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[andrea]

it is most problematic because me and my baron seem to have quite different time zones, which means a discussion can last days.

[Elfeater]

it is most problematic because me and my baron seem to have quite different time zones, which means a discussion can last days.

Yeah, I kinda came up with this late at night, so that's when I ended up posting it

[Sensei]

It is officially well into Tuesday. I have, as I can often be relied upon to do, failed to meet my own schedule. A mixture of unexpected appointments and generally poor planning on my end resulted in not being able to write a turn yesterday. I do hope to see this game through to the end, though in a few weeks college starts up again and it will probably have to end then no matter what. For those who are curious, I do have a plan for what game I want to run next. It's not one of the many (admittedly pretty cool) ideas for a different Arms Race, but instead something which will involve less effort and book keeping. At least one person knows what it is.

Also, here's an info nugget I dropped in the Arstotzka thread:
A typical soldier has one primary weapon (EG rifle), one sidearm, and whatever equipment seems reasonable (spare ammo, grenades, binoculars and such are all examples of miscellaneous equipment). The AS-MC16 is a primary weapon, using it deprives a soldier of any other rifle. Soldiers who carry machine guns in whole or in parts, the bulky radios currently in use by both nations, and things like that are also deprived of a primary weapon and forced to rely on their sidearm. In close combat, soldiers who have a long rifle or other unsuitable gun (the MC16 is of course suitable for close combat) will use their sidearms, and sometimes have to use their sidearms instead of reloading no matter what their primary weapon is.

1931 Army Status

Arstotzka's army now contains the following:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

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-SP30: Previously known as the 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. It is pretty reliable. It has a threaded barrel and can be fitted with a suppressor.
-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 placed 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.
-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-F14A: A 7.62mm, semi-automatic rifle. It is an open bolt blowback action, and uses a 12-round box magazine which protrudes below the gun. 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, but this is mitigated by using a full size and weight barrel compared to the original carbine version. The blowback action is now more reliable, though still open bolt. Also available as a carbine.
-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-MC16A: A stands for Andres! The action is reworked for cheaper manufacturing, but works as well as the original. The stock is redesigned entirely for a pistol grip and foregrip, and made of lightweight aluminium, the butt is an open frame. The weapon handles considerably better with this new arrangement. Hollow point ammo is not successfully developed during this revision phase, but your engineers do design a new magazine. This is a 54-round magazine which consists of two drums feeding together into one magazine insert. It gets in the way of the shooter's view a bit, but MC16's are often fired from the hip anyway. Oh yeah, and it looks like a pair of, well, you know. Soldiers have some creative nicknames for the gun already. Costs 2 ore.
