Q1 2054 results
- Location
- The Underdark
Commuting For Dummies, or How to Ride the Rails Without Looking Like a Doofus Mark VI
Railrunner
So, since we have had a lot of new people coming into the cities, and with the newest wave of metro expansions, I figured it was time for another thread talking about how to ride the rails.
Tip 1. Don't be afraid to use multiple lines. There are often (not always but often) shorter routes between two places than simply getting on the rails and letting them take you to your destination.
Tip 2. Bags go between your legs, backpacks on your lap. Even with having more space on hand, try to minimize your use of space as much as possible.
Tip 3. Be aware of your schedule in relation to other people's. Most people are on the rails in the early morning and mid evening. If you need to use public transportation for a major shopping trip, or for moving larger amounts of stuff, try to schedule it for either later at night or in the late morning/early afternoon.
Tip 4. Shower. No, seriously, if you possibly can, clean yourself up as much as possible.
So there are my top four, if anyone else has ideas, please, feel free to share and maybe we can get the current crop of doofuses trained up right.
KropotkinsGhost
Ah the metro! I have nostalgic memories for these from my childhood. They still got squeaky brakes and everything like they dragged everything from a museum, hah! But it is good to have them, at least they do not charge too much for them. I have little advice, but if you think you might not be able to hold it all trip, go before you go please.
JamesandBonesy
If you are bringing a pet on, make sure they are on a leash or something. Bonesy doesn't like cats attacking him.
Fireofunkownorigin:
If you are travelling on the rural lines please please don't make too much of a fuss when rail authority agents ask you if you've gone through the scanners for tib dust. It's good for your health and ours, and they really don't like it. We all get to wait for another hour as some very friendly security officers give us more special attention just in case when you do. So please just don't.
LaserKiwi2000
Would have preferred fresh clothes, but reliable public transport is important too, so I am not going to complain.
SecurityGuardBen
This will greatly aid my life, one of the worst things is taking several hours to get to work and not getting able to do anything whilst walking. 20 minute commute is a gift.
Sunsun
My mom and dad got me and my sister to ride a train today because we had good grades at school. They even invited our friends to ride with us. I got to see some cool stuff and we played some games until we had to go home. Dad also paid for some yummy snacks and drinks so thanks mom and dad.
Dr. Folinic
It's been awhile since I saw one, what memories. The most convenient way to have a trip if you don't have a driving license and with very low chance of being stopped on the tracks too! I'd recommend people to start using metro lines!
Also, let the elders have the seat first, and if your destination is just one or two stations away better stand up than sitting down if you want to not look like an idiot mk. 420-blaze-it.
CrystalCrocodile
If you still have a working music player, please don't put them on speakers during the commute. Music taste is wide and varied and not everyone likes your Neohip Beats.
FloatingWood
#KropotkinsGhost I think some of the rolling stock literally came out of a museum. Some of the pieces I recognize from the history books.
#Dr. Folinic Elders, pregnant women and others who cannot stand for a long time. It's just simple courtesy and those skinny young legs of yours could use the exercise.
Charlie9yearsold
I have heard stories about this from my mom and dad, when we lived in our old house in the yellow zone. Is it true that there are monsters inside the tunnels? That will be so cool! And also a little scary.
Elsafrost
I hope that they maintain the metro clean and for everyone else please when you want to eat something in the trains make sure to drop the wrapper in the bins and not on the floor, thanks.
Sunsun
#Charlie9yearsold Aww I want to see those but the only things I saw on my train ride are just seats, a food cart, and board games from the conductor because he said it might take some time for a trip going from and to my home. If there were monsters then I had my friends there and we would fight them together!
Q1 2054 Results
Resources: 320 + 0 in reserve (15 allocated to the Forgotten) (10 allocated to grants)
Political Support: 60
Free Dice: 5
Tiberium Spread
14.36 Blue Zone
29.57 Yellow Zone (62 Points of Mitigation)
56.07 Red Zone (37 Points of Mitigation)
Current Economic Issues:
Housing: Sufficient but low quality (=) (2 in refugee camps)
Energy: Substantial Surpluses (+22)
Logistics: Substantial Surpluses (+6)
Food: Sufficient production, some inefficiencies in distribution (+4) (+2 stored)
Health: Substantially improved (+7)
Capital Goods: Significant Shortfalls (-2) (collapse in 19-23 quarters)
Consumer Goods: Titanic Shortages (-21)
Labor: Gargantuan Surpluses (106)
Tiberium Processing Capacity (960/1000)
Yellow Zone
Water: Limited Surpluses (+5)
Status of the Parties
(strong support, weak support, weak opposition, strong opposition)
Free Market Party: 19 Seats (1; 2; 10; 6)
Hawks: 31 Seats (1; 5; 18: 6)
United Yellow List: 10 Seats (7; 3; 0; 0)
Independents: 7 Seats (0; 4; 2; 1)
Developmentalists: 53 Seats (34; 16; 3; 0)
Market Report
The newly privatized services have had a relatively slow start, and in this quarter, have remained generally without growth. This seems to primarily be a result of waiting for the shake out of the conference, and the potential promise of new areas to begin pushing in. However, as these have not appeared, many people have begun reorienting back towards services.
Most of the new businesses are various forms of low material skills oriented professions. Private law practices have never closed, but with startup funds more available, many new ones have sprung up of highly varying quality. The primary form of consumer goods produced however, has been a large number of food stands and similar one man operations. While still limited in terms of volume and diversity from a lack of sufficient variety in ingredients, they do provide more options than the cafeterias that typify GDI cuisine.
