A World Turned Upside Down - A Military R&D Quest

Daemon Hunter · Sep 17, 2022

The world stands on a knife-edge, war has been an ever-present constant ever since World War 2 ended in a partial German victory. While the Nazis did meet their long-delayed end in World War 3 in the 1980s, the stain placed on world history will never truly vanish, and if the Soviets are to be believed, the Nazis are still around, they simply moved to Italy. Perhaps it is a true statement, or perhaps the Italians are correct, and that the horrors of the Holocaust only began after the second world war ended. Few can say truly. Even if Britain vehemently claims the Soviets are correct. But Italy is home to the finest of engineers, so few wish to anger them over such ancient history over a half-century prior.

In this day and age, while war remains an ever-present simmer, every nation seeks an advantage, and that is where you come in. One of the hundreds of military R&D teams in the world, whether you are a private entity or a governmental one is immaterial. But as location determines the nature of your work, where are you located?

[] The Italian Empire - Home to the world's best military, Italian engineering is considered to be the best in the world. Funded to near meme-worthy levels, with time scales to match, every Italian weapon of war is of the highest quality, with the nation itself ensuring each soldier is trained to a degree matched only by African special forces. Yet, it hides a much darker past, one of its ties to Nazi Germany, and one of the colonial ambitions held by much of the government. At this time, the Italian military is built for force protection in the European, African, and Middle East, with current plans to improve a variety of outdated support equipment along with developing novel designs to supplement existing forces.
[] The Soviet Union - A nation that has suffered, losing half its population during the second world war, losing yet more in the third world war, and now faced with the Italian Empire wanting to tear strips off it. The entirety of the Soviet population is a part of the military to an extent, with every citizen spending 16 hours a week as a part of the militia or territorial defense forces. The military itself relies on cheap, easily producible vehicles that place human survivability as the top priority. While mass production may be cheap, people are not, and so much of the Soviet design philosophy stems from this main axiom. At this time, the Soviets seek a modernization program for their entire military, as due to consistent issues, most of their equipment was designed over 40 years ago.
[] The United Americas - An isolationist mixture of nations, the Americas have taken care to remain uninvolved with global affairs, with World War 3 being the only break in the policy ever since the first world war. With the civil rights act passing only in the 1990s, and Nazi political parties having a great deal of power from the 40s to the 80s, internal tensions remain high, even as the promise of wealth ensures the corporations remain international on this side of the ocean. A kleptocracy in all but name, the military force is almost entirely focused on coastal defense, with the navy second only to the British in quality. With a relatively lackluster army, the nation primarily has focused on exotic technologies, as well as beginning a modernization of anti-air systems.
[] The East Asian Confederacy - A series of closely allied nations in Eastern Asia, many of these nations were under occupation by Imperial Japan between the second and third world wars. As such, there is a heavy degree of racism to outsiders, along with a heavy degree of hostility towards the remnants of Japan. Largely considered to be the cultural capital of the world, Korean animation and music are wildly popular, with songs often featured in Bollywood films. This has made the primary source of GDP for the nations, primarily as it is still recovering from the half-century rape suffered. At this time, the military itself is a disparate group that has only recently moved from individual guerilla cells into a single unified command, and to reflect that, the nation is beginning a multi-decade project to modernize equipment.
[] The African Union - The birthplace of humanity and one of the main sources of rare earths, the various nations that form the African Union have all experienced a bloody past, having to fight for every scrap of territory and every right. Born from rebellions, the nations have some of the world's best guerilla fighters, an experience base that has been refined for years and turned into some of the world's best special forces. The nation itself gets most of its income from a variety of rare earth mines, along with a large degree of wildlife tourism thanks to the variety of national parks. In recent years, tensions with Italy have grown, primarily due to Italian naval exercises in the Mediterranean. As a result, the various nations have begun a program to modernize their airforce, as with British vessels being far superior to anything else available, it is simply more economical to buy the craft from their ally.
[] Britain - The nation of Britain, one that was humiliated during the second world war, and saw its capital die in the third world war to a German thermonuclear bomb. No longer a superpower, it nonetheless has focused near entirely on retaining some level of power over the rest of the world. The premier when it comes to naval warfare and design, over 85% of the world's shipping is done using British shipping companies. Moreover, close ties to the African Union have allowed the nation to further earn money through the sale of various vessels to the nations, which in turn has allowed for multiple British fleets to attain basing rights, further improving the ability to project force. While the nation itself is largely authoritarian due to political shakeups, it nonetheless is somewhat democratic on local levels, something that has been shifting in the direction of full democratization once more. At this time, the military itself is predominately an apolitical organization, one focused primarily on British glory. Currently, the airforce is undergoing a series of modernizations, with several open contracts for new planes available.

But there's more to an R&D team than just the nation you operate in, rather the question arises, how did you reach this position? What are you in essence?

[] A Newcomer - You're a new team in the field, perhaps you provide designs in fields not particularly focused on by the nation. Perhaps you simply have new ideas, or perhaps you simply valued your independence. *Bonus to novel designs, malus to development, less oversight*
[] A Spin-off Firm - A new portion of a larger organization, you have an experience base to pull from, allowing for better development quality. However, you also have a firm watching over you, demanding results. *Bonus to development, major oversight*
[] The Old Guard - A firm that has been around for decades, you're a known name within the community. By now some may even claim you're too old and stubborn, yet the connections you have still remain. *Bonus to development, malus to novel designs. Additional connections.*

GM Commentary: Welcome to a world where things went poorly and then proceeded to get worse. The history is in the post below. As for the quest itself, this isn't a hard science quest, although I am basing it on reality as best as I can. Be creative in your designs I enjoy creativity and it is always fun to consider wild ideas. Not to mention if you have an interesting idea, you may very well find an alternate use for it. As an example, if you are tasked with designing a new tank, and you decide to make it hover, while it may not be useful as a tank, it may lead to future improvements in helicopter design or naval design. As for the nations themselves, I think they're self-explanatory, but I figure I should be safe.

Italy is the fascist empire, there's no getting around that. If you pick them, you are absolutely the bad guys in the setting, even if you will get absurd budgets to work with as does every part of the military-industrial complex in the country. The Soviet Union is the nation that's best described as a crushed porcupine, it's built for defense, and is only going to double down on this. You will be working on cheap designs meant to be built in the millions, and you will be a government entity. The United Americas are a kleptocracy, and so you would be a goliath of a corporation with dominance on R&D in the nations. Think Black Mesa. Expect to have a fairly large budget but a focus on technologies meant to be used in 40-60 years. The East Asian Confederacy is an option that can be taken anywhere, as it's still getting its feet under it, and there are quite a few issues still present. It's a similar story with the African Union, however, expect there to be a focus on aircraft in a support role for special forces. And Britain as you might imagine is very much a naval powerhouse. If you want high-quality boats, choose them.

To summarize, expect this to be the main focus of each nation:

Italy: Quality and Complex Machines
Soviets: Quantity, Quantity, and Quantity
Americas: Exotic Technologies
East Asia: The New Guy
African Union: Special Forces
