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[Maxim_inc]

Arms Race of Souls and Steel: Republic of Sordland

The Republic of Sordland: The Sords are a tough people who’ve lived in the eastern forests and high hill country of the island of Nivea for generations, recently building their capital city of Sonderland with funding from the UCM. Supported by the United Confederation of Mercia they claim ownership over the entire island and declare their intent to liberate the subjugated people of the Grand Duchy.

Link to main thread: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=177782.msg8230173#msg8230173

The Sordish Armory is as follows:

Hankerfield Crank Cannon: A 37mm 6 barreled crank cannon fed from a hopper, its capable of holding 12 shells ready in the hopper and has to be fed by hand and point of fire adjusted by hand with crank wheels. Capable of firing both solid shot and experimental high explosive shells it is quite reliable and jams are easy to clear by continuing to turn the crank. It is Cheap to produce
Basic Scrap Soul Engine: A simple Soul Engine capable of using Scrap souls for power. It is currently Cheap to produce
Shoddy Medium Quality Animal Soul Engine which is more powerful than the Scrap Engine but breaks down occasionally and is currently Expensive to produce.
Basic Infantry: Basic Line Infantry with single shot cartridge rifles and brightly colored uniforms. Crucial for holding the ground the mechs take.
Basic Artillery: Basic muzzle and breech loading artillery capable of firing high explosive shells. A lucky hit will knock out a weaker mech.

Souls and their uses.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Low Quality Scrap Souls:No one knows what these used to be, souls that have degraded over the ages into a shadow of their former self. Capable of Powering Motorcycle or Horse sized walkers and light turrets on larger walkers.

Medium Quality Animal Souls: Souls that clearly take the shape of animals of both modern times and ages past, if it were not for the war some of the prehistoric souls would be quite the spectacle at the national science museum. Capable of powering Car sized walkers and medium turrets on larger walkers.

High Quality Animagnus Souls: The resulting amalgamation of an Imperfect Human Soul and a Medium Quality Animal soul. Capable of powering tank sized Walkers and heavy turrets as well with some difficulty. Can have limited interface with a Magnus Engine.

Imperfect Human Soul: Can power Heavy Walkers of a large size and when paired with a Magnus Engine can perform limited motor controls with ease, moving arms and legs with only minor assistance from mundane hydraulics.

Perfect Human Soul: Extremely rare and expensive to contain, can power mechs of absurd sizes. When paired with a Magnus Engine one could run an entire mech on their own if the Driver is skilled enough, though that puts great strain on the driver if there is much mechanical complexity involved in the mechs function.

IT IS PRE-GAME DESIGN TURN PHASE

Each team will get 1 pre-game turn to design their basic Mech and then revise it or design a new weapon to mount of their basic Mech. After the end of the second revision phase the first Deployment phase will begin. The teams will decide which of the 3 middle lanes to send their new mech force too in order to gain the advantage over the other, after this turn it will be assumed that mechs will be spread out along all fronts unless stated otherwise by the teams.

[Rockeater]

Joining this team

[m1895]

Archer-class Land Cruiser
The Archer-class is our first foray into land vessels. With 3 inches of iron armor frontally, 2 inches side, and 1 inches rear, the Archer class is quite formidably armored compared to anything else that walks the land. It's weaponry includes two arm sponsons capable of mounting Hankerfield Crank cannon sized weapons and a very small top hardpoint, but the real focus is the 4.75-inch 40-pounder casemated into the torso. It uses the medium soul engine to power it's stout pair of legs and mechanize the revolving guns. The crew consists of 1 Ensign (who is the acting captain for such a vessel), a signalman that also operates the very small mount, a spare signalman, and 3 gunner and loader pairs.

