The Imperial Federal Kingdom of Grand, Belluterra, and Malo (USNW)

A newspaper is being made, it will be one of your main sources of information about Project Marshlands (no offense Duwamish, but this is NOT a "green" project)

Aww...

Ok, here's my biggest national newspaper...

Ok, so I guess you've read the article in the paper about the new flag. Here's a higher resolution version.



I'd really like your feedback. Do you like the new flag? Do you think it's better than the old one? Do you think the old one was better? Or do you like neither?

PS: Here's the next episode of my history. A pic of the location where this occurs will come in a few hours.

Battle of Flathead

That same afternoon, the British attacked the beach, which they took after a brief struggle. The Grandians knew that since the British had such a large army, if they got past the beach it would be a hopeless battle in the long run. They therefore immediately began to evacuate their fortress before the British could reach the pathway and cut them off from their ships.
It was about an hour before the first enemy soldiers reached the fort. They were quickly cut down by Grandian fire, but they were quickly replaced by more soldiers, some of them bringing large cannons. About fourteen hours later, the British broke through the walls, just as the last few wagonloads of villagers were being brought down the path. The soldiers who broke through quickly alerted their commanders to the presence of the escape route. They, in turn, ordered some of their men to go around the fort and cut them off in front. They did so, and soon the pathway became the site of a fierce battle between the Grandians and the British.
Thanks to the work of Crown Prince Francis, his friend Luke Travison, and five other soldiers whose names are lost to history, the villagers made it safely through. The Prince and his comrades, however, did not. The heroic Prince Francis later was canonized by the Church of Grand as Saint Francis of Flathead.

Here's the picture of the fortress in Flathead, one of the last fortresses built in this style in Grand. What you see, however, is for the most part not original. The British, when they left, blew up the fortress, leaving only a few portions of wall still standing. It was restored to its original state in the 1980s for the 450th anniversary of the battle.

I like the newspaper and the new flag, in my opinion, is a lot better

Your newspaper looks nice, but could use a bit more realism. Newspapers usually don't have such a small front page and don't have advertisements, or not really big ones. (Trust me, I won the ST Trixie for "Best Newspaper in a SC4 CJ".)

K50 Dude: Thanks! I also thought the flag looks cool

Bruce: Ok, I might change it in the future. I copied the format, more or less, from other newspapers I found on SimSports.

There's one specific newspaper that I feel will give me a run for my trophy this year...IENC.rin (from Insulo)...very neat and professional. Also a website.

Bruce wrote:(Trust me, I won the ST Trixie for "Best Newspaper in a SC4 CJ".)

oooh rub it in.....

I think Jon's papersite (translation of Khwint word) is really nice too...

You should probably get a terrain mod and a slope mod.

Terrain mod: Changes textures of land, might also want a water mod too
Slope mod: Smooths out slopes so it won't suddenly elevate unrealistically

Well, that might be nice for other cities, (and it would also be nice if you can post some links to good ones ) but the reason it's like that in this city is because originally it was a gentle slope to the peak, like the rest of the city, but when they originally built the fortress, they artificially steepened the slope there so that it would be more difficult for the British to get inside.

After the capture of Flathead, the conquest of Grand was de facto complete. The British returned to Mousford, leaving the pillaged, burned, and slighted ruins of Flathead behind them. When they returned to Mousford, a surprise awaited them. The Mousfordians had attempted another rebellion while they were gone, but it had been put down by the Spanish, who had been left as stewards of Mousford. After the rebellion had been put down, the Spanish had retaliated by being especially cruel to the Grandians. I will not describe all the cruelties they committed, but suffice it to say that there was not one Mousfordian Grandian man, woman, or child who was not affected by the genocide directly or indirectly. Harold Armstrong, not wanting to offend his Spanish allies, let the Spanish Governor Felipe Garcia get away with only a scolding.
In the meanwhile, the Grandians had disembarked from their ships, leaving some men on each ship to sail around the world, raiding British vessels. The rest of them went back to their secret mountain camp, where, for the next few years, they, except for a few raids every now and then, stayed, recruiting new troops. Finally, on Founder’s Day, 1744, 160 years to the day after the Declaration of Grandian Independence, King Samuel, now 62 years old, marched out towards Mousford at the head of over 8,000 men.

