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[Chiefwaffles]

Well I mean, most of our stuff is based on the fireball. Our steam engines and cannons are based on the fireball.
That, and our color at the beginning of the thread is red.

[evictedSaint]

locking votes in an hour. 

[Chiefwaffles]

Spoiler: Chief's Emblem (click to show/hide)

Okay, I made mine! I still like Kadzar, but what do people think of this one? I can quickly make some adjustments if anyone wants.
'Tis probably trash, but I mostly just wanted a stylized option. I made sure to keep the .pdn file and all that so like I said, extensive adjustment is very easy.

[evictedSaint]

Spoiler: Version 2 (click to show/hide)

Alright, looks like this one wins.

[evictedSaint]

Combat for 937

This year sees Arstotzka develop a new weapon known as the "Restless", a primitive crystal 'train' that uses two steam engines can be used to move troops around and transport heavy equipment and supplies, like ammunition for the HA1 artillery.  This allows their artillery to fire essentially non-stop, assuming they have a target to fire at.  Their laborers go through great effort laying down sections of steel tracks from the capitol to the front lines; currently the terrain is only smooth enough for tracks to be laid down in the plains, although effort is being made to path the few sections of jungle available.  The mountains are rather inhospitable to trains, as the steep inclines are too much for the humble little train and the labor involved in tunneling through bedrock is far too much.  They also go ahead and revise their crystals to repair themselves to a minor degree; repeated stress fractures are no longer a thing, and apprentices are no longer required to repair microfractures.  This makes their Crystalclads and crystal weaponry more reliable in the long-term.

Moskurg doubles down on their ability to fly: the Alsamma Safina is their latest creation.  Essentially a Sirocco sailing ship chopped down to the bare minimum, the cargohold is packed with War Pegasi to give it the needed lift to fly.  It was initially a National Effort, but Moskurg spent their revision improving the manufacturing process for their War Pegasi and lowered the cost of the carpet and the ship to Expensive and Very Expensive, respectively.  This also has an added bonus of improving the enchantment time on the carpets by a small amount, though they are still by no means permanent.  The Alsamma Safina is crewed by the bare minimum, consisting entirely wizards and apprentices.  Any excess lift is taken up by the ballista and firestorm ammo, so they won't be deploying troops from the ship any time soon.


The jungle sees a renewed intensity.

Arstotzkan artillery fires non-stop now, seeming to rely more on shelling away any cover the trees provide rather than focusing on troop positions.  Apprentices with flares are almost redundant at this point, as artillery crews have enough ammo now that they can fire blindly.  That's not to say that flare spotting isn't important; when Moskurg positions are found, a green flare spells certain doom for anyone in the immediate area as every gun in range turns and begins firing.  Moskurg ballistas have been mostly relegated to apprentice-hunting, forgoing their firestorm ammo to send ballista bolts whistling towards their targets with pin-point accuracy.  Most of Moskurgs mages have taken to the air on War Pegasi and Alsamma Safina's anyways, so they couldn't field all their ballistas even if they had a reason too.

War Pegasi tend to do most of the heavy lifting, now.  Once again merely Expensive, they run sorties as often as possible.  Anti-mage falconiers attack whenever the carpet bombers are spotted over the horizon, but there's so many that as soon as a falcon takes flight half a dozen bolts of lightning arc down - at least one is guaranteed to hit, though it's wasteful and inefficient.  Once overhead the carpet-riders go through their saddle-bags of firestorm grenades as quickly as they can before returning back home to re-enchant, re-supply, and attack once more.  The Queen of the Sky is the Alsamma Safina, though.  With the ballista being mounted so high, the range is extended to be equivalent with the HA1 artillery.  Lucky Strike is less effective with the long flight-time of the ammo, so it's not quite as effective at pin-point strikes.  Arstotzkan artillery has an elevation of 45°, and there's a "sweet spot" when the airship approaches where it's just in the artillery's envelope of fire.  The large-caliber HA1 shells are powerful enough to punch through the airships Adamantium armor and shred the carpets within, crippling or destroying the ship.  Though it's not always a sure thing that they will hit, enough airships have been shot down while trying to get over Arstotzkan positions that the standard practice is to stand back and lob firestorm ballista shells into artillery nests indiscriminately.  The large ship is too big for a falcon to take down, and having a deck to stand on means the defenders stand a better chance at cutting down the birds as they approach.

