I would like to clarify that there is no East Bay. There has never been an East Bay.
We have always been at war with East Bay. This does not make the plains inaccessible to maritime shipping but it means that it can't be used as a staging point, for example if Arstotzka controls the plains that does not let them attack Moskurg's capitol by sea.
New Armor RulesIn real life, armor is almost always steel until after world war II. It ranges from 6-25mm on early tanks to around 100mm max, with a greater effective thickness thanks to angling. The stuff normal tanks use is rolled homogenous armor, a type of forged, hardened steel, while you're probably using mild steel so far (something only training versions of tanks are normally made from). Aluminum is lighter, titanium weighs as much as aluminum but is strong like steel, and rubber or cement armor exist as well but are best used as part of a composite. There are a number of alloys to be discovered but I will probably not get into them.
I will establish armor values, which stack from different factors in a way similar to expense. A round striking armor has a penetration value at medium range, with a +1 bonus for close range and a -1 penalty for long range. Armor penetration values will be hidden from you for now. Armor values are as follows:
1) Thin, <10 mm (all measures approximate and used for historical reference)
2) Light, 10-24 mm
3) Medium, 25-50 mm
4) Heavy, 51-100 mm
5) Extra Heavy, 101-150 mm
6) Extreme, more than 150mm. Only historical example I can find is the Maus tank and ironclad ships.
Materials give a bonus to that value. Mild Steel (your current shitty tanks) is -1, RHA is 0. Aluminum is 0 but lighter, Titanium is +1, and composites or more exotic armors may be +1 or higher with various effects on the weight and cost. Good spacing and angling can give a further bonus (which might be wholly or partially negated by APBC rounds or an opponent's good marksmanship).
When building armor, you can specify the thickness and material of the armor in different areas, as well as attempt to research new materials and techniques (you're not getting titanium any time soon though). Right now, extreme armor would be too expensive to build and sink in the mud if you did. Thicker armor also presents an engineering challenge in general; making thick armor is a technology on its own.
I'm of course open to suggestions and will likely revise this rule set. In particular, I don't yet have a hard cost modifier tied to different thickness (I want to consider it with the size of the vehicle to be armored). Keep in mind that 0 armor is still armor and can stop stuff like 9mm pistol rounds.
British Diplomats are VisitingThe British Empire has sent emissaries to both Arstotzka and Moskurg. It seems that their purpose here is to ascertain whether either nation might be of value or a threat to the League of Nations. This includes an assessment of each nation's military. You can send a spy to steal their notes for a revision credit.
1920 Battle ReportArstotzka's army now contains the following:
AS 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. 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: [Updated Below] 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. Costs 2 ore.
AS-1910 Mag: This updated AS-1910 replaces a belt feed with a large 50-round detachable drum magazine, which fits to the side of the gun where the belt feed was. While not capable of continuous fire like belts, this requires less crew to manage. The two handles used to control the weapon are replaced with a pistol grip and overhead handle, which is a marginal improvement in control. Costs 2 ore.
-Nosin Single: [Obsolete] 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.No longer suffers from horrible jamming.
-AS-1912 Artillery A: A field gun firing 80mm shells, loaded through a sliding bolt. The action is not dissimilar to a bolt action rifle, where the old casing is ejected when the bolt is opened. It is large enough (and its ammunition large enough) to be Expensive, and is drawn by horse on two big wheels. It can fire about 12 times a minute, and has a hydro-pneumatic suspension system: it doesn't go off target between shots, and the barrel moves into the frame every time it is fired. Aims between 0 and 90 degrees vertical. It has several kilometers of range. Costs 3 ore.
-Sawed-off Shotgun: General infantry sidearm. Most officers use this instead of the unreliable pistol. Fires twice before breech loading, very effective at short range, ineffective otherwise. Poor armor penetration. Uses 12 gauge shells. Expensive due to requiring imperial equipment.
