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[Andres]

And no feedback/ideas on the factory/crystaworks/magegems stuff?

No. We're not even in the Design phase, so it is unimportant as well as long, which makes it tl;dr. Include a summary somewhere. This goes for Design and Revision phases as well. Include a summary so it's not necessary to read a wall of text to understand what's going on. ((Good for both players and GM.))

Glory to Arstotzka.

[Chiefwaffles]

..I did include a TL;DR.

Crystalworks Design Principles (In order of importance)
1.) Magic batteries
2.) Anchored (permanent+dispel-immune) Crystals.
3.) Cheap crystal anything in the future
Crystalworks Benefits
1.) Make existing crystal weapons usable again
2.) Make current + future crystal designs cheaper.
3.) Helps Crystalclad, crystal armor, more crystal weapons, etc.
4.) Provides infrastructure for complicated designs. (Things like the HA1 can be made to use crystal ammunition. It'd be lighter, stronger, and cheaper to make+treansport. Crystal can be worked into a lot of designs to let the Crystalworks "cover" them in terms of manufacturing. Just be sure to mention it in their designs)

But if that wasn't enough, I'm happy for a simpler one:
Crystalworks TL;DR: Use automation and energy storage to produce a plentiful supply of cheap crystal items.

And the idea of doing it now is so I can make it into a more workable form before people start voting on things and setting their minds in concrete.

Anywhoo, miscellaneous design which I'm not actually seriously advocating for, but it's something to think about:
Future Revision: AS-HA1-A
A - Armor

The AS-HA1-A is a genius idea. Our HA1's won't always be untouched simply because they can use extra-LOS range. Most of the time they'll be in mere Extreme range where enemy artillery can hurt them. That's why we can manufacture a crystal-metal "shell" for the HA1.
Without deployment, the AS-HA1-A looks fairly similar to a standard HA1 except it has a metal framework around most of the gun and the area behind it where the crew and immediate ammunition lies. However, when a HA1-A is deployed, a mage can summon crystal alongside the pre-made iron lattice, creating a crystal shell. This shell should be able to shield the occupants from multiple hits of Moskurg artillery and will completely shield them from that filth they call "fire".
The crystal can of course be restored by an on-site mage if repeated fire severely damages or breaches the shell.

How?
We make an iron "lattice"/framework (kind of like a ribcage is what I'm envisioning) around where the crew, immediate ammunition, and majority of the artillery piece sit. This is really easy.
Then we have wizards use that framework in conjunction with their crystal summoning abilities to create a shell around the HA1.
Metal - Expense. Crystal - super experienced. Crystal dispel isn't a problem because it's at Extreme+ range.
Why?
HA1's are valuable and even if they have extra-LOS range, they're still mostly engaging at Extreme range (I would heavily assume) and are hard to move, meaning unintentional closer-range combat is always a possibility. This shell, given the abilities of crystal will be extremely protecting against all sorts of enemy fire.
TL;DR: We make a crystal shell around our HA1's to protect the artillery piece itself, the crew, and a small amount of ammunition.

(Hint: The next step is to put steam engines inside)
EDIT: Meant to include this.

Spoiler: Big Picture (click to show/hide)

An illustration of the newly deployed HA1 in the jungle as it prepares to reign fire down on our enemies.

[FallacyofUrist]

Odds are that Moskurg will refine their Tower of Frost counter this turn. Anybody up for an order to stop using Frost Towers until we counter their desert wind? Using Frost Towers might actually hurt us this turn...

Also, it'll free up mages to man our artillery and whatnot.

[10ebbor10]

No. If we stop using Tower of Frost, their counter will actively harm us.

[Roboson]

Odds are they're going to come out with something new again. Their desert winds must have had a good roll, as it can counter our frost towers we've put several turns into. It does it's job, so I expect they'll have something new to defeat us with. Likely some sort of anti-cannon weapon, given how much effort we've put into them and how much better their counters are.

One thing we may wish to look into before the factory is magic batteries. We have circuits, but those require a mage to operate and fire constantly. With batteries, we can have an on/off switch. Also giant magic batteries would simplify the factory process greatly.

[evictedSaint]

Their desert winds must have had a good roll, as it can counter our frost towers we've put several turns into.

They did roll well, but it only negates one "level" of your towers chill effect.

