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[evictedSaint]

Design: Improved Steam Engine [3, 3, 4]

As marvelous as this invention is, it's utterly useless unless we find some way of harnessing it.  The first step is to put a ninety-degree bend in the neck of the contraption so it rotates perpendicular to the ground.  This prevents us from having to gearbox the rotation into another direction, conserving some of the power. 

The next step is to transfer the spinning into something useful, like a paddlewheel.  We experiment with a few different methods, but eventually settle on using a belt made of heavy rope.  This is looped around the spinning portion, the wheel of the paddle, and a second adjustable wheel.  The second wheel lets us dictate how much tension is in the belt, giving us an inefficient means of controlling the speed.  The primary wheel is much larger in diameter than the spinning container, resulting in a low-speed but high-torque gearing.  The paddle is made of wood and contains four blades, each standing as high as a mans knee.

The contraption is mounted on one of our largest ships.  The rear sinks deep into the water, nearly lifting the bow out of the ocean.  The open flame makes sailors nervous, and the loud screeching makes their teeth clench.  The boiler needs to be periodically stopped and cleaned to prevent salt from causing a dangerous blockage.  The belt has a tendency to slide on the wheels when wet, and too much tension causes it to snap dangerously.

Furthermore, the devices performance is...lackluster.  The slow moving paddles will certainly propel the ship, but a stiff breeze will stall the boats progress.  The captain points out that it'd be more efficient to replace the device with the same amount of rowers by weight, or even by swimmers pulling the boat along by tow line.

The biggest problem seems to be the inefficiency of the aeolipile design, followed by the weight.  The current design is an interesting proof of concept, and despite the misgivings of the sailors, the commanders, and the king, our mathemagicians think they can produce a more efficient - and powerful - design, if given time. Very Expensive.

[andrea]

I see that the idea to use fog to provide water didn't make it through. But on a 3, this seems good.

I can see 2 ways to solve the last problem left (inefficiency) : trying to get an alternating engine, or improvising a "steam turbine" by putting small windmill blades in a tube.
I like the second option of turbines.

Also, we need angled plate armor to deflect their shots.

both of those could be attempted during a revision.

Also: while now the engine has a cost attached, I propose we don't deploy it until we make it useful. We don't want them knowing what we ar working on.

[10ebbor10]

Revision 1 : Cheaper Frost Tower.  (We need something to put the enemy back on the defensive0) Having to deal with raids in the plains and desert will do that.

Revision 2 : Improved Steam engine

[Andres]

I cannot believe how many votes the splicing got. Some people here are like undisciplined children, eager to get distracted by the next shiny thing than focus on making what we have work.

Revision 1: Make Streamlined Fireball bigger.
Revision 2: Improved Steam engine

Our sea commander keeps requesting that we make bigger fireballs. Let us give him his bigger fireballs. Bigger fireballs capable of taking out squads instead of individuals will also obviously be useful on the ground. Better to revise Streamlined Fireball to be bigger than Fireball to be cheaper as Streamlined Fireball has no bugs. Unless I am mistaken, it is also only a single grade of damage lower than Fireball, whereas Fireball is two grades higher in terms of cost than Streamlined Fireball.

Cheaper Frost Tower: 10ebbor10
Improved Steam Engine: 10ebbor10, Andres
Bigger STREAMLINED Fireball: Andres

Glory to Arstotzka.

[evictedSaint]

Also, I hate to be that guy, but needle arrows are pretty much useless at armour-piercing. Like, I'm 100% sure that whatever the Moskurgs were using before, it's definitely better. For the same mass of metal, a needle's minimal possible cross-sectional area will guarantee it deforms/snaps on impact with metal if not striking perfectly (and I mean perfectly) head-on, which only grows more difficult as the length of the needle increases

Their horse archers use their new arrows to deadly effect; at nearly point blank range, the dreaded needle arrows punch through steel plate to dig into flesh beneath.

Well.  At least, some of them do.  The arrows have a tendency to crumple if they hit a particularly thick section of armor, and when they do penetrate they're not always lethal.

I think this was a fair compromise for their not-quite-functional bodkin arrows.  They still kill with the same frequency at anything beyond point-blank range, and their biggest effect is that our soldiers don't like being shot with them.

[10ebbor10]

Oh, so this is a failed design?

I kind of expected it to be a very good roll at their end, given that bodkin arrows were generally ineffective against decent plate. It could penetrate, but only under ideal circumstances, which would be a strong longbow, elite archer, close range, and a perpendicular hit. Moskurg has at best two of those.  A horse archer has the close range, but neither the longbow nor the perpendicular hit (since they're shooting downwards). An archer in the field will always be at too long a range, and certainly won't manage the decent hit.

Now you can argue that our plate is not equal to real plate, but I'll point out that their bodkin is much worse, given that our plate consisted out of pure 6's by the end.

