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[ ][BOSS] The Old Guard: You have fought in parts of the world most Americans haven't even seen. You unit returned home in the wake of the Collapse, and you've been wandering the country ever since. You fought for the New American Confederation, Cascadia, and the Pacific Republic in turn. Your commanding officer died in California, and you took command. Your unit has been fighting the Victorians ever since, striking from the shadows and desperately keeping their weaponry maintained. You were young when your war started...now you're old. So damn old. But the fight's just kicking up. You're not done yet. You cleared the southern tip of the Lake of Victorian eyes. Time to get ready to strike a stronger blow against the bastards.
[ ][GOV] Form a coalition with the Socialists. Together with them, you will dominate the government.
-[ ][GOV] Cave in on the unions issue. You're a little leery of granting them that much power, but it's not like there's no need for strong unions.

This is my pick.
 
Personal preference is Old Guard. A strong military is useful in all weathers--in peacetime, for constructing infrastructure. In diplomacy, the threat of a strong military and the promise of defense in cases of unification. And obviously in war, against our neighbors if they decide to try something, if we wanna do some annexing, or if Victoria brings the hammer on us.

All political power begins with a gun, after all.
 
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Counter-point: Tamara gives us quite a lot of soft power, even if we do attract Russian attention. She also gives us established, so we won't have to worry about trying to legitimize the government in the first few turns.
 
Alright, so some stuff "from" the discord that I'm not going to properly format due to speed of both threads:

Poptart: Marsden early start is way easier than Resistance Start
Poptart: Turn lengths are half a year.

I think it's possible to do a Marsden start, but we'll have to spec a little bit into counterespionage.
 
America, if it is to be reborn, is going to be reborn in the hearts and minds of its citizens. To me, at least, that means going with the narratively strongest option and the one that ties us most strongly to the old order -- we're, in essence, constructing our founding myth here, and even if it does come with Russian attention, we're not here not to swing for the fences.

In Secretary Marsden, we have a figure with not only the respect needed to build coalitions with other resistance groups, but to govern afterwards. That in itself is a significant advantage, and one that successful resistance movements have historically possessed.
 
American successor state; not the old America, but a new America, emerging from the ashes of the old. Built on the painful lessons of the past - but still aiming for a bright future.
 
Counter-point: Tamara gives us quite a lot of soft power, even if we do attract Russian attention. She also gives us established, so we won't have to worry about trying to legitimize the government in the first few turns.
We can build our legitimacy off from surviving Victorian attacks and maybe making a push to help free FNYC. Its a nice bonus, but not one thats as useful to us as say the military.
 
Yeah, but the Russians. Even if we want to do better than the past, we're still bound to the same international relations reality of realism that the past US was bound to. Soft power is unimportant if we have no hard power to even act as a deterrent, especially given how indefensible Chicago is.
 
We can build our legitimacy off from surviving Victorian attacks and maybe making a push to help free FNYC. Its a nice bonus, but not one thats as useful to us as say the military.

That's fair and I'm not opposed to it. I am kinda interested in exploring something that's not "good military, everything else comes after", though (although narratively, I do like Ron, Tamara, and Sara/Local Hero for different reasons).
 
If we pick Ron, we'll still have enough CP to get most of the really important economics and diplo perks without having to pay out the nose for them.

Established, Rail Companies, Independent Merchants, Libraries, efficient bureaucracy, and Brown Water Navy cost 13cp total and only needing to find 9cp instead of 13 is a godsend. Ron's free perks cover the guns side, while the chosen perks cover the butter side. And let us never forget, that the "butter" side won WWII.
 
It's in the Status Screen.
Ah. Ty

So, good news is that we can probably get the presses in Cleveland and ship them through the Lakes. But that'll probably be a multi-year project, require some cargo ships and a navy.etc

Plus Maryland wasn't taken so the presses might even be there.

(The first 50k short ton press was built in in the 1930s/40s so the Nazis could make Bf109s more efficiently. So they may fit in with the retroculture.)
 
