expanding Oronegro and an unexpected colony

Well as soon as I put it to a map Oronegro had to be bigger. after that first initial map I made a larger one, which required me to cut and paste mountain ranges to hide an unwanted area of coast line. but Now perhaps I shall do it all again! Oronegro is set to expand if there is the story to go with it!

what is currently is like!

As you can see from the picture above I left ample room to expand down the coasts to the south, along the coast to the north and perhaps west (the Pan Andean Peoples Republic could be encircled by Oronegro.... a tribal group or groups that split and joined the republic when it formed.

To the south the land will get dryer becoming a desert away from the coast and rivers. a harsh landscape but also full of the valuable Oronegro the oil that keeps the nation strong! To the west it would get more mountainous and harder to access and to the east similar to the west but with sea on one side exposing the coastal area to violent storms (no doubt brought about by the energy created by the portals near by presence).

needless to say, this, my first map was too small for a land that just kept getting bigger in my mind

Ideas would be nice for these areas, but still tropical and warm (though the desert will just be plain hot and dry) is the main climate. perhaps snow and high winds on the mountains separating Oronegro from her northern neighbours. this would require them to be massive given the assumed location on the globe to allow cold enough temperatures but the climatic difference at at altitude is also a by product of the portal.

let us not forget this island! this is off the coast of Oronegro at some point.

All this extra land will be excellent for the 18th century arm and the 12st century arm of the Oronegrean story with the conquest of these lands and with the tale of the civil war respectively.

Now we come to the Colony! Why does Oronegro have a colony you ask.... let me explain. when I started making Oronegro in the 18th century I started to realise as I went on how powerful a nation that large in those times would be once it reached the 21st century! The United States of America was like Oronegro born out of a colony (well 13) which in the early 18th century had a population of roughly 1 million people! Now Oronegro might not have received so many immigrants since that time, why it is not even close to being as powerful. BUT! it would still have attained some power. enough to cause the Spanish to invade in the 1860's to assert their control on what was sort of (read the story) a colony.

Now where would a colony colonise? well the USA spread across a continent and then into the Pacific... Oronegro can't really go west (there are really high mountains and jungle that way) so it must go east! across the Neo-Atlantic Ocean...
... in other words the Oronegreans sailed around the portal (no mean feat as it is huge) and went to see what lay beyond! I will make a story... I like the idea the land was found by accident an Oronegrean merchant (not the brightest) who tried to go straight from some port in the desert region to Europe (instead of going north along the coast then east) and came across what to many would have seemed impossible eastern Europe...

what a strange place this is Carlos? aye captain they don't appear to speak Spanish at all. Do you think I may have gone to far south? aye captain I think you may have.

... Now this might sound mad and it is, But its useful as it answers some questions! a) how the Soviets got involved in South America to the extent they had whole armies there and b) what would happen if you missed the portal going the other way (going to and missing results in you visiting South America). Now the Next big question is why gowan did you do that? the answer is blame computer games!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks to Arma 2 I have been playing around in both desert and former soviet block style lands! Fun but not so great for building inspiration for a Latin nation.

its the games fault not mine!

Anyway I have decided to have a colony here also! But Now I can have some real fun! basically I have 3 main types of environment.

1. Hot desert, great climate for camels not so great for people who are lost. nasty giant gold mining ants! Which are actually described in the worlds first history/nonsense book... which I have read. thank you Herodotus!
2. the Jungle and Tropical area, nice for relaxing by the beach  but seeming that some of my plans involve monsters in the jungle I don't think anyone should try and impersonate bear grills here at night.
3. cold eastern European. snowy in winter (could even see some fun icescating... or what about Oronegrean ski tours... have fun on both dune and slope.) and pretty average in the summer. beware the bears and wolfs and you should be fine. just so long as its not the Russian bear in the woods some common sense and avoiding bear tracks should do you fine.

this is a cool vehicle! no other desciption needed... off topic but its the games fault for all this expansion eastards

