Inkling Research Facility
Core Thread : LINK (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171851)
Welcome, brave engineers, to Inkopolis, the ancient center of Inkling Civilization. Strange tidings arise on the tides, tidings of war and woe, for all that most do not yet hear them. You, on the other hand, do hear them. The long peace between Inkling and Octoling will soon break into pieces, it seems, under the pressure of the rising waves. One side will break, and be forced from the highlands that will be left. You and your peers mean for it to not be your side that is forced from your home by desperate refugees, and you will turn all your artifice into preventing that terrible vision from coming true.
Still, the war is not yet upon us. Even the most grim souls think it still a matter of months, not days, until the public realizes what stands before them and the fighting starts. You have some time yet. Time to spend crafting better tools, better implements of victory for your side before the need becomes a demand for salvation.
Let us use it wisely, eh?
Primary Weapon
Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with. (Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails)
Sub Weapon
No Sub-Weapons start out designed.
Specials
No Specials start out designed.
Ability
No Abilities start out designed.
Personnel
Ling Militia : The basic Ling, Inkling or Octoling, now given a weapon and sent to fight for their right not to be shoved underground and forced to live off of fungi and other, worse things. While they have high morale, they are not the Splatfest Experts of the future and have minimal combat experience and training. But at least they know how to use a gun.
Cultural Artifacts
So far, nothing has been invented that makes your side Fresher then the other side. You may feel properly ashamed of that fact now.
Other Gear
Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Superweapons
So far, no Superweapons have been developed.
Heroes
So far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Index
Year 0, Spring : Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7838044#msg7838044), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7838767#msg7838767), Turf War
Year 0, Summer : Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7839755#msg7839755), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7840632#msg7840632), Turf War
Year 0, Fall : Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7841514#msg7841514), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7842420#msg7842420), Turf War
Year 0, Winter: Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7844101#msg7844101), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7844784#msg7844784), Turf War
Year 1, Spring : Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7846069#msg7846069), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7846332#msg7846332), Turf War (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171851.msg7846997#msg7846997)
Year 1, Summer : Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7849250#msg7849250), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7851195#msg7851195), Turf War (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7852853#msg7852853)
Year 1, Fall : Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7856013#msg7856013), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7857488#msg7857488), Turf War (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7859746#msg7859746)
Year 1, Winter: Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7862597#msg7862597), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7871463#msg7871463), Turf War (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7877242#msg7877242)
Year 2, Spring: Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7881458#msg7881458), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7885735#msg7885735), Turf War (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7905625#msg7905625)
Year 2, Summer: Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7911460#msg7911460), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7917180#msg7917180), Turf War (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7939194#msg7939194)
Year 2, Fall: Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7942088#msg7942088), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7945733#msg7945733), Turf War (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7948676#msg7948676)
Year 2, Winter: Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7950263#msg7950263), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7955311#msg7955311), Turf War (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7958726#msg7958726)
Year 3, Spring: Design Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg7990303#msg7990303), Revision Phase (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg8021426#msg8021426), Turf War (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=171849.msg8038387#msg8038387)
Year 3, Summer: Design Phase, Revision Phase, Turf War
Year 3, Fall: Design Phase, Revision Phase, Turf War
Year 3, Winter: Design Phase, Revision Phase, Turf War
Design : Military Inkline Camp (Normal Difficulty)
4+1 = 5: Average
Are you a Squid or are you a Kid? That is the question being asked at the new training camps popping up within Inkling controlled territory. So far few Inklings are really taking them seriously, for surely more peaceful ways will prevail, right? ...right? ......right...? But already the first newly trained Inkantry are emerging from the camps as the vanguard into a new, more colorful future for the Inklings. Turf Warriors of later years will take inspiration from their training, for all they are still running around with only the basic Bamboozlers. But they are, when it comes down to it, pretty damn good with said Bamboozlers. Better accuracy, better squad awareness, better terrain awareness, better chosen shot placement, better teamwork... all things that come from actually training your soldiers, and in each of those categories the Inkantry are noticeably superior to the Inkling Militia of old.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub WeaponNo Sub-Weapons start out designed.
SpecialsNo Specials start out designed.
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
Cultural ArtifactsSo far, nothing has been invented that makes your side Fresher then the other side. You may feel properly ashamed of that fact now.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
HeroesSo far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
The Revision Phase of Spring, Year 0 has begun.
Revision : Gearing Change (Normal Difficulty)
3+4 = 7: Superior craftsmanship
We've replaced the Ink Tank's valves with a set of filters made from Super Sea Snail Protein. These filters will reliably let ink through one way and not in the other way until it is time to switch pump directions, whereupon they immediately reverse the allowed flow direction without any visible physical alteration. Beyond the normal weirdness of Super Sea Snails, replacing the heavy valves with simpler, lighter, filters has noticeably increased the space in the Ink Tank that can be dedicated to actually storing ink as the 'non-tank' portion of the tank is reduced to around 15%, counting the heavy pump system. This has had the side effect of making the tank take longer to pump up, as now more ink must be pumped into it to fill it.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub WeaponNo Sub-Weapons start out designed.
SpecialsNo Specials start out designed.
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
Cultural ArtifactsSo far, nothing has been invented that makes your side Fresher then the other side. You may feel properly ashamed of that fact now.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
HeroesSo far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
The Design Phase of Summer, Year 0 has begun.
Design : Inkdisc Pattern A (Easy Difficulty)
4+1+1 = 6: Above average
Paint Balloons have a long an honorable history in Splat Warfare, so the idea of taking them and revolutionizing them with new modern Ink Tech isn't a stretch. And neither, really, is the result. A simple and foldable plastic casing containing a balloon inflated by the Inkantry's Ink tank, a secondary smaller vial of ink that forms a hardened needle when a small lever recessed into the casing is flipped, and you have a portable balloon bomb that's much easier to use and less likely to randomly go off before you needed it then the old practice of carrying around filled balloons on your belt.
It still does have certain limitations, mainly in that it is a hand thrown weapon so of limited range compared to a proper ink gun even with the flingable disk shape, and that inflating it into throwing condition does take a few seconds limiting it's rate of fire. As well, attempts to use it as a land mine run into the fact that the disk-like frame is not especially stealthy unless the enemy is being actively distracted enough not to notice a small frisbee sized plastic thingamabob laying on the ground. On the other hand, tests have found that the Inkdisk only needs one good clean hit, between the impact and the ink explosion it unleashes, to Splat the average target, providing a very useful degree of close quarters inkpower. Indirect hits are less splat worthy, but still ink stuff up.
Costs 2 Plastic, making it Cheap.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
SpecialsNo Specials start out designed.
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
Cultural ArtifactsSo far, nothing has been invented that makes your side Fresher then the other side. You may feel properly ashamed of that fact now.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
HeroesSo far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
The Revision Phase of Summer, Year 0 has begun.
Revision : Bamboozler Quickcharge (Average Difficulty)
4+1 = 5: Average
Inkling Engineers are proud to announce a new 'Cartridge' system for the Bamboozler, adding a socket mount for a Cartridge flooded full of pressurized ink around one third the way down the Bamboozler, while also modifying the Bamboozler to have a simple switch that switches between normal firing and unleashing the ink within the pressurized cartridge. Inkantry have taken to carrying several of the cartridges with them to simplify their use, filling them (via a simple adaption of the sub-weapon feed of the Ink Tank) before combat so that they don't need to mess around with plugging the cartridges into their ink tank while in combat. It does take a few seconds to unscrew the currently mounted cartridge and re-input a new, full, cartridge however, preventing the use of more then one pre-charged shot per fight under normal circumstances. As well, the amount of ink in the cartridge is simply less then the amount of ink in a normal shot, an inescapable side effect of the cartridge being small enough to be usable, and the increased pressure of the cartridge does not completely make up for the lesser supply. Estimates are that a cartridge fed shot is around 85% of the range and power of a normal charged shot. But, on the other tentacle, it's a charged shot available now, when you need it, rather then available in a little bit...
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges: A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
SpecialsNo Specials start out designed.
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
Cultural ArtifactsSo far, nothing has been invented that makes your side Fresher then the other side. You may feel properly ashamed of that fact now.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
HeroesSo far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
In Arowana Castle, high level talks between Inkling and Octoling leaders break down as Daimyo Octavio leaves in protest against what he refers to as 'continual Inkling callousness and mockery'. Tensions are up across the great island, and Inkling and Octoling find their days consumed with worry. Could the war that so many of the experts has claimed shall not come... be coming after all? Rumors abound of secret Inkling mobilizations, while a high level Octoling official, under a strict condition of anonymity, stated that 'no matter what Inkling treachery we face, with our new tools the Octoling people will stand forever supreme. I mean, have you seen what my guards are carrying these days?'. Unfortunately, that was when a bushel of Octoling Elite Agents burst into the room and forcefully ended the interview.
Your leaders estimate that minimal amounts of low level and unofficial skirmishing will have broken out by the end of Fall, and while Winter will put a temporary rest in things due to the, you know, cold and snow and all that dampening down everyone's enthusiasm for violence, they expect open and authorized combat to open up by the end of Spring. You are encouraged to hurry with your preparations, for time is limited. These peaceful days are nigh well over.
The Design Phase of Fall, Year 0 has begun.
Design : The Inkspire (Hard Difficulty)
2+4-1 = 5: Average
In the last year before the Great Turf War would begin, it can not be denied that Inkling culture underwent a brief and vibrant bloom. Inkopolis Tower, more often known in those days as the Inkspire, was the beating heart and core of this cultural renaissance. Upon the tower itself, Inklings had taken to drawing and writing, both vast murals and smaller more private stories and notes to even one of the great epics of the island in dramatized comic form (lost, sadly, since. In hindsight, they should have used water-resistant ink).
And around the Inkspire, within and about Inkopolis Plaza itself, lie the sinews and muscles of the bloom, inherent and apart of the thousand small shops and stands that flooded the area in those times, a great and vast open air market where one could find anything they desired. Or, at least, so legend and story claims. Many things are recorded to have been possible there, from lessons in a myriad of subjects, both free and for sale, to solid goods from the latest and most fresh item of clothing, the latest and most fresh knock off of the most fresh item of clothing, custom masterworked ink-jet weaponry, custom masterwork old traditional style writing utensils, food of a thousand types and kinds, a great variety of ink additives, even, of all things, a limited supply of paint.
In the grim times of the Great Turf War, until the very end, as long as the Inkspire stood and society and Inkling and Jellyfish and others alike all danced and swung and circled around it in the vast community that grew there, Inklings took solace and heart from the Inkspire and the surrounding market. This, not violence and the breaking of ancient ties, was the heart of Inkling culture. This, not blood and mud, was what they wanted to have remembered from this era. And in the name of their hopes and dreams, they, one and all, fought just that much harder such that the horrors that had come upon them would never touch this glowing dream of what things should be like.
On the other hand, other Inklings were found confused, without any cash, and highly hung over a day or so after entering and couldn't understand what all the fuss was about or why anyone would want to go back. But then, nothing is for everyone.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges: A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
SpecialsNo Specials start out designed.
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
HeroesSo far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
The Revision Phase of Fall, Year 0 has begun.
Revision : Firink Range (Average Difficulty)
2+4 = 6: Above Average
Construction of additional (as well as greatly expanded) Firink Ranges begins in the Military Inkline Camp, utilizing modern Ink-Technology to form an adaptable field full of surprises for the Inkantry whom find themselves training within them. For starters, some of the targets shoot back, either automatically or in response to pressure sensors that detect when the target has been shot. It's not enough just to have a sharp eye and steady hand in the Firink Range, one must also have a firm grasp of cover, which firing positions are effective, and how long to linger before the enemy has zeroed in on you and it's going to rain paint balloons on your (hopefully) former position.
Some Inkantry enjoy the place so much that they even have some (unofficial) contests within the Firink Range, either of normal shooting contests or even one on one, or two on two, or three on three, or... well, you get the point, verses matches to train in their teamwork and accuracy. While a fair amount of Inkantry have fun with this, the view that the Firink Range is for fun more then training is an unfortunate byproduct of these contests, and few Inkantry really push themselves to the limits of their abilities. Still, some do treat the Firink Range as an actual training field, not just a location for fun games. The best of those become known as Markslings, famed (somewhat) for their accuracy, reaction speed, and refusal to stay on one location and become a fixed target.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges: A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
SpecialsNo Specials start out designed.
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range: An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
HeroesSo far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
As expected, as Fall wains and the leaves find themselves exiled from the trees, intermittent and unauthorized violence breaks out between Inkling and Octoling hotheads. Random skirmishes mostly, often just a few friends working themselves up into doing something stupid before they have time to think twice about it. Usually meaningless in the larger scale, besides in how it helps accelerate the increase in tensions. 95% of the time, it's just fools with a Bamboozler and a lack of planning.
Except, of course, for that 5% of the time when it's actual Octoling and Inkling agents testing each other, seeing how secure each side's hold on their territory is, and trying to draw out enemy secrets before they are seen on the battlefield. In order to maintain the element of surpris, only basic Bamboozlers are supposed to be deployed in these small spats. Inevitably, however, some real equipment gets dragged into the splatterzone. While the exact details are unclear due to a general lack of successful capturing of said real equipment by the other side, in those fights when modern equipment gets dragged in it is obvious that both sides have upgraded their Ink Tanks in some way, at the very least holding more ink then the basic module. As well, a few times the Inklings have shown of some sort of rapid fire mode, unleashing two shots in rapid succession, and the Octolings in return have demonstrated a firing range that extends farther then a basic Bamboozler is able to ink.
A few, more vaguer reports mention some sort of spinning gun used when an team of Inklings foolishly attempted to penetrate Octo-Valley and escape with samples of the enemy's works, as well as well as some sort of bursting device dropped on the heads of a few Octolings caught trying to sneak through Moray Towers, but the details on those are excessively unclear. Still, it is obvious the other side hasn't been slacking off, and will be unlikely to be surprised by the planned spring offensive. Still, with your superior preparations, confidence is high. Surely victory won't take more then a year or so, right?
The Design Phase of Winter, Year 0 has begun.
