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[DolosusDoleus]

Welcome, Morecaz Engineer

Core Thread

The capitol of your nation is located on the far West of the island, where both blizzards and great winter storms ravage the land. While your people have managed to push their way far into the ruthless cold, and have even established several more cities, your attempts to attain vital resources have been stymied by the foul Dubrovich, a foul people to the east. You must do whatever necessary to seize their means of production for the survival of Morecaz!

It is now the Design Phase

At first colonists were able to be sent out by foot and by train, using the abandoned paths of the old world to venture into the white unknown. But as the snow grew deeper and deeper, and as the Sun's warmth began to fade, the amount of souls leaving the cities began to dwindle. Unaccustomed to the cold, many had their strength and will sapped away by the mounting snow. Those who ventured out froze to death in the harsh elements, their bodies petrified and buried beneath the snow. Those who fled by train fared little better; the engines groaned and groaned under the stress of the bitter cold until they could take no more and exploded. The gears and joints of machinery made for a sunnier world seized up and slid on the growing frost, sending the carriages careening off into the elements. When we left, the old means of transport were no longer available, and so we were forced to develop a means of survival on our own.

First Prompt: When your people crossed the frozen wastes of the old world, they needed a way to travel long distances without losing people to the environment. Design the means of transport your people originally used when they left their home nations. It can be assumed that land-based transport was able to cross water with little difficulty, as most seas and oceans were long since frozen over by this point. Keep in mind that anything of steampunk technology or lesser is fair game.

Spoiler: Cities (click to show/hide)

Total Resources: 2 Coal, 2 Wood, 2 Metal

Morecaz: 7 Coal, 2 Wood, 2 Metal (3/3)
Garenbrig: (0/3)
Middlehall: (0/3)
Kirholm: (0/3)
Screamer's Reach: (0/3)

[Failbird105]

I'm going Morecaz

[Failbird105]

Option for the first design. Effectively sorta-amphibious Landships.

Design: Behemoths
The Behemoths where, as the name implies, massive vehicles. Practically ships on land. Each one a story tall and ten meters long. Behemoths where designed with built in steam generators to keep them running and warm inside. They where meant to not be stopped by anything in their path, using screw propulsion instead of wheels allowing them to drive unhindered through snow and even water should we have encountered any, and massive plows on the front that would help clear large snow drifts that could have impeded another vehicles path. The insides of the Behemoth where largely transport capacity, which could be outfitted to transport either cargo or people. That being said, they were not equipped with any form of weaponry, with the cost already high, we were not aiming to make it any higher. They did however have heavy shutters in the middle-most crew compartment(front being the drivers area, back being transportation, the middle was for a maintenance/defense crew), that could be opened to fire out of if necessary.

[UristMcRiley]

Design Proposal

Oko Cyklonu: Rather then a massive land vessel a feat and miracle of engineering somewhat beyond that of the simple peasant and rural nobleman of our homeland. Despite the deep freeze many bodies of water too deep to freeze solid leaving a simple film of ice above the ocean depths. The Oko Cyklonu or OC was a  class of substantially sized ice breaker and one of our homelands first fully steel vessels propelled by a utilitarian steam engine and two massive screws. The OC was an odd ball ship part colonial and scientific expedition, part military cruiser, and part fishing trawler. Our ancestors arrived in this land aboard five of the OC vessels after the unloading of men and material was finished the OC's cut back into the sea long nets dragging behind them and for much of those rough early years provided our ancestors with ample fish to survive on.

[Man of Paper]

Proposal: Snowpiercer Colony Trains

Colony Trains were created to fulfill the multitude of requirements a group of settlers would need to discover and populate/repopulate an area. The trains had extensive up-time thanks to the use of scoops and intakes at the front and rear of the train meant to both clear snow, ice, and debris from the tracks as well as collect snow and ice for processing into potable water. While this water supplied the people aboard the train, it also fed hydraulic systems within the train when steam or pneumatic power would be too hazardous or complex to pull off effectively. A Steam Core supplemented by a coal furnace are responsible for providing power (and heating) to just about everything else.

