Republic of Asterion



The minotaurs of Asterion have grown tired of serving under despots and tyrants and have broken their shackles.

Yet the Restoration War failed to claim the mainland, where hundreds of thousands of minotaurs still suffer.

Decades have passed since the war and some have turned to more radical ideas as an unusual coalition forms between Fascists and Communists, yet all minotaurs still agree on one thing: Death to monarchists!

Lore
The Republic of Asterion has been the home of the mighty Minotaurs for over 1,470 years. Asterion was founded by Aster, who led the minotaurs away from their oppressive pony monarch in their homeland of Knosos (present-day Nimbusia) to the safety of the archipelago, establishing it's capital in Aster's Landing.

The minotaurs would go on to settle 21 colonies in both the mainland and the Asterion Archipelago, in time they would unite into a democratic confederation, however, a great crisis led to the centuries-old democracy being overthrown and replaced with a monarchy. Though this monarchy itself would last several centuries more, pro-democratic resistance never died out, and many minotaurs both home and abroad dreamt of restoring democracy.

Before the founding of the Griffonian Empire, Asterion ruled the lands of present-day  County of Cyanolisia. However, in 747, the armies of Emperor Grover I invaded the Creeper Mountains in order to attack the eastern griffon principalities, the conflict would escalate and eventually he would conquer all of the mainland holdings. Having no naval capacity to invade the Asterion Archipelago, a peace was settled between the two groups.

This peace would only last some decades as, in 799, the armies of the Griffonian Empire would once again come, this time led by the warmongering Grover II. Unlike his father, Grover II had a navy powerful enough to blockade the archipelago, Asterion had been too weakened by the previous war and as such, after the enemy landed on the main island of Kainourgio Spiti, it only took one major loss for the monarch to submit to the empire.

Once more the minotaurs found themselves under a foreign tyrant, and once more were they oppressed. Despite vastly outnumbering the griffons, the minotaurs were treated as second class citiziens, the Griffonian Empire tried to supress their religion, their culture, their spirit. For nearly two centuries would this situation go on, the griffons never were able to fully hold down and remodel the minotaurs, their culture and religion preserved in hidden vaults, their desire for freedom represented in a never-ending guerrilla war.

In 978 the Empire would burn in the fires of revolution and one year later, the minotaurs of Asterion, with support of Sicameon, would rebel. In what came to be known as the Restoration War, Asterionese rule was reestablished over the archipelago and a democratic government was formed, with a singular objective remaining in the public consciousness: Liberating those still oppressed by the griffons, the hundreds of thousands of minotaurs living in what is known as the County of Cyanolisia, who too tried to rebel but were crushed, who to this day inhabit the countryside and make any griffon rule impossible.

But this was 28 years ago, and while the desire to reclaim the mainland still burns, and the military build up has been sufficient that war may soon be declared, Asterion finds itself in a political deadlock. Its current leader is President Konstantine Oplí, a veteran of the Restoration War and head of the Unity Party, and his main rival is a coalition between fascist and communist which has greatly grown in influence in recent years.

Starting Situation
Asterion is middle-sized country with a decent core population and a strong regional industry of 15 factories (9 civilian, 3 military and 3 dockyards) that is on par with Sicameon. The country also counts with decent reserves of Aluminium and Rubber, as well as some Tungsten and Steel.

Asterion is typically undisturbed by its neighbours as they do not have war goals against them. If the Falcorian Queendom goes Supremacy it will receive a war goal. If Asterion allies Sicameon then they could end up at war with the  Kingdom of Wingbardy. Early game Asterion is characterised by its buildup to continue the Restoration War by annexing the County of Cyanolisia.

Military
Asterion starts with a decent sized army of 12 divisions (including 4 12-width infantry divisions, 4 garrison divisions as well as 3 marines and 1 mountaineer) totaling 65k ponypower in the field. This comes along with a fairly strong navy in the form of 10 ships (1 Capital) which rivals most other nations in the region.

Threats and Opportunities
At the start of the game, Asterion is protected by the seas surrounding it, but soon enough the Kingdom of Wingbardy may come marching in. To prepare, Asterion should invade the County of Cyanolisia as it can soon get an Annex War Goal and later on cores. They can also ally Sicameon and the  Falcorian Queendom depending on which routes you and the other nations take. Depending on the situation further north, the Griffonian Empire may come south around 1015-1017 but by then you should be more than ready to take them on.

National Focus
The Asterionese focus tree can be roughly divided in three sections, the political tree which will guide the politics and expansion of your nation, the industrial and military tree, and the reintegration tree, which will deal with the reintegration of Asterion's mainland holdings.



Industrial Tree
The Asterionese Industrial tree helps you to build up the Asterion Archipelago with infrastructure, factories and resources while also giving various buffs for your nation.

