design needed a larger fuel tank in order to be effective in naval combat, but designers from both companies were optimistic.

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Recent Army exercises showed that support companies could now adequetely co-ordinate with front-line formations. The solution had been simple: disperse special officers from the support units into the front-line battalions, providing them with the expertise and authority necessary to call in adequete fire support.

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The theory was expanded upon during a conference in Vanhoover; rather than simply dispersing officers and allocating support on an ad-hoc basis, why not simply allocate support units - artillery batteries, mage squads, hospital ambulances and the like - to individual front-line units before the start of each operation? This would require the formation of so-called "Regimental Combat Teams", consisting of an infantry battalion and pre-assigned attached support ranging from division-level assets to armour, air and naval units from other branches. In order to streamline this process, the conference got to work on creating RCT templates and working out procedures for bringing in units from other branches.

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August 15th, 1011

Representatives from the Socialist Republic of the Free Griffons amended their request for modern Spitfire fighters. Instead, they were willing to accept Mark V Hurricane fighter-bombers. While there was some pushback from the former Prince-Marshal Blueblood, Minister Typhoon eventually decided to go ahead with the sale, hoping to provide a buffer against the horrors rumoured to be coming from the Dread League.

Additionally, a new model of the Spitfire was introduced with minor control changes, designated the "Mark II".

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I fixed the name eventually.

-

In just over a month, Manehatten's rail capacity had been doubled, a testament to Equestria's new-found skill at construction and industry. Despite all these improvements, however, weapon production still hadn't risen nearly as fast as had been predicted; instead, much of the new output was going straight into the civilian market in the form of cars, refigerators and other similar goods, bound for the historically less-developed regions of Equestria.

While this was certainly an improvement to the lives of countless ponies, it was causing a bottleneck in both weapons production and construction of new factories. Princess Celestia asked her Ministers for suggestions, once the problem had been explained, and the debate soon polarised between the Twin Ministers Flim and Flam, who advocated doing nothing and allowing the invisible hoof of the Free Market to solve the problem, and Princess Twilight, who had compiled a meticulous plan scheduling exactly what should be produced when, and in what quantities.

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As part of what the Ministry of Defence was calling War Plan Green (or, more formally, Operational Schedule No.145), the Equestrian army was to fall back into central Equestria should the Changeling attack threaten a major encirclement. Thus far, however, there was no such contingency in place for the Air Force, which faced being left behind in such a scenario. After some minor lobbying from Spitfire and other Wonderbolt pilots, Minister Typhoon agreed to put some money aside to build fall-back airfields.

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Still kind of running out the clock in terms of national foci.

August 27th, 1011

The confusing Firtree Civil War came to a close. Nopony in Equestria knew what they had been fighting over, only that the fighting had been long and remarkably bloody. Even the Canterlot Chronicle, which could usually twist any subject to fit whatever adgenda it was pushing this week, simply stated the facts: there had been a war, and now there wasn't. Most of the paper was instead filled with articles "debating" (or, in actuality, mindlessly praising) the Economic Mobilisation Bill being worked on by Parliament and the various ministries.

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September 1011
03/09/1011
Dear Mayors, Ministers and industryponies,

Let it be known that, as of today, all private and public steelworks, chemical plants, textile mills, refineries and metalworkers are subject to the new Economic Mobilisation Law. All ponies responisble for any factory, site, shop or other similar place of work must report to the closest (by physical and administrative distance) Mayor within the next two weeks, who will then assign them to a Ministry of Armaments representative. This representative will provide them a Schedule of Necessary Works, which must be completed according to the law. Failure to complete the schedule for a non-justifiable reason will result in prosecution, with the maximum penalty being confiscation of the property in question. All work will be paid for according to market rates. A full copy of the Law will be available in the local City or Town hall, and can be sent via mail upon request.

It pains me to take away such valuable freedom from you all, but it is my fond hope that all my little ponies will be enriched by this temporary measure.

Signed,

Princess Celestia

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Signing a new economic law generally reduces the number of Consumer Goods factories needed, while speeding up military factory construction speed and conversion speed. Given that we currently use something like 40-60% of our factories on consumer goods, reducing the base rate to 20% (before the Stagnation of Harmony national spirit raises it again...) is a massive upgrade. basically, it means more civilian factories which means more military factories, bunkers, airfields and the like. Ideally, we'd have gotten this way earlier, but we're playing as good-timeline Equestria so this is the first time we can change this law.

-

"So, anyway, have you seen the latest Daring Do book?"

"A.K. Yearling's still writing?"

Pupae stiffened as the voices came closer. She was currently disguised as a maintenance pony, but all it would take was one inconvenient question and her cover would be blown. Damn Chrysalis for sending her and the others without any preparation work - and damn herself for going along with it. She tried to make herself look a little more inconspicuous, glancing down at her clipboard as the two civilian ponies walked past, and it worked - they didn't notice her at all.

She waited another second or two, just in case it was a trap, and then proceeded onwards. Her target lay just ahead, a large steam engine laden with fat trucks plastered with Equestrian Army markings. Normally, she'd simply toss a bundle of TNT into the cabin and escape in the chaos, but Chrysialis had told her to keep a low profile as much as possible - and it wasn't like the ponies here knew the first thing about espionage. Carefully, she sidled up to the cabin, checking to see if anyone was inside. Nopony in sight, which would be a major scandal back home. What in the name of the hive were these ponies thinking?

Shaking her head and sighing, Pupae looked over the controls. There was still some steam in the boiler, which was tempting, but that would attract too much attention. Instead, she focussed, and pooled her magic into a single point, creating a small stone. Then, she placed the stone into the firebox, where it would hopefully lie un-noticed - and suck all the heat from the coal, rendering the engine useless for a day or so, when the magic would wear off.

That would delay the train, hopefully causing problems for the rest of the rail network. And, all over Equestria, Pupae's Changeling comrades were carrying out similar acts of sabotage, each calculated to cause maximum chaos.

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This is the result of a Changeling national focus, and is a little painful - but it does mean we might get a war at some point! Spoilers: not this year.

-

The special "Pathfinder" squadrons of weather manipulation Pegasi were formally commisioned, the first - No.18 Squadron - being attached to the Wonderbolts. Others would follow soon.

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The inevitable march of mathematics continued, with advanced computers opening to door to faster mathematical operations, and thus more effective decryption techniques.

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-
17/9/1011
S.M.I.L.E INTERNAL CORRESPONDENCE
EYES ONLY
HOOVES OFF!

