Combat for 941Moskurg spends their design this year matching Arstotzka's Academy for Adequate Apprenticeship with their own university, the Moskurg Apprentice Gramary for Inter-magical Competency. Unlike the AAAA, which gathers anyone from the country side with even the most remote ability to cast magic, the MAGIC uses Moskurg's mind-bending abilities to transfer some of the knowledge and skill from their more advanced wizards to their less-skilled apprentices. The result is more higher-leveled apprentices, many of whom are Wizard-Level in skill. They don't have any more magic-users than before, but they do have more skilled users now. They spend their revision once again improving their control over the fickle force of nature that has been their main-stay for the past few turns. Titled "Heretics Fallacy", this frightening spell allows user to exert greater control over where and how lightning strikes. They can't force it to perform impossible tasks, but they can encourage it to flow through an Arstotzkan soldier rather than down a lightning rod.
Arstotzka spends their design delving into new ammo types. Titled "Blastshells" after the spell developed to power their weapons without steam, these shells have a hollow tube down the center. A circuit-scroll with magegems powering it can be inserted into the shell before firing, allowing for an additional fireblast spell to occur in a directed fashion on firing for additional range, or to occur in an undirected fashion upon landing. The shell could conceivably do both, but then becomes another level expensive. For their revision, they improve their magegems to hold more power per size. Using a new crystal-glass formula, these batteries hold a considerably higher amount of magical energy while remaining the same size. Most frightening of all, these batteries could conceivably allow mundane troops to use magic! For the moment, the main use is in their R1, which is juuust cheap enough that their commanders can be outfitted with one if they so choose to carry it.
The jungle is non-stop explosions.
Finally an ammo type that fills the gap they've so desperately been needing, Arstotzka's blastshells are devastating. Where before they could rely on massed pin-point firing events to score some casualties, their explosive shells turn out to be a beautiful, deadly weapon that makes it nearly impossible to not score a hit...assuming their artillery is dialed in to the correct location. The smaller size of their gems allows the majority of their shells to be out-fitted with the -E variant of their circuit-scroll cores, and without al-Mutriqa to harass the supply lines the cannons can fire these shells all day long. The jungle, which had at one point been seeing the Moskurg soldiers push back north, is filled with splintered trees and craters. Marching forward is not an option for Moskurg, as any man who enters the range of Arstotzka's HA1's can expect explosive fury to rain from the heavens. Even standing off at long range doesn't really help, as it's not uncommon for longer-ranged shells to come crashing down out of nowhere. They even explode sometimes, too, although that's far rarer.
Moskurg can do little - their tornados require line-of-sight to work, and they can't get into line-of-sight without exploding into chunks. The sudden increase in R1 rifles means their unarmored carpet riders can expect dozens of shots to come in any time they get in range. They can't drop firestorm grenades any more, although they can still call down lightning. The fact that it can now kill soldiers is a relief, because otherwise there'd be no way to really hit back. The Alsamma Safina airship can't even use its ballista any more - the increased range means that Arsotzka's cannons can now occasionally shoot one down at extreme range. These shots are often horribly inaccurate, and generally don't do much damage unless they also explode on impact. But if they
do hit and they
do explode, the airship comes down in a mess of Adamantium, junglewood, and carpets.
Moskurg does control the Western Sea, however, and they do their best landing behind enemy lines and disrupting supply lines when they can. It's not enough to stop the Arstotzkan war machine, but it does help.
The battle is decisively in Arstotzka's favor. Arstotzka pushes Moskurg back and gains a section of jungle.
Arstotzka gains a section of jungle.al-Mutriqa does his due diligence here in the plains.
Aside from educating fresh young minds back in the capitol, he spends nearly every waking moment out on his War Pegasi, harassing enemy troops and derailing trains. The derailed trains hurts Arstotzka here pretty badly - the trains are unarmed and full of valuable artillery shells (although they have the sense not to transport the gems charged, meaning no messy explosion). Without frequent supply drops, the HA1's must annoyingly fall silent every so often. This is a god-send for Moskurg soldiers who've taken to ducking in their trenches every time they hear a noise.
Even though the fire rate is reduced, Moskurg still suffers. Carpet riders can't get close without being shot at, and they're too slow and too unarmored to survive a thumb-sized bullet going through their lamellar armor or carpet. The Airships aren't able to provide covering fire without being slammed with every cannon in range, and Moskurg can't do much beyond cede ground at an alarming rate.
Despite al-Mutriqa's best efforts, Arstotzka leap-frogs trenchlines on their way south.
Arstotzka gains a section of the plains. The desert isn't much different.
Arstotzka relies entirely on their cannons, and without a need for water there's very little that can be done to stop them. The most detrimental thing to their progress south is the difficulty in keeping their cannons supplied. Moskurg knows the lands better, owns the nearby ocean, and is experienced in fighting wide-open areas, but they don't have the temperature advantage which hurts. Their air power still can't help beyond carpet-riders casting lightning from far-off, and Arstotzkan soldiers tend to do better when melee occurs. Arstotzkan commanders generally keep their rifles slung except for when they see a carpet over head, as the reloading action takes too long to make it particularly useful in the field. They instead default to using their crystal axes along with the rest of their men. The melee's are close, but they tend to go in Arstotzka's favor more often than not.
Against all odds, Arstotzka does the impossible and firmly takes hold of Moskurgs homelands.
Arstotzka gains a section of the desert.In the Western ocean, Myark continues his sea campaign and succeeds in pushing a section of the coastline back.
Now that the HA1's have a reason to exist on ships, several of the Crystalclads are retrofitted with a single HA1 rather than their normal compliment of three HC1-E's. It's large and the ships don't move particularly fast, but they now have a way of hitting the Airships that were devastatingly effective on the seas. As soon as an Alsamma Safina appears on the horizon, every heavy artillery ship turns about and begins firing. Without air support, Sirocco's are thoroughly outclassed. Carpet riders are the only things that stand a chance, and even then Myark is uncannily accurate with his rifle.
The Eastern sea sees Moskurg do a little better, but it's not enough. It's not nearly enough.
Arstotzka gains a section of the Eastern and Western Seas. Research Credit!!!The Connection between Sub-Reality and Reality and the Application of Sub-Reality Ambient Energy in Magegems
Magegems were a frequent topic during my learning at the Academy. In every new project from the senior Mathemagicians, one may often find an attempt at making Magegems truly useful. It was only with the introduction of the AS-R1 Hybrid Rifle that Magegems found a use, yet their expense and consumable nature makes Magegems an obstacle to the rifle. I [Bjorn] have experienced, in my year of training, the strain that powering Magitechnology puts on mages. I believe there’s a better way to accomplish our goals.
Another topic prevalent in the Academy is the theory of the “Aether” – a place below reality, officially deemed “Sub-Reality” in technical parchments. The Aether was first discovered in the year 911 with the introduction of the Magic Lance, a precursor to the now-ubiquitous Crystal. Little research was done into this Aether, and focus was instead spent on other pursuits.
In 921, research was performed into anti-magic charms ultimately resulting in the establishment of the field of Mathemagics, the cornerstone of Arstotzkan society. This research discovered a way to dissipate magical energy via sound, but additionally pointed to a mysterious connection between this humming and the recently-discovered Aether.
The year 918, three years before the introduction of Mathemagics, bore witness to a significant discovery regarding the then-temporary Crystal and the Aether. Specifically, Arstotzka’s researchers made significant headway in the connection between Crystal and the Aether. Crystal was discovered to, in the words of the report, “witness a slight vibration” before “desynchronizing from reality.”
The Aether isn’t some unknown place that Arstotzka never utilized. The Magic Lance in 911 summoned Crystal from the Aether. Conjuration magic exploits this poorly-understood link between Reality and the Aether to operate. With enough understanding, we can use this link for more than just conjuration.
With the knowledge of our past projects, we can discern the relationship between Reality and the Aether. The link is, after all, two-ways: We summon from the Aether and magic dissipates into the Aether. Summoned Crystal is already linked to the Aether, and as of 921, Anti-Magic Charms are partially linked to the Aether. This leads to the conclusion that as magic flows in this two-way link, there must be a way to reverse that flow.