[][GOV] Form a coalition with the Socialists. Together with them, you will dominate the government.
-[][GOV] Cave in on the healthcare issue. You are worried about the state of healthcare, to be honest, you were only worried about the cost.
[][BOSS] The Old Guard: You have fought in parts of the world most Americans haven't even seen. You unit returned home in the wake of the Collapse, and you've been wandering the country ever since. You fought for the New American Confederation, Cascadia, and the Pacific Republic in turn. Your commanding officer died in California, and you took command. Your unit has been fighting the Victorians ever since, striking from the shadows and desperately keeping their weaponry maintained. You were young when your war started...now you're old. So damn old. But the fight's just kicking up. You're not done yet. You cleared the southern tip of the Lake of Victorian eyes. Time to get ready to strike a stronger blow against the bastards.

My theoretical plan if Old Guard wins:
4 Points starting
Independent merchants (-2)
Widespread Vaccinations (-3)
Rail Companies (-2)
Established (-2)
Brown Water Navy (-2)
Revivalist connections (-1)
Population Boom (+2)
Import/Export professionals (+1)
The Greatest Sin (+3)
Crossed Wires (+2)
 
This. This I like. I can't wait for our guys to kick down the gates of the Kremlin, spitting American Venom.

I love the Old Guard and Last Echo options. As a fervent admirer of ol' Lady Columbia, I've always been interested in military and political history and current events, especially in relation to America and how the lessons from both can be used to maintain and improve the Dream. As for Tamara and Ron themselves, I love the impression of righteous rage and, in Tamara's case especially, the lust for vengeance for both personal and national slights. But who can refrain from discussing our very own Sara M. Johnson? Feels like she came right out of a Red Dawn movie. Not a big fan of Springfield Schemer and Old Boss. The former reeks of political opportunism and the latter reminds me of familial nepotism and delusions of dynastic grandeur.

I think forming a NC + S coalition is the way to go, with us feeding the unions to the wolves as the necessary concession to acquire healthcare. First, we can't afford to devolve into partisan bickering. On that note, both of these political factions aren't as extreme as they could've been, retaining a level of moderation that makes bipartisan maneuvering both possible and politically practical. Now, why would this mean I care either way about healthcare or unions?

That brings me to my second point: unions are susceptible to corruption. Back in their heyday, the Mafia subverted construction unions for their own benefit, with a lot of broken legs and extortion of companies on top of that. Further back in the 19th century during the Gilded Age, unions could also be subverted politically, wherein bosses used their position as head of their workers to gain influence and prominence or the parties of the time operating their "political machines" to secure votes by block. With a national healthcare system, someone trying to skim off the top can feasibly paint a target on their head for our administration. The unions acquire an extra layer of protection against our intervention, considering their non-governmental status.

If the dice rolls too low on us and the New Capitalists pull out of the nascent Coalition Government? Well, we don't lose anything, as far as I can tell. We're right back to where we would've been if we had simply stuck it out alongside the Socialists in the first place. More than that, we wash our hands of the political deadlock that, I'm sure, Americans during this time still remember. They must, if they're going through such extremes as going off the beaten road from the Constitution. If the Socialists become offended by the notion of working alongside the NC, we can always give them the unions as an olive branch and to cement their loyalty to the Coalition.

So, in conclusion, I'm up for Ron, Tamara, or Sara as the Boss, with a New Capitalist and Socialist Coalition, utilizing the neutering of unions as the carrot for the NC. The worst that can happen is the NC backing out while we retain a majority alongside the Socialists.

As far as perks go, I'm up for whatever you guys number-crunch, I'm just here for the narrative. Sorry about the length, I got excited. :D
 
Tooling around with local hero start:

Rail Companies (-2)
Brown Water Navy (-2)
Libraries (-2)
Professionals Study Logistics (-3)
Established (-2)
Good Security (-1 CP) - this could get swapped for one of the Old World Arms/Soldiers perks or the Well-Preserved perk or really any of the other 1 pointers.
Population Boom (+2)
Import/Export Professionals (+1 CP)
Disunited Currency (+3 CP)
 
So I know everyone can do this for themselves, but I think an easily seen point comparison is still very helpful.

Sara M. Johnson.
- Total 6 CP.
- No disadvantages. A unique advantage in itself.

