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Arms Race, Main Thread: The Story Continues!
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Welcome, Spacebattles, to the Arms Race Forum Game
This game has finished! If you still wish to participate, please see the next game!
Here, you will join one of two nations, and attempt to design guns to shoot at the other one.
This plays off as two separate quest-type games, which are competing against one another. To play, join one of the nation threads, but see below for the rules and setting.
Juraki: Thread Link
Cannala: Thread Link
The year is 1910, and these two nations having been warring over the small continent (they both insist that you call it a continent) of Turbados in the south pacific. The British Empire is strong, and the art of war is changing rapidly in America and Europe. Turbados has, in terms of global politics, been mostly irrelevant. The Spanish Empire established a colony on Turbados, quickly subjugating the natives who wielded only bows and spears at the time. As the Spanish Empire crumbled, Turbados was seized by other groups looking for a place to build a sovereign nation. Now there are two great powers in Turbados. With each eager for an entire landmass to call their own, diplomatic talks turned to insults and war over fifty years ago, and there has been no peace since. The reasons for this are much debated, but the debates universally end in fisticuffs. Following the rest of the world, these nations have begun to industrialize, and are vying for control of the continent, same as ever.
Gas lamps illuminate horse-drawn wagons in the streets and smoke from factories fills the sky over cities. You are meeting around a drawing board, in an office above the factory floor. After a while of stalemate fighting, the old weapons design team has beenexecuted fired, and you have been chosen to replace them.
THE LANDS AND NATIONS
Cannala resides in the warmer northern half of Turbados, among the hilly fields and sugar plantations. Some time ago, pirates fell upon the small Spanish colony here, ousted the governor, and decided they liked being in charged. The people are mixed descendants of Spanish colonists, misfit pirates and native plantation workers. They took their name from the native name for the land, even though most natives are still only poor farmers. The Juraki Shogunate originated from the followers of a lesser Daimyo in Japan, who was exiled after secretly meeting foreigners to broker for technology, violating Japan's policy of strict isolationism. They have settled the other half of the continent, which is rocky and temperate, even snowing in the winter.
The two regions in which the factions host their capitols are separated by two other regions, in parallel. On the east side of the island- sorry, the Cannala representative has just passed me a note... oh, continent, is a region of jungle. Here much of the roads are muddy, which bogs down carts. There is thick foliage and hiding places everywhere, and the jungle is snaked with a network of rivers wide and narrow. On the west side, there are open grassy plains with only the occasional forested spot or small village for cover. There are also six islands around the continent. For gaining and losing ground, each region is split into four sections, for the purpose of tracking how much ground a faction holds. The capitol regions are split into three regions themselves, an east, west and central. The east or west must be fully controlled before the central region can be attacked to win the game. The surrounding islands are only two sections. Beware, they can be gained and lost suddenly.
The islands are as-yet unnamed. At the start of the game, the middle portions of Turbados are contested, and the middle islands are contested.
THE WEAPONS
You only influence on the war will be to develop technology for your chosen nation- you are engineers, not generals. Here are the weapons each country starts with.
For reference, the state of the art technology in Europe and the Americas is this:
The nation of Cannala starts with the following weapons and equipment:
The Juraki Shogunate starts with the following weapons and equipment:
THE RULES
In either nation's thread, you may suggest what to do each turn, and vote in favor other suggestions. Please stick to one nation, nobody likes a turncoat! Turns occur in two phases:
-In the Design Phase, you may suggest a new product (EG a brand new machinegun). I will secretly roll some dice, and depending how ambitious your new project is, I will assign an Expense to it, and possibly introduce Bugs. If you want, you can simply revise an old project instead of making a new one.
-Once you've seen the results of your efforts, we move to the Revision Phase- you can try to reduce the expense, remove bugs, or add features to a product (EG make the machinegun stop jamming, or making a new, carbine version of a rifle). This doesn't have to be the product you started in the first phase, if you're happy with it. You can also often make new types of ammo in the revision phase.
-Then the fighting happens! I'll provide a description of who has the advantage on which fronts, and roll some dice. Resources will be gained and lost sometimes. The next year will start, and we will move to a new Design phase.
Sometimes, you might earn a Design Credit or a Revision Credit, which will allow you one extra design or revision action in one turn.
Expense: Regular equipment can be given to everyone in your army. If a piece of equipment is difficult to produce, it has expense levels: 1 is Expensive, 2 is Very Expensive, and 3 is A National Effort. It doesn't matter how many different types you have, as you'll still only be making a total number of guns enough to equip everyone. Inexpensive equipment could be given to every soldier, if you want. Cheap vehicles means everyone can ride around in one instead of marching. Expensive equipment can be given to officers, or one per squad (5-10 soldiers). Expensive Vehicles means a pretty good number can be used for support. Very Expensive equipment can be used by special squads only, about 1 in 100 soldiers. Very Expensive vehicles are few and far between on the battlefield, or there are only a couple squads in total. Your nation can only deploy one National Effort at a time. It had better be an aircraft carrier, or a nuke, or a giant walking robot if you want this to be worth it. If you have multiple weapons at a price tier, then soldiers/squads choose one for the situation. Some weapons, EG crewed machine guns and artillery, don't benefit much from being Inexpensive because there aren't many situations where you'd want everyone using one.
