Relatively minor change: Planets now have 3 zones each instead of 2. I felt 2 zones was too limiting and "on/off" for actual warfare.
Combat Phase of 2207At the beginning of the year, our Units are immediately dispatched to their assigned locations - Planets A2, C2, and B2. Eventually, our intelligence begins to pick up signs of Moerth movement. While we can't see too much with our current capabilities, it would appear that planets A3 and C3 are the sites of Moerth activity. This is very worrying development - they seem to be attempting to cut us off and gain a decisive foothold early on. We predict that by the end of the year, our Units on A2 and B2 will not be able to perform at top combat abilities and we won't be able to send equipment to them; just extract them.
Our Units deployed to A2 and C2 without incident are in the process of securing a foothold on the planets.
Amaok has gained a foothold on Planets A2 and C2. [A: 1/3]The only combat this month is on the lush planet of B2. Of course, without a radio, Central Command is forced to give standing orders and observe the battle with sparse courier reports.
Our Unit was successfully deployed onto the planet from orbit without trouble; the Interplanetary Transport Craft's smaller shuttles made the trip without reporting any hostile contact. As we didn't send any forces to intercept their landings occurring at roughly the same time, we can safely assume they landed without incident as well.
The fighting is relatively evenly-matched. Moerth seems to be fielding the same equipment as us - printed pistols and Kevlar armor. But despite this, we seem to be coming out at a loss in the big picture. We're losing more battles than winning. It makes very little sense - they're fielding the same equipment as us!
The Kevlar armor worn by both sides' forces protects the soldiers from the pistols exceptionally well. It's through luck and firepower that our troops can either pierce their armor or hit one of the many uncovered spots. Any serious weapon would be able to penetrate the armor without issue, but the low stopping power of the printed pistol makes it an even match. Our forces are plagued with reports of the unreliable pistols. Every new courier's report states the same thing: Battles and men lost due to pistols jamming or breaking at innopportune times. Strangely enough, this issue seems to be affecting us much more than it's affecting Moerth.
Overall, not much ground is exchanged. Moerth retains a slight advantage over us and may be able to continue pushing it next year, but for now we managed to hold our ground.
Neither side gains ground at Planet B2. [M: 1/3, A: 1/3]Meanwhile, their forces seem to finish deploying on planets C3 and A3. As long as they're set up there, we won't be able to send troops or supplies to our Units at C2 and A2. They'll fight at a reduced effectiveness as well. We can extract these Units at any time. Central Command is hesitant at extracting the Units just yet because we're undoubtedly also cutting off their Units on C3 and A3 from Moerth reinforcement. It will ultimately be up to the Designers.
Moerth has gained a foothold on Planets A3 and C3. [M: 1/3]Production Credits!In other news, a new colony ship has been detected by our long-range detection equipment. It's on course to arrive at one of the colonies within a year. We managed to reach them via long-range radio and initiated contact. They tell us they were sent not too long after we left. The situation on Earth was continuing to deteriorate and no new systems had been found, so they were sent here.
Apparently they wish to join one of the existing colonies, but the leadership on the vessel isn't decided yet. It's no doubt Moerth will try to convince them to join, so we shouldn't back down as well. They're basing their choice on the culture and civilian life in the chosen colony. Central Command is betting that while it's one of the smaller colony ships, it has enough manpower and equipment on board to provide 2 Production Credits, giving us another Production Line for 1 turn each. Central Command has tasked you with convincing the vessel's occupants to join us by explaining our culture, and probably how it's superior to Moerth.
Convince the colony ship to join your colony through any materials describing Amaok's culture to acquire 2 Production Credits. (Propaganda goes in Core thread)
Interplanetary Transport Craft: A primitive “shuttle” capable of carrying a unit and basic equipment to another planet. It’s quite large, and built completely in space. Docked to it are SSTO rocket shuttles designed with just enough fuel to carry things to/from planetside and return. However, the lack of large empty spaces in the shuttle and craft as well as limited fuel in the rocket shuttles means it can’t carry “heavy” things. The ITC relies on efficient chemical engines for thrust and powers essential systems via solar panels. While it can still carry units, the ITC cannot carry any item with a minimum weight above 1 CU.
Cargo: 4 CU
Expense: 3x
Resources: Metal, Exotics
Printed Pistol: A basic pistol that’s created via advanced 3d-printing techniques, making it very cheap. Unfortunately, its benefits stop there. It’s uncomfortable to use, inaccurate, works at short ranges, and fires very weak rounds. Fortunately, these rounds are still enough to puncture the basic suits and unarmored clothing used by soldiers on the field. Very light. Unreliable.
Weight: 1 CU = 10x
Expense: Unlimited
X112 Space Suit: A bulky space suit originally designed for the vacuum of space. It’s relatively flexible compared to spacesuits used by earlier space agencies such as NASA, but greatly restricts agility. Its complete lack of armor doesn’t help either. Luckily it’s cheap to produce.
Weight: 1 CU = 3x
Expense: Unlimited
Armoured Space Suit: A version of the X112 with very light Kevlar covering vital parts of the body. Notably increases overall injury survival rate, but wearers will still be heavily wounded by projectiles and the like.
Weight: 1 CU = 3x
Expense: 1x
Resources: Metal
Kevlar Armor & Uniform: Very basic thin-layered and light-weight partial Kevlar armor. Not even a helmet is included. This armor was originally used for security personnel sent with the colonies. It cannot be used in conjunction with regular armor. The facilities for producing Kevlar are still very limited in the colonies, making this armor a luxury.
Weight: 1 CU = 5x
Expense: 1x
Resources: Metal
Radio: Communications are done via basic radio systems. However, the size required means units would have to lug expensive radio systems to planets with them in order to communicate with Central Command back at their homeworld.
Weight: 2 CU = 1x
Expense: 2x
Resources: Metal
Fusion Engine: A huge 1-mile in radius Tokamak-based Fusion Reactor. Produces power comparable to a much smaller conventional power plant. Requires very long and energy-consuming warmup time. Once activated, will start to meltdown, produces extreme magnetic effects in 10-mile radius while stunning people in radius.
PlanetsA1 - 1 Metal Unclaimed
A2 - 1 Exotic A: 1/3
A3 - 1 Metal M: 1/3
B1 - Nothing Unclaimed
B2 - Nothing A: 1/3, M: 1/3
C1 - 1 Metal Unclaimed
C2 - 1 Exotic A: 1/3
C3 - 1 Metal M: 1/3
Production Line 1: Interplanetary Transport Craft (3/3)
Production Line 2: Printed Pistol (Unlimited)
Production Line 3: X112 Space Suit (Unlimited)
Production Line 4: Kevlar Armor & Uniform (0/1)
Production Line 5: Radio (2/2)
Production Line 6: Armoured Space Suit (0/1)
Production Line 7:
Production Line 8:
Production Line 9:
Production Line 10:
Unit 1:
Equipped: Printed Pistol
Location: Amaok
Unit 2:
Equipped: Printed Pistol
Location: Amaok
Unit 3:
Equipped: Armoured Space Suit, Printed Pistol
Location: A2
Unit 4:
Equipped: X112 Space Suit, Printed Pistol
Location: C2
Unit 5:
Equipped: Kevlar Armor & Uniform, Printed Pistol
Location: B2
Interplanetary Transport Craft 1: Unassigned
Interplanetary Transport Craft 2: Unassigned
Interplanetary Transport Craft 3: Unassigned
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Topic: Planetary Arms Race - Amaok, Strategy Phase 2212 (Read 34672 times)