Design : Inkerial Blotter (Hard Difficulty)
3+2-1 = 4: Below average
It can not be denied that with the recent design work Inkling engineers have gained new understanding of both Super Sea Snails and applied anti-logic. According to some, it's merely a natural extension of the current cartridge system. According to others, it is silly and shouldn't work. But work it does...
The Inkerial Blotter is a large and heavy gun, difficult to carry and use even before the recoil from actually firing it is taken into account. At it's base, it works simply, easily recognizable as an evolution from the Bamboozler's base systems, utilizing an internal ink tank similar, if not as pressurized, to the Bamboozler where ink is mixed in with a Super Sea Snail originated powder (also including a certain percentage of crushed ink cartridges) causing the ink to ball up an pressurize itself, instead of needing a compression chamber. Then, by use of cutting edge anti-logic formulas, the ink is propelled out of the gun towards an enemy or otherwise chosen target. Afterwards, when the ball of ink hits something, it realizes it was never pressurized in the first place and bursts all over the surrounding area.
Sounds all well and good, doesn't it? But the fact is, while the Super Sea Snail powder does cause compression of the ink it does not actually do so as effectively as the Bamboozler's compression chamber. Nor does the launching power of the applied anti-logic propulsion reach the theoretical numbers originally calculated. Some have suggested that math is too intertwined with actual logic to properly calculate anti-logic, but the end result is that the shot's bursting range of effect is fairly minimal, and its firing range is actually below the base Bamboozler's. Theoretically, the Inkerial Blotter's rate of fire is also below the Bamboozler's, but working off the cartridge system the Inkerial Blotter actually has three firing chambers, set in a revolving wheel formation. When a shot is fired, the wheel is revolved to bring a new chamber in line with the nozzle, and the old chamber begins to generate a new ink shell to be fired when needed.
Still, the engineers claim the basic concepts are all sound and just need technology to hurry up and catch up with them.
Costs 3 Plastic and 2 Super Sea Snails, making it Expensive.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges: A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
SpecialsNo Specials start out designed.
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range: An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
HeroesSo far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
The Revision Phase of Winter, Year 0 has begun.
Design : High Pressure Inkerial Blotter (Easy Difficulty)
3+1+1 = 5: Average
The addition of a proper ink-tech pressure chamber to the Inkerial Blotter doesn't solve all its issues... but does effectively solve the issue of the explosions being anemic compared to predictions. There was some issues with the applied anti-logic trying to make the explosions less effective instead of more effective by reversing the effectiveness of upgrades, but this was solved with new stone triggers on the Inkerial Blotter to prove that Inklings weren't taking the anti-logic for granite.
As well, the more concentrated shells turn out to be easier to propel. This causes ranges to rise from 'short' to 'below average' without actually needing to upgrade the part of the gun that launches the shells, from a better and more consistent transfer of force into the shell without causing it to burst in the gun instead of being fired.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges: A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
SpecialsNo Specials start out designed.
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range: An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
HeroesSo far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
The Design Phase of Spring, Year 1 has begun.
Design : Ink Armor (Average Difficulty)
1+2 = 3: Buggy mess
The good news is, it works. The coating protects the wearer against enemy ink with great efficiency. The bad news is, you can't move while it's on you. The hardened ink film at the outside edges that does the protecting turned out to be just a tad bit too hard. As in, it turns you into a living statue until the Ink Energy infusion wears off and the whole thing dissolved. Some inklings are strong enough to shatter this outer coating and not be paralyzed, but shattering it means the ink inside runs off and the now broken outer layer just falls off, meaning its useless for actually protecting the user.
So, in short, as long as you don't mind not being able to do anything, you can be very resistant to enemy ink. The bad news is, generally speaking Inkantry do mind not being able to do anything, and often need to be doing something in specific. Still, at least it's a starting point for later work on the subject.
Costs 1 Plastic and 1 Super Sea Snail, making it Cheap.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Ink Armor : A defensive layer of ink that rests on the outside of the user's skin and clothing, forming a protective film that wards off enemy ink. Has the minor downside of completely paralyzing the average user.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range: An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
HeroesSo far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
The Revision Phase of Spring, Year 1 has begun.
Revision : Swiftling Armor (Average Difficulty)
3+1 = 4: Below average
The solution the designers come up with is simple to say, but not so simple to do. If keeping the ink static and on the user's surfaces results it in stiffening up and becoming unusable, then the thing to do is to keep the ink moving. So the newly named Vortex Armor converts Ink Energy (and a smidge of Super Sea Snail Essence) into actual ink, while causing it to swirl around the user in a vortex. This serves to cause all functions requested of the armor, blocking enemy shots with friendly ink, covering nearby terrain with friendly ink, and striking down nearby foes with, well, more friendly ink. The primary downside is that this is both energy expensive and ink expensive. By its very nature, the Vortex Armor is constantly applying ink to everything around it, and therefor using up its ink. To make up for this, more ink must be produced, and at the same time the ink must be kept moving to prevent it from congealing and going stiff.
These two facts cause the Vortex Armor to use up heinously large amounts of Ink Energy per second, and even more ink energy when it has to replace extra ink lost from running into either enemies or enemy shots. This use of energy causes the special to last for only around four to six seconds at max, and down to half of that if the user is actively being shot at, moving through enemy ink, or ramming into enemies as the ink is used up even faster. As well, the protection provided by the armor isn't perfect. The spinning motion means that some gaps can be found where the ink has spun such to not cover a specific zone, and as well if a shot is individually strong enough to counteract the portion of the armor it hits and still continue it may penetrate the armor to strike the user underneath it. As well, if the user isn't careful to extend the nozzle of their Bamboozler or Blotter beyond the radius of the armor before firing, they may find that they have merely fired into their own ink armor, not into their actual target.
Lastly, while not truly a defect in the function of armor, users have noted that the highly visible vortex of ink makes moving stealthily through friendly ink impossible while the special stays in effect.
On the other tentacle, the designers did manage to keep the Vortex Armor from increasing in expense.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range: An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
HeroesSo far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
The Turf War of Spring, Year 1 has begun.
Design : .36 Sonic Inkscope (Hard Difficulty)
2+2-1 = 3: Buggy Mess
It has to be admitted that the original prototypes, the modifications of the Bamboozler that were fired by yelling into them, unfortunately seem to have set the general pattern for this project. Without any clear instructions for how this 'sonic force' that is supposed to be the main feature of the Sonic Inkscope is actually supposed to work, designers are forced to get... inventive. Several attempts are made at Boom Box powered guns before someone points out the need for a power cable makes the prototype a tad bit hard to use in the field, the 'Sonic Trumpet' line is disfavored after the tester almost chokes on her own ammo, the Drum series is literally too heavy to carry, it's impossible to actually aim the Triangle Gun, and so on.
Attempts to make the ink fired from the gun break the sound barrier work even worse, with several of the prototypes literally exploding in the tester's hands. Eventually the designers give up on using this 'sonic force' and instead decide to simply brute force the design. Using several sketches of a potential 'revolver' mode for the Quickcharge Cartridges, the new ⑨-Scope works with an arrangement of eight Quickcharge Cartridges arrayed around the central firing chamber (thus the ⑨ name). When fired, each of the Cartridges activate at once, sending large amounts of energy slamming into the central firing chamber just as it itself fires. This suffices as to allow the ⑨-Scope to reach long range with its shots, but the need for high initial pressure in the firing chamber, as well as to replace all eight Quickcharge Cartridges between shots, gives it an extremely slow firing speed... and a very large amount of recoil when fired.
At the very least, with a primary compression chamber and eight compressed cartridges of force behind them, each shot hits pretty hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, which hinders its accuracy at its maximum range.
Costs 4 Plastic and is Complex, making it a Very Expensive.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. - ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range: An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
HeroesSo far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
The Revision Phase of Summer, Year 1 has begun.
Revision : YesScope Super Catridges (Average Difficulty)
4+3 = 7: Superior craftsmanship
The replacement of the old system of just using Quickcharge Cartridges instead of a system specifically designed for chargers works wonders for making a better charger. The new 3D Scope uses three secondary firing chambers placed around the main compression chamber to power and amplify its shots. It has a simple duration system for how many chambers the user would like to use, with a short duration pull of the trigger only causing the compression (and then firing) of the central chamber, while a long pull while see all three secondary chambers as well as the primary chamber made ready for firing. Beyond allowing for finer granularity over the firing process, this also allows the entire gun to be directly networked with the Ink Tank (like normal guns) for the purposes of reloading. Users find this greatly superior to having to manually replace eight individual cartridges. While the ink itself is not technically pumped faster, the removal of the need to physically mess around with the cartridges does effectively increase the firing rate.
A scope was also added, which allows for shots unto the 3D Scope's maximal range to be made with accuracy as long as the user has the time to use said scope to properly aim. It should be noted that the 3D Scope is not more powerful then the ⑨-Scope however, merely easier to use, reload, and build. It also shares its predecessors very high demand for ink, having only limited shots before its time for a refill.
Costs 4 Plastic, making it Expensive.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range: An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
HeroesSo far, no Heroes have been recruited for the greater glory of something or another.
The Deployment Phase of Summer, Year 1 has begun.
Please vote for which two fronts reinforcements should be actively deployed to in an attempt to push forwards.
I going to post alot, so I would like to ask to that you only add them to the vote box if someone votes for it.
Pump Rapid-Shooter - Main Weapon
With the recent success and work in Quickcharge technology, with being able to use it to let a let a weapon fire off a quick shot, and being able to use multiple of them to fire at the same time, the next step is to base a weapon around firing parts of a quickcharge cartridge. The cartridge is mounted on of a weapon, while a extra reservoir is built into the weapon to store air to help fire off the weapon, which gets filled and compressed by a pump. When firing the shot, the ink flows into the firing chamber and is pushed out of the weapon by the compressed air trying to re-equilibrate with outside atmospheric pressure. This set up means that as long as the weapon has ink flowing from the ink tank and compress air to push from the reservoir, it should be able to fire off multiple shots.
Record Disk - Subweapon
A flat, throw-able record player with the record disk already inside. It flies through the air, spreading the ink that flies the groves. The record plays upside down, so shockwaves of the music push the disk up against the ground as it flies and disorients foes that get too close.
Hardballer Singlie - Subweapon
A platform to test a variant projectile and alternate ways to shape and fire ink without putting time into making specialized weapon components. It uses the subweapon system to pack ink in into a smaller, and hopefully tighter ball than the previous cartridges, then drying the outer layer of ink to make a inkball.
This ball is fed into a smaller, single handed backup weapon the design team has dubbed as a singlie weapon. This singlie will use the hot gas used to fire the inkball out, usable in pitch to finish off weakened foes or as a backup weapon when caught in close quarters. However, while tying it to the subweapon system might make the singlie more powerful, it would mean the weapon is much less ink efficient than a similar weapon designed as a main weapon.
All-Inkopian-Hero - Hero
A young inkling comes across an ancient human movie player filled with 80's action flicks which he mistakes as actual reality, he grows up to embody the principles of TRUTH, FRESHNESS, and the INKTOPIAN WAY. With the war going on, joining to protect his country felt as natural as breathing to him.
He is a musclebound figure that wears a flag as both a head bandana and a cape without wearing a shirt, and he yells everything he says in some weird accent, yet many find his slurred speeches to be inkpiring. He able to wield a weapon in each hand despite many of the practical and logistical issues that should come up. In fact, it sometimes he can keep shooting without even running out of ink sometimes. Fortune must favored this brave man, as he seems to survive and get away despite completely lacking subtlety and well thought out tactics, or maybe he thought it was cool enough to work in his head.
Firefly - Hero
One day while a Ms.Pyroteuthidae was cooking herself a meal, she ended up burning it, and it started aflame. She became so fascinated by the site that she only started to snap out of it just in time to get out of her home before her house burned down around her. After burning away her life saving she realized that she has to find a less self-destructive way to sastify herself, lucky finding a opportunity to do so through joining the war effort and becoming a solider.
Before joining, she has went out of her way to study demolition and pyrotechnics, she learned how to take down structures, set up traps and produce inkplosives on the field, which she explains with bit too much enthusiasm.
In her resume she included a few designs for modified equipment she would like to have if admitted, which include a subweapon that can produced Ink Blotter rounds that can be thrown or loaded into a Blotter, another design has been modified the Ink Blotter to be able to swing out the cylinder to load in rounds produced by the subweapon (at the cost of cutting out the weapon's innate ability to produce rounds.) along side general performance upgrades that's impractical for mass production, and a inktank that a has an auxiliary tank filled with some weird black ink that she could inject into the tank, causing her weapons to paint blackish turf that's flammable, along with making inkplosives automatically combust!
Action Wagon MKI - Superweapon
The designer of this weapon had bigger desires than the superweapon proposed, but realizes that technology has not progressed enough to allow his dream to come true quite yet. In order to reach his dream weapon, he has started to make smaller designs to test out concepts on turf fields, starting with the action wagon.
The Action Wagon is large, armored, 4-wheel automobile with a somewhat expanded interior layout. A large ink is fitted inside of the Wagon to allow passengers, pilots, and gunners to pool thier ink reserves together, however, due to being in the early war, weapons technology has not advanced enough to allow many options for the Action Wagon to be loaded with.
Some work has been done to arm it, though. The top of the Action Wagon supports to allow a gunner to mount a expanded weapon, such as a long barrel Ink Blotter, and shoot while peaking out of the vehicle, while the side windows allow for passengers to shoot out at foes with a slight height and cover advantage. Meanwhile, the internal tank is able to flow ink through the vehicle's seats and wheels, allowing those inside the vehicle to act as if they were on friendly turf, and causes anything the Action Wagon drives over to be covered in ink.
Paint-Resistant Tarpaulin - Other Gear
It is fact that while ink can soak into a varity of differnt materials, some materials, like glass and some types of metals and plastics, just have ink slid off. Starting up production of rolls of poly-tarp to ship to the defensive lines, these sheets of tarp can be used to control where places can be inked, controlling the flow of incoming offensive efforts and forcing foes to wade through areas where they can't quickly move through or refill. These sheets can also be used for makeshift barriers and roofing, and possibly more depending on what we can come up with.
