Welcome to Iadren, independent of outside powers since 1949. Which has actually brought about a problem. You see, the Iadrenian Armed Forces are currently armed with a mix of castoffs from the last war, there are semi-hostile nations on three sides, and when Iadren became independent they happened to step on one too many sets of toes.
Thus, there are insufficient arms, too many people to point them at, and no means to acquire more.
This is where you all come in. Three companies have been funded in order to fulfill these needs. These companies are:
Ledrium Manufacturing, a recently privatized manufacturing center formerly operated by the goverment.
Cashus Corporation, the last remaining branch of the Cashus Bank & Mint.
The Xuwhurg Communal Armory, founded in the town of Xuwhurg by a consortium of local manufacturers.
Iadren itself is a roughly triangular nation. In the West, the Iadren river slowly rolls down past the capital and into the great Iradrenian Delta before it empties itself into the ocean.
In the South-East lie the Ledrium Mountains, with the border itself being the great deserts beyond. Much of the water eventually emptying into the Iradren River comes from here, as do most of the nation's mineral resources. This border is shared with Lachiedan, a wretched hive of Capitalists. Nothing like our capitalists, you understand.
In the North-West lie great temperate rain forests, along with the border with Ustal. Awful folks, those Ustallians. All rules and bureaucracy and suchlike nonsense. Now, remember, the deadline to file your I-51B forms is next week!
The Odria runs from the eastern end of the border with Ustal and along the great interior plains. It also forms much of the border with the Peoples Republic of Ascye before it meets with the Ledrium Mountains and turns towards the capital. Who are the Ascians, you ask? Oh, they are just the worst! Communists, one and all, and not one of them doing it right! Just ask the Peoples Party of Iadren, the Iadren Peoples Front, the Iadrenian Unity Group, or anyone else!
The RulesThis is essentially an Arms Race game, you design weapons and compete with the other companies. However, instead of taking your weapons to battle for territory and resources, you will have your weapons tested by armies who will decide which they wish to purchase, and if you win the contract, you will gain money.
Turns take place in a two or three phases, and each turn represents the passage of a year.
Drawing Phases:There are two primary actions which take place during the drawing phase:
Design a new product from scratch.
Revise an existing product design.
Both of these are explained in greater detail later, but they are the bulk of your activity in the game. You may also have opportunities to spend money in other ways, such as upgrading your factory, and that will take place in this phase. While there is no hard limit to the number of designs or revisions you may make in a turn, they become increasingly expensive if you do multiple in one turn. During the drawing phase you may start as many designs or revisions as you can afford. There is a second drawing phase, where you may do this again, if you wish. This allows you to make a revision or a new design once you know the results of your first phase, if you wish, but you can of course pass as well.
After you've completed (or passed) both action phases, it will be time to bid on contracts. Normally, you can bid on no more than two contracts each turn. For each contract, you must choose what item you are submitting, as well as the price. Once all companies have submitted their bids, the testing phase can begin.
Clients field-test each gun which is submitted, and choose their favorite to fulfill their contract. You'll receive a report on your gun, and how happy the client was (or wasn't) with it. During this phase, it may be common for previously unknown flaws to be discovered. Take note that I did not say clients choose "the best" gun. In addition to having unique circumstances and requirements, clients take into account price (coming in under-budget is always appreciated) and their own personal biases. Some clients may have opinions about military doctrine which range from antiquated to objectively wrong. This phase is where I have to do the bulk of the writing, so expect to wait a bit.
A few things happen at the end of the turn. First, you spend money on assembly lines if necessary. If you've won two contracts, you may actually only be able to fulfill one contract, so you must choose which. You also choose whether to build an assembly line or re-tool an existing one. Next, assembly lines, including ones just created, assemble a batch of firearms if there is a buyer, and you receive the profits in time to start the next turn. If you are building a new assembly line from scratch, you might not turn a profit immediately.
Lastly, a set of new contracts will be posted. Contracts which weren't fulfilled last turn may or may not reappear. In addition to your profits, you receive Prestige (victory points). In 1940, the company with the most Prestige will win the game.
This is the main thing you will do in this game! Having a better design than your opponents means you can win contracts. Designs are phrased narratively. Simply describe the sort of weapon you would like to design. You may have goals in mind ("must not cost more than 20 credits per batch"), but most of all you must have shape and method of operation ("magazine-fed simple blowback pistol"). You may also wish to specify construction methods- for example, a cast receiver is cheaper than one milled from a block. Extremely specific detail might be subject to change during the actual designing of the gun.
Revisions work just like designs, except they modify an existing design instead of creating something from scratch. Common examples would be redesigning an existing gun in a different caliber, fixing a flaw in a gun, or changing features like the sights or stock. You could also try to simply make it cheaper or more reliable.
If you design a new ammunition cartridge, you will need to spend a revision on it.There is an additional stipulation from the Council: Because of supply lines (and to stick it to those countries embargoing us) only domestically designed ammuntion may be used in designs. Thus, you will almost certianly need to design some ammunition or license it from another company.
