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[TricMagic]

As soon as thought to action works out. And we have some headway to computing?

The Sakura Helmet does make a good first step for that... Even if it's buggy, it would give us enough EXP for power armor this design phase. And if it goes well, power armor should be doable.

[flabort]

Turn 3 Revision Phase Results

Ionic Repeating Gun
Based off the lessons learned in creating the Soliton Stun Pistol, the Ionic Repeating Gun is, instead of being a pistol, a machine gun sized energy weapon, designed to be operated from fixed positions (and coming with an easily usable tripod to turn anywhere the user wants into a fixed position), with much larger power cells then used by the pistol allowing for stronger, and more rapid, shots. While Semi-automatic is a firing mode the gun supports, users are probably going to find more uses from the burst and full automatic firing modes, firing coruscating energy bolts at a rate at least equal, and probably greater, then one bolt a second. But taking an energy weapon and upscaling it to machine gun scale isn't the only advance this guns holds, for the shots fired from this gun are also charged with ionic force. This electrical energy bursts out from the shots as soon as they hit a solid object, covering everything nearby and in contact with said struck object with a web of electrical force, allowing for both area of effect damage and a certain ability to damage people whom think they are in cover when the electrical web goes around the stuck object and electrocutes anyone in contact with its rear.

Very Difficult (2 + 2) -2 = 2 (Abject Failure) [GM's note: Ouch. Because this is prewar, I'm going to reroll that]
Very Difficult (5 + -2 = 11 (Average)
The Ionic Repeating Gun fits comfortably between two hands, and fires with a nominally good fire rate. By combining the fire rate and general shape of the M-14 rifle with the advanced Soliton pulse technology from the stun pistol, a brand new weapon is born, one that can give a strong advantage to it's users.

At nearly one and a half shots per second in fully automatic mode, the IRG uses a stronger, polarized ionic charge than the pistol as the damaging force within the carrier wave. This charge immediately seeks ground when it the envelope collapses, and scatters into the air and into the ground in a burst of lightning and sparkles. This is more devastating than merely stunning a target or making them black out - it permanently burns them, and often stops hearts or damages sensitive electrical equipment. Some alien life-forms seem immune - not that they were shot on purpose, they were just hard to see in the snow where accuracy at a distance in poor conditions was tested, and too close to the target. Suffice to say, accuracy is spot on, and the area of effect is pretty wide. Attempts were made to sooth and reassure the part-rabbit-part-termite-like creatures, but whether the ADI translator worked on them or not was hard to say.

Rather than using new, larger batteries, the IRG uses a cartridge that can fit four of the same batteries the Soliton Stun Pistol, and then inserted into the gun. The cartridge can control the power consumption of all the batteries at once, functionally acting as a larger battery, but allowing for the same manufacturing methods and recharging ports to be used.

IRG is fairly average in terms of cost for an energy rifle - around 3 ore and 2 oil. This is expensive right now, but when we supplement our Ore supply it will be cheap to supply to every soldier. For now, we're giving them M-14s, and the HRSP recommends an anti-materiel weapon to support them. Like the PzB 39.

Sakura Helmet
BCS Radio Heads Up Display Helmet

By making use of these headbands, the users can connect them to a radio helmet. This helmet is very comfortable to wear, with optional fur/cotton lining, and a bulletproof glass visor with integrated HUD to display allies and local terrain. And very good steel treated in the same way as the armor of the STAR-Class Transverse, painted to prevent the shine from giving you away.

Effectively, the Helmet reads the operator's thoughts, and uses the radio to transmit information. As well, there is a miniture computer capable of storing some information. This allows terrain to be mapped, and enemies to show up on those maps in the HUD of a Squad or army. Likewise, this same BCS makes the HUD hands free, capable of switching readouts and zoom quickly.

The Radio encodes everything in BCS, and sends it as a Solitary Wave like with our radio towers., meaning that actually intercepting such communications is pointless for our foes.

Lastly, each helmet has a self-destruct feature carefully locked. Anyone that gets close enough to have their thoughts read and be focused on studying the secrets of the Red Blossom for their country will have everything burn away in a electronic overload, frying the electronics, even as the electronic data becomes bug data. Likewise, taking the electronics apart or removing the trigger battery(separate from the actual 16-hour battery) without going through a BCS boot sequence to do so will also trigger this.


They are so named the Sakura Helmets for they being one part of the greater whole. A thousand cherry blossoms covering the area, learning.

Hard (4 + 7) -3 = 8 (Below Average)
(I'm basing the difficulty mostly on the HUD's terrain tracking, and self destruct)

The Sakura helmet is a bit bulky, having to deal with large quantities of information coming and going from the attached computer. The actual mind-interface is within the helmet, though it does suffer from occasional lag; the radio receiver, micro computer, and soliton radio pack is worn on the hip to support the integrated systems. The helmet is comfortable, warm, and a bit fuzzy, reminding the wearer of a soft bed. The outside is definitely not shiny, even partially camouflaged, but still very much has a metalic quality, whilst the visor is often lit up by the Heads Up Display.

The Heads up display is capable of displaying contours of the surrounding terrain, and lighting up moving targets in red, or green, depending on whether they are transmitting a BCS signal. It does misidentify some targets, particularly wildlife, or rarely swirls of snow in the wind, as being hostiles, or not identify a potential target if it's not moving, but thanks to networking and radio broadcasting, use of multiple Sakura helmets reduces the risk of misidentifying contacts. Unfortunately, the helmet does not include the promised zoom function - including it would shine too much light directly into it's wearers eyes and do more harm than good. Nonetheless, the hardware is included, and with a little modification to the code, zoom can be re-enabled, at the user's own risk.

The limited capacity to record terrain and contacts and communications logs is a bit of a bottleneck in cooperation between the helmets. But as long as no more than 20 helmets are in a communications group, this shouldn't be a problem. Any more, and more data begins being recorded than can be stored at once, and data is deleted and overwritten too quickly to make use of it.