Game-Hunter Gylelia:: During the skirmishes between the Octolings, there was enough community funding from the Inkantry gun-enthusiasts for a National day community tournament to show which Markslings was truly the best at their craft, and the first Battle Royale was constructed of fifty willing Markslings with varying histories and training. After a grand success, the winner was Gylelia from the Battle Royale tournament. A cunning warrior of a inkling, she honed her craft early on from hunting moderate threats from Ink-Lupines from the forests when she only an adolescence, and slowly through perseverance and working with her friends she was able to beat a Inklion from the savannah in a battles of the wits, though for that encounter she was stranded from her comrades and only had one last ink charge for her archaic rifle. Now being sponsored by the Inkarm-Enthusiast Club and the champion of the Battle Royale competition, she is a patronized survivalist for the Inkling Army
Gear Modification for the Hero of the Free-for-all.
3D-Burst Rifle:{3D-Scope Mods}
Lighter weight due to an exotic light polymer An exotic Polymer is used in this weapon's construction. In addition, the sub-chambers can now also be used to dump into the main chamber, creating an instant uncharged short to mid-range shot. This shot also has a lot of force, and can lift her up above Giant Octolings for a shot straight into the head.{How this works is it is pointed at the ground and fired as she bends her knees and jumps, giving a good deal of height to go with the pressure of the ink fired against the ground.} Three chambers mean three such shots. Such shots are meant for close combat, and the sub-chambers need to refill from the ink tank afterward to use a long-range shot. Just as well she is fast..
Also, being able to move while charging shots is also a great thing.
Vortex Special: Cost is no issue, and the Ink is now clear, making it hard to see. Not only that, but our shots actually go through the stuff. The Energy Efficiency of the SPECIAL Systems is upgraded as well, allowing it to go for longer.
This clear ink is not totally clear though, it has a light tint of the ink color on the surfaces it lands on, and supercharges ink refilling. SSS, what are you gonna do?
Note that this system can be changed for each Vortex type, like the Forward Shield form we have an eye on making. Being able to switch Vortex Specials before deployment is a good thing once upgrades are made to our general forces.
Also, SC, do you care for my revisions to this?
K, ability cloth removed. This is finalized then, I guess.
"As Emeal on discord thinks I need this, how does the ink from the Sub-chambers end up in the main chamber"
This is more dependent on the roll, but off the top of my head is some form of pressurized air forcing the ink into the main chamber for instant charge which then fires the shot. You could also run with SSS if you want, but ideas help, I suppose. Not all that difficult with all our researching.
Than a Hero with a improved Blotter would be created, the Blotter is our CQC-Medium Range weapon ad we really don’t need a shooter when we already have that weapon. Make the new Blotter utilize liquid compression for improved range, or higher-inkplosion shells for more indirect fire.
The Blotter is a great weapon, but it has problems that a shooter wouldn't have. It's expensive, not every solider can be able to have one when we need it, while the pump shooter is simple enough to keep the costs down, and with enough luck could obsolete the Bamboozler. The Blotter's rate of fire comes from being able to load multiple barrels, and even then it is just as good as it is stated, 'acceptable,' which isn't the same thing as good. And last, the Ink Blotter is straight up kind bulky, it's stated to be larger and heavier then the Bamboozler, harder to use in immediate cqc.
Since it seems like we want a hero so we can send someone into the spooky cave. I got a revision for Firefly and arguments for voting for the heros I suggested. I didn't make hero gear for them since I felt it would be better for them to have stronger natural abilities and to be free to use whatever new gear comes out, but for Firefly I felt a Ink Blotter felt fine enough to issue to her as hero weapon.
Firefly - Hero
One day while a Ms.Pyroteuthidae was cooking herself a meal, she ended up burning it, and it started aflame. She became so fascinated by the site that she only started to snap out of it just in time to get out of her home before her house burned down around her. After burning away her life saving she realized that she has to find a less self-destructive way to sastify herself, lucky finding a opportunity to do so through joining the war effort and becoming a solider.
Before joining, she has went out of her way to study demolition and pyrotechnics, she learned how to take down structures, set up traps and produce inkplosives on the field, which she explains with bit too much enthusiasm.
In her resume she included a few designs for modified equipment she would like to have if admitted, which include a subweapon that can produced Ink Blotter rounds that can be thrown or loaded into a Blotter, another design has been modified the Ink Blotter to be able to swing out the cylinder to load in rounds produced by the subweapon (at the cost of cutting out the weapon's innate ability to produce rounds.) along side general performance upgrades that's impractical for mass production, and a inktank that a has an auxiliary tank filled with some weird black ink that she could inject into the tank, causing her weapons to paint thick blackish turf that's flammable, along with making inkplosives automatically combust!
The Inktopian was more made for fun than practicality, a man fueled by action movie cliches ready to star in the next summer blockbuster, but he still works as someone to lead a charge. It's silly, but Splatoon isn't exactly a completely serious game, and with the snail homo-therapists in our weapons this Arms Race isn't, either.
Let's Pump It UP!
(https://images-ext-2.discordapp.net/external/VtDEqj9vj7s1poCULxV0M7cAHuRuuQH2cMgWjIWWut0/https/pbs.twimg.com/media/DUu2bNZW0AITkjX.jpg?width=400&height=286)
New to the Social Scene, The Ink Sisters!
A Fresh New Sensation, the Ink Sisters, Inazu & Loki are scheduled to give their first performance soon.
They'll be singing a few remixes of popular songs such as "We Are The Inkantry" and "Marksling Pride", as well as 3 songs they've made themselves!
"Inkling Start"
"Wash Away The Rain"
"Rush n' Step"
Be sure not to miss it!
Design : Commander Cauldo (Hard Difficulty)
4+4-1 = 7: Superior craftsmanship
Looking for a hero to match Dofley, the Inklings find one very skilled instructor. Brevetted in rank to Commander, Cauldo is equipped with an experimental Inkerial Blotter design that uses lighter materials and a five-chamber arrangement to maintain superior firing rates and usability over the basic model, if one still too maintenance heavy to hand out to the troops. As well, highly experimental (and formerly explosive) ink energy batteries have been added to Cauldo's Ink Tank, allowing him to use his specials longer and more often. Unfortunately, the inventor who figured out how to make non-explosive ink batteries has vanished, and no more can be produced while engineers refuse to try taking the current ones apart to see how they work because that would break them.
Theoretically, Cauldo's greatest asset is his mind, for as a long term and high quality instructor of the Inkantry he possesses a high degree of tactical knowledge and skill, and will hopefully also gain a high degree of actual experience soon. This means that he is actually a pretty good commander, able to use an attached squad of Inkantry as support assets to his own activities. However, attempts to make use of this skill for higher echelon positions, coordinating larger groups, runs into the fact that to command, one has to be far enough away from the fight to have time to think and more importantly keep from getting tunnel vision on the fight in front of you. While Cauldo does have the skills needed to command at that level, attempts to deploy him at that level result in him being unable to personally fight, which is generally viewed as a more valuable contribution to the battle. He's not the only commander after all, but he is the only hero. Still, his attached squad and any other local Inkantry within earshot do benefit from his command skills. Within this smaller scale of command, Cauldo is pretty dang effective and known for his skilled use of specialist troops. Well, Markslings, but that's the only specialist troop the Inklings have right now anyway.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range: An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
The Revision Phase of Fall, Year 1 has begun.
Revision : Inkantry Obstacle Course (Normal Difficulty)
1+2 = 3: Buggy mess
You know, it turns out that it's actually illegal to make spike covered crevasses that your minions must jump over by way of varied platforms moving up and down and all around. Actually, it can get a lot of people mad at you and maaaybe make some engineers have to go into protective custody and a return to the jail having the function of 'protecting the prisoners from the rest of the population'. No matter how fresh you think it is nor how 'mega' you think it'll make your test subjects. Especially when you've got some fire hoses rigged up to shoot them in the middle of their jumping. Speaking theoretically of course.
In other news, the plans for the Inkantry Obstacle Course need to be completely redrawn because, um, there was a fire hose related spill that ruined all the plans. No need to look into it further, really. Sad that this season's work has gone down the drain, but those things happen, you know?
Also, unrelatedly, our Inkantry are a little bit better at jumping now. But only a little bit.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
The Deployment Phase of Fall, Year 1 has begun.
Please vote for which two fronts reinforcements should be actively deployed to in an attempt to push forwards, and where heroes should be sent.
One of these deployments may instead be sent to investigate the Strange Signal, which the scientists have... mostly localized. Further searching is required to lock down the signal, but this searching must be done physically, with closer ranged more powerful and sophisticated sensors. Given the rumors of monsters, and worse, Salmonids down there, the scientists are refusing to head down there with some sort of escort. Preferably a lot of escorts, but if you have an individual who's impressive enough that'd probably get them willing... you know, unless the other side sends an army down there and they have to run away.
The smart people using all the sensors aren't really sure what is making the signal, but they assure everyone that, if located, it'd probably be pretty useful for whomever got it one way or another. But on the other hand, High Command wonders if they can afford to send such a large portion of their forces so far away from the front line. What if the enemy takes advantage? Of course, on the other tentacle, what if the enemy takes advantage of whatever is down there in the dark?
Air Painter (1) TricMagic
Rapid Chamber Shooter (3): Emral282, Taricus, TricMagic
Pump Rapid-Shooter (4): Emral282, testmen, TTE, Birdy51
Count me convinced as well, though we may want to change the Votebox to reflect the design change.
Also, while I am here, an idea for the revision process.
Camp Booyah - Military Inkline Base Addition
The popularity of the Firink Range has been noted by the Inkling High Command, and they are pleased to announce the opening of a sister facility, Camp Booyah.
While the Firink Range emphasizes long range accuracy and good use of cover, Camp Booyah is designed to develop close quarters combat skills. Using repurposed materials from the rather disastrous attempt at an obstacle course, Inklings training at this facility will be taught to be faster, stronger, and utterly mobile in battle.
Idea text might need improvement, but that is the basic idea.
Design: Rapid-Shooter (Normal Difficulty)
4+3 = 7: Superior craftsmanship
The new "Rapid" Shooter is a fairly simple design, when all is said and done. Though the engineers remind high command that simple does not always mean easy. It function with a triple chamber system that has one gas compression tank, one ink compression tank, and the firing tank. When fired, compressed ink is sent from the original compression tank to the firing tank, whereupon it is 'spiked' with gas for extra velocity. A simple spinner prevents continual access between the tanks, chopping the ink from a lower velocity stream to individually launched 'bullets' of ink. While none of the individual shots do all that much damage themselves, a continued shower of them will rapidly put just about any soldier out of commission. The issues with the Rapid Shooter are, however, twofold. First off, is range. The fact is that it simply doesn't fire its shots very far, a sacrifice needed in this early module shooter to allow its rapid firing speed. To sum things up, it doesn't have the time nor energy density to launch its bullets into the medium range bracket. The second issue is accuracy. While the gun itself is finely made and, if held steadily in one place, can deliver a consistently minimal shot deviation, the fact is that a light gun with even moderate amounts of kickback is hard to hold firmly and steady in one position, causing it to be a bit hard to consistently hit a single target at the edges of its range.
When all is said and done though, the Rapid Shooter is a light gun with perfectly acceptable firepower and speed of fire, rendering it far superior to any model of Charger in close ranged firefights. Granted, it can't empty out the entire ink tank in one firing spree, as the ink must be compressed in the compression chamber before it can be fired, but the gun holds reserves sized sufficently large for the average fight, at least once the designers made sure that it could compress ink 'on the go' instead of waiting for an empty compression tank before starting to refill. It can't refill while the gun is actively being shot, granted, but fire control is already a thing Inkantry should know to practice anyway.
Costs only 2 Plastic, making it Cheap.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Rapid Shooter : A short ranged triple chambered gun, the Rapid Shooter is the first proper Shooter to be put into production in the Great Turf War. It's short ranged and has minor accuracy issues at the edge of its range, but it is also light, handy, and can recharge its compression chamber on the go. As such, as long as one doesn't literally hold the trigger down until the compression chamber is empty, it can maintain a continual stream of fire no other gun in the turf war can yet match.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
The Revision Phase of Winter, Year 1 has begun.
Design : Camp Booyah (Average Difficulty)
3+3 = 6: Above average
Hailing from Camp Booyah come the first of the Inkrunners, specialized Inkantry that train less for weapons mastery and more for maneuverability and agility, as well as quick thinking. Inkrunners are light on their feet, fast moving and quick dodging, as well as having learned the strange technique known as the 'dodge role'. No, wait, it's 'Dodge Roll', right? One of the two. Despite their superior mobility and cool looking dodges, however, Inkrunners are not superior to the standard Inkantry in actually using their weapons, just in dodging attempts to use weapons on them.
However, to maximize their superior agility and flashy moves, Inkrunners are unable to use heavy or otherwise awkward to use weapon types, which basically limits them to the Rapid-Shooter for now. Some attempts at using the Inkerial Blotter were made, but the weapon kept catching on things and otherwise getting in the way when the Inkrunners tried to dodge-troll out from incoming fire. Of course, the Rapid-Shooter is a perfectly good weapons, but certain figures at high command pouted for days when told they couldn't have 'turbo snipers'.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Rapid Shooter : A short ranged triple chambered gun, the Rapid Shooter is the first proper Shooter to be put into production in the Great Turf War. It's short ranged and has minor accuracy issues at the edge of its range, but it is also light, handy, and can recharge its compression chamber on the go. As such, as long as one doesn't literally hold the trigger down until the compression chamber is empty, it can maintain a continual stream of fire no other gun in the turf war can yet match.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist. - Inkrunners: Inklings trained in Camp Booyah for speed, agility, and the arcane are of the Dodge Roll. Not actually better in direct combat then a normal Inkantry, but harder to hit and able to get to the fight, or any other location of interest, faster then a normal Inkantry. They need to use a light and easy to use weapon to be able to properly employ their skills however, preventing them from using most of the current armory.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Camp Booyah : An alternate training area, Camp Booyah is an obstacle course that specializes in training Inkrunners instead of long ranged combatants. Unlike earlier obstacle courses it is far less likely to traumatize and splat it's victim-, er, trainees. On the other tentacle, it also produces far less lawsuits.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
The Deployment Phase of Winter, Year 1 has begun.
