Molotov

Each turn there will be some events (either historical or prompted by player discussion and actions) which may be commented upon in the news. They will be posted in this thread, and the opportunity to write about them will last for that turn only. Writing in your national media about these Headlines will bestow certain specific benefits, and may also have wider global impacts.

E.g. if in 1961 the Berlin Wall were erected, players may have the opportunity to write about the Headline "BERLIN WALL". Those who write about it will have the chance, if their post meets any stated criteria and is approved by the GM, to obtain a free "fund political opposition" action, a credit bonus, or some similar tangible benefit.

Participation is entirely optional, and players may utilise their national media for entirely different purposes if they wish, or only post about certain Headlines, or none at all.

Players may write news posts about multiple Headlines if there is more than one on offer in any given turn.

Headline bonuses are on a use-it-or-lose-it basis. You will be informed in the news of the following turn whether you have attained the bonus, at which point you must use it in that turn or lose it. Bonuses are also non-transferable.

ARMED OFFENSIVE

E1985

The bloodiest year of the war so far in Afghanistan as Soviet troops launch their ninth offensive in support of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in Panjshir. Despite the stunning strength and overwhelming superiority of their military, the mujahideen continue to recover losses and remain in play.

Along the Sino-Vietnamese border, artillery attacks by the People's Liberation Army continues to target the Vietnamese border regions. An estimated half a million shells have struck home so far this year alone, with no signs that relations between the two will ease off substantially.

Some 25,000 casualties are sustained in a week long battle along the Iran-Iraq border when Iranian forces attempt to capture the crucial Baghdad-Basra highway but are repelled by Iraqi counter-attacks. Iraq responds by once again launching missiles and artillery attacks against Iranian cities, to which Iran responds in kind.

War surrounds us.

BONUS: ONE FREE UNIT RECRUITMENT.

DEBT CRISIS

E1985

Yet more nations enter a debt crisis this year, including South Africa and Angola. However the situation remains bleakest of all across Latin America as the debt crisis there continues to spiral out of control in the aftermath of Mexico's sovereign default. Assuredly there are lessons to be learned here for all...

BONUS: +25 CREDITS

E1985 Winners:

ARMED OFFENSIVE: Doctor of Oblivion, Hugo Strange
DEBT CRISIS: Smyg

SMALL STATE

L1985

A wave of economic reform swells in Moscow, spreading out across near-all of the Eastern Bloc - the state-owned industries are rolling back but shrinking not, as in the neo-liberal West, in favour of privatisation, but to give birth to a revitalised cooperative movement. Only time will tell whether this economic model will spell salvation or stagnation.

Meanwhile across the world, from Bolivia to Britain, privatisation is shrinking the state in its own way - undergoing their own growing pains, but seeing extraordinary gains as a result. Will the rising economic tide lift all ships, or leave the poor underserved and sidelined?

Further still, in China's Special Economic Zones, reform continues apace as Beijing orders the corrupt swept away to make room for genuine entrepreneurs and investors. Will Socialism with Chinese Characteristics successfully reshape all of China, or merely those areas granted the attention?

It may be said that now, more than at any time since the end of the Second World War, the path to economic prosperity - and supremacy of doctrine - is in dispute...

BONUS: ONE FREE ECONOMIC INVESTMENT ACTION, NOMINAL VALUE 50 CREDITS OR TWO PUSH REFORMS IN NPC NATION ACTIONS.

L1985 Winners:

SMALL STATE: Gesar, Smyg

PEOPLE POWER

E1986

"From all these indignities, such as the very beasts of the field would not endure, you can deliver yourselves if you try, not by taking action, but merely by willing to be free. Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces." - Étienne de La Boétie

The Philippines. Poland. Bahrain. Bolivia. Now is the time for the power of the people.

BONUS: ONE FREE INFLUENCE PUBLIC OPINION ACTION OR TWO FREE INFLUENCE MOVEMENT TOWARDS IDEOLOGY ACTIONS.

YASSER ARAFAT

E1986

The Arab World is torn between confusion and loss, and seething anger. Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, head of Fatah, and the leading figure in the Palestinian struggle, is dead. Long standing enemies and antagonists come together to remark on the passing of Arafat, as from Morocco to the Gulf people mourn his death.

