Haukland



Haukland is one of the numerous splinter-states born out of the Griffonian Empire’s collapse. Lead by the eccentric flying ace Hermann Meyer, it stands at the crossroads between Griffonia and Equus and has become a hotbed of piracy, pirates with air-support no less. Despite his status as a warlord, Meyer rules the nation as a benevolent dictator, content to let his griffons be as long as they don't interfere with his authority and allow him his antics. For years, he has let Haukland go with the flow, secure and thriving in its unique and rudimentary way but now, he seems bored with the status quo. And the Hauklanders know that Meyer is never as dangerous and unpredictable as when he is bored.

Haukland, Haven of Scum and Villainy
In its former years, the Hauklandish Isles lived in infamy as a safehaven for pirates and smugglers. Exiles fleeing prosecution or scandal would find themselves here. Its strategic location in the north of the Celestial Sea, between Equus and Griffonia, made it a natural point of stoppage. A special tax was levied on passersby treading the waters. In spite of this, many Equestria ponies traveled to the isles, using it as a base from which they would go elsewhere on the griffon continent itself. In this time, it became known as "The Crossroad". The islands continued to grow in wealth and population, from traders passing through and settlers seeking adventure, in addition to less honest sources of revenue.

This time would eventually come to an end. The newly formed Griffonian Empire, under Kaiser Grover I, conquered the isles with ease. Under Imperial rule, Haukland was no place for scoundrels, and order was instated.

Before long, the Empire used Haukland as a stepping stone for future ventures of its own on Equus. Troops were stationed at Haukland before being sent to forcefully carve a colony for the Empire, founding Nova Griffonia in 783 ALB from the coastal holdings of the  Kingdom of Yakyakistan and  Kingdom of Pingland. With time however, naval technology advanced, allowing for greater range, and with time, Haukland declined. It was no longer the crossroads it had once been, nor the smuggler's den, and ships advanced enough could bypass it entirely. Relatively isolated from the rest of the Empire, the hive of scum and villainy became naught but a simple fishing province.

Hermann Meyer's Wild Ride
In 978 ALB, the Empire was thrown into chaos. Years of instability and unrest have culminated in the Republican Uprising, and many of its former vassals secede, the young emperor having fled the capital. The Griffonian Republic is declared. Kemerskai and other officers lead the revolt, among them, a young griffon named Hermann Meyer. Meyer was a gifted, charismatic, if eccentric, pilot in the recently-founded Imperial Air Force before the revolution, and was instated as head of the new Republican Air Force, though he ultimately cared little for the Republican dream.

The republic didn't hold control for long, and was overthrown by the Counter-Revolution in the next year. Meyer, rather than die "in the defense of a fool's dream", fled to Haukland with all of his pilots who would follow, to make their own place in history. Together, they dropped everything, and took off. Their cross-country flight ignored all warnings and hails from either side's forces, and stopped for nothing, save for Meyer giving air support as a favor to a Republican officer. This mad dash would later be known as the "Wild Ride".

"Meyer's Flying Aces", as they would later be known, arrived at Haukland and Meyer declared himself as its independent ruler. There was no resistance, the garrison having either deserted or left for the war on the continent. The populace accepted, having long lost their spirit, expecting the Empire to return. But it never did. Under Meyer's rule, Haukland's legacy has been revitalized. The harbors became a haven of piracy once more, with Meyer's aircraft giving a much needed edge over modern ships. The Crossroads Tax was re-instated, much to the protest of surrounding powers, who sent threats, but ultimately conceded, determining it would simply be cheaper to pay the tax than fight the pirates. Meyer's Haukland is dominated by cronies but has largely adopted a Laissez-faire policy, with loose regulations and low taxes. These only encourage more immigrants in search of opportunity.

Creatures come from all over the world for a bit of adventure and spoils. Who's to say the self-proclaimed Graf can't take a path of his own?

Starting Situation
Haukland is a small island nation located between the Equus and Griffonia continents. It consists of two island chains: the northern Winterhold and World's End islands, and the southern Haukland islands, the latter of which holds Haukhamn, the capital city of Haukland. Haukland has a very low population, generally low social development levels, and very poor industry.

The Kingdom of Vedina maintains a land connection with Winterhold. It is worth considering fortifying this connection, as the loss of the northern islands, though not enough to ordinarily cause capitulation, would be a significant blow regardless. They hold nearly a third of the population, and a singular civilian factory. If this connection can be held, enemy forces may only enter Haukish territory through naval landings or para-drops, each of which Haukland can better handle.

