Strategy Phase
Now that a source of Wood is being harvested in the Hills, the following changes to your armory occur:
GITGUD becomes
(CHEAP)Federal Intelligence Center - Counterfactual Narrative Division becomes
(EXPENSIVE) (CHEAP)After-Action Report
Aleks had found himself out later than usual for a few weeks now. Recent events regarding the "drinking buddy" disappearing the night that car was found torched had him feeling a little guilty, and he found comfort at the bottom of the bottle. He found himself drunkenly driving to his home in the Upper District in Harren City's east side, saved from an accident or getting lost largely due to muscle memory and a hefty supply of luck. He swung crookedly into his driveway and stumbled out of his car when two masked men leapt from the bushes separating his property from his neighbors. Grabbed by the mouth, neck, and arms, and still pretty drunk, Aleks found himself easily hauled and thrown inside a step van that came to a sudden stop at the end of his driveway.
"What the hell is-" Aleks began to demand to know what was going on as he pushed himself up onto his knees and noticed another masked individual casually sitting there, a rifle resting on his leg and leveled square at Aleks' nose. He suddenly felt a lot less drunk - and a little damp around the crotch.
"Please, please, I can give you money-" he had started to plead before the gunman interrupted.
"No, Aleks. We're giving you the money," the man interjected as Aleks' rapidly sobering face screwed up with confusion. One of the men who'd grabbed Aleks dropped an open Briefcase (Half-)Full of Money at his side.
"You could have had more, but after you got involved with my coworker's untimely demise you forced us to spend some money on this whole performance, so we paid out of your pocket. You work for The North now. You will take this money. You will hinder the work of the firm's Federation handlers. You will not ask questions or tell anybody about this meeting. If we so much as suspect you're cooperating with the SFS and its operatives then our next meeting begins and ends with a bullet to the head."
The van lurched to a stop outside Aleks' home once more as it completed it's circuit. The back doors of the van swung open and Aleks was unceremoniously and painfully tossed onto his ass. The gunman leaned out of the van and pressed his rifle into Aleks' forehead.
"Bullet. To. The. Head."
As if on cue, the grinding and rattling of one of the rustbucket GGPRO Vehicles the SFS had adopted gave away the patrol car coming around the corner behind the van at the opposite end of the block. The gunman shouldered the rifle and fired three deafening rounds as the van peeled off. Two punched through the rusted hood, causing all sorts of pressurized fluid and gas to spew through the holes. The third hit the driver in the neck. The car immediately lost control and slammed into a utility pole. In the time it took the passenger guardsman to collect himself and exit the vehicle Aleks had run inside, ears still ringing, and the van had disappeared into the night. As the days went by it became abundantly clear to Aleks that the SFS had no leads to follow - or were following them so slowly that the trail would vanish before they got anywhere meaningful.
Without any solid leads to follow, a cover story has been concocted to divert attention from security failures, and the surviving patrolman has been "retired" with a significant severance package and relocated to a nice, largely isolated home in Paeleris.
Over the following weeks, cases overseen by Aleks, especially those against Federation-related entities, began to gain publicity as settlements were advised against and refused. While this would obviously result in friction between the SFS and the law firm, the bigger impact came from the inevitable losses suffered by Aleks at the hands of the courts. A severely reduced faith in Loz and Sons saw a reduction in cases being taken to the firm overall, and this meant less opportunity for SFS handlers to pull the strings of the puppets still working for them within the law firm.
Loz and Sons has been Purged by UNSA and becomes Neutral.
----
The Westlan Broadcast Center was without a doubt one of the best methods of gathering a spreading information that any agency or government could hope for, housing both radio and television stations within it and topped by an array of transmitters that could reach out to anyone on the Harren Islands. The SFS intelligence agencies knew such an asset was best kept out of UNSA hands, which is why Nikodem Kowalczyk found himself approaching the front doors of the building. He was dressed as a maintenance worker and carried a toolbox to match, although this was stuffed with fabricated information provided to him by the Counterfactual Division that he intended to leave on some editor or administrator's desk. The disguise was flawless thanks to skillful hands in the Circus, and he was sure his acting prowess would get him past any scrutiny.
