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Spring, 1896, Design Phase.
Corbiniano Ugolini Recruit Training Command of Maritime Excellence (2 die spent. 0 rushed)

1+3+7=11

Work on the Corbiniano Ugolini Recruit Training Command hit a snag. Or rather a ship hit it. Not the actual facility, but the port facility. While progress was going well, An accident with a munitions ship has lead to a disaster in the port, and caused significant damage and a number of fires that ruined a good portion of the port facility. While an investigation is ongoing as to the cause of this, sabotage naturally not ruled out, this has resulted in a sizable amount of extra work that needs to be done, or rather redone. This damage has been repaired for the most part but it has caused a delay in the opening of the university. Though it is expected to still open by the start of next year barring a budget cut or another delay.

Wireless Telegraphy Research Grant (4 die spent. 0 rushed.)

4+1+1+5+14=25

Greater understanding of amplitude modulation and the various methods of ensuring that a signal is properly sent and received has resulted in a far more intensive study of electronics. In fact, a sizable amount of work was done by a important researcher named Alberico Prinzi, and he was quite close to reaching a breakthrough when he found he had tuberculosis. While he has continued his work, he has been distracted and plagued by his ailing health and is spending far more time focusing on his family and friends, especially as the tuberculin he has been taking hasn't been as effective in helping as he hoped. Still, he is likely to finish his work before he perishes, and even if he did fail in finishing his work, there are many other electrical engineers in our employ who can finish for him.

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Revision phase will be skipped due to lack of dice. Feel free to discuss strategy and buy plans.

Spring, 1896, Design Phase.

The war situation is stable, and still arguably in our favor despite one of our holds in the eastern front falling and driven into the sea. The status on the center island is mostly stable, even should we lose the town of Riosca. However, some in politics wish for things to speed up and a clear win on land to be made. As such, the army can focus on a particular front of the war and the majority of new soldiers, equipment and what not will go there, at the cost of weakening the other fronts. This is something that can't just be undone in the span of a season, and as such this focus will last for the rest of the next year, should one be given. But, ideally doing so and ensuring our gains will properly put some certain government officials at ease. Of course, this focus will result in transport ships that need to be escorted...

In other news the Ahenobarbus is ahead of schedule, much to our shipbuilders satisfaction. Additionally, we have been granted 4 more PP worth of funding.

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It is now the Design phase of spring, 1896. You have 6 dice remaining.

Winter, 1896.

The war and the issues it brings to both nations has continued. Yet, there is a growing frustration on both sides among the generals, admirals, politicians and a extensive minority of observant and skeptical civilians. Headlines reporting the same victories on the ground over the same cities. A feeling of little to no progress having been made. The victories from last season have given some hope that the war might start turning in the favor of one side or the other, but in general there is a small fringe minority who are starting to feel as if this war is just going to go back and forth with no meaningful progress forever, including those in charge of the armed forces, feeling as if greater commitment is needed. That aside, the past few months simply have had little effect on either side as both retain their secrets and simply continue creating more ships, guns, and ammo for the war.

The Western portion of the Ocantroval Archipelago

Once more Magna ships sail in the west, yet this time there are no Veenlandic adversaries to face against them. This leads to a classic situation the island has met before. Convoys raided and bombardments from beyond the shore. Of course, this has resulted in the balance of power on the island to shift once more, as a landing behind enemy lines causes some problems for the Veenlandic forces up ahead, though this landing is moderately cautions, well escorted and simply aiming to retake the Magna portion of the island first rather than go deep behind enemy lines. Still, while Veenland forces fight hard they are once more pushed back and fighting once again erupts in the ruined town of Zamoviedo. And while the Army of Magna is still poorer than that of the Workers own forces which are quite dug in at this stage much like their northern counterparts in Catalejos, the gap in quality was reduced significantly over the past year and a half. And with marine forces support, their is a good chance the Veenlandic forces will be forced back swiftly and potentially put further on the defensive in the coming months. Perhaps the Magna forces can for once truly be on the offensive here soon.


The Central portion of the Ocantroval Archipelago

Unlike the past few seasons, there is no Magna presence in the center of the archipegalo for once. Likewise, there are actual forces of the Workers navy in these waters, ensuring that cargo reaches it's ports and providing bombardment support. Naturally, this break from the constant harassment from the Magna navy is what is needed to reverse some of the gains that the Magna forces had made, driving them off from Kerkenduin. While Maartensbosch still firmly remains under the control of Magna Mongadizafra, the Workers army has attempted to shorten the front line and moved to strike at Riosca. While the town is still under the control of Magna, the Veenlandic forces are on the outskirts of the town and are likely to push in provided nothing changes. Though given the fact that solid amounts of supply is reaching the Veenlandic forces now, even if they are halted, they'll be able to pull in much needed replacement guns for their artillery to make things more annoying for at least a short while.


