G7....War declared

Stuart your right, I got the title wrong, that one piece of punctuation (the ?) makes a big difference to the meaning of the title of the thread.

The progress Spain has made in G7 is a good example of what can be done by a Good player , with long term commitment & a plan(s) You Mr Bailey certainly deserve a pat on the back for what you have achieved.

G7 certainly has a warlike feel to it , there is an underlying tension in the Game that seems to rise to the surface at certain times & cause outbreaks of violence.

The War between Persia & France is an example of this, a low key war, mainly commerce raiding, with the occasional spike when a colonial outpost is attacked or besieged.

Spain seems to have Replaced France in this Game as the major driving force in Europe. Maybe that is why it has as France normally does become the focus of many of those conflicts.

Another oddity of G7 is the number of Factions, Trade Companies, & co that have been active in the Game, most are now inactive, or being hunted down by various Law enforcement agencies .

J Flower wrote:Stuart your right, I got the title wrong, that one piece of punctuation (the ?) makes a big difference to the meaning of the title of the thread.

The progress Spain has made in G7 is a good example of what can be done by a Good player , with long term commitment & a plan(s) You Mr Bailey certainly deserve a pat on the back for what you have achieved.

G7 certainly has a warlike feel to it , there is an underlying tension in the Game that seems to rise to the surface at certain times & cause outbreaks of violence.

The War between Persia & France is an example of this, a low key war, mainly commerce raiding, with the occasional spike when a colonial outpost is attacked or besieged.

Spain seems to have Replaced France in this Game as the major driving force in Europe. Maybe that is why it has as France normally does become the focus of many of those conflicts.

Another oddity of G7 is the number of Factions, Trade Companies, & co that have been active in the Game, most are now inactive, or being hunted down by various Law enforcement agencies .

 

Thank you for the kind words about G7 Spain.

Though I still think its the case that the European part of G7 has been totally shaped by policy made in France which has dominated the stage setting by:

1) Its invasion of England and the Jacobite restoration in England.
2) Its Military effort in Scotland/England which combined with a crushing victory over the Austrian Military and invasion of the UDP which saved a English Jacobite invasion of Scotland from sinking into a bog and forced Austria, Spain and the UDP to accept the execution of King William regime change in Scotland.
3) Latest crisis situations in G7 and current bad feeling set by the French Invasion of Genoa viewed by the Hapsburgs as a way to open up a route to Milan and southern Austria & also a French Army taking a sort cut home from its campaign in the UDP via Flanders which can be viewed as either "We were just going home and the Spanish **** shot at us" to "A deliberate attempt to humiliate the House of Austria and flaunt the French Victory."

As a side effect of French policy has generally worked to the advantage of Spain as the French emphasis on England allowed the x2 Spanish factions to come to an internal settlement then turn into one Royal Spanish faction without much in the way of outside involvement. Meanwhile the divertion of French effort into aggression against England, UDP, Persia, Genoa etc worked to the advantage of Spanish Trade and Industry. As superior trade rivals suffered years of damage and distraction due to French actions and the ongoing results. England for instance suffered war famines, loss of American colonies, important Trade Companies like the HWIC and the Bank of England. While the UDP suffered almost as badly.

Resulting in G7 Spain now taking the position of England in many games as the Quarter Master of any who want to hold the line and respond to the French.

Another oddity about G7 and the French military domination of Europe is how quite its been with very little diplomacy or letter writing by French governments apart from the first. May be totally untrue but from the paper it often seems that either the French attack dog has been waged by the Jacobite tail or that Jacobite spokesmen for the French are making it up as they go along and often after the event of French military action.

Classic has to be the Franco-Persian Naval War:

- France: "Behave and do what your master the Sultan says" (Still do not know to this day if France thought the Shah was an Ottoman Vassel like Egypt or Syria or it was a calculated insult).

- Shah : "You can't call me an Ottoman......say sorry"

- France: "Non"

Naturally enough with Franch Trade in India/Persia in long term decline due to the terrible toll the Persians were taking of the French Merchant Fleet the friendly, jolly traders of the EEIC (Espania East India Company) were in their like a rat up a drain pipe. While the French to limit the destraction caused by Persia to their European focus and avoid having to say sorry to the Shah just gave away all their colonies in India to the Jacobite-English.
A very G7 type of result.

