Three CaptainsFog rolls in, thick and deep. Spotters scan the horizons leading to enemy territory for any sight of hull or trim, but the odds are against them. Without an enemy to pursue, the fleet falls into defensive positions around the Three Captains. With luck, the blockade will prevent them from reinforce their position with cannon or increasing the manpower with which they hold the line.
The UnfinishedThe Natalie IV's report of the unfinished is both short and alarming. She arrives and sets up position shortly ahead of a Wrethan transport ship, which her Captain observes docking with the Unfinished Spire and departing in short order. There are no defensive ships in the area, nor do there appear to be any easily visible fortifications or gunnery sections sections built out of the Unfinished's frame.
At least, not at first. As days pass, the captain of the Natalie IV reports construction of a crude dock occurring, and the launch of several simple resource ferrying transports. There still does not appear to be any evidence of defensive guns, and the dock is remarkably crude. Less frequently than outbound resource shipments, civilian transports also make their way to the Unfinished spire from Wreth, and it is there that the captain notes a disturbing peculiarity on his spyglass. While the ships coming from Wreth fly their flag, the ships sent from the Unfinished fly no colors at all.
Regardless, the situation appears worse than expected. As an aside, the captain reports that his few crew of all reported sharp headaches, difficulty sleeping, and bizarre and horrifying dreams. While the captain's letter is careful to avoid directly saying that he believes the Unfinished spire to be bad luck and a malevolent omen, he and his men would appreciate new orders in the face of the Wrethan development.
Spire KasgyreA new Natalie comes into service, joined by the Dionysus and the partially completed Viperidae.
A new squad of marines and several new communications officers finish training.
Prototype Bonus RoundViper Production Line[Efficacy: 1 Cost: 1 Bugs: 3]
A close evaluation of the Viper Production line nearly brings the engineering department to tears. Many of the investment funds set up to back the project's cost have been quietly diverted into other channels, including some rather predator investments into the open crystal market generated by the hanging gardens. Likewise, the suppliers of the materials and the shipyard workers appear to have reached a certain solidarity with on another, and have taken the promise of guaranteed regular work as an opportunity to double their respective costs. Based on these figures, the completed production line would be able to finance a single viper every four years, and only one such viper.
Vertical Envelopment[Efficacy: 2 Cost: 4 Bugs: 1]
It seems that it's a bad idea to finalize curricula immediately after drowning your sorrows over a failed production line in strong whiskey. The Vertical Envelopment tactic, in its standard form, absolutely requires the grappling gear to be effective in any way. Soldiers using it will attempt to surround the enemy from a multitude of direction, theoretically flanking from five flanks. In practice, it rarely works that well. It needs a fairly large number of people (four squads) available to muster force on all fronts effectively, and the actual difficulties in clambering around mean that a highly mobile force may have already moved on when an attack begins. The lecturers also seemed to have neglected anything approaching proper coordination, and ambushes are frequently triggered by whoever decides to shoot first, leaving soldiers grotesquely out of position and cut off from one another.
Prototype Bonus:
Vertical Envelopment: A somewhat poorly implemented tactic to attack a target from multiple unexpected directions by exploiting cave geography. It requires grappling gear, and functions even more poorly when less than four full squads are using it. There is a considerable risk of the tactic putting some squads out of position during offensive actions, and is somewhat time consuming to get people in position due to lack of good communication.
Completion Bonus:
Spider Marines: 3 Squads of marines, 6 silk for 2 Squads | A specially trained squad of marines, pre-equipped with strong silk grappling lines. Spider Marines can use the Vertical Envelopment tactic in conjunction with any tactic, and do not have to be told to use vertical envelopment.
A.I.M[Efficacy: 2 Cost: 5 Bugs: 5]
The good news about everything going bad and getting horribly inebriated, is that there are sometimes revelations to be had from within a drunken stupor. The AIM diagrams that once seemed complex beyond understanding now seem childishly simple, the formulas that once seemed insane are now reasonable, and the half-built attempts to emulate the savants work are swept aside like child's toys for the real work to begin. The machine can be created, it IS possible, it WILL work!
