Well, I have been quite busy. "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite" has been wound up, and I have been establishing "War to End All Wars". It's a computerized attempt to deal with World War I, but the players in each country and alliance have the task of co-operating so that their country/alliance operates efficiently. Lots of vacancies.
Carl Carlsson (Sweden) writes me concerning his campaign Italia: The game is still running with a turnaround slightly more than monthly, and every move is still one season. The current turn is the autumn of 1703. When last I wrote, Mantua was in mid-rebellion and a war between Venice, Mantua and Tuscany on one side and the Papal States on the other, with the papacy losing Bologna and Ferrara to Venice. Now the rebellion is at last over in Mantua, after Tuscan intervention on the Duke's side. Genoa has put its cardinal on the papal throne and concluded alliances with Parma and Luccha, so far ensuring peace and prosperity. Parma is another haven of peace, with the Duke marrying into the family of the Doge of Genoa.
Meanwhile, Milan has declared its independence from Spain and thrown out a French garrison. Its ally Savoy has declared war on France and its prince is himself leading an army of invasion in Provence. His raids on Turkish shipping have nearly brought him into another war. The great powers of Europe are currently deciding who is to sit on the Spanish throne and most of the Italian states have tried to remain neutral. Savoy and Milan are the exceptions on the allied side, while Mantua is decidedly on the French side and was only saved from invasion by the Tuscans.
On the trade front, Savoy's trade has suffered from its war with France. Genoa has from the start been one trick ahead of the other Italians, which with its armed neutrality has made it very prosperous. In second place is Tuscany, which is adept at trading and is also reforming its internal administration. Venice has not been able to keep its rightful place, but has relied on economic strength alone. Sitting on the better part of the Po valley, its position is not bad.
Militarily, the recent wars have improved the reputation of militias generally, and of the Tuscan cavalry. The Piedmontese have been busy reforming their army, and the general impression is that although no revolutionary tactics have been introduced, their army quality has improved so that they are able to stand up to the French one to one, which probably not all armies could boast of. At sea, the Savoyards' small navy has been aggressively attacking Turkish and French shipping. The inland nation of Mantua maintains a navy to patrol its part of the Po and to protect its trade. The other navies have made no significant operations.
Some of the players have seen the advantages of active diplomacy and at least one is trying for a more active interplayer correspondence - which I am all for, as that is the best way to increase the value of the game, without giving me more work. I am recruiting players for (in declining order of strength and significance): the Papacy, Modena and Luccha. Steve Foster, who plays Genoa, has final say who gets the Papacy as long as it is his cardinal who is Pope.
The elements in the game are trade, politics and strategy. Most of what happens in the game is caused by Actions or Administrative Measures. The simple rule is that the player has an in-game persona who is entitled to one Action per move. If he wants to do more, he must acquire NPCs (who are entitled to one Action per move) or organize government bureaus (One Action per move). Actions may get positive modifiers when I adjudicate. For less important tasks and players who run out of Actions, the fallback is the Administrative Measure - an action described in one sentence and not entitled to any positive modifier.
The currency of the game is the monetary unit, lira - to buy buildings and military units and lots of other things - and the political point which is used to buy NPCs. Liras are earned by taxing exports (my way of enforcing mercantile trade patterns rather than late 20th century liberal ones - and it works), or by internal taxation. Political points are earned with a maximum of two per year. One is earned by chance or by certain cultural measures, such as keeping a poet or sponsoring art. The other is earned by social interaction - such as players in game character attending festivities or hunts. The rationale is that players who keep in touch with their game-nation have a better chance of finding local talents and semi-talents.
At present, three of the players are Swedish, two American, one English and one English/cosmopolitan. The game is moderated in something reminiscent of English, so anyone with a decent command of English, or a reasonable approximation thereof, is very welcome to join.
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