Design: "Big Smoke" Smoke Bomb (Hard Difficulty)
2+2-1 = 3: Buggy Mess
It only takes a week or two, a large pile of money, a room full of melted plastic fragments, and one riled up swarm of Salmonids arising from out of the earth only to be defeated by a plucky preteen and her friends (all the actual teens are in the army these days, it seems), before the "Big Smoke" Smoke Bomb is finally ready for production. Unfortunately, their are some limitations. The first working prototypes, using normal vaporized ink, found that with the ink all vaporized and spread throughout the air all those ink eating bacteria that normally clean up battle sites eventually get work... well, a lot faster. Within seconds, really. And a concealing ink cloud that lasts for around five seconds and can't even fully hide a single Inkling isn't very useful, everyone agreed.
So using special tiny coverings made from Super Sea Snail Shells, now all the ink particles are covered up and protected from those mean bacteria, at least until the coverings wear away after a minute or so. Luckily, there's also been a machine invented to do the covering bit, so unlike the first prototypes we don't have to seal up all the ink particles manually any more. Which was really boring and took way to long. However... there is one drawback. The coverings might protect the ink, but it also keeps the ink from, well, doing what ink normally does when it runs over ink of a different color. While the clouds of vaporized ink are still concealing, and will still protect somewhat against enemy shots because the enemy shots break the protective covers allowing ink to meet enemy ink... unlike how it was originally hoped the smoke bombs won't be inking turf for us, nor does it actually harm enemy lings whom find themselves within the cloud. It still is fairly uncomfortable, being described as 'like being in a cloud of itching powder', but doesn't actually deal any damage. (On the other hand, if you are attuned to a friendly ink color, it seems to feel somewhat like a relaxing bath, and some testers have claimed it has minor healing capabilities. But if so, testing didn't bring said healing abilities out enough to properly record.)
Current processes are also using up a lot of Super Sea Snails per smoke bomb, which hampers production. Still, it's a bomb that emits a concealing and protective cloud of ink that lasts for a minute or three and can be armed from any tank with just a handy dandy adapter port to properly treat ink being fed into the subweapon itself, while still being light enough to be thrown a fair distance. The designers assure you that it could be a lot worse. After all, unlike the mid-run prototypes, none of them have exploded and covered their user in boiling ink yet!
...Also, the lawyers say there's another lawsuit coming in for totally unrelated reasons.
Costs 2 Plastic and 3 Super Sea Snails, making it Expensive
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Rapid Shooter : A short ranged triple chambered gun, the Rapid Shooter is the first proper Shooter to be put into production in the Great Turf War. It's short ranged and has minor accuracy issues at the edge of its range, but it is also light, handy, and can recharge its compression chamber on the go. As such, as long as one doesn't literally hold the trigger down until the compression chamber is empty, it can maintain a continual stream of fire no other gun in the turf war can yet match.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - "Big Smoke" Smoke Bomb : A shell shaped throwing weapon that emits aerosolized ink from three separate ports, providing concealment, soothing friendly Inkantry, and serving as a low level ablative defense verses enemy shots. Enemies moving through a cloud will feel like they're moving through a cloud of itching powder, and the cloud is pretty effective at blocking line of sight. Of course, like other smoke weapons, that includes friendly line of sight...
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist. - Inkrunners: Inklings trained in Camp Booyah for speed, agility, and the arcane are of the Dodge Roll. Not actually better in direct combat then a normal Inkantry, but harder to hit and able to get to the fight, or any other location of interest, faster then a normal Inkantry. They need to use a light and easy to use weapon to be able to properly employ their skills however, preventing them from using most of the current armory.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Camp Booyah : An alternate training area, Camp Booyah is an obstacle course that specializes in training Inkrunners instead of long ranged combatants. Unlike earlier obstacle courses it is far less likely to traumatize and splat it's victim-, er, trainees. On the other tentacle, it also produces far less lawsuits.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
The Revision Phase of Spring, Year 2 has begun.
Revision: Advanced Inkantry Training (Average Difficulty)
1+1 = 2: Utter failure
Commander Cauldo decided that, if he was to show everyone how to do things better, first he must find out how good his students currently are. Thus he proposed a rousing game of hide and seek. Unfortunately, we now can not find any of the instructors assigned to these classes, and so can not test them on what they learned.
As such, until the potential advanced instructors turn up, this program has been suspended.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Rapid Shooter : A short ranged triple chambered gun, the Rapid Shooter is the first proper Shooter to be put into production in the Great Turf War. It's short ranged and has minor accuracy issues at the edge of its range, but it is also light, handy, and can recharge its compression chamber on the go. As such, as long as one doesn't literally hold the trigger down until the compression chamber is empty, it can maintain a continual stream of fire no other gun in the turf war can yet match.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - "Big Smoke" Smoke Bomb : A shell shaped throwing weapon that emits aerosolized ink from three separate ports, providing concealment, soothing friendly Inkantry, and serving as a low level ablative defense verses enemy shots. Enemies moving through a cloud will feel like they're moving through a cloud of itching powder, and the cloud is pretty effective at blocking line of sight. Of course, like other smoke weapons, that includes friendly line of sight...
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist. - Inkrunners: Inklings trained in Camp Booyah for speed, agility, and the arcane are of the Dodge Roll. Not actually better in direct combat then a normal Inkantry, but harder to hit and able to get to the fight, or any other location of interest, faster then a normal Inkantry. They need to use a light and easy to use weapon to be able to properly employ their skills however, preventing them from using most of the current armory.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Camp Booyah : An alternate training area, Camp Booyah is an obstacle course that specializes in training Inkrunners instead of long ranged combatants. Unlike earlier obstacle courses it is far less likely to traumatize and splat it's victim-, er, trainees. On the other tentacle, it also produces far less lawsuits.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
The Deployment Phase of Spring, Year 2 has begun.
Agent Zephyr
Aoi, cool named Gal/Guard she is, is rather annoyed at Dofley, and the others in general. She decides to undergo fierce training, to be faster, stronger, better.
Command sees her improving at rapid rate, and are creating new gear at a rapid pace to match.
Gear
The Scientists design the Wind Brush. It's essentially a paintbrush, with the handle being made of SSS infused Plastic, capable of blocking Krakenblades. It's brush is fed via a unique system of Ink Symphysis, connecting the brush to the feed not with tubes, but the ink directly connected via the SSS Shell acting as the ferrule for the brush itself.. This Brush can also act to Spray Paint along a line, traveling a short distance in a globlet form when the Wind Brush is swung and activated, via a vector of wind pushing it outward.
While this is quite expensive, our scientists believe a simpler Paintbrush can be created for normal unit use out of regular plastic and feed, acting as a close range weapon. This Wind Brush makes heavy use of SSS Shells though, for the best CR weapon we can make for melee/SR.
Another Design is a new Sub-weapon, the West Field.(So named for true coolness)
Using novel principles, SSS is used to turn Ink, to Light. It's quite pretty, and creates a Hardlight Wall. Our Inklings have no trouble moving through it if they are aligned with the color of the wall, but if they aren't it really serves as a wall. It's transparent, and ink of that color travels through it without issue, and enemy ink slides right off, unable to penetrate. And we can swim along it too.
It may not last more than a minute, but for area denial and cover, it is useful for CR or support. And Agent Zephyr has shown to make good use of it to either approach from any angle, or use it to strike through said wall without penalty. Granted, her own speed and reaction times have been shown to be insane.
We have also designed a Special, The Inkflight.
Ink energy is overcharged, granting enough ink for her weapons. It also allows her to fly.
...
Yeah, fly. It seems that tuning Ink Energy to produce a Wind-Typed effect allows for high speed movement. The SSS cost is prohibitive though, only useful in small amounts normally. We can use it in smaller designs later on. And most testers of the full system end up crashing. Agent Zephyr has shown to have the reaction times to make full use of the complete, and Very Expensive, System herself. A half minute of flight and speed if she's using her Weapons and Subweapon, the sub recharging enough to be used multiple times, rather than the usual limits. Without using them, this time extends to a minute of high speed flight, with no known current height limit.
Conclusions
Agent Zephyr is so named for that cool fax. But her speed and reactions, her ability to close the distance, and her CR skills, make her deadly. She can also use her Special on, in, and around Moray Towers with near impunity, being unbelievably quick to end enemies with a single well placed slash or three, in quick succession. She can also deal with the enemy Superweapon from the inside, or maybe pop the ballon that keeps it up. All in All, her training, both self and supervised, is a major threat to enemies. Dofley has some major competition. Truly, a good tailwind for us, and the headwind of any of her foes.
Weapon Data, Code Wind Brush
Shaft is crushed Super Sea Snail Shell mixed in with a lightweight, but strong plastic, creating a Polymer that actively resists enemy Ink Energy. This is meant to shut down and deflect the enemies Krakenblade, as well as be used to stop shots against it when necessary.
Ferule, the cap of the brush, is made of a similar polymer, though being smaller, we can up the crushed Super Sea Snail Shell in the mix. Ferule is connected to the tank via a Spacial Warp, allowing ink to flow into the brush as necessary.
Brush itself is made of Super Sea Snail Proteins, mixed with Plastic as necessary. This is so the ink will flow through and out of the brush. As well, experimental properties let it to send ink along the line it's swung through the air, blocking shots and painting turf.
Weapon Data, Code West Field
Experiments should be to turn Ink Energy to Hardened Light, in an area in front of the user, in the form of a wall. This should likely be done by reading the position of the user's weapon, in this case, Agent Zephyr. As a Paintbrush, this should let Agent Zephyr form it at near any angle. For base weapons, which direction the 'Front' of the weapon points should form it at a 90 degree angle to the weapon 3-7 feet away from the user. Note that this weapon, if mass produced, works best with Paintbrush users due to design issues.
Weapon Data, Code Inkflight
Experiments should prove promising, in turning Ink Energy to Wind. Supercharging it shows promise in some ways. With work we can upgrade a number of systems with the data gathered.
The Wind forms around the user, in an almost Aura like effect. Movement is done by the user's body and thoughts. Speed is shown to be promising, and initial tests are good. The only issue is reaction speed when moving in anything other than a straight line, or hovering. Agent Zephyr's Reaction Speeds should make this a non-issue.
Excess energy converts to Ink, refilling depleted reserves, and acting to recharge Sub-weapon systems.. It should be noted that the Wind Aura only acts to weaken incoming shots, and does not stop them. It is up to the user of the Inkfight to outmaneuver their opponents.
Training of Agent Zephyr, Access Level T, A, & Z only.
Agent Zephyr has made full use of our training programs, training in Camp Booyah and the Fireink Range, improving her reactions, speed, and skill, as well as working on improving her own attributes. Final training uses the new Gear against Inklings of every weapon type in 1 v 4 matches, in the Fireink Range and Camp Booyah. Here we hope she can bring her training to new heights as we prepare to push forward.
Zephyrus, Agent.. God Speed.
Agent Zephyr, Hero, Aoi, and Wind Based Equipment for her.: (1) TricMagic
reason for edit: Slight misspelling. No Changes to proposal.
Design : Agent Zephyr (Ludicrous Difficulty)
2+4-3+1 = 4: Below average
High Command really needs to stop reading the propaganda manga and taking it as actual fact. Yes, Aoi was very embarrassed to be taken down so easily, yes, she was taken down by Dofley, and yes, she has been undergoing training. No, she was not training with the desire to take out Dofley in a dramatic duel for vengeance, she does not have 'light speed reflexes', and nor has the wind been so impressed by her oath of vengeance (which she did not make) that it's willing to carry her around and let her fly. She has, on the other hand, mocked up a prototype weapon that uses a capsule of pressurized air to allow what's basically a giant brush to 'puff' bursts of inks off of it, but the thing is so complicated that she's the only one able to maintain and repair it. Mass production is a pipe dream.
On the whole 'West Field' thing, the scientists really have no idea where to start with that. For one thing, if you turned ink into light, how would they get it to hang on the air instead of flying off somewhere at light speed? They did do some experiments with anti-light... but that lab imploded in on itself last week while the scientists were out on their second breakfast break and all work on it was lost. Supposedly it was really spooky anyway. On the other hand, they did figure out how to make glowing ink! No one is really sure what advantage that would be in combat, but Aoi has been using it for facepaint and looks a little more fresh that way.
Anyway, she was willing to sign up as a special agent, but people need to stop thinking she's the same as the Aoi in the manga, who's writers can just make stuff up and cram random words in whenever an invaluable precursor relic goes off and expect that to actually work.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Rapid Shooter : A short ranged triple chambered gun, the Rapid Shooter is the first proper Shooter to be put into production in the Great Turf War. It's short ranged and has minor accuracy issues at the edge of its range, but it is also light, handy, and can recharge its compression chamber on the go. As such, as long as one doesn't literally hold the trigger down until the compression chamber is empty, it can maintain a continual stream of fire no other gun in the turf war can yet match.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - "Big Smoke" Smoke Bomb : A shell shaped throwing weapon that emits aerosolized ink from three separate ports, providing concealment, soothing friendly Inkantry, and serving as a low level ablative defense verses enemy shots. Enemies moving through a cloud will feel like they're moving through a cloud of itching powder, and the cloud is pretty effective at blocking line of sight. Of course, like other smoke weapons, that includes friendly line of sight...
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist. - Inkrunners: Inklings trained in Camp Booyah for speed, agility, and the arcane are of the Dodge Roll. Not actually better in direct combat then a normal Inkantry, but harder to hit and able to get to the fight, or any other location of interest, faster then a normal Inkantry. They need to use a light and easy to use weapon to be able to properly employ their skills however, preventing them from using most of the current armory.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Camp Booyah : An alternate training area, Camp Booyah is an obstacle course that specializes in training Inkrunners instead of long ranged combatants. Unlike earlier obstacle courses it is far less likely to traumatize and splat it's victim-, er, trainees. On the other tentacle, it also produces far less lawsuits.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
- Aoi the Painter: A former security guard and self employed manga artist, Aoi has been recruited into the ranks of the special Inkling Agents as Agent 2. She's armed with a self designed giant paintbrush weapon able to really paint some turf as long as the enemy is at point blank range, and uses compressed air to let her throw the ink off the brush farther when she swings it around. Even if the compressed air capsule has to be replaces every few minutes as it runs out of air, it still gives her a bit of extra range. Aoi is pretty fast on her feet and nimble, if not unreasonably so. Lastly, her glowing facepaint makes her look extra fresh.
