Topic: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth (Read 159465 times)

Draignean · « **Reply #2745 on:** August 11, 2018, 03:02:47 pm »

Three Captains

The Three Captains is a hub of military activity: The Shibboleth comes and goes, picking up and dropping off cannons to support the offensive; The Formal Notice and two Meteor skiffs head up to stage there, preparing to join the Blackstone defense fleet; the WOSV Marge and the WOSV Longlast move through, heading back to Haze Maze in order to reload and repair; The Ledger moves in from Wreth, her belly full of Marines to reinforce the front. With the Unfinished crumbling into rubble, it seems like the Three Captains is destined to become a hub of cosmopolitan activity- should Kasgyre's spires be brought into the fold.

Blackstone

Our Mistwatch skiffs finally caught something. The transports they sent in to smuggle marines attempted to make a quick getaway, and this time we spotted them. The Viper that we'd brought out of combat, but not killed, was making a getaway with them, and its crippled state made it an easy kill for our skiffs. Ship couldn't even raise shroud, just offer up a few cannon shots before the skiffs finished the job and reduced it to cinders. Unfortunately, this did by the transports a bit of time. The large transport appeared to have guns, and thus our skiffs went for the small one. The succeeded in battering its shroud and raking its web, but an unexpectedly tough shroud prevented them doing any real damage before the ship vanished.

After the ships vanished, however, our captains reported seeing an enormous roil momentarily form and swell in the rough location that the wounded viper had been put down. While exactly what created it is unknown, it's safe to assume that all of the traffic through and around the mist has increased the activity and piqued the curiosity of the beasts that dwell therein.

The excitement early in year, however, was not to be the only activity at Blackstone. Kasgyre attacked once more, but this time our scouts identified their vessels at long range, giving our captains plenty of time to begin evasive maneuvers and raise shroud before they fired their lance weapons.

Curiously, only one such lance was in appearance. Their fleet consisted of four vipers and a single skiff. One of the vipers is familiar- the same lance carrying upgraded Viper that fled combat last year. The others, however, are new- but functionally identically to the lesser vipers dispatched last year. Slower, and sacrificing their top gun deck's LACs to mount a single turret with one of their triple barreled cannons. Their greater viper fires its lance at long range once it realizes that it has been sighted, but the beam goes far wide of all ships. The WOSV End of the Road replies by giving the incoming Kasgyrite fleet its broadside and pelting them repeatedly on the approach. It's still nearly impossible to aim properly at long range, but four cannons firing for long enough score a couple hits on shroud, softening up the enemy as the two forces get within brawling range.

Once in brawling range, the fighting is almost... sad. The Kasgyrite fire coordination is better than last year, targeting skiffs on attack runs with alacrity and disrupting their formations using their turret system. Unfortunately, for the lesser vipers, that turret system is the best gun they have, and every time it fires at a skiff is a time that it isn't firing on a Windrider- and that lets the windrider's hopelessly outmatch them. The End of the Road in particular, with its EMERALD cannons able to fire longer cool and faster hot, is actually able to overpower a lesser viper 1 on 1 with a single broadside battery. While the situation never comes up, it's plausible that the End of the Road could take on two lesser vipers, one on each side, and overpower them. Given the weakened shrouds of the Lesser Vipers, it might not even tax her too much.

Regardless, the End of the Road does become blooded when a Viper does try to match its frontal weapons with the Windrider's broadside- getting its front armor slagged in the process and take a couple of shots to the front which start a chain reaction among its weapon crystals, destroying it in a flurry of explosions. The Kasgyrites, under the banner of their greater viper, do manage to focus enough fire to lance into and core the Vicious quill, and a pair of skiffs are brought down to point defense fire from the Viper top turrets- but that's all they manage.

After a combination of Windrider and Comet fire tears apart the last of the lesser Vipers, the remaining upgraded Viper attempts to flee once more. The single skiff the Kasgyrites brought literally sacrificing itself to buy the larger vessel the time to dive down into the mists. One can only hope that the monsters consume it.

However, in this year, one windrider and a pair of skiffs were sacrificed to bring down four Kasgyrite vipers. A good trade on any day.

Kills: Four Vipers, one skiff
Losses: WOSV Vicious quill, 2x Comets

Inside the Spire

Someone in the brass has made a grievous error, and the troops have paid the price.

The cannons arrived on schedule, reinforcing our artillery. However, it would seem that the Kasgyrites received a small care package of their own: a mobile shroud system. We know this because they attacked with it on point. Not that anyone was prepared for an attack.