ALL STATIONS

Effective immediately, Operational Plan Windigo is in effect. Report any and all unusual behaviour from S.M.I.L.E direct and adjacent employees for testing with Compound C-137. Distribute copies of Leaflet 27 to all properties, utilising local law enforcement as much as possible. Once the Changelings within have been rooted out, focus security efforts on military and law enforcement personnel. Ignore any and all opposition - if necessary, and only if necessary, approved S.M.I.L.E agents can operate without regard to the law. this is a temporary power given to us to root out the Changeling menace, and I should not have to describe just what will happen should any of us abuse the trust the Princesses have placed in us.

Signed,

Director Sweetie Drops

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200 political power to eventually remove the Changeling Spies national idea - which I think gets worse over time? It's worth it, in any case.

-

October 1011

The once-mighty Arcturian Order was now little more than a fleeing band of elderly and half-trained knights, escorting groups of ragged civilians, scattered to the four winds.

The final onslaught had been brutal, and swift, as the Dread League finally stopped playing with their food and unleashed the true might of their army: a pair of Changeling-built Panzers, smuggled across the ocean in secret. Nogriffon had been able to stand before them, combined with the growing hordes of undead.

Now, the war was over, the dead being reanimated to serve their new masters: the Necromancers of the Dread League. What they would do next was a mystery - though the surrounding nations watched their borders a bit closer, making preparations for if the Necromancers decided to spread their foul taint further...

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-

Transcription of an Equestrian Radio Broadcast, intercepted by a Changeling spy sometime in October:
"Today, Department of Industry announced the completion of their works across Central Equestria. This news came to the delight of many holidaying ponies, who had anticipated a congested drive to the popular Nightmare Night celebrations in Ponyville later this month.

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In other news, to combat the reports of Changeling infiltrators, Princess Celestia has granted her inner circle yet more special legal powers. In a press release earlier this morning, she announced that her ministers, military officers and trusted advisors would form the basis of an "Urgent War Commision", with broad-ranging powers to "re-organise Equestrian society to face the Changeling menace". What does this mean for you and your family? More, at the top of the hour.


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(this is the start of the "un-fuck Equestria" focus tree, normally locked off behind us going to war - except enough wars have been going on elsewhere that we can now take it. Normally, I'd have held off a little longer, but I'm running out of other foci to take.)

-

The Fairey Naval Aircraft Company reported that the navalised Spitfire, dubbed the "Fulmar", was ready for production.

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Given the general abundance of research funding, the Northern Design Bureau decided to go ahead and begin work on a new purpose-designed Close Air Support fighter. Initial plans for the design included a larger wingspan than any other single-seat aircraft, an uprated Starswirl engine, extensive (and heavy) armour protection and, of course, a weapons loadout sufficient to level a small city. For reasons that had nothing to do with the current Minister of Defence, the prospective design was labelled "Typhoon".

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-

Work commenced on the last stage of the Canterlot-Acornrage rail line, alongside a highway that ran the length of the Changeling/Equestrian border. Ostensibly to promote the development of those border regions, any creature with half a brain knew who the highway was really for: the Army. That it ran parralel to the Army's line of fortifications was no co-incidence.

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I had to build this manually, otherwise the army would have no supply when war breaks out.

-

Some Stalliongradian spies got caught up in S.M.I.L.E's campaign against Changeling infiltration. No major incidents took place, but Stalliongrad's attitude became noticably colder over the next few months.

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-

The first finding of the War Committee was that there was a severe shortage of trained military officers, particularly in the General Staff. Plans were drawn up to promote officers into those positions from the well-drilled soldiers on the Changeling border, but this would obviously leave that border vulnerable. More work would have to be done.

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It was also time to create a High Command - a group of ponies to be in charge of each respective branch. This had been sorely lacking over the past few years; the Minister of Defence currently having to communicate directly with army Generals, Admiral Evening Squall of the REN, and the various Squadron Leaders of the REAF in order to get anything done. A High Command would streamline the command structure, and put actual experts in charge of their areas of expertise rather than leaving the whole thing to a well-educated amateur.

The only question was who would staff this High Command?

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this basically unlocks the rest of the government panel for us.

-

November 1011

The days seemed to drag on endlessly towards the end of the year. Some months, the only thing that broke up the monotony of Typhoon's day-to-day life was the occasional foray into the various research and development teams. Yet another set of updated equipment was issued to the Army,

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after which the Army began setting up a specialised Pegasi recruitment drive, hoping to improve the quality of soldiers in the Pegasi divisions currently fielded.

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More decryption techniques were perfected,

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leaving S.M.I.L.E and Princess Twilight to work on better encryption to keep the arms race going.

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-

December 1011

The last month of the year opened with a bit of a bang: the Griffonian Empire declared war on yet more of its neighbours: the ancient territory held by the Sunstriker Clan, the Griffonian Republic and the Socialist Republic of the Free Griffons. It was highly unlikely that, even allied, these three would prove to be a threat to the Empire.

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-

The old High Command - made up exclusively of ancient ponies who barely even bothered to show up - had been cleared out. However, with the Changeling infiltrators still on the loose, nopony could justify appointing their replacements just yet.

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-
05/12/1011
S.M.I.L.E EXTERNAL CORRESPONDENCE
EYES ONLY
HOOVES OFF!

Director,

Begin preparations. All ponies on the list provided are to be arrested under the new Corruption and Espionage Acts. Make this as clean as possible; I've already had a hard enough time selling this plan to Celestia as it is.

Minister Typhoon.

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Finally doing something about that stagnation. This focus just reduces the penalties, but it'll be gone eventually.

-

And, finally, on the 5th of December, the Griffonian Empire decided that three new provinces wasn't enough and declared war on the Kingdom of Vedina.

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In Equestria, the year's end was fraught with tension. Beneath the surface of the Hearthswarming Eve's celebrations bubbled an atmosphere of suspicion and discontent; was the friend you were partying with a Changeling imposter? Did they suspect you were? Tank after tank rolled off the assembly lines, and for what purpose? The war, so long foreshadowed, had yet to appear.

-

So I'm going to take a quick vote here because we're in danger of nothing interesting happening: if the Changelings do not declare war on Equestria by the end of next year, should we launch a pre-emptive attack?

Voting will close on Tuesday, October 8th.
User avatar
Bedlam
Jedi Master
Posts: 1495
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Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: [Screenshot Let's Play/No 56K] Hearts of Iron IV... as Equestria?

Post by Bedlam »

A long-term contract was opened up with the McIntosh Factory in Ponyville. They would design and build most of the infantrypony's ancilliary equipment, such as webbing, pouches, holsters and helmets,
I think you should have gone for Rarity for you needs, not only would it have all be practical but Fabulous! as well, at least let her at the uniforms.

