Game 8

Jason2 wrote:As some might have guessed from letters you have hopefully received, this turn not only saw Bavaria become active but also another new (or should that be returning?) player-me.

The Hanseatic League rises again!  I assure you all I am interested in is peace, friendship and a good return on trade investments...

...the fact i have recruited Havelock Vetinari as my main advisor on how to rule a city state and expand its influence should not be a matter for concern...honest...

Recruiting Italian or at least Italian sounding advisor's seems to be all the rage.

At least its a change from the fashion for appointing Jacobites and Scots......says the man who's character in G7 married an Girl from Milan, Has a Naval commander from Sicily and is trying to have a very Italian themed "enlightenment" including an Italian Opera House 13,000 feet up in the Andes. But I still would not trust a Venetian!

Hey, if you're going to have an advisor, get the best...

...though I am still not sure on his suggestion about mime artists and snake pits...I mean, were mine artists really such a danger in early 18th C northern Germany?

@ JFlowers. Sounds more like Triad loansharking to me. Over here, if you don’t pay up, they will throw red paint over your door, and scrawl O$P$ (Owe Dollar Pay Dollar on your walls) as a first retaliatory move. I hate to think what the local Triad lad’s in leather shorts will do to your Palace doors & walls, come January...

@Ardagor. True, the Russian’s do seem a little excitable & eager to offend. Are they looking to trigger an attack, before plans are ready? I feel pocketing the additional cases belli, & working to your own timeline is usually the best response.

I have heard from some of G8 Louis XIV’s Advisors (pictured below, holding an early portrait of His Most Christian Majesty), that he & Calvin Harris share one important commodity, in common.

They both have everything under control.

& it looks like exchange rates for South Eastern Europe are favourable, with the large volume of package holiday arrivals in Athens & Belgrade this month. Could there be a shortage of pool towels? Latest LRDG crisis, you heard it here first.

@ Jason 2. A return of the Hanseatic League. Very interesting proposition in the 18th Century. I have always been interested in the league historically. I can foresee major growth opportunities in the near future, filling newly created gaps in key trade areas.

On Advisors, I am going for Chinese. Far more ‘results driven’

@ Stuart Bailey. I am going out on a limb here, but have you joined G8 as a European Triad Loanshark organisation?

Maybe part of the Chinese Triad Vampire Collective that beat Kerensky’s Dark Disney Debacle Table into second place for best dressed table @ the Annual D&D on Friday? A travesty of justice...

Could well see the start of a Beer War in G8 with a start on a ban on from the Low Countries, after all they use water from the Rhine that has flowed all the way through the Germanies & French boarder, just think how many chamber pots have been emptied into that pint!

Obviously the fact that Bavarian purity laws are now in force & only water from the clear mountain springs of the Alps is being used in the Brauhauses of Bavaria is a good marketing point.

Kerensky wrote:@ Jason 2. A return of the Hanseatic League. Very interesting proposition in the 18th Century. I have always been interested in the league historically. I can foresee major growth opportunities in the near future, filling newly created gaps in key trade areas.

I developed an interest in the League a few years back when working in Aberdeen museums.  I used to do joint introduction lectures with a lecturer from the university to their students.  My half was on how to use ships records (including construction records, logs of journeys, press cuttings, etc) to research social history.  His was talking about the early modern history of the Baltic, with two focuses-the importance of the herring industry and the rise of the Hanseatic League.  His talk got my interest and made me start looking into the League

I've always wanted to try out a real micro-position in a game and felt now was the time.  I put a number of options to Richard (all northern German) to see if he thought any were viable (there is always the danger that a position could be too small).  I'm sure Richard won't mind me saying that while some of the other ideas I put forward he thought more viable, I think the League idea appealed to him as a bit of an experiment.  That's the way I see it, a bit of an experiment, to see if I can make it work-and I think I can  

Plenty of trade opportunities and I have found details of the militaries (land and sea) of each of the three cities so will aim to recreate those accurately.  

Of course, there might be a beer war on the horizon, as I think northern German beer might be a bit different to Bavaria's

Kerensky wrote:@ JFlowers. Sounds more like Triad loansharking to me. Over here, if you don’t pay up, they will throw red paint over your door, and scrawl O$P$ (Owe Dollar Pay Dollar on your walls) as a first retaliatory move. I hate to think what the local Triad lad’s in leather shorts will do to your Palace doors & walls, come January...

@Ardagor. True, the Russian’s do seem a little excitable & eager to offend. Are they looking to trigger an attack, before plans are ready? I feel pocketing the additional cases belli, & working to your own timeline is usually the best response.

I have heard from some of G8 Louis XIV’s Advisors (pictured below, holding an early portrait of His Most Christian Majesty), that he & Calvin Harris share one important commodity, in common.

They both have everything under control.

& it looks like exchange rates for South Eastern Europe are favourable, with the large volume of package holiday arrivals in Athens & Belgrade this month. Could there be a shortage of pool towels? Latest LRDG crisis, you heard it here first.