Arstotzka's train is pretty useful here; troops are quickly moved into position for raids, and artillery is never without shells or water.  The increased troop movement isn't significant enough to make a huge difference, as each car can only carry twenty men at a time, but the ammo and water supplies are instrumental.  Better crystal weaponry also has a small effect - troops no longer need to carry back-up longswords in case their crystal axe snaps from poor maintenance.  The trains are particularly vulnerable to raids, however; al-Mutriqa personally destroys one by ramming it off the tracks with a single swing of his golden mace (stories of his victory may have been exaggerated).

Ultimately, the wooden splinters from exploding trees and (what's left) of the tree cover pushes the favor of the battle towards Arstotzka.  The entire theatre is still freezing thanks to their many Lesser Towers of Frost, and Moskurgs air force can't do it all alone.  Arstotzka manages to push Moskurg back another section of jungle, but it's not by a large margin.


Arstotzka gains a section of jungle.

In the open desert, where the temperature isn't freezing during the day, Moskurg sees more success.

Air troops harry the encroaching army as they trek across the desert sands, bombing water wagons before they can supply artillery positions.  With Moskurgs greater flight-time they can actually push further back to hit these delicate supply lines, and it really helps.  Arstotzka must leap-frog from oasis to oasis for water, and without a supply train running through the mountains they can't maintain the same high rate of fire as they had in the jungle.  The desert continues blowing sand in their faces thanks to Divine Desert Winds, and on the open sands there's nowhere to hide from the enemy overhead.  Infantry combat is rare and quick.  The brutal melees are fairly even, with Moskurgs Adamantium weapons on-par with Arstotzka's Crystal.  Arstotzka's armor provides more complete coverage, but Moskurgs Adamantium armor allows greater flexibilty and is lighter - though attacks can often cut through the leather straps holding it together.  Arstotzka's troops are better trained, but the open terrain favors Moskurg.  Ultimately, though, the War Pegasi can provide Close Air Support, and Arstotzka's artillery must wait until their troops are disengaged before they can shell the enemy troops.  But again, these battles are rare - Moskurg can rarely get close before an Arstotzkan flare goes up.

The mountains are different, though - Arstotzka has literally lined the mountains with HA1 emplacements.  Well-stocked and well-dug in, they are incredibly difficult to push out. Moskurgs airship can't gain a height advantage here, sadly.  Already at max altitude, they can't get a range or height advantage on the emplacements and are forced to hold back lest the artillery men take pot-shots at the large, slow-moving boat.  War Pegasi are much more effective here, though - the stationary HA1 emplacements are welcoming to firestorm grenades, and it becomes common practice to bail out of the emplacement once War Pegasi are spotted on the horizon.  The falcons are once again stymied by the thunderbolts wielded by each rider, and Anti-Magic bomb arrows actually prove to be more effective.  With a lower relative altitude, they're once again in range of archers on the high peaks.  Even mass volleys of mundane arrows can be effective, if they catch the ride unaware.  Infantry assaults are suicidal, as the freezing cold, vertical inclines, and raining arrows makes it almost impossible for the foot soldiers to reach the peaks.  Myark does his part, flinging fireballs down the cliffs as easily as breathing.  One report even says he managed to blast a fireball straight up, piercing the hull of an airship with a single ball of fire.  All reports are second-hand, and though everyone agrees it happens no one can point to someone who witnessed the event.  His Staff of True Light does a good job of turning back infantry as they trudge uphill all on it's own, though the carpet riders and airships are a bit more resolute.

At the end of the day, Moskurg has the advantage in the open terrain - without trenches or tree lines to shoot at, Arstotzka's artillery has a harder time hitting the fleeting, mobile troops.  Arstotzka has the advantage in the mountains, able to shoot down War Pegasi and airships as they approach.  Moskurg manages to bomb Arstotzka back to the mountains, where they sit with their lethal HA1 emplacements.

Ultimately (Coinflip: Moskurg) Moskurg manages to gain the upper hand, pushing Arstotzka back and forcing them to cede a foothold in the mountains to the desert-dwellers. 

Moskurg has gained foothold in the mountains.


Arstotzkan supply trains keep their HA1 artillery well-supplied, and artillery assaults occur non-stop.  With static trenches and clear lines of sight, they're devastatingly effective despite using non-explosive ammunition.  Moskurg carpet-bombers fly sorties like clockwork, but their firestorm grenades are only effective at stalling HA1 artillery pieces, not destroying them.  The metal components are often fine, especially with the nickel circuitry, but the fire burns down the wooden carriages and requires new ones to be made before they can be fired again.  Occasionally carpet bombers will cause a barrel to crack or manage to kill the artillery crew, but with so many apprentices at their disposal thanks to their Academy Initiative, Arstotzka can afford to replace the crews lost.  More devestating is the Wands of Thunderbolts, which cause the cannons to weld shut and require more lengthy repairs, but the wands are single-use only, inaccurate, and often used just to fend off attacking falcons.  A better target is Arstotzka's crystal train with its two steam engines - which are connected to ground through the gearing and wheels.  The explosions are quite pretty, and do a good job at stalling artillery assaults.  Infantry combat is limited to raids, as commanders have decided that day-time charges across no-mans land is suicidal, though Moskurg is fielding fewer ballistas now.  It's still enough to deter infantry assaults, though.

