shannon2007

Challenge Finalist #4

The No Surrender Challenge by Raptor

An FMS Challenge designed to suit both single and multiplayer games, the No Surrender Challenge is about stopping the Fourth Reich (a.k.a. European Union) in its tracks. Or helping it supersede nation states as we know it, whatever takes your fancy you part-time Hitler. Bear in mind you’d be a fascist, globalist pig if you choose the latter

Phase 1

Erm, actually, non of this “Phase x” boll0cks. Welcome to the most non-linear challenge in the stories forum’s history. Your only restriction (in honour of The Kevin Keegan Challenge ) is that you have to start outside the top flight of your chosen starting league.

So, no path to follow, and some vague ramblings about stopping the EU… How do we go about this? Well, as you know, some folks are happy with the union, others despise it. That’s what we invented democracy for: we sit down, talk things over, and have the majority of our democratically elected representatives decide what happens next. Right? RIGHT?! Well, not in the EU. The European Parliament is a paper tiger as we tend to say in the Netherlands, a powerless group of parliamentary rejects, a bunch of money-draining bureaucrats and a lot who quite frankly [deleted to keep secret service from Casa Raptor]. We’re talking about 700+ people here, whose voices and votes mean next to f*ck all. But we’ll use their balance of “power” as the basis for this challenge’s points nevertheless (pre-planned post-2009 figures). I’m sure they’ll sleep well tonight, knowing that for the first time in 25 years, they were good for something. So below you’ll find the number of Challenge Points up for grabs for every EU nation. This includes Romania and Bulgaria, who will join the Union in 2007.


Pts/Country
___________________________
99 Germany
72 United Kingdom
72 France
72 Italy
50 Spain
50 Poland
33 Romania
25 Netherlands
22 Greece
22 Belgium
22 Portugal
20 Czech Republic
20 Hungary
18 Sweden
17 Austria
17 Bulgaria
13 Slovakia
13 Denmark
13 Finland
12 Ireland
12 Lithuania (not selectable)
8 Latvia (not selectable)
7 Slovenia
6 Estonia (not selectable)
6 Cyprus (not selectable)
6 Luxembourg (not selectable)
5 Malta (not selectable)

Twenty-seven countries then, and 21 have their league in FM2005 (older versions have a lot less available, but this challenge is still playable on any version of CM).

Save yourself the bother of adding up everything, the total is 732, the number of MEPs from 2009 onwards. Though the EU loves to apply QMV (Qualified Majority Voting) whenever it suits the Franco-German alliance, we’ll go for the slightly more simple solution of outright majority. Earning 367 points will win you this challenge.

Got that? Good, now pay attention, cos we all know politicians are useless, especially those on the Scottish Green Party’s case. We’re gonna let footballers do the talking. It’s time to vote with the boot. Hell, they probably have more influence on people than those paid good money to run our political structures.

To earn any nation's points, achieve any of the following collections of silverware:

* two (top flight) league titles
* three FA and/or League Cups (or equivalent)
* the Double (league title + FA Cup)

Furthermore, in all but the six most valuable countries, the following combination will also suffice:
* one (top flight) league title plus 2 FA and/or League Cups (or equivalent)



Single-player mode: You’re free to change jobs around Europe and take on anything you want to. However, as soon as you move to another country, you have to win any piece of silverware (this includes charity shields, lower league cups and lower division championships, but not “mere” promotions) within 3 full seasons of going there. If you fail to do so, your mission in that particular country has failed. Should you lift any trophy, no matter how insignificant, you may carry on for a maximum of 2 further seasons (5 in total, the lifespan of a European Parliament) to meet the above criteria to earn a nation’s points. Again, if unsuccessful, it’s "mission failed", in which case the points on offer go to “the other side”. A season is deemed a full season if control of any club in that nation is obtained no later than the last day of the month of the opening (top flight) league fixture.

Leaving a country before you hit the target equals admitting defeat and sees the points go to other side, except for first time you do this (which will be your only let-off in the entire challenge). Using this solitary “escape” resets both the timer and silverware for this particular nation, so you’re free to try it again. If you dare. Please note you won’t be considered to have “left” a country until the time you’ve started a new job in a different country. If in between leaving a country and starting a new job the 3 or 5 year period to achieve success elapses, you lose that country’s points! So if you’re considering abandoning a sinking ship, leave yourself with enough time to get a job elsewhere. The final whistle blown on the final league game in the highest division (or cup final if played at a later date) constitutes the end of the season. Playoff games and the like won’t be considered a stay of execution.

Multi-player mode: no time limit, first to hit target gets points, no punishment for abandoning a country, you can always go back and pray your rival doesn’t hit the national target first.

Bonuses during the game:

Winning the UEFA Cup: points for the nation of the losing finalist (if still up for grabs and if EU member)
Winning the European Cup: points for the nation of the losing finalist (if still up for grabs and if EU member) + points for not selected nation of choice

Single-player backfire mode: losing a European final means the points of the nation beating you go against you, as a "mission failed"

Bonuses to be nominated at start of game:

1x "twinned" nation: points for any non-selected league of choice linked to outcome of attempt in other (selected) country
1x double points nomination: at the start of the game, you must nominate one country for double points. Select carefully: success means a giant leap towards hitting the overall target, failure would be a major setback. Go for maximum points in Germany, or for "safe" points in a country you know well.

