Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[milo christiansen]

We need to make a compendium of great ideas somewhere. Then when we have dice to spend we can pull one out and give it a go...

There are several ideas that are simply awesome. Most everyone likes them, and we really should do them, but they come up at the wrong time and then get forgotten.

A Google doc maybe?

Ninja by tack: Dice after prototype are only lost if we put them in as part of the initial project roll. That won't apply here.

[Jilladilla]

Woah, woah, we only need five guys.
Dice after the prototype are Lost.
Three is being incredibly cautious, and possibly wasteful

Not lost, progress towards completion, with our ore coming online we will be able to crank one out every other turn with ore to spare for infantry equipment. So we actually have reason to get this up and running soon.

And as milo said before me, progress only halts at prototype phase if it was part of the initial progress roll that occurs whenever we start a new project. Otherwise we can shoot straight for completion (of course, even 3 dice won't be enough to finish the Cloudrunner, a trio of 6s would fall just short)

[Tack]

Twenty-four shots is gigantic. Six shots every three seconds.
Also I think vigil stops us diving into the mist or some such.
Who knows.

[NUKE9.13]

Fuck.

Two transports. Anyone want to do the math on how much they cost us?

We are all but dead. Our only hope is that they over-invest on poorly/incorrectly equipped Marines into the belt spires, and the environment takes care of them. Even then, we're still down two transports. Whilst they presumably have two, as well as a new warship they could afford on account of not building a third.

It almost makes me want to complain. I didn't mind losing one transport last turn. But surely our forces were on guard this turn. I realise two skiffs aren't going to do much against a proper warship, but...

Ah, no. I shouldn't complain. If anything, I should've complained more about last turn, when they were able to do something we thought was impossible.

...fuck.

[Tack]

Well, I would've liked to have gotten the extra three skiffs there to help out, but I think them killing the other three was action enough. Can't divide and conquer in a single turn, sadly.

[Jilladilla]

Two transports. Anyone want to do the math on how much they cost us?

20 crystal
8 ore
14 wood
4 silk.

Stop whining, this isn't an insurmountable obstacle. We are still very much in this. No need for PANIC MODE yet.
Let's keep our heads on, and calmly approach how to best deal with the situation. (EDIT: I'm not yelling at you. Just telling you to stay calm. Our resource production is kicking in soon.)

If nothing else, they likely only learned the extent of the threat presented by Three Captains this turn, and while gauntlets are sufficient for the giant spiders, remember that our report said that they need focused and sustained fire from an entire squad's worth of gauntlets to put down, not a fireteam, but an entire squad, and remember that we have the passive Itshana boost to our gauntlets damage.
They'll likely need a follow-up transport for more gauntlets at the very least, but I don't see their initial push going that much better than ours did. Not to mention, our forces their only lost a quarter of a squad in taking another section of territory, so we'll still be fighting strong once we reach Kasgyr's forces. (And do you really think they'll expect the PLACE? Or be able to defend against it with no forewarning of its existence?)

[Tack]

They seem very confident in their marines. Let's not make assumptions.

[Jilladilla]

They seem very confident in their marines. Let's not make assumptions.

True, true, and this turn we will almost assuredly make contact with Kasgyrite marines if they made a landing then, and said landing was sufficiently strong to advance against the giant spiders. (After all, it would be 2/4 us, 1/4 them and 1/4 giant spiders in that scenario)


Of course, there is a chance that we'll be outnumbered as well, what with us having 3.5 squads to their potential 6 (assuming they had 2 transports from start, and fielded both to land this turn)

(Also Draignean, you don't have the PLACE listed down on what we have at Three Captains, the report doesn't mention it being destroyed or breaking down, so this seems like a bit of an oversight.)

[NUKE9.13]

Stop whining, this isn't an insurmountable obstacle. We are still very much in this. No need for PANIC MODE yet.
Let's keep our heads on, and calmly approach how to best deal with the situation. (EDIT: I'm not yelling at you. Just telling you to stay calm. Our resource production is kicking in soon.)

Yeah, you're right. Sorry. I just woke up. Which is not an excuse, but it is a reason.

Anyway, yeah. Let's think about the future, not the past.

Okay, so, optimistic scenario: they sent two skiffs with their ship, adding two guns to the bombardment. 24 shots in 13 seconds means probably 8 guns, I guess, given their faster RoF at the start of an engagement. Subtracting the skiffs, their new ship has a six-gun broadside. Unless it isn't a broadside, which is the most optimistic scenario- given how manoeuvrable these ships are, it might make sense to have a single bank of cannons, and rely on being able to spin quickly.
This would be an optimistic scenario because it is wrong. The book features a battle wherein a ship is able to stay out of another's firing arcs for a while, moving only slightly slower than the other can turn. Although, the slow-turning ship is an armoured battlecruiser, trying to catch a light, exceptionally fast destroyer.
Still, it would mean they haven't constructed a monster with a minimum of 12 guns. Here's hoping.