Military Report
GDI's armed services have begun a massive series of expansions. While mostly oriented towards bringing the many understrength units back to their authorized levels, the Air Force has been focused on bringing even more Apollos into service, running into the limits of existing manufacturing capabilities. Conversely, the Navy has been relatively passive, waiting on the Treasury to begin building new ships, rather than spend much of its budget on new capabilities, although it has switched towards a more intensive maintenance schedule for its remaining Battleships and Carriers. In the coming months, expect major waves of recruitment, and increased demands on logistics as GDI's military begins another substantial wave of functional expansions.
Welfare Report
GDI's Welfare programs have expanded qualifications, and begun a series of new work programs. Built around volunteer mobilizations, the programs are aimed at public beautification and public arts projects. The first target is the immediate post war apartment blocks, which need more than a few coats of paint in order to not be grey blocks against the skyline. While the welfare programs are fundamentally low tech, they serve a greater purpose, getting people doing something, anything to feel productive.
[ ] Yellow Zone Pipelines
Water has become a noticeable problem in the Yellow Zones, especially with the prospective industrial and agricultural development, not to mention increasing quality of life. While achieving sufficient levels of purification is difficult under any circumstances, it is much easier in the Blue Zones. Therefore, by running pipelines to the Terminus cities, GDI can ensure an immediately sufficient quantity of water is available.
(Progress 139/120: 5 resources per die) (+++ Water)
The pipelines to the Yellow Zones, part of what has become a series of increasingly important arteries following the roads and rails between the Blue Zones, are finally completed. With far more water now available, most localities have drastically relaxed ongoing rationing measures, marking something of a change in Yellow Zone culture, which has often prioritized building stockpiles when supplies are common rather than allowing for much use of luxuries until the stockpiles are full. With multiple new agriculture projects already on the docket, the plenty is unlikely to last, but at least for now, quality of life in some metrics has already substantially shot up.
Even with the additional drain from feeding the Yellow Zones, Blue Zone water supplies have substantial extra capacity, most of it built in from postwar reconstruction. While existing supplies would have been more than enough to cope with even substantial increases in demand from a project such as Shala, which would require substantial amounts of water to reach initial operating capacity, with these additional demands, more development will likely be needed.
[ ] Urban Metros (Phase 3)
Future projects, such as further phases of high density development, and the planned bedroom communities have made it so that further development of the metro system is now warranted. While there is sufficient, if not plentiful rolling stock in the system, these new development areas will require substantial construction of new track and new bus lines to service properly. While these will exacerbate some developing inner city snarls, it is a problem that cannot be helped with current technologies
(Progress 187/150: 15 resources per die) (+++ Logistics, - Energy)
The new wave of urban metro expansions has focused on expanding the high volume lines, such as inner city loops, while laying out substantially more lines to connect to those core metros. These primary and secondary loops allow for a somewhat circuitous route to reach nearly anywhere in the city, although most are countercirculated, meaning that there are always two lines running opposite directions on a given loop. However, there have also been a number of new dedicated warehouse fleets allocated to the cities, operating across the lines to make deliveries over constantly adjusting routes, rather than shipping during the low cargo periods, effectively deconflicting people and cargo, and increasing the efficiency of both systems.
[ ] Saarland Heavy Industrial Plant:
While the New Eden project has been set back indefinitely, by Liquid Tiberium Bomb and Scrin attack, an effort has been proposed to reclaim and relocate certain industrial efforts in the region to the Saarland, with easy rail access to active Tiberium harvesting operations and (if the appropriate links are built) to the ports of B-1. This project would be focused on the largest, most extreme elements of industrial capital, including superheavy presses, massive castings, and the ultra-resistant materials needed for Tiberium Refining Crucibles. While the last are still in production, there is little slack for expanding capacity at present.
(Progress 299/350: 10 resources per die) (++ Capital Goods, --- Labor, --- Energy) (Dice Allocation must be taken in HI/Tiberium dice pairs)
Work has continued on the Saarland Plants. While work crews lay out Tiberium spikes and layers of fencing to keep out the green death crystals, inside the plants inspectors have been going through a long series of refits. However, it is an island in a sea of green. The final step towards bringing Saarland to full operational status is to link it up fully with the outside world. Rails are the obvious choice, and the railheads are already complete. The final push will be to cut through the Tiberium fields, containing and bypassing as needed, and linking up water, power, and logistics fully with both the ports on France's southern coast, and Germany's northern coast. With backlogs already forming at some of GDI's other processing plants as they reach their full capacity, the completion of the Saarland program cannot come quickly enough.
[ ] Blue Zone Microgeneration Program (Phase 1)
With existing power needs met, there are many teams of engineers not being used. While microgeneration is inefficient from a power grid standpoint, and the program is unlikely to ever amount to substantial power from the perspective of the grid as a whole, it can be extremely meaningful from a personal standpoint. When the grid breaks down, as happened in the Third Tiberium War, widespread microgeneration, such as rooftop photovoltaic arrays or wind turbines, can substantially harden the grid, allowing for power to be routed to important facilities, such as Tiberium Processing centres and factories.
(Progress 38/60: 5 resources per die)
Much of the technical side of the program is already complete. With many of the technologies centuries old, and many of the systems already in production in one form or another, the only real stumbling block has been encouraging uptake. While to some extent the Initiative can force the issue, it is not a large enough problem to make forcing it worthwhile. Some apartment blocks have installed mixed solar and vertical turbine assemblies. While these inherently interfere to some degree, the two combined have substantially higher overall efficiencies than either being used alone. These assemblies are far from enough to run the facilities at full power, but in testing have been shown to be able to maintain a completely isolated building at emergency power levels for at least five days, and in some tests as many as seven to nine, when combined with expanded basement battery packs.