With static trenches to shoot at, Arstotzka has a slight lead.  The Alsamma Safina can rarely get overhead to cause massive prolonged destruction, and Arstotzka's artillery does a slightly better job of securing advances than Moskurgs carpet bombers.  It's a close thing, but Arstotzka pushes Moskurg back a section.


Arstotzka has secured a section of the plains.


The seas are no contest.

The Alsamma Safina is Very Expensive, and supplements Moskurg's Sirocco's which have already been reduced to glorified carpet-carriers.  Arstotzka's HC1-E's don't have enough elevation or reach to shoot upwards, so once overhead the airship wins easily.  Wands of Thunderbolts from both the airship and carpet riders cause critical boiler explosions that shatter Arstotzkan Crystalclads.  On rare occasion the regenerative effect of the crystal is enough to keep the ship together without sinking, but without propulsion the ship is dead in the water and a non-threat.  The longer staying ability of the War Pegasi is a huge boon, and the riders load up exclusively on Thunderbolt wands.  They're able to perform seek-and-destroy missions against Arstotzkan ships, and after a year of one-sided combat Moskurg manages to secure a section of coastline on both the Eastern and Western shores.

Moskurg gains ground in the Eastern and Western Seas.
 

Research Credit!!!

Spoiler: Moskurg (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Arstotzka (click to show/hide)

Both sides see their new emblems emblazoned on their shields, flags, and heraldry.

Soldiers often have to paint the designs by hand, and with varying degrees of success.  For Moskurg soldiers, there's a wide variety of simple half-blue half-yellow emblems with tornados, moons, stars, diamonds, and words - all with varying degrees of legibility.  The blue-on-blue and yellow-on-yellow colorschemes often blend together or don't show up at all.  Most tornados are drawn as squiggels, or just plain triangles.  The emblems are often simplified to a half-blue half-yellow field with the words "For in God We Trust" written by a fellow soldier who can actually read and write.

For Arstotzkan soldiers, the plain red field with black and yellow is much easier to paint.  Often simplified to a yellow star on a red background, the design is very difficult to mess up and very striking.  The more talented soldiers flank their stars with black cannons or falcons, but only the company flags depict the fireball and name "ARSTOTZKA".

Ultimately, Arstotzkan soldiers come out with a more profound sense of pride, largely because their emblem actually uses their nations color.  Arstotzka gains the Research Credit.


It is 938, the Design Phase.

Spoiler: State of Forenia, 938 (click to show/hide)

Northern Taiga: 4/4 Arstotzka, 0/4 Moskurg
Central Mountains: 3/4 Arstotzka, 1/4 Moskurg
Western Jungle: 2/4 Arstotzka, 2/4 Moskurg
Eastern Plains: 3/4 Arstotzka, 1/4 Moskurg
Southern Desert: 0/4 Arstotzka, 4/4 Moskurg

Northern Sea: 4/4 Arstotzka, 0/4 Moskurg
Western Sea: 1/4 Arstotzka, 3/4 Moskurg
Eastern Sea: 1/4 Arstotzka, 3/4 Moskurg
Southern Sea: 0/4 Arstotzka, 4/4 Moskurg

Spoiler: Arstotzkan Mundane Equipment (click to show/hide)