You might gain an Expense Credit which you can choose to use for one unit, reducing the expense by 1- for example, if you decide you really want better air support, you could spend an expense credit to bring your new fighter from Very Expensive to Expensive. Monetary gains from trade will be represented this way if, for example, you sell your guns abroad.
The expense of equipment is determined when you design it. The more new features, or the more ambitious, the more likely it is to be expensive. You can attempt to reduce the expense when revising equipment- this might introduce bugs, or it might permanently reduce the expense of that technology.
Resources: You can gain more Ore and Oil by gaining territory, and by designing better general transportation (trains, trucks and boats). If you lose it and a product becomes more expensive, then soldiers will cease to use it as they run out of ammo/replacement parts.
For example, a car might cost Ore 3, Oil 2. If your nation has Ore 2, Oil 1, a product which costs Ore 3, Oil 2 gains an expense level, because you're short 2 resources. If you're short 3 or more resources, it gains two expense levels (Very Expensive). If it's also Complex, that's three expense levels (A National Effort). Something that costs 6 or more resources than you have gains three expense levels right away (A National Effort). If something adds up to 4 or more expense levels, it is Theoretical and cannot actually be built. Ore represents total mining effort, so if you have a gun made of a rare or difficult to mine metal (let's say titanium) it might have an ore cost of 2 or 3 despite being only a rifle. If a large truck can be made mostly from low-quality steel, it might be cheaper. For now I'm ignoring train cost and assuming that new technologies are either cost effective or considered failures automatically.
The following resources are available in Turbados and its surrounding islands. Each area must be completely controlled, and then remain controlled for a full turn, to gain its resources.
There is a catch! Transport capacity. Materials need to be moved back to the capitol for refining. At the start of the game each faction has 1 transport capacity on land and 1 at sea.
At each capitol, there is 1 ore, and 2 wood, which don't use transport capacity.
Plains: 1 ore, 1 oil
Jungle: 1 ore, 1 oil
Island A: 1 oil
Island B: ???
Island C: 1 ore
Island D: 1 oil
Island E: ???
Island F: 1 ore
Additional Rules:
These won't come up right away. You can skip them for now. Some things may be added here later.
GET READY TO RUMBLE
This should be all you need to know to play the game- just get in one of the faction threads, and start suggesting design ideas. Don't metagame by reading the other faction's thread, and don't post your designs in this thread where everyone can see them. Post in this thread if you have OOC questions or comments about the game and its rules. You can also IC trash talk the other faction in this thread.
This game has finished! If you still wish to participate, please see the next game!
Here, you will join one of two nations, and attempt to design guns to shoot at the other one.
This plays off as two separate quest-type games, which are competing against one another. To play, join one of the nation threads, but see below for the rules and setting.
Juraki: Thread Link
Cannala: Thread Link
The year is 1910, and these two nations having been warring over the small continent (they both insist that you call it a continent) of Turbados in the south pacific. The British Empire is strong, and the art of war is changing rapidly in America and Europe. Turbados has, in terms of global politics, been mostly irrelevant. The Spanish Empire established a colony on Turbados, quickly subjugating the natives who wielded only bows and spears at the time. As the Spanish Empire crumbled, Turbados was seized by other groups looking for a place to build a sovereign nation. Now there are two great powers in Turbados. With each eager for an entire landmass to call their own, diplomatic talks turned to insults and war over fifty years ago, and there has been no peace since. The reasons for this are much debated, but the debates universally end in fisticuffs. Following the rest of the world, these nations have begun to industrialize, and are vying for control of the continent, same as ever.
Gas lamps illuminate horse-drawn wagons in the streets and smoke from factories fills the sky over cities. You are meeting around a drawing board, in an office above the factory floor. After a while of stalemate fighting, the old weapons design team has been
THE LANDS AND NATIONS
Cannala resides in the warmer northern half of Turbados, among the hilly fields and sugar plantations. Some time ago, pirates fell upon the small Spanish colony here, ousted the governor, and decided they liked being in charged. The people are mixed descendants of Spanish colonists, misfit pirates and native plantation workers. They took their name from the native name for the land, even though most natives are still only poor farmers. The Juraki Shogunate originated from the followers of a lesser Daimyo in Japan, who was exiled after secretly meeting foreigners to broker for technology, violating Japan's policy of strict isolationism. They have settled the other half of the continent, which is rocky and temperate, even snowing in the winter.
