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Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)

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[ ] Plan Legislative Darling
-[ ] [FUND] 1% - The big leagues. You shoot for the moon by asking the Council to quadruple your budget in order to fund a wide-ranging program of science and engineering - and, of course, putting highly-skilled, prestigious jobs in as many places as you can. (+150R/turn, -20PS)
-[ ] Complete Weather Studies (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (All parties move +1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Complete Materials Research (Phase 2) (+5 PS) (Int(C), Int(D), Int(M-L), FWW move 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Build Computational Research Facility (+5 PS) (All parties but UWF move 1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Do not acquire nuclear technology (+10 PS, all parties but UWF move 2d10 towards Favor)
-[ ] Dark Sky Development Regulations (-5 PS) - Work with the local councils to draft a set of regulations regarding keeping dark sky sites dark for astronomical use.
-[ ] Broadcast Regulations (-5 PS) - Work with the local councils to draft a set of regulations regarding keeping certain radio frequencies unused for radio astronomy.
-[ ] Additional Construction Union Support (-5 PS, all parties but CPAL move 1d10 steps towards Favor, CPAL moves 1d10 steps towards Oppose) (Gain 1 Facilities dice, +5 to Facilities rolls)
-[ ] [BOMB] Return it to the demil locker, of course. (+10PS)

This is a prototype plan sketch based mostly on political support and favor. It's net neutral when it comes to PS; if people want more and think we can handle it, we should make one or two more promises. What it does do is gain us a bunch of long-term Favor while also mostly avoiding Favor loss, in addition to extracting the maximum possible benefit out of the WCC. I'd be interested to get some input from people who are more math-inclined about the viability of the promises, though.
 
I cannot support Etranger's plan as it betrays the trust of CPAL, who must be our friends and partners in the world to come. We don't need Facilities dice more than the world needs reconstruction.

I am generally in favor of returning the bomb for PS, the dark sky and radio requests, and at least tripling our budget. I will take a closer look at the promises and so on tomorrow.
 
[ ] [BOMB] We can theoretically use them to power or propel spacecraft; we would like to become the custodian for all the remaining bombs.(-10 PS, gain… a lot more bombs.)
PLEASE: I *want* the orion memes. Let me draft a plan around that, actually!
[ ]Plan Plowshares
-[ ] [FUND] 0.5% - Doubling your current funding is a relatively harmless ask, now that the IEC has shown that it can in fact do things. It won't win you any friends, but it comes with few risks. (+50R/turn)
-[ ] Complete Weather Studies (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (All parties move +1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Complete Materials Research (Phase 2) (+5 PS) (Int(C), Int(D), Int(M-L), FWW move 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Complete Rocket Boxes (Phase 3) (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Build Computational Research Facility (+5 PS) (All parties but UWF move 1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Complete All-Sky Survey (Phase 1) (+10 PS) (All Internationale factions move 1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Dark Sky Development Regulations (-5 PS) - Work with the local councils to draft a set of regulations regarding keeping dark sky sites dark for astronomical use.
-[ ] Broadcast Regulations (-5 PS) - Work with the local councils to draft a set of regulations regarding keeping certain radio frequencies unused for radio astronomy.
-[ ] [BOMB] We can theoretically use them to power or propel spacecraft; we would like to become the custodian for all the remaining bombs.(-10 PS, gain… a lot more bombs.)
Notes: weather and materials and rocket boxes because we probably want to do them anyway, comp. research for a similar reason though it's a bit more of work IIRC, in exchange for nukes. All-sky survey because astronomy is the "easy" part of the space program, with the two requests to make that more practical. Net +10 PS, increased budget (obviously). Note that I'm not asking for nuclear infrastructure, because if we get the world's nukes we won't have any particular need for fissile production for a bit. It'll be necessary if we want continued work in the NTR/Orion field, but it's not necessary yet, and I'd like to build up PS before that particular quite hefty buy.
Alternatively, if you want to really commit to it:
[ ]Plan Plowshares + New Build
-[ ] [FUND] 0.5% - Doubling your current funding is a relatively harmless ask, now that the IEC has shown that it can in fact do things. It won't win you any friends, but it comes with few risks. (+50R/turn)
-[ ] Complete Weather Studies (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (All parties move +1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Complete Materials Research (Phase 2) (+5 PS) (Int(C), Int(D), Int(M-L), FWW move 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Complete Rocket Boxes (Phase 3) (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Build Computational Research Facility (+5 PS) (All parties but UWF move 1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 2) (+5 PS) (CPAL, UWF, FWW move 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Nuclear Infrastructure (-30PS) (CPAL, SDL move 2d20 steps towards Oppose; all other parties move 2d10) (Gain Basic Nuclear Technology, 1 Refinement Facility)
-[ ] [BOMB] We can theoretically use them to power or propel spacecraft; we would like to become the custodian for all the remaining bombs.(-10 PS, gain… a lot more bombs.)
This is... a bit more of an ask, adding exploratory prop research instead of all-sky survey, for a total of -15 PS, but it gets the really big buying point out of the way now when people are still figuring things out rather than later when there'll be a more firm and settled policy regarding nukes that probably locks us out of it.
 