Broadsword: An iron age classic.  A double-edged blade designed for speed, flexibility and force.  Requires training to wield, can be used one or two handed.  Removable pommel for throwing.Cheap.
War Axe: Can be used as a tool in a pinch, this is a single-handed weapon that does well against heavily armoured foes.  Can be used with minimal training. Cheap.
Wooden Shield: General infantry equipment.  Couples well with an axe, cheap, easy to replace.  Works best in heavy melee.  Can be used with minimal training.  Cheap.
Hide Armour: General infantry armour.  Cheap, thanks to the plentiful sheep in the taiga.  Turns aside weak blows.  Cheap. Obsolete.
    Gambeson: A leather armoring doublet designed to go with plate armor.  Helps protect against arrows.
Chain Mail: Officer armour.  Expensive, due to the steel required.  Very effective against most weapons.  Expensive. Obsolete.
Plate Mail: General infantry and officer armour.  So well designed it costs surprisingly little to make.  Normal cost.
Longbow: General infantry weapon.  Difficult to find wood and requires a lot of training, but long ranged and powerful.  Cheap. 
Shire Horse: A heavy riding horse.  Survives and rides well in cold weather.  Powerful charge.  Normal Cost.
Longship: Oar-rowed wooden ship.  Slow, but sturdy, and can carry large numbers of landing troops.  Very Expensive.
Steam Engine: A highly expensive and enormously heavy steam engine.  Uses a steam turbine to generate power.  Uses PSF's and a steam recycler with enchanted gold etchings to manage heat.  Expensive.
SPB "Fog-O-War":  Boat using two steam engines for power.  Slightly faster than Moskurg ships.  Tends to sink after the first hit. Very Expensive. Obsolete.
    AS-SPB2-Crystalclad:  Boat using a crystal hull, two steam engines, and three HC1-E's.  More resilient, higher firepower, and just as fast as the Fog-O-War. Deck tends to be slippery, crystal needs maintenance to prevent cracks from spreading around the engine. Expensive.

Spoiler: Arstotzkan Magical Equipment (click to show/hide)

Wand of True Light:  Seeds doubt in enemy minds.  Theatre-wide effect. Moral penalty.  National Effort.

AS-STV-1 "Restless":  Steam train.  Crystal structure.  Can carry troops and supplies to the front line.  Little power, but can pick up to the speed of a horse in gallop.  Very Expensive.

Magegems:  Magical batteries.  Comes in A, AA, and AAA forms.  A is the largest, and could possibly power a couple flare spells.  AAA is the smallest, and could maybe power some sort of time-keeping device.  Cheap-Very Expensive.

HA1:  Arstotzkan heavy artillery.  Fires at beyond line-of-sight range.  Requires three apprentices to operate, plus loading and water crew.  Uses nickel circuitry to cool the cannon.  Expensive.
    Equalizer: Anti-magic shell.  Dispells all magic around it.  Difficult to produce and fire, dangerous to use.  Expensive.

HC1: AKA the "Extreme-Range Hybrid Cannon".  Arstotzka's first cannon.  Uses a fireball and steam to propel a fist-sized iron ball Long-Range.  Inaccurate, but can be loaded quickly.  Has a tendency to crack. Cheap. Obsolete.
    HC1-E: The Elite version of the HC1.  Fires at Extreme-Range.  Uses rifling, ballistics, and an overall better and more consistent design.  Utilizes enchanted nickel etching for barrel cooling.  Advanced barrel manufacturing makes them cheaper.  Cheap.
    HC2: A failed attempt to upgrade the HC1 with auto-cooling barrel and ambitious steam recycler.  Explodes or breaks after every shot.  Very Expensive. Obsolete.

Arzotskan Academy for Adequate Apprenticeship:  Basic magic training for apprentices.  Allows them to be more useful on the offensive.  Very prestigious.  Actively recruits new apprentices.Expensive.

Crystalworks: A workshop that produces crystal items cheaply, permanently, and with a mild brittle factor.  Crystals can repair microfractures, eliminating the need for maintenance.  Expensive.

Wand of Fireballs:  Hurls fireballs at a distance, able to destroy whole squads at a time.  A National Effort. Obsolete.

Minor Towers of Forever Frost:  Small, complicated towers that have to be assembled in place and requires the skill of several wizards to operate.  Creates a very powerful cold evocation and then channels it directly into the air, consistently lowering temperatures within a radius of about fifty miles.  Can induce snow in the jungle during the winter, freezing rain in the summer.  Now made with pre-inscribed marble blocks.Expensive.

Anti-Magic Charm: A magically enchanted quartz crystal.  Hums loudly in the presence of magic, and prevents magic from being conjured inside the very limited range.  Expensive.
    Anti-Magic Bomb Arrows: Arrows that explode on contact with magic into red-hot, razor-sharp crystal shards.

Magic Lance:  Conjures a set of lances for a cavalry squad.  Thick enough not to break on use.  Cheap.

Magic Axe: Conjures a set of long axes for officers.  Cheap.

Dogwood Wand: Wand that allows the user to accelerate the growth of a patch of plants to an area and height equal to their own height. Wands are cheap to make, but don't last very long. Cheap.

Spoiler: Arstotzkan Elite Units (click to show/hide)

Anti-Mages:  Mage hunters equipped with longbows, anti-magic charms, anti-magic arrows, falcons, and the best armor we can give them.  Excel at sniping enemy mages.

