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Ministry of Truth
The seven disgruntled writers are unfortunately let go due to their stringent beliefs against yellow journalism and rumour-mongering; the last you heard, they were getting hired on by a private company. Seven new writers are hired on to fill the void, employed specifically to write TPG.
The production of TPG goes forward; though the first issue is of rather lower quality due to the loss of experienced staff who were assigned onto the project, it should soon come up to par with TPP. Five hundred issues are printed on the first day, with just over three hundred being sold. By the end of the week, three thousand have been printed with two thousand twenty six being sold. Despite containing information separate from TPP, it’s clipped into the sales of its companion paper. Since it’s cheaper and still provides important news, many have switched over from TPP to TPG during weekdays; the all-important Sunday paper hasn’t had its sales affected by TPG. The number of businesses selling TPP has risen by eleven, while the number of papers selling TPG has reached forty by the end of the week. Ad deals for the former have reached $3500/week, with an average of ten ads per paper and $50/ad (the more expensive ads being on Sunday). You should hire on atleast ten more writers to avoid overburdening your staff.
Several of your more liberal writers feel uncomfortable with their task of downplaying the Ministry of Criminality’s prison labour programs; two of them were among those let off in the TPG incident, while another four seem to have moral dilemmas with all of this lovely truth being produced. They have yet to cause a scene or quit, though. Regardless, the campaign goes forward, writing about the great opportunities for rehabilitation this program introduces. There aren’t many willing participants, though one agrees to an interview in exchange for a few comforts; surely not too much to ask! He is of course provided with the requested items, and an interview conducted which paints the workshops in a positive light. You’re unsure how public opinion was affected by the campaign.
Apologies are offered to the Russian ambassador; or atleast, the new one. You’re unsure what happened to the last one, but the current one seems rather friendly. He thanks you graciously for the artifact, exchanging reciprocal gifts in the form of a ZiS-110, a high-quality Russian limousine. He extends his wish the two nations maintain a positive relationship.
Debril seems inclined to establish positive relations with Apland upon your extension of formal diplomatic relations, while Karsthum continues their silent hostility by barring your diplomat access to their country. Debril accepts establishment of an embassy within their territory in exchange for one in yours. Polkia seems quite receptive, though they are less friendly than you’d hoped; they seemed to be more interested in how they might profit from a relationship. They turn down the embassy for now, with the written reply containing empty words full of condolences and hopes. Should any business opportunities come to light, they may be more receptive of formal diplomatic relations.
The rumours of war stem from aggression by several militaristic states and border conflicts. The nation of Karsthum has gone to war several times in the recent past, and seems geared to expand once more. Franco-German relations are unsteady, and the two seem poised to go to war. Should war break out among the two, it may lead to a spiritual successor of the Great War.
Four businesses accept the investment opportunities, receiving an average of $10,000 each in exchange for a proportional stake (proportional to the company’s current value; worth $90,000 and invest $10,000, you get 10%) in their company; averaging 10%. The businesses earn an average of $25,000/year each; with your 10% stake, you’ll earn $10,000/year ($200/week). All in all it cost your Ministry $40,000.
The Ministry of Advanced Defense is provided with $7270/week.
Twenty-one Works of Art are auctioned off for profits of $35,000.
$22,500 is delivered to the Ministry of Criminality for use in construction of the Museum of Revolution.
Ministry of Advanced Defense
All tax collectors and auditors are transferred to the Ministry of Finance.
A meeting between all Joint Chiefs except for General Grigorescu is conducted; a company commander attends in his absence. The following matters are discussed:
1. Constructing high-quality living quarters and mess halls for the soldiery. This will increase soldier satisfaction and decrease the amount needed to pay them without threatening a coup. At current, the soldiers are very dissatisfied. The company commander and Chief Petrovic stress this matter as one of utmost urgency; or at the very least, increasing pay to $30/week or above.
2. Establishing a training system. Even without academies or the like, systems should be established to provide high-quality training to the currently undisciplined troops. This is modern military theory, and will require research for good training schedules. Drill instructors and the like will also have to be hired on (though experienced soldiers can replace these, trained instructors should be used) [the point about drill instructors is also moot, since you already did it].
