Hidden in the backwaters and back corner of the room was the small Island nation of Great Britain. We were hard to find, you needed to fight your way past boisterous French and Spanish teams from one side or Russians and Italians from the other. Not something many people were willing to do, not when there was a room full of easy pickings. Those that did make it through were often rewarded with the open and honest friendship of the British (and a sandwich).
I was playing the Prime Minister of the UK and tried to set very clear objectives to the team (without wanting to spoil their autonomy and fun)
Our team was a mix of friends and strangers. Our Foreign Minister, Ex UN ambassador (now Chief pure Scientist) and I had run our own brand of the WTS game down in Southampton but it was the first time we had played and it was similar for the Chief of Defence and Senior Ambassador who had organised a game in Edinburgh. The vice Chief of Defence had friends in other teams but had been dropped into ours, to our great pleasure. We had a last minute addition to our team, not sure where you came from but thank you, who took on the heavy mantle of UN ambassador. By the time we all met in person it did not feel like meeting strangers as we had weeks of talking via social media before the day.
During those discussions I developed the following strategies for our national objectives;
1. Protect our national interests
· Protect UK Airspace from all unknown craft
· Protect regional (European) Airspace from all unknown craft
· Support Allies in defending their Airspace from unknown craft
2. Do not become eclipsed by France
· Work with Megacorps to ensure that we maintain our global economic power
· Maintain a level of scientific funding to ensure we always have an edge
3. Keep rocking the free world
· Support conventional peacekeeping efforts in all areas that affect our national interests
· Allocate a budget crisis budget to the UN envoy
4. Be taken seriously as a world power
· Don't overreact to situations
· Gain Cabinet approval before acting.
· Maintain nuclear non proliferation and work towards world nuclear disarmament
Oh and the one objective everyone has, to be remembered! (hopeful not for something silly)
So a good and clear plan from the start... well the first issue arose before we even entered the building, our Chief scientist was unable to make it (there are unsubstantiated rumours that he may have been kidnapped by another member of our team), We thought that not having a scientist in the game would have devastating effect, so our UN ambassador had to take on the role of science officer* , and we were given an new member (found a stray) to take over as our UN ambassador (if you ever read this, you did a great job)
The first task for the team was to set up an intelligence network with some of our old commonwealth allies, we identified South Africa, Australia, India and Canada giving us eyes on each map. Must admit thought it was going to be a difficult task but within a few moment we had a group set up on our phones (somehow missed our own foreign minister of the list, sorry).
We identified that it would be best to support Africa with any SIF's we didn't need for our own airspace, we issued a crisis fund to the UN and we were ready for turn 1...
Then... it all becomes a blur...
I will cut it into Early, Mid and Late game as I’m not sure when events really happened and time was speeding past without a moment to think.
Early game:
Turn 1.... A sat calm waiting for reports back from the team, my phone beeped as the 5 eyes intelligence network reports flooded in, no sightings in Africa, Nil Americas, Nowt in south Asia... nothing anywhere... well that was a lot of wasted money, but guess it was not worth the risk of not deploying.
Diplomacy goes well, we starting to get a foothold in Africa and bolster our neighbouring countries defences... all feels nice
We are making deals with LEXcorp as they have a HQ and want zero tax, sorry but my public will not stand for that but what could offer is 100% reinvestment and science sharing and maybe a 50% tax cut once we see results... I really thought it was a fair and good trade but they threaten to move out of the UK... I'm sure it’s all bluster.
The team reports back and we go over the objectives again, I ask Science to research alternative energy as I hope that I can offer it as an incentive to disarm the world's nuclear weapons...
Next turn, or some turn after that... Nigeria demand to know what we are doing in Niger, nothing I tell them, just what to improve our relations in the region, they come back with cutting remark “how would you feel if we allied with Island?” good point I'll ensure my diplomat talks to you before we do anything in the area...