The Revision Phase of Summer, Year 2 has begun.
Revision : Big Air Ink Bomb (Average Difficulty)
4+2 = 6: Above average
The Big Air Ink Bomb is fairly simple at the core, once the designers manage to puzzle out the incoherent and badly formatted instructions. It basically just concentrated Ink into a big ball, and then fires it up into the sky to come down somewhere else. And the designers manage that. Users of the Big Air Ink Bomb can indeed focus their ink into a big ball of glowing ink and then fire it into the air. It's pretty guaranteed to splat anyone it directly lands on, has a decent splash radius, leaves everything it touches glowing brightly for the next minute or two (and immediately gets co-opted to serve as signal flares), and is fired in an arc. The designers even managed to use a bit about what they know about aerosolized ink to have its explosion leave a short lasting (IE, five seconds) cloud of glowing ink behind the explosion site.
It's not even that expensive in Super Sea Snails to construct the needed focuses to allow Inklings to use the special in question.
Still, users do complain that it'd be a lot easier to target if they had some sort of targeting gear like guns have, and tactical officers note that while it is a relatively fast charging special it is still a special, and as such isn't actually continual bombardment fire.
On the other hand, nine out of ten Inklings agrees it's more useful then the Vortex Armor.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Rapid Shooter : A short ranged triple chambered gun, the Rapid Shooter is the first proper Shooter to be put into production in the Great Turf War. It's short ranged and has minor accuracy issues at the edge of its range, but it is also light, handy, and can recharge its compression chamber on the go. As such, as long as one doesn't literally hold the trigger down until the compression chamber is empty, it can maintain a continual stream of fire no other gun in the turf war can yet match.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - "Big Smoke" Smoke Bomb : A shell shaped throwing weapon that emits aerosolized ink from three separate ports, providing concealment, soothing friendly Inkantry, and serving as a low level ablative defense verses enemy shots. Enemies moving through a cloud will feel like they're moving through a cloud of itching powder, and the cloud is pretty effective at blocking line of sight. Of course, like other smoke weapons, that includes friendly line of sight...
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail - Big Air Ink Bomb : A special that allows the user to fire a glowing artillery shot of ink up into the sky, to then fall back down and land on an unfortunate Octoling's head. Has some minor issues aiming, but has decent range, enough damage to splat basically anyone directly hit, good splash radius, and leaves a five second cloud of aerosolized ink floating around the impact site. Was immediately co-opted by tactical officers for use as a signal flare. It's simplicity allows it to be charged faster then normal for a special.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist. - Inkrunners: Inklings trained in Camp Booyah for speed, agility, and the arcane are of the Dodge Roll. Not actually better in direct combat then a normal Inkantry, but harder to hit and able to get to the fight, or any other location of interest, faster then a normal Inkantry. They need to use a light and easy to use weapon to be able to properly employ their skills however, preventing them from using most of the current armory.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Camp Booyah : An alternate training area, Camp Booyah is an obstacle course that specializes in training Inkrunners instead of long ranged combatants. Unlike earlier obstacle courses it is far less likely to traumatize and splat it's victim-, er, trainees. On the other tentacle, it also produces far less lawsuits.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
- Aoi the Painter: A former security guard and self employed manga artist, Aoi has been recruited into the ranks of the special Inkling Agents as Agent 2. She's armed with a self designed giant paintbrush weapon able to really paint some turf as long as the enemy is at point blank range, and uses compressed air to let her throw the ink off the brush farther when she swings it around. Even if the compressed air capsule has to be replaces every few minutes as it runs out of air, it still gives her a bit of extra range. Aoi is pretty fast on her feet and nimble, if not unreasonably so. Lastly, her glowing facepaint makes her look extra fresh.
The Deployment Phase of Summer, Year 2 has begun.
Design : Ink-Missile (Hard Difficulty)
2+3-1 = 4: Below Average
Basing the design off of the Big Air Ink Bomb, engineers get to work attempting to convert the high flying special into a design simple, reliable, and cheap enough that it can be used as a sub-weapon while also adding homing capabilities and a sensor able to trigger the explosion when it gets close enough to an enemy instead of just when it runs into something. While those capabilities can be added, generally adding them renders the result overly expensive and hard to manufacture. Eventually success is found by re-using the casing of the Inkdisc and giving up on self-propulsion. Instead a Super Sea Snail based ultra low friction coating is applied to the base of the disk, allowing users to send it sliding across battlefields at velocities as fast as they can sling one. As well, an Ink Signature detecting sensor is successfully prototyped and added to the weapon, causing it to explode whenever it comes 'near enough' to a target that resonates with an enemy signature. This does, however, cause it to suffer false positives when slung into sufficently coated with enemy ink ground. Lastly, an additional sensor is added that will detect when the Ink-Missile stays still for more then three seconds after it is armed, and causes it to explode at that point to prevent it from sitting around long enough for the ink to dissolve if it misses all targets.
Also the part where it was based on the Big Air Ink Bomb means it shares the glowing ink 'feature' with that special, as no one ever got around to changing that during development. This has the minor side effect of causing the weapon itself to glow.
Costs 3 Plastic and 1 Super Sea Snails, making it Expensive.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Rapid Shooter : A short ranged triple chambered gun, the Rapid Shooter is the first proper Shooter to be put into production in the Great Turf War. It's short ranged and has minor accuracy issues at the edge of its range, but it is also light, handy, and can recharge its compression chamber on the go. As such, as long as one doesn't literally hold the trigger down until the compression chamber is empty, it can maintain a continual stream of fire no other gun in the turf war can yet match.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - "Big Smoke" Smoke Bomb : A shell shaped throwing weapon that emits aerosolized ink from three separate ports, providing concealment, soothing friendly Inkantry, and serving as a low level ablative defense verses enemy shots. Enemies moving through a cloud will feel like they're moving through a cloud of itching powder, and the cloud is pretty effective at blocking line of sight. Of course, like other smoke weapons, that includes friendly line of sight...
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails. - Ink-Missile : A weapon based equally off the Inkdisc and the Big Air Ink Bomb, the Ink-Missile is a plastic disk with an almost frictionless bottom, allowing it to be sent skating into enemy lines where an ink signature detecting sensor causes it to explode as soon as it gets close enough to an enemy. Or sufficiently inked enemy turf, for that matter. It also has a motion sensor to cause it to explode when it finally comes to a halt if it manages to find no targets at all during its long skid. Has a somewhat smaller explosion radius then the Inkdisc due to the space taken up by the sensors and special bottom.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail - Big Air Ink Bomb : A special that allows the user to fire a glowing artillery shot of ink up into the sky, to then fall back down and land on an unfortunate Octoling's head. Has some minor issues aiming, but has decent range, enough damage to splat basically anyone directly hit, good splash radius, and leaves a five second cloud of aerosolized ink floating around the impact site. Was immediately co-opted by tactical officers for use as a signal flare. It's simplicity allows it to be charged faster then normal for a special.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist. - Inkrunners: Inklings trained in Camp Booyah for speed, agility, and the arcane are of the Dodge Roll. Not actually better in direct combat then a normal Inkantry, but harder to hit and able to get to the fight, or any other location of interest, faster then a normal Inkantry. They need to use a light and easy to use weapon to be able to properly employ their skills however, preventing them from using most of the current armory.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Camp Booyah : An alternate training area, Camp Booyah is an obstacle course that specializes in training Inkrunners instead of long ranged combatants. Unlike earlier obstacle courses it is far less likely to traumatize and splat it's victim-, er, trainees. On the other tentacle, it also produces far less lawsuits.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
- Aoi the Painter: A former security guard and self employed manga artist, Aoi has been recruited into the ranks of the special Inkling Agents as Agent 2. She's armed with a self designed giant paintbrush weapon able to really paint some turf as long as the enemy is at point blank range, and uses compressed air to let her throw the ink off the brush farther when she swings it around. Even if the compressed air capsule has to be replaces every few minutes as it runs out of air, it still gives her a bit of extra range. Aoi is pretty fast on her feet and nimble, if not unreasonably so. Lastly, her glowing facepaint makes her look extra fresh.
The Revision Phase of Fall, Year 2 has begun.
Revision : Bamboozler - Spiral Barrel refit (Average Difficulty)
4+3 = 7: Superior craftsmanship
Under the aegis of a new school of mathematics, the new Spiral Barrel refit of the Bamboozler proves to be a great success, combining the new barrel with an air-pressure system to revolutionize the old, and honestly outdated, Bamboozler design. The combination noticeably increases both its range, its ink usage rates (as long as the air chamber remains pressurized, at least), and the amount of damage per shot. However, while this refit remains noticeably superior to the original model, it still remains inferior to the current model Bamboozler Mk.2b weapon system used by the enemy, with less damage and ink efficiency. While the Spiral Barrel's range actually essentially matches the original Bamboozler Mk.2 an upgraded nozzle/barrel system was since put into production, resulting in the enemy having around 15% more range then this model.
...Looking at that list of inferiorities, it's fairly apparent why the troops have been abandoning the normal Bamboozler for all the specialty weapons that Inkling Designers have been putting out these last seasons whenever they have an excuse. Still, hopefully this will be a vital step towards reclaiming equality in generalist weapon quality. Granted, the Quick Charge system does mean you still can fire faster then them, at least in the opening shots of an engagement where that most matters.
There is, however, one bit of better news. The tools, and crafts-lings, needed to properly craft these new barrels were, well, less then common and kinda expensive, almost leading to this Complex upgrade to remain less common then it could have been. However Inkling designers working late into the night have managed to figure out cheaper ways of carving out the barrels (they hired some Urchins), preventing this new weapon generation from not being put into mass distribution.
Costs 2 Plastic and 1 Super Sea Snails, making it Cheap. The high roll prevents a Complex tag.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Spiral Barrel Refit : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a new barrel as well as an air compression tank, thusly resulting in enhanced firing range, shot damage, and ink efficiency. While improved noticeably over the original model, this is still inferior to the second generation Bamboozler the Octolings have in production, among other things being around 15% shorter ranged then the enemy model. Produced in enough numbers to allow for mass deployment by way of hiring some Urchins to do the needed carving of Super Sea Snail shell.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Rapid Shooter : A short ranged triple chambered gun, the Rapid Shooter is the first proper Shooter to be put into production in the Great Turf War. It's short ranged and has minor accuracy issues at the edge of its range, but it is also light, handy, and can recharge its compression chamber on the go. As such, as long as one doesn't literally hold the trigger down until the compression chamber is empty, it can maintain a continual stream of fire no other gun in the turf war can yet match.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - "Big Smoke" Smoke Bomb : A shell shaped throwing weapon that emits aerosolized ink from three separate ports, providing concealment, soothing friendly Inkantry, and serving as a low level ablative defense verses enemy shots. Enemies moving through a cloud will feel like they're moving through a cloud of itching powder, and the cloud is pretty effective at blocking line of sight. Of course, like other smoke weapons, that includes friendly line of sight...
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails. - Ink-Missile : A weapon based equally off the Inkdisc and the Big Air Ink Bomb, the Ink-Missile is a plastic disk with an almost frictionless bottom, allowing it to be sent skating into enemy lines where an ink signature detecting sensor causes it to explode as soon as it gets close enough to an enemy. Or sufficiently inked enemy turf, for that matter. It also has a motion sensor to cause it to explode when it finally comes to a halt if it manages to find no targets at all during its long skid. Has a somewhat smaller explosion radius then the Inkdisc due to the space taken up by the sensors and special bottom.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail - Big Air Ink Bomb : A special that allows the user to fire a glowing artillery shot of ink up into the sky, to then fall back down and land on an unfortunate Octoling's head. Has some minor issues aiming, but has decent range, enough damage to splat basically anyone directly hit, good splash radius, and leaves a five second cloud of aerosolized ink floating around the impact site. Was immediately co-opted by tactical officers for use as a signal flare. It's simplicity allows it to be charged faster then normal for a special.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist. - Inkrunners: Inklings trained in Camp Booyah for speed, agility, and the arcane are of the Dodge Roll. Not actually better in direct combat then a normal Inkantry, but harder to hit and able to get to the fight, or any other location of interest, faster then a normal Inkantry. They need to use a light and easy to use weapon to be able to properly employ their skills however, preventing them from using most of the current armory.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Camp Booyah : An alternate training area, Camp Booyah is an obstacle course that specializes in training Inkrunners instead of long ranged combatants. Unlike earlier obstacle courses it is far less likely to traumatize and splat it's victim-, er, trainees. On the other tentacle, it also produces far less lawsuits.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
SuperweaponsSo far, no Superweapons have been developed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
- Aoi the Painter: A former security guard and self employed manga artist, Aoi has been recruited into the ranks of the special Inkling Agents as Agent 2. She's armed with a self designed giant paintbrush weapon able to really paint some turf as long as the enemy is at point blank range, and uses compressed air to let her throw the ink off the brush farther when she swings it around. Even if the compressed air capsule has to be replaces every few minutes as it runs out of air, it still gives her a bit of extra range. Aoi is pretty fast on her feet and nimble, if not unreasonably so. Lastly, her glowing facepaint makes her look extra fresh.
The Deployment Phase of Fall, Year 2 has begun.
Please vote for which two fronts reinforcements should be actively deployed to in an attempt to push forwards, and where heroes should be sent- Warning, Warning. Anomalous energy signature detected. Scanning... Scanning...
Wild Zap Fish Detected!
Forces may be sent to capture the Wild Zap Fish, adding it to the reserves. Advisory Notice. It is highly likely enemy forces have also made the same detection. Opposition may be encountered in the field.