3. The morale of the revolutionaries has suffered in the last few weeks. Many had vain hopes of revolutionary ideals being instituted immediately; some simply enjoyed their power. The expectation of military discipline is ill-conceived; the men have very little motivation at current, and they lack the training and discipline to stay without it. Desertions are expected to start soon.
4. Chief Ruml suggests that an enemy is marked as such, and that the full brunt of the Ministry is brought against them. If there is a common foe, the men will be united by necessity. The Loyalist Stronghold, though a danger, is an example of such a common foe.
A capitalist advisor from America and economist from Russia are hired on at initial payments of $2000 and $1250 respectively, as well as weekly payments of $120 each. They’re both well-educated and intelligent, and though they obviously oppose each others’ ideals they seem to respect each other. In any case, they should prove invaluable in evaluating the country’s economy and maintaining business affairs. Despite their already high weekly payments, they seem to be aiming for yet more cash; particularly the American economist.
Defense Forces:
Twelve foreign drill instructors are hired on at average payments of $400 each ($4800) and $80/week. About half of them originate from Karsthum, a few from various countries in the region, and one from Germany. They look over your garrisoned soldiers, but greatly discourage training soldiers on active duty. In order for maximum efficiency and discipline, soldiers should be trained from basic in a several-week (4-12 weeks were various suggestions) course, during which time they should be doing nothing but training. Class size shouldn’t exceed forty or fifty soldiers, with the optimal class size being around twenty five to thirty. Barracks should be established for use; otherwise, cadets cannot be fully immersed in the training. Military academies are unnecessary, though would certainly help.
All twelve hundred soldiers are separated into eight companies of one hundred fifty men each. Foreign brigadiers are hired on to lead them, at payments of $400 each and $60/week. Most of them hail from Karsthum, though one is from Germany and one is a previously exiled Apland native. Chief Grigorescu, hearing of this from the front (before contact was lost with him), warns you to be wary of using foreign commanders...morale could be damaged greatly from companies being led by foreigners.
$8000 is used to resupply the two forts closest to the two other cities; supply cost will depend on the number of soldiers garrisoned. The current peacetime supply cost is about $10/soldier, mostly in the form of food. Supply costs will vary on a number of factors (ration quality [currently decent], combat training [ammo], training [increased caloric demands], luxury [toiletries, cigarettes, alcohol, the like]) and attempts can be made to increase or decrease costs. At the $10/soldier figure, it is presumed that ALL soldiers are being provided for (but not marines), for a cost of +$12,000. The ammo factory is covering the cost of the combat with the loyalists.
The two active forts and Fort Tabraz are garrisoned with a company each, while the other five companies assault the Loyalist stronghold supported by two hundred Commissar units and three hundred Police Officers.
Naval:
Three hundred eighty marines are transferred to the Defense Force; however, the ones you attempt to transfer to become Loggers, Technicians, and Postmen flat out refuse. They claim they are soldiers, and won’t perform such menial work. The men seem pretty united on this issue; there could be problems if you press them on it. One hundred fifty volunteer to transfer to civilian work, though; loggers (75) and postmen (45) are prioritized, with the remaining thirty becoming technicians.
Fifty marines patrol Port Newry. Another fifty search for the secret royal heir.
Wages for the marines are set to $25/week.
Aircorps:
Pilot and postman pay is set to $25/week.
Airpost is established, a branch of the Aircorps that will serve as a postal service. Forty five postmen are assigned to Airpost, led by ten postal masters.
There’s no need to expand Nova HQ to accommodate Airpost; there’s plenty of room as is, and a nearby warehouse owned by the Ministry of Criminality [if they allow] can provide temporary storage. The remaining supply stations are all too far out of range of the other cities to serve any purpose as post offices; they could certainly be useful for rural post, but not for the cities.
Your postal masters get to work establishing a postal system; they will require aid from other Ministries (Transportation, Engineering, Finance, perhaps Criminality) in designing and adopting the system. It’s a complex process, and will certainly not be done in a week - particularly if city districts are to be partitioned into ZIP codes and official addresses applied. The purchase of the postal vans is therefore delayed for the time being. The process can be expedited, but it’ll be more of a short-term solution.