The problem now for the French Military is having broken the Anglo-Dutch-Hapsburg alliance of the 1690's and early 1700's by the Jacobite restoration does it try and deal with the Persian Ulcer now spreading to French trade and colonies in Africa or does it go for the kill against the Hapsburg's?

If the French do go for the kill the general feeling is this could be one of the largest wars ever seen in a game of Glori. If anyone wants to pick a position and join in they may want to private message Jason Flower for a neatral view of their possible position. But as a rough rule of thumb forces like those seen sight seeing in France and the Baltic would last about two months in G7 France or Spain before being stamped into the ground.

The Jacobite Restoration in G7 , is most probably the reason Paris & London are so closely allied. It seems a natural way to go. Especially as the Hapsburgs surround France to the South & East .

Spain can certainly splash the cash. Which may be another reason for France & England to work together. They both Possibly, (not definite, maybe, don't sue me!) do feel a little threatened & by Spanish financial power, the recent losses to the French treasury could have reinforced that.

G7 is a bit like a "Tug-a-war" With France on one side & Spain on the other, at the moment the rope is steady & the official still has his hands in the air, when he shouts "Pull!" It will be interesting to see who gets the drop on the other side. After that it is probably a case of digging the heels in & waiting for the opponent to tire.

G7 still has a lot to offer, there are some very competitive rivalries that have built up over the years in the which certainly add to the flavour & atmosphere of the game.

It certainly feels like there is a war coming, tensions are running high. Have ordered extra popcorn for the Matinee.

Anyone interested in joining the fun, please feel free to do so. The more players any game has the more enjoyable it is.

Trying to figure out the largest Den of Crooks in G7 out of:

a) English merchant houses.

b) The French Treasury

c) Spanish Customs

In last year trade too Spain upon which customs should have been paid £25,767,983............Standard rate is 8% but some countries due to trade treaties etc pay most favoured nation rate of 5% and France and England pay 50% due to being mean to Spanish merchants with navigation acts, 250% tax on my Wine and trampling their disease ridden armies across my Duchy without paying duty on livestock or metal goods!

But even if all of the trade only paid the 5% rate that would be £1,288,399 but actual return to Spanish Treasury £453,516 which would seem to imply:

I) Someone has thrown a fishing net over the honesty box again?

II) Spanish Tax farmers legally get a 66% take - who the hell drafted said contract?

III) Smuggling problem or I am being robbed by my own Tax farmers?

IV) I need to make it clear that the tax concession to parents with 4 or more legitimate children in School (The Spanish Macho incentive) only applies to Spanish parents with kids in Spanish schools.

Qu has anyone else looked at the part of the end of year income and compared trade in with the tax rate? And is a 2/3 leakage normal or on the high side? And what is best method to stop it?

Not that Charles von (the really loveable) Hapsburg is likely to do anything since the G7 Spanish Hapsburg policy of see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil (unless its about the French) has so far enabled G7 Charles von Hapsburg and his trusty Cardinal-treasurer to avoid prison cells, excommunication and being murdered by inquistion. Not the case in all games of Glori !!

I hate to suggest this, but in the years in game, there have been a couple of computational errors on Richard's end, both quickly sorted. Might drop a note.

There have also been several other times when he has confirmed the correctness, and I took it to my turn.

Interesting Turn up in G7

Seems the long awaited( & Feared?) Awakening of the Ottoman Empire Position has happened, will be interesting to see what effects it has on the game in the months to come.

Welcome to the New Ottoman Player, Have fun & I honestly hope you enjoy yourself

Dec 1714 issue of Glori du Roi has shown up and for non players here are the highlights & low lights:

1) As is our traditional number one highlight – No Russian shipping losses to report, probably because they are all in port and iced in. In fact to relief of marine underwriters shipping losses everywhere were very light with only 2 English and 1 French ship reported as lost. This one ship means the French failed to break the one hundred ship barrier but still finished in first place with 98 ships lost. Followed by Persia and England with Russia down in a lowly fourth place.

2) Russian may however claim most people drowned at sea following loss of 20,000 slaves in 1714 (sorry freed slaves given Serf status – think you have to be Russian to notice the difference). All in all 1714 was an expensive year for Marine Underwriters of slave ships since the Persians claim to have taken 37 French ships carrying slaves ie 37 x 600 @ average £33 each in New World = £732,600 plus ships if Persian corsairs elect to sale. Or the Shah could help his campaign to win converts for Shia Islam by returning captives of the French to tribes allied to Persia.