-AS-AC18: An advanced primer ignition autocannon, which ignites cartridge primers before the round is fully chambered. It fires the new, large, 20x100mm round, fed from a top-mounted 25 round C-shaped magazine with a powerful spring, usually armor piercing, about 600 times per minute. The weapon is quite large with a simple action but heavy barrel, weighing over 40 kilograms, and it requires being mounted to a carriage, foundation, or vehicle to fire with accuracy, although recoil is reduced by the nature of its action. It is dependent on a careful balance between the force of the shell and the force of the action, which means that different ammo types cannot be interchanged without recalibrating the gun. It has a terrifying ability to punch through armor and emplacements. Costs 3 ore due to its size and the size of its ammo.
-AS-LM20: A landmine! Consists of an explosive, metal shell and button. Armed by removing a key. The mines are cheap and simple, and reliably kill or dismember infantry who step on them.
-AS-1924: A light machine gun using 7.62mm rifle rounds. It is gas-operated, with a box magazine, a bottom-fed 25 round rectangular mag or 60 round drum. It includes an aluminium stock, magazines and fixtures, which are lighter than wood fixtures used on previous guns, though the barrel, action etc are steel. It is easily man portable at 8 kilos, allowing one man to carry the gun and a decent amount of ammo, though AS-1924 gunners are still often accompanied by a man to spot and carry additional ammo. It can be fired while standing or kneeling, with its pistol grip and overhead foregrip, but is most accurate when used with a bipod. Sustained fire (through multiple magazines) can cause overheating. Shoots around 500 rounds a minute. Costs 3 ore.
-AS-G27: Having previously made landmines and mortars, grenades are no problem for Arstotzkan engineers. The basic AS-G27 is is an oblong ball that fits comfortably in the hand, and when a ring is pulled, this starts a four-second fuze. The casing breaks into fragments when it explodes. The AS-G27I is incendiary, the AS-G27S deploys smoke. The AS-G27AT is cylinder shaped, with magnets on one end. It contains a hemispherical shaped charge. A soldier can penetrate medium armor with it, but they have to run right up to a tank to stick one on. The amount of chemicals needed for grenades gives them a cost of Oil 2. Each grenade weighs around a kilogram.
-AS-RPG28: A rocket-propelled grenade, fired out of a launch tube. The grenade itself consists of a conical shape with a narrow tube of propellent out the back, and fins in the middle of the tube. The grenade fits into a launch tube, about 3cm in diameter and a meter in length, up to the fins. The launch tube is a simple tube with one handle. To ignite the propellant, soldiers remove a pin, which is attached with a little chain and carabiner clip to a simple lever on the launch tube handle which serves as a trigger. The launch tube weighs three kilograms, and grenades themselves weigh another three. It is accurate enough to hit a tank out to almost 100 meters, after which it drops quickly. Rockets are available with warheads based on each type of grenade, including a crude flat-ended RPG28AT shaped charge. This doesn't fly very well and requires a very square hit to be effective, so can mostly only be used at short range against flat armor. Requires 2 ore.
-AS-O30 Optics: Simple scopes, which can be fitted to any appropriate sort of gun, in 2x, 3x, or 4x magnifications. They include a little rubber eye shroud. They are Expense to make, but even so the manufacturing quality is a bit dubious and the lenses are a bit small, leading often to dark, blurry pictures. Uses a painted-on crosshair with range-finding markers, in 100 or 200 meter increments custom to the type of gun on which they are to be fitted.