Ten postal masters are hired on for about $500 each with a weekly pay of $80 each.
Prices will be as follows: Letter [$0.50-$1.00], Small Parcel [$1.00-$2.50], Large Parcel [$2.50-$5.00]. Postal services have yet to begin, with the system still being designed.
NEXT:
( ...w-why do you do this to me? )
A...manga company is established. One of the forts is refurnished to be the company’s HQ (cost of $5000); however, you will require a printing press - which will cost a great deal ($15,000 on the low end, capable of printing about 20,000 PAGES/day [the MoT could print 1000 papers/day with it, as they’re 20 pages each. Dunno how many pages you plan on making your issues - how many pages is each manga?]. $40,000 could buy you a press about 5x as efficient). Employment of the foreign artists and editors is delayed for the time being, seeing as you have yet to even begin installation of printing presses. Construction and installation of said presses may take several weeks after purchase.
Coalite:
Coalite is established, with two forts and two supply stations being assigned to it as saw mills and to serve as headquarters for the operation. Refurbishment will cost $11,000, though the real cost is in purchasing equipment. You’ll need another estimated $60,000 for purchasing saws, axes, and the like; however, both refurbishment and equipment purchasing is delayed due to lack of wealth.
Ten forestry inspectors are hired from abroad, at initial costs of $500 each and wages of $80/week. Seventy-five marines are transferred voluntarily from the Naval Division to serve as loggers.
The forestry inspectors and loggers begin preliminary surveys, in order to gauge the extent of forests and woodlands near their headquarters. It is suggested that heavy-duty trucks are purchased for transportation of the logs and shipment of the planks (no licenses/selling occurs yet).
Research:
Seventeen foreign scientists are hired on, at a cost of $300 each and wages of $60/week. They begin working on reverse engineering the purchased weapons (PS: Don’t forget to keep posting your Research section; it makes it easier for me to determine progress).
A working prototype of a submachine gun has been made. Testing has begun, with limited success. There is still some work to do, though coordination with the gunsmiths has advanced progress substantially. Rolling out the weapon immediately is ill-advised, and once you wish to begin mass-fabrication than very specific equipment will have to be made for factory work to begin (as in, $10,000 to $30,000 per factory sort of cost).
Development:
Technician pay is raised to $20/week; certainly an improvement, though there are still a great deal of complaints. Foreman pay is raised to $80/week and gunsmith pay raised to $50/week.
Gun parts are already assembled separately; that’s the entire point of a factory system. Making Technicians rotate tasks would probably decrease efficiency, as they’d be assigned to work they had no skill in (rotating a technician skilled in job A from assembly line position A to position B would decrease efficiency).
Foremen attempt to increase cooperation and encourage worker productivity, with limited success. $650 is spent on encouragement, and WP/worker is increased to 0.92 this week.
The foremen are taken aback that you seem to have no trust in their ability; asking workers for ways of improving production is quite silly and frankly a waste of time (in their opinion). Work activity is detailed, though this isn’t really “formal”; and many technicians simply put it off. There is no fear of overlap in a factory system (since they stay in one place doing the same thing; though there is the possibility of overproducing one part of the weapon, this is kept under control by the foremen). Overall efficiency has increased (slightly), as laborers have had time to learn their jobs better and cooperation has increased. The efficiency is expected to rise further in the coming weeks before flattening out.
Quick note: Income and Expenses are PER DIVISION, meaning I add up all positive divisons and put it in Income, and then add up all negative divisions and put it in Expenses. This is unique to your ministry, and it’s done simply because it’s easier for me to update. It’s the same as adding up all the income and expenses individually, but doesn’t paint the full picture of your Income/Expenses; don’t freak out when you see how low your income is.
Ministry of Corruption and Graft
Ten commissar units (220 men) are deployed to assist in the battle against the Loyalist Stronghold; they return in defeat, thirty short of the number that left. Thirty new commissars have been recruited to fill the void. The other ten units help collect taxes, protect the tax collectors, and safeguard collected income.