Military
Haukland's Land Forces include two divisions of marines with 6.5k ponypower each, split between Haukland's islands. More troops will be needed to adequately defer landings, or hold the crossing from Winterhold to Vedina. Ponypower is very low starting out and should be managed between the military's branches with care.

Haukland's Naval Forces are rather weak, consisting of two Destroyer Is and a Battlecruiser I, but should be built up to prevent invasions. Having competitive naval strength will also allow Haukland to raid any nations it has a navy equal to or stronger in force.

Haukland's Air Forces are its biggest strength, with a wing of 150 fighters and 75 bombers, each made up of veterans and led by aces. Though the aircraft are outdated, their highly experienced pilots will make up for it, for a time. There is only one air base present in Haukland itself, and though the bombers can make the distance, Haukland's fighters will not be able to cover most of the northern holdings with their early aircraft.

Threats and Opportunities

 * United Dragon Isles hold several islands to the Southeast of Equestria. Meyer will launch an invasion to subjugate them later. Though the attack itself isn't particularly difficult, as the dragons cannot maintain a strong military, a navy with sufficient range will be needed to land a naval invasion. If the player splits off the heavy cruiser they begin with, and manually move it, they will have the range necessary for the invasion.
 * Kingdom of Vedina is also one of Meyer's targets. Haukland will face them if they are to complete their political focus tree.
 * Socialist Republic of Skynavia, northeast of Vedina, will potentially be the most powerful of enemies Meyer seeks to conquer. They may have annexed or created a puppet state in Vedina by the time Meyer is ready to attack.
 * Skyfall Trade Federation may invade Haukland through a decision unlocked through their foreign policy focuses. Their starting navy is significantly stronger, so proper preparation will be needed for this, if it does happen. Haukland will be warned with an event popup when Skyfall unlocks the decision to invade Haukland.
 * Griffonian Empire may return to prominence and attempt to retake Haukland. Haukish forces will likely be highly outmatched, with ponypower as a limiting factor. Their best bet for survival in this case is holding defenses until another participant joins the war.

Naval Raiding
Haukland's history of piracy lives on, and naval raids may be conducted on powers with lesser navies. Haukland may only conduct naval raids on countries with a weaker naval strength (total number of ships) than itself. There is a 75% chance of success in each raid launched, regardless.

A successful raid will immediately give political power (for a total of ), and  ponypower. Haukland will also receive a national spirit, granting:
 * political power gain
 * consumer goods factories
 * factory output
 * dockyard output

The national spirit will last for one year, during which Haukland may not launch any raids. Once it expires, another raid may be launched.

If Haukland fails the raid, it will immediately result in political power,  stability,  war support, and  ponypower.

Victims of successful raids are faced with political power,  stability, and  ponypower, but gain  war support, for 1 year. If the raid is held off, the target will lose ponypower, but gain  political power.

National Focus


Haukland's focus tree consists of three trees: a main story tree under Meyer's Fiefdom, an Industry tree under Bridging the Archipelago, and a military tree under Branching Out.

Hermann Meyer has ruled over Haukland for many years, but is preparing for something bigger. The first half of Haukland's main tree (from Meyer's Fiefdom to The King of the Isles) strengthens Haukland in general, with improvements for a variety of areas.
 * Meyer's Fiefdom

Following The King of the Isles, Meyer begins to expand his domain and begin his own conquests. Meyer will seek to conquer the United Dragon Isles first. Annexing and coring the Dragonlands will give Haukland much potential, as they will have access to special, powerful dragon troops.

Once the dragons have been properly dealt with, Meyer will continue his expansion into northern Griffonia, declaring war on the Kingdom of Vedina and the  Socialist Republic of Skynavia. Should he succeed, he will finish his story by declaring himself the King of Vedina, coring all Vedinan and Skynavian lands.

Bridging the Archipelago improves the land Haukland holds, and empowers it with national spirits. This tree can greatly speed up research in general, and improves production. A choice will need to be made between Industrialization Effort and The Riches of Haukland. While the former aids in production, the latter serves to increase the resources extracted and trade.
 * Bridging the Archipelago

Branching Out deals with strengthening Haukland's military. Most focuses here give research bonuses in their respective technologies, but some will actually create buildings and spawn divisions and ships. A few automatically research technologies as well. There are powerful national spirits and equipment to be gained.
 * Branching Out

The Great Retreat
If Haukland had not yet conquered the Dragons, a new political path will become available when the Griffonian Republic is fully annexed by any country other than the National Republican Army. An event will fire which shows the remnants of Kemerskai's Republican forces mounting an organized retreat towards Haukland.