Unfortunately, despite pushing the frontiers of science, the machine is rather underwhelming in operation. The prototype unit resembles a large cage, lined with weapons crystals designs to generate a very specific aetheric resonance. When turned on, the machine emits a characteristic hum that's aggravating for short periods and maddening for longer ones, but any mist within the cage dissipates rapidly. Engineering is confident that they can open the cage design up a bit, creating surface spikes capable of controlling the mist in an area around them, but they'll be rather enormously power hungry- which is a bit of a problem when the primary source of energy is notably missing.
Limited testing, however, has shown that the spikes have absolutely no ability to deter surface monsters in any way. They allow for better visibility, but they don't hold attacks at bay. This puts a rather sharp limit on how far operations can be expanded before the cost is prohibitive.
Prototype Bonus:
Mist Manipulation: You can banish the mist using aetherics. Time will tell how useful this is.
On Completion:
AIM Expedition: 2 Crystal, 3 Ore, 2 silk | Permanently improves a Spire's ability to gather wood or silk by 1 unit per turn. Can be stacked up to 3 times.
It is now the beginning of the year 371 AR.
Spire Kasgyre's Production stands at
13(+10)/y Crystal, 35/115 Banked
17/y Ore, 28/85 banked
19/y Wood, 95/95 banked
10/y Silk, 21/50 banked
It is now the design and project maintenance phase. You have 7 dice to spend.
Viper Production Line: 1/35 | 7C + 5O + 5W + 2S, +15 From any combination of any resource | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Vertical Envelopment 2/10 | 3 from each of COWS + 4 from Any combination of COWS | Rushed 0 times | Nothing Invested
AIM (Special Project) 0/27 | - | Rushed 0 times | Nothing Invested
The Calm: The calm is a region of the aerosphere with almost no wind beyond fleeting turbulence, and absolutely no aetheric currents. It's frigidly cold, and filled with fine red 'snow' that barely moves. Traversing it with a conventional vessel is impossible due to the lack of energy to fuel the lift and trim crystals.
The Everstorm: As the name suggests, the everstorm is a region of the aerosphere dominated by an enormous and eternal thunderstorm. It's a chaotic region of raging winds and surging aetheric energy that manifests in terrible bursts of prismatic flame. No conventional vessel could hope to survive the nightmarish storm conditions.
Kasgyre Territory Blackstone Marine Presence: K 0/14 | W 0/14
Territory: 4/4 | 0/4
Resources: 1C, 5O, 2W, 0S
Conditions: Rocky, large caverns, very dark
The Hive Marine Presence: K 0/10 | W 0/10
Territory: 4/4 | 0/4
Resources: 1C, 2O, 1W, 4S
Conditions: Spider Nursery, narrow and twisting tunnels
Glowcove Marine Presence: K 0/20 | W 0/20
Territory: 4/4 | 0/4
Resources: 1C, 2O, 6W, 1S
Conditions: Verdant galleries, significant bio-luminescence
The BeltThree Captains Marine Presence: K 0/20 | W ?/20
Territory: 0/4 | 4/4
Resources: 1C, 6O, 2W, 6S
Conditions: Kinetoluminescent Ores, Heavily Infested
Wrackspire Marine Presence: K 0/12 | W ?/12
Territory: 0/4 | ?/4
Resources: 3C, 4O, 4W, 2S
Conditions: Unstable Aetheric Phenomena, Broken Spire
Burned MountainMarine Presence: K 0/24 | W ?/24
Territory: 0/4 | ?/4
Resources: 1C, 10O, 1W, 0S
Conditions: Inexplicably Molten Core, Hundreds of narrow tunnels and small galleries.
The UnfinishedMarine Presence: K 0/45 | W ?/45
Territory: 0/4 | ?/4
Resources: 8C, 0O, 6W, 2S
Conditions: Unfinished infrastructure, Massive open rooms and halls.