Designs and revisions cost money! Each dice roll has a price depending on how many you do in the turn: each costs 10 Credits, times the number of items before it. IE the first costs 10, the second costs 20, the third costs 30 etc. Designs also cost an addittional 10 Credits (this system makes designs more expensive without making it so that the order in which you do them matters).
Designs and revisions involve a dice roll: 2d4 will be rolled, producing a number between 2 and 8 with an average of 5. They also have a difficulty, in the form of a bonus or penalty.
Results:
1 or less: You cannot make a working example on schedule.
2-3: The weapon has significant design flaws or missing features.
4: The weapon has some minor flaws.
5: The weapon performs exactly as desired, or required only minor compromises.
6-7: The weapon is a strong example of performance, reliability, or both.
8 or more: You stumble on a design which is particularly clever, performing beyond expectations in some way.
These are somewhat approximate! There may also be flaws inherent to a weapon's design even if everything goes as planned, or hidden manufacturing issues which appear later.
Difficulty:
+3: An extremely simple task.
+2: A very familiar design.
+1: A design which is familiar to you or already common on the market.
+0: Average.
-1: A design which is ahead of its time.
-2: A design which is very complicated, ahead of its time, or both.
-3: A design which stretches the limits of your capabilities.
-4: A design which it's unlikely anyone in the current era could make, such as relying on materials which are not readily available.
Notice that the difficulty of a design makes a big difference! Determining the actual difficulty is more art than science. As a rule of thumb however, consider similar historical guns, and your previous design portfolio. For example, most stamped-metal firearms in intermediate or rifle callibers are tricky to make and wasteful when being made. However, if you have already made a pistol-calliber stamped-metal firearm it will be less difficult. If you've made something out of metal stampings already and are making a second attempt, it will be much less difficult, even if the first was bad.
Assembly LinesDesigning a weapon is only half the battle! Actually building it requires an investment into an assembly line. You start with one assembly line and the government will fund the initial tooling. You also have space for a second assembly line. Starting a new assembly line costs 50 credits. Retooling an assembly line to make a different design costs 10 credits. Changing to a revision of the same design is free. This means it is much more cost effective to sell a gun you have already designed than make an entirely new one for a contract. It also means that you can switch between different revisions as often as you like, so you can do something like offering automatic or semi-automatic versions of the same gun.
Assembly lines make one batch of a weapon per turn, if there are buyers. If your contract specifies multiple batches, then it will keep an assembly line occupied for multiple turns. Later in the game, the civilian market will be available: retailers will buy weapons which are legal to sell to civilians, but at a small margin, as they take a cut.
If you have won a contract and are starting an assembly line, it will be assembled and produce its first batch immediately. If you have won multiple contracts, you have to choose whether to build an additional assembly line, or only to fulfill one contract.
PrestigeThe game will end in 1975. Every contract has Prestige points associated with it, and the company with the most prestige at the end of the game wins. Companies are not expected to go bankrupt.
Other ActionsThere a few actions which don't follow a specific phase, but may be an option. If you run out of money, you may need to receive a grant from the government. This does not need to be paid back, but will cost you Prestige. Alternatively, two companies may borrow or loan money at any terms agreeable to the both of them. Similarly, you may license designs, or offer the use of assembly lines. Licensed designs are added to your portfolio (possibly on limited terms) but do NOT grant experience as if you had designed it yourself. You may also use your assembly lines to produce weapons for another company, if they have won more contracts than they can fulfill, or won a contract which calls for multiple batches to be delivered at once. Again, this at a fee agreeable to both parties. It may also be possible to tamper with another company's design process or supply chain, but I'm sure none of you would do something so untoward, so we will not speak of this here.
1950 Contracts The 3rd Iadrenian Marine Company wants close-quarters fighting arms. Exactly what form they are less clear on, except that it must be powerful, look powerful, and be available for about 20 Bits. 2 batches offered, 6 prestige
H,C,X,E&Co. are looking for inexpensive weapons for civilian sale. What sort is less of a concern than their existence, and they are offering cost+10% for one batch as a starter, with a maximum price of 30 Bits. 6 prestige.
A Local Business Man wants handguns. According to his messenger, the smaller and more powerful, the better. They are offering 20 Bits per batch for up to 10 batches. 4 prestige.
Capital Security wants police carbines. According to specifications, this carbine should be light, handy, and extremely compact. It should also be reasonably long-ranged and ideally semi-automatic. 35 Bits are offered for two batches to start with. 5 prestige.
The Guard wants "sniper pistols". The Guard, who guards the Federal Buildings, wants a small, highly accurate, high-powered weapon, equipped with a magnified optic and a bipod. They are offering 35 Bits per batch for two batches. 7 prestige.
The Iadrenian Youth Club are looking for training pistols and rifles. These should be in a small, light caliber suited for novices, be lightweight, be accurate, and cost no more than 15 Bits per batch, with two batches of pistols and three of rifles being looked for. 5 prestige.
Tip on prices: Rifles cost anywhere from 15 to 45 Bits depending on size and complexity. Revolvers typically cost ~20 Bits, semi-auto pistols ~15-25. Optics on their own are often about 10 Bits.
