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[Sensei]

Artillery Barge: (2) Madman, Thanatos russ
Witchfire Carbine: (1) Sensei

I still think our naval combat debut is best left for a full design.

[evictedSaint]

Artillery Barge: (2) Madman, Thanatos russ
Witchfire Carbine: (2) Sensei, eS

I don't wanna make max mad, so no artillery please.

[TricMagic]

Artillery Barge: (2) Madman, Thanatos Russ
Witchfire Carbine: (3) Sensei, eS, TricMagic

I don't wanna make max mad, so no artillery please.

Votted.

[Maxim_inc]

This is a version of the Witchfire designed to be as light and compact as possible, for close-in fighting. It fires the new 5x35mm carbine cartridge. The size of the gas system has been reduced (subject to testing/tuning) and the bolt carrier has been drilled out to reduce weight. The barrel is shortened to 250mm and kept light even at that, as accuracy is not a high priority. The pan magazine still holds 40 rounds, but is considerably smaller according to the size of the cartridges. The wooden stock and foregrip are drilled out for weight. The adjustable sights are eschewed for a simple fixed aperture sight which is quick to acquire. If it is ergonomically feasible, the length of the shoulder stock is shortened and the trigger is moved forward somewhat.

Dice Gods Say: You roll a 3.

The Witchfire Carbine is...a weapon. It seems we have stumbled upon the same luck that lead to the original model of the R-I-M1900 rifle. For one the new round is...less than hoped and during testing has been found to be significantly underpowered against mock up targets and is unable to penetrate even captured Vornfolk Half-Steel helmets unless fired at point blank range. Due to a combination of a shortened barrel causing high recoil, modified internals causing the constant jerking movement of the pan during firing and plus the outlandish idea that in order to increase compactness and reduce weight the entire stock has been removed and replaced with a grip copied from foreign pistol designs has made the Witchfire Carbine almost uncontrollable in all but extremely short bursts and useless for anything other than close range fighting due to inaccuracy and recoil. Also sometimes due to the holes drilled into the bolt carrier the gun sometimes just goes crazy and dumps its entire magazine, afterwards its been so damaged inside that the weapons is usually dumped by its operator who is forced to scavenge for a replacement firearm or use the current standard issue sidearm, the saber.

All in all the Witchfire Carbine is an ergonomic nightmare of a weapon which recoils so badly its like trying to control a tornado made out of firecrackers which also sometimes goes completely insane and magdumps itself into unusability.


It is now the Design Phase once the battle report has been written.

Confederation Armory:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 Ogedi Commission Infantry Rifle: The standard issue rifle of the Confederation, the Ogedi was designed by a rifle commission during the closing days of the Alliance Wars. This 50 inch long rifle fires a 45. Caliber straight walled blackpowder rifle round out of its trapdoor configuration breech through a rifled barrel. It comes with a flat bladed bayonet. It is Cheap at 2 Ore.

R-I-M1900a1: Coming in with a modern 6.5mm round this rifle is a decent rifle and comparable to other rifles on the continent in its effectiveness after fixing some teething problems and replaces our old rifle in its entirety, cavalry can use it but its still a little too long to be used comfortably by them. It also comes with a blade bayonet. It is Cheap at 2 Ore.

Witchfire 6.5mm Light Machinegun Model 1900: A light machinegun at around 29 pounds the Witchfire uses the same 6.5mm cartridge as the R-I-M1900a1 fed from a 40 round pan magazine and operated by a long-stroke gas piston system. It comes with a wooden stock, foregrip and pistol grip plus a bipod. It is well accurate in short burst but suffers overheating problems over a long period of time and lacks a quick change barrel. It is Expensive at 4 Ore.

Witchfire 5x35mm Carbine Machinegun Model 1902: A novel attempt at miniaturizing the Witchfire LMG firing a new 5x35mm round. It is hard to control, underpowered, has poor accuracy at anything other than point blank range and prone to frequent part breakages after sustained use. It is Expensive at 4 Ore.

Saber: This slightly curved blade comes with a single cutting edge and is used by both officers and cavalry alike, currently it is the only weapon available to be used by cavalry. It is Cheap at 1 Ore.

"Ganaa" 75mm Artillery: A reliable, if prone to needing replacement parts more often than others, field artillery cannon which fires HE and Fragmentation shells from its one-piece smokeless ammunition cases. It is Expensive at 4 Ore.

Uul Ganaa 75mm L/12: A lightened and shrunk mountain version of the Ganna using lower velocity 75mm shells than its bigger brother and is capable of being broken down and carried by a team of mules or men. It is Expensive at 4 Ore.

