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[Pandarsenic]

Superior Equipment refers to conventional arms and armor, generally. It'll give bonuses to things they don't have bonuses in already.

[Taricus]

Well, I guess Doctrine: Superior Training seems like a good move then.

[Pandarsenic]

I'll run the combat while people decide.

--

You send out three Elites in a Thaumatank to support Squad B; it arrives later that day.

They have trenches in place; as a warning, your Thaumatank uses the Thaumic Drivers to collapse sections of the Trench.

"You have three choices: you may leave our territory; you may die; or, you may join our city as probationary citizens, becoming full citizens if you show yourselves trustworthy and safe for six months. The choices is yours."

"FUCK OFF, SLAVERS! WE'RE NOT FALLING FOR YOUR SHIT!" one yells.
"I don't think these guys are slavers," their seeming commanding officer muses.
"Yeah, they would've just attacked us. Besides, that tank is old-school Mage-tech. It's hovering and glowing, I'm pretty sure Mage-tech has to do that by definition and slavers have never had an interest in it."
"This doesn't seem right to me," another speaks. "I'm not walking out of here in chains."
"So tell them that?" the last one suggests. "Just make it clear that the moment we see chains, we turn on them."
"And let them prepare for it? We'd get slaughtered."
"We'll get slaughtered if we don't give in now."
"They said we could leave peacefully."
"And you believe them?"

"I'm going," says the one who had seemed most receptive. "I'm tired of living off what we steal. The boss isn't a bad guy, but this could be a new life for us. A chance to get away from this... this awfulness. Who's with me?"
"I... should go with you. To make sure you're safe. Yeah," the Raider Officer justifies unconvincingly.
"I'll go with you to back you up," his second chips in.
"Aww, screw you guys."
"We'll be telling the boys back at base about this."

With that, the three who accept your offer come to your forces, weapons raised above their heads.

They return to The Shell without incident.

The Shell Population +3
1 Raider Sergeant
1 Raider Commando
1 Raider Infantry

Raiders travel light and scale in all stats with DOCTRINE: Mobility. They have defense ranging form "low" to "mediocre" but they have attacks that, while not especially strong, have large Armor Piercing values. They won't scale very much if at all with Doctrine: Superior Ranged Armament because you've only researched that in the context of Magitech which they (Being Raider X instead of Magitech X) don't have. While the same holds true of Doctrine: Mobility, D:M also has more general principles which the Raider units can apply. Also, Raiders have ammunition.

You may induct them into your civilian population, offer to make them part of the army, or draft them. Whatever choice you make, once the week is over you'll have the option to make recruits into them.

Raider Infantry, in particular, can make good draftees as you can arm 5 of them with 1 Equipment and they require no training. They can be changed back into Recruits at any time, at which point your stores will receive "Raider Infantry Equipment," which allows you to arm Recruits as Raider Infantry without spending new Equipment (you can also do this if you convert Magitech units, as well, but that'll be fairly rare - usually if you need an experience bonus on someone other than who got it so you trade their roles, or if you desperately need a unit type but don't have the manpower for it. Lucky for you, Magitech units only rarely have training time requirements). On the (usually) minus side, people may mistake you for being a Raider band. Also, Raider Infantry isn't much better than a Recruit without more levels of Doctrine: Mobility.

Raider Commandos scale with Doctrine: Espionage, which you don't have yet. Thus, their Espionage scaling will be hidden. You can, at whatever point you wish after this week, talk to this Commando (assuming he hasn't somehow died) and receive a bonus to Espionage research done that week.

Also, adding these units to your army (having the option, if not the actual unit) is the only way to know their stats without Doctrine: Knowledge is Power. Even then, you won't be getting the whole picture unless you have all the relevant Styles/Doctrines.


Edit: Also you got 6 Food. Their camp retains the rest of their gear.

[Toaster]

Well, I guess Doctrine: Superior Training seems like a good move then.

:thumbsup:

[SirBayer]

I'm honestly feeling like we need Knowledge is Power, here. That's my vote.

Whoever didn't come with us we leave alone, I think. I don't think we should let them go, if we can avoid it - send the Thaumatank home with the elites and leave Squad B to prevent the foe from leaving. When Squad B needs resupply, Squad D or Squad C can run it out to them.

In the meanwhile, we can make another show of force out at the village. Drive the Thaumatank out there, take some potshots, give them a warning (join or we will attack), perhaps entrench Squad A there, and whichever squad isn't resupplying B can resupply A. That means we have the reserves and Squad C or D at the Shell (never send 'em both out simultaneously), and we have two entrenched forces. If the fighting gets hot near the village, we can send C and/or D to fight and just take the village.

[Sean Mirrsen]

I think we should leave at least two of the squads at the Shell at all times - after all, we're supposed to be protecting the Shell, what's the use of that if somebody attacks and we have no force worth mentioning in the garrison?

