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[Parsely]

I guess that makes sense.

[Devastator]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We had parity in the air.  We lost ground in the jungle and the desert.  Regaining that, so we can only lose ground again, is not a solution.

Are we winning?  No?  Then maybe we should do something different.

Regaining and surpassing them on the ground is what the anti tank rifle we just made is for. Their big advantage was their new vehicle, and that should be countered, as well as the expense credit which won't be in effect any more. And that should put us back to winning on the ground like we were before. But winning on the ground isn't going to help if we loose a resource from their air attacks on the mountains and half of our best stuff goes up an expense level because we don't have enough ore any more.

Perhaps you should bother to remember what we just used our design phase on, yes?

And meanwhile, Our expense credit is also ending, so we're going to loose parity in the air unless we do something about it.

But make no mistake. This turn is basically a holding action. We're loosing ground on all fronts but the mountain and we're about to loose the mountain's ore resource anyway. They're going to use this turn's worth of advantage to build a boat and get that extra design credit from that sunken sub, and we're about to use the advantage of knowing their spy isn't on counterintel to steal their stuff.

But unless we can halt their advance here and now, whatever we steal won't be any use to us because we won't have the resources to pay for whatever new shiny designs we'll come up with using what we just stole, and then they'll use their extra design credit to probably bring out a dedicated bomber and something else, and then we'll be in big doodoo.

The Anti-Tank Rifle should counter their new vehicle, but unless we also counter their air supremacy, it won't mean a damn thing. We only have two ore right now, and once we loose the mountain's ore we'll be done to one. A Smasher costs 4 Ore. We go down to one, and it goes from Expensive to Very Expensive and we're going to really start loosing the armor fight.

Meanwhile, the Model 1 Biplane only costs two oil, and our homeland gives us two oil. Unless we've already lost the game, we'll be able to pump them or varients out all day long, and while sure it won't be as good as some aluminum super-plane, an interceptor version will be something we can actually mass produce, and we need that right now.

If we adopt a strategy of making turns "holding actions" for no apparent reason, we've lost the game already.

I'm not happy, not at all, with the policy of designing weapons for this turn only, such as the recoilless rifle we built today, but at least that has some potential for improvements, even if it'll be obsolete the first time the enemy puts forward heavy armor.  It's also, if it is going to be an emergency stop-gap, it should at least a stop-gap for something that matters.

At worst, we might be forced to design an interceptor next round.  Not doing it now lets us have the chance of making a very, very good one next round rather than yet another stopgap.

[Iituem]

Hrm.  I consider it fair to say that we've lost 'initiative' here, yes.  Right now, we're reacting to everything, and it shows - hell, we're retreating into a mindset of the underdogs.

What would you suggest in terms of taking the fight to Arstotzka directly?

Edit:  Hrm.  On reflection, I still agree with what I said above.  We need something to force the Arstotzkans on the back foot - right now, they are pushing the war on all sides.  Also, I would quite like some positive news to put in the Moskurger. 

Edit 2:  Craaaap.

[Devastator]

Now is the time for the interceptor.  I'd recommend planning it for the smaller radios that don't exist, and building it with two HMGs, and going for speed.  Hold off on the revision to see what happens.

If it comes out great, I'd recommend making better bombs for the bombers, and ex-chitting them.  This is the turn that Moskburg shall win, and the Arses might bring out a big tank, which we'll need heavier bombs to deal with.

[evilcherry]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We had parity in the air.  We lost ground in the jungle and the desert.  Regaining that, so we can only lose ground again, is not a solution.

Are we winning?  No?  Then maybe we should do something different.

Regaining and surpassing them on the ground is what the anti tank rifle we just made is for. Their big advantage was their new vehicle, and that should be countered, as well as the expense credit which won't be in effect any more. And that should put us back to winning on the ground like we were before. But winning on the ground isn't going to help if we loose a resource from their air attacks on the mountains and half of our best stuff goes up an expense level because we don't have enough ore any more.

Perhaps you should bother to remember what we just used our design phase on, yes?

And meanwhile, Our expense credit is also ending, so we're going to loose parity in the air unless we do something about it.

But make no mistake. This turn is basically a holding action. We're loosing ground on all fronts but the mountain and we're about to loose the mountain's ore resource anyway. They're going to use this turn's worth of advantage to build a boat and get that extra design credit from that sunken sub, and we're about to use the advantage of knowing their spy isn't on counterintel to steal their stuff.