Richard D. Daley.
- Restart the Machine (-2 CP)
- Domestic Connections (-1 CP)
- Import/Export Professionals (1 CP)
- Free +5 CP
- Total 7 CP worth with one disadvantage. Restart the Machine is a unique to Chicago advantage.

Audrey F. Jameson.
- Ear to the Ground (-1 CP)
- Good Security (-1 CP)
- Aerial Reconnaissance (-2 CP)
- Hostile Neighborhood (1 CP)
- Free +4 CP
- Total 7 CP worth with one disadvantage. Gives all Intel advantages.

Ron C. Burns.
- Old World Hardware (-1 CP)
- Old World Soldiers (-1 CP)
- Professionals Study Logistics (-3 CP)
- Victorian Attention (2 CP)
- Free +4 CP
- Total 7 CP worth with one rather dangerous disadvantage. Gives ground military advantages.

Tamara C. Marsden.
- Revivalist Connections (-1 CP)
- Good Reputation (-1 CP)
- Independent Merchants (-2 CP)
- Established (-2 CP)
- Russian Attention (3 CP)
- +2 Legitimacy. Priceless?
- Total is 3 CP worth with a very dangerous disadvantage, giving the +2 Legitimacy a price of 3 to 4 CP. Mostly diplomatic advantages.

I'm really against Marsden. Legitimacy isn't exactly worth the price of 4 CP and Russian Attention, and will need to take even more disadvantages just to survive the incoming attack. It's another hard-mode choice.
 
-- we're, in essence, constructing our founding myth here, and even if it does come with Russian attention, we're not here not to swing for the fences.

You already failed to do that when we ended up striking the middle line between legitimacy and a new state.

We either could have gone all in on just "lol 1787 mkII" or dropped the pretense of reviving a dead state and go for something new but we ended up doing neither. So we'd end up sloshing useless around the middle while the Russians come to gut us.
 
[ ][BOSS] The Old Guard

[ ][GOV] Form a coalition with the Socialists. Together with them, you will dominate the government.
-[ ][GOV] Cave to the Socialists on healthcare and the New Capitalists on unions.
 
You already failed to do that when we ended up striking the middle line between legitimacy and a new state.

We either could have gone all in on just "lol 1787 mkII" or dropped the pretense of reviving a dead state and go for something new but we ended up doing neither. So we'd end up sloshing useless around the middle while the Russians come to gut us.
This is just fearmongering, there is no connection between this and that. Political formation has no relevance here since they work equally.
 
Tooling around...

My Priorities (Total 12 CP):
Professionals Study Logistics (3 CP)
Established (2 CP)
Independent Merchants (2 CP)
Efficient Bureaucracy (3 CP)
Libraries (2 CP)

Effective Budgets:
Local Hero starts with 6 CP, so we'd need 6 CP in penalties to get the listed items. On The Table.
The Old Boss starts with 5 CP, so we'd need 7 CP in penalties to get the listed items. Also, starts with a penalty I'd be willing to tolerate factored into the cost, which means not getting to use it to buy what we actually need. Hard Pass.
Springfield Schemer starts with 4 CP, so we'd need 8 CP... it's the same situation as The Old Boss, but more so. Harder Pass.
The Old Guard starts with 4 CP and a 3 CP item from the Priority List, so we'd need 5 CP in penalties to get the remaining listed items. On The Table.
The Last Echo starts with 0 CP, but 4 CP of items from the Priority List, so we'd need 8 CP in penalties to get the remaining items. With the same price tag as Springfield Schemer coupled with Russian Attention... Hard Pass.

So, for anyone who wants Professionals Study Logistics, the best choice mathematically is either Local Hero or The Old Guard, depending on whether or not you're willing to suffer Victorian Attention sooner rather than later.
 
You already failed to do that when we ended up striking the middle line between legitimacy and a new state.

We either could have gone all in on just "lol 1787 mkII" or dropped the pretense of reviving a dead state and go for something new but we ended up doing neither. So we'd end up sloshing useless around the middle while the Russians come to gut us.

Historically, most new states appropriate the narratives of their predecessors while building something institutionally new. The Polish state was dead for two hundred years; didn't stop them from calling their lower house the Sejm. (Alternatively, the Fifth French Republic.)
 
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