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[RAM]

Our cannons are magical.
A sniper waiting for a target to enter a sighted location is generally regarded as different from an ambush. Don't ask me why but it seems mostly a matter or range and numbers. It seems silly to differentiate them like that, but magic has more respect for semantics and implications than physics does...
"Warn us if we are about to be attacked by Arstozka" and "Locate all enemies within small arms range to useful precision" are extremely powerful spells. The equivalent would be churning dragons out of Summon Wasp. Or using summon fog to make adamant-eatingly corrosive gas...
Snipers do not need to ambush, they can hunt just fine, completely different.
Snipers can act as distractions for infiltrators. Snipers pick off a few then retreat. Hunting parties run out. Then some feline females sneak in and suddenly the Kegger airships develop an interest in unassisted skydiving...

So, sure, they have spells, spells can do stuff, but it isn't really relevant. They could use the same spell to precisely plan out exactly where all our cannon shells are going to land and set up all their stuff in the safe spaces between the eventual impact points. That doesn't mean that it is particularly plausible that they would be able to do so within a practical timeframe.

[Chiefwaffles]

Our cannons are magical.

It is extremely obvious what it means by magical. Men waiting in ambush with weapons, whether those weapons are magic, magic-based, or mundane, is a non-magical ambush. A magical ambush is one that is entirely magic. Like making a place explode when people walk by.

A sniper waiting for a target to enter a sighted location is generally regarded as different from an ambush. Don't ask me why but it seems mostly a matter or range and numbers. It seems silly to differentiate them like that, but magic has more respect for semantics and implications than physics does...

"This is wrong. Don't ask me why, but it is."
-RAM
And you're also wrong on the second part. Magic is very loose. "Detect Ambush" does not detect snipers, but snipers are a form of ambush. Note how the spell is "Detect ambush", not "Detect people lying in wait for attack once allied forces enter a proximity within X meters." It's not semantics-based. It's ambush or not. Snipers are fairly similar to ambushes. It'd be easy to revise.

"Warn us if we are about to be attacked by Arstozka" and "Locate all enemies within small arms range to useful precision" are extremely powerful spells. The equivalent would be churning dragons out of Summon Wasp. Or using summon fog to make adamant-eatingly corrosive gas...

More RAM Assumptions-Based-On-No-Logical-Or-Empirical-Basis™.
Their starter spell is literally "Detect Ambush". That's what it is. It's extremely easy to add "Snipers" to that because sniping is close to ambushing. It's been well established that their starter spells are better than ours, but we chose our starter spells and have to deal with it.

Snipers do not need to ambush, they can hunt just fine, completely different.
Snipers can act as distractions for infiltrators. Snipers pick off a few then retreat. Hunting parties run out. Then some feline females sneak in and suddenly the Kegger airships develop an interest in unassisted skydiving...

It's obvious the similarity between sniping and ambushing and it feels like one would have to act dumb (in the figurative sense, of course) to pretend that similarity doesn't exist.

So, sure, they have spells, spells can do stuff, but it isn't really relevant.

What?

They could use the same spell to precisely plan out exactly where all our cannon shells are going to land and set up all their stuff in the safe spaces between the eventual impact points. That doesn't mean that it is particularly plausible that they would be able to do so within a practical timeframe.

They already do that. Their spell that does it is just buggy. Probably because of that roll labeled "Bugs".

[evictedSaint]

Seems like cannon silencer is winning.  Revision soon.

[andrea]

2 - Cannon Silencer: FallacyofUrist, RAM
0 - Satin Flares:
2 - Crystalworks Mk2: Chiefwaffles, Andrea

[Draignean]

2 - Cannon Silencer: FallacyofUrist, RAM
0 - Satin Flares:
3 - Crystalworks Mk2: Chiefwaffles, Andrea, Draignean

[helmacon]

2 - Cannon Silencer: FallacyofUrist, RAM
0 - Satin Flares:
4 - Crystalworks Mk2: Chiefwaffles, Andrea, Draignean, helmacon

I'm not super into the giga works, but the silencer us just plain bad.

[Kadzar]

Revision: Aether-Enhanced Magegems:
In an effort to further improve magical storage, we've attempted to tap into the Aether using Prince Bjorn''s research. Currently, we aren't able to make gems generate or draw in energy on their own, but we believe we have managed to create a kind of stable portal that draws energy out equivalent to what was put in. That, or we're creating some sort of magic-storing pocket dimension. We're still a little unsure of what's going on here, but the point is that we've managed to devise a way to store a lot more magical energy than previously thought possible.

2 - Cannon Silencer: FallacyofUrist, RAM
0 - Satin Flares:
4 - Crystalworks Mk2: Chiefwaffles, Andrea, Draignean, helmacon
1 - Aether-Enhanced Magegems: Kadzar

[RAM]

Better large-scale crystal construction design
We replace the summoning platforms with field projectors, so that the  crystal is summoned into a wedge-shaped space that can be expanded indefinitely if provided with enough power. This is in place of the existing summoning platforms that are forced to summon directly atop themselves. This has invested a small difficulty in terms of structure. The rounded nature of a wedge makes straight-lines somewhat of a challenge for mathemagicians to calculate as they are accustomed to getting curves out of cubes rather than cubes out of curves. But given that most of our larger designs are curve-based, this should actually be a benefit, and being able to conjure the parts in a single piece, combined with locomotive transport to support the large pieces, and the inherent curvature of their innate structure, should overall strengthen the designs that make use of large sizes and curves, while more traditional small designs can be produced using the old method to retain the boxier inherent nature that would strengthen small boxes...

