lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Dec 30, 2021 21:01:02 GMT
This is beyond a mere “Nothing to see here” and mass use of memory spells. It is a major city. No mass whipping using magic. |
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Post by simon darkshade on Dec 30, 2021 21:23:20 GMT
No, far too many people plus television and radio broadcasts.
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Dec 31, 2021 11:56:27 GMT
DecemberDecember 1: The Dow Jones Industrial Average records its highest daily average for the year with 1893.62. December 2: Hundreds of witnesses report seeing a bright light coursing across the sky in Central Indiana, culminating in a large crash on the western outskirts of Indianapolis. The crash site is rapidly secured by US military forces and unspecified government officials. December 3: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg sign the Treaty of Brussels, establishing a full economic and monetary union between the Benelux states. December 4: The French franc is devalued by 25% to a flat exchange rate of 5 francs to the dollar. December 5: Formation of the Hong Kong Division, an administrative command of all British and Imperial land forces in the Crown Colony. December 6: US medical researchers begin testing a cure for diabetes in humans following successful preliminary tests. December 7: The Emperor of Brazil signs a decree imposing martial law on several provinces. December 8: Project Schooner, a peaceful nuclear explosion carried out under the broader Project Plowshare releases an unexpectedly large amount of radiation, contaminating a carnival train en route to Las Vegas and a local mail courier of the New Vegas Express Company; US military officials swiftly place them in confinement for specialist treatment. December 9: CBS’s news magazine flagship, 60 Minutes runs a special report on The Tomorrow Children, an exploration of the recent phenomenon of children with extraordinary special powers and abilities around the world. December 10: Armed robbers in Tokyo ambush an armoured car delivering cash and escape with over 500 million yen. December 11: Newly re-elected President Kennedy’s releases the changes to his Cabinet, with John Kenneth Galbraith nominated for Secretary of Health,Welfare and Education, Bruce Wayne as Secretary of Defense and Reverend Martin Luther King as Secretary for Housing, Urban Development and Social Equity. December 12: Filming begins of a new BBC military series on board the nuclear aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, with the 26 episode season to record her cruise of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean prior to her deployment to the Far Eastern Fleet for combat operations off South Vietnam. December 13: First general public release of the US Government’s annual Soviet Military Power report. It is notable for its declaration that the Soviet Armed Forces are at their highest level of strength since 1945 and very detailed assessments of new Eastern Bloc weapons systems. It’s sister publication, Imperial Chinese Military Power, remains classified. December 14: SAS, Iberia, Alitalia and KLM announce large orders for Concord supersonic airliners. December 15: Six USN battleships conduct a long range bombardment of North Vietnam, the largest such assembly of capital ships on a single mission since the Second World War. December 16: The King of Spain and the Pope formally order the revocation of the Alhambra Decree of 1492. December 17: Mary Bell and Norma Bell are found guilty of murder and manslaughter respectively. The latter is sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure, but the former receives the sole sentence prescribed for multiple murders of children, death by hanging. Mr. Justice Cusack gives a recommendation for mercy given her age. December 18: Former Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Christopher Foyle and the current Commissioner Sir Frank Burnside inadvertently foil an attempted robbery of the Royal Mint whilst filming a BBC special. December 19: President John F. Kennedy announces that he will be nominating Supreme Court Justice Richard Nixon for the position of Chief Justice of the United States. This is seen by many as a political manoeuvre to further the growing Republican split, but is actually driven by judicial political strategy to create a vacancy and repayment of complex favours that delivered the traditionally Republican heartland of California to the Democrats in the recent election. December 20: The Bulgarian Orthodox Church announces a shift in the date of Christmas to December 25-27 from January 7th. Spokeselves for Father Christmas express a quiet sense of relief. December 21: British Chancellor Denis Healey announces a surprise income tax cut as part of a special Christmas budgetary statement, additionally stating that the government’s plan to pay off the national debt will be achieved by 1971. December 22: NASA announces that Orion 5 will begin its return voyage to Earth in early 1969. December 23: Completion of the Yangtze River Bridge in Nanking, finally linking Shanghai and Peking by rail. December 24: An incredibly daring joint special operation by United States Army Special Forces, the new Delta Force and Navy SEALs commanded by Colonel Charles Beckwith simultaneously raids three North Vietnamese POW camps around Hanoi, freeing 156 prisoners and flying them to safety in hitherto top secret supersonic VTOL transports and Jolly Green Giant rotodynes. The raids are coordinated with precision airstrikes by USAF and USN F-111s on high value targets in Hanoi using new laser guided bombs and strike missiles. 3 SEALs, 2 Delta Force operators and 2 Green Berets are killed in the raids and a number of recommendations for decorations are made. As a result of Operation White Christmas, Marshal Stepin Berkoff, commander of the Group of Soviet Forces in North Vietnam, has the remaining US POWs taken into Soviet custody. December 25: Queen Elizabeth II makes her traditional Christmas broadcast to the Empire and Commonwealth, emphasising the centrality of peace, family and love and the eternal promise of the hope and joy of Christmas. December 26: US Marines begin a buildup along the Cambodian border with South Vietnam. December 27: Chinese and Soviet border troops clash along the Amur frontier. December 28: Unveiling of the first prototype of a new RAF ‘Super ICBM’, a long range heavyweight missile intended to augment the Blue Streak force. December 29: A special team of Interpol detectives successfully locate the infamous ‘Grand Animal Snatcher’ in the Black Forest and free his captives, including Boterbloem the cow, who has a joyously tearful reunion with her owner hours later. December 30: Uganda and Tanganyika are granted internal self government within the British Empire, the first major step towards independence as Commonwealth Dominions. December 31: Soviet seismic monitors indicate an underground nuclear explosion in Japan.
December
December 2: Hundreds of witnesses report seeing a bright light coursing across the sky in Central Indiana, culminating in a large crash on the western outskirts of Indianapolis. The crash site is rapidly secured by US military forces and unspecified government officials. - Well that's going to be interesting. As you say it can't be fully covered up and whether its a secret US project or something else its likely to cause a lot of questions to be asked and will have to see what the US government does.
December 5: Formation of the Hong Kong Division, an administrative command of all British and Imperial land forces in the Crown Colony. - A substantial force but wouldn't last long if China launched a full scale attack.
December 6: US medical researchers begin testing a cure for diabetes in humans following successful preliminary tests. - 
December 7: The Emperor of Brazil signs a decree imposing martial law on several provinces. - Never a good sign.
December 8: Project Schooner, a peaceful nuclear explosion carried out under the broader Project Plowshare releases an unexpectedly large amount of radiation, contaminating a carnival train en route to Las Vegas and a local mail courier of the New Vegas Express Company; US military officials swiftly place them in confinement for specialist treatment. - That's the problem with land bursts. I'm wondering if the two groups mentioned as most affected are references to fictional groups but nothing comes to mind.
December 9: CBS’s news magazine flagship, 60 Minutes runs a special report on The Tomorrow Children, an exploration of the recent phenomenon of children with extraordinary special powers and abilities around the world. - Another blast from the past and a programme I quite liked, although found its underlying pacifism unconvincing.
December 11: Newly re-elected President Kennedy’s releases the changes to his Cabinet, with John Kenneth Galbraith nominated for Secretary of Health,Welfare and Education, Bruce Wayne as Secretary of Defense and Reverend Martin Luther King as Secretary for Housing, Urban Development and Social Equity. - Some interesting selections there.
December 12: Filming begins of a new BBC military series on board the nuclear aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, with the 26 episode season to record her cruise of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean prior to her deployment to the Far Eastern Fleet for combat operations off South Vietnam. - Does it have Rod doing the theme song.  Not a great fan of his but a good song.
December 13: First general public release of the US Government’s annual Soviet Military Power report. It is notable for its declaration that the Soviet Armed Forces are at their highest level of strength since 1945 and very detailed assessments of new Eastern Bloc weapons systems. It’s sister publication, Imperial Chinese Military Power, remains classified. - I remember them coming out in the 80's under Reagan but did they exist earlier OTL?
December 14: SAS, Iberia, Alitalia and KLM announce large orders for Concord supersonic airliners. - Good for British aerospace 
December 16: The King of Spain and the Pope formally order the revocation of the Alhambra Decree of 1492. - Good.
December 17: Mary Bell and Norma Bell are found guilty of murder and manslaughter respectively. The latter is sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure, but the former receives the sole sentence prescribed for multiple murders of children, death by hanging. Mr. Justice Cusack gives a recommendation for mercy given her age. - Going to be an interesting question. Before my time as an adult but I remember the Bulenger murder and outrage then. Never been convinced by the idea that a child should be see as more evil than an adult for the same action.
December 18: Former Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Christopher Foyle and the current Commissioner Sir Frank Burnside inadvertently foil an attempted robbery of the Royal Mint whilst filming a BBC special. - I remember Burnside from the Bill and Foyle of course from his wartime work. December 20: The Bulgarian Orthodox Church announces a shift in the date of Christmas to December 25-27 from January 7th. Spokeselves for Father Christmas express a quiet sense of relief. - I would have thought that spreading the load would be beneficial for them.
December 21: British Chancellor Denis Healey announces a surprise income tax cut as part of a special Christmas budgetary statement, additionally stating that the government’s plan to pay off the national debt will be achieved by 1971. - Would be useful, especially the latter part.
December 24: An incredibly daring joint special operation by United States Army Special Forces, the new Delta Force and Navy SEALs commanded by Colonel Charles Beckwith simultaneously raids three North Vietnamese POW camps around Hanoi, freeing 156 prisoners and flying them to safety in hitherto top secret supersonic VTOL transports and Jolly Green Giant rotodynes. The raids are coordinated with precision airstrikes by USAF and USN F-111s on high value targets in Hanoi using new laser guided bombs and strike missiles. 3 SEALs, 2 Delta Force operators and 2 Green Berets are killed in the raids and a number of recommendations for decorations are made. As a result of Operation White Christmas, Marshal Stepin Berkoff, commander of the Group of Soviet Forces in North Vietnam, has the remaining US POWs taken into Soviet custody. - Anything to do with a certain John Rambo?
December 26: US Marines begin a buildup along the Cambodian border with South Vietnam. - Not good, if its the start of an intervention there.
December 27: Chinese and Soviet border troops clash along the Amur frontier. - Well the lack of Mao doesn't change that. It will complicate matters for the two as they seek to support their allies/puppets, not least in Vietnam.
December 28: Unveiling of the first prototype of a new RAF ‘Super ICBM’, a long range heavyweight missile intended to augment the Blue Streak force. - Will maintain a capacity but might question whether its worthwhile - given discussions we're had elsewhere on the site.
December 29: A special team of Interpol detectives successfully locate the infamous ‘Grand Animal Snatcher’ in the Black Forest and free his captives, including Boterbloem the cow, who has a joyously tearful reunion with her owner hours later. - 
December 30: Uganda and Tanganyika are granted internal self government within the British Empire, the first major step towards independence as Commonwealth Dominions. - Well that will be interesting. Does the name mean that Zanzibar isn't included?
December 31: Soviet seismic monitors indicate an underground nuclear explosion in Japan. - Now that could set the cat among the pigeons. Can't remember but is Japan not under the OTL restrictions?
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Post by simon darkshade on Jan 1, 2022 10:56:08 GMT
Steve,
1.) It is the latest and most public UFO incident and very difficult to cover up.
2.) The divisional structure mirrors the @ formation of the 40th Infantry Division in 1949 for HK forces. Should China launch a full scale attack, it gets a full scale strategic nuclear response; additionally, the Army units in HK already have tactical nuclear weapons, with more to be attached at the divisional level. Thus, the formation has an extra level of deterrence, or as least is intended to deter.
3.) Another bit of medical progress, reflecting the role of magic and the butterflies from a bit more ancient knowledge surviving (Alexandria, Constantinople and Baghdad’s House of Wisdom).
4.) Something is brewing in Brazil and South America in general.
5.) The carnival train is a bit of a thematic reference to the HBO series Carnivale, among other works, whilst the New Vegas Courier Company refers to Fallout New Vegas, where the player takes the role of a courier. One of the best games ever made for me.
6.) Some parts of The Tomorrow People haven’t aged well, but others hold up; this event covers that show, plus Chocky and other similar ones.
7.) They are rather interesting, with a superhero as SecDef. MLK has a somewhat broader remit than historical H & UD.
8.) The song is iconic, so an appropriate DE version would have to be part. Great series.
9.) They first came out in 1981.
10.) A very big shot in the arm at the right time. The industry is remaining very competitive and the shape of the competition is changing; no Airbus.
11.) A historical event.
12.) It is a different one, given the different shape of the justice system in Dark Earth. Even if the sentence is commuted, she wouldn’t be getting out in 11 years.
13.) They are very different policemen, but both necessary.
14.) It makes the rush a bit less crammed.
15.) The British economy is much stronger and on a different trajectory for the 70s.
16.) He is involved, along with a range of similar characters from action flicks: Captain James Braddock (Chuck Norris from Missing in Action), his cousin Lieutenant Scott McCoy (Chuck Norris in The Delta Force) and Sergeant Michael Ransom (Reb Brown from Strike Commando).
17.) It is a build up to a full scale invasion to eliminate VC bases and infrastructure; with the HCM Trail blocked, it is the next logical step.
18.) China and the USSR will have natural rivalry, even moreso without a Red China.
19.) The distances involved are greater and throw weight demands a land based missile at this time. Given the proximity of Soviet missiles, they have a reduced warning time when based in Britain, but against MRBMs, they still have a warning time of 15 minutes flight plus 5 minutes preparation warning for hard sites; soft/mobile launchers have a longer reaction time that makes them vulnerable to strike missiles from airborne bombers. This is long enough for British silo based missiles to be fired in response. Furthermore, they are also based in Canada, Australia, South Africa and India, as well as some other locations. The circumstances are different in Dark Earth.
20.) It is a happy event, as all the oversized animals return to their homes.
21.) Correct, there has been no thought of a merger at this point, with maintenance of an offshore island for strategic purposes seen as an attractive option.
22.) It could indeed.Japan isn’t subjected to the same restrictions - no Article 9 outlawing war, no budget cap of 1% and a full range of weapons to this date.
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Post by simon darkshade on Jan 1, 2022 15:47:59 GMT
I’m going to put together some notes on the year and then some short bits of analysis. If there are any areas that chaps would like included, please post them up.
The categories I’ve got so far are Vietnam, the Cold War, Space, Science/Technology, Aviation, Politics and Military.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Jan 1, 2022 15:52:17 GMT
I’m going to put together some notes on the year and then some short bits of analysis. If there are any areas that chaps would like included, please post them up. The categories I’ve got so far are Vietnam, the Cold War, Space, Science/Technology, Aviation, Politics and Military. None so far that i can think off, everything you post regarding the Darkearth verse is great. |
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Post by simon darkshade on Jan 1, 2022 16:05:23 GMT
Thank you kindly. I’m experimenting with some different formats and what not for this year, so thought I might as well extend it to the “post-mortem”.
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Jan 1, 2022 16:08:39 GMT
8.) The song is iconic, so an appropriate DE version would have to be part. Great series. - Agreed.
9.) They first came out in 1981. - Ah I thought they didn't exist before then,
10.) A very big shot in the arm at the right time. The industry is remaining very competitive and the shape of the competition is changing; no Airbus. - That is a significant difference, although OTL it didn't exist by the late 60. However it doesn't look like there will be any EEC/EE/EU at all here which
12.) It is a different one, given the different shape of the justice system in Dark Earth. Even if the sentence is commuted, she wouldn’t be getting out in 11 years. - Agreed.
14.) It makes the rush a bit less crammed. - I would have thought that not having to do Bulgaria, think there are others who also follow the Orthodox dating, would have made it less crammed by spacing things out.
16.) He is involved, along with a range of similar characters from action flicks: Captain James Braddock (Chuck Norris from Missing in Action), his cousin Lieutenant Scott McCoy (Chuck Norris in The Delta Force) and Sergeant Michael Ransom (Reb Brown from Strike Commando).- The US is cloning Chuck Norris!!  
18.) China and the USSR will have natural rivalry, even moreso without a Red China. - I would suspect that without the ideological rivalry it might be markedly less. I.e. Their alien system rather than each competing as to who's the 'true' faith for marxism.
Steve
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Post by simon darkshade on Jan 1, 2022 16:50:47 GMT
Steve,
8.) I just refreshed my memory with a brief snippet on YouTube. As it is instrumental, it won’t have any problems with fitting in. With the different Ark, CVN-01, Sailor on Dark Earth would have a slightly different feel. The crew is more than double the size and there will be a fair bit of focus on the weapons of the ship and the roles of its aircraft. It will be the first television series to show a ship going to war and thus have a bit of a feel of The Fighting Lady. I’d also like to capture some of the rivalry/difference between aircraft carriers and battleships, the very high standards of food and other bits and pieces, such as her escorts.
I’ll put the story on my list.
9.) Some level of classified version likely existed; its declassification here indicates a different level of confidence.
10.) The groundwork for Airbus had been laid in @ by this point. I really can’t see an EEC without Franco-German reconciliation and that hasn’t been on the cards with a more powerful France under De Gaulle. There is a window that might be opened now he’s gone, but the new French leader…he isn’t a multilateralist. The Benelux states are pursuing their own mini EEC, but without France, there is no way Italy joins them. It is still an idea that is talked about, but my general thinking is that supranationalism isn’t really a working proposition at this point - the pressures of the late 40s/early 50s are past.