@ Jason 2. A return of the Hanseatic League. Very interesting proposition in the 18th Century. I have always been interested in the league historically. I can foresee major growth opportunities in the near future, filling newly created gaps in key trade areas.

On Advisors, I am going for Chinese. Far more ‘results driven’

@ Stuart Bailey. I am going out on a limb here, but have you joined G8 as a European Triad Loanshark organisation?

Maybe part of the Chinese Triad Vampire Collective that beat Kerensky’s Dark Disney Debacle Table into second place for best dressed table @ the Annual D&D on Friday? A travesty of justice...

Damn clearly Bart, Forbin, etc have been hanging round the wrong Court of Varsailles and need a transfer to the G8 Court so they can lobby Louis XIV advisors using the dashing swordplay and fine legs in silk stockings 18th French merchant adventurers are known for.

And no I have not joined G8 as a Triad Loan Shark! My limited experience of banking in Agema games include:

- Formation of Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and Standard Chartered in scabble as subsidary of the HEIC. The Chin closed me down in Shanghai and the Moors hung a couple of my bankers for Usury.

- Established the Athens Corporation of Manfacturers and Exporters in G2 which did provide marine insurance and loans (The famous ACME maine mortgage!)

- Finally we have my cunning ploys in G7 to avoid having to ship Bullion home and getting it nicked by Pirates. Decided to found Banks and give them the silver to mint new coins which they could then loan out. It would have been cheaper to just give it too the Pirates! Probably should not have allowed a ex Smuggler to run the Royal Bank of Africa either. Think its fair to say I have now set new records for banking losses in Agema games. Think the Royal Bank of the America's should basically be viewed a a £1m a year subsidy to Spanish merchants.

On the plus side I am told that a lot of G7 trade is in very nice Spanish coins which are also really popular for Dowry Jewellery.......G7 Hapsburg Spain doing its bit to help true love..........how can I not be on the side of the Angels! And if anyone tries to import dodgy laws in G7 to ban Flanders beer its war!

ha, that's not beer it's just flavoured water, look at it you can see right through it & where may I ask are the floaty bits......

J Flower wrote:ha, that's not beer it's just flavoured water, look at it you can see right through it & where may I ask are the floaty bits......

I can see we are on the verge of a major beer war way things are going

Though it has just occurred to me that I do quite like Erdinger's beers, who I believe are Bavarian, they do a very nice alcohol-free wheat beer

https://www.bavaria.by/traditionally-different/the-place-to-be/spearing-the-dragon/

Maybe there is a need for a Dragon slayer after all

Hmmm, in that case maybe I need to develop some anti-Dragon artillery...or hire Bard the Bowman...just to be safe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuhplattler

Could this be the Bavarian form of Morris Dancing ?

Certainly needs to be included into the game game, Much better than mime artists.

You see what happens when we warn our kids of the dangers of drugs, casual sex and drink, they take up Schuhplattier instead!

Jason2 wrote:You see what happens when we warn our kids of the dangers of drugs, casual sex and drink, they take up Schuhplattier instead!

With the shorts and the lack of sticks is Schuhplattier a sort of Morris dancing for Juniors before they get into long trousers and onto the the hard stuff?

In darkest Somerset folk memory I was under the impression that the Morris was a ritual dance to work up a sweet and get nice and loose before a hard night of cider, drugs, cider, casual sex and more cider.

Clearly worked for the forefathers of the Bailey family since some of them had 17 Kids that they owned up too. Which plays hell with trying to draw up the family tree esp when they suffer from a serious shortage of family names.

Perhaps as a technical development Bavaria can invent "Improved Schupplattier" AKA the Morris Dance leading to an increased birth rate

Thanks for the tip on population growth, certainly any help with increasing the recruit base will be welcomed.

Doing turn at the moment, & trying to decide if its going to be tar & feathers , or pulled apart by 4 wild tortoises for the Chancellor who negotiated the 24% loan for the Bavarian Principality . Is it possible that he is actually an enemy agent who is on a mission to bankrupt the state, could be time for the comfy chair & the feather duster.

J Flower wrote:Thanks for the tip on population growth, certainly any help with increasing the recruit base will be welcomed.

Doing turn at the moment, & trying to decide if its going to be tar & feathers , or pulled apart by 4 wild tortoises for the Chancellor who negotiated the 24% loan for the Bavarian Principality . Is it possible that he is actually an enemy agent who is on  a mission to bankrupt the state, could be time for the comfy chair & the feather duster.

Would the player who sent Richard a book on C17/C18 Financial Scandals care to own up?.........Kerensky & Friends!!!!