[ ] Yellow Zone Power Grid Extension (Phase 2)
With the Terminus Cities now having reliable sources of power, local generation is the next major step. However, the situation is far from secure enough to allow for sizable nuclear development, and all of the rivers are too contaminated to allow for development of hydro power. This means that the available power solutions are local solar and wind plants. While these plants are at this time surplus to requirements, they will future proof and disaster proof the terminus cities, and most proposed developments. (Progress 101/275: 5 resources per die) (++ Energy)
Solar thermal and solar updraft are cheap, reliable power solutions that require only a reliable supply of sunlight. While not available all over the world, in many of the Terminus cities and fortress towns it very much is, as part of being in the warmer parts of the globe. However, they also have a glaring flaw. A very tall tower. These towers have proved to be inviting targets for the Brotherhood of NOD, with multiple attacks that launched dumbfire rockets using the tower as a targeting reference. Shortly after that, the plants were torn down, in favor of more photovoltaic and wind power. While not as reliable, they are also much less of an easy target for the Brotherhood.
[ ] Intensification of Yellow Zone Harvesting (Phase 3)
With a first wave of fortress towns complete, a further wave of development of the Yellow Zone harvesting operations is now viable. Much like a castle in the middle ages, the fortress towns will become the centers of a harvesting system around them, acting as a center of skills and human capital for intensive extraction.
(Progress 167/100: 15 resources per die) (small additional income trickle [5-10 Resources]) (1 point of yellow zone mitigation) (1 phase available)
Development of the Yellow Zone harvesting has been focused on the new fortress towns. In the last three months they have spawned metal trees, fencing, and outposts. Much like towns and cities before Tiberium, they have spawned a cloud of nearby settlements, all dedicated to the harvest. Rather than having to rely on raidable convoys and aircraft, more of the local mining operations can harvest from their patch of tiberium, and send trucks as needed to the town, where it can be registered, siloed, and packed off for processing.
The towns have seen massive infusions of wealth, with more people working and ever more private enterprises to take advantage of that wealth. Tracing the money as it circulates carves a path across the yellow zone, oftentimes passing through two or three hands before it returns to the Initiative. While partially a mark of how GDI has not been able to provide nearly as many services to the region, it is also a position of a self reliant group, one that can take care of itself and has begun using Initiative money to do so.
[ ] Red Zone Tiberium Harvesting (Phase 5)
Instead of focusing on a single target, GDIs current plan is a systematic expansion of existing target areas with more outposts, expanding the number of surfaces where mining operations can be conducted.
(Progress 295/130: 25 resources per die) (additional income trickle [10-20 Resources]) (1 point of Red Zone Mitigation)
GDI's harvesting operations have expanded across many fronts, ranging from the Americas to the Italian Red Zone, however the most substantial new front has been an assault deep into the new Red Zones in Southern Europe. The Balkans have long been home to the Brotherhood of NOD, however they are no longer that, having been all but wiped out by the detonation of Kane's Liquid Tiberium Bomb in the Third Tiberium War. Running from operations bases in former Poland, the new front against Tiberium shifts a number of the Forgotten's paths, but in return has enriched both sides substantially, with more Tiberium easily accessible. While the Forgotten do not have the capital required for full scale mining operations, they are very well suited to covering many of the flanks and the smaller deposits that GDI tends to pass over in its Red Zone operations.
[ ] Tiberium Glacier Mining (Phase 5)
With preparations complete for the South American Red Zone, another phase of mines is planned. At least initially, unlike other Tiberium mines, this one seems likely to be more vertical, attacking a partially buried array of glaciers, and the remnants of the Amazon rainforest. The proposal calls for a series of containment rings around outcrops, with vertically oriented sonic projectors to shatter and sheer off sections for collecting.
(Progress 185/180: 30 resources per die) (--- Logistics) (additional income trickle [40-60 Resources]) (1 available Phase)
The region has been transformed into a complex of quarry pits. The Initiative's machines are tearing at the ground, chasing veins of glowing green greedily and deep. Unlike most other glaciers, this one is both underground, and relatively shallow. Rather than trying to keep the surface intact, GDI has chosen to remove the topsoil in many places, and cut perimeter quarries, allowing a piece to be attacked from above and below, while the work is done on solid, and less contaminating, ground. Using these combined attacks, entire pieces, some larger than a coffin can be hauled out, and fed into the waiting maws of refineries. This method is not substantially more effective in terms of resources hauled out than others, and has a number of other costs, however, it has also proven to be one of the safest approaches, as the degree of mechanization has meant that even in the inevitable workplace accidents, the workers can wait, safe in their machines, for rescue, often returning to work the same day.
NOD however, has been a chronic problem. Attacking from the south, the Brotherhood has harried and harassed the miners, and their military guards. While so far the region seems to be at the ends of their logistical rope, that is only true so long as no enterprising warlord decides to cut the riverine supply line and pirate GDI supplies going to the dig sites. Zone Operations command has earmarked more forces for the region, however they are not ready yet, as they lack sufficient Zone Armor to protect them.
[ ] Technical School Program
While secondary schools are the main pipeline for an educated workforce, it is not for everyone. Some people work best with their hands, and there is always a need for skilled plumbers, welders, and other skilled labor. By opening a series of technical schools, GDI can offer an accelerated program to restore a pool of skilled labor that has been drained by war. While technical schools have often been a vehicle for discrimination, under the Treasury they will be entirely voluntary, and open to all ages.
