Design Phase, Early Spring 1915Squadron 3 has reached Rookie experience level.
Some guards from the Kolechian Ministry of Integrity are posted to the Design Bureau this week. A solemn commissar is in charge of them, but won’t answer any questions as to what they’re doing here.
In the north, the generals have no complaints about the performance of the KPAF. The push on Demisonne was hampered this month due to the winter weather, but the advance should see greater progress in the upcoming months as spring arrives.
On the central plains, the withdrawal of the KPAF from the frontlines has raised a storm of criticism. The army blames the KPAF for the fall of Estwice, pointing out that the complete lack of opposition to Sky Crusader aircraft allowed them to exert a disproportionately large effect on the battle. More damningly, a few officers have published editorials in the newspapers, bringing the dispute to the public. The KPAF’s prestige has fallen as a result of this incident, cancelling out the greater publicity brought from the performances of the Crimson Eagles. Needless to say, army relations have also taken a sharp downturn as a result. At the moment, there is some uncertainty about whether the Verusan army will push northwest for Kemilov, or southeast for Zydinah. Whatever the case, it is imperative that aircraft be sent here next turn.
On Okinso, the marines are grateful for the support with which they were able to successfully capture Basselton, particularly the use of the new Oracle Cameras. Their next move will be to continue pushing east for Nadeka, the other major Verusan port. Capture of Nadeka should see Verusan logistics in the south heavily hampered.
Meanwhile, navy attitudes toward the Hykib balloons have cooled somewhat after the engagement off Basselton. Leaving aside the fact that many of them were shot down in the later stages by Emus, the balloon tenders proved slower and thus more vulnerable than expected, and the artillery spotting assistance less useful against moving targets. It is unlikely that the balloons will be able to contribute usefully in full fleet battles, and for now the navy only requests the use of one Hykib squadron for shore bombardment duties.
As for the daring attack by the Emus, the navy considers it a one-off occurrence for now. While three destroyers were sunk, two of them were already damaged from earlier shelling, and only the one which had a bomb go down its funnel might be considered directly sunk by the attack. For now, the Sky Crusader bombs don’t seem powerful enough to inflict significant damage to warships yet.
High command has increased your budget by 3 PP, as the country devotes more factories to war. In addition, your budget is increased by 2 PP from the licensed sale of designs to the Ottomans.
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 but allows easier aiming. The synchronisation gear prevents the blades from being shot off, but pilots are reminded not to shoot more than two belts of rounds anyway. 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.
-Oracle Camera: A new camera based off the existing Lvoc Camera, and possibly made of three of them merged together. It takes separate photographs from three lenses offset at a 35-degree angle, producing a wide-angle view of the ground. Is mounted under the cockpit and accessible through a hole in the cockpit floor, while being remotely triggered. The glass plate magazine doesn’t work, and pilots must still change the plates manually. Cost 2 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.
-KF-15 Signal-Illumination Flare Pistol: The K-15 fires up to eight Rainbow flares in colours from red to purple for signalling, and a bright white for illumination, allowing planes to signal to the ground. Each pistol is single-shot only but are cheap enough to be issued in bulk.
-KTW-15: A trench radio set with a spark-gap transmitter and crystal receiver, which sends and receives Morse code. Weighs 60kg, with a 60m aerial assembly and has a range of up to 4km. Suffers from bad interference if operated too close to another set on the same frequency. Cost 2 PP.
-Tactical Escape Parachute: A backpack parachute deployed by a ripcord system, which slows the rate of fall enough for a pilot to survive bailing out from a plane, at reasonable altitudes. Is somewhat heavy and too bulky to be worn in flight, instead being stored under the seat. Cost 1 PP for 2 squadrons.
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
-Rudimentary synchronisation gear
-Pyrotechnics
-Basic spark-gap radio, crystal receivers
-Tracer rounds
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.
-25 production points base
-2 production points from the Ottoman sale (3 turns remaining)
Squadron 1 | Equilibrium Fighter Monoplane | TEP | Air Superiority | Rookie | Piotr | Maintenance Cost 2
Currently assigned to secure air superiority over Basselton
Squadron 2 | Equilibrium Fighter Monoplane | TEP | Aerial Reconnaissance | Rookie | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 2
Currently assigned to secure air superiority over Derboise-Demisonne Road
Squadron 3 | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | Type 11 LMG, Oracle Camera | Aerial Reconnaissance | Rookie | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to perform aerial photoreconnaissance along the Derboise-Demisonne Road
Squadron 4 | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | Type 11 LMG, Oracle Camera | Aerial Reconnaissance | Rookie | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to perform aerial photoreconnaissance at Basselton
Squadron 5 | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | Type 11 LMG | Air Superiority | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to secure air superiority over Basselton
Squadron 6 | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | Type 11 LMG | Air Superiority | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to secure air superiority along the Derboise-Demisonne Road
Crimson Eagles | Feather-1914 Scout Plane | No Equipment | Performance | Rookie | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned as the KPAF's Official Acrobatics Squadron
Observer 1 | Hykib Observation Balloon | Artillery Spotter Equipment | Artillery Spotting | Rookie | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to artillery spotting along the Derboise-Demisonne Road
Observer 2 | Hykib Observation Balloon | Artillery Spotter Equipment | Artillery Spotting | Rookie | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to artillery spotting at Basselton
Observer 3 | Hykib Observation Balloon | Artillery Spotter Equipment | Naval Artillery Spotting | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to naval raiding
Observer 4 | Hykib Observation Balloon | Artillery Spotter Equipment | Naval Artillery Spotting | Neophyte | No Aces | Maintenance Cost 1
Currently assigned to naval raiding
Prestige: Little
Status: Auxiliary Service
Army Relations: Lukewarm
Navy Relations: Lukewarm
Production Points: 27
Total Maintenance: 13
Author
Topic: Knights of the Skies: Kolechia Thread - Early Summer 1916, Production Phase (Read 54550 times)