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.
-20x100mm Autocannon round
-Armor Piercing Steel Bullets
-Hollow Point Bullets
-Flak Shells
-Flares
-Incendiary Rounds
-Rocket-Assisted Shells (More range, for DT25 and AS-1912)
-Belt-fed loading
-Changeable Barrels
-Solid Explosives and Propellants
-Light Mortars
-Artillery
-Hydro-pneumatic Suspension
-Vehicle Armor
-Treads
-Detachable Magazines
-Petrol Motors
-APIB Action, compatible with belt feed
-Crude Batteries (Lead-Acid)
-Aluminium production
-Armor (Medium and thinner)
-Fuel Injection
-Turbo Charger
-Radio
-Basic Paratroopers (Sidearm only)
-Suppressor

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-GU23: The new 1923 Arstotzkan uniforms come in patterned camouflage colors, grey/white, beige and olive. In order to completely placate High Command's thirst for glory and keep the dice in the dice bag, the inside of the uniform is sewn red and gold with Arstotzkan flags. A soldier can simply fold their uniform inside-out and convert it from battle camouflage to parade regalia (you advise soldiers NOT to do this on the battlefield). The armor plates and helmet are made from Glorious Aluminium, which reduces their weight. Includes all the pockets and bandoliers a soldier could ask for, and one right on the elbow that nobody asked for. Costs 2 ore.
-Andrei Zhuyev, ace pilot. Lost track of his kills.
-Commander Emilovich, Master Tactician
-IP-R25: This is based off of stolen liberated designs for the Moskurg Model 3 Radio. Like the Model 3, it is a vacuum-tube audio-transmitting radio with consists of the 14-kilogram radio itself and an equally large box of batteries. To move, it needs to be carried by two men, but can be set up for use relatively quickly. It can also fit in most vehicles without affecting performance (or take up the entire sidecar on an M17 bike).
-AS-DC29: An Arstotzkan device design to solve Moskurg's cipher. It is basically a Tiger's Whisper, with its own code card with the numbers 1 through 26. It uses a typewriter mechanism to stamp each number onto a ticker tape. The numbers on the ticker tape are the simple cipher version of the Moskurg message, which is relatively easy to solve by hand. In addition it includes a counter for each letter, displaying the frequency in which letters occur which helps solve ciphers faster. An average Arstotzkan officer is clever enough to use this to crack a Moskurg message in five to ten minutes. With a stolen code card, it can also act exactly as a Tiger's Whisper would, where communications officers must write down each letter as it appears. It is Expensive to make, and fits into a very heavy backpack.

