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[Rockeater]

Project Progress
(4) 2 Dice to Equilibrium + save 3 (No Prototype) : 10ebbor10, Kashyyk, Rockeater, NUKE9.13

Requisition
(3) Mortar Rounds : NUKE9.13, Kashyyk, Rockeater

[Cnidaros]

Kolechia Design Phase, Late Autumn 1915

Equilibrium Fighter Monoplane (2 dice spent)

Progress: 3+5+2 = 10/19. 4 PP spent.

Kolechian engineers continue to hash out the details of getting the Equilibrium Fighter Monoplane into mass production. Enough progress is made such that a prototype squadron might be created, although persistent issues with the subpar synchronisation turn opinion against doing so. Within the project, a small group of engineers take time off to brainstorm a shorter name for it, but no consensus is reached.

Equilibrium Fighter Monoplane | 10/19 progress | 2 PP per die | Rushed 0 times | 6 PP invested

Requisition: Mortar Rounds

The request for mortar rounds without the mortars to fire them baffles the army quartermasters, but they comply anyway as a result of the goodwill won from conquering Derboise. The Kolechian army mainly uses the domestically produced K-09 “Dogbite” mortars, which are serviced by teams of four men. It fires a 155mm mortar round, which weighs 45 kg and is mostly high explosive with thin walls, sometimes blowing up the mortar when fired.

K-09 “Dogbite” Mortar Round: A 155mm high explosive mortar shell, carrying 45kg of high explosive. Is very temperamental when roughly handled. Cost: 1 PP.


It is now the Revision Phase, Late Autumn 1915. You have 3 dice remaining to spend on Revisions or bank for the next turn.

Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

Equilibrium Fighter Monoplane | 10/19 progress | 2 PP per die | Rushed 0 times | 6 PP invested

Spoiler: Designs and Technology (click to show/hide)

Planes:
-Feather-1914 Scout Plane: A unarmed, single seater biplane. High stability makes it easy to fly, but also woefully inadequate for anything other than scouting. Lightweight wooden fuselage combined with a five-cylinder rotary engine gives it good speed in the air. Now comes with ailerons for improved roll capability. Cost 3/1
-Equilibrium Fighter Monoplane: A single-seater monoplane with a 7-cylinder rotary engine and correspondingly good speed. It’s armed with a Type 11 LMG firing forward through the propeller arc with the aid of a rudimentary synchronisation gear, which reduces the fire rate and occasionally jams the gun. The synchronisation gear prevents the blades from being shot off immediately, instead delaying it to ‘about one-third of a belt later’. Cost 5/2.
Balloons
-Hykib Observation Balloon: A single-pilot hydrogen balloon designed for aerial observation. Its elongated and finned shape helps it remain stable even in high winds. The basket has an inbuilt telephone to relay messages from the pilot to the ground, and what can charitably be described as a very rudimentary parachute. Painted a glorious red throughout. Cost 2/1
Equipment
Lvoc Camera: A glass plate medium camera with a 150mm focal length, coincidentally about the size and shape of a 150mm artillery shell. Requires manual changing of the plate for each photograph taken and is moderately durable. Cost 1 PP.
Type 11 machinegun: An air-cooled light machine gun firing 7.65x53 mm Argentine rounds at 600 RPM. Sometimes overheats after prolonged use. Cost 1 PP.
Artillery Spotter Equipment: A set of good binoculars with range markings and a Kolechian ‘comtant’, a combination of compass and sextant for taking precise bearings. Questions of whether a sextant is really necessary for doing so are met with offended looks. Cost 1 PP for 2 squadrons.
K-09 “Dogbite” Mortar Round: A 155mm high explosive mortar shell, carrying 45kg of high explosive. Is very temperamental when roughly handled. Cost: 1 PP.
Pilots:
-Coordinated: Strength in numbers! Kolechian pilots work well together and are better coordinated in combat.
-Uniforms: Red with silver accents. Pilots are issued a thick, flowing red cape which flutters gloriously in the wind, inspiring the men on the ground.
Technology:
-Basic biplane design
-Basic/Intermediate monoplane design
-Basic/Intermediate balloon design
-Wooden frame construction
-Basic control surfaces: wing warping, elevator and rudder and ailerons.
-Foster mount technology
-Very rudimentary synchronisation gear
Resources:
-1 Pilot Training Institute: Teaches new pilots what each lever does. When to pull each lever is up to the student.
-1 Developmental Airfield: Designs new planes and other air-related equipment. Produces five dice worth of progress every turn.
-16 production points base

Spoiler: Squadrons (click to show/hide)

Squadron 1 | Feather-1914-NA Scout Plane | Lvoc Camera | Aerial Reconnaissance | Rookie | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to photograph enemy defenses around Derboise

Squadron 2 | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | No Equipment | Performance | Rookie | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned as the KPAF's Official Acrobatics Squadron

Squadron 3 | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | Lvoc Camera, Type 11 LMG | Air Superiority | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to secure air superiority over Derboise

Squadron 4 | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | Type 11 LMG | Anti-Balloon | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to shoot down enemy balloons along Dreidansk-Demisonne frontline

Squadron 5 | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | Lvoc Camera, Type 11 LMG | Anti-Balloon | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to shoot down enemy balloons near Derboise

Observer 1 | Hykib Observation Balloon | No Equipment | Artillery Spotting | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to artillery spotting at Derboise

Observer 2 | Hykib Observation Balloon | No Equipment | Artillery Spotting | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to artillery spotting at Derboise

Spoiler: Equipment (click to show/hide)

None

Spoiler: Statistics (click to show/hide)

Prestige: Little
Status: Auxiliary Service
Army Relations: Lukewarm
Navy Relations: Neutral

Production Points: 12
Total Maintenance: 7

[Cnidaros]

Cnidaros, how much prestige would we need before we start seeing results? Like, are we just throwing away PP having that acrobatics squad? Or do we have to specifically request a budget increase?

