OOC: Rules & ScheduleOOC: It looks as though the Rutanian Civil War RP is set to pass and be a fairly even fight, especially with the Rutania Party holding back at the moment. Once the vote passes (or even as soon as everyone votes), here is what I think should happen in sequential order:
1. The Whigs (as the hard Royalists) make the opening move by executing the assassin on the last evening of their government and attempting a coup in whatever way they would like to do it. Try to seize the Capitol, execute politicians, uprising in another state, etc. - it's all open so long as it doesn't go beyond some sort of opening violence and coup attempt. In order to make it fair and reflect the difficulty of seizing a Capitol, if the Whigs choose to make their opening move by going that route and trying to lock down the Capitol, we will plug it in at 50:50 odds Royalists vs. Republicans and the randomized winner of 2 out of 3 times will remain in control. If they choose to start their coup from any other location, it automatically succeeds in that area and they gain control of that region.
Note: I am still working on the excel speadsheet to calculate the odds for each battle, but be aware that the attitude of the local population will play somewhat of a role - not a huge one, but it will be in the calculations. Keep that in mind when making your moves, especially the opening ones, since it would naturally make life easier operating from a region with a large difference between your support and the enemy's.
Another Note: To reflect the volatile neutrality of the Rutania Party and the mobilization of their militias in Delvar and the Capitol, I think that it's fair that they are given the right to intervene in any activity in those regions with an automatic skew of the odds by 10 toward the side they assist. So, if they joined one side, the odds might move from 50:50 to 60:40. This is good ONLY in Delvar and the Capitol, and ONLY for one time.
2. The Republican Coalition responds. If the Whigs seized the Capitol, they are given the chance to reclaim it at 60:40 odds against them (reflecting the fact that the Whigs won, but still haven't consolidated things yet). Alternatively, they can take the opportunity to automatically establish themselves in another city.
3. At this point, assuming both chose to contest the Capitol, whoever IS NOT in control of it selects a city ONLY in their strongest available region. That would be somewhere in Ardinia for the Royalists and Kragusrov for the Republicans (due to the fact that the Capitol is in Khodor, it is not an option).
4. By now, all other parties should have made RP statements supporting, joining, etc. and the Civil War will be official.
4b. At any time from this point forward, foreign intervention may occur, with an added modifier based upon the level of support, just like a regular party.
4c. Assuming that nothing crazy happens, control of the regions will fall (based upon the election results) as follows:
Royalists: Ardinia, Bozarland
Republicans: Kragusrov, Delvar
Contested: Khodor. Due to its complicated nature, it will be considered contested until one coalition controls both the Capitol and the region (two separate battles).
5. Whichever coalition is not in control of the Capitol will work together and establish and announce their "campaign goals" and six battles to accomplish them. In lieu of an offensive action, it is also possible to use battle slots to "reinforce a region," which has the same defensive modifier (+10) to any battle in that region. These slots can also be used for evil - if roleplayed correctly, taking the time to conduct war crimes against a local population could get rid of pesky local battle modifiers, but also have serious international consequences. It is by winning at least 4 offensive actions, in at least 2 different regions (and no more than 2 in any single region), that you can claim victory for that round, assuming the other coalition doesn't also reach 4. This prevents a coalition from loading up all 6 attacks on the enemy's weakest region and claiming victory. The winner should also try to control the Capitol or have some overwhelming offensive victory/roleplaying reason for declaring victory.
NOTE: It would also be possible to simply wipe out the enemy. Take all the regions they control and their seat of power and it's over.
Movement: May only be from a state you control to a directly adjacent one or by sea/river if credibly roleplayed.
Control of Regions: Win two contested battles or one uncontested battle in the region in a round to control it. Plan how many battle slots you use on that region accordingly; it might take three on one round just to win two.
6. The other coalition will respond the same way, choosing to either defend regions or ignore the other's movement.
NOTE: Each battle will be "fought," but at different odds depending on whether they are contested or not. Not contesting decreases your odds by 10, while contesting them increases by 10 on top of the calculation derived from excel. The trick is that winning a defensive battle doesn't contribute to your goal count. So, if you win 4 battles, but 1 is defensive, you can't claim victory. This forces tactical analysis and prevents a totally defensive war.
7. The results are given.
8. A coalition declares victory, ceasefire negotiations begin, or the war continues. If the war continues, we return to #5, except the other coalition goes first.
Misc:
At any point through all of this, any credible roleplay events are welcome! Whether it be the Rutania Party intervening, suicide bombings, as long as it makes sense and seems credible, it should be fair game!
The calculation modifiers should be done by tomorrow evening and released, so you can get a better idea of what factors into what. Basically, though, most battles should rarely ever have steeper odds than 70:30 on a very bad day. Just use common sense about where the enemy is strongest and plan accordingly.
MAP: