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[Naturegirl1999]

"Lorem" Smokeless Powder (5): m1895, Maxim_inc, Happerry, naturegirl1999, ConscriptFive
Harvey Armor (0)
   -as a second design (2): ConscriptFive, naturegirl1999

So as I said before, I'm willing to take a beating this turn with the fire control system, to get another project cooking sooner.  The propellant and armor are independent enough to run parallel.  Two designs and no revisions is what I'm voting for.

Me too. We should be able to develop them in tandem

[Maxim_inc]

"Lorem" Smokeless Powder (5): m1895, Maxim_inc, Happerry, naturegirl1999, ConscriptFive
Harvey Armor (0)
   -as a second design (3): ConscriptFive, naturegirl1999, Maxim_inc

[Jerick]

"Lorem" Smokeless Powder (6): m1895, Maxim_inc, Happerry, naturegirl1999, ConscriptFive, Jerick
Harvey Armor (0)
   -as a second design (3): ConscriptFive, naturegirl1999,Maxim_inc
Uthtrott Naval Drill Schoo

I do like the idea of developing things in tandem as it gets our projects finished quicker. However the enemy appears to have taken traits that will give them an initial advantage. We're going to be taking a beating at the start and anything we could do to mitigate that is something we should consider.

[m1895]

"Lorem" Smokeless Powder (6): m1895, Maxim_inc, Happerry, naturegirl1999, ConscriptFive, Jerick
Harvey Armor (0)
   -as a second design (3): ConscriptFive, naturegirl1999,Maxim_inc
Uthtrott Naval Drill Schoo
don't make a second design (1): m1895

I'd prefer if we made an ammo revision this turn, to ensure that we can actually do significant damage to them now, rather than waiting to mitigate their ability to damage us later. Especially since there's a good chance they have Pre-Dreads.

[piratejoe]

Summer, 1890, Design Phase.

"Lorem" Smokeless Powder Design:

After our most recent gunnery exercises many higher ups in the department if the navy have noted that our current Brown Powder propellent is underpowered to send the shells used by our ship mounted guns. Thus the chemists of the royal court have come together and presented to the department of the navy "Lorem" Smokeless Powder.
It is a compound consisting of 58% nitroglycerin by weight, 37% guncotton and 5% petroleum jelly. The compound is extruded as spaghetti like strings for smaller, rifle rounds and in large cylinders ranging from 1-8"in diameter and 6" in length, the diameter depending on the size of the shell is will propel.

Time: 6 | Progress: 4 | Expense: 3

Work starting on the project is fairly quick, and not too expensive either. It is expected that the project itself shouldn't take too long and, barring any major issues, should be done by the end of fall. Really, this is likely a fairly quick and easy project, even if the project itself isn't large, however, by devoting so much time to it, more so than normal, we can investigate and come up with a few better modifications...

"Lorem" Smokeless Powder | 4/6 progress | 1 PP per die | Rushed 0 times | 1 PP invested

Effectiveness: 6 | Cost: 4 | Bugs: 5

Lorem Smokeless powder has allowed us to look into gunpowder very thoroughly and inspect how best to utilize it. We have found a few important things, like how to store it in a safer way than before, along with looking at other avinues, such as better ways to utilize the advantages the new powder has in newer guns. But at the end of the day the main work was on the powder itself, and by experimenting a bit with the initial mix which proved successful, we have found a good deal of information. Firstly, the burning rate can be varied by simply using thicker or thinner strands of the stuff, thicker rods burning slower and smaller faster, which, fittingly enough, means smaller strands for small firearms, while larger ones for main guns and cannons is the best way to use the stuff.

Additionally, we found that the original mix causes a bit of damage to the barrels over time, more than we'd like. And in order to reduce maintenance cost, we experimented with the mixture a bit to find that using less nitroglycerin and replacing it with more guncotten caused a decrease in power, but kept the barrels a bit better. We experimented a while with this before we found a perfect sweet spot for power and maintenance, which should allow us to utilize the stuff better, especially should we make a gun better designed to handle the stuff. With all the work on it, we have jumped ahead a fair bit in the creation of gunpowder, specifically the smokeless kind. And that will certainly help us.


It is now the Revision & Refit phase. You have 3 die remaining to spend on revisions or save until the next turn.

Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

"Lorem" Smokeless Powder | 4/6 progress | 1 PP per die | Rushed 0 times | 1 PP invested

Spoiler: Technology (click to show/hide)

Naval
Early 2/3/4/5/6/7/9/10/12 inch guns
Triple-expansion engines.
Steel hull construction.
Single Casemates.
Single and Double gun turrets.
Basic Steel making techniques.
Early Damage control techniques.
Decent Anti Flash fire measures
Prototype Central Rangefinding.
Cordite Lorem Smokeless Powder
Mjolnir Class Self Propelled Torpedo (Reliable torpedo capable of 600 yards at 26 knots. A somewhat noisy, but leaves no wake.)

Marines & Installations
Defensive guns (Uses same calibers as naval guns)
Vetlesen Ironbone 83 (Basic Bolt Action Rifle)
Halfdan & Ivar Model 6 (Basic Revolver)

Spoiler: Ship Classes (click to show/hide)

Minnow Class Corvette: A corvette with a single three inch gun and two, two inch guns. Additionally has three surface torpedo launchers and is capable of a speed up to twenty four knots. Is fairly maneuverable, and can carry a small platoon of soldiers should need be.
Costs 2/1 PP, 3 seasons construction time.

Serpent Class Light Armored Cruiser: A Armored cruiser armed with three six inch guns, two in a forward turret, one in the back. Additionally has a secondary armament of six three inch guns, three on each side of the ship along with two submerged torpedo tubes, one on each side. Capable of a surprising nineteen knots at flank speed, and armored with three inches along the ships belt with the main turrets having a similar level of armor. Has had a fragile central rangefinder installed in the bridge.
Costs 5/2 PP, 5 seasons construction time. (6/2 with Central Rangefinder)

Spoiler: Ships (click to show/hide)

C - Protected Cruisers
Serpent Class, 5 Ships, 10 Maintenance
SKMS Serpent | C | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged | Gjermund Saugstad is captain, Greenhorn, Aggressive
SKMS Snake | C | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged | Olaf Hermansen is captain, Greenhorn, Balanced
SKMS Viper | C | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged | Ivar Aaby is captain, Greenhorn, Aggressive.
SKMS Cobra | C | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged | Eivind Holsen is captain, Greenhorn, Balanced.
SKMS Adder | C | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged | Preben Froiland is captain, Greenhorn, Cautious.

KE - Corvette
Minnow Class, 10 ships, 10 maintenance.
M-1 | KE | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged |
M-2 | KE | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged |
M-3 | KE | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged |
M-4 | KE | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged |
M-5 | KE | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged |
M-6 | KE | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged |
M-7 | KE | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged |
M-8 | KE | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged |
M-9 | KE | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged |
M-10 | KE | No Refit | Currently assigned to Peacetime Patrols | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged |

Spoiler: Land Instillation's, Schools, Dock Size, & Total PP and Maintenance (click to show/hide)

4,000 Displacement Dry docks. (4 to upgrade, takes 4 seasons to finish, increases by 3 each upgrade)
45 PP, 20 Maintenance.

[ConscriptFive]

Okay, we have room for three revisions this phase.  I'm assuming somebody else is going to write up the Fire Control System fix?

Revision: Munkki Throwable Life Preserver

While a surprising amount of sailors can't swim, even the most athletic of swimmers have issues under combat conditions.  Injury, saturated clothing, rough seas, and general duress can quickly drown a man overboard.  Even should a lifeguard attempt to rescue the man, the man's instinct tends to want to wrestle the lifeguard down to Davy Jones' Locker with him.  Thus we have invented the Munkki.

The Munkki is a buoyant ring attached to a lengthy rope.  Light enough to be thrown a decent distance, the drowning man can cling to it and be pulled back to safety.  Standard issue of Munkki to our vessels will greatly increase the general survivability of our sailors during mishaps or deadly combat.

So we're probably going to take a beating these opening turns, so this is a means to keep too many of our sailors from dying turn to turn.  Hopefully this will manifest as an crew XP bonus.  (Munkki is a kind of Finnish doughnut.)