Even with the arrival of tax income, you have insufficient funds to pay your Expenses. Construction on the Compound is delayed, and morale among your employees suffers.
Ministry of Agriculture
An independent company is contracted for printing services and paper supplies; which will be required for an organized survey. They agree to provide each page for $0.08 each, or $80 per 1000 pages. Rough estimates of the rural population are in the millions; the number of farming households is probably around a million, give or take a few hundred thousand. For the time being, fifty thousand surveys are purchased for $4000. Your agricultural staff begin conducting surveys on crop production, keeping household responses separate. Seeing as there are only ten staff members (and no mode of transportation through the countryside), the work goes slowly. They complete an average of fifteen surveys per day each, for a rough total of 1000 surveys per week at the current rate. As of yet, the results have yet to be tabulated (as the staff are currently occupied with obtaining the data).
As previously mentioned, there are eleven national parks within the capital with a total area of eight thousand acres. Maintaining parkland is reliant primarily upon manpower cost, though there would be a small upkeep dependant on utilities (sewager? power?), equipment (playgrounds? trails?), and the like. A small park could be maintained fairly easily; the manpower requirement of maintaining all eight thousand acres is between four hundred and eight hundred employees, for a worker demand of between 0.05/acre and 0.1/acre. Any upkeep costs outside of wages will be nonessential costs that may or may not be provided.
The pay of Agricultural staff is raised to $55/week.
Ministry of Engineering
The Investor who funded Turstonkzy is contacted; to your surprise, a woman by the name of Rosa Delhaize. She has made smaller payments to other government and non-government facilities and organizations, but nothing on the scale of those made to the HEP. Her company is a food retailer that runs stores across the country. It seems she’s competing with the corporate giant Iskra, who (you believe) would’ve gained enormous stakes in the power market if the HEP had gone down. You believe she made the investments to keep the plant running, but is expecting some sort of stake or payment for her funding.
Worker pay is cut to $45/week and foreman pay to $55/week. They seem a bit disgruntled, but don’t seem to mind the small cut; they are still earning a good wage.
Turstonkzy is running beautifully, and has little need of repairs at the current time. As long as the upkeep is provided and experts are on standby in the event that they’re required, the plant should be fine.
The preliminary examination of infrastructure within the Capital is complete. Several major accidents waiting to happen are discovered, as well as war torn buildings and hole-filled roads. The approximate cost to replace dangerous infrastructure could cost up to $400,000, while simple patchwork repairs could be done with somewhere around $30,000. Non-critical damage repairs will cost in the millions; approximate estimates put the total cost at $6,000,000. Two things of note regarding this figure, however. One, it is not accurate and also isn’t taking the full examination (which has yet to happen) into consideration. The total cost is probably in the tens of millions. Two, this is all noncritical damage - potholes, damaged walls, rusty bridges and the like. The first ($400,000) estimate should cover all infrastructure that is on the verge of collapse.
The experts certainly wouldn’t mind having some office space; it would certainly help. Up to this point they’ve been working from their homes.
Having centralized “dumping locations” at the end of every block or so would help to reduce the amount of driving time, as well as reduce the number of trucks required. It wouldn’t reduce the manpower cost too much for the truck usage, but would help to reduce the amount of workers required in the scenario where no trucks are provided. Estimates pin costs at a 30% truck requirement reduction (about 70 instead of 100) and a 10% manpower requirement reduction (180 instead of 200), while if no trucks are being provided there’s a potential 20% manpower reduction (800 workers instead of 1000).
The Royal Government was one corrupt organization, but you have to hand it to them; they kept their utilities well-maintained. The Water Department reports that they have no outstanding repairs required, and a major refit shouldn’t be necessary within the next year or so. At the current level of funding, they should be able to keep the Capital well-supplied without incident; assuming no mishaps or accidents happen. The status of water provisions outside the Capital is nonexistent; at current (whether this was always the case or not), water is supplied by households in the form of wells or streams (as tends to be the case for rural communities), or by private companies (as tends to be the case for large towns and cities). The largest such company is called Srbijavode, and controls over eighty percent of the water supply for the second largest city, and nearly fifty percent of it in the third largest city.