(Progress 329/300: 5 Resources per die) (-- Labor)
After months of delays, struggles and problems, GDI's last major branch of the educational system is complete. While there is still much left to do, not only to support education, but to provide continuing education and qualification to people who would otherwise not be supported, the technical schools have ensured a steady supply of skilled workers to construction crews, assembly lines, workshops, and other programs. While not a field with all that many chances for advancement, it is still skilled work, and something that is often paid quite well for the amount of work required to begin.
[ ] Shell Plants (Phase 1)
Artillery warfare is a matter of logistics in many ways. While GDI's existing shell production capacity was more than enough for the relatively limited previous deployment of artillery, it is nowhere near enough to supply the tens of thousands of guns that the current plans call for. By building additional shell plants, GDI can at least provide every gun a standard load, and a steady supply of ammunition for training.
(Progress 181/150: 10 Resources per die) (-- power)
For the Global Defense Initiative, a standard artillery ammunition load is generally enough ammunition for three hours of sustained fighting. This means that for a 152mm gun, firing at sustained rates, will carry with it 360 rounds of ammunition, enough to fire one shell every thirty seconds for those three hours. Under perfect circumstances, those would be a mix of 240 high explosive shells, 60 shrapnel shells, 5 canister, and 15 smoke. Most of these would be stored well back from the artillery piece, in covered and channeled ammunition bunkers, but typically either twenty four or thirty rounds would be stored with the piece, including the five canister shot. However, with the existing shell plants, GDI has focused nearly entirely on contact fused high explosive, designed to provide a general purpose round that can be used for nearly anything from reducing Brotherhood entrenchments, to destroying many of the light vehicles that the Brotherhood relies on. Even with this concession, current production, even after the increase from the shell plants, is unlikely to be enough, with ever more barrels earmarked for various projects, most notably the fortress towns, but also filling out the order of battle for the Initiative's expanding ground forces, the Yellow Zone Outposts and Redoubts, and potentially a Yellow Zone militia force. With these needs in mind, filling out standard ammunition loads will take some time, assuming the Brotherhood does not engage in conflicts that mean that ever more ammunition has to be expended.
[ ] Point Defense Refits
Refitting a ship for point defense batteries is not a simple task. Rather than being a simple small deck gun, a point defense network is a complex array of sensors, datalinks, computers, and the guns. Refitting them to ships never designed for the role requires effectively ripping them apart to lay all of the systems in place, and therefore long times in the dockyards. However, the survivability increases are certainly worthwhile, even if it only means that any given projectile is only intercepted a fraction of the time.
(Progress 15/250: 10 Resources per die)
The first problem of refitting for point defense is, in fact, not the ships. Rather it is producing enough point defense units to put on the ships. However, the first wave of units have proven to be fairly temperamental, especially during exposure testing. While the prototypes worked, something broke between the tool room and the production line. This is unfortunately, not an uncommon issue. Back before the second world war, the M1 Garand had an issue with 7th round stoppages, a result of the production line making a cut to better seat the barrel. While that was a problem that could be covered over, these have not been. Errors to some extent always creep in, and in this case they have been more vital than in most. What this has meant is that resources that were intended to go towards ramping up production have instead gone towards troubleshooting and finding the source of these problems.
Recruitment Drive
With the Universities reopened, GDI has a long list of potential new recruits for its technical departments. While there are unlikely to be substantial numbers of particularly interesting recruits, more capacity is always useful (100/120/140/160/180/200) (Select the 4 that you want to take)
[ ] Graduates
While not the most exciting choice, selecting a number of graduates from various programs around the world will expand GDI's capabilities in the particular area. Although certainly not experienced, they are unlikely to seriously degrade the quality of the department at hand. (Pick 2 of) (+1 die per area, -2 bonus for two years)
[ ] More Graduates
If the treasury believes it to be necessary, it can nearly monopolize the graduates from one area. While this will be politically unpopular, it can provide more resources to a vital area. (can only be taken if Graduates is also taken) (pick 1 of the previous pick's area, gain 1 additional die and additional -2 bonus for two years) (-5 PS)
[ ] Advanced Technical Laboratories
While GDI has not always been at the forefront of materials science, the mass production of it has always been a strength. Investing towards a series of new labs for the purpose will improve our ability to cover heavy industrial goals through working smarter, rather than harder.
(+5 to Heavy Industry dice)
[ ] Dr. Joseph Takeda
Responsible for one of GDI's more successful (although sabotaged by the Brotherhood of NOD) attempts at developing infantry scale energy weapons. Dr. Takeda is a talented scientist and researcher, who has focused his career towards military development. While already a part of the Treasury system, rapidly promoting him should allow him to begin filling out his subordinates within the military system
[ ] Major Maria Stavrakas
Major Stavrakas was a critical component of the Super MARV project, and one of its greatest proponents. While she is willing to jump ship for the Treasury, it will be on the condition that it create more MARV programs for her to administer.
[ ] Market Analysis Group
GDI has rarely concerned itself with the inner workings of the markets, preferring to focus on its own goals. However, with GDI sponsorship a major part of existing markets, a better analysis of ongoing processes should improve overall outcomes.
(20 percent chance of extra consumer goods from markets)
** Please vote by plan **
** Two hour moratorium for discussion **
Railrunner
So, since we have had a lot of new people coming into the cities, and with the newest wave of metro expansions, I figured it was time for another thread talking about how to ride the rails.