City-specific bonuses:

Certain cities take a special place in EU history, as places where key treaties were signed or major institutions are hosted. Achieving national targets with clubs from these cities results in double points (note: cannot be combined with "double points nomination", maximum number of points for any single nation is twice its nominal value). This city-specific bonus cannot "backfire" on you should you fail to hit the national target.

Multiplayer alternative: instead of doubling your own points, you may opt to take the points of any other nation rated equal to or lower than your current, selected or not. This leaves you with the tactical option of ruining the hard work done by your rival, who might be about to scoop the points of that other country after a few seasons of hard work.

Treaty of Paris (ECSC)
Treaty of Rome (EEC)
Maastricht Treaty (EU)
Treaty of Nice (New balance of power)
Luxembourg (ECJ)
Frankfurt (ECB)
Brussels (EP)
Strasbourg (EP)
Amsterdam Treaty (Eastward expansion)

Single player or multiplayer, hitting the overall target of 367 points mean you win the challenge. But beware: fail in a few countries, and your score against (single player) or your rival’s tally (multiplayer) will hit 367 before you do, and that means game over. Points for any nation can only go to one player, and once they’re awarded, they’re “greyed out”. While you’re still allowed to take up managerial jobs there, they serve no purpose. The points cannot be nicked anymore, so it’s best to move elsewhere at the earliest available opportunity.

International Management

For some reason, it became fashionable to include an International management stage in about 90% of challenges submitted in the past few years, and occasionally, it looked like such a stage existed purely for the sake of having one. To counter this, I was going to ban International management from this challenge outright. But I’d only get Brussels’ anti-competition commissioner knocking on my door, and I’d rather die of AIDS/cancer/watching A**x play than listen to their sh*t, so if you want to have a stint on the International stage, by all means, be my guest. I guess I should make it interesting for you then eh? Let’s call it “Knocking on Europe’s Door”. Your restrictions are: any International team you manage has to be a non-EU member, and you can’t manage a club side at the same time. Points are obtained by eliminating EU members from the knockout stages of the European Championships, World Cup or Olympics. Your reward for taking such a scalp is their nominal value, but only if their league isn’t selected. Should any of these nations knock you out, points go against you. Furthermore, under no circumstances is it possible to win or lose the points for the six most valuable nations via this International route.


Notes:

1) At the start of the game, you must select one “home nation” (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) to represent the United Kingdom and its 72 points. At least, if you want to run any of them, that is. While you’re allowed to run, and even manage in, the other three, they do not have any influence on your points tally.

2) The handful of “double points” opportunities mean the total number of points up for grabs is actually higher than 732, but this does not change the winning target of 367. Instead, it enables people with less powerful computers to still participate in this challenge. For instance, running just three leagues (and four divisions, due to the forced lower league start) might do, if you nominate Germany as your double points nation (2x99=198), take Paris, Nice or Strasbourg to enough French glory (2x72=144), and hit the target in the Netherlands (25). This would give you exactly 367 points. Theoretically, you could even complete the challenge with just one league running, by winning a few European trophies and beating teams from powerful nations in the process.

retired_bbcarr

congratumalations, raptor. i'll certainly be having a go at this one :cool:

retired_kesavan

Good job Raptor,

Can you explained the "twinned" nation concept again? I think I understood it once, but now I'm not so sure. Thanks

Raptor

At the start of the game you "twin" the points of a league you haven't selected to run in your game to a league you did selected. For instance: you run the French League, but not the Danish, and choose to twin Denmark and France. This means that if you accomplish your mission in France, you not only get the 72 points on offer here, but also the 13 for Denmark. Likewise, if you fail in France, the Danish points also go against you.

Raptor

To make things easier to track for both the Challenge Log and the FMS Index, can everybody attempting this challenge please start their thread title with (NSC) ?

Thanks in advance

Raptor

Challenge Log - Last Update: Sunday 1 May 2005, 11:23 Standard Brussels Time

Active attempts to overthrow the Fourth Reich:

************************************************** ************************************************** ****

Name: Raptor
Progress file: (insert URL)

Countries targeted: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands
Key target (double points): United Kingdom
Hidden agenda (twinned nation): Bringing Belgium back into the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Constituencies won: -
Constituencies lost: -
Constituencies undecided: Germany (99), England (72x2), France (72), Italy (72), Spain (50), Netherlands-Belgium (25+22)

Current overall status (won-lost): 0-0

************************************************** ************************************************** ****

Friends of the Union:

(none)


Failed attempts to undermine Brussels' Blueprint:

(none)


Winners of the Iron Cross Mk.II:

(none)

retired_bootcamp_nat

Will definately have a shot at this one. I'm looking for a new career to start!

I presume nationality is not an issue, should i be a non-eu national perhaps? It would seem appropriate. I love the non-linear approach, opens up all sorts of interesting angles to attack this challenge.

Just a little query. What do the 'friends of union', 'brussels blueprint' and 'iron cross' refer to?? Did i miss something, i read it quite quickly.

Cheers though. Nice one!

retired_bootcamp_nat

Wondering which nation are you thinking of starting in raptor?

Oh and do we need to specify nation to represent UK in the countries targeted (just that you didn't?) - who are you selecting?

Raptor

Yes, you'll need to specify which league will represent the UK. :thup: I actually did that in the Constituencies Undecided list.

Raptor

"Active attempts to overthrow the Fourth Reich" and "Friends of the Union" are active challenge attempts from the anti-EU and pro-EU point of view respectively, the other two (note: I'm fairly confused here, cos I had 6 options :/) refer to abandoned challenge attempts from the anti-PoV and successfully completed pro-EU challenges.