A battle…

When the Grandians got near to Mousford, King Samuel sent scouts to find out about the fortifications around Mousford. They came back a few days later and reported that the British had erected a large earthen mound around the perimeter of the city, with cannons deployed on top. They also found out that although there were no redcoats beyond the perimeter at the moment, they could get out there with less than 5 minutes’ notice, being stationed literally just behind the mound. With this information King Samuel decided to make a direct attack, with his infantry charging first, and the cavalry attacking soon after.
The next morning, the Grandians charged out of the wood in which they had been hiding, but unfortunately there was an open plain between them and Mousford, normally used for farming. Thus the British lookouts noticed them immediately and alerted their comrades, who rushed to get ready. In the meantime, the Grandians came under fire by the cannons, and many fell. When the British cavalry rode out, that was the last straw for King Samuel, who ordered his army to retreat.
The next day, the King led them out again, with different tactics this time. This time, he only led most of his cavalry out, a total of about 1800 men. They charged at the British, and the British, as on the day before, rode out to meet them. They clashed in the field, and before long, it was a fierce mêlée there. Soon, a Grandian horn blew, and about 5,500 GLA infantry poured out of the woods, and attacked the British as well. Everything seemed to be going as planned.
Just then, 4,000 more British cavalry rode over the mound and charged down towards them. Next thing the Grandians knew, they were fighting for their lives, and trying to get back to the forest at the soonest possible opportunity. Soon, an opportunity presented itself for the King. He turned around and quickly rode towards the opening, but at the last moment Harold Armstrong blocked the way. Samuel quickly unsheathed his saber and attacked Armstrong, but was knocked off his horse by a blow from the Admiral’s fist. Armstrong then lifted the dazed King onto his horse and rode back to Mousford, but before he could reach it, he was intercepted by several GLA officers wishing to rescue their King. Immediately, a few Redcoats rode over to help the Admiral. In the resulting fight, Harold quietly slipped away, apparently not noticing that Samuel was not on his horse anymore. One of the officers had surreptitiously slipped him off Harold’s horse and onto his own. He then also rode away, but not before a stray bullet had struck the King in his side, changing his state from ‘semi-conscious’ to ‘unconscious’.

…and victory worthy of Pyrrhus

The king was brought back to camp, where his condition was assessed by the royal doctor. His wound was found not to be fatal, but he would be unable to fight for several months. Thus, temporary command of the army went to the Crown Prince. Crown Prince Charles decided to carry on the battle for his father’s sake. During the battle, he had noticed that the British left flank looked unusually weak. He decided to conduct an attack early the next morning.
The next morning, a few hours before dawn, Crown Prince Charles and his men crept downstream along the riverbank towards the earth mound. Then, they attacked. They quickly overwhelmed the British soldiers guarding the cannons and poured over the hill towards the city. The British tried to cannonade them, but still, 3 out of every 4 Grandian Liberation Army fighters made it to the safety of the town, where the buildings blocked the way of the cannons.
The local Grandians woke up because of the commotion to find Grandian troops enter the city, and so they cheered. Many of the men joined them, armed with whatever they could find. However, because of the British ban on locals carrying any blade or firearm, most of them had little more than pots on their heads and frying pans in their hands.
They had advanced almost to the citadel when their way was barred by British soldiers. A conflict immediately began, and although the British had the advantage in numbers, the Grandians knew the area better and were more used to fighting in close quarters. After several hours of fighting, both sides had suffered heavy casualties, but there was no sign of giving up from either side. Finally, at about 2:00 PM, Spanish Irregulars arrived from their camp on the other side of the river. This turned the tide against the Grandians, who were soon in retreat.
The next day, the Crown Prince decided to launch a final attack on Mousford: If he would lose, he would call off the attack altogether. He literally led the attack, placing himself in the front lines. After a couple of hours, the enemy army, mostly composed of Spanish reservists by this time, melted away, and they entered the heart of the city unopposed.