The two regions in which the factions host their capitols are separated by two other regions, in parallel. On the east side of the island- sorry, the Cannala representative has just passed me a note... oh, continent, is a region of jungle. Here much of the roads are muddy, which bogs down carts. There is thick foliage and hiding places everywhere, and the jungle is snaked with a network of rivers wide and narrow. On the west side, there are open grassy plains with only the occasional forested spot or small village for cover. There are also six islands around the continent. For gaining and losing ground, each region is split into four sections, for the purpose of tracking how much ground a faction holds. The capitol regions are split into three regions themselves, an east, west and central. The east or west must be fully controlled before the central region can be attacked to win the game. The surrounding islands are only two sections. Beware, they can be gained and lost suddenly.
The islands are as-yet unnamed. At the start of the game, the middle portions of Turbados are contested, and the middle islands are contested.
THE WEAPONS
You only influence on the war will be to develop technology for your chosen nation- you are engineers, not generals. Here are the weapons each country starts with.
For reference, the state of the art technology in Europe and the Americas is this:
-Sidearms are semiautomatic pistols, often double action, with quickly changeable magazines.
-Rifles are usually bolt action rather than automatic, with clip-loaded magazines holding several cartridges, and iron sights.
-Shotguns are tube-loading pump action.
-Machine guns are heavy, and belt-fed. They are often water-cooled, and require three or more men to keep in operation, and are used in emplaced positions. Despite being inconvenient, these dominate the battlefield.
-Artillery includes relatively accurate howitzer cannons, mounted on carriages to be pulled by horse or truck.
-Hand grenades are usually on sticks, fragmenting shells are yet-uninvented.
-The notion of a tank on the battlefield is largely nonexistent.
-Warships are steam-powered, burning oil or coal, and built completely of iron and steel. There are still sailing ships at sea, but not in serious naval use.
-The biggest ships displace in excess of 30,000 tons, and most warships displace hundreds of tons.
-Germany has built a handful of submarines.
-Militaries are beginning to experiment with aircraft, which are nearly all made of wood and canvas.
-Rifles are usually bolt action rather than automatic, with clip-loaded magazines holding several cartridges, and iron sights.
-Shotguns are tube-loading pump action.
-Machine guns are heavy, and belt-fed. They are often water-cooled, and require three or more men to keep in operation, and are used in emplaced positions. Despite being inconvenient, these dominate the battlefield.
-Artillery includes relatively accurate howitzer cannons, mounted on carriages to be pulled by horse or truck.
-Hand grenades are usually on sticks, fragmenting shells are yet-uninvented.
-The notion of a tank on the battlefield is largely nonexistent.
-Warships are steam-powered, burning oil or coal, and built completely of iron and steel. There are still sailing ships at sea, but not in serious naval use.
-The biggest ships displace in excess of 30,000 tons, and most warships displace hundreds of tons.
-Germany has built a handful of submarines.
-Militaries are beginning to experiment with aircraft, which are nearly all made of wood and canvas.
The nation of Cannala starts with the following weapons and equipment:
WEAPONS:
Blunderbuss: Crude muzzle-loading firearms, loaded with powder and pellets. Capable of inflicting grievous wounds at short range, these are designed to spread as much as possible. In a pinch they can be loaded with nails, rocks, wood or anything else. The load is ignited with a flintlock.
Stolen Rifled Muskets: Longer flintlock firearms which fire lead balls, and have rifling. These are not so easy to carry around as the blunderbuss, but effective to much farther. They are not produced domestically, which makes them uncommon enough that only officers can use them. [1 Ore]
12-lb Cannons: [Expensive] Cast-iron cannons on carriage mounts, useable both as naval firearms and field artillery. Loading them requires a ramrod, powder, wad, and shot (either balls or grapeshot). The cannon is then ignited by a fuse. Named for the weight of a ball it would fire, the entire apparatus weighs almost a ton. [2 ore]
Cutlasses: Small, curved swords.
SHIPS:
Rowboats: Travel in rivers, or between ships and beaches, is done in simple rowboats.
Sloops: Most of the navy sails in sloops. These are single-mast, wooden hulled sailing ships with one gun deck and a dozen cannons. The Cannala favored tactic is to circle enemy ships long enough to fire a couple cannon volleys, then board. These also provide some shipping capacity. [2 Wood]
Cutlass Ironclad: [Very Expensive] The Cannala navy has a handful of steampowered ironclads. These are driven by paddles and have two gun decks, hosting fifty total guns. They have a ram as well. The hull is constructed of wood, but it has a thick skin of cast-iron armor as well. The Steam Engine is complicated and difficult to produce and maintain. [3 Wood, 3 Ore, 1 Oil]
LAND VEHICLES:
Horse Cavalry: In open fields, cavalry ride with swords and guns. These harass infantry formations or chase down key targets on the battlefield.
Horse Carts: These provide a rudimentary amount of shipping capacity.
COMMUNICATIONS AND OTHER:
Grappling hooks- For boarding ships.
