[FH] NRE

> > > it does seem that the NRE is trying to be totally economically and
> > > industrially autonomous, and to be able to deal with all external
problems
> > > by force rather than diplomacy.
> > Not necessarily.  It does tend to resort to force rather blatantly
when
> > it does resort to force, but subtly bribing opponents works as
> > well
> 
> not exactly what i meant by diplomacy; diplomacy is getting your way
> through talking alone - knowledge is power. i believe the new
bavarians
> are running a course on this. bribery and corruption in this manner is
> simply an extension of military force.

Well, I wouldn't go that far.  I'd say it's an extension of your
espionage
arm

> > Not something you brag about.  Ideal way to handle publicity is to
let
> > your opponent spend his budget accusing you of these actions, then
> > blandly neither confirm nor deny, allowing potential enemies (and
> > potential allies) to draw their own conclusions.  
> 
> maybe. the best way is not to let your enemy know he is your enemy.
> 
> > The NRE does get away with being more forceful in it's responses to
it's
> > various enemies because they aren't the only ones tweaking them. 
(snip)

> it seems a little convenient that all the powers are constantly locked
in
> battle with mortal enemies except the NRE. what if the NSL, ESU and
the
> dutch all managed to pull together and come a-knocking?

I have to agree with Tom on this, and I think, John...

(taking a deep breath before plunging in where angels fear to tread)

...that there is a fairly grating incongruity between the historical
Byzantines (who had the only really professional army and foreign
service
of their day, with their opponents mostly being unsophisticated) and the
NRE.  The NRE, as described, doesn't seem to *rely* on being clever; and
in
the GZG-verse, it simply isn't the biggest, baddest power around. 
Whoever
mentioned South Africa had, perhaps, a good analogy.  South Africa is
the
toughest power in that area by a long shot, but the potential to
casually
swat Angola doesn't mean they could treat England the same way.  Your
tagmatic troops may be the toughest, roughest, most highly disciplined
troops between here and Velikiy Alarish--but the FSE Legionnaires are
probably pretty hot stuff too, and there are a lot more of them.  Maybe
a
little more of "the NRE troops were badly outnumbered, but superior
discipline and military tech were sufficient to inflict a defeat on the
brave, but poorly trained, IF forces."	Everyone loves an
underdog--that's
why my Alarishi Empire is a SMALL power.
  Just my $.02