Summer, 1896, Revision & Refit Phase.Events show that our marines, and also the army, have fallen slightly behind the Mongadizafrian forces in terms of smallarms, to this end a crash joint-project with the army has been embarked upon to close up this gap.
This development takes force in four areas; longarms, sidearms, utility, and protection. Details are as follows:
Longarms; Carbines and long rifles have been replaced with a universal short rifle, loading from an en-bloc clip. This rifle is equipped with a sword bayonet(mostly at army request), possesses aperture sights ranged for 200 meters as their default setting(with a flip-up ladder for whatever ranges the army desires), is designed to launch rifle grenades(see ‘utility’), and is no more than 4 kilos in weight(unloaded) and 1200mm long. Ammunition commonality is to be kept with existing stocks and production, although improvements to the ammunition(such as improved form factors, jacketing the bullets, or suchlike) are permitted to be worked on.
Sidearms: our current revolvers are to be replaced with a semi-automatic handgun loaded from a box magazine, preferably detachable. Two versions of this weapon exist, the first a standard officers model with a 110mm barrel and notch sights for 50m; and the second the “support pistol” model with a 200mm barrel and a flip-up ladder sight for 200m, intended for support troops(artillery crews, calvary, engineers, NCOs, etc.) or assault troops in roles such as boarding of vessels where even a short rifle is too long. Both models of pistol are able to be equipped with a stock, primarily for prepared assaults.
Utility: This takes the form primarily in the form of hand grenades, but also includes miscellaneous items, uniform improvements based on wartime experience and things such as standardized demolitions charges. The hand grenades are to take two forms, a smoke grenade, and a high-explosive grenade. Either form, when fitted to an adaptor, is designed to be fired from the universal short rifle loaded with blank ammunition(see ‘longarms’). This grenade launching system is also utilized for a line-throwing system, mountable in place of the bayonet. These grenades, when launched from a rifle, are to have a range of 50-150m.
Protection: With our ongoing experiences with modern warfare, it has become apparent that one of the primary methods of injury and death amongst our troops is head wounds from shrapnel or falling debris. To counter this, a series of helmets are to be developed, one for general use and the other for communications troops onboard our vessels, with their telephone headsets and all. This section also includes work on other methods of keeping our people safe, such as ways to make themselves less likely to be seen.
Effectiveness: 6
Once more the joint project that brings the branches of the forces of the military together have born fruit. The first of the join projects has resulted in the new UVW T96G, which is a highly effective improvement over the old rifle with a long bayonet, six rounds loaded via en bloc, and is quite reliable. Further, thanks to an idea by the general Rutger Buyskes has resulted in the creation of the UVW T96 Springstoffen, affectionately nicknamed by the troops as the "Mini Coehoorn" due to what it effectively makes the rifles it's affixed to into. Other than this there is the UVW T96SAP and it's service variant, both with a few optional modifications like a stock. It has 12 rounds and fires as fast as one can pull the trigger, though while likely one of the most reliable semi auto pistol in the world right now, that doesn't say that much relatively speaking. Still, it's solid, though it's caliber is a bit lacking. The last things of note are the UVW T96HG which is a simple hand grenade on a sizable cudgel like stick, though it is designed similarly to the Coehoorn and designed to be thrown similar to a spear after the handle a the bottom is twisted to prime the explosive. Other than this, there is also the UVW T96S shovel that is being distributed to most soldiers and the UVW T96M knife, similarly distributed. Lastly, there is the UVW T96H "Emmer Helm" which has a distinct design that makes it look similar to a bucket, hence the affectionate nickname. Most of this equipment is fairly easy to make and won't take too long to get to our forces, and will surely out preform them and then some. On average this equipment should put us slightly above average compared to the enemies own kit except at close range in tight quarters. The helmet is also proof we clearly care about the defenders of the working class as much as we care about the working class.
the TTT is beautiful, a marvel of what the free people of Veenland are capable of, perfection if one was so bold to claim, but what the navy needs is not perfection but good enough. The CTT calls for a total review of turbine design in collaboration with the relevant manufacturers unions to find cost saving measures, with the priority to getting maintenance cost down
Effectiveness: 3
Work on cutbacks to the TTT is something that isn't met with much enthusiasm by the people who actually worked on the original project, but still done. A number of things are done to make ease of maintenance greater through simplification of the production on the replaceable parts along with making dividing the engine in a number of ways so as to allow easier access to portions that require maintenance while not shutting down the entire engine. This will increase the viability even in battle, provided the ship hit in the engines stays afloat long enough for them to be partially repaired but other than this mostly this process has ironically made the initial cost of the engines instillation more expensive, yet after it's maintenance has gone to roughly equivalent compared to the older ship engines. Regardless, there are further plans available to make the design cheaper, though at a cost to performance to the point that would make the effort of installing it less viable than one of the older engines.