Sensors now have a lock on the Zap Fish, so if it is not captured this turn, by one side or another, forces can be sent after it next turn.
Agent Sparks' and his Spark Gear
Someone from the expedition to the old place with the Zapfish ended up finding something super amazing, and was inspired.
Taking knowledge from old documents, he created the Ink-Rain, a generator powered by a Zapfish and the Specials System, that let him generate clouds of ink that rained down for a time onto the ground.
Taking refuge in this, he then created the Inkzapper, a Main-Weapon that used the aura of the Zapfish, it's sparks, to Zap enemy Ink Signatures with a large amount of Ink-Energy.
Even further, he took it to the next level, re-purposing the Sub-weapon System to let him travel through the Rain of Ink, like a Spark of lightning.
And with this, the Spark Gear was born, making a Hero out of him.
Lightning striking from where you least expect it, Rain appearing from nowhere.
Granted, it was mostly his Gear, but he definitely knew how to use it. Now if only he could get it to work without the Zapfish, but with batteries.
Taking the concept of turning an Inkling into a walking Superweapon. +1 from Sparks, +1 from Science! And an 8, or maybe 7, would end up turning him into an actual hero, having figured out how to use something else other than the Zapfish for his gear.
As this happens to be a super-weapon design edging into potential hero territory, it should be normal. Using electricity to generate positive and negative energy, and using those concepts to create the stuff listed.
A Inkling that happens to be a reporter, who saw the various failures and recorded them. She manage to get her hands on the old human science, and made a thing!
Sparks Gear
Super fresh clothes, the T-shirt boosts recharge and fire rate, and the running sneakers boost the speed of our inkling on our turf to insane levels, looking more like a jumping spark from point to point when they swim in it. The Headclips are a mix of a thunderbolt and a circle, and they boost the amount of turf our attacks ink through attraction to un-inked or enemy-charged turf.
The entire set actually does something extra, boosting the amount of hits you can take from shear presence, deflecting ink away from the user, if only a bit.
Similar but separate from sprites, blue jets are another recently discovered high-altitude lightning phenomenon. These ephemeral jets of energy are cone-like in structure and can be seen spreading upward from clouds during a thunderstorm. As with ELVES and sprites, blue jets were first confirmed by studying video from space shuttle missions, although aircraft pilots had long reported seeing blue jets. One thing that makes seeing such phenomena from the ground difficult is that associated lightning ground bursts are many times brighter. Also, blue jets usually last only milliseconds. But blue jets might be visible to an observer carefully watching a distant nighttime thunderstorm. Yet they’re so elusive that even if you carefully watch the accompanying video, you might have a hard time spotting a blue jet until the video goes to slow motion around the 1:30 mark.
Ability: Blue Jet Shoes
A special piece of Gear, these shoes contain a unique charge.
They offer the ability to JUMP(Jet Union Master Protocol), boosting you into the air and landing you near your teammates, so long as they have Inked Turf nearby them, and are emitting the same type of Ink Energy.
Perhaps just as important, they allow us to use the Respawn Pads to JUMP to any area where our forces are, allowing for rapid re/deployment.
Our ability to detect and use Ink Energy improves every day, doesn't it... This solves quite a few issues.
As this is basically a special lining inside the shoes themselves, it can be placed into just about anything, still allowing our forces to choose what they wish to wear. Should be Cheap, as not much should be needed.
Potential +1 for Science in General, attraction, identification of like and dislike, and other stuff. Mainly Blue Jets, for the JUMP aspect, though the ELVES also play a role in lateral distance, maybe..
Potential +1 from Sparks, being the use of Ink Energy Signatures' own properties. We've gotten rather good with this type of Science. Also Blue Jets, for the JUMP aspect, though the ELVES also play a role in lateral distance, maybe..
Point being, old science observations lead to great things. And it's thematically appropriate.
Spark, noun, Definition 2. a trace of a specified quality or intense feeling.
Ability: Hyper Intuition-Super Seashell Tentacle Ornaments
A piece of headgear made up of Super Sea Shells with Spiral Shell Geometry, this piece of headgear utilizes Certainty Principle.
Hyper Intuition. The Certainly Principle allows you to be certain, so data is processed instinctively. This is useful for a number of reasons, since it allows quite a few intuitive leaps, be it danger, battle, or events.
**Posting revision idea.
Mark 2 Ink Tank:
Using our new knowledge of Spiral Shell Geometry, we've refitted the gearing to include the Super Sea Snail Filters in harmony with the new Geometries. The Plastic parts are sleeker, with less wasted area, and the pipes can be changed out to better connect to different weapons as needed, boosting pressure and efficiency all round.
This also means we've upgrade the other systems to go along with it. Kinda looks like a seashell.
2.0-Bamboozler Bolt
Integrating recharging Compression Tanks into the weapon, the Bamboozler Bolt makes use of the 3D-Scope's system in a line of 4 tanks filled with compressed ink. The ink is flushed with a blast of compressed air from a separate tank system mounted atop in a rectangular box, where the Spiral Barrel helps to focus the shot, sending the ink downrange with great force and accuracy.
This weapon effectively takes the previous upgrades into one gun, allowing for four shots in a row at the beginning of combat before you have to rely on the charge system.
One Chamber is ready, and when fired, it will close, while opening the next in the sequence. Once the last one is empty, that tank acts as a regular weapon's charge chamber. When combat ends, you need to close all four tanks and reload them for the next engagement, but the attached pump is more than capable of that. Takes about one minute to fill each Tank.
Still sadly not a Hammer. Looks more like a Mace, but you still shouldn't hit people over the head with it.
The Party Barge
A giant balloon powered through wind, hot air, and a Zapfish in the middle, the circular platform underneath has some kick'n music boomboxes, refreshments, and some Ink Energy generators on board for our Inklings. It doesn't actually have any weapons, though it can generate it's own wind for movement. What it does have is a well balanced platform for setting up our 3D-Scopes and Big Air Ink Bombs to go to town on any enemies they wish.
In addition, we have jury-rigged some Respawn Pads and installed a Prototype Launch Pad for re/deploying Inklings as needed.
With the Light of the Zapfish casting lights about like a giant lightbulb in the sky. Let the Music loose below. Let the Party commence!
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/482353260313706496/560207334421430303/Party_Barge.png)
Supporting structure, wind creation unit is on the bottom acting as a center for the weight. Zapfish is in the middle. Accompanying machinry for the creation of hot and cold air as needed. 2 Decks, with stairs connecting them. Respawn and Launch Pads located up top in a Diamond formation around the central Ink Energy Conversion Generator. This Pillar dips down through the decks and is the main control unit.[/url]
As we are, at the end of the day, a hot air ballon, we need wind to move. Ionic Wind (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_wind) is how we create wind. The Zapfish powers it, and with this we move. A bit slow to start, but once we get going, helpful.
For the record, the Hot and Cold Air is generated in the balloon by machines around the Zapfish, exciting or calming the air.
Long Range Inkshell Spraygun (1): SamSpeeds
Long Range Inkshell Blotta
Glamour Hat
Chain Inkstrike
Agent Sparks
Ability: Hyper Intuition
Ikamechshi IK0: Ganglia - Superweapon
Firefly - Hero
2.0-Bamboozler Bolt(1): TricMagic
The Party Barge(1): TricMagic
Design : Thunderbird (Average Difficulty)
1+3+1 = 5: Average
The day when the Thunderbird takes its first flight is a bright sunny day, not a cloud in sight. Which makes the sight of the giant lightning-wreathed airplane taking off even more breath-taking. Equipped with hordes upon hordes of Inkdiscs to serve as mass deployed bombs, and new special inka-chutes for the deployment of Inkantry from the sky, it would serve as a perfectly acceptable instrument of war of the designers had just stopped there.
Of course, they did not just stop there.
The greatest, coolest, most superb thing about piloting the Thunderbird, at least according to the pilots, is the plane's ability to call down the thunder. It's almost like commanding the lightning's hand, one pilot enthusiastically explains to anyone who'll stand still long enough for her to rant at them. To make this work, each wingtip, powered by a zapfish within each wing, has a special lightning energy generator, while more accumulators are built into the four propellers. This results in the entire plan soon liking like it is made out of lightning, which everyone considers exceedingly cool. There is some minor issues with Inklings jumping out of the plane being zapped by said lightning as they jump out, but that's solved by giving them surge protectors. You know, to protect them from lightning surges.
There is, however, another more concerning issue. Targeting the lightning. While attempts were made to charge the lightning with friendly ink energy to cause it to seek out unfriendly ink energy... what actually happens is that the lightning seeks to dump the ink energy into un-inked earth, which isn't very useful. But that's why the designers added a lightning rod launching cannon to the ship's nose! Now pilots, or co-pilots, can fire said lightning rods down into the enemy as they fly by, and then the lightning will fall down, hit the rod, and then be re-emitted in all directions frying everyone around it! This does admittedly cause some electronic feedback, but it's nothing too worrying according to the designers. And despite what certain alarmists claim, what are the chances that the enemy will manage to hamper this system? Not much, that's what the theories say. After all, you'd have to be crazy to run up to a just hit lightning rod and turf it with ink in the short amount of time between the lightning rod gets hit and emits the lightning. That's the sort of thing an Inkling would do, not a 'saner' Octoling. Right?
Nothing to worry about, they're sure.
Costs 2 Zapfish to operate.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Spiral Barrel Refit : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a new barrel as well as an air compression tank, thusly resulting in enhanced firing range, shot damage, and ink efficiency. While improved noticeably over the original model, this is still inferior to the second generation Bamboozler the Octolings have in production, among other things being around 15% shorter ranged then the enemy model. Produced in enough numbers to allow for mass deployment by way of hiring some Urchins to do the needed carving of Super Sea Snail shell.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Rapid Shooter : A short ranged triple chambered gun, the Rapid Shooter is the first proper Shooter to be put into production in the Great Turf War. It's short ranged and has minor accuracy issues at the edge of its range, but it is also light, handy, and can recharge its compression chamber on the go. As such, as long as one doesn't literally hold the trigger down until the compression chamber is empty, it can maintain a continual stream of fire no other gun in the turf war can yet match.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - "Big Smoke" Smoke Bomb : A shell shaped throwing weapon that emits aerosolized ink from three separate ports, providing concealment, soothing friendly Inkantry, and serving as a low level ablative defense verses enemy shots. Enemies moving through a cloud will feel like they're moving through a cloud of itching powder, and the cloud is pretty effective at blocking line of sight. Of course, like other smoke weapons, that includes friendly line of sight...
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails. - Ink-Missile : A weapon based equally off the Inkdisc and the Big Air Ink Bomb, the Ink-Missile is a plastic disk with an almost frictionless bottom, allowing it to be sent skating into enemy lines where an ink signature detecting sensor causes it to explode as soon as it gets close enough to an enemy. Or sufficiently inked enemy turf, for that matter. It also has a motion sensor to cause it to explode when it finally comes to a halt if it manages to find no targets at all during its long skid. Has a somewhat smaller explosion radius then the Inkdisc due to the space taken up by the sensors and special bottom.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail - Big Air Ink Bomb : A special that allows the user to fire a glowing artillery shot of ink up into the sky, to then fall back down and land on an unfortunate Octoling's head. Has some minor issues aiming, but has decent range, enough damage to splat basically anyone directly hit, good splash radius, and leaves a five second cloud of aerosolized ink floating around the impact site. Was immediately co-opted by tactical officers for use as a signal flare. It's simplicity allows it to be charged faster then normal for a special.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist. - Inkrunners: Inklings trained in Camp Booyah for speed, agility, and the arcane are of the Dodge Roll. Not actually better in direct combat then a normal Inkantry, but harder to hit and able to get to the fight, or any other location of interest, faster then a normal Inkantry. They need to use a light and easy to use weapon to be able to properly employ their skills however, preventing them from using most of the current armory.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Camp Booyah : An alternate training area, Camp Booyah is an obstacle course that specializes in training Inkrunners instead of long ranged combatants. Unlike earlier obstacle courses it is far less likely to traumatize and splat it's victim-, er, trainees. On the other tentacle, it also produces far less lawsuits.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
Superweapons- Thunderbird Lightning Plane: A giant plastic airplane with four propellers, two wing mounted zapfish, a dump bay for air deployed Inkantry or masses of Inkdisks, and a lightning rod cannon on the nose. Accumulates lightning from the wing tips and the propellers and then fires lightning rods down to guide said lightning down and fry everything in an area. Totally not at risk of something crazy attacking a charged lightning rod and sending the lightning crashing back up into the airplane. Who'd be stupid enough to try that, after all?
Needs 2 Zapfish to be deployed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
- Aoi the Painter: A former security guard and self employed manga artist, Aoi has been recruited into the ranks of the special Inkling Agents as Agent 2. She's armed with a self designed giant paintbrush weapon able to really paint some turf as long as the enemy is at point blank range, and uses compressed air to let her throw the ink off the brush farther when she swings it around. Even if the compressed air capsule has to be replaces every few minutes as it runs out of air, it still gives her a bit of extra range. Aoi is pretty fast on her feet and nimble, if not unreasonably so. Lastly, her glowing facepaint makes her look extra fresh.
The Revision Phase of Winter, Year 2 has begun.
Mark 2 Ink Tank:
Using our new knowledge of Spiral Shell Geometry, we've refitted the gearing to include the Super Sea Snail Filters in harmony with the new Geometries. The Plastic parts are sleeker, with less wasted area, and the pipes can be changed out to better connect to different weapons as needed, boosting pressure and efficiency all round.
This also means we've upgrade the other systems to go along with it. Kinda looks like a seashell.
Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
Inkantry Revision: Bravely Inkantry
A revamp of the training program to outperform the solo-ist Octoling Agents, Commander Cauldro is once more seeking to improve the instructors knowledge. Better programs to train new Inkantry and Old beyond their previous abilities. Go Beyond Limits, Bravely Inkantry.
Commander Cauldo, when he's not busy, likes to train others at the Military Inkline Camp.. He and his Squad run a week-long training exercise to make our Inkantry faster over land and in ink, more accurate, and more able to use the turf to their advantage. And when he's not there, the Instructors themselves pass down his teaching to any Inkantry that wants to take the course.