Naturally the concept needs development! Naturally a map is needed. but apart from that this could be quite fun. it also begs the question who is connected to whom in this world but that's not important but the most fun part is surely that if I ever meet up with any of you we can play a game. Oronegrean support for US soldiers fighting the Soviet Union as it advances westward after the Re-union possible especially if the colony was at risk.

a very different landscape would exist in the colony... yes I have used lots of pictures form the game.

have fun guys! give me your ideas also.... think it would be cool to have a James Bond style bad guy layer in the Colony just say so. A link to Area 51 in the desert area (why area 51 might be such a secret) just say. ideas for a language for the colony why not. Just mention it because that's where I need help the most now.

greetings to my new followers! hello to fogsoldiers from fogsoldiers nice to have you on board. Welcome to Mike from mikes wargame blog thanks for joining.

All you need to know about Oronegro

Archduke Piccolo has been kind enough to give me lots of information on the armies I has thinking of using for Oronegro and also tips and ideas for how Oronegro could have come into being.
However I have had the stories for a while (a few days) and now I am going to present a brief outline for you... But for all the facts go HERE (colonisation and expansion part1) and HERE (colonisation and expansion part2)! These posts on the Special Oronegro blog will be followed by a few more. However here is a basic outline of the story for everyone else.

• First Colonials arrive in 1492, made up of all Spain's unwanted. heretics, Jews, Muslims, atheists, disillusioned catholic priests and christian soldiers who fought for the wrong side.
• 1500 after another wave of Colonials British, french and Italian communities join the colony. La Ley already established now is joined by La Esperanza as the colonial cities.
• 1555 The Land of Oronegro is born... due to the currency being Coco beans instead of gold. the Spanish King is only head of state as the other colonial peoples, mainly British and Italian are too strong for him to exert total control.
• 1570's to 1600 The wars with the powerful Kaxad Empire shake the colony to its knees the surprise attacks leave the cities besieged and the great farming plains covered in Kaxad troops. however due to some festivals the Kaxad withdraws most of its troops allowing the Oronegreans to fight back... the second large attack comes in the 1590's however Oronegro is more prepared and fights back with an army that now is well equipped for hand to hand combat as well as conventional musket fighting. Kaxad empire retreats and breaks down in 1603... still a powerful force it is no longer coherent enough to launch large campaigns
• 1625 The grand Pirate raid on La Ley sees bloody fighting and enormous damage. it is repulsed at the Star Fort and in the river but at heavy loss only when a fleet from La Esperanza enters the river do the Pirates give in.

And there you have it. I hope even the brief context will help you understand Oronegro. The time my miniatures are set in is based round the 1740's to 1780's and the wars where Oronegrean troops marched up the jungle valleys and across some of the unexplored planes... there is also a brief Civil war between the Chocolate kings and the State. All very exiting and not to mention a few Pirates thrown in for Good measure :-D still working on the story as you can see quite a way to go yet.

what of early Oronegro

as I said on a post I published just before on the main blog I was recently thinking of doing some early Oronegrean history either in the era of the conquistadors or the 18th century or a strange mix of them both. well I have concluded that it should be set in the 18th century with a few conquistador style people running around! The only problem is that what figures to get, well the conquistadors are the least of my worries. the problem is which of the many musket wielding figures out there do I want to represent Oronegro. well after looking at all the sets on PSR that had tricorns and then looking at which ones would best suit my idea of the Oronegreans I was disappointed so I looked a bit later at the Napoleonic period. Here I found some suitable candidates for some Oronegrean infantry as well as some conversion opportunities.

I want tricorns so I am not about to give up because there are not any suitable sets I shall convert these bicorn and shako wearing heathens into some true imperial forces! However I am going to make an exception for some helmeted forces... and after a search through the nappies I found that Austria could hold the greatest potential.

look at these sets

What interests me about these is the conversion possibilities, the helmets I'll keep but the other more foolish looking hats will be cut off and replaced by tricorns. Here are the other possible sets, that also include the helmets

this set does include some unwanted Prussians but perhaps a use can be found for them also








this is an older set from Italeri but more of the infantry in this one have the helmet.









But what story do these sets have for Oronegro. Well as I've said this is a recent concept and I am not done refining possible stories. there is some way to go and the project may not see the light of day but with enough encouragement/nagging perhaps I will go into some early Oronegrean history!

plans for the end

I have decided to add a little side story here just for you all. This is a little tale of the coming into being of the BUNKER!!!

it was the early 20th century and chemical and biological weaponry was being developers by all the major powers, Oronegro became the base for all allied mass production of these weapons, the empires did not want to have the people worrying about possible releases of deadly gas clouds!
To meet this new demand Oronegro went ahead with a plan to build a new factory, deep under the streets of La Ley. Construction started in 1921, and weapons were shipped off to Russia where they never saw combat usage, the Whites received the shells and other weaponry but was now in such a state that wherever they put the weapons, the reds were quick to take them.
By 1938 the Bunker factory was being expanded to prepare for the predicted demand caused by a war that was to come, still at this point the British and their allies were the main clients and supporters of the program. Yet it was the second world war that saw the biggest change, the factory made chemical weapons, meant to be used for a possible invasion of Britain, the invasion never happened and once again the factory was making weapons that saw no purpose! during 1944 the lead scientist left the factory, they were tired of what they saw of working for no reason. However there were some scientists that wanted to work! Nazi scientists from the crumbling third Reich came in their hundreds to Oronegro hearing that their expertise was still wanted!
These new scientists were to bring a new life to the project and by 1950 the factory was dubbed the bunker by the head of Oronegro's intelligence agency. the new scientists however did come with some extra baggage, Mossad agents were found in Oronegro, a major problem considering that Oronegro was supposed to be unknown to any nation except the current and former superpowers! of coarse none of the scientists were ever caught, though it was clear the larger powers were angry over Oronegro's willingness to accept criminals.
during the cold war it was these scientists who experimented in the most deadly of deceases and most potent of poisons, the scientists even experimented on humans, though they refused to ever experiment on anyone who was German or of German decent. 3561 people disappeared during the cold war. none were Innocent all were criminals, who while in solitary-confinement, were visited by some men in suits, the prison then experienced a blackout and when the power was back, the people were gone and so was the inmate!
though it was never announced what went on, it was clear that there was development of biological super weapons as well as work on gene manipulation. it will be noted that some of the top Nazi scientists were still alive during the Grand soviet reunion, it has been speculated that they developed a system to get cells to regenerate giving the subject their youthful appearance and also extending their life by at least 10-20 years. these same scientists were not seen outside the bunker after the reunion, perhaps because of their new projects or perhaps because they knew what was coming.
2025 saw the heaviest fighting in La Ley, the bunker was cut off, no-one knew what was happening, but it was clear that the Bunker was now under the control of a pro-rebel leadership. On Jule 15th the NBC teams of the National forces went through the sewers encountering unexpected Resistance from rebels, mostly armed thugs. When they reached the bunkers sewer entrance they found it guarded by some elite troops, they turned back and returned to the surface only to find that the gangs had mortared the building they had come from killing many of their comrades.
The next team to go underground scouted out the tunnels, they noted down a glowing green sludge coming out of some culverts around the bunker. But perhaps their most startling find was that the sewer rats around the sludge affected areas were cannibalistic and were unconcerned when stepped on!
A third team was deployed on the 4th of July discovered humans infected by what was later dubbed the ZOMBIE GENE!!!! it was contracted by coming in contact with the sludge and also when bitten. the gangs that had fired upon the first group now tried to eat the third. they were wiped out and the guards of the bunker were unaffected by the plague.
the Zombie gene was just the start of the horrors unleashed by those mad scientists from their bunker!!! Robots with heavy firepower, strange and monstrous beings and worst of all the troops it deployed, workers? rebels? or just creations? armed with advanced weaponry they almost broke resistance in the embassy district, it was only after deploying the black angels that they were stopped.
on September the 18th 2026 the bunker was attacked by an elite force of national soldiers, it took 18 weeks to subdue all the resistance in the bunker but some of the leading scientists were gone. as were the test tubes and containers that held the key to the plagues unleashed by the mad men in their stronghold.
the bunker was not destroyed but remade and turned into a hospital for those affected by the zombie gene the cure had been discovered right after the first zombies were encountered. the Government had got its top agents in before, they had got the key to the gene out of the bunker with some difficulty. the gene was got out by Agent 700 and the antidote found by the leading scientist the Oronegrean government had to offer! however the cure was not mass produced until the larger hoards had already been wiped out by soldiers who were fed up with the, do not shoot our ill and needy policy that was imposed by the government. Never again would the bunker be used to produce such weapons as those unleaded on the innocent people who lived around it.