As for self destructing, the helmet cannot sense the intent to study it without being worn, and doesn't know to respond to the concept of that intent. But it does include a deadman's switch, where if the person wearing it is killed and their thoughts stop, power is immediately stopped, and the self destruct primed. It is also primed when improperly turned off. Should the battery or any component then be removed, most of the components will short out, and the memory bank will be scrambled. It's not entirely fool-proof, nor is it entirely secure, but it's enough to discourage most tampering and reverse engineering.

It costs 4 Ore and 1 Oil to produce a Sakura helmet, which is currently Expensive. We can't equip all our troops with them, but a number of advanced squads will benefit from their use.

Spoiler: Designs (click to show/hide)

Transport Capacity: 1/2 (1/1 Oil imported)
Resources: 2 Ore, 2 Oil (1/1 imported)
Credits: none for now
Weapons

• M-14 Rifle (Cheap): Based on a historic design from home, recreated after research by the Historic Rifle Study Program. Good accuracy at Long and medium Range. 1 Ore, 1 Oil
• Soliton Stun Pistol (Cheap): An updated, more reliable design focusing on the stun mode. Guarantees a black out, but won't kill, and slightly more accurate, making it usable (though still not accurate) at medium range. Costs were cut when designing batteries, though. Not any more expensive, at 2 Ore, 1 Oil
  
  • Electrical Power Cells for the New Age: Better batteries, solving the power loss issue, and increasing the accuracy into mostly accurate at medium range and perfect accuracy at close range. Can be turned down to a less accurate, but less wasteful mode in an emergency.
• Ionic Repeating Gun (Expensive): A fairly accurate energy gun in the rifle style. Has an area of effect on strike, where charged particles are scattered into the air and then seek ground. Deadly. 3 Ore, 2 Oil

Vehicles

• STAR-Transverse (Very Expensive): A small personal tank, unarmed but heavily armored, that can fit 4 people. An optional truck bed can be fitted for transport, and it's large wheels can move over practically anything. Hybrid engine so it doesn't consume much fuel, and as it gets cheaper it will provide more TC. Provides 1 TC right now. 5 Ore, 2 Oil
• STAR-Earthmover (Very Expensive): A tank-tractor, slightly less armored than the Transverse, a bit slower, and only fits 2. But, has attachment points for many tools useful for building infrastructure, such as a bucket arm, plow, dozer scoop, road grader, trencher, or forklift. One slot can be fitted with a trailer instead. Pretty much capable of laying out a road system on it's own, minus asphalting, which improves the TC of the STAR-Transverse by 1, and improves the static defenses and deployment speed in controlled areas. 5 Ore, 2 Oil

Other

• Standard Uniform: A plain uniform with very little decoration or utility. There is a space for rank insignia, and some colored markings but it's rather plain.
• ARC-CRAFT: A project to create cybernetics. Created a super-spider-ape, and a person capable of controlling nearby Bluetooth devices, but they are either unable or unwilling to remove their helmet. Lots of useful data for future cybernetic projects, but not immediately useful; as a research project aimed towards enabling future technologies, definitely succeeded, because we do have universal sockets for attaching prosthetic now.
• Alien Diplomacy Initiative: An attempt to make peace with the native (or alien imported) wildlife, especially anything intelligent. Has successfully reduced the aggression by at least one tribe of Blossom Yetis, and yielded a working universal translator that can be worn on a headband. Capable of translating at least one primitive species language.
• Sakura Helmet (Expensive): A helmet integrating the translator, translating language and surface thoughts into concepts, and then using concepts with surface thoughts to translate them into understood language. Contains a HUD capable of usually telling friend from foe - or at least, capable of identifying squad members from anything else, and highlighting the terrain in low visibility. Has a reliable self-destruct, though it's not perfect. 4 Ore, 1 Oil

Infrastructure

• Mass Industrialization Project: Factories and power plants so that you're not stuck scraping together a living in tough circumstances. Provides comfortable living conditions and 1 Ore or 1 Oil.
• Mass Radio Net: A network of radio towers in Yūi and on the city outskirts. Do need to be maintained, and take some time to build, but provide ample ability to communicate and coordinate throughout territories the SDRB controls. Due to Soliton technology, has a better range than traditional radio, and we are building prefabricated bunkers and small outposts to support remote towers throughout our territory.
  

It is now the turn 4 design phase. This will be the last prewar turn with two designs and two revisions, and at the end of the turn will be the judging of the second lore contest for a Research Credit.

[TricMagic]

STAR-Class War Titan

The STAR-Class War Titan is a mechsuit 18 feet tall, proportioned for a human to reside inside it's control booth, mostly mimicking human movements. Made up of artificial muscle cords, Manganese Steel and Titanium Steel for the hollow bones in which the pneumatics rest, help to control the movement of the mech. These pneumatics are also used for a number of other systems, including the opening of the cockpit for a pilot to enter, closing it, and massive jumps.


Primarily, we are using elastomers, including Liquid crystal elastomers, and twisted polymers, along with various metals. These not only form the base of the muscles which allow the Titan to move like a human, but are also actuated by electrostatic fields and electricity.

On top of all this is the armor, which is made up of Manganese Steel for it's great resistance to many many types of forces, including anti-material rounds and thermal energies both cold and hot. It's used as an outer layer of armor plating, with titanium and non-corroding steel as the frame for the armor.

For sensors, we've got the Soliton Radar, which sends out a mix of solitons and radio waves to bounce off of the surrounding terraign, and high-quality cameras situated around the entire mech. This is helped by the first supercomputer we've built using BCS to process and collaborate all the data. It can also link to infantry Sakura Helmets for map uploads and data storage of said helmets, as can tap into our radio networks.

Last is the controls, which make use of the Sakura Helemt, though improved with a full body sensor suit to not only regulate heat, but fully allow the mind to control the Titan, with very few actual buttons to be pressed. Without this specialized suit, the Titan won't move.