My research has discerned the exact nature of the link. In my lab at the Academy, I had crates of nearly-expiring summoned crystal and anti-magic charms brought in. With our best measuring equipment, I studied how exactly this link manifests: how Crystal desynchronizes, and how anti-magic charms use humming to dissipate magic into the Aether; where does Magic go when it’s “used”? Our research in 918 already brought a light to how Crystal is linked, but my research delves further.
Ultimately, my research would reveal the presence of another aspect of the link. Study of the path of dissipating magic reveals a specific “channel” for magical energy to flow through. It was this channel that would sap the magic sustaining Crystal, causing summoned Crystal to experience the desynchronization from reality discovered in 918. When the link is present between a summoned object and the Aether, magic naturally flows back into the Aether. Magic dissipates naturally via this channel; our anti-magic charms exploit this.
The knowledge of this channel lead to another breakthrough in my research. Careful examination was performed of Mage test volunteers practicing various forms of magic. Mages too exploit the magical channel to the Aether – they’re a living conduit. I believe this conduit alone allows wizards to be able to practice magic. The presence of this conduit is what makes a wizard.
With the appropriate knowledge, I can replicate this link. Through further intense studying, a way to mimic human mages using Magegems was found. A kind of spell maintained via circuit scrolls wrapped around a Magegem can combine the knowledge I’ve discovered and use our existing experience with summoning to “summon” magical energy from the Aether. It takes energy to artificially maintain this link, but the energy pulled in is far greater.
With proper research, we can create a practical version of this – an “Aethergem” – that naturally charges itself or connected Magegems. The prototype I’ve constructed is impractical, large, and expensive. But I trust our Mathemagicians to use my research to create something allowing our mages to begin practicing true magic again, instead of being relegated to the position of a human battery. Finally, I and our mages can be at the front line in the fury of battle where we belong.
Glory to Arstotzka.
Kahrab as a source of Divine Light
Kahrab, formally referred to as ‘child of Barq’, is a form of expression of Allah’s divine will as it descends from the heavens towards the depths of the Earth, most frequently in the visage of a lightning bolt. This is a well-known concept that forms the foundation of all that Moskurg’s Tower of Storms has accomplished throughout the last 25 years.
Throughout this thesis, I make reference to The Wand of Lightning Bolts, invented by al-Damar and his team of Researcher-Priests in 936. The Lightning Wand allows us to bind a sliver of storm-derived Kahrab within its intricate adamantium core, wherein it waits until the core is encouraged to ‘discharge’, at which point it leaps out in the form of lightning once more.
The research presented in this thesis was inspired by Arif al-Barq’s paper on “Kahrab and its Incandescent effects on Graphite”, wherein he described how Kahrab travelling through graphite filaments when slowly discharged from a Lightning Wand causes the filament to radiate heat and light, much like Barq itself, before immediately burning out. The filament was reportedly linked to the Wand and the Earth by thin strips of copper to guide its course, as countless observations of lightning in nature and on the battlefield have proven without a doubt that Kahrab prefers to travel through metal when given free reign. Despite the exciting implications of this observation, further research was cut short by the sudden ubiquity of adamantium, which has become our nation’s defacto source of light (albeit low-intensity) and, more recently, heat.
Potential futility notwithstanding, I have taken it upon myself to see this research to its completion. During my experiments, I discharged Kahrab through numerous filaments of various materials, seeing for myself the wondrous glow and its untimely demise. Please refer to the table of results in the Appendix section of this thesis for a comparative review of the glow times of each filament type. Note that certain metals did in fact produce a glow that lasted even longer than the original graphite strips.
My major breakthrough came about mostly by accident at a point where I was fooling around with what I dub ‘air voids’. Air voids are created when wind manipulation techniques are used to pull air out from a central point, producing a space theoretically devoid of the substance as long as the spell is held. I discovered that filaments, when placed in an air void, glowed with a brightness far exceeding the passive luminescence of adamantium. Moreover, the filaments tested retained this blinding radiance until the Lightning Wand was completely discharged, without being obliterated in the process!