Wire telegraphs- messages can move instantly from El Presidente to forward camps.
Semaphore- Communication between ships, or where there are no telegraphs, is performed with signaling flags.
TECHNOLOGY:
English System of Measurement- Pounds, feet, gallons!
Black Powder- The most basic form of gunpowder. Loud, smoky and dirty.
Sailing- An ancient art.
Flintlock- Small firearms are ignited with a piece of flint on a spring-loaded arm. Not exactly modern technology, but it has a piece called a "Frizzen" which is fun to say.
Cast iron- the cheapest way to build metal structures.
Steel- A stronger metal for weapons, armor and small parts. More expensive than cast iron.
Steam Engines- [Complicated] Boats, trains and machines can be powered from pressurized steam, created in a boiler over a furnace which burns coal or oil.
Ingenuity- Cannalans are good at rigging broken equipment and parts that were never meant to go together into something that will work just long enough to survive a battle.
RESOURCES:
2 Transport capacity, from Sloops and Horse Carts.
2 Wood
1 Ore
1 Oil
Blunderbuss: Crude muzzle-loading firearms, loaded with powder and pellets. Capable of inflicting grievous wounds at short range, these are designed to spread as much as possible. In a pinch they can be loaded with nails, rocks, wood or anything else. The load is ignited with a flintlock.
Stolen Rifled Muskets: Longer flintlock firearms which fire lead balls, and have rifling. These are not so easy to carry around as the blunderbuss, but effective to much farther. They are not produced domestically, which makes them uncommon enough that only officers can use them. [1 Ore]
12-lb Cannons: [Expensive] Cast-iron cannons on carriage mounts, useable both as naval firearms and field artillery. Loading them requires a ramrod, powder, wad, and shot (either balls or grapeshot). The cannon is then ignited by a fuse. Named for the weight of a ball it would fire, the entire apparatus weighs almost a ton. [2 ore]
Cutlasses: Small, curved swords.
SHIPS:
Rowboats: Travel in rivers, or between ships and beaches, is done in simple rowboats.
Sloops: Most of the navy sails in sloops. These are single-mast, wooden hulled sailing ships with one gun deck and a dozen cannons. The Cannala favored tactic is to circle enemy ships long enough to fire a couple cannon volleys, then board. These also provide some shipping capacity. [2 Wood]
Cutlass Ironclad: [Very Expensive] The Cannala navy has a handful of steampowered ironclads. These are driven by paddles and have two gun decks, hosting fifty total guns. They have a ram as well. The hull is constructed of wood, but it has a thick skin of cast-iron armor as well. The Steam Engine is complicated and difficult to produce and maintain. [3 Wood, 3 Ore, 1 Oil]
LAND VEHICLES:
Horse Cavalry: In open fields, cavalry ride with swords and guns. These harass infantry formations or chase down key targets on the battlefield.
Horse Carts: These provide a rudimentary amount of shipping capacity.
COMMUNICATIONS AND OTHER:
Grappling hooks- For boarding ships.
Wire telegraphs- messages can move instantly from El Presidente to forward camps.
Semaphore- Communication between ships, or where there are no telegraphs, is performed with signaling flags.
TECHNOLOGY:
English System of Measurement- Pounds, feet, gallons!
Black Powder- The most basic form of gunpowder. Loud, smoky and dirty.
Sailing- An ancient art.
Flintlock- Small firearms are ignited with a piece of flint on a spring-loaded arm. Not exactly modern technology, but it has a piece called a "Frizzen" which is fun to say.
Cast iron- the cheapest way to build metal structures.
Steel- A stronger metal for weapons, armor and small parts. More expensive than cast iron.
Steam Engines- [Complicated] Boats, trains and machines can be powered from pressurized steam, created in a boiler over a furnace which burns coal or oil.
Ingenuity- Cannalans are good at rigging broken equipment and parts that were never meant to go together into something that will work just long enough to survive a battle.
RESOURCES:
2 Transport capacity, from Sloops and Horse Carts.
2 Wood
1 Ore
1 Oil
The Juraki Shogunate starts with the following weapons and equipment:
WEAPONS:
Smoothbore Rifles: Crude muzzle-loading firearms, loaded with powder and a ball. The load is ignited with a flintlock. They're not very accurate, but at least they're cheap and made on an assembly line. Includes bayonets. [1 Ore]
Dragon Muskets: [Expensive] Longer flintlock firearms which fire lead balls, and have rifling. These are long and heavy, but accurate. Each one is lovingly crafted by a skilled blacksmith (counts as "Complicated"), and is inlaid with words, artwork, gilding, and often the muzzle is a sculpted dragon head, which appears to breath fire when it shoots. Most of them are given individual names, like "Bloodletter" or "The Wind that Kills", because the blacksmiths who make them are consummate glory seekers. The bore sizes are not standardized, with each blacksmith choosing what he thinks is best. As a result soldiers cannot share ammo and often must cast their own lead balls.[1 Ore]
6-kg Cannons: [Expensive] Cast-iron cannons on carriage mounts, useable both as naval firearms and field artillery. Loading them requires a ramrod, powder, wad, and shot (either balls or grapeshot). The cannon is then ignited by a fuse. Named for the weight of a ball it would fire, the entire apparatus weighs almost a ton. [2 ore]
Katana: [Expensive] Long, curved swords, made of folded steel by skilled blacksmiths. Sharp enough to cut falling silk, or a machine gun barrel, if you believe the stories.