AS Ground Transportation:
-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-M17A: 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 was previously notorious for being difficult to ride and having structural failures, but these problems have been ironed out. The sidecar is available with an AS-1910, sometimes on a pintle mount to aim at aircraft. Costs 1 Oil, 2 Ore.
-AS-HV19: A heavy truck, built for logistics. Uses a cabover design, giving it a short, tall and square cabin- drivers climb up three steps to enter it. Includes six large, pneumatic tires- two wheels under the cabin steer, and four close to the back of the bed drive. A simple spring suspension system makes a very bouncy ride, amplified by the height of the cabin. Under the cabin is a fairly large eight cylinder engine, which belches black smoke from two exhaust stacks that go over the back of the cabin. The bed is five meters long and consists of a simple frame that can hold a hopper, tanker, or trailer hitch. Other things might easily be built to fit there, but engineering didn't get around to that. Gets up to 80 kph on a good road, and can carry eight tons without too much trouble. Unarmored. Conveys a 1 logistics bonus. Costs 2 ore, 3 oil.
-AS-MV21-AL: This is an armoured car, designed to be maneuverable in tight quarters and offroad. The frame, armor and engine block are all built from aluminium for reduced weight. It sits on four big tires, the rear ones shrouded by armor, on hydropneumatic suspension. It is powered by a V-6 motor, which gets it up to 70 KPH on a good road. Its shape is tight and rectangular around the crew cabin, which holds only a driver and gunner, to minimize the quantity of armor needed. The engine is in the rear, and includes the lightest (thin) armor in the slats over the radiator. The front armor is medium and most of the armor is light. A belt-fed AS-AC18 gun fires from the top of car, with the gunner's hatch open. The gunner hatch acts as armor to each side when open, but the gunner is still somewhat exposed compared to a tank turret. The car costs 4 ore and 2 oil.
-AS-T25: A medium tank, built to fit under medium thickness RHA. The armor is sloped shallow in the front, and this slope goes about halfway down the tank's length. The turret and crew hatch are on the flat part of the top of the tank, in the back, leading to a design that looks like a bit of a wedge. It is powered by a 12 cylinder, fuel injected, turbo charged motor. The new turbo charger is a super charger powered by exhaust, it provides the most benefit at high engine ranges. The turbo slightly increases fuel use. It can get up to 55 kph. The gun, a new AS-DT25, fires 50mm rounds, with a screw breech. It is fairly accurate and quite powerful. The turret is hand cranked and a bit on the slow side. It can fire about 20 times a minute and includes AP rounds. The treads are on hydropneumatic suspension, which improves accuracy while the tank is moving. Includes a coaxial AS-1924 and one on the exit hatch with a pintle mount. Costs 5 ore, 3 oil.
-AS-MAT26-50: A light tracked platform for the DT25 gun originally designed for the AS-T25 tank. Moves on a simply 8-cylinder motor and treads. It has thin RHA armor in the front only, with the rest open to the air. The DT-25 gun has an extended barrel with a muzzle brake, and is mounted on a front-facing armature with good side-to-side and vertical angling, for direct fire. It's bigger than the original, but outside of a turret this is fine. It include an AS-1924 for good measure against aircraft. Costs 4 ore, 2 oil.

AS Air Force:
-AS-A19C: Several staff members were fired and replaced. The new C model of the AS-A19 makes up for its heavy frame with sturdy, lightweight aluminium brackets, and some metal parts are replaced with aluminum. This and larger control surfaces make the plane much more steady, and not prone to suddenly pulling in one direction or the other, without being heavier. For good measure, a cross is added to every joystick to exorcise malevolent spirits. Control surface trim is added as well, which corrects for the effect of the rotary engine and makes the plane easier to fly in general. The aircraft remains heavy and a bit ungainly, but is much more safe to fly and should perform better in dogfights. Now costs 2 ore, 2 oil.
-AS-DB-HF-23: An airplane built entirely from aluminium. This lighter, sturdier frame allows the plane be reasonably fast with a 9-cylinder radial engine and make aggressive dives and recoveries for bombing, with half a ton of bombs. The radial engine is designed entirely around an AS-AC18 which fires through the prop shaft, necessitating a relatively heavy and thick prop shaft. It has decent maneuverability, with its metal design allowing for strong forces on the wings and tail, and large control surfaces, but it is best at dogfighting while not carrying a bomb load. Costs 4 ore, 3 oil.
-AS-HF-24: An airplane built entirely from aluminium. Based on the AS-DB-HF-23's light and sturdy frame, with bomb mounts omitted in favor of four lightweight AS-1924 machine guns, modified to accept belts. Two barrels visibly protrude from the front of each wing. The radial engine is designed entirely around an AS-AC18 which fires through the prop shaft, necessitating a relatively heavy and thick prop shaft. Unlike the DB version, it is fuel injected which is terribly complex and a bit heavy but allows more power for the same fuel. It has decent maneuverability, with its metal design allowing for strong forces on the wings and tail, and large control surfaces, but it is a bit heavy. Costs 4 ore, 3 oil
-AS-1931-HAFB: A three-engine bomber with a shoulder wing. It is constructed of a geodetic aluminium frame with resin-treated fabric skin. The pilot sits in a cockpit on the front of the plane with a pyramidal canopy, and between the two wings is an AC18 gunner, on top of the plane, with a 360 degree rotation under a trapezoidal canopy.  It has an engine in the nose and one slung under each wing, the engines are turbocharged and fuel injected. Despite its size, this enables it to almost keep pace with AS-HF-24s and gives it a high altitude ceiling. These engines burn a lot of fuel, and so the craft is not capable of especially longer range than Arstotzkan fighters. It carries a two-ton payload of bombs, and a bomber with a sight which can be adjusted based on a written table for airspeed and altitude. At full altitude, these bombs are incapable of hitting precise targets, and especially moving targets. The plane also has fixed landing gear. Costs 5 ore, 4 oil.