What now becomes of the Palestinian movement? Only time will tell.

BONUS: FREE ORGANISE TERROR CAMPAIGN ACTION OR FREE PUSH FOR REFORMS ACTION.

E1986 Winners:

PEOPLE POWER: Smyg
YASSER ARAFAT: Gesar, Hugo Strange, Smyg

INTIFADA

L1986

Intifada (انتفاضة intifāḍah) (noun) - To shake, shake off, or get rid of. As a dog might shake off water... a person might get rid of dirt from their sandals... or a people might throw off an oppressor.

Resistance and rebellion take many forms. An Arabic word, to be sure... but one with global appeal.

PARTICIPATION BONUS: ONE FREE ORGANISE TERROR CAMPAIGN ACTION.

WINNERS BONUS: ONE FREE ORGANISE TERROR CAMPAIGN ACTION, ONE FREE ORGANISE ECONOMIC SABOTAGE ACTION, AND ONE FREE FRAME FOREIGN NATION OR INDIVIDUAL ACTION.

(AND ANOTHER ONE)

IRAQ-CONTRA

L1986

A political scandal of monumental proportions - spanning from Washington D.C., to the jungles of Nicaragua, to the sands of Arabia, to the battlefields of the Iran-Iraq War. News breaks suddenly and messily. The US government, including President Ronald Reagan himself, have been implicated in an elaborate scheme to sell weapons and dual-use technologies with chemical weapon applications to Saddam Hussein's government for use in the Iran-Iraq War via Saudi Arabian intermediaries.

With the funds from these arms sales, illegal funding was then provided to pro-American rebels in the jungles of Nicaragua seeking to overthrow the government of Daniel Ortega, in direct violation of laws passed by Congress. Moreover, an attempt at a cover-up was undertaken, with documents pertaining to the scandal destroyed - potentially on the order of President Reagan himself.


((This is an ahistorical event closely tied to a historical event - if you would like to check what you're posting is correct, or ask more questions, please feel free. I'm available in the usual ways.))


PARTICIPATION BONUS: ONE FREE SEND AID ACTION.

WINNERS BONUS: TWO FREE INFLUENCE PUBLIC OPINION ACTIONS AND ONE FREE SEND AID ACTION.

L1986 Winners:

INTIFADA
Participation: Flaming Bolshevik
Winners: Smyg, acecipher, Coin, Gesar

IRAQ-CONTRA
Participation: Luc, Agentpapers
Winners: Smyg, acecipher, Coin, Gesar

SLOW FLOW

E1987

With OPEC slowing oil production in response to the First Intifada, the oil glut persisting for the past seven years appears to be drawing to a close - indeed, fears abound of a renewed energy crisis.

Is this the beginning of a resurgence for OPEC's global influence that will mark the return of oil politics on the international stage? Or, as in 1979, will climbing production in the US, northern Europe, and the USSR signal the death knell for OPEC's stranglehold over the global economy?

PARTICIPATION BONUS: ONE FREE ORGANISE ECONOMIC SABOTAGE ACTION.

WINNERS BONUS: ONE FREE ORGANISE ECONOMIC SABOTAGE ACTION, AND ONE FREE CONSTRUCT DEFENCES ACTION OR COUP GOVERNMENT ACTION.

E1987 Winners:

SLOW FLOW
Participation: Flaming Bolshevik, Agentpapers
Winners: Smyg, Gesar, acecipher, Coin

DAY IN THE LIFE

L1987

One-shot: write a human interest story of some kind, it can be anything - something following an individual, a family, a community organisation, etc. - that portrays life in your country as it is in L1987. Extra points if it reflects something from the news or takes into account the departures from history we've undergone over the course of the game so far.

PARTICIPATION BONUS: ONE FREE INFLUENCE PUBLIC OPINION ACTION (DOMESTIC USE ONLY)

WINNERS BONUS (ONLY ONE AVAILABLE): ONE FREE INFLUENCE PUBLIC OPINION ACTION (DOMESTIC USE ONLY), ONE PUSH FOR REFORMS IN NPC NATION, AND 100 CREDITS.