But the scientists escaped and it was not until later on that their location and deeds was known by the government and their forces!

what happened to the bear?

in the story I posted the other day the Russians disappear. However it is clear that such a force could not simply go and never be seen again. so I have decided that this Russian force must reappear at some point during the height of the civil war! so any way lets form a plot line. (in story fashion)

Dear Juan
It is clear that the force of men you encountered must have escaped to the west of your position towards the other valley here is a map to show the relative movements blue representing your force as it headed to deal with whatever your squad faced and the movement that those foes your squad faced mus have gone.

the red zone is where the battle took place

it is clear they must have held a ridge up on the west side of the valley as there is no way they could have encountered your force if they were on the north or south of valley. according to your troops the helicopters (Hinds according to some) came around the valleys bend in the north there fore there must be some form of an encampment in that area. it seems clear that the ridge line must have been turned into a look out post watching movement up the valley and even looking at the town. local tribes have found evidence of fortification in the area and the jungle provides such a great cloak that even a decent sized base could be hidden in the region. I have compiled another map showing the route that according to the tribes in the area any force must have taken in yellow, red represents the locations of what have been deemed fortified posts (including the ridge) the highlighted area must be where the base is hidden as no tribal peoples have been there for a long time due to disappearances, blue is the most likely location for either the camp or some outposts of it. the black line is the route the hinds must have come from.

red= fortification. highlighted area is possible location of a camp. blue is where the fort most likely is. black is direction hinds came from and yellow is the escape route for the force.

it is clear from this map at least that there could be a substantial force hidden in this area and that we need to do something. unfortunately in the past years since this skirmish our once proud nation has broken in half and is engulfed in turmoil that appears to have originated in this area... I am under the impression that the missing army that has returned to bring us down must have hidden around here... though they did not go into that region with helicopters. though reports from the beleaguered capital have reported hinds. so maybe they picked them up from somewhere... perhaps this force of foreign (apparently) soldiers sold them to our foes and we should do our utmost to try and find out who they are. If they were from the Soviet Union our allies in the west must be told as surely any force from that area means to overthrow our government and install a communist one! Unfortunately this region is a hotbed of rebel activity so we may not be able to send a force in. however  there is one unit that could do the job... Los Angeles Negros!

best of luck Juan, I know you are under intense bombardment in the capital but maybe you can find a way out then you and I can do our best to get to the bottom of this dangerous event!

from Mr G
(leader of the unofficial government)

Last war Chronicles

now I am an active member on a few forums around on the web... and one of them is that all famous one the Wargamers Guild... now recently I asked a questions there. the ones I normally ask here, but of coarse the greater audience there got immediate response... I asked what AFV's I should get, what would be recommended, etc, etc. and yet one of the things that came up was another members made up near future scenario... last war chronicles now the last war Chronicles is a really quite apocalyptic scenario, not what I want for Oronegro but still cool and inspirational. just look at these pictures from the site it is some pretty cool stuff.

this is the robotic army not my cup of tea but I do like a handful of droids running around causing caos

more dangerous russians than you can wave a M16 at

they look dangerous and appear to have the equipment I want for my oronegrians

and of coarse the USA love it or leave it... basicaly part of his story as well

I must say I am rather fond of this scenario as it draws allot of parrallels to my own story. the idea of a south american country erupting into civil war a new nation which then is tawn appart is quite nice. that and I love the idea of a few zombies and aliens... the robots only a handful in the sewers and rebel secret bunkers perhaps.

