Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)

General_Urist said:

Holy shit that news out of North America is extremely not good. Where are these "free states" even finding people willing to run their infrastrucutre... well, I guess they're probably not willing people.

Anyways I'll read through the plans people made more later if I have time, but I strongly oppose outright militarization. Give plans for our rockets to the rest of the world's weapons bureaus? Most certainly. But we are the science and outreach team. We have many jobs but militarization is not one of them. The WCC can use its own budget for that. I don't want them to get used to outsourcing part of the reactionary-crushing job to us.

EDIT: Well, I guess I can tolerates us doing some spy rocket launches, since we already control all the production and infra chain for that anyways. But just how useful are spy rockets with early 50s tech anyway?

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CyberEnby said:

[ ] Plan: Yibambe!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIA3hSfIrao

AKA: The African Freedom Arsenal
AKA: Fuck the SDL in particular

This plan focuses on helping with the Partisan conflict in NorAm while building up the means of production in Africa, with an eye on essentially using the military necessity to pay for a bunch of infrastructure we can use after the war, while not overstraining our ability to deliver on our promises.


These have the same requirements, so it makes sense to double dip on them. They can also be done basically immediately in place of our regular sounding rocket launches. By expanding our Ops dice (see below) we can also generate enough slack to account for failed launches and do these launches without sacrificing our heavy sounding rocket launches.



Ok, so this is the meat and potatoes of this plan. Basically we build a Stormchaser factory while researching the militarized Beden, then build a factory for that.
Honestly the HSR launch pad is the only pressing thing we want to finish that affects our primary mission right now in the Facilities section. Things like the wind tunnel are a nice to have, not a must have.
The Stormchaser factory also gets us a free Ops dice, so we can then do both the Spy Launches, and our HSR launches at the same time.

Also, consider what this gets us. Military rockets have to be launched in great numbers, so this is basically rocket mass production research and infrastructure for us, wich is the #1 easiest way to make cheaper rockets. And we get to throw these rockets into harsh conditions which will reveal all sorts of failure modes and ways we can improve them!
AND when the war is over, who do you think is going to sweep in and acquire all that juicy rocket manufacturing infrastructure? (It's gonna be us.)

Now, at 300 points a pop, 3 dice x 4 turns only gets us 50/50 odds of completion. So we're going to have to pump up our facilities dice to generate extra slack and allow us to finish our HSR pad. More on that below.



This is the only really pressing project in the Science section, so it makes sense to just take it. And this is only a Phase 3, so we're unlikely to be burned by bad rolls like we were with Rocket Boxes.



An easy ask, since we don't have a lot to occupy us in the Politics section right now and we were going to do this anyways.



This +5 PS is nice for offsetting one of the -5PS dings per dice that construction will take, and getting this ASAP will be good for getting in on the ground floor of rocket reuse, which is absolutely critical long term. Actually the GM has said that a LOT of stuff is gated behind this, so I think it's worth taking now.
The orbital rocket research is going apace, and we have more than enough slack in that timeline to accommodate this. The whole reason we even started that project so early was to have something to spend our dice on while no other more pressing projects existed in Engineering.





Starting PS: 40
ΔPS from Promises: +65
ΔR from Promises: 0

Int(M-L): 0/458/400/0 + 1d5
Int(D): 0/250/200/0 + 2d5 + 2d5 + 6d10 + 6d10
Int(C): 0/800/250/0 + 1d10 + 2d5
UWF: 5/300/50/20 + 2d5 + 2d5 + 6d10 + 6d10
FWW: 20/377/300/0 + 2d5
SDL: 0/412/400/13 - 2d5 - 2d5 - 6d10 - 6d10 + 2d10
CPAL: 11/414/200/0 + 2d5
Minor: 5/20/32/43

Requests
-[ ] Masters of the Craft - When you say they need experience, you'd prefer it if they had, like, a lot of experience. The cream of the crop. The absolute best workers in the world. (+1 Facilities Dice, +10 to Facilities dice, -15 PS, -15R/turn)

We've got a lot of Facility work to do this turn so grabbing the highest bonus pays extra dividends.

-[ ] Redirect Funding to Africa - The homeland of the IEC is ever in need of further investment, industrialization and modernization. The stench of centuries of imperialist exploitation can only be washed away with the wealth that was stripped from it being returned. (Adds extra rolls per turn for Stat increases)
--[ ] Security (-5 PS)
--[ ] Infrastructure (-5 PS)
--[ ] Electrification (-5 PS)

We're going to have to beef up infrastructure to move material around (like better docks at Mogadishu for shipping the rockets up the Gulf of Aden and through the Suez and across the Atlantic).
Electrification will help with actually powering the rocket factories.
And security to make sure that material won't go missing. We're already going to bump up security by one from building two rocket factories, so I figure more dice rolls here will be enough to bump it up so that it's equal to the Partisan value.

ΔPS from Requests: -30
ΔR from Requests: -15

Graduates
Each Graduate pick adds 1 dice to the sector you picked. You have a maximum of 4 picks this year. Picking fewer Graduates than are available will add additional background rolls per quarter to increase the world's stats, such as Industry or Electrification. E.g., taking 1 fewer dice adds 1 additional roll per quarter for stats.

Each can be picked up to two times. Each pick comes with a cost of -5R/turn.



Two more dice in facilities for a total of 5 in order to be sure that we have enough slack to fulfill all our promises without delaying our space program.

ΔPS from Graduates: -10
ΔR from Graduates: -10

-[ ] [FUND] 1% - A whole percent of the budget would certainly see your capabilities grow, especially now that you are looking to build Facilities around the globe. It would be something of an ask, however, given the relatively limited nature of your accomplishments this last year.. (+65R/turn, -15PS)
-[ ] Redirect Funding to the IEC - By pulling on the right strings, you can get funding redirected to the IEC beyond the percentage allotment.
--[ ] 2 PS for 10R/turn (1PS=5R/turn)

Assuming an average dice spread as follows:

2 ops x 15R*
5 facilities x 15R
3 engineering x 15R
3 science x15R
3 politics x5R

*(We have 3 ops dice, but we can afford to let one lie fallow or spin it up as needed, we have a 75 R buffer to insulate us from the extra expenditure)

ΔR Per Turn (Dice): -210
ΔR Per Turn (Expenses): -25 (Grads and Masters of Their Craft)
Current R Income: +160
Need: 75 Income (65 from 1.5% Budge, 10 from Extra Funding)

New PS: 48
New Net R Income / Turn: 210

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C_Z said:

Now I'm not saying we should build a nuclear research facility in Ukraine, but I'm not saying we shouldn't, either.

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General_Urist said:

I get what you're at. But developing semi-practical nuclear power suitable for mass production takes a long time, and that's without the supply chain having the stigma of tragic thermonuclear fire. By the time we've got anything ready for a true rollout, the coal-fired (or gas-fired if we're real lucky) electrification of Europe will be solidly completed.

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Potato Anarchy said:

I believe that CPAL annoyance gets canceled out if we take the "only develop military tech in the postcolonial world" option.

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C_Z said:

Yeah, I stopped short of suggesting it even if it's funny. Five years from now, sure - I want to develop reactors for powering satellites, but that's long-term.

Anyways, after listening to some discussion on discord last night and sleeping on it, I've edited around and cut down my plan:

[ ] Plan: A Rapid Launch Tempo
-[ ] [FUND] 1%

Ops:
-[ ] Conduct 4 Spy Rocket Launches in North America (+5 PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose) (Military)
-[ ] Conduct 4 Spy Rocket Launches (+5 PS, UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)

Facilities:
-[ ] Build a scientific facility in Eastern Europe by Q4 1954 (+5PS) (Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Only produce military items in colonized nations (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor) (overrides Steps if otherwise indicated by other options) (Military)

-[ ] Employ 10 dice worth of Facilities and Operations personnel by 1954Q1 (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)

Engineering:
-[ ] Establish the Advanced Concepts Office (+5 PS, Int(C) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

Science:
-[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 3) (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)

Political:
-[ ] Complete Rocket Reels (+5 PS) (Int(M-L) moves 1d5 steps towards Favor)

-[ ] Share the schematics for the Stormchaser with the UWF (+5PS, Int(D) and UWF move 3d10 towards Favor, CPAL moves 2d10 Oppose and SDL moves 4d10 towards Oppose)
-[ ] Share the schematics for the R-1 Beden with the UWF (+5 PS, Int(D) and UWF move 3d10 towards Favor, CPAL moves 2d10 Oppose and SDL moves 4d10 towards Oppose)
-[ ] Do not pursue Spaceplane research (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)

-[ ] [GRAD] Facilities

This plan is focused on a mix of launching those spy rockets this year, and building up for a large expansion in our dice pools next year (ideally to 6 in each category for optimization reasons - apparently there'll be penalties to putting more than 3 dice towards any one project). The science facility gives us more science dice, and with two years to complete the promise, it's not a huge rush to get it done now. If we build up our ops infrastructure this year, we'll have free facilities dice to put towards it next year. Likewise, the ACO unlocks a similar route to expand our engineering dice pool.

We're currently at 2 operations dice and 2 facilities dice. Operations dice come from building launch pads and the like, and in 1953, we probably want to complete a HSR pad, a runway, and possibly either a larger pad sized for the orbital rocket or the Assembly Complex (which is seemingly suggested). That brings us up to 7 dice. Given that Rocket Boxes 3 is almost done and we currently have a lot of bonuses to politics, expanding our Facilities dice through more union halls will be a very minor investment in dice; we just need spare PS to burn. Activating 10 dice will be a fairly large resource drain, but once we get things like rocket reels, being able to maintain a rapid launch tempo will have good returns (and allow us to do spy rocket launches as well as weather science and test launches at the same time - the +PS from doing spy launches will offset an increase in budget in '54). Once we start doing orbital launches, we also will likely need facilities and ops dice to support the increasing costs, so future-proofing for what we may need in the latter half of the '50s now is good.

We have a 99% chance of achieving MR3 within the year based on our current dice, and it's something we'll want to do anyways if we're looking to the future. Our current orbital rocket is good, but we'll probably want one within the decade that can launch heavier satellites, manned capsules, and the like (as well as possibly having some fun concepts like recoverable engine pods). Materials Research dramatically improves the capability of our rockets and there's not a lot of competition for our science dice unless we're branching out into ground-based astronomy right away.

We have few demands on our politics dice and strong bonuses to them. 5 PS is 5 PS. Rocket reels is a smart choice. Likewise, sharing the schematics presumably doesn't cost us anything, and who cares if the SDL doesn't like us?

According to discord, Spaceplane research doesn't gate building a runway and a hangar, only the actual research bit. We can still pursue PLANE, but given how we want to do an orbital rocket this year, waiting one year for the spaceplane research itself isn't a huge sacrifice.

I'm not taking any requests because they're worse than the Union Halls. Power in a Union is -5 PS, -5R, +1 facilities die, +5 bonus. Experienced Hands gives us the same rewards, but costs 10 PS and 10 resources. More Union Tradesfolk takes them away from elsewhere and they disappear after the year is over; [GRAD] Facilities has the same effect permanently without costing PS.

EDIT: Changed to 1% funding to build up a budget surplus in preparation for next year.

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Dessard said:

Do you have confirmation that the Facilities requests go away afer a year and that building no military equipment counts as building it only in former colonies? Both seem ambiguous.

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