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Potato Anarchy said:
I cannot support Etranger's plan as it betrays the trust of CPAL, who must be our friends and partners in the world to come. We don't need Facilities dice more than the world needs reconstruction.

I am generally in favor of returning the bomb for PS, the dark sky and radio requests, and at least tripling our budget. I will take a closer look at the promises and so on tomorrow.
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Comrade Potato, my plan includes a net +3d10 increase in approval from the CPAL and is therefore by no means a betrayal of any kind.
 
No Orion pls. Nuclear propulsion sounds like contamimation to me. Put bomb back in box.
 
[X] Plan: The Right Stuff
-[X] [FUND] 0.75% - Tripling your current funding might be a bigger ask, but it would definitely help you expand your efforts more rapidly. (+100R/turn, -10PS)
-[X] Complete Weather Studies (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (All parties move +1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Build Computational Research Facility (+5 PS) (All parties but UWF move 1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Complete Rocket Boxes (Phase 3) (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Do not expand to more than 2 Facilities Dice (+5PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Do not pursue Spaceplane research (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Complete Materials Research (Phase 2) (+5 PS) (Int(C), Int(D), Int(M-L), FWW move 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[X] [BOMB] Return it to the demil locker, of course. (+10PS)

Total: + 25 PS

We need the income of 150/turn to keep all out dice active, but past that we'll start running into not having enough dice. And I absolutely don't want us to turn into a jobs program like NASA, where technical considerations are secondary to political ones.

Returning the bomb is a simple gimme that pays for our funding increase. Plutonium is just not very useful to us, and we're very far from needing Orion.

Weather studies are likewise a no brainer. We're already a fair bit of the way there.

Rocket boxes are nice because they give us PS and can be done from outreach - Science is already very busy as it is.

I've also added material research, because reducing dry mass is among the most important things we can do to make our rockets better and we need to take it anyway to make an orbital launcher. It also unlocks the path to the godly mass fractions of baloon tanks.
No good for the dice economy.

edit: Agreed not to make spaceplanes or lots of facilities this year because it's a free PS boost!

edit2: Added computational research facility on the assumption that it's built with Facilities dice which we have enough of!
 
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[ ] Plan: The Whole Hog
-[ ] [FUND] 0.75% - Tripling your current funding might be a bigger ask, but it would definitely help you expand your efforts more rapidly. (+100R/turn, -10PS)
-[ ] Complete Weather Studies (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (All parties move +1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Complete Materials Research (Phase 2) (+5 PS) (Int(C), Int(D), Int(M-L), FWW move 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 2) (+5 PS) (CPAL, UWF, FWW move 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Complete All-Sky Survey (Phase 1) (+10 PS) (All Internationale factions move 1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Build Computational Research Facility (+5 PS) (All parties but UWF move 1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Complete Rocket Boxes (Phase 3) (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Do not acquire nuclear technology (+10 PS, all parties but UWF move 2d10 towards Favor)
-[ ] Dark Sky Development Regulations (-5 PS) - Work with the local councils to draft a set of regulations regarding keeping dark sky sites dark for astronomical use.
-[ ] Broadcast Regulations (-5 PS) - Work with the local councils to draft a set of regulations regarding keeping certain radio frequencies unused for radio astronomy.
-[ ] [BOMB] Return it to the demil locker, of course. (+10PS)

I don't know if promising everything is actually viable, but I want us to dream big right now (and make people like us, of course). I do think that at this point (Year 2!), no promise should be worthless in the sense of being purely political fodder - we actually want all this stuff for the program.
 
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For the love of all the gods do not ask for 1%.

If we activate all our dice at their highest available costs it's only 140 resource points per turn.

We literally cannot spend more at this juncture.
 
tripling funding is likely the best option for now, I don't think we should promise on the nuclear technology considering that would need to be broken if we ever go for the outer planets. Solar panels will not work at those distances and if we want to go interplanetary on a manned mission it will also be necessary for power or propulsion.
UNTITLED:
[ ] [FUND] 0.75%
[ ] Complete Weather Studies (Phase 3)
[ ] Complete Materials Research (Phase 2)
[ ] Complete Rocket Boxes (Phase 3)
[ ] Complete All-Sky Survey (Phase 1)
[ ] Dark Sky Development Regulations
[ ] Broadcast Regulations
[ ] [BOMB] Return it to the demil locker, of course.
+5 PS
 
I'm leery of All Sky Survey because it's apparently quite a large project and we only have so many science dice.

As to broadcast and dark skies... well, how are we supposed to get funding for putting telescopes on the dark side of the moon if you can just build one on Earth? :V
 
CyberEnby said:
For the love of all the gods do not ask for 1%.

If we activate all our dice at their highest available costs it's only 140 resource points per turn.

We literally cannot spend more at this juncture.
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Click to shrink...
You say that like it's a bad thing. Costs will almost certainly go up with future projects, a buffer is good to have.
 
Shadows said:
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (5000/200000)
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Click to shrink...
Huh. "Only" 195,000 progress to go before the reconstruction is finished. That's going to take... a while. Yeah.

I don't think we should ask for more then 0.75% of the budget.

As for nuclear options, maybe we can revisit that in the future. But it's way too early for us to actually make good use of that technology right now.
 
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[ ] Plan Rocketry : The engine of Reaction
-[ ] [FUND] 0.25% - Keeping your funding at its current level is doable, if only barely. It might somewhat help your political chances though. (+5 PS)
-[ ] Complete Weather Studies (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (All parties move +1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Do not pursue Spaceplane research (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Do not pursue Rocketry research (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Nuclear Infrastructure (-30PS) (CPAL, SDL move 2d20 steps towards Oppose; all other parties move 2d10) (Gain Basic Nuclear Technology, 1 Refinement Facility)
-[ ] Additional Construction Union Support (-5 PS, all parties but CPAL move 1d10 steps towards Favor, CPAL moves 1d10 steps towards Oppose) (Gain 1 Facilities dice, +5 to Facilities rolls)
-[ ] [BOMB] We can theoretically use them to power or propel spacecraft; we would like to become the custodian for all the remaining bombs.(-10 PS, gain… a lot more bombs.)

This is of course an entirely reasonable plan and not a joke plan based entirely on a pun.
 
[X] Plan: The Right Stuff

[X] Plan: Give and Take
-[X] [FUND] 0.75% - Tripling your current funding might be a bigger ask, but it would definitely help you expand your efforts more rapidly. (+100R/turn, -10PS)
-[X] Complete Weather Studies (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (All parties move +1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Complete Rocket Boxes (Phase 3) (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Complete Materials Research (Phase 2) (+5 PS) (Int(C), Int(D), Int(M-L), FWW move 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Do not expand to more than 2 Facilities Dice (+5PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Do not acquire nuclear technology (+10 PS, all parties but UWF move 2d10 towards Favor)
-[X] Dark Sky Development Regulations (-5 PS)
-[X] Broadcast Regulations (-5 PS)
-[X] [BOMB] Return it to the demil locker, of course. (+10PS)

Just 'The Right Stuff' but with the science requests added and some easy-ish promises to counter the cost.
 
