|
High Moneylord Thomas Weiss posted:While I'm personally in favor of shoring up our reputation among our vassals, it behooves me to point out that fifteen thousand marks is more than half our current surplus, and a full diplomatic effort would thus wipe out our income for the year. Diplomatic gains mean little in the face of a full year of economic stagnation. Once we've finished repairing a few installations and are making a little more money, we can afford other expenditures. My suggestion is to pause all non-emergency expenditures greater than five-thousand marks until our annual income has at least doubled. At that point, we should be able to continue pursuing economic growth while also sparing a larger portion of the budget for diplomatic and military concerns. Truth be told, while I was proud to notice our income was greater than initial reports described, comparing it to the costs of installation repairs, I fear we may be in a bit of trouble. Whatever plans we may have, all of them cost money, and we simply don't have very much of it, by objective measures, and growing our budget is itself quite expensive.
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2022 04:19
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 14:42 |
|
|
 : As previously noted, any future venture needs a solid foundation to build upon. I agree with the Director-Consort that securing Kajam takes precedence over laying claim to new territory.I will however repeat that Beta Librae is currently vulnerable, and caution against delaying too long.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2022 05:31
|
|
|
Technology Director Prudence Weiss posted:Leaving aside the routine matters, ahem, of continuing education and the medical team, I have one primary concern at this time. I believe that we may potentially find some interesting opportunities via our scientists, some of which may require us to have funds in reserve to properly exploit them. These may be infrequent, but keeping savings for these opportunities would certainly be a blessing to our scientists. Otherwise, barring any contrary instructions, I'll be working with Jane to ensure she gets the materials she wants to study.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2022 11:11
|
|
|
Always nice to have some reliable at your beck and call.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2022 17:09
|
|
|
Oriole Weiss posted:As there are already several suitable proposals for the use of our resources, I will keep my recommendation short and sweet. We need to immediately establish an enhanced protection detail to accompany the director-general at all times. Our claim to rulership is still untested, leaving us in too vulnerable a position with too many unknown potential adversaries to take any chances. The security of the head of our house must be of paramount importance. Run personal protection on Jane.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 05:28
|
|
|
Director-General Jane Weiss posted:Having considered all that his been brought up in this council, I rule that at this time that Director-Consort Mariko oversee an effort to cement our hold on Kajam, focusing on helping maintain relations with one of our neighbors thereafter, and delay preparation for war. We can reassess this after we have put more of the colony at Vega back into operation. Thank you, everybody. I expect good work from all of you.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 06:10
|
|
|
  Jane Weiss sits behind her council table early in 2502, the council of House Weiss arrayed about her, and turns to discuss this opportunity with her family. "Sixty thousand marks is a steep price, but a vault full of information from the Galileo Institute? That would be a worthy prize indeed if we could get our hands on it. What say the rest of you?" Unfortunately, I can't save with this event up, but I'll wait as long as I can stand to have the game running in the background until I get some responses. We don't have access to the option to torture information out of our vassal, as Jane is Honorable, but we can attempt to haggle him down (at some risk), pay the full amount, or send him on his way. We should also consider whether we wish to keep the vault as a strategic secret, or attempt to recoup some of the cost by selling access to it. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Mar 26, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 06:32
|
|
|
Haggle Defray I would sign up as the estranged sibling but I have no PMs.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 06:43
|
|
|
habituallyred posted:I would sign up as the estranged sibling but I have no PMs. About that... [redacted] nweismuller fucked around with this message at 08:11 on Mar 26, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 07:03
|
|
|
Oriole Weiss posted:It pains me to say it considering the cost but we cannot afford to pass up this opportunity. We need this vault and we need to use the secrets within to shore up our position. We are surrounded on all sides by those who would see us torn down and without something to give us an extra edge I fear it is only a matter of time before they see us struck with some tragedy or another. We need something that will catch them off guard, that they won't see coming. Something they won't have calculated into their plans against us. And that something is this vault. Buy at full price. Keep it a house secret, and cover up the secret as we're able.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 07:23