Godstrike 120mm Howitzer: A heavy artillery piece firing fixed 120mm HE shells at extreme ranged. Its advanced breach allows for its man loaders to fire a quick volley of shells before they become exhausted. It is Expensive at 5 Ore.

Confederation Battle Dress: A pair of bright red trousers and undershirt with a gold vest with white sashes plus a black kepis hat. This eye-burning combination of colors help the infantry of the confederation stand out gloriously among the battlefield and its conditions for all to see. No Cost.

Confederate Combat Dress 1900: A well fitting Combat Dress of drab greys with sturdy boots and a leather ammunition harness plus a winter weather trenchcoat. A full metal helmet is included which has a tapered brim to protect from shrapnel and sunlight, its not bullet proof. It is Cheap at 1 Ore due to the steel needed for helmets.

'Tsirk' Spotter Balloon: A propane burning hot-air balloon made of sturdy materials capable of taking its two occupants to a great height though suffers from intense cold at high altitude, a lack of an aerodynamic shape and inconsistent fuel burning. The onboard telegraph doesn't play well in the cold either. It is Cheap at 3 Ore and 2 Fuel.

Transport Barge: A medium sized barge used for transporting men and equipment from the homeland to the Volcanic Island. It has no defenses other than a small marine contingent with standard issue rifles. It is Cheap at 3 Ore and 2 Fuel.

[TricMagic]

That rifle "conversion" (read: actually a complete replacement disguised as a revision) is probably going to fail, or at least I hope it does.

Anyway, how about a reasonably sane option?

Artillery Barge
A variant of the basic Transport Barge with some artillery pieces on the deck, trading troop and equipment capacity for artillery and ammunition stowage. It incorporates a couple of our 120mm howitzers and a quartet of our 75mm howitzers and can use them for shore support or, if you're really, really, really, REALLY desperate, fighting other naval units. It includes tie-down points and a telegraph setup so that it can fly its very own spotting balloon.

Artillery Barge: (1) TricMagic

[Sensei]

Tricmagic... that's a revision not a design. So, we wouldn't be voting for it anyway, because it's (almost) the Design Phase...

Also, we won't be voting for designs until we see the battle report.

[evictedSaint]

'Mad Hat' Dreadnought Model A-1903
A dreadnought for the modern era, the Mad-Hat is a breathtaking 70 meters in length and weighs in at a brutal 600 tons.  The dizzying new warship features two cutting-edge triple expansion steam engines amidship, each of which powers a screw on the back to give the ship a truly insane amount of propulsion.  Twin smokestacks jut out from the center, and the con tower is elevated just as high near the fore of the ship.  From here, a firing director can supply the targetting data to the weapons system using rangefinding mirror arrays.  Two Godstrike 120mm artillery guns are positioned aboard the ship; one at the bow, and one on the stern.  They are unshielded to provide the firing crews with excellent visibility, and a pair of winch-based elevators send shells from below deck to above deck.  Four Witchfire LMG's are positioned around the ship; one stern, one bow, one port, and one starboard. 

We expect the Dreadnought to be able to reach speeds as high as 25 knots, and provide off-shore bombardment as well as harassing Duchy shipping lanes.

[Sensei]

This balloon is considerably than the Tsirk hot air balloons. It is filled with hydrogen, in three cells of treated cotton, all inside a single non-rigid outer casing (the fore and aft are supported in a conical shape by wooden spars). Each lifting gas cell has a ballonet, a smaller balloon inside into which outside may be pumped, filling this reduces buoyancy and emptying it allows the craft to rise. The pitch is adjusted by altering the fore and aft ballonets. Thrust is provided by two four-cylinder automotive engines with reversible transmissions driving propellers, one on either side, mounted high attached to the gondola close to the center of drag. There is also a rudder and elevator control surface. The gondola is constructed of aluminium, and is twenty-five feet long. It is capable of holding a number of passengers, although it ordinarily carries a pilot, engineer, and commander/bomber, as well as up to five tons of bombs. The bombs are, for now, modified 120mm artillery shells. They have a fuze that can be armed by hand, and fin stabilizers.

I'm not sure if I should just be asking for real bombs, but w/e. I'm assuming normally, our artillery shells have a contact fuze which is armed upon firing.

[Sensei]

I'm gonna proceed dead on the current course and see if it works!

