Turn 1 1899
You gladly accept the job your Grandfather offers. Congratulations, you are now CEO of Tactical Investments, a member of the SPECTRE organization. You now have a larger set of responsibilities with a large potential payoff.
Next morning things are not looking that great.
Your gathered advisors paint a sorry picture of your lands.
Colonel Benjamin Marcelles tells you of your tiny, underfunded, archaic army. He begs for expansion and modernization.
The rotund Romaine Caroline, in between stuffing her face, tells you of a world mostly unaware of your nations existence. Since your mother's death she has been your father's suspected mistress.
Cesar Gerold, a former manager at T.I. now your stewardship advisor paints a picture of an infrastructure far behind the times, needing vast amounts of time and effort. At least your farmland is doing great.
You have no spiritual advisor and your father's spymaster has not been seen since the hunting accident.
As for your head researcher, your other advisors point to the slightly uncontrolled fire and growing cloud of smoke in the distance. Ah.
Military
Colonel Benjamin Marcelles sits you down to discuss the poor state of your army.
It is tiny, their equipment is shoddy and morale is at an all time low. And for gods sakes why are you are still using pikemen?
Choose 2
2. Why are we still using pikemen? Seriously, you are still using pointy sticks while everyone else has guns? Why?
Reward: no more pikemen, all pikemen trained into other areas of your army.
Cost $50,000 Time 1 Year Chance of Success 70%
Needed 30/100. Score 37/100 Success
There's some minor grumbling and much retraining but by the end of the year, your outdated pikemen are retrained and integrated into the rest of your army.
-100 Pikemen +10 Artillerists, +10 Light Cavalry, +80 Riflemen.
3. These guns are shit. Your Riflemen carry decades old rifles from all kinds of manufacturers. You swear you even saw a musket. It's time to modernize and standardize with the latest in mankilling technology.
Cost $200,000 Time 1 Year Chance of Success 80% Reward: Bonus range, accuracy, of Riflemen. (+5% combat Rolls)
Needed 20/100. Score 7/100 Fail
The Train carrying your Firearms shipment is held up before it reaches your borders. A Criminal gang decided to reenact the wild west and made off with all the valuable cargo, including your guns.
-Well funded, well armed criminal gang in the Alsace-Lorraine Region of Germany.
Diplomacy
Romaine Caroline, your fathers diplomacy advisor and suspected mistress shows all the fine work her department has done. Which is barely any at all. Most countries don't even know you exist. You suspect she had done most of her work on her back. You don't even know what your father saw in her, she's becoming fatter every day.
-1 Diplomacy Slot
Choose 1
1. Get this department into shape!: I don't care who you have to hire, fire or sleep with. I want a functioning Diplomatic Corps.
Reward +1 Diplomacy Slot
Cost 300,000 Time 1 Year Chance of Success 50%
Needed 50/100. Score 79/100 Success
Maybe it was the yelling , maybe it was the threat of being fired, maybe it was the maniacal gleam in your eyes. The Diplomatic Department whips their butts into shape. Literally in Romaine Caroline's case, as she rapidly loses weight. Now she is a busty vivacious woman, you can now see what your father saw in her.
+1 Diplomacy Slot.
Stewardship
Cesar Gerold is a former manager in your Grandfathers company, now he's in semi-retirement helping run a country.
CEO -1 slot
Choose 1
4. Roads & Bridges: Much of your infrastructure is old and crumbling. It's time to rebuild it, stronger, faster, able to withstand greater loads.
Cost 90,000 Time 1 Years Chance of Success 90% Reward +$50,000 internal trade, modern roads and bridges.
Needed 10/100. Score 87/100 Great Success
Your roads are widened and paved, your bridges reinforced or rebuilt. You finish your work ahead of time and so under budget that you give bonuses to all the works for their good work. There is much rejoicing. +$20,000 saved, +proletariat opinion.
Learning
Marching towards the smoking ruins of a house just outside the city, you search for your Head Researcher. Alexander Maximiliane is supposed to be a hulk of a man. Red Hair, massive beard and a mind with more than a touch of madness.
Through the smoke and steam a shapely figure of a beautiful woman appears. Goggles atop her head, leather pants hugging her fine posterior, soaked blouse almost see through. She is attempting to lift a massive pile of wreckage off the still form of Alexander Maximiliane. You quickly lend a hand and drag him to the clinic. She introduces herself as Silvia Maximiliane, daughter of Alexander and temporary head researcher while her father recovers.
Choose 2
2. Some kind of horseless wagon: These bizarre machines, running on steam, oil, electricity or who knows what else are hitting the world like a storm. Clearly they are the way of the future and you want to be there.
Cost 400,000 Time 3 Years Chance of Success 80% Reward: Automobiles
Needed 20/100. Score 87/100 Great Success
The first thing you do is look at the engine, it is horribly inefficient. A year of tinkering and you have managed to double its output. Next thing you know representatives from Ford, Audi, Renault, Benz and many more are clamoring at your door. They want whatever you got and are willing to pay for it and share their own inventions.
(Black Gold Bonus) +$100,000 per year in engine patents, -1 year in figuring out automoobiles.