It seems reasonable to assume they landed marines. Although, given what they did to our transport last turn, they may have been cautious, sending their warship ahead to clear out resistance before sending in the transport. Which is a worse scenario for us, because it would mean they would only face the spiders for a single turn of combat before running into us (assuming, perhaps erroneously, that we continue to make progress through the spire)

Where does that leave us? Well, we obviously can't send another transport to the Captains without clearing out their warship. So, yes, we need to invest heavily into the Cloudrunner, and hope that we can deploy the prototype next turn. And that it is at least the equal of Kasgyr's warship.

Project Advancement
2 Dice into the Cloudrunner (12w,2o): (1) Tack
3 Dice into the Cloudrunner (18w,3o): (3) Jilladilla, Milo, NUKE9.13
Some other arrangement of dice spent on advancement

New Design
No new designs: (2) Jilladilla, Milo, NUKE9.13
Ihlungwe Webbing: (0)

Someone mentioned it earlier, but the pessimistic case scenario is one where they skip the belt spires, as they have proven is possible, and just dump marines straight into the Haze Maze and Miner's Folly. Which, again, they could totally do. In which case our extra resources will not come online. For this reason, I think we should concentrate five skiffs at the Haze Maze, in the vain hope that they might be able to avoid their warship for long enough to sink a transport.

[Jilladilla]

Where does that leave us? Well, we obviously can't send another transport to the Captains without clearing out their warship. So, yes, we need to invest heavily into the Cloudrunner, and hope that we can deploy the prototype next turn. And that it is at least the equal of Kasgyr's warship.

Well, we need to wait and see how it goes... Of course, we should probably deploy it with some Itshana Select crystals, not downsized like Herbie's, but full sized ones, if only to even the odds in our favor. (I would advocate Trim Crystals as priority #1, as those are the ones responsible for maneuvering and speed, and we all know how well that went for us in skiff vs skiff combat. Not to mention they're fairly cheap.)

And if we're worried about them dropping marines, why don't we have Herbie take a squads worth of Pincushions to Miner's Folly and equip them to Squad G? (Haze Maze is a bit less imminent with its capture completion, and trying to supply the squad there would put Herbie at risk)
I don't think a Pincushion squad will be able to repel invaders, but it will make them bleed

[NUKE9.13]

And if we're worried about them dropping marines, why don't we have Herbie take a squads worth of Pincushions to Miner's Folly and equip them to Squad G? (Haze Maze is a bit less imminent with its capture completion, and trying to supply the squad there would put Herbie at risk)
I don't think a Pincushion squad will be able to repel invaders, but it will make them bleed

Hmm. What if they just bypass the Haze Maze and head straight for Miner's Folly? Actually, can they do that? The rules of moving through enemy blockades are unclear.

Draignean, could you clarify (perhaps in the core thread), how movement works when dealing with hostiles? As in, could Kasgyr's warship bypass the Haze Maze if we send ships there, or will they be forced into combat? Can ships always 'retreat' in any direction, or did Kasgyr need to get lucky not to get caught by our skiffs when they travelled from TC to HM?

[Tack]

I'm considering going 3, but if we want a dice for Itshanas and a dice for Skiff improvements, that means we won't have one to keep in the pocket in the event of a buggy cloudrider.

[10ebbor10]

Just a question, but why are we putting stuff into the cloudrunner when we don't have the resources to deploy it?

If we're only going to deploy it next turn, we should save those dice.

[Jilladilla]

Just a question, but why are we putting stuff into the cloudrunner when we don't have the resources to deploy it?

If we're only going to deploy it next turn, we should save those dice.

The sooner we have it the sooner we can work out any kinks in the hull, and the sooner we can plan around it, as well.
If all goes well? Sure, might have been a bit of a waste to do it this early, but just about nothing else we can do now will have as much short term impact as getting that hull deployed.
Not to mention we only have loose guesstimates on the capabilities of Kasgyr's new boat, so we can't exactly try to design something tailored specifically to counter it.

[10ebbor10]

If all goes well? Sure, might have been a bit of a waste to do it this early, but just about nothing else we can do now will have as much short term impact as getting that hull deployed.

If we spend 4 design dice on a relatively small project, we have decent odds of getting a prototype immediately, for no cost in resources.