Better antimagic design
We reduce the radius of the antimagic charm to almost zero, and then channel the gains into a broadened range of attraction and a more powerful suction. Any magical auras that make contact with these modified charms, or simple circuits linked to them, will be drawn into them and converted into sound as normal. Obviously the primary focus of the attunement is to the enemy antimagic field, although it should act as a general field discharger.

[Urist Mc Dwarf]

.

2 - Cannon Silencer: FallacyofUrist, RAM
0 - Satin Flares:
5 - Crystalworks Mk2: Chiefwaffles, Andrea, Draignean, helmacon, Urist Mc Dwarf
1 - Aether-Enhanced Magegems: Kadzar

[/quote]

[Andres]

2 - Cannon Silencer: FallacyofUrist, RAM
0 - Satin Flares:
5 - Crystalworks Mk2: Chiefwaffles, Andrea, Draignean, helmacon, Urist Mc Dwarf
1 - Aether-Enhanced Magegems: Kadzar
1 - Improved Magegem Storage Capacity: Andres

It would make +R and +E shells cheap, makes +RE expensive, and give us a powerful completed technology to work from.

Glory to Arstotzka.

[Kadzar]

2 - Cannon Silencer: FallacyofUrist, RAM
0 - Satin Flares:
5 - Crystalworks Mk2: Chiefwaffles, Andrea, Draignean, helmacon, Urist Mc Dwarf
1 - Aether-Enhanced Magegems: Kadzar
1 - Improved Magegem Storage Capacity: Andres

It would make +R and +E shells cheap, makes +RE expensive, and give us a powerful completed technology to work from.

Glory to Arstotzka.

That's basically what my revision does; it's just fluffed so that it isn't just saying "make this better in some abstract way" and to get a bonus from the Prince's thesis. But I'm fine with making any modifications you think necessary to work.

[Andres]

Future Design: AS-PA-CS
Power Armour - Circuitsuit

The Circuitsuit is a suit of armour different to all other armours that have come before it. It is a full-body skinsuit made of a new form of material - flexible crystal. A variant of crystal, flexible crystal offers similar protection as regular crystal, but is flexible rather than rigid, giving the user much greater flexibility without sacrificing any protection. In fact, the flexible nature of the material means that there wouldn't be any gaps in the armour, improving its protective capabilities compared to our previous armour.

While a new suit of armour made of this new material would be a big step up, the only real "challenge" is making that new material and from the last version of combat armour we made we have found that stopping here is underambitious. With that in mind, it has two additional features.

The first feature is the addition of cooling circuits to keep the wearer at an optimal temperature level. This temperature is of course measured in Celsius. Adding this feature is very basic thanks to our development of scrolls meaning that flexible circuits don't even have to be developed, merely implemented.

The second feature is where the true ambition of the design lies and why it's called a Circuitsuit. With our knowledge and experience with circuits, we can push the envelope of what they're able to achieve. The Circuitsuit features another set of circuits, but with a different purpose to the first set. This second set of circuits is, as its user desires, capable of either increasing the durability of the crystal armour or animating it to an extent, effectively giving the user a boost to strength and speed. This feature is powered by a protected A magegem (or an equivalent amount of AA or AAA magegemts) on the back of the suit, which can provide enough power for 10 continuous minutes of use, though of course it doesn't have to be used up all at once.

Development of the flexible crystal's durability paramaters should only go so far as to ensure that it's as protective as our current crystal when power is run through it to increase its durability. If keeping traditional crystal's durability can be done without increasing design ambition, then it should be done, but otherwise is not a priority.

tl;dr: A bodysuit made out of flexible crystal with two sets of circuits running through it. The first set keeps the user cool (and uses Celsius). The second set can boost the armour's durability or give the user a strength/speed boost by moving the armour. An A magegem (or multiple AA/AAA magegems) powers this ability for up to 10 minutes.

Glory to Arstotzka.

[evictedSaint]

Revision: Crystalworks Mk. 2 [4+1]

Through the magic of "spend more money on it", the Crystalworks has recieved a bump in quality.  Now an actual building rather than a glorified shed, the factory has enough room to produce larger-scale crystal devices in a single print.  A few standard upgrades have likewise been added; a more advanced magegem battery to print in single bursts quicker (although overall speed is still the same, as the entire complex is powered by apprentices), scroll circuits that can be slotted in quicker and easier, and passive nickel circuitry to keep the building a comfortable temperature.  More complex crystal structures can be made, such as resistive and non-resistive crystal layering and more complicated shapes.

Greater room for production means HC1-E's, HA1's, and Crystalclads are now Cheap.  IDE's and Protectors are now Expensive.

[evictedSaint]

Where are you wanting to send Bjorn this year?

[VoidSlayer]

Not in a Protector.  They are a cool proof of concept, but look like death traps to me.  Any bonus to infantry we might gain out of it would be outweighed by them being death traps.