For a few other notes, we make full use of our knowledge of the universal joints for cybernetics for the joints of the STAR Titan. And the Soilton Field to send commands to the mech allowing the pilot full control over it's movements, able to perform any sort of movement a human could do, only sized up.

And the weapons. The Ionic Repeating Gun somehow ended up as a unit weapon, when it's systems were actually meant to be an emplacement. However, the basis behind it is completely sound, with more energy banks and a connector for connecting to the battery cell engines of the STAR Titan for full repeating fire over an entire swath of the battlefield, with the Soliton Field of the mech helping to prevent backlash to the mech. The other is the Sword. Made up of Titanium with a Manganese Steel handle, guard, and spine, it is well balanced, and perfectly capable of cutting and smashing through anything due to it's size, and can be wielded with one hand or two of a Titan. Perfect for close combat where the Ionic Repeater Gun isn't usable.


Overall, it is meant to be a mobile tank that can and will decimate the enemy lines, easily reaching 50 miles per hour at full running speed and capable of 12 hour operation times, with that being reduced with heavy use in battles. It can also be charged directly with a cable, though it's charging times are rather long. Still, for being able to move anywhere it needs to be, it is effective.

Note it does not have a self destruct feature, sadly. Nor does the Reworked Blossom Helmet and thermal/sense suit meant to help with controlling the STAR Titan. It does have the same HUDs for viewing what the titan can see and local maps though, though sized and placed away from the face in the cockpit, on the cockpit itself, rather than in front of the Blossom Helmet.

Panzerbüchse 40: 'Mangan der Günstig' Sniper Rifle

The Golden's barrel and firing mechanisms are are made up of Manganese Steel, with the furniture of the gun being made of wood, and the rest simply non-corroding steel. Manganese Steel doesn't warp, and while difficult to work, makes a gun that will withstand the cold of our environment, and stand up to the heat of others without strain. This also prevents warping during operation

Rifling is done with locally found diamond being used for tooling to carve into the barrel, and tungsten is used for the bullets. We've left the HRS to focus on the rest of the gun specs, but one improvement is the addition of a cartridge system which can be used to greatly improve the rater of fire. Though it still retains it's normal ability to be single shot. Last, the barrel is spray-painted to help with remaining camouflaged, with the color being chosen for where it will be deployed. Comes with a stand that can be attached, and attachable telescopic sight. Has an optional sling for more general use on the move. It's also rated to be used as a club in close combat, being sturdy and reliable, with little knock-back when grounded.

Based off of the PzB 39 as recommended.


One Votebox, as no one has actually spoken up in discord..

STAR War Titan: (1) TricMagic
PzB 40: (1) TricMagic

To anyone reading this, Flabort actually likes the mecha idea as something he was expecting in the late Prewar, and it is the equivalent of a tank, with more mobility. The feasibility of Mecha is not to be discussed, as it is Absolutely Asurd enough, and will prove extremely useful having a Ionic Repeater Gun to completely dominate infantry, and a melee weapon for crushing tanks and vehicles.

Note to flabort that the mech does have a place for the weapons to be stored on the back. Hopefully.

The fact that apparently failed rolls get rerolled is also neat.

[Craftsdwarf boi]

Why are we building bipedal mecha again?

[TricMagic]

1, It's cool and Absolutely Absurd, Flabort Approves.


More specifically, we have the tech to control them precisely, they serve as a form of mobile tank, and they can carry a big gun.(and big sword for crushing fortifications)

Moreover, it makes more sense than a power suit, as those would require miniaturization, and potentially fail/cause problems in the desert. That and it not really adding anything, if we take Lore as truth, Reyleigh has guns that can pierce normal power armor, rendering it less useful than a walking mass of destruction the War Titan would be.


The War Titan can transverse mountains more easily than tanks, carries the Repeater to completely shred most infantry armies and disable electronics in vehicles in mass, and can crush fortifications and tanks with the weight of their sword.

And as Happerry pointed out, it is a stepping stone to more powerful mechs that won't be impossible to make, like the Skell they downvoted.

Other than that, being a walking/running tank in weapons and armor helps, and other weapons can be created for War Titan use, as well as the potential FLOAT Unit if we get our hands on another Alien credit, which would give them air capability.


.... Part of my message just disappeared.

Well, here's the jist. Flabort would like an Absolutely Absurd Design, and the War Titan counts as decreed by Flabort.

As well.

Very Difficult (2 + 2) -2 = 2 (Abject Failure) [GM's note: Ouch. Because this is prewar, I'm going to reroll that]

Abject Failures and lower can't be rolled easily during the Pre-War Phase. And this is the last turn of them. So grabbing the Mecha is a good idea for it's mobility, and it does have proper weapons in it's Heavy Tank Roll. It's also building on our Cybernetic Knowledge that we've already gained, so we can expect a return on it in the form of better mechs and Powersuits.

Speaking of, the War Titan, at the end of the day, is more of a Power Suit in the first place, as it greatly improves a solider's ability to destroy the opposition, and controls mostly human-like. It's just big enough to qualify as a mecha.

[Craftsdwarf boi]

STAR-Class War Titan (1): Craftsdwarf boi

[TricMagic]

STAR-Class War Titan (1): TricMagic, Craftsdwarf boi
PzB 40: (1) TricMagic

Did in fact have a votebox. Well, at least it's a vote.

[flabort]

Turn 4 Design Phase Results

STAR-Class War Titan

The STAR-Class War Titan is a mechsuit 18 feet tall, proportioned for a human to reside inside it's control booth, mostly mimicking human movements. Made up of artificial muscle cords, Manganese Steel and Titanium Steel for the hollow bones in which the pneumatics rest, help to control the movement of the mech. These pneumatics are also used for a number of other systems, including the opening of the cockpit for a pilot to enter, closing it, and massive jumps.