Security seemed a little tighter than usual, though. The casual observer might not have taken notice, but there was a slight increase in military personnel at the checkpoints, and they even had someone checking people in in the WBC lobby. Still, Nikodem wasn't shaken. He entered the building at the tail end of the early morning rush (just before 5am) and was stopped by a female in military uniform.
"Papers, please," she requested monotonously.
Nikodem put the toolbox on the table between them and used both hands to pull a wad of paperwork out from a buttoned pocket on the belly of his work clothes.
"Name?"
"Anthony Leander," he recited.
"What's your purpose here today?"
"I'm the new maintenance worker," Nikodem kept it simple, clean. Overexplanation was sure to raise suspicions, so he kept his responses short.
The soldier leafed through Nikodem's documents for a minute, scrutinizing every detail with a trained, if somewhat weary, eye. She passed his papers back, evidently pleased with what Nikodem had presented to her.
As Niko went to put his paperwork back in his pocket, the soldier spun around and opened the toolbox for inspection.
Oh shit, Nikodem thought to himself as he unconsciously flinched. If it wasn't for that
damn pocket he might have been able to hold onto the toolbox, and potentially avoided inspection altogether.
"Oh," the soldier muttered when she saw the toolbox was full of papers, pictures, and a couple reels of magnetic tape recordings. Caught red-handed and panicking, Nikodem spun on his heel and sprinted toward the exit, knocking the toolbox out of the soldier's hands as he failed to snatch it back for himself. He was already out the doors by the time the soldier called out for him to stop. Another guard outside attempted to tackle Nikodem, but he had no issue vaulting over the man and throwing him to the ground. Nikodem was quick, and the relatively empty street this early gave him ample room to run.
"Stop, or I'll shoot!" Nikodem heard called out behind him as he turned down an alleyway. It was a long, straight alley and not very conducive to escaping pursuit, but Nikodem didn't need to run down the alleyway. He instead vaulted atop a dumpster and leapt toward a ladder on a fire escape above him. His hands grasped the lowest rung, and he managed to pull himself up and climb a few levels before he heard footsteps pound into the alleyway below him.
"Damn it!" he heard first, and a moment later he heard a series of gunshots and felt a round shatter on the metal grate making up the fire escape, the fragments drilling into the bottom of his foot and removing at least one of his toes.
"Okay, okay! Don't shoot!" he called out as he dropped to a knee and then sat, cradling his mangled foot. Other guards had caught up by this point, and a team went up to the rooftops to retrieve him.
Once in custody, it was very easy for UNSA to figure out that his otherwise flawless documentation and information wasn't actually in the archives and Nikodem was locked up. Unfortunately, someone seemed to have taken a personal interest in Nikodem's arrest, and he has since unfortunately "died from his injuries". A raid on the apartment he'd been using as a safehouse implies that he may have been interrogated before his death. The place was emptied out, save for the GITGUD hidden beneath closet floorboards, but it remains to be seen whether or not UNSA actually knows if they've discovered the codebook.
If UNSA has a means of compromising encrypted SFS communications, they may be able to receive a small bonus to their work against SFS actions. Doing so would reveal their hand though, and SFS encryption would shift automatically to compensate without any additional Actions by the SFS.
Actionable Intel acquired through combined successful Secure actions against Purges as well as the proper infrastructure to take advantage of it, and the automatic adjustments to counter compromization, are the means of handling the ever important information war
without requiring a design or revision to be exclusively dedicated to the oft-disliked Comms. Race.
The
Westlan Broadcast Center was the target of a Purge but unfortunately UNSA operatives succeeded in Securing the location.
----
Nadia Antonova was comfortable in a dark skintight suit, a benefit of having two jobs with the same sort of uniform. Unfortunately at the moment she was dressed in restrictive
casualware. Sure, range of motion didn't matter too much for this unassuming walk down the sidewalk of an Upper District cul-de-sac, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She had a large envelope tucked away under her coat, courtesy of the Counterfactual Division's fabrication teams. She'd spent the last few weeks familiarizing herself with the North Point Observatory and how the place functioned. At first glance it would seem the place was run solely by the Senior Research Scientist, but a little digging revealed the position, held by a Hugo Andersson, reported directly to a board of investors. A little
more digging revealed the identities of these investors, and Nadia was currently walking up to one of their streetside mailboxes. The street was empty this afternoon as kids were in school and adults were working or otherwise occupied, providing no witnesses for Nadia's drop-off.
