Fragged Kaiserreich. (F/Any/GM. Kaiserriech+Fragged Empires: Dieselpunk Mecha)

[Lustful Bride]

This world is not our own, it is not the best of all possible timelines, but one on the verge of utter collapse and a war even greater than the supposed 'War to End all Wars'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpByj58anmc

After the Great War ended in a victory for Germany and its allies, France and England were forced to bend the knee and pay off the war debts of the victors, eventually sending them into such a terrible economic collapse that Germany found it as justification to send in soldiers to reestablish order and turn both nations into Client States. The English royal family escaped to Canada, where they rule in exile. The Turkish empire, the old man of empires, finally died out, thanks in part to the efforts of T.E. Lawrence and his partisans, who now works with resistance fighters in England, trying to liberate his homeland as he did to the tribes in the middle east.

Despite having chosen to remain neutral during the Great War, the German Empire uses its new economic power to put pressure on the New World to ensure that the upstart nations there don't try to be a problem later on. It only serves to worsen an already stressed situation, as America faced economic disaster unlike any other. The following civil unrest, and the rise of insurrectionists from within their shores kept the Americans far too occupied to be able to worry about what happens across the sea.

With no real force to oppose them, the German Empire moved like a juggernaut all through Europe and Russia, building a legacy to shape the future of the world with numbers and an industry that is unrivaled. In the far East, the Empire of Japan moves with astonishing economic strength and with new inventions, unopposed even by Germany, who cares not for that region. Soon Korea, and large chunks of China, fall to the Empire as they seek resources and manpower to expand even farther, threatening New Zealand and Australia.

It seems that the future will be in the hands of two empires who seek to rule the old world, and once they are done, they might just come for the new world. And this fear is on the minds of many in Washington, so much so, that they fail to see the writing on the walls about their own internal issues. Maybe if they had, things would not have gone as they did.

Then on one morning, comes Black Thursday. A terrible economic crash in Germany that leaves many committing suicide as the Reichmark collapses. The economic impact is felt all across the world, and served as a spark to ignite the second greatest conflict that the planet Earth has ever seen.

The new Kaiser will not see his empire fall. He will keep it alive, no matter the cost. Even if he must commit sins unlike any other. And so he crushes unrest and rioting with military action as the army replaces police forces, martial law is declared and even simple civil protests are cracked down upon.

In an effort to show that the Empire is not weak, he orders military action against weaker nations near their borders, to inspire the populace with nationalism and to also lay claim to new territory. They must be like ancient Rome, to constantly expand or they will meet their end.

Many of the client states see this as the time to rise up, the empire cannot be everywhere at once, and if they try to be, it will hurt them more than any resistance. So rebels and insurrectionists act out, fanning the fires of revolution, sometimes wanting to see a spread of communism or syndicalism in their nation, instead of just throwing off the yoke of the empires. Many smaller nations, which had at one point been loyal to Germany and dependent upon its support, collapse in on themselves into anarchy due to the failure of their money, only serving to add to the insanity of the world.

The War economy might be the only thing keeping the German Empire moving, and so they will have a war, of conquest and expansion, to push off the collapse until they have a better path out of ruin. While the Empire of Japan moves out to claim much of this open land without fear of threatening the stretched German Empire.

With all of the chaos in the world, it was only a matter of time until it would hit the Western Hemisphere. In the United States, the land of freedom is being drenched in blood once more as brother fights brother and entire families end under the anarchy that is the Second American Civil War.

By the time that the twin Empires begin to expand and spread their armies out, the civil war is in full swing as various factions carve up the Continental US, each one seeing themselves as the saviors of the nation, while they weaken it and make them vulnerable to outside influence and eventual attack.

General Douglass MacArthur was put in charge of the military response to growing insurrection and violent militias. It was one of Congress's last acts before many were killed by armed attackers during the true opening phases of the war. There were many groups who sought to see the United States fall, but the main forces were the Syndicalists who despised the capitalist government of the country, and the America First Union, which seemed to change every other day on what exactly it stood for, but mostly it just seemed they were united by the goals of racial supremacy, and their desire to see federal power collapse.

When the revolts began across the country police were struck first, then the soldiers that Mac had deployed to snuff out these fires. Then, seemingly over night, several states in the north and south had seceded and DC was trapped between two opposing fronts that only agreed on one thing, they wanted the US to die. The only faction that didn't want to see that was the West Coast, but they only sought neutrality instead of standing with the rest of the nation.

Chain of command was completely blown to hell, with lines of communication broken, and no one knowing who was loyalist and who wasn't. MacArthur was in a bad position, with little backup beyond scattered loyalist soldiers and partisans.

With no other choice, he leads loyalist soldiers and militia members to the center of the country to reinforce what they can around a loyalist military base that still swears allegiance to the Constitution. But as he falls back with his soldiers, taking as many valuable artifacts and paintings from the White house and surrounding buildings as they can, he swears that he shall return to Washington D.C. and reunite the 50 states under the federal government once more.

The United States may be the last nation able to truly stand against the Empires of both Japan and Germany, they cannot fall, they must be reunited.

Down with the Traitors, up with the Stars!