My vote is no pre-emptive attacks, its just not a pony thing to do.

Maybe if they attack an ally or some act of sabotage ends up killing a lot of ponies but otherwise no.
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VX-145
Padawan Learner
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Location: I don't know. Honestly.

Re: [Screenshot Let's Play/No 56K] Hearts of Iron IV... as Equestria?

Post by VX-145 »

Bedlam wrote: 2019-10-02 02:13pm I think you should have gone for Rarity for you needs, not only would it have all be practical but Fabulous! as well, at least let her at the uniforms.
We can actually recruit her as one of the High Command ponies - unlike the others, she's available from the start, providing some bonuses against attrition. I might end up taking her once I get some political power in.
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VX-145
Padawan Learner
Posts: 251
Joined: 2008-10-30 07:10am
Location: I don't know. Honestly.

Re: [Screenshot Let's Play/No 56K] Hearts of Iron IV... as Equestria?

Post by VX-145 »

Bet you weren't expecting this to update. Lots of reasons for the delay, some of which I hope are kind of obvious.

Now I just have to remember how I got the screencaps so I can start working on the next one...


Part IX: The Final Countdown, January 1st 1012-January 1st 1013

January 1012

The year kicked off with yet another letter from a small Griffonian nation asking if they could possibly buy some Spitfires. The Watertown Air Force recieved back a standard form letter telling them that the design was not for sale.

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-

"Subject is in custody," Agent Drumstick muttered into his collar microphone. Two Army ponies were dragging the "subject" - the now-former CEO of Detrot Steelworks - into a waiting van down in the street. A small crowd had formed, staring at the spectacle, whispering to each other. They could whisper all they liked, as far as he was concerned.

The reply came a few moments later. "Good work. Any trouble?"

Agent Drumstick cast a glance back at the bullet-ridden office. The damned fool industrialist had tried to make an issue out of his arrest, thinking he could intimidate an S.M.I.L.E. agent like a union organiser. "Some," Drumstick said. "One wounded."

The pause was slightly longer this time. "If that's what it took," the voice said. "This is the last one, too. Get back to Canterlot and write up your report."

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-


"Princess," Typhoon greeted, bracing himself for their morning meeting. Ever since he'd been "promoted", he'd been forced to attend them - which sucked, as he wasn't a morning pony.

"What next?" Princess Celestia asked, taking a seat at the brunch table and motioning her minister to follow.

"I'm not sure I understand the question," Typhoon replied, slightly puzzled. As far as he was aware, most of the Ministry of Defence's projects were proceeding according to schedule - and certainly none of them needed royal attention.

Princess Celestia sighed, and took a bagel. "Now that S.M.I.L.E. has finished arresting all those ponies, what do we do next? I'm sure you have something planned."

Oh, so it was one of those conversations. "I have nothing specific," Typhoon admitted, "But the next problem the old SAC flagged up was how disjointed our country is. The mayors have way too much power, almost complete control over their townships, and outside of the major settlements there's nearly no way for us to exercise control. I think the old system should still work, but we should reign in the worst excesses. Maybe make the mayoral elections standardised, and more democratic, and pass a law giving the state more control in private industry."

"Nothing specific, he says," Celestia said, rolling her eyes. "I shall consult with the others later today."

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I think when this focus finishes we'll actually have an overall reduction in research time, rather than the slight increase we currently have.

-

ROYAL EQUESTRIAN TELEGRAPH SERVICE
17/01/1012
FROM: CT PALACE
TO: CT SHQ
SUBJECT: RE: Proposal

Dear Sweetie Drops,

I cannot in good conscience employ your proposed measures for the censorship of the press. They go against the very foundations of Equestria, that ponies be free to do as they wish. I understand this may seem a bit idealistic to one such as yourself, but please also consider the social cost of such a move. The waves of arrests that are still ongoing in response to the Changeling problem have proven deeply unpopular, and we cannot risk any more social unrest.

With regards,

HRH Princess Celestia.

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-

February 1012

INTERCEPTED CHANGELING RADIO BROADCAST, SOURCE VESALIPOLIS, 2/2/12:
(the other half of this conversation was not recorded due to a hardware error)

Male Changeling voice [unidentified, but probably a high-ranking Changeling]: "Her Majesty's orders are clear - no construction effort is to be made on the southern border until she decides otherwise.

[two seconds of silence]

No, I'm not sure why either, but I think it has something to do with the other projects going on.

[eight more seconds of silence]

I don't know. If you want me to venture a guess, I'd say she wants to get as much done as possible before letting the rainbows know we're coming. I think a building a giant highway right up against the border would be a pretty clear sign of what we're planning - although they did the same and no-one panicked.

[twenty seconds of silence, followed by the sound of a pen scratching on paper]

Sure, I'll relay that on. On the plus side, there should be a fair few more divisions for the front soon.

[one second of silence]

Yeah, I'll meet you later.

[transmission ends]

Analysis: The lack of highway infrastructure on the Changling side of the Equestrian/Changeling border is one of the major impediments to a Changeling assault. Thus far, no moves have been made to rectify this deficit, and judging by this conversation and other evidence the Changeling leadership has other priorities. Additionally, we can infer that construction of such infrastructure would be a prelude to war. S.M.I.L.E. will continue monitoring the situation.

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I've not shown it off yet, but we can look at other nations' focus trees and see what they're up to. In this case, until they complete the focus my mouse cursor is over, they can't start down the tree that leads them to war with us, so watching to see when they complete this focus is a good indicator of how long we've got. Also, you can only see what focuses are completed or are being worked on if your decryption level meets or beats the other nation's encryption.

-

The increased recruitment standards for Army Pegasus units began to pay off. Recent tests showed that the formations were able to last longer as an effective fighting force in combat.

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A new technique was being pioneered in a Spitire factory. Instead of each stage of construction being undertaken seperately, the unfinished fighters were mounted on a specially powered conveyor, along which was placed the various workstations. So far, the process, inspired by Earth assembly lines, was showing promise.

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-

As though there weren't enough wars going on in Griffonia, the Griffonian Empire declared war on two more nations.

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One would almost expect them to reach some sort of legal limit on how many different wars they could be on at once.

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Unfortunately, that's not a mechanic in the game.

-

Pupae couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. How long had it been since she'd last felt safe, anonymous? Probably since a pair of Navy ponies had dragged one of her neighbours away for questioning; even she hadn't known the stallion had been another Changeling. Since then, she'd been moving from place to place, never sleeping in the same building twice, and making sure to cover her tracks. Given how many other arrests had been made, according to the newspapers, her strategy seemed to be paying off.