This revision project has its goal in reducing costs of A1 class destroyer production, focusing on the streamlining of production and, to a minor extent, bringing design elements to modern versions of the equipment.
Of particular focus are the turbines replacing the costly prototype design with our hopefully cheaper TTT design
Effectiveness: 6
Work on streamlining the production of the A1 class has come down to two things, firstly, working with the new engine, and secondly, working on faster and more effective ways of creating the various segments of the small hull. This work has resulted in two things. Firstly, a drastic reduction of the maintenance cost of the smaller vessels due to further streamlining of the many parts of it mainly thanks to the engine, and secondly it has been a bit of a fight to work on how to manage to keep the costs of building it down despite the costs of the new engine. Luckily, thanks to a number of connections with the shipbuilder unions and a fair bit of ingenuity, we managed to keep the cost roughly the same as before while building at a major maintenance slash. Further, our work has opened up the doors for some potentially greater shipbuilding speed for lightly armored ships such as the A1 and cargo vessels should we put a good deal of effort into it. Though, such a project will likely result in us having to foot a bill to aid the shipbuilder unions. Though, this would have to be it's own project in the future.
It is now the Production&Strategy phase of Summer, 1896. You have 6 PP remaining should you pay for all maintenance and construction costs.
Resoluut-Class | 2/4 Seasons to Completion | Battleship | 7/2 PP cost | 6 Season Construction Time
Naval
Early 7/12 inch guns
QF 2/3/4/5/6 M1895 guns (Cheap price. Rifling wears out at an average pace. 20k max range estimate for 6 inch version, 10k effective range.)
8/10/11.5 M1895 guns. (Cheap price. Reliable and long lasting. 25k max range estimate for 11.5 inch version, 12.5k effective range.)
Early Armor Piercing
Early High Explosive
Modern Parachute Flares
Smoke Rounds
Shrapnel Rounds
Basic Surface Single Torpedo Launchers
Early Prototype Double Torpedo Launchers (Basically useless in current form)
Advanced Triple-expansion engines.
Intermediate Steam Turbine Engines.
Decent Boilers.
Early coal/oil hybrid firing.
Steel hull construction.
Prototype Hydrodynamic hulls.
Single Casemates.
Single and Double gun turrets.
Early Rangefinder.
Early Central Fire Control.
Möser-Fokker Cemented Armor.
Basic Damage control techniques.
Cordite Draadkruit Smokeless Powder. (Now cheaper and slightly less likely to copy the brits)
Zeeslang Mk3 Torpedo. (Somewhat reliable Torpedo with 37 knot speed and 3500 yard range)
Advanced Observatieballons.
Marines & Installations
Defensive guns (Uses same calibers as naval guns)
UVW T92G (Basic Bolt Action Rifle)
UVW T96G (Bolt Action Rifle with 6 round magazine loaded with en blocs. Can use Mini Coehoorn. Reliable)
UVW T88R (Basic Revolver)
UVW T96SAP (Basic Semi Automatic pistol. Mostly reliable. Low bullet caliber. Variant for service crew and officers. Has 12 rounds)
UVW T95MG "Stoommachine" (Early Machinegun)
UVW T96S "Mini Coehoorn" (Rifle grenade. Usable by the T96G)
UVW T96HG (Simple Grenade.)
UVW T96H "Emmer Helm" (It's literally a steel helmet. What more do you expect?)
UVW T96S (Shovel/Entrenching tool)
UVW T96M (Knife)
Advanced Observatieballons
Zeerover Speciale Kruiser: A modest high speed cruiser with a fairly sizable compliment of guns for dealing with any ships of equal size and armor along with anything smaller than it, and a few things above it. The submerged torpedo compliment also gives it a chance to punch well above it's weight, if it gets lucky. Fairly expensive though. Costs 5/2, 4 season construction time.
Compromise Class: An effective, slightly overweight shore defense ship with powerful guns and substantial, high quality armor. Quite fast for a ship of it's armor and armament, not far off from our cruisers. Costs 6/3, 5 season construction time.
Main Gun Refit (MGR): A simple replacement of the main 10 inch guns with the modern M1895 versions. Costs 1PP to refit, takes 1 season to complete. Shipbuild cost same as original.