But unless we can halt their advance here and now, whatever we steal won't be any use to us because we won't have the resources to pay for whatever new shiny designs we'll come up with using what we just stole, and then they'll use their extra design credit to probably bring out a dedicated bomber and something else, and then we'll be in big doodoo.

The Anti-Tank Rifle should counter their new vehicle, but unless we also counter their air supremacy, it won't mean a damn thing. We only have two ore right now, and once we loose the mountain's ore we'll be done to one. A Smasher costs 4 Ore. We go down to one, and it goes from Expensive to Very Expensive and we're going to really start loosing the armor fight.

Meanwhile, the Model 1 Biplane only costs two oil, and our homeland gives us two oil. Unless we've already lost the game, we'll be able to pump them or varients out all day long, and while sure it won't be as good as some aluminum super-plane, an interceptor version will be something we can actually mass produce, and we need that right now.

If we adopt a strategy of making turns "holding actions" for no apparent reason, we've lost the game already.

I'm not happy, not at all, with the policy of designing weapons for this turn only, such as the recoilless rifle we built today, but at least that has some potential for improvements, even if it'll be obsolete the first time the enemy puts forward heavy armor.  It's also, if it is going to be an emergency stop-gap, it should at least a stop-gap for something that matters.

At worst, we might be forced to design an interceptor next round.  Not doing it now lets us have the chance of making a very, very good one next round rather than yet another stopgap.

Interceptors are even more of a candidate of a weapon good at a very specific threat and nothing else, in this case, their heavy fighter. Also, we can afford to lose another slice of the desert, if we can advance on the other fronts for their new benefits.

[Happerry]

For our design phase, according to the relevant post by Sensei, these are the costs for using aluminum. Because we stole their industry, I mean, so we should know how to use it.

Craft can be reinforced with aluminum (+1 ore) or be built mostly from it (+2). Aluminum engine blocks costs +1 ore or are free in aluminum craft.

Might I suggest designing a Struunk II to replace our Struunk I, one reinforced with aluminum? Bluntly, the Struunk I is a really aging design by this point, being the first vehicle we ever designed. Making a new armored car to replace it should hopefully give us something to counter the enemy autocannon cars, and by using aluminum in its construction we hopefully will be able to afford to mount some real armor on it.

On the other hand, it might be worth trying to design some sort of attack boat to kill their new cargo boat that is giving them another damn resource point. But I'm inclined against it, we really need to stop their march on our capital first.

Or for a more out their idea, we could design a dedicated fast bomber built from aluminum. If we could get something that costs, say, two oil like the Model 1 Biplane and then two ore for being built mainly from aluminum, we could afford to mass produce it, and according to the latest battle report the main reason their flack is working is because our current bombers are on the slow moving side. And a light aluminum bomber could probably move pretty fast if designed right.

Personally my inclination is for the fast aluminum bomber, but what do other people think?

[Kashyyk]

Sparrowhawk Interceptor - designed with speed and maneuverability in mind. It is a small,  one man,  wood and canvas fighter, with sections of aluminium to protect key points (cockpit, engine,  fuel tank, ammo). It is equipped with four brumby's, forward facing,  two a wing. Ammo is a continuous belt for each gun. Ammo should last a minimum of 30 seconds of firing ( more if this doesn't reduce speed and handling)

notes: spitfires only had 16 seconds of ammo.

[Iituem]

Fast and Bomber don't really go together in this period of history.  If we rework the Model 1 with a light aluminium frame (using minimal metal to save on ore) and adjust the guns for anti-aircraft fights specifically, we can use those mass-produced fighters as escorts for the slower Hornets on their bombing runs.  The below design is fairly contingent on us fixing that radio, mind.

Model 1B Wasp: A biplane constructed of a slim, primarily aluminium frame, with pretty conventional ailerons, elevators and rudder, as well as the hopefully revised smaller radio for co-ordination and scout purposes.  If we can ever fix that bloody radio, it won't have a mast sticking out either.  It sports the ten-cylinder kerosene engine from the Hornet, with its lighter weight and materials allowing that engine to give it a faster top speed and acceleration.  There are dual Brumbies beneath the wings for forward fire, with a third rotating Brumby in the gunner's seat (to aim everywhere else).  Aiming for a cost of 2 ore, 2 oil.

Less gun power than the Stallion on the Hornet, but maybe having three will make up for it somewhat.

Edit:  Ninja!