SHIPS:
Rowboats: Travel in rivers, or between ships and beaches, is done in simple rowboats.
Junks: Most of the navy sails in junks. These have sails spread across one main mast and two smaller masts, shaped with battens. They are armed with 16 cannons, but aren't as quick to turn as sloops. They are capable of sea travel as well as rowing up rivers. These also provide some shipping capacity. [2 Wood]
Ironclad Junks: [Expensive] The Juraki navy has a a number of steampowered ironclads. These are based on the Junk design but expanded, with armor and more cannons, for a total 20. The hull is constructed of mixed cast-iron and wood, but it has a thick skin of cast-iron armor as well. The Juraki Steam Engine technology is more mature and doesn't add expense. [1 Wood, 3 Ore, 1 Oil]
LAND VEHICLES:
Horse Cavalry: In open fields, cavalry ride with swords and guns. These harass infantry formations or chase down key targets on the battlefield.
Horse Carts: These provide a rudimentary amount of shipping capacity.
COMMUNICATIONS AND OTHER:
Grappling hooks- For boarding ships. Juraki captains prefer to use cannonballs from a distance and only board as a desperate measure.
Wire telegraphs- messages can move instantly from the Glorious Shogun to forward camps.
Semaphore- Communication between ships, or where there are no telegraphs, is performed with signaling flags.
TECHNOLOGY:
Metric System of Measurement- Kilograms, meters, liters!
Black Powder- The most basic form of gunpowder. Loud, smoky and dirty.
Sailing- An ancient art.
Flintlock- Small firearms are ignited with a piece of flint on a spring-loaded arm. Not exactly modern technology, but it has a piece called a "Frizzen" which is fun to say.
Steam Engines- Boats, trains and machines can be powered from pressurized steam, created in a boiler over a furnace which burns coal or oil.
Cast iron- the cheapest way to build metal structures.
Steel- A stronger metal for weapons, armor and small parts. More expensive than cast iron.
Artful Design- Juraki equipment is often painted with bright colors, engraved with words and symbols, or otherwise artfully embellished.
RESOURCES:
2 Transport capacity, from Sloops and Horse Carts.
2 Wood
1 Ore
1 Oil
Smoothbore Rifles: Crude muzzle-loading firearms, loaded with powder and a ball. The load is ignited with a flintlock. They're not very accurate, but at least they're cheap and made on an assembly line. Includes bayonets. [1 Ore]
Dragon Muskets: [Expensive] Longer flintlock firearms which fire lead balls, and have rifling. These are long and heavy, but accurate. Each one is lovingly crafted by a skilled blacksmith (counts as "Complicated"), and is inlaid with words, artwork, gilding, and often the muzzle is a sculpted dragon head, which appears to breath fire when it shoots. Most of them are given individual names, like "Bloodletter" or "The Wind that Kills", because the blacksmiths who make them are consummate glory seekers. The bore sizes are not standardized, with each blacksmith choosing what he thinks is best. As a result soldiers cannot share ammo and often must cast their own lead balls.[1 Ore]
6-kg Cannons: [Expensive] Cast-iron cannons on carriage mounts, useable both as naval firearms and field artillery. Loading them requires a ramrod, powder, wad, and shot (either balls or grapeshot). The cannon is then ignited by a fuse. Named for the weight of a ball it would fire, the entire apparatus weighs almost a ton. [2 ore]
Katana: [Expensive] Long, curved swords, made of folded steel by skilled blacksmiths. Sharp enough to cut falling silk, or a machine gun barrel, if you believe the stories.
SHIPS:
Rowboats: Travel in rivers, or between ships and beaches, is done in simple rowboats.
Junks: Most of the navy sails in junks. These have sails spread across one main mast and two smaller masts, shaped with battens. They are armed with 16 cannons, but aren't as quick to turn as sloops. They are capable of sea travel as well as rowing up rivers. These also provide some shipping capacity. [2 Wood]
Ironclad Junks: [Expensive] The Juraki navy has a a number of steampowered ironclads. These are based on the Junk design but expanded, with armor and more cannons, for a total 20. The hull is constructed of mixed cast-iron and wood, but it has a thick skin of cast-iron armor as well. The Juraki Steam Engine technology is more mature and doesn't add expense. [1 Wood, 3 Ore, 1 Oil]
LAND VEHICLES:
Horse Cavalry: In open fields, cavalry ride with swords and guns. These harass infantry formations or chase down key targets on the battlefield.