Based on these results, I propose that incandescent filaments can be entrapped in sealed air voids to allow Kahrab-induced production of high-intensity light at our desire. I propose that this may be accomplished via the work of wind-manipulators working alongside glass-makers to create transparent air-voided orbs containing filaments linked to Kahrab channels. This device, which I henceforth name the 'Kahrab light orb’, is one I hope to one day see illuminating the streets and homes of our wondrous nation.
It's come time for the heirs to present their Thesis and undergo examination, to see if they are
truly worthy of the title of 'Wizard'. Unbeknownst to each other, both heirs present their thesis at the same time to their respective council of esteemed wizardly professors.
Bjorn's thesis delves into the concept of a second reality, removed from our own, known as the 'Aether'. His thesis speculates on the potential possibility of drawing power from this realm by artificially recreating the link all mages make when casting. To this end, he presents what he proudly refers to as an "Aethergem" construct. It consists of lots and lots of copper circuit scrolls, anti-magic gems, magegems, and a small hamster on a spinning wheel. Unfortunately he can't exactly get the device to work; whether the hamster wasn't running fast enough or whether it never worked at all isn't quite clear, but everyone agrees that it's quite impressive and he gains his diploma.
Hayat's thesis involves a rather unusual application of the Wand of Thunderbolts. Rather than using it to kill Arstotzkans, her thesis concerns how one may use it to instead produce the light. The board of professors is quick to point out that a blast of lightning already produces light, but she demonstrates her point by presenting a small, bulbous device powered by a wand. It produces a surprising amount of light in a non-destructive manner, at least until the glass surprisingly shatters after a few minutes. Still, everyone agrees that it was quite impressive and she gains her diploma.
The fact that Hayat managed to produce a working model of something that doesn't explode [on purpose] is enough to reduce loudly dissenting nobles to mild grumbling, securing Hayat's position as heir for a bit longer.
Unfortunately for Bjorn, his thesis ended up being a few words too long, which his detractors quickly point to as an example of him being "a fuckin' nerd" and being unfit to lead through strength, as his father did. The minor chief they'd been supporting, Sweyn Hardrada, assures everyone that he still stands by his oath and will support the King, but the fact that he doesn't explicitly state he'd support Bjorn as well leads to much tension among the royal court.
Arstotzka will gain a +1 to effectiveness for their next design involving gems.
Moskurg will gain a +1 to effectiveness for their next design involving mundane applications of lightning, and gain a
Research Credit as well.
Revision Credit!!!Now that both heirs are full-fledged wizards, it's time for them to prove their might on the battlefield. Both will fight for their countries this year, leading a small squad of hand-picked wizards to help prove themselves in battle. They'll be well protected, of course, but accidents have been known to happen on the battlefield...
Pick the area in which your heir will be fighting this year. If you lose ground in this area, your heir may become injured...or worse. If you gain ground, your heir may learn enough to apply their knowledge next year to help the nation's magical advancements through a
Revision Credit.
It is 942, the Design Phase.Northern Taiga: 4/4 Arstotzka, 0/4 Moskurg
Central Mountains: 4/4 Arstotzka, 0/4 Moskurg
Western Jungle: [color=red2/4 Arstotzka[/color], 2/4 Moskurg
Eastern Plains: 3/4 Arstotzka, 1/4 Moskurg
Southern Desert: 1/4 Arstotzka, 3/4 Moskurg
Northern Sea: 4/4 Arstotzka, 0/4 Moskurg
Western Sea: 1/4 Arstotzka, 3/4 Moskurg
Eastern Sea: 1/4 Arstotzka, 3/4 Moskurg
Southern Sea: 0/4 Arstotzka, 4/4 Moskurg
Sabre: Officer weapon. A single-edged Adamantium blade that favours cavalry combat over infantry combat. Requires training to wield, one-handed. Expensive.
Spear: General infantry weapon. Essentially an Adamantium dagger on a long stick. Very cheap, requires minimal training to use. Can be used double-handed, or single handed with a light shield. Cheap. Obsolete.