Another event will fire where Meyer will order his generals to purge the Republicans. His generals can choose to follow Meyer's orders or secretly aid the Republicans instead. If Meyer's generals helped the Republicans, another event will fire where the Republicans will attempt a coup on Meyer, which can succeed or fail.

If the Republicans' coup fails, general Erhard Frosch, who defected to the Republicans, will be killed. A cosmetic event appears, showing Meyer extinguishing the Republican dream for good by killing all the Republican leaders and symbolically tossing Kemerskai Jr.'s Republican flag into the sea.

If the generals helped the Republicans, and the Republicans are successful in their coup, they will take over Haukland, opening up a new political focus tree. The military and the industry trees will be maintained.

Haukland will hoist the Republican tricolor and take up the mantle of the Griffonian Republic. Meyer and Onyx Star will stop being generals. The national spirit The Old Guard is replaced with The New Guard, which grants -15% Stability, +5% War Support, +10% Division Attack and Defense on core territory.

Once the Republicans take over Haukland, a Military Council is put into power. Kemerskai did not flee Cloudbury and went down with his Republic; the current Republican leadership consists of veteran Schnabel Sunglider, statesgriff Walter Emerich, and Kemerskai's son Alexander Kemerskai Jr. The remnant Republic will honor the Iron Marshal and bring Meyer to justice.

Hold The Haukhamn Conference will have the triumvirate of leaders convene in Meyer's mansion to decide on the direction the Republic should take. Each leader corresponds to one political path.


 * Military Unification: Alexander Kemerskai Jr. has been chosen to lead the Republic. Grieved by the death of his father, Kemerskai Jr. has adopted a hardline stance to militarily consolidate the last of the Republic's forces and stand against the Imperials.
 * Into The Future: Kemerskai Jr. declares the Republic reborn and looks forward to another war with the Imperials. Grants +5% War Support and +5% Division Attack and Defense on core territory.
 * Learn From The Past: Kemerskai Jr. slows down and tries to prevent himself from becoming yet another tyrant. Grants +10% stability.
 * Political Tutelage: Schnabel Sunglider has been chosen to lead the Republic. Sunglider is a Republican veteran, and will uphold Kemerskai's policies, creating a strong but benevolent state in Haukland that will slowly transition the nation into a democracy.
 * For Our Defense: Sunglider focuses Haukland's resources on its military. Grants +7.5% stability and +5% Division Defense on core territory.
 * For Our Prosperity: Sunglider focuses Haukland's resources on the people's welfare. Grants +7.5% stability and +5% production efficiency cap.
 * Constitutional Government: Walter Emerich has been chosen to lead the Republic. Emerich has heared the grievances the Hauklanders have on the Republicans, and decides to embrace the Republic's ideals and trust in the people, implementing democracy and synthesizing the Republican and Hauklander identity.
 * The Dream Above All: Emerich upholds the Republic's old dreams of a true Griffonian Republic. Grants +0.15 Daily PP Gain and +7.5% stability.
 * A New Dream: Emerich proclaims a new Republican vision on Haukland, abandoning its pan-Griffonian vision in favor of a regional republic. The national spirit The Last Guard (the renamed version of The New Guard when Disband The Council is taken) will be removed, the country will be renamed to Republic of Haukland, and the country's ideology changes to Harmony.

The center three focuses, Go It Alone, Our Friends From Across The Sea, and A Deal With Maar, are the Republic's foreign policy focuses.


 * Go It Alone: The Republic continues its fight alone. Grants the national spirit Alone And Armed, which gives +15% PP gain, Improve relations opinion +25%, Division defense on core territory +5%, Justify war goal time on us +25%, and Ideology drift defense +25%.
 * Our Friends From Across The Sea: Available if Nova Griffonia is independent and became a Republic (if Highhill's coup fails). The Republic will seek a guarantee from Nova Griffonia.
 * A Deal With Maar: Available if Equestria is independent and Harmonist. The Republic will seek a guarantee from Equestria.


 * Table of Political Paths and Foreign Policy Paths

Staff and Designers
Political Advisors

Tank Designer

Ship Designer

Aircraft Designer

Materiel Designer

Industrial Concern

Theorist

Chief of Army

Chief of Navy

Chief of Airforce

Military High Command