The Eastern portion of the Ocantroval Archipelago

With the waves around the eastern portion of Ocantroval, the faltering hold on Echtwaar by the Magna Marines and what limited army personnel were brought to the island find themselves driven to attempt to go to ground and try and beat the Veenlanders in their own game, surrender, or are killed in a valiant last stand. Most of the former end up as the latter. Slightly further west, the Magna forces at Drachtvoort are able to simply dig in and make probing attacks while their adversary in Maarsum does the same. While some proper offensives happen here, little actually happens, with the Veenlandic forces unable to force the Magna Marines out and vise versa. Though, given the situation wasn't collapsing for either side this is to be expected given the Magna's Marines were the bulk of the forces from Magna on both islands, essentially removing the one weakness Magna has. Still, chances are things will tip one way or another very soon given the nature of the war on the sea.


The world outside of the Evandron Archipelago
The Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi applies for the first ever patent for a system of wireless telegraphy in the United Kingdom. Henry Ford takes his Quadricycle through streets of Detroit. A Tsunami strikes a Shinto festival on beach at Sanriku killing 27 thousand and wounding 9 thousand more. Wilfrid Laurier is sworn in as 1st French speaking Prime Minister of Canada. Gold is discovered in the Klondike by George Carmack. And Britain defeats Zanzibar in a 38-minute war.

(Faction updates will be posted later.)

Winter, 1896, Revision & Refit Phase.

Revision phase Skipped

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It is now the Production&Strategy phase of Winter, 1896. You have 29 PP remaining should you pay for all maintenance and construction costs.

Winter, 1896, Design Phase.

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Magnus Invictus-class Battleship
Based on the design of the Pompey Magnus-class battleships, the Magnus Invictus-class takes the original design and hangs it out to dry a bit too long. It's a lengthened version of the Pompey Magnus which moves at 21 knots instead of 18. While we have retained the two twin 12" turrets this design has removed the 3" turrets entirely and replaces the 5" open-mount armament with 6 twin shielded 5" gun mounts as found on the Lepidus-class, with one superfiring over the aft turret and one superfiring over the fore turret, the other four in pairs next to the fore and aft superfiring turrets, where their lack of huge magazine spaces directly under the turrets means they won't interfere with the machinery underneath them. This does limit end-on fire but that is an acceptable compromise for keeping the beam shorter.

The ship retains the modernized Pompey Magnus class's armor scheme in its entirety, using many of the exact same plates as the original (such as the turrets, which are completely identical to the original battleship's) and the rest made to the same thicknesses and with the same machining and tempering. It also retains components as the masts, bridge layout and superstructure, and the structure of the magazines underneath each gun turret, amongst a great many other similarities. As before, the main structural elements of the ship are the tougher Composizione B alloy, as is the bridge tower and the masts.

The hull is lengthened to give the ship a finer width-to-beam ratio and extra space to install additional machinery to propel the ship faster. We've used our experience with making and working up over a dozen battleships of the predecessor class to refine the entire ship, from internal layout to turret mechanisms to machinery. This has saved weight in every section and component of the ship. It isn't revolutionary, but rather evolutionary.

The machinery is similarly evolved with a thousand incremental improvements across the entire powerplant, providing some more power on less weight and in a smaller footprint. More importantly, the added length of the ship gives more space for the addition of more of the newly improved machinery, adding the power needed to push the ship's speed up by three knots.

The only revolutionary component of this design, and indeed the only part not derivative of our older work, is the new torpedo defense system. It is well-known that torpedoes are not bothered much by hull plating or thin armor, nor is it reasonable to armor the ship from the waterline down to the keel, so instead we're going to let empty space do our work for us. Well, not empty space, it's actually still full of air. By adding bulges to the sides of the ship we can prevent torpedo hits from breaching the ship's citadel. These extend from below the main armor belt to the bottom of the ship and extend from just ahead of the forwards citadel bulkhead to just aft of the aft citadel bulkhead. These bulges are full of air and are constructed just heavily enough to set off a torpedo. The air layer forms a void in which the explosion can be dissipated. These are tested against mock torpedoes of the estimated size of the enemy's torpedo warheads, to ensure that they are as thin as possible while still performing the designed function.

As previously, weight is kept below the new 12.5k ton limit we now enjoy.

