The British
The British receive schematics and samples of two weapons: From Arstotzka, the AS-T15, and from Moskurg, the T2 Breaker tank. The British are sort of bemused with the AS-T15, but they say it will find a nice home in a museum somewhere. They're fairly impressed by the Breaker tank, and take extensive notes for their own future designs. "It is good to know that Moskurg can still be counted on as a friend of the Empire." In Moskurg people whisper, critical of the trade of such valuable technology.
The Chinese
The Royal Army receives the M3 Sorraia and the AS-1924. The lighter, more effective M3 Sorraia is a clear choice, and the Royal Army rushes it to production. Moskurg gains an Expense Credit. The communist army, looking for an anti-emplacement weapon, considers both the Hippo and the AS-1911 mortar. They deem the AS-1911 easier to use against emplacements due to its indirect fire and light weight, although the hippo is nearly chosen for its ability to fire directly into covered bunkers. Arstotzka gains one ore, until 1932.
Capitols
Moskurg's capitol is Moskurg, and is well known for its tiger parades, and stories of tigers tearing apart traitors, and is comprised of the boroughs of Alstrad, Erching, and Greater Moskurg. Arsotzka's capitol is AS-CC-77, a name of a sort given by people who expect to be building a better model next year. The main portion of the city is organized into even, square blocks with museums and parks, but the 'old city' is a tangle of winding roads. Railways lead to other cities, AS-CM-02 is an important one, the Great Military Base where every soldier is trained.
Moskurg's tiger story takes the cake. Moskurg earns an Espionage Credit.
Balance notes
Moskurg figured out belt-fed weapons by the time they made the AS-1924, they are no longer complex. Very Expensive T2 Breakers cannot receive further expensive components (scopes, radios) without becoming a National Effort- I'm sticking to my previous stated rules on expense. I might like to do something which allows you to use expensive equipment with a Very Expensive vehicle -I originally considered a system in which an Expensive vehicle could have all the Expensive add-on components it wanted for free- but I'm not sure how to apply it consistently compared to expensive components in vehicles themselves, EG Arstotzka's original T25 engines.
Y'all bein' too salty now
Quit poking around in eachother's threads so much. I maintain that I won't make a rule against reading the other thread, because it's unenforceable. But could you please refrain from posting in eachother's threads? Furthermore, when the other faction does act so rudely, don't get super pissed about it, ok? It's just a game. Some of you, I'm not naming names, get far too worked up about real or perceived unfairness.
National Sport
High command has decided that to stimulate tourism, they will institute a national sport, building arenas and providing equipment as necessary. What will your nation's national sport be? Best suggestion earns their country one Expense Credit and some annoying tourists.
1929 Battle Report
This year, Arstotzka contrived a new system for decrypting Tiger's Whisper messages, the AS-C29, and at the same time managed to reduce the manufacturing cost of their radio and its transistors. Its size is now its main prohibitive factor. They also designed rocket-assisted artillery shells, improving the range of normal and AP shells in their AS-1912 and DT25 guns. Moskurg designed an improved recoilless rifle, the Hippo, which is reloadable and fires from the shoulder with their AP/APHE rounds. They have also invented slatted armor to protect against RPGs, and mounted it to their T2 Breaker tanks. It's an effective defense against magnetic shaped charges as well.
The war in the air is quite entirely the same as it was last year. Arstotzka still gets more air-to-air and air-to-ground kills than Moskurg, and their dive bombers continue to be a big threat to T2 Breakers, SPATs, and other artillery, emplacements and vehicles.
On the communications front, Arstotzka has managed to reliably crack the Moskurg Tiger's Whisper code, using their AS-C29 machine. Officers in the field can decrypt Moskurg messages, and pass it along to their fellows. However, Arstotzka lacks a good cipher of their own, so both sides now face the issue that their radio messages are easily overheard and written orders can be read if captured. Thus, radios are only used for short term orders, and major army movement decisions are distributed by messenger at the time they need to be given.