|
|
|
That was risky, but it worked. Jessica Roach, reporting in.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 07:54
|
|
|
You need to set your preferences to allow you to receive private messages for that to help, however. I can give you a basic report on what we currently know about House Roach if you enable private messages, but unfortunately our information is incomplete.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 08:13
|
|
|
Updated. I have an idea of what sort of posts to make with this new role. Perfect information on current events will be handy, but not necessary.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 09:08
|
|
|
I've sent you what I have about Atlas and House... Vargas..? Unfortunately, that information is incomplete at best.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 10:10
|
|
|
Ledgerman Thomas Weiss posted:While I'm sure everyone is very excited about getting a technological edge over potential rivals, and loathe as I am to contradict my wife, I'm going to have to be the wet blanket in the room. We need to haggle their price down and sell access to the data in order to have any hope of remaining in the black this year. Keeping technological secrets is a luxury only the wealthy can afford.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 11:02
|
|
|
Technology Director Prudence Weiss posted:I don't think we should take any chances on being deprived of access to the secrets of the Galileo Institute. We should pay whatever he asks. If it makes Thomas happier, we can of course make this public and sell access to it. Besides, having other scientists in to cross-check data might ensure we learn more about the ancients' understanding of technology. Director-Consort Mariko Weiss posted:This is a secret that absolutely could strengthen the Weiss Guild and our House, and I think holding onto the secret is the wise course. On the other hand, trying to get a better price, given how tight resources are, would seem appropriate.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 12:51
|
|
|
Though it pains me, as it is going to even further delay the much-needed buildup of military assets, I have to agree with our Chief of Security.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 13:06
|
|
|
The purchase goes forward for full price... I am taking some time here to organise screenshots and write the main update. Following that, I'll provide reports for Administration, Military, and Security as I work them up. Mariko Weiss and Prudence Weiss remain unclaimed, for whomever wishes to take them.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 13:42
|
|
|
If possible, it would be helpful if I could get a simple run-down on how the economic layer of the game works as part of my next report, like, how much income one can expect from a facility, costs of various projects, etc. I want to make sure I understand what the numbers mean, both objectively and relative to the rest of the game.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 19:31
|
|
|
Rocky Beginnings As Director-General Jane Weiss settled into her new rule of the Weiss Guild, it rapidly became apparent that her awkward but sincere efforts to connect with her wife Mariko had borne fruit, with the two of them being a couple sincerely in love. Unfortunately, the bulk of the news of the Weiss Guild's first year was not nearly so good.  About half a Terran year (the Terran year remaining the standard unit of intercolonial timekeeping, despite the loss of Earth itself) after Jane's rise to the throne, Duchess Ruana Garrett of the Garrett Coalition declared war upon the Weiss Guild, citing the distant relationship between House Clay, the baronial house of Nusakan, and House Goodman as justification, and stating her intent to install Baron Neely Clay as king of the Goodman Kingdom. Given that the only justification for House Weiss's rule of the Weiss Guild was the fact that they had seized it by main force, this was generally considered valid justification amongst the nobility of the colonies for the prosecution of a war. Mercifully, the difficulty of managing military logistics through the uncolonised system of K Coronae Borealis between Nusakan and Kajam meant that the advantage would be firmly on the defender's side on any attack between the Garrett Coalition and the Weiss Guild, leaving the war a 'paper war' with no fighting until the current day. The white scales beneath Ruana Garrett's portrait indicate that factors counterbalance what would otherwise be a dishonorable course of action (declaring war), making it so it has no impact on her honor and reputation. The downward-pointing red arrows beneath Jane Weiss's portrait indicate a negative emotional reaction to this event. Given the number of downward arrows, a strongly negative reaction.    