It's good to see what's going on globally. That's certainly a lot of reconstruction to do. It looks like I was wrong about the budget increases we could expect though - going up to 0.75 means we can keep going and pick up a few more dice, and hopefully get a small bump next turn to keep those dice in action. Any dice except engineering would be great right now, but science seems most critical.

I'm doing some math and phoneposting at work, so actual numbers may be delayed, but we need to be really careful how many dice we Promise to spend in the next year. Those promises - especially in science - could take a lot of progress.
 
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OK, at this point, by my assumptions (spoilered below), The Right Stuff and Give and Take may be achievable if we get a new science die in the first two turns, but may very well not be if we have bad luck or phase progress costs continue to rise. Many plans definitely won't be - I'd recommend people take a look at the estimated die costs in the spoiler.

The following plan is derived from Give and Take; it commits us to a major weather program to put the experience and credibility of running a serious application program under our belts, but makes no other program promises so we can spread our dice around and progress on the broad set of issues we need to. It promises not to get too many Facilities dice - no problem for now - and not to pursue spaceplanes, which wouldn't contribute much to our current objectives.

The plan is -5 PS because it holds onto the bomb and drops the non-nuclear promise because we'll be getting plenty of PS during the year from weather and outreach projects - I'd rather not contribute to a nuclear taboo in science, and that's a hard to replace experimental opportunity. It also grabs dark zones for astronomy because displacing people is worse to retroactively implement than radio regulations.

[X] Plan: Commitment and flexibility
-[X] [FUND] 0.75% - Tripling your current funding might be a bigger ask, but it would definitely help you expand your efforts more rapidly. (+100R/turn, -10PS)
-[X] Complete Weather Studies (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (All parties move +1d10 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Do not expand to more than 2 Facilities Dice (+5PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Do not pursue Spaceplane research (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Dark Sky Development Regulations (-5 PS)
-[X] [BOMB] Use it in an experiment on radioactivity in space - when we can get a rocket big enough to put it there. (-5 PS, all parties take steps towards Oppose based on results)

This uses our current bonuses, which will likely rise but not decisively.

Phase costs are optimistically estimated as the same as the current phase, and pessimistically estimated as double that.

PromisePhaseestimated {remaining) progress
(optimistic/pessimistic)		avg rollavg dice (optimistic/pessimistic)
Weather253/413534.5/7.4
Phase 293
Phase 3160/320
Materials300/450565.4/8.0
Phase 1150
Phase 2150/300
Propellant300/450634.8/7.1
Phase 1150
Phase 2150/300
Rocket Boxes425/625607.1/10.4
Phase 125
Phase 2200/300
Phase 3200/300
 
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A resource for plan-makers: what the Q1 1952 option sheet would look like, assuming no changes in the budget and no surprise options becoming available (and omitting the flavor text for length)
(based on Q4 1951 minus results)

Resources:
60R (+55R/turn)
50 Political Support
1x 22kt Mark 4 Atomic Bomb(?!?!?!)

Facilities:
1 Launch Stand (0-5 tonne) (+1 Operations die)
1 Assembly Complex (+1 Build Capacity)
1 Engineer's Hall (+2 Engineering Dice)
1 University Affiliate (+2 Science Dice)
1 Materials Lab (+5 bonus to projects tagged [MATSCI])
1 Chemical Plant (+5 bonus to projects tagged [CHEM])
1 Electronics Cooperative (+5 bonus to projects tagged [AVIONICS])
1 Construction Union Hall (+1 Facilities die)
1 Publications Office (+1 to all science and engineering fields; coinflip each year to get an additional +1)
1 Hardened Tracking and Observation (T&O) Complex (+3 to Operations)
1 Engine Test Stand (+2 to PROP projects)