Now, all she needed to do was to get back to the Hive, to make her report. Carefully, with a quick glance around the street, she ducked into a cafe bedecked with Hearts and Hooves Day junk, where her contect should be waiting. Navigating around the dozens of couples, she searched - but he wasn't there. That could only mean one thing.

Blood running cold, she made to duck out of the door, and stopped. A mare in Equestrian Army uniform was standing there, blocking her way, an automatic pistol in one hoof. The expression on the mare's face was clear - the game was up. Slowly, Pupae raised her front legs.

"Congratulations," said the other mare, "You're the last one, and a right merry chase you've given us."

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-

Yet another set of new code machines were rolled out across the government, with no small amount og complaining from those who had only just finished getting used to the last type.

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Princess Twilight Sparkle began spending even less time in public. The Equestrian media speculated wildly as to why - with some even claiming she had a child on the way - but those close to her (and high up in the government) knew the truth. The Princess had, several days before, learned of a way to detect an object entirely mechanically, and had secluded herself to work on the problem.

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-

One of the countries invaded by the Griffonian Empire had fallen in less than a month.

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It was a one-province nation, I think

-

Another year, another day spent standing around in the cold waiting for a new aircraft to be demonstrated. This time, Minister of War Typhoon had been invited to see the aircraft that had originally been his namesake, and now was named after him.

Sometimes, the overlap between Earth and Equestrian history was really odd.

The aircraft presented to the discerning audience today certainly looked like the original, if he was any judge. He knew all about its specifications, of course; even if he had no interest in such things the chief designer sitting next to him would have made certain of that fact. It took off, circled the demonstration area a few times, and then dropped a bomb on a waiting target. Typhoon had been expecting it, but this was his first time this close to an explosion, and it caused him to jump slightly.

It looked like a suitable replacement for Equestria's aging Hurricanes, and he said so, mind still somewhere else.

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The Canterlot Armoury had designed a working muzzle brake, allowing an artillery piece to absorb more of its recoil. This would allow the newer Model 17 howitzers to be retrofited onto the carriages formerly used for Model 8 guns, increasing the overall firepower available to an artillery battery.

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-

March 1012

Yet another victim of the Griffonian Empire fell. This time, it was the Sunstriker Clan, an ancient lineage stretching back to long before the days of the long-lost Idol.

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However, things were about to change. Somehow, through some obscure system of old alliances, the Second Aquileian Republic had become formally involved in the Griffonian Empire's wars of expansion, fighting against the Empire. While the old Empire had swept all before it previously, it had been weakened by the long wars, barely able to keep its veteran armies in the field and nearly bankrupt under the strain. Comparitively, the Republic was fresh, unscarred by war, with a vibrant and growing economy. On the other hoof, that also meant its soldiers knew nothing of how to prosecute a serious war, the Civil War and their short campaign against Prywhen giving the Republic nothing more than a slight taste of the difficulties involved in such an endeavour.

While the Griffonian Empire would certainly be forced to halt its expansion for a time, nopony knew how the war would shake out.

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Didn't even get a popup for this - they must have been called in as an ally.

-

In a testament to how far the government had come since 1006, the latest set of reforms took only a few months to bear fruit. By late March, tax receipts were up, prices were down, and productivity was in a direction best described as diagonal. Some problems still remained, namely the complete lack of a High Command or even much of a proper Parliament, but for now those could wait.

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In the meantime, with tensions with the Changelings at a relative low and his stock of political capital nearly exhausted after not one but two far-reaching sets of reforms, Typhoon suggested a rather modest objective for the next couple of months: the construction of new airfields across the Fillydelphia region. Mostly, these were for civillian use, but in times of war they would provide valuable fall-back points should the enemy employ long-range bombers.

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-

One of the more worrying side-effects of the last push towards a wartime government was the Martial Law Bill. Drafted by the Member of Parliament for Vanhoover, former Prince-Marshal Blueblood, the law proposed sweeping restrictions on the daily lives of ponies across Equestria. An infantry squad would be posted in every village and on the streets of every city, to, in the words of the bill, "root out seditious influences that undermine Our great nation", speech would be formally limited to a small range of approved concepts, and strict curfews would be enforced on penalty of imprisonment.

Needless to say, the bill failed. However, the fact remained that the previously unthinkable was now being proposed as law - a troubling sign, at best.

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-

New computing machines with disk-based memory systems had reached the open market. While the computer was still a bit too expensive for individual ponies to buy one, any organisation wanting to accomplish anything now possessed at least one computer.

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Ministers Flim and Flam began toying with the concept of clustering factories that produced similar types of goods, in order to make managing the supply chain easier.

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-

April 1012

The Army once again re-organised itself to account for new doctrinal ideas.

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Theorists began working out how to use so-called "Mechanised" troops in operations. The fact that Equestria possessed no Mechanised units nor had the capacity to form any did not discourage this line of thinking. Hopefully, some of the ideas would be applicable to the Armoured force.

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The Army was in a period of windfalls, it seemed, as the latest type of Model 18 Howitzer went into production.

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Army Reconnaissance teams were putting in requests for new equipment. Chief amongst these were requests for lightweight Detrot Motors 4x4 general purpose vehicles, for use in infiltrating and exfiltrating enemy-held territory and conducting "reconnaissaince in force". Demolition charges were also requested, although what purpose these would serve was unclear. Perhaps the Recon teams just liked blowing things up?

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New assembly line techniques had been introduced across Equestria, boosting productivity per worker significantly.

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Some of these techniques could be applied to the construction sector, with enough time and funding.

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The rather modest programme of airfield construction finished. Many were little more than a packed earth airstrip and a few wooden huts for facilities, but they were also the first indication of Equestria's newfound modernity to many ponies in the South.

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Diplomatic feelers were sent out to Yakyakistan and the Crystal Empire, hoping to smooth out various trade issues and minor disputes. Added to this was a general change in Equestrian diplomatic policy from complete passivity to a more active stance; ambassadors and other diplomats would now be required to emphasise the threat of the Changeling Empire to their host nations at every opportunity.

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-

May 1012

As the Aquliean offensive into the Griffonian Empire finally began to grind to a halt, desperate commanders from both sides began "accidentally" violating the borders of the neutral states between the two in late March. By Mid-April, these had escalated to full-scale firefights between the Empire and the Republic wholly within "neutral" territory - with one Republic division even occupying the City of Flowena. On the 12th of May, infuriated nobles of the Houses Adelart, Pomovarra, and Flowena presented the Aquliean Republic with an ultimatum: cease these offences, or face war.

