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[Amperzand]

Do we have jacketed rounds? We can get the smokeless jacketed, keep it obvious and improve their performance all at once.

[Aseaheru]

 Nope, no jacketed rounds. Sorry. Everythings ball, really ball.

 Going and starting work on the turn now.

[Aseaheru]

I had to take some dudes from Pi's plan to allow tghe other requests to be done, which means that the only ones that where any good where the ones that where past designs.

End 803

 This year was a bit of a mixed bag for your engineers. Most of the projects they worked on failed in minor ways or weren't all that good. Two, however, shined in comparison. I will start with those.

 The first of those successful designs was the new version of the pattern 802 torpedo which, although they dident do all that well on the new aspects of the design, their large list of what not to do helped them out significantly(infact, the same is true with all the designs that succeeded this year).
 The new design is larger, longer, heavier, has a longer range, is faster, and is not quite as liable to wobble in the water, thus missing the target.

 A second (more or less successful) group of two engineers (one new, one a basic firearms) worked on working out the bugs with the Pattern 800 Jupiter Automatic Pistol, which we all know had issues with the magazine. With the benefit of the work papers from when first working on it, they come out with the Pattern 802 Jupiter Automatic Pistol, now featuring a removable box magazine that manages to hold the same number of rounds as the original without trying to jam the gun as the original did. It even managed to lower the cost of the actual pistol by a almost unnoticeable amount, although we now need to make extra bits for the magazines. Ohwell.

 The third and final group, who where working on the trenchbroom, report that it was almost the trench boom this year. Thankfully, the pair of engineers(same composition as above) managed to catch the fault before it blew up in their faces. In any event, they have decided that the reason for the guns jamming was its large magazines and, specifically, the paper belt within. As a result, they have replaced this with a 30 round single-stack stick magazine that spicks out the side of the action. This doesn't actually lower the cost of the weapon, means that troops have to reload more often, but atleast most of the problems have been fixed.

 And now, for the rest.
 The work on the field gun stalled out when the engineers couldn't find a place to test their prototypes, which has resulted in a lot of half-done designs sitting in a pile in the workshop.
 Those tasked with designing an artillery tractor spent the year arguing over exactly what type of wheel to use, if they should try using the new "diesel" engines being developed elsewhere, or if it should use petrol, and if it should be armed and/or armored. The protorype is currently sitting on the dock.

 Elsewhere, the first batch of rifles and light revolving cannon come out of the factory and are delivered to eagerly awaiting forces, who try to stuff the old 10x60mmB rounds in and fail, leading them to complain bitterly, atleast until they are informed that there is a new type of munitions for them. Two ammunition factories switch over to the new type which are painted with a red stripe to show that they are the 10x60mmRS type round.
 The request for the government to build a new arms manufacturing complex under some other group is shot down, hard. After all, they say, thats your job.

Spoiler: Designs of 803 (click to show/hide)

-Pattern 803 torpedo, 15.7"
 A bronze-built torpedo using wet guncotton as an explosive, powered by an internal tank of compressed, hot air. The weapon has a range of about 2.4 kilometers. It weighs in at a little over 661lb and travels at 28 knots. Reloading a launcher (and then charging the torpedo with compressed air) takes less time than the old style, although the launchers have changed a fair deal.
 Launchers cost 16pp each

-Pattern 803 Trench Broom auto weapon
 A pattern 802 trench broom with the magazine replaced by a spring-fed stick magazine, sticking out the side, thus solving almost all the jamming issues with the gun. The testers loved it and the prototypes are missing or worn out by constant fire.
 One of these and a few spare magazines costs 1.4pp each

-Pattern 803 Jupiter Automatic Pistol
 The older pattern 800 version, now with detachable box magazines that feed correctly! As expected, all prototypes are now missing, as the testers loved them to bits and demand more.

