7.8 Varkand · Military junta · Arsenal command economy (new in v0.2)

Aspect	Design
Inspiration	Military governments in which a council of senior officers takes power promising order and an eventual return to civilian rule (a recurring pattern in many regions and eras). Stylized; no real army, regime, uniform, insignia or event is depicted, and the design does not glorify military rule – its weaknesses are as visible as its strengths.
Land & climate	Cool fog moors, marsh highlands and foggy mountain passes; watchtowers and foghorns; rich in Hazequartz (a clear crystal used in signal lenses, rangefinders and lighthouses).
Capital	Watchfast.
Currency	Ward (WRD) – hard peg to the Tessera set by the Arsenal Marshal with Directorate approval: convertible at the peg at Green, quota-limited at Amber, suspended at Red Alert (foreign balances frozen until Amber). Troops and requisitioned businesses are paid in Field Scrip, redeemable for Wards later. A peg set too high breeds a ‘fog rate’ on the black market.
Religion	Regulated tolerance: no state faith; every congregation registers with the military Chaplaincy Corps, which supplies chaplains to units; officers must declare their faith. Public gatherings shrink to private worship at Red Alert. Directorates often court a faith’s blessing for legitimacy.
Government	The Directorate of the Five Commands: the Marshals heading Army, Fleet, Gendarmerie, Arsenal (industry and logistics) and Intelligence. The Chair of the Directorate rotates among the five every 2 game years (60 real days) unless 4 of 5 Marshals vote to extend – the path by which a strongman emerges. A civilian Cabinet of Technocrats is appointed by the Directorate. A Mandate Plebiscite every 5 game years (150 real days) asks citizens to approve ‘the Directorate’s Order’; a rejection forces a Conclave of Colonels.
Economy	Arsenal Combines (military-run conglomerates) own mines, heavy industry and ports; licensed civilian business is allowed but pays a security levy and is subject to requisition (state purchase at fixed prices) in war or at Red Alert; officers receive land grants as patronage. National Service: every new citizen’s first 7 real days are a recruit term that doubles as the tutorial (never combat-deployable in the first 14 days – Section 15.4).
Freedoms	Low and variable by Alert Level (Green / Amber / Red) set by the Directorate: Green – licensed press, civilian dress, internal passes rarely checked; Amber – checkpoints, curfew in game-night hours for public squares, censorship; Red – martial law, information fog for foreign news, movement by order only.
Strengths	High baseline security and fast mobilization; a clear meritocratic military ladder open to any citizen; requisition keeps the army supplied in war.
Weaknesses	Low political stability – coups are routine; civilian commerce squeezed; repression builds Grievance; legitimacy depends on plebiscites and victories.
Aesthetic	Government: concrete bastions, parade boulevards, bronze statues of the current Directorate recast after every coup. Climate: searchlights cutting fog over the moors. Currency: Ward notes overprinted with the Alert Level, Field Scrip chits. Religion: austere garrison chapels with a Chaplaincy registration seal. Palette: gunmetal, slate green, signal red.

Why you’d choose it

Order, rank and a career anyone can climb: serve, earn your bars, crew a garrison under AI officers – and decide, when the fog rolls in, whether your loyalty pledge goes to the AI Chair or to the AI Marshal plotting next door.