East Africa 1930: An ORBAT Quest
- Thread starter 4WheelSword
- Start date
- Original Alt. History
[X] The Defence Council will assess anti-armour and anti-air weapons as soon as possible (Industry and Logistics - Armaments will now include AT and AA options.)
4WheelSword
The original N-body Problem
- Pronouns
- It/She/They
The vote is tied as it stands. Either make your arguments or reselect please so we can give you more delicious content.
IamtooSleepy
I came here to be an ant
[X] The Defence Council will assess anti-armour and anti-air weapons as soon as possible (Industry and Logistics - Armaments will now include AT and AA options.)
I'm going to stick with "we'll do it later". Yes, we could squeeze it in right now, but it'd be a stop-gap solution that risks becoming permanent. There's arguably one good option amongst a lot of bad ones - it was mentioned elsewhere that this could include things like the Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP. If we can shunt them out of frontline service relatively quickly and use them as training aids, then it's not entirely a loss, but it increases the chance we get a rather useless gun as our main AT in the late-'30s. While I'd like to hope that it's a 3-month write-in vote where we can quickly buy Oerlikons from abroad and offload it into the brigade artillery company to mess around with, the chance of this taking up more time when we've already got other priorities (domestic rifle manufacture, probably getting some modern artillery, reforming the Carabinieri, the whole logistics issue) makes it too much of a risk. If we end up in a war in the next few years, we'll have to hope our artillery crews can knock them out with direct-fire 75 mm HE.
- Location
- Somewhere in the stacks
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] The Defence Council has plans for the future, but the situation is not yet right for introducing these elements.
- Pronouns
- He/They
[X] The Defence Council has plans for the future, but the situation is not yet right for introducing these elements.
Agreed on this. Though I think it'd be good to change the plan to include training/experimental units in these areas, of the leading votes, our current priorities are probably just as important to our performance in the kind of large-scale war that'd be likely to have us facing bombers and tanks as the weapons themselves. Maybe after the rifle, Carabinieri and train/pack animal issues are sorted out we can go on a hardware focus and get some AA/AT and recon planes.
Agreed on this. Though I think it'd be good to change the plan to include training/experimental units in these areas, of the leading votes, our current priorities are probably just as important to our performance in the kind of large-scale war that'd be likely to have us facing bombers and tanks as the weapons themselves. Maybe after the rifle, Carabinieri and train/pack animal issues are sorted out we can go on a hardware focus and get some AA/AT and recon planes.
Vote closed
Rat King
Izutsumi-pilled
I think after we get rifle and logistics sorted, we should definitely look at deeper army training reforms nad more general equipment - mortars, modern artillery, AA/AT, LMGs, etc.
Although I will maintain that keeping the Type 3 as our standard HMG should be fine; the Hotchkiss is a perfectly fine heavy machine gun (although emphasis on heavy) and actually works out in our drier climate since our people won't have to worry about packing water for a waterjacket in addition to drinking water.
There's some other things I'd add to that list of things to do first. I'd like to continue with the restructuring we started with our "quick fix" program to create three identical regiments under our brigade structure with pre-established "gaps" for things like mortar companies to fill. In essence, such a restructuring would also be a shopping list of things we need to procure in the future.
Also, I realized a bit ago that my assumptions re. the state of Reewiin's military might be way off. A discussion on a separate discord server led to me learning that a significant number of soldiers in China in the ~'30s didn't have boots. We might need to make time for things like ensuring the army and carabinieri have proper boots, socks/footwraps, clothing appropriate to the environment, etc. and we have an industry to keep that supplied going forwards.
Is there an advantage to the Type 3 over something like the BAR or ZB vz.33 in 6.5? Looking at it, it doesn't seem to present any benefits over the LMGs, while being dramatically heavier. I'm not opposed to keeping them around, but they don't seem like a great choice long-term for use outside stuff like the border forts if we're buying lots of new machine guns/starting domestic production.
Also, isn't a water jacket good because it means you can keep firing for longer without the barrel overheating? I thought that was the point of a heavy machine gun (excluding the later stuff in larger calibres)
- Location
- Somewhere in the stacks
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Unfortunately the GPMG is still not a thing yet in most army's conceptions, though the Germans are currently testing the MG-34. That means we need two different guns for two different goals.
The box-fed LMG is great for firepower at a squad level, but at this time we still need something that can sustain fire for a longer period of time than something fed by 30-round box magazines.
The "light" machine gun gives mobile firepower to individual squads so they can attain local fire superiority, while the "heavy" gun is something that will be at the platoon or company level which is parceled out and placed where the sustained fire will be most valuable.
The air-cooled design is a better choice for us because the climate of our country is arid and semi-arid in most places, which means that it is advantageous for us to focus on providing water for our soldiers and pack animals to drink, rather than on filling up water jackets. The Hotchkiss design was adopted in France in part because it was meant for use overseas in North Africa and other hot, dry places.
For that matter, a metal belt for the Hotchkiss was introduced in 1917, though as I recall was primarily used for aircraft and armored vehicle weapons--still, converting our Type 3s to belt fed should not be an impossibility if we decide to go that direction. Though with a proper three-person crew, the Hotchkiss-type can keep up quite a sustained rate of fire.
EDIT: Obviously not a trained crew, but you can see even an amateur can feed the strips continuously enough that a sustained rate of fire is achievable. A proper crew would be deadly.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxdVycfcGmA
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Strip-fed MGs tend to be a lot quicker to reload than box mags if you have someone to assist with it. Rather than remove-and-exchange, the loader just shoves the new strip in. Tanks got segmented strips that were basically like belts.
The hotchkiss-derived HMGs deal with barrel heating by just using an extremely thick and heavy barrel with cooling fins. It's a workable solution and is generally less finicky. The barrel could also be exchanged during more continuous fire. If you really need to, you can just continue to fire the gun while the barrel's red-hot, though I can't imagine the rifling enjoys that.
Rat King
Izutsumi-pilled
Yeah, the reorging the army ORBAT was shuffled under doctrine in my post. Sorry I didn't make that clear.
And I imagine that a lot of our soldiers march barefoot or in sandals at the moment.
With regards to the Type 3, I propose keeping them around as HMG/MMG role in the org structure; we can have the BAR or Zb vz. 30 or whatever we choose as the squad weapon, but for sustained fire a HMG on tripod can't be beat and it's something that all the major armies of the Second World War had in their arsenal. The Germans were notably one of the few to have a dedicated "GPMG" that filled both roles. The Brits, for example, had the Bren as a section/squad weapon, but maintained Vickers HMGs at the company or battalion level to provide sustained firepower in the defense or offense.
And yes, the water jacket is there to avoid overheating, but the Type 3 and the Hotchkiss are both built with radiative surfaces maximized and heavier duty barrel to allow it to maintain sustained fire.
- Location
- Buskerud, Norway
If we have to change all of our HMG/MMGs I would like something more like the M1919 browning, but adopting a new emplaced machinegun is something that should only be done if it is deemed of proper value.
As for LMGs I would like one of the FN BARS to be adopted those guns were quite good at their role and were produced by FN so it can be easily licensed for us and also would be one of the better LMGs of their era
As for LMGs I would like one of the FN BARS to be adopted those guns were quite good at their role and were produced by FN so it can be easily licensed for us and also would be one of the better LMGs of their era
- Location
- Somewhere in the stacks
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Why the Browning? It lacks a quick change barrel and fires from a closed bolt, which makes it more prone to overheating as an air-cooled weapon than other MGs of the era. Also iirc the Poles tried to adopt it (EDIT: oop, it was the M1917, but still the Browning company is likely to do the same to us) in the inter-war period and had to pay an arm and a leg for the license.
We can get the Type 3 for cheap, or get a Hotchkiss directly from France, if we're going to use an air-cooled gun (or adopt the MG-34 when it comes out, but I doubt we'll be able to get our hands on it).
