The Royal Army of Scotland

[cawest]

the Scots have a few big and a lot of small distilleries. even the small ones might be able to put out 1000L of fuel.

being able to make are amounts of use able fuel could be good (sale or trade) or bad (ie target)

I would think that most would be damaged of limited use....maybe spare parts?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...es_in_Scotland

[The Dark]

Originally Posted by cawest

the Scots have a few big and a lot of small distilleries. even the small ones might be able to put out 1000L of fuel.

being able to make are amounts of use able fuel could be good (sale or trade) or bad (ie target)

I would think that most would be damaged of limited use....maybe spare parts?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...es_in_Scotland

I live near a very small rye whiskey distillery in Virginia (~300,000 liter capacity) and spent some time talking to them to get an idea of what's needed for distilling. To get 100 liters of fuel-grade alcohol would require about 300 kilograms of rye, 1150 liters of water, 5 hours of cooking time, a week of fermentation, and 6+ hours of distilling. Assuming input scales linearly, each kiloliter of fuel will need 1.5 tonnes of grain and 11,500 liters of water; the time would be similar, since the larger distilleries have larger (or more) stills, but the necessary resources are quite steep. Unless there are significant surpluses of grain, making any large amount of alcohol-based fuel isn't happening.


James - there are a couple technical inconsistencies in the document. On pages 2 and 3, units are sometimes listed as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, and sometimes as 1 or 2 (for example, in the 2nd Reserve Battalion Army of Scotland, Waterloo Company was formerly part of 1 51st Highland Volunteers, while Tangier company was part of 2nd 51st Highland Volunteers; I believe Waterloo should be 1st 51st rather than 1 51st). In the sidebar on page 6, the title refers to RAF Leuchars, but the first sentence has it misspelled as Leucchars.

[cawest]

Originally Posted by The Dark

I live near a very small rye whiskey distillery in Virginia (~300,000 liter capacity) and spent some time talking to them to get an idea of what's needed for distilling. To get 100 liters of fuel-grade alcohol would require about 300 kilograms of rye, 1150 liters of water, 5 hours of cooking time, a week of fermentation, and 6+ hours of distilling. Assuming input scales linearly, each kiloliter of fuel will need 1.5 tonnes of grain and 11,500 liters of water; the time would be similar, since the larger distilleries have larger (or more) stills, but the necessary resources are quite steep. Unless there are significant surpluses of grain, making any large amount of alcohol-based fuel isn't happening.


James - there are a couple technical inconsistencies in the document. On pages 2 and 3, units are sometimes listed as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, and sometimes as 1 or 2 (for example, in the 2nd Reserve Battalion Army of Scotland, Waterloo Company was formerly part of 1 51st Highland Volunteers, while Tangier company was part of 2nd 51st Highland Volunteers; I believe Waterloo should be 1st 51st rather than 1 51st). In the sidebar on page 6, the title refers to RAF Leuchars, but the first sentence has it misspelled as Leucchars.

i was thinking more along the lines of wood alcohol not grain (i don't know how a highlander would react to poring his pride and joy in a rust filled gas tank) Can you make alcohol out of seaweed or fresh water plants?

[The Dark]

Originally Posted by cawest

i was thinking more along the lines of wood alcohol not grain (i don't know how a highlander would react to poring his pride and joy in a rust filled gas tank) Can you make alcohol out of seaweed or fresh water plants?

Wood alcohol is methanol (rather than ethanol), which requires different fittings since it will corrode aluminum. It's also hygroscopic, so it has to be kept in sealed containers or else it will absorb atmospheric water. It's certainly possible to use, but it's a major pain to do so if you're not already set up for it.

Seaweed has most of its sugars in the form of alginate. Up until 2012, alginate couldn't be converted to alcohol (a gene-modified E. coli bacterium was developed that year). If it could be used, it would yield around 1500 gallons (5680 liters) per acre dedicated to seaweed farming.

[cawest]

Originally Posted by The Dark

Wood alcohol is methanol (rather than ethanol), which requires different fittings since it will corrode aluminum. It's also hygroscopic, so it has to be kept in sealed containers or else it will absorb atmospheric water. It's certainly possible to use, but it's a major pain to do so if you're not already set up for it.

Seaweed has most of its sugars in the form of alginate. Up until 2012, alginate couldn't be converted to alcohol (a gene-modified E. coli bacterium was developed that year). If it could be used, it would yield around 1500 gallons (5680 liters) per acre dedicated to seaweed farming.

Yes but would they need 300,000L worth of strong drinks? it might be worth it to modify enough to supply there needs and trade the rest. the South Africa book has them converting two local distillery into a fuel supply.

