Gentlesophonts:
Well, let me continue where I unfortunately left off Sunday. Again, I
apologize for all that wasted bandwidth.
Oh yeah. I stopped by the local games store today (Nan's Comics -*the* place
in Houston) and took a gander at the TNE Rulebook and *Path of Tears* and
(dare I admit it?) I was very tempted to cough up the $43 for the two of
them. Is there a twelve-step program for Traveller junkies?
On Saturday night, Jeff Zeitlin [email removed] wrote:
> Except that there is a lot of xenophobia that has developed, and
> the technological tradition and cultural background wasn't all
> that firmly entrenched on all of the worlds.
Well, yes, but even the `newest' regions of the Imperium had been incorporated
for more than a century which means any New Era xeno- or techno-phobia has
only had a similar amount of time to develop at best. I know the rulebook
might say xeno- and techno-phobia are rampant in places but that doesn't
mean it makes *sense*. Remember, a *lot* of TNE grandparents are going to
remember a *lot* of `good' things about technology and off-worlders.
> T::>> we're looking at the ghettoization of space, with all of
>
> T::>Not necessarily. Had TNE occurred several hundred years after
>
> But classical cultures were the foundation for the Dark Ages
> culture in the first place, and was more homogeneous than the 3I
> was.
This is not my sense of the Third Imperium at all. I always felt that any
grunt soldier from the Old Expanses would have felt just as at home in
a unit in Trojan Reach and a Deneb free trader just as comfortable in the
Solomani Rim. Sure, there was a great variety from planet to planet but
most of Imperial culture (which was the *only* interstellar culture) ended
at the starport extrality except on those high pop and tech worlds that
were the `backbone' of the Imperium. Maybe the Imperium was also `ghetto-
ized'?
Thus, TNE `interstellar' culture (Coalition or anyplace else) will have
its roots in Imperial culture. In effect, most of those `varied' cultures
beyond the extrality fence `gave-up' on the stars *long* before the
Rebellion even. Sure, *some* of these will venture to the stars in TNE but
*most* TNE interstellar culture will have an Imperial (and technological)
heritage.
> TL 10 religious oligarchies and TL15 participating democracies? -
> and think just how different the cultures that support these
> different governments must be.
Yes, but none of these were *interstellar* cultures.
> T::>Jumpstart caches?
>
> Mentioned in Arrival Vengeance.
>
> Also mentioned was Longbow,
Thanks. I've *Arrival Vengeance* myself. I'll have to take a closer look.
> T::>What amazes me is the fact that the Regency isn't already expanding
> ::>into Deneb and Corridor at a furious rate
>
> Also remember that they have to guard
> the entire Vargr border. Expansion into Corridor lengthens that
> border, and it may not be feasible to maintain "adequate" border
> controls.
This Vargr threat has always seemed a `paper tiger' to me since the days of
the Rebellion. As long as the Vargr remain(ed) fragmented and factionalized
they pose(d) no real threat to the Regency(Domain). Sure corsairs are
troublesome but it takes a centralized state to wage war. If I were Regent
(or had been Archduke) I would have worked constantly to keep the Vargr frag-
mented and unstable. This doesn't seem to be too difficult a task since the
Vargr are prone to factionalism. (The US has been doing this quite effectively
in Latin America since the days of the Monroe Doctrine and for much the same
reasons - an unstable neighbor is not much of a threat.)
> T::> But
> ::>since the Virus (except for a few pockets here and there) has
> ::>largely disappeared there is nothing to stop it. And with the
> ::>Regency's industrial base largely intact it should be able to
> ::>expand very rapidly.
>
> Different attitudes, different responses to a situation. There
> are people that did not find it credible that the US had no
> interest in incorporating foreign countries into a US-controlled
> (as opposed to merely dominated) empire. Nevertheless, the US
> never used this model, whereas it was the typical Soviet/Russian
> model. Nobody thought that the Terran upstarts could beat the
> long-established Vilani empire, either. Yet the Rule of Man
> happened anyway.
Yes, but, in both these examples the `unconventional' agents had *interests*
that propelled them in the `unexpected' directions. These examples don't
counter the point that there is no apparent reason why the Regency *shouldn't*
be expanding into the Wilds. Yes, the public might be afraid of the Virus
(but they used to be afraid of the Zhodani too - remember the psi helmet
craze? - but that's changing) and the Vargr `threat' isn't as large as GDW
seems to be intent on painting it. One reason *might* be that the Regency
fears encountering another power that may have survived the Virus and has
a similarly `legitimate' claim to the Old Imperium. Any number of the
Rebellion Factions might have survived the Virus (as far as the Regency knows)
and might therefore challenge the legitimacy of the `Regency'. The longer
the Regency remains isolated the less likely the populace is going to throw
out the Regent when the `True, Legitimate Heir' to Strephon shows up -
reardless of how legitimate that `heir' might seem. This threat to its
legitimacy seems to me to be the *greatest* threat faced by the Regency.
If a `decent, noble' daughter of Lucan were to emerge from behind the Black
Curtain at the head of a `Renaissance Fleet' it would pose a much greater
threat to the Regency leadership than any Viral or Vargr adversary. Fearing
just this sort of event the Regency leadership may very well be *encouraging*
these fears of the Virus and the Vargr (and Zhodani, and *ihaeti* . . . .)
> One comment. The United States was beaten in Viet Nam by what was
> essentially a guerilla army of "regular irregulars."
Well, this is a chance to really spark some flames but let me respond in
this fashion. The US wasn't `beaten' by the North Vietnamese (there are
no Viet Cong military governors in San Francisco). What happened was that
the North Vietnamese were able to convince the US that its goals - namely
the survival of its client state in the South - were not worth the cost of
maintaining it - either in terms continued American casualties or through
escalation to nuclear weapons, neither of which would have been supported
at home.
The Gulid might use similar tactics to counter the Coalition *or* the Regency
in the *Guild's* area of operations but the Guild could never use such tactics
*offensively*.
Again some really good stuff - especially the continued expansion to the
Regency. Once more I apologize for my erroneous post of the first part of
this piece.
Peace,
David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA