The TWC Art Gallery

[MasterAdnin]

Wow Xeres, that is freaking awesome man. I'm going to go and watch the Street Fighter Alpha movie because of that.

Salaam bro,
Adnan

[MaximiIian]

And now for something slightly different.

Some "CGU-era photographs" I made by editing black-and-white photographs originally taken during the Nazi period in Germany.

The "photos" take place on April 5, 6288, during a massive rally and parade, where CGU Wehrmacht regiments and Stormguard battalions march down through the streets of Munich to convene on the Volksplatz, or People's Square, a massive open-air assembly hall. The marching lasts the entire day and stretch on into the evening and night, culminating at midnight with Maximilian reading a public Declaration of War against the Zaaroft Imperium.

First one shows a column of marching Stormguard troops from the 1st Waffen-SG Panzergrenadier Division, Leibstandarte Maximilian, the personal bodyguard detachment of Dictator Maximilian.


This second one shows masses of Wehrmacht troops rallying at the Volksplatz, while in the foreground stand five, hardly discernible at a distance, yet very major figures in the CGU government: Dictator-Führer Maximilian, Deputy-Führer Eta Rycon, Reichsführer-SG Frederick Voss, Reichsmarschall Rudolph Lanning, and Propaganda Minister Richard Joseph Wilson.

[Holger Danske]

So the CGU is basicly a Hitler's Galatic Nazi Empire gone wild? Without the hatred for the Jews of cause.

[MaximiIian]

Kinda. It's a lot more complex than that, though. For example, unlike Nazi Germany, the CGU is not fiercely anti-communist. They openly embrace socialist mixed-economics and the social justice and welfare aspect of Marxism.

It's a "dictatorial republic", meaning its a dictatorship, but there is some popular representation in the Parliament, which actually does have legislative power. The thing is, several legislators of the upper house of the Reichstag are members of the executive- Reich Ministers and territorial governors- who are appointed by the Dictator. The balance to this is, the Dictator is elected by the Reichstag; as a result, later Dictators are figureheads for the will of the Parliament.
However, the founder and first leader, Dictator Maximilian is a true dictator and autocrat, who ruthlessly manipulates Parliament to do his will.

Their use of fascist and Nazi symbology and organizations is a combination of three factors: 1. German and Italian culture becoming a prominent part of idealized "Human Civilization" because of the German-Italian ethnicity of the monarchs of the Terran Empire, the CGU's immediate predecessor; 2. deliberate mirroring on the part of the learned leaders of the CGU, who recognize that the Nazis, though abhorrent, had a powerful and effecient centralized government; 3. superficial coincidence due to the inherent similarity of all authoritarian governments.

And, yes, you are correct about the aspect of CGU state-sponsored pan-humanism. The scapegoats and "enemies" of the CGU are alien species. But aliens or "xenoforms" are persecuted in the same way Jews and etc. were persecuted by Nazi Germany. Story-wise, this is because of the fractured political sphere of the Galaxy prior to the Unification War; outside of the story, it's because I wanted there to be such an obvious historical allegory that even a brain-dead possum would get it.
In the timeline of it, I have that by the time of the founding of the CGU, Humanism had been manifested as extreme Human Nationalism for some 3000 years. By the late-Empire period of the Terran Empire, petty party politics were eating away at the gut of the Imperial Parliament. By Imperial Decree, the two largest parties, Social-Monarchist Party and National Humanist Party (itself a coalition of the Human Republican Party and the Humanist Party) were merged into the National-Humanist Imperial Labour Party in 6131, which reigned absolutely after the Constitution of 6158 made it the only legal party. The NHILP was dissolved upon the creation of the CGU in 6270, in favour of a non-partisan government. By that time "Party" and "Parliament" became almost synonymous, anyway, so there was no real effect from the dissolution of the Party, especially after the complete reorganization of the state in 6275. However, members of the Party became major figures in the CGU government, many joining the paramilitary Stormguard; and certain symbols of the NHILP became symbols of the CGU state, most prominently the blue-white armband. The ideology of the NHILP, sans monarchism, were taken to extremes and became official programs of the CGU: total civil rights for all humans, regardless of race, religion, sex, or class; the enslavement and restriction of rights of non-human xenoforms; union of all humans under a single state; and a centrally-planned socialist economy.

[Kiljan Arslan]

Who are the enemies of the CGU other than those reptileans you showed us a while back?

[MaximiIian]

At the beginning, other alien nations in the Galaxy.
After the end of the Unification War and the promulgation of the CGU Constitution in 6275, the CGU liquidated and enslaved most of their internal enemies, mainly aliens, but also pro-Alien humans.

From 6288 to 6312, they fight against the conquer the Zaaroft, a race of aggressive giant amphibians, who are almost completely exterminated, save for a small Remnant force which flees to a nearby dwarf galaxy.
From 6321 to 6336, the CGU campaigns against the Zephyr, an erect reptilian species, who protect the Zaaroft remnant. After nearly being destroyed by the Zephyr in 6331, the CGU bounces back and destroys the Zephyr, enslaving them and slaying many of them.
Following that, there are a series of secondary wars to pacify the rest of the Zephyr's dwarf-galaxy. The first of these wars are waged against the Primalis, a vaguely primate-like mammal species about the size of large chimpanzees but twice as strong. The Primalis' technology level is about that of the Terran Empire in 3053, but their infantrymen are vicious in combat, and use giant single-shot cannons as personal weapons. The ways in which the CGU treats the defeated Primalis are by far the most humane. The CGU exterminates 9/10ths of the Primalis adult population, and leave the child populace alive. The remaining adults are used to raise the child populace, which become the newest attraction in Zoological Gardens all across CGU territory.
After that, they fight the Myrrhid, a species are large, expansionist, space-faring insects who use biotechnology. The Myrrhid are obliterated in their entirety, not one is left alive.
They fight a series of small wars across other inhabited nebulae and dwarf galaxies, and crush rebellions and insurrections. The biggest problem comes not from exterior alien foes, but from internal strife, the largest being the 31-year-long Galactic Civil War, aka the War of the Dictatorial Succession, between two claimants of the Dictatorship.
In the 7000s, almost one thousand years after the founding of the CGU, the gravest alien foe comes from the Andromeda Galaxy, in the form of synthetic all-energy beings called theozoans which manipulate matter with ease, and their heralds, the winged and bloodthirsty Seraphim. The approach of these enemies force the CGU to ally with its former enemies, including the Zaaroft Remnant.