Halberd: An axe, a hook, and a spear all rolled into one. Does well against armor and in formation. Cheap
Buckler: General infantry equipment. A small Adamantium shield, held in one hand. Only protects a small area, but can be wielded alongside a shield. Moderate cost, requires training to wield properly. Cheap.
Pavise Shield: A large, thick, high-quality shield to guard against arrows. Can be staked into the ground, or slung across the shoulders. Needs both hands to use while on the move. Very Expensive.
Padded Armour: General infantry armour. Very cheap, just layers of cloth, but doesn't protect against much. Well ventilated in hot conditions, though. Worn under armor. Cheap.
Scale Mail: Officer armour. Scales of Adamantium on a leather backing. Expensive, but lighter than chain mail. Expensive. Obsolete.
Elite Lamellar Armor: All-purpose armor. Worn over padded armor. Thin plates of Adamantium sewn together with leather thongs, backed by more leather. High quality, decent protection against arrows and melee attacks. Adamantium is tailored to the temperature of the theater being fought in, preventing soldiers from freezing to death. Cheap.
Recurve Bow: General infantry weapon. A light bow composed of laminated wood and horn, curved backwards to provide more force. Inexpensive enough to equip many troops with, with very reasonable medium range and power. Can be wielded by horse archers.
Bodkin Arrows: Arrows with needle points. Can reliably penetrate plate armor at point blank range. Can penetrate less reliably further away. Now with Adamantium tips!
Arabian Horse: A light riding horse, from short-lived Iberian settlers in the past. Very fast and maneuverable, but not too strong. Expensive.
Horse Breeding Program: Mass amounts of horses available. Tend to do poorly in the desert, and aren't quite as high quality as the Arabian Horses. Cheap.
Lances: Essentially a heavily upgraded spear. Has a tendency to splinter after the first use. Cheap.
Sailing Ship: Wind-propelled wooden ship. Fast, requires minimal crew, cannot carry many passengers, but does carry at least one wizard - so long as they don't make puns. Very Expensive. Obsolete.
Sirocco: Ships made from lightweight and hardy junglewood and clad in glowing Adamanitium armor. Much more resilient and faster than Arstotzka's ships as of 935.
Ballista: Large siege weapon. Can fire javelins or stone shot great distances accurately. Reliable enough for consistent use. Can be mounted on ships. Wheeled. High-quality siege engineers.Expensive.
Firestorm ammo: Pots filled with Alnnar Almuqaddasa - "Holy Fire". Bursts into sticky flame on impact. Incredibly lethal, incredibly dangerous. Nearly impossible to extinguish. Cheap.
Wand of Heroism: Makes a squad fight beyond human levels. A National Effort.
Moskurg's Apprentice Gramary for Inter-magical Competency: Trains some apprentices to Wizard-level. Does not provide more mages. National Effort.
Alsamma Safina: Sirocco, stripped-down and packed with War Pegasi for lift. Requires multiple dedicated mages to keep the carpets enchanted and in sync. Very Expensive.
Adamantium: Divine metal summoned from the aether. Comes in workable copper-soft and forge-able steel-hard ingots. Temperature can be permanently set. Cheap.
Teletalk: Short-ranged psychic communication between mystics. Enough beacons can be produced to outfit an army. Expensive.
Wand of Thunderbolts: Glass wand, painted with zinc and copper. Adamantium core. Good for a single modestly-powerful blast of lightning. Cheap.
Staff of Tubikh Rrahim Albarq: Area-of-affect spell anchored to the caster. Prevents all magic from being cast within a short range. Spell contained within a staff of ivory, field of effect controllable. Produces a glow. Expensive.
Dispell Enchantments: Dispells enchantments on items, including standard crystal weapons. Expensive.
Pegasus: Charmingly named, enchanted carpets. Levitate, can be pushed around with Gust of Wind. Limited height, duration, speed. Typically rolled up and equipped with a saddle. Has pretty tassels. Expensive.
War Pegasus:[/b] A faster, higher, tamed version of the Pegasus. Requires each carpet to be broken-in before it can be used in the field, but now has its own form of locomotion. Enchantments now last longer.Expensive.