[Kashyyk]

Model 1B Wasp: A biplane constructed of a slim, primarily aluminium frame, with pretty conventional ailerons, elevators and rudder, as well as the hopefully revised smaller radio for co-ordination and scout purposes.  If we can ever fix that bloody radio, it won't have a mast sticking out either.  It sports the ten-cylinder kerosene engine from the Hornet, with its lighter weight and materials allowing that engine to give it a faster top speed and acceleration.  There are dual Brumbies beneath the wings for forward fire, with a third rotating Brumby in the gunner's seat (to aim everywhere else).  Aiming for a cost of 2 ore, 2 oil.

I prefer your design. +1

[Happerry]

Sparrowhawk Interceptor - designed with speed and maneuverability in mind. It is a small,  one man,  wood and canvas fighter, with sections of aluminium to protect key points (cockpit, engine,  fuel tank, ammo). It is equipped with four brumby's, forward facing,  two a wing. Ammo is a continuous belt for each gun. Ammo should last a minimum of 30 seconds of firing ( more if this doesn't reduce speed and handling)

notes: spitfires only had 16 seconds of ammo.

If we're going to go for an aluminium design we might as well go all out and make it entirely from aluminium to avoid the weakness to enemy incendiary rounds. It's only two ore for an all aluminium and we have two ore, so it should be totally possible to design one that isn't even Expensive so we can mass produce it.

Fast and Bomber don't really go together in this period of history.  If we rework the Model 1 with a light aluminium frame (using minimal metal to save on ore) and adjust the guns for anti-aircraft fights specifically, we can use those mass-produced fighters as escorts for the slower Hornets on their bombing runs.  The below design is fairly contingent on us fixing that radio, mind.

Model 1B Wasp: A biplane constructed of a slim, primarily aluminium frame, with pretty conventional ailerons, elevators and rudder, as well as the hopefully revised smaller radio for co-ordination and scout purposes.  If we can ever fix that bloody radio, it won't have a mast sticking out either.  It sports the ten-cylinder kerosene engine from the Hornet, with its lighter weight and materials allowing that engine to give it a faster top speed and acceleration.  There are dual Brumbies beneath the wings for forward fire, with a third rotating Brumby in the gunner's seat (to aim everywhere else).  Aiming for a cost of 2 ore, 2 oil.

Less gun power than the Stallion on the Hornet, but maybe having three will make up for it somewhat.

While I mostly like this design, I don't think we can design it until we actually fix that Radio. Personally, it'd have my vote if we just took said radio out. (And since we're just using artillery shells for bombs right now, it probably wouldn't hurt to add a note that it has a single, or just two, attachment points for bombs. Tiny load, but better then nothing... And without AP ammo or the Stallion it'll need some bombs if it wants to do anything verses land.)

Edit : Though if we can try to get a better radio as part of the process of designing this thing, I'd be really happy.

[Kashyyk]

I'm hoping we can just leave the radio out until it is small enough, and then immediately revise the radio so it is.

[Taricus]

Actually, that recoilless gun is ensuring our victory in the mountains. We just need to make the damn thing re-loadable and it'll be perfect enough. And we have free-reign on espionage this turn thanks to the yanks and denied the extra design to them (Sure, we lost one but we have more ) Slap on the expense credit onto anything we need and we're good.

Now, for the interceptor. I propose a rather... radical design.

M3 Fighter
A monowing aluminium fighter with cantilever wings and a new radial engine armed with a stallion in the nose. Designed to just be plain faster than the AS-19 Fighter, if not more manoeuvrable. Essentially designed purely to swat enemy fighters from the sky before anything can bring fire on it

[Happerry]

I'm hoping we can just leave the radio out until it is small enough, and then immediately revise the radio so it is.

Maybe, but the design as currently wrote calls for an improved radio we don't actually have, and I'd prefer to spend our revision round on getting either landmines of our own to halt the enemies attack or AP ammo for our machine guns, which might allow our stallions to be a threat to their autocannon car.

[LordSlowpoke]

so how about that sarin, guys

[Kashyyk]

I s'pose it's something we're going to have to get Sensei's input on. (Can we design something with a theoretical part, then just not include the part in manufacturing?)

I still think a revised radio is a good idea though. Once it is actually useable, we'll seize back the initiative (on the ground at least). Our forces will know about enemy movements the moment someone spots it, and will be able to instantly react. We'll also be able to proact much more efficiently too.