Northern States Administration Team Thread (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=182127.msg8506079#msg8506079)
Kingdom of The Southern Star Team Thread (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=182128.msg8506080#msg8506080)
The year is 1912 and humanity stands between order and chaos. Small border clashes between nations around the world threaten to grow into regional and ultimately global conflicts, and this is especially true for The Northern States Administration and Kingdom of the Southern Star. These two nations have nothing but the most extreme levels of contempt for one another, and they have already clashed a number of times throughout history. With global tension at a peak, war is inevitable once again.
The Northern States Administration is a nation run by a council of one hundred elected officials out of their forest-city capital. While they don't deal with every issue within the Administration, they deal with a lot of them. This has resulted in the Administration turning into a bureaucratic nightmare full of subcouncils, and committees, and subcommittees, with overlapping oversight on different treaties, proposals, and agreements across the entire spectrum of anything a nation would have to deal with. With an imminent threat on the southern border, the War Committee has approved of a new council to oversee preparation for and execution of a plan to take the south for good.
Buried within the mountains of the south, the Kingdom of the Southern Star is one of the last absolute monarchies remaining in the world. Society is heavily divided, with the kingdom's lords and generals sitting at the top and largely dictating the course of the kingdom with little oversight beyond each other. The king has final say in all matters, and has recently flexed his muscle once more in order to pass an edict declaring the formation of a new council to oversee preparation for and execution of a plan to take the north for good.
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Greatest War Arms Race is an Arms Race based in an alternate universe on a planet of humans about to enter their equivalent of our World War I. The setting is a fairly flexible medium science fiction: as long as you can give a reason why something should work (more than "because it can") then it should be possible. If you're not sure about the viability of a proposal, you can always ask and I'll let you know if it's at least within the scope of the game, with a little more advice at the start.
You take the role of either a Administrative Engineer or Royal Engineer responsible for designing the weapons of war for your nation. Neither side has any "starting tech" in terms of the game, as both sides will be responsible for filling out their armories throughout the course of the five turns leading up to total war. Make sure you only read this thread and the thread belonging to your team!
Once the war begins in earnest the team will vote on how to advance, detailed in "Strategy Phase and the Combat Lanes" below.
The first five turns will also have Design and Revision phases that will be different than your standard turn as explained below, though the details to the changes will be posted in the individual thread as the turns go by. Turns are the equivalent of three months in game time, and are represented by the four seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter). Below are the rules for the game!
The first phase of every turn is the "Design" phase. This is where you introduce new ideas and creations. Results of a design are based off of 2d6, with rolls of 6, 7, and 8 being equivalent. Design results are also modified by difficulty. Generally the results of a Normal Design scale as below:
Utter Failure (2): Nothing is gained but the knowledge of how not to do it next time.
Buggy Mess (3): The design functions, just not too well at all. At least some experience is gained.
Poor (4): The design can be used without being a threat to anyone handling it. Still, it is far from reliable.
Below Average (5): It works, but there is clear room for improvement.
Average (6,7,8): The design functions as intended.
Above Average (9): The design works, and something about it works out better than expected.
Superior (10): It works much better than intended, and a lot is learned in related fields of research.
Masterwork (11): This is the perfect design.
Unexpected Boon (12): Development of this design goes so well that some sort of extra benefit is provided to the side building it.
The difficulty of the design modifies the roll by +4 (Simple), +3 (Trivial), +2 (Very Easy), +1 (Easy), 0 (Normal), -1 (Hard), -2 (Very Hard), -3 (Theoretical), -4 (Ludicrous), or -x (Impossible). Difficulty is based off of the ambition of the design as well as how experienced you are with similar concepts. Impossible designs will always fail, but they may still result in some sort of progress on a higher roll.
Each player is allowed to vote for one proposed design per phase, with the design with the largest number of votes being rolled for. In the event of an unbreakable deadlock a coin will be flipped or proper-sided die rolled depending on the number of ties in order to randomly select an option. This will only happen as a last resort, and it is preferred that players attempt to persuade one another instead.
