Year 1915 AC (After Colonization) Hot Season, Combat Phase
Abberan Advancements
As the ground thawed our workforce has uncovered a
deposit of Gavrillium in the Wooded Mountains (THIS IS A LIE WOODED MOUNTAINS ARE ACTUALLY RESOURCE-COMPLETE, SO THIS WILL BE WOODLANDS BUT YOU CAN REVOTE ON DISTRIBUTION IF IT BUGGERS YOUR KNUCKLES). We have also
fortified the North Peaks, bringing
Entrenchment to One(1).
As a result of our increased Gavrillium supply we anticipate the following modifications to our armory:
The
Halberd becomes
(CHEAP).
The
Crusader becomes
(EXPENSIVE).
The
Caliburn becomes
(EXPENSIVE).
Salviosi Successes
Proposal: ALS-15M "Impact" Avalanche Booster System
"Impact" Avalanche Booster System
The Avalanche is a very fine piece of technology, but it can be better. The Impact system aims to improve the Avalanches by adding very small Gravity Engines around its center of mass. These, combined with a small bank of capacitors sufficient for a single use before a recharge, allow the user to give themselves a hard push or boost, capable of throwing them and their entire armored lifting suit a few meters in the desired direction---up [for anything from cushioning falls to Myomer-and-gravity-enhanced jumps], forwards or backwards, left or right.
These Mini-Gravity Engines (MGEs) are constructed to be very durable as well as being powerful in short bursts, since they'll be getting thrown around in a suit of armor and smashed into things (like enemy armored bodies in sudden charges).
The capacitors themselves are charged directly by the Avalanche's engine system, and protected by being nestled under the armor.
Difficulty: Hard
Result: 5 (4+2-1) = Below Average
Mobility is becoming increasingly important in our current situation, and in order to grant our Avalanches the ability to rapidly move and engage we have created the Impact. The Impact is actually a series of six Miniature GravEngines embedded in the armor at the left and right sides, the front and back of the torso, and behind the collar. The gravite cores are aligned to propel the Avalanche left, right, forward, back, and up, but can only be activated one at a time to prevent a left/right or forward/back trigger tearing the suit apart. A new forearm piece with a panel adorned in a button for each M.G.E., though there is no cover so rare accidental activation can occur.
While ingenious, there are a few drawbacks to the system itself. As the cores of the M.G.E.s are in a fixed position being able to properly align oneself for accurate motion is difficult. Before activation the wearer must also hop off the ground or risk their dragging feet throwing them off and angling them in the wrong direction (namely, face-first into the ground). The M.G.E.s can propel an Avalanche at 16 meters/second, but only very briefly as the system ravenously draws power from the capacitors allowing only two or three seconds of usage before requiring up to a half hour to fully recharge.
While the myomer strengthening the legs absorbs the majority of landing impacts, headlong charges and side-on collisions at those speeds have a tendency to injure the meat popsicle soldier within the armor as they get jostled around, with more severe injuries occurring with sudden stops (like with the previously mentioned ground). Also of note, the increased energy moving through and stored within the suit has increased discomfort, and often after engagements users need some extended rest.
Introduction of the Impact has led to the creation of the Avalanche-B, a variant of the original design made to utilize the Impact.
The Impact system itself costs 3 Caelium and 1 Ore (CHEAP), and the additional resources it uses reflected in the cost of the Avalanche-B, making it cost us 6 Ore, 2 Gavrillium, 6 Caelium, and 2 Myomer (VERY EXPENSIVE). It has also added MiniGrav Engines as a Component for further usage with costs changing on a case-by-case basis. Future designs can also be made to utilize the Impact.
Proposal: MMW-15 "LAMB"
This project is a true demonstration of Salviosi craftsmanship.
Specifically, 15th century Salviosi craftsmanship.
This is a pollaxe, codenamed the Medieval Melee Weapon, 1915: Literally A Medieval Bludgeon, which we stole acquired from a museum. In fairness, we have re-engineered it for the modern era, making the entire thing out of modern steel and scaling it up to be as tall as an Avalanche trooper's neck (scaling it from "human sized" to "Avalanche sized"), but the basics are mostly unchanged- it's a long shaft with a spike on the end, with a hammer head just below it, somewhat counterbalanced by an axe blade opposite. As in medieval combat, this weapon is intended to allow an armored person to hit another armored person and have their strikes actually matter. However, it shall truly shine when wielded by one wearing the Avalanche-B, where it can be used as a 'lance' of sorts, focusing the entire force of impact onto a single sturdy point, easily capable of smashing through anything Aberra brings to the table; as a bonus, the LAMB will allow the soldier to decelerate without smashing face-first into their target, absorbing the force of impact with the myomer in their arms in a more controlled fashion.
To aid in its use with the Impact system, an arret de lance (little circle on the shaft that braces against the is added to the haft of the pollaxe, and an arret de cuirass (lance rest) under the dominant arm (and moving the buttons for the Impact to the dominant arm so the offhand can use it while the main hand braces the pollaxe).
Difficulty: Very Easy
Result: 9 (4+3+2) = Above Average
Using equipment donated to us by a local museum we were able to study the construction of an old pollaxe. We then performed the necessary calculations to replicate an upsized model using more modern resources and production methods. As a result we have a weapon that ends up being as potentially lethal as it's predecessor. A steel head consisting of a 13cm spike with a hammer head and axe blade below it tapers into a steel rod encased in a wooden shaft with leather grip, making it a solid, heavy 2-2.5 meter tall piece of equipment - a problem only if you don't have access to an Avalanche suit. While a standard infantryman could try to use it, it'd be unwieldy at best. In the hands of our Avalanches however it can be swung with ease, bringing the force of all their "muscle" to bear on a small surface area with equipment designed to sustain strong impact.
Speaking of which, a steel ring around the shaft behind the grip of the LAMB in conjunction with a lance rest added to the Avalanche-B aid to prevent rearward motion, allowing firmer, stronger strikes when "charging". We also standardized usage of a right arm control panel for the Impact so that it could be controlled while the LAMB is couched.
An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.
Costs 3 Ore and 1 Wood, making it CHEAP, however it can only be effectively used by Avalanches. It can still be used by others, but nowhere near as well. (Say if for some reason you lost access to Avalanches, you'd still see this in the field on occasion)
CHAPTER THREE: BREAKING POINT
Part One: The Scourge Continues
After the near total loss of an attacking fleet of
Orleans last season, Captain Valkria willingly gave up temporary command of the Sky Fleet to one Todde Hávarđr, an old (sea) naval admiral with plenty of ideas. His proposed solution to the
Charybdis, a skyship wielding two tank guns known as the
St. Maria, was supposed to be quite effective. When questioned on why and how, he simply responded, "It just works."
He reorganized fleet formation and deployment. The
St. Maria, unable to do it's job it the enemy gets below it, would fly beneath the
Orleans formations to provide cover while the
Orleans performed their ground attack duties. On paper this seemed like it would work. In practice, not so much. With the whole of our fleet far outpaced by the enemy ships, even though we outnumber them the
Charybdis can rapidly respond to any threat our skyships provide, and the ability to take off and land anywhere with enough space to fit a
Charybdis that response was usually not too far off.
Thanks to using nearly unmodified tank turrets our ability to track the agile
Charybdis was severely hampered and resulted in gunners focusing on a small section of sky they anticipated enemy pilots to come through. Still, very few
Charybdis kills were confirmed for the season. Their efficacy is further diminished by the fact that the deck needs to be exposed to the
Charybdis' 40mm cannon in order to be targeted by our own, while their underside is armored enough to at least resist if not deflect any shots lucky enough to hit. The
Charybdis crews are also highly adept at piloting their vehicles, making it even harder to acquire and fire upon a target. Eventually the AA capabilities of the
St. Maria were proven to be practically nonexistent at this moment in time, and so their role was switched. While
Orleans peppered ground forces the
St. Marias targeted enemy transports in the rear, both on the ground and in the air. This divided the attention of the
Charybdis, but not enough to negate the local superiority of Salviosi air-based forces.
