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[Madman198237]

Interplanetary Arms Race: Planetary Technate

Welcome to Side Two. Your first task will be to pick a name for your faction, because your GM is far too lazy to do so. After that, you have three turns to build up your starting lineup of equipment before you’ll issue your first move orders and begin the war.

During the first two turns (-1, 0) there will be no combat, you will get two designs and two revisions per turn, and you will be tasked with building up your faction’s military using. Your GM will NOT be telling you how to do this. Win this war however you want to.

On Turn 1, all construction will be instantaneous and able to move immediately. During the preliminary turns, and stretching into the later turns, you will also be tasked with coming up with lore for your faction. You may start doing that at any point---early creations will be usable in any later competitions (unless they’ve already been used in a competition).

Spoiler: Starter Tech (click to show/hide)

Ships
ITC (Interplanetary Transport Craft): A less-than-stellar spacecraft, the ITC is a version of the ships landed on your planet when you first colonized it. It is prone to malfunction, slow, and generally unpleasant. The rocket shuttles used to get equipment from the ITC to the ground have a limited capacity, meaning that with the exception of troops and things that can be broken into much smaller parts, the ITC cannot carry any equipment of a size greater than 1TC. It has 4TC capacity in total and uses chemical engines for propulsion. It has no armor or armaments.
Cost: 2 SPP

Units
Basic Military Unit: (you may rename this if you so wish) A capable group of soldiers trained to operate any equipment you can give them. Field training allows them to keep up to date on the best way to operate the newest deathtraps and self-destructing gizmos you send them even after they’re deployed.
Cost: 2GPP

Ground Weapons
Printed Pistol: Issued to security guards on the colony ships, the only real weapon both colonies have. They are 3D-printed out of plastic, a process which is not entirely reliable, meaning the gun has a tendency to break after prolonged use... or any use, really.
Cost: Cheap

Equipment
Basic Space Suit: A civilian space suit, totally unarmored and cumbersome to walk in. At least it works well enough, and has a self-sealing lining meaning a single shot isn't an immediate death sentence... most of the time. Necessary for deployment to worlds without breathable atmospheres.
Cost: Cheap

Other
Command Radio: Essentially just a very big radio set, capable of reliable communication between planets, ships, and/or other planets. Currently only useful for taunting your enemy. The transmitter dish comes in a single piece and cannot fit in an ITC shuttle.
Cost: 2GPP
Weight: 1TC (requires 2 shuttle TC)

Colony Defense Grid The reason you can't instantly invade the enemy homeworld. A series of surface-to-orbit missile launchers, the only real concession to defense the planners of the colony made. How they work is a mystery now, and no one wants to risk taking them apart to find out.

Spoiler: Logistics (click to show/hide)

Ship Production Points: 16
  16 points: Unassigned.

Ground Production Points: 20
  20 points: Unassigned
 
Units
Nope, nothing to see here.

Ships
Your shipbuilders have been really lazy lately, haven’t they?

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

Planetary Contents:
1 & 2: Earthlike planets just as you’d expect. Take your opponent’s homeworld to win, lose yours and you die.
A: Riddled with caves and with a mineral-rich crust, this airless world is ideal for the production of spacecraft components. 1 GPP, 3 SPP.
B: A volcanic world with a caustic atmosphere and lava flows on the surface, B is full of minerals that can be easily acquired…if you can deal with the, quite literal, heat. 3 GPP, 1 SPP.
C: Icy, barren, rather flat in most regions. It has rather a lot of those things humans need to live sitting on and under its airless surface. 3 GPP, 3 SPP.
D: A surface-wide ocean is the defining trait of this planet, providing an interesting combat environment and also plenty of interesting life forms that can be studied….if you can build a big enough boat to catch one, anyway. 4 GPP, 2 SPP.
E: Another Earthlike planet, ideal for habitation….or, y’know, fighting a good old fashioned war over! 4 GPP, 4 SPP.
F: A world of highlands and mountains, the lower parts of the planet are filled with most of the planet's already scarce water. However, the mountainous regions have high mineral contents and plenty of good spacecraft launch sites above the majority of the atmosphere. 2 GPP, 4 SPP.
G: Deserts cover the surface of this planet. Deserts made, in fact, of a curious sand with abnormally high metal and mineral contents. It has an atmosphere that serves to stir up the sands into occasional sandstorms. 3 GPP, 3 SPP.
H: An airless, small rock in space, H is heavily cratered and not a great place to live. Good place to build spacecraft, though. 1 GPP, 3 SPP.
I: A world covered in wide stretches of windswept terrain covered in something that we’re going to call grass, I is ideal for large-scale industrial activity. Nobody cares if you do irreparable damage to a huge tract of grasslands here, after all, there are a hundred more huge tracts of pristine grasslands you haven’t ruined yet. 3 GPP, 1 SPP.