-AS-F14: [Obsolete] A 7.62mm, semi-automatic rifle. It is an open bolt blowback action, and holds seven rounds in its internal magazine (resembling that of the Nosin)- with more than that, clip loading became unwieldy. Unlike the Nosin, the bolt has a small, non-rotating handle on the side of the gun. It has adjustable iron sights. The weight of the moving action makes the gun difficult to control compared to the Nosin, and it has shown some problems with the mechanism becoming dirty in field testing.
-AS-F14A: A 7.62mm, semi-automatic rifle. It is an open bolt blowback action, and uses a 12-round box magazine which protrudes below the gun. Unlike the Nosin, the bolt has a small, non-rotating handle on the side of the gun. It has adjustable iron sights. The weight of the moving action makes the gun difficult to control compared to the Nosin, but this is mitigated by using a full size and weight barrel compared to the original carbine version. The blowback action is now more reliable, though still open bolt. Also available as a carbine.
-AS-MC16: This is a sub-machine gun, firing the 9mm pistol round. It uses a new, closed-bolt blowback system perfected from the AS-F14. This system is reliable and keeps dirt out of the gun. The bolt system takes up about fifteen centimeters, all of which is past the trigger, then a magazine, a 30 round drum, inserts into the receiver from the left. The barrel after the receiver is short, about twenty centimeters, and has a slotted metal hand guard. The stock is wooden and stops at the receiver, where brass is ejected from the bottom of the gun. The short barrel gives poor accuracy, especially when hot, and the 9mm bullets have much less range than a rifle or machine gun. The system fires about 400 rounds per minute. Its complexity makes it Expensive.
-AS-AC18: An advanced primer ignition autocannon, which ignites cartridge primers before the round is fully chambered. It fires the new, large, 20x100mm round, fed from a top-mounted 25 round C-shaped magazine with a powerful spring, usually armor piercing, about 600 times per minute. The weapon is quite large with a simple action but heavy barrel, weighing over 40 kilograms, and it requires being mounted to a carriage, foundation, or vehicle to fire with accuracy, although recoil is reduced by the nature of its action. It is dependent on a careful balance between the force of the shell and the force of the action, which means that different ammo types cannot be interchanged without recalibrating the gun. It has a terrifying ability to punch through armor and emplacements. Costs 3 ore due to its size and the size of its ammo.
-AS-LM20: A landmine! Consists of an explosive, metal shell and button. Armed by removing a key. The mines are cheap and simple, and reliably kill or dismember infantry who step on them.
AS Technology:
-Metric system. Meters, kilograms, liters!
-Breech-loading
-Muzzle-loading
-Bolt action
-Clips and Magazines
-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.
-20x100mm Autocannon round
-Armor Piercing Steel Bullets
-Belt-fed loading
-Changeable Barrels
-Solid Explosives and Propellants
-Light Mortars
-Artillery
-Hydro-pneumatic Suspension
-Vehicle Armor
-Treads
-Detachable Magazines
-Petrol Motors
-APIB Action, compatible with belt feed
-Crude Batteries (Lead-Acid)
-Aluminium production
-Armor (Light and thinner)
AS Soldiers:
-Patient: Arstotzkan soldiers excel at waiting in ambush, and carefully shooting from afar, giving them and advantage in long-range engagements.
-Uniform: AS-U13, The new uniforms for 1913. They include flak vests protecting the front and back, and a sturdy steel helmet. Instead of being scarlet and gold, they are issued in beige, grey and olive colors for camouflage, with small flag patches. As did the old uniforms, they include numerous pockets, and a bandolier which can hold full clips of rifle bullets for easy access. Unfortunately, High Command issued an order stating that the uniforms are not glorious enough, and are to have a pair of small flags attached to each helmet, like a winged valkyrie helmet. This compromises the camouflage effect considerably.
-Andrei Zhuyev, ace pilot. Four kills.
AS Ground Transportation:
-Horses: [Obsolete] Soldiers sometimes ride horses to battle, but prefer to fight on foot in cover.
