Tip of the day: Did you know that you can hire out your military assets for non-kaiju related tasks? You risk losing all or part of them, and suffer breach-of-contract penalties if you need to suddenly re-assign them. They will be worth more and have possibly have reduced casualties as their training and your tech level increase.
Furtuka's Timmy Grant and the Kaiju FightersSome of the undergrads steal an old school bus sometime in the night of August 3rd, and spraypainted it so nobody else on the team would notice. By the time this is discovered, it's already had scrap metal poorly welded to the sides, and the rear modified so it manually folds up into the ceiling to expose a hypothetical sound system. Plans have been drawn up for modifying a fairly pricy system to take up half the bus. The local authorities are not happy, and have taken thee undergrads into custody. They have decided to donate the now-useless school bus to you. (Costs 10 credits, 5 engineer months to finish building.)
The costume design is a full body robot suit. The repeating steel plates over a proprietary thermal protection bodysuit look to be really bulky and uncomfortable, and each suit will take significant time to make.
Those studying the claw remark that it's really cool. It appears to be made of an unexpectedly dense organic material. It isn't very sharp, and is fairly brittle. They estimate that it would break if used in combat, and need to be regenerated. No special acoustics properties are noted. The claw now has a crack in it, and the tip is broken off.
The bone was stolen in the night, likely due to an undergrad forgetting to lock the door. All they learned was that it was really heavy.
Your advertising is an absolute failure. You are now known around town as "Timmy Grant and the Veterans for Demeaning Work."
-3 undergrads
+1 Scrap-armored bus.
+Design for scrap-armored audio blaster bus (20 credits, 15 engineer months)
+Design for Mki Rocker Suit (25CR, 25 engineer months)
+Claw merely damaged by the research.
IronyOwl's SINCOMNone of the undergrads studying the brain sample have taken any classes in neurochemistry, but they give the report their best shot. Alien DNA has six proteins, obviously different from humanity's, dubbed U, V, W, X, Y, Z. They speculate that a kaiju/human crossbreed is therefore impossible. Of the brain itself, they think they find minor thermal damage not caused by battle, possibly by some sort of overclocking. The one who took the lead on the project demands that you get 'her' paper published (5CR) so she can collect her Nobel prize.
The engineers make a fairly serviceable design for a camera drone from scrap parts.
The special forces platoon gets a job that turns out to be unexpectedly hazardous. Two die and three are maimed such that they must retire. You receive extra hazard pay. (+15CR)
+Preliminary kaiju neural and genetic research completed. Brain sample destroyed.
+Cheap Camera Drone (8 engineer months)
+15CR
-platoon loses strength. May replace losses for 2CR and low xp loss.
Adwarf's Black ForgeYour railgun project confirms that the laboratory wall is not immune to railgun weaponry. They make no progress in making the weapon worthwhile on the battlefield. (-15CR)
Your explosives research only succeeded in killing 6 undergrads.
Project Deliverance modifies an existing military autocannon design. The result is fairly heavy and cumbersome, and quickly chews through ammo, but should be able to devastate tanks in close range.
Project Construct is generally a failure, and nobody could figure out a way to build modular vehicles that could remotely keep up with military hardware. The senior engineers on the project turn to alcoholism to cope with their job difficulties.
+Deliverance Gatling-squad Cannon (5CR, 6 engineer months, 2CR + 1 engineer month per engagement in ammo)
-6 undergrads
Wwolin's F.A.F.N.I.R.The undergrads assigned to study the skin determine that, without regeneration, it is vulnerable to buzzsaws, swords, bullets, and napalm.
The armor design is Kevlar with ceramic plates, with thin layers of metal in key spots to look reminiscent of plate-mail. Not enough about the kaiju is known for an effective infantry armor system for them, but this should be effective against bullets and stray battlefield debris.
Your motorcycle team draws up a fairly effective design certain to impress civilians. It's not the most durable, but it's fairly fast.
The bone is nearly destroyed twice in the first week of study, but the lab's automated systems manage to prevent most of the damage. The undergrads determine that it is made of ultra-dense organic materials. They're pretty sure it would make for cool armor, if some way to work with the bones without reducing them to a fine powder was discovered. The powder appears to be useless, unless you're looking for a lethal milkshake ingredient.
The residents of San Francisco are grateful to F.A.F.N.I.R. for their support. The organization now has one dedicated fan site, complete with wiki.
The pilots learn little from reviewing the combat data.
-Skin and bone samples destroyed
-1 undergrad
+Infantry anti-bullet body armor (25CR, 15 engineer months for a set of 50)
+Impressive motorcycle design (60CR, 30 engineer months for 25 two-person bikes)
+F.A.F.N.I.R. respect
+Preliminary bone research completed.
Remalle's NERVBefore the bone sample is accidentally destroyed, the researchers determine that it is made up of an ultra-dense exotic organic compound that, while heavy, is surprisingly light for its strength.
Nobody really learns anything useful about the muscle sample before laboratory stresses destroy it.