Core Thread

You have three turns (two of which are double turns, i.e. 2 designs, 2 revisions) to get your affairs in order before the war begins. Try not to embarrass your colony too badly, would you?

[Shadowclaw777]

We are the Zhentarim, a shadowy organization that united the planet through economical and intellectual might and superior and through dominated the colony as an oligarchy of all the shadow princes that control trade and the collection of information flow.

Designs we probably need; Fusion Reactor (Of Myriad Kind) -> Improved Ship Hull most likely, I would like this side to go down the route of technology and artificial drones, cybernetics, and whatnot. Maybe with a preference for lasers?

Also Economic buildings that improve the ability to deploy ships and ground points, improved ability to mobilize ships like through engines, maybe an ion engine?

Team Title:
Zhentarim: (1) SC
Designs:

[Doubloon-Seven]

2 is #1! 2 is #1!

Jokes aside, here's some lore ideas!

...MESSAGE RECEIVED! OPEN...? [Y/N]

>y

...ATTENTION,[██████████]! This is a missive from the [PGC-DefAdminDiv] with priority code [ALPHA]. The following information is classification level [TOP SECRET].


Dr. █████,
In response to the recent tensions with the ███████, the successor state of the other colony vessel, PGC-DefAdminDiv is placing you as commander of a new unit, hereby designated PGC-DefAdminDiv-RD/1. Your task will be to research and design equipment for a possible future conflict, so as to better defend our planet. For this task, you will be allowed a budget of ████████. Further allotments may be issued as calculated.
Current PGC-DefAdminDiv-CompCen calculations indicate probability of an armed conflict within two years as ██%. We expect nothing short of victory. Do not disappoint us.
PGC-DefAdminDiv Secretary, █████ ██████

...ISSUE RESPONSE...? [Y/N]

Kind of an Orwellian, technocratic feel.

[FallacyofUrist]

It should be noted that literally everything we have right now sucks.

Our transport craft are unarmored, slow, and cramped.

Our military units have no special training.

Our pistols... yeah.

Our space suits are unarmored.

And our radios are literally useless.

Modular Interlocking Comms System: (revision)
It's fairly trivial to create a transmitter dish that can be easily disassembled and reassembled from a set of modular components, allowing it to be easily transported between worlds. The pieces it disassembles into can easily be carried by only about a dozen of our soldiers, who we may as well specifically train in communications to form a Comms Team while we're at it, trained to rapidly assemble and deassemble the modular communications dish as well as operate it.

Modular Assembly Turret System: (design)
Following in the theme of several other pieces of modular technology recently designed by our engineers, the MATS is a heavy machine gun attached to a tripod and an advanced automated targeting system. The individual components can be carried by three soldiers, then assembled on the field into a MATS, which will then power on, automatically target any enemy soldiers within its killing radius, and open fire violently. The main innovation in the MATS system is how easily it can be assembled. Anyone, even someone untrained, could put the components together in seconds. The modular design also makes it easier to remove a damaged part and replace it.

Glitterstorm: (design)
No, we haven't had enough of our modular technology designs. The Glitterstorm is an in-atmosphere manned bomber that is entirely modular. Every Glitterstorm is broken up into a large number of modular components that need to be assembled together before the craft is in operation. It can similarly be disassembled for movement to another location. The Glitterstorm will take several hours to assemble, but it's well worth the ability to have a bomber on the field without needing specialized transportation.

The Glitterstorm is armed with one bomb bay, perfect for dropping tonnage of bombs upon opponents from high altitudes. Alternatively, it can be loaded with a special weapon, a large container full of a specially made black dust that, when dropped, reacts with atmosphere in a way that effectively creates a small dust storm. Perfect for messing with literally everything.

Unfortunately the Glitterstorm is only designed for in-atmosphere, not vacuum, operations.

Mascot: (design)
We've created a drone the size of a soccer ball, and shaped like one too. The drone uses micro-rockets to roll itself towards an enemy, homing in on them, then self-destructing with the high explosives present inside it.