A pictur of the layout of the two armies on day 1 of the battle is coming soon...

EDIT: I might have to postpone the map a bit...

EDIT2: It's decided. After my history is all loaded I will make a new thread with maps and diagrams of all major battles in the history.

The Grandian Liberation Army marched on the old royal palace, now the Mousford Gubernatorial House. There, one of the last British regiments still on this side of the river was stationed on the walls, ready to fight to the last man rather than surrender. However, they were vastly outnumbered, and on the 27th of September, 1744, three weeks after the Siege of Mousford began, the Liberationists simultaneously broke through and swarmed over the wall.
A small contingent of officers, led by the King’s second cousin once removed, Edward, Duke of Long Island, entered the palace to search for Armstrong. They found him in what was formerly the royal bedchamber. He immediately drew his pistol and began to shoot at them, killing a few of them, wounding others, and getting several wounds himself in his turn. He soon ran out of shots however, and resorted to his saber. Soon afterwards, however, he was surrounded by soldiers with his back to the balcony railing. He, not wanting to be captured, jumped off the balcony, but not before giving a fatal wound to the Duke, who was just about to lay hands on him. He apparently died on impact, for when the Grandians found him, he was lying dead below the third-story balcony, from where he had jumped.
The King’s wound mostly healed up in a couple of months, though it was to plague him for the rest of his life. Prince Charles eventually married the Duke’s daughter later on, assuming the title of Duke of Long Island from then on. The casualties were so high on the British side- over 16,000 killed out of an army of 21,000- that the British would not try a large-scale pitched battle with the Grandians until 1758. On the Grandian side, the casualties were so unsustainably high- over 7,300 dead out of an army of 8,000- that they were forced to evacuate Mousford before the end of fall.

Chapter V: Liberty

Fleet Adventures

You may have been wondering what became of the Grandian Navy in all this time. To start off, here are the names of the ships: 1) RGS Freedom (the flagship), 2) RGS King Francis, 3) RGS Victory, and 4) RGS Grand. Now, we must go back to the year 1737.
When the Grandians left them to go back to their mountain camp, they sailed away to the north. Following captured naval charts, it was a little more than fifteen months before they reached Acapulco, in the Spanish Viceroyalty of New Spain, on the 7th of March. When they arrived, the crew, headed by Sir Phillip Roberts, directly descended from the First King, decided to conceal from the local leaders their hatred of the Grandian Spanish, and to try to get aid from the local government.
The Spanish, as it turned out, were fighting a war with the British, which would come to be termed the War of the Austrian Succession. Therefore, ironically, the Spaniards were happy to aid the Grandians in their mission to raid British vessels, and gave them very plentiful supplies, desperately needed sailors and several experienced navigators (on condition that they be returned to New Spain before the Grandians returned home), repaired their existing vessels, and even gave them another vessel, which the Grandians christened RGS Novae Hispaniae, in honor of their newfound “Mainland” Spanish allies.
Finally, on June 19th, 1738, everything was ready, and the Grandian Fleet sailed out of Acapulco Harbor with great fanfare. After sailing south-south-west for a while, they changed course and headed south-south-east, in order to round the tip of South America. On the way, they put in for supplies and any potential information at Lima, the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

the next edition of the newspaper is coming in a few days- bringing more news of Project Marshlands...

In Lima, they got more supplies, but no information about where the British could be. The next day, July 6, they set out again on their journey. On the 23rd, they entered the Atlantic Ocean, the first native-born Grandians to do so. The next day, they reached 66 degrees 24 minutes west longitude, and 57 degrees 41 minutes south longitude, the farthest south anyone had gone up to that time. They then began to sail north for the first time since they had entered Acapulco. On the 3rd of August, they entered Buenos Aires.