With every squad on construction duty in an urban environment, we could have made some fantastic defenses that would have put their piled rocks to shame. Unfortunately, the Kasgyrites didn't do us the favor of squatting in their own pile of rocks while the marines worked. Without scouts deployed, without anyone focused on defense, the first anyone knew of the assault coming at them was a crossbow bolt through a BLOCK marine's skull.

Our marines responded well to the first part of the assault, forming up and getting two PLACE cannons into firing positions. The Kasgyrites had brought a mobile cover unit, and they'd brought plenty of their aetheric pistols and sniper crossbows to work with as they advanced down the streets, block by block. The PLACE cannons worked on the mobile cover as best they could, but they'd upgraded the shroud in some manner, and it was actually our riflemen who did the most work in picking off targets with barrages of shroud piercing lead shot.

Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come. Flanking groups came at our position from the side, Kasgyrite marines in camouflaged uniforms with pistols that fired topaz bolts and grenades that detonated in golden aetheric blasts- melting cannon and crew together into the same unrecognizable mass. With them, more savage and with camouflage replaced by soot-blacked workers cloths, came their crude militia- swinging every improvised weapon known to man. Our crossbows did good work against their unarmored bodies, incapacitating them for later dispatch, but there was always a marine behind ready to toss a grenade at the crossbowmen, or to unload a spray of aetheric bolts. Our riflemen carried cutlass to defend themselves, but they also provided the best defense against the kasgyrite frontal push. When they were forced to draw blade and stand, that allowed their main force to advance, slinging grenade at men and cannon crews.

Had we been able to form a proper line of battle, we might have been able to hold our ground, but the Kasgyrite defiance of our command's expectation allowed our men to be outmaneuvered and routed at great cost.

Wreth has Lost Ground at Blackstone

Kills: Approximately 3 squads of Kasgyrites
Losses: Squad F, Squad L, Squad H 75% of Squad J, 75% of Squad E

Haze Maze

The Longlast and the Marge both arrive safely in the Haze Maze.

Burned Mountain

The crews present around the Burned mountain formally requisition new playing cards. Their current sets are getting terribly dog-eared from use, and it'd be nice to celebrate another year of doing nothing with a nice fresh pack of cards to continue to do nothing with.

Spire Wreth

The WOSV Papertrail is brought into service, along with another pair of Meteor skiffs and two much needed squads of infantry.

It is now the beginning of the year 383 AR.

Spire Wreth's Production Stands At,
13(+1)/y Crystal, 61/70 Banked
19(+8)/y Ore, 52/135 banked
19(+2)/y Wood, 95/105 banked
10(+6)/y Silk, 77/80 banked
4C, 33O, 4W, 2S

It is now the design and project maintenance phase. You have 5 dice to spend.

Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Ships (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Infantry (click to show/hide)

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

Current Technology

Tack · « **Reply #2746 on:** August 11, 2018, 03:07:39 pm »

Oh shit, we didn’t bring an ECD?
Edit: Ah, we did bring it, we just didn’t use it

Quote

4 Dice to GWS (20S)(1): Tack
1 Dice to Stormprince (10c)(1): Tack

NUKE9.13 · « **Reply #2747 on:** August 11, 2018, 03:58:11 pm »

Quote from: Tack on August 11, 2018, 03:07:39 pm

Oh shit, we didn’t bring an ECD?
Edit: Ah, we did bring it, we just didn’t use it

We couldn't've got it to BS in time. We didn't withhold reinforcements.

Quote

4 Dice to GWS (20S): (1) Tack
1 Dice to Stormprince (10c): (1) Tack
4 Dice to Stormprince (20c, 20w): (1) NUKE9.13

Save 1 Die: (1) NUKE9.13

We save 1 die for a transport-hunting tactic, in the hopes that we can maybe catch one of their inbound transports before it can deliver even more reinforcements.
If we want to send reinforcements this turn, ore will be the limiting factor on GWS dice next turn, so I can't really be bothered to do an exhaustive analysis of what crystal/wood ratio would be best. Sorry. If you feel strongly about this, feel free to figure it out yourself.

Tack · « **Reply #2748 on:** August 12, 2018, 01:33:37 am »

I'd suggest finishing the GWS before finishing the Stormprince. personally.

milo christiansen · « **Reply #2749 on:** August 12, 2018, 02:32:30 am »

First, let's get the votes out of the way:

Quote from: Votebox of Might and Power

4 Dice to GWS (20S): (1) Tack
1 Dice to Stormprince (10c): (1) Tack
4 Dice to Stormprince (20c, 20w): (2) NUKE9.13, Milo

Save 1 Die: (2) NUKE9.13, Milo

Quote from: Tack on August 12, 2018, 01:33:37 am

I'd suggest finishing the GWS before finishing the Stormprince. personally.