Agaaryn Tolgoi Dirigible Balloon: (1) Sensei

[evictedSaint]

Agaaryn Tolgoi Dirigible Balloon: (2) Sensei, es

[TricMagic]

Agaaryn Tolgoi Dirigible Balloon: (3) Sensei, es, TricMagic

[Madman198237]

Fuses armed by hand, when dealing with 5 tons of 120mm artillery shells, is a bad idea. Have them be armed by, say, a string that is ripped free when the bomb drops out of the airship's bomb bay or wherever it's stored.

I do like the idea of just reusing 120mm artillery shells, it's a good one. 5 tons of payload might be a bit much for our first-ever airship, though.

'Crate Mover' Truck
The internal combustion engine-driven automobile is a remarkable tool for moving things, like crates. So we've developed a small 1.5-ton truck with an unusually robust suspension system to aid our logistical efforts and begin to displace the horse as the primary tool of the logistics arm of our military. This truck uses an internal combustion engine running on regular old gasoline developed by our own engineering team and produced in our own factories, a first for our nation. In order to do this the engine is made simpler and perhaps proportionally a bit less space-efficient than most engines are, but since it aids in keeping it running and manufacturing it in a country not used to doing so we're pretty sure it'll be worth the trade-offs. Our (new) mechanics will undoubtedly be glad that we've tried to keep the truck easily maintainable and durable, at least.

It's got a flat bed that can optionally be covered, and can carry supplies or troops over its moderate range (for the time). For carrying troops we toss some bench seating in the back.

So some ICE experience might allow us to do an armored car to try and shift the balance of certain theaters, it would also improve our logistics immensely which might just have its own benefits.

[Sensei]

Alterations bold.

This balloon is considerably larger than the Tsirk hot air balloons. It is filled with hydrogen, in three cells of treated cotton, all inside a single non-rigid outer casing (the fore and aft are supported in a conical shape by wooden spars). Each lifting gas cell has a ballonet, a smaller balloon inside into which outside may be pumped, filling this reduces buoyancy and emptying it allows the craft to rise. The pitch is adjusted by altering the fore and aft ballonets. Thrust is provided by two four-cylinder automotive engines with reversible transmissions driving propellers, one on either side, mounted high attached to the gondola close to the center of drag. There is also a rudder and elevator control surface. The gondola is constructed of aluminium, and is twenty-five feet long. It is capable of holding a number of passengers, although it ordinarily carries a pilot, engineer, and commander/bomber, as well as up to five tons of bombs. The bombs are, for now, modified 120mm artillery shells. They have fin stabilizers, and a pull-ring fuze, where the pull-ring is attached to a carabiner clip and cable on the gondola. Dropping the shells causes the pull-ring to be removed, staying with the carabiner clip.

Updated to include a still-simplistic but considerably safer fuze system, per Madman's suggestion. I'm going to just assume everyone is cool with this.

Agaaryn Tolgoi Dirigible Balloon (Edit B): (3) Sensei, es, TricMagic (probably)

Regarding the Crate Mover, I'm wondering what Maxim's policy on "general logistics" equipment is. It may be the case that it only affects the battle reports where it can be directly used on the frontlines (eg towing artillery, moving soldiers) and we honestly might consider being slightly more greedy and going for an armored version right off the bat.

[Madman198237]

We might but I'd rather get a nice and easy vehicle up first so our first armored car doesn't need a billion revisions. I will add a note about towing capability for artillery and the like, since I absolutely should have had that in there. I'll also clarify the more tactical uses, like massing troops quickly right before an attack or resupplying guns that are low on ammo faster or whatnot.

Agaaryn Tolgoi Dirigible Balloon (Edit B): (3) Sensei, es, TricMagic (probably)
'Crate Mover' Truck: (1) Madman

I'm not going to be sad if the dirigible wins, but I would kind of like to go for an armored car sooner rather than later...oh wait there's automotive engines on the dirigible anyway. Heh. I will be equally pleased if the truck wins or the dirigible wins

[evictedSaint]

Devilpyre HMG Model 03A
13mm of lead sent at a blistering 500 rounds per minute. 

The Devilpyre is a heavy machinegun for emplaced positions.  It is belt-fed, feeding from right-to-left, mounted on a tripod and gas-stroke operated.  A barrel shroud extends past the muzzle, using the exhaust as a means of drawing fresh, cool air past the barrel to slow the rate at which the gun overheats.  The truly most innovative part of the Devilpyre is the quick-change barrel; a lever-operated locking latch can be pushed forward, disengaging the barrel and popping the shroud open.  The barrel can then be dragged out with a short hook, and a fresh barrel can be slotted in place.

Probably not the time for such a design, but I think this is cool