AS Navy:
-AS-CV22: A steam-powered ship, worthy of sea travel. Uses two AS-51 S steam engines, which each power one screw. The vessel is around 60 meters long, and carries cargo enough to provide +1 logistics. It mounts an AC-18 on the bow for air defense, an an AS-1910 on top of the con tower. Costs 6 ore.

AS Resources:
1 Unyielding Thirst for Glory
X Ministry of Integrity. Provides X spies. X is classified.
4+1 Ore. Tanks are Expensive, typically. Arstotzka is receiving ore from Chinese rebels.
1 Expense Credit: Stacks of deflated American Dollars are hurriedly traded for anything of value. Fine wine, historical artifacts and works of art are packed away in crates in the treasury- they are unappreciated here, but they will not depreciate with time.
2 Oil. Products which use more fuel than a car are expensive. Except, rebels keep blowing up oil refineries.
1 Company of Moskurg Prisoners, slaving away in the salt mines.

[Sensei]

Moskurg's army now contains the following:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

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. Sometimes mounted on a raised stand to aim at aircraft. 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.
-Cascade Sub-Machine Gun: This is a sub-machine gun, firing the .35 cal short pistol round. It uses a new, closed-bolt blowback system. This system is reliable and keeps dirt out of the gun. The bolt system takes up about six inches, 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 8 inches, and has a slotted metal hand guard. The stock is wooden, ugly, 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 .35 cal short bullets have much less range than a rifle or machine gun. The system fires about 400 rounds per minute.
-Rhino Recoilless Rifle: This is a rifled tube designed to fire a 2.2 inch shell, without creating significant recoil. It is five feet in length and portable by a single man, weighing about 25 pounds, but sits on a tripod to fire. The recoilless effect is achieved by firing a "wad" of rubber-lined cement, equal in mass to the 2.2 inch shell, out the back of the rifle. Tubes are manufactured loaded, and discarded after firing. It is accurate out to medium range. It fires the normal variety of artillery shells. Costs 2 ore.
-B2 Destroyer: A big, long piece of artillery with firing 4 inch rounds. The barrel is nine feet long, for maximum muzzle velocity and accuracy. Its barrel sits on a hydro suspension mechanism, and lurches back each time the gun fires. It weighs more than a ton and can fire at great distance around 15 times a minute, when hand loaded in its locking screw breech. These rounds can be placed with pretty good consistency, for their range. Must be towed by a truck, or three can fit on a train car (but not fire from there). Costs 4 ore.
-MK-47 Assault Rifle: This is a blowback operated rifle using .30 caliber rounds, designed to be an automatic weapon with a similar size and role to the Model 1 Service Rifle. It has a rear pistol grip, a slotted wooden foregrip and a 30 round magazine which mounts on the side. It is based on the Cascade's action, but heavily reinforced to withstand the pressures incurred by full size rifle rounds. The heavy moving bolt significantly affects accuracy when firing automatically, even at medium range. The weapon has a heavy barrel to prevent overheating and help with the recoil, which makes the weapon weigh around 16 pounds, but the recoil from rapidly firing rifle rounds is still a significant issue. Fires 600 rounds per minute. Costs 2 ore.
-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. Expensive due to metric manufacturing.
-M3 Sorraia GPMG: A .30 caliber machine gun fed from a belt. 50-round belts can be strung together for extended fire or stored in a belt box attached to the Sorraia, which for practical purposes is similar to a magazine. Unlike the Brumby, it uses a recoil action, and is configured to fire around 800 rounds per minute, achieved with the help of a muzzle booster (which looks like a flared end on the barrel). It is slightly lighter, at 22 pounds. Comes with an integrated bipod, can be used on a tripod for emplacements. It uses similar heat sinks to the Brumby, which are now shrouded. It has a changeable barrel, which is necessary for emplacement use. It is effective to a greater distance than the Brumby when so mounted, about 800 yards. Costs 2 ore.
-Shaped Charge: A hemisphere of explosives, in a hemispherical metal container, with a hemispherical empty space inside. Magnetic. Can be placed on an enemy tank by particularly brave soldiers.
-Eagle Sight: A basic refractive telescopic sight for use on Moskurg rifles, machine guns (where they can benefit from a scope) and tanks alike. They can be manufactured for magnification between 1.5x and 4x, but the magnification cannot be adjusted. They must be custom-fitted onto weapons, and the precision required in lens manufacturing makes them Expensive. A sight can be adjusted with screws on the top and side, and must be sighted in regularly. The sights have small eye relief (one must put their eye very close to sight to see clearly) and are prone to "biting" when used on rifles, leaving a mark around a careless soldier's eye. They also have a pretty narrow field of view.
-Hippo Recoilless Rifle: A 2.2 inch Recoilless rifle, which is reloadable. Appears as a tube with a square, offset box in the middle which contains the mechanism to hold and fire its rounds. It also The grips consists of a padded quarter-circle shoulder rest and a foregip with a trigger, an extra off-hand grip in the middle. Like the hippo, rounds (now a single package) consist of a shell, powder-filled casing, and wad of equal mass to the shell. The wad consists of sand in a cork sabot, to present minimal danger to soldiers behind to gun (still, do not stand behind the Hippo Recoilless Rifle). It is a bit heavier than the Rhino, but because it is reloadable a soldier can carry a half-dozen shells. While there is relatively little recoil (comparable to a Horsekiller) it also exerts a torque along the rifle groove when fired, which makes it difficult to use. Includes tall iron post sights on the side of the weapon with multiple horizontal range markers, and a side rail for easy scope mounting, though it is difficult to fire accurately at scope ranges. Costs 2 ore.
-Incinerator Flamethrower: A heavy weapon, consists of two tanks on a soldier's back (one of harmless nitrogen as a propellant, and one of flamethrower fuel) and a nozzle with a pilot light. Shoots a jet of burning liquid about 25 feet. Includes an emergency cutoff valve. Costs 2 ore, 2 oil.