Natalie IV - Skyskiff Class (x1)
Loadout
Comms Officer
2 Light Topaz Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun)
1 Very Small Topaz Core Crystal
1 Very Small Topaz Lift Crystal
4 Topaz Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing
Location: The Unfinished
Status: Shipshape
One-Eyed Will - Skyskiff Class (x1)
Loadout
Communications Officer
2 Light Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun).
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal
4 Trim Crystals
2 reams of webbing
Location: Three Captains
Status: Shipshape
RKNV Ophidian - Viper Class
Loadout
1 Communications Officer
1 Vanguard Cannon (forward Mount)
8 Light Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun) [6 front, 2 rear]
2 Sections Light Copper Armor
1 Medium Core Crystal
1 Small Basic Lift Crystal
8 Trim Webs
4 Trim Crystals
6 reams of webbing
Location: Three Captains
Status: Shipshape
RKNV Anguis - Viper Class
Loadout
1 Communications Officer
3 Light Topaz Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun) [2 front, 1 rear]
5 Light Aether Cannon+ (Kettlegun) [4 Front, 1 Rear]
1 Topaz Vanguard Cannon (Front)
2 Sections Light Copper Armor
1 Medium Topaz Core Crystal
1 Small Topaz Lift Crystal
10 Topaz Trim Webs
2 Topaz Trim Crystals
6 reams of webbing
Location: Three Captains
Status: Shipshape
RKNV Viperidea - Viper Class
Loadout
1 Communications Officer
2 Light Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun) [2 front, 0 rear]
1 Medium Topaz Core Crystal
1 Small Topaz Lift Crystal
4 Topaz Trim Crystals
6 reams of webbing
Location: Three Captains
Status: Shipshape
Canary - Skyskiff Class (x1)
Loadout
Communications Officer
2 Light Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun).
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal
4 Trim Crystals
2 reams of webbing
Location: Three Captains
Status: Shipshape
Natalies - Skyskiff Class (x2)
Loadout
Comms Officer
2 Light Topaz Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun)
1 Very Small Topaz Core Crystal
1 Very Small Topaz Lift Crystal
4 Topaz Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing
Location: Three Captains
Status: Shipshape
Dionysus - Transport Class
Loadout
Comms Officer
1 Small Topaz Core Crystal
1 Small Lift Crystal
2 Topaz Trim Crystals
1 ream of webbing
Carrying: 0/6
Location: Three Captains
Status: Shipshape
Natalie V - Skyskiff Class (x1)
Loadout
2 Light Topaz Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun)
1 Very Small Topaz Core Crystal
1 Very Small Topaz Lift Crystal
4 Topaz Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing
Location: Three Captains
Status: Shipshape
Topaz Gauntlet x1
Topaz VS Core x1
Current Technology
Infantry
Flintlock Pistol: Cost: 2 ore to give one of either to every fireteam in a squad, 8 to give to every man. Inaccurate beyond spitting distance, incapable of dealing significant damage against hard armor, and liable to explode when used regularly even when given the most expert maintenance, the primary advantage of these weapons is that they can punch straight through shrouds like they didn't exist, and they're slowed by aethersilk officer's coats as much as by an ordinary silk shirt.
Flintlock Rifle: Cost: 3 ore to give one of either to every fireteam in a squad, 12 to give to every man. Reasonably accurate, but slow to reload and still incapable of dealing significant damage against hard armor or ship hulls. These weapons still require expert maintenance to keep them from being single-use weapons, and sustained use still makes these weapons terrifyingly unreliable as service weapons. Still, an excellent choice for shooting through silk shirts and ignoring shrouds.
Grappling Gear: Cost: 1 ore to give to every member of a squad. Standard issue ropes and hooks for boarding vessels or climbing the outside of spires. Cumbersome if you're not going to use it.
Aetheric Gauntlet: Cost: 1 Ore, 1 crystal to give one to every fireteam in a squad, 4 of each to give one to everyone. A gauntlet (usually left handed to keep the right hand free) of copper and leather with a tiny weapons crystal locked into the palm. Capable of firing dozens of low energy blasts of aetheric energy at the user's discretion, but is difficult to aim and the copper cage used to draw heat from the crystal has the unsettling tendency to leave disfiguring gauntlet burns, melt, or set the user on fire if used too frequently.
Aetheric Pistol: Cost: 1 Ore, 1 crystal, 1 Wood to give one to every fireteam in a squad, 4 of each to give one to everyone. A small pistol of copper and wood, slung in a leather holster. More accurate and more physically encumbering than a gauntlet, with much less risk of accidentally burning your arm, but also an increased risk of accidentally melting the gun due to overheating.