For the hard-pressed leaders of the Republic, the choice was simple.

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Because the one thing Griffonia needed was more wars.

-

Early experiments with RADAR proved the basic concept was sound, despite the many problems that plagued the first working examples. Most notably, despite Twilight Sparkle's best efforts, range-finding and direction-finding had to be split between two sets, which often interfered with one another. During tests, it was found that entire squadrons of bombers could fly undetected past these arrays, so long as they timed their approach perfectly. Moreover, the range these sets could detect enemy aircraft at was extremely limited.

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New sets, able to scan in the decimetric band of the EM spectrum, were well into the design phase already; these would solve many of the issues with the first generation equipment.

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Despite all these problems, and even though new equipment was on the way, Princess-Marshall Luna asked for "wall" of RADAR across the whole Changeling border, in order to prevent a repeat of last year's incidents. Not only did Celestia agree, she gave the construction work required the highest priority; given that much of the RADAR equipment already existed, this would not slow down Equestria's building programmes too much.

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RADAR is useful; it gives intelligence on enemy ground units in areas it covers, makes interception missions easier and gives a general bonus to other air missions. Not that I actually know how the air combat in this game works; I just throw fighters at the problem until it's solved.

-

Pomovaraara was the first of the Independent States to fall, officially surrendering to the Aquilean Republic on the final day of May.

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June 1012

The County of Adelart surrendered the next day.

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-

In Equestria, knowledge of what was happening on the Griffonian continent had always been difficult to come by. This had been getting better with the advent of modern ships and a crude-but-effective undersea telegraph cable, but some things were still unknowable. Like why the Zebra nations on the far side of Griffonia had declared war on each other.

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The ocean to the right of the screen connects back to the Changeling Empire, and is also massive. Maybe the mod developers are going to add a third continent there, if they haven't already in a newer version of the mod.

-

Other news, like the fall of Flowena to Republican army units, came with far more detail. The City had held for a week under siege, before surrendering to the Republic as the lesser evil.

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-

Typhoon tried to make himself look invisible as the Princess of Friendship and her friends toured the Ministry of Defence, stopping every so often to make small talk with one or another of staff ponies. He had carefully prepared for this visit, and so far it had gone off without a hitch.

Applejack had taken an interest in a blueprint for the Celestia heavy tank prototype, and had even made a few helpful comments (mostly along the lines of "this darned thing is too heavy to drive over a molehill", but appreciated nonetheless). Rainbow Dash kept... well, dashing off, to the canteen for cider, Fluttershy was being shy, Twilight Sparkle was being her usual studious, pleasant self and Pinkie Pie had only detonated three Party Cannons and thrown one impromptu party thus far. Given the devastation she'd caused on her last visit, that was very much an improvement.

Rarity, on the other hoof (Typhoon idly noted that he'd even started using "hoof" instead of "hand" in his own head), was the one he was trying to avoid. He had nothing against the classy unicorn; she'd recommended Coco Pommel, who had turned out to be very good at her job, and she wasn't nearly as bad as he'd thought when the two had first met, but he still half-expected her to force him into some uncomfortable (if good-looking) outfit every time they met.

So, when the white unicorn stopped in front of a rack of sample uniforms (probably a bad idea in retrospect) and frowned, Typhoon prepared himself for the worst: sequins. Or - he shuddered - ribbons.

"Darling," she said, trotting over, "these simply won't do." Lieutenant Colonel Darling looked up at hearing her name, saw that it had been Rarity who said it, and looked back down at her work.

"How so?" Typhoon asked. "the colours can't change - they're camoflage - but there's still time to adjust the design if it's important." He kept his face impassive even as he waited for the shoe to drop.

Rarity took in a breath. "Well, dear, that winter uniform there-" she pointed- "would be nice and warm, but it's also going to suck up all the sweat and melted snow, making it all horrible to walk around in after a few hours. The sunglasses for the hot-weather suit are simply too tight around the head, and the shorts are a good idea but they're going to fall apart in a few days of running around. I get that you wanted to keep it light, dear, but there is such a thing as too light. And while the normal set's nice, I can tell you've just taken the old design, cut it down a bit and swapped in new materials. There's nowhere except the saddle to hang any of that webbing off, and if you put too much weight it'll hurt to move too much."

Typhoon looked over; she was right about the standard uniform, and he'd tried wearing the sunglasses himself. "Do you think you could fix them?" he asked. "There's still a couple of months left before these need to start shipping." Rarity looked a little conflicted, so he added: "We don't actually have a formal uniform designer, the salary's exorbitant and you'd be free to keep up with the boutiques; we only need new designs every year or so."

That sealed the deal. "I'll have to hire more staff for the boutiques, but I'll be happy to lend a hoof!"

Typhoon let out a relived sigh. An entire conversation and the unicorn hadn't even- "Now let's talk about this... suit... of yours."

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Actually a pretty strong high command pony. We have four to choose from, and three slots to put them in; one will be Limestone Pie because infantry makes up most of our army, but the third choice is free for now.

-

Another day, another small-but-essential improvement to Equestria's industrial base.

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Given the large number of Changeling "Panzers" massing on the border, it was only wise to come up with some means for infantryponies to defeat armour. Various schemes had been tried before - ranging from specialised grenades to Earth-style anti-tank rifles - but the most promising thus far was a weaponisation of Equestria's oldest and most fundamental culture: music.

The "Thunderbolt Type E" was a refinement from a basic magicrystal rifle, with a much larger focussing chamber and a specialised Harmonic Resonance Array that would cause the resulting bolt to resonate with the target, literally shaking it apart. Early tests of the previous types had proved promising, although operating the HRA was proving to be difficult - especially in field conditions. Nevertheless, it would be better than nothing.

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July 1012

The Griffonian Republic, bankrupt and exhausted after several months of gruelling warfare, surrendered to the Empire. While this removed one of the Empire's many enemies, there were still foes left on its flank.

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Equestria's diplomatic overtures had proven relatively successful; while no formal alliances had been made, many of her neighbours now had full-time embassies in their capitals - a far cry from the not-too-long-ago days of Equestrian Isolationism. Moreover, key trade deals had been finalised with Yakyakistan and the Pinguin Republic; luxury goods flowed both ways, relieving some of the pressure on the Equestrian economy.

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The next phase of this diplomatic offensive (as it was coming to be called in Canterlot) was to begin actively promoting capital-H Harmony as much as possible. This took the form of many smaller initiatives; some financial aid here, a well-placed song there, and the tactical deployment of one Pinkamina Diane Pie elsewhere. Hopefully, that would be enough to shift attitudes on the continent. Things were starting to look up.