Horse Carts: These provide a rudimentary amount of shipping capacity.
COMMUNICATIONS AND OTHER:
Grappling hooks- For boarding ships. Juraki captains prefer to use cannonballs from a distance and only board as a desperate measure.
Wire telegraphs- messages can move instantly from the Glorious Shogun to forward camps.
Semaphore- Communication between ships, or where there are no telegraphs, is performed with signaling flags.
TECHNOLOGY:
Metric System of Measurement- Kilograms, meters, liters!
Black Powder- The most basic form of gunpowder. Loud, smoky and dirty.
Sailing- An ancient art.
Flintlock- Small firearms are ignited with a piece of flint on a spring-loaded arm. Not exactly modern technology, but it has a piece called a "Frizzen" which is fun to say.
Steam Engines- Boats, trains and machines can be powered from pressurized steam, created in a boiler over a furnace which burns coal or oil.
Cast iron- the cheapest way to build metal structures.
Steel- A stronger metal for weapons, armor and small parts. More expensive than cast iron.
Artful Design- Juraki equipment is often painted with bright colors, engraved with words and symbols, or otherwise artfully embellished.
RESOURCES:
2 Transport capacity, from Sloops and Horse Carts.
2 Wood
1 Ore
1 Oil
THE RULES
In either nation's thread, you may suggest what to do each turn, and vote in favor other suggestions. Please stick to one nation, nobody likes a turncoat! Turns occur in two phases:
-In the Design Phase, you may suggest a new product (EG a brand new machinegun). I will secretly roll some dice, and depending how ambitious your new project is, I will assign an Expense to it, and possibly introduce Bugs. If you want, you can simply revise an old project instead of making a new one.
-Once you've seen the results of your efforts, we move to the Revision Phase- you can try to reduce the expense, remove bugs, or add features to a product (EG make the machinegun stop jamming, or making a new, carbine version of a rifle). This doesn't have to be the product you started in the first phase, if you're happy with it. You can also often make new types of ammo in the revision phase.
-Then the fighting happens! I'll provide a description of who has the advantage on which fronts, and roll some dice. Resources will be gained and lost sometimes. The next year will start, and we will move to a new Design phase.
Sometimes, you might earn a Design Credit or a Revision Credit, which will allow you one extra design or revision action in one turn.
Expense: Regular equipment can be given to everyone in your army. If a piece of equipment is difficult to produce, it has expense levels: 1 is Expensive, 2 is Very Expensive, and 3 is A National Effort. It doesn't matter how many different types you have, as you'll still only be making a total number of guns enough to equip everyone. Inexpensive equipment could be given to every soldier, if you want. Cheap vehicles means everyone can ride around in one instead of marching. Expensive equipment can be given to officers, or one per squad (5-10 soldiers). Expensive Vehicles means a pretty good number can be used for support. Very Expensive equipment can be used by special squads only, about 1 in 100 soldiers. Very Expensive vehicles are few and far between on the battlefield, or there are only a couple squads in total. Your nation can only deploy one National Effort at a time. It had better be an aircraft carrier, or a nuke, or a giant walking robot if you want this to be worth it. If you have multiple weapons at a price tier, then soldiers/squads choose one for the situation. Some weapons, EG crewed machine guns and artillery, don't benefit much from being Inexpensive because there aren't many situations where you'd want everyone using one.
You might gain an Expense Credit which you can choose to use for one unit, reducing the expense by 1- for example, if you decide you really want better air support, you could spend an expense credit to bring your new fighter from Very Expensive to Expensive. Monetary gains from trade will be represented this way if, for example, you sell your guns abroad.
The expense of equipment is determined when you design it. The more new features, or the more ambitious, the more likely it is to be expensive. You can attempt to reduce the expense when revising equipment- this might introduce bugs, or it might permanently reduce the expense of that technology.
Resources: You can gain more Ore and Oil by gaining territory, and by designing better general transportation (trains, trucks and boats). If you lose it and a product becomes more expensive, then soldiers will cease to use it as they run out of ammo/replacement parts.
For example, a car might cost Ore 3, Oil 2. If your nation has Ore 2, Oil 1, a product which costs Ore 3, Oil 2 gains an expense level, because you're short 2 resources. If you're short 3 or more resources, it gains two expense levels (Very Expensive). If it's also Complex, that's three expense levels (A National Effort). Something that costs 6 or more resources than you have gains three expense levels right away (A National Effort). If something adds up to 4 or more expense levels, it is Theoretical and cannot actually be built. Ore represents total mining effort, so if you have a gun made of a rare or difficult to mine metal (let's say titanium) it might have an ore cost of 2 or 3 despite being only a rifle. If a large truck can be made mostly from low-quality steel, it might be cheaper. For now I'm ignoring train cost and assuming that new technologies are either cost effective or considered failures automatically.
