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[ConscriptFive]

...Going to be awhile since apparently the KPAF has switched to real-time turns and we still have to get through the OxSlayer and Kingfisher.

But why did VRAC move away from bird names?  The Lion really should be another flightless bird, with Ostrich or Emu being the obvious picks.  Kiwi if you want to keep it weird.

[piratejoe]

VRAC only had the Emu, none of the other designs I have proposed outside of the Lion and the Emu have been from VRAC, I was thinking the theme we would have for all aircraft would be for African animals considering we started with the Rhino, hence the African Swallow I proposed before everyone else voted for the European Swallow. Also, why would they name the A.2 Emu when the A.1 is the Emu?

[ConscriptFive]

My bad, was thinking Cassowary but said Emu for some reason.

[Cnidaros]

Verusan Armed Forces Council Negotiations, Round 3:

The council reconvenes in the morning to discuss the final proposals regarding the future of the Verusan Sky Crusaders. In summary, both the Army and Navy have agreed to promote the VSC to being an Autonomous Corps in their own right, some time in the coming year.

For the Army, the VSC has promised to hand over the design documents for the Barnett 1915 and tracer ammunition, while also developing the .60 cal ‘Ox Slayer’ heavy machinegun for army use. The Verusan Army will assent to the VSC’s promotion when the latter project is completed.

Separately, the artillery major from the army returns to inquire about any decision made about his proposal. To recap, the proposal was for the army to bear one-half of the maintenance cost for the Sky Eye squadrons, in return for gaining the authority to order their deployments to the various fronts. Given the lack of discussion in council so far, he assumes that you’re not in favour, but a clear rejection is still needed.

For the Navy, the Sky Crusaders have agreed to dedicate a squadron of Great Emu bombers to anti-shipping duty, until at least 3 Kolechian destroyers are sunk. The design team has also come to an agreement to develop the “Kingfisher”, a reconnaissance biplane with floats for naval use. The key features of the Kingfisher, which the navy will not compromise on, are the ship-mountable catapult launch system, the voice radio, and its water-landing capability. In return, the navy will assent to the VSC’s promotion when the bomber pledge is fulfilled and work on the Kingfisher has at least begun.

All that remains is for the design team to sign the agreement. Time in this conference has dragged on much as all bureaucracy does, but the VSC is standing at the dawn of a new chapter in its history.

Separately, the King’s Adjunct, Bertrand Laruse, approaches the design team. An aide has told him about the proposal for a ‘Royal Air Mail Service’ mooted last night, and he is interested in the idea. While the Armed Forces Council may not be the best venue to discuss such things, he hints that following up on this may be a good way of earning royal favour.


(Going to need three last majority-wins votes here: one on accepting each of the agreements, and one on the artillery major’s proposal. If the first two are accepted, there will be no further council phases.)

[Thanik]

Army Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (1): Thanik
Navy Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (1): Thanik
Artillery Officer:
Give them all the balloons in exchange for more funding right away (1): Thanik
-- Apologize for not addressing this earlier (1): Thanik
Give them balloon command at 1/2 maintenance cost (0):
Don't give them the balloons (0): [Why would you choose this?]
Bertrand Laruse:
Accept the Offer on Behest of the Crown (1): Thanik
Get imprisoned for treason Stand down the Offer (0):

[piratejoe]

Army Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (2): Thanik, Piratejoe
Navy Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (2): Thanik, Piratejoe
Artillery Officer:
Give them all the balloons in exchange for more funding right away (2): Thanik, Piratejoe
-- Apologize for not addressing this earlier (2): Thanik, Piratejoe
Give them balloon command at 1/2 maintenance cost (0):
Don't give them the balloons (0): [Why would you choose this?]
Bertrand Laruse:
Accept the Offer on Behest of the Crown (2): Thanik, Piratejoe73
Get imprisoned for treason Stand down the Offer (0):

[Jerick]

Army Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (3): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick
Navy Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (3): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick
Artillery Officer:
Give them all the balloons in exchange for more funding right away (3): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick
-- Apologize for not addressing this earlier (3): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick
Give them balloon command at 1/2 maintenance cost (0):
Don't give them the balloons (0): [Why would you choose this?]
Bertrand Laruse:
Accept the Offer on Behest of the Crown (3): Thanik, Piratejoe73, Jerick
Get imprisoned for treason Stand down the Offer (0):

[ConscriptFive]

I think divesting of "lighter than air" in favor of winged flight is the way to go.  Unless somebody really wants to push for airships, selling off the spotter balloons to the Artillery Corps seems like good way to streamline us in that regard.

Army Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Navy Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Artillery Officer:
Give them all the balloons in exchange for more funding right away (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
-- Apologize for not addressing this earlier (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Give them balloon command at 1/2 maintenance cost (0):
Don't give them the balloons (0): [Why would you choose this?]
Bertrand Laruse:
Accept the Offer on Behest of the Crown (4): Thanik, Piratejoe73, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Get imprisoned for treason Stand down the Offer (0):

[Cnidaros]

Just to clarify, the balloon deal is for the Army to take over deployment of all the Sky Eye squadrons, while paying half of their maintenance. And Laruse's offer isn't up for a straight vote, you'll have to flesh out what exactly a Royal Air Mail Service would be like, as well as what exactly the Sky Crusaders are doing in this scheme (which may determine what you'll get out of it!). The BR won't depend on the air mail thing, though.

[evictedSaint]

Why are we paying half their cost in this arrangement? They become the Army's balloons; they should take over 100% of the cost.