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Thanks for the clarifications. I know a fair bit about aircraft machine guns and cannons but barely anything about infantry ones. My understanding was that water > air for a HMG when used on the ground, so the Type 3 seemed to be a poor compromise between a LMG and a HMG - too heavy for the former (where the Bren/BAR are better) and worse than water cooled MGs for the latter role. With that not being the case I don't see any issues with keeping the Type 3 since we've already got them.
There is quite a lot that we could get out of Czechoslovakia isn't there, like they don't have high standards for who they sell the weapons themselves and licenses to let others build them by the looks right?
Rat King
Izutsumi-pilled
They have a large weapons industry and are willing to sell to almost everyone, honestly. They sold more ZB-26 (or the 30 variant) than they produced for their own army.
EDIT:
They may also be a good potential source of modern artillery; they have an 80mm field gun that's meant to combine field gun/mountain gun that seems relatively lightweight, with a range of 8.4 miles/13.5km and they also produce a 100mm howitzer that seems like it might be worthwhile. Shorter ranged, but throws twice the shell weight.
Then they have some heavier guns (Skoda K series; 149mm, roughly the same range as the 80mm, but much more shell weight).
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There ZB vz. 26 definitely looks like a good choice for a machine gun, The ZK-383 might be good to look at as well possibly?
Turn 4 Vote: October 1930
4WheelSword
The original N-body Problem
- Pronouns
- It/She/They
Ongoing Projects:
[X] Establish the Ordnance Office - Developing an arms industry from scratch will take time and effort. An Ordnance Office will allow us to delegate some of that work to specialists. (Constant Investment.)
[X] Establish the Analytical Research Team - This group will be tasked with drafting reports on external threats, internal dynamic shifts, and other non-standard areas of intelligence. (3 Months Remain) ☑☑☑◻
[X] Establish the Carabinieri Oversight Office - No one really keeps an eye on the paramilitary police force that keeps watch over the nation. If the force is to be reformed and re-established in a new role, then oversight is needed at the very least. (Constant Investment.)
[X] Information Review: Carabinieri - Determine the state, readiness, and mood of the Carabinieri. (Complete!) ☑
[X] Organisational Reform: Regional Headquarters - The Carabinieri currently has a national headquarters based in Bur Gaabo. Regional HQ units would enable better management of the various units and duties of the force. (3 Months Remain) ☑◻
[X] Government Action: Commissioning Officers - The Carabinieri lacks the ability to operate in small units. The Government, via the Defence Council, will commission a number of junior officers and promote long-serving carabinieri officers to senior positions. Companies will be reorganised into operational 'platoons.' (3 Months Remain) ☑◻
Kismayo-Turkana Line:
Progress, Kismayo-Marsabit: 22.5% (Est. completion June 1932)
Reports
Information Review: Carabinieri
A small team has spent the autumn inter-harvest months touring the country and engaging with the Carabinieri. Major portions of the survey included patrolling the southern border with an infantry group, spending a week at a dilapidated fort in the north, and sailing Lake Turkana in a rickety fast boat. Interim expense reports have been accompanied by positive reviews of the breadth of expertise displayed by the militia.
Once they returned to Bur Gaabo, the tone of their reporting changed dramatically. The Carabinieri are underfunded, undermanned, and poorly trained. While the strength of the force on paper is eleven thousand men, estimates suggest there are perhaps seven thousand actually available at any one time, and even fewer during periods of peak labour demand in agricultural areas.
Those that are serving are equipped with ageing equipment and limited ammunition, and there does not seem to be a consistent uniform policy anywhere. The smallest operational unit is a company of several hundred men with only three commissioned officers to lead them. In short, the Carabinieri is currently an organisational nightmare.
This has an impact on force readiness. The borders are patrolled, but less frequently and in fewer numbers than is expected. Ammunition, what little there is, is stored in force armouries away from a unit's areas of responsibility, and thus isn't immediately accessible in an emergency. It is expected no more than 50% of the force would be available immediately if called upon in an emergency.
Another issue is that few Carabinieri have any real training or understanding of their roles beyond patrol and maintenance of order. They are expected to act as soldiers, game wardens, police, strikebreakers, and patrolmen, yet their general experience only covers the latter two roles at best. The load of the additional roles is placed upon the small number of officers, overtaxing them considerably.