I do a meet and greet with my European neighbours as I've not spoken to them yet, I get the feeling that they are trying to form a European superpower. Not sure how I feel so find myself repeatedly say “we must stand as a united Europe but as individuals nations”, and “why do we need another alliance we already have the EU and NATO?”... about this time my Intelligence network phone is buzzing with reports of UFO’s hitting different regions and offers of assistance from those unaffected quickly come in response. it's nice to see the 5 eyes network working.
We have another team talk and it is apparent that there is bad feelings developing towards the US presence in Europe, more pink UN crisis slips are handed to me but I don’t have time to read them. I just hand them off to the UN Ambassador or Foreign Minister whoever is standing next to me hoping they'll give me a briefing if i need to know anything. I hand out money, expecting cash flow to be an issue but I still have some left over... things still look ok but we don’t know anything.
Europe is suddenly talking about mobilising against the US and forming a new alliance with Russia, I'm panicking a little, and I don't want war in my region! Then one of my team has made a deal with AIM and wants to know if they can build a manufacturing base in the UK. Yes, jobs are good let them come... and i find myself saying things like “you need to talk to my scientist about that” and “that sounds like a good deal, you can hash out the details with my foreign minister” or “I’ll be with you in two minutes” I said that a lot...
“Now can someone get the President of America?” To my surprise he arrived a few moments later, we exchanged contact details and assured each other that we would work closely together... I warn him about the turning tide in Europe.
As we drift into the Mid game the edges of my cool crisp plans are starting to blur, I'm starting to blur... Nigeria want Air support but then back out at the last minute... Germany is getting angry about the US... there are Un issues unresolved and science is happening. I find myself confronting the US president and insisting that they de-escalate their forces in Europe, but even when they have three of their team I'm still instant that they make the first move, (inside I'm worried that if this doesn't work the Europeans will see the UK as insignificant and go and form an alliance without us. then out grip on Europe would slip). Some how we pull a NATO meeting out of the hat, It feels official, even Canada show up. The meeting start confrontational, the US want troops in Germany to protect their nukes, and they Germans don't what the US anywhere near. There are many loud voices around the table making it clear that of Europe don’t what other nations in our airspace. The meeting ends with agreement that we would share intelligence (if we had any) and that US would not mobilise anything in Europe unless they had the agreement of 3 nations. It felt like a result.
We had another few turns of EU meetings which revolved around us agreeing to share info about aliens but no one really sharing anything, which I think lead to its slow demise...
At one point Brazil came over and asked why we had ships off the Falkland isles, to be honest we only did it to annoy up the Argentineans but agreed to move it before it caused any real issues.
At one point I found myself standing in the middle of the room, just blindly staring at nothing. I didn't really knowing what I was doing out in the open, there were so many people. I didn't know who to talk to or what to talk about. Sometimes people did come and ask me for things but I didn't really hear what they were saying. Either they were trying to sell things, needing science or wanting support in the UN. I nodded told them to go talk to my team... at one point my Vice Chief of defence wanted cash for a new toys and I just gave it out like a father trying to please his estrange kids.
Back at my desk where I’d still not heard from any Aliens, Press, Humanity First or the Pope, (but then we did break into the Vatican on a number of occasions to steal tech and info... ) when control came over to inform me that I had a dossier showing evidence that Iran was building nukes, so I went back out into the world to share my new found information only to find that half the world already knew
Whilst wondering around in a daze I was approached by a member of the Japan team who was enthusiastically trying to get me to tell him all I knew about the aliens, all I wanted to know was what his stance on Iran was.
It was not long after that, that Japan gathered as many Nations for a secret meeting to talk openly and honestly about aliens. France was trying to talk to the Aliens, but no one else admitted to talking to aliens yet. There was an agreement to share some Alien translation device and I proposed that we put through a UN mandate lifting the restriction over Antarctica so that everyone could send in their forces. From this meeting I found out that America wanted to shoot the asteroid that was heading our way, I lied and said that our science team had evidence that it would not work, it was the first and only time I lied in the game but it was for a good cause.