It was very entertaining for her to think about, this envelope. All she'd done was provided names for the Senior Research Scientist and the investors, and the Counterfactual Division provided her with this envelope of blackmail. If she didn't know any better, the pictures and documents within would have convinced her that Hugo was having an extramarital affair with an intern from a local college, and was using funds meant for the Observatory to wine and dine this Wendy Rose - a real student, too, she'd found out while she investigated the security of the "evidence" for herself.
While Nadia could have confronted Hugo directly and blackmailed him herself, she figured providing details for the misappropriation of funds would hit harder when provided to people who wouldn't outright deny the claim - and who definitely cared about how their money was spent.
Within 48 hours Nadia was reading an article about the sacking of Andersson from his position and his subsequent replacement with a researcher who just so happened to be more neutral on their opinion of UNSA and its potential influence in the region.
The
North Point Observatory has been Purged of UNSA influence and becomes Neutral.
----
While operations in the Fortress-City have rolled forward, so has the world. This season saw the Perpetual Conference deadlocked on the proposal to create a Warcrimes Committee as disagreements between UNSA-aligned parties prevented the proposals accession to the voting stage. The Harren Limited Trade Agreement, on the other hand, managed to pass through the Conference and receive approval by a narrow margin. The HLTA is an attempt to reduce tensions both internationally and locally with regards to the Harren Islands.
As a result of the HLTA, items produced by a signatory state may be labelled for their domestic [Civilian] market or made for [Export] across the wall. Goods passing across the border is expected to increase goodwill and reduce tension. On the other hand, [Civilian] items can be targeted by Reverse Engineering Credits in revisions, while [Export]s don't even need that much - the large reduction in potential World Tension created by whatever the good is comes at the cost of the Importer gaining the design for free
without the need to expend a Reverse Engineering Credit. Either party can opt to remove an [Export] tag from goods for a very minor increase in World Tension.
But the Perpetual Conference consists of more than just SFS and UNSA states, and one such nation, the small island of Iava, has brought forth a proposal to denounce recent actions made by their larger neighbor, Bryor. Recent posturing by Bryorian politicians and military figures paints a stark picture, according to the Iavan representative. A massive increase in military presence in their shared waters, multiple brief incursions into Iavan national waters by Bryor vessels, and an increasingly popular narrative of Iava being a historic part of Bryor that should be reunited with its parent nation have the Iavans worried about an imminent invasion.
When given the opportunity to speak, the Bryorian representative did not deny any of these claims. Instead, she laid out for everybody exactly what was happening and why it was best for everyone. Iava, as a historically poor nation with ethnic ties to Bryorians were being led by a government in peril. Rising costs of living and stagnating wages combined with limited job opportunities have resulted in widespread poverty approaching the level of a humanitarian crisis. Bryor seeks to right a historic wrong - the secession of Iava - and bring wealth, health, and prosperity to the island's inhabitants. They perceive the Iavan government as faulty, corrupt, and hostile, and counter the Iavan's request for denunciation with the suggestion that these "internal" politics should be handled outside of the Perpetual Conference, by force if necessary. For the good of the people.
Regardless of what the other member states of the Perpetual Conference say or think, it is clear that Bryor is indeed preparing an invasion of Iava should the government continue to refuse Bryorian requests to dissolve itself. While the situation is politically complicated, the implications of an invasion and Bryor acquiring access to the
Fissiles on Iava cannot be understated. You have a choice before you, and should resolve the decision as soon as possible so that you may act accordingly when the imminent invasion inevitably occurs. You can choose to:
A. Remain Neutral. Your alliance will not publicly speak or act in any manner that could compromise neutrality on foreign affairs. Bryor will appreciate this, while Iava will resent the decision.
B. Offer Humanitarian Aid to Iava. Equipment in your armory that could be used for non-military purposes is delivered to the island nation. Iava will appreciate the help, while Bryor will resent this.
