Attempting to avoid Disaster: An Earth Defense Plan Quest

Q4 2014 Results

Thanks to @yeastmobile for the map.

Canada: Moderate Support
USA: Moderate Support
Mexico: Moderate Support
Brazil: Neutral
Argentina: Mild Support
UK: Moderate Support
France: Mild Support
Germany: Moderate Support
Russia: Moderate Support
Nigeria: Moderate Support
South Africa: Moderate Support
Israel: Moderate Support
Saudi Arabia: Moderate Support
India: Mild Support
China: Mild Support
Japan: Mild Support
Australia: Mild Support
Director Nobuo: Strong Support


Resources: 1120 Resources left from yearly budget (-50R per turn)
Council Support: 45

Supply Indicators:
Logistics: small surplus +++++ +++ ++
Fuel: large surplus ++++ ++
Ammo: small surplus, diversity of barrels makes distribution horrendous --- -- (++ undeployable bunker busters)
Maintenance: moderate surplus ++++ +++ ++ +
Medical Capacity: Large surplus +++++ + (+1 at the end of every year)

Staff Indicators:
Security: Massive Surplus +80?
Officers: Handled by Sponsor Nations
Experts: Handled by Sponsor Nations (+ saved)(+ per year)

Other Indicators:
Orbital Bandwidth: large shortages, currently routed over NATO satellites ----
Remaining quarters worth of Lycanthropes: 6

Attack on a Fish Trawler in the Pacific
Big news in November was that the fish trawler Bluefield sank after an internal fuel explosion ripped a hole in the hull and flooded the ship. The entire crew were able to make it to the lifeboats and escape unharmed. However, individual sailors claiming to have seen something approaching the trawler on sonar have caught the interest of the SID and Torres has dispatched the few UNDC submarines to investigate with other naval assets preoccupied elsewhere or in the process of being transferred back to their original owners. The ship was found two hundred kilometers away from where simulations predicted currents would carry it, with signs of slashing and tearing on the hull suggesting something tore apart the metal like paper and dragged the vessel into the depths to presumably consume the haul.

Investigative Problems
The logistical situation created by the Cairngorm arrivals has caught the attention of press and public alike and while most have moved on after PR did not budge on details, some have continued to make problems, violating the security perimeter or otherwise trying to get entry. Luckily, so far the security measures have continued to hold and several official or self-proclaimed truth seekers have ended up in UNDC arrest to be handed over to local police, only a few hundred meters away from their target.

A Deal Struck
Finding five volunteers to be given to Cairngorm has been rather simple with the resources at the UNDC's disposal. Given the organization is in an active war there is a never ending supply of critically injured soldiers whose life expectancy is measured from "however long the machines can keep them alive", to weeks. With the doctors unable to help these cases with anything but pain relief, the UNDC was easily able to get five of them to agree to anything with the promise of additional and generous financial support for their families.

It is unknown what exactly Cairngorm did to them after they were dropped off within its territory, but it seems to have worked. The spirit hive has demonstrated improved language comprehension and speaking capabilities, which hopefully should make communication easier.

In other news, the de-lycantrophycation is working. Lycain levels have been falling at expected rates and no further transformations have occured during full moon phases. The first former werewolves have thus been released from UNDC care and can return to their former lives. With the tree spirits proven as a working cure, RnD has proposed additional programs for Lycantropy research to figure out the transmission vectors and continue development on the cure.

Infrastructure
Logistical Port Construction (Kuwait) 284/160 and Logistical Port Construction (Beirut) 128+124/160 and Logistical Airport (Beirut) 92/90
Under the watchful eye of the SADS batteries, construction in the Middle East continues at a rapid pace. Harbors are cleared of wrecks, slabs of broken concrete and piles of sand removed in record time to make space for the new docks coming in their place. Over the three month period the two long awaited logistical ports and the Beirut logistical airport supporting the two major UNDC positions in the Middle Eastern conflict region come online. Kuwait in particular has been constructed with fuel transfer in mind and it now takes care of the majority of fuel transfer out of the region and towards the UNDC's global efforts.

Ushuaia Air Base (Argentina) 283+5/285
Ushuaia is a bit of an odd place. The southernmost city in the world, climate more in line with temperate, central European places and pretty much in the backwater of Argentina. The locals don't seem to mind the construction of the colossal air base next to their home much, as needed improvements and refurbishments to local water and power infrastructure have been paid for by the Administration and the economy benefits from UNDC staff on leave needing to spend their money somewhere, somehow. The construction of the air base has already simplified delivery of several bulkier scientific instruments and recreational supplies. The expedition has made mentions of "possibly one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the 21st century", but have been rather vague aside from that, with only some half finished reports about Quantum Gravity Collapse finding their way to Sokolov's desk.