Primarily, we are using elastomers, including Liquid crystal elastomers, and twisted polymers, along with various metals. These not only form the base of the muscles which allow the Titan to move like a human, but are also actuated by electrostatic fields and electricity.

On top of all this is the armor, which is made up of Manganese Steel for it's great resistance to many many types of forces, including anti-material rounds and thermal energies both cold and hot. It's used as an outer layer of armor plating, with titanium and non-corroding steel as the frame for the armor.

For sensors, we've got the Soliton Radar, which sends out a mix of solitons and radio waves to bounce off of the surrounding terraign, and high-quality cameras situated around the entire mech. This is helped by the first supercomputer we've built using BCS to process and collaborate all the data. It can also link to infantry Sakura Helmets for map uploads and data storage of said helmets, as can tap into our radio networks.

Last is the controls, which make use of the Sakura Helemt, though improved with a full body sensor suit to not only regulate heat, but fully allow the mind to control the Titan, with very few actual buttons to be pressed. Without this specialized suit, the Titan won't move.


For a few other notes, we make full use of our knowledge of the universal joints for cybernetics for the joints of the STAR Titan. And the Soilton Field to send commands to the mech allowing the pilot full control over it's movements, able to perform any sort of movement a human could do, only sized up.

And the weapons. The Ionic Repeating Gun somehow ended up as a unit weapon, when it's systems were actually meant to be an emplacement. However, the basis behind it is completely sound, with more energy banks and a connector for connecting to the battery cell engines of the STAR Titan for full repeating fire over an entire swath of the battlefield, with the Soliton Field of the mech helping to prevent backlash to the mech. The other is the Sword. Made up of Titanium with a Manganese Steel handle, guard, and spine, it is well balanced, and perfectly capable of cutting and smashing through anything due to it's size, and can be wielded with one hand or two of a Titan. Perfect for close combat where the Ionic Repeater Gun isn't usable.


Overall, it is meant to be a mobile tank that can and will decimate the enemy lines, easily reaching 50 miles per hour at full running speed and capable of 12 hour operation times, with that being reduced with heavy use in battles. It can also be charged directly with a cable, though it's charging times are rather long. Still, for being able to move anywhere it needs to be, it is effective.

Note it does not have a self destruct feature, sadly. Nor does the Reworked Blossom Helmet and thermal/sense suit meant to help with controlling the STAR Titan. It does have the same HUDs for viewing what the titan can see and local maps though, though sized and placed away from the face in the cockpit, on the cockpit itself, rather than in front of the Blossom Helmet.

Very Difficult (3 + 2) -2 = 3 (Abject Failure) [GM's note: Seriously? Again? For the same team? It's still prewar, so another pity roll]
Very Difficult Reroll (8 + 1) -2 = 7 (Poor Performance)
Putting together something humanoid shaped, at 18 feet tall, takes a lot of resources. It isn't really as tall as it sounds - 18 feet is really only half as tall as a standard telephone post, of which there are many left over in the SDRB from the abduction; though they are pretty obsolete now as the Mass Radio Net has taken over all communication infrastructure.

Sadly, the method of using synthetic muscles made of rubber and liquid crystals that would be actuated by electrical currents fell through, and got scrapped. The proposed parts would have allowed for a dexterous human-like movement response, but prototypes showed that it lacked the lifting power, even on this planet's reduced gravity, to move the limbs of the War Titan. Perhaps this was due to low quality materials used, or inefficient arrangement of the direction of application, but ultimately the team decided to use high powered hydraulics instead, using the same kind of lifting force that one might see in a cherry picker or backhoe, just made bulkier and fitted to move in more directions.

As such, the more-or-less humanoid War Titan can move it's limbs in all the same directions as a person, but not as far or as flexibly, nor as quickly. And it controls through an interface based on the ARC-CRAFT project and Sakura Helmet, meaning that it responds to it's pilot's thoughts; an on-board computer translates BCS concepts into muscle groups, and from there into which hydraulics to activate. There is a bit of an adjustment period for pilots new to operating the Titan, as stepping too far can mean that it overbalances, and topples over, and reaction times are slowed for the computer to translate movements. So one learns to make small steps, and avoid having to step over obstacles like vehicles that may be in the way.

The Titan has a great set of armor, which is capable of standing up to all of our fire-arms without penetration. That's not saying much, since we don't have a fire-arm capable of penetrating most armor; Even the Ionic Repeating Gun wasn't enough to shut down the entire Titan at once. Unfortunately, even the Mangan der Günstig didn't stand up to our simulations of what enemy heavy armor might be like, so we can't tell if it's enough to prevent enemy anti-materiel fire from piercing it.

It's equipped with an Ionic Repeating Gun on one hand, and a "sword" in the other, because you can't have a mecha without a sword. It does more resemble a large sword-shaped club, as the edges aren't sharp at all, but it is capable of tearing through earth and steel easily, with great power and mass behind it. Theoretically, it could have another weapon attached to it's back to swap out with the IRG or Sword, but no such weapon has been developed yet. The IRG is boosted by the Titan's onboard generator, producing a faster rate of fire.

It's sensors are a straight up rip off of the Sakura helmet, but with zoom enabled by default, instead of having to jailbreak it. It also acts as a routing hub for the helmets, helping to alleviate the communications bottleneck at the cost of reducing it's own computational power used for controlling the pneumatic muscles. It also adds a radio-based sonar to improve the terrain scan, which it can send the updated data to Sakura troops.

On a straight test track, the Titan is capable of reaching 50 MPH, but it's stopping distance at that speed is almost a full 40 yards. It's expected operation time is right on point, so it does meet expectations... mostly.

In all, it's a slow and heavy tank, capable of acting as a commander unit, with elite weapons, but it falls far short of our expectations. Worse, it takes a lot to build just one - we can only afford to deploy one at a time right now, as it costs 7 Ore and 5 Oil to build and maintain.