C. Offer Humanitarian Aid to Bryor. A naval invasion is bound to be costly beyond the military expenditures, so non-military equipment from your armory is sent to Bryor to relieve that pressure. Bryor will appreciate this, while Iava will resent it.
D. Offer Military Aid to Iava. Bryor is acting aggressively and has a much larger industrial base than Iava. In order to give the Iavans a chance to protect themselves, military hardware is sent to the Iavans. This can result in Direct Intervention if a Military Unit is developed and sent over. Iava will greatly appreciate this, while Bryor will despise the action.
E. Offer Military Aid to Bryor. Sometimes it's best to back the favorite horse. Military hardware is sent to Bryor to fill any gaps in production they may have as the invasion approaches. This can result in Direct Intervention if a Military Unit is developed and sent over. Iava will hate this decision, while Bryor will greatly appreciate it.
(Options are arranged in order based on how much they can impact World Tension individually)
If both UNSA and the SFS take the same stance on the matter, then the impact on World Tension is negated, but neither side gains access to Iava's two Fissile Resources (with one exception). If the invasion succeeds, Bryor will give the faction it favors most access to one off-Harren Fissile Resource and World Tension reduces as the situation is resolved. In the event that the invasion fails, Iava will grant grant their most favored faction access to one off-Harren Fissile Resource, but World Tension increases as Bryor and Iava enter a state of conflict.
The one exception mentioned above is if both the SFS and UNSA provide Iava with Military Aid. The war expands from an invasion attempt to civil unrest as differing ideological groups vie for power in the aftermath of the failure of the invasion. The situation will continue to worsen, increasing World Tension until one faction can dominate the other. Once the dust settles, Iava will be in position to join the alliance of its preference and hand the victors access to
two off-Harren Fissile Resources.
Opting to deploy military units will greatly increase World Tension, but are much more likely to swing the balance in your favor - unless they have to face an enemy unit or otherwise manage to get bogged down in a foreign war (see: Vietnam).
Future instances of events requiring your alliance's input will be more open to your own interpretation and less cut and dry, but consider this a basic introduction on what you can do and what may result from your actions and interactions with non-aligned states.
----
This season has seen a philanthropic organization gain popularity in the public eye. Founded in Abbera, the Civilian Ordnance Removal Group International is a government subsidized organization created by veterans and concerned citizens with the goal of clearing old combat zones of potentially dangerous ordinance to permit rehabitation and rehabilitation. Recent successes in demining operations within The Scar have brought CORGI into the international spotlight - nobody expected to feel safe living in the war-battered region within this lifetime, but CORGI made it so. Their speed and professionalism is unparalleled, and locals who interact with CORGI have nothing but good things to say about the organization. This is, of course, what has persuaded the SFS to allow CORGI access to South Harren and the Salviosi island, and very limited access to the Southern Continent. It is just a philanthropic organization seeking to better the lives of the people. And they're doing it on UNSA's dime. What's not to love about that?! A small building in South Harren City has been paid for by CORGI to house their local offices and equipment.
UNSA also seems to have replaced their seaplanes with slightly more boat-shaped aircraft. Other than a lack of aircraft crashing in SFS waters and sparking an international incident, no notable change can otherwise be parsed at this time.
It is now the Design Phase. You have two Design Actions and some decision-making to do. This will be the final turn for proposal estimates.