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So, of course, that couldn't last. Soldiers from the West Griffonian Union attacked and burned down a border post in the Pinguin Republic the very same day this new policy was announced. Equestria could do nothing; the move had been a complete shock, pre-empting any diplomatic solution, and the Changeling army on the border held a prime position to pounce if units were shifted to stop the war by force.

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One of the more onerous tasks Typhoon faced in his day-to-day life was the endless job interviews. Even now, years after Equestria had begun to militarise, hundreds of posts were left vacant - and some of them even needed to be filled. Take, for example, the Service Heads. The Army and Navy could go without for a fair while longer - both were de facto under the command of Princess Luna and Admiral Evening Squall, respectively - but the Air Force needed a pony in the top job. And they were desperate enough to be offering an awfully high salary. Which, combined with Equestria's lasseiz-faire attitude towards the hiring process in general, meant that anypony and everypony had beaten a path to his door over the past year or so to interview for the position.

Regardless of how qualified they were, whether or not they had any organisational skills, or if they were of age. That was leaving aside the candidates who were already employed and didn't want to choose between two jobs, or the ponies who were literally three Changeling hatchlings in a trenchcoat, or the one pony who hadn't known what an airplane was.

Which was why he was a little suprised when someone halfway competent applied for the job.

"So," he said, trying on his Stern Face (tm), "Miss Dash-"

"Rainbow," the rainbow-haired pegasus opposite him said, "Only Harshwhinny calls me "Miss"."

"Rainbow Dash," Typhoon continued as though he hadn't been interrupted, "your CV actually looks decent, in that you brought one today. It says here you failed your first round of Advanced Flight School?" That was surprising - normally ponies left off their failures. Then again, given the rest of the CV, he got the feeling that this wasn't a serious attempt.

"Yep!" was Rainbow's reply. "I made it the second time, though. After nearly getting my friends killed, of course."

Typhoon continued reading. "And you barely managed to pass the written portion of the Wonderbolts exam?"

"I still don't know what went right!"

"And the last page of this is just a photo of you in sunglasses."

Rainbow Dash barely held in a chuckle. "I was... thinking of using that as a recruiting poster!" she ad-libbed.

Typhoon fixed her with a Look (patent pending). Having been subjected to the Stare before, Rainbow Dash wasn't phased. "Well, Rainbow Dash, you're certainly qualified enough for this position. Princess Twilight and Rarity both gave glowing recommendations... I suppose you'll do." He stood up and made for the door before the pegasus could comprehend what he was saying. "Congratulations, we'll send you the details by mail, and good luck hiring your staff."

He made it out into the corridor before he heard Rainbow Dash's yell of "WHAT?!".

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Actually the better candidate, if only for the air superiority buff.

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August 1012

Another month, another set of construction equipment for everypony to get used to. It was getting to the point where new machines had to be slowly introduced, so as to let ponies get used to one set before having to trade it in for another.

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Whilst new spellbooks and basic training were available to all unicorns in the Army, no advanced training programs yet existed; unicorns could certainly cast combat-effective spells, but few had any idea of how to co-ordinate with their fellow infantryponies or even other unicorns. Prince Shining Armour (of the Crystal Empire) and Prince-Marshal Blueblood had both independently begun work on training unicorns under their command, and Typhoon began collating these into a program that could be used Army-wide.

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today's weather report: thunderhead forming over Vesalipolis, winds blowing south-south-east. clear skies over the Northern Hives, and a category A squall in the Vanhoover Gulf. expect lots of thunder and lightning over the Eastern Hives, from the Windigo Forest all the way down to Seaddle. next up, we have Pincer's "Windigo" Concerto...

"Play it again."

"It won't change, you know," said Muffins, carefully re-winding the delicate crystal that held the recorded message. Two more copies rested on the desk next to it, along with the shattered remains of the original. The ex-mailmare had gotten a lot less clumsy over the years, but she was still Muffins.

Typhoon fixed Muffins with a level gaze, and nodded. "I suppose it won't." He sat on his hind legs, and felt his blood run cold. "Alright. Send notices out to the Service Chiefs and Luna. Give it a few days, maybe a week, I don't want Chryssie getting suspicious. I'll inform Celestia personally." He waited until Muffins left, then put his head in his hooves. War was coming. Not in the nebulous future, like it had been over the past four years, but before Hearth's Warming.

Equestria wasn't ready for this.

No, Equestria was as ready as it could ever have been. He wasn't ready.

Feeling hollow, he pulled himself together; Celestia needed to know about this immediately.

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This is a Changeling focus that leads directly to the focus that finally starts the damn war. This one takes, IIRC, 70-100 days to complete, while the last one takes something like 30.

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The war between the two Zebra nations ended. Nopony knew why.

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Similarly, the Griffonian Union announced that the Penguins had been liberated. Whether or not this was actually the case, or if the Griffons had just forcibly taken over another nation, was unknown, primarily due to the sheer difficulty in travelling that far north. On the bright side, it hadn't been as bloody as some of the conflicts on Griffonia.

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The new and improved Reconnaisance Sections were ready and raring to go.

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More portable hospital equipment was being developed; this, along with better medical training for ponies and a more widespread use of basic healing spells would help save ponies who would otherwise die to battlefield injuries.

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Yet another war broke out in Griffonia, this time over a sandwich, of all things. According to the Equestria Daily, the Falcor Principality's titualar Prince had cut in line at a famous bakery in Wingbardy's capital, Karthin, and ordered the last meatball sandwich (made with ethically-sourced conjoured meat, of course). This had infurated a local party official, who proceeded to assault said prince, which further escalated into a riot and impromptu siege of Karthin by the prince's bodyguard.

This war, quickly dubbed the "Sandwich War", was doubly-appropriately named, since the Falcor Principality was stuck in between to halves of the Kingdom of Wingbardy.

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The experimental Decimetric RADAR equipment was cleared for production. These sets would give much better coverage over the Changeling Lands - and possibly stave off a surprise assault.

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Adapting the Starswirl engine to the Calico light tank chassis had proven impossible; it was simply too big, and cramming it in regardless left too many important pipes completely exposed. Instead, work began on a new light tank chassis, code-named "Dart". This would have the same 57mm cannon, since large stockpiles of the 57mm Type 1 were available in comparison to a dearth of the Type 2 used on Equestria's medium tanks. It would also have effectively the same armour plating - small advances in efficiency offset by the slightly larger design. It would, however, be faster and more reliable, and could be upgraded to remain competitive for some years yet.