This would be criminally stupid. If we finish the PL first it is useless to us for at least one turn. One turn of just sitting there doing nothing. If we finish the Stormprince first, then we can revise a pattern for the PL on the same turn it comes online, or even before seeing as we can probably revise a pattern based on the prototypes ahead of time. Basically, Stormprince first means the PL can go into production immediately upon completion.

Tack · « **Reply #2750 on:** August 12, 2018, 03:36:37 am »

I would have suggested that the PL could put its cows to other uses, whilst the Stormprince is useless except for scratch building.
But fair enough, I'll bow to the wisdom of the crowd.

Quote from: milo christiansen on August 12, 2018, 02:32:30 am

First, let's get the votes out of the way:

Quote from: Votebox of Might and Power
4 Dice to Stormprince (20c, 20w): (2) NUKE9.13, Milo

Save 1 Die: (2) NUKE9.13, Milo

Jilladilla · « **Reply #2751 on:** August 12, 2018, 03:46:49 am »

Quote from: Tack on August 12, 2018, 03:36:37 am

I would have suggested that the PL could put its cows to other uses, whilst the Stormprince is useless except for scratch building.
But fair enough, I'll bow to the wisdom of the crowd.

While this is true that the PL could be used for other things in the meantime, that runs into the issue in that when we do properly switch over to Stormprince production, all those things are now using up Stormprince slots.

Would maybe be viable if the Stormprince was a longer project, but it's really only going to be a turn or two behind the PL even if we focus all effort onto the PL first and neglect the ship until it's done. Not enough time to build ships, move them to the front, and have them fight before having to scuttle them. I mean, I guess we could have it squeeze out a fully upgraded Windrider if it unexpectedly finishes before we can make a pattern (and I believe we wanted to make a minor adjustment or two to the SP?)

Tack · « **Reply #2752 on:** August 12, 2018, 03:55:04 am »

Then wouldn't the smartest move then to be to balance our progress between the two projects, if they are co-dependent?
It could be much less wasteful to put 2 in each and see which gets a good roll and which gets a terrible one.

NUKE9.13 · « **Reply #2753 on:** August 12, 2018, 03:59:27 am »

Also that, I would like to make a revision or two to the GWS before the project completes. I suggested these two in the Discord already:

Mass Mobile Manufacturing Method: The GWS is a strange facility. Our dockworkers agree that it is an effective design... but some parts don't make sense. We had to remove many references to parts designed to move unfinished ships around the docks. So many, in fact, that some engineers looked into this, and came to the conclusion that there might be something to it. They postulate that, rather than assembling ships in one place, it could be considerably more efficient to assemble them in stages, and move them from station to station as they are constructed. This way, each station can be specialised for one stage of construction, and we can more easily construct several ships at a time.
This would allow for more ships to be constructed in less time- and the GWS is already designed to accomodate this method, so other than the effort of re-introducing the removed sections and convincing the dockmasters to give it a shot, there shouldn't be any problems. It's not like the design documents in question are eldritch nightmares that could have erased themselves after we set them aside... right?

Department of Stormprinces: We all know that freedom comes at a cost, and that cost is spending a good 20-40% of a given project filling out paperwork. Such is life. But... war demands expediency. The Grand Wrethan Shipyard could really use a performance boost. So, we've established the DSP to navigate the bureaucracy on the shipyard's behalf, negotiating for the reduction of paperwork, and filling out the unavoidable stuff more quickly and efficiently.
We must expand the bureaucracy in order to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.
As a result of increased efficiency, output is expected to increase.

If we can reach 710 base production (ambitious, but possible with good rolls, I think), we could with some (fairly attainable) upgrades make it so that it produces 1 basic Stormprince per turn. That's a lot of firepower.

Tack · « **Reply #2754 on:** August 12, 2018, 04:08:33 am »

In reference to MMMM, I have another idea which could tie-in

Interior Drydocks
The GWS takes up a lot of room, and that makes it difficult to defend. With the wonderful and effective bureaucratic re-habitation methods available only to Wreth, space can be made inside the spire for ship assembly to be done, giving both greater defensibility to our unfinished ships, and better access to gantries and tools with which to assist in construction.

I daresay it could probably be rolled up into MMMM or thrown in with a second dice.