Revision: Vindauga Handheld Spyglass

As impressive as our Central Rangefinding Station is, imagine if it was something handheld.  Indeed, the Vindauga Handheld Spyglass brings high quality Sothwegian optics to the hands of our lookouts and Marines.  The Vindauga provides x8 magnification and is constructed of weather-resistant brass.  It fully extends to two feet in length, and collapses to six inches for storage.  It includes a cylindrical carrying case with a shoulder sling.

We have the optics tech from the rangefinder.  Unfortunately it's expensive and huge and won't make it to our 1st Gen pickets and escorts.  This gives them an option for identifying specks on the horizon.  It'll be easier to avoid their big ships if we can spot them first.  It's also portable enough we can give it to a Marine officer for land operations.  (Vindauga is Old Norse for "Wind Eye" the origin of the word "window.")

[VoidSlayer]

Lets save it, we can make two good designs next year, maybe a faster loading gun for our ships and a new ship.

[Khang36]

Shouldn't we at least fix our fire control system?

[VoidSlayer]

That is a good point, fix the fire control then one solid design with 2 revisions next turn.

[Taricus]

Well, if we save two dice, we have the ability to come up with two designs next turn, or else come up with three revisions rather than two.

[Naturegirl1999]

I think we should fix our firing system

[Khang36]

CRFS improvment and streamlining program:

While the CRFS(central range finding station)is technological marvel and one of the greatest piece of technology the naval R&D board has created in this century, but there is still to improve the system. The goal of the program is to are three fold, one to install shock absorbers and implement design changes to harden the system to shock damage hopefully making the system immune to anything short of a direct hit to the system. Secondly the program is to find ways to reduce the cost of the system with out impacting the performance.

New Shell program

while we have the CRFS to greatly improve gun fire accuracy, being able to hit a target means nothing if are shell are unable to properly damage the enemy ship. The New Shell program is the the answer to this, new shells for a new era of steam and iron. firstly a new explosive filling is to be adopted for all shells, with picric acid  the explosive of choice being more than twice as powerful as black powder. Additionally armour piercing shells will have a metal cap added to the tip of the shell which should improve shell penetration by reducing odds of the shell shattering on impact of the armour. Finally the program is to look into ways to improve steel casting techniques to improve the quality of the shells.

[m1895]

Spoiler: ammo revision (click to show/hide)

Ipsum Shell & shot classification system

due to recent information gained by our intelligence services. We've come to the conclusion that production of more modernized shell types is absolutely necessary for naval parity. especially considering our captains can't seem to describe the various shell types in current use, so we've listed below modernized versions of our current ammunition:

Ipsum MK. I Armor-Piercing Shot
the MK. I is the simplest of our modern shell types, a nickel-steel alloy shot made with a modern version of the Palliser differential hardening techniques and a soft metal cap to reduce shattering.

Ipsum MK. II Armor-Piercing Shell
the MK. II is a modification of the MK. I, with a hole drilled in the back and filled with Picric Acid and guncotton with a graze fuze that activates a timed fuze to maximize armor penetration before detonation.

our current black powder explosive and illumination shells have been designated low priority, as such, they will receive their Ipsum series upgrades at a later date

now as you may have guessed, different ammo types cause differing levels of stress on the barrel, so using info gathered from the Lorem barrel wear trials we've created the "Lorem Ipsum Barrel Wear Calculation System"  an example of the L.I.B.W.C.S. in action:
the MK. I counts as 1.00 shots fired, whereas the black powder shell due to its lighter weight and volatile payload requiring a lesser powder load only counts as 0.67 shots fired, so when all shots fired are added together you get the effective barrel wear.

[VoidSlayer]

That seems like a lot for 1 revision.

[Khang36]

Dazzle Paint
The art of shoot things is not a simple as pointing the gun at a ship and firing away, it is a rather complex problem with many variables that must be considered in order for a gunnery crew to be able to lay accurate fire on their target made even more difficult when officers need to make these calculations on the fly while their target is shooting back. Of course we have no intention of making it any easier for our enemies. Dazzle Paint is a camouflage which uses sharp lines and geometric patterns which is intended to confuse observers of a ship's heading, speed, distance and even size to greatly hamper the enemies ability to lay accurate fire.