Currently every airborne deployment is a question of how many aircraft will be shot down before our forces on the ground can complete their objective.
Part Two: The Belly of the Beast
"Bring her forward,"
Oberleutnant Deiter's order cracked the silence within the
Gendarme. The metal monster rumbled and lurched slightly left before the Driver corrected and pushed her ahead, the sides of the
Gendarme scraped posts and abandoned automobiles on the sides of the larger streets even then barely wide enough to accommodate the heavy tanks Abbera now fielded. Dieter and his crew had gotten separated from the bulk of their forces after a flight of
Charybdis' had come by and saturated the area in 40mm cannon fire. They'd barely escaped the barrage unscathed - indeed unknown to the crew, the hull was spattered in cooled Gavrillium splash from
FMJ/G fired by the cannons. Infantry was beginning to scramble out of cover now that the attack had passed, mostly pissed and ready to fight.
The radio crackled to life,
"This is Geldbefehl
, status report!"There was a brief whine and crackle of static as the Radioman adjusted some dials before he spoke, "This is
Geld Vierzehn, we just got hammered but are on the move."
Most of the other
Gendarmes called in, though a few were going to be out of commission for the coming fight. Though the enemy had the skies, the intensity of fighting on the ground had begun to crescendo. Abberan commanders utilizing Moskurgian tactics had seen them taking a more proactive approach to the battlefield, and each Abberan was less willing to give any ground, inspired to an almost bloodthirsty fervor. Most fighting had ground down to room-to-room fighting, city blocks taken only after painful weeks of bloody grinding just to be fought over and change hands once more. This thrust was to be different. The
Gendarmes were to thrust through the enemy as would a spear, forcing a gap to be exploited by supporting infantry and troop transports. Now, it seemed, Dieter was on the tip of that spear.
Small arms fire erupted from a nearby building and bounced off the
Gendarme before it's fire focused on more vulnerable targets. A
Sled slid into view and was quickly destroyed by their cannon, though the Avalanches beneath were seen flipping the wreckage off of themselves before jumping, quite literally, into the fray.
The enemy
Avalanches appeared to actually be the new
Collision-model Power Armor, which utilized the
Impact, a system of propulsion not completely unlike the
Nike's. One of them flung himself upwards through a collapsed wall on the second floor of a building while the other fired himself sideways out of sight.
Then the loud pops started going off all around the
Gendarme. Salviosi in the buildings above the tank had begun throwing their assorted grenades onto the vehicle and surrounding troops below. The infantry, ferocious but not suicidal, began to roll back to properly regroup and engage, setting off
Wickermen ahead of themselves for cover.
"BACK NOW!" Deiter cried out over the boom of the cannon and chatter of the machine gun. There was a
"clink" as an enemy grenade bounced off the top of the
Gendarme and in front of it before going off in a burst of molten Gavrillium. Then another to the side, followed almost immediately by a loud, painful grinding and sudden jerk to the left a few degrees before completely stopping.
"What's the fucking problem!?" Deiter yelled to the driver.
"She's not moving sir! One of those grenades must've got us!" the Driver responded.
"Everyone's pulling back, sir!" shouted the Gunner, his voice cracking, betraying his fear.
Rounds ricocheted off the armor of the tank, filling the interior with strings of hollow echoing pings.
Something within the machine ground with a whine as the Driver tried to force her to move, forward this time, and got rewarded with a bit of movement for his efforts. Small caliber
FMJ/G rounds slammed and squashed against the armor. A group of Abberan infantry, seeing the
Gendarme in trouble, pushed forward again in an attempt to give some support, but were quickly pinned down by a flurry of gunfire from a pair of enemy
LGG-12s set up in a third floor window and on a nearby roof. As the smokescreen began to fade shadows of enemy power armor moving through it became readily visible. One flung himself up into the air briefly and then forward, brandishing the latest weapon to grace Salvios: the
LAMB. The gatling fire died off as he landed amid the group of pinned infantry. One leveled a
Draco at the attacker's chest but had his own struck by the hammerblow augmented with myomer strength which sent him flying across the street and into a wall where his broken body crumpled in a bloodied heap. The
Collision swung the
LAMB again and the axehead bit into another unfortunately close infantryman who'd fallen on his ass when the
Collision landed.