The undergrad assigned to track kaiju appearances buys a big map and a box of tacks, sticks one into San Francisco, and writes down in a journal that the first attack was on August 9th, 2014.
Plans are started for a powered exoskeleton.
The three engineers find themselves unable to improve on military technology.
The undergrad assigned to the tracking system project productively spends his time typing away at strings of code.
Your military guards the base and trains, while the child pilots rotate between playing Titanfall, PT, and hanging out with the soldiers on-watch. The Third hates PT, but is in mild danger of considering you to be really cool.
+Preliminary bone research completed.
+Preliminary plans for powered exoskeleton
Sarrak's HERALDThe knife redesign goes poorly, given that the kaiju are almost complete unknowns who probably should not be stabbed with infantry knives. They advise a large, durable knife on the general market.
The harsh training wipes out a full platoon's worth of troops. The remaining platoon organization is re-arranged, with the ones that best learned the lessons together.
The pilots learn their lessons well, and promise not to disappoint you enough that you'll order them to crash into a giant monster. ((I missed seeing you pay extra for them. They're experienced now.))
-1 special forces platoon
+1 special forces platoon gains the survival trait.
Hawk132's HalberdNothing is really learned about the muscle sample, other than that it's surprisingly strong.
The spinal cord sample study goes slightly better. There seems to be the remnants of a scar, which has effectively healed over. It looks like the kaiju won't be stopped for long by a bit of spine damage.
The bone is made of an exotic alien compound that looks nothing like normal bones.
The combat data reveals that it will take a massive amount of firepower to bring down a kaiju. You're out of popcorn.
Project VERT designs a chassis for the mech that stands about twice as high as a human. It's fairly unstable when walking faster than a crawl, and needs more work.
No worthwhile PMC work is found.
+Preliminairy spinal cord research completed
+Preliminary bone research completed
+Project VERT makes progress
-Bone sample
-Spinal cord sample
-Muscle sample
Tokyo
Superior Combat Personnel
365 CR
Gross Income: 500 CR/month
Expenses: 173 CR/month
Net Income: 327 CR/month
Buildings:
Small workshop
General Laboratory
Living Quarters (100/100) + 327 soldiers off-base
Small Airfield (0/3)
Personnel:
10 undergrads
5 general scientists
5 general engineers
5 infantry platoons
2 special forces platoons
3 pilots
Research Completed
Preliminary bone research
Special Resources
Combat data from first attack
1x Kaiju skin sample
1x Kaiju muscle sample
1x Kaiju heart sample
Antarctic
Superior Combat Personnel
170 CR
Gross Income: 500 CR/month
Expenses: 141 CR/month
Net Income: 359 CR/month
Buildings:
1 Large Workshop
2 Living quarters (173/200)
1 Hospital ward (0/10)
1 Small Airfield (0/3)
Personnel:
10 General Engineers
10 Undergrads
1 Special Forces platoons
1 Special Forces platoons (survival)
3 Experienced Pilots (2/mo each)
Special Resources
Combat data from first attack
1x Kaiju skin sample
1x Kaiju bone sample
1x Kaiju muscle sample
1x Kaiju lung sample
San Fransisco
Superior Engineers
448 CR
Gross Income: 500 CR/month
Expenses: 114 CR/month
Net Income: 386 CR/month
Buildings:
One Small Workshop
One Ballistic Weapons Research Laboratory
One Living Quarters (95/100)
Small Airfield (0/3)
Personnel:
32 Undergrads
4 General Scientists
2 Ballistics Specialist Scientists
5 General Engineers
1 Special Forces Platoon
2 General Pilots
Designs:
Deliverance Gatling-squad Cannon (5CR, 6 engineer months, 2CR + 1 engineer month per engagement in ammo.)