-AS-51 Steam Engine: [Obsolete] The heart of the south! Built in Arstotzka, this engine pulls trains of food, ammo, and resources.
-AS-51 S: A new steam engine, based on the original model 51, includes a superheater system, where steam from the boiler is routed through the furnace to be heated further before being used. This is considerably more efficient than the old design and offers more power for the same amount of coal. In preparation for war, the trains are fitted with armor around the boiler, and the cabin window are fitted with hatches that can closed, and have narrow slats for viewing.
-AS-T15: This is a steam-powered tank using the AS-51 S steam motor from Arstotzka's steam locomotive. In fact, it's mostly the enormous locomotive engine, which a rectangular armored shell. The armor is shaped in a half-cylinder, like an airplane hangar, except the front is cut at a 45 degree angle. Exit is through a hatch on top, which breaks up the smooth shape of the tank along with a couple chimneys. The armor is light mild steel throughout (1). The only open space inside is towards the front of the tank, the engine is located in back and the sides along the engine are used for storing coal. The front of the tank has a gunner on the right side firing an 80mm cannon with a narrow, tank destroyer-like arc of fire. There isn't room for a lot of ammo. The driver sits in the left front, and there is an AS-1910 gunner on each side aiming through slats in the armor. Packed in between all of these people is a coal shoveler. The tracks are set on six rigid train wheels and follow a flat shape on the bottom of the tank, with a large wheel in the front and back. The tank becomes incredibly hot inside due to the coal boiler, hot enough to cause weapon malfunctions and heatstroke. It can exceed 50 degrees celsius in prolonged use, and the soldiers assigned to test it nickname it "The pressure cooker". Being mostly engine, it can reach 13 kph. The track system is complex, making it Expensive. Costs 4 ore.
-AS-M17: A motorcycle which seats one passenger, and a second in a sidecar. The petrol motor is Arstotzka's first, with three in-line cylinders. The motor is cheap, small and relatively powerful. On its own, the bike is capable of more than 80 kilometers per hour, cross country, and 110 on a road. The bike is difficult to control at these speeds, some test pilots are badly injured falling over on corners. There are several incidents where the bike hit a rock and one or both wheels detached at speed. The sidecar is available with an AS-1910, it too suffers from issues with detaching from the motorcycle at speed. Costs 1 Oil, 2 Ore.
-AS-HV19: A heavy truck, built for logistics. Uses a cabover design, giving it a short, tall and square cabin- drivers climb up three steps to enter it. Includes six large, pneumatic tires- two wheels under the cabin steer, and four close to the back of the bed drive. A simple spring suspension system makes a very bouncy ride, amplified by the height of the cabin. Under the cabin is a fairly large eight cylinder engine, which belches black smoke from two exhaust stacks that go over the back of the cabin. The bed is five meters long and consists of a simple frame that can hold a hopper, tanker, or trailer hitch. Other things might easily be built to fit there, but engineering didn't get around to that. Gets up to 80 kph on a good road, and can carry eight tons without too much trouble. Unarmored. Conveys a 1 logistics bonus. Costs 2 ore, 3 oil.
AS Air Force:
AS-A19B: Arstozka's first airplane! You can kind of tell. It is a triplane based on Fokker's model, build of wood and canvas. The motor is an eight cylinder rotary engine. The frame has very thick columns in between each wing, which mostly mitigates testing issues in which the top wings, wider than the lower ones, would break off at high speeds. The plane is very prone to yawing one or or the other on the runway during takeoff and landing. It also perpetually rolls a little to the left, counter to the heavy rotating engine. Engine stalling is common as well, at altitude. Armed with two wing-mounted AC-18's, belt fed, which cross at 200m. The plane is generally awkward to fly and prone to suddenly pulling in one direction or the other. Arstotzkan test pilots, unfamiliar with anything more prone to flight than a motorcycle, suppose it to be pulled deliberately towards doom by malevolent spirits. Expensive due to the complexity of the control system and frame. Costs 2 oil.