[Jilladilla]

The Land Cruiser seems to be fairly ambitious for a first project; and I feel it *might* be pushing the limits as to what a Medium Engine can do? Remember that a Medium Engine is said to roughly be able to power a Car-Sized vehicle; and the Archer has a crew size of *9* (Captain, Signalman, backup signalman, 3 gunner/loader pairs (so 6 people just there)). Let's not forget the 3 weapon mounts consisting of 2 6-barrel 37mm gatling-autocannon-thing and a ~120mm cannon. This isn't a small thing. Though if it does go well through Will of RNGesus, we'll have a *very solid* base. *If* it goes well. The odds wouldn't be in our favor.

[m1895]

Buttercup-Class Gun Vessel
The Buttercup-class is a four-legged "spider" walker with a casemated mount for a Crank Cannon sized weapon and a top mount for a carbon arc lamp. It has 2 inches of frontal iron armor and 1 inch side with an open rear and top. It has a 4 man crew consisting of an ensign (who also acts as a signalman), a gunner and loader pair, as well as of course, a driver. Basic amenities for the crew are practically nonexistent, just consisting of some bedrolls and a rifle rack.

[Maxim_inc]

The Land Cruiser seems to be fairly ambitious for a first project; and I feel it *might* be pushing the limits as to what a Medium Engine can do? Remember that a Medium Engine is said to roughly be able to power a Car-Sized vehicle; and the Archer has a crew size of *9* (Captain, Signalman, backup signalman, 3 gunner/loader pairs (so 6 people just there)). Let's not forget the 3 weapon mounts consisting of 2 6-barrel 37mm gatling-autocannon-thing and a ~120mm cannon. This isn't a small thing. Though if it does go well through Will of RNGesus, we'll have a *very solid* base. *If* it goes well. The odds wouldn't be in our favor.

You can place multiple engines in a single walker body, though at increased cost and mechanical complexity. That also requires a second driver for the secondary engine.

[Rockeater]

Buttercup-Class Patrol Vessel:(1) Rockeater

[m1895]

Buttercup-Class Gun Vessel:(2) Rochester, m1895

[Maxim_inc]

Buttercup-Class Gun Vessel
The Buttercup-class is a four-legged "spider" walker with a casemated mount for a Crank Cannon sized weapon and a top mount for a carbon arc lamp. It has 2 inches of frontal iron armor and 1 inch side with an open rear and top. It has a 4 man crew consisting of an ensign (who also acts as a signalman), a gunner and loader pair, as well as of course, a driver. Basic amenities for the crew are practically nonexistent, just consisting of some bedrolls and a rifle rack.

Rolled: 6

The Buttercup during its trials phase turned out to be much better than the designers could have ever hoped to achieve. Originally designed a support vessel it instead is being repurposed into a heavily armed scout vehicle by the Head Marshall of the People's Army who sees great hope in it. The four legs are able to charge across the plains at a blistering top speed of 12 MPH only faltering when hitting uneven ground due to the top heavy nature of the armored box atop it. The armor was found to be slightly too heavy to keep these speeds so the frontal plate was lowered down to 1.5 inches and the sides kept the same thickness as originally designed. It comes with a signal lamp. After consistent use of the max speed the gearing for the legs will begin to deteriorate and break down, the drivers are recommended to only use max speed in short bursts.

In order to keep the walker from tipping over while walking the height of the armored box was lowered to a few inches above the gun itself with the ends angling inwards to protect the crew, causing the crew to have to hunch over on the bare wooden floor of the vessel. The driver's seat is given a small cushion to help with his constant bouncing during high speed travel, firing on the move at top speed is possible but quite inaccurate and it's recommended to keep to a walking pace if firing on the move and to fire while standing still when possible. On the rifle rack there is a carbine version of the standard rifle for each crew member.

----------

The Buttercup-Class Gun Vessel: The Buttercup is a 4 legged 'spider pattern' walker with a casemated crank cannon surrounded on 3 sides by an unroofed iron box measuring 1.5 inch thickness on the front and 1 inch thickness on the sides. It has a crew of 4: 2 gunner operators, 1 officer and 1 driver. It is unmatched in speed on the battlefield except by horses by being capable of sprinting at a blistering 12 MPH, though in practice this max speed is better reserved for emergency situations and joining the infantry in bayonet charges. It is Expensive to produce on account for the quality parts needed to keep the legs moving at such a blistering speed.

[Maxim_inc]

It is now the REVISION PHASE

Sordland Armory:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Hankerfield Crank Cannon: A 37mm 6 barreled crank cannon fed from a hopper, its capable of holding 12 shells ready in the hopper and has to be fed by hand and point of fire adjusted by hand with crank wheels. Capable of firing both solid shot and experimental high explosive shells it is quite reliable and jams are easy to clear by continuing to turn the crank. It is Cheap to produce
Basic Scrap Soul Engine: A simple Soul Engine capable of using Scrap souls for power. It is currently Cheap to produce
Shoddy Medium Quality Animal Soul Engine which is more powerful than the Scrap Engine but breaks down occasionally and is currently Expensive to produce.
Basic Infantry: Basic Line Infantry with single shot cartridge rifles and brightly colored uniforms. Crucial for holding the ground the mechs take.
Basic Artillery: Basic muzzle and breech loading artillery capable of firing high explosive shells. A lucky hit will knock out a weaker mech.
-
The Buttercup-Class Gun Vessel: The Buttercup is a 4 legged 'spider pattern' walker with a casemated crank cannon surrounded on 3 sides by an unroofed iron box measuring 1.5 inch thickness on the front and 1 inch thickness on the sides. It has a crew of 4: 2 gunner operators, 1 officer and 1 driver. It is unmatched in speed on the battlefield except by horses by being capable of sprinting at a blistering 12 MPH, though in practice this max speed is better reserved for emergency situations and joining the infantry in bayonet charges. It is Expensive to produce on account for the quality parts needed to keep the legs moving at such a blistering speed. Each crewmember has a carbine to defend themselves with.

[m1895]

Butter-class Artillery Tractor
The Butter-class is what you get when you take a butter cup and remove the cup. The armor and weaponry have been completely stripped from it, though the lamp remains. This saves a good deal of weight as well as cost, lowering the stress on the leg mechanisms. It's crew has been reduced to just a driver, but it can still carry the crew of whatever artillery it's towing as well as a caisson.

Medium Quality Soul Engine Refinement
The shoddy quality of our current medium soul engines can be directly traced to lacking skills amongst our workforce, so we've setup Magichanical vocational training, a six week course on runic fundamentals and engine gearing, to get a more competent workforce; thus, making defective engines a much rarer occurrence.

[Jilladilla]

We don't really need to fix the Buttercup-class; and this revision sets us up for the long term.

Butter-class Artillery Tractor:
Medium Quality Soul Engine Refinement: (1) Nemonole

[m1895]

Butter-class Artillery Tractor:
Medium Quality Soul Engine Refinement: (2) Nemonole, m1895

[Maxim_inc]

Medium Quality Soul Engine Refinement
The shoddy quality of our current medium soul engines can be directly traced to lacking skills amongst our workforce, so we've setup Magichanical vocational training, a six week course on runic fundamentals and engine gearing, to get a more competent workforce; thus, making defective engines a much rarer occurrence.

Rolled: 5

During the implementation of the Vocational training it was found that the main reason for the lack of quality in our Medium Engines isn't the imported machinery we use to manufacture them, instead its the many different forms and qualities of rune carving and styles. Different groups of runecarvers recruited from the populace have their own artistical spin on the runes, while this would be fine alone the problem arises when multiple different teams work on the same Soul Engine causing overlapping and poor sealing. As well as when the odd carver takes his artistical expression too far causing the 'symbols' he's carving to not have any meaning at all and simply acts as an artistic carving.

 After this the carver who was focusing more on art than actually working was brought in front of the others and the local Commissar of Industrial Efficiency executed him as an example to the rest of them that the state pays them to make war machines and not art. Soon under the threat of the Commissar's revolver a standard runecarving system was set up in all of your factories.

-1 Cultural Expression. +1 Better engines.+1 Tyrannical Oppression (It's a joke)

Shoddy Medium Quality Animal Soul Engine has become Decent Quality Animal Soul Engine!