Anyway, I noticed something :

Hide Armour: General infantry armour.  Cheap, thanks to the plentiful sheep in the taiga.  Turns aside weak blows.  Cheap.

We can easily revise that into a Gambeson, which will stop most arrows, and can be worn over our armor.

[Azzuro]

Alternating engines seem a bit more ambitious than turbines, so I'll write it in for turbines instead for a better roll. Writeups:

Revision: Improved Steam Engine - Turbines
Using mathemagical analysis, it is apparent that the current method of escaping steam pushing the entire cylinder around is hugely inefficient. Arstotzkan blacksmiths thus forge a series of small windmill blades set along an axle: enclosed within a cylinder, this should theoretically allow us to harness the entire pressure "differential" instead of just part of it, according to the mathemagicians.

Oh, and use metal chains instead of a rope, since we're swimming in metal, for the rope snapping issue.

Revision: Angled Plate Armour
Although the trustworthy plate armour has served us faithfully for years, we need to stay ahead of Moskurg advances in needle arrowheads. The standard armour template is revised into a more angled forms to deflect arrows by a combined team of blacksmiths and mathemagicians - the mathemagicians analyse armour faces using "trigonometry" to determine the best angles of slope and radius of curve, while the blacksmiths quarrel, argue and object in the name of simplicity and mass production, bringing the final design to a balance between improved needle arrow protection and economy of production.

Cheaper Frost Tower: (2) 10ebbor10, Azzuro
Improved Steam Engine - Turbines: (3) 10ebbor10, Andres, Azzuro
Bigger STREAMLINED Fireball: (1) Andres
Angled Plate Armour: (0)

@evictedSaint: If they do have bodkin arrowheads, then fair enough. I'll just assume 'needle arrows' are what we call them/that's what they look like due to Mediocre Moskurgian Metalworking.

[10ebbor10]

Cheaper Frost Tower: (2) 10ebbor10, Azzuro
Improved Steam Engine - Turbines: (3) 10ebbor10, Andres, Azzuro
Bigger STREAMLINED Fireball: (1) Andres
Angled Plate Armour: (0)
Gambeson:(1) : 10ebbor10

Gambeson : By revising our existing hide armor to be slightly thicker and easier to wear over existing armor, we create a garment that can effectively stop arrowheads. In addition, the thick wool will stand straight from static electricty moments before lightning strikes, allowing our forces to dodge.

Not having lightning reflexes is not an excuse.

[andrea]

over? wouldn't we wear additional armor under the plate?
anyway, that seems a good idea. I am torn between it and the bigger streamlines fireball.

Cheaper Frost Tower: (2) 10ebbor10, Azzuro
Improved Steam Engine - Turbines: (3) 10ebbor10, Andres, Azzuro, Andrea
Bigger STREAMLINED Fireball: (1) Andres, Andrea
Angled Plate Armour: (0)
Gambeson:(1) : 10ebbor10

[10ebbor10]

Sorry, under.

anyway, that seems a good idea. I am torn between it and the bigger streamlines fireball.

You can do both.

[evictedSaint]

the mathemagicians analyse armour faces using "trigonometry" to determine the best angles of slope and radius of curve

Uuuh...considering the fact that "Trigonometry" is a made up explination of how magic works with no real world applications, I'm skeptical that you can actually use it for something like this.  But hey, if you roll well enough I don't see why something like that wouldn't work.

@evictedSaint: If they do have bodkin arrowheads, then fair enough. I'll just assume 'needle arrows' are what we call them/that's what they look like due to Mediocre Moskurgian Metalworking.

Both sides have some misconceptions about each others capabilities.  For the longest time, Moskurg thought you'd enchanted the grass to stab at their horses - not realizing crystal caltrops were hidden in the grass.

[andrea]

nope. One vote is locked for the improved steam engine

by the way, when you added gamberson you forgot to remove your vote from something else.

@evictedsaint made up explanation without real world application can also apply to much of real world math. And yet several times some abstract theorems found their way into proper applications.
Unless you mean to say that what our mathemagicians call trigonometry has no relation at all with our trigonometry, then I suppose it will not help.

Also, I am amused at the grass. I am curious about our own misconceptions, will be interesting to see after the game ends.

[Roboson]

  For the longest time, Moskurg thought you'd enchanted the grass to stab at their horses - not realizing crystal caltrops were hidden in the grass.

Holy shit. That is the greatest idea I have ever heard!

[10ebbor10]

by the way, when you added gamberson you forgot to remove your vote from something else.

Anything says I have to?

[evictedSaint]

@Andrea: I was joking; it's real trig and can be used elsewhere; however, at the moment your faction sees no use for it beyond mathemagical computations.

I will not dictate how you guys come to your concensus, but I will pick whichever has the highest total of votes.  Personally, I'd ask you keep it from becoming too ambiguous as the whole point of that quote box was to give me a quick reference.