14.) You might very well be right. I do want to do some more Christmas stories one day, so there might be something there.
16.) It gets worse - In 1947, there was a Colonel Norris of the American Ninjas! The story was Chinese Surprise.
18.) That is a good point. Anything that is offset, though, gets counterbalanced by other factors. They are rivals, rather than the same degree of effective enemies by this point as in @, but this still breeds a bitter competition.
Simon
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Post by simon darkshade on Jan 30, 2022 11:41:20 GMT
1968 Notes January - The tactical nuclear use at the end of 1967 was inadvertent rather than by design, so both the US and Soviets are interested in de-escalation - The boy dragonslayer is both an example of a developing tendency and the seed for a future story - The capture of VC plans at Pleiku is an OTL event - Japanese SSNs are the culmination of a developing plot line starting in 1960’s From Sea to Shining Sea - The missing subs in the Med were unconnected in @, but here are the work of a monstrous creature possessed of an enhanced intelligence and malign intent… - Star Trek makes an earlier transition to the silver screen, with a different script. I’ll have to do a write up on DE Star Trek - The two NATO/Western standing naval forces are fully fledged carrier strike groups rather than destroyer-frigate forces of @. They are based around the CVs and BBs of navies other than Britain, France and the USA - Laos is a different, more open front in the broader Indochina war than @, with no treaty prohibition on open US intervention - Dropping a battleship on Haiphong is an attempt to cause devastating damage without crossing the nuclear threshold. It serves to show that not every hairbrained plan turns out ti be a masterstroke - Edward Rogers is an entirely original character and a sign that Australian politics will be different on both sides - Barton’s Guildhall speech serves several purposes: it sends the message that Britain is very much still in the global superpower game EoS, albeit that having to say so out loud wouldn’t have been necessary even a generation ago; it is a statement of resolute intent for a variety of regional players and opponents; and it is a bit of an authorial hat tip to what Wilson was up to at this point, illustrating the divergence of strategy, which will drive force composition - A very old Tesla emerges with the result of decades of research, which will play into satellite power transmission, as well as other areas. In his absence, his work had been better known for its ray gun applications - Khe Sanh is bigger, more decisive and more direct a battle, akin to how it was portrayed in American propaganda flicks of the time - The Orion/Kosmos race provided an interesting challenge by nature of physics, but does provide some degree of captivating the terrestrial audience - Whilst the mere debut of the Ford Escort doesn’t seem much, it is what it is accompanied by that counts. There is more British competition and a fair whack more quality control to boot, as well as an absence of the restive labour union problems of @. The British car industry of 1968 is no more or less moribund or sickly than the French, German, Italian, Austrian-Hungarian or Japanese at the time and is holding its own. In the long term, Germany and Japan are both seemingly going to outproduce Britain, but differing patterns of international trade and protection mean that they won’t do so in the same manner, style and consequence as @ - The French troubles begin organically, but are then harnessed by elements in the military and their political backers to build up to something - Time Life’s Foods of the World, a magnificent artefact of social history on its own in @, is larger, reflecting the more distinct regional cuisines of some areas. I actually have a list if anyone cares about food history - Argentina has one new modern carrier and another on the way, one fully modern battleship plus another coming, new cruisers, heavy jet bombers, ballistic missile plans and their own tank under development. It is as if there is an arms race going on in South America - Meat consumption is markedly higher, reflecting greater affluence - The new Boeing spaceplane is the first designed for the full hop to Luna or Minerva; the others are more suited to the first half of it, or out to the big space stations in geostationary orbit |
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Post by simon darkshade on Jan 30, 2022 22:41:16 GMT
February
- The Soviet light carriers were the vestige of Stalin Sr's post WW2 naval expansion and have rapidly become obsolete; their air group in the early 60s was perhaps 18 older and smaller jets. There was some consideration to converting them to amphibious helicopter carriers, but their relative quality made conversion a non-economical proposition. There were some fears from Western intelligence that they would be transferred for that purpose to the GDR or Poland, but these turned out to be baseless; the WP are looking for amphibious assault ships, but larger ones that can deploy a decent number of rotodynes
- Different royal weddings are still being used as an arm of statecraft
- Sea monsters sinking merchant ships is an ongoing problem with expanding trade
- Popocatapetl erupting is not an OTL event and quite a dangerous one
- Khe Sanh comes to a head earlier, with Eagle being a much wider scale operation
- The Crusader is in the M1/Challenger 1 class of @, or a heavily armoured MBT for the European and Middle East battlefields. The Valiant, like the @ Vickers MBT Mk.4, is lighter and designed for export, with the largest expected markets being the Indian Army and the Royal Marines. The Ardent is a bit lighter still and is going for the South American and African markets
- The Suez Canal Zone lease has been extended under strong pressure, creating an ongoing problem for Anglo-Egyptian relations, to put it mildly
- The case of the Irish schoolboys is lifted directly from the charming 1994 Irish adaption of The War of the Buttons, but here the ingenuity and leadership of the boys gets them a slap on the wrist and then being marked for better things in a few years; being sent to Craggy Island is a fairly heavy punishment
- Mu Gia Pass gets hit with radiological weapons for area denial
- Heyerdahl's expedition for Atlantis will have some interesting results. The tech for deep ocean exploration is now present
- The candid Soviet economic confession is from @, although was in a Komsomol paper. The approximate levels of cars and radios have been boosted to account for Dark Earth changes
- The decision to eliminate the devil's brew put together at Porton Down is a smart one. Any relationship to modern viruses and development is purely coincidental...