And that's about as far as I've solidly developed the story.
Very soon, I'll make and post a picture of a Seraph, and a picture of a theozoan.

[Holger Danske]

How on Earth has Western ideas and Islam merged succesfully in your universe, or is one of them gone completely?

[MaximiIian]

Eventually, Islam drifted into different things. By the 3000s, it officially dissolved itself, the Sunni Caliph handing power to the Catholic Pope, and the Shi'ite Congress simple dissolving itself, with the least Prime Imam making statements that they should convert to Judaism, the seed from which Islam sprung.
But, by that time, Islam had only barebones members. Many Muslims had, in the millennium before, converted to Egyptian Kemetic neopaganism, Babylonian neopaganism, Assyrian neopaganism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. Mainly due to Western culture becoming more prominent in the near east during the co-operative period that created the Terran Federation.

Catholicism had also dwindled quite a bit, but not nearly as much. Even as the CGU begins, the United Catholics make up 29% of the human population. Mainly due to the Sunni conversion in which gave the Pope the position of Caliph, and the Eastern Orthodox conversion which gave the Pope the position of Kephalos (ITTL, the Eastern Orthodox Christians centralize in an effort to maintain their numbers).
By this point in time, though, belief in the divinity of Jesus is not necessary in the UCC. They liberalized significantly over 4000 years. It is partially the reason they still have almost 30% of the population under their yoke.

The specifics of it all, I wrote down in the TimeLine of this story I posted on the site AH.com. :hmmm:

[Kiljan Arslan]

Dose the CGU have a more liberal policy for "near human" races, like the Empire in SW? I tried to go to AH.com and all I got was a thing called advance healthcare.

[Sher Khan]

[MaximiIian]

I tried to go to AH.com and all I got was a thing called advance healthcare.

It's not literally "AH". It's alternatehistory.com.
I thought that was implied. Sorry.

Oh, and a couple new pictures.
The continuing march on the evening of April 27, 6288.

As the rally extends into the night, it turns into a torchlight parade down the streets of Munich, as the columns of Stormguard troops march to assemble on the Volksplatz.
As the SG march along the streets, they sing the marching-song of the SG, set to a long-forgotten middle-ages (early 20th century) tune:
Die Fahne Hoch!
Reih'n gestalten in verschlossen!
Sturmgarde marschiert
Mit rutig festem schritt!

Kam'raden die Fremden und Ausland'r erschossen
Marschier'n im Geist in unsern Reihen mit!
Kam'raden die Fremden und Ausland'r erschossen
Marschier'n im Geist in unsern Reihen mit!

(Yes, the tune is the Horst-Wessel-Lied. It's meant to be eerie. :tongue)
CGU Army Infantryman, c.6301.


CGUA Infantry are supposed to use powered armour as standard combat suits, and use the standard 12.7mm AC-150 light autocannons are combat armament. However, due to various reasons, mainly related to heat, weather, and manueverability, the infantry often wear the lighter Semi-Powered Combat Suit, and often arm themselves with the lighter and shorter K87 semi-automatic 11.5mm rifle. This allows them a greater degree of manueverability and a freer range of motion in combat, while still affording them some armoured protection and rudimentary energy shielding.

[Muagan_ra]

http://cos-mosis.deviantart.com/gallery
^ My DA gallery. I'm an art student, going to study sculptural fine art in september at Manchester. Have some installation shots in that link, but here's some of my drawing and oil-painting...

[.Socrates]

*image*

haha.

[MaximiIian]

http://cos-mosis.deviantart.com/gallery
IMG]http://tn3-1.deviantart.com/fs14/300W/f/2007/117/e/8/Three_reflections_by_cos_mosis.jpg[/IMG]

Freaky. It looks a lot like my friend James.

Aaaand, the long-awaited final part of the "April 27, 6288 rally" series:
Dictator-Führer Maximilian delivering the midnight speech, publicly declaring the Zaaroft War.

Arranged before him are not only masses of torch-bearing, flag-waving Stormguardsmen and Wehrmacht soldiers, but also a great deal of civilians, assembled on the field to hear their great leader speak to the masses.
The Declaratory Rally, as it was later called, was the largest rally up to that point, and remained so until the end of the war, eclipsed by the Victory Rally, which featured the exhibition of war technologies developed and fielded during the war..

[Holger Danske]

[MaximiIian]

You are the master of the silhouette.

[Xeres2665]

Another attempt at Zbrush, im still lookin up how to do hair so pardon the generic appearance of it =)


Shot at 2007-07-11

[sephodwyrm]

yes I suck at Camo color themes.
Feel free to download.
And yeah, that's my company logo.

[The Last Spartan]

A battle scene I drew last year. It's Daemons vs. Daemonhunters (my own story).

[Darkragnar]

Do we have a thread for photoshop/photography?
I'm not talking about a portrait thread such as 'say cheese'.

pretty cool