Watson and Sherlock were truly civilian AIs, not designed for combat in any way. They incorporated some combat algorithms but never really had the true drive to engage in cybernetic warfare. But they were very good consultants and they helped hundreds of major corporations secure themselves against the cybernetic threats of the Second Great Depression, the Islamic Jihad, and the rise of the Russian and Chinese hegemonies. They still offer these services to this day.
Genetic Puritans in America reduced the influence of minority races in the early 1900s but it was in Europe that their true goals would be realized. Divided between dozens of polities and multiple alliances with centuries and sometimes millennia of war, Europe was far easier to pit against itself. Religious and ethnic minorities that didn’t belong to millennia-old towns were the easiest to marginalize. People didn’t care if they went away. Nobody missed them.
Gamma Hydrae killed most of the first colonists. Radiation poisoning destroyed their cellular linings and caused them to deteriorate until they died. In a time when old age was becoming a thing that people used to die of, the people in that system died of it in a matter of months. It was an ugly and very permanent way to die. One of the colonists turned out to be Ageless though, and her body fought the radiation. That gave the medical types something to work with.
Watson and Sherlock spent most of their time working on various cases of cyber crimes until the formation of the Western Alliance. Russian and Chinese hackers were their primary nemeses, but smaller nations and non-national hackers loved to try their skills against British or American computer systems. The two AIs became experts in counter-hacking and learned every theory and technique they could find or create. They were an impressive team.
I just received my first copy of Forge of Wars: Tactics this weekend.
I’ve already found two things I need to change now that I’ve seen it in action. Both art related. Possibly a third.
It amazing to have the game in my hands though. And it really brings home just how far things have gone to get to this point. It really does take a lot of work and a lot of time to create a new game. Ideas come quick. Completion takes time, patience, and diligence. But here is a preview of what I ordered and what I received.