Detect Ambush: Reveals non-magical ambushes prepared by enemy troops or physical traps.
Lucky Strike: Magical guidance makes a squad shoot or strike true far more often than usual. Expensive.
Detect Thoughts: Read the mind of an enemy commander to determine their tactics ahead of time. Expensive.
Zen Inception: By putting enemy soldiers in a zen-like state, we can use their minds as a relay system to read minds further away. The spell is easy to disrupt, but simple to use.
Gust of Wind: Evokes physical force to create a heavy gust of wind, sufficient to disperse fog and most minor concealment, as well as disperse irritating swarms. Expensive.
Cyclone Shield: Protects the beneficent from most arrows and some blows with a sheath of wind. Expensive.
Storm Strike: Summons heavy rain and winds over the course of a day. Expensive.
Wrath of Allah: Calls upon Allah to allow lightning to rain down, even in snowy weather. Multiple mages allow faster casting of Storm Strike.
Clear Weather: Negates inclement weather within the given area. Nests within Storm Strike for protection.
Hammer of Allah: Induce lightning from summoned storms. Strikes indiscriminately, so can't be used in "danger close" situations.
Spear of Allah: Call down an individual bolt of lightning to target enemy commanders. Requires line of sight to target. Can be used in "danger close" situations.
Zephyr of Allah - Zephyric Destruction: Tornado cast by a single mage. Very powerful, goes out to Extreme Range. Lethal with debris, less lethal otherwise. Can pick up a soldier, if it passes directly over him. Expensive.
Heretics' Downfall: Greater control over lightning. Can 'persuade' lightning to travel down certain paths despite easier paths being available.
Tubikh Rrahim: Area-of-affect spell centered around the caster. Prevents all magic from being cast within a short range. Cheap.
Dispell Enchantments: Dispells enchantments on items, including standard crystal weapons. Expensive.
Divine Desert Winds: Sends warm desert air north. Does not reach the taiga. Warms the area by one "level". Very Expensive.
Antichronic Reverbramancy: A trance that focuses on the branching nature of time. Locates "chokepoints" in the branches, where things will happen. Can only detect cataclysmic, nearby events, like artillery barrages, usually within 10-30 seconds. Tends to cause mages to be lost in the flow of time. Cheap.
As inspired by the "Behavior Rule" attached to Sensei's new Arms Race thread, I've decided to adapt them to Wand Race. Most of these are blatantly copied from his thread, and I expect them to be followed. After running this game for a few weeks now and following the last Arms Race, I'm aware that they're prone to attracting bad attitudes. Keeping the game smooth, on schedule, and argument free is probably a greater concern of mine than whatever you are arguing about: I expect you to be mature and adopt the same attitude.
1. Don't be salty! If at any time you find yourself having an urge to mouth off at another player, step away from the keyboard, go outside, and take a breath. Seriously. Players who repeatedly get angry or passive aggressive will be asked to leave. If you have an issue with the way the game is being run, DO NOT expect a tantrum to get you what you want.
2. Keep in mind that I am not a historian, so there will sometimes be mistakes and inaccuracies. Even in the best of circumstances, minor inconsistencies are a common occurrence. If some piece of equipment is imbalanced/unrealistic, I might consider changing it if you bring it up once -AND ONLY ONCE- and politely state your argument. However, I will err on the side of consistency with my own game, I do not like to go back and change things. Sometimes it is more important to simply keep the game running smoothly than other concerns.
3. Do not accuse me of being biased. Do not accuse me of being biased. I put a lot of effort into being objective and fair and being accused otherwise is pretty fucking irritating. On multiple occasions this has nearly derailed the game and made me want to abandon it all together. I have absolutely no more patience for this, and if you do it YOU WILL BE BANNED.
4. Do not spy on the other team's private thread. Trust me, playing fair is more fun for everyone! If you suffer from a lack of self-control and cannot stop yourself from spying, keep it to yourself. Do not use it to metagame. And do not post what you saw in the central thread. This has happened multiple times now, and if you do it you will be banned with no warning.
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Topic: Wands Race - [Moskurg] {COMPLETED} (Read 186028 times)