Panzerbüchse 40: 'Mangan der Günstig' Sniper Rifle

The Golden's barrel and firing mechanisms are are made up of Manganese Steel, with the furniture of the gun being made of wood, and the rest simply non-corroding steel. Manganese Steel doesn't warp, and while difficult to work, makes a gun that will withstand the cold of our environment, and stand up to the heat of others without strain. This also prevents warping during operation

Rifling is done with locally found diamond being used for tooling to carve into the barrel, and tungsten is used for the bullets. We've left the HRS to focus on the rest of the gun specs, but one improvement is the addition of a cartridge system which can be used to greatly improve the rater of fire. Though it still retains it's normal ability to be single shot. Last, the barrel is spray-painted to help with remaining camouflaged, with the color being chosen for where it will be deployed. Comes with a stand that can be attached, and attachable telescopic sight. Has an optional sling for more general use on the move. It's also rated to be used as a club in close combat, being sturdy and reliable, with little knock-back when grounded.

Based off of the PzB 39 as recommended.

Easy (2 + 2) +1 = 5 (Unacceptable) [Note: ehh... I'll leave that one. Sorry.]
Our attempt to design an anti-materiel weapon didn't work at all. The gun jams constantly, and we're lucky if it gets off a single shot. Why? Because someone made a mistake setting up production, and everything is the wrong size. The cartridge is too small, causing the bullets to be crushed and much of the powder is lost as it leaks into the rest of the gun, and the barrel, while masterfully rifled and highly durable, is too large, as is the firing pin. As such, on the occasion that a bullet is fired successfully, it lacks the force of the explosion behind it, as much of it leaks around the projectile. This means that when they hit something, they barely penetrate skin, let alone armor like they were designed to do.

The HRS is very disappointed in our failure to improve upon a classic design, and suggests simply using this weapon as a club. It costs 2 Ore and 2 oil, which at least makes it cheap, so we could give each of our troops a couple in the hopes that they turn out useful, but we are considering scrapping them altogether.

Spoiler: Designs (click to show/hide)

Transport Capacity: 1/2 (1/1 Oil imported)
Resources: 2 Ore, 2 Oil (1/1 imported)
Credits: none for now
Weapons

• M-14 Rifle (Cheap): Based on a historic design from home, recreated after research by the Historic Rifle Study Program. Good accuracy at Long and medium Range. 1 Ore, 1 Oil
• Soliton Stun Pistol (Cheap): An updated, more reliable design focusing on the stun mode. Guarantees a black out, but won't kill, and slightly more accurate, making it usable (though still not accurate) at medium range. Costs were cut when designing batteries, though. Not any more expensive, at 2 Ore, 1 Oil
  
  • Electrical Power Cells for the New Age: Better batteries, solving the power loss issue, and increasing the accuracy into mostly accurate at medium range and perfect accuracy at close range. Can be turned down to a less accurate, but less wasteful mode in an emergency.
• Ionic Repeating Gun (Expensive): A fairly accurate energy gun in the rifle style. Has an area of effect on strike, where charged particles are scattered into the air and then seek ground. Deadly. 3 Ore, 2 Oil
• Panzerbüchse 40: 'Mangan der Günstig' Sniper Rifle (Cheap): A waste of materials, nothing is the right size. In theory would have been an anti-materiel gun, but when it does manage to shoot instead of backfiring, the bullet is equivalent to an airsoft pellet. 2 Ore, 2 Oil

Vehicles

• STAR-Transverse (Very Expensive): A small personal tank, unarmed but heavily armored, that can fit 4 people. An optional truck bed can be fitted for transport, and it's large wheels can move over practically anything. Hybrid engine so it doesn't consume much fuel, and as it gets cheaper it will provide more TC. Provides 1 TC right now. 5 Ore, 2 Oil
• STAR-Earthmover (Very Expensive): A tank-tractor, slightly less armored than the Transverse, a bit slower, and only fits 2. But, has attachment points for many tools useful for building infrastructure, such as a bucket arm, plow, dozer scoop, road grader, trencher, or forklift. One slot can be fitted with a trailer instead. Pretty much capable of laying out a road system on it's own, minus asphalting, which improves the TC of the STAR-Transverse by 1, and improves the static defenses and deployment speed in controlled areas. 5 Ore, 2 Oil
• STAR-War Titan (National Effort): A humanoid 18 foot tall mecha, controlled with brain power. "I want to move the left arm" moves the left arm; but it is slow, and the armor is untested, if thick and suited to multiple climates. Carries an elite Ionic Repeating Gun, and a massive sword-shaped club. Acts as a communications hub for Sakura Helmets nearby, and improves their terrain data for display on HUD. 7 Ore and 5 Oil.

Other

• Standard Uniform: A plain uniform with very little decoration or utility. There is a space for rank insignia, and some colored markings but it's rather plain.
• ARC-CRAFT: A project to create cybernetics. Created a super-spider-ape, and a person capable of controlling nearby Bluetooth devices, but they are either unable or unwilling to remove their helmet. Lots of useful data for future cybernetic projects, but not immediately useful; as a research project aimed towards enabling future technologies, definitely succeeded, because we do have universal sockets for attaching prosthetic now.
• Alien Diplomacy Initiative: An attempt to make peace with the native (or alien imported) wildlife, especially anything intelligent. Has successfully reduced the aggression by at least one tribe of Blossom Yetis, and yielded a working universal translator that can be worn on a headband. Capable of translating at least one primitive species language.
• Sakura Helmet (Expensive): A helmet integrating the translator, translating language and surface thoughts into concepts, and then using concepts with surface thoughts to translate them into understood language. Contains a HUD capable of usually telling friend from foe - or at least, capable of identifying squad members from anything else, and highlighting the terrain in low visibility. Has a reliable self-destruct, though it's not perfect. 4 Ore, 1 Oil

Infrastructure

• Mass Industrialization Project: Factories and power plants so that you're not stuck scraping together a living in tough circumstances. Provides comfortable living conditions and 1 Ore or 1 Oil.
• Mass Radio Net: A network of radio towers in Yūi and on the city outskirts. Do need to be maintained, and take some time to build, but provide ample ability to communicate and coordinate throughout territories the SDRB controls. Due to Soliton technology, has a better range than traditional radio, and we are building prefabricated bunkers and small outposts to support remote towers throughout our territory.
  