3) In England and elsewhere Russians were handing out awards to Royal Ladies. Also in England they were doing Christmas type stuff only in a a more and more Catholic style like singing in Latin in the Anglican Church. Something which may help Prussian attempts to get good Protestant English, Scots & Bavarians (Protestant Bavarians?) etc to go and settle in Brandenburg “Home of Protestant Liberty” according to the travel guides being handed out.

4) In France they were also getting Russian awards to ladies and Christmas type stuff. Indeed getting right into the Christmas spirit and in effort to reduce tensions caused by his take over of Genoa. King Louis XIV reduced tax on Austrian merchants to 10% from 50% and offered non aggression treaties to Venice and Tuscany. Which no doubts leaves the two HRE states of Milan and Savoy which touch on Genoa wondering what about us? Unless Louis plans to sign a treaty with Josef von Hapsburg covering his whole Empire and family? Since clearly Louis finds Josef to be the more reasonable of the Hapsburg brothers.

5) At Versailles Lord G said well done to Louis on finding his missing funds. While Louis XIV has now taken over mainland Genoa and diverted its tax income to France it is unclear how much of his missing funds he has made up from the contents of the treasury of Genoa or from the Bank of Saint George reputed to have been paid £5m commission for handling stolen funds. Or if Louis is anywhere nearer finding his missing treasurer (The Doge of Genoa remains a French captive).

6) Louis has now asked the Papal Auditor to look into the Royal Bank of America as the reputed destination of £95m sent on by the Bank of St George. The Royal Bank has offered its full co-operation with the Papal Auditor but is fairly sure it would have noticed £95m in transfers from the Bank of St George over a three year period. Oddly, following last month break-in at the Bank’s HQ a careful search of the Bank premises turned up a Bank Log looking something like one of theirs showing £95m in invisible writing transferred in and then sent to G nerchinsk for 5% commission. Which raises three questions for Spanish Bankers a) Why only 5% when they charge 10%? b) Where is the commission? c) If French Treasury claim to have lost £40m who owns the other £60m reported as laundered by the Bank of St George d) Who the hell is this G nerchinsk?

7) In the Holy Roman Empire the Countess of Hainaulte got married, the Elector of Brandenburg did his version of Father Christmas handing out toys and medals (What is it with Russians, Prussians and medels?), The Von Der Decken mansion got seized by creditors, various Germans got hot and bothered about how many troops they need to supply to the Reicharmee and the Emperor to be went to the Opera with his wife and two super eligible daughters and also did Christmas type stuff.
In Spain the Emperor Elect brother also did Christmas type stuff and went to the Opera with three somewhat younger Hapsburg Princesses. At some time in next few years the ministers of the Royal House of Hapsburg need to find five suitable bridegrooms, a fact of no doubt great interest to Catholic Princes in need of a well connected wife with a large dowry.

9) Cardinal Portocarrero also achieved his ambition to introduce universal education across the Spanish Empire and since it was Christmas avoided need to introduce higher taxes on Church due to influence of Queen Sophia.

10) More Christmas stuff in Sweden and Denmark plus further development of their Union with plans for a joint Diet.

11) Interestingly while Europe did Christmas stuff, went to the Opera and stuffed itself with Hirschgulasche venison goulash - a favourite from the Tyrol, and roast Mangalitsa Hungarian hairy
pigs. Also as a special treat, braised goat with Semel Knoedel dumplings. All hell broke out in Constantinople:

- Day started with Sultan Mustafa Oglu Mehmed II on the throne with 4 wives and 4 sons. After the Sultan eat something which disagreed with him so strongly he was dead within half an hour of eating it the day ended with one widow and one son presented by the “Palace” to the Grand Vizier and the Janissary Corp as Sultan Mustafa Oglu Mehemed III

- The Grand Vizier who’s power base is the Janissary corp would now seem to have the ever growing power of Russia to the north with a Czar who dreams of warm water ports and a black sea dacha. Hapsburgs and more bloody Hapsburgs to the west and to his east the great Shia Ghazi. If this was not bad enough he now has the Valide Sultan (new Sultan mother) and her palace eunch’s at his back with the Valide Sultan favourite Chief Eunuch Hasan after his job! Clearly a Grand Vizier job is not a happy one!!

