A question. You saud the extra spy moksburg got would not be replaced if it was killed. Does that mean it won't be replaced if either of them is killed, or just that spy. If the latter, they can park him in contra pretty much forever.
Agent Feather Hammer will be replaced if killed. Agent Tiger Fucker will not.
1917 Battle ReportArstotzka's army now contains the following:
AS Weapons:
-Nosin-Magant: Officer weapon. A Russian Mosin-Nagant rifle, brand new ones roll off the assembly lines, and then a highly skilled team changes the letters with chisels. A bolt-action rifle with a five-round clip which fires 7.62mm rounds. Good accuracy, but with iron sights which have a post adjustable up to one kilometer, designed for long-range but inaccurate barrages. Good stopping power against infantry. Detachable bayonet.
-AS-1891: [Obsolete] General infantry weapon. The first weapon manufactured in Arstotzka. This is a muzzle-loading rifle: it is loaded by disassembling a 7.62mm round for the mosin, pouring the gunpowder down the barrel, dropping the bullet down the barrel, and placing the primer. Stopping power and accuracy are poor. Unfortunately, most infantry are forced to use these.
-AS-1909: General infantry sidearm. An Arstotzka-made semi-automatic pistol, firing 9mm. It has a 10-round magazine and can fire quickly with moderate accuracy, at short range. Moderate stopping power. Unfortunately, if fired quickly, it jams about once a magazine (Shoddy, -1 Expense).
-AS-1910 Machine Gun: [Updated Below] Arstotzka's first belt-fed machinegun, firing the same 7.62mm rifle rounds already produced for the Nosin-Magant. The belt-feed mechanism is robust, making it heavy but very reliable. Each round has good stopping power. The machinegun is operated with two handles due to its recoil, making it incapable of aim as precise as a rifle, but when the barrel is cool, bullets generally fly straight. It is air-cooled, and the barrel tends to overheat somewhat quickly. Your engineers have compensated for this by giving each crew two detachable barrels- when one overheats, it can be removed and thrown in the snow. It is heavy- it must be in place on a tripod or other mount to fire, and requires three men to move. It also requires three men to operate continuously. Costs 2 ore.
AS-1910 Mag: This updated AS-1910 replaces a belt feed with a large 50-round detachable drum magazine, which fits to the side of the gun where the belt feed was. While not capable of continuous fire like belts, this requires less crew to manage. The two handles used to control the weapon are replaced with a pistol grip and overhead handle, which is a marginal improvement in control. Costs 2 ore.
-Nosin Single: [Obsolete] A bolt-action 7.62mm rifle with no clip, based on the Russian Mosin-Nagant. It has comparable performance to the Nosin-Magant, except that a new round must be inserted to the chamber every time the weapon is fired. This is simple enough that it can be distributed to all of your troops.
-AS-1911 8cm Mortar: This is a light mortar, consisting of a simple tube mounted on a tripod, and mortar shells which are dropped into the tube and fire off when they hit the bottom. The shells themselves are the more important part of the weapon. They are sort of like rocket-propelled grenades, consisting of a metal shell around some explosive, and a primer and propellant at the back.No longer suffers from horrible jamming.
-AS-1912 Artillery A: A field gun firing 80mm shells, loaded through a sliding bolt. The action is not dissimilar to a bolt action rifle, where the old casing is ejected when the bolt is opened. It is large enough (and its ammunition large enough) to be Expensive, and is drawn by horse on two big wheels. It can fire about 12 times a minute, and has a hydro-pneumatic suspension system: it doesn't go off target between shots, and the barrel moves into the frame every time it is fired. Aims between 0 and 90 degrees vertical. It has several kilometers of range. Costs 3 ore.
-Sawed-off Shotgun: General infantry sidearm. Most officers use this instead of the unreliable pistol. Fires twice before breech loading, very effective at short range, ineffective otherwise. Poor armor penetration. Uses 12 gauge shells. Expensive due to requiring imperial equipment.
-AS-F14: A 7.62mm, semi-automatic rifle. It is an open bolt blowback action, and holds seven rounds in its internal magazine (resembling that of the Nosin)- with more than that, clip loading became unwieldy. Unlike the Nosin, the bolt has a small, non-rotating handle on the side of the gun. It has adjustable iron sights. The weight of the moving action makes the gun difficult to control compared to the Nosin, and it has shown some problems with the mechanism becoming dirty in field testing.