It is now the turn 4 revision phase. At the end of this phase will be the judging of the second lore contest for a Research Credit, and turn 5 will be the first with a combat phase.

[Happerry]

Death-STAR
After the current general failure of the mecha project, the next attempt at an armored vehicle went back to the venerable STAR chassis, instead of something named after the STAR chassis without actually using said Chassis. The Death model STAR vehicle is effectively a redesign that takes a tank without a gun, and then mounts a gun on it. By using the STAR-Transverse as a base, more work can be done on the advanced technology integrated into the Death-STAR instead of needing to work on the base frame of the vehicle. Of said advanced technology, the first is the tank's main gun. Utilizing the electrical technology used in the Ionic weapon in a new fashion, the Death-STAR's main gun is a magnetic coilgun, firing shots with sufficient inertia and to do some real damage to other armored vehicles. The next bit mounted into the redesigned STAR class vehicle is an internal HUDS system based on the Sakura Helmets that all the crew to tap into, and share, the network said helmets provide to their users, or simply link likewise with other tanks in the area. Thirdly, the Death-STAR includes a radio system based on, but considerably minimized in size in comparison so it fits in the tank, to the radios used in the Mass Radio Net.

The last piece of equipment the Death-STAR includes is a coaxial mounted Ionic Repeating Gun for anti-infantry use.

[TricMagic]

Revisions time. At least the War Titan kinda showed up. It will need refining to bring it's cost down by one, which will mean it will be VE with an extra Ore.

The other... It was Easy, but kinda failed. Easy fix in turn however.


Qualitätskontrolle

Issues in the production line led to failure to actually fit the PzB 40 together. This is at least a simplistic fix, we'll simply go through the various parts and what constructed them, and fix it so all the parts fit and work as intended in the original design. Fix it, simply enough, and go through Quality Assurance testing to ensure the fixes work. Time consuming, but doable and simple.


Re: War Titan
Few obvious issues, not least of which is the cost. However, for a prototype in our first foray, it works.

So, Fixes. First, the size can do with being brought down some, say 14 Feet.. Second, the lifting materials, while we did design them, do have some applications. Using them as artificial nerves should work to reduce the lag time. Third, programming and pressure sensors on the feet to more or less auto-correct balance when moving over uneven terrain. Fourth, actually testing the armor with the PzB 40 when it's through testing. And Fifth, double-check all the programming to ensure smooth operation. Sixth, make sure it can still wield the weapons, and add holster mounts to place the weapons when not in use.

Overall, we mostly need to bring the cost down a bit, and ensure it's quality. It needs to be able to handle uneven terrain and balance shifts. And of course making sure it still has it's weapons. Once again, the name of the day is Rechecking everything. With less ore and oil used on the smaller War Titan, it should be feasible to deploy them as a Very Expensive option once we bring in the Ore from MIP.


7-2 Ore
5-2 Oil
5+3-1=7 Needed.

So, an ore and oil cost reduction, by 1 each, would make them VE. It works, but it does need a boost to be viable. On the other hand, once we do this, we won't need to do anything else. And our Mechanical experience should be good.

Qualitätskontrolle: (1) TricMagic
Re: War Titan: (1) TricMagic

Hello Happerry. I mostly want to fix the issues that popped up. As a Revision to it to fix those issues.

Speaking of, we need Lore now before next week ends and the fight gets ready to start.

[Happerry]

Reposting this design.

Rocket Bombardment Sled
Based on the design of the truck bed already used by the STAR linage of vehicles, as well as data reclaimed by the Historical Weapon Study Program on multiple launch rocket systems, the Rocket Bombardment Sled is a five stack high brace of artillery rockets, each of the five racks holding six rockets, and each rack usable independently or together for either maximum firepower per launch or a more staggered launch to continually pressure the target. As well, reloading is as easy and pulling out the old rack and sliding a new one in into the level where the old one was, making reloading these sleds quick, simple, and easy, thus allowing for ease of applying explosives to the enemy. The reloads should probably be carried by an actual transport type truck bed though, not the rocket sled. Each rocket carries a fragmenting warhead, designed to maximize damage over the effected area, instead of just an explosive one which might blow up good but is less useful against enemy infantry.

For transport, the Rocket Bombardment Sled has both wheels and skies, with the skies retractable when not in use, and extendable when it'd be easier to move the sled around on skies, over the snow, then with wheels, allowing for all terrain use of this artillery weapon. And it is, of course, towable behind all currently designed STAR type vehicles, allowing for simplicity of deployment and redeployment alike.

Potentially, if there's any amount of spare time for the design team, it has been suggested that they look into also creating smoke rockets, signal rockets, and incendiary rockets as alternate ammunition loadouts.

Death-STAR: Happerry
Rocket Bombardment Sled: Happerry
Qualitätskontrolle: (1) TricMagic
Re: War Titan: (1) TricMagic

I still want a gauss tank and I still want some artillery options, so thus are my votes.

[TricMagic]

We still would like to have an anti-material option, and it's cost is cheap to deploy, apparently. Also, this is revision, for fixing things. Not designing rockets and coil guns.


The one revision will likely bring the War Titan down an ore and oil, and fix a few of it's problems, with no difficulty modifier. Which will lead to us having an advantage in the mountain ranges. And with the fixes applied to those two items, we can spend a full design on the Rockets. They may also end up being easy thanks to the HRS and MIP.