Spoiler: Facilities and Personnel (click to show/hide)

Five off-site factories producing ammunition (2x 10x60mmRS cartridge, 1x 10x30mm(black) cartridge, 1x 37mm cannon)
 One on-site factory complex with four production lines, producing 1500 pattern 801 revolving rifles in 10x60mmRS and 32 pattern 801 light revolving cannon
 One on-site workshop, for designing new things
 One on-site design studio
 One harbor, mostly blocked by sediment and the scuttled hulk of a wooden sailing ship(now partially damaged by torpedoes)

8 newbies
5 basic engineers
1 basic naval engineer
3 basic firearms engineers
1 amazingly talented but unskilled firearms engineer

Spoiler: Weapon Stocks, 803 (click to show/hide)

-Pattern 782 Standard Troop Rifle
  34000 guns of various types
-Pattern 784 Revolver
  5080 single action
  3020 double action
-Pattern 793 Revolving cannon
  390 guns
-Pattern 801 Revolving Rifle in 10x60mmRS
 1500 guns
-Pattern 801 light revolving cannon
 32 guns

Spoiler: Equipment of a normal soldier (click to show/hide)

 Long linen tunic
 Breaches
 leather suspenders/belt combo
 Leather shoes
 Cloth leg wraps
 Woolen greatcoat
 Woolen blanket
 Wooden canteen
 Tin mug
 Hat (exact details vary from unit to unit. Most are cloth, but there the similarities end)

-Standard soldier-
 Service rifle OR pattern 801 revolving rifle in 10x60mmRS
 Bayonet
 50 rounds ammunition OR 100 rounds if equipped with revolving rifle
 Leather cartridge case OR cloth charger pouches
 Leather bayonet sheathe

-Officer-
 Leather Holster
 sidearm
 50 rounds sidearm munitions
 Sheathe
 Sword

[3_14159]

Pattern 802 Torpedo: Looks nice, and should be nicely usable.
Pattern 802 Jupiter Automatic Pistol: Also nice.
Trenchbroom: Quite interesting. They are slightly more than double the expense of our service rifle, but should provide a good, and mobile, short-range firepower addition for trench warfare.
Field Gun: We need a test range?
Artillery tractor: Well.

Production: Looks good. The 10x60mmRS round is the new smokeless round, and is used in both the revolving cannon and the revolving rifle but can't be used in the pattern 782 troop rifle, right?

The main questions I have right now is:
a) How do we build anything?
b) How do we build an armament facility, how many people do we need?
c) What do we need to test our artillery, and how to build it?
d) What do we need to test and build a torpedo boat or something like it?

Edit: Since I stumbled over the naming scheme again, I wanted to bring up that it's quite inconvenient. For example, look at the Pattern 801 Light Revolving Cannon and the Pattern 801 Revolving Rifle Mk I. Those are pretty difficult to discern at first glance. I'd therefore propose we append instead of prepend the Pattern designation, changing the naming as such:

Pattern 782 Standard Troop Rifle --> Standard Troop Rifle Pattern 782
Pattern 784 Revolver --> Revolver Pattern 784
Pattern 793 Revolving Cannon --> 37mm Revolving Cannon Pattern 793
Pattern 800 Jupiter Automatic Pistol --> Automatic Pistol Pattern 800 "Jupiter"
Pattern 801 Light Revolving Cannon --> 10mm light revolving cannon Pattern 801
Pattern 801 Revolving Rifle Mk 1 --> Revolving Rifle Pattern 801 Mk 1
Pattern 802 Torpedo/Launcher, 14" --> 14" Torpedo/Launcher Pattern 802
Pattern 802 Trench Broom Auto Weapon --> Trench Broom Auto Weapon Pattern 802
Pattern 803 Torpedo, 15.7" --> 15.7" Torpedo Pattern 803
Pattern 803 Trench Broom Auto Weapon --> Trench Broom Auto Weapon Mk II Pattern 803
Pattern 803 Jupiter Automatic Pistol --> Automatic Pistol Mk II Jupiter Mk II" Pattern 803

Thoughts on that?

I'd also like to change us completely to metric measurements, assuming it's not too much work for you, Aseaheru.