Outside of Europe:

12) The Monastery of St.Modestos in Jerusalem is being restored with Russian money. It will be interesting to see how the Grand Vizier explains to his new boss why the most admired Ottoman by a long way (The Hopsdar of Moldavia) is the father-in-law of the Czar and the Orthodox population of the Empire normally look towards Jassy and Moscow ahead of the Constantinople. While the Shia third of the Empire worship the ground on which the great Iman from the line of Ali (AKA the Shah of Persia) walks.

13) After flogging their last Trade Station to the Russians the Prussians want the Asante King to give them land for another.

14) Daniel Defoe is working on a second work of fiction about how his boss Blackbeard saved himself from a terrible slaughter on Cat Island. The fact that the Spanish we spotted by a lookout and Blackbeard ran away very fast without a shot fired is not considered reason to spoil an account of roaring canon and flashing blades.

15) It is also being claimed that the infamous old rogue is going to turn Kings evidence against his rival Martel and convince everyone that Havana and other raids were carried out by Martel faction of the Brotherhood and not Blackbeard faction of honest Russian tax officials these days. This claim to be further backed up by evidence obtained by the torture of Mr Whiting. But will Blackbeard be be willing to risk a free and fair Spanish Court in say Havana to make the same charges? £60,000 reward V Spanish punishment for telling fibs under oath?

Thanks for the write up Stuart.

Russia has managed another year in which the number of ships at the end of the year exceeds number at the start, which is seen as a success in Moscow. May have to change the Motto from "We sink ships" to " We Occasionally Accidently sink Ships" but it just doesn't seem to have the same ring to it.

Russian Serfs have actually been freed so they are probably a bit better off than some of those Serfs in the West, Seem to remember the income per head was almost double that of France & Spain, so maybe life in Russia is a little better than first thought.

The Honourable Order of St Catherine is a way for the Great & Good ladies to get together for a chat & probably achieve in an afternoon more diplomatic success, marriage arrangements & exchange of knitting patterns than there menfolk manage in a six month.

Seems someone is trying to stitch up poor( emphasis on poor!) Prince Golitsyn in Russia Dept. East. The fact that a book was allegedly poorly hidden in the Head office of a Certain dodgy Financial institution, & just happened to have the name of a certain Far Eastern village in his territory with his initial next to it just seems too obvious to be taken seriously. Is someone trying to get the combined Anglo-Franco Battle fleets to sail to the Far East, to give the POOR Prince lead poisoning!

The Ottoman Empire Awakens from its slumber, This could be an interesting development for those in G7 will we see other Provinces of the Muslim Empire stir? No doubt Vienna & Moscow will have read & reread the Article in the paper with the thought "Oh, flipping Heck!" Going through their minds. This is I think a good thing for the game in general it may switch focus a bit away from the Western side of the map.

Russia has bought the Spanish Maritime tables, But have run into a major technical problem, in that apparently no one in the Russian Navy can read Spanish, so its off to the Academy of Linguistics & Foreign studies , which is being built as we speak. Obviously the translation will be a good one, if not then at least the captains of the ships can blame the Spanish if their ships get into trouble.

If anyone is interested in the fine art of accidently sinking ships at sea I recommend Dava Sobel book on Longitude.

The lunar method does work but you need clear skies, an accurate reading......not easy if the deck is going up and down, and first rate maths skills. As such Spain takes no responsibility of Russian ships getting a little bit of course and hitting something (like Admiral Sir Clowdisley Shovell and five English ships running into the Scilly Isles) due to a bit of cloud and rain.

Spain decided that tax based on on self assessment and 1215 property valuations may need to be updated when the total income of the "commons" came out as less than the amount paid out in poor relief. Which exploded after introduction of free school dinners.......all I wanted to do was use some spare grain as a subsidy to increase population!

Some day the Spanish Goverment may look at its property valuations as well as at least 2/3 of its customs duty going to tax farmers but its scared at what Richard will do to honour score if it ask's for info like that.

Not sure how its happened but Spanish Govt now basically turned into a agent of the Spanish Church and the Asiento.