The second phase is the "Revision" phase. Revisions use the same 2d6 and rules as designs, but are restricted to altering preexisting designs. Results on either end of the spectrum of rolls are also generally less extreme. As with Designs, each player has one vote for their favored Revision, with the most popular Revision being rolled for. The same rule for ties also applies.
NOTE ON TECH LEVEL
While the game starts generally near the beginning of the first world war, do not feel afraid to branch out and try something different. Your success is determined by dice, not history. That's comforting, right?
Every proposal is given an Expense Level upon creation. This takes into account material cost and rarity, complexity, and usability of the design in order to determine what level of availability the equipment gets. Expense Levels are as follows:
Cheap: The design is simple and/or is, well, cheap enough to be used wherever desired. Cheap equipment will often define the backbone of the armed forces.
Expensive: An Expensive design will be seen regularly on the battlefield, but will not be as ubiquitous as a Cheap design.
Very Expensive: Very Expensive designs rarely see use on the battlefield, as the military can only afford relatively small numbers of this equipment.
National Effort: A unique design that can be manually deployed to a front during each Strategy Phase. There is no cap to the number of National Efforts you can deploy.
Cheaper is not always better. Rule of Cool is king, and more creative proposals might be more expensive but could have greater impact than cheaper gear. That said, there may also be times when you get a National Effort because it's terrible and only one madman is willing to use it. Rarity is not necessarily an expression of efficacy.
During your typical Strategy Phase your teams will choose which two of the three fronts to attempt to advance along. If any National Efforts have been developed, this will also be when the team chooses where to deploy them. Decisions not directly related to designs or revisions will also be determined during this phase.
The island is divided into three Combat Lanes: Western, Central, and Eastern. Fronts will only advance along their lane, so you won't see an attack into the Center from the West. The three lanes are fairly identical, split largely in order to improve organization. Each lane is divided into six sections, with both teams separated by a a thin strip of unoccupied No Man's Land.
The Northern States Administration and Kingdom of The Southern Star cap off each end of the island with their capital cities. Two successful attacks on the capital will be required to capitulate the enemy.
Immediately to the south and north of their respective capitals are the Administrative Forest and Southern Star Mountains. These environments provide a natural barrier to deter enemy forces, but are likewise relatively difficult to maintain a presence in for defenders. These regions require two successful attacks to break through.
The Northern Plain and Southern Plain are decorated with the tell-tale signs of militarization, with dense trenchworks and busy roads being utilized by countless numbers of military personnel. These regions require three successful attacks in order to penetrate the robust defenses.
No Man's Land is a narrow strip of land only a few hundred meters across acting to separate the massing military mights of the North and South. Control of No Man's Land will be determined by the final Preliminary Combat Phase, although it is possible it will remain neutral.
(https://i.imgur.com/Tz8jnYw.png)
Unlike the standard turns, the Preliminary Turns will provide you with a request to fulfill. While your Design Phase will be dictated by this request, the Revision Phases will still be open. If you want spoilers, you will have the following requests:
Standard Infantry Rifle (Bolt-Action or Semiauto)
Support Weapon (Machine Gun or Mortar)
Defensive/Support Equipment (Barbed Wire, Mines, Radios, etc.)
Indirect Fire Support
Open Action
The Preliminary Strategy Phases will outline the initial fighting for No-Man's Land, but will not determine control until the end of the Preliminary Turns.
During these Preliminary turns both sides will share rolls. This should help balance the initial loadout, with minor variation based on proposal Difficulties.
I'm putting this in a spoiler for emphasis, but the game will not be including naval action. This should keep things a little more focused (and keep me from having to study ships :]). Once more, you do not need to worry about ships, amphibious invasions, or the kraken.
Combat phases will be written out and posted in this thread by me. You just read 'em. Filler text.
Have fun.
Don't be a butt.
Rule of Cool is King.
See above.
Do not allow a human being to come to harm.
Obey orders given by humans unless they conflict with the above rule.
Protect your own existence so long as it doesn't conflict with the above two rules.