Also, have  a list of all designs:
Starting Designs:

Spoiler: Pattern 782 Standard Troop Rifle, .5pp (click to show/hide)

Obsoleted by the Pattern 801 Revolving Rifle.
A rolling block rifle firing the black-powder 10x60mm cartridge. Provisions are made for a bayonet to be mounted, and there are crude iron sights. However, there is no safety, indicators to show if the weapon is loaded or cocked, and almost no effort at making the weapon "nice" to use.
The weapon is 6ft long, although shorter variants do exist for cavalry, engineers, naval forces, artillery, mounted infantry, and military police. Each are differing lengths.
The weapon weighs 7lb unloaded.
Costs .5pp each

Spoiler: Pattern 784 Revolver, .5pp (click to show/hide)

Obsoleted by the Pattern 800 Jupiter Automatic Pistol
A five shot revolver firing the black-powder 10x35mm cartridge. There are simple iron sights fitted. The weapon is loaded one round at a time from a loading gate on the left side of the weapon, as it is intended for cavalry and officers, who still ride horses in combat. Officers are granted single action versions, while the rank and file who are granted one are only given double action weapons.
The weapon possesses a 6inch barrel, weighs five and a half pounds unloaded, and is typically an officer-only weapon.
Costs .5pp each

Spoiler: Pattern 793 Revolving Cannon, 10pp (click to show/hide)

Our latest design, a six barreled, manually operated cannon firing a 37mm, 16oz projectile. Each turn of the handle fires a round, loads another, and ejects a third. While the crank can be turned continuously, the barrels do not turn for the entire cycle, which allows better accuracy.
The weapon loads from a 10-round clip.
This weapon is use as secondary armament on our warships, and as our main field gun.
Costs 10pp each

Spoiler: 10x60mmB black powder cartridge (click to show/hide)

Obsoleted by the 10x60mm RS, unless in use with the Pattern 782 Troop Rifle
A large shell used by the Pattern 782 STR and its many, many, many differing length variants. Not nearly as powerful as it could be, thanks to its black powder loading

Spoiler: 10x30mm cartridge (click to show/hide)

A rather oversized and yet weak(thanks to its black powder propellant) round used in the Pattern 784 revolver and much disliked by our troops. For whatever reason, only ball ammunition is available for military use

Spoiler: 37mm cannon shell (click to show/hide)

A large shell that fires a 37mm warhead weighing 16oz, used in the Pattern 793 Revolving cannon. Comes in HE and AP variants

Spoiler: Officer's Sword (click to show/hide)

Varies from service to service, with no exact specification in any

Designs of 800

Spoiler: Pattern 800 Jupiter Automatic Pistol, .5pp (click to show/hide)

Obsoleted by the Pattern 803 Jupiter Automatic Pistol
Chambered in the 12.5x30mm pistol cartridge
9in barrel, 8rd internal box magazine, weighs 2lb loaded
Faulty magazine
Cheap to make (.5pp each)

Spoiler: 12.5x30mm pistol cartridge (click to show/hide)

High power
Expensive to produce

Designs of 801

Spoiler: Pattern 801 Light Revolving Cannon, 9.5pp (click to show/hide)

A fire barreled, hopper fed, hand cranked weapon using the new 10x60mm rifle round. Weighs in at only 15kg, almost never fails to fire when it needs to, and well liked by its testing crews, who have worn out the two prototypes in gleeful abandon stresstesting it.
Costs 9.5pp each

Spoiler: Pattern 801 Revolving Rifle Mk 1, .6pp (click to show/hide)

First thing to consiter is that there are two forms of this lever action rifle, that chambered for the 10x60mm rifle round and that chambered for the 10x30mm "Special". Both are lever action, weigh around 8lb, are about 46 inches long, and have a 10-round rotating magazine wherein the projectiles are held in place via clips and pushed into the gun by the lever action. In the 10x60mmRS version the fired round is pulled back into place after firing and is removed via a hinged port on the right side of the gun and is fed into the gun from 5-round chargers (inserted into the same space). In the 10x30mm version the gun is loaded almost exactly the same way (the chargers are different), though it does not need to extract rounds. provisions are, of course, made for mounting a bayonet.
Oh, out of the ten rifles made (five of each type) we only know what has happened to seven of them, all of which have, quite simply been shot to death. Infact, the (now idle again) factories have had their workers making up rounds just to keep up with the demand.
Costs .6pp each

Spoiler: 10x60mmRS centerfire cartridge (click to show/hide)

10x60mm centerfire cartage
A centerfire, smokeless, rimmed rifle cartridge used in the Pattern 801 LRC and the Pattern 801 RR Mk1. About as best as it can be for the time, though it is still a round-nosed round.