At the least, the PzB 40 will have bonuses to actually fixing the manufacturing bugs that popped up, as it was recommended by the HRS.


As for the Death STAR attachment for the Transverse..

Solitons are all about containing energy, and preventing overlap Two Soliton encased packets won't actually undo each other, simply shifting phases and crossing before returning to normal. Coilguns use a magnetic field, using electormagnets.

Ionic Force makes some sense, but... I don't really see how that could work off our existing tech to fit a revision.

[Blood_Librarian]

Standard Battle Dress Uniform  (SBDU)
The Standard Battle Dress Uniform consists of an across the board improvement of the previous uniform. A tactical webbing with the classification "TW" is derived, each designed to hold the number of magazines, munitions or other equipment a soldier needs for their loadout, usually based around their primary weapon. In addition, the provision for a individuals survivability in a combat scenario was considered intensely: Thus, the introduction of a kevlar lining in the entire clothing, as well as the production of a installable chest, abdominal, side and backplate, which is easy as sliding in and out of the pouches that are sewn to the uniform.

The helmet is designed to look exactly like the Sakura, and the only difference between our soldiers is rank pins on the left breast of the uniform. While this was intended to prevent enemy fire teams from targeting commanding officers and specialists, it does so effectively and completely without any side effects.

Death-STAR: Happerry
Rocket Bombardment Sled: (1) Happerry
Qualitätskontrolle: (1) TricMagic
Re: War Titan: (1) TricMagic
Standard Battle Dress Uniform: (1) Blood_Librarian

[TricMagic]

Nice to see another player. We really need lore though.. Can you write some?

Standard Battle Dress Uniform  (SBDU)
The Standard Battle Dress Uniform consists of an across the board improvement of the previous uniform. A tactical webbing with the classification "TW" is derived, each designed to hold the number of magazines, munitions or other equipment a soldier needs for their loadout, usually based around their primary weapon. In addition, the provision for a individuals survivability in a combat scenario was considered intensely: Thus, the introduction of a kevlar lining in the entire clothing, as well as the production of a installable chest, abdominal, side and backplate, which is easy as sliding in and out of the pouches that are sewn to the uniform.

The helmet is designed to look exactly like the Sakura, and the only difference between our soldiers is rank pins on the left breast of the uniform. While this was intended to prevent enemy fire teams from targeting commanding officers and specialists, it does so effectively and completely without any side effects.

Right, going to list the issues. First, our uniform isn't. We mostly dress for colder climates, and adapting to warmer climates with MIP isn't going to be an immediate problem. Second, I'll get into that after getting you up to speed.

Transport Capacity: 1/2 (1/1 Oil imported)
Resources: 2 Ore, 2 Oil (1/1 imported)
Credits: none for now
Weapons
M-14 Rifle (Cheap): Based on a historic design from home, recreated after research by the Historic Rifle Study Program. Good accuracy at Long and medium Range. 1 Ore, 1 Oil
Soliton Stun Pistol (Cheap): An updated, more reliable design focusing on the stun mode. Guarantees a black out, but won't kill, and slightly more accurate, making it usable (though still not accurate) at medium range. Costs were cut when designing batteries, though. Not any more expensive, at 2 Ore, 1 Oil
Electrical Power Cells for the New Age: Better batteries, solving the power loss issue, and increasing the accuracy into mostly accurate at medium range and perfect accuracy at close range. Can be turned down to a less accurate, but less wasteful mode in an emergency.
Ionic Repeating Gun (Expensive): A fairly accurate energy gun in the rifle style. Has an area of effect on strike, where charged particles are scattered into the air and then seek ground. Deadly. 3 Ore, 2 Oil
Panzerbüchse 40: 'Mangan der Günstig' Sniper Rifle (Cheap): A waste of materials, nothing is the right size. In theory would have been an anti-materiel gun, but when it does manage to shoot instead of backfiring, the bullet is equivalent to an airsoft pellet. 2 Ore, 2 Oil
Vehicles
STAR-Transverse (Very Expensive): A small personal tank, unarmed but heavily armored, that can fit 4 people. An optional truck bed can be fitted for transport, and it's large wheels can move over practically anything. Hybrid engine so it doesn't consume much fuel, and as it gets cheaper it will provide more TC. Provides 1 TC right now. 5 Ore, 2 Oil
STAR-Earthmover (Very Expensive): A tank-tractor, slightly less armored than the Transverse, a bit slower, and only fits 2. But, has attachment points for many tools useful for building infrastructure, such as a bucket arm, plow, dozer scoop, road grader, trencher, or forklift. One slot can be fitted with a trailer instead. Pretty much capable of laying out a road system on it's own, minus asphalting, which improves the TC of the STAR-Transverse by 1, and improves the static defenses and deployment speed in controlled areas. 5 Ore, 2 Oil
STAR-War Titan (National Effort): A humanoid 18 foot tall mecha, controlled with brain power. "I want to move the left arm" moves the left arm; but it is slow, and the armor is untested, if thick and suited to multiple climates. Carries an elite Ionic Repeating Gun, and a massive sword-shaped club. Acts as a communications hub for Sakura Helmets nearby, and improves their terrain data for display on HUD. 7 Ore and 5 Oil.
Other
Standard Uniform: A plain uniform with very little decoration or utility. There is a space for rank insignia, and some colored markings but it's rather plain.
ARC-CRAFT: A project to create cybernetics. Created a super-spider-ape, and a person capable of controlling nearby Bluetooth devices, but they are either unable or unwilling to remove their helmet. Lots of useful data for future cybernetic projects, but not immediately useful; as a research project aimed towards enabling future technologies, definitely succeeded, because we do have universal sockets for attaching prosthetic now.
Alien Diplomacy Initiative: An attempt to make peace with the native (or alien imported) wildlife, especially anything intelligent. Has successfully reduced the aggression by at least one tribe of Blossom Yetis, and yielded a working universal translator that can be worn on a headband. Capable of translating at least one primitive species language.
Sakura Helmet (Expensive): A helmet integrating the translator, translating language and surface thoughts into concepts, and then using concepts with surface thoughts to translatne them into understood language. Contains a HUD capable of usually telling friend from foe - or at least, capable of identifying squad members from anything else, and highlighting the terrain in low visibility. Has a reliable self-destruct, though it's not perfect. 4 Ore, 1 Oil
Infrastructure
Mass Industrialization Project: Factories and power plants so that you're not stuck scraping together a living in tough circumstances. Provides comfortable living conditions and 1 Ore or 1 Oil.
Mass Radio Net: A network of radio towers in Yūi and on the city outskirts. Do need to be maintained, and take some time to build, but provide ample ability to communicate and coordinate throughout territories the SDRB controls. Due to Soliton technology, has a better range than traditional radio, and we are building prefabricated bunkers and small outposts to support remote towers throughout our territory.

