I can see the arguments to do the GD3, but aside that I think we should put put all our military dice into military prep for Q1's Karachi Sprint. Given that, while the OSRCT station is currently deployable, a Steel Talon research project isn't.
Just means we'll have to do more development projects in Q1/Q2, I'd say.
Just to recap for others, the arguments for the GD3 development are:
1) The rifle will be a bit better designed to help GDI infantry fight giant monsters, and with the Karachi Sprint, we are sending the Ground Forces into Giant Monster Land.
2) The deployment, and when you're talking about making millions of rifles all over the world there
will be a deployment, is likely to have a low cost per die because it involves simple light-industrial processes with a minimum of gigantic and rare capital goods. This makes it easy for us to afford to do it quickly.
And then there's the big thing.
...
3) Importantly,
fighting associated with the Karachi Sprint will probably not end in 2060Q2. Consider:
3a) Realistically, the Indian Nod warlord will continue to press the attack against Karachi until they judge that they have no hope of dislodging us. And of all Nod territories, India is the most intact, the one where Nod has had the longest time to cultivate a supply of fanatics with no interruption from GDI, and likely the most industrialized.
The Indian warlord almost certainly has more forces at their disposal than, say, Gideon or Krukov, and more capacity to sustain those forces.
3b) Unlike Gideon or Krukov,
the Indian warlord is unaccustomed to holding territory in direct contact with GDI. When Gideon or Krukov loses a battle on our borders and falls back, to them the situation merely reverts to normal. If we push the Indian warlord back from Karachi, the situation will
not feel normal to them; they will feel like a lion with a thorn in its paw, and will still be angry and
want to attack again, even if they were defeated before. To make attacks against Karachi stop,
GDI will likely have to hold out a long time. until it becomes obvious to Nod that the Indian warlord cannot retake the area despite their best efforts.
3c) In particular, I predict we are likely to see
at least three waves of offensives.
3c.1) Round One will be local counterattacks by Nod forces immediately available or easily mobilized in 2060Q1, a reaction to the first boots we put on the ground. These are likely to be
relatively easy to defeat, because the military will be putting a huge, aggressive commitment into the field, and the local forces will be only a small fraction of India's full power.
3c.2) Round Two will be a
general counterattack by the Indian warlord, with at least a few months of time to mobilize throughout India, delivered in 2060Q2. The Indian warlord's efforts may also be directly/indirectly supported by the Afghan nuke warlord, or by Bintang or Mehretu or even Krukov, if the Indian warlord chooses to call in favors. All four of those commanders could exert pressure that would directly or indirectly worsen the situation around Karachi in one way or another. This sounds very intimidating, but the good news is, we'll have the advantage of being on the defensive, fighting from the positions we seized in 2060Q1 and supported by the hastily built four-or-so phases of Karachi Planned City itself. Hopefully, we'll win that fight and finish the city in 2060Q2.
3c.3)
It is very unlikely that that will be the end of things, unless the military does so well that Nod power in all of Asia is utterly shattered in only a few months, which seems optimistic. It is more likely that even if we repel the Indian warlord in 2060Q2, that they will fall back, use the monsoon season to lick their wounds (since they can't attack through it very well either), and come back
at least once in 2060Q4 or maybe 2061Q1.
4)
In conclusion, weapon systems deployed in 2060Q2 or even Q3 may be very impactful, in terms of defending Karachi from the wrath of Nod.
...
Now.
@Derpmind . One thing.
I consider
Railgun Munitions to be another action that is likely to matter for Karachi Sprint preparations. Here is my reasoning.
1) There
may not be a deployment (in that retooling factories to make the new munitions may be so simple that it happens without our needing to spend dice).
2) If there is a deployment,
which is not unlikely I freely acknowledge, it is likely to be simple and cheap and something we can implement in 2060Q1.
3) The new specialty munitions will tend to make railguns more flexible and, importantly, probably more efficient as antipersonnel weapons. This is likely to have advantages if we're going to be fighting a lot of biomonsters... which we are around Karachi.
4) All the same argument for why things that only enter widespread deployment in 2060Q2 or later
still help defend Karachi remain relevant, as above.