Bronze Cutlass: Cost: 2 Ore to give to every member of a squad. A simple, heavy blade of bronze attached to a wooden handle. Simple, and brutally effective in close quarters.
Aethersilk Vest: Cost: 1 Silk to give to a squad's ranking officer, 5 silk to provide to ranking officer and team leads, 16 silk to give to every member of a squad. A double layer vest of dense aethersilk, capable of absorbing a considerable amount of Aetheric energy. Can stop multiple point-blank shots from a gauntlet, but doesn't cover the arms, legs, or head. Does nothing against physical weapons or projectiles.
Witch Hunter Crossbow: Cost: 2 wood 2 ore to give one to every fireteam, 8 wood 8 ore for every man.The cranequin mechanism is much swifter than many similar designs (though that isn't saying much), and is integrated directly into the weapon in order to avoid a cumbersome stage of attaching and reattaching. A trained infantryman operating the weapon can crank back that 175 pound arms and fire in approximately 45 seconds. The bolts themselves are typically made with a bronze broadhead point to better shred infantry, and have passed every performance test asked of them- and engineers are confident that they could go through light infantry armor if modified with a chisel point. Includes an escessive amount of brass ornamentation, as well as an ornate identification plate for Division markings.
Aetheric Grenades: Cost: 1 Crystal, 1 ore to give one to every man in a squad, or four to every member of a fireteam. | Fist sized grenades carrying tiny precharged weapon and core crystals, capable of exploding after a delay of 5-ish seconds. Cheap assembly means that the soldier is never sure where in the realm of 5-ish that delay is. Roughly a quarter as powerful as an LAC blast, and operates primarily on the initial blast of plasma and burning metal. An ordinary marine can currently (safely) carry up to four grenades. Each round, every man in a fireteam has a 75% chance to use a grenade. This is evaluated per fireteam, not per man.
Bronze Breastplate and Helm: Cost: 1 ore for the officer, 3 ore for squad leaders, 10 ore for every man. Whilst a little on the heavy side, all of that weight is put into protection rather than ornamentation. The new design is thick over the vitals, well sculpted around the arms to allow freedom of motion, and flared at the sides to rest on the hips and keep the weight off the soldier's shoulders. Tests against pistols have shown that the armor has an excellent chance of absorbing shots from beyond point-blank range. Witch Hunter Crossbows penetrate much more readily. Comes with a pair of rip-buckles for quick removal, useful when the armour overheats from repeated aetheric blast strikes.
--> Just the helms: 1 Per fireteam, 3 per squad
--> Just the plates: 3 per fireteam, 8 per squad
--> Yes, there's a bulk discount for buying the matched sets.
Mobile Cover Platform 5 Crystal, 4 ore, 4 wood, 2 silk for one. Limit 1 per fireteam. Requires 1 TU. A floating chunk of wood and bronze with integrated VS core and trim crystals, capable of generating a shroud and resisting limited physical weapon's fire. Wide enough to provide concealment cover to a fireteam, and capable of generating a shroud large enough to protected a grouped squad. However, drains aether in the area rapidly, greatly limited the shroud's lifetime.
Mobile Cover Platform - LITE Variant 5 Crystal, 2 ore, 3 wood, 2 silk for one. Limit 1 per fireteam. Requires 1 TU. As the standard mobile cover, but with much of its excessively ornamental armor stripped away. As a result it's, cheaper, lighter, faster, and substantially more vulnerable to physical projectiles.
Ship Tech
Signal Flashers: Costs One squad of marines, 1 crystal, 1 ore, per set of 3 communications officers. Each ship needs only a single communications officer | A trained aeronaut with a handheld lightgun, capable of transmitting a considerable amount of information over long distance via military shorthand flashsign signals. Of course, to be understood, the reciever also needs to have a comms officer. All spires, by default, are considered to have comms officers on watch.
Light Aether Cannon+ (Kettle Gun): 1 Crystal, 1 Ore for one. A small cannon, capable of being mounted on deck without reinforcement. Fires powerful blasts of aetheric energy, and uses a removable block of copper as a heat-sink. Relatively inaccurate, short ranged, hot, power hungry, and prone to exploding violently if hit directly by enemy fire. Still, it can blow wood into flaming cinders and will melt through light plating in a few shots.