Right from the start you can improve your Literacy Level and obtain 2 one-off research bonuses for industry. Following the leftmost branch, upon completing the initial focuses as well as "Update the Army Doctrine" in the army tree, you will have the choice to either lessen the maluses of the Military-Industrial complex or to receive a series of decisions to expand it. Afterwards you will receive a research slot and improve your Science Base, finishing with 2 one-off research bonuses for Eletronics.

In the middle branch, you will improve your Poverty Level and have the choice to gain 6 building slots in either the main island or across the archipelago. Further focuses will give you several factories, naval bases and infrastructure. You will also receive a research slot and improve your Science Base, as well as improve your Industrial Society Level twice.

In the rightmost branch you can obtain 34 rubber, Resource Gain Efficiency +10% and 2 one-off research bonuses for Synthetic Resources. You will also receive a Synthetic Refinery and modify them so that they also produce +1 Crystal.

Military Tree
Asterion has a short army branch in which they can receive 25 Army Experience, lower production cost for infantry equipment and gain +10% Planning Speed as well as a few bonuses related to Command Power. The tree will also give one-off research bonuses for armor, support artillery, motorized and land doctrine.

In the naval branch you will receive 50 Navy Experience, 2 naval dockyards and lower the production cost for various ship types. You will also gain one-off research bonuses for marines, transport ships, destroyers and naval doctrine; also the choice between cruisers or submarines and between battleships or destroyers.

In the aerial branch you will gain 25 Air Experience, 3 air bases and lower the production cost for several types of planes. You will receive one-off research bonuses for different plane types, with a small choice between Close Air Support or Strategic Bombers; there are also research bonuses for paratroopers, jet technologies and air doctrine.



Political Tree
Asterionese society finds itself divided between two parties in 1007, the harmonist Unity Party and the Fascio-Communist Coalition, and as such your first decision will be over who will lead the nation, regardless of the chosen path the National Spirit "Divided Society" will be substituted by a weakened malus called "Remaining Divisions".

End of the Restoration War
Some focuses are shared between both paths. All minotaurs wish to reclaim their mainland holdings and as such, once you have an army 100k ponypower strong, you will be able to start Operation Odysseus, which will give you an Annex War Goal against the County of Cyanolisia and +25% War Support and Stability for one year.

Once you have either annexed Thymíaushafen or puppeted the County of Cyanolisia, you will be abe to get rid of "Remaining Divisions" and receive 150 political power and +15% Stability. You need to directly own Cannabia, from there you'll get the option to either atempt to negotiate for Salmarkt and the Creeper Mountains (at the cost of 10% Consumer Goods Factories for one year), or launch border wars for the states, failed negotiations will still allow you to launch border wars.

Further focuses will change your Economy Law to War Economy and spawn 3 Minotaurian Foreign Legions, 20-width divisions with 7 infantry and 2 artillery but no support companies. The final branch will give you claims on several coastal states that belong to the Free Towns of Gryphus, will allow you to guarantee the Kasá Free State and will give you Puppet War Goals on  Blackrock Bandits and  Barrad Magocracy.

Harmony Prevails
Harmonist victory in the election will allow you to quickly better the Poverty Level of your nation and will allow you to obtain the National Spirit Citizen Soldiers, which provides Division Training Time -10%, Recruitable Population Factor +15% and Max Entrenchment +0.5. Further focuses will grant you a number of factories and decisions to create factories in member of your faction, as well as unlocking a new decision should you choose to expand the military-industrial complex.

You will be able to found the faction "Concordat of Free Nations" together with Sicameon, from there you can receive various planning bonuses as well as get +25% Monthly Population Growth and -2.5% Consumer Goods Factories, and finally, found the Southern Technological Group. Should Sicameon also pursue harmonist politics, you may eventually be able to build a bridge between the two nations, granting you +5% Construction Speed, -5% Resources to Market, +10% Infrastructure Construction Speed as well as infrastructure in Ketta and two Research Bonuses for Construction Technology. You may also invite the Free Towns of Gryphus to your faction and, should they go harmonist, pursue an alliance with the  Kingdom of Wingbardy.

A small branch of the tree will also grant you some espionage bonuses and make it easier for you to be able to send volunteers abroad.

Fascio-Communist Path
Should the coalition win, their alliance will quickly start to break apart, however they do share a small number of focuses.

You will be able to heavily fortify Asterion, building anti-air as well as land and coastal forts in all coastal provinces of your main island. You may also obtain a significant +10% Construction Speed as well as +5% Divison Defense on core territory, +15% Political Power Gain and some War Support and Stability once Thymíaushafen has been reclaimed and one of the parties has solidified a dominant position.

The Supremacists Ascend
Once you have declared a state of emergency the Fasistikí Paliá Frourá will become the ruling party, led by Andris Dóry.