[Chiefwaffles]

Hence the Magegems design. I'm okay with Magegems -> Crystalworks/Other factory, since Magegems are a very versatile thing, anyways.
Though the Crystalworks does include batteries. I don't think it's a huge risk but it will definitely without a doubt be a penalty to have batteries in the Crystalworks design without doing something like Magegems beforehand.

I'm honestly torn. Magegems aren't particularly useful as a design. Maybe we could do Magegems as a revision? Because, after all, they are essentially just anti-magic charms but with the input/output changed a bit.
And since Evicted ninja'd me; Evicted, are magegems (post earlier in thread, but TL;DR: small magic "batteries" based off of tweaked anti-magic charms) suitable for a revision? I would definitely think so but your reaction to the inclusion of something like magegems in the HA1 design threw me off a bit.

[VoidSlayer]

Yeah the mountains are completely repelling it.

My crystal pyramid idea stands. It is a good test of creating large, strong crystal armor that can have a closable firing port.

It is immediately useful on the battlefield to protect our artillery (and maybe soldiers but who cares about them).

It can also be one step towards the crystal clad.  It will be less of a penalty if we already know how to make crystal plating armor.

As for the crystal ship, why not scale it up to have, say, 3 of our old HC-1Es that can be fired from either side and moved from one side to the other, with shielding over the top to prevent direct hits.  Use metal not for defense (or in addition to crystal) but primarily for structural integrity.

[VoidSlayer]

Hence the Magegems design. I'm okay with Magegems -> Crystalworks/Other factory, since Magegems are a very versatile thing, anyways.
Though the Crystalworks does include batteries. I don't think it's a huge risk but it will definitely without a doubt be a penalty to have batteries in the Crystalworks design without doing something like Magegems beforehand.

I'm honestly torn. Magegems aren't particularly useful as a design. Maybe we could do Magegems as a revision? Because, after all, they are essentially just anti-magic charms but with the input/output changed a bit.
And since Evicted ninja'd me; Evicted, are magegems (post earlier in thread, but TL;DR: small magic "batteries" based off of tweaked anti-magic charms) suitable for a revision? I would definitely think so but your reaction to the inclusion of something like magegems in the HA1 design threw me off a bit.

Fire Staves are calling, they could be powered by mage gems...

[evictedSaint]

Storing energy in crystals and gems is something you can definitely do, but it's distinct and complicated enough that doing it would require a design.

[Chiefwaffles]

Uuuugh. Would a design for that be able to do things like fitting our existing artillery to work with the gem/crystals, or do we have to make the gems without any use first then revise things to work with them?

[evictedSaint]

Depends on how well you roll.

[RAM]

I do not believe that we can get wizard-free casting in one action. We need both magical storage for a power supplt and magical control to invoke the spells. I feel that a simple magical control should be the beginnings of intelligent crystals(The intelligence needs to be based upon the wasp technology to be based upon known magic, so it would need to be summoned... Or an intelligent plant, and yes, plants can respond to stimuli in a creative fashion((I am thinking of exploratory vines and the way that they grasp at things, but you could argue that they just follow repetitive patterns I suppose... but the same can be said of humans...)), it may not be intellect in any form that we could recognise but it is a starting point and fantasy is a valid prospect... We don't have anything resembling a mind from any other source that I know of!) as it would only need to follow a pattern set into a circuit. Inteligent spells seem like a great metamagic item that could potentially counter antimagic by being better at pure magic manipulation that whatever ham-fisted approach the keggers use. And as a balancing agent the G.M. can say that they don't work well with material matters, so they are not much good at creating more mundane magics, relying upon fixed patterns, which would prevent the A.I. singularity...

Gems seem like an easy way into magical storage and help alleviate the need for a wizard as a stepping stone. I could easily see a single wizard operating multiple forges and then a later effort could get the summoned control crystals to completely remove wizards aside from shipping storgae gems to and from the academy.

[10ebbor10]

Anyway, how about a Dogwood enchantment.

Dogwood increases plant growth enormously. A permanent enchantement that can be planted in kur fields would massively increase food production.

[Chiefwaffles]

Eh. I understand it shouldn't be easy but I really don't like the idea of simply spending a design action on Magegems, even if it will be useful.
Sure, it'll reduce the amount of apprentices we use, but that'd probably take a design and revision when we could do much better things than that.