First weapon that was developed was the S-Model Pulse Pistol, a Stun Pistol. It's issues were then fixed with the Power Cells for a New Age.

Also during this first turn, the Mass Industrialization Project and the Mass Radio Net came to be. Which also shows a very big flaw in your own revision. The first is obviously that we have no previous uniform, besides the base model. The second, is that our own weapon can effectively take out someone wearing the uniform described, as can any of our energy weapons so far. The third is that the lowest power, these pistols have the abilty to shoot a couple hundred shots. Moreover, at the max level, 40 Shots of perfect accuracy at close range, and mostly accurate at medium. One shot is often all that is needed to drop someone, and carrying some in a bag isn't that difficult.

The IRG effectively renders these pistols a solid close range option, as a side arm. And that gun also runs off four of these cells.


Next Turn, I was the only one to submit something. ARC-CRAFT wasn't really perfect, but it paved the way. The STAR-Transverse on the other hand...

Lore Piece for that turns contest.. We really need lore to hopefully win the contest, and we were penalized for getting any in so late.

That Turn's Revisions, in which slavely or diplomacy. Diplomacy won, but not by votes but by luck.

The other was the MRN revision, which worked out wonderful. Though both did well.

More Lore. Still by me alone. We need Lore.


Next Design Phase, no mech like I would have wanted, sadly. But those two do help, mostly in fortifications setup.


Revision Phase. The IRG is most definitely a design. The Sakura Helmet wasn't, but the tracking and self-destruct feature bumped the difficulty. We did end up with a very nice helmet though.


Design Phase. If it wasn't clear, Flabort really liked the design as something he would expect to see near the end of prewar. As it said in off topic though, it burned. It works, but it needs refinement, something Revision Phases are made for. Reducing the size will reduce the ore cost, as well as likely reduce the oil cost, due to using hydraulics and the reduced size needing less power to run.

The other was the recommended sniper rifle. We have something, but manufacturing screwed up the sizes of the parts. That's also an easy fix in a revision.



For infantry, we have the Pulse Pistol for Close Range, as well as medium, as a sidearm. The IRG is an AoE rapid fire gun, with 1 and a half shots a second that fry both humans and electronics. It will also be cheap as soon as MIP finally brings in the Ore. As such, nit is a very good weapon.

The M-16 has good accuracy at long and medium range, serving as a kinetic weapon. Also, Flabort set it as M-14 in the spoiler when the design result says M-16.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M16_rifle

The PzB 39's new form was easy. It was meant to serve as an anti-material sniper rifle, rounding out our arsenal. Instead, the parts are sized wrong, and that needs to be fixed. Once fixed, we will have covered short, mid, and long range, as well as anti-armor for vehicles.


For vehicles, the Transverse stands above all as the best TC vehicle, easily able to act as our supply line wherever we may need it. Other than that, we have the Earthmover for setting up bases pretty quickly.

The War Titan works as a tank, but at the moment, it has a number of flaws that need revising, not least of which is cost. Reducing the size and fixing the minor bugs with simple solutions will net us a Tank that is the bane of infantry and vehicles alike. It's IRG will completely fry most vehicles' systems if they use electronics, and likely kill the ones inside as the electricity grounds through the metal. It also has the option of completely crushing any form of fortifications. Once brought down an oil and ore cost, it will be VE, and a mainstay of our pushes forward.


Other stuff. Our standard uniform works well enough. ARC-CRAFT helps with the mech, and if we fix the problems with the mech, we can make power armor next with that experience. ADI hasn't shown any results yet, but it may one day. And the Sakura Helmet, other than helping corrodinate, is also the basis for a power armor system's controls along with the Mech.


Infrastructure is the ever useful MIP, and the Mass Radio Net for communications. And not listed is the BCS which makes radio interception somewhat pointless.



Effectively, I'd like to fix the PzB 40's size issues, and the War Titan. Once done, they won't need any more work done on them, and we'll be well set towards winning.

We can do the Rocket Bombardment later on, next design phase. As once again I state we don't have rockets yet, and this is Revision, for fixing problems. And Flabort says there won't be a penalty for the ones I wrote, since it's just fixing issues..

[Blood_Librarian]

@TricMagic We are stated to have a uniform, just one that doesnt really do anything. By having a uniform that does something (Kevlar lining, webbing, as well as plates of an undescribed material, most likely steel to help survivability), we do get a "across the board" improvement. Otherwise, I don't know what you mean by "our uniform isn't".

I've already read through the designs proposed, but the summary helps.

Why don't we have a heavy weapon like a machinegun or an anti-tank missile launcher? A anti-materiel rifle helps, I suppose, but not as much as a full-blown anti tank rocket/missile launcher, I think.

Death-STAR: Happerry
Rocket Bombardment Sled: (1) Happerry
Qualitätskontrolle: (1) TricMagic
Re: War Titan: (2) TricMagic, Blood_Librarian
Standard Battle Dress Uniform: (1) Blood_Librarian