Perhaps surprisingly, this does not seem to have significantly affected the mood of the Carabinieri's personnel. Morale is high across the force, but the review team puts a large part of this down to the tacit understanding that all members are able to return to their homes when needed–whether for harvest, personal emergencies, or in one notable case, for a wedding.
A supplementary letter, attached to but not part of the main report, details a third issue. Local administrators across Reewiin pay the Carabinieri via their officers, and both of these groups are intensely susceptible to coercion by landowners, farmers, and other businessmen. Groups of Carabinieri can often be found standing guard over mines, factories, farms, and similar. The letter stresses that this is not any part of their listed duty but is likely a source of additional income for those in charge of pay.
Restructuring the Carabinieri to resolve these issues will take significant time, and it is recommended that the force not be expanded until these issues are resolved. However, new headquarters units and increased officer numbers will surely improve some of these problems.
The Ordnance Office has delivered a pair of reports on weapons currently in service:
Vetterli-Vitali mod.1870/87 Rifle
Calibre: 10.35×43 mm
This is a full-length repeating bolt-action rifle. It has an internal magazine capable of holding four smokeless rounds and can be reloaded with clips.
The Carabinieri maintains stocks of at least 500 of these, originally bought from Italy after the Great War. While not in widespread use, reports are generally positive: it behaves similarly to the well-liked Remington Rolling Block rifle with the addition of an internal magazine and the advantages of smokeless powder ammunition. Negative comments focus on the additional weight over the Remington rifle.
The Carabinieri maintains sufficient stocks of ammunition for the immediate future. There is a problem with the rifle's 10.35×43 mm ammunition being easily mistaken for the 11.43×49.2 mm in widespread Carabinieri service. This creates the potential for damaging incidents, though there are no current reports of this occurring in service.
Mochetto mod.91 Carbine
Calibre: 6.5×52 mm
This is a cavalry carbine variant of the common Carcano bolt-action rifle. It has a six-round internal magazine that can be loaded with en bloc style clips.
The army currently maintains a stock of around 600 weapons, bought from Italy just prior to the Great War for use by the cavalry. They are reported to be well-liked and are regarded as the best weapon in service for mounted use; they are short, light, and have a gentle recoil, which eases their handling from horseback. The reduced length compromises accuracy compared to longer rifles, impeding the cavalry's ability to lay down effective long-range fire compared to the army infantry.
Procurement of ammunition has been problematic, with lots not bought directly from Italian arsenals having noticeably compromised precision. There is a significant problem with the rifles' 6.5×52 mm round being confused for the 6.5×50 mm round also in service, which has resulted in damaged rifles and minor personal injuries.
Defence Council Investment
The Defence Council currently has one investment point available to be spent anywhere and one point to be spent in Armaments.
Industry and Logistics
[ ] Equipment Purchase: Rifle - Either buy surplus or place a significant order for new production models of a currently available rifle design. Write in the weapon of choice. (3-Month Investment. Deliveries will begin in a matter of months, completion depends on the selected weapons.)
[ ] Modernise The .43 Egyptian - Reewiin's single ammunition factory is dedicated to producing .43 Egyptian for the Carabinieri's Remington rifles. Expanding production and modernising the round to use smokeless powder will offer immediate dividends at a low cost. (3-Month Investment. Initial production will be low-rate, and improve over time.)
[ ] Weapon Testing: Machine Guns - The Ordnance Office will buy a handful of machine guns from around the world and test them until they break. Afterwards, they will make recommendations to the Defence Council on the topic of machine gun licensing. (6-Month Investment. Recommendations will be made at the end of this process.)
[ ] Production Licencing: Ammunition - Buy the tooling for one calibre of ammunition currently in service or soon to be in service. Expanding the .43 Egyptian factory will not be cheap, but it will be worthwhile. (6-Month Investment. Initial production will be low-rate, and improve over time.)