Even as the war began, it became clear that security on members of House Weiss and their communications was shockingly porous, confirmed by Commissioner Oriole Weiss hiring a penetration team to test House Weiss's defenses. The penetration team, which had no difficulty making their way into the House's storerooms to seize the data set as their objective, provided an extensive list of vulnerabilities they had noted in their planning. Although Oriole attempted to plug the vulnerabilities, and made some way in shoring up the defenses against intrusion, it was clear that House Weiss would still be vulnerable to determined enemies bent on espionage and mayhem. All five skills have a 'crisis' that can trigger if the House rating in the skill is weak. Failure to address the crisis can have very bad results; addressing it properly will have neutral results (save for the money and time addressing the crisis) or add a bonus to the House for addressing the crisis perfectly. We got the neutral outcome here. Good enough. It's unfortunate for our budget at this point, but failing to address this is not a prudent course of action. At all.  2500 also saw a marriage proposal tendered by Sir Sutton Oneal of House Oneal, one of the minor Houses of Vega. Sir Sutton proposed that his sister, Jade Oneal, would marry Harold Weiss, joining House Weiss. Harold's reaction to the proposal was icy- he had no intent of marrying 'the dishonorable sister of a dishonorable lord'. The Director-General, seeing her father's reaction, responded to Sir Sutton Oneal with a polite refusal. Jade Oneal is Humble (signified by the olded hands) and a Rulebreaker (signified by the broken shield). Humble is a positive trait opposed by Proud, which grants a +10 to Diplomacy, reduces the impact of changes in status on the Humble character's emotions, and makes the AI more likely to accept reductions in status. Rulebreaker is a negative trait opposed by Honorable, which grants a +20 to Security, a -20 to Diplomacy, and renders the character less concerned by moral violations and more likely to engage in immoral behavior to achieve their ends. When people are mysteriously murdered, there's frequently a Rulebreaker behind it.   Not all the news from the later portion of 2500 was unpleasant, at least- the Director-General was able to recover an ancient 'productivity tool' program from the databanks of Vega's data center, which she spent many nights contentedly studying, tracking expenditures, shuttle schedules, and flows of materials within Vega in minute detail. With a firmer grasp on operations, she was able to tighten several schedules, cutting out waste. Only a Dull character would think that a productivity tool is 'just their thing' and happily throw themselves into it. Spending a smaller amount of time experimenting with the tool may lead to nothing, and may end up leaving you Dull as a side-effect.    2501 brought a series of crises across the Weiss Guild, ones far more immediate than the largely meaningless war with the Garrett Coalition. A meteorite impact with the colony at Kajam led to a hull breach amidst the chemical factories, resulting in dozens of deaths and widespread anxiety even as Baron Angelo Beck scrambled to repair the breach and put the chemical factories back into operation. Romeo Weiss, who by this point was resident at Kajam with a team of auditors monitoring the taxation provided by House Beck to House Weiss, was briefly shaken by the news but fortunately well clear of any real danger, as were the diplomats reporting to Mariko Weiss working to advance their case for the Weiss Guild's rule of Kajam. Meanwhile, crop failures in the hydroponics at Miaplacidus led to widespread hunger and many deaths, while House Martin preserved itself by hoarding food stores for its own use. This led to widespread anger amongst the commoners of Miaplacidus, who blamed House Martin for the deaths they had suffered, while on Vega a series of protests against the 'illegitimate' rule of House Weiss forced plans to deploy peacekeepers to Beta Eridani to be scrubbed in favor of maintaining order on Vega itself, under Harold Weiss's direct supervision, ensuring the corridors and plazas were kept clear and that any acts of violence by protesters were ruthlessly quashed. Colonies with fewer than four functional installations are vulnerable to food shortages. Miaplacidus got off relatively easily from this one.  Tensions had been escalating within the council of House Weiss as well, with Thomas Weiss demanding reports and obedience from the remainder of the Council as heir to the position of Director-General. Director-General Jane Weiss supported these privileges, making it clear that the rest of the council would need to develop the habit of obedience to one who might one day reign. The 'ribbon' symbol Thomas gets indicates 'respect', an improvement in general reputation reflective of strength, prestige, or achievement (as opposed to 'honor', which improves general reputation due to exemplary moral behavior).   Late in 2501, the first new member of House Weiss since Jane rose to the throne was born- Alice Weiss, a daughter of Thomas and Oriole named after her grandmother. Although this was, in many ways, a happy occasion, it was marred by the fact that Thomas and Oriole had never requested permission from Jane for a third child, making this a crime against their House. Jane, although disappointed by this breach of honor, nonetheless had no desire to pursue punishment for an unpermitted birth. The red daggers beneath Oriole's and Thomas' portraits indicate a 'crime', a dishonorable act with a victim who has the right to retaliate- in this case, Jane Weiss, as head of their House. This reduces their general reputation and can mitigate or eliminate the dishonor of actions taken in retaliation. The first child of any couple is automatically permitted, but any further children require the permission of the head of the House, who needs to consider how many people the House can support. Allowing a House to grow too big for its income is considered dishonorable, as you put a strain on the colony's resources.  