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[Draignean]

Alright, your revisions look mostly locked in, but I'll give you about half an hour to shuffle things about before I do the write-up.

[Tack]

Revision 1:
Itshana materials review: (4) Tack, Milo, Johiah, Jilladilla
No revision: (2) NUKE, Madman

Revision 2:
Itshana Select Skyskiff pattern: (1) Milo
Tactic: Avoid the strong, target the weak: (1) Nirur
Tactic: AGILE (Avoiding Guns Intelligently Lowers Expirations): (5) Madman, Jilladilla, Johiah, NUKE, Tack

Order:
Cloudrunner scrap:,Yes: (6) Milo, NUKE, Madman, Jilladilla, Johiah, Tack
High Vigil Time Reversal, Yes (7)

[Draignean]

Itshana Materials Review
Efficacy: 1
A review of the material used in the Itshana process comes back with the worst possible news- there is no significant room for optimization of the current formula. The Itshana process, as currently envisioned, is nearly optimal, and the the current exotic materials required show little potential for substitution with cheaper concoctions. Aside from an increase in their knowledge of crystal chemistry, the experiments yield no valuable results.

AGILE
Efficacy: 2+1
Exploiting the superior maneuverability of our ships is a natural progression considering the inferior capabilities of Wreth vessels, and, at the small scale, it goes quite well. The issue is with coordinating multiple vessels. With groups of ~5 small skiffs, captains are able to move nearly freely, but as the number of friendly ships increases, the lack of formal evasion patterns makes crashing into a friendly vessel an increasingly likelihood. Still, for small groups, the AGILE tactic is effective.

Scrapping the Cloudrunner
3 Dice Returned
2 ore, 12 wood returned.


It is now the Production, Deployment, and Tactics phase.

11/y Crystal, 25/55 Banked
8/y Ore, 7/40 banked
18/y Wood, 41/90 banked
7/y Silk, 31/35 banked

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

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.

Wreth Territory

Haze-Maze
Marine Presence: K 0/8 |  W 1/8
--->Marines
---> Squad G (No Equip)
Territory: 0/4 | 2/4
Resources: 1C, 3O, 1W, 2S
Conditions: Deadly Gas Pockets, significant vertical shafts and steep tunnels.

Miner's Folly
Marine Presence: K 0/18 |  W 1/18
--->Marines
---> Squad G (No Equip)
Territory: 0/4 | 3/4
Resources: 1C, 6O, 0W, 1S
Conditions: Toxic Stone, Massive Caverns, pitch-black

The Verdant Vista
Marine Presence: K 0/18 |  W 0/18
Territory: 0/4 | 4/4
Resources: 1C, 0O, 8W, 2S
Conditions: Mostly earth and soil, Unstable pocket caves


The Belt

Three Captains
Marine Presence: K ?/20 |  W 4/20
--->Marines
---> Squad D (Pincushion, Fireteam | Cutlass, All)
---> Squad E (Pincushion, Fireteam | Cutlass, All) [Squad at 50%]
---> Squad 2A (Gauntlets, all | Cutlass, all | Silk Vests,Commander | 1 PLACE
---> Squad 2B (Gauntlets, all | Cutlass, all | Silk Vests,Commander
Territory: ?/4 | 2/4
Resources: 1C, 6O, 2W, 6S
Conditions: Kinetoluminescent Ores, Heavily Infested

Wrackspire
Marine Presence: K ?/12 |  W 0/12
Territory: ?/4 | 0/4
Resources: 3C, 4O, 4W, 2S
Conditions: Unstable Aetheric Phenomena, Broken Spire

Burned Mountain
Marine Presence: K ?/24 |  W 0/24
Territory: ?/4 | 0/4
Resources: 1C, 10O, 1W, 0S
Conditions: Inexplicably Molten Core, Hundreds of narrow tunnels and small galleries.

The Unfinished
Marine Presence: K ?/45 |  W 0/45
Territory: ?/4 | 0/4
Resources: 8C, 0O, 6W, 2S
Conditions: Unfinished infrastructure, Massive open rooms and halls.

Spoiler: Ships (click to show/hide)

Skiffs With No Name - Skyskiff Class (x3)
Loadout
2 Light Aether Cannons+ (Flanged Heatsinks, Itshana Refinement).
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal+ (Itshana Refinement)
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal+ (Itshana Refinement)
4 Trim Crystals+ (Itshana Refinement)
2 reams of webbing
Location: Haze Maze
Status: All papers are in order.