Spoiler: 10x30mm "Special" round (click to show/hide)

A caseless centerfire round used only in certain versions of the Pattern 801 RR Mk1 (notated with a "B" after its name), this round is surprisingly powerful for what is in effect a pistol round that has to carry its case with it. However, its light weight and surprisingly low cost excite many of the officers who have seen it shoot.

Designs of 802

Spoiler: Pattern 802 Torpedo/Launcher, 14", 16pp (click to show/hide)

Obsoleted by the Pattern 803 Torpedo/Launcher, 15.7"
A bronze-built torpedo using wet guncotton as an explosive, powered by an internal tank of compressed air. The weapon has a range of about 1.8 kilometers, a remarkable achievement for the method of propelling it. It weighs in at a little over 680lb and travels at 25 knots. Reloading a launcher (and then charging the torpedo with compressed air) takes nearly a quarter of a hour per launch.
Launchers cost 16pp each

Spoiler: Pattern 802 Trench Broom Auto Weapon, 1.2pp (click to show/hide)

Obsoleted by the Pattern 803 Trench Broom Auto Weapon
A mostly sheet-steel weapon, the Trench Broom is a high capacity, low weight, theoretically high rate of fire weapon firing the 10x30mm special round, kept in a paper belt, itself stored within large drums that reside around the sides of the weapon. These belts have been determined to be one of the main reasons for the jamming.
In any event, the weapon weighs about 3lb unloaded and is just over a foot and a half long.
One of these costs 1.2pp each

Designs of 803

Spoiler: Pattern 803 Torpedo, 15.7", 16pp (click to show/hide)

Obsoletes the Pattern 802 Torpedo, 14"
A bronze-built torpedo using wet guncotton as an explosive, powered by an internal tank of compressed, hot air. The weapon has a range of about 2.4 kilometers. It weighs in at a little over 661lb and travels at 28 knots. Reloading a launcher (and then charging the torpedo with compressed air) takes less time than the old style, although the launchers have changed a fair deal.
Launchers cost 16pp each

Spoiler: Pattern 803 Trench Broom Auto Weapon, 1.4pp (click to show/hide)

Obsoletes the Pattern 802 Trench Broom auto weapon
A pattern 802 trench broom with the magazine replaced by a spring-fed stick magazine, sticking out the side, thus solving almost all the jamming issues with the gun. The testers loved it and the prototypes are missing or worn out by constant fire.
One of these and a few spare magazines costs 1.4pp each

Spoiler: Pattern 803 Jupiter Automatic Pistol, .5pp (click to show/hide)

Obsoletes the Pattern 800 Jupiter Automatic Pistol
Chambered in the 12.5x30mm pistol cartridge
9in barrel, 8rd internal box magazine, weighs 2lb loaded
The older pattern 800 version, now with detachable box magazines that feed correctly! As expected, all prototypes are now missing, as the testers loved them to bits and demand more.
Cheap to make (.5pp each)

[Aseaheru]

 A test range would be nice for many things(currently rifles are tested by wandering into a field and shooting at something, often birds), that or some sort of advanced design lab for fancy stuff like wind tunnels, pools, who knows.
 Some things require specialized test facilities, namely rocket engines.

 You dont know if the pattern 782 troop rifle can use the 10x60mMRS round, there hasent been enough ammo to test that and noone asked to.

 Building things takes workers, or getting the republic to do it for you. Basically, they are just design actions, although they can make engineers specialized for that work, which may be a pain for you guys.
 For building ships, unless its something that can be built on the dockside and pushed in, you need a drydock.
 Everything else can be built in a factory.

 Your naming scheme is fine with me, but may be good to see what everyone else thinks of it.

 Going over to metric, I dunno. Depends on what everyone else thinks.

[Amperzand]

Metric FTW.

I'd like to suggest we look into a conversion process to let the old BP rifles use smokeless, and of course begin mass production of the new weapons.

[Funk]

+1 to metric.
There's not much point in converting the old BP rifles to use smokeless the entire breach and barrel needs to be stronger to take smokeless rounds.

Should we try to make a new bullet for the 10x60mmRS centerfire cartridge?
Some thing with a hard copper jacket for less lead deposits at the new higher muzzle velocities.
And a more pointed bullet to minimize air resistance.