-AS-MC16: This is a sub-machine gun, firing the 9mm pistol round. It uses a new, closed-bolt blowback system perfected from the AS-F14. This system is reliable and keeps dirt out of the gun. The bolt system takes up about fifteen centimeters, all of which is past the trigger, then a magazine, a 30 round drum, inserts into the receiver from the left. The barrel after the receiver is short, about twenty centimeters, and has a slotted metal hand guard. The stock is wooden and stops at the receiver, where brass is ejected from the bottom of the gun. The short barrel gives poor accuracy, especially when hot, and the 9mm bullets have much less range than a rifle or machine gun. The system fires about 400 rounds per minute. Its complexity makes it Expensive.
AS Technology:
-Metric system. Meters, kilograms, liters!
-Breech-loading
-Muzzle-loading
-Bolt action
-Clips and Magazines
-Cold Weather Engineering. Arstotzka-made equipment is designed and tested in the cold tundra, and does not become unreliable due to cold climates and snow.
-7.62mm Rifle rounds. Largish round for small arms with good stopping power.
-9mm Pistol rounds. Small rounds with moderate stopping power and not great range.
-Belt-fed loading
-Changeable Barrels
-Solid Explosive and Propellants
-Light Mortars
-Artillery
-Hydro-pneumatic Suspension
-Vehicle Armor
-Treads
-Detachable Magazines
-Petrol Motors
AS Soldiers:
-Patient: Arstotzkan soldiers excel at waiting in ambush, and carefully shooting from afar, giving them and advantage in long-range engagements.
-Uniform: AS-U13, The new uniforms for 1913. They include flak vests protecting the front and back, and a sturdy steel helmet. Instead of being scarlet and gold, they are issued in beige, grey and olive colors for camouflage, with small flag patches. As did the old uniforms, they include numerous pockets, and a bandolier which can hold full clips of rifle bullets for easy access. Unfortunately, High Command issued an order stating that the uniforms are not glorious enough, and are to have a pair of small flags attached to each helmet, like a winged valkyrie helmet. This compromises the camouflage effect considerably.
AS Transportation:
-Horses: Soldiers ride sometimes horses to battle, but prefer to fight on foot in cover.
-AS-51 Steam Engine: [Obsolete] The heart of the south! Built in Arstotzka, this engine pulls trains of food, ammo, and resources.
-AS-51 S: A new steam engine, based on the original model 51, includes a superheater system, where steam from the boiler is routed through the furnace to be heated further before being used. This is considerably more efficient than the old design and offers more power for the same amount of coal. In preparation for war, the trains are fitted with armor around the boiler, and the cabin window are fitted with hatches that can closed, and have narrow slats for viewing.
-AS-T15: This is a steam-powered tank using the AS-51 S steam motor from Arstotzka's steam locomotive. In fact, it's mostly the enormous locomotive engine, which a rectangular armored shell. The armor is shaped in a half-cylinder, like an airplane hangar, except the front is cut at a 45 degree angle. Exit is through a hatch on top, which breaks up the smooth shape of the tank along with a couple chimneys. The armor is 20mm throughout. The only open space inside is towards the front of the tank, the engine is located in back and the sides along the engine are used for storing coal. The front of the tank has a gunner on the right side firing an 80mm cannon with a narrow, tank destroyer-like arc of fire. There isn't room for a lot of ammo. The driver sits in the left front, and there is an AS-1910 gunner on each side aiming through slats in the armor. Packed in between all of these people is a coal shoveler. The tracks are set on six rigid train wheels and follow a flat shape on the bottom of the tank, with a large wheel in the front and back. The tank becomes incredibly hot inside due to the coal boiler, hot enough to cause weapon malfunctions and heatstroke. It can exceed 50 degrees celsius in prolonged use, and the soldiers assigned to test it nickname it "The pressure cooker". Being mostly engine, it can reach 13 kph. The track system is complex, making it Expensive. Costs 4 ore.
-AS-M17: A motorcycle which seats one passenger, and a second in a sidecar. The petrol motor is Arstotzka's first, with three in-line cylinders. The motor is cheap, small and relatively powerful. On its own, the bike is capable of more than 80 kilometers per hour, cross country, and 110 on a road. The bike is difficult to control at these speeds, some test pilots are badly injured falling over on corners. There are several incidents where the bike hit a rock and one or both wheels detached at speed. The sidecar is available with an AS-1910, it too suffers from issues with detaching from the motorcycle at speed. Costs 1 Oil, 2 Ore.