Several furnaces and other coal-burning equipment can potentially be salvaged from the shutdown power plants, as well as important equipment and metals. Some of it has been stolen, but the total estimated value of salvageable equipment is around $800,000. Getting the four ransacked plants online might cost an average of $45,000 each, while getting the ruined ones online will cost more in the range of $125,000. The privatized ones are already online, though the present owners may see it as a violation of their “property” if you attempt to claim ownership of them. The loss of eight government plants (and restoration of two as private affairs) has been a detriment to the country’s power supply, but the Capital has hardly been affected. There’s power outages in all other cities, and much of the rural population doesn’t even have access to stable power (or if they do, it’s at a high price in the private market). Which ones you should get online first is being discussed, and a rough chart is being made (in general, it’s suggested you fix up the ransacked plants first - simply for better cost management).
Ministry of Criminality
The non-violent taskforce is ended, with all units being returned to normal patrols.
$200,000 arrives from Iskra. They of course have you sign an agreement beforehand; the (shorter version of the) terms are laid out below:
1. The wealth should be spent on the expansion of the prisons and/or prison workshops, with no less than half of the provided cash being spent on the workshops in particular.
2. Should the workshops end or otherwise slow down intentionally, the full $200,000 as well as a $50,000 fee will be returned to Iskra.
3. Should it be discovered that produced goods are provided to another company before Iskra has the opportunity to purchase them, or the goods are not provided at seventy-five percent of market price, than the full $200,000 as well as a $50,000 fee shall be returned to Iskra.
4. Should Iskra turn down the opportunity to buy or is otherwise unable to purchase produced goods, the goods in question are exempt from the terms of the contract (however, future goods should continue to be provided to Iskra first).
(( I don’t think I’m missing anything, but this is subject to change if I missed a glaring point they would’ve added in. Obvious stuff is in there as well, but more obscure stuff that they didn’t add in may be taken advantage of. The deal can be cancelled this turn without penalty if the conditions are not to your liking, but any turn after this one will cost you $250,000. ))
$22,500 is invested in refurbishing the old prison as the Museum of Revolution; an equal amount of cash is invested by the Ministry of Truth. Construction is underway, and should be finished by the end of the next week.
Mr. Milovanović seems interested in taking the job offer, but simply can’t accept under the current circumstances. He doesn’t mind acting as an informal advisor, but refuses to accept the job officially, and won’t take any money for it. The way he sees it, until there are elections the Ministries are nothing but military dictatorships. He will try to influence change from within, but will continue his protests and other (legal) revolutionary actions until the government starts acting democratically.
Three hundred police officers support the military in their attack on the rebel stronghold, but were primarily in the rear of the column during the combat. They were to act as support and reinforcements, but the army was routed before they could be of assistance. They are still with the military forces on the front at current.
Twelve warehouses near the Port are transferred to the Ministry of Transportation.
Your police force and intelligence taskforce are demanding higher wages; if not handled appropriately (either through raising wages or placating them in another matter), desertion and/or unionization may be on the very near horizon. Judge pay has still not been decided, as well; they are requesting $100 - $200/week, else they’re threatening to find better-paying work. It is also suggested that you address the “touchier laws” previously mentioned; what do you do for things like gun control? The makeshift list of “touchy” laws can be found in Turn 5.
Ministry of Transportation
( I just realized I missed this action last turn; I apologize for that. )
Ten ARO vehicles are purchased; cheap ones, but of slightly higher quality than the Ministry of Truth’s cars. They go for $3600 each, for a total cost of $36,000. Five are assigned to the Scouts, and five to the Constables; the ones assigned to the Constables are especially important, as they’ll need (preferably even more) decent transportation and communication in maintaining the waystations and borders.
Three hundred fifty eight additional cars are registered, for a total of +$3580. $37,000 in import duties were collected, all of it in cash.
Waterways are inspected. Focus is placed on large waterways near the capital, with very little attention paid to streams and the like. The largest such river is the Danube, with attention also paid to the Tisa, Sava, Morava, Drina, and Ibar rivers. The Danube is the most important of the waterways, as it is the longest and connects to many other countries.