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It's been a while since I played this update, so I don't know why I decided to research a new tank, but I did.

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September 1012

An infantrypony saluted Princess Luna as she entered the forward command post - which, befitting the name, was little more than a tent with a radio set and a map table. "Princess-Marshall, Ma'am," the infantrypony said.

"Don't salute," a harsh voice called out from behind Luna. "We're on combat rules, private, what if there was a Changeling sniper in that tree over there?"

"Yes, Sergeant," the infantrypony replied. "Sorry, Sergeant."

"I'm sure any Changeling could pick me out from a mile away, Sergeant Pie," Luna commented, her voice wry.

Sergeant Limestone Pie rolled her eyes. "It's a habit," she said. "You forget once, you'll forget again." She shook her head. "This battalion's all out of order," she continued in a quieter tone. "Half the defensive works aren't even finished, and the other half are about as well-placed as Canterlot. I could take this place with half a platoon in an hour."

Luna nodded; she'd come to much the same conclusion. She turned back to the infantrypony who'd so foolishly saluted her. "Where's Colonel Appleby?"

The infantrypony winced. "In town, ma'am," she said. "Requisitioning supplies."

"Well, that's a load of pony-"

Luna cut across her sergeant. "We shall wait here until he returns, Private. If you would be so good as to get in touch with the Colonel and inform him we are present...?"

"Ma'am!" the infantrypony made to salute, and just about stopped herself. Then, she marched smartly out of the tent, presumably to find somepony who knew which hotel the Colonel was partying in.

"You see the state of the rifles here?" Sergeant Pie muttered.

Luna nodded. She was glad to have the Sergeant with her - it made these tedious inspections so much less so. And easier, too - the Sergeant could get away with saying things Luna couldn't. She would have to see about getting the pony a proper role at High Command when they returned to Canterlot - though she doubted the Sergeant would be willing to stay in Canterlot.

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Maps of Griffonia once more had to be updated, this time to fill in the Falcor Principality in Wingbardian Purple. Some map-makers had taken to providing blank maps and packets of erasable crayons so the customer could change theirs on the fly.

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On went the war between the Aquileian Republic and the Griffonian Empire. Some Republic soldiers were pushing deep into the Empire's heartland, but reports indicated that the Empire's defences were beginning to firm up.

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More worrying were the reports from the land of the Yaks, where it seemed a civil war had broken out. Whether or not Equestria could spare the effort to intervene was in question, given the Crystal Empire's distinctly non-interventionist foreign policy. More troubling was that it was hard to tell exactly what each faction in the war wanted.

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This marked a temporary end to Equestria's outreach programs. Instead, money would be diverted to sending Pinkie Pie - famously on good terms with the Yak clans - and a small force of diplomats to Yakyakistan to try to make sense of the situation.

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October 1012

It seemed the West Griffonian Union had succumbed to the madness rife over on Griffonia; the madness of conquest. They declared war upon the Polar Bear Communities, which was a little odd since that nation was mostly painted on maps to make sure there was no empty space to give people ideas. A few Polar Bear soldiers polar-beared something of a border between them and the other nations, but there was no other form of central organisation.

On the plus side, this war would give the Communist Griffons a border with the Changeling Empire. While it was perhaps rather mean to think in that way, anything that could help stem the tide of Changelings in the oncoming war was helpful.

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Another small nation asked for plans for a cutting-edge piece of Equestrian technology, and was turned away under the rule of "no more arms sales to Griffonia".

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The tide of the war in Griffonia seemed to be turning against the Republic, with a few Imperial divisions managing to penetrate their lines. However, a flanking movement had broken out north; it really was still any griffin's war.

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While Equestria still lacked any sort of Mechanised (or, for that matter, Motorised) troops, enough exercises had been done with mock-up vehicles to give the Army some idea what sort of tactics would be used by said troops. Moreover, this would help the Army counter those tactics - vitally important, given that the Changeling Army was rumoured to possess numerous motorised divisions.

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With the improvement of radio sets came the ability for units to be patched into more than one or two networks. This would hopefully allow concentrated fire upon the most important targets, as well as improving overall co-ordination.

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CINC CNLT
18/10/1012
TO: ALL STATIONS
NO CLASSIFICATION

The Changelings have sped up their preparations on the border. We expect war in no more than one hundred and fifty days, probably earlier. All units are to stand to wartime alert immediately. Do not fire upon Changeling forces attempting to cross the border unless fired upon or unless a formal declaration of war has been issued.

Be ready for the storm. We can break it.

-

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The truest sign of what was to come was not the rumbling of tanks across the border, or the construction of this or that airfield, but the sudden actions of Queen Chyrisalis herself. She burst upon the diplomatic scene, accusing Equestria of every crime under the sun to every state that would listen - and many that wouldn't. These accusations were nearly entirely lies, of course - the closest Equestria had gotten to coup'ing a foreign nation in the last millenia had been the incident with the Crystal Empire, and even Chyrisalis had to agree that had been a change for the better - but there were no nations on the planet that both cared to and had the capacity to stop the Changelings.

And so, just six short days after the start of her diplomatic barrage, Chrysalis retreated again. Not back to her hive in Vesalipolis, but to her armies on the border - for she would soon lead them into battle.

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In direct response to the recent diplomatic offensive, the Equestrian Army moved forwards plans to upgrade the RADAR network along the border. The existing sets would continue operating until all the new equipment was online, preventing any opportunity for a sneak attack.

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November 1012

The new unicorn training regimes began to pay off.

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With the general improvement in magical ability across Equestria, spells that were once rarely learned began to filter through to the general populace. A key group of such spells were the scrying spells of Starswirl the Bearded. The ability to see across space remotely was invaluable, though the existence of counter-spells and illusions meant that recon teams and aircraft would still play a key role in scouting. Starswirl himself offered to train the first class of scriers, an offer the Ministry could not refuse.

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"This," the sergeant said, "is the Thunderbolt Type E, and it is your new best friend." She let the gigantic rifle clank onto the table, startling Silver Crown from her half-slumber. She cast a quick glance at the beast, and decided it was most certainly not her new best friend. "It is capable of defeating all known Changeling armour at a distance of one hundred metres or less," the sergeant continued, "and is equally effective against trucks and Changelings themselves. It is also highly accurate out to five hundred metres, and can be carried and operated by a single pony."

"Just about," muttered one of the foals from D-Company, a bit too loudly.

"Then get some PT time in, Private! Yes, it is a little heavy, but you'd rather have this than a rifle against a Changeling Panzer, wouldn't you? That being said, it's also slow to fire - the weapon has to build up its harmonic resonance before firing, during which the user cannot move. As such, we'll be working on tactics today..."