Tip 1. Don't be afraid to use multiple lines. There are often (not always but often) shorter routes between two places than simply getting on the rails and letting them take you to your destination.
Tip 2. Bags go between your legs, backpacks on your lap. Even with having more space on hand, try to minimize your use of space as much as possible.
Tip 3. Be aware of your schedule in relation to other people's. Most people are on the rails in the early morning and mid evening. If you need to use public transportation for a major shopping trip, or for moving larger amounts of stuff, try to schedule it for either later at night or in the late morning/early afternoon.
Tip 4. Shower. No, seriously, if you possibly can, clean yourself up as much as possible.
So there are my top four, if anyone else has ideas, please, feel free to share and maybe we can get the current crop of doofuses trained up right.
KropotkinsGhost
Ah the metro! I have nostalgic memories for these from my childhood. They still got squeaky brakes and everything like they dragged everything from a museum, hah! But it is good to have them, at least they do not charge too much for them. I have little advice, but if you think you might not be able to hold it all trip, go before you go please.
JamesandBonesy
If you are bringing a pet on, make sure they are on a leash or something. Bonesy doesn't like cats attacking him.
Fireofunkownorigin:
If you are travelling on the rural lines please please don't make too much of a fuss when rail authority agents ask you if you've gone through the scanners for tib dust. It's good for your health and ours, and they really don't like it. We all get to wait for another hour as some very friendly security officers give us more special attention just in case when you do. So please just don't.
LaserKiwi2000
Would have preferred fresh clothes, but reliable public transport is important too, so I am not going to complain.
SecurityGuardBen
This will greatly aid my life, one of the worst things is taking several hours to get to work and not getting able to do anything whilst walking. 20 minute commute is a gift.
Sunsun
My mom and dad got me and my sister to ride a train today because we had good grades at school. They even invited our friends to ride with us. I got to see some cool stuff and we played some games until we had to go home. Dad also paid for some yummy snacks and drinks so thanks mom and dad.
Dr. Folinic
It's been awhile since I saw one, what memories. The most convenient way to have a trip if you don't have a driving license and with very low chance of being stopped on the tracks too! I'd recommend people to start using metro lines!
Also, let the elders have the seat first, and if your destination is just one or two stations away better stand up than sitting down if you want to not look like an idiot mk. 420-blaze-it.
CrystalCrocodile
If you still have a working music player, please don't put them on speakers during the commute. Music taste is wide and varied and not everyone likes your Neohip Beats.
FloatingWood
#KropotkinsGhost I think some of the rolling stock literally came out of a museum. Some of the pieces I recognize from the history books.
#Dr. Folinic Elders, pregnant women and others who cannot stand for a long time. It's just simple courtesy and those skinny young legs of yours could use the exercise.
Charlie9yearsold
I have heard stories about this from my mom and dad, when we lived in our old house in the yellow zone. Is it true that there are monsters inside the tunnels? That will be so cool! And also a little scary.
Elsafrost
I hope that they maintain the metro clean and for everyone else please when you want to eat something in the trains make sure to drop the wrapper in the bins and not on the floor, thanks.
Sunsun
#Charlie9yearsold Aww I want to see those but the only things I saw on my train ride are just seats, a food cart, and board games from the conductor because he said it might take some time for a trip going from and to my home. If there were monsters then I had my friends there and we would fight them together!
Q1 2054 Results
Resources: 320 + 0 in reserve (15 allocated to the Forgotten) (10 allocated to grants)
Political Support: 60
Free Dice: 5
Tiberium Spread
14.36 Blue Zone
29.57 Yellow Zone (62 Points of Mitigation)
56.07 Red Zone (37 Points of Mitigation)
Current Economic Issues:
Housing: Sufficient but low quality (=) (2 in refugee camps)
Energy: Substantial Surpluses (+22)
Logistics: Substantial Surpluses (+6)
Food: Sufficient production, some inefficiencies in distribution (+4) (+2 stored)
Health: Substantially improved (+7)
Capital Goods: Significant Shortfalls (-2) (collapse in 19-23 quarters)
Consumer Goods: Titanic Shortages (-21)
Labor: Gargantuan Surpluses (106)
Tiberium Processing Capacity (960/1000)
Yellow Zone
Water: Limited Surpluses (+5)
Status of the Parties
(strong support, weak support, weak opposition, strong opposition)
Free Market Party: 19 Seats (1; 2; 10; 6)
Hawks: 31 Seats (1; 5; 18: 6)
United Yellow List: 10 Seats (7; 3; 0; 0)
Independents: 7 Seats (0; 4; 2; 1)
Developmentalists: 53 Seats (34; 16; 3; 0)
Market Report
The newly privatized services have had a relatively slow start, and in this quarter, have remained generally without growth. This seems to primarily be a result of waiting for the shake out of the conference, and the potential promise of new areas to begin pushing in. However, as these have not appeared, many people have begun reorienting back towards services.
Most of the new businesses are various forms of low material skills oriented professions. Private law practices have never closed, but with startup funds more available, many new ones have sprung up of highly varying quality. The primary form of consumer goods produced however, has been a large number of food stands and similar one man operations. While still limited in terms of volume and diversity from a lack of sufficient variety in ingredients, they do provide more options than the cafeterias that typify GDI cuisine.