Plot lines, who is involved in Oronegro

Well a big thanks to archduke Piccolo who helped me out in the last post. I think he hit the nail on the head with his comments, so I have gone away and got down my current situation. then

who is involved~ peacekeepers, advisers and support troops.

Well I thought about wars recently and in the past where sides got equipment from foreign nations and after thought and research (not allot needed) I came up with the situation of the Spanish Civil war where foreign powers not only supplied weapons and advisers but quite often sent troops (not officially in some cases) to aid the side they supported.

In my case this is a list of nations who will be involved...

1. USA
2. United Kingdom
3. Germany
4. The Second Soviet Union
5. France
6. The United Communist states of eastern Europe (Warsaw pact nations)
7. The United Communist states of Asia (china mostly)
8. Commonwealth Nations
9. The United forces of Latin America (Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, etc)
10. Spain

these nations will be involved in different ways. for instance there will be countries putting troops on the ground in large quantities and on the other hand some countries will only be providing military training. so I have come up with the idea of recording who does what...

THE USA

at war with the soviets she is focusing most of here war effort else where and with allot of the spare troops kept home in case of the war descending into a nuclear hell hole they are not likely to enter forces into this war, yet...

they are providing the national forces with;

• Weapons
• training
• advisers
• older AFV's
• older planes
• intelligence

The United Kingdom

Though also at war in Europe and Asia. the UK is still able to field small armies in other places, she can also risk handing over a a few new weapons.

they are providing the national forces with;

• Peace-Keeping forces
• Newer tanks
• older planes
• training
• intelligence

Germany

Germany is the front line in this second cold war gone hot, as such she is being stretched to the limit when it comes to armour and specialists but a few peace-keepers are sent overseas just to keep up the strength of other capitalist nations, to stop the full rise of communism.

they are providing the national forces with;

• peace-keeping forces
• advisers
• training

The Second Soviet Union

powerful and strong the soviets are at war on many fronts. (as many post modern games show) they are able to sneak many arms into Oronegro and armies along with them.

They are providing the rebel forces with;

• Advisers
• weapons
• Training
• AFV's
• Planes
• missiles
• troops
• intelligence

France

at war in Germany and else where in Europe. France should be considering home land defence, but as French Guiana is near by and as such the Space centre there which sends up the spy satellites needs to be controlled and secure.

they are providing the national forces with;

• Older AFV's
• Older Planes
• advisers
• some foreign legionnaires
• weapons
• chemical weapons (bad cheese)

The United Communist states of Eastern Europe and The United Communist States of Asia

with Russia reverting to Communist and the recreation of the USSR many other former communist nations followed suit and soon the world war back in the cold war but this time a ground and air war erupted. this lead these new states to provide aid to any wanna be communist nations and so they are keen to help and gain allies.

they are providing the rebel forces with;

• AFV's
• planes
• Troops (some of them, not China)
• advisers
• training
• Chemical and Biological weapons

Commonwealth countries

with Britain at war her old colonies soon joined in and helped out, they are more involved on the main fronts in Asia and Europe but a few get through to Oronegro.

they are providing the national forces with;

• training
• Peace-Keeping forces
• weapons
• advisers
• AFV's though only used in conjunction with the Peace keepers

The United Forces of Latin America.

Oronegro's neighbours are uneasy at what is going on in the nation, though many of them face similar problems none on the same scale and as such they are able to help their comrade.

they are providing the national forces with;

• Peace Keeping forces
• weapons
• intelligence

Spain

the old colonial rulers are an odd bunch, quite happy to get their old colony back even if it means dealing with the red devil.

they are providing the national forces and/or the rebel forces with;

• Troops
• weapons
• advisers
• intelligence
• training

Well I hope you enjoy this first step to a good story line, quite a nice mix there of people and ideas. talking about people and ideas, here is my new follower.

greetings to Steve from sound officers call not seen this blog before so I need to learn more