- The Day of the Chacal is a little hat tip to the book, reflecting the ongoing Algerian kerfuffle
- Cronkite saying victory is in sight in Vietnam is a 180 degree difference from @ and there will be wide reaching and long lasting consequences
- Wiping out the megalodon is a decision taken somewhat in haste and fear, with potentially damaging consequences for the oceanic food chain, but has to be chosen nonetheless. They are too big and too dangerous to be allowed to live in the wild and naturally can't live in captivity
- This Exocet is a supersonic Mach 1.1 missile with a range of 54nm
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Post by simon darkshade on Jan 31, 2022 8:09:44 GMT
March
- Lost in Space has a definitive ending
- Initial strategic arms limitations talks are starting to show some slow progress, but are somewhat constrained by the lack of the @ US freeze in ICBMs and in its overall stockpile, the complicating factor of British and French missiles and China being ahead of where it stood at this point. The Soviets haven’t had and won’t have the same opportunity to achieve parity and an advantage in land based missiles
- The flying car incident results in the arrest of a wicked baron, baroness and their wicked child catcher
- SPECTRE is foiled again
- The public assassination of the Emperor of Brazil horrifies the world and throws an already troubled country into chaos. Guevara is regarded as international Public Enemy #1 in the West
- George Brown was that tired and emotional after his Peru trip that he resigned. The @ story about the Archbishop of Lima is true here: “ Brown was said to have lumbered over to a tall, elegant vision in red, and requested the honour of the next dance, to be told, ‘I will not dance with you for three reasons. The first is that you are drunk. The second is that the band is not playing a waltz, but the Peruvian national anthem. The final reason is that I am the Cardinal Archbishop of Lima.’ “
- The aftermath of Eagle/Khe Sanh sees a rolling series of offensives that is deliberately reminiscent of the Hundred Days of fifty years previous
- Libya doesn’t experience a coup, keeping the Anglo- American presence
- Britain isn’t experiencing deindustrialisation, but growth of heavy and medium industry in some of the old heartlands
- Westmoreland wasn’t the right general for Vietnam in @, but could well be a decent fit for the more conventional SACEUR role
- The new Papal military order has a nickname of the Dawnguard
- George Best playing for England is a result of different international FIFA rules whereby a player born in one of the Home Nations and playing at a junior can be qualified for another as a senior, provided the application goes through before 21 and they fulfil residency rules for 6 years. Here, Best scrapes in through some clever paperwork and is enticed over by a very lucrative payment and the chance of playing for the world champions
- The North Vietnamese start to run into the no go area of Mu Gia Pass after it has been dusted
- The Mitsubishi LR fighter will get a familiar nickname
- Establishment of the FAE is different from the UAE, not least of which because of the continuing British presence
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Post by simon darkshade on Jan 31, 2022 23:57:48 GMT
April - The sale of London Bridge was a historical one, with the backward rationalisation that the American chap thought he was getting Tower Bridge, a proposition that does not seem to be supported. It is a longer bridge, reflecting the greater width of the Thames due to the larger world, with the extra ~100ft coming from localised adjustment. It will be a more ornate and rather grander bridge than the current one, which is rather pedestrian and modernist in its appearance for my tastes - 2001 has a slightly different plot, reflecting the more advanced space situation, and a somewhat less surreal ending, given the lower popular acceptance of surrealism - The Allen keys for the IKEA/SAAB flatpack car have to be purchased separately, typical of IKEA. Something like a 1960s version of this www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/flatpack-car-you-diy-build-in-an-hour-23472- The Nova rocket is about 50% larger than an @ Saturn V, whilst the Solaris is a cutting edge spaceship with innovative new nuclear engines and secondary aetheric ion drives embedded with cavorite; long story short, it aims to cut the longest Venus travel time to 25 days and Mars to ~90 days. The experimental Rigel took 81 days to reach Mars in 1963 due to favourable positioning and a test of the Orion engine used for the exploration of Jupiter and Saturn, but it is not really ideally suited to the inner solar system due to its design - Mike Kirby is John Wayne's character from The Green Berets, Michael Ransom