G7 - France vs. England

Depending on the Game the Indian Map is occupied by the following major powers:

1) The Great Moghhul (The Dehli Sultanate) - In the North

2) The One or two members of the Maharata Confederation in the South - Historically the Confederation only co-operated against invaders from the North but if Agema is feeling kind it may give the whole confederation to one player.

3) The Shah of Persia

As well as the three commonly played positions there is also the The Afghans, Rajputs, Jats, The King of Kandy, Napal, Lahore and Gujerat.
Not Strong enough to unite India on their own but all possible problems for would be Rulers of India.

Basically in game terms its a bit like the Ottoman Empire having The Sultanate, Rumelia & Egypt positions any one of which can be used as a base to unite the rest. Or perhaps its more like the Holy Roman Empire with Austria, Prussia & Saxony-Poland (since like this last power most of Persia is off the map and has other concerns).

Also like trying to unite the HRE you have the problem of lots of small holdings by major European powers.

In terms of Agema challenges I would say trying to unite all India is more difficult than trying to unite the Ottoman Empire but easier than trying to unite the whole of the Holy Roman Empire.

Are you going to give it a try? In game its normally attempted from the Moghul position but Historically in our period the Maharatta came closest helped by a crushing defeat of the Moghul's at the hands of Nadir Shahs Persians. Then his Generals and Afghan allies came back to get the plunder they missed the first time and battered the Confederation.

Thanks Stuart - thats a great answer. I'd certainly consider it as a position for the future yes.

I think government-wise it would work far better for the Maharatans than the Moghuls because of religious issues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirk_%28Islam%29

As the link shows, polytheism is sort of the absolute worst, bar none, sin in Islam. If the Moghul conquer the Maharatans, they would face a LOT of religious pressure to force conversions with all the resulting headaches that would cause.

I don't know if Richard plays up this particular point, but it ought to be an enormous sticking point that would give the Moghul fits trying to actually rule the Hindu south.

Latest turn has just hit my inbox. At the risk of becoming Peter the Parrot, this must be the best version of the game at the moment....

Looking at it selfishly, the Swedes are massed in strength, they have called up a (secret?) alliance to attack Russia and now a new player in Ottoman Anatolia, a position with which I had previously held a strong and friendly understanding with. So that may now be up in the air.

Looking westwards, a new English player and a departing French player clearly does not mean an end to the conflict, which if anything seems to have escalated. Brilliant.

I like old school snail mail but getting the turn a day earlier than us snail mailers has so got to be worth it. I suppose that you can always print a hard copy off if you have the turn sent by email.
Any draw backs to the email version count-de-monet?

My earlier woof was just shear excitement at the mention of game 9

I have to have it electronic since I'm an American, but I can't see why anyone would want it paper instead. I guess there's the special excitement of finding a turn in your mail, but I'm just as happy to find a turn in my email. I'm not one for delaying my gratification, and have even read a turn on my smartphone when not near a computer (not recommended for older eyes!)

You can always print your turn, and I do that when I'm working through a turn where I'm issuing a bunch of change orders and I want to mark up the turn to note which ones I've issued and which I haven't.

Archiving the turns electronically is also much easier. I personally save them in my gmail account as well as download them onto my home computer, so I can access them from work or home, or on the road.

Finding something in an old turn might be marginally easier if everything were printed out and I rifled through them, but I don't find opening the PDFs that tedious, and it also allows me to cut and paste from them, search them, and the like. Things you can't do with only a paper copy.

I really find no drawbacks at all to an emailed turn, and quite a few advantages.

I fully endorse all the comments by Deacon. So many up-sides to having the turn electronically in my opinion. It can get a bit frustrating when I am trying to find a particular point or information, but thats more to do with me being dis-organised.

It does take some clicks and in and out of files. If I was sensible I might try to maintain a word document to index game turns and key information points. I can then refer to the index and narrow the turns I have to click into.....except Im not that organised

I am surprised that all you illustrious gentlemen can debate is the power and flexibility of email. have you no interest in or desire to broadcast the fact that someone has left the cooker on in the French kitchen. Smoke is rising, broad swathes of French land have been despoiled!!! It is so exciting. Indeed Russia does have a problem in the Baltic and maybe the Turkish threat is awakening!
All is not well in England(ok that is no surprise) but also the colonies are agog with goings on! Lastly the Dutch have a huge gripe about herring stocks, something about french gastronomes ruining their economy,etc etc etc.
THIS is the game to be IN, not on the periphery!

I guess the good thing about the Swedes stirring is it will keep me from sticking my nose in elsewhere

I think I gave my word of support to three nations early on....Prussia, Saxony and France (yeah, yeah no comments please).

I guess my foreign policy is back in my hands and I am free from promises made.....so watch out Sweden !