Following the birth of Alice, Director-Consort Mariko Weiss approached Director-General Jane Weiss, suggesting that public charity work by Thomas following his unpermitted birth could help rehabilitate his reputation. Jane vetoed this idea, pointing out that Thomas' weak diplomatic skills were more likely to create an incident following extensive public contact than burnish his image.  The year also saw the birth of a new league, as Director-General Pillan Gillmore of the Gillmore Guild succeeded in inducing the McCoy Dominion and the Nicholson Systems to accept his leadership as archon of the new Gillmore League. With the colony at Algorab now within the McCoy Dominion and with the support of the Gillmore League as a whole likely assured, the previous opportunity the Weiss Guild may have had to bring Beta Librae under its sway was lost.   Early in 2502, Baron Brinley Hayes of Kapteyn's Star made his way to Vega with a startling proposal. He claimed that following an attack by pirates, he was forced to divert into an unknown system, where he found a data vault maintained by the Galileo Institute, a pre-Collapse association of scientists dedicated to developing and teaching the technologies necessary for space travel and exploration. For the hefty sum of sixty thousand marks of viridium, he was willing to share the location of this vault and allow House Weiss to exploit its secrets. Following bitter debate within House Weiss's council, Director-General Jane Weiss eventually accepted the baron's proposal, learning that the vault was located in Lalande 21185. This is our first Expedition event, which is the closest thing Star Dynasties has to a 'technological research' mechanic. Based on the Technology score of your House, you accumulate Expedition points every turn, reflecting your House's members and scientific staff keeping an eye out for unusual opportunities. When enough accumulate, an Expedition event fires, giving you an opportunity related to lost technologies or scientific oddities. Most Expeditions have potentially significant rewards, although some also have distinct drawbacks. A few Expeditions have up-front costs if you want to exploit them, of which this particular one is one of the steepest.      Following the coordinates programmed into the hologram projector Brinley Hayes had recovered from the vault, Director-General Jane Weiss and members of her technology team under Technology Director Prudence Weiss arrived at the data vault, a bunker dug into an isolated moon. According to the hologram presented, the Galileo Institute had created this vault to store the scientific, cultural, and historical knowledge of humanity as a safeguard against widespread civilisational disaster. By the time it was finally unearthed, these centuries later, many of the servers had long since failed, leaving only fragments of knowledge, doubtless insufficient to what the Galileo Institute had initially intended. These fragments, however, were still more than sufficient to provide an organisational and technological edge to House Weiss- improved methods of encryption, some subtle but effective alterations in ship design, managerial methods of old Earth, and scraps of scientific and technical data of all kinds were amongst the data recovered. Maintaining these secrets immediately became a major priority of House Weiss. This has created a secret, currently at Medium discovery chance- every turn there's an 8% chance somebody discovers the secret. Even if somebody discovers the secret, not all is yet lost, if they choose not to reveal it publicly. If this secret is revealed publicly, however, our valuable strategic secrets bonus will be lost. Covering up the secret is almost certainly a high priority now.   While returning from the data vault along with her brother Thomas and her sister Prudence, the shuttle carrying Jane Weiss suffered an engine failure. Fortunately, Thomas and Prudence working together were able to restore the shuttle's engines to operation, losing minimal time on their return to Vega. The Weiss Guild, Early 2502    With greater experience by the members of House Weiss, the secrets of the Galileo Institute data vault, and a stronger sense of cohesion within the House, every department of the Weiss Guild is now operating more smoothly. The strategic secrets from the vault remain secret for now, but without efforts to maintain their secrecy, this advantage will doubtless eventually be lost. Security and diplomacy remain relative weaknesses, but are nonetheless more effective than two years ago.  Director-General Jane Weiss, on top of her duties as ruler of the Guild, has been spending much of her time studying reference materials on mathematics, management, and engineering, and has learned much from the Galileo Institute data vault. Already a capable administrator and technologist, her abilities have only increased.  