---> Kasgyrian modifications to use water based heat sinks for the cooling block and additional pipes for the barrel have reduced cannon weight and increased the initial volley the cannon can make before becoming dangerously hot. Causes the cannon to make a distinctive whistle during the first volley, akin to that of a kettle.
---> Further Modifications allow the cannon's water reserve to be refilled during combat. Still, this is a delicate operation that requires a degree of platform stability, provides at best one additional reload in a combat situation, and cannot be done at all on skiffs.
---> Lucky improvements allow higher energy projectiles from topaz weapons crystals to be channeled without loss of operation efficacy.
Vanguard 'Mini' LAC (Small Cannon) 3 Ore, 2 Crystal, Small | A single barrel variant of the Vanguard, designed to run in small mounts. Suffers greatly increased issues from the water leakage of the Vanguard design, and can only manage a sustained ROF of one shot per 18 seconds.
Vanguard Cannon (Medium-Small Cannon) 5 Ore, 3 Crystal, Requires a Medium Mount | A triple barreled, water cooled monster. Her only significant issue is a slight issue with water leakage that impacts overall ROF slightly, but aside from that she can fire a full power LAC shot every two seconds, and can sustain that rate of fire nearly indefinitely.
Basic Core Crystal: [VS 3 Crystal | S 6 Crystal] A massive rough gem, grown in vats and used to transduce aetheric energy into electric current. This particular model is relatively inefficient, both as a transducer and as a storage unit. It can generate a defensive shroud around a vessel, but more than a single shot from a light Aether cannon on the same point will knock a hole in the shroud. Will explode spectacularly if hit directly.
Medium Core Crystal: [18 Crystal] Three small core crystals, fused together in a propietary process. While it shares the inefficiencies of its smaller cousins, she's approximately four times more powerful. Under stress, there is a chance that the core crystal will desynchronize, greatly reducing its power output. A desynchronized core can only be fixed by a refit action at the home spire.
---> Medium core crystals now come with a suite of tools designed to monitor its state and resynchronize it in the event something goes wrong. However, the monitoring tools are so effective that an engineer who is familiar with the 'heartbeat' of the core he or she works with can virtually eliminate any chance of desynchronization.
Basic Lift Crystal: [VS 2 Crystal, 2 ore | S 3 Crystal, 2 ore for one] A chunk of crystal the size of a bathtub, heavily reinforced so that it can be locked into a ship's spine. When fed electricity, it will progressively invert gravity's effect on itself, flying upwards and pulling anything attached up with it. This basic model is incredibly power hungry, produces only enough lift for a small ship and internal flaws mean that extreme maneuvers could easily cause it to crack.
Basic Trim Crystals: 1 Crystal for two. Head sized chunks of crystal, similar to lift crystals, though of greater refinement. These produce directional gravity when powered, allowing a ship to make finer maneuvers. Like the basic lift crystal, these are power hungry and prone to fracture of used for rapid maneuverability.
Trim Web: Cost 1 Crystal, 1 ore, 3 wood to substitute for 2 trim crystals. A trim web essentially spreads out the power of a single trim crystal throughout a dozen or more smaller crystals networked together. While this network is of essentially equal power to a single trim crystal, it's ability to spread force out over a larger area allows for much higher acceleration without cracking the crystal. Sadly, it currently needs extensive and custom refit procedures relative to standard trim crystals.
Basic Webbing: 2 Silk per ream. Aethersilk webbing, designed to catch hold of aetheric currents and shunt them into a ship's core crystal. Particularly susceptible to fire from aetheric weapons, which will rapidly cause overloads that burn out whole sections of webbing.
Light Copper Ship Plating: 3 ore per section. Nearly pure copper plates, heavy, but with good thermal conductivity. Useful for spreading out the heat generated by an aether blast. Low melting point does mean that repeated impacts will melt the armor and set fire to the wood beneath.
Ship Hulls
Viper Corvette:12 wood, 5 ore for one.
A fifty foot long frame of wood and bronze reinforcement, her unusual structure reminiscent of the head of a pit viper. She's designed with forward firepower and incredible speed in mind, featuring eight bow mounts and two aft mounts, all of which integrate the mechanical hand-crank system to aim the cannons. She has a notable ability to keep up a good fight even when all of the webbing outside her shroud has been disabled.