Spoiler: Arstotzkan Spells (click to show/hide)

Obscuring Mist:  Cloaks a squad in a fog cloud, hiding their numbers and equipment, and making them harder to hit at range.
  Variant (Channeled Fog): A denser form of Obscuring mist, continuously generated. 

Summon Swarm:  Conjures a swarm of stinging wasps to harass foes.  Expensive.
  Variant (Fire Wasps):  Conjures stinging wasps that can start small fires.  Expensive.

Webs:  Conjures a sticky web, immobilizing an entire squad and preventing them from moving.  Very Expensive.

Fireball:  Hurls fireballs at a distance, able to destroy whole squads at a time.  Damaging side effects harm morale.  Very Expensive. Obsolete.
  Minor Fireball: Smaller version of fireball.  Doesn't cause collateral damage, but doesn't explode on impact. Expensive. Obsolete.
  Streamlined Fireball:  Hurls small balls of fire that explode on impact.  Devastating against massed troops.  Cheap.
  Flare:  A small, harmless fireball.  Comes in many different colors.  Cheap.

Firewall:  Creates static walls of fire.  Long casting time, concentration sustain.  Very Expensive.
Crystal Caltrops:  Jagged crystals designed to lay in the grass and catch enemy troops unaware.  Good for defense. Normal Cost.

Behavior Rules.  Please Read.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As inspired by the "Behavior Rule" attached to Sensei's new Arms Race thread, I've decided to adapt them to Wand Race.  Most of these are blatantly copied from his thread, and I expect them to be followed.  After running this game for a few weeks now and following the last Arms Race, I'm aware that they're prone to attracting bad attitudes.  Keeping the game smooth, on schedule, and argument free is probably a greater concern of mine than whatever you are arguing about: I expect you to be mature and adopt the same attitude.

1. Don't be salty! If at any time you find yourself having an urge to mouth off at another player, step away from the keyboard, go outside, and take a breath. Seriously. Players who repeatedly get angry or passive aggressive will be asked to leave. If you have an issue with the way the game is being run, DO NOT expect a tantrum to get you what you want.

2. Keep in mind that I am not a historian, so there will sometimes be mistakes and inaccuracies. Even in the best of circumstances, minor inconsistencies are a common occurrence. If some piece of equipment is imbalanced/unrealistic, I might consider changing it if you bring it up once -AND ONLY ONCE- and politely state your argument. However, I will err on the side of consistency with my own game, I do not like to go back and change things. Sometimes it is more important to simply keep the game running smoothly than other concerns.

3. Do not accuse me of being biased. Do not accuse me of being biased. I put a lot of effort into being objective and fair and being accused otherwise is pretty fucking irritating.  On multiple occasions this has nearly derailed the game and made me want to abandon it all together. I have absolutely no more patience for this, and if you do it YOU WILL BE BANNED.

4. Do not spy on the other team's private thread. Trust me, playing fair is more fun for everyone!  If you suffer from a lack of self-control and cannot stop yourself from spying, keep it to yourself.  Do not use it to metagame.  And do not post what you saw in the central thread.  This has happened multiple times now, and if you do it you will be banned with no warning.

[Chiefwaffles]

Nice job with the emblem, Kadzar!
...
Okay. So it turns out anti-air actually would have been pretty nice.
I think for our revision, we should do something with the train. It's a great platform for further development and could really help us. It looks like a big flaw was the tracks - we couldn't use the train in every theatre because of this.

Or, we can develop an armor piercing shell in the revision. Which I think would go nicely with the...
Design: AS-HAC-1
The AS-HAC-1, or the Hybrid Auto-Cannon, is a revolutionary new cannon designed.

The cannon itself has a much different design. Instead of a crew moving and firing a large cannon, it's mounted onto a portable "stand". A small set of levers and gears allow one person to very easily aim the cannon with 360 degrees of horizontal motion and almost 90 degrees of vertical motion facing upwards (as in, almost facing straight up). Meaning one person can easily aim the cannon within seconds, versus the crew, time, and effort needed to aim our larger cannons.
We've even included a "crosshair" in the design that one can focus their sight through, allowing them to quickly and easily check where the cannon is aiming.

The cannon fires a much smaller caliber of shell, and other parts are decreased in size. Combined together, these factors mean the cannon can propel a smaller shell to great distances (roughly the same of at least a HC1-E if not the HA1) at speeds higher than any of our previous cannons. The shells are easy to transport, carry and load.