Executive Director Thomas Weiss, on top of managing the general administrative operations of House Weiss, has been remotely managing a team overseeing tax collections on Beta Eridani. He and Oriole Weiss have fallen deeply in love with each other, and their time spent together has helped bolster both their spirits. His experience managing House Weiss's administrative operations have slowly been honing his skills.  Admiral Harold Weiss, father of the Weiss siblings, has, despite the ongoing 'war', focused his efforts thus far on maintaining order in Vega. His advancing years have been beginning to show, but he doubtless still has years of life ahead of him.  As Director-Consort Mariko Weiss has grown more fond of Jane, her life in House Weiss has grown happier. Her efforts have been focused on cementing a legal claim by the Weiss Guild on the rule of Kajam, a process that the Diplomacy department estimates may be completed by the end of 2503.  Despite any difficulties, the birth of their third daughter has been a happy occasion for Thomas and Oriole. Oriole has been coordinating tight protective details for the Director-General, while attempting to monitor security threats to the House overall. So far, it appears that any failures in Security have not yet been disastrous.  Technology Director Prudence Weiss, as well as directing the House's technical and medical teams, has been personally responsible for researching materials the Director-General can use to hone her abilities as an administrator. Although she has been separated from her husband for quite some time now, she appears untroubled by this fact, putting her focus on her work.  Romeo Weiss has been living and working in Kajam since late 2500. Where his wife is essentially uncaring about this, he is actively pleased that he no longer needs to live with her, and hopes to stay away from her as long as possible.  The Gilmore League has brought in the Herring Union, making it the largest political unit that House Weiss is aware of. In the Patton League, Coordinator Walt Wang has convinced the baron of Nashira to betray the Patton Quadrant and pledge his colony to the Wang Collective. The Weiss Guild remains an independent realm between two formidable leagues and another independent realm larger than it, but one sheltered by its natural astrography from immediate aggression. Although the first two years of the Weiss Guild have been difficult, nonetheless the Guild has found a powerful advantage in the old Galileo Institute data vault, while the growing skill and close coordination of the Director-General and the council have helped ensure that the Guild remains relatively strong.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 20:30
|
|
|
Reports have been issued for Administration, Military, and Security; Mariko Weiss of Diplomacy and Prudence Weiss of Technology remain unclaimed. If anybody has further questions about anything in their report, feel free to ask me; it's likely I have access to the information you want somewhere.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 21:30
|
|
|
Realizing that coming up with goofy new titles every post may be impractical, Thomas Weiss posted:Well, it's been a very exciting couple of years for us, and not entirely in good ways, but I'm happy to say that we've somehow remained financially stable. I'm less happy to point out that this means we're financially stagnant. Actually, scratch that, thanks to certain people, we now have a very expensive secret we're going to need constant expenditures to keep under wraps, because they think we're made of money, it seems. However, we can't afford to constantly spend our entire budget slapping band-aids on everything, as I have said at every council meeting over the past two years, not that it's made much difference. As it is, we should make it our top priority to repair our orbital hydroponics and scrap processing facilities, and make plans to get the old corporate tower up and running again as soon as we can. Together, those installations will increase our income by roughly 25%. Additionally, once domestic considerations are handled, we may wish to invest in Beta Eridani. House Ritter has proven quite capable of turning a profit for themselves, which means a strong tax base for us. We should do what we can to encourage that trend, but only after we've seen to our own affairs. And pray that House Garrett never finds a more convenient way to press her war, because if we need to fund a fighting force? I'm not optimistic.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2022 22:14
|
|
|
Technology Director Prudence Weiss posted:I understand the need to prioritise facilities that can help generate revenue from Thomas' perspective, but I believe it would make Technology's job much easier if we could see our way to restoring the hospital here in Vega to operation once the immediate needs of revenue are dealt with. Thomas, when do you think you'd be able to fit the hospital into your plans? The better facilities would allow us to deliver better care to the whole House. And I suppose we'd have the capacity to better help with some issues with the serfs as well. Director-Consort Mariko Weiss posted:On that note, I think I'm going to request that Administration prioritise the hydroponics station over the old scrap reclamation facility. The station could effectively be a 'park' environment which would be a useful asset for my department's reception of visitors. Diplomacy has enough trouble maintaining the opinion of foreign rulers. I can at least report that our vassal barons all have good opinions of us, for which I'd like to thank the decision to keep the tax take low. I don't think we'd be as stable internally without that and I suggest we keep it up. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 04:28 on Mar 27, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2022 04:21