The following resources are available in Turbados and its surrounding islands. Each area must be completely controlled, and then remain controlled for a full turn, to gain its resources.
There is a catch! Transport capacity. Materials need to be moved back to the capitol for refining. At the start of the game each faction has 1 transport capacity on land and 1 at sea.
At each capitol, there is 1 ore, and 2 wood, which don't use transport capacity.
Plains: 1 ore, 1 oil
Jungle: 1 ore, 1 oil
Island A: 1 oil
Island B: ???
Island C: 1 ore
Island D: 1 oil
Island E: ???
Island F: 1 ore
Additional Rules:
These won't come up right away. You can skip them for now. Some things may be added here later.
I am not a historian- I do my best to get the details of technology and physics correct. However, if I make something that's a little silly, or if I make a mistake on the function or capability of a piece of technology, bear with me. I mostly only have wikipedia as a resource.
I will rarely revise weapons- If I do accidentally make something more powerful than it realistically should be, or just historically/scientifically inaccurate, you can complain. Whether I will change it depends mainly on how much of an impact it will have on the game- I hate to give one team something good, then take it away. Even if it means assuming the rules of physics are a little different in this universe, my ruling is final and I will not acknowledge repeat complaints once I have made a decision.
There are some secret armor rules- I have them written down somewhere. Remind me about this when we get to the point of trying to make tank armor and anti-tank weapons.
Reverse engineering- If you gained ground in a theater where an enemy unit was killed, and that unit contains technology you don't have, you can spend a revision action to learn that technology, with a chance of success.
Chances of success- I mentioned that the difficulty of creating a new piece of technology was determined by how ambitious it was, and a dice roll. When I write down the result of your attempt at making something and describe how well it performs, I take into account a few things. First is your pre-existing technology, of course. If you are designing something that's only one major innovation ahead of where you already are, you have a good chance of succeeding. Failed attempts at similar designs improve your chances of success as well. The current year also matters- it can be assumed that your engineers are aware of military advancements in the outside world, and can seek to emulate them. The older military technology gets, the easier it is for a member of the public to find documentation on its workings. Conversely, advancing ahead of the state-of-the art in the rest of the world is difficult.
I roll a physical 1d6 on my desk. A 3 or 4 means a reasonable design succeeds or an ambitious design has some issues. A 1 or 2 means that some bugs are introduced if the design includes any new technology, and ambitious designs will be very buggy or fail outright. A 5 or 6 means that modest designs are of superior workmanship, ambitious designs are successful, or that groundbreaking new designs succeed with only moderate bugs. A simple design with proven technology is probably guaranteed success, and it's possible for completely over-ambitious designs to be guaranteed failures. Some bugs are introduced no matter what; for example, in 1911 any portable electrical devices (EG a radio) you build will need heavy batteries or an external power source. You make engineering advances, not scientific ones, so don't expect a leap forward in battery or capacitor technology that hasn't already been at least demonstrated once somewhere else in the world. As a rule of thumb, if something was discovered rather than invented, you can't have it before it existed historically.
Surprise bugs- Members of the Juraki Shogunate asked if they could regularly expect to have problems with weapons not reported, and only appear in the battle report (since their Type 1 worked fine on paper). This is partly me being arbitrary; however, problems which only appear after extended use of a weapon are at risk of not appearing until the battle report. If a problem is introduced in the revision phase (such as replacing black powder with cordite, and having brass burst) then that is liable to only appear in the battle report- the assumption here is that revisions are being rushed into production at the last minute.
I will rarely revise weapons- If I do accidentally make something more powerful than it realistically should be, or just historically/scientifically inaccurate, you can complain. Whether I will change it depends mainly on how much of an impact it will have on the game- I hate to give one team something good, then take it away. Even if it means assuming the rules of physics are a little different in this universe, my ruling is final and I will not acknowledge repeat complaints once I have made a decision.
There are some secret armor rules- I have them written down somewhere. Remind me about this when we get to the point of trying to make tank armor and anti-tank weapons.
Reverse engineering- If you gained ground in a theater where an enemy unit was killed, and that unit contains technology you don't have, you can spend a revision action to learn that technology, with a chance of success.
Chances of success- I mentioned that the difficulty of creating a new piece of technology was determined by how ambitious it was, and a dice roll. When I write down the result of your attempt at making something and describe how well it performs, I take into account a few things. First is your pre-existing technology, of course. If you are designing something that's only one major innovation ahead of where you already are, you have a good chance of succeeding. Failed attempts at similar designs improve your chances of success as well. The current year also matters- it can be assumed that your engineers are aware of military advancements in the outside world, and can seek to emulate them. The older military technology gets, the easier it is for a member of the public to find documentation on its workings. Conversely, advancing ahead of the state-of-the art in the rest of the world is difficult.