- [ ] 6.5 mm Arisaka
- [ ] 6.5 mm Carcano
- [ ] .303 British
- [ ] Write-In
[ ] Production Licensing: Machine Guns - Attempt to buy the rights to produce a machine gun design. Include a weapon available in 1930 as a Write-In. Some will be easily acquired, others will be immediately refused. (12-Month Investment. Initial production will be low-rate, and improve over time.)
[ ] Equine Acquisition: Purchase Arabians - Buy Arabian horses for service en masse from Egypt. They will be monogender, and we will not be able to maintain the line if they're used for breeding stock. They also may not be resistant to AHS/ASS. (3-Month Investment. Sufficient mass of horses should be available in as little as one year.)
[ ] Equine Acquisition: Donkeys & Mules - Buy partially resistant donkeys and mules for service en masse from South Africa. This sturdy stock will immediately enable us to improve our logistical and supply services while being somewhat resistant to AHS/ASS. (3-Month Investment. Sufficient mass of donkeys and mules should be available in as little as one year.)
[ ] Equine Acquisition: Stud Farms - Buy a small number of Arabian studs from the United States. These will make good breeding stock for future programmes. (3-Month Investment. A breeding programme can begin within the year.)
[ ] Equine Acquisition: Requisition Locally - Requisition local Borana horses from the cavalry and agriculture for breeding stock. (3-Month Investment. A breeding programme can begin within the year.)
[ ] Government Action: Push for Equine Conscription - While pastoralism is not exactly a major industry in Reewiin, there are a large number of animals that could be put to wartime use, were they assessed in a proper census. (6-Month Investment. Implementation will occur at the government's pace.)
[ ] Road Expansion: Inland Networks - Improve the unimproved road network to be more extensive and less vulnerable to flooding in the wet season. (6-Month Investment. Construction will begin during this time.)
Doctrine and Organisation
[ ] Information Review: Army - Determine the state, readiness, and mood of the Army. (3-Month Investment.)
[ ] Information Review: Government - Determine what the civilian government wants out of their armed forces. (3-Month Investment.)
[ ] Analysis: Ethiopia - Long-term analysis of the optimal army to defend Reewiin against our eternal enemy, Ethiopia. (6-Month Investment.)
[ ] Analysis: Britain - Long-term analysis of the optimal army to defend Reewiin against our eternal enemy, Britain. (6-Month Investment.)
[ ] Analysis: Italy - Long-term analysis of the optimal army to defend Reewiin against our eternal enemy, Italy. (6-Month Investment.)
[ ] Analysis: The Foreigners Have Some Good Ideas - Form overseas observation teams to take the best ideas from foreign nations. (12-Month Investment.)
[ ] Organisational Reform: Wilderness Rangers - The Carabinieri is responsible for massive tracts of rural land. A specialist ranger unit trained in long-distance patrol and survival would be useful to the force as a whole. (9-Month Investment.)
[ ] Reinforce the Somali border - Diverting funds to the North-Eastern border will better protect against any future Italian aggression. (12-Month Investment.)
[ ] Reinforce the Ethiopian border - Diverting funds to the North-Western border will better protect against any future Ethiopian aggression. (12-Month Investment.)
[ ] Reinforce the Kenyan border - Diverting funds to the Southern border will better protect against any future British aggression. (12-Month Investment.)
[ ] Doctrinal Reform: Army Drill - Dispatch the Army Training Detachment to spend time with each Carabinieri force, improving and formalising aspects of their training methods. These troops will be better suited as a wartime reserve and as partisans. (9-Month Investment.)
There will be a 6-hour moratorium on voting to encourage discussion. The vote will close in three days.
[X] Establish the Ordnance Office - Developing an arms industry from scratch will take time and effort. An Ordnance Office will allow us to delegate some of that work to specialists. (Constant Investment.)
[X] Establish the Analytical Research Team - This group will be tasked with drafting reports on external threats, internal dynamic shifts, and other non-standard areas of intelligence. (3 Months Remain) ☑☑☑◻
[X] Establish the Carabinieri Oversight Office - No one really keeps an eye on the paramilitary police force that keeps watch over the nation. If the force is to be reformed and re-established in a new role, then oversight is needed at the very least. (Constant Investment.)