|
|
|
The one with the blessed mustache, Romeo Weiss posted:
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2022 04:43
|
|
|
Jessica Roach, "One Eyed Lady" posted:Dearest Sister,
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2022 06:39
|
|
|
Duke-Heir Thomas Weiss posted:The hospital's repairs are quite expensive, so it's not something I could approve in good conscience immediately, but following the restoration of hydroponics and scrap processing, we can start preparing to get the hospital up and running. As bullish as I am regarding the corporate tower, its true value is as a long-term investment, as it will increase our tax collection rate. At the moment, taxes make up only a small portion of our annual income. If we raise taxes, acquire new vassals, or our current vassals begin producing enough money, the tower may become a higher priority, but right now, it can wait on the backburner for a little while. From the desk of Thomas Weiss posted:Romy, EclecticTastes fucked around with this message at 07:39 on Mar 27, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2022 07:36
|
|
|
Director-General Jane Weiss posted:Dear Sister, Director-General Jane Weiss, in council posted:I think I'm going to have to disagree with my brother the Executive Director here, and say that I think we should focus on the old Orion Industries headquarters before the hospital. Yes, optimising our taxation regime will be a relatively minor thing as things stand, but the additional revenue we can expect from optimising Vega's own production is something I think we'd be imprudent to pass up. That said, following the restoration of the headquarters and setting up operations there, I'd certainly be willing to take the hospital here as our next priority, both for our own health and for the sake of our commoners. I don't think any of us is eager to see a Rattle Lung outbreak here on Vega. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 12:00 on Mar 27, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2022 11:18
|
|
|
Admiral Harold Weiss posted:The situation at Miaplacidus is worrying. But these are no Goodman loyalists. House Martin failed in their obligation to keep the commoners fed.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2022 11:59
|
|
|
 Yardley Patton, duke of the Patton Quadrant, archon of the Patton League, in council posted:That intolerable fool Wang has no idea what he's playing with. Undermining my authority with my own vassals! We'll need to move cautiously but he will regret what he's done. With how much he's let his own House grow, he's hardly won himself any friends, so I'm sure we'll have the chance soon enough. Yardley Patton is Tribal, Fickle, Vengeful, and Dull. We've already seen Fickle and Dull. Tribal (signified by a yellow cluster of three people) is a neutral trait opposed by Individualistic, which makes the character more family-oriented, and which only impacts the opinion of Tribal or Individualistic characters. Vengeful (signified by a red speech box full of cursing) is a negative trait opposed by Forgiving, which gives +10 Military and -10 Diplomacy, increases the emotional impact of the happiness or unhappiness of characters the Vengeful character dislikes, and makes the AI more likely to take aggressive action against enemies. We can't be guaranteed that Yardley Patton will act against Walt Wang, but given the strong dislike there and the high level of 'contact' between Yardley Patton and Walt Wang, it seems pretty likely that the 'good' archon will have his revenge, one way or another.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2022 12:55
|
|
|
Duke-Heir Thomas Weiss posted:If you think it best to have the tower operational, sister, well, you are the director-general. Sorry, Pru, looks like my hands are tied on this one, and we'll just have to wait on the hospital for now.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2022 20:28
|
|
|