In theory, this ups our own Base Inkanty to the next level of combat. Being able to hide in trees, swim up walls and ceilings on the fly, Dipping into friendly ink to doge an attack and then counter, and generally being faster and better shooting in skirmishes, even if they are still stuck using a bamboozler. Of course, there are rumors that a new version of this weapon will be coming next season.
One more thing that should come of this is better group tactics, something our Inkantry are already known for. Hopefully it will also trickle down to the rest of our specialists.
Ink Tank to improve our weapons' charge/effeciency. Or a revision to the Inkantry Training Program to improve the base unit.
Either Way, I vote for both, since they both increase our units abilities to fight, rather than even more specialist gear. Over-specialization is a thing, so we need to keep up.
Bravely Inkantry: (1) TricMagic
Mark 2 Ink tank: (1) TricMagic
Pocket Spray: (0)
Wanted Posters: (0)
Umbrella Armor: (0)
Close Air Panic Bomb (0)
Also, Specials aren't always going to be ready, so something that's not always ready isn't the best.(Just a note)
[/quote]
Revision : Pocket Spray (Easy Difficulty)
3+4+1 = 8: Unexpected boon
The Pocket Spray works. Granted, Inklings aren't really sure why the effort was put in to make it work, as it doesn't actually heal an Inkling faster then just taking a quick healing break in their own ink already and, unlike a healing bath, needs someone else to do it to you. Oh, sure, it can also be used as a short ranged weapon... but its not really a good weapon. The dilution of the Ink into Ink Fog might make it painful, but it's generally less efficient then just shooting the Octoling in question. Likewise, normal Inkarms are superior at inking up territory, despite its spraycan like appearance.
Granted, it can still be used to create concealing smoke clouds, with more control over the shape and area of the smoke then a normal smokebomb... but a normal smokebomb covers a larger area much faster. All in all the Pocket Spray is easy to use, no more expensive then the item it was based on, and reliable, suffering only from the fact that almost none of the Inkantry see a reason to use it. Commander Cauldo does point out that it could be useful at signals and communication duty if it was loaded with glowing ink instead of normal ink. So the designers add 'glowingness' to the mix and now it glows, so at least it can be used for that?
On the other tentacle, the Ink fog is nice and refreshing to 'bath' in, and some think it might be salable on the open market as a luxury product. Depending on how sales go, perhaps the extra profit could be used to fund additional design studies.
Costs 2 Plastic and 3 Super Sea Snails, making it Expensive. Gain a +1 bonus to next season's Design Roll.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Spiral Barrel Refit : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a new barrel as well as an air compression tank, thusly resulting in enhanced firing range, shot damage, and ink efficiency. While improved noticeably over the original model, this is still inferior to the second generation Bamboozler the Octolings have in production, among other things being around 15% shorter ranged then the enemy model. Produced in enough numbers to allow for mass deployment by way of hiring some Urchins to do the needed carving of Super Sea Snail shell.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Rapid Shooter : A short ranged triple chambered gun, the Rapid Shooter is the first proper Shooter to be put into production in the Great Turf War. It's short ranged and has minor accuracy issues at the edge of its range, but it is also light, handy, and can recharge its compression chamber on the go. As such, as long as one doesn't literally hold the trigger down until the compression chamber is empty, it can maintain a continual stream of fire no other gun in the turf war can yet match.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - "Big Smoke" Smoke Bomb : A shell shaped throwing weapon that emits aerosolized ink from three separate ports, providing concealment, soothing friendly Inkantry, and serving as a low level ablative defense verses enemy shots. Enemies moving through a cloud will feel like they're moving through a cloud of itching powder, and the cloud is pretty effective at blocking line of sight. Of course, like other smoke weapons, that includes friendly line of sight...
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails. - Ink-Missile : A weapon based equally off the Inkdisc and the Big Air Ink Bomb, the Ink-Missile is a plastic disk with an almost frictionless bottom, allowing it to be sent skating into enemy lines where an ink signature detecting sensor causes it to explode as soon as it gets close enough to an enemy. Or sufficiently inked enemy turf, for that matter. It also has a motion sensor to cause it to explode when it finally comes to a halt if it manages to find no targets at all during its long skid. Has a somewhat smaller explosion radius then the Inkdisc due to the space taken up by the sensors and special bottom.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snails. - Pocket Spray : A spraycan shaped container of pressurized aerosolized glowing ink. When sprayed on a fellow Inkling it can rapidly heal them, just as fast as taking a bath in friendly ink, as well as being useable to spray into the air to make walls of smoke, thrown as an improvised smoke bomb, or sprayed directly on surfaces to ink territory directly, hopefully in snazzy glowing patterns. A well designed and easy to use product marred only by the fact that its intended users see very little reason to actually use it.
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail - Big Air Ink Bomb : A special that allows the user to fire a glowing artillery shot of ink up into the sky, to then fall back down and land on an unfortunate Octoling's head. Has some minor issues aiming, but has decent range, enough damage to splat basically anyone directly hit, good splash radius, and leaves a five second cloud of aerosolized ink floating around the impact site. Was immediately co-opted by tactical officers for use as a signal flare. It's simplicity allows it to be charged faster then normal for a special.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist. - Inkrunners: Inklings trained in Camp Booyah for speed, agility, and the arcane are of the Dodge Roll. Not actually better in direct combat then a normal Inkantry, but harder to hit and able to get to the fight, or any other location of interest, faster then a normal Inkantry. They need to use a light and easy to use weapon to be able to properly employ their skills however, preventing them from using most of the current armory. As only the best trainees can achieve this title, they are somewhat Uncommon.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Camp Booyah : An alternate training area, Camp Booyah is an obstacle course that specializes in training Inkrunners instead of long ranged combatants. Unlike earlier obstacle courses it is far less likely to traumatize and splat it's victim-, er, trainees. On the other tentacle, it also produces far less lawsuits.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
Superweapons- Thunderbird Lightning Plane: A giant plastic airplane with four propellers, two wing mounted zapfish, a dump bay for air deployed Inkantry or masses of Inkdisks, and a lightning rod cannon on the nose. Accumulates lightning from the wing tips and the propellers and then fires lightning rods down to guide said lightning down and fry everything in an area. Totally not at risk of something crazy attacking a charged lightning rod and sending the lightning crashing back up into the airplane. Who'd be stupid enough to try that, after all?
Needs 2 Zapfish to be deployed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
- Aoi the Painter: A former security guard and self employed manga artist, Aoi has been recruited into the ranks of the special Inkling Agents as Agent 2. She's armed with a self designed giant paintbrush weapon able to really paint some turf as long as the enemy is at point blank range, and uses compressed air to let her throw the ink off the brush farther when she swings it around. Even if the compressed air capsule has to be replaces every few minutes as it runs out of air, it still gives her a bit of extra range. Aoi is pretty fast on her feet and nimble, if not unreasonably so. Lastly, her glowing facepaint makes her look extra fresh.
The Deployment Phase of Winter, Year 2 has begun.
Please vote for which two fronts reinforcements should be actively deployed to in an attempt to push forwards, and where heroes and superweapons should be sent.
Design : Ace Swimmer Shirt (Normal Difficulty)
2+3+1+1 = 7: Superior craftsmanship
The new line of military combat shirts are, to quote a notable Inkopolis Idol, 'Totally Rad'. Crafted with specially engineered and very scientific thread technology to minimize interference while swimming, allowing the user to both move faster and to cause less ripples on the surface while they swim, the 'Ace Swimmer' line of shirts is selling like hotcakes, because even the civilians want some. Meanwhile, Inkantry, whom are assigned a set as part of their gear, get to be very smug about how they are in the front of fashion. At least until fashion changes again. In fact, the shirts are so slick enemy ink slicks right off of them! This does not actually prevent enemy attacks from doing damage, but it does mean a portion of the damage 'slicks off' in the moments after it is dealt. It also saves a lot on laundry bills and lets Inklings heal faster when exposed to friendly ink, which has an easier time removing the icky octoling ink.
Costs 1 Plastic and 1 Super Sea Snails, making it Cheap.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Spiral Barrel Refit : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a new barrel as well as an air compression tank, thusly resulting in enhanced firing range, shot damage, and ink efficiency. While improved noticeably over the original model, this is still inferior to the second generation Bamboozler the Octolings have in production, among other things being around 15% shorter ranged then the enemy model. Produced in enough numbers to allow for mass deployment by way of hiring some Urchins to do the needed carving of Super Sea Snail shell.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Rapid Shooter : A short ranged triple chambered gun, the Rapid Shooter is the first proper Shooter to be put into production in the Great Turf War. It's short ranged and has minor accuracy issues at the edge of its range, but it is also light, handy, and can recharge its compression chamber on the go. As such, as long as one doesn't literally hold the trigger down until the compression chamber is empty, it can maintain a continual stream of fire no other gun in the turf war can yet match.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - "Big Smoke" Smoke Bomb : A shell shaped throwing weapon that emits aerosolized ink from three separate ports, providing concealment, soothing friendly Inkantry, and serving as a low level ablative defense verses enemy shots. Enemies moving through a cloud will feel like they're moving through a cloud of itching powder, and the cloud is pretty effective at blocking line of sight. Of course, like other smoke weapons, that includes friendly line of sight...
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails. - Ink-Missile : A weapon based equally off the Inkdisc and the Big Air Ink Bomb, the Ink-Missile is a plastic disk with an almost frictionless bottom, allowing it to be sent skating into enemy lines where an ink signature detecting sensor causes it to explode as soon as it gets close enough to an enemy. Or sufficiently inked enemy turf, for that matter. It also has a motion sensor to cause it to explode when it finally comes to a halt if it manages to find no targets at all during its long skid. Has a somewhat smaller explosion radius then the Inkdisc due to the space taken up by the sensors and special bottom.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snails. - Pocket Spray : A spraycan shaped container of pressurized aerosolized glowing ink. When sprayed on a fellow Inkling it can rapidly heal them, just as fast as taking a bath in friendly ink, as well as being useable to spray into the air to make walls of smoke, thrown as an improvised smoke bomb, or sprayed directly on surfaces to ink territory directly, hopefully in snazzy glowing patterns. A well designed and easy to use product marred only by the fact that its intended users see very little reason to actually use it.
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail - Big Air Ink Bomb : A special that allows the user to fire a glowing artillery shot of ink up into the sky, to then fall back down and land on an unfortunate Octoling's head. Has some minor issues aiming, but has decent range, enough damage to splat basically anyone directly hit, good splash radius, and leaves a five second cloud of aerosolized ink floating around the impact site. Was immediately co-opted by tactical officers for use as a signal flare. It's simplicity allows it to be charged faster then normal for a special.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
Ability- Ace Swimmer Shirt : A specially designed shirt that offers minimal interference with surrounding ink as the Inkling swims, allowing for greater top swimming speed as well as less surface disturbance while swimming. The slickness of the shirt is sufficient to allow some enemy ink to 'slide off' in the moments after it impacts, though it does not actually decrease the original impact. It also makes the Inklings wearing it feel somewhat more Fresh, and is cheap and easy to put through the laundry.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist. - Inkrunners: Inklings trained in Camp Booyah for speed, agility, and the arcane art of the Dodge Roll. Not actually better in direct combat then a normal Inkantry, but harder to hit and able to get to the fight, or any other location of interest, faster then a normal Inkantry. They need to use a light and easy to use weapon to be able to properly employ their skills however, preventing them from using most of the current armory. As only the best trainees can achieve this title, they are somewhat Uncommon.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Camp Booyah : An alternate training area, Camp Booyah is an obstacle course that specializes in training Inkrunners instead of long ranged combatants. Unlike earlier obstacle courses it is far less likely to traumatize and splat it's victim-, er, trainees. On the other tentacle, it also produces far less lawsuits.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
Superweapons- Thunderbird Lightning Plane: A giant plastic airplane with four propellers, two wing mounted zapfish, a dump bay for air deployed Inkantry or masses of Inkdisks, and a lightning rod cannon on the nose. Accumulates lightning from the wing tips and the propellers and then fires lightning rods down to guide said lightning down and fry everything in an area. Totally not at risk of something crazy attacking a charged lightning rod and sending the lightning crashing back up into the airplane. Who'd be stupid enough to try that, after all?
Needs 2 Zapfish to be deployed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
- Aoi the Painter: A former security guard and self employed manga artist, Aoi has been recruited into the ranks of the special Inkling Agents as Agent 2. She's armed with a self designed giant paintbrush weapon able to really paint some turf as long as the enemy is at point blank range, and uses compressed air to let her throw the ink off the brush farther when she swings it around. Even if the compressed air capsule has to be replaces every few minutes as it runs out of air, it still gives her a bit of extra range. Aoi is pretty fast on her feet and nimble, if not unreasonably so. Lastly, her glowing facepaint makes her look extra fresh.
The Revision Phase of Spring, Year 3 has begun.
Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
Inkantry Revision: Bravely Inkantry
A revamp of the training program to outperform the solo-ist Octoling Agents, Commander Cauldro is once more seeking to improve the instructors knowledge. Better programs to train new Inkantry and Old beyond their previous abilities. Go Beyond Limits, Bravely Inkantry.
Commander Cauldo, when he's not busy, likes to train others at the Military Inkline Camp.. He and his Squad run a week-long training exercise to make our Inkantry faster over land and in ink, more accurate, and more able to use the turf to their advantage. And when he's not there, the Instructors themselves pass down his teaching to any Inkantry that wants to take the course.
In theory, this ups our own Base Inkanty to the next level of combat. Being able to hide in trees, swim up walls and ceilings on the fly, Dipping into friendly ink to doge an attack and then counter, and generally being faster and better shooting in skirmishes, even if they are still stuck using a bamboozler. Of course, there are rumors that a new version of this weapon will be coming next season.
One more thing that should come of this is better group tactics, something our Inkantry are already known for. Hopefully it will also trickle down to the rest of our specialists.