[X] Information Review: Carabinieri - Determine the state, readiness, and mood of the Carabinieri. (Complete!) ☑
[X] Organisational Reform: Regional Headquarters - The Carabinieri currently has a national headquarters based in Bur Gaabo. Regional HQ units would enable better management of the various units and duties of the force. (3 Months Remain) ☑◻
[X] Government Action: Commissioning Officers - The Carabinieri lacks the ability to operate in small units. The Government, via the Defence Council, will commission a number of junior officers and promote long-serving carabinieri officers to senior positions. Companies will be reorganised into operational 'platoons.' (3 Months Remain) ☑◻
Kismayo-Turkana Line:
Progress, Kismayo-Marsabit: 22.5% (Est. completion June 1932)
Reports
Information Review: Carabinieri
A small team has spent the autumn inter-harvest months touring the country and engaging with the Carabinieri. Major portions of the survey included patrolling the southern border with an infantry group, spending a week at a dilapidated fort in the north, and sailing Lake Turkana in a rickety fast boat. Interim expense reports have been accompanied by positive reviews of the breadth of expertise displayed by the militia.
Once they returned to Bur Gaabo, the tone of their reporting changed dramatically. The Carabinieri are underfunded, undermanned, and poorly trained. While the strength of the force on paper is eleven thousand men, estimates suggest there are perhaps seven thousand actually available at any one time, and even fewer during periods of peak labour demand in agricultural areas.
Those that are serving are equipped with ageing equipment and limited ammunition, and there does not seem to be a consistent uniform policy anywhere. The smallest operational unit is a company of several hundred men with only three commissioned officers to lead them. In short, the Carabinieri is currently an organisational nightmare.
This has an impact on force readiness. The borders are patrolled, but less frequently and in fewer numbers than is expected. Ammunition, what little there is, is stored in force armouries away from a unit's areas of responsibility, and thus isn't immediately accessible in an emergency. It is expected no more than 50% of the force would be available immediately if called upon in an emergency.
Another issue is that few Carabinieri have any real training or understanding of their roles beyond patrol and maintenance of order. They are expected to act as soldiers, game wardens, police, strikebreakers, and patrolmen, yet their general experience only covers the latter two roles at best. The load of the additional roles is placed upon the small number of officers, overtaxing them considerably.
Perhaps surprisingly, this does not seem to have significantly affected the mood of the Carabinieri's personnel. Morale is high across the force, but the review team puts a large part of this down to the tacit understanding that all members are able to return to their homes when needed–whether for harvest, personal emergencies, or in one notable case, for a wedding.
A supplementary letter, attached to but not part of the main report, details a third issue. Local administrators across Reewiin pay the Carabinieri via their officers, and both of these groups are intensely susceptible to coercion by landowners, farmers, and other businessmen. Groups of Carabinieri can often be found standing guard over mines, factories, farms, and similar. The letter stresses that this is not any part of their listed duty but is likely a source of additional income for those in charge of pay.
Restructuring the Carabinieri to resolve these issues will take significant time, and it is recommended that the force not be expanded until these issues are resolved. However, new headquarters units and increased officer numbers will surely improve some of these problems.
The Ordnance Office has delivered a pair of reports on weapons currently in service:
Vetterli-Vitali mod.1870/87 Rifle
Calibre: 10.35×43 mm
This is a full-length repeating bolt-action rifle. It has an internal magazine capable of holding four smokeless rounds and can be reloaded with clips.
The Carabinieri maintains stocks of at least 500 of these, originally bought from Italy after the Great War. While not in widespread use, reports are generally positive: it behaves similarly to the well-liked Remington Rolling Block rifle with the addition of an internal magazine and the advantages of smokeless powder ammunition. Negative comments focus on the additional weight over the Remington rifle.
The Carabinieri maintains sufficient stocks of ammunition for the immediate future. There is a problem with the rifle's 10.35×43 mm ammunition being easily mistaken for the 11.43×49.2 mm in widespread Carabinieri service. This creates the potential for damaging incidents, though there are no current reports of this occurring in service.