is Reb Brown's character from Strike Commando and John Rambo should be familiar - The 50th anniversary/birthday of the RAF is marked by greater festivities here, with the Hunters (and others) flying through and under Tower Bridge being officially scheduled - The Charge of the Light Brigade is a very different movie tonally, given the different outcome of that particular charge - France pulls out of Hainan, despite American displeasure, as it can neither afford it or defend it. This does serve as the final catalyst for the unrest of May and subsequent coup - The War in Korea is something like Victory at Sea in its style and reveals the in-universe author of the Korean War history that I really need to get back to at some point - New Soviet fighters up the ante over North Vietnam. The Su-21 is an improved version of the (cancelled in @) Su-19, with two 24000lbf turbofan engines, an ogival wing, look down/shoot down radar and a heavier armament of longer range missiles, whilst the MiG-23 is more of a bona fide challenger to the F-4. This provides more impetus to the fielding of the F-15 - The Fellowship of the Ring sweeps the Oscars and Christopher Lee, who has a very busy year, collects a Best Actor Oscar that he never got the opportunity to challenge for in @ - The FV525 Warrior is designed to overmatch the BMP-1, but does so at a markedly increased price - The Kurchatov Institute acts to improve the safety performance of the RBMK reactor after the KGB apparently obtains top secret American and British analysis of it. In practice, the information derived from Lapcat ended up be transferred by the British via an agent who feeds the Soviets a variety of intelligence; the KGB think they have an excellent double cross/double agent who is in fact an unwitting triple agent. Wheels within wheels. Why? To prevent the chance of something like Chernobyl occurring in a much, much worse manner, with the associated potential for much wider effects; whilst preventing the enemy from making a mistake may be counterintuitive in most cases, it was viewed by PM Barton as a case of risk management for the wider world. There are many consequences to this, particularly after 3.5 years of Barton largely being able to achieve what he is trying to do without being struck by disaster, war or economic downturn. When we look at what happened historically to the British economy and its performance in this era, it sets things up for a very different experience of the 1970s. As for the Conservative leadership contest, Thorneycroft has the least votes as of the first round and Powell ends up winning; observers may note a more successful and sober Randolph Churchill still about as one of the Tory grandees - Operation Turpentine sees the AH-56 Cheyenne debut, providing an earlier heavy attack helicopter for the US Army - Rumblings in Malaya come from an internal return of Communist insurgency, but Britain is naturally concerned that Jakarta had something to do with it. Konfrontasi continues well and truly in DE 1968, with Borneo a steady but continuing commitment - Something is going on in China... - Bokassa's coup is apparently backed by rogue French elements as well as others - ODESSA continue to stir up trouble, but in doing so, increase the political pressure to do something about them - Jack Regan ends up quite cross that his car gets messed up - Cassius Clay vs Vladimir Zheleznyy is a grand old Cold War bout - F-111s launching Condor ASMs is just a small indicator of the more advanced air to ground capacity that has developed out of an extended Korea and the subsequent higher intensity Vietnam |
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Post by simon darkshade on Feb 1, 2022 12:56:48 GMT
May
- Matters kick off on May Day, with the French protests starting as a more Marxian revolutionist spasm compared to the New Left chienlit of @, exacerbated by magical intervention by other parties
- The French Army then puts its own contingency plans into action to reestablish order and quite coincidentally back the national unity government of the recently retired Marquis d'Ambreville. Absolutely nothing suspicious going on and no hint of manipulating the far left into creating the circumstance to clear house
- The Spaceman Rescue Agreement is the @ Astronaut RA
- Carlos is selected for special training…
- Dirty Harry shoots the Zodiac Killer
- North Vietnamese surface ships run into a battleship and battlecruiser and come off worse. What a shock
- Javelin is an all rounder missile, with some shades of the much later Exactor in some respects
- Civil defence remains a matter of very high importance, rather than being deprecated
- Shaw is a fictional character, but reflects the ongoing role of the amateur; professionalism militates against dual internationals, let alone triple