I roll a physical 1d6 on my desk. A 3 or 4 means a reasonable design succeeds or an ambitious design has some issues. A 1 or 2 means that some bugs are introduced if the design includes any new technology, and ambitious designs will be very buggy or fail outright. A 5 or 6 means that modest designs are of superior workmanship, ambitious designs are successful, or that groundbreaking new designs succeed with only moderate bugs. A simple design with proven technology is probably guaranteed success, and it's possible for completely over-ambitious designs to be guaranteed failures. Some bugs are introduced no matter what; for example, in 1911 any portable electrical devices (EG a radio) you build will need heavy batteries or an external power source. You make engineering advances, not scientific ones, so don't expect a leap forward in battery or capacitor technology that hasn't already been at least demonstrated once somewhere else in the world. As a rule of thumb, if something was discovered rather than invented, you can't have it before it existed historically.
Surprise bugs- Members of the Juraki Shogunate asked if they could regularly expect to have problems with weapons not reported, and only appear in the battle report (since their Type 1 worked fine on paper). This is partly me being arbitrary; however, problems which only appear after extended use of a weapon are at risk of not appearing until the battle report. If a problem is introduced in the revision phase (such as replacing black powder with cordite, and having brass burst) then that is liable to only appear in the battle report- the assumption here is that revisions are being rushed into production at the last minute.
GET READY TO RUMBLE
This should be all you need to know to play the game- just get in one of the faction threads, and start suggesting design ideas. Don't metagame by reading the other faction's thread, and don't post your designs in this thread where everyone can see them. Post in this thread if you have OOC questions or comments about the game and its rules. You can also IC trash talk the other faction in this thread.
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Shouldn't Juraki have 6KG cannon instead of 12 pound one?
FILTHY METTZIO GAJIN SCUM! YOU HAVE NO HONARH! THE LAST BIT OUF IT WAS DROPPED WHEN YOU SUERENDARD TO NO HONUAR SEA RAIDER SCUM! YOU SICKEN OUR ANCESTORS, FOR THEY HAVE TO SEE UES DUEL YOU! GO BACK TO THOSE FILTHY GAJIN VILLAGES, OR ELSUE!
Did you accidentially voted Canola? Because you speak like Juraki, but Juraki have one vote which is mine.
FOOL! THERE ARE 2 THREADS! WE DO NOT "VOTE" TO PLAY AS ONE NATION!
IT IS GOOD, AS MANY DISHONRABLE GAJIN WOULD VOTE AS FILTHY METZIO PIRATES WITH NO HONUR BECAUSE THEY THINK OF IT GOOD!
WE VOTE FOR WEAPONRY DESIGN PLANS IN THE OTHER THREAD TO!
Anyways, I officially declare the Shogunate the SIDE OF BAY12! Soon space battler gajin will fall over to OUR SUPIRIOR EXPERIENCE!
IT IS GOOD, AS MANY DISHONRABLE GAJIN WOULD VOTE AS FILTHY METZIO PIRATES WITH NO HONUR BECAUSE THEY THINK OF IT GOOD!
WE VOTE FOR WEAPONRY DESIGN PLANS IN THE OTHER THREAD TO!
Anyways, I officially declare the Shogunate the SIDE OF BAY12! Soon space battler gajin will fall over to OUR SUPIRIOR EXPERIENCE!
SB is amatures at Weapon Design games, outside some other bay12vers that frequent the site. Soon they will learn, after we give them a trouncing, of course.
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Reading design thread of the oposing side is unsporting. Commenting on it is just rude.
Magistrate Troggo
Resolute Struggler
Gonna have to second DreamerGhost here, we stick to our thread they stick to theirs. Crossing the Streams ruins the game for both teams.
I'm not going to fucking pop up and propose a "counter design" against their current shit. Nore would I read it before I posted my plan/voted.
Which is all very comendable but we'd still preffer you not commenting on their thread stuff.
I wont.
Not particularly important, but in Juraki Shogunate tech list, Wire Telegraphs description mentions one "El Presidente". Unless that is a royal spy masked under a name of a peasant, I am pretty sure it should read "Glorious Shogun".
That is because filthy sushi stole it from Glorious Republic of Cannala! VIVA EL PRESIDENTE!
Coleslaw35
Disgusting Slop
Yay! Another one!
I'd love to join Cannala, but that would bring their engineer count up to 6 versus the Shogunate's 3. I suppose I'll wait a while to see if some players decide to fill in for the Jurakis, then I'll cast myself in.
I'd love to join Cannala, but that would bring their engineer count up to 6 versus the Shogunate's 3. I suppose I'll wait a while to see if some players decide to fill in for the Jurakis, then I'll cast myself in.
Coleslaw35
Disgusting Slop
Coleslaw35
Disgusting Slop
What I want to know is what is the officer to soldier ratio in our army.
WarShipper
Looking to the Future
GLORIOUS NIPPON JURAKI IS STRONK