Mochetto mod.91 Carbine
Calibre: 6.5×52 mm
This is a cavalry carbine variant of the common Carcano bolt-action rifle. It has a six-round internal magazine that can be loaded with en bloc style clips.
The army currently maintains a stock of around 600 weapons, bought from Italy just prior to the Great War for use by the cavalry. They are reported to be well-liked and are regarded as the best weapon in service for mounted use; they are short, light, and have a gentle recoil, which eases their handling from horseback. The reduced length compromises accuracy compared to longer rifles, impeding the cavalry's ability to lay down effective long-range fire compared to the army infantry.
Procurement of ammunition has been problematic, with lots not bought directly from Italian arsenals having noticeably compromised precision. There is a significant problem with the rifles' 6.5×52 mm round being confused for the 6.5×50 mm round also in service, which has resulted in damaged rifles and minor personal injuries.
Defence Council Investment
The Defence Council currently has one investment point available to be spent anywhere and one point to be spent in Armaments.
Industry and Logistics
- Armaments
[ ] Equipment Purchase: Rifle - Either buy surplus or place a significant order for new production models of a currently available rifle design. Write in the weapon of choice. (3-Month Investment. Deliveries will begin in a matter of months, completion depends on the selected weapons.)
[ ] Modernise The .43 Egyptian - Reewiin's single ammunition factory is dedicated to producing .43 Egyptian for the Carabinieri's Remington rifles. Expanding production and modernising the round to use smokeless powder will offer immediate dividends at a low cost. (3-Month Investment. Initial production will be low-rate, and improve over time.)
[ ] Weapon Testing: Machine Guns - The Ordnance Office will buy a handful of machine guns from around the world and test them until they break. Afterwards, they will make recommendations to the Defence Council on the topic of machine gun licensing. (6-Month Investment. Recommendations will be made at the end of this process.)
[ ] Production Licencing: Ammunition - Buy the tooling for one calibre of ammunition currently in service or soon to be in service. Expanding the .43 Egyptian factory will not be cheap, but it will be worthwhile. (6-Month Investment. Initial production will be low-rate, and improve over time.)
- [ ] 6.5 mm Arisaka
- [ ] 6.5 mm Carcano
- [ ] .303 British
- [ ] Write-In
[ ] Production Licensing: Machine Guns - Attempt to buy the rights to produce a machine gun design. Include a weapon available in 1930 as a Write-In. Some will be easily acquired, others will be immediately refused. (12-Month Investment. Initial production will be low-rate, and improve over time.)
- Breeding and Working
[ ] Equine Acquisition: Purchase Arabians - Buy Arabian horses for service en masse from Egypt. They will be monogender, and we will not be able to maintain the line if they're used for breeding stock. They also may not be resistant to AHS/ASS. (3-Month Investment. Sufficient mass of horses should be available in as little as one year.)
[ ] Equine Acquisition: Donkeys & Mules - Buy partially resistant donkeys and mules for service en masse from South Africa. This sturdy stock will immediately enable us to improve our logistical and supply services while being somewhat resistant to AHS/ASS. (3-Month Investment. Sufficient mass of donkeys and mules should be available in as little as one year.)
[ ] Equine Acquisition: Stud Farms - Buy a small number of Arabian studs from the United States. These will make good breeding stock for future programmes. (3-Month Investment. A breeding programme can begin within the year.)
[ ] Equine Acquisition: Requisition Locally - Requisition local Borana horses from the cavalry and agriculture for breeding stock. (3-Month Investment. A breeding programme can begin within the year.)
[ ] Government Action: Push for Equine Conscription - While pastoralism is not exactly a major industry in Reewiin, there are a large number of animals that could be put to wartime use, were they assessed in a proper census. (6-Month Investment. Implementation will occur at the government's pace.)
- Lanes, Trains, and Automobiles
[ ] Road Expansion: Inland Networks - Improve the unimproved road network to be more extensive and less vulnerable to flooding in the wet season. (6-Month Investment. Construction will begin during this time.)
Doctrine and Organisation
- DCIRRO
[ ] Information Review: Army - Determine the state, readiness, and mood of the Army. (3-Month Investment.)