She has no usable cargo capacity.
Armament
10 light cannon mounts | 8 in the bow 2 aft.
Armor
None intrinsic
Can mount two sections of armor on the head.
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (At least small, up to medium)
1 Lift Crystal (At least small, up to medium)
4/8/12 Trim Crystals for poor/avg/good performace
6 reams of webbing
Viper Corvette, Vanguard Variant: 13 wood, 7 ore for one. 3 wood, 4 ore to refit from basic Viper class.
A Variant of the Viper designed to handle four Vanguard mounts in the bow section. While specialization inhibits the bow from effectively mounting anything else, she's capable of mounting a Vanguard with relative ease and comfort.
She has no usable cargo capacity.
Armament
4 Specialized Bow Mounts, Vanguard Cannon
2 Aft Light Cannon Mounts
Armor
None intrinsic
Can mount two sections of armor on the head.
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (At least small, up to medium)
1 Lift Crystal (At least small, up to medium)
4/8/12 Trim Crystals for poor/avg/good performace
6 reams of webbing
Skyskiff 5 wood, 2 ore for one.
At her heart, the Skyskiff is an 18ft long frame of sleek timber and brass reinforcement, built from the ground up to be light on the air and quick to handle. Her basic design is quite old, dating back before the perfection of trim crystals, and she still sports a rudimentary mast that a sail can be run from in addition to the normal spars to run out web. In service, she's typically run by a crew of four. Two gunners who worked crouched in the middle of the ship, a pilot who spends their time practically laying on top of the core crystal in order to manipulate the power control, and the spotter who usually stands at the rear of the ship and calls out directions and threats. Generally, the captain of the vessel is the spotter, due to their superior vantage point and ability to see the entire local theatre.
A notable problem with the Skyskiff is that despite her speed, her web is cumbersome to replace, and without it she's painfully slow. In addition, both her Core Crystal and Her Lift Crystal slots are only designed to fit small crystals. Her small lift crystal means a lot of the burden for vertical maneuvers is still placed on the power hungry trim crystals, which in turn puts more demand on her small core. As a result, her shroud is weak, and a single light cannon blast will knock a hole in it. It still takes two or three more shots before her shroud will buckle entirely, but if another shot comes in the same spot swiftly enough- that's the end of the skiff. Except in the most fortunate of circumstances, a single cannon blast to an unshrouded skiff will destroy it.
She has no usable cargo capacity.
Armament
2 light cannon mounts. One on each side.
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (Up to Very Small in size)
1 Lift Crystal (Up to Very Small in size)
4 Trim Crystals
2 reams of webbing
Webbed Skyskiff
Skyskiff 9 wood, 2 ore for one.
A heavily over-designed skiff designed to natively mount trim webs. Incurs no wood cost for mounting trim webs instead of trim crystals, bringing the unit web cost down to 1C 1O.
She has no usable cargo capacity.
Armament
2 light cannon mounts. One on each side.
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (Up to Very Small in size)
1 Lift Crystal (Up to Very Small in size)
2 Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing
Transport barge 7 wood, 2 ore for one.
In times of peace, this was the vessel most frequently seen going to and from Spires. She's little more than a wooden oval with a few metal bands designed to support the lift crystal. She's got capacity for crew and cargo, but she's quite slow when fully loaded, and her lack of significant trim crystals means that she can't maneuver with any speed. Her only real defense against attack is to dive down into the mist layer and hope that the attacking vessel loses her trail before the mistmaw comes lurking.
She can hold six units of cargo.
Armament
None
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (Up to small size)
1 Lift Crystal (Up to small size)
2 Trim Crystals
1 ream of webbing
Basic Dinghy (Special, used automatically by Marines to embark/disembark transports)
A very small boat, technically capable of transporting eight people as long as they aren't too broad, don't have a fear of heights, and their legs aren't too long. Her core crystal is about the size of a housecat, and kept powered by a fixed ventral web. She's solid wood, unarmed, and has the tendency to tip alarmingly as she doesn't actually use a lift crystal, but makes do entirely on a trio of small trim crystals. It's a slow and terrifying way to travel. Though she's the primary lifeboat of transports, your chances of survival are alarmingly small if you find yourself alone in a dingy .
