The Ashes of Rome (Map Game)

The year is 500 C.E., and the mighty Roman Empire has finally crumbled. Lying in its wake is its legacy state, the Byzantine Empire, occupying The Balkan Peninsula, Anatolia and Northeast Africa. It remains the most powerful European state, though its barbarian neighbors continue to threaten its prosperity. To the East is the mighty Sassanian Empire, centered in Persia, although its forces seem to be steadily encroaching on southeastern Europe.

In the former Western Roman Empire, several Gothic Kingdoms have formed and continue to grow in size and power. The Visigoths are situated mostly in Hispania, the Ostrogoths in Italy, the Franks and the Burgundians in Gaul, the Gepids in Dacia, and the Vandals in Northern Africa. Additionally, the Celtic people, long divided and hostile, have formed the Celtic League, modeled after the long-dead Roman Republic.

In addition to the centralized Kingdoms, Tribal groups of Germanic people are beginning to gain strength, though they are not quite yet unified. These groups include the Suebi, the Anglo-Saxons, the Jutes, the Danes, the Alemanni, the Lombards, and the Saxons. To the Northeast lie the Baltic and Slavic nomads, far from unification, and still living in territory untouched by any true nation states. In this tumultuous time, change is inevitable, but yet to be known is who will be lost to the sands of time, and who will emerge triumphant and mighty. (The chief difference in this ATL is that, as opposed to the OTL in which the Gothic kingdoms quickly fell, they have been effectively run, and are now actual, unified nations. They still suffer from countless internal problems, but less so.)

'''The game has officially begun. New players can still sign up.'''

Rules:

 * 1) New turns will begin every day at 22:00 UTC. I will begin each turn in bold, sometimes including pertinent details from the previous term.
 * 2) Each turn signifies five years. This will most likely change as the game approaches the current year.
 * 3) The map will be updated every five turns (25 years)
 * 4) Inactivity for over ten terms will cause your name to be removed from the nation you are playing. You may return whenever, however, you do not get priority, and if your country is taken, it’s taken.
 * 5) You may join the game whenever by putting your name on the nations list. You are allowed to join the turn immediately after signing up.
 * 6) Keep all actions plausible. Repeated infractions will cause you to be kicked from your nation, and possibly banned, depending on severity.
 * 7) Remember, your actions have consequences, invading territories, whether they were previously inhabited or not, will cause unrest. Keep in mind that when you invade another territory, its people will not immediately be converted to your language, culture, and religion.
 * 8) Be as specific as possible, especially when describing the invasion of another territory. If you are not specific as to location, the mapmaker will most likely not understand exactly what you intend to do.
 * 9) Meta gaming is strictly prohibited, and several offenses will result in a permanent ban.
 * 10) Keep the game and the talk page kind and mature. No major arguments, OOC.
 * 11) Do not edit the map unless you are a mapmaker. If you see any issues with the map, write about it on the talk page.
 * 12) You may randomly switch nations only once, after which you must wait until your nation is defeated to switch.
 * 13) New nations will be added periodically to both the map and the nations list, whether by historical emergence, or by secession. You, of course, may sign up for these whenever they become available.
 * 14) You are encouraged to make pages within this category for nations, coalitions, treaties, or whatever else you believe merits a separate page.
 * 15) In each turn, in addition to whatever actions you choose to perform, you may do one of the following:


 * Improve military.


 * Improve economy.


 * Improve infrastructure.


 * Declare war or seek peace with another nation.


 * Expand the nation into unsettled land. (It is imperative that you are plausible with this).

The Map

 * I’m a decent mapmaker, though I’m certainly not the best. If anyone would like to be the full-time mapmaker, please apply on the Talk page, and be sure to provide me with some examples of your work.
 * The map will, of course, be changed as more of the world becomes explored.

Nations (Signup)
- Erizium (talk)

- Awesome history 28 (talk) 18:20, July 26, 2015 (UTC)

- Lord Afunnymouth The Visigrunge

- Tao64

- Spar

-

- Agent of Doom

- Wrto12

-

- --Sithlent (talk) 18:30, August 1, 2015 (UTC)

-

- Boone5Jones

-

- Shagga, Son of Dolf

-

-

- CheesyCheese (talk) 19:28, August 2, 2015 (UTC)

- –Alexander 17:26, August 2, 2015 (UTC)

500 C.E.
The game has begun.

'''Unrest occurs in the Byzantine provinces of Egypt and Africa. Many citizens of these provinces are calling for separation from the empire.'''

The Ostrogoths and Vandals continue to fight for control of Sicily.

The Suebi Tribes begin to raid trade routes in the Western Visigothic Kingdom.

'''The Gepids declare Byzantine Dalmatia rightfully part of their kingdom. The Byzantines do not acknowledge the claim.'''

Frankish: We invade the Visigothic kingdom, Burgundy and the Celtic League.

Anglo-Saxon Tribes: We begin to improve our military and recruit more willing men into our armies. We propose an alliance with the Frankish and Visigothic Kingdoms. Visigothic Kingdom: The Visigoths send a party of diplomats to both Burgundy and the Celts offering an alliance until the Frankish threat can be dealt with. Trade route security and road maintenance is improved, as well as an increased number of troop patrols passing through North Western Iberia. Spies are sent into the Byzantine provinces to investigate rumors of political unrest.
 * The Visigoths decline the offer and denounce the Anglo-Saxon involvement with the Franks.
 * Frank Dip: Accepts the offer.