Skiffs With No Name - Skyskiff Class (x2)
Loadout
2 Light Aether Cannons+ (Flanged Heatsinks, Itshana Refinement).
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal+ (Itshana Refinement)
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal+ (Itshana Refinement)
4 Trim Crystals+ (Itshana Refinement)
2 reams of webbing
Location: The Unfinished
Status: All papers are in order.

WOSV Herbie - Transport Barge
Loadout
1 Very Small Itshana Select Core Crystal
1 Small Basic Lift Crystal+ (Itshana Refinement)
2 Trim Crystals+ (Itshana Refinement)
1 reams of webbing
Carrying: 0/6
Location: Spire Wreth
Status:  All papers are in order.

Skiffs With No Name - Skyskiff Class (x2)
Loadout
2 Light Aether Cannons+ (Flanged Heatsinks, Itshana Refinement).
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal+ (Itshana Refinement)
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal+ (Itshana Refinement)
4 Trim Crystals+ (Itshana Refinement)
2 reams of webbing
Location: Spire Wreth
Status: All papers are in order.

Spoiler: Infantry (click to show/hide)

Marines x11

Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

PLACE: 8/15 | 1 Ore, + 2 from Silk OR Ore OR Crystal | Rushed 0 Times | 2 ore, 4 silk invested | Prototype Deployed

Current Technology

Spoiler: Tech (click to show/hide)

Infantry

Flint-Lock 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.

Flint-Lock 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.

Suppressor Repeating Crossbow: Cost: 2 wood+ 1 ore per fireteam, 8 wood + 4 ore to give to every man. | A repeating crossbow with a forty pound lever weight. Field modification allow it to operate has a standard repeating crossbow, or as a light crossbow using a goat's foot lever. The latter is underpowered, the former is inaccurate.

Pincushion Repeating Crossbow: Cost: 3 wood to give one to every fireteam, 12 wood to give to every man. | A lighter and nearly all wood version of the Suppressor. Limited draw weight and not terribly robust, but cheap.

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.
---> A.G.I: Some small QoL changes have been made to the gauntlet, slightly increasing its sustained rate of fire and giving the user a bit more time before the gauntlet burns their arm.


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.
 

Ship Tech

Light Aether Cannon*: 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.
---> The Itshana Process has improved crystal purity, allowing for a slight increase in power.
---> Can be manufactured using Itshana Select crystals, which gives a 175-200% increase in power, at the cost of increasing the ore cost of the component by an amount equal to the base crystal price. WARNING: Cannons have not been modified to compensate for the increased energy output.
---> Improved Dissipation enable it to be fired 25% faster than normal once hot.

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.
---> The Itshana Process has improved crystal purity, allowing for a slight increase in efficiency.
---> Can be manufactured using Itshana Select crystals, which gives a 175-200% increase in power, at the cost of increasing the ore cost of the component by an amount equal to the base crystal price.

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.
---> The Itshana Process has improved crystal purity, allowing for a slight increase in lift.
---> Can be manufactured using Itshana Select crystals, which gives a 175-200% increase in power, at the cost of increasing the ore cost of the component by an amount equal to the base crystal price.

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.
---> The Itshana Process has improved crystal purity, allowing for a slight increase in maneuverability.
---> Can be manufactured using Itshana Select crystals, which gives a 175-200% increase in power, at the cost of increasing the ore cost of the component by an amount equal to the base crystal price.

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

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

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.

Spoiler: Tactics (click to show/hide)

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.

Crossbow Corridors of Carnage: When engaging, Marines will attempt to find cover, or at least concealment, and fire from behind that. Advancement is a leap-frog between cover, and retreat is a similar series of backward jumps.

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.

High Vigil: Tells a fleet to maintain a vessel as a high-altitude lookout. The lookout will give a warning shot if they spot an enemy vessel. After raising the alarm, the scout rejoins the fleet and follows the same tactic as her fellow ships.

AGILE: Ships using AGILE will attempt to evade and outmaneuver enemy vessels, focusing on evasive action rather than maximizing damage.

Spoiler: Infrastructure and Production Patterns (click to show/hide)

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.