The Modern Way of War Once, before the Collapse, the League of Spacefaring Nations is said to have fielded great warships bristling with weapons, capable of extended operations across multiple stars. For as long as it could maintain such ships, House Khalil could maintain an empire that spanned the breadth of the colonies. Today, our resources are rather more modest, with the ships used for military purposes all having been designs intended for local defense and patrol- bombers, interceptors, and frigates. There is significant variance in the specifics of armament and design- and, in fact, even at a single colony standardisation of designs can be unreliable at best- but certain things can be said of each broad class of ship. All are reliant on fleet tenders, transports converted from civilian designs with basic crew amenities such as bunks, a galley, and a head, carrying heavy fuel tanks with refueling linkages that can allow ships in a fleet to match vector for refueling and docking to allow exhausted crew to recover. This makes for extremely difficult logistics when fleets are operating any significant distance from their home base. All similarly mount the drive arrays needed to shift into the star lanes linking the stars at the edge of a system, although travelling far enough to enter the star lanes can be a matter of many weeks. Bombers are, today, most usually two-seat designs with piloting controls able to be routed to either seat, allowing piloting to be handled in shifts while travelling to battle. In battle, one crewman generally serves as the pilot while the other serves as the weapons officer for the bomber. Bombers are layered with viridium-impregnated armor plates shielding their front, sacrificing maneuverability and the capability to handle rapid course changes in favor of mounting extensive racks of guided missile munitions and decoys intended to baffle the usual missile guidance systems. Given their poor maneuverability, bombers normally dispense with any form of gun-based armament, instead launching missiles at long range. Some tacticians prefer so-called 'blitz' tactics with bombers, bringing bombers in to slightly closer ranges and coordinating missile launches in an effort to overwhelm countermissile defenses. Interceptors, like bombers, are generally two-seat designs in the modern day, with similar shift-based piloting out of combat. In combat, the most typical division of duties has one crewman as pilot and gunner while the other serves as an electronics and sensors officer. Interceptors generally have light armoring covering most potential angles of attack, and use widely-spaced wings to allow rapid rotational maneuvers and change of vector. Interceptors may or may not have a light guided missile armament, will almost certainly mount missile countermeasures, and invariably mount fixed gun armament, relying either on automatic ballistic cannon or (more rarely) chemical lasers. Relying on maneuverability and a relatively small sensor profile to help shield them from missile fire, interceptors attack at relatively close range. Frigates are the largest of the vessels used in modern warfare, with crews occasionally reaching over fifteen members. Heavily armor-plated and mounting multiple weapons mounts, a single frigate is a formidable war machine, but presents the largest sensor profile of any of the ships used in modern warfare, rendering them more difficult to divert guided missile fire from. Frigates are large enough to maintain limited crew amenities, making them slightly less reliant on fleet tenders to keep their crews in fighting shape, but are just as reliant on tenders for fuel replenishment. Frigates combine long-range firepower provided by some mixture of guided missiles and chemical lasers with intense short-range firepower provided by a primary weapons turret, generally a heavy chemical-propelled ballistic cannon. Some better-armed examples maintain primary railgun armament that can be brutally effective at close range. The multiple weapons mounts under independent command leave frigates with few 'blind spots' for weapons fire, unlike bombers, and the heavy armor on frigates renders them resistant to lighter weapons fire. A concentrated push in battle to place frigates in range of their primary weapons mounts can be costly to the frigates, but devastating to opposing forces. Once attacking warships have secured the space around a colony, they can allow for safe landings for transports full of peacekeepers and can support the ground assault with precision strikes where concentrations of defenders within a colony are. This may lead to the need to repair colonial structures, but generally does not go so far as to render a colony unrecoverable by modern repairs. As of early 2502, Vega supports four squadrons each of bombers and interceptors, three full-strength squadrons of four and one understrength squadron of three for each. It also supports five frigates. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 09:45 on Mar 28, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2022 20:46
|
|
|
Admiral Harold Weiss posted:Situations can change rapidly Thomas.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2022 20:51
|
|
|
Duke-Heir Thomas Weiss posted:Beta Librae changed hands due to its ruler's willing vassalization, it's hardly a comparable situation. Be that as it may, I'll offer at least some manner of compromise and lay out this proposed order of restoration regarding all damaged facilities in the Vega system: Duke-Heir Thomas Weiss, later on posted:One small addendum to my earlier list of priorities, I was informed by one of my assistants that the spy facility doesn't achieve quite the effect I thought it had. Not exactly my department, so I got a tad confused. As such, we can very safely save it for last. EclecticTastes fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Mar 28, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2022 21:31
|
|
|
The aging Admiral Harold Weiss posted:This seems a fair compromise. The scrap processing plant is of some benefit to the military as well after all.