Military Report
GDI's armed services have begun a massive series of expansions. While mostly oriented towards bringing the many understrength units back to their authorized levels, the Air Force has been focused on bringing even more Apollos into service, running into the limits of existing manufacturing capabilities. Conversely, the Navy has been relatively passive, waiting on the Treasury to begin building new ships, rather than spend much of its budget on new capabilities, although it has switched towards a more intensive maintenance schedule for its remaining Battleships and Carriers. In the coming months, expect major waves of recruitment, and increased demands on logistics as GDI's military begins another substantial wave of functional expansions.
Welfare Report
GDI's Welfare programs have expanded qualifications, and begun a series of new work programs. Built around volunteer mobilizations, the programs are aimed at public beautification and public arts projects. The first target is the immediate post war apartment blocks, which need more than a few coats of paint in order to not be grey blocks against the skyline. While the welfare programs are fundamentally low tech, they serve a greater purpose, getting people doing something, anything to feel productive.
[ ] Yellow Zone Pipelines
Water has become a noticeable problem in the Yellow Zones, especially with the prospective industrial and agricultural development, not to mention increasing quality of life. While achieving sufficient levels of purification is difficult under any circumstances, it is much easier in the Blue Zones. Therefore, by running pipelines to the Terminus cities, GDI can ensure an immediately sufficient quantity of water is available.
(Progress 139/120: 5 resources per die) (+++ Water)
The pipelines to the Yellow Zones, part of what has become a series of increasingly important arteries following the roads and rails between the Blue Zones, are finally completed. With far more water now available, most localities have drastically relaxed ongoing rationing measures, marking something of a change in Yellow Zone culture, which has often prioritized building stockpiles when supplies are common rather than allowing for much use of luxuries until the stockpiles are full. With multiple new agriculture projects already on the docket, the plenty is unlikely to last, but at least for now, quality of life in some metrics has already substantially shot up.
Even with the additional drain from feeding the Yellow Zones, Blue Zone water supplies have substantial extra capacity, most of it built in from postwar reconstruction. While existing supplies would have been more than enough to cope with even substantial increases in demand from a project such as Shala, which would require substantial amounts of water to reach initial operating capacity, with these additional demands, more development will likely be needed.
[ ] Urban Metros (Phase 3)
Future projects, such as further phases of high density development, and the planned bedroom communities have made it so that further development of the metro system is now warranted. While there is sufficient, if not plentiful rolling stock in the system, these new development areas will require substantial construction of new track and new bus lines to service properly. While these will exacerbate some developing inner city snarls, it is a problem that cannot be helped with current technologies
(Progress 187/150: 15 resources per die) (+++ Logistics, - Energy)
The new wave of urban metro expansions has focused on expanding the high volume lines, such as inner city loops, while laying out substantially more lines to connect to those core metros. These primary and secondary loops allow for a somewhat circuitous route to reach nearly anywhere in the city, although most are countercirculated, meaning that there are always two lines running opposite directions on a given loop. However, there have also been a number of new dedicated warehouse fleets allocated to the cities, operating across the lines to make deliveries over constantly adjusting routes, rather than shipping during the low cargo periods, effectively deconflicting people and cargo, and increasing the efficiency of both systems.
[ ] Saarland Heavy Industrial Plant:
While the New Eden project has been set back indefinitely, by Liquid Tiberium Bomb and Scrin attack, an effort has been proposed to reclaim and relocate certain industrial efforts in the region to the Saarland, with easy rail access to active Tiberium harvesting operations and (if the appropriate links are built) to the ports of B-1. This project would be focused on the largest, most extreme elements of industrial capital, including superheavy presses, massive castings, and the ultra-resistant materials needed for Tiberium Refining Crucibles. While the last are still in production, there is little slack for expanding capacity at present.
(Progress 299/350: 10 resources per die) (++ Capital Goods, --- Labor, --- Energy) (Dice Allocation must be taken in HI/Tiberium dice pairs)
Work has continued on the Saarland Plants. While work crews lay out Tiberium spikes and layers of fencing to keep out the green death crystals, inside the plants inspectors have been going through a long series of refits. However, it is an island in a sea of green. The final step towards bringing Saarland to full operational status is to link it up fully with the outside world. Rails are the obvious choice, and the railheads are already complete. The final push will be to cut through the Tiberium fields, containing and bypassing as needed, and linking up water, power, and logistics fully with both the ports on France's southern coast, and Germany's northern coast. With backlogs already forming at some of GDI's other processing plants as they reach their full capacity, the completion of the Saarland program cannot come quickly enough.
[ ] Blue Zone Microgeneration Program (Phase 1)
With existing power needs met, there are many teams of engineers not being used. While microgeneration is inefficient from a power grid standpoint, and the program is unlikely to ever amount to substantial power from the perspective of the grid as a whole, it can be extremely meaningful from a personal standpoint. When the grid breaks down, as happened in the Third Tiberium War, widespread microgeneration, such as rooftop photovoltaic arrays or wind turbines, can substantially harden the grid, allowing for power to be routed to important facilities, such as Tiberium Processing centres and factories.
(Progress 38/60: 5 resources per die)
Much of the technical side of the program is already complete. With many of the technologies centuries old, and many of the systems already in production in one form or another, the only real stumbling block has been encouraging uptake. While to some extent the Initiative can force the issue, it is not a large enough problem to make forcing it worthwhile. Some apartment blocks have installed mixed solar and vertical turbine assemblies. While these inherently interfere to some degree, the two combined have substantially higher overall efficiencies than either being used alone. These assemblies are far from enough to run the facilities at full power, but in testing have been shown to be able to maintain a completely isolated building at emergency power levels for at least five days, and in some tests as many as seven to nine, when combined with expanded basement battery packs.