When used by marines, she's typically crewed by five, with the squad leader acting as an extra member in every set of three boats. When going into a hostile spire, one marine steers, the other four act as spotters or (if one or more has a gauntlet or rifle) shooters. She's such a small vessel that it doesn't take more than a dozen gauntlet shots for her to break apart completely, and a single shot to her ventral web will (at best) cripple her.
Her core crystal is, technically, capable of generating a shroud. However, the limited energy the miniscule core crystal can process limits the crew to picking two of three options: Maintain Altitude control, maintain thrust, raise shroud. For obvious reasons, raising the shroud is something of a last resort. Worse, even when powered, the shroud can be penetrated by sustained gauntlet fire. This is to say nothing of a shot from a light cannon. The shroud will buckle completely after a single shot from a light cannon, though to its credit, that's one more cannon shot than the Dinghy would have survived normally.
Other Tech
Hanging Crystal Gardens: 2 Crystal, 2 Ore, 2 Wood, 2 Silk for one. Government subsidies and buyback programs for the common populace to launch portable vatteries from spire edge properties, gaining a net increase in crystal revenue. Each vattery increases a Spire's crystal production by one. Each spire can fly 5 of these or up to its normal crystal production limit, whichever is higher.
Marines
Massed Fire and Charge: When engaging, Marines will bunch up to focus fire with their ranged weapons until they run out of ammunition or become too hot to use (depending on weapon type), at which point they will charge in with melee weapons.
Defensive Fire: Instead of firing until charging, Marines will look for defensive positions, take cover, and then fire when able from behind said defensive positions. Includes methods for both staggered retreats and staggered advances.
Ambush+Stealth: Currently an abysmal failure of a strategic plan, as soldiers usually blow the ambush much to early and engage on first contact.
Flanking Tactics: Up to four squads of marines can be selected to work together and perform a flanking maneuver. One to three squads will attempt to engage the enemy, while the remaining squads will attempt to find a different venue of attack. The number of squads involved could be increased at a later date.
Fighting Retreat: Infantry will retreat, prioritizing their own lives, but will also take every opening provided by an advancing enemy to nettle them and inflict casualties. Tactical excellence also allows our captains to extend retreat actions, giving a small but significant chance to not lose ground even when in retreat.
Bait and Strike: Similar to a fighting retreat, except with less retreat and a lot more fight. Extremely good at holding territory against an enemy who has numbers but few other advantages, and is capable of inflicting dire casualties. Still, this is fundamentally based in false-retreats, and is largely ineffective at actually gaining ground.
--> Marines will also do their damnedest too use their spare time (if any) to reinforce and lay traps and slow future enemy advances. They're devilishly clever at it, but do much better when well supplied with materials and options.
Ships
Close Aggressively: Ships will attempt to close distance with enemy vessels and engage at close range, firing all cannons until the enemy is destroyed.
Hit and Run: Ships will attempt to ambush enemy vessels from either high above or far below. Instead of remaining in engagement distance after the first volley, the vessel will retain speed and attempt to disengage before turning for another pass.
Airborne Ambush Maneuvers: Similar to hit and run, except with slightly more refined tactics. The fleet using this maneuver will attempt to form a simultaneous two pronged attack from both above and below, and will remain to engage the enemy after the initial onslaught.
Blockade: Orders ships to form up around a spire, out of range of enemy emplaced guns, and attempt to prevent vessels from coming or going. However, a strong kasgyrite sense of honor all put prevents them from firing on unarmed civilian vessels.
Scouting: Orders a ship or ships to find an overwatch position, either to defend a fleet or to scope out a particular location. Currently uses cannon fire signals, but will switch to more efficacious methods when able. Quite effective.
Coordinated Fire: Ships will attempt to remember weak points on enemy ships, focusing fire on weaker sections of larger vessels, and using spread fire to attempt to overcome the evasion of small vessels. When paired with a scouting vessel, fire coordination can be down at a fleet level as long as all vessels also have communications officers. However, lack of fleet command experience and a simplistic chain of command make fleet fire control less effective than it could be.