AS-A19C: Several staff members were fired and replaced. The new C model of the AS-A19 makes up for its heavy frame with sturdy, lightweight aluminium brackets, and some metal parts are replaced with aluminum. This and larger control surfaces make the plane much more steady, and not prone to suddenly pulling in one direction or the other, without being heavier. For good measure, a cross is added to every joystick to exorcise malevolent spirits. Control surface trim is added as well, which corrects for the effect of the rotary engine and makes the plane easier to fly in general. The aircraft remains heavy and a bit ungainly, but is much more safe to fly and should perform better in dogfights. Now costs 2 ore, 2 oil.
AS Resources:
1 Unyielding Thirst for Glory
X Ministry of Integrity. Provides X spies. X is classified.
4 Ore. Ordinary sized tanks can be made cheaply.
1+1 Oil. Products which use more fuel than a car are expensive. Arstotzka benefits from Antegrian oil tankers arriving every six months or so, through 1920. Ends next turn, with plans to reduce ore production to pick up the slack.
Moskurg's army now contains the following:
MK Weapons:
-Horsekiller 1912: General infantry weapon. A breech-loading rifle with a long 60-inch barrel, which fires enormous 60 caliber rounds. Has great stopping power, and is heavy and cumbersome. 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. Now updated with good sights, a comfortable foregrip and no bayonet, but the shotgun-style breech-loading prevents quick follow-up shots
-Horsekiller Carbine 1912: 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 questionable accuracy. Now with good iron sights, and a better grip, but the barrel is a little short for the heavy bullet and it's often fired from a galloping horse anyway.
-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 cumbersome weapon, with a large box for the mechanism, and a narrow water-cooled barrel with copper heat sinks. 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 heavy and can only be pivoted slowly, meaning only very skilled gunners can be accurate at long range. It normally moved by horse on a small wagon, although the new lighter model can be carried in parts by a crew, and is crewed by a team of four or five men. It is complex, and costs 2 ore.
-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 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. Costs 3 ore.
-Model 1 Service Rifle: A .30 caliber rifle, loaded from a 5-round clip much like the Mosin-Nagant. However, early experiments with bolt action suffered from difficult chambering new rounds, and the engineering team instead opted to make a lever-action rifle. Moskurg shooters favor this design, which keeps their hand close to the trigger. Includes iron sights, with an accuracy and stopping power very similar to the Nosin. It can fire somewhat faster, however, at the cost of some accuracy. Includes bayonet lugs.
-M2 Brumby: The Brumby is an air-cooled, .30 caliber machinegun designed to be carried by one man. It is operated by a gas piston under the barrel, and feeds from a belt. It includes a tall rear post sight, the barrel is cooled with shining, unconcealed copper heat sinks, and an innovative "belt box" for use on the move. Unlike previous machine guns, it uses a pistol grip instead of a pair of handles. It shoots around 400 rounds a minute with an effective range of around 300 yards, and weighs 26 pounds with a loaded belt box. It can be operated by a single soldier, ideally prone, or a crew to string belts together for continuous fire. The complexity of its mechanism makes it Expensive.
-Cascade Sub-Machine Gun: This is a sub-machine gun, firing the .35 cal short pistol round. It uses a new, closed-bolt blowback system. This system is reliable and keeps dirt out of the gun. The bolt system takes up about six inches, all of which is past the trigger, then a magazine, a 30 round drum, inserts into the receiver from the left. The barrel after the receiver is short, about 8 inches, and has a slotted metal hand guard. The stock is wooden and stops at the receiver, where brass is ejected from the bottom of the gun. The short barrel gives poor accuracy, especially when hot, and the .35 cal short bullets have much less range than a rifle or machine gun. The system fires about 400 rounds per minute. Its complexity makes it Expensive.
MK 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.
-.35 caliber short pistol bullets. For the Cascade Sub-Machine Gun.
