Speaking of spies, do spies get better as they successfully complete missions? Arstotzka's spy has probably gained a lot of experience what with all of his successful missions.
No. For reasons known only to them, Arstotzka prefers spies with crippling learning disorders. Don't question it, it's worked so far.
Only if you tremendously overinterpret their posts.
Enough of that. On a related note, I would like to ask all of your to
bold your votes in your threads, for easier tallying.
"1 Ore. Large weapons are Expensive."
What exactly is a large weapon, then? If not a machine gun like the Stallion and artillery, then what?
The stallion is large. The Artillery is Large x2, methinks, and requires 3 ore to cease being expensive due to size. Again, havine expensive artillery is not bad. Having expensive tanks is not bad either. In fact, having cheap tanks would be like Shermans, where you might see five teaming up to kill one Panzer. The notion of an inexpensive tank in WWI era is pretty unfeasible, unless maybe it's powered by treadmills instead of an engine. Certainly the size/resource system could do with being hammered out more clearly. Not tonight though.
Some important announcements:The country with the
most glorious flag by the 1916 Battle Report will receive an extra spy. If there are multiple flags submitted for a country, citizens must nominate one as theirs. Do take care to keep your spy alive, they will not be automatically replaced.
The Great Nation of Antegria, aligned with the Central Powers, is looking to purchase the rights to a machine gun design to produce domestically. Payment is 1 oil each year until 1920. May earn you a bad reputation with the Allies. Submissions due by 1916 Battle Report.
Lastly, I would like to make a PSA that sometimes, you just need to redesign. Weapons that suffer from large form factor, in particular, are easier replaced that modified. After a few years of making X type of gun, you just get somewhat better at it.
1915 Battle ReportArstotzka'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: [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. Due to the complexity of the feed mechanism, it is Expensive.
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. The feed function is no longer Complex.
-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.
-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.
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)
-Vehicle Armor
-Treads
-Detachable Magazines
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: [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, and the machine uses a great amount of material, which combine to make it Very Expensive.
-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.
X Ministry of Integrity. Provides X spies. X is classified.
3 Ore. Tanks 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 Large, with the new Moskurg metal supply almost every squad can have one.
-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 (still), 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.
-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.
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
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.
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!
-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).
-Some civilian automobiles are available which may be requisitioned for military use, if necessary.
Resources:
1 Overwhelming National Pride
1 Research facility. You may initiate 1 new project each year.
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.
The two nations are continuing to parallel each other, this time each has developed vehicles. Unusually, it's the Arstotzkans who have gone big, designing the AS-T15 tank based on their steam engine. The Moskurgs (I think I'll start calling them Moskurgs instead of Moskurgians?) developed the Struunk I, an armored car fitted with two machine guns in a configuration similar to modern scout vehicles. The Arstotzkans also upgraded their AS-1910 to use magazines, which will be valuable later, and to be cheaper, which is valuable now.
The treacherous seas are free of ships, and the sky is free of planes and balloons. The ground may never again be free of the roar of motors. Well,
some motors, and tank that goes "Chugga chugga chugga chugga CHOO CHOO!"
Today, I shall start us in the jungles. Most fights here are M1 Service Rifle versus Nosin Magant, due to the unreliability of the AS-F14. More plentiful AS-1910 machines square off against more mobile M2 Brumbies. Given the choice between a Stallion and a Brumby, Moskurgs choose the Brumby here. However, Moskurg makes an advance by cutting in-roads to jungle, and patrolling them with a couple Struunks. The Struunk performs reasonable on muddy roads and is the most mobile way for crews to use an M1 Stallion, so it fares well against Arstotzkan scouts. The Arstotzkans don't lose ground, but the Moskurgs push up to them. AS-1910 mags are used, and the drum magazine is, by some miracle, found to be reliable in the jungle wet and heat. In one instance, a Struunk's crew is killed by sidelong Nosin-Magant fire, which penetrated the armor.
In the mountains, the new, cheaper AS-1910 Mag does not become as ubiquitous as hoped, due to the difficult of carrying them. Most soldiers would rather use AS-F14s for supressing fire, than have one soldier carry a gun assembly, and another carry a pair of barrels, both forced to fight with AS-1909's when caught off guard. Less constant fighting and cleaner conditions means that the AS-F14 is more popular here than anywhere else. Soldiers are getting good at reacting to Brumby assaults, but the Brumby remains a fearsome weapon. Stalemate.
The plains are the only area to see the use of the AS-T15. The Struunk sees use as well, but where there are trenches, it is simply ineffective. Moskurg soldiers build small bridges to pass the Struunk over their own trenches, but it cannot cross enemy trenches. Whether charging or parked within combat range, the Struunk has a high profile and is vulnerable to sustained AS-1910 fire, which is now
everywhere. Wherever cavalry are effective, the Struunk is twice as much, but cowardly Arstotzkans just dig more trenches. Furthermore, cowardly Arstotzkans are now hiding in
metal boxes. A small group of AS-T15s make a lumbering assault, chuffing into the no-man's land and over Moskurg trenches. They are immune to Model 1 Service Rifle fire, especially in the front. With careful planning, the 80mm gun can destroy Stallion emplacements before coming in range. The AS-1910 gunners have to be proactive though, and the tanks need close infantry support. Some Moskurg officers still use the ancient Horsekiller rifle, which has difficulty penetrating the sloped front armor of the AS-T15 but a well-placed shot on the side of the tank can penetrate. One AS-T15 is lost to careful fire with a Horsekiller from the side, which detonated its supply of 80mm shells, destroying the entire tank. Another was caught alone after a Fierce push by Moskurg soldiers left it surrounded: One Moskurg soldier with a horsekiller managed to climb up the front of the tank, then stood on top shooting until all the crew inside were dead (the tank was destroyed by Arstotzkan artillery to prevent its capture). One AS-T15 found itself sharing a patch of open ground with a Struunk 1. The Struunk ran circles around it and killed the AS-T15's crew with its M1 Stallion machine gun- shots towards the boiler were stopped not by the armor, but the coal supply. Despite these losses, almost half the tanks manufactured, the AS-T15s killed or helped kill hundreds of Moskurg soldiers and gained a lot of ground for Arstotzka.
In the world of espionage, secret stuff happens. Or for all you know, it doesn't happen.
Let the 1916 Design phase begin. Good night!
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Topic: Arms Race, OOC [Completed] Now with Arms Race III, against another forum! (Read 235007 times)