And RAM, you're basically suggesting to build a computer using circuits? I mean, it's not the worst idea in the long run (though working up to intelligent life stored in crystals is probably a better idea) but like the other intelligent life thing, that's something that would take a lot of actions to do. It's the kind of thing we indirectly work towards by advancing life/circuit magic in other designs first.

So anyways, it looks like Crystalworks isn't viable until we get Magegems. And Crystalworks probably isn't even worth that - I'd rather just go with a regular "factory" this turn instead.
Future Design: Steam Foundry
I'm not in the mood to do a lengthy write-out, so I'll just do the basics then if I submit this design in the Design phase I'll actually put in some detail.
The Steam Foundry is a large building in Arstotzka next to a river. People standing next to it can hear the roar of the steam engines powering the facility. Apprentices rotated in and out by the nearby Academy are trained in operating steam engines and similar devices here, powering the engines.
Raw metal is shipped here from the mountains, where it is smelted in massive quantities then shaped into needed shapes by simple machinery powered by the steam engines. Worksmen are present in occasional spots on these conveyor "assembly lines" where they perform basic tasks that the new machines cannot.
Modularity allows for new configurations to be added and changed as needed.

From here, we can then develop Magegems, then "upgrade" the Steam Foundry to also include the Crystalworks.

@Ebbor: Yeah, dogwood could work.
@VoidSlayer:
Crystalclads: I still like the idea of making a Crystalclad large enough to fit a HA1 or a large-ish number of HC1-Es.
Fire Staves: Yeah; one of the points of Magegems is to be universal. So instead of having to come up with an energy source or wasting an apprentice on any design we make, we can just say "stick in a magegem" and make it usable by mundane people.
I've typed out about an hour ago what I personally think is the best route for each "endgame" idea. (Said ideas are what I can gather from people semi-recently in the thread) These are of course very basic and assume non-awful rolls, so some revisions would of course have to be used for bug fixing. This is just to help anyone confused with what our long-term plans could be, and to give others ideas building off of this. Because it's not like we design in a void without Moskurg designing things too, this is just a "probably good place to start if we want this cool thing" type thing. So, without further ado...

Magic Rifles
1.) Design: Magegem or similar magic storage device
2.) Design: Magegem-powered "wand" (vulnerable to AM)
3.) Revision: +Cheap "wands" (mass deployment amongst infantry)
4.) Revision: +Power "wands" (now actually make them powerful)

Steam Rifles
1.) Magegem or similar magic storage device
2.) Steam engine miniaturization - multiple revisions or ~1? design.
3.) Steam Rifle (maybe vulnerable to AM? Adding anti-AM would be easier than the magic rifle)

Tank (Note: Should probably avoid ever using words "tank" in design/revisions for this goal to avoid triggering Evicted)
1.) (Maybe) Revision: HC3 (think a HA but with much higher fire rate, only Long range, much lighter, etc. - like a modern day tank cannon versus artillery)
1.) (Temporary) Revision?: Artillery Armoring (e.g. AS-HA1-A)
2.) Design/Revision: Artillery Steam Engines (immediate benefits: greatly increase rate of fire at cost of mobility)
3.) Design/Revision: Artillery Hardening (Tanks useless if they turn off inside AM field)
4.) Design: Artillery Mobilization (Steam engine-powered wheels; doesn't have to be treads since those are probably a design/revision by themselves. Just simple "move without humans pushing/pulling it"
5.) Revision: +Artillery Armoring (More permanent armoring, sights for vision, entry door, etc.)
6.) Revision: +Artillery Mobility (Better steam engines? Better wheels? Wheels->Treads? etc.)
7.) Design: Culmination (We have all the components and a strange "tank". Now take what we learned and make it into an actual competent design with the explicit goal of being something like a tank.)

Crystalclad
1.) Crystalworks (will make crystal part easier, makes it so crystal just won't suddenly disappear)
2.) (Optional) Revision: Crystal Plating (crystal armoring for all ships)
3.) Design: Crystalclad (Easier - it's mostly just a much bigger and armored Fog-O-War)
4.) Revision: +Cheap Crystalclad (Crystalclads would without a doubt be at least Very Expensive. Maybe even National Effort.)