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A model of light machine gun utilising magicrystal technology began development; these would be enchanted to keep the barrel cool and lighten the weapon, allowing a team of ponies to carry far more ammunition and move much swifter.

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November 1012

Pinkie Pie returned to Equestria, though her report of the Yakyakistan situation was almost entirely unreadable. The gist seemed to be that the Yaks probably wouldn't help either side once the Changeling invasion kicked off - which was just fine, since the Yaks wouldn't stand up long to Changeling armour, and extending the front only helped the larger Changeling army.

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Certain tensions were bubbling to the surface of Equestrian society. The Equestria Daily published an editorial espousing that Equestria should, once the Changelings were beaten, go on a rampage across the planet, laying waste to all before it so as to ensure nobody ever threatened Ponies ever again.

This, in turn, sparked a flurry of "letters to the editor" so fierce that the following edition was three times the size just to accomodate them all. Some ponies were in favour of this idea, others opposed it, while yet more suggested plans of their own. The following days saw the editions inflate like some sort of balloon, along with most of the rest of Equestria's newspapers (with the interesting exception of the Foal Free Press, which was running a week-long expose on the poor jam manufacturing standards of Appaloosa's cherry orchards), and it seemed like something would have to give.

Princess Celestia called on her closest advisors to figure out what to do.

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Even with the endless flurry of debate and argument (and the occasional hoof-fight), Typhoon still found himself with endless amounts of work. On the day after what would have been bonfire night, this manifested itself in poring over the probably-finite-but-with-no-evidence-to-support-that-conclusion reams of military theory produced by literally every creature in the Equestrian military and a fair number of people outside of it. Including one memo simply titled "Smash!", authored by "Anmoosse", which purported that since war was inevitable, what Equestria should do is concentrate all its armies into one giant force and attack the Changeling Empire immediately.

There were diagrams, the most interesting of which was a lovingly-drawn picture entitled "Battle!" depicting dozens of Changeling and Equestrian tanks locked in combat with one another, while aircraft duelled overhead and battleships threw salvoes at each other in a nearby bay. He made some notes from the most useful parts (the author had some interesting things to say about the concentration of firepower), then placed the whole thing in his out-box and let out a long sigh. The in-box was still full, and there was no way he was getting through it tonight.

The next submission was from Ponyville, from the elderly Apple matriarch. It was less a proposal in and of itself, and more a summation of proposals from various Ponyville residents, complete with analysis. That was promising, especially since the lady seemed to have a decent grasp of military theory. For example, she discussed Rainbow Dash's idea of expanding the Wonderbolts' ground divisions and using them as the core of the Army. While Granny Smith admitted such a force would be far more mobile than the Changeling Army, she noted that the Changelings would be able to defeat it in any major engagement simply because Pegasi couldn't fly for long distances with heavy equipment.

This was, in fact, very promising. He made a note to contact Granny Smith in the morning; he had an open posisiton she could fill. A job she could probably do from home, in fact.

Slightly envious, and longing for his own house, Typhoon turned to the next proposal.

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Most field hospital companies reported full integration of the new equipment and techniques.

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This had been accomplished ahead of schedule and under budget, leaving room for another major project to be undertaken. The only question was what that project would be; most viable options were already underway, and beginning development of most new weapons now would cause problems in the upcoming war. After some consultation between Princess-Marshal Luna, Master Seargent Limestone Pie, Granny Smith and Typhoon, Princess Celestia decided to invest in a new model of artillery piece. This would be modular enough to be easily transportable, while firing a heavier shell than the current Model 17.

Thus, work began on Project "Earthshaker".

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December 1012

As the world neared the precipice of disaster, the threshold of tragedy... the part where something really bad was about to happen, Equestria's various research and development arms scrambled to give her soldiers just a slight edge over the Changelings. Firstly, series production began on the Dart Light Tank...

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...while a refined variant on the Luna Nova rifle entered the initial prototyping stage. This would hopefully be an improvement over the hastily-assembled Luna Nova rifle, offering semi-automatic fire with eight shots per magicrystal and being more reliable to boot.

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"My little ponies...

It was not too long ago that we were content to live in peace and seclusion, safe in the knowledge that no creature would ever seek to harm us. Even the predations of Tirek and Discord seemed like small incidents, soon resolved by a small band of ponies. We knew nothing of the homeland of the Griffons, even less of the Changeling hives.

Six years ago, we came into contact with our human selves - an all-too-brief meeting. We may have lost our link to Earth, but the knowledge the humans gave us has stayed with us - indeed, been expanded upon in leaps and bounds. This knowledge gave us aeroplanes, radios, cars, televisions, all the ways in which we could forge links with the world around us. So, we set out to do so, hoping to bring the Magic of Friendship - the most important and powerful magic of all - to every last corner of the globe.

Suffice to say, we failed. The home of the Griffons - and our ancestral homeland - is wracked by war. Wars that, even now, shows no signs of slowing down.

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The Deer to our west have long since fallen to the Changeling menace. The frozen north is turning into almost as bad a war-zone as Griffonia, and now the Changeling hives mass for their assault upon our very homes.

Some say we should turn our energies solely to war, to bring peace at the end of a sword.

I say that path is the same every other creature has taken - and look where it has taken them!

That is not to say we do not need to be ready for war, the events of the last six years have proven that conclusively. But, once the war is over and we are safe once more, we shall once more take up our quest to bring Friendship to all.

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"To that end, I shall be temporarily asking my Ministers to take over direct control over areas previously outside their jurisdiction. This will be a hard time, make no mistake, but it shall only be for a time."

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Bedlam
Jedi Master
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Re: [Screenshot Let's Play/No 56K] Hearts of Iron IV... as Equestria?

Post by Bedlam »

Blood running cold, she made to duck out of the door, and stopped. A mare in Equestrian Army uniform was standing there, blocking her way, an automatic pistol in one hoof. The expression on the mare's face was clear - the game was up. Slowly, Pupae raised her front legs.
And promptly fell on her face. "Sorry, I forgot I was a quadrupled at the moment!"
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VX-145
Padawan Learner
Posts: 251
Joined: 2008-10-30 07:10am
Location: I don't know. Honestly.

Re: [Screenshot Let's Play/No 56K] Hearts of Iron IV... as Equestria?

Post by VX-145 »

That's definitely all part of the surrender procedure and in no way something I missed on my final editing pass :P

(alternatively, ponies are something like 90% marshmallow as it is - I'm pretty sure they only obey gravity because everything around them does, and that's definitely a property Changelings pick up when they shift into one)
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