The entire Visigothic Kingdom focuses on becoming tighter knit, with government control being more centralized. Artists and inventors are encouraged to spread their works across the lands, as the Visigothic empire aspires to replace Rome as the cultural epicenter of the world. Carnage and warfare become heavily glorified in Visigothic society. Arenas and fighting pits are created to satiate the people's growing blood lust. A call is put out for any and all Visigothic people to form a grand raiding party, not just soldiers are permitted, but any and all who show patriotism, an affinity for battle or simply have a burning hatred for outsiders. This raiding party is promoted heavily and gossip of it spreads throughout the land like wildfire. The Visigoths send a warning to the tribes of the Suebi, stating that any further action made against them would result in war.
 * Byzantine Dip: In exchange for increased trade, less border tension, and mutual benefits to both of our empires, we would be willing to renounce our claims to Italia should the Visigoths agree to our proposal.
 * Burgundy accepts the offer. 

Jute Tribes: Settlers travel north and settle in the southern tip of modern-day Norway, creating small villages and trading ports on the peninsula. (Picture a line from modern day Stavanger to Arendal, with all land below that being occupied by Jutes now).

Byzantine Empire: We give greater autonomy to Egypt and our African provinces, and start to federalize our large and unruly empire. We also offer to warm relations with the Persian Empire''', and offer them joint expansion into the Arabian Peninsula (MOD response if Persia doesn't post). We improve the economy and the military. '''We expand into Crimea, Arabia and Libya by ... 200 px (no expansion numbers were given) Persian Empire: We officially rename our empire the 'Persian Empire'. We begin expanding into Arabia. We also expand eastward toward India. Furthermore, we expand a little (50 pixels) into Russia. We expand 450 pixels in each direction (if not, suggest a measurement). We build our military and infrastructure. We begin building roads to connect such a large empire. Slavic Peoples: Migration toward the east begins, settling in territories farther to the east (taking what is now the Lviv Oblast and Zakarpattia Oblast)
 * It's a bit more effective if you use describing factors (i.e., what physical landmarks border the area you are expanding into), or even just kilometers or square kilometers. I may go back and add expansion numbers but they differ so radically between each nation that it's difficult to come up with an overall system. Although, if pixels work best for you, by all means, use them as the unit of measurement.
 * Persian Dip: We accept and start invading Arabia jointly with the Byzantine Empire. The pact will be called the 'Turkish-Persian Pact'.
 * Just for clarity's sake, when you say 450 pixels, are you referring to linear distance, or the overall area of the expanded portion?

Vandalic Kingdom: We recruit more native men to our armies, 90% of Vandals soldiers in the Vandalic army are demobilized and return to their homes due to being a minority on our kingdom and not wanting to get reduced even more, many lands and houses belonging to natives around Carthage are being given to Vandal people and many natives end up as their slaves. We make a attack using most of our army towards Palermo. Also, we offer to the Ostrogoths peace giving them Corsica for the rest of Sicily. We also expand 500 pixels into North Algeria without entering too inland into the desert and Moroccan Coasts.

Baltic Peoples: With the Slavic tribes approaching from the south, some Balts begin to fear they could become conquered and lose their territories. As a result, military recruiting increases. The Galindian clan, in Masuria, forms a plan to unite the Balts under their rule to protect their lands from invasions.

Celtic League: Begins to improve its economy and build up its military. Celtica accepts alliance offer from Visigothic Kingdom. The population of Celtica begins to grow slowly fast, adding 4000 people each year. Some farms and cities are upgraded and roads are improved.

Burgundy: Rallies its forces to fight against the Frankish invasion. As a result of the war, the king of Burgundy orders the mass recruitment to bring the army at a total of 7000 men. Weapons are produced to help fight the Franks, and cavalry is trained to help drive the Franks back.

505 C.E.
Unrest in the Southern Byzantine provinces has been completely quelled.

The Turkic-Persian Pact is enacted, and the two empires slowly begin to divide up Arabia.

'''The Franks make major gains in Celtic Brittany, and they gain complete control over the Channel Islands. They do, however, experience minor losses on the Burgundian and Visigothic Fronts.'''

The Vandals make slight gains in Sicily, occupying most of its Southwest coast.

The Galindian clan gains power in the Baltic lands.

The Suebi tribes continue to raid Visigothic outposts.

The Gepids send small military units into Byzantine Dalmatia, and begin to besiege its smaller cities.

The Jutes begin to settle in Southern Norway.

Burgundy mounts an offensive against the Franks, using 1000 men in attempt to split the Frankish forces in half.

Alemanni Tribes: Chieftain Shagga Son of Dolf, joins every Alemanni tribe and clan, creating the first "Alemanni Confederation", a new expansion wave begins to fund new villages to unsettled lands to the east, while minor roads are created on not forested areas on the confederation, Shagga desires to use this next five years to improve the Infraestructure of the Alemanni, by improving crops, roads and basic life conditions.