-Some civilians have automobiles, but they are little use on snowy roads outside of cities.
AS Resources:
1 Unyielding Thirst for Glory
X Ministry of Integrity. Provides X spies. X is classified.
3 Ore. Tanks are Expensive.
1+1 Oil. Products which use more fuel than a car are expensive. Arstotzka benefits from Antegrian oil tankers arriving every six months or so, through 1920.
Moskurg's army now contains the following:
MK Weapons:
-Horsekiller 1912: General infantry weapon. A breech-loading rifle with a long 60-inch barrel, which fires enormous 60 caliber rounds. Has great stopping power, and is heavy and cumbersome. Famed to stop a horse in one shot, regardless of where it hits. Rounds will go very far, and can still kill far after they become inaccurate. Now updated with good sights, a comfortable foregrip and no bayonet, but the shotgun-style breech-loading prevents quick follow-up shots
-Horsekiller Carbine 1912: General infantry weapon. A shorter variant of the Horsekiller, used by cavalry while riding horses. It has the same stopping power, but average weight and questionable accuracy. Now with good iron sights, and a better grip, but the barrel is a little short for the heavy bullet and it's often fired from a galloping horse anyway.
-Five-Shooter: General infantry sidearm. A five-shot revolver firing large 30 caliber rounds. Single-action, with a lot of kick and trigger pull, means it has poor accuracy, but good killing power against infantry.
-Sawed-off Shotgun: General infantry sidearm. About half of soldiers use this instead of the five-shooter. Fires twice before breech loading, very effective at short range, ineffective otherwise. Poor armor penetration. Uses 12 gauge shells.
-Scimitar: Officer sidearm. Elite soldiers receive a scimitar, a deadly curved sword which can be used on foot or horseback. Of course, requires getting close to the enemy.
-M1 Stallion: This is a belt-fed machine gun using the enormous, thundering .60 caliber round, exactly twice the diameter of the .30 caliber or 7.62mm rounds. It is a cumbersome weapon, with a large box for the mechanism, and a narrow water-cooled barrel with copper heat sinks. The range and stopping power of the .60 caliber round is undiminished, but the gun only fires about 180 times a minute, relatively slow for a machine gun- because of its size, it might be better described as an autocannon. The gun hits in very tight groups for a machinegun, but it is heavy and can only be pivoted slowly, meaning only very skilled gunners can be accurate at long range. It normally moved by horse on a small wagon, although the new lighter model can be carried in parts by a crew, and is crewed by a team of four or five men. It is complex, and costs 2 ore.
-Bombardier: A 3.6 inch howitzer. This is a simple artillery piece with few more bells and whistles than a medieval cannon, modernized with a breech load (a hatch on top of the barrel swings open) and rifling, so as to fire pointed shells with brass cartridges accurately at range. The spent brass is ejected manually, with a lever. Its size makes it horse-drawn. A skilled crew can fire about 10 times a minute, through the gun moves a little when fired, so it can bombard inaccurately at its full rate of fire or (with a skilled commander) come close enough to often hit trenches and emplacements at about half the rate of fire. It can out-range any rifle on the field, but not accurately. Costs 3 ore.
-Model 1 Service Rifle: A .30 caliber rifle, loaded from a 5-round clip much like the Mosin-Nagant. However, early experiments with bolt action suffered from difficult chambering new rounds, and the engineering team instead opted to make a lever-action rifle. Moskurg shooters favor this design, which keeps their hand close to the trigger. Includes iron sights, with an accuracy and stopping power very similar to the Nosin. It can fire somewhat faster, however, at the cost of some accuracy. Includes bayonet lugs.
-M2 Brumby: The Brumby is an air-cooled, .30 caliber machinegun designed to be carried by one man. It is operated by a gas piston under the barrel, and feeds from a belt. It includes a tall rear post sight, the barrel is cooled with shining, unconcealed copper heat sinks, and an innovative "belt box" for use on the move. Unlike previous machine guns, it uses a pistol grip instead of a pair of handles. It shoots around 400 rounds a minute with an effective range of around 300 yards, and weighs 26 pounds with a loaded belt box. It can be operated by a single soldier, ideally prone, or a crew to string belts together for continuous fire. The complexity of its mechanism makes it Expensive.