Effectiveness: 2 | Cost: 6 | Bugs: 5 | Time: 4+1

The Magnus Invictus Class Battleship is, in whole, quite similar to the old Pompey Magnus. In fact, one could argue that it is a larger, more streamlined version of the Pompey Magnus. It has improved machinery utilizing improvements and greater engine space to provide better speed. This has come at a cost, namely that of the crew quarters which are quite cramped, and the extensive machinery while simple to assemble, is hard to keep in perfect condition and even minor damage to the engine will result in a noticeable reduction of power. Further, the engines are a sizable target and, if any shell gets past the coal bunkers and the main belt, it will likely be ripping into the machinery spaces. Other than this, the double turreted secondary's are somewhat slower than what single mounts would be, and slower to reload due to more difficult access to munitions to reload. Finally, the ship is slightly overweight. Despite this, other than the engine when pushed, everything works as it should, and given the cost of the ship thanks to streamlining, it's more or less a straight upgrade of our existing ships, all be it taking a bit longer to make.

Costs 7/2, 7 season construction time.


Corbiniano Ugolini Recruit Training Command of Maritime Excellence (2 die spent. 0 rushed)

3+1+3=7

Work on the Corbiniano Ugolini Recruit Tracom of maritime excelence's main building and the surrounding facilities have progressed smoothly. The main portion of further work is mostly the gathering of the supplies needed for the training, the proper personnel, organization of courses and setting up a proper barracks for the sailors and officers who will be attending. Other than the construction of the barracks and initial organization, the only thing that needs to be worked on is the extension to the military port nearby the training center. The extension of the docks is the thing likely to take the most amount of time, but after everything else should fall into place nicely and swiftly.

Wireless Telegraphy Research Grant (2 die spent. 0 rushed.)

2+6+6=14

Further work on the wireless telegraph has taught us quite a bit about the knowledge of broadbands, radio waves, and the nature of receivers. Along with the nature of amplitude modulation. In essence, a signal with information is mixed with a carrier signal in a way that causes the amplitude of the carrier to vary at the frequency of the information signal. While this sounds fairly complex, and it is not understood too well yet by our researchers, it is a very solid step, and testing with these frequencies so far has gotten some results in lab environments. Though, issues persist with attempts to get communications to actually be picked up by range, and simply increasing the modulation isn't working... Still, extensive progress has been done thus far. 

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Revision phase will be skipped due to lack of dice. Feel free to discuss strategy and buy plans.

Winter, 1896, Design Phase.

While our plans in the west have been disrupted, we gave the enemy a bloody nose both there and in the east! Further, due to halting the capitalists plan in the east, we are starting to regain the land they have unjustly taken from us. Yet the center is still held shakily. Further, it should be mentioned that once again the northern aggressors have falsely claimed the Lourens van Vilet as sunk. And further have mistakenly claimed the Gustaaf ten Donkelaar and Onderneming.

(5) Lastly, our spies have reported that the enemy ships displacement seems to be at least 4 thousand tons, give or take a thousand roughly, and is capable of over 24 knots. Though finer details have been impossible to get despite infiltration into one of the enemies shipyards. 

The Unions have granted an additional 4 PP to the Workers Navy. Productivity leads to progress!

(Noticed that the A class didn't progress last autumn despite the fact it should have and they didn't get delayed, so fixed that.)

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It is now the Design phase of Winter, 1896. You have 6 dice remaining.

Autumn, 1896.

As the war continues, many people on the islands near or where the fighting is have gotten used to the issues of supply, the noise, and in some cases the enemy occupying the land or even direct fighting. A sizable number have left for safer islands, but many have taken their chances, what with the fear that the ship they get on will simply get caught up in the war. Still, it has certainly given a good deal of information to both nations as to their capabilities in fighting and how far they can push production to the war effort. War weariness isn't much of an issue yet, as patriotic and/or ideological fervor is still high, but it's starting to falter as the realities of war start hitting the soldiers of Magna and the production quota's rise higher for Veenlandic workers. Both nations economies are just starting to have issues with maintaining a war footing for a while along with the obvious disruptions the war has taken. However chances are unless something major happens the war will continue for years. But this isn't an issue to either side so far...