Perhaps most importantly is the new method of loading. Previously, our soldiers had to load cannons through the ends of barrels by hand. Now, with the HAC-1, our Mathemagicians have implemented a new way of loading - breech loading. The HAC-1 includes a minor mechanism to securely open the back of the barrel, allowing for a new shell to be quickly inserted from the position the crew's already at instead of having to lower the barrel, move to it, and spend large amounts of time loading in a new shell. The new method is simply opening the chamber, pushing in a new shell for a few seconds then closing it. In order to allow the cannon to safely fire rapidly without overheating like the HA1, we've implemented very basic and minor cooling frost-based circuits in the barrel.
The rate of fire has been massively increased by this innovation.

The HAC-1 can be charged in three ways - by a nearby wizard, crystal conduit, or a Magegem. One AA Magegem is enough power for one shot. This means that with an adequate supply of Magegems or a connection to another power source, mundane soldiers can fire the HAC-1.
One person can completely operate a HAC-1, and an apprentice can easily and quickly charge a HAC-1 and multitask while doing it.

The entire thing is made out of mountain-sourced metal crystal and is aimed to be roughly half as heavy as a HC1-E. If possible, we also aim to fit each Crystalclad with one HAC-1 for general use and anti-air. The HAC-1 is perfect for anti-air. It's great for using on the offense due to its portability, and amazing for anti-personnel in any situation as it can nearly mow down enemy troops thanks to its high rate of fire!
And perhaps one of the best parts is that the HAC-1 can shoot the enemy before they shoot us! Its range capabilities, accuracy, rate of fire, and easy-aiming make it a great choice to eliminate Moskurger riders before they can thunderbolt the cannon!

TL;DR: A breech-loading small "swivel" cannon that can be easily operated by one person and is extremely easy to aim and reload. Think the AA cannon from Battlefield 1, except breech-loaded instead of self-loading. Meant to be used for anti-air, anti-personnel, and general cannon things.
Also, a (regenerative) crystal construction makes it resistant against lightning and more forgiving towards misuse/overheating and much easier to repair, along with generally just being a better material.

I've isolated each aspect to be easier on Evicted and others. Many of them are very minor aspects, but still matter in the final design.
Swivel Mount
The actual cannon is small, but is mounted on a separate and portable stand. A simple set of gears allow the operator to quickly aim the cannon on the stand in nearly any direction, up and down. We have tons of experience with mechanical movement - a train, steam engines, the Crystaclad, and more; this should be extremely basic.
Breech-Loading
The cannon is breech-loaded, extremely increasing its rate of fire. In order to prevent an overheating problem, some very simple cooling frost-based circuits line the barrel. We've been using our cannons for a very long time and have extreme amounts of practical experience with them; breech-loading shouldn't be hard at all.
Aiming
In addition to the swivel mount and gears to quickly aim the cannon, it also has a crosshair for quick target acquisition. With every factor combined, the HAC-1 should be extremely easy and quick to aim then fire. Our extensive ballistics knowledge (such as that displayed in the making of the HC1-E, which we have tons of theoretical and practical experience with) should make a basic crosshair an extraordinarily simple task.
Caliber
The shells are much smaller than our current shells, and can be very easily transported and loaded. They also have a greater velocity (and thus greater armor-piercing capabilities?). But a large amount of the power "gained" from downgrading the shells is "spent" in making the cannon smaller.
The smaller shells should be easier to transport and store.
Size
The cannon is very small and very portable compared to a HC1-E. Roughly the size of a minigun or the picture I linked in the TL;DR. It should be able to be carried by one person, but it'd require both hands, a notable amount of strength, and wouldn't be entirely pleasant. It's hopefully half-as-heavy as a HC1-E. (However, Myark has expressed interest in attempting to use an AS-HAC-1 while holding it. Many doubt this is possible, but he is Myark.)
The decrease in size shouldn't really affect the range/etc. because of the caliber change. Smaller caliber with smaller size should give you a similar range, no? If anything, the range should be increased (not enough for another level in range though).
Material
The cannon is made using crystal. With Regenerative Crystal, the cannon's material is the most robust possible. Whereas damage from overheating and the like from metal requires dedicated repairing inside the barrel, the crystal will regenerate. The crystal is cheap thanks to the Crystalworks, too. Crystal is nonconductive (right?) so lightning strikes shouldn't effect it, and any damage should be repaired quickly. In addition to all this, Crystal is just more durable and hard than steel, making the cannon overall more durable. And it's lighter, too, allowing for easy transport on ships, trains, and people.
Operation/Charging
Using 1 AA-Magegem (optional if it increases overall expense) gives enough charge to fire one shell. The cannon can also be connected to an external power supply. So with another power supply or adequate magegems, mundane soldiers can easily use this. Apprentices can also easily charge it and even multi-task while doing so.
One person can completely operate the cannon - aiming, firing, loading, etc. - as long as the magical element is taken care of somehow. So if the AS-HAC-1 is set up and has a supply of magegems, any soldier can operate it as long as they have enough Magegems, or any apprentice can operate it as long as they have enough shells. Which are easy to transport and store thanks to their size.
Distribution/Expense
In addition to being distributed in the regular places, hopefully each Crystalclad can be fitted with a HAC-1.
The HC1-E, which the AS-HAC-1 is based on, is Cheap. The AS-HAC-1 downsizes the HC1-E, reducing material costs. The improvements it has, such as the swivel mount and breech-loading, shouldn't add any amount of complexity notable enough to increase Expense. And the AS-HAC-1 benefits from our Crystalworks bonus. If anything, the AS-HAC-1 should be Cheap.
Uses
The cannon should be very effective at taking down Moskurger air units in addition with the flare, as it has a much higher RoF, and smaller caliber means less drop/higher velocity. It can also be great for anti-personnel thanks to its ease of aiming, as troops on a fortification can use this vaguely like a MG emplacement against incoming soldiers. Other than that, it's still a cannon and can be used as one; it's just not as great at siege-like stuff. It can also be used on the offense thanks to its large degree of portability.
It can shoot Moskurger carpets before they use lightning, thanks to how easy the HAC-1 is to aim and reload as well as its range. It should be partially effective against a Moskurger airship (thanks to its high rate of fire) but would probably require better shells for that.