[Cnidaros]

Why are we paying half their cost in this arrangement? They become the Army's balloons; they should take over 100% of the cost.

One might almost think the Army is trying to pull a fast one over on the VSC here.

[evictedSaint]

Army Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Navy Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Artillery Officer:
Give them all the balloons in exchange for more funding right away (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
-- Apologize for not addressing this earlier (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Give them balloon command at 1/2 maintenance cost (0):
Don't give them the balloons (0): [Why would you choose this?]
Counter Offer "Full Price" (1): eS
Bertrand Laruse:
Accept the Offer on Behest of the Crown (4): Thanik, Piratejoe73, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Get imprisoned for treason Stand down the Offer (0):

Give the Army full control of the balloons under the condition they pay the full maintenance cost. We will control production and pay production costs.

Additionally, they must inform us of where they intend to deploy the balloons to facilitate inter-branch cooperation.

[piratejoe]

I'd add full control of production and equipment as well if we are making them pay for them in full.

[piratejoe]

I just realized something...

Army Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Navy Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Artillery Officer:
Give them all the balloons in exchange for more funding right away (3): Thanik, Jerick, ConscriptFive
-- Apologize for not addressing this earlier (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Give them balloon command at 1/2 maintenance cost (0):
Don't give them the balloons (0): [Why would you choose this?]
Counter Offer "Full Price" (2): eS, Piratejoe73
Bertrand Laruse:
Accept the Offer on Behest of the Crown (4): Thanik, Piratejoe73, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Offer "Air Mail" (1): Piratejoe
Get imprisoned for treason Stand down the Offer (0):

If we get this through we could use the extra PP to not have to sell anything.

We still need a proper how we would do air mail thing though, so I guess I'll make one.

We will provide the crown and other important parts of the government a mail service behind the lines at home. This service will see it that bags of mail are taken to where they need to go much faster than by rail, cart, car, horse, or foot. Naturally, the Navy and Army will get limited access to this service with our aircraft landing away from the front and letting cars do the rest of the work, which should massively speed up transport without endangering the aircraft. The VSC will start to provide one squadron for the transport of mail by the late summer and the crown can then make a decision on if they see this plan valuable or not.

[ConscriptFive]

Yeah, I've been rethinking the balloon offer too.  Too much of our support to the ground effort is based on those 4 squadrons for us to give them away so cheaply.  Every time we "1 fighter, 1 balloon" a theater, that's literally half our support.  To not get credit for that, in return for a measly 2PP maint reduction seems like a weak trade.  At least full maint (currently 4 PP) would be more fair of a trade, otherwise forget it.

As for the Air Mail Service, here's a more developed version:

His Majesty's Royal Post Air Mail Service [Remedial and Reserve Pilots Version]

As previously justified, the VSC proposes establishing a Air Mail Service for His Majesty's Royal Post.  Per the Postmaster General's recommendation, Postmasters will be placed at key VSC aerodromes, to accept and receive Registered First Class mail.  The VSC recommends to the Postmaster General to allow of portion of the service to be available to the public at a considerable upcharge, so as to cover operational costs. The VSC also recommends to the Postmaster General releasing new postage stamps with the VSC insignia for the use and promotion of the new Air Mail Service.  (Surely they will become collectable among stamp collectors.)  As a trial service, the VSC pledges at least one demilitarized Rhino squadron dedicated full time to delivering air mail between VSC aerodromes.

As these tightly scheduled 'milk runs' will occur in rear and interior areas beyond the reach of hostile aircraft, this non-combat squadron will be staffed with aviators on 'Reserve' status and pay.  The VSC Reserve will be staffed by VSC personnel discharged from combat deployment for medical or other hardship.  This allows honorably discharged VSC veterans opportunity to serve King and Country as their hardship permits.  (Surely this status will not be exploited by chickenhawk political scions looking to avoid the front lines.)  VSC pilot trainees who graduate with passing but marginal scores may be placed on Reserve status, attaining further flight hours in non-combat operations, prior to being eventually re-evaluated for a proper combat assignment.  Overall, this should ensure that replacements and newly formed VSC combat squadrons begin at a slightly higher level of general aviation proficiency.

I think that proposes enough but also leave enough wiggle room for GM to play with.  Ideally: civilian revenue covers squadron maint, we get public relations prestige from the service + sweet ass stamp (remember stamp collecting was still a massive hobby back then), and new pilot xp.  Even if that does go through, I'm assuming the GM is going to demand more/better squadrons in about a year as the service grows, which is probably a good way to balance this mechanic.  I'm also assuming it's going to be a fully offmap asset.  Having the option to shut down air mail for a month and a half to push obsolete unarmed planes to the front sounds like a catastrophic blunder.  I noted that it's just one version in the title, in case somebody else has another idea of how to do it.

Army Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Navy Negotiations:
Draft counter offers (0):
Accept the bill as-is (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Artillery Officer:
Give them all the balloons in exchange for more funding right away (2): Thanik, Jerick
-- Apologize for not addressing this earlier (4): Thanik, Piratejoe, Jerick, ConscriptFive
Give them balloon command at 1/2 maintenance cost (0):
Don't give them the balloons (0): [Why would you choose this?]
Counter Offer "Full Price" (3): eS, Piratejoe73, ConscriptFive
Bertrand Laruse:
Accept the Offer on Behest of the Crown (4): Thanik, Piratejoe73, Jerick, ConscriptFive
-- His Majesty's Royal Post Air Mail Service [Remedial and Reserve Pilots Version] (1): ConscriptFive

Get imprisoned for treason Stand down the Offer (0):