1911 Battle PhaseArstotzka's army now contains the following:
Weapons:
-Nosin-Magant: Officer weapon. A Russian Mosin-Nagant rifle, brand new ones roll off the assembly lines, and then a highly skilled team changes the letters with chisels. A bolt-action rifle with a five-round clip which fires 7.62mm rounds. Good accuracy, but with iron sights which have a post adjustable up to one kilometer, designed for long-range but inaccurate barrages. Good stopping power against infantry. It is Expensive, which means only enough have been made to supply Officers. Detachable bayonet.
-AS-1891: [Obsolete] General infantry weapon. The first weapon manufactured in Arstotzka. This is a muzzle-loading rifle: it is loaded by disassembling a 7.62mm round for the mosin, pouring the gunpowder down the barrel, dropping the bullet down the barrel, and placing the primer. Stopping power and accuracy are poor. Unfortunately, most infantry are forced to use these.
-AS-1909: General infantry sidearm. An Arstotzka-made semi-automatic pistol, firing 9mm. It has a 10-round magazine and can fire quickly with moderate accuracy, at short range. Moderate stopping power. Unfortunately, if fired quickly, it jams about once a magazine (Shoddy, -1 Expense).
-AS-1910 Machine Gun: Arstotzka's first belt-fed machinegun, firing the same 7.62mm rifle rounds already produced for the Nosin-Magant. The belt-feed mechanism is robust, making it heavy but very reliable. Each round has good stopping power. The machinegun is operated with two handles due to its recoil, making it incapable of aim as precise as a rifle, but when the barrel is cool, bullets generally fly straight. It is air-cooled, and the barrel tends to overheat somewhat quickly. Your engineers have compensated for this by giving each crew two detachable barrels- when one overheats, it can be removed and thrown in the snow. It is heavy- it must be in place on a tripod or other mount to fire, and requires three men to move. It also requires three men to operate continuously. Due to the complexity of the feed mechanism, it is Expensive.
-Nosin Single: A bolt-action 7.62mm rifle with no clip, based on the Russian Mosin-Nagant. It has comparable performance to the Nosin-Magant, except that a new round must be inserted to the chamber every time the weapon is fired. This is simple enough that it can be distributed to all of your troops.
-AS-1911 8cm Mortar: This is a light mortar, consisting of a simple tube mounted on a tripod, and mortar shells which are dropped into the tube and fire off when they hit the bottom. The shells themselves are the more important part of the weapon. They are sort of like rocket-propelled grenades, consisting of a metal shell around some explosive, and a primer and propellant at the back. The explosives themselves are a young technology though, the shells don't fly very far and occasionally misfire, lying undetonated or exploding early.
Technology:
-Metric system. Meters, kilograms, liters!
-Breech-loading
-Muzzle-loading
-Bolt action
-Clips and Magazines [Expensive]
-Cold Weather Engineering. Arstotzka-made equipment is designed and tested in the cold tundra, and does not become unreliable due to cold climates and snow.
-7.62mm Rifle rounds. Largish round for small arms with good stopping power.
-9mm Pistol rounds. Small rounds with moderate stopping power and not great range.
-Belt-fed loading [Expensive]
-Changeable Barrels
-Solid Explosive and Propellants
-Mortars
Soldiers:
-Patient: Moskurg soldiers excel at waiting in ambush, and carefully shooting from afar, giving them and advantage in long-range engagements.
-Uniform: Scarlet-dyed wool, with a golden star on the breast. Warm. Glorious. Doesn't stop bullets.
Transportation:
-Horses: Soldiers ride sometimes horses to battle, but prefer to fight on foot in cover.
-AS-51 Steam Engine: The heart of the south! Built in Arstotzka, this engine pulls trains of food, ammo, and resources.
-Some civilians have automobiles, but they are little use on snowy roads outside of cities.
Resources:
1 Research facility. You may initiate 1 new project each year.
2 Ore. Vehicles or carriage-mounted weapons are Expensive.
1 Oil. Products which use more fuel than a motorcycle are Expensive.
Moskurg's army now contains the following:
Weapons:
-Horsekiller: General infantry weapon. A breech-loading rifle with a long 60-inch barrel, which fires enormous 60 caliber rounds. Has great stopping power, middling accuracy with iron sights, and is heavy and cumbersome, including a bayonet. Famed to stop a horse in one shot, regardless of where it hits. Rounds will go very far, and can still kill far after they become inaccurate. This is useful when fired as a barrage.
-Horsekiller Carbine: General infantry weapon. A shorter variant of the Horsekiller, used by cavalry while riding horses. It has the same stopping power, but average weight and poor accuracy. Does not include iron sights.
-Five-Shooter: General infantry sidearm. A five-shot revolver firing large 30 caliber rounds. Single-action, with a lot of kick and trigger pull, means it has poor accuracy, but good killing power against infantry.