Yeah, sure, name's a bit misleading, but I'm gearing it for version 2 which is an actual auto cannon. It also serves as a precursor to the longshot rod, as it's much smaller, Magegem-compatible, breech-loaded, has a smaller caliber, and more. I'd be willing to vote for this one if others are too.
(Copy+pasted from post last design phase)

The AS-HAC-1 paired with an AP shell would be great. It'd be effective against carpets, and with the AP shell, extremely effective against their airship. And this isn't even including the use on land.
No research credit use here, though. It's not that ambitious - just a lot of minor new things and tweaks. We should save the research credit for something else I think.


Other notes:
1.) We need a counter for their lightning stuff.
2.) We need better overall protection - our HA1s, HC1-Es, STV-1 (Restless), and Crystalclad are all suffering from a lack of protection. With the Crystalclad and Restless, they can just lightning the engines for MASSIVE DAMAGE and to eliminate moving ability. With the HA1s and HC1-Es, they can still damage the cannon and firebomb the crew. A crystal enclosure (or just a tank - the Restless should allow for this) would help a lot here. For the Crystalclad and Restless, just revising it (or including in a new design) to protect the weak spots should be enough.

DESIGNS
1 - AS-HAC-1: Chiefwaffles

[RAM]

Phalling Glow
This is a long rod of hard metal embedded in a ribbed crystal sheath that maginifies whatever you like to watch. When a magam(or a magic finger) is pressed into its special slot then looking into it reveals all as though exposed to an unsullied noon.

It works as the flowing light disperses throughout its crystal lenses. When magic stimulates a circuit then there is a revealing effect as the essence of light(as distilled to created flare spells) impregnates the passing vision with pure illumination. The ribbed crystal coating provides a satisfying sense of friction under a grip and keeps it rigid and straight.

Helps us with night raids and spotting.

Erection of Everywhere Explosions
A Tower of frost tuned to an explosive variant of the streamlined fireball that sacrifices all of the heat of the fireball to maximuse the force that spreads it around. This crystalline tower includes a lightning rod and a covered plafrom which acts as the focal point of its magical energy. This allows a skilled wizard to wield a massive volume of balls that travel a fixed distance and then explode into a burst of force, flinging anything nearby around, and easily crushing anyone who is near to the centre and toppling any flying vehicles. Also features a lightning rod.

There are a lot of tweaks here, but it should all be familiar ground, and should make for a defensive intallation that can capsize anything that they put in the air. The trick after that would be to put it onto a boat...

[VoidSlayer]

Why not make the steam engines mostly internal for the ships, with any external mounts like intake valves and exhaust ports made out of crystal?  Then drop extra armor.

What I really want though are fireball rods for our basic troops.  You see how effective the lighting rods are, and we can make ones any soldier can use with multiple shots and accurate. 

Please, I know you guys did not like my design, but if we can get something shooting fire up at the enemy ships and down at the enemy troops I will be happy.

We really do not need new artillery, but a spell to better defend them.  Crystal plating, fireball weapons, giant falcons, whatever.

Also we lost control of the mountain metal resource.

[Chiefwaffles]

Right, forgot about the mountain metal thing. Changed the material to crystal. With regenerative crystal, it's a better idea anyways.