With friendlies clear of the
Collision, the
Gendarme retaliated with it's cannon. The shell bit into the ground at his feet and detonated, sending him skyward in a few pieces.
There was a loud
bang as something hit the top of the
Gendarme hard enough to shake it. Then two softer metallic
clanks.
"What the..." the Radioman mused before-
BANG!A speartip punched through the side of the tank and pierced the Radioman's ribs.
"Agh FU
hh!" he wheezed as Deiter yanked him away from the side of the tank by the shoulder, jabbing the barrel of a
Modea through the hole just vacated by the spear and fired a few rapid shots.
Another speartip jammed it's way through the armor, this time in the rear.
"I'm gonna fucking die," the Radioman groaned as blood poured from his wound.
"Get us the FUCK out of here! NOW!" Deiter ordered the Driver.
"She's not going back-"
"THEN GO FORWARDS! Why don't we have any FUCKING medical supplies!?" Deiter yelled as the Radioman now propped forward in his seat quickly lost color.
Deiter frantically tried to plug the wound as the
Gendarme began to move forward. There was a rhythmic vibration coming from the right tread but she was going. Gunfire bounced off her sides and back as she picked up speed and made her way into an intersection. She would have made it through, but her lowered speed gave the crew of the
LFG-13 watching the intersection enough reaction time to fire a round square in the side. The
FMJ/G round cracked the armor and it's magmatic contents burst into the tank, heating the air, spraying the crew, and setting two of them outright on fire. Deiter was spattered on the arm and neck, but mostly okay, swearing as his crew screamed, if they still could, while he opened up the rear hatch,
Modea in hand.
A second round struck the tank and lifted it ever so slightly and Deiter returned fire as he ran straight towards the field gun nearly one hundred meters away. One of the crew fell as a pink mist hung in the air where his head once was. A third round hit the tank, and suddenly the thing exploded as the ammunition inside cooked off. Deiter was knocked to the ground unconscious.
While the
Gendarme truly is a great addition, it's limitations within the city have reduced it's impact as it cannot often utilize it's speed, and is vulnerable to attack from many angles. The enemy also has a wide variety of weapons capable of being used against our "heavy" tank. However, the added ferocity of Abberan troops, plus the increased casualty trickleback rate from the K-Wool uniforms, has also added to our ability to fight a ground war. Overall we are even in the ground war in the Fortress-City.
However that's not the only place we're fighting. While the
St. Maria has allowed us to reduce the impact of the
Charybdis as a whole, it's only because we're offering them more targets. As a result the Salviosi still control the skies, and by controlling the skies they have free reign to attack our ground forces as well. Maybe we could drown them in bodies, but we suggest finding a better solution.
----------------
Combat this season has resulted in an
Abberan Defeat! Abberan control of Harren City drops to 25%
We cannot allow the enemy to roll us back. As such we will be planning an amphibious assault of the Salviosi homelands. We ask this turn that you help facilitate such an endeavor by designing equipment to be used in an amphibious landing. We are willing to provide great aid for your efforts.
[If you decide to design something this turn that can be used to improve the odds of a successful amphibious invasion it will receive a second roll as if it had a Research Credit used on it.] Authorizing Use of Artillery in the Fortress-City is now a permanent option you can bring up at any point, though you will not be reminded of it from here on out.
Note that this will officially be the first turn you will be voting on fronts to attack. You will be able to choose two lanes to attack down. Any lane that is not Attacked on is considered being Defended. While on the defensive the efficacy of nearly every piece of equipment changes based on it's purpose and usability. This means that results on a lane may vary based solely on whether you're attacking or defending. For reference, both sides have been considered "attacking" for the purposes of the struggle over the Fortress-City.
IT IS NOW THE DESIGN PHASE!
Poll
3 (15%)
Author
Topic: Industrialized Warfare: Abbera Thread / 1917 A.C. Cold Season (COMPLETE) (Read 78710 times)