Special: Rain of Ink
You know that whole healing in a can that proved rather ineffective? This goes the opposite way, creating a deadly cloud of ink up in the sky. Ink coalesces in this cloud, then rains down on the area, dealing great damage to foes within it's area of effect. It also inks the ground as it passes too. The Cloud will head forward from the direction it's fired, and can be considered a mid to short range Special. At the least, it makes fighting us up close a dangerous prospect.
One additional thing I'd like to add is that it can simply be deployed on the ground, which will still damage everything in it. Such a thing doesn't actually move anywhere though, so that's more a point blank deployment for wanting an enemy splatted.
Sub-Weapon: Toxic Mist
Based upon the spray and aerosol, this type of sub-weapon does away with cover, to instead create an area of highly charged ink energy in the form of Ink Vapor. Enemies who breath this in will shortly splat from the inside out. It doesn't spread that far from it's deploy point though. But that's okay, since it doesn't matter what size you are. The Bigger you are, the more area it can target.
Bravely Inkantry: (1) TricMagic
Rain of Ink: ()
Toxic Mist: ()
Revision : Inkternal Combustion Engine (Very Hard)
1+1-2 = 0: Utter failure
In theory, there's nothing preventing the Inkternal Combustion Engine from becoming a success. The science theoretically checks out, as does the math, and the engineers are interested in trying to bring the design to life. In theory, nothing should have gone wrong.
In theory.
Incidentally, there's a giant flaming crater where Lab 13 used to be and the season's budget is going to be used up replacing it, and definitely wasn't wasted trying to make bumper cars with the first prototypes that then caught on fire when the prototype engines backfires which caught the lab on fire which made all the other prototypes explode leaving a giant flaming crater where the lab used to be.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Bamboozler Quickcharge Cartridges : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a socket for a pre-filled and pressurized cartridge of ink. A simple lever allows the user to switch between normal firing mode and using the cartridge to fire an instant and fully charged shot, if one at only around 85% the range and power of a normal charged shot. Takes a little bit to unscrew the old cartridge and then screw another one in, limiting their ability to be used more then once in an exchange.
- Spiral Barrel Refit : A modification of the Bamboozler that adds a new barrel as well as an air compression tank, thusly resulting in enhanced firing range, shot damage, and ink efficiency. While improved noticeably over the original model, this is still inferior to the second generation Bamboozler the Octolings have in production, among other things being around 15% shorter ranged then the enemy model. Produced in enough numbers to allow for mass deployment by way of hiring some Urchins to do the needed carving of Super Sea Snail shell.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Inkerial Blotter : An ink shell launching gun powered by super sea snail homeopathy and applied anti-logic. It fires blobs of ink that burst upon contact with a target, splattering a small area around said target with ink. It is hampered by its relatively short range, but uses a triple firing chamber array to permit an acceptable rate of fire. It's ink shells are also fired in an arc, instead of having a straight trajectory like other inkarms, permitting a limited amount of indirect fire. The recent addition of a proper pressurization chamber has both increased the AOE of the shells to a more average radius, and also has somewhat increased the range of fire to 'below average'. Also has snazzy new stone triggers.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails. ⑨-Scope : A powerful charger that uses eight Quickcharge Cartridges arranged around the primary compression chamber to achieve the forces needed for long ranged fire. The necessity to replace all the Cartridges between shots as well as re-compress the ink in the primary chamber ensure the ⑨-Scope has an absurdly low firing speed as well as a ferocious amount of recoil when fired. On the other hand, with a normal compression chamber and eight cartridges powering the shot, at least it hits hard. Also, the designers ran out of time and never got around to designing a scope for the gun, hindering its accuracy at its maximum range.
Very Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails, Complex.- 3D-Scope : A powerful charger that uses three secondary compression chambers around the primary chamber to power its shots. Using all three of the secondary chambers requires more charging time then using fewer of them for a weaker shot, but only when all chambers are used does the 3D-Scope gain its true power and range. Comes with a simple scope for accurate fire out into the long range bracket, but uses up lots and lots of ink when being fired out to its full range and power. Unlike the ⑨-Scope, using it will no longer cover your entire shoulder and or arms in bruises from the recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 4 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Rapid Shooter : A short ranged triple chambered gun, the Rapid Shooter is the first proper Shooter to be put into production in the Great Turf War. It's short ranged and has minor accuracy issues at the edge of its range, but it is also light, handy, and can recharge its compression chamber on the go. As such, as long as one doesn't literally hold the trigger down until the compression chamber is empty, it can maintain a continual stream of fire no other gun in the turf war can yet match.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Inkdisc-A Bomb/Mine : A disk shaped plastic casing for ink filled balloons that can be used as a thrown projectile detonated upon impact with a needle of hardened ink, or with the flip of a lever the needle may remain unused to allow for the deployment of the Inkdisc as a sort of non-stealthy mine. While limited in range, despite and because of its frisbee like shape, by the muscle power and throwing ability of its user one good direct hit within its range can splat the average target. Takes a few seconds to inflate though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - "Big Smoke" Smoke Bomb : A shell shaped throwing weapon that emits aerosolized ink from three separate ports, providing concealment, soothing friendly Inkantry, and serving as a low level ablative defense verses enemy shots. Enemies moving through a cloud will feel like they're moving through a cloud of itching powder, and the cloud is pretty effective at blocking line of sight. Of course, like other smoke weapons, that includes friendly line of sight...
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails. - Ink-Missile : A weapon based equally off the Inkdisc and the Big Air Ink Bomb, the Ink-Missile is a plastic disk with an almost frictionless bottom, allowing it to be sent skating into enemy lines where an ink signature detecting sensor causes it to explode as soon as it gets close enough to an enemy. Or sufficiently inked enemy turf, for that matter. It also has a motion sensor to cause it to explode when it finally comes to a halt if it manages to find no targets at all during its long skid. Has a somewhat smaller explosion radius then the Inkdisc due to the space taken up by the sensors and special bottom.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snails. - Pocket Spray : A spraycan shaped container of pressurized aerosolized glowing ink. When sprayed on a fellow Inkling it can rapidly heal them, just as fast as taking a bath in friendly ink, as well as being useable to spray into the air to make walls of smoke, thrown as an improvised smoke bomb, or sprayed directly on surfaces to ink territory directly, hopefully in snazzy glowing patterns. A well designed and easy to use product marred only by the fact that its intended users see very little reason to actually use it.
Expensive - Cost : 2 Plastic, 3 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Vortex Armor : A defensive special that generates a vortex of ink around the user. Its immense energy expenses prevent it from lasting beyond four to six seconds, with its time falling to half of that while being heavily used. While the vortex lasts it will cover anything nearby in friendly ink, turf or foe, as well as intercept enemy shots with its own ink. Its defensive coverage isn't perfect though, and well aimed, sufficiently lucky, or singularly powerful enough shots can penetrate its defensive shroud.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail - Big Air Ink Bomb : A special that allows the user to fire a glowing artillery shot of ink up into the sky, to then fall back down and land on an unfortunate Octoling's head. Has some minor issues aiming, but has decent range, enough damage to splat basically anyone directly hit, good splash radius, and leaves a five second cloud of aerosolized ink floating around the impact site. Was immediately co-opted by tactical officers for use as a signal flare. It's simplicity allows it to be charged faster then normal for a special.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
Ability- Ace Swimmer Shirt : A specially designed shirt that offers minimal interference with surrounding ink as the Inkling swims, allowing for greater top swimming speed as well as less surface disturbance while swimming. The slickness of the shirt is sufficient to allow some enemy ink to 'slide off' in the moments after it impacts, though it does not actually decrease the original impact. It also makes the Inklings wearing it feel somewhat more Fresh, and is cheap and easy to put through the laundry.
Cheap - Cost 1 Plastic, 1 Super Sea Snail
Personnel- Inkantry : Brave Inklings, run through basic training and drilled repeatedly in weapon use and other skills needed on the modern battlefield. The Inkantry not only know how to use a gun, but also hold a basic understanding of the concepts of planning, crossfires, flanking maneuvers, and actually communicating with each other, and have superior running and swimming speed from all those athletic drills. They're still fairly basic soldiers, but they actually are soldiers now.
- Markslings: Inklings whom have powered through the frequent and blatant distractions and misuse of the Firink Field to maximize their accuracy, snapshot skills, and ability to assess cover to as high as the Firink Field could take them. While few are dedicated enough to become known as a Marksling, those whom are are rightfully known for their skills.
Uncommon Specialist. - Inkrunners: Inklings trained in Camp Booyah for speed, agility, and the arcane art of the Dodge Roll. Not actually better in direct combat then a normal Inkantry, but harder to hit and able to get to the fight, or any other location of interest, faster then a normal Inkantry. They need to use a light and easy to use weapon to be able to properly employ their skills however, preventing them from using most of the current armory. As only the best trainees can achieve this title, they are somewhat Uncommon.
Cultural Artifacts- The Inkspire : A vast and continual open air market and cultural festival without end that has grown around Inkopolis Tower, better known as the Inkspire in those times. While of little direct military use, it's presence as a sign of what all Inklings fought for had noticeable effects on their overall morale. And besides, I found the cutest pair of booties there last time I went! Must visit again soon. And this time, I'll avoid drinking that homemade fire-water.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Super Sea Snail Filters: The heavy valves that controlled ink flow in the Mark 1 Ink Tank have been replaced with a system of Super Sea Snail derived filters, which control the flow of ink without any jams or needed maintenance. The decreased size of the filters, in comparison to the original valve system, allows the non-tank part of the Ink Tank to decrease to taking up only around 15% of its mass instead of 25%. This does, however, mean that the Ink Tank now needs Super Sea Snails for construction.
+1 Super Sea Snails (Cheap)
- Military Inkline Camp : A camp that teaches a two month course on the basics of military skills, with plenty of athletic and accuracy drills, as well as a new standardized basic training program to teach students how to be proper soldiers whom actually have basic military skills. Doesn't stand out as being awesome, but grants all students whom are put through its training a solid foundation for their new roll as Inkantry.
- Firink Range : An expanded weapons testing and training field with automatic targets that do things such as move and shoot back, as well as a multitude of different firing positions to practice from. For some reason the Inkantry have taken to using the place as a tournament ground, hindering attempts to train within it. Still, for those whom persist and fail to be distracted by the team verses team playfights, a noticeable level of skill can emerge. Markslings may not be common, but they have learned the lessons of the Firink Range well and full-heartedly.
- Camp Booyah : An alternate training area, Camp Booyah is an obstacle course that specializes in training Inkrunners instead of long ranged combatants. Unlike earlier obstacle courses it is far less likely to traumatize and splat it's victim-, er, trainees. On the other tentacle, it also produces far less lawsuits.
- Spike Covered Crevasses : It turns out that these are illegal to drop Inklings into, and do not in fact make good obstacle courses.
Superweapons- Thunderbird Lightning Plane: A giant plastic airplane with four propellers, two wing mounted zapfish, a dump bay for air deployed Inkantry or masses of Inkdisks, and a lightning rod cannon on the nose. Accumulates lightning from the wing tips and the propellers and then fires lightning rods down to guide said lightning down and fry everything in an area. Totally not at risk of something crazy attacking a charged lightning rod and sending the lightning crashing back up into the airplane. Who'd be stupid enough to try that, after all?
Needs 2 Zapfish to be deployed.
Heroes- Commander Cauldo : A former instructor of the Inkantry Brevetted to Commander and deployed to battle. Armed with a refined Inkerial Blotter using lighter materials and a five-firing chamber arrangement for greater firing speed and usability, as well as experimental ink energy batteries that are no longer mildly explosive when things go wrong. Commander Cauldo is known for his tactical skill and ability at small scale unit command, skills which seem to come from his days as an instructor, and unlike most heroes works closely with an attached squad of Inkantry. His presence is inspiring to said squad and any other Inklings around, and he can use his reputation to get other squads to listen to him, increasing local coordination.
- Aoi the Painter: A former security guard and self employed manga artist, Aoi has been recruited into the ranks of the special Inkling Agents as Agent 2. She's armed with a self designed giant paintbrush weapon able to really paint some turf as long as the enemy is at point blank range, and uses compressed air to let her throw the ink off the brush farther when she swings it around. Even if the compressed air capsule has to be replaces every few minutes as it runs out of air, it still gives her a bit of extra range. Aoi is pretty fast on her feet and nimble, if not unreasonably so. Lastly, her glowing facepaint makes her look extra fresh.
The Deployment Phase of Spring, Year 3 has begun.
D-Splatling Light
Made with the idea that lighter is better. It packs a compressor and one ink container. Ink from the Inktank flows into it, and is compressed. Hold the trigger, and the ink floods through a tube into a central chamber, which then flows through an SSS Filter into the diverging barrel assembly as they spin. The addition of a small fan powers the spin of the Splatling as the ink flows into the central chamber, allowing many shots to be fired rapidly down range.
One thing to talk about is that the central chamber and barrels have proper Spiral Shell Geometry to increase the force of the ink as it spins down, increasing the max range and power per shot that flows through. Which is a lot given it's a lot of ink leaving under high pressure.
It takes a while to fill back up from the main Ink Tank Inklings use. But it has the advantage of being able to come into a fight ready to fire. And it will stop firing once the button is let up, so thanks to the compressor working both ways, it can keep going over time so long as the Inkling Ink Tank can fuel it. Though one weakness is likely that once an Inkling runs out of ink in both the weapon tank and their tank, it's going to take quite a while to use it again, so make sure to carry a good sub-weapon for backup.
(https://cdn.wikimg.net/en/splatoonwiki/images/2/2e/JPTMiniSplatling.png)
Option number two.
Commanding Academy Ultima Line Destruction Railroading Operations Instruction : (0)
‘Inkcoms’ Radio Operator training program : (1) testmen
Dazzle Camouflage : (1) testmen
Shellbeat Sonic Headphones : (0)
Mk1 Skywriter : (0)
Mk1 Skywriter- Compress Shooter Version : (0)
Mk1 Machink Gun : (1) testmen
Inktank : (0)
Hero: Alona "Miles" Sava: ()
Bamboozler 2.0: (2) NUKE9.13, TricMagic