Oooh ..Oooh...Bear talking WAR!!!!

Luckily you are only supporting yourself this time...no chance of choosing wrong ally!!!!

Frankly I didnt expect your army to march to Austria, it would take a year anyway but good diplomatic threat which you dont have to carry out due to allys actions.

Good luck,,I love a good read

It isn't the end of unexpected events. Keep your eyes peeled

Gentlemen, I would like to rejoin the conversation and repeat the sentiment that we will all miss The Real Louis and what bigger power could he return as?

I am deeply impressed with the scholarship that goes into LGDR from many angles and Game 7 is a really vibrant one. Long may it continue.

I particularly like the turn 'round ups' and the teasing posts when the returns are landing on our mats over the period of a few days.

Looks like Turkey is about to awake and possibly France suffer some of the indignities she pressed on England.

England - what a mess! Colonies being offered independence? Wars and rumours of wars.... its revelatory! Pity the new player.....

And I for one am looking to the Sweden v Russia tussle with keen interest.

Keep up the good work.......

Hello everybody

I think we will all miss Louis in our own ways. He amused some, was friend to others and probably infuriated many. Hence the 'homage' of my chosen nickname.

If he does return to this game then heaven help us as he'll be after blood! Lol

I hope you'll find John Churchill to be an adequate addition to things though. I doubt I'll inspire the sort of emotions the French player did, but I think you'll find me an 'interesting' player. My philosophy is a belief in 'The Kansas City Shuffle'.

Dear Real,

welcome aboard - but you tread dangerously with and anachronism like "The Kansas City Shuffle" amongst these 18th Cent gamers

Kansas hasn't been 'discovered' yet

Otherwise I hope you'll enjoy the many challenges that lie ahead

Welcome on Board Mr Churchill

I look forward to hearing of your exploits

Regor wrote:Dear Real,

welcome aboard - but you tread dangerously with and anachronism like "The Kansas City Shuffle" amongst these 18th Cent gamers

Kansas hasn't been 'discovered' yet

Otherwise I hope you'll enjoy the many challenges that lie ahead

I think the native americans who live there 'now' might disagree about it not being discovered!

that's why I used the 'discovered' - it would be a shame tone caught out whilst being pedantic over Kansas

If I wanted to be really annoying I'd now mention Erik the Red ......

I'ts been a long, long old day...

I particularly liked the bits in the Erik the Red saga about:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyd%C3%ADs_Eir%C3%ADksd%C3%B3ttir

She was just a mean, mean woman. I recall in one of the versions her getting caught outside when the indians came, and the men wouldn't let her back in the long house, so she laid out a few of the indians with a iron pot, and they fled.

(though it has been some years since I heard that, so I can't promise my mind isn't playing tricks on me. My wife was a medieval studies major, read old norse and a bunch of other dead languages at the time, and so I got excerpted all the interesting bits from the sagas she had to read for class. Old norse actually has a word for the little bits of brain that get splattered about when you stave somebody's head in. Kvelgi or something. It says a lot about a people if they feel that kind of thing needs a word of its own....)

...oh, to discover a colony of 'lost Vikings in Glory North America...

You got to love a people with a leader called Ivar the Boneless

Can some one explain what a Kansas City Shuffle is?

Thanks Guys.

Stuart. A Kansas City Shuffle is when everybody looks right, you go left. You'll see an example of the KCS in action next turn.

Jason wrote:...oh, to discover a colony of 'lost Vikings in Glory North America...

You got to love a people with a leader called Ivar the Boneless

Ivar the Boneless got his name because he was born with a defect that made his legs useless, and his men carried him around on a shield.
He was highly intelligent, had enormous almost magical upper body strength and was a very good in negotiations.

One of my favorite viking stories is when there was a trial against a berserker for killing a man.
His response to why he killed him was "Han sto så lagelig til for hogg" ie "It was so easy to deliver a killing blow", in other words he could not resist the perfect kill even if he had no quarrel with the man.

Vikings believed that they would go to Valahalla if they fought hard and died bravely in battle and they would spend the time fighting all day against the Giants and then party all night and repeat next day for ever. A viking paradise.
Those that died from old age would go to Hel, a miserable place.

Lord Churchill welcome to the game.

You have a most difficult path to tread as you have burnt a lot of boats already as well as diching a sworn oath or wo. Anyway good luck but beware your land is seething, the majority are against the catholic king hoisted on them by a french army especially when they have a legitimate king and a Protestant in London. The navy is divided and the army seems decidedly anti Papist. A veritable minefield . You are in my prayers.......

Thanks for the tips. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised next month (if everything continues to go to plan).

I have to admit to enjoying the speculation so far. I really am having to hold back on saying more. Suffice to say I'm not new to the game and I've been keeping a close eye on things