MK Technology:
-Imperial system. Inches, feet, miles, pounds! And especially calibers and gauges.
-Forged blades. Swords are a specialty!
-Breech-loading
-Revolvers, Single-action
-60 caliber bullets. Just enormous for small arms! Excellent stopping power. Loud, hot, and kicks hard.
-30 caliber bullets. Still really good stopping power, but much easier to control.
-3.6 Inch Artillery Shell
-Howitzer
-Hot Weather Engineering. Moskurg-made equipment is designed and tested in the hot desert, and does not become unreliable due to hot climates and sand.
-Belt-Fed MG [Expensive]
-Water-Cooled Barrel
-Flamethrower [Partial]
-Petrol Engine
-Portable Radios [A bit crap]
MK Soldiers:
-Fierce: Moskurg soldiers have an advantage in melee combat and close quarters.
-Moskurg 1914 Armor: Moskurg soldiers wear flowing blue linen with a scimitar stitched onto the chest. Steel vests and helmets are added, to protect against shrapnel. Blue-and-silver glory improved with silver cape.
-Husayn the Lion, Struunk I Ace. 3 armor kills.
-Model 2 Radio: This new radio is battery powered, and a bit smaller- it fits onto a wheelbarrow-like carriage which can be moved by a man. It takes two operators, and still requires frequent hand-cranking, but it can at least be fit into a trench. Has a four foot radio mast. Transmits and receives Morse code. It is Expensive due to its complexity and requires 2 ore.
MK Transportation:
-Horses: Moskurg soldiers are skilled cavalry, and ride close to the enemy to use their inaccurate weapons and swords.
-Model 51 Steam engine: [Obsolete] A Moskurg invention definitely not stolen from Arstotzka. Large shipments of ammo, resources and supplies are moved by trains pulled by one or two of these engines. Has a bad habit of overheating, occasional boiler explosions.
-Model 52 Steam Engine: The engines have been converted to oil-burning, which should make them cheaper to operate. Several key failure points have been re-engineered. This should enable more resources to be gained from our mines. Now with 95% less explosions! Uses 2 or 3 oil, I don't even know.
-Struunk I: Your engineers have managed to build a motor on par with the ones used in the (rather outdated) civilian vehicles you've been confiscating. As before, it gets up to 30 MPH on roads and 15 cross country. It has 8mm armor all around, slightly angled, with 15mm armor on the front of the engine and cabin. The 8mm armor is still dubious protection against normal rifle rounds. It includes a Brumby in the passenger seat and an M2 Stallion in the turret. The turret has a DC electric motor running off of the car's double capacity battery, and a backup hand crank (the turret will drain the battery if rotated constantly). Costs 3 ore, 2 oil. The complexity of the motor makes it Expensive. Costs 3 ore, 2 oil.
-SPAT: A self-propelled gun vehicle consisting of a petrol engine, caterpillar tracks, and a forward-facing Bombardier howitzer with just enough armor plating to hide the crew behind. The motor here is the same one as the Struunk I. The treads are a new development, and fit over a four-wheeled system with two driving wheels. They are prone to coming loose from the wheels from time to time. The armor is 15mm think, with a gap in the middle for the gun to rotate, rise and lower. Ammunition sits in racks behind the armor. The vehicle has a top speed of about 8 mph. The gun is just a Bombardier, fixed to the SPAT on a frame which pitches and yaws on a pair of hand cranks. The SPAT has a set of jacks to use when firing, which improve accuracy considerably by preventing the vehicle from shaking. The complexity of the motor makes it Expensive. Costs 3 ore, 2 oil.
-Some civilian automobiles are available which may be requisitioned for military use, if necessary.
MK Resources:
1 Overwhelming National Pride
X Bureau of Cleverness. Provides X spies. X is discussed at private dinner parties, to which the truly loyal are invited.
2 Ore. Most Vehicles or carriage-mounted weapons are Expensive.
2 Oil. Products which use more fuel than a car are Expensive.
This year both research teams are having a little trouble. Moskurg spent the whole year developing the Model 1 and 2 Portable Radios, which are still large and unyieldy, though this puts them ahead of Arstotzka's telegraphs and hand messengers. Arstotzka made a brilliant small petrol motor, and then put it on a motor cycle frame which leaves much to be desired. Anticipating an increase in armor on the battlefield, Arstotzka also designed armor piercing ammunition, which fits their 7.62mm rifles and machine guns.