Scientific Advances (name TBD)
Improved Instrumentation - Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.
Regenerative Cooling - Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines.
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Sounding Rockets.
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +7
AVIONICS - +8
CHEM - +7
CREW - +0
COMP - +2
MATSCI - +7
PHYS - +0
PROP - +4

Penelope Carter [The Director] - [+10 to Politics rolls, +2 Politics die, +5R/turn in funding from Connections, reroll 1 failed politics roll per turn]

Sergei Korolev - [+5 to Science and Engineering rolls (unless researching [HGOL][FUEL] projects, then it becomes a -15), +1 Science dice, +1 Engineering Dice. Request: Build an Orbital Rocket within 5 years; build a Scientific Complex in former Ukraine within 10 years.]

Operations (1 dice, +3 bonus)

[ ] Construct a Sounding Rocket (15R per dice, 0/40, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)

[ ] Construct a 2-Stage Sounding Rocket (20R per dice, 0/50, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)

Facilities (1 dice, +0 bonus)

[ ] Construct a Hangar Complex (10R per die, 0/100, allows constructing spaceplane prototypes)

[ ] Construct a Runway (10R per die, 0/150, allows for launching and landing air and spacecraft)

[ ] Construct a Heavy Sounding Rocket launch site (15R per die, 8/60, allows launch of the Heavy Sounding Rocket and theoretical derivatives up to 30 tons)

[ ] Construct a Wind Tunnel (10R per die, 0/80, +3 to projects labeled AERO)

Engineering (3 dice, +6 Bonus to All)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Platform) (Heavy Sounding Rocket) [AERO] (5R per die, 49/80, unlocks Heavy Sounding Rocket (and a naming vote because that's unwieldy))

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Platform) (Spaceplane Development) [AERO] (5R per die, 0/100, unlocks Prototype Spaceplane)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] (5R per die, 0/300, ???)

[ ] Engine Cycles (Tech) [MATSCI, CHEM, PROP] (10R per die, 114/250, unlocks further engine development options)

[ ] Advanced Concepts Office (5R and -5 PS per die, 51/150, will occasionally provide a new Program to pursue based on brainstorming and priorities)

Science (3 dice, +6 Bonus to All)

[ ] Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 1) [CHEM] (15R per dice, 0/150, unlocks fuel mixtures and further fuel development)

[ ] Tracking Station Surveys (5R per dice, 0/150, unlocks Tracking Station Construction project for Facilities)

[ ] Research Program Outreach (10R per dice, 147/120, gives +2 bonus to 1d4 research areas (including engineering))

[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 1) (15R per die, 0/150, provides access to aluminum structures)

[ ] Weather Studies (Phase 1) (10R per die, requires a Sounding Rocket, 147/80, unlocks weather science) (+5 PS on complete)

[ ] Weather Studies (Phase 2) (???R per die, requires ???, 67/160, unlocks weather science) (+??? PS on complete)

Politics (3 dice, +10 bonus, reroll 1 failure per turn)

Political

[ ] Council Liaison Office (5R, establishes a Council Liaison Office, provides details on the state of Council funding priorities, budget, infrastructure status, etc.)

[ ] Bothering Councilors (-10 PS, roll a quality dice to give options for influencing infrastructure funding, triggers subvote)

[ ] There is Power in a Union (0/100, 5R per dice, -5 PS on completion. Gain +1 Facilities dice, +5 to Facilities rolls)

Outreach

[ ] Rocket Boxes (Phase I) (5R per die, 175/200. Gives Rocket Boxes to every middle-school, high-school and university or equivalent in Africa. Encourages future African scientists and engineers - some of whom will even come work with the IEC.)

[ ] Rocket Reels (5R per die, 0/120, gain a coinflip for 1 additional Political Support per quarter; successful rocket launches give you an additional coin flip for each launch.)

[ ] Space For All (5R, 0/120, +10PS on completion, ???)
 
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