Late game and things are getting really fuzzy, the order I remember things in might not be in sync with reality but please bear with my bad writing and strange style (I normally have an editor to re write everything but he’s away on a skiing trip)
I make an agreement with the US to mediate in the disarmament of Iran, I inform them that I will give Iran Green energy technology as a sweetener to the deal. Then i never hear about it again. I never even spoke to Iran in person
My Foreign Minister, who I only see in flashes, tells me that the Commonwealth teams are going to see the aliens and we have been offered a place. Great some news about the Aliens at last. He also tells me that they don’t recognise us as a sentient species they only recognise the whales. I tell him that he can take my place on the ship (just in case it all goes wrong)
I rush to tell Japan and US about this news only to find that I'm still behind the curve, but I let them know that we'll have more info soon...
My phone buzzes [the UN has been abducted] [we have a spy on board]. The world panics, Spain laughs, heads of state run around someone tries to have a UN meeting and I find that I'm torn between that and a meeting with the USA, China, Japan.. I end up finding myself backing the Japanese in their global apology to the whales. It was a little underwhelming. What I thought was going to be a bizarre and funny moment was overshadowed by the less but still funny abduction of the UN... I wasn't worried 007 was on board the UFO Mothership.
Tokyo gets hit, the whole city wiped-out. Oddly it is so far from our issues that I don't even blink. My phone was buzzing about Indonesia collapsing and war breaking out in South Sudan,
Then came the emergency UN Security meeting, it was a fast paced meeting trying to get through all the normal issues, deal with the crises talk about the abduction, vote on incoming members. I’m ashamed to say that while Japan was giving a heartfelt appeal for support from the UN I was distracted by a far more pressing problem! Russian had declared war on NATO! I found that I had blurted it out halfway through Japans address. Sorry, Japan, I'm a little embarrassed but I was sitting there with 3 members of NATO and the Russian Prime Minister or president (I never really knew which was which). There was an offer to extend the meeting for a PR penalty but I felt I needed to get back to our region and try and sort out this war!
Unsurprisingly the rest of Europe was in talks with Russia by the time we got back they wanted to split it down the centre which didn't sound good... but better than war and at this point the world was on the brink... I ensure that USA was on board with the split but by this time little squabbles over land was beneath us all... then it all came to an end.
Hope you enjoyed reading my version of the days events, there are things I left out things I forgot and things in the wrong order and probable with the wrong people.
Some final highlights of the day... being handed a note from the Aliens to the whales (purposeful misdirection from control) while stood in front of the USA team. Telling the US ambassador to Europe that our spies had uncovered the Popes facilities in Arizona trying to make it sound like it was a really important find only to have my Vice CoDS come over and say "how about that telescope the Pope has in the states"
Other moments: the Turkish team getting money out of different members of my team without us knowing and us all thinking it was going towards solving the Greece crisis. LEXcorp who got upset about us not budging on tax and didn’t follow up on our research agreement and left the UK for pastures greener came back offering us deals so that we would go into talks about the Falklands so they could get their spy back and having nothing to offer us (sorry LEXcore but it was fun)
I’m sure I could go on but I won't and if you've struggled through my misspelling and bad grammar thank you.
Would I play again? Yes
Did it inspire me to run more games? Yes
Would I do one that size? Um... no
Could things be done better? Yes
Could things have been a lot worse? Oh hell yeah, it was a smooth operation for that size game.
Well done and thank you Jim and the control team.
Many thanks to everyone I interacted with, and looking forward to an opportunity to playing again soon
Zane
UK PM
if you are interested in Games in Southampton check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/SouthamptonMegagame/
and http://infinitehorizons.futuregame.co/
* (I would like to note that this scientist was the worlds best and most clever scientist in the whole wide world! beating all other scientists, even japan, to become the game award winning cleverest scientist and he just started the day as a lowly UN an ambassador, that's right kids you are only limited by your dreams)