A1-Klasse: A extremely fast Torpedo Boat Destroyer with a good compliment of guns and modest torpedo armament. The bridge is armored enough to be safe from splinters, barring a direct hit. It should be noted however the engine cannot run at full speed for much longer than a hour without running into issues. Costs 3/2, 3 season construction time.
Top Turbine Streamline (TTS): A simple replacement of the prototype engine with the fruits of the Top Turbine Technology program. Naturally efforts were done to make the design cheaper to maintain in the process. This has limited performance improvements the new turbines can give, but has succeeded in making the ship cheaper. Costs 3/.75, 3 season construction time. (Maintenance rounds up)
Resoluut Class: A modest Battleship with a good armament of submerged torpedo mounts and 11.5 inch guns. The bridge isn't very armored unlike the rest of the ship, but that is fine, provided the tower isn't hit by any proper battleship shells. Though more cautious captains and officers can lead from rooms inside the ship rather than in the tower. Costs 7/2, 6 season construction time.
Zeerover Class
Compromise Class
A1-Klasse
Resoluut Class
Kobus Zwakenberg, Greenhorn, Aggressive
TBD - Torpedo Boat Destroyer
A-1 Klasse, 4 ships, 12 Maintenance.
A-1 | TBD | TTS | Currently Under construction, 2 seasons remaining, 3 PP per turn construction cost
A-2 | TBD | TTS | Currently Under construction, 2 seasons remaining, 3 PP per turn construction cost
A-3 | TBD | TTS | Currently Under construction, 2 seasons remaining, 3 PP per turn construction cost
A-4 | TBD | TTS | Currently Under construction, 2 seasons remaining, 3 PP per turn construction cost
SK - Speciale Kruiser
Zeerover Class, 10 ships, 29 Maintenance
Zeerover | SK | No Refit | Currently unassigned | Crew are Trained | Undamaged | David Streithorst is captain, Trained, Balanced
Pirat | SK | No Refit | Currently under repair | Crew are Trained | Heavy damage, 1 season | Pieter-Jan Geurtse is captain, Trained, Aggressive
Avonturier | SK | No Refit | Currently under repair | Crew are Greenhorns | Heavy damage, 1 season | Thijn Seijnen is captain, Trained, Balanced
Geest | SK | No Refit | Currently assigned to Group B | Crew are Trained | Undamaged | Bartje Brugmans is captain, Trained, Balanced
SK 6 | SK | No Refit | Currently assigned to Working Up | Crew are Poor | Undamaged | Sibren ten Bouwhuis is captain, Trained, Aggressive
SK 7 | SK | No Refit | Currently assigned to Working Up | Crew are Poor | Undamaged | Mathies ten Hermsel is captain, Trained, Balanced
SK 8 | SK | No Refit | Currently Under construction, 2 seasons remaining, 5 PP per turn construction cost
SK 9 | SK | No Refit | Currently Under construction, 2 seasons remaining, 5 PP per turn construction cost
SK 10 | SK | No Refit | Currently Under construction, 2 seasons remaining, 5 PP per turn construction cost
CDS - Costal Defense Ship
Compromise Class, 9 ships, 45 Maintenance
The Union | CDS | No Refit | Currently under repair | Crew are Trained | Undamaged | Christiaan Mol is captain, Trained, Aggressive
Herman Van Veen | CDS | No Refit | Currently assigned to Group C | Crew are Trained | Heavy damage, 1 season. | Egbert Hazenkamp is captain, Trained, Cautious
Lourens van Vilet | CDS | No Refit | Currently under repair | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged | Marlijn de Wal is captain, Trained, Balanced
Eldert Schimmelpennink | CDS | No Refit | Currently assigned to Group D | Crew are Trained | Heavy damage, 1 season. | Lindert Knuif is captain, Trained, Cautious. Wounded 1 turn
Reinout van Diermen | CDS | No Refit | Currently under repair | Crew are Trained | Undamaged | Piet Bisschop is captain, Trained, Balanced
CDS 6 | CDS | No Refit | Currently Under construction, 1 season remaining, 6 PP per turn construction cost
CDS 7 | CDS | No Refit |Currently Under construction, 1 season remaining, 6 PP per turn construction cost
CDS 8 | CDS | No Refit | Currently Under construction, 1 season remaining, 6 PP per turn construction cost
CDS 9 | CDS | No Refit | Currently Under construction, 4 season remaining, 6 PP per turn construction cost
Veenland National School of the Navy (Costs 15 PP to maintain)
One 6 inch battery at Buskruithof, Sparrendijkje, Berenberg, Diepput, Bloemenheide, Marvinsburg
10,000 Displacement Dry docks.
(98) 93 remaining PP, 86 Maintenance.