This is what it looks like for the Empire in 1912:
Weapons:
Fire Dragon Guns: A traditional weapon, which design dates to at least 400 years. Essentially a matchlock musket. Comes in a variety of sizes, the largest ones has a bore of 30mm. 1 Metal.
Fire Phoenix Guns: A not-so-traditional weapon, which is imported from barbarous wheat-eaters. Essentially a percussion-cap flintlock rifled musket. Comes in standardized sizes. 1 metal, complex.
Fire Eagle: Slightly larger copy M1903 in 8mm caliber. Uses smokeless powder. A bit inaccurate at range. 1 Metal, complex (because of Smokeless powder).
Crescent Sword: Another traditional weapon, even older than the fire dragon guns. A cutlass in the shape of the crescent moon. 1 Metal.
Lances: Favored by horsemen who need a longer reach weapon for charges. 1 Metal.
Smokeless Fire Crow: The primitive rocket now uses a metal tube with the new stuff, which somehow makes it controlled enough to be deployed as a field weapon. Small amount of the stuff is also used in the payload and mixed with gunpowder. It flies much further than the fire crow, but accuracy is still woeful. 1 Metal, Complex, inherently.
Ships:
Rowboats: When everything fails.
Junks: Despite its awkward sail shape, if the direction of the wind is good, its more efficient than other sail vessels. [2 Transport capacity]
Armed Junks: Junks, armed by brave men each holding a crescent sword and a fire dragon gun. 1 Metal.
Land Vehicles:
Horses: A traditional way to move around.
Horse Carts: A traditional way to move more things around [2 Transport capacity].
Technology:
Semaphores and telegraph wires - Perfectly good ways to relay things around.
Smokeless Powder - Complex until 1912, no longer complex in 1913
Rudimentary Rocketry
Steel
Oil
Matchlocks
Rifling
Bombs
In practice, your new Fire eagles have complemented the other guns. They are mainly used for elite forces which a high rate of firepower never then available. The sharpshooters still preferred the Imported Fire Phoenix for their higher accuracy.
Naval Battle:Your junks wanted to participate in landings, but they get constantly shot when close to defended shores, forcing them to stay far from them. The best response you junks can do is to fire salvos of rockets - made possible by increased smokeless powder production, but long range means they are never accurate enough for the job. You still reign over open water, but what good it is if you cannot make anything out of it?
You have operational disadvantage.Land Battle, Far West Island line (Mountain):Your new small arms are much more effective, but your inability to actually bring in reinforcements means they are never adequately reinforced. The enemy, with great difficulty, drove you into the sea.
Fight at 2/3 of Southwest island next turn.Land Battle, Far East Island line (Rocks on the sea):In theory, your new guns should be enough to repel the enemy at their strongholds. In practice, the boats carrying them are usually smashed by opponent fire before they even reached the other side. Your commander in the area resorted to the tactic of having lone sailors to row boats around, holding only a rocket and a gun, to act as decoys for the new guns for the other side, and sometimes as a direct response to the other side's boats.
Stalemate, unless something more drastic is done.Land Battle, West Mainland Line (Swamps)Nothing really changed - Your rockets are fired largely blind, and reports of the opponents new cannon is also scarce. Charges are now more effective, but they are still picking your COs, and your charges can't continue.
You orderly retreated to 0/5 position.
Land Battle, East Mainland line (Plains)Your commander in this field filed numerous requests for medals, for the large number of military successes on this front. More rockets are fired, charges are now followed up by elite infantry with good guns, before (rarely) your main line collapses to enemy gunfire, enemy arty fire, and sniped COs. In practice they are just pinning the opposition in position to be charged into. Mainly due to these charges, you quickly
advanced to 4/5 position, prevented from advancing further by game rules.
You need a flag!In this age of nationalism, its only proper that your nation needs a flag to be immediately recognizable in the larger world. Post your idea in the main thread. The best design gains a revision credit. You should choose and cull your design among yourselves if needed.
Minor rule revisionSee
main thread.
Author
Topic: Blind Arms Race - Empire of Chang Shing Thread - 1913 design (Read 12661 times)