The Western portion of the Ocantroval Archipelago

In the west, things go as they usually do, with a number of raiding ships from Magna Mongadizafra causing problems for the ships supplying the forces of Veenland. And it seemed like it wouldn't be much different from before. for a week...Then a sizable Veenlandic force arrived and temporarily caused issues for the leader of the raiders, Eginardo Marino. Yet, this was fine. The enemy fleet was focused on simply taking the waters near the island and they could have them. All Eginardo cared about was the convoys. At least, that was his mind set for a while. It wasn't until a brief dock to resupply the ships coal stocks did he swiftly realize he needed to do something. For reports of a large convoy of ships passing far byond the area they should to supply the forces on Veenland was reported. And it was escorted by the enemy fleet. Eginardo made the correct assumptiuon that this was a landing fleet, and once he and his small fleet was ready, he tried finding this force and tailing it, luckily able to do so until it started to become sunset, when he made his move, aiming to send ships under the cover of the night to find the convoy, fire the flares, and destroy as many transports as possible before running away. It was the only way his fleet would have a chance, and he knew that it was likely vital that the landing, wherever it was headed, was stopped.

So, Eginardo's force sailed to catch up with the convoy and it's escort, and once a visual was at least partially made, he gave the order to fire the flares, and after open fire properly. The Veenlandic force was caught by surprise, but was quick to respond. And though it took a minute for a few ships to properly find their assailant, it took many more for others in other parts of the convoy. Eginardo focused heavily on the transports and this was something that was to pay off to an extent, as it only took a few good hits to cripple a transport compared to the actually armed and armored escorts. However, it did leave his forces open to fire. Luckily, only part of the convoy engaged, and the Zeerovers weren't that much of a threat, relatively speaking...Well, up until Cassius took a torpedo from one of them. After reigning hell on the convoy for five minutes, something quite bad happened to his force. The Lourens van Vilet, a ship thought sunk by the Magna navy, spotted them and managed to get close in the darkness. And then fired at close range, getting a good few hits with it's main guns on the Labienus while her secondary's fired near constantly and slammed into the various ships of the raiding fleet. Feeling daring, and wanting revenge, Eginardo ordered a final charge from the ships that could and sailed within torpedo range of the larger ship before launching torpedoes at it, and after running away, hit heavily by fire on their exit, yet hearing two loud explosions as they left.

Throughout the night, both sides worked tirelessly to ensure their damaged ships wouldn't sink, though some were bound to go down, yet survivors were able to be picked up, and on both sides no major losses of warship personnel were had. The Veenlandic Marines however took a horrible mauling, and with the convoy so badly damaged with a number of ships sinking and hundreds of casualties from the attack, the landing was called off. After this though, the waters in the west were peaceful, and both sides able to get supplies where they needed to. Though in what would be known as the Second Battle of the Naros Strait, the Workers navy claimed all four of the attacking ships, the Lepidus, Brutus, Labienus, and Cassius, as having sunk. The survivors from the Mongadizafrain Navy meanwhile claim a crippling blow to the marine forces of Veenland along with the Lourens van Vilet as being sunk for real this time




The Central portion of the Ocantroval Archipelago

Just like the last few months, the Magna navy continues to hold uncontested control over the central islands, further starving the Veenlandic forces on the island of supply. And taking advantage of this, the Magna army and the Marines start to make pushes to Kerkenduin. While the workers army holds harshly and causes problems for the majority, the fact that the Magna forces have munitions for their larger guns on the ground while Veenland doesn't. And the proper line of resistance is much harder to hold as any defenses are blasted by Magna artillery with little munitions to give Veenlandic counter battery fire. Even so, the pushes forward are harsh and costly, but they are still pushes forward. And so long as things continue this way, all will be fine for Magna in the center.


The Eastern portion of the Ocantroval Archipelago

The East much like the west once more meets a fleet of Magna ships dedicated to the support of their forces on the ground. This time however, they have brought in their battleships for some real fire support. Very swiftly it becomes apparent however that this will not be some sort of milk run for the forces of Magna, as the Workers Navy is out in force. Both forces also just so happen to have orders to engage the enemy if possible, making a battle all but ensured. However, before one actually occurs, there is quite a lot of back and forth actions on both side to try and draw the enemy out into an advantageous position, at least for a few days before Mattia Cason, commander of the Magna forces, grew tired and ordered a full and proper attack, and in this ensuring the battle would happen in contested waters rather than in one nations waters.

Both sides actually roughly knew what they were getting into, knowing from intelligence reports from shore spotters and civilian shipping at least partially the numbers of ships and of what class. However it was enough for Piet Bisschop to know he had a major heavy firepower advantage and Mattia Cason to know he had a major advantage in light ships. Both knew what the priority target for Veenland's fleet should be, the Speciaal Verdedigingsschip's, yet Piet was mixed as to what to focus on with Magna's forces. As on one hand, their battleships were capable of punching through his capital ships armor. Yet, they were slow, and easily could be dispatched by a few Zeerover's once crippled, unlike the Lepidus class which could outrun even the Zeerover. So, he decided upon an action that would prove to take Mattia by surprise. Before the battle he would give an order to prioritize the destruction of the enemy Lepidus class ships to all ships, with a special addition that for the Speciaal Verdedigingsschip's to have an equal number fire at the enemy battleships while all others aim for the Lepidus class.