It's time for some SC4 pictures again. A picture is worth a thousand words

Yes, they're coming soon, and as I said, a newspaper is also coming soon

PS: Once I've finished posting the history, I'll be able to post a lot more pics.

PPS: Tomorrow, conditions permitting, I will give you a tour of Francistown so far.

They left Buenos Aires a few days later, and continued to sail north. A few days later, they passed the equator. They were now in the Northern Hemisphere again. About a week later, they were in the Caribbean, where Spanish merchants they had met had said there were plenty of British merchantmen to be found.
A few days later, as they were sailing around the Bahamas, while scanning the horizon for any British vessels, one of the lookouts in the King Francis spied a vessel on the horizon. He quickly took his bearings and then called out to the sailors below, “Large vessel on the starboard side at 36 degrees!” The steersman immediately began to steer in that direction, and signaled to the other ships to do the same.
Soon after they started slowly sailing towards the ships on the horizon, one of the other Grandian lookouts, this time on board the Freedom, put down his telescope and shouted, “Those ships are British Merchants!” (This cry, which would become famous in the future, is often misquoted as “British Merchants Ahead!”) Immediately, the Grandians picked up speed and sailed as fast as they could towards the ships, over which could now clearly be seen flying the Flag of Great Britain.

Tour coming later today!

PS: Do you like my history so far?

Ok, here's the promised tour of Francistown...

Here we are, entering the Imperial Capital of Francistown. Oh, and by the way, I, your guide, am Daniel I and IV, Emperor of Belluterra, King of Grand, Duke of the Province Royal, Duke of Long Island, and Count of Skarr. So, again, here we are. Over here you can see the Skarr River, part of which will be used as a whitewater venue in a future SimLympic bid.


Over here is where the Skarr plunges into the Skarr Swamp. Geographers have been divided for years as to what to call this hydrological landform, with some claiming it's a waterfall, and others saying it's too slanted to be a waterfall, and should be called a rapids instead. Finally, with this location being chosen to be the new capital, I solved this dispute by calling it Steaming "Fapids".


As we go along the R-2 Highway, look, and behold the Skarr swamp, which is being drained to make more living space for Francistown.


We shall now turn off the R-2 and enter Saint Francis Park, which we shall travel through in a long detour towards the Imperial Parliament Building.


We have now traveled around the Museum of the Royal Family and are now about to cross Tiroy Canal, into Outer Saint Francis Park Proper.


We have now come to Fountain Alley, which culminates at the far end in...


a statue of me. Let's get back to the main route.


We are now entering the Southwest Quarter of Saint Francis Park. Here are located most of the government departments, all identical on the exterior, but inside... as unique as your fingerprint. You can also see a small part of the enormous parking lots here.


Over here are the Parliamentary Canal observation porches, where you can sit down and look at the ducks, or have a picnic, or take a nap. Let's feed the ducks for a bit.


This is most likely soon going to be the last remnant of the Skarr swamp, the Princess Amanthis Frog Conservatory, established by the pleadings of my wife, the Grand Princess Amanthis II. This one is designed to save the endangered Giant Skarry Frog from extinction. A nearly-identical conservatory nearby is for the ferocious Huntingfish, a popular sport fish in Grand, and of which the biggest subspecies lives only in Skarr.


Now we've entered the inner section of the city, and, by extension, Inner Saint Francis Park.


In the inner park, we have planted many plants from all over the world, making this a pleasant place to visit in any season.


Ok, wev'e now gotten back onto the R-2 Highway. Next stop- the Imperial Parliament Building.


HERE IT IS- the Imperial Parliament Building, the most expensive single building ever built in the history of the Empire. It's roof is plated with gold from the Duchy of Deadfield. The building's distinctive pure gold dome is featured in the logo of our ISC bid, partly because this is the building where the officials will stay and have their meetings.


That's all for today! I hope you liked our tour!

Khot hap ee ko!

here's today's edition of the paper, sorry it's kind of late...