In the desert, the armor clash continues. Arstotzka's tanks and tank destroyers outnumber Moskurg T2 Breakers. With the addition of slatted armor, AS-RPG28's have become less effective against T2's. Usually a first hit will destroy a section of slat armor, and a second hit rocket needs to hit in the same place. The slat armor doesn't provide measurable benefit against anti-tank cannons. The new Hippo Recoilless Rifle is used by Moskurg soldiers, with APHE rounds, to fight off Arstotzkan T25's. It can reliably penetrate from medium range, but remains difficult to aim with at that distance. The new reloadable barrel is found to be unreliable after repeated uses, there are several incidents in which a barrel bursts after fifty or more rounds are fired from it, and sometimes the shell will get stuck in a deformed barrel, leaving the wad to shoot out the back and giving a soldier the entire kick of a 2.2 inch cannon backwards, launching the entire weapon at the enemy (usually without effect) and causing injury to the user. The Hippo is easily enough replaced, but this makes soldiers unwilling to use it despite it being relatively effective. Moskurg snipers are less valuable in the defense of tanks now that they are largely immune to both Arstotzkan RPGs and magnetic shaped charges. Moskurg infantry is more successful against Arstotzkan tanks, using APHE loaded Rhino and (when ordered, and the commander is watching) Hippo rifles, getting a number of kills. Arstotzka loads their tanks and AS-1912 artillery guns with rocket assisted shells when they need extra range, and this means that Arstotzkan artillery can affect enemies further away (though not as far as the B2 Destroyer) and their DT25 cannons can be effective from about as far away as APHE loaded Breaker cannons, but suffer from some loss of accuracy. This means tanks on both sides are still most effective at mid range. Moskurg Tank Commander Char has his tank custom fitted with an Eagle Sight, and gets eight kill against AS-T25's this year by ambushing from long range. Moskurg infantry also performs well, with some cavalry adopting the Hippo and firing it from horseback at groups of motorcycles and tanks alike. However, Arstotzka has the numerical and air support advantage for their tanks. Arstotzka gains ground (3/4).
In the mountains, combat is mostly the same, with some Moskurg soldiers adopting the more portable per-shot Hippo over the Rhino, though this is tempered by its reputation for suddenly exploding. Moskurg snipers are deadly, still, although this is tempered by their blue uniforms. Despite the lack of private radio communication, Moskurg continues to gain ground here, sniping is just a very effective tactic. Moskurg gains ground (3/4).
In the jungle, Moskurg trades their radio communication advantage for an improved infantry-armor situation. The Hippo is particularly prone to dangerous failure in the wet jungle, and soldiers "accidentally" drop them down tall waterfalls onto sharp rocks in rapids to prevent their hands from being broken. The Rhino sees use still, and is fairly effective in the close range engagements that occur in the jungle. The slat armor on T2 Breakers is very effective at thwarting infantry attack long enough for machine gunners in tank crews to get a bead on infantrymen trying to kill a tank with RPGs or shaped charges. This gives Moskurg an advantage on the roads, which allows them to gain ground (3/4).
Agent Sandworm steals Flak plans from AS-CC-77, and hides herself in a crate of oats bound north on an AS-CV22 ship. While she is hiding, the crew receives orders to dump their entire load of oats overboard to prevent the spreading of a crop disease to the plains. Thinking the crate is being unloaded, she waits patiently as the crate is carried above deck, and then suddenly finds herself a few feet underwater. The plans are soaked and unrecoverable. Agent promised Crucible steals plans to the B2 Breaker and plans to hand them off by disguising as a Moskurg pilot and flying a Model 2 Hornet over a camp, and then dropping an empty bomb shell with the plans before returning to Moskurg for his next mission. However, a diligent Moskurg Inspection Officer checked the bombs loaded on his Hornet, found a damaged fuze on the bomb, and replaced it with a new bomb. Arstotzkan high command was not impressed with Promised Crucible's performance this year.
In the United States, the Black Tuesday stock market crash occurs, but people aren't calling it the great depression yet.
You may now begin scribbling random shapes on blueprint paper for 1930.
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