-3.6 Inch Artillery Shell. Now also available in Smoke, Shrapnel and Extra Spicy Incendiary
-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
-Flamethrower [Partial]
-Petrol Engine
-Portable Radios [A bit crap]
-Crude Batteries (Lead-Acid)
-Brushed Electric Motors
-Airplanes
-Armor Thickness (Light and thinner)
MK Soldiers:
-Fierce: Moskurg soldiers have an advantage in melee combat and close quarters.
-Moskurg 1914 Armor: Moskurg soldiers wear flowing blue linen with a scimitar stitched onto the chest. Steel vests and helmets are added, to protect against shrapnel. Blue-and-silver glory improved with silver cape.
-Husayn the Lion, Struunk I Ace. 3 armor kills.
-Model 2 Radio: This new radio is battery powered, and a bit smaller- it fits onto a wheelbarrow-like carriage which can be moved by a man. It takes two operators, and still requires frequent hand-cranking, but it can at least be fit into a trench. Has a four foot radio mast. Transmits and receives Morse code. It is Expensive due to its complexity and requires 2 ore.
MK Ground 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! Uses 2 or 3 oil, I don't even know.
-Struunk I: Your engineers have managed to build a motor on par with the ones used in the (rather outdated) civilian vehicles you've been confiscating. As before, it gets up to 30 MPH on roads and 15 cross country. It has thin mild steel armor all around, slightly angled, with light armor on the front of the engine and cabin. The thin armor is still dubious protection against normal rifle rounds. It includes a Brumby in the passenger seat and an M2 Stallion in the turret. The turret has a DC electric motor running off of the car's double capacity battery, and a backup hand crank (the turret will drain the battery if rotated constantly). Costs 3 ore, 2 oil.
-SPAT: A self-propelled gun vehicle consisting of a petrol engine, caterpillar tracks, and a forward-facing Bombardier howitzer with just enough armor plating to hide the crew behind. The motor here is the same one as the Struunk I. The treads are a new development, and fit over a four-wheeled system with two driving wheels. They are prone to coming loose from the wheels from time to time. The armor is light, with a gap in the middle for the gun to rotate, rise and lower. Ammunition sits in racks behind the armor. The vehicle has a top speed of about 8 mph. The gun is just a Bombardier, fixed to the SPAT on a frame which pitches and yaws on a pair of hand cranks. The SPAT has a set of jacks to use when firing, which improve accuracy considerably by preventing the vehicle from shaking. Costs 3 ore, 2 oil.
-T1 Smasher Mk II: Based on previous experience with the SPAT and the Struunk I, this is Moskurg's attempt to make a completely armored fighting vehicle with a turret. The frame is based on the SPAT. The vehicle will be heavier though, so it is powered by a 10-cylinder motor. Has improved treads, more capable of climbing through obstacles and over trenches. It is armored all around with light armor, of mild steel, in a trapezoidal shape over the chassis with the treads exposed. The turret is a cylinder protruding out of the top of the front part of the tank, which includes the exit hatch. It does not include the planned coaxial machine gun but instead has a Brumby which can be used when the top hatch is open. The turret rotates with an electric motor, without backup hand crank because the batteries are easily drained. The main gun is a shortened Bombardier with narrow vertical aim. Crewed with a driver, loader and gunner/commander. Can get up to 8 mph on a good day. Costs 4 ore, 2 oil.
MK Air Force
-Model 1 Biplane: A biplane mostly design around the heavy an awkward Model 2 Radio. Research into aluminum framing was conducted, but a good source could not be secured this year. As such, the airplane consists mostly of a wood-and-canvas frame, with pretty conventional ailerons, elevators and rudder. It can immediately be distinguished from a normal plane by the four foot radio mast sticking out. It weighs about half a ton and is powered by a new motor with six opposed cylinders. Most of its spare weight and space is taken up by the Model 2 radio, which is powered by the motor and operated by a co-pilot. Despite it not being in the design requirements, the plane comes with a center-mounted Brumby, complete with interrupter gear, and a couple yards of ammo. Maneuverability is somewhat poor. Costs 2 oil.