Land
"Temnaya Vintovka" Semiautomatic Rifle: A 110 cm, 4 kg dark wood rifle. 7.7mm rounds are fed via 15-round box magazine, and can also be loaded with rounds individually through an open bolt. It has an adjustable rear sight with 100 meter increments. Effective out to 800m. It also has a bayonet lug and comes with a bayonet. Padded for operator comfort. Costs 2 Ore and 2 Wood. (CHEAP)
No.3 Fragmentation Grenade: A fragmentation grenade with a lethal radius of 5m and debilitating within 15m, but can cause injury out much further if you're (un)lucky. Has a cap that can be pulled off for a 7 second fuse or twisted and pulled for impact. Shaped like an egg, but can have a stick screwed into the bottom if desired. Costs 2 Ore. (CHEAP)
"Nebolshoy" Pistol: A light, easy to conceal 8.8mm handgun. Sturdy, reliable, and easy to fix when it isn't. A suppressor helps facilitate covert actions. Costs 3 Ore. (CHEAP)
Pulemet No.4: An 8.5mm automatic machine gun utilizing 20- or 40-round box magazines. Rate of fire is sacrificed for an effective range of 1200m. Costs 4 Ore. (CHEAP)
-Pulemet No.6: An 8.5mm automatic machine gun utilizing 20- or 40-round box magazines or fed by belts. Rate of fire increases from 450 to 800RPM, but effective range drops down to 1000m. Very reliable but has a bit of a kick. Costs 6 Ore (EXPENSIVE)
Bol'shoy 108mm: A 108-mm artillery piece on a split-tail carriage and easily towable with a barrel that can be pulled back to reduce profile. Currently fires HE and smoke rounds out to 16km. Has a gun shield for some protection. Costs 6 Ore. (EXPENSIVE)
Salviosi Jacks: Steel beams welded together to provide obstacles for vehicles. Only usable during defense. Costs 2 Ore. CHEAP
GGPRO Vehicles: A fleet of the cheapest available vehicles in a wide range of condition (all bad) converted to use the GGPRO Engine. While they gain the typical benefits of using a GGPRO, they suffer in just about every imaginable way. Marked with a star stencil on each hood. Costs 3 Ore and 3 Gavrilium. (CHEAP)
Sea
Okhotnik-Class Destroyer: A 115m long ship with 120mm belt armor and 100mm elsewhere. Travels at 35 knots. Armed with a triple torpedo mount and 3x2 120mm rapid firing guns capable of firing AP and APHE. Costs 5 Ore and 3 Oil. (EXPENSIVE)
Air
Sakonet Fighter: A three-bladed propeller aircraft capable of reaching speeds of 690km/h. Has a high rate of climb, but suffers when it comes to horizontal maneuverability. Armed with four 23mm cannons. Costs 3 Ore and 3 Oil. (CHEAP)
Lizing Li-4 Strategic Bomber: A large high-altitude bomber powered by four propellers for a maximum speed of 558 km/h. Can protect itself with 10 23mm cannons paired in four turrets and the tail barbette to provide almost total coverage. Can haul up to 6000kg of bombs or a nuclear device. Costs 4 Ore and 5 Oil. (VERY EXPENSIVE)
-Lizing Li-GG Longhaul Cargo Plane: A long-range cargo transport powered by four GGPRO Engines. It can haul 15000kg of cargo out to 6500km at 575 km/h. Costs 3 Ore and 3 Gavrilium. (CHEAP) [CIVILIAN]
Other
Gasified Gavrilium Perpetual Revolution Output Engine: A multi-chamber engine that uses Gasified Gavrilium to power an electric motor. Depleted GG can be pumped out of the fuel tank. GGPROEs are lighter than ICEs of equivalent size but many times more efficient, and much easier to take care of. Power is modulated by controlling the fuel-air mix in the motor chamber. Relative to an ICE, will reduce Ore Cost and replace Oil Cost with a significantly discounted Gavrilium Cost.
-GGPRO High Pressure: A more thickly lined engine capable of utilizing much higher densities of Gasified Gavrilium than the GGPRO. Ore Cost will lean closer to ICE costs, and Gavrilium Costs will replace Oil at a less discounted rate, but provides much greater power than either an ICE or the GGPRO. High performance pumps and valves allow for much more rapid changes to power in the engine. Also has improved resilience!
Objekt-17: An experimental ramjet engine capable of surpassing Mach 3. Uses Gavrilium-Cerium Rods powered by a GGPRO to heat the air being forced through the engine. No moving parts means relatively low maintenance. Will be somewhat costly in Gavrilium and Ore to apply to future designs. [CLASSIFIED]
-Objekt-18: An Objekt-17 modified with a liquid hydrogen injector. Can almost reach Mach 5 and 40km altitude before exploding or crashing down to earth. [CLASSIFIED]
GITGUD: Comprised of a (R)ead and (W)rite remote messaging device. Uses Vigenere Cypher for encryption (named for the book used to identify the 8-letter keyword). A battery with an hour-long life can be recharged by hand. Internal components are secure and well-protected, and can be swapped out quickly by any operator with a screwdriver. Fits nicely into a slightly overly large briefcase. Costs 3 Ore, 4 Wood, and 3 Gavrilium. (CHEAP)
Fabricated Papers: False identification papers that should allow relatively easy access to enemy territory across The Wall. Costs 2 Wood. (CHEAP)
Tsirk Neznakomtsa (Circus of the Stranger): A globally (at least the half that matters) well-received troupe of the best performers available in the Selicate Federation. All participants are masters in their craft and (secretly) loyal to the Communist cause. Greatly improves the chances of successful intelligence operations in North Harren City and provides a significant level of detail on publicly visible advancements made by UNSA. Always a (NATIONAL EFFORT).
Federal Intelligence Center - Counterfactual Narrative Division: Basementdwellers within Osgorod capable of crafting convincing lies and even more convincing evidence. Documents, images, video, and voice can all be spoofed to compile very targeted blackmail/bribes/threats/promises. Costs 6 Wood. (EXPENSIVE) (CHEAP) (Expensed)
Enriched Uranium Bomb: A fission bomb utilizing 64kg of Uranium-235 in order to achieve an explosive blast equivalent to 15 kilotons of TNT. Can be deployed via Strategic Bomber. Two Available [Availability based on available Fissile resources].
Special Resource
Gasified Gavrilium: A gaseous form of gavrilium that is slightly heavier than helium and equally flammable. Sustains and amplifies currents passing within it while not conducting currents itself.
-Depleted Gasified Gavrilium: A neutrally air-buoyant inert gas created as a result of Gasified Gavrilium being used to sustain a current.
Gavrilium-Cerium: An alloy with a melting point over 3200C once properly mixed. Produces high heat dependent on the current running through it. Resistant to warping.
"Dallas" Sportsman Carbine
PC-46 Private Aircraft 'Firefly'
"Gutenberg" Ruggedized Mimeograph and Typewriter
Ore: 3
Wood: 3
Oil: 2
Fissiles: 2
Gavrilium: 3
Dusty Mesas: Gavrilium x1, None x2
Lowlands: Ore x1, None x2
Desert: None x3
Volcanic Heights: None x3
Hills: Wood x1, None x2
Badlands: None x3
Southern Range: None x3
Southern Scar: None x3
War-torn Savannah: None x3
SFS
Tonngaza Refinery: A fuel refinery built on the southernmost tip of the Fortress-City. Provides an Expense Credit each turn. AFFILIATED
Loz and Sons Law Firm: A building housing all the knowledge of law (and peoples secrets) that one might need. Provides an Advantage Credit each turn. NEUTRAL
Harren University of the Sciences: The most prestigious education center on the island. Provides a Research Credit each turn. AFFILIATED
Glaza Private Detective Agency: A popular investigative service among locals. Provides a Sabotage Credit each turn. NEUTRAL
UNSA
Abbera Central Allied Banking: A bank in the walled upper-class community in the east of the Fortress-City with ties to the defunct monarchy that ran the northern island for a few years. Provides and Expense Credit each turn. AFFILIATED
Westlan Broadcast Center: A tall building used for both radio and television broadcasts locally. Provides an Advantage Credit each turn. AFFILIATED
North Point Observatory: A building used to study the skies. Provides a Research Credit each turn. NEUTRAL
Tri-Dream Telecoms: A telecommunications business that provides service to the (northern half of the) Harren Islands. Provides a Sabotage Credit each turn. NEUTRAL
Expense Credit x1
Advantage Credit x0
Research Credit x2
Secret Project Credit x0
Reverse Engineering Credit x1
Key:
Red=SFS Territory
Green=UNSA Territory
Grey=Neutral Nations
Orange=Old World
Key:
Red=SFS Territory
Green=UNSA Territory
Dark Grey=The Wall
Blue=Ocean
Author
Topic: CWAR: SFS Thread // Revision Phase // Warm Seasons 1947 (Read 11117 times)