After the Bavarian loan scandal and an affair in France (G7) which seems a bit like the historic arrest of Nicolas Fouquet Louis XIV general controller of taxes for embezzlement on a monumental scale (have a look at the Chateaux of Vaux-le-Vicomte - all paid for on a honest civil servents wages.....honest gov). I am now waiting for a South Sea Bubble, Scots colonial investments linked to Dutch Banks, Something linked to tulips and would strongly advise players to avoid anything which involves Scots like John Law, Paper Money and either dodgy investments in North America or Italian/Genoa lottery. Esp avoid anything being sold by the charming snake oil salesman Roger Martel and his chums in the HWIC since they have already accounted for one Post Office and the Royal Bank of Africa.

Let's no forget the 97 million pounds stolen from The Tea Cartel in Scramble.

Stuart Bailey wrote:

J Flower wrote:Thanks for the tip on population growth, certainly any help with increasing the recruit base will be welcomed.

Doing turn at the moment, & trying to decide if its going to be tar & feathers , or pulled apart by 4 wild tortoises for the Chancellor who negotiated the 24% loan for the Bavarian Principality . Is it possible that he is actually an enemy agent who is on  a mission to bankrupt the state, could be time for the comfy chair & the feather duster.

Would the player who sent Richard a book on C17/C18 Financial Scandals care to own up?.........Kerensky & Friends!!!!

After the Bavarian loan scandal and an affair in France (G7) which seems a bit like the historic arrest of Nicolas Fouquet Louis XIV general controller of taxes for embezzlement on a monumental scale (have a look at the Chateaux of Vaux-le-Vicomte - all paid for on a honest civil servents wages.....honest gov).  I am now waiting for a South Sea Bubble,  Scots colonial investments linked to Dutch Banks, Something linked to tulips and would strongly advise players to avoid anything which involves Scots like John Law, Paper Money and either dodgy investments in North America or Italian/Genoa lottery.  Esp avoid anything being sold by the charming snake oil salesman Roger Martel and his chums in the HWIC since they have already accounted for one Post Office and the Royal Bank of Africa.

So Stuart, you won't be investing in my about-to-be-launched investment opportunity-Haggi farming?

@ Jason2. Glad to see continued homage to Discworld & Terry Pratchett. I always appreciated Lord Vetinari’s approach to risk management. It is not a risk, if you are influencing it.

@ JFlower. I am enjoying your esoteric solutions to ‘catch up’ on your position. I found that with allies & 18months, you can catch up significantly. Just avoid the Europeans Triad Loan Sharks.

& in a technical sense, you could sell long dated future options on Haggi Herds, to support the experimental breeding farms (& the fleet of carriages with ‘go faster’ stripes).

@ Stuart B. You would be welcome to visit the Court of Versailles (G8), or the Court of Kerensky (G0). I have checked, and my copy of ‘Never seen a Financier with his Ar*e hanging out of his Jeans: Financial scandals of the 17th - 19th Centuries’ is still on my book shelves. Richard must have been receiving specialist advice from another. Could it be the Grand Wizzy Wizzard?

Well, I literally have 30 words on a page in support of G8 France’s turn, so I better get my head down to weave the magic.

Kerensky wrote:
@ Stuart B. You would  be welcome to visit the Court of Versailles (G8), or the Court of Kerensky (G0). I have checked, and my copy of ‘Never seen a Financier with his Ar*e hanging out of his Jeans: Financial scandals of the 17th - 19th Centuries’ is still on my book shelves. Richard must have been receiving specialist advice from another. Could it be the Grand Wizzy Wizzard?

Do you think Richard could be getting specialist C17/C18 financial advise from a professional historian with an keen interest in dodgy financiers from the Baltic?

Could Haggi farming being the new Tulips? And should we now start getting worried about the Baltic Sea Bubble?

Haggi shouldn't bubble if you cook them properly

Entertaining though this may be, can we please get something straight: the plural of 'haggis' is 'haggis' or if referring to a collection of different types, 'haggises'. As far as I am aware the word 'haggi' does not exist in any language, the closest approximation being Haggai, one of the minor prophets (just before Zechariah); it is possible it means something in Persian, but I'll leave comment on that to someone else.

"Haggi" is a Kincardineshire joke word, used when winding tourists up about herds of haggis roaming the highlands.  It's not a word you will find online or in print much but you do find people using it occasionally in a joke-y way, such as this very old thread
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AwrJS9cajutdXgYAWhwM34lQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBydWZibG83BGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwM4BHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--?qid=20061208033422AAX5rtP and in this article https://secretscotland.wordpress.com/2014/01/11/haggi-survive-storms-the-southern-reporter/

I use it when making jokes about the haggis as a real creature.

I wasn't having a particular go at you, Jason2, since 'haggi' seems to have been used by many contributors who profess some knowledge of classical languages. I can quite imagine that tourists can be teased about herds of wild haggis, but surely it would not diminish the joke if the right spelling was used?

I decline to decline Haggis.

Rumours that the accusative (plural) of Haggis, a putative 2nd declension noun, is Haggi are but dust in the wind...

The Celtic linguistic roots of Haggis, or Haggises, are lost, along with documentary evidence of the ‘last live sighting’ of a Haggis (allegedly, in 1703, by a Mssr J Wilson).