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2022 21:59
|
|
|
Notes of Coordinator Walt Wang of the Wang Collective: That dullard Yardley Patton is getting on my nerves. I am pleased that the Baron of Nashira saw things my way and agreed his interests would be better served by joining the Wang Collective. Now the Alhena system is but a jump away, and with it the Lindsey Coalition. I am worried about overextending my reach; Patton will try something against me eventually, I am sure of it. He is such a vindictive bastard that it makes him predictable. My earlier concerns about the Weiss must be put on hold for a moment. I am afraid of the Rotanev system being used by Patton to stage something against me! Won't someone rid me of this fickle Archon! Come to think of it, the title could someday be more appropriately mine, if only I could gather the courage and strength somehow...
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2022 08:12
|
|
|
While I'm waiting to make sure Vee has time to chime in as Oriole, does anybody have any questions about the situation or setting? I'll give a couple more days, but I don't want people to think this is forgotten. Also, I'll accept suggestions for unique alternatives to 'duke' as a title for some of the factions out there we've seen on the map. For reference, known factions and established titles for their rulers: The Goodman Kingdom (defunct)- King/Queen The Weiss Guild- Director-General The Wang Collective- Coordinator The Patton Quadrant- Duke/Duchess The Garrett Confederation- Duke/Duchess The McCoy Dominion- Duke/Duchess The Gilmore Guild- Director-General The Lamb Clan- King/Queen The Herring Union- Governor-General The Nicholson Systems- (no title defined) The Pruitt Systems- (no title defined) The Lindsey Coalition- (no title defined) nweismuller fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Apr 3, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2022 20:53
|
|
|
nweismuller posted:The Lamb Clan- (no title defined) Shepherd.  In-universe, maybe it could be a religious thing.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2022 21:44
|
|
|
EclecticTastes posted:Shepherd. groans That was terrible, hahaha. E: Oh, that's interesting. Of the factions we actually have enough information on to see the inheritance law, four of the seven (Weiss Guild, Garrett Confederation, Gilmore Guild, Wang Collective) have 'oldest child' inheritance. No shockers there. The Patton Quadrant has 'oldest son' inheritance, on the other hand, slightly unusual but still similar to the standard 'oldest child'. The McCoy Dominion and the Herring Union have stranger inheritance laws, though. The McCoy Dominion has 'oldest sibling' inheritance, and the Herring Union has 'youngest daughter' inheritance. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Mar 28, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2022 21:45
|
|
|
EclecticTastes posted:Shepherd. Yeah, second that since that's the same thing I thought of when I saw lamb clan nweismuller posted:The McCoy Dominion has 'oldest sibling' inheritance, and the Herring Union has 'youngest daughter' inheritance. If I understand oldest sibling inheritance correctly, then that is the succession law used by sultans in the Ottoman Empire (except that it was male only). It simply meant that the sultan was the oldest living member of the family. It prevented the rampant murder of siblings and half-siblings during succession fights. So, we can have this be led by Sultan. Youngest son inheritance is/was common in rural Europe. The oldest children would get some sort of training (sometimes education, usually a trade/craft), and the youngest son was expected to stay behind, care for his parents, and inherit the farm. I'm assuming that despite this being a clearly feudal setup, and there being mention of serfs, we are still in a post-agricultural society. Youngest son inheritance could have morphed into youngest daughter inheritance where the parents' old age more requires medical attention, than physical help running a farm. This is a task that would be traditionally given to the youngest daughter, and as such she would inherit land/real property. The Herring Union strongly emphasizes these close bonds of family duty, and have codified this into the inheritance system, applying it to titles, and not just land. Edit: Nweis did remind me that the McCoy Dominion's leader is already explicitly a Duke. So just to mess with him a little more, we could also have the leader be a Dominus, and just have gratuitous Latin everywhere. General Revil fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Mar 28, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2022 23:37
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 14:42 |
|
|
Is there anything like republics in game?
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2022 23:41
|
|