Also scared to look too closely at the Books of that fine upstanding financial body - The Royal Bank of the America's - in case I do suddenly find large sums which can not be accounted for. Mind you the trail of lemon juice which seems to run from Paris to the Bank of Saint George in Genoa then on to the Royal Bank of the America's and to G in Siberia would seem about as dodgy as accounts that £40m in Gold made it out of the French Treasury onto about 400 carts and then sailed off to the Spanish main without anyone thinking that looks odd.

But at least I am not playing the Ottoman Grand Vizier in G7 !! Not sure how much the account of Constantinople came from new player or Richard taking every Ottoman "nightmare" from other games and dumping them on someone. Well perhaps not every nightmare since the Aga of the Janissary Corp and the Grand Mufti have not shown up yet.

Why do we seem to have the situation in G7 that every financial institution that has to call in the auditors seems to have been involved in some very "inventive" book keeping! Could it be the men in suits & ties are doing more damage to enemy Nations that all those soldiers & sailors ever have?

Are the whereabouts of Mr Drebbel known? The Russian Admiralty in Game Seven is extremely interested in employing him.

Due to the Reputation of Russian seamanship, is it really worth introducing a "Sinking Fund!" this could well be more of a financial black hole than the French Treasury

"We Sink Ships"

Perhaps the Russians can take note of the Austrian Empire and their catchphrase "We have no Ships".

Another morning at the Cafe Viennoise for the honoured Admiral Teggenhoff. Another year has passed and No Sailors Lost At Sea.

"More sugar" Admiral?

Just to help clear matters up:-

" We Have No Ships!" Is phase two of the Russian Admiralty Plan. Phase one Being "We Sink Ships"

Then the Admirals plan is for Early Retirement to keep Admiral Teggenhoff company at the Cafe Viennoise.



A Question from the Russian Admiralty?

When someone says "Pass the Port Admiral" Is it an Navigational term, or is it more to do with Drinking? Obviously this is an important matter & needs serious consideration. Answers on a post card please

Another philatelic curiosity:


 

Again, this is not made up ... there really is a place called Jason island, an archipelago NW of the Falklands.  Although rumoured to have been sited by Magellan and later by the Dutch, it was named Jason Island in the 1760s.  So this does theoretically leave scope for Russian ships sailing for New York to be blown off course and 'discover' it?

In real history, of course, the island had a much more curious history, being the location of a penguin rush 1864-66: within those two years 2 million penguins were caught and boiled for their oil.  After a much less successful attempt to rear sheep and cattle, the owners sold the islands to a conservationist who to raise funds to bring back the penguins sold these stamps and issued his own banknotes.  The penguins are now back, but that may be because people are not.

In case Stuart is feeling left out, I have been able to find a Stuart Island (off Alaska, home to an unmanaged and probably unmanageable herd of reindeer), but no stamps have been issued.

There are two other Stuart Islands of interest (my name is popular not common)

- The famous one but with the wrong spelling is of the south coast of New Zealand and is home to the famous Stewart Island Parrot. Think this is the largest Parrot in the world but flightless. Not sure if its a talker or not and if its suitable for Corsairs and other's in need of a sea borne pet.

- Another Stuart Island is a really nice nature/marine reserve off Washington State. It is actually one of the San Juan Islands which is fairly close to the north most point of the Spanish exploration of the West Coast of North America. Assume they might have gone further north but they meet the Russians heading south from Alaska.

Would like to clear up a misunderstanding;

Russian ships do not get blown off course, simply because they usually have no actual course to be blown off of.

Most ships captains enjoy taking the scenic route .

This can occasionally lead to them being geographically embarrassed !

J Flower wrote:Would like to clear up a misunderstanding;

Russian ships do not get blown off course, simply because they usually have no actual course to be blown off of.

Most ships captains enjoy taking the scenic route .

This can occasionally lead to them being geographically embarrassed !

I'm getting rather concerned about Russian merchants now ... do their captains not get paid a bonus for making a swift passage?

Surely the novelty of remaining afloat long enough to see the sea would quickly wear off?  After all, the reason modern cruise ships are packed with distractions is mainly because if you aren't close enough to the coastline, there is nothing but water to look at.  Most of the time it isn't even blue, but varying shades of grey.  Even a desert or steppe has more features of scenic interest than the sea.  The passengers would get very bored, very quickly.