The troops are encouraged to paint their Mascot drones however they like with the included painting kit.

[Madman198237]

MICS: That's a little dubious as a revision. It's not a small device, definitely not meant to be man-portable.

MATS: A little detail on how it's detecting and identifying targets would be nice, absolutely requires a mention of caliber, probably a Hard design as-is depending on the addition of details.

Glitterstorm: I hate your guts for real now. Very Hard at least, you're trying to make a bomber with an unspecified size, payload, and also trying to engineer something capable of producing a dust storm outright. In fact, no, that's definitely Ludicrous.

Mascot: Very Hard design, I want more details on how this things is targeting enemies and maybe a rational for why it's all going to fit into a self-propelled rocket-powered soccer ball.

[Shadowclaw777]

“Incorporeal Material Engine” - MPDE - Magnetoplasmadynamic Engine: (Design)
As stated these thrusters or rather engine is no simple design, these are “powerful” electromagnetic-propelled ion thrusters that are very capable of spaceship propulsion, these engines are fed a gaseous material that is then ionized and fed into an acceleration chamber, where the magnetic and electrical fields are created using a power source. The particles are then propelled by the Lorentz force (the force on a charged particle by an electromagnetic field) resulting from the interaction between the current flowing through the plasma and the magnetic field (which is either externally applied, or induced by the current) out through the exhaust chamber, and through fine tuning of thermodynamics, magnets, and gaseous materials you can provide a modular space engine that can provide effective travel in-combat between engagements and travel through planet to planet.

“Torus of Shadows”- Tokamak Fusion Reactor Gen 1.0: (Design)
The Collective Government why in its referral of still being named has requested the delving into technology that would benefit society as a whole thus this design, we would still need the creation of a divergent power source that has a multitude of usages and thus the classic delve into more power, an evolution of fission power is the iconically named fusion, with the usage of an “Tokamak Magnetic Confinement System”, and the usage of Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion through those advanced magnets and combine it with thermodynamics, net result?, the creation of a large power generator that will indefinitely beat break-even zone, you just have a bunch of darkly painted torus magnets in a helical facilty, crank the heat in which this will allow the ions of the superheated magnets to combine together through magnetic entanglement and than the power generator facility would definitely provide us with a Q of Five or higher, just make sure those magnets are tough and precise! Note that the facility is a grounded magnetic confinement reactor and not one design with modularity with space-faring vehicles, as of the moment.

Title-naming, there this area of this technocracy oligarchy that has all the people being cogs in the machines of the greater good, maybe we call this “society” a socialist democracy where Executives are voted upon, but everything is controlled by the Eidolons, many might call this a despotic hegemony but all of the Executive have superlative Power since everything is ruled by the people higher up... The Council of Eidolons

[Wozzy]

I like the shadow organization combined with the technocratic feel. Having some mysterious entity leading our design and strategy team sounds like it would be fun (though I feel we should be [Insert less threatening name] (Zhentarim)).

Will edit in some ideas soon..

[NUKE9.13]

Right, let's get started.

Okay, so, first things first: how much phlebotonium are we allowed? Like, on a scale from ICAR to MAR, what're we looking at? I know BFA didn't have that much, but no one really tried, and I would've probably allowed some fictional resources- but this is not my game to run.

Anyway. We have 5 designs. We need the following things:
-A working combat spaceship, which in turn requires
  -Weaponry of some sort
  -Power
  -Engines (preferably speed 2? Not sure how difficult that would be)
-Infantry weapons

That's five things, and conveniently enough we have 5 designs. Obviously there are more things we want, but we have to get the things we need ready first.

One reason why I asked about phlebotonium is that I'd rather not do fusion power. Both sides in BFA did fusion, so if we can do something else that'd be nice for variety's sake. However, fusion is a very logical step if one follows (mostly) realistic tech progression.


For fluff, I'm cool with whatever, basically. A shadow government with a technocratic veneer would be fine. I'll let others who feel more strongly decide, and then I'll try to write some actual lore once we're locked in.

[Chiefwaffles]

I'm so proud my abnormally crappy starter designs have lasted all the way from PAR to here.


As for lore, I'll probably write up something later if nothing is set in stone by then. I do like shadowy technocratic, though (obviously personally) I think we should avoid being evil and we should avoid being too far either end on the authoritarian/libertarianism spectrum. And of course we shouldn't try to be a perfect happy utopia immediately off the bat. First thoughts based on what people have already written is something kind of openly shadowy. People know that there's some secret shadow government, but it isn't oppressive, the trains are on time, and if you do care it's not impossible to affect change.

Like, meritocracy through shadowy. By the nature of the government, if you're skilled enough to gain power you're skilled enough to use that power well. There would be enough people with some degree of power that if you tried to do something particularly oppressive/evil, you'll encounter stiff resistance.
Dunno. This is brainstorming.

I do think that we should avoid making a gazillion proper nouns just yet, at least.

[Madman198237]

I haven't been planning on allowing phlebotinum, things like fusion and electromagnetic engines were going to be easier to make and/or more powerful than normal.


You're right in that it might make things a lot more interesting. I'll consider it---if you've got any specific examples of something you'd like to do I'll look them over and consider what might result.

It'll require a design to invent one, of course---not that you can't get some fancy new resource as a part of a functional piece of equipment, it'll just add difficulty in exchange for making something possible.


Generally you're just supposed to be able to do some things without phlebotinum but, again, I won't say no outright, it's just not something I figured would really come up.

[TricMagic]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Graviton Generator

A Graviton is an elementary particle, one which represents the presence of Gravity. It's also very difficult to make, since it requires Fusion to produce the energy to make it. Once made though, we will be able to produce a Graviton Generator and scoop up the Gravitons produced.

Effectively, we start up a number of Fusion Generators on the Planet, based around a central Building meant to hold an Artificial Star. We start the fusion Generators, and use their power to jumpstart the fusion process in the Main Building's Chambers. We then open the Gates, and let that Fusion spiral into the main chamber, where it will collapse. This generates a large number of free Gravitons, which we can then capture through prearranged machines. The result is twofold. A Star on a Planet, if small, and a continual source of Gravitions, captured in vacuum containers.

These Gravitons are perfect for manipulating one of the primal forces of the universe. Though like most fuels, they can run out. A single Graviton is equal to the energy of a small Fusion reaction however, in far less space. They're also rather stable, in vacuum. Outside of it, they quickly degrade, releasing their energy in a Graviton Reaction with the surrounding Universe.

Due to needing a Planet to use for the process, their is a limit on how many we can produce. Too many will cause the stars to flicker out as gravity asserts it's hold on the stars, crushing them. The stars themselves only maintain their form due to the removal of Gravitions from the area, effectively removing them from the Planet's fields of gravity, as well as preventing them from dragging in the complex.

A single fuel cell of Gravitions can be expected to last a single deployment cycle, or around 3 Months. Addition fuel can also be carried for cases where more time is needed. They don'tquite interact with Gravity properly, since by standard rules, they should be affecting the area. But they don't since they are in stasis in Vaccum. Being a black color, you can't even tell it's there, until it gets used. At that point, it takes on a dark purple tinge where it's reacting.

I'll note I'm fine with just going with Fusion Reactors for now.

Materialworks Facility: First Design, a Gun that actually works well.

The Materialworks Facility uses a combination of materials to form a mold, which is then filled, sealed, and sent through liquid nitrogen.

It is that simple. Our workers make the molds, usually some form of solidified sand/clay, the molds are filled with molten metal, then sent through a cold water bath. The molds are broken, and we have some parts that only require minor touch-ups.

The first thing we are making, is a proper pistol that isn't made of cheap plastic. Though the design of the Materialworks Facility will likely improve our ability to produce anything that isn't special order. Good for mass-production. At least these guns won't just break down after one use.

As for the Actual Gun, it has two models. The Standard Colt style from old Earth, and the Air-pressure version for in-vacuum use, whose bullets use pressurized air and a puncture fire mechanism to break the plastic and fire the bullet through the pressurized air being released behind it, rather than the Blackpowder which doesn't actually work without air. The two versions are only really differentiated by a single part, the firing mechanism, and the use of the Pressurized Air behind the bullet. Comes with Rifling, which is done in post-production of the barrel.

[Doubloon-Seven]

Most design circles propose two methods of fusion power. The first, Inertial Confinement, is highly dangerous. The second, Magnetic Confinement, requires incredibly powerful electromagnets. As the greatest minds among us now say -- "Why not both?"

The Magnetoinertial Fusion process involves creating an active fusion reaction between a deuterium plasma and a lithium shell. Plasma is generated and formed into a warm and low density projectile with electromagnets, which is then sent into the reaction chamber. Following the plasma is a hollow lithium tube. When the plasma projectile is inside the tube, the electromagnets compress the assembly to induce a fusion reaction.

The resulting hot plasma is electromagnetically fired down a tube lined with collectors that convert the kinetic energy of the emitted particles and waves directly into electricity.

Power source! it's neat.

Team Name
Zhentarim (1): ShadowClaw777
Planetary Governmental Council (1): DoubloonSeven
Type of Government
Technocratic Meritocracy (1): DoubloonSeven
Design
MIF//EU-100 (1): DoubloonSeven

[TricMagic]

Team Name
Zhentarim (1): ShadowClaw777
Planetary Governmental Council (1): DoubloonSeven
Type of Government
Technocratic Meritocracy (1): DoubloonSeven
Design
MIF//EU-100 (2): DoubloonSeven, TricMagic
Metal Printing (1): TricMagic

Bit mean..

It's a gun, and MM treats it as a way to produce a good gun cheaply. And the experience will probably help us with producing other things eventually. At the least, it's never likely to explode on us, so it's a Design that is needed, and safe. Which means our other Design can be the dangerous one.

Note, removed because I'm being a bit silly.

Metal Printing

Through older records, and just simple sense, we've edited a few of our plastic printers to instead be used to print metals into 3D objects. Like Guns.

This is literally all we've done. The big thing is that our factories can actually produce Metals along with plastics. We've mostly spent the rest of our time building more factories, some dedicated to this new method entirely.

[Shadowclaw777]

Social Democracy of Eidolons: Our people value the Executives that run the Shadow Council that are known as the Eidolons, on the outside a socialist parliament their is value to the people of the trains running on time, all citizens having access to universal basic income, universal national-funded healthcare, and all other benefits that comes from a government of a social democracy that aims to create the conditions for capitalism to lead to greater democratic, egalitarian and solidaristic outcomes. However the “corporate ladder” of the technocracy if you will is more harsh, the Eidolons in their Council may have a bit of autocratic streak when creating social reforms and can alter decrees as they see fit, their are people of every ladder of society in which each solar cycle represents another time to vote upon members, to see that they “increase” or “decrease” upon their ranking, which takes away social benefits and more. Sounds almost utopian but there are... weird factors in the given government, and the technocratic feel could be of the meritocracy and the Executives running the society are ones that technical experts and their expertise is most valued and what leads you higher up the ladder

The MPD Engine is on the edge of Hard and Normal due to current energy reactors, it could also be Normal if it were more bulky and heavy if it were to utilize normal fission engines.

Team Name
Social Democracy of Eidolons (1): SC777
Planetary Governmental Council (1): DoubloonSeven
Type of Government
Technocratic Meritocracy (2): DoubloonSeven, SC777
Design
MIF//EU-100 (3): DoubloonSeven, TricMagic, SC777
Metal Printing (1): TricMagic
“Incorporeal Material Engine” MPDE: (1) SC777

[TricMagic]

Celestial Democracy of the People's Republic

Our people's governance is mostly led by officials elected by their own group to serve as the go-between them and the Government. As such, Our Government is led by the people elected to this position. They have the skills to understand the intricacies of running a Government that spans the entire system.

It can be divided into blocks. The Engineers, the Development Teams, the Military, the Food Producers, the Overseers of the Printing Factories, the Miners, and the Architects. We happen to be apart of the Development Teams, dedicated to developing new technology. Of lesser note are the more political appointees, who bring in the local civilian views, are elected normally, and make up around 30 percent of the Council. A 55% majority is needed for laws to pass, and these laws can be revised if needed or not implemented properly.

One part that tends to go overlooked is the Lawyers who type up laws almost exclusively for these groups who can't do it themselves. It's rather cutthroat, but it is possible to silence someone during particularly fierce arguments.

The main decision making gets done, and the info gets passed down to the various groups this way, along with the normal communication methods. A combination of skilled experts and the people's representatives.

Team Name
Social Democracy of Eidolons (1): SC777
Planetary Governmental Council (1): DoubloonSeven
Celestial Democracy of the People's Republic (1): TricMagic
Type of Government
Technocratic Meritocracy (2): DoubloonSeven, SC777
Union's/People's Representative Democracy
Design
MIF//EU-100 (3): DoubloonSeven, TricMagic, SC777
Metal Printing (1): TricMagic
“Incorporeal Material Engine” MPDE: (1) SC777