Ice Age
1.) Design?/Revision?: Frost Tower Counter Counter (Restore our frost towers to the effectiveness they were at before Moskurg's counter)
2.) Revision: +Range Frost Towers (Preferably enabling us to have influence over seas)
3.) Design?: (New?) ++Range Frost Tower (One frost tower in Arstotzka allowing influence over as much continent as possible)
4.) Revision: +++Range Frost Tower (upgrade #3's new frost tower to cover the deserts if it doesn't already)
5.) Revision: +Power Frost Tower (now that we have continent-wide influence, upgrade power)
6.) Revision: Selective Frost (Let us selectively avoid frosting our own crops)

Long-Range Artillery
1.) Revision: Flare (Fireball w/ ----power, +brightness, +cheap, and different colors - allows for easy communications + Extra-LOS artillery spotting)
2.) Flameshrieker? Or other damaging shell.
3.) Design: Long-range View (No actual design idea for this one yet - something to cut the middleman and let our artillery directly spot enemies)

Factories
1.) Design: Steam Foundry (Helps with metal manufacturing, pushes automation in general)
2.) Magegems (Needed for next step)
3.) Design(/Revision?): Steam Foundry - Crystalworks (Addition to steam foundry; incorporates crystalworking elements from Crystalworks and drastically reduces the manpower load on the factory by introducing magegems to operate the Steam Engines and Crystal Circuits)
Note - Factories is different since different "types" of factories (crystalworks vs steam foundry, etc.) aren't necessarily required or necessary for other factories; it's just that once we make a factory we can more easily do more infrastructure stuff by adding onto the existing factory.

Intelligence
1.) Magegem? (Can potentially help as stepping stone for lifegems)
2.) Design: Growing Crystal (AS-DF1 "Gallant" Crystal Barrier is the design I believe. This design incorporates very basic elements of life in it as its "innovation", and in addition to being helpful on its own advances life magics)
3.) Revision: +Intelligence growing crystal
4.) Design: Lifegem (Modified magegem that also incorporates recent life magic advancements to put the most intelligent magic life possible in a magegem)
5.) ??? (Lifegem possibilities: Artillery automation, factories, reactive crystal armor [RAM suggested this], etc.)

EDIT:
Growth Magic
1.) Revision: +Power Dogwood Wands (Make them actually useful for combat situations - changing landscape, thick jungle-like growths, etc.)
2.) Revision: ++Power Dogwood Wands (The more power, the better. We want to be able to change the landscape overnight to our advantage all while keeping Moskurg confused and lacking their formation bonus. This can't be achieved yet, but we can work towards it.)
3.) Design: Tower of Growth (Dogwood power revisions should help drastically; Tower of Growth is kind of like the Tower of Frost; it's used in theatres to actually begin rapidly changing and growing up the landscape.)
4.) Revision: +Range Tower of Growth (We want the Tower of Growth to be able to affect as many theatres as possible for general advantage.)
5.) Design: Lethal Plant Life (Helps to have life magic prepared for this. Makes it so we can influence our created plant life to "help" us by intentional concealment while actually attacking Moskurg. Could probably come before Tower of Growth.)

EDIT:
Combat Lifeforms
1.) Design: Beasts (Some kind of new design giving us roughly dog-sized animals for fighting. Provides a step up in intelligence and size from wasps.)
2.) Design: Beastmen (Based off of an idea much earlier in the thread - larger humanoid beasts with limited intelligences to follow orders, basic battle tactics, and to differentiate us vs them. The "humanoid beast" expertise gained here is crucial.)
3.) Revise: +Intelligence Beastmen (Only if they're too stupid; otherwise skip. This is used as a stepping stone towards wraiths)
4.) Design: Wraiths (Skirmish-oriented; use mist expertise; fast, stealthy, and lethal! Based off of mist, beastmen, and primarily improve in intelligence. Probably not as smart as humans by a notable degree, though.)
5.) Revise: +Intelligence Wraiths (Just makes Wraiths better in general and prepares us for future more-intelligent creations.)
6.) Design: Enhanced Soldiers (Based off of beastmen; use our expertise in genetics life to "upgrade" our soldiers with almost superhuman characteristics.)
7.) Revise: +Cheap Enhanced Soldiers (Sure, having 3 superhumans is nice, but what about an army of them?)
8.) Design: Lifegems (If we haven't already done it. Can be done at any point after #3, really.)