The Alternate Earth

In setting out to run a new campaign, rebuilding my wargames table, troops and resources, I wanted to provide a setting that had flexibility for changes in history and freedom of choices for the players.   I am not a great fan of recreating existing battles and scenarios based on real historical circumstances although I have fought many of both.

Being a student of history, I wanted a justifiable background even if you had to stretch the imagination a little.  There are many key moments in history where the future direction hangs in the balance. I believe that with a few nudges, something like the alternate earth that I present might have been possible.

The players received the following brief;

Background to Twilight’s Long Shadows Campaign

“It’s Earth, Jim, but not as you know it”

Introduction

The campaign is set in our world but one with an alternative history.  Certain key elements have been changed to leave a very different political situation from reality. 

For example, the U.S. Civil War was fought to a halt at Gettysburg and in following encounters (support for the Confederate States coming from France and perhaps elsewhere to balance the strength of the Union) with the result that a line was drawn roughly along the 35^th degree latitude between the Union States of America and the Confederate States of America. A second US Civil War broke out in 1916, lasting eleven long years which was damaging economically as well as in people terms, to both sides. Consequently, they agreed a settlement under which there is one United States of America with a single president and senate but both Union and Confederacy maintain their own standing army and air force, sharing a navy. All states have a larger devolved responsibility in day to day governance and a governor can veto central bills of law (although the process then becomes very complex.) The uneasy relationship between North and South continues although slavery has officially been abolished. There is no doubt in this USA, that black and other ethnic groups are distinctly second class citizens. Meanwhile,  Mexico, backed by Habsburg and French in turn own Texas, most of modern day New Mexico, half of Arizona and Southern California as well as nearly all of Central America. Mexico is rich and has had a much more stable history than its northern neighbours.

 With no first world war because of slight changes in the time line, Lenin and his revolution was suppressed by Imperial Romanov Russia thanks largely to British support.  The Habsburg Empire remains intact, led by Prussia and with Russia, is sometimes an ally, sometimes rival to the British Empire and Commonwealth.   The Fifth Republic of France was the most left wing state, having seen two restorations of its monarchy before with the help of Garibaldi (exiled from Italy where the revolution was put down by the papacy) and Jacobite forces, it finally threw off any royalist recovery. Today, after a right wing reaction, it is led by its President and council, chief of whom is its hugely influential military commander, Charles De Gaulle.

The power of the East India Company converted to the East India Alliance and finally, the Federation of East Indies and PacRim.  The trade based Federation hold much of the land in the east, with their main bases in Malaysia and Indonesia but with worldwide interests including becoming successors to much of the collapsed Portugese Empire so that they now control Brazil, Phillipines, Bangladesh (East India) and other provinces. The Royal Dutch house is ally and part ruler of the EIF.   

Their rivals in the east are usually too busy fighting one another to make progress but nobody ought to under-rate Imperial China or Imperial Japan.  The Communists nearly overthrew the empire of China but the East India Alliance, Britain and the Union of America weighed in to crush the rebellion.  Chang-Kai-Shek leads the rebuilt Communist China and is gradually gaining ground.  Imperial China holds Mongolia and other territory but recently lost Formosa to Japan. Japan holds a number of Pacific islands and South Korea.  Relatively recently, it failed to seize Alaska from French Canada. Seeking oil and natural resources, Imperial Japan is on the move. Formosa fell in 1940. Since then, it has been building its strength and in 1941, took the Solomon Islands from the USA with no reprisals other than increased US support for China.

The British Empire is huge and many faceted but they also have a Commonwealth of allied states who have independence on a day to day basis.  These include Australia and New Zealand and British Canada.  French Canada remains a French province.  South Africa and India were granted full independence, the latter remaining allied with the British. Britain controls most of Argentina, many islands, Gibraltar, much of Africa and other interests worldwide. Britain is struggling to keep its diverse empire together and is not ready to defend it in every corner.

Another worldwide player is the Divine Papal State or Vatican Empire as some call it. The pope is generally chosen from aggressive military minded churchmen and is actively involved in planning their campaigns. This has been the Vatican policy for centuries, now. The papacy and its allies, The Templar Dependencies, Jesuit Mission and Catholic Balkan Republic hold vast swathes of land including parts of Africa, the Middle East, Italy, Portugal, Malta, Cyprus and Venezuela. The Catholic Balkan Republic combines parts of Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Hungary.Catholic Spain has served the Papacy since it was lost by the Hapsburgs.

France holds lands in all areas but in particular French Canada, Uruguay and some of what is southern Brazil, backs Paraguay in wars with Bolivia (Bolivia is funded by the Habsburgs whose Habsburg South America comprises Chile, Peru and Ecuador.) France also holds Belgium, Monaco, part of Switzerland and has land in the Middle East.

The last giant is the Ottoman Empire. Still staggering under the weight of its poor economy and difficult political divisions, it nevertheless holds from Turkmenistan in the east with lands encompassing Armenia and Turkey, the majority of the Middle East including Yemen (although not British held Oman and Aden) and North Africa from Egypt through to Morocco remains part of the Ottoman dependency.

There are many independents but the notable ones are Sweden which interferes in Norway constantly. Since the fall of Denmark to the Habsburgs, Sweden also claims the Faeroes, Iceland and Greenland.  Finland is her independent ally.  The Teutonic Republic of Lithuania plays all sides and is allied with the Republic of Poland and also Sweden.   The Zion State of the Israelites which claims land in the middle-east but is largely based in modern day Georgia has financial backing from Jews worldwide. It is also friendly with the French Republic, Union States of America and to a lesser extent, Britain.

The Union States of America also hold Panama and Colombia after a successful campaign against the Papacy ten years ago.  This territory is not shared with its Confederate partner.

South Africa has swallowed most of Rhodesia but has been warned off by Britain in some attempts to expand further as well as getting short shrift when it looked towards South America.  India has taken Nepal and Ceylon, modern day Pakistan and some of Afghanistan. 

With the Ottoman Empire losing its grip on what remains of its lands, an aggressive French policy and Japanese expansion, there are many flashpoints from which war could spread.

Welcome to the Wargame Campaign “Twilight’s Long Shadows” so named reflecting the fading and probable collapse of the old order.

It is now 1942.