The traincars each have a designation and specific purpose:

The Engine Car at the front of the train contains the Steam Core powering the majority of the vehicle and houses the conductor responsible for controlling speed and direction of the train. This is where the snow and ice picked up by the train are melted into water.
The Water Car is where the water is purified and treated to the best of our abilities before being pumped to the rest of the train.
The Three Engineer's Cars are slightly taller than the others to accommodate for storage space for the construction team's equipment and supplies.
The Protein Car is where insects are bred and fungus grown to be processed into blocks of food.
The Three Habitat Cars provide basic housing and storage space for the colonists on the train.
The Medical Car acts as the train's hospital to the best of their abilities.
The Mechanic's Car stores the equipment and supplies necessary to keep the train running and prevent catastrophic breakdown.
The Coal Car contains the coal and furnace responsible for supplementing power throughout the train.
The Caboose provides housing for law enforcement/military personnel on board and has a station set up for sending and receiving Morse Code facilitated by wireless telegraphy.

While many were quick to point out the need for tracks before a train goes anywhere, the Colony Trains were designed to move slowly - barely at walking speed in nominal conditions. Conditions that no longer exist. The trains move only at night, and during the day the Engineering Teams (tethered to the train) build portions of the track to allow progress the next night. While forward progress may be slow, the use of a Colony Train means a supply line is already prepared and ready for further use, and has resulted in settlements vanishing or dying off without proper resources at a much lower rate than otherwise expected.

This proposal is intended to fall somewhere among the NE/VE expense levels (including steam core) as anything lower would be mediocre and therefore unacceptable. Unless we get really lucky, in which case yay!

[Failbird105]

Behemoths (1): Failbird105
Oko Cyklonu ():
Colony Trains ():

So, here's how I see things.

The Colony Train is never going to be an effective combat vehicle. Its railway network and the basic tech behind it could be used for future combat trains, but the Colony Train itself will never be one. It does however provide a full, effective supply network early on. Whatever the mechanical benefits of such may be.
The ships could be modified into combat vessels with relatively low difficulty, but they won't be of any use in any of the more inland battlefields. That being said, they give us a sustainable food source, at least early on. Whatever the mechanical benefits of such may be.
The Behemoths meanwhile, are practically giant, troop-carrying snow-tanks. All they need is a weapon and they're good to go. At the same time though, the Behemoths don't give us any bonus advantage.

So in terms of long term benefits:
With the Train, you get railways, with the Boats, you get fishing(and, y'know, boats), with the Behemoths, you get Behemoths.

[UristMcRiley]

Behemoths (1): Failbird105
Oko Cyklonu (1): UristMcRiley
Colony Trains ():

I just feel that out of all the presented designs from a sort of lore perspective the naval ice cutter makes the most sense for how we got to this land mass in the first place as that was kind of the prompt there the colony trains couldn't have been the first wave of colonists as someone would have had to come before to build the rails plus there isnt going to be a direct rail network over thin sea ice that even if we assume is a solid sheet will drift at the very least with the tide and occasionally drift apart. The behemoths i do like there cool though undoubtedly would be expensive though the only place it seems they will be able to uniquely effect is the frozen city itself as all of the other locales are in the vicinity of the coast. The vessels would also allow us to just bypass any sort of costly frontline combat just sail around the shore and sack there capital i doubt we could hold it but it would have to effect them adversely in some way.

[Man of Paper]

Behemoths (1): Failbird105
Oko Cyklonu (1): UristMcRiley
Colony Trains (1): MoP

So I feel like you missed something in the train proposal, Urist.

"While many were quick to point out the need for tracks before a train goes anywhere, the Colony Trains were designed to move slowly - barely at walking speed in nominal conditions. Conditions that no longer exist. The trains move only at night, and during the day the Engineering Teams (tethered to the train) build portions of the track to allow progress the next night."

There's also, from the prompt, "It can be assumed that land-based transport was able to cross water with little difficulty, as most seas and oceans were long since frozen over by this point." Polar Express did it, and that world wasn't even deep frozen!