-Model 2 Hornet: A wide, heavy, wood-framed biplane. To serve its purpose of carrying bombs, it is heavy and sturdy (as much as a wooden plane can be) with bomb racks beneath the wings. It is powered by a big ten-cylinder motor (your biggest yet) and weighs a ton on its own, and carries half a ton of bombs. The bombs are simply artillery shells with fins attached, and are available in every variety. The gunner's seat has an M1 Stallion which can rotate in a full circle and carries seven yards of ammo. Costs 3 oil.
MK Resources:
6 Captured Tigers. Don't stick your hand in the cage.
1 Overwhelming National Pride
X Bureau of Cleverness. Provides X spies. X is discussed at private dinner parties, to which the truly loyal are invited.
2 Ore. Most Vehicles or carriage-mounted weapons are Expensive.
2 Oil. Products which use more fuel than a car are Expensive.
I think I updated armored vehicles with the new rules, tell me if I missed anything.
This year Arstotzka made significant refinements to their AS-A19 (the model C now) finally more or less getting it right this time. It's now sturdy, well-armed and kinda maneuverable. Just as importantly, it's not crashing of its own accord like an over-ambitious amateur Unity game. It's also inexpensive. Moskurg launched their first bomber, the Model 2 Hornet, which carries half a ton of bombs and has an M1 Stallion gunner. Arstotzka also designed their first landmine, effective against personnel. Moskurg made some valuable revisions to their T1 smasher, which include better treads and making it out of parts that are less valuable. In fact, it's the first tank to be only Expensive.
Agent Feather Hammer, on a dark night, steps into an Arstotzkan foundry. He is disguised, which means he shaved his mustache. Wearing a jumpsuit, he walks the catwalk above the foundry, watching enormous crucibles of metal pour into casts for tank armor, engine blocks, and generic sheets and rods. Agent Hairy Pickle, also disguised as a worker, pads quietly along the catwalk behind him. Hairy Pickle has killed a Moskurg spy before, and even got a good look at Feather Hammer's face once. Tragically, or triumphantly (it's a matter of perspective) Hairy Pickle recognizes his foe even without his mustache. More than that, he can recognize Feather Hammer for an impostor because all workers were briefed this morning that the observatory catwalk was unsafe and should be avoided until it could be repaired (things like warning signs are not a feature of Arstotzkan industry buildings). A section of catwalk collapses with a crash. Workers shout, panic and point. Agent Hairy Pickle slips out the back door, unseen. Acrid smoke rises from an enormous crucible of molten steel. The Game of Espionage has seen its second casualty.
The war in the air escalates dramatically. The Moskurg airforce is a mix of Model 2 Hornets, with a payload of bombs and a heavy gunner, and Model 1 Biplanes with light machine guns and and radios. The Arstotzkan's have replaced all of their dangerous AS-A19B's with the more maneuverable and reliable AS-A19C- or rather significantly more AS-A19C's. More soldiers in the Arstotzkan army can fly a plane than drive a car. All planes in the air move and turn relatively slowly, which gives the Model 2 Hornet's rotating M1 Stallion a significant advantage. The Model 1 is the most maneuverable plane but by a narrow margin, it often loses fights to an AS-A19C which engages from greater range. A Hornet has a good chance of killing an A19C with its gunner before the A19C, which aims with its entire body and is not much more maneuverable, lines up a deadly shot. However, the AS19C is extremely numerous. Many fights are two or three on one, in favor of Arstotzka. In general, air superiority goes to Arstotzka. Arstotzkan pilot Andrei Zhuyev records five kills.