[ ] Information Review: Government - Determine what the civilian government wants out of their armed forces. (3-Month Investment.)
[ ] Analysis: Ethiopia - Long-term analysis of the optimal army to defend Reewiin against our eternal enemy, Ethiopia. (6-Month Investment.)
[ ] Analysis: Britain - Long-term analysis of the optimal army to defend Reewiin against our eternal enemy, Britain. (6-Month Investment.)
[ ] Analysis: Italy - Long-term analysis of the optimal army to defend Reewiin against our eternal enemy, Italy. (6-Month Investment.)
[ ] Analysis: The Foreigners Have Some Good Ideas - Form overseas observation teams to take the best ideas from foreign nations. (12-Month Investment.)
- Reforming the Carabinieri
[ ] Organisational Reform: Wilderness Rangers - The Carabinieri is responsible for massive tracts of rural land. A specialist ranger unit trained in long-distance patrol and survival would be useful to the force as a whole. (9-Month Investment.)
[ ] Reinforce the Somali border - Diverting funds to the North-Eastern border will better protect against any future Italian aggression. (12-Month Investment.)
[ ] Reinforce the Ethiopian border - Diverting funds to the North-Western border will better protect against any future Ethiopian aggression. (12-Month Investment.)
[ ] Reinforce the Kenyan border - Diverting funds to the Southern border will better protect against any future British aggression. (12-Month Investment.)
[ ] Doctrinal Reform: Army Drill - Dispatch the Army Training Detachment to spend time with each Carabinieri force, improving and formalising aspects of their training methods. These troops will be better suited as a wartime reserve and as partisans. (9-Month Investment.)
There will be a 6-hour moratorium on voting to encourage discussion. The vote will close in three days.
- Location
- an unseen void
- Pronouns
- Any
We're getting three points back next turn so this is a solid time to start a longer-term investment with our free point, and I think the best candidates are Army Drill for the Carabinieri, one of their organizational reforms, a road expansion, or setting up an arms factory situation as per the gun nerd things I have not entirely been following.
Army Drill: Especially given that report on the Carabinieri, I think this is high priority, and their force failing in the case of war is a bigger deal then them not standing up on their other new responsibilities as well.
Organizational Reforms: The Police Unit (or some write-in policing alternatives we've mentioned before) might help professionalize and/or reduce some of the Carabinieri's side hustles. Wilderness Rangers are more useful in a time of war and also have nice humanitarian ends. I think both need to get done long term but probably lower priority than Army Drill?
Road Expansion: This doesn't hit up any of our long-term plans directly, but it's immensely useful and only six months. I'd favor the roads in the interior.
Arms Factory: Whether this is modernizing production or expanding or whatever, this is part of the long term plan we've been building up to with all this weapons testing, right? And one whose returns get better the longer they have to run.
Army Drill: Especially given that report on the Carabinieri, I think this is high priority, and their force failing in the case of war is a bigger deal then them not standing up on their other new responsibilities as well.
Organizational Reforms: The Police Unit (or some write-in policing alternatives we've mentioned before) might help professionalize and/or reduce some of the Carabinieri's side hustles. Wilderness Rangers are more useful in a time of war and also have nice humanitarian ends. I think both need to get done long term but probably lower priority than Army Drill?
Road Expansion: This doesn't hit up any of our long-term plans directly, but it's immensely useful and only six months. I'd favor the roads in the interior.
Arms Factory: Whether this is modernizing production or expanding or whatever, this is part of the long term plan we've been building up to with all this weapons testing, right? And one whose returns get better the longer they have to run.
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- Location
- Somewhere in the stacks
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I think starting on the modernization of our ammunition supply should be our next priority. We can buy arms from overseas, but we shall want domestic ammunition production if nothing else.
- Location
- The Netherlands
Although i agree with these statements, would you mind elaborating why you think the interior roads are more important than the coastal roads? The way i see it the coastal roads wil give a return on investment earlier than the interior roads (conecting cities usually improves the economy). Altough the interior roads will vastly improve the logistics.