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.
-.35 caliber short pistol bullets. For the Cascade Sub-Machine Gun.
-3.6 Inch Artillery Shell. Now also available in Smoke, Shrapnel and Extra Spicy Incendiary
-Armor-Piercing Shell: Hardened steel alloy, which deforms less than lead when hitting armor. Can be manufactured for .30 caliber and up.
-Armor-Piercing High Explosive (APHE): Armor-piercing shells, and then after the armor, they explode. Boom.
-HEAT: High Explose Armor-Penetrating shells with a shaped charge, but you'll never guess what shape.
-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.
-Jungle Engineering: Moskurg weapons don't generally seize up from being wet and muddy, they are tested in humidity, and sometimes include gaskets or are designed to be especially easy to clean.
-Belt-Fed MG
-Water-Cooled Barrel
-Flamethrower
-Petrol Engine
-Portable Radios [Less Crap] with Audio
-Batteries II
-Brushed Electric Motors
-Airplanes
-Armor Thickness (Medium and thinner)
-Recoilless Rifle
-Spaced Armor
-Advanced Crayons
-Telescopic Sights
-Slat Armor
-Tactical Rails
-Fuel Injection
-Turbo Charger

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. The new 1927 uniform includes drab colors, olive, beige and grey, to blend in with different environments. Jingling metal belts and clips are replaced with quiet ones. Vehicles are bedecked in similar colors, with reasonably-sized flags painted on the side. However, High Command insists that officers retain their blue uniforms with silver capes and big hats, so that soldiers will know their commanders.
-Model 3 Radio: Another vacuum tube radio, still Expensive due to complexity, which now comes as a pair of 30 pound boxes (one of batteries and one of the radio itself). Each box is man portable on its own, and has to be assembled together to work. It also includes a light, flexible antenna instead of a radio mast, which can either be erected up a tent pole or worked into the frame of a vehicle. The result is that it takes up two mens' primary weapon slots instead of a wheelbarrow, making it portable by a mobile squad and useable after about a minute of setup. Alternatively, it can fit into most vehicles without affecting performance. Also importantly, it can now transmit and receive audio instead of just morse code, making communication faster in general.
-Tiger's Whisper: This radio device, instead of being used to transmit speech, issues and receives 26 discreet amplitudes on a given frequency. The amplitude broadcast is selected with a dial, and the amplitude received is is used to indicate a letter, using a fully circular meter which reads amplitude and is labeled with letters. When the dial, or meter, falls to zero after displaying a letter, it moves the paper indicator by an amount based on its highest position, like a rotary telephone dial. This means that the messages are bit more complex than a simple substitution. A communications officer must jot down each letter as he reads it. The letter indicators both on the dial and meter are pieces of card paper which can be changed, so that new substitutions can be issued to communications officers regularly in case a radio communicator falls into enemy hands.
-Tank Commander Char: Currently pilots the only Eagle-equipped T2 Breaker. Eight kills. He can see three times as far as a commander with normal tank sights.

MK Ground Transportation:
-Horses: Moskurg soldiers are skilled cavalry, and ride close to the enemy to use their inaccurate weapons and swords.
-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 thin mild steel armor all around, slightly angled, with light armor on the front of the engine and cabin. The thin armor is still dubious protection against normal rifle rounds. It includes a Brumby in the passenger seat and an M2 Stallion in the turret, which is now pintle mounted to aim at aircraft. 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.
-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 light, 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. Costs 3 ore, 2 oil.
-T1 Smasher Mk II: Based on previous experience with the SPAT and the Struunk I, this is Moskurg's attempt to make a completely armored fighting vehicle with a turret. The frame is based on the SPAT. The vehicle will be heavier though, so it is powered by a 10-cylinder motor. Has improved treads, more capable of climbing through obstacles and over trenches. It is armored all around with light armor, of mild steel, in a trapezoidal shape over the chassis with the treads exposed. The front, sides and turret have an additional thin piece of spaced armor. The turret is a cylinder protruding out of the top of the front part of the tank, which includes the exit hatch. It does not include the planned coaxial machine gun but instead has a pintle-mounted Brumby which can be used when the top hatch is open. The turret rotates with an electric motor, without backup hand crank because the batteries are easily drained. The main gun is a shortened Bombardier with narrow vertical aim. Crewed with a driver, loader and gunner/commander. Can get up to 8 mph on a good day. Costs 4 ore, 2 oil.
-L-1 Tiger: The Tiger is, despite its fierce name, a truck. It has a long, narrow nose in front of the cab containing a twelve cylinder engine, and the steering wheels are next to it under round cowls. It has a bed where a hopper, tanker, seats, trailer hitches or other things can easily be attached. There are six rear drive wheels, on independent suspension. Costs 3 ore, 2 oil. Provides +1 logistics.
-T2 Breaker: A tank built from new Rolled Homogenous Armor, like tanks should be made of. It is medium armored throughout, with a slanted front but mostly square. The turret is specially cast as a rounded dome and rotates with electrical motors. Includes a new 1.6 inch rifled Breaker cannon, with a long barrel, suspension and muzzle brake. The Breaker cannon can fire about 24 times a minute, it is single loaded by hand. It also has a coaxially mounted Brumby. The exit hatch in towards the mach of the tank and includes a pintle-mounted Brumby. The tank is a heavy, it sits on wide cowled treads and is powered by a big 12-cylinder diesel engine, and can get up to about 23 mph. Crewed by a driver, loader, gunner, and commander. Now with extra slat armor. The radio is usually omitted due to the already very steep cost of the tank: It requires 5 ore, 2 oil.

MK Air Force
-Model 1 Biplane: A biplane mostly design around the heavy an awkward Model 2 Radio. Research into aluminum framing was conducted, but a good source could not be secured this year. As such, the airplane consists mostly of a wood-and-canvas frame, with pretty conventional ailerons, elevators and rudder. It can immediately be distinguished from a normal plane by the four foot radio mast sticking out. It weighs about half a ton and is powered by a new motor with six opposed cylinders. Most of its spare weight and space is taken up by the Model 2 radio, which is powered by the motor and operated by a co-pilot. Despite it not being in the design requirements, the plane comes with a center-mounted Brumby, complete with interrupter gear, and a couple yards of ammo. Maneuverability is somewhat poor. Costs 2 oil.
-Model 2 Hornet: A wide, heavy, wood-framed biplane. To serve its purpose of carrying bombs, it is heavy and sturdy (as much as a wooden plane can be) with bomb racks beneath the wings. It is powered by a big ten-cylinder motor (your biggest yet) and weighs a ton on its own, and carries half a ton of bombs. The bombs are simply artillery shells with fins attached, and are available in every variety. The gunner's seat has an M1 Stallion which can rotate in a full circle and carries seven yards of ammo. Costs 3 oil.
-M3 Wasp Fighter B: Using some aluminum structure, Moskurg is able to create their first sturdy cantilevered monoplane. Most of the aluminum is used to support the wings while the tail and body are made of (mostly) wood. The wings mount in the middle of the fuselage, with the pilot sitting between them and a fat radial engine in front. Due to its single pair of wings and lack of struts, than previous airplanes. The engine is also a bit of a monster, a 14 cylinder radial engine in two rows of 7 cyclinders. This makes it really quite fast. It mounts an M1 Stallion with interrupter gear. The plane pitches and rolls quickly on its single wing, but needs to be going faster than a biplane and this tends to make fast-but-wide turns. At its top speed, its wooden tail structure warps one way and the other, threatening to break. It uses retractable landing gear. Costs 2 ore, 3 oil.
-Model 4 Yellowjacket: A fighter aircraft, built fully of aluminum. It has flat low wings on a relatively long, narrow fuselage which holds its V12 motor. The motor is fuel injected, and cooled by a water radiator. It has six exhaust pipes poking out under the wing on each side, and a canopy-covered pilot seat close to the tail. It is relatively sturdy and maneuverable, it is fast and makes tight maneuvers but is "temperamental", prone to going into out-of-control rolls and requiring a tight grip on the joystick. The canopy includes a tubular gun sight. The six Sorraia guns in the wings provide ample firepower, but the six guns and their ammo are somewhat heavy. Moves faster and maneuvers better than the Wasp, as well as having a higher altitude ceiling. Costs 3 ore, 3 oil.

MK Resources:
4 Captured Tigers. Don't stick your hand in the cage.
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.
Nuclear Weapons Progress: 8/10

[Sensei]

Treaty is still a thing guys
Treaty negations continue to not continue. Though they speak nothing of this to the public, Moskurg high command hopes its engineers will ratify the weaponry portion of the treaty so that the agreement can be signed, and fair treatment of Moskurg prisoners can be assured- Arstotzka has been taking a fair bit of prisoners.

1931 Battle Report

This year, Moskurg finally made a working flamethrower, the Incinerator, a terrorizing short-range weapon which spews burning liquid. Moskurg also researched Jungle Engineering, making their weapons less prone to failure in the mud and humidity. This will help their Hippo a bit in particular, although that weapon still has its own problems. Arstotzka built their first proper bomber, the AS-1931-HAFB, which carries fully two tons of bombs with three turbocharged motors, which means it can keep pace with fighters and has an impressive altitude ceiling. Using their new plane, Arstotzka also ordered the start of a paratrooper program, but soldiers have simple parachutes and carry only sidearms. Arstotzka also fixed their AS-1909, renaming it the AS-SP30. In addition to actually working now, it has a threaded barrel with the option for suppressors, and hollow point ammo.

The war in the air is changed by Arstotzka's introduction of the AS-1931-HAFB, a three-engine bomber, and the largest aircraft in Forenia. It flies high and fast, and though its dorsal turret offers limited protection, it drops two tons of bombs, enough to justify its Very Expensive status. Its turbo charged engines allow it to reach altitudes which are difficult to reach for fighters, despite its size, so when it doesn't stick close to its AS-HF-24 escorts, Wasps and Yellowjackets reach it with a bare minimum of energy. More often, due to its dorsal turret, it stays close to its escorts. Since it isn't dive bombing, M3 Sorraia and M1 Stallion machine guns acting as ground-to-air weapons are not a concern- in fact, Moskurg altogether lacks effective AA. AS-1931-HAFB's thus have a good success rate at reaching their targets, somewhat better than Moskurg Hornets. Then, their large payload makes them a significant threat to artillery, emplacements, and even armored targets which aren't moving quickly. While Arstotzka doesn't have uncontested control of the skies, they drop more bombs than Moskurg when they have the chance.