Why not make the steam engines mostly internal for the ships, with any external mounts like intake valves and exhaust ports made out of crystal?  Then drop extra armor.

Our ships still won't be completely invulnerable to air. A crystalclad's weapons and crew can be easily killed by air units. This is a good idea at some point, though. Just not now.

What I really want though are fireball rods for our basic troops.  You see how effective the lighting rods are, and we can make ones any soldier can use with multiple shots and accurate. 

Their ships have armor that stop our cannon shells and is nonflammable. I don't think a lesser version of a fireball will help here.

Please, I know you guys did not like my design, but if we can get something shooting fire up at the enemy ships and down at the enemy troops I will be happy.

See above.

We really do not need new artillery, but a spell to better defend them.  Crystal plating, fireball weapons, giant falcons, whatever.

The HAC-1 shouldn't really be classified as artillery. And better defense is useless at the moment because there will never be a perfect defense and right now their airships will still be able to punch through better defense. In this case, offense is the best defense. If we destroy their air units before they get into attack range, we don't need to worry about that kind of stuff.

[RAM]

Heat Rays
We finally use circuitry to invert our reverse-engineering of the fireball wand, with many changes. This takes the high efficiency of the streamlined fireball spell and converts it into a continuous beam of pure heat, with none of the explosive force. With this overall reduced area ofeffect and explosive force we extend its duration and velocity, allowing about 10 seconds of continuous fire. The weapon is in the forme of a bronze gauntlet with a crystal coating and the beam is ejected from the circuit's focal points, which runs between two bronze rings, again coated in crystal, that rise from the back of the gauntlet. The beam is generated from pressing an exposed circuit panel on the ring-finger against an exposed panel of a magam in a horizontal slot near the centre of the palm. This allows the wielder to hold a fist at the enemy, line up the two rings, and then press lightly to project a beam of intense heat with which to burn their victims. Particularly skilled uses can attempt to converge their beams to melt even the most resistant of targets.

[RAM]

1 - (Chiefwaffles)AS-HAC-1: Chiefwaffles
0 - (RAM)Phalling Glow:
0 - (RAM)Erection of Everywhere Explosions:
0 - (RAM)Heat Rays:

[Chiefwaffles]

Arstotzka, meanwhile, has rolled out a cheaper version of their Tower of Frost, plunging the theatre into yet another level of cold.  It snows year-round now, and it's not uncommon to see Moskurg soldiers freezing to death - it doesn't help that their Adamantium armor (as Adamantium is now Cheap) is fixed at a constant chill temperature and provides no protection.  Furthermore, their Equalizer Anti-Magic artillery shells are now merely Very Expensive.  That's fine, though, as they only need to litter Moskurg positions with a few shells before the effect becomes noticeable.  Near-misses require Moskurg to relocate their artillery, as the shells themselves are buried too deep in the ground to be moved.  This, combined with the fact that they have the range advantage, means they dominate in artillery combat.

While I don't think that by itself, Heat Rays is a bad idea, but that phrase is very suspicious. I'd assume that "fixed at a constant chill temperature" means melting it would be really hard or else the word "fixed" wouldn't be used. If we can't reliably melt their armor, then a heat ray probably wouldn't be the best idea.

Also, Evicted, Andres asked this recently but I don't think you saw. Is the Restless getting the Crystalworks bonus? Its expense roll was "3" and it's made out of machine crystal, so one would assume the original expense is Very Expensive and brought down to Expensive by the Crystalworks.


And @VoidSlayer again:
I thought of an analogy for what I was trying to say in my last post.

Let's say you're in a bunker being assaulted by enemy forces. Your bunker isn't that great but none of your weapons really work against the enemy. They kill you pretty easily.
So what if you upgrade your bunker, focusing on defense? You'd survive a bit longer because your bunker is harder to penetrate, but in the end you'd still die because your weapons are still effectively useless.
But what if you upgrade your weapons? Then you'd be able to kill the enemies before they can start assaulting the bunker, giving you a chance at survival.

[evictedSaint]

It got the bonus already, yes.  The cheaper cost of the crystal is offset by the extensive infrastructure it requires to function.

[Chiefwaffles]

Huh. I would assume something like that would be represented in the modifier and it really feels like a "3" shouldn't be a national effort regardless of what it is.
I find it annoying, but it is your call so I'll drop it. I _{still don't think it's right though}

[RAM]

I request a review if their material is completely immune to temperature changes. That sounds overpowered, at least as something that doesn't constantly consume large amounts of magic and can be overtaxed by applying a greater force to overcome it. It sounds very much like our own towers of forever frost that can be defeated by blowing hot air at them.