On the plains, Moskurg slowly carts their new Model 2 Radio into the forward trenches. While it can't exactly be used by scouts, this enables more artillery to hit Arstotzkan lines with more accuracy, from further away, but this is mitigated by the rarity of radios in the trenches. Reinforcements are also better deployed. In the trenches, Moskurg soldiers warm their meals on the hot casing of the Model 2 radio. Each one is replaced weekly due to dirt, water damage, and the effects of bullets. Arstotzka's new AS-M17 motorcycle primarily sees use by messengers, and goes between trenches and rear lines. It can be faster than a horse, but quickly earns a reputation for inflicting non-battlefield casualties, despite advice from High Command that it be driven slowly. In this area the new use Arstotzkan armor-piercing ammo see some gainst SPATs. Infantry who encounter a SPAT are usually hiding behind an AS-T15, and while rounds from a Nosin can now often pierce the armor, usually these encounters are decided by fire from the two vehicle's artillery guns. Infantry are again fighting in cities, and Arstotzkan soldiers using AS-F14's and AS-MC16's fight against Moskurg soldiers with pistols, sawed-off shotguns and swords. Arstotzkan officers soundly beat Moskurg officers with their submachine guns, but for common soldiers Moskurg has an advantage. By the skin of their teeth, Arstozka takes more ground, and winter boots step into the sand. There are a few engagements: In the open sand, Moskurg cavalry with M1 Service Rifles are very effective, and aside from the short-ranged AS-MC16, and terribly unreliable motorbike machine guns, Arstotzka lacks a mobile automatic weapon. The Struunk I's armor is not difficult to pierce, but it moves well in the desert, and multiple AS-T15s are killed with machine gun fire from Struunks. Struunk pilot Husayn the Lion personally records three AS-T15 kills, and is named Moskurg's first Ace. Arstotzka will gain not an inch past where they can dig trenches, in their current state. (Astotzka 4/4) If Arstotzka holds the plains next turn they will gain access to these resources.
In the mountains, neither side gains ground. They have been at a stalemate for a while now. The Nosin, AS-F14, M1 Service Rifle and Brumby are the most common weapons, along with the AS-1911 mortar. Both sides have become relatively defensive and there are fewer casualties here than last year. (Arstotzka 2/4, Moskurg 2/4)
In the jungle, Arstotzka cuts roads for the deployment of their motorcycles, but they only penetrate halway into the jungle. Fighting occurs on roads only accessible by vehicles from the desert, and in the thick jungle. Moskurg's radios are kept in tents, but still sometimes fail from the humidity. Arstotzkan incursions into Moskurg controlled jungle are more often threatened by Bombardiers now, but the need for target coordinates to be sent from a camp and the inaccuracy of the Bombardier are limiting factors. Most fighting occurs at mid or close range between Arstotzkan scouts, Moskurg scouts and camps, and tigers. Encounters between patrols have Arstotzka with the advantage of the AS-MC16, and the AS-F14 when it works, but the Brumby is very effective as well. Moskurg patrols have taken to waiting at roads and clearings, where they can have a little more distance to mitigate the value of their enemies' submachine gun. A Struunk on the road is effectively a mobile machine gun nest, with dubious cover that at least stops 9mm bullets. Man for man a Struunk crew can out-gun Arstotzkan scouts, but Struunks are not plentiful. Sometimes Arstotzkans fell a tree to block the road, then hide and fire on a Struunk that stops. The close quarters of the roads do Moskurg's vehicle no favors, many are lost. Moskurg holds their ground, but barely. (Arstotzka 3/4, Moskurg 1/4).
Secret stuff happened. Note that all espionage now happens at the same time the battle report is compiled, instead of during the year. Sabotage will typically affect that year's production of equipment rather than permanently affect the designs. Typically.
Attention!A small cadre of German engineers has defected from Germany, complaining that German command refuses to implement their ideas and will probably lose the war. They are considering Forenia as an out-of-the-way place to gain asylum.
Produce your best piece of propaganda to encourage them to join you, and earn one Design Credit. And possibly Germany's ire.
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Topic: Arms Race, OOC [Completed] Now with Arms Race III, against another forum! (Read 233664 times)