Maintenance and Supply Naval Base Expansion (Hong Kong) 375/360
The UNDC Hong Kong facilities have expanded beyond expectations, the colossal combined air and naval base having already required an expansion of the official borders of the city. A concrete giant with docks reaching far into the South China Sea, the base represents a commitment to the UNDCs activities in the region. The new maintenance facilities have allowed ships from the Persian Gulf fleet to be shifted around for maintenance much easier, with the East Asia fleet trading ships to the Persian Gulf as needed.

Industry
Replacement Part Factories (Stage 2) 215/300
After a long break, work on the replacement part factories has been taken up again. Progress has been made, mostly with finding suitable sites at logistically and strategically important locations, contractor work and staff hiring efforts, but the project will still require further investment to start part production.

UNDC Auxiliary Plane Fleet (Phase 2) 192/150 42/150
With the recent spree of airport construction the UNDCs auxiliary air fleet had been under-equipped to efficiently and regularly reach all these locations, but with this quarter's expansion this problem has been rectified. With that much space in air transport capability now available, putting aside some capacity for non-critical in-house staff transfers has been considered, but no real plans have been made so far.

Service
UNDC Animal Capture Teams 217/200
Made up of former zookeepers, hunters, and wildlife experts, the ACT quickly realized that the "animal" part of the job description does not quite fit, when even the smallest magical creatures are stronger, faster, tougher and deadlier than any creature of that size should be. Blowing them up is often easier than capturing them, but there is only so much you can learn from mangled corpses. Without any more specialized capturing equipment, the teams have to utilize everything from water throwers and bear spray to concussion grenades and rubber bullets to subdue magical creatures ranging from giant spiders, direwolves, direhogs, demigryphs, griffons, demi drakes and more.

Psychological Health Service 191/200
The UNDC is, on paper at least, one of the largest armed forces in the world. As such the number of psychological experts needed to provide sufficient care is enormous. The problems don't end there, different severities of disorders require different levels of care from weekly sessions with a specialized psychologist to extended stays in psychiatric facilities. The Administration essentially needs to build up a global mental health network consisting of UNDC and partner facilities and specialists, which despite the large amount of funding invested has not quite been completed.

Genetic Engineering Experimental Group 242/150
The setup of Vahlen's pet project has gone well. While genetic engineering is still a young field, the most promising vector for accurate manipulating of genetic information is by piggybacking off viruses to deliver the edited genome. There are a multitude of problems to be overcome, ranging from the immune response to actually editing the targeted gene. As such the Doctor was unable to give any schedule aside from "before the end of the budgetary cycle, if sufficient funding is provided".

Military
Passive Exoskeleton Deployment 209/200
Deployment of the passive exoskeleton has been completed. The benefits, both logistically and health related, are small and will probably only really pay off years later. The technology is clunky, awkward to use and put on, but the service members have accepted it as part of their equipment, both because of the coolness and novelty, and because of the tangible benefits to endurance. Some soldiers have already requested the devices for use in the field, where especially soldiers with support weapons benefit from the increased carrying capacity. Concepts exist to adapt the passive exo tech into a more directly combat oriented role, but anything more will have to wait for feedback from the current models to be collected and analyzed before it can be implemented.

Reactive Armor Deployment Refit 171/500
Work on the Reactive Armor Deployment Refit continues without major issues.

Enok Deployment (Stage 1 Active Military ) Done
The active military finally has delivered all their armored cars. While offering less protection and firepower than a dedicated APC, the cars still fill a useful niche, being less threatening, less fuel intensive and more mobile in low-threat areas.

Osprey Helicopter Deployment (Stage 2 Security Force) Done
DCSec finally has all the requested Osprey VTOLs. While compared to the other branches DCSEC requiries a smaller number, total and relative, the ones they have now are still of high importance, allowing for quick and secure transport of VIPs from anywhere to everywhere.

Galil Ace Deployment (Stage 2 SecurityForces) 347/415
Deployment of the UNDC service rifle to the Security Forces continues without major issues.

Infantry Gear Complexes (Lorraine) 262/200
The gear complex in Lorraine has been completed, its production capacity added towards the hopefully quick deployment of the new UNDC infantry gear.

Mastodon Deployment
After a slight waiting period, Merin's Mastodon test force has been delivered. A slightly difficult process, as the tank's heavy weight makes loading and unloading it from support ships awkward. The crews are not fully green, being a mix of experienced and freshly trained soldiers, but the General nevertheless pushed them to prove themselves and herself. Working in tandem with APCs, IFVs and infantry, the Mastodons were used to assault a number of heavily defended urban locations. The proving went very well, the tanks heavy armor being able to fully protect against the lighter anti tank weapons the GLA uses, while its equally heavy armament sowed destruction to combatants, structures and infrastructure alike. How the Mastodon fared in combat had been watched by a number of actors, the UNDC Ground Forces already convinced to replace a small fraction of their tank force with the new heavy tanks, while Rosoboronexport has requested that the UNDC not share the design and leaves production of the co-developed tank entirely to Rosoboron.