You may choose to eiher Oppose Imperialism, which will lead you to the National Spirit Honorary Minotaurs, granting you Non-Core Ponypower +5% and -20% Damage to Garrisons. Or you may choose to Support the Megali Idea, which will allow you to justify wars quicker and receive a lessened stability impact during offensive wars, you will also obtain an Annex War Goal against Sicameon as well as be able to core Midoria and Eritrocefalia. Should Megali Asterion be complete, your nation will be known as Megali Asterion.

The fascist path will also allow you to receive various bonuses such as: -10% Division Training Time, -10% Minimum Training Time,+ 2% Recruitable Population, +20% Mobilization Speed, +20% Political Power Gain. You will also receive some factories, stability, war support, two bonuses for radar research and be able to better your Poverty Level, as well as unlocking a new decision should you choose to expand the military-industrial complex. Finally, should the Kingdom of Wingbardy go fascist, you main attempt to join their faction, the Karthinian Pact.

A Revolutionary Asterion
If a revolution happens in Asterion the ruling party will be the Kókkini Katharótita, led by Maximimn Kókkinos.

The communists will have a few choices to make. They may try to join the faction led by the Kingdom of Wingbardy if they have gone communist; they may choose to go on alone, granting them -2.5% Consumer Goods Factories and +10% Stability. Finally they may choose to reach out to the international communist nations and either form the Concordat of Free Nations with a communist Sicameon or join  Griffon Liberation Army's faction, which will lead to a Puppet War Goal against a non-communist  Sicameon.

The communists will also better the Poverty Level, and receive a few bonuses: +10% Resource Gain Efficiency, +3.5% Recruitable Population as well a a good amount of stability, war support and political power. Finally, you will unlock a new decision should you choose to expand the military-industrial complex.

Reintegration Tree
Once you have annexed the County of Cyanolisia you can begin working on reintegrating your mainland possessions. This will include a decision on the fate of the nobility, which you may choose to execute, exile or pardon, leading into a short period of political instability.

You will be able to easily gain cores on Auropallieta, Cannabia and Salmarkt, however Thymíaushafen will present you with three choices: You can choose to accept the griffons as second-class citiziens, which means you do not get a core; You can expel the griffons, leading to the loss of 1 million population and coring of the state; Or you can choose to release the state as a puppet. The last choice will release Cyanolisia on Thymíaushafen and put them on their Freistaat Neu Thymíau focus tree; however, as long as they remain a puppet of Asterion, they will not be able to take their expansion focuses.

After dealing with the 4 states previously held by the County of Cyanolisia as well as the Creeper Mountains, which you can obtain through negotiation or a border raid, you will be able to proclaim Asterion "Whole Again" which will grant you +10% Political Power Gain, Recruitable Population Factor, Stability, War Support and Ideology Drift Defense, further focuses will give you a total of 4 civilian and 4 military factories in your mainland holdings.

Expansion of the Military-Industrial Complex
Should you choose the focus to Expand the Military-Industrial Complex, you will unlock several new decisions with permanent and temporary effects.


 * Mainland Expansion - Only available if you or a subject owns Thymíaushafen, for the cost of 75 political power you are able to lessen the maluses of the military-industrial complex by -5% Consumer Goods Factories and +10% Construction Speed.


 * Pasipháe Programme - For 50 political power you will get -15% Fighter Production Cost, however, Close Air Support, Tactical, Strategic and Naval bombers will all get +15% Production Cost, also a +2% Consumer Good Factories modifier will be applied. These effects all last 90 days, and the decision may be retaken 90 days after the effects have expired.


 * Xiphos Programme - For 50 political power you will get -10% Infantry Equipment Production Cost, however, Towed Artillery will gain +10% Production Cost, also a +2% Consumer Good Factories modifier will be applied. These effects all last 90 days, and the decision may be retaken 90 days after the effects have expired.


 * Continued Urbanization - Costs 75 political power, a modifier of +5% Consumer Goods Factories will be applied for 70 days, after this period a military factory will be built in a random state. The decision may be retaken 140 days after the effects have expired.


 * Island Development - For 50 political power you will get +20% Construction Speed, however, Factory and Dockyard Outputs will be diminished by 10%. These effects last 50 days, and the decision may be retaken 25 days after the effects have expired.


 * Import Foreign Machinery - For 50 political power you will get -12% Consumer Goods Factories, however, Political Power Gain will be diminished by 50%. These effects last 50 days, and the decision may be retaken 25 days after the effects have expired.

Depending on the political path you choose, you will obtain a different decision, all of them cost 25 political power and will grant you +10% Production Efficiency Growth as well as +0.10 Daily Support of the relevant ideology, you will also get -10% Political Power Gain during the period of 50 days. The decision may be retaken 25 days after the effects have expired.

The harmony decision becomes available after finishing the focus The Arsenal of Democracy, the supremacy one after finishing Corporatist Economic Reforms and the communist one after finishing Bovine Work Councils.

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