Of course they don't have to look at the sea ... they could spend their time looking at the weather instead which is much more interesting.  However, if we follow that line of thought then we may have finally understood why "we sink ships" is the motto of the Russian navy ... if Russian captains change course to investigate each time they see an interesting bit of weather approaching, they are more likely to run into difficulty.

Perhaps a slight retraining of the Russian naval mindset is required to avoid this in future?  

Stuart Bailey wrote:There are two other Stuart Islands of interest (my name is popular not common)

- The famous one but with the wrong spelling is of the south coast of New Zealand and is home to the famous Stewart Island Parrot.  Think this is the largest Parrot in the world but flightless.   Not sure if its a talker or not and if its suitable for Corsairs and other's in need of a sea borne pet.

- Another Stuart Island is a really nice nature/marine reserve off Washington State.  It is actually one of the San Juan Islands which is fairly close to the north most point of the Spanish exploration of the West Coast of North America.  Assume they might have gone further north but they meet the Russians heading south from Alaska.

I was trying to keep to the proper spelling of Stuart, which in many respects is a fine name, particularly for Kings of England and associated realms.  

There are quite a few Stuart/Stewart islands (and some Bailey islands) around, but most of them are islets in the middle of rivers/estuaries, volcanic lumps of rock or man made which I don't really view as proper islands.

As for the Stewart Island Parrot, though, you could be on to something here ... Spain could go and discover Stewart Island and bring back a parrot to present to Lord Godolphin as a partner for Esmerelda.   2 talking parrots at Versailles would be able to hold a much more intelligent conversation as to the whereabouts of Blackbeard, and I suspect the parrot postal service would be somewhat more reliable than anything run by Martel.

Papa Clement wrote:

J Flower wrote:Would like to clear up a misunderstanding;

Russian ships do not get blown off course, simply because they usually have no actual course to be blown off of.

Most ships captains enjoy taking the scenic route .

This can occasionally lead to them being geographically embarrassed !

I'm getting rather concerned about Russian merchants now ... do their captains not get paid a bonus for making a swift passage?

Surely the novelty of remaining afloat long enough to see the sea would quickly wear off?  After all, the reason modern cruise ships are packed with distractions is mainly because if you aren't close enough to the coastline, there is nothing but water to look at.  Most of the time it isn't even blue, but varying shades of grey.  Even a desert or steppe has more features of scenic interest than the sea.  The passengers would get very bored, very quickly.

Of course they don't have to look at the sea ... they could spend their time looking at the weather instead which is much more interesting.  However, if we follow that line of thought then we may have finally understood why "we sink ships" is the motto of the Russian navy ... if Russian captains change course to investigate each time they see an interesting bit of weather approaching, they are more likely to run into difficulty.

Perhaps a slight retraining of the Russian naval mindset is required to avoid this in future?  

Okay where to start...

No need to be too concerned Robert, Swift passage & bonus payments are not parts of Russian merchants contracts,
getting there in one piece , or rather actually getting there at all is considered bonus enough, (Cargo & crew optional)

As to the novelty of staying afloat, this is a new phenomenon for Russian Sailors & they intend to enjoy it for as long as possible. Boredom is they feel completely underrated in their opinion, too much excitement, especially the kind involving storms, rocks, mermaids & desert islands isn't what they are looking for.
Life on a Russian ship - the excitement of living on the edge & knowing every day could be your last is enough to keep the boredom at bay.

On your last comment, "Retraining" this seems to imply that there is actually training in the first place, something that hasn't actually been considered by Russian naval authorities, possibly worth looking into

"We Sink ships"

Papa Clement wrote:

Stuart Bailey wrote:There are two other Stuart Islands of interest (my name is popular not common)

- The famous one but with the wrong spelling is of the south coast of New Zealand and is home to the famous Stewart Island Parrot.  Think this is the largest Parrot in the world but flightless.   Not sure if its a talker or not and if its suitable for Corsairs and other's in need of a sea borne pet.

- Another Stuart Island is a really nice nature/marine reserve off Washington State.  It is actually one of the San Juan Islands which is fairly close to the north most point of the Spanish exploration of the West Coast of North America.  Assume they might have gone further north but they meet the Russians heading south from Alaska.

