Middle Provincial Era GROGPUBLIC game thread

[malize]

??

[JasonPratt]

Status: the Contract still, I think, lacks one more player signing onto it, to secure a majority vote comittment, and thus start processing.

I say "I think" because I intended to check on that yesterday and got distracted by trundling around an expy of Jurassic Park as a potato with legs. 

Since Erax's faction controls few votes (still) compared to other players (even I.I. after being nuked), I feel pretty confident that even Malize plus the Frog haven't put his contract over into a majority yet. Whereas with Malize on board, one more player should do it.

Unless I missed someone else signing onto the Contract earlier...  ???

[Erax]

Aztank, I.I., Tripoli? Yes or no?

[JasonPratt]

Slight updates:

1.) Discussions are happening in the backfield, invisible to the public. So the game hasn't stalled out (yet ;) ).

2.) In reply to an occasional question, yes I'm planning to do a video AAR, and I have started the first steps in its production. I don't have a schedule yet but roughly speaking I expect to act on this sooner instead of later, long before the game ends.

3.) In case I forgot to report it upthread -- because I think I did forget to report it! -- the other three Players who haven't signed onto the Contract yet, would potentially represent a -1 majority against any Proposal vote in the Contract if they agreed together against any particular point(s).

[ArizonaTank]

No

[Erax]

While we're waiting for all this backroom stuff to resolve, can I get  a rundown on provincial forces?

I've got:

Gallia Cisalpina - 4 Militia / 10, No fleets allowed.
Sardinia et Corsica - 0 Militia / (too small), 1 Fleet / (too small).
Sicilia - 2 Militia / 10, 1 Fleet / (too small).

Both Hispanias: 0 Militia / 5, No fleets allowed.

JP can you correct / fill in the blanks?

[Erax]

One more note: per the proposal before this one, which everyone voted in favor of, Aemilius of the Conservatives will be nominated censor and will not prosecute anyone who votes in favor (which was everyone), so that's going to happen whether this current proposal passes or not.

[JasonPratt]

I'll check the Provincials in an hour or two, after I get home.

Since everyone did sign on to the prior Contract, which included that provision, then yep whomever ends up as Presiding Magistrate this Turn must Propose Aemilius as Censor and everyone must vote in favor of that. So that will get resolved automatically regardless (and then he'll immediately pass the PM post back to whomever was PM, since by Contract he can't prosecute anyone who signed the contract to vote for him -- which was everyone).

[JasonPratt]

While we're waiting for all this backroom stuff to resolve, can I get  a rundown on provincial forces?

Okay, repeating the same order you used; altered figures in bold. (You know who's Governing what, and which one is currently Developed, but I'm adding those for other people's ease of reference.)

(Developed) Gallia Cisalpina - 4 Militia / 10; No fleets allowed. Currently Governed by the independent Senator Sulpicius, two terms remaining.

(Undeveloped) Sardinia et Corsica - 0 Militia / max 0!; 1 Fleet / max 3. Currently Governed by Acilius of the Plutocrats. two terms remaining.

(Undeveloped) Sicilia - 2 Militia / max 10; 1 Fleet / max 5. Currently Governed by Terentius of the Conservatives, two terms remaining.

(Undeveloped) Both Hispanias: 0 Militia / max 5; No fleets allowed. Currently Ungoverned. Both are under attack -- or more specifically under Revolt -- by the 1st Lusitanian War.

[IncompetentIdiot]

I think I'll be voting against the proposal as tabled.

[Tripoli]

I'm voting against the proposal

[JasonPratt]

Okay, strictly speaking this isn't a vote per se, but a declaration that they shall not join the Contract.

Now: the three Players who joined the Contract can still kick it off! -- and I'll process it. It'll get as far as Claudius being appointed the new Dictator, and Claudius appointing some senator to be his Magister (unless someone succeeds at another assassination attempt ;) ), because those are not votes.

But if at any point these three Players (AzTank, II, and Tripoli) join together to vote against some subsequent Proposal made by the Dictator -- who will be Contracted to make certain Proposals going along -- they'll have a -1 majority against the Proposal and that'll be the end of the Contract. Whereas, on the other hand, the margin for a majority in favor is so narrow that if any one of them agrees to vote for any particular Contracted Proposal, that Proposal will pass and the Contract will march along to the next Proposal on the list. (Nor can those Proposals be vetoed, since they'd all be made by Dictator Claudius.)

It is technically possible that the whole Contract could still work on out to completion! If Erax wants to try, his senator (as the Roman Consul and thus currently the Presiding Magistrate) can try kicking it off and see how far it gets until when-if-ever the majority block team up to shut it down.

Or he can rescind the Contract in its current form and try to work out a better deal politically.  O:-)

(To be fair to Erax, we had had a few weeks of spotty activity before during and after Easter, so he was just trying to work out an agreement with whomever was passing by and checking in.  O0 )

[Erax]

I'm rescinding the current contract. I'd like to propose a similar deal with the same Dictator and war setup as the previous one, but we can discuss how to distribute MoH, Land Commissioner, Tax Farming and the two Provinces.  The three of you who voted against can message me or post here regarding what disposition would be acceptable for you to change your vote.

[Tripoli]

One question: Do we even need a dictator?  When we did so in earlier turns, we needed the military boost, as Rome was under the very real threat of being defeated.  I do not believe that military situation currently exists.  As such, should that much power be given to one individual, absent a pressing need?

[JasonPratt]

There's an existential threat to Rome even in these relatively dinky wars, simply because if nothing is done about them then next turn you're looking at four active wars -- which if you don't trim down then everyone loses at the end of next Turn's Combat Phase.

Moreover, more wars could show up during the next Forum Phase, and then you'd have more than four wars to deal with.

Also, the immanent war is going to buff the 1st Illyrian War next Turn if both are still around.

The Lusitanian War is about to absorb both Hispanic Provinces, which will buff its strength next Turn.

Those are the current facts on the table. If you don't Deploy a 3rd force (under a Dictator/MoH team), you should be able to wipe two of those wars -- it might even be easier since you'd be dividing your forces among fewer threats. The risk assessment is whether knocking out two wars is safe enough under the circumstances, compared to (somewhat less chance of) knocking out three wars.