[The Dark]

Originally Posted by cawest

Yes but would they need 300,000L worth of strong drinks? it might be worth it to modify enough to supply there needs and trade the rest. the South Africa book has them converting two local distillery into a fuel supply.

By the mid-90s, the per-capita consumption of alcohol in Scotland was around 9L, and the SGUK mentions that pubs are basically the only entertainment left. If it increased even modestly to 10L, then the output of that sort of micro-distillery would supply 30,000 people or about 275,000L of fuel (fuel has to be at a higher alcohol content than drink). However, spirits only make up about 30% of Scotland's alcohol consumption (about 20% was wine, and the other half beer), so assuming appropriate amounts of beer could still be made, it would be closer to 100,000 people for such a distillery.

Honestly, converting some distilleries over to fuel production if the excess cereals are available would make sense, due to Scotland's export of spirits. I know there's at least one distillery with 30,000,000L annual capacity, which could produce millions of liters of fuel if adequately supplied; since distilling provides higher alcohol content than brewing, it's easier to convert a distillery to fuel production and let the brewery focus on products for human consumption.

[James Langham2]

Originally Posted by The Dark

James - there are a couple technical inconsistencies in the document. On pages 2 and 3, units are sometimes listed as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, and sometimes as 1 or 2 (for example, in the 2nd Reserve Battalion Army of Scotland, Waterloo Company was formerly part of 1 51st Highland Volunteers, while Tangier company was part of 2nd 51st Highland Volunteers; I believe Waterloo should be 1st 51st rather than 1 51st). In the sidebar on page 6, the title refers to RAF Leuchars, but the first sentence has it misspelled as Leucchars.

British military terminology is a nightmare - either is correct (as are several other variants!) but I have standardised on a third version for consistency.

Spelling is never my strong point and typing without using my right index finger due to a bad cut doesn't help! Corrected it.

Thanks for the corrections.

[unkated]

How can you have a Royal Army without a Royal?

Has no one gone to Bavaria to fetch home Bonnie Princess Sophie (like it or not)?

The House of Stuart

The House of Stuart ruled Scotland as an independent nation from 1371 to 1603. This came to end in 1567 with the forced abdication of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, in favor of her infant son James VI. Both Mary and her husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, were grandchildren of Mary Tudor, the daughter of Henry VII. James VI became the heir also of childless Elizabeth I of England, and became ruler of both nations as James I, ruling Great Britain (the joined Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Wales). A lot of the political unrest in the British Isles between 1500 and 1750 were due to conflicts between the Church of England, Catholicism, and other protestant sects.

A century later, after the English Civil War, and the replacement of James II by William of Orange who was married to James’ daughter Mary, and was James’ nephew by James’ sister Mary. William and Mary died childless, followed by Mary’s sister Queen Anne. The crown of England was then passed to the (Protestant) son of a German cousin, who became George I in 1714.

Bypassed in this was (Catholic) James Francis Edward Stuart, son of James II, Prince of Wales. James had gone with his father to France when James II was deposed, and his English title removed. James put forth his claim to the English Throne and backed it with an attempted rising in Scotland in 1715. That failed, and James fled back to France; he became known as the Old Pretender. His son, Charles Edward Stuart (Bonny Prince Charlie, the Young Pretender) attempted a similar uprising in 1745, but that also failed. The Old and Young Pretenders were political bugbears for English politics until Charles Stuart died in 1788 without issue; his brother Henry became a Catholic Cardinal, dying without issue in 1808.

The Jacobite succession, following English common law, transmits the right to the throne to or through women, and their descendants, whenever they have no brothers. Henry, as the last Stuart of the Scottish line, was succeeded by his nearest blood-relative, (childless) Charles Emmanuel IV, King of Sardinia (descended from Henrietta, daughter of Charles I), then his brother Victor Emmanuel I, then his daughter Maria Beatrice of Savoy, her son, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este, his daughter Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, later Queen of Bavaria (by marriage), down the Bavarian royal line to her grandson Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria (see Pretender section below).

In addition, James II's illegitimate son, James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, founded the House of FitzJames with a branch in France and one in Spain. The last of the French branch died in 1967. The Spanish branch runs to Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba (and 39 other titles, including the 11th Duchess of Berwick), age 70 in 1996; she has six children, five of them sons (ages 48, 46,42,37, 33, sister 28 in 1996). In real life, she died in November 2014.

While one can make the case that the Scottish Crown is joined to the English Crown, one could make the argument that no one asked the Scots separately if they wanted the Elector of Hanover (German George I) as King. (Of course, the argument of supplanting the Windsors - heirs to the Elector of Hanover – because they are too German, is not enhanced with a Scottish king from Bavaria.) However, the Stuart pretense usually is for both the crown of Scotland and England.