I was trying to keep to the proper spelling of Stuart, which in many respects is a fine name, particularly for Kings of England and associated realms.  

There are quite a few Stuart/Stewart islands (and some Bailey islands) around, but most of them are islets in the middle of rivers/estuaries, volcanic lumps of rock or man made which I don't really view as proper islands.

As for the Stewart Island Parrot, though, you could be on to something here ... Spain could go and discover Stewart Island and bring back a parrot to present to Lord Godolphin as a partner for Esmerelda.   2 talking parrots at Versailles would be able to hold a much more intelligent conversation as to the whereabouts of Blackbeard, and I suspect the parrot postal service would be somewhat more reliable than anything run by Martel.

A Parrot postal service seems a bit like the use by Nippon in scabble of specially trained homing/talking Parrots to send messages - according to Nippon if the Parrot is brought down by a gun shot or a Hawk no written message exists to fall into the wrong hands. Plus if the message is so top secret the agent has to eat it Parrot tastes better than paper.

Think the Stewart Island Parrot would be a very poor option for Parrot Post (or Nippon TWEET service) since it would have to walk everywhere as it can not fly. Also its a rare and endanagered species so if Nippon agents start to eat them its going to be even more rare.

From the newspaper received today: "West Indies: very violent and sudden storms have caused numerous ships to founder and sink this month, with garbled reports claiming traders navies and even pirates have suffered major losses, altough quite how many ships went down is a matter of speculation. We can say that the great storm appears to have wrecked many hundreds."

All I can say is ouch and I am sorry for your loss to those involved in this disaster.

It would seem that a few days of storms have caused more ship losses than years of war.

But No Russians!!!!!!!!! were reported lost & None reported on the turn sheet either. The advantages of not knowing where the West Indies are has paid off.

J Flower wrote:But No Russians!!!!!!!!! were reported lost & None reported on the turn sheet either. The advantages of not knowing where the West Indies are has paid off.

In the interest of a full and complete account it should probably be pointed out that under known losses this month:

4 Russian ships were lost in the Pacific - let be guess they were trying for the West Indies but got lost due to faulty Spanish charts?

20 French in African waters - Looks like the Shah of Persia is recruiting again.

But I agree for all of those who's main interest in G7 is to see who comes top of the Lloyds List of sunk ships the reporting of ships lost in the West Indies leaves a degree of upset and confusion over the new year.

The Spanish Navy in the West Indies is pleased to report no ships lost or damaged by virtue of it mostly being in a new Port and in the safest Hurracane achorage in the Windies. But I am scared to look at the marine insurance section of the Royal Bank of America! Mind you being scared to look at anything to do with the Royal Bank of America is about par for the course.

Darn, so excited not to loose any ships in the Caribbean I didn't notice the 4 lost elsewhere, although to be fair they were Russia Department East rather than directly from the Motherland.

Russian Cavalry Galley is going to be allowed to train as soon as the ice melts, lets see how long it stays afloat.

Looks like the Little lady in Istanbul is a bit of a strict one. Gardeners in the Sublime Porte could be in for a busy few months.

J Flower wrote:Darn, so excited not to loose any ships in the Caribbean I didn't notice the 4 lost elsewhere, although to be fair they were Russia Department East rather than directly from the Motherland.

Russian Cavalry Galley is going to be allowed to train as soon as the ice melts, lets see how long it stays afloat.

Looks like the Little lady in Istanbul is a bit of a strict one. Gardeners in the Sublime Porte could be in for a busy few months.  

Noticed that the Sultan's mother is in the process of picking a bride(s) for him.  If she goes for a Moldavian bride the Sultan and and Czar could end up as in-laws.  Perhaps a nice Russian Cavalry Galley for a wedding gift?

Alternatively a high spirited Moldavian princess might reject the Sultan as too much of a mummies boy and look for refuge with her sister in Holy Mother Russia.

Probably more likely is that an almighty power struggle starts between the Sultan's mother and his wife and he has to spend all his time on campaign as the only safe option!

Look forward to letters from the Sultan to Russia, Spain, Austria etc explaining that while he may have invaded X or Y they have nothing to worry and he just needs to stay out of his own Palace and avoid his mother.  In view of the amount of time Czar Peter spent avoiding his sister in his younger days might even work as an explanation.