A radio at this stage would be far too bulky and hard to use for a single-seater.

The acrobatics squadron is an extra roll each turn for your prestige to increase. Without giving away too much, you're still a couple of levels below seeing a measurable result. You don't have to request a budget increase, PP will increase once your prestige reaches certain levels.

[Kashyyk]

I'd be quite happy to throw two dice at fixing the sync gear, and another die to a primitive bomb mount on the feather.

[Taricus]

I can get behind a bomb mount. Means we can bombard Verusa better than their hand grenade attempt.

[10ebbor10]

K-09 “Dogbite” Mortar Round: A 155mm high explosive mortar shell, carrying 45kg of high explosive. Is very temperamental when roughly handled. Cost: 1 PP.

We probably should specified infantry mortar, I think?

Okay, revisions.

Advanced Foster Mount

This advanced version of the Foster mount replaces the awkward crank with a decent spring that pushes the gun back into position. This allows the pilot to remain seated during the reloading procedure. An elastic can be utilized to strengthen the spring, or weaken it as convenient for each pilot.

Yeah, I know it's a stopgap, but we'll be using these planes for a decent while, so having our stopgap work well is nice.

I can get behind a bomb mount. Means we can bombard Verusa better than their hand grenade attempt.

I feel like we're adding too many role to too few planes. Spreading out our PW unnecessarily and using it ineffectively.

[Kashyyk]

I'm hoping it'll work the same way as the MG, where the mounting is free and the weapon costs the points.

[10ebbor10]

Still, I don't feel like it would be that beneficial.

Consider, we currently have 4 planes in combat operations. We have 3 camera's for recon, and 3 sets of machine guns. That's already too much stuff for too little planes.

[Doomblade187]

Let's stick with foster mount and syncro gear revisions for now.

Advanced Foster Mount: (1) Doomblade

[10ebbor10]

Few more ideas.

Barrage net

A simple rope that can be attacked between two barrage balloons, or between a barrage balloon and a more distant location on the ground. Additional ropes are hung down from the net, forming a fearsome obstacle for pilots coming too close. A rope may not seem that though, but easily tear apart a plane midflight.

Efficient Hydrogen Generators

By optimizing and modernizing our hydrogen generators, we hope to reduce their expense of balloon systems, and increase the speed at which they can be deployed.

Customized Fabrics

A few artists have seen their livelyhood vanish due to the war. We've recruited these unfortunate souls and put them to work painting our planes in inspiring colors. This allows our wings to rapidly recognize who's who in the sky. In addition, some scout planes can benefit from more camouflaging themes.

[Nirur Torir]

Question: Will we have to pay for replacing the foster mounts with an upgraded version, or does that get rolled into maintenance costs?

[Kashyyk]

I guess that depends on how badly we roll.

Advanced Foster Mount: (2) Doomblade, kashyyk
Fix the Sync Gear (2 dice): (1) Kashyyk

Save 1 die: (1) Kashyyk

[Taricus]

Cnidaros, if we buy bombs for our planes would the mounting for them be free, or would we need a revision for the mounts?

Anyway, I think we might be better off revising our pilot's uniform before trying to do paintjobs for our aircraft. No least because our airmen would need better gear up in the air.

Airman's uniform: By providing our pilots with padded leather jackets and helmets, alongside some warm, comfortable trousers and a pair of goggles, we could expect our pilots to perform exponentially better. While the loss of capes is regrettable, it saves more material for the war effort (and the trousers), and makes Verusan pilots less likely to spot our aircraft effectively

Advanced Foster Mount: (3) Doomblade, kashyyk, Taricus
Fix the Sync Gear (2 dice): (1) Kashyyk
Fix the Sync Gear (1 die):  (1) Taricus
Airman's Uniform: (1) Taricus

Save 1 die: (1) Kashyyk

[Doomblade187]

A design for the sync gear:

Fix the Sync Gear:

With the gearing itself simplified, we can improve the performance of the gear system. Focusing on the propellor timing, we will get the timing as precise as possible. If possible, we will improve the jamming issue.

Advanced Foster Mount: (4) Doomblade, kashyyk, Taricus, Doomblade
Fix the Sync Gear (2 dice): (2) Kashyyk, Doomblade
Fix the Sync Gear (1 die):  (1) Taricus
Airman's Uniform: (1) Taricus

Save 1 die: (1) Kashyyk

[Nirur Torir]

Protected Propellers - The French have already figured out a fix for our problems, let's use their ideas. Armored deflector wedges in the propellers will allow allow the planes to continue to fly even if our synchronization gear occasionally fails.

Fix the Jamming - Our pilots can't shoot if their guns are constantly jammed. We need to fix that, or at least make it easier to clear the jamming.

Advanced Foster Mount: (4) Doomblade, kashyyk, Taricus, Doomblade
Fix the Sync Gear (2 dice): (2) Kashyyk, Doomblade
Fix the Sync Gear (1 die):  (2) Taricus, Nirur
Airman's Uniform: (1) Taricus
Protected Propellers: (1) Nirur
Fix the Jamming: (1) Nirur

Save 1 die: (1) Kashyyk