[ ] Yellow Zone Power Grid Extension (Phase 2)
With the Terminus Cities now having reliable sources of power, local generation is the next major step. However, the situation is far from secure enough to allow for sizable nuclear development, and all of the rivers are too contaminated to allow for development of hydro power. This means that the available power solutions are local solar and wind plants. While these plants are at this time surplus to requirements, they will future proof and disaster proof the terminus cities, and most proposed developments. (Progress 101/275: 5 resources per die) (++ Energy)
Solar thermal and solar updraft are cheap, reliable power solutions that require only a reliable supply of sunlight. While not available all over the world, in many of the Terminus cities and fortress towns it very much is, as part of being in the warmer parts of the globe. However, they also have a glaring flaw. A very tall tower. These towers have proved to be inviting targets for the Brotherhood of NOD, with multiple attacks that launched dumbfire rockets using the tower as a targeting reference. Shortly after that, the plants were torn down, in favor of more photovoltaic and wind power. While not as reliable, they are also much less of an easy target for the Brotherhood.
[ ] Intensification of Yellow Zone Harvesting (Phase 3)
With a first wave of fortress towns complete, a further wave of development of the Yellow Zone harvesting operations is now viable. Much like a castle in the middle ages, the fortress towns will become the centers of a harvesting system around them, acting as a center of skills and human capital for intensive extraction.
(Progress 167/100: 15 resources per die) (small additional income trickle [5-10 Resources]) (1 point of yellow zone mitigation) (1 phase available)
Development of the Yellow Zone harvesting has been focused on the new fortress towns. In the last three months they have spawned metal trees, fencing, and outposts. Much like towns and cities before Tiberium, they have spawned a cloud of nearby settlements, all dedicated to the harvest. Rather than having to rely on raidable convoys and aircraft, more of the local mining operations can harvest from their patch of tiberium, and send trucks as needed to the town, where it can be registered, siloed, and packed off for processing.
The towns have seen massive infusions of wealth, with more people working and ever more private enterprises to take advantage of that wealth. Tracing the money as it circulates carves a path across the yellow zone, oftentimes passing through two or three hands before it returns to the Initiative. While partially a mark of how GDI has not been able to provide nearly as many services to the region, it is also a position of a self reliant group, one that can take care of itself and has begun using Initiative money to do so.
[ ] Red Zone Tiberium Harvesting (Phase 5)
Instead of focusing on a single target, GDIs current plan is a systematic expansion of existing target areas with more outposts, expanding the number of surfaces where mining operations can be conducted.
(Progress 295/130: 25 resources per die) (additional income trickle [10-20 Resources]) (1 point of Red Zone Mitigation)
GDI's harvesting operations have expanded across many fronts, ranging from the Americas to the Italian Red Zone, however the most substantial new front has been an assault deep into the new Red Zones in Southern Europe. The Balkans have long been home to the Brotherhood of NOD, however they are no longer that, having been all but wiped out by the detonation of Kane's Liquid Tiberium Bomb in the Third Tiberium War. Running from operations bases in former Poland, the new front against Tiberium shifts a number of the Forgotten's paths, but in return has enriched both sides substantially, with more Tiberium easily accessible. While the Forgotten do not have the capital required for full scale mining operations, they are very well suited to covering many of the flanks and the smaller deposits that GDI tends to pass over in its Red Zone operations.
[ ] Tiberium Glacier Mining (Phase 5)
With preparations complete for the South American Red Zone, another phase of mines is planned. At least initially, unlike other Tiberium mines, this one seems likely to be more vertical, attacking a partially buried array of glaciers, and the remnants of the Amazon rainforest. The proposal calls for a series of containment rings around outcrops, with vertically oriented sonic projectors to shatter and sheer off sections for collecting.
(Progress 185/180: 30 resources per die) (--- Logistics) (additional income trickle [40-60 Resources]) (1 available Phase)
The region has been transformed into a complex of quarry pits. The Initiative's machines are tearing at the ground, chasing veins of glowing green greedily and deep. Unlike most other glaciers, this one is both underground, and relatively shallow. Rather than trying to keep the surface intact, GDI has chosen to remove the topsoil in many places, and cut perimeter quarries, allowing a piece to be attacked from above and below, while the work is done on solid, and less contaminating, ground. Using these combined attacks, entire pieces, some larger than a coffin can be hauled out, and fed into the waiting maws of refineries. This method is not substantially more effective in terms of resources hauled out than others, and has a number of other costs, however, it has also proven to be one of the safest approaches, as the degree of mechanization has meant that even in the inevitable workplace accidents, the workers can wait, safe in their machines, for rescue, often returning to work the same day.
NOD however, has been a chronic problem. Attacking from the south, the Brotherhood has harried and harassed the miners, and their military guards. While so far the region seems to be at the ends of their logistical rope, that is only true so long as no enterprising warlord decides to cut the riverine supply line and pirate GDI supplies going to the dig sites. Zone Operations command has earmarked more forces for the region, however they are not ready yet, as they lack sufficient Zone Armor to protect them.
[ ] Technical School Program
While secondary schools are the main pipeline for an educated workforce, it is not for everyone. Some people work best with their hands, and there is always a need for skilled plumbers, welders, and other skilled labor. By opening a series of technical schools, GDI can offer an accelerated program to restore a pool of skilled labor that has been drained by war. While technical schools have often been a vehicle for discrimination, under the Treasury they will be entirely voluntary, and open to all ages.