In the jungle, Moskurg puts their new Incinerator flame throwers to work. It's an effective means of clearing soldiers hiding in brush and bunkers, and even when only one is used for every few squads, it has an effect on Arstotzkan morale. Moskurg also now has a general advantage in terms of weapon reliability: While the hippo remains mostly stagmatized, Rhino Recoilless Rifles rarely fail to fire. Arstotzkan troops benefit in close combat from the new reliable AS-SP30 pistol replacing their AS-1909, which previously jammed leaving Arstotzkan troops high and dry. Moskurg's tanks are now Very Expensive again, and Arstotkza makes pushes on the roads, through Moskurg ambushes now include flamethrowers in addition to recoilless rifles. While bombing is not very effective over the jungle, Arstotzka does benefit from sending some AS-1931-HAFB's to the end of their range, full of paratroopers. Using AS-SP30's with hollow point ammunition, they attack positions like artillery emplacements from the rear, or try to catch tank crews refueling, and generally mess with Moskurg supply. Arstotzka gains ground (2/4)

In the mountains, flamethrowers, pistols and bombers are mostly inapplicable. Arstotzka continues to gain ground with their superior snipers, though most soldiers on both sides are limited in their effective range by the use of iron sights. M3 Sorraias still out-range AS-1924's somewhat. Arstotzka is now again looking down upon Moskurg's mines. (3/4)

The fighting in East Moskurg is the most brutal of the war so far. This will be known as the year that buildings burned. The Incinerator flamethrower is an effective weapon at preventing Arstotzkan advances through indoor areas and alleys, and fulfills a similar role as Arstotzkan grenades in clearing rooms and setting buildings aflame. With reduced Moskurg tank production, Arstotzka has an armored advantage, which is only partly countered by Moskurg recoilless rifles. Arstotzkan RPGs are relatively ineffective against current Moskurg tank armor, and require a good shot from close range. Close range combat is fierce, and favors Moskurg, although Arstotzka benefits from their grenades and their new hollow point rounds, used in MC16s and SP30s. The deciding factor is AS-1931-HAFBs, which drop tonnes of bombs. It drops bombs on buildings, on roads, on Destroyer artillery and Breaker tanks. Occasionally it drops paratroopers where they will be most annoying, although this has a high casualty rate for the poorly-equipped paratroopers behind enemy lines. Arstotzka gains ground (4/4) Next year, the march towards the capitol begins. It will be on the open desert again, for a time.

Agent Sandworm and Agent Promised Crucible meet again. Promised Crucible has snuck into the building where Moskurg Incinerator Flamethrowers are manufactured. He sets about arranging one flamethrower to explode when used, as a test. Agent Sandworm identifies him and steps out of the shadows, grabs a prepared flamethrower, and rushes toward Promised Crucible to blast him at close range. It happens that this was the very one that Promised Crucible had sabotaged a moment ago. The explosion kills both of them, and somehow fails to burn down the factory. After a brief delay, the factory is operational again, and both nations are lacking secret agents.

[Andres]

Our heavy bomber was actually supposed to be Expensive this turn. It cots 5 Ore and 4 Oil. We naturally have 4 Ore and 2 Oil, making it Very Expensive due to lacking 3 resources. However, the Ore we're getting from the Chinese gives us 5 Ore and 4 Oil and a resource deficit of 2, so it should make the plane Expensive.

Also, are our bombers now capable of hitting Moskurg's capital?

[Sensei]

Our heavy bomber was actually supposed to be Expensive this turn. It cots 5 Ore and 4 Oil. We naturally have 4 Ore and 2 Oil, making it Very Expensive due to lacking 3 resources. However, the Ore we're getting from the Chinese gives us 5 Ore and 4 Oil and a resource deficit of 2, so it should make the plane Expensive.

Also, are our bombers now capable of hitting Moskurg's capital?

Hm, noted. It doesn't change the outcome of this turn, conveniently. I'll correct the actual text when I'm less tired, but the moral of the story is still "bomber important, Arstotzka gains ground".

[10ebbor10]

That went better than expected.

[Andres]

So are we gonna sign that treaty? We do have a bunch of your prisoners here, after all, and signing the treaty means ensuring their safety.

[Kot]

So are we gonna sign that treaty? We do have a bunch of your prisoners here, after all, and signing the treaty means ensuring their safety.

Prisoners? What prisoners? It's just salt giants!

[tryrar]

Yeah, I say we go with Andres' latest version(the part that deals with weapons) and call it a day

[Andres]

Now that we're attacking Final Desert, is it possible to circle around and attack Moskurg's mines from behind?

[10ebbor10]

Nuclear Weapons Progress: 8/10

Thus the question. Is this serious, or do I need to come up with a short treatise on why the idea of a nuclear weapon being developed at this time is utterly implausible?

[Devastator]

Speaking of implausible, how does your bomber fly high enough to avoid interception while being low enough to actually hit stuff with unsighted iron bombs?

[Aseaheru]

Who said they are unsighted?