Special Resources
Combat data from first attack
1x Kaiju skin sample
1x Kaiju bone sample
1x Kaiju muscle sample
1x Kaiju stomach sample
Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Capitalist Funding
616 CR
Gross Income: 750 CR/month
Expenses: 224 CR/month
Net Income: 511 CR/month
Reputation: Somewhat positive
Buildings:
2 Small Workshops
General Laboratory
3 Living Quarters (180/300)
Hospital Ward (0/10)
Small Airfield (0/0)
Personnel:
60x Undergrads
5x LG Specialist Engineers (Body Armor)
10x General Engineers
2x Special Forces Platoon
1x Green Mechanized Infantry Platoon(8 vehicles) (40/mo)
5x General Pilots
Designs:
Infantry anti-bullet body armor (25CR, 15 engineer months for a set of 50)
Impressive motorcycle design (60CR, 30 engineer months for 25 two-person bikes)
Special Resources
Combat data from first attack
1x Kaiju muscle sample
1x Kaiju liver sample
Berlin
Superior Scientists
440 CR
Gross Income: 500 CR/month
Expenses: 75 CR/month
Net Income: 425 CR/month
Buildings:
Large Workshop
Laboratory
2 Living Quarters (70/200)
Small Airfield (0/3)
Personnel:
15 Undergrads
5 General Engineers
1 Elite Special Forces Platoon (Survival trait) (90% strength, 2CR for replacements)
Designs
Cheap Camera Drone (8 engineer months)
Completed research
Preliminary kaiju genetic study
Preliminary kaiju neural study
Special Resources
Combat data from first attack
1x Kaiju skin sample
1x Kaiju bone sample
1x Kaiju muscle sample
1x Kaiju brain sample
Germany
Superior Engineers
413 CR
Gross Income: 500 CR/month
Expenses: 130 CR/month
Net Income: 370 CR/month
Buildings:
Large Workshop
General Laboratory
2x Living Quarters (153/200)
Hospital Ward (0/10)
Personnel:
47 Undergrads
1 General Scientist
1 LG Spec Scientist (Robotics)
1 Spec. Engineer (Robotics)
3 General Pilots
2 SF Platoons
Completed Research
Preliminary spinal cord research
Preliminary bone research
Special Resources
Combat data from first attack
1x Kaiju skin sample
1x Kaiju bone sample
California
Superior Charisma
398 CR
Gross Income: 500 CR/month
Expenses: 118 CR/month
Net Income: 382 CR/month
Buildings:
Large Workshop
General Laboratory
Living Quarters (100/100) + 98 soldiers living off-base
Hospital Ward (0/10)
Personnel:
37 undergrads
2 General Scientists
3 General Engineers
1 LG Specialist Engineers (cars)
1 LG Specialist Engineers (audio electronics)
2 Soldier Platoons
1 Special Forces Platoons
1 Pilot
Vehicles
1 Scrap-armored bus (Needs 10CR, 5 engineer months to finish with sound system)
Designs
+Design for scrap-armored audio blaster bus (20 credits, 15 engineer months)
+Design for Mki Rocker Suit (25CR, 25 engineer months)
Special Resources
Combat data from first attack
1x Kaiju skin sample
1x Kaiju muscle sample
1x Damaged kaiju claw
200 CR: Small Workshop - Allows 25 engineers to work on small projects, up to the size of a small motorcycle.
350 CR: Large Workshop - Allows 25 engineers to work on projects as large as a medium-sized plane.
Workshops may initially be upgraded up to four times, for a dice bonus. Costs are 100, 200, 400, and 800 extra (1000 for a fully upgraded small workshop). This may be paid later, but work cannot be done inside a building during construction.
250 CR + 10/month: General Laboratory - Allows 25 scientists to work on any one project.
+100 CR: Specialized Laboratory - Provides a bonus to work in one field, with a severe penalty to unrelated fields.
Laboratories may initially be upgraded up to three times, for a dice bonus. Costs are 100, 200, and 400 extra. This may be paid later, but work cannot be done inside a building during construction.
100 CR: Hospital Ward - Allows up to 10 injured personnel to remain safely on-base. Doubles healing speed, and allows those with minor injures to continue light work.
50 CR: Living Quarters - Provides on-base living, recreation, and dining space for 100 personnel. Removes the morale penalty for commutes, required for bases in inhospitable locations.
100 CR: Small Airfield - Space for small aircraft to launch from or land on. Comes with a control tower.
+50 CR: Large Airfield - Allows larger aircraft to use the airfield.
+50 CR: Hangars - Provides maintenance and secure storage space for 3 fighter-sized aircraft or 1 bomber-sized aircraft. May be taken multiple times.
Free: General support personnel - Janitors, secretaries, and the like. Their budgets are included in the hiring costs for other employees.
Scientists
0~1/mo: Undergrad Students - They'll work for food and paperwork, and are better than empty space.
10~5/mo: General scientists - They're decent at most mundane fields, but don't leave them studying fusion unattended.
25~5/mo: Low-grade specialists - They are heavily specialized, and you might not get exactly the specialty you were hoping for.
50~10/mo: Specialists - These have a more broad focus, and research just as fast as lower grade specialists in their specialties.
150~25/mo: Superior Scientists - They are generally good at everything that's not too overly exotic.
500~100/mo: XCOM-tier scientists - Need a small team who can study a dimensional gate, reverse-engineer its access method, and design a manned inter-dimensional vehicle, all within two months?
Engineers
0~1/mo: Undergrad Students - They'll work for food and paperwork, and are better than empty space.
10~5/mo: General engineers - They're decent at most mundane tasks. Precision work is better done by specialists.
25~5/mo: Low-grade specialists - They are heavily specialized, and you might not get exactly the specialty you were hoping for.
50~10/mo: Specialists - These have a more broad focus, and build just as well as lower grade specialists in their specialties.
150~25/mo: Superior engineers - Their creations are generally superior.
500~100/mo: XCOM-tier engineers - Probably overkill.
Soldiers
20~10/mo: General infantry platoon(50)
50~25/mo: Special forces platoon(50)
If you want to hire better trained soldiers, spend more money for random results.
Pilots
4~1/mo: General Pilot. Able to fly or drive anything conventional with minimal practice.
If you want to hire better trained pilots, spend more money for random results.
Turn 2, September 2014. Hiring and purchasing phase start.