As for my breakdown of our options, keeping the above in mind, I feel like breaking through ice thick enough to support whatever land transports is easier said than done. That said, if the seas are actually sailable, it makes a total of six lanes a bit easier to deal with. The lack of any specifications past "it's a military/fishing/research/colony boat" is a little worrying and seems like quite a, pardon the pun, wide net to cast. Which, also, I dunno how well fishing's gonna go in the environment.

Behemoths are a solid option, but I feel like they're a good and viable choice at any point in the game, and we should get a gauge on the GM's difficulty scale earlier rather than later - especially with 2s getting rerolled, and we're getting design prompts. We might not get the option to try trains before the end of the prelim turns (I imagine at least two turns will be taken by "gun" and "artillery" or something similar). As designed, they should aid in every lane.

With the colony trains we give ourselves a solid basis for a lot of things train-related that you never really see in arms races. It also gives us the chance to see if non-combat aspects of our designs will have impact, and if so, how deeply. The colony train gives a nice foundation for a good few technologies we might want to have to make it harder to take us on. The Colony Trains can be easily swapped to troop transports, and it gives us a solid basis and network to build and utilize some fuckhuge artillery pieces. With how slow I imagine overland movement will be, having a massive mobile artillery battery (with spotter balloons?) would be devastating.


 EDIT: Oh, and it could be helpful on all lanes, but at worst it'll be useful on 12. On the basis of useful lanes alone, I think the Behemoth or CTs are most viable. On account of the special rules of the prelim turns, I think that narrows it down to the more ambitious option. Plus, it maximizes the revisions we have to fix it should we get hit with a big ol' difficulty modifier.

[frostgiant]

T-T-T-Tie Breaker!

The Behemoth calls to the part of me that loves superheavy weapons, massive vehicles and Battleships.
But on the other hand, the trains are pretty interesting as well, Logistics wins wars and that is a lesson that is well punctuated.

As is What helps me make up my decisions is that I don't think I have ever seen trains utilized in a major degree before in an arms race.

Behemoths (1): Failbird105
Oko Cyklonu (1): UristMcRiley
Colony Trains (2): MoP,Frostgiant

[UristMcRiley]

Ahh yes man of paper my apologies i did just miss that

[Shadowclaw777]

Behemoths (2): Failbird105, SC777
Oko Cyklonu (1): UristMcRiley
Colony Trains (2): MoP, Frostgiant

[UristMcRiley]

And back to the tie

[Failbird105]

Behemoths (1):  SC777
Oko Cyklonu (1): UristMcRiley
Colony Trains (3): MoP, Frostgiant, Failbird105

Thinking on it, I agree with MoP. The Behemoths are a design that could reasonably made at any point, and we won't get any particular benefit out of having them to start with that we wouldn't get from designing them later except for, well, having them to start with.

[DolosusDoleus]

Prelude Design Phase: Colony Transport

Proposal: Colony Train

Colony Trains were created to fulfill the multitude of requirements a group of settlers would need to discover and populate/repopulate an area. The trains had extensive up-time thanks to the use of scoops and intakes at the front and rear of the train meant to both clear snow, ice, and debris from the tracks as well as collect snow and ice for processing into potable water. While this water supplied the people aboard the train, it also fed hydraulic systems within the train when steam or pneumatic power would be too hazardous or complex to pull off effectively. A Steam Core supplemented by a coal furnace are responsible for providing power (and heating) to just about everything else.

The traincars each have a designation and specific purpose:

The Engine Car at the front of the train contains the Steam Core powering the majority of the vehicle and houses the conductor responsible for controlling speed and direction of the train. This is where the snow and ice picked up by the train are melted into water.
The Water Car is where the water is purified and treated to the best of our abilities before being pumped to the rest of the train.
The Three Engineer's Cars are slightly taller than the others to accommodate for storage space for the construction team's equipment and supplies.
The Protein Car is where insects are bred and fungus grown to be processed into blocks of food.
The Three Habitat Cars provide basic housing and storage space for the colonists on the train.
The Medical Car acts as the train's hospital to the best of their abilities.
The Mechanic's Car stores the equipment and supplies necessary to keep the train running and prevent catastrophic breakdown.
The Coal Car contains the coal and furnace responsible for supplementing power throughout the train.
The Caboose provides housing for law enforcement/military personnel on board and has a station set up for sending and receiving Morse Code facilitated by wireless telegraphy.