-Sawed-off Shotgun: General infantry sidearm. About half of soldiers use this instead of the five-shooter. Fires twice before breech loading, very effective at short range, ineffective otherwise. Poor armor penetration. Uses 12 gauge shells.
-Scimitar: Officer sidearm. Elite soldiers receive a scimitar, a deadly curved sword which can be used on foot or horseback. Of course, requires getting close to the enemy.
-M1 Stallion: This is a belt-fed machine gun using the enormous, thundering .60 caliber round, exactly twice the diameter of the .30 caliber or 7.62mm rounds. It is a lumbering dinosaur of a weapon, with a large box for the mechanism, and a 42 inch water-cooled barrel. The range and stopping power of the .60 caliber round is undiminished, but the gun only fires about 180 times a minute, relatively slow for a machine gun- because of its size, it might be better described as an autocannon. The gun hits in very tight groups for a machinegun, but it is very heavy and can only be pivoted slowly, meaning only very skilled and strong gunners can be accurate at long range. It must be moved by horse and mounted on a small wagon, and is crewed by a team of four or five men. It is both complex (expensive) and uses a lot of metal (moving it to Very Expensive), special M1 Stallion crews will need to operate it in the field.
-Bombardier: A 3.6 inch howitzer. This is a simple artillery piece with few more bells and whistles than a medieval cannon, modernized with a breech load (a hatch on top of the barrel swings open) and rifling, so as to fire pointed shells with brass cartridges accurately at range. The spent brass is ejected manually, with a lever. Its size makes it Expensive, and horse-drawn. A skilled crew can fire about 10 times a minute, through the gun moves a little when fired, so it can bombard inaccurately at its full rate of fire or (with a skilled commander) come close enough to often hit trenches and emplacements at about half the rate of fire. It can out-range any rifle on the field, but not accurately.
Technology:
-Imperial system. Inches, feet, miles, pounds! And especially calibers and gauges.
-Forged blades. Swords are a specialty!
-Breech-loading
-Revolvers, Single-action
-60 caliber bullets. Just enormous for small arms! Excellent stopping power. Loud, hot, and kicks hard.
-30 caliber bullets. Still really good stopping power, but much easier to control.
-3.6 Inch Artillery Shell
-Howitzer
-Hot Weather Engineering. Moskurg-made equipment is designed and tested in the hot desert, and does not become unreliable due to hot climates and sand.
-Belt-Fed MG [Expensive]
-Water-Cooled Barrel
Soldiers:
-Fierce: Moskurg soldiers have an advantage in melee combat and close quarters.
-Uniform: Moskurg soldiers wear flowing blue linen with a scimitar stitched onto the chest. Comfortable in the heat, does not stop bullets. Or rocks.
Transportation:
-Horses: Moskurg soldiers are skilled cavalry, and ride close to the enemy to use their inaccurate weapons and swords.
-Model 51 Steam engine: [Obsolete] A Moskurg invention definitely not stolen from Arstotzka. Large shipments of ammo, resources and supplies are moved by trains pulled by one or two of these engines. Has a bad habit of overheating, occasional boiler explosions.
-Model 52 Steam Engine: The engines have been converted to oil-burning, which should make them cheaper to operate. Several key failure points have been re-engineered. This should enable more resources to be gained from our mines. Now with 95% less explosions!
-Some civilian automobiles are available which may be requisitioned for military use, if necessary.
Resources:
1 Research facility. You may initiate 1 new project each year.
1 Ore. Large weapons are Expensive.
2 Oil. Products which use more fuel than a car are Expensive.
1911 saw both countries introduce artillery, with the Moskurgians opting for a howitzer while the Arstotzkans built a small mortar that can be deployed easily. Both countries spent their revision phases preventing stuff from exploding.
The fighting is fiercest in the eastern plains. The sudden arrival of artillery from both sides means that soldiers in trenches are no longer as safe as they were. In many places, the no-man's land widens as soldiers retreat out of artillery range. When this happens, the superior range of Moskurg's bigger, scarier artillery gives them a decisive advantage. Arstotzkan troops depend on assaulting Moskurg artillery to make gains, but the the Moskurgians defend their trenches too well. Casualties in general are horrendous for both sides, with soldiers being killed by small fragments of artillery shells far from where the shells land. Moskurg regains their ground.
In the mountains, artillery is only effective where soldiers can be spotted. Arstotzkan soldiers favor a tactic of sneaking a small mortar crew within range of Moskurg encampments, firing several shells, and then relocating. Arstotzkan soldiers have the advantage away from encampments as well due to their rifles, and encounters between scouting parties usually go in their favor. Arstotzka gains ground.
In the west, the jungle provides good cover from artillery, enemies can't be seen from a long distance. Arstotzka's portable mortars see some use here, but the Moskurg advantage is close ambushes keeps the fighting at a stalemate.
In Moskurg, the improved trains gain 1 ore. Most noticeably, this will decrease the M1 Stallion from being Very Expensive to Expensive next year.
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