The goods seized are little of particular interest, and are sold for $13,000.
Two hundred sixty additional constables are recruited, drawn from the most suitable candidates in the Capital. Sixty head to the borders with Palushka and Trebon, while the other two hundred start establishing way-stations between the country’s major cities (names have not been decided upon by the players yet. I’ll continue referring to them as I have been). At the moment they’re mostly just landmarks, with the constables making use of tents and the like; $3000 is spent on supplies. It is recommended that architects and builders are hired on to build permanent structures, either from the private sector or another ministry.
Twelve warehouses are taken control of by your ministry, with ten constables being hired to patrol and otherwise act as security guards. Fifty laborers are hired on (with a weekly wage of $25) as well. Six are offered up for rent by commercial shipping; as of yet, there are no takers. This situation is unlikely to change in the near future, but as business and shipping inevitably expands there will be a growing demand for space near the port. The other six warehouses are stockpiled with food ($12,000 in canned food, enough to feed 1000-2200 people for a week depending on rationing), bottled water ($7000, enough to quench ~2350 people for a week), and fuel ($8000, or 5000 gallons). These supplies fill up one and a half warehouses (though it’s not tightly packed, so there could potentially be even more room), leaving plenty of room should you wish to buy more. The supplies are offered up for sale, but as of yet there are few takers; this is unlikely to change unless a stronger business strategy is introduced or disaster strikes and the supplies are needed desperately.
Ministry of Finance
There is office space available at the old Government HQ, or office space could be bought/rented outside. For the time being, your Ministry moves its operations into a handful of offices on the first floor of the old government building.
Constructing a financial database is difficult work, and will require intense coordination and planning. In general, the following will be required for a modern, efficient taxpayer database:
1. A registry of all taxpaying citizens.
2. A way to organize the information efficiently (even if the data is recorded, you’ll need an easy way to access it).
3. A way to continually track and update the registry.
The first goal is large, but won’t require too much science; simply have your tax collectors write down the information of everyone they collect from. The second point will be more difficult...how is the data to be organized? A library of sorts will be required, and an efficient method of sorting will be needed. Even then, it will be very difficult to keep track of the hundreds of thousands of records that will be required for the Capital alone. The third point is the most difficult; to keep track of and continuously update every single record will require an insane amount of coordination, organization, and manpower. In any case, specifics should be provided for this entire endeavor; how much space do you give each person? A page? Half a page? One line on a page? Do you track “taxpayers” as households or individuals? Can individuals be listed twice as businesses AND households? Where do you store the information? How do you organize? How often do you update it? The more information provided, the better. As for the physical database point, note that computerized databases didn’t begin until the 1960s, and it’s still the 1950s.
You personally visit several businesses within the Central Business District, and submit to them notices that their accounts and the like should be handed over. Nearly all of them resist these demands, stating that there is no legal basis for your actions. A couple businesses comply and hand over their business records, but the majority refuse outright.
There’s a few potential venues for establishment of a bureaucrat's academy. One of them is a ransacked church (owned by no-one), another is a school (owned by no-one, but overrun by criminal activity), and yet another is a park (for potential construction of an academy). There are no “official chartered” accountants in the country, as there is no government body handing out that title. Your government has no existing accounting systems; any that there might have been before the Revolution were lost in the flames of war. On the bright side, there are no international laws that demand modern accounting standards.
Tax collectors and auditors have been transferred to your Ministry from the Ministry of Advanced Defense; their specifics can be seen in your Ministry Sheet. They collect taxes, which are then distributed among the ministries (can be seen under Events, in the “Tax Collection and Distribution” spoiler).
Ministry of Education
There are rooms within the old Government HQ available, which you promptly move into. It might be wise to hire some staff and use said staff to assess (undoubtedly shutdown) educational buildings.
( Look at other ministries sheets or first actions (see: Turn 2) if you need some inspiration. If you’re unsure what to do, feel free to ask the GM. )
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Topic: Foundations of Government (IC) (Read 11435 times)