3. Bottled Lightning: Edison, Tesla and others are performing miracles with this electricity thing. You want in.
Cost 300,000 Time 2 Years Chance of Success 80% Reward: Electricity
Needed 20/100. Score 21/100 Bare Success
You followed the footsteps of the giants in the world of electricity. Perhaps too closely, as Edison's company has launched a lawsuit at you, claiming copyright violations and stymying your efforts. DC power transmission is not available to you for now. You get around this by using Tesla's AC power instead, which he is letting you use because he hates Edisons guts.
Piety
Your family was never particularly Pious, you are Pious enough but have not officially declared your religion one way or the other.
Choose 1
2. Alms for the Poor: Some people are down on their luck and just need a little pick me up. Others are stuck in their situation. Maybe you can set up some kind of social welfare to help them out.
Cost 50,000 per year upkeep. Time 1 year. Chance of Success 90% Reward. Less homeless cluttering your streets, +proletariat opinion.
Needed 10/100. Score 31/100 Success
Welfare, what an interesting concept. The poor and downtrodden are very happy that their liege lord is looking out for them. +proletariat opinion
Intrigue
Gottlob Sorren, your Father's Spymaster is strangely absent. In fact, no one has seen him since your father's untimely death. Your corporate espionage liaison, Miss Ruby Swallowes is temporarily pulling double duty.
CEO -1 Intrigue Slot.
Choose 1
1. "Hunting accident": What really happened, you want to know. This will become more difficult as time passes.
Cost 200,000+200,000 DoubleDown Time 1 Year Chance of Success 60% Reward: the Truth
Needed 40/100. Score 71+20 double down=91/100 Great Success
Special-Event
CEO Action
It's your first day on the job. There is only a tiny branch office of Tactical Investments in Lucrestein, meaning you have to do much of your work by phone. It is very inconvenient.
A Miss Ruby Swallowes is acting as your corporate liaison. Her specialty is apparently corporate espionage. Looking at her brilliant auburn hair, smokey voice, plunging neckline and lithe figure, you can definitely see how corporate secrets could just fall into her lap.
Choose 1
1. Show me the other books: Every company keeps one set of books for others to see, and one set for themselves, as CEO, you really want to find this second set.
Cost 50,000 Time 1 Year Chance of Success 50% Reward: Find the second set of accounting books.
Needed 50/100. Score 43/100 Fail
Books? What books?
Personal
CEO -2 Slots
Choose 1
3. Personal Secretary: It's hard to find the right someone who just fits into your life and makes everything better. Well, you want to find that special someone. Then you'll finally have more free time.
Cost $200,000 Time 1 Years Chance of Success 50% Reward Personal Secretary +1 Personal Action
Needed 50/100. Score 97/100 Great Success
After trying out a few duds Ruby Swallowes recommends her sorority sister Amber Honeytip. Amber is loyal, beautiful hard worker and can kill a man with a pencil.
+1 Personal Action, +Personal Protection bonus
Population 40,000+1%=40,400
Population option of you
bourgeoisie (1/10) He's not even a real monarch.
proletariat (4/10) This new lord seems much better than our last one.
International option of you
Duke of what? is that a real country?
Religion
Catholics 40%
Protestants 20%
Orthodox 10%
Jews 10%
Islam 2%
Non-religious 10%
??? 8%
State Troops: the county's professional troops, paid by you, although not that well. 100 men retinues cost $100,000 to raise and replace (200,000 for artillerists). However, state troops have an upkeep cost at $50,000 per hundred men.
State Troop Morale: Low.
State Troop Numbers: 300
State Troop Organization:
20 Royal Guard (extreme attack, great defense, great mobility and morale)
60 Light Cavalry (decent attack, poor defense, extreme mobility)
180 Riflemen (decent mobility, excellent accuracy, poor melee)
40 Artillerists (from cannon swabbers to master engineers, they crew your states artillery, averaging ten men per gun, extreme attack, terrible defense, horrible mobility).
Economy
Tactical Investments
Income
Arms Trade: 500,000
Shipping: 200,000
Rare Animals Trade: 500,000
Medicine Trade: 300,000
Mines: 500,000
Expenses
Choices: 50,000
Upkeep: 300,000
R&D: 500,000
Special Projects: 200,000
Net Profit 950,000
CEO Pay 100,000
Corporate Dividends: 95,000
Patents: $100,000
Farm Surplus $200,000
Income Taxes $400,000
Internal Trade $50,000
Trade with France $50,000
Trade with Germany $50,000
Trade with Luxemburg $50,000
Choices: $1,920,000
Palace Upkeep $100,000
Infrastructure upkeep. $200,000
Alms for the Poor: $50,000
Military Upkeep $150,000
Beginning of year Treasury: $5,000,000
Net: -$1,325,000
End of year Treasury: $3,675,000
World news
-The race for Africa continues, great European powers continue to carve up the continent for their empires.
-The Peace Treaty signed between the United States of America and the Spanish Empire is ratified by the United States Senate. The Spanish-American War is officially over, and with it, the decline of the Spanish Empire and rise of the American Empire is signed and sealed.
-The Philippine-American War begins
-The February Manifesto is issued by the Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia. It subjugates the Finnish Diet to Imperial Legislation and denies their veto powers.
-The Netherlands hosts the Hague Peace Conference. A series of wartime conventions and dispute settlements is ratified by most major powers, with the USA abstaining from many.
-The British Antarctic Expedition discovers an island, they name it Duke of York Island.
-The Second Boer War in South Africa begins.
-A large standing Stone at Stonehenge falls over.