[]Mastodon: Deny
[]Mastodon: Accept (+10 RpT)

Arbalète Deployment (Stage 2 Military Expansion) 119/415
Deployment of the Arbalete continues without any further issues.

ASM/AGM Missile Factories (Phase 1) 170/250
Air-to-surface and air-to-ground-missiles come in many shapes and sizes for the large range of use cases. Guided, unguided, shrapnel, shaped charge or simple explosive, radar-, laser- or tv-controlled, they all require different facilities and processes to be manufactured. Due to this high diversity, getting the new wave of factories online has not been quite finished this quarter, but should complete the next should investment be continued.

Multi Role Jet Codevelopment Program (ASDEU) (VTOL Capable) 198+5/200
Multi Role Jet Codevelopment Program (ASDEU) (VTOL Capable) 198+5/200
The UNAF-1 Eurohawk (Or 'Euroduck', a nickname born from the term for the front mounted vertical control winglets featured on all variants of the design) is a fighter whose on paper capabilities have seen the design team accused of witchcraft more than once. Weighing in at 11 tons empty and near enough thrice that when fully loaded, this aircraft is meant to haul some 10 tons of ordnance vertically and supercruise to any target site in a 700 kilometer radius and loiter there for an hour, or with a conventional runway take off haul 13 tons of ordnance 1100 kilometers, with the same loiter time. The design currently has half a dozen variants under final consideration, with production of prototypes and real world testing to determine which are best for the UNDC air forces and navy expected to take 1 to 2 years.

MaQue Recon Drone Deployment 162/300
The deployment of the MaQue makes itself special due to the sheer number of units being built, packaged and shipped out to the various airbases, carriers and vehicle storage hangars the UNDC has. Its size and price make procuring large unit orders of them a relatively simple and cheap affair. They have already seen some limited use around major UNDC sites where their camera systems have aided security immensely.

Vertical Launch Munitions Assembly Plants (Phase 1) 261/200 61/200
VLMs come in a similar diversity to ASMs: Anti-ship, anti-air and cruise. Different to the aircraft launched munitions however VLMs are all characteristically one thing: expensive. Each type is an impressive feat of human engineering and technology and has the appropriate price tag. Investment and production cost are high, production numbers are low and security has to be very tight. The first of two proposed phases of plants has begun production this quarter and preliminary work has begun on the second phase, the output of which will benefit the Straz fleet greatly, which is scheduled to be delivered in Q2 2015.

Sentinel Frigate Deployment 199/120 79/120
Planning, preparation and procurement of the first block of Sentinel frigates has been completed and vessels have entered production. Everything from the steel plating for the hulls to the guns to the light bulbs for the crew quarters has to be procured, scheduled for delivery and accounted for, requiring delivery and production slots in the subcontractors' timetable. A logistical nightmare which has been completed for now. The first block of new Sentinels will be put towards replacing some of the vessels lent to the UNDC and while most of them are older models, their home governments will nevertheless be glad to get them back.

Security Review (Services) 375 (DC60)
Services have been free of any outside infiltrators ever since the Great Vampyre Purge or Exodus, depending on what you want to call it. DCSec was unable to find any unallowed spies, though they have noted that the DARPA have been observing projects and discoveries made by UNDC RND and taking notes. So far nothing has crossed into the illegal or territory not resolved prematurely in the cooperation contract, but Hardtmann notes there should be continued vigilance where their experts should be assigned to assist.

Organizational Cooperation Initiatives 162 (DC 80/160) - Critical Failure
While negotiations with the USRB have been accepted by the Council without any problems, the issue of who exactly the UNDC should cooperate with to facilitate training of future officers and service members has resulted in discussions Sokolov described as "heated". The issue has been put to rest for a while until the Council can figure out a solution that satisfies them all, but until then the UNDC has no voice on the matter.

US American Business Representation Cooperation
The USBR represents a number of US companies from a wide variety of fields, from defense and medical science and agricultural manufacturing. They see the UNDC as one of the largest clients to offer their services to and have been very open regarding an official cooperation if certain client mandated quotas are met.

Offer: 2 Free Org Dice (Free as in can be assigned to projects of any Category)
Demand: 2FOD be used in every category before the end of the plan.

[]USBR: Accept
[]USBR: Deny


The next turn will have to wait a bit since I'll maybe rework some of the mechanics to cause less work for me and you. So until then enjoy the resultpost.