- The M165 is a powerful middleweight replacement for the 105mm in GP artillery; the 105 persists as an airborne Howitzer for now
- John Glenn gets his moment on Titan
- Emperor Sebastião is scared stiff of getting the same treatment as his father
- Billy Connolly sees action
- Boterbloem‘s abduction is eventually solved
- Sergeyev is a very different original leader
- Cavendish Foods is from To The Manor Born
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Post by simon darkshade on Feb 2, 2022 0:27:20 GMT
June
- Ottoman Turkey finds the presence of stronger external forces rather non conducive to the more expansive of her ambitions
- The son of the Hungarian prince and former Doncaster grocer's boy keeps fetching his cloth for the time being out of affection for his uncle, although he now has a fair bit more time off
- The Spanish Inquisition continues its raids and actions against the more modernist and radical elements of Spanish society
- Plenty of European militaries are getting a bit more direct combat experience in Vietnam, but it is of comparatively less utility for the type of mechanised battlefield they generally face
- The British National Plan is where Stanley Barton and Labour delve a bit more into the socialist side of things, with a distinctly British flavour and a difference from anything really done in @. Broad national goals of production and growth are set and resource needs calculated, but unlike the Eastern Bloc, the overwhelming majority of the economic does remain in private ownership. Britain does have some fairly large conglomerates akin to Japanese zaibatsu/kereitsu. Goals and the optimal means of achieving them are determined through consultation with labour unions and big business. The overall approach has a strong influence of dirigisme, with use of advanced cybernetic computer systems to assist in calculations. However, there is the flipside of this, which is a preference for lower taxes and facilitating internal economic freedom. If it seems like a bit of a confused devil's brew, then you're on the right track
- Someone keeps trying to crack Yemen open, for the important reason that it is seen as a bit of a backdoor into Arabia and the Middle East and could be used to pressure the British out of Aden
- The Congolese deployment has its own story
- The replay of the UEFA European Cup final is not an influence on the introduction of penalty shootouts
- 1566 Icarus making a relatively close pass of Earth results not in a student project, but a test of new systems in space as part of the international Project Spaceguard
- Rail is treated as less of a redheaded stepchild in the USA
- Gary Gygax has his career and ideas kickstarted by a wandering wizard. D&D enthusiasts may recognise the reference to the pouch of 1d4 random valuable objects; they inspire Gygax to create a table for that. The man loved his tables
- The Tupamaros are getting support from outside, making for a troubled situation in Uruguay that flies beneath the radar of most world attention
- Switzerland, like the rest of Europe, continues on with capital punishment
- Historically, there was nothing to stop the accidental striking of two AIM-7s on HMAS Hobart off Vietnam. Here, Voyager, which survived her run-in with Melbourne does have a Legion Close Weapons System, which consists of a 37mm rotary autocannon on a mount similar to Phalanx in @. Gun based defences were never fully abandoned by the RN and USN here, but continued on as counters to threats other than those present in the @ 1950s/60s. This has a flow on effect for coming years. The larger surface ships with a lot of AAA are not quite the same as the WW2 era stuff that we'd be familiar with, as a lot of it is unmanned, externally controlled and has quite superior sky arcs
- Bob Hawke enters Parliament 15 years earlier
- The raid on Hanoi by American, British and French bombers is a sign of cooperation after the kerfuffle of May, and of the French change in policy post Hainan
- Biggles is quite enthusiastic about the new Sopwith Camel, and rightly so
- The French crackdown is quite brutal, with Dany le Rouge only the first of many to meet an unfortunate end
- Christopher Lee, freshly back in Venice from 2 weeks in the Congo, can't manage to stay out of trouble. The result will be a knighthood and some other goodies
- The Long Term Combat Aircraft Requirements Plan is ambitious, complex, detailed, expensive and a bit of a mouthful to boot
- 2739-920 is a rather decisive margin. If the Soviets go up, the Americans won't stand still; hence limitations talks are a bit difficult
- Ratification of the 26th Amendment/repeal of the 22nd scrapes in just in time for Kennedy, throwing the election into a tizzy
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Not a great fan of his but a good song.