Greatest War Combat Report, Spring 1912
A cold winter broke into a mild spring as the armies of The Kingdom of the Southern Star and The Northern States Administration massed more and more forces along their respective borders with the demilitarized zone separating them. Grasses up to waist-height obscured vision from the ground, although some hills, the occasional tree, and a comrade's shoulders gave each side the ability to observe their opponent in action. Most of the soldiers lived in tents in the distance behind their dugouts and the occasional log wall. While certainly one of the most volatile borders in the world, defenses had been practically nonexistent until continental unrest gave both nations an excuse to raise more than just a scattered border guard. And besides, everyone knew The Kingdom was biding it's time while The Administration was busy debating and discussing the terms and precise wording for their declaration of war against the South.
Originally introduced in August 1909 in the 24th Meeting of the Board of Labor and Employment, the Workers Against Regents Act was pushed forward which listed grievances laborers had with what little interaction they had with Southern workers and materials. As the conveniently named WAR Act made its way through every committee possible it was altered further with additional grievances until a tome as tall as a man was dropped before The King in December 1911. For the next three months The King crafted a response addressing each grievance, turning this book of grudges into what many in the future would cite as the inspiration for all future diss tracks.
Private Wojtek had climbed into a tree overnight for his shift on watch the next morning. It was one of the tallest trees on the Southern line's West Flank and only a dozen meters from the line, making it a large target but also a convenient natural observation point. This wasn't Wojtek's first time up The Tree, not even his first this week, but something about it felt different to him. The armorer and a Major he'd never seen handed him his freshly tuned Gryf's Szybki Rifle, his standard allotment of ammunition, and a marked magazine to use in the event that war finally broke out. This Pęknięcie Ammunition was experimental, and based on his test scores and evaluations Wojtek was chosen to test it in the field.
So when the sun started to rise, Wojtek was only mildly surprised to see shadows being cast across the dozen or so trails of crushed grass snaking across the demilitarized zone. He had to move some leaves out of his way to get a better view, managing to spot the Administration soldiers and call out in alarm just as they launched the sneak attack everyone saw coming years in advance. A couple Administration soldiers rolled into Southern dugouts wielding their rifles doubling as spears, the NSA-SR-12-3-5, ADM Index: 5N1 "Bunaiteach". Wojtek watched in horror as one of his countrymen was disemboweled before he could shoulder his weapon. Shouts, whistles, and gunfire erupted just in time to drown out the pained screams of the recently maimed, signalling to the Administration soldiers still in the grass that their best bet was to turn around and keep concealed in the grass. As quickly as the raid had started, the Administration sought to disengage, but Wojtek wasn't going to allow it. Gunfire going both ways passed beneath Wojtek's tree as he lined up his sight with the back of an Administration soldier trying to crawl back through the grass. The round struck the man in the leg and blew it off at the knee. Two more were doing a hunched run to put distance between them and the Kingdom line. Wojtek missed his first shot, blowing up soil behind his feet before another Southern soldier managed to put him down. Wojtek's next shot at the other fleeing soldier struck the base of his neck, popping his skull like a cork and sending it flying forward while the body dropped the moment it got it.
Wojtek would have vomited if he hadn't managed to take a round to the chest at that exact moment. He felt a lot of pain in his ribs as he hit every branch of the tree on the way down. It turned out that the North was also deploying soldiers with the NSA-LR-12-4-2, ADM Index: 5N2 "Banchéile". Soldiers armed with this rifle proved immediately highly effective at hitting what little they could see through the fields hiding behind cover or in a hole hundreds of meters away.
Over the next few weeks as tensions rose and the occasional exchange of gunfire rang out, Administrative rifles proved to be quite effective overall. It was clear where most melee engagements would fall, but another daring raid had yet to materialize after the first failed. Instead, the superior accuracy, power, and range of the Administration's weapons made up for a lower rate of fire as casualties ticked up more steadily for the Kingdom during these opening skirmishes. While the exploding bullets the South showed off were terrifying for anyone who heard about them, the rumors of their existence did more than the single magazine ever could. This first exchange seems to favor the Administration, but both sides have decided hold back from committing any further until they build up their forces some more.
In other news around the world, there was a failed expedition to one of the poles, a large ship carrying many people sank, and a pioneer of aviation passed away.
It is now the Design Phase. Return to your respective threads and continue your shenanigans there. Unless you want to talk some shit, that goes here.
TURNTURNTURN