I still stand by my idea of "gunboat diplomacy". Threaten with the thaumatank, but do not open fire unless enemies present an actual threat. Have the crew be all Elites, hopefully that will further increase defense (not that the 'tank needs much defending as long as it's got mana). Drive up to their defenses, ignoring such opposing fire as possible, and present an ultimatum similar to what was said to the raiders - to the effect of "keep attacking and then WE start firing, flee and never return to this place, or join us and have a hope for a better future".

And as much as I like my previous idea of intimidation, I'd have to concur with Superior Training as the current research direction. We need quality troops, and a lot of them. Knowledge is Power can wait until we have enough of a power base to effectively make use of said knowledge. For instance, we won't be able to effectively hold both the Shell and the second village with just the few Elites and assorted infantry we have, considering we still need most of them for scouting and strike forces.

[Geen]

I say we go Orwellian .

Offer a chance to join the military to them, if they decline allow them to become civilians.

[Toaster]

Good ideas

I expand my support to all of this.

[Pandarsenic]

As your forces work, you spend more of the week than not figuring out how to optimize your troops' use of their equipment - especially with the new series of Magitech Infantry gear finishing production this week.

Then it hits you.

First, your barracks are all equipped with firing ranges, obstacle courses, and special team-training fields combining the previous two things in what amounts to a glorified paintball battleground. With this, your soldiers can gain small amounts of experience even when stationed in a city - an excellent thing, since you plan to keep two squads on-site at all times - in addition to their training improving their Attack, Defense, and Mobility. They won't be able to truly call themselves Experienced without at least one engagement with enemy forces in the field, of course, nor Veterans without many more than that, but they'll put their training to good use - in addition to giving them experience, all of your units - even Recruits - will be more accurate in combat.

Second, user manuals. Putting the full extent of the functionality of your weapons to use is easy for you. You designed them. But for the men and women of your army, it'll probably help to have this sort of information available.

Third, field medical treatment. You don't have the Magitech designs necessary for a dedicated Magitech Medic finished, but your soldiers will all be trained to be able to help each other survive wounds whenever it's safe to during or after a battle, and first-aid kits will be added to their standard loadouts.

Fourth and finally, Intensive Training. Any non-officer soldiers with an officer attached to their unit or in the same garrison will, after (8-[number of officers]) weeks (minimum 3), gain the "Trained" trait. Trained is an experience level between the default and Experienced, and is replaced by Experienced once that level is reached; it confers a portion of the benefits being Experienced does.

These are all implemented around the start of your second week as the ruler of a city. You still have a little trouble wrapping your head around ruling a city, in fact, but dismiss that since you do apparently plan to rule far more than that.

The people of your city aren't too sure about the Raiders you recruited; when you offer them their choice of military or civilian life, the Commando is the only one interested in staying on active duty... despite the complete and total lack of equipment for him.

"Tell ya what," he says. "Me and the others, we'll be off-duty. When you have gear for us, or when you need us, we'll be ready to serve. We'll keep ourselves sharp, but until then, we'll function like civilians. That work?" You give your assurance that would be fine. He gives you a final warning that he and the others won't have their Raider gear until you have it taken out of storage; you insist that it's fine. That concluded, he and the other two former Raiders joined the workforce, to your population's bewilderment.

Throughout the week you scribble down minor notes on Magitech, Mobility, and your Ranged Weaponry designs.
(Each week, the Styles and Doctrines you've researched have rolls with number-of-things-you've-unlocked-based difficulty for free research if they beat a check derived from their level. The higher their level, the less likely they are to get the free research point, and the more Styles+Disciplines you have, the less likely you are to get the chance to roll for that point at all. This week, you got all three; since you were only starting to research Doctrine: Superior Training this week, it didn't get a chance to level itself immediately to level 1, but in return it didn't mess with the other things' odds of leveling).

Current State:
Name: [We really should cement this some time]
Gender: Male
7 Respect, 4 Fear, 2 Loyalty, 1 Fame

- Level 2 Style: Magitech (201/1000)
 = Level 2 Doctrine: Mobility (21/100)
 = Level 1 Doctrine: Superior Ranged Armament (11/100)
 = Level 0 Doctrine: Superior Training (9/100)

