So, I am thinking of running a new weapon design game, set in the early 1930s, wherin each player (because complexity!) is a distinct member of a department of ordinances, and develop, buy or build weaponry for a small communist nation with a valuable resourse and nearly fuck-all for a military, it consisting mostly of the substandard numbers of troops kept there by those who settled the area.
Heres what I have so far:
Welcome to the small nation of Plokhoy Ostrov, located mainly on the small Atlantic island of Plokhoy Ostrov, but also containing some other small islands off the shores of said island. You are hearby ordered to take a position within the Department of Ordinances, inorder to develop, purchise and/or create armaments and equipment for our armed forces, from hats to rifles to aircraft to ships. Each turn would take up about a month, in game, and most development would take a few years, also in game. It is possible to speed that up slightly, but unless you get really lucky, designing, say, a new tank from scratch might take years. And then you have to get the resources for it. Players would need to lead research teams, schmooze with the government for things, and possibly go to other nations to buy things.
Island Back Story
The Russian Empire, deciding that they too needed a overseas colony, and found the near-useless island of Plokhoy Ostrov. As nothing really interesting was on the island it was largely ignored, its population (of below 5000) being mostly farmers scraping a living out of the stony soil and fishermen doing similar in the sea. That is, until the October Revolution, when the hard-pressed White Army remembered that they had a population untapped for military service and the locals, along with the 40-odd troops stationed there decided they would rather not go fight, and decided to stage their own revolution. This was more or less uncontested, and the resulting communist nation was largely ignored by the nations of the world, at least until 1926, when gold was discovered in a local quarry. The year is 1932, and tentons are rising in the world. The discovery of gold has helped keep the island escape the effects of depression, but now it looks like other nations wish to escape it the same way.
General natural features
The islands of Plokhoy Ostrov are composed mostly of low hills covered in grass, with generally few trees. The exception to this is the Island of Ostrov Derev'ya, which is covered in medium growth pine, and is largly held by the wood colectives. The stone of the island is mostly granite, and it is bileved that the chain is volcanic in nature. Most citizens live in the three largest settlements on Plokhoy Ostrov, clustered arround the main bay, and on the settlement on Ostrov Tepla
In recent years, a vein of gold was found in the quarry on Ostrov Tepla, so named due to the hotsprings found on it.
I also have a bit of a map, made in ASCII, that I am still working on. So, anyone interested? Any suggestions for player powers?