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Whatever you guys just posted, I haven't read it yet.
Alright, time for another year!
I've been debating on how to balance progress. Currently what I've been doing is judging by the state of real firearms (and your current ones) how much of a leap in value and complexity the new weapon is. Then, failed dice rolls and the fact you can only perform one research a turn keeps progress in check- I planned on adding more research offices when you guys had too many different things going on at once to keep up. If I base it entirely on how technically difficult it would be for you to implement the new gun, then you have a huge advantage compared to your real life counterparts because you know what firearms are going to be useful since you already had history to look at- in real life, development is slowed by the exploration of designs which turn out to be impractical, or the fear of that. So, do you think I should continue to weigh by historical prevalence, or allow you guys a bit of prescience in terms of military doctrine? The only thing stopping you from employing semiautomatic weapons for your entire army by 1920 would be the fact that you need to research weapons for your entire military (eg artillery, vehicles, grenades, trains) one at a time, and the occasional bad die roll. You would probably make some irrational jumps towards modern firearms, but at least we can argue that makes some sense because unlike real countries, you are permanently at war.
Okay, enough of that nonsense, how about a battle report?
1913 Battle PhaseArstotzka's army now contains the following:
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: 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. Due to the complexity of the feed mechanism, it is Expensive.
-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 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, or less often for more precise fire, such as to hit a specific trench or building. It has several kilometers of range.
-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.
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 [Expensive]
-Changeable Barrels
-Solid Explosive and Propellants
-Light Mortars
-Artillery
-Hydropneumatic Suspension (Partial)
Soldiers:
-Patient: Moskurg 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.
Transportation:
-Horses: Soldiers ride sometimes horses to battle, but prefer to fight on foot in cover.
-AS-51 Steam Engine: The heart of the south! Built in Arstotzka, this engine pulls trains of food, ammo, and resources.
-Some civilians have automobiles, but they are little use on snowy roads outside of cities.
Resources:
1 Research facility. You may initiate 1 new project each year.
2 Ore. Vehicles or carriage-mounted weapons are Expensive.
1 Oil. Products which use more fuel than a motorcycle are Expensive.
Moskurg's army now contains the following:
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 both complex (expensive) and uses a lot of metal (moving it to Very Expensive), special M1 Stallion crews will need to operate it in the field.
-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 Expensive, and 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.
-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.
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]
Soldiers:
-Fierce: Moskurg soldiers have an advantage in melee combat and close quarters.
-Uniform: Moskurg soldiers wear flowing blue linen with a scimitar stitched onto the chest. Comfortable in the heat, does not stop bullets. Or rocks.
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!
-Some civilian automobiles are available which may be requisitioned for military use, if necessary.
Resources:
1 Research facility. You may initiate 1 new project each year.
1 Ore. Large weapons are Expensive.
2 Oil. Products which use more fuel than a car are Expensive.
This year shows some interesting advances. The Moskurg army has finally developed the sensible .30 caliber Model 1 Service Rifle, a weapon which is gives them approximate parity with the Nosin-Magant. They also shrunk the M1 Stallion down to carry through the mountains, though the metal supply remains scarce. Arstotzka introduced a lightly armored uniform, with an attempt at camouflage largely nullified by the insistence of high command that soldiers wear flags on their heads. Not flag patches, but actual little flags on sticks. Arstotzka also sorted out the issues with their artillery.
As ever, the most important fighting rages on in the plains. Arstotzkan artillery now rains shells over Moskurg trenches, and threatens any Moskurg commanders with cheeky ideas about pushing their artillery forward. The new armor means that far less Arstotzkans die to artillery (which remains one of the biggest threats to infantry) when charging between trenches. The stolen shotgun designs also help when attacking enemy artillery emplacements. The new armor occasionally succeeds in protecting from buckshot. The new Model 1 rifle employed by the Moskurg army, however, picks up a lot of the stallions' slack in defending against charges, and they keep the advantage in trench fighting as well. Ultimately, however, the AS-1911 mortar continues to show great value as a weapon to allow infantry to attack machinegun emplacements from cover. Arstotzka gains ground.
In the mountains, the new Model 1 service rifle proves very effective compared to the breech-loading Horsekiller, although a number of skilled Moskurg sharpshooters continue to prefer the .60 round. The more portable stallion sees occasional use here, and its range gives it an advantage over the Arstotzka machine gun. However, the expense of deploying these weapons means they still do not have a very big effect on the sharp-shooting oriented combat here. Arstotzka attacks the mines on the north side of the mountains too frequently for Moskurg to use them.
In the jungle, the new, more portable Stallion earns a fearsome reputation, punching through smaller trees and wooden palisades. However, it's just not seen very commonly compared to the AS-1910. The Model 1 Service Rifle proves a boon here, however. The fighting is ultimately a stalemate. Arstotzkan soldiers in little forts complain of the heat, spend hours cleaning mud from their weapons, and rarely are killed by tigers.
In the capitol of Arstotzka, one late night, a man exits the Bureau of Weapons Research by the back entrance. He is wearing a long overcoat, strapped tight, and hides under a wide-brimmed hat. Most importantly, he carries a large brief case, and walks through the snowy street avoiding the light of the street lamps. The briefcase contains one AS-1911 mortar and three mortar shells, as well as a folder of documents on their manufacture. He scurries through back alleys, down the road, and cuts into the woods. Precisely ten minutes after having closed the briefcase, a rigged mortar shell explodes. The game of espionage has seen its first casualty.
At home in each country, a telephone line has been installed in the research office, leading directly to the palace. As visits to the palace are no longer necessary to receive orders, all engineers' palace buffet passes have been revoked.
Let the 1914 designs begin!
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Topic: Arms Race, OOC [Completed] Now with Arms Race III, against another forum! (Read 230257 times)