Current Force:
-Armor/Vehicles
 = 1 Thaumatank (100/100 HP, 130/100 Morale, 32/32 Mana)
 == 3 Magitech Elites
-Squad A
 = 2 Magitech Elites (60/60 HP, 60/50 Morale, 7/7 Mana)
 = 1 Magitech Sergeant (50/50 HP, 52/32 Morale, 7/7 Mana)
 = 6 Recruits (20/20 HP, 40/10 Morale, 1/1 Mana)
-Squad B
 = 2 Magitech Elites (60/60 HP, 60/50 Morale, 7/7 Mana)
 = 1 Magitech Sergeant (50/50 HP, 52/32 Morale, 7/7 Mana)
 = 6 Recruits (20/20 HP, 40/10 Morale, 1/1 Mana)
-Squad C
 = 2 Magitech Elites (60/60 HP, 60/50 Morale, 7/7 Mana)
 = 1 Magitech Sergeant (50/50 HP, 52/32 Morale, 7/7 Mana)
 = 6 Recruits (20/20 HP, 40/10 Morale, 1/1 Mana)
-Squad D
 = 2 Magitech Elites (60/60 HP, 60/50 Morale, 7/7 Mana)
 = 1 Magitech Sergeant (50/50 HP, 52/32 Morale, 7/7 Mana)
 = 6 Recruits (20/20 HP, 40/10 Morale, 1/1 Mana)
-Reserves
 = 4 Magitech Elite (60/60 HP, 50/50 Morale, 7/7 Mana)
 = 2 Recruits (20/20 HP, 10/10 Morale, 1/1 Mana)
-Training
 = None
-Off-Duty
 = 1 Raider Sergeant
 = 1 Raider Commando
 = 1 Raider Infantry
-Stored Equipment
 = 2 Raider Gear
 = 1 Raider Commando Gear

Locations:
-The Shell: 523 Civilians, 7 Respect, 4 Fear, 2 Loyalty (Generates 7.1 labor: 3 Large Farms, 1 Foundry, 2 Factories, 1.1 Salvage))
= Garrison: PC, 15 Magitech Elites, 4 Magitech Sergeants, 26 Recruits; 1 Thaumatank
= 1 Laboratory, 6 Large Farms, 10 Residential Zones, 2 Barracks, 1 Foundry, 2 Factories
= 4 Unmanned Foundries, 8 Unmanned Factories, 26 Undeveloped Space
= Produces 600-569 = 31 Surplus food; 44 Raw Materials
= Processes 40 Raw Materials into 20 Resources, 20 Resources into 10 Equipment
= Current Stockpiles: 237 Food, 14 Raw Materials, 5 Resources, 10 Equipment


Assign the equipment, adjust your battle groups if you feel the need, and then determine your plans for the week.

First post being updated shortly. Update finished, I cleaned up the Unit List a lot but there may still be things written down wrong. If you see stupid shit like a unit's stats referencing an ability it doesn't have, let me know.

Also, Superior Training scaling doesn't show up until it's level 1, since the scaling is all multiple-of-Discipline/Style-Level stuff.

[BunnyBob77]

Try to get a new uniform or something for the raider, so that no one will mistake us for a raider group.  Continue our research, and contact the village with the thaumatank and one squad, as they wouldn't possibly attack that right?  It will appear hostile, but we want to make contact and I think intimidation might be the only war.  I agree with what somewhat said about using gunboat diplomacy- I think that seems like our guy's style.  Later we should probably get doctrine:  Shock and awe, but the thaumatank will suffice for now.  AS for the name, I suggest we just have no name.  We'll just be that one unnamed warlord with a massive army.

[Taricus]

I'm going to keep repeating my name suggestion until we get A name...

Name: Sami Taiya
Gender: Female

And if anyone is going to ask how that's possible, a radio and some thick clothing/armour does wonders to hide one's identity.

[Pandarsenic]

I only assigned "Male" to simplify pronoun use. I can go retcon that shit if we choose your thing, Taricus.

As for Raider Confusion, well... it's more a matter of the weapons and such. Raiders tend to select from a small number of guns that aren't terribly accurate (they almost always fire while moving anyway) and are very, very rugged. If it can't fire with a barrel full of sand and dirt, it's no good for them. Raiders don't really have any sort of uniform, but our army's uniforms/armor only tend to be recognizable for being little more than a housing for Magitech systems doing all the work.

Also, Fame is currently at 1. Nobody is really going to recognize you as a legitimate leader yet. Or, for that matter, recognize you at all.

[Taricus]

No need to retcon the pronouns, they just didn't know about our gender.

The fame thing is something we should solve immediately. Hopefully peacefully converting the village (With the Thaumatank stocked with Elites) will remedy that. Research should continue, focusing on Superior Training this time around (And nothing else, we'll want the bonus technology(s) from it)

Also, would we have combat stats?

[Pandarsenic]

Honestly, it's possible but extemely unlikely that Training won't tick to Level 1 from the general increase effect this week, but if you want to be absolutely sure you're free to research that.

Barring any objections, Thaumatankboat Diplomacy can happen, but you guys do need to decide the rest of the military stuff - mainly what to do with your equipment, since there's no reason not to assign it.

[Taricus]

Well, I think we should start distributing Magitech Machine guns amongst our forces. The Heavy weapons will be useful. Two per squad and the reserve recruits are to be upgraded.