While many were quick to point out the need for tracks before a train goes anywhere, the Colony Trains were designed to move slowly - barely at walking speed in nominal conditions. Conditions that no longer exist. The trains move only at night, and during the day the Engineering Teams (tethered to the train) build portions of the track to allow progress the next night. While forward progress may be slow, the use of a Colony Train means a supply line is already prepared and ready for further use, and has resulted in settlements vanishing or dying off without proper resources at a much lower rate than otherwise expected.

Difficulty: Very Hard [-2]
Result: 5+3-2 [6] = Average

As the ever-encroaching frost made the prospect of land-based travel more and more untenable by the day, our home nation's lead engineers came up with a novel solution to the issue of transporting large quantities of people long distances without succumbing to the cold. While the Colony Train moved slowly, it was able to forge its own path through the snow thanks to a well-placed steam core at the engine car and a skilled team of dedicated engineers.

A steam core at the front was able to both power the engine and melt down the snow in front of the train, while engineers would build tracks upon the defrosted ground at night. Collected water was used to both nourish the passengers and the fungus vats, as well as cool the steam core in case it overheated. In case of emergencies, the engine could be deactivated, and the entire train could be transformed into a self-sufficient minor colony, capable of sustaining up to 100 civilians including engineers, medical staff, and security.

Furthermore, with sufficient maintenance the tracks the colony train laid down were often later used by other, faster trains to bring crucial supplies to our nation's settlements. These supply trains, often repurposed pre-Calamity steam locomotives, proved crucial to the success of our colonies, bringing the necessary foodstuffs, building materials, and coal required to get settlements onto their own two feet.

However, this design did come at a cost. Acquiring the materials required to lay down hundreds of kilometers of track proved to be prohibitively expensive, and as such few colony trains were ever active at any one time. Additionally, the constant snow and frost proved to be even more of an impediment than our engineers had planned, and during particularly bad storms the engineers were barely able to lay out half a kilometer of track per day. Though the trains were entirely self-sufficient, travel was often excruciatingly slow, and by the time we arrived on the isle the Dubrovich had already been there for years.

It is now the Revision Phase

Since there's only one design so far, I'm going to be quite a bit more lenient on what constitutes a "revision" this turn. So long as it is mostly related to the concept of a train you should be good. Additionally, if you would like to help define your nation's culture, now's the time. You won't get nearly as much of an opportunity to do so once the prelude is over.

Spoiler: Preliminary Designs (click to show/hide)

Colony Train: A thirteen-car steam locomotive capable of transporting upwards of 100 civilian passengers safely to a destination. Circumvents the need for an already existing track by laying out track in front of itself during the night, and travelling very slowly during the day.

Spoiler: Cities (click to show/hide)

Total Resources: 2 Coal, 2 Wood, 2 Metal

Morecaz: 7 Coal, 2 Wood, 2 Metal (3/3)
Garenbrig: (0/3)
Middlehall: (0/3)
Kirholm: (0/3)
Screamer's Reach: (0/3)

[Doomblade187]

The Undernet

Morecaz had taken a page out of the mining handbook, and while we arrived late, we struck the earth quickly, assembling the hard Rock drills and quickly blasting new mines and habitation into the earth. Given the propensity of blizzards to cover anything aboveground in several feet of snow and ice, we simply... Stayed underground. While this slowed our expansion, it also meant that the tracks we brought along to move the colony train could be repurposed into making supplies and people move with great speed and efficiency around our underground habitat. Handcarts are typically used to save on coal and reduce smoke in the tunnels. Smokestacks, vent fans, and watch towers are all that stand above the earth.