(Progress 329/300: 5 Resources per die) (-- Labor)
After months of delays, struggles and problems, GDI's last major branch of the educational system is complete. While there is still much left to do, not only to support education, but to provide continuing education and qualification to people who would otherwise not be supported, the technical schools have ensured a steady supply of skilled workers to construction crews, assembly lines, workshops, and other programs. While not a field with all that many chances for advancement, it is still skilled work, and something that is often paid quite well for the amount of work required to begin.
[ ] Shell Plants (Phase 1)
Artillery warfare is a matter of logistics in many ways. While GDI's existing shell production capacity was more than enough for the relatively limited previous deployment of artillery, it is nowhere near enough to supply the tens of thousands of guns that the current plans call for. By building additional shell plants, GDI can at least provide every gun a standard load, and a steady supply of ammunition for training.
(Progress 181/150: 10 Resources per die) (-- power)
For the Global Defense Initiative, a standard artillery ammunition load is generally enough ammunition for three hours of sustained fighting. This means that for a 152mm gun, firing at sustained rates, will carry with it 360 rounds of ammunition, enough to fire one shell every thirty seconds for those three hours. Under perfect circumstances, those would be a mix of 240 high explosive shells, 60 shrapnel shells, 5 canister, and 15 smoke. Most of these would be stored well back from the artillery piece, in covered and channeled ammunition bunkers, but typically either twenty four or thirty rounds would be stored with the piece, including the five canister shot. However, with the existing shell plants, GDI has focused nearly entirely on contact fused high explosive, designed to provide a general purpose round that can be used for nearly anything from reducing Brotherhood entrenchments, to destroying many of the light vehicles that the Brotherhood relies on. Even with this concession, current production, even after the increase from the shell plants, is unlikely to be enough, with ever more barrels earmarked for various projects, most notably the fortress towns, but also filling out the order of battle for the Initiative's expanding ground forces, the Yellow Zone Outposts and Redoubts, and potentially a Yellow Zone militia force. With these needs in mind, filling out standard ammunition loads will take some time, assuming the Brotherhood does not engage in conflicts that mean that ever more ammunition has to be expended.
[ ] Point Defense Refits
Refitting a ship for point defense batteries is not a simple task. Rather than being a simple small deck gun, a point defense network is a complex array of sensors, datalinks, computers, and the guns. Refitting them to ships never designed for the role requires effectively ripping them apart to lay all of the systems in place, and therefore long times in the dockyards. However, the survivability increases are certainly worthwhile, even if it only means that any given projectile is only intercepted a fraction of the time.
(Progress 15/250: 10 Resources per die)
The first problem of refitting for point defense is, in fact, not the ships. Rather it is producing enough point defense units to put on the ships. However, the first wave of units have proven to be fairly temperamental, especially during exposure testing. While the prototypes worked, something broke between the tool room and the production line. This is unfortunately, not an uncommon issue. Back before the second world war, the M1 Garand had an issue with 7th round stoppages, a result of the production line making a cut to better seat the barrel. While that was a problem that could be covered over, these have not been. Errors to some extent always creep in, and in this case they have been more vital than in most. What this has meant is that resources that were intended to go towards ramping up production have instead gone towards troubleshooting and finding the source of these problems.
Recruitment Drive
With the Universities reopened, GDI has a long list of potential new recruits for its technical departments. While there are unlikely to be substantial numbers of particularly interesting recruits, more capacity is always useful (100/120/140/160/180/200) (Select the 4 that you want to take)
[ ] Graduates
While not the most exciting choice, selecting a number of graduates from various programs around the world will expand GDI's capabilities in the particular area. Although certainly not experienced, they are unlikely to seriously degrade the quality of the department at hand. (Pick 2 of) (+1 die per area, -2 bonus for two years)
- [ ] Infrastructure
- [ ] Heavy Industry
- [ ] Light and Chemical Industry
- [ ] Agriculture
- [ ] Tiberium
- [ ] Services
- [ ] Military
- [ ] Bureaucracy
[ ] More Graduates
If the treasury believes it to be necessary, it can nearly monopolize the graduates from one area. While this will be politically unpopular, it can provide more resources to a vital area. (can only be taken if Graduates is also taken) (pick 1 of the previous pick's area, gain 1 additional die and additional -2 bonus for two years) (-5 PS)
[ ] Advanced Technical Laboratories
While GDI has not always been at the forefront of materials science, the mass production of it has always been a strength. Investing towards a series of new labs for the purpose will improve our ability to cover heavy industrial goals through working smarter, rather than harder.
(+5 to Heavy Industry dice)
[ ] Dr. Joseph Takeda
Responsible for one of GDI's more successful (although sabotaged by the Brotherhood of NOD) attempts at developing infantry scale energy weapons. Dr. Takeda is a talented scientist and researcher, who has focused his career towards military development. While already a part of the Treasury system, rapidly promoting him should allow him to begin filling out his subordinates within the military system
- +3 to Military dice
- +1 Military die
[ ] Major Maria Stavrakas
Major Stavrakas was a critical component of the Super MARV project, and one of its greatest proponents. While she is willing to jump ship for the Treasury, it will be on the condition that it create more MARV programs for her to administer.
- +2 to Military dice
- +1 Military die
- -20 Progress required for MARV programs
- Build at least five MARV fleets by the end of this plan.
[ ] Market Analysis Group
GDI has rarely concerned itself with the inner workings of the markets, preferring to focus on its own goals. However, with GDI sponsorship a major part of existing markets, a better analysis of ongoing processes should improve overall outcomes.
(20 percent chance of extra consumer goods from markets)
** Please vote by plan **
** Two hour moratorium for discussion **
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