The CSA, AUS, the Pacific States, all of them traitors to a man. MacArthur needs every advantage he can get to defeat these forces. But he cant fight a war on two fronts, that's suicide. He has to play with the cards that have been dealt to him. And so he signs a treaty with the PSA to keep them from entering the war, while he focusing on defeating the CSA and AUS. Along the way several people of great intellect flee to the loyalist territory of Denver where the USA is still alive and well. Among them are Albert Einstein and a strange and eccentric man named Tesla, and many others, who begin crafting something new, to turn the tide and put an end to the Civil War, and maybe give the USA a much needed advantage against the twin empires that are even now spreading their influence. In this world no one has the luxury of just sitting and plugging their ears. They have to pick a side, and these intellectuals have chosen to side with the Eagle of America.

They create several brand new inventions as the geniuses are consolidated together and given what resources Mac is still able to spare. Chief among those inventions is what can only be described as a tank with legs. The Vertical Walker. It is faster, uses less fuel and is more maneuverable than the combat cars of the Empires. It might just prove to be the deciding factor in the war. There are only 50 of them so far, but production is already underway, thanks to aid from Canada in a Lend Lease act.



Soon, a mixed blessing arrived to boost the chances of the Loyalist soldiers. Japanese forces have taken the Phillipines, Manila, Independent Hawaii, and may be moving to the West Coast, thinking the US easy prey, and seeking their vast resources for themselves.

Instead of maintaining neutrality, the Pacific States of America make the best choice that they can, and rejoin the United States of America, bringing many factories and a slew of new manpower and territory to the USA. As part of the agreement they are re-integrated to the USA, while MacArthur must sign a treaty assuring that when the crisis is over, he will not become a dictator, and will release his emergency powers back to Congress after a new election. As such MacArthur must reroute his forces to help defend the West Coast if the Japanese are truly on their way. They cannot allow a foreign power to gain a foothold on American soil.

Which means he must figure out how many VWs to send to each front of the war. They are limited and it takes time to train those crews and the support units around them.

To deal with the extra strain on men and resources, he signs orders under his emergency powers that allow women from the various specialized all-female branches of the service to now take the fight to the traitors to the nation.

Many are surprised to see women on the frontlines of this new war, but they have always been there, fighting alongside their American brothers since the days of the War for Independence, and they are just as willing to get dirty and break a nail as the boys are.



Only a month later he would also sign more orders to allow people of many races to join in whatever branch they wish, those who disagree face his wrath, and those who lash out with violence against their fellow soldiers face either the baton of an MP, or a firing squad.

With a single stroke of a pen, MacArthur brings sweeping changes to the United States with reforms that give more rights to its citizens, something the AUS would never do, (Due to many of its members being proud members of the Klan and trying to change the nation to suit their own needs) and soon refugees are flocking to the Loyalist lines and calling Mac a Progressive. And many of them are willing to fight and die for these new freedoms they have been granted, even if it was done due to the nation being in need.

With AUS territory weakened, Mac plans to hit them first with a rapid strike force of infantry and Vertical Walkers, knocking them out of the fight with a hard blow, and retaking the south in his own version of Sherman's March. But he cannot risk sending too many units there, or risking his most skilled veterans when they may be needed to fend off the Japanese invasion. So instead he grabs many of these newcomers from the PSA and AUS refugees and gets them into fighting shape, to join one of several brand new, integrated divisions. The United States will be made strong again, no matter the cost.

They just need a few good soldiers.



Welcome to the 183rd Walker unit.

So I have once again been watching way too many videos on Kaiserreich, an alternate history mod following a world where Germany won the First World War, and my muse came up with the idea of using the Fragged Empires sourcebook called 'Dieselpunk Mecha' as a way to spice things up abit and make it possible to roleplay within the setting. We just need to swap out names, maps, and boom! We got a working homebrew.

As you can no doubt tell I am interested in playing on the side of the Federalists, fighting to reunite the broken and fractured United States.

If it helps I would also be alright with messing around with the timeline more and making the events of the 2nd ACW less of a nightmare to keep track of. I'd be perfectly fine with going with a canon similar to the one in this video, where the Civil War is just between the USA and the AUS. The government made peace with some of the Syndicalists (and yay we now have free healthcare), while going to war with the Fascist cancer rising in the south. As a matter of fact I kind of like this timeline better than the one I came up with myself. It is a more noble fight for the soul of America, ending in McArthur turning from the American Caesar, into the American Cincinnatus and giving up his power (either through honor, or because he hated running everything instead of being just a soldier).

It also ends the war much faster and can present options for the future for how the now reunited United States can proceed and influence the world.

If you are up for it we can even include more fantastical elements to the setting alongside these old timey mechs.

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I do have to admit up front, that the politics and big players of the world of Kaiserreich are not really all that well known to me. I get some of them mixed up alot and I'm left wondering who is who and why they do the things that they do.   So I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable of the setting might show interest and won't mind having to explain something to me twenty or so times. We could even work some of that cluelessness into my character who was just spending her life shuffling papers before the war broke out.

If this interests you let me know in a PM and we can see if we can work something out together :)