Ambush+Coordinated Fire: A recopy of the ambush tactic, interlocked with coordinated fire. Ships running ambushes will now be aware of, and attempt to enforce, patterns and weakness called out by watching coordinated fire ships. Loses something in terms of communication efficacy and stealth assault capability, but still effective.
Circle the Wagons: A defensive tactics where the designated vessels attempt to look after the weakest ships in the fleet, and can be manually assigned to look after specific ships. Ships will give their last full measure of devotion to protect their targets.
Leather Aeronaut Helmets: Simple leather helmets, providing a very limited measure of protection in combat, and much more valuable elemental protection for aeronauts.
Gun Swivels: Rudimentary swivel mounts operated by hand cranks. These represent a first effort in the field, and are scarcely more effective than manual movement for light guns, except when trying to aim for a very precise point when still, but they can carry a decent amount of weight and serve as a reasonable proof of concept.
Station Harnesses: Well designed low-tech harnesses of leather and rope fitted together with metal buckles, designed to keep an aeronaut at his post even during extreme maneuvers. Lightweight and effective, though it does prevent movement when worn and doesn't actually reduce g-force in any way.
Basic Optics: A bit of military funding greatly improves the spyglasses and telescopes of the day. Currently takes the form of good spyglasses, given to crews in order to aid in resolving whether a suspicious contact is a threat or not. Limited FOV makes using them actually detect threats prohibitively time consuming.
Small Vanguard Mount Conversion: 2 'adjacent' small mounts, 3 ore, 3 wood. Converts over a pair of small mounts to be able to mount a Vanguard cannon. However, this mounting is, strictly speaking, too small. It's a bitch of an environment for the gunner, and the gun itself is incapable of moving from its fixed position.
Small Docks: Relatively simple affairs of wood jutting out into the void, capable of servicing a relatively small number of light craft. These docks are best suited to peace time usage, and are ill-equipped to service or build true warships. Light defensive cannons have been mounted in strategic positions, and will be upgraded automatically when needed.
Provides a single production line that can be used for any small or smaller production pattern.
Marine Academy: The basic and unaugmented marine academy, where men and women are transformed from milksop civilians into hardened marines.
Provides a single production line to be used ONLY on Marine production.
Imperial Topaz: Special Cost | Glorious crystal of deep amber hue, Imperial Topaz is the nickname for crystal grown by the princess herself in the Garden of Glass. Whatever the technique used by the princess, these creations are of peerless quality, effectively twice as good as a standard crystal. The princess, however, is no vatterer, and does not answer directly to... anyone. As such, production is eccentric. Every round, the princess will have 2d6+1 random crystal items that she can make. These items have normal cost, but are only available in the amounts specified.
--> With Imperial Funding, the princess always produces an additional 1d4 items.
Production Patterns
Basic Marine Training: [Max: 25 | Rate: 2]
Generates Marine units at the spire. These marines are capable in hand-to-hand combat, but are not provided any initial weapons. You might want to buy them swords, at the very least.
Skyskiff Pattern A: [Max: 10 | Rate: 2]
Creates two Skyskiff units per turn, up to a max of 10. Each skyskiff is outfitted with
2 Light Aether Cannons.
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal
4 Trim Crystals
2 reams of webbing
Buyback cost: 9 crystal, 6 ore, 5 wood, 4 silk
Skyskiff Pattern B: [Max: 8 | Rate: 1]
Creates one Skyskiff units per turn, up to a max of 7. Each skyskiff is outfitted with
2 Light Aether Cannons.
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal
4 Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing
Buyback cost: 9 crystal, 8 ore, 9 wood, 4 silk
Skyskiff Pattern 'Natalie': [Max: 8 | Rate: 1]
Creates one Skyskiff units per turn, up to a max of 8. When this pattern is active, the princess' topaz production is cut to 1d4-2. Each skyskiff is outfitted with
2 Light Topaz Aether Cannons.
1 Very Small Topaz Core Crystal
1 Very Small Topaz Lift Crystal
4 Topaz Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing
Buyback cost: 9 crystal, 8 ore, 9 wood, 4 silk
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Topic: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Kasgyr (Read 153344 times)