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

[milo christiansen]

Well, shit. Screwed by the dice again. How much worse can this turn get. Err. I didn't say that!

[10ebbor10]

Worst case, we find out that the enemy got good rolls.

In that case, it's Game Over.

[NUKE9.13]

Hahaha. Who needs good rolls?
...
We do :/

Okay. So. Ships from Three Captains and Wreth to the Haze Maze. Ships from Unfinished to Wreth. Transport sits in safety- or brings reinforcements to Miner's Folly.

[Madman198237]

Turns, reverse order (Most recent first)
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=164855.msg7523089#msg7523089 Year 3
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=164855.msg7521241#msg7521241 Year 2
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=164855.msg7517733#msg7517733 Year 1

I didn't include the design and revision phases from before the game started.

NUKE, just specify that the Wreth ---> Haze Maze ----> Three Captains skiff move as a group---the Wreth-based skiffs should run past Haze Maze and collect the 3 Skiffs sitting there.

[Tack]

The two skiffs at Wreth move to Haze Maze and collect the three skiffs there, before continuing onward to the Three Captains.
Meanwhile, the Herbie is refitted and the VS ishtana crystals prepared to be put in a skiff produced next turn (if that's allowed)
The two Skiffs at the Unfinished move to Kasgyre demi-spires A and B to fish for unprotected transports.

The two skiffs at Wreth move to Haze Maze and the five skiffs there set up a defensive perimeter around Haze Maze.
The Herbie brings men and equipment to the Haze Maze to pre-empt an enemy attack.
The two skiffs at the Unfinished hold and continue the blockade.

These are basic skeletons of a real plan, but they give us an idea of some options available to us, and may gather some preliminary votes.

[milo christiansen]

The two skiffs at Wreth move to Haze Maze and the five skiffs there set up a defensive perimeter around Haze Maze.
The Herbie brings men and equipment to the Haze Maze to pre-empt an enemy attack.
The two Skiffs at the Unfinished move to Kasgyre demi-spires A and B to fish for unprotected transports.

[NUKE9.13]

The two skiffs at Wreth move to the Haze Maze and the five skiffs there advance on the Three Captains, with an eye out for enemies travelling the other direction.
The Herbie does nothing.
The two skiffs at the unfinished retreat to Wreth.

This my suggestion. I've come around on the five skiffs in the left lane- if Kasgyr advances on the Haze Maze, they'd reach it before our skiffs leave, and combat should(?) ensue.
We absolutely cannot lose Herbie. We also cannot afford to send well-equipped troops out- we need those resources. Sending unequipped troops is pointless. Thus, Herbie stays home.
If they want to land at the Unfinished, well, they're going to go there under guard, so two skiffs are unlikely to do much good. Besides, unless they are reading our thread psychic, their troops will not be equipped to survive in there- all the swords and guns in the world cannot protect the mind from malicious influences. Plus, I'm thinking, what if we lose a whole bunch of skiffs, and the enemy is still poised to advance? By pulling the two skiffs at the Unfinished back, we have two more skiffs ready to defend our home turf, rather than a spire containing naught but corpses and slendermen. 

[Madman198237]

I still argue for a deterrent raid. Send the Unfinished skiffs to Kasgyre's demispire closest to Three Captains, intercept reinforcements and transports. Even if they die, they'll stop the enemies' travel if I'm lucky.

[NUKE9.13]

I still argue for a deterrent raid. Send the Unfinished skiffs to Kasgyre's demispire closest to Three Captains, intercept reinforcements and transports. Even if they die, they'll stop the enemies' travel if I'm lucky.

They can't reach the demispire closest to the Three Captains- that's three spaces away. Unless you mean over the course of two turns.

[Madman198237]

Oh. Right.

Then I'd say send them to the middle demispire. Let's see what's where, shall we?

[milo christiansen]

Two for the raid, now about the other five...

What is wrong with plan C?

[NUKE9.13]

The foremost problem is that you want to send Herbie to the Haze Maze to get shot down. No thanks. Even if that wasn't a terrible idea, what equipment? Are you splurging for swords, or just handing out Pincushions?

Also, sending two skiffs on a raid is... a silly idea. We have no reason to believe there will be unguarded transports there. A) They know the risks of an unguarded transport. B) Why would they be sending transports to their demispires now?