In the plains, Moskurg makes another push with Hornets and Smashers. The new Smasher can reliably cross a trench, if it gets there, and has better odds simply because there are now far more of them. On more than one occasion, a group of hornets will make it to Arstotzkan trenches. Their effect is devastating and will cause Moskurg to gain ground, but this is not very often. Both Moskurg armor and their air support are killed by a plague of A19C's which fill the skies and strafe their targets, stopping further pushes and regaining ground. Husayn the Lion is killed by strafing. Arstotzka can produce as many AS-T15's as Moskurg can produce T1 Smashers, but Smashers, and Hornets, and Struunks, and sometimes Horsekillers, will defeat them. In fact, the T15 is kind of a death trap. Arstotzkan land mines claim a number of Moskurg legs, the favored Moskurg tactic for disposing of land mines is simply to drive over them with a tank- unsupported infantry has difficulty gaining ground. Land mines also have a tendency to turn short range engagements into long ones, which works in Arstotzka's favor. Thanks mainly to air support, Arstotzka begins to push into the desert. Arstotzkan motorcycles and T15's are extremely vulnerble to Moskurg armor and rely on air support to survive- they mainly end up fighting Moskurg cavalry, who inflict many casualties but are pushed back. (EAST DESERT: Arstotzka 1/4, Moskurg 3/4)
In the mountains, landmines can't be buried, and are easily avoided or disarmed. This does not mean that there are not Moskurg casualties due to landmines- Moskurg soldiers have a bad habit of running without looking down or overestimating their ability to disarm landmines. On average, the Moskurg companies stationed in the mountains become just slightly smarter. Arstotzka generally has air superiority, but their autocannons are relatively ineffective against infantry (who can spread out and take cover) and emplacements- certainly not the game changer that a successful bombing run can be. Infantry remains in a 2/2 stalemate. Moskurg trains are very frequently stopped by Arstotzkan AS-A19C's strafing them. Moskurg will lose that ore if the trains do not receive better protection next turn.
In the jungle, Moskurg momentum cannot be stopped. This is the place furthest from each nation's bases of air operations, so air fights are less common, and the difficulty of seeing the ground makes strafing difficult. Hornet bombing is relatively effective, but this is mostly mitigated by the fact that Hornets have a bad habit of being attacked by three A19C's at once. On occasion, a T1 Smasher will successfully trundle through the jungle roads as well, now that there are more of them with better treads. Arstotzkan forts in the south part of the jungle fall, despite inflicting many Moskurg casualties in the process with their machine guns and autocannons. Moskurg holds the jungle (4/4). They stand at the border of thin evergreen forests with mostly infantry carried by horse, a reduced quantity of armor due to the general difficulty in crossing the jungle, and no air support. If they hold their ground, they will gain the jungle's resources next turn.
The Red Army considers the two tank designs sent to them, based on their ability to intimidate and oppress. The T1 Smasher is more combat-effective, and has a rotating turret to deliver 3.6 inches of oppression in 360 degrees. The AS-T15 is bigger, belches smoke that can be seen for miles, and the inside doubles as a hellish torture chamber. Arstotzka earns one Expense Credit, and T15's are deployed to intimidate Russia's rebelling colonies.
The Unknown Organization considers the five-shooter and the AS-LM20 landmine, putting aside the boxes of shitty or nearly identical weapons that were sent to them, including two identical sawed-off shotguns, a pistol that jams all the time, and two sub-machine guns that are compelling but not quite concealable without a big trench coat. In fact, the five-shooter and land mines are also sort of trench coat weapons (the five shooter being a revolver which fires full-powered rifle rounds, at the risk of breaking a non-Moskurg wrist). In the end, the five-shooter is chosen, because landmines are profoundly unsafe to sneak in one's coat. Moskurg gains an Expense Credit.
In the allied nations, Moskurg files a patent on the Cascade SMG ("Original Gun, Do Not Steal"). It is filed away, its performance overshadowed by that of the new Thomspon M1920 which is gaining military attention.
In other news, some 1000 AS-1910's manufactured in Antegria find their way into the hands of pirates in the Arabian sea, and become associated with high-firepower robbery in the public eye after a series of photo news articles.
You may now design for 1921.
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Topic: Arms Race, OOC [Completed] Now with Arms Race III, against another forum! (Read 217505 times)