Once both sides got close enough to see each other, some maneuvering was attempted by both sides, ultimately resulting in little advantage for either once the guns started firing. Early on, the advantage went to Magna, who's accuracy especially with their battleships was far more accurate than that of the Veenlandic ships, at least compared to the ones aiming for the Zeerover's. The two who were actually aiming for the Magna battleships were roughly equal. Eventually though, combat closed and the Zeerover's superior firepower was able to shine, yet this came at a cost, as the Zeerover's and the secondary's from the SVS's sent a hail of fire to the closing Lepidus ships, though this would prove to be a bit of a surprise to Cason. Despite this however, the Lepidus did well, especially given the extra firepower it had, able to knock out a number of secondary guns and cause a fair bit of super structure damage to the Gustaaf ten Donkelaar and Rogier van Beulingen. Even so, the battle continued to be mostly inconclusive outside of the Bibulus getting extremely unlucky and having two ten inch shells rip through the engine space and put them dead in the water. However, Piet Bisschop believed getting in closer in this situation would be to his advantage, not knowing the enemy had their own torpedoes now. Even so, this proved to be a good move, as the Lucullus was taken by surprise by a torpedo that hit it from a bit over three thousand yards.

However, before she sank, Lucullus and the other three Lepidus class ships in range returned fire with their own torpedoes, aiming for the enemies capital ships. And they certainly scored, with the Gustaaf ten Donkelaar and Reinout van Diermen taking one each and the Rogier van Beulingen taking two in a second pass. However, in order to do this the Lipedus class had to turn, and while they secured their shots, the ships got shot up extensively to do so, before trying to pull back at a decent range. Taking advantage of the enemies weakness and damage, Piet Bisschop ordered the Zeerover class to try and give a run on the enemy battleships which stayed a bit back. Something that would be executed swiftly. Of course, it was an obvious move, and Mattia Cason ordered his escorts to do whatever it took to stop the Zeerovers, but with the damage taken only the Horatius could do much of anything. And despite managing to do a major amount of damage to the Onderneming and forcing her away where she was further pounded by a shell from the Pompey Magnus, the other two were able to get their torpedoes away, and while the Pompey managed to dodge one, she hit another, while the Macrus Antonius got hit in the aft near the screws. Similar to the last major battle, both sides were exhausted, low on ammo, and started to withdraw, yet the Magna ships would get one last bit of revenge as a few lucky shells from the Marcus Antonius struck the Reinout van Diermen and caused extensive damage and caused her to burn extensively, the order to abandon ship given mere minutes before the magazine went off and the ship rolled over and swiftly sunk.

The return to home ports would be further complicated and made worse for both sides as the various ships had to deal with a storm, making matters worse for the badly damaged ships and surely sending a number to the bottom. After the battle of the Bloemblaadje islands, both sides ground forces were undisturbed by the navies, allowing the Veenlandic forces to push further and retake a number of key places in Echtwaar. Though curiously, both sides claimed victory in the naval battle. The Workers navy claims a hard fought and glorious victory for the working class with the Marcus Antonius as having properly been put down to rest at the bottom with the Pompey Magnus herself along with her escorts Clodius, Bibulus, Virgil, and Lucullus. The Mongadizafrain Navy likewise claim victory over the socialists, stating that the Reinout van Diermen, Gustaaf ten Donkelaar and Rogier van Beulingen had sunk, crippling the Veenlandic navy's Speciaal Verdedigingsschip fleet by decapitating it's new additions, along with the Onderneming as a bonus cherry on top.





The world outside of the Evandron Archipelago
The Battle of Adwa occurs in Ethiopia, where a force of 20,000 Italians are defeated harshly with two Italian generals killed and another captured. Henri Becquerel and Marie Curie discover radioactivity. Gold is discovered in Yukon. Samuel Pierpont Langley flies his unpiloted Number 5 aircraft using a catapult launch from a boat on the Potomac River. The aircraft travels almost three quarters of a mile, ten times further than any previous heavier-than-air flying machine. And Nicholas the second is crowned Tzar of Russia.

The four things we need are a transport, Fox.Mil, an upgrade maybe to our hackers, and Arty, though the last one's need is reduced thankfully due to AHAB.