10ebbor10 · « **Reply #2755 on:** August 13, 2018, 11:42:08 am »

:

Quote from: Votebox of Might and Power

4 Dice to Stormprince (20c, 20w): (3) NUKE9.13, Milo

Save 1 Die: (3) NUKE9.13, Milo, 10ebbor10

Draignean · « **Reply #2756 on:** August 13, 2018, 05:53:57 pm »

Stormprince
[Progress: 22/20 (3,4,4,5)]
Something strange happens at Spire Wreth- bureaucracy functions smoothly. No important documents are burned, lost, accidentally shuffled in with redacted Cloudrunner files, or covered in copious amounts of vat cheese. The engineers hash out a design, the bean counters relinquish the materials, and the dockmen construct the prototype hull in record time. The complete lack of things go wrong shocks experienced bureaucrats to their core, and multiple requests for redundant confirmation letters from all parties involved are sent.

In the end, all individuals are forced to agree that the prototype Stormprince hull sitting in Drydock is, indeed, quite real.

Stormprince Project Complete

Spire Wreth's Production Stands At,
13(+1)/y Crystal, 29/70 Banked
19(+8)/y Ore, 40/135 banked
19(+2)/y Wood, 55/105 banked
10(+6)/y Silk, 77/80 banked
4C, 33O, 4W, 2S

It is now the revision phase. You have 1 die to spend.

Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Ships (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Infantry (click to show/hide)

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

Current Technology

milo christiansen · « **Reply #2757 on:** August 13, 2018, 06:41:39 pm »

Quote from: Transport Interdiction and Transit Stoppage

Transports sneaking men and materiel onto a spire during a battle is a time honored tactic used by both sides, but it is time to put a stop to it.

By taking the lessons learned from High Vigil and Mistwatch, ship captains are assigned to watch for transports attempting to land troops or even simply transiting an area under the cover of a battle or escort. Once such a transport is discovered it is swiftly assassinated, and its escorts avoided if possible.

Ships assigned to this tactic are to avoid combat with ships that are not transports as much as possible. When choosing ships for this duty disciplined captains are preferred.

Any suggestions/corrections?

Quote from: Votebox of Destiny

TITS: (1) Milo

NUKE9.13 · « **Reply #2758 on:** August 14, 2018, 02:00:29 am »

...
The Stormprince is clearly blessed, immune as it is to Wrethian Luck. People are going to be falling over themselves to crew such a hallowed vessel.

Anyway, TITS sounds fine, although for bonus points make it TITS UP.

Quote from: Votebox of Destiny

TITS: (2) Milo, NUKE9.13

Reinforcement loadout:

Quote

4 squads worth of Suppressors: 16O, 32W
3 squads worth of envenomed bolts: 6W, 3S
4 squads worth of Cutlasses: 8O
20 Silk Vests (ranking officer+team leads for 4 squads): 20S
2xECD: 4C, 12O, 8W, 2S
1xMOVE-PLACE: 2C, 3O, 1S
---
6C, 39O, 46W, 26S

Which would fill two transports, and leaves us with enough resources to invest 2 dice into the GWS next turn.

Draignean · « **Reply #2759 on:** August 16, 2018, 12:38:53 pm »

TITS
[Efficacy: 6]
Aeronauts love TITS, and the idea of completely avoiding standard combat to be on TITS duty seems to titillate the men and bring out their breast performance. Naval vessels assigned to TITS duty will spend all of their time and energy on TITS, and are expected to be highly effective in their TITS of enemy transport.

Female aeronauts report being not amused. Most of them, anyway.

TITS: A tactic that every Naval officer with a y chromosome is gung-ho to be assigned to, TITS assigned vessels will not engage in standard combat but will instead wait for transports and ambush them whenever possible. Highly effective, building off the experience of High Vigil and Mistwatch.

Spire Wreth's Production Stands At,
13(+1)/y Crystal, 29/70 Banked
19(+8)/y Ore, 40/135 banked
19(+2)/y Wood, 55/105 banked
10(+6)/y Silk, 77/80 banked

It is now the production, deployment, and tactics phase.

Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Ships (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Infantry (click to show/hide)

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

Current Technology

Bay 12 Games Forum

News:

Author Topic: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth (Read 159465 times)

Draignean

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

Tack

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

NUKE9.13

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

Tack

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

milo christiansen

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

Tack

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

Jilladilla

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

Tack

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

NUKE9.13

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

Tack

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

10ebbor10

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

Draignean

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

milo christiansen

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

NUKE9.13

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth

Draignean

Re: Arms Race: War of the Cinder Spires | Spire Wreth