Decent Quality Animal Soul Engine: A soul engine more powerful than a Basic Scrap Engine, it still has the occasional failure due to a slight unfamiliarity with foreign tooling but these are few and far between. The Runecarving is of an average quality and high regimented for reliability.

[Maxim_inc]

It is now the Pre-Game Battle Phase

WAR! is the headline of both nations newspapers. A naval incident on which a Wehls Cruiser fired on an innocent Sordish naval vessel patrolling international waters has caused what was once a simmering hatred to boil over into war. Currently both sides are forming their battalions and generals are hunched over map tables to plan their first strike against their foe.

The generals of your nation have asked you where best to deploy the small unit of Walkers that has currently been built in the month leading up to the war, while soon there will be enough mechs to cover all the fronts currently they're in such a few number they can only be used for a single decisive strike. They present you will three options.

Option 1 The Northern Hill Lands: Located on the North Coast in the center of the island this area is pocketed with light woodland, rolling hills rocky hills and the jagged cliffs of the Keskusta Mountain overlooking the entire Hill Lands providing the perfect advantage position.

Option 2 The Keskusta Mountain: Located in the center of the island the Keskusta Mountain reaches high into the sky split by a large jagged valley that cuts through the center of it and covered in hundreds of footpaths painstakingly carved into it's cliffs while a tough nut to crack it is pivotal to hold to gain control over the island.

Option 3 The Citystate of Andgrez: Located on a small peninsula on the Southern Coast of the island Andgrez is controlled by a Chancellor who is elected for life, since the dawn of both the Grand Duchy and the Sordish Republic the current Chancellor has worked tirelessly to keep Andgrez at the cutting edge of military and production technology, including using his personal fortune to import high quality manufacturing tools from the Anteri Empire to construct their own Soul Engines. Any attack through this neutral zone by Sordland will come as a surprise to the Grand Duchy, this would without a doubt invoke the ire of the Chancellor and potentially pull Andgrez into the war as a third combatant in the conflict. But the chance at total surprise is quite temping....is it not?

-----------

Vote for which of the three options you are going to take and then the game will start proper.

Sordland Armory:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Hankerfield Crank Cannon: A 37mm 6 barreled crank cannon fed from a hopper, its capable of holding 12 shells ready in the hopper and has to be fed by hand and point of fire adjusted by hand with crank wheels. Capable of firing both solid shot and experimental high explosive shells it is quite reliable and jams are easy to clear by continuing to turn the crank. It is Cheap to produce
Basic Scrap Soul Engine: A simple Soul Engine capable of using Scrap souls for power. It is currently Cheap to produce
Shoddy Medium Quality Animal Soul Engine which is more powerful than the Scrap Engine but breaks down occasionally and is currently Expensive to produce.
The Decent Quality Animal Soul Engine: Thanks to a nationwide vocational training regiment and many threats of bodily harm the quality of parts and runes for their Medium Engines has risen. While not more than marginally powerful than the former engine it is much more reliable. It is currently Expensive+ to produce
Basic Infantry: Basic Line Infantry with single shot cartridge rifles and brightly colored uniforms. Crucial for holding the ground the mechs take.
Basic Artillery: Basic muzzle and breech loading artillery capable of firing high explosive shells. A lucky hit will knock out a weaker mech.
-
The Buttercup-Class Gun Vessel: The Buttercup is a 4 legged 'spider pattern' walker with a casemated crank cannon surrounded on 3 sides by an unroofed iron box measuring 1.5 inch thickness on the front and 1 inch thickness on the sides. It has a crew of 4: 2 gunner operators, 1 officer and 1 driver. It is unmatched in speed on the battlefield except by horses by being capable of sprinting at a blistering 12 MPH, though in practice this max speed is better reserved for emergency situations and joining the infantry in bayonet charges. The Crew also has carbines for self defense. It is Expensive+ to produce on account for the quality parts needed to keep the legs moving at such a blistering speed.