No Wittelsbach has ever discussed in public that they have any interest in pursuing claim to the House of Stuart or Windsor.

Pretender

If the Scots want a king back, the nearest legitimate choice is Albrecht of the House of Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria. The Wittlesbachs were the Royal house of Bavaria until deposed in 1918; they were demoted to Dukes. Staunchly anti-Nazi, they moved to Hungary at the beginning of WW2, and were arrested by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp in 1944. Albrecht is an avid hunter and has written a book on hunting in the Alps.
In 1996, Duke Albrecht is 91. In real life, he died in 1996, living in a wing of the family castle in Bavaria.

Heir

Duke Albrecht’s heir is his oldest son, Franz (Prince of Bavaria). Franz, is 63 in 1996. He has never married. Franz Wittelsbach is a businessman with a passion for collecting modern art.

Franz’s heir is his younger brother Max (age 59 in 1996), who has six daughters. His eldest daughter, Sophie (29 in 1996) married the Alois, Hereditary Prince of Lichtenstein in 1993. (Hmmm, the French may well back this, if only to get Alois out of the area; the Princes of Lichtenstein are active rulers.) Sophie can be in line for the Stuart claim for the English and Scottish thrones – but not for the crown of Bavaria, which follows a semi-Salic male line preference.

Bonny Princess Sophie, anyone?

- House of Stuart from The Crowned Heads of Europe (work in progress)

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Actually, going to fetch an unwilling Princess Sophie could make an interesting adventure for a small team, even if the French allow passage...

"Are you mad? I am not going anywhere!" I swear, lads, she stamped her foot.

The tall, blond fellow stood from the comfortable looking wing chair by the majestic fireplace. "This is absurd. My wife stated, as her father and grandfather have said, they have no interest in pursuing a centuries old claim to an English throne, regardless of the rules you use to trace it. Now, take your documents and depart, before I call the French authorities."

Deladier, in his plain fatigues, cleared his throat. "I believe the French authorities have already sanctioned this...."

Opposing teams of SAS, Scottish leftists, British Royalists, French secret services, Soviet spies, Lichtensteiner loyalists, a trip across the stormy North Sea, and an angry fairy tale princess.....

Uncle Ted

[rcaf_777]

Where is the Sottish SAS?

[James Langham2]

Royal Army is what it is in the sourcebook... I think the title works, I might play around with the head of government part.

I tried to avoid the term SAS as I wanted it to try and distance itself a little from the British Army (hence the name changes)

[RN7]

Originally Posted by James Langham2

Royal Army is what it is in the sourcebook... I think the title works, I might play around with the head of government part.

I tried to avoid the term SAS as I wanted it to try and distance itself a little from the British Army (hence the name changes)

The SNP are republicans and would not be in favour of restoring the Scottish monarchy who ever that might be. What would be the point of exchanging the British royals with a new Scottish royal who is not Scottish?

Also a Scottish monarch would probably be the head of state of an independent Scotland, and I don't think the SNP would be too inclined to defer or consult their new laws and policies with a royal, yet alone share power.

Being republicans I don't think the SNP would also be interesting in founding a new Royal Army of Scotland, who would likely take an oath of allegiance to the Scottish monarch just as British troops take an oath to the British monarch. So I think the GDW may have made an error here by naming it a Royal Army of Scotland.

Personally I think any new Scottish Army would be drawn from reserve territorials rather than regular troops, and many Scottish soldiers from Scottish units such as for example the Black Watch Regiment who would be ultra-British nationalist and certainly ultra-Royalist (British) and would want nothing to do with a new Scottish Army. I think the naming of Scottish units would be along the lines of newly named units rather than drawing on traditional Scottish units of the British Army or other British forces.

[rcaf_777]

Originally Posted by James Langham2

I tried to avoid the term SAS as I wanted it to try and distance itself a little from the British Army (hence the name changes)

What about using the term ranger?

[The Dark]

Originally Posted by unkated

How can you have a Royal Army without a Royal?

Has no one gone to Bavaria to fetch home Bonnie Princess Sophie (like it or not)?

*snip*

Opposing teams of SAS, Scottish leftists, British Royalists, French secret services, Soviet spies, Lichtensteiner loyalists, a trip across the stormy North Sea, and an angry fairy tale princess.....

Uncle Ted

They may not even need to go to Bavaria. Prince Alois and Princess Sophie lived in London until May 1996 in our timeline; their first son (Prince Joseph) was born in Portland Hospital in 1995.