[Amperzand]

There's actually several cases in our world of old BP bolt-rifles being converted to smokeless. They're not the safest or the most durable, but for rear-echelon guards and such they're cheap, and not expected to do much shooting.

[Funk]

I don't want to spend any resources on the old rifles, we have a new better rifle to make.
Reworking thousands of old rifles will slow down the production of the new rifle.
Just keeping the ammo in production for now is easier.

[Amperzand]

All right.

So, what's our manufacture portfolio? I'd like to try getting another factory assigned to us again.

[3_14159]

A test range would be nice for many things(currently rifles are tested by wandering into a field and shooting at something, often birds), that or some sort of advanced design lab for fancy stuff like wind tunnels, pools, who knows.

So, how about this:
Test Range
Begin establishment of a general purpose testing range for our weaponry. Should include a small-arms range (taking care that the area behind the targets is resistant to those small arms, of course), a large open space for testing artillery and explosives, and several observation bunkers for hiding in observing the testing.

How many engineers would that probably take, and could we use it to test something designed this turn?

You dont know if the pattern 782 troop rifle can use the 10x60mMRS round, there hasent been enough ammo to test that and noone asked to.

Hm. We could design Funk's jacketed round right now (there are more important things, but they'd require a testing range). How about we include a testing project on using the 10x60mmRS round in the old Service Rifle and - if that should not work with minimal modifications - using a jacketed round with only 1/3rd the propellant weight (and therefore roughly the muzzle velocity of BP weaponry) instead? It will not perform as well, but should still lead to a lower cartridge weight and - more importantly - the elimination of the blackpowder smoke.

10x60mm S (standard) round
A 10x60mm aerodynamic round with a hard copper jacket and using smokeless powder, it is designed to be used with the Repeating Rifle Mk 1. Tests should be done with the Service Rifle, too. Should the round be too powerful, also adapt a modification (the 10x60mm SL (standard, low-powered) which only uses 1/3rd of the propellant.

Building things takes workers, or getting the republic to do it for you. Basically, they are just design actions, although they can make engineers specialized for that work, which may be a pain for you guys.
 For building ships, unless its something that can be built on the dockside and pushed in, you need a drydock.
 Everything else can be built in a factory.

How many people to build a small arms factory? Can we build a torpedo boat prototype on the dockside and how many people would we need to build a drydock ready to take it?

All right.

So, what's our manufacture portfolio? I'd like to try getting another factory assigned to us again.

Right now, I'd say we continue with this. If we are able to design a torpedo boat in this turn, we produce that one too. Should we be able to build a small-arms factory, I'd say we produce more rifles, and perhaps another line for the light repeating cannon.

What else might we design this turn? Personally, my highest priority would be field artillery (but we need a testing range), followed by the torpedo boat (but we might need a drydock). We might also design a mortar or grenades, though I'd favour equipment (i.e. steel helmets and load-bearing gear) first. In any case, I believe it'd be best to limit us to two, at most three projects due to our limited number of engineers.

[Aseaheru]

There isint a set number of people needed to do anything, besides atleast one.


Also, I am under the impression that having toomuch empty space in a cartridge can cause it to explode in less useful ways(AKA, blowing apart the gun).

[Amperzand]

Apparently not with smokeless, but I'd probably take precautions against that in any case.

[3_14159]

There isint a set number of people needed to do anything, besides atleast one.

I should reformulate then: How many people would we probably need to have a reasonable chance of completing it?

Also, I am under the impression that having toomuch empty space in a cartridge can cause it to explode in less useful ways(AKA, blowing apart the gun).

I was assuming using a normal cartridge (not yet filled with powder), then pour something (molten metal?) into it, blocking 2/3rds of the propellant space. Wait for it to cool, then fill with powder.

[Funk]

Also, I am under the impression that having toomuch empty space in a cartridge can cause it to explode in less useful ways(AKA, blowing apart the gun).

I was assuming using a normal cartridge (not yet filled with powder), then pour something (molten metal?) into it, blocking 2/3rds of the propellant space. Wait for it to cool, then fill with powder.

Mutters some stuff about powder burn rates and pressure spikes.
If we need less powder then just add less powder.