Print

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

[NUKE9.13]

What do we do with the Windrider. Do we call it back for repairs, or do we let it be?

Leave her out. She's still combat-worthy. I doubt they'll sink her in a single combat.

Anyway, here's my suggestion for the 'barricade' revision:

BLOCK (Barricade- Light, Omniplacable, Counter-Kasgyr): The BLOCK system is truly a masterpiece of Wrethian engineering, and anyone who says otherwise gets mailroom duty. Consisting of state-of-the-art wooden boards, high-tech wooden posts, and cutting-edge hammers and nails, the BLOCK system offers a simple solution to Kasgyrites outflanking your position. The innovative design allows the system to be tailored to the environment into which it is to be placed, whilst also being easy to use. Local materials may be employed (in a high-tech fashion) to 'bulk up' the barricade.
The BLOCK comes with enough materials to block off a medium-sized tunnel, or several smaller ones (or a large number of spider-holes).

[Madman198237]

New Designs
Golden Guard: (1) Tack
Signaling System: (2) Milo, Jilladilla
No design this turn: (3) NUKE9.13 , 10ebbor10, Madman

Existing designs
Place (1o/2s):
  3 dice (3O, 6S): (4) NUKE9.13, Joniah, Nirur, Madman
  2 dice (2O, 6S): (3) Jilladilla, Milo, Tack
Windrider (6w/3o):
  1 die (6W/3O): (2) NUKE9.13, Joniah
  No Dice: (4) Madman, Milo, Jilladilla, Tack

Discussion on Discord convinced me.

[Jilladilla]

New Designs
Golden Guard: (1) Tack
Signaling System: (1) Milo
No design this turn: (4) NUKE9.13 , 10ebbor10, Madman, Jilladilla

Existing designs
Place (1o/2s):
  3 dice (3O, 6S): (5) NUKE9.13, Joniah, Nirur, Madman, Jilladilla
  2 dice (2O, 6S): (2) Milo, Tack
Windrider (6w/3o):
  1 die (6W/3O): (2) NUKE9.13, Joniah
  No Dice: (4) Madman, Milo, Jilladilla, Tack

As it did for me too.

[johiah]

New Designs
Golden Guard: (1) Tack
Signaling System: (1) Milo
No design this turn: (5) NUKE9.13 , 10ebbor10, Madman, Jilladilla, Johiah

Existing designs
Place (1o/2s):
  3 dice (3O, 6S): (5) NUKE9.13, Joniah, Nirur, Madman, Jilladilla
  2 dice (2O, 6S): (2) Milo, Tack
Windrider (6w/3o):
  1 die (6W/3O): (1) NUKE9.13
  No Dice: (5) Madman, Milo, Jilladilla, Tack, Johiah

Indeed.

[NUKE9.13]

Tactics revision:

Anti-Flanking (note to self: come up with better name): In certain environments, our brave Marines's tendency to always look forwards towards victory may have certain drawbacks. Fortunately, this is an easily solved problem. By having a squad guard and monitor the flank and rear, ready to raise the alarm, we can react to would-be ambushers before they can strike.
Synergises with the presence of barricades, which allow for potential ambush-routes to be blocked off, such that the foe is either incapable of moving through, or will need to make so much noise when dismantling the barricade that ample warning will be provided to our Marines. The foe will not encounter the soft underbelly of our forces, but rather find themselves staring down the barrel of a PLACE. Fortunately for them, they will not have much time to dwell on their impending death.

[Madman198237]

One tactic at a time, remember. So change CCC so it includes "Seal tunnels near cannon" and we'll be set.

[Jilladilla]

One tactic at a time, remember. So change CCC so it includes "Seal tunnels near cannon" and we'll be set.

We can have different squads using different tactics, though

[Tack]

Three dice into the place seems potentially wasteful though.

[Jilladilla]

Three dice into the place seems potentially wasteful though.

Dice are refunded if they would end up being unnecessary, though. Either we would need it anyway or we don't and get it back. But you do raise a point that the 1 ore and 2 silk that the last die costs would be wasted in that scenario. We'd still be able to send two squads with full gauntlets+swords and a 2nd PLACE to TC this turn, however. (Not that the current tentative plan involves full gauntlet squads, though.)

[Tack]

Two squads worth of gauntlets and swords?
Well, that sells me.

New Designs
Signaling System: (2) Milo, Tack
No design this turn: (5) NUKE9.13 , 10ebbor10, Madman, Jilladilla, Johiah

Existing designs
Place (1o/2s):
  3 dice (3O, 6S): (5) NUKE9.13, Joniah, Nirur, Madman, Jilladilla, Tack
  2 dice (2O, 6S): (1) Milo
Windrider (6w/3o):
  1 die (6W/3O): (1) NUKE9.13
  No Dice: (5) Madman, Milo, Jilladilla, Tack, Johiah

I dearly hope we don't lose the war in the air though. That signalling looked quite good.

[Jilladilla]

Two squads worth of gauntlets and swords?
Well, that sells me.

To be fair, that is the backup plan, I believe.
The reason it's the backup plan is that if a certain revision pulls through the voting process, and doesn't suck? The Pincushion (and Suppressor) would suddenly get a whole lot more lethal! And wood is cheap, after all.
(A hint: What did repeating crossbows IRL use to enhance their lethality? Or you can be boring and dredge through the Discord to find out.)

[Madman198237]

If you want questions answered by Draignean, ask them here, in the core thread, or in Discord, and do it soon.

[Draignean]

PLACE
Progress: 16/15 (3,5,5) One die refunded!

The PLACE cannon system is finalized, with the manufacturing procedures outlined clearly in triplicate forms and the smell of burning engineer firmly wafted out of the weapon designs labs.


It is now the revision phase. You have four dice left to spend.


Spire Wreth's production stands at
13/y Crystal, 27/65 Banked
17/y Ore, 15/85 banked
19/y Wood, 95/95 banked
10/y Silk, 37/50 banked

Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

Windrider Corvette: 8/16 | 6 wood + 3 Ore | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested

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 | 4/4
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 | 4/4
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) [50%]
---> Squad 2A (Gauntlets, all | Cutlass, all | Silk Vests,Commander | 1 PLACE  [50%]
---> Squad 2B (Gauntlets, all | Cutlass, all | Silk Vests,Commander
Territory: 1/4 | 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 (x1)
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: Three Captains
Status: All papers are in order.

WOSV 'Vomit Comet' - Skyskiff Class
Loadout
2 Light Aether Cannons+ (Flanged Heatsinks, Itshana Refinement).
1 Very Small Itshana Select Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal+ (Itshana Refinement)
4 Trim Crystals+ (Itshana Refinement)
2 reams of webbing  [[DAMAGE: Low Webbing | Will have trouble if it loses its web again.  1 Silk to fix.]]
Location: Three Captains
Status: Slightly Damaged

WOSV Windrider - Windrider Class
Loadout
8 SUCKERPUNCH Light Aether Cannons+ (Flanged Heatsinks, Itshana Select) [4 unit Broadside]  [[DAMAGE: Destroyed Cannon, Damaged Cannon | One cannon is destroyed, needing replacement (1 Crystal, 2 Ore), one cannon is damaged and unable to rotate (1 ore to fix)]]
2 Light Aether Cannons+ (Flanged Heatsinks, Itshana Refinement) [Bow Mount]
2 Small Itshana Select Core Crystals
2 Small Basic Lift Crystal+ (Itshana Refinement)
16 Trim Crystals+ (Itshana Refinement)
8 reams of webbing
Armored Skin  [[DAMAGE: Partially Compromised | A large section of this armor is damaged, rendering it much less useful. 2 Ore to fix]]
1 Unit of Armor   [[DAMAGE: Partially Compromised | A large section of this armor is damaged, rendering it much less useful. 2 Ore to fix]] [Upper Belt]
Location: Three Captains
Status: Slightly Damaged

WOSV Herbie - Transport Barge
Loadout
1 Small Core Crystal+ (Itshana Refinement)
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 x17

Spoiler: Misc. Goods (click to show/hide)

Array

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.

Portable Light Aether Cannon Emplacement (P.L.A.C.E):  Cost: 3 Ore, 2 Crystal, 1 Silk | Fireteam can have a max of 1 | Weights 1 Cargo unit | A potent defensive weapon consisting of a 75% scale LAC hooked up to a cat sized core crystal and a reduced trim crystal, mounted on a folding tripod. When not in use, it can be set to hover, allowing it's weight to be comfortable pushed or pulled by a single man. When in use, it is deployed on the tripod and the trim is disconnected so as to let the cannon's weapon crystal monopolize the core crystal's (admittedly minor) power generation. It's shots are devastatingly powerful, but in enclosed spaces will rapidly bring the air to a burning heat. A blast shield is pre-packed that helps keep the backblast from directly hitting the gunners, but it's a delaying tactic at best.


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 75-100% increase in power, at the cost of increasing the ore cost of the component by an amount equal to the base crystal price.
---> Improved Dissipation enables 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 75-100% 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 75-100% 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 75-100% 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.

AMDG:  Currently better known as AMES, this tactic attempts to get captains to bring their small vessels within the shroud of larger vessels before firing. Ambitions, and currently rubbish due to multiple lacking components and complete lack of buy-in from the brass.

Double Ambush: Splits a fleet up into two groups. One group attacks from ambush initially, boom and zoom style, then the second group moves into attack whatever slow or crippled ships do not pursue the first ambush group.

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.

Crude Fuses: Extremely rudimentary fuses. You can make them fail safe, but they're going to fail often.

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

[10ebbor10]

Succes

[Jilladilla]

Right! 4 dice! I think the general plan to use them was as follows?

Die #1: Barricades
Die #2: Tactic to more fully exploit them
Die #3: Poison our bolts
Die #4: Revise our skyskiff line with something better

Speaking of revised skyskiff, here's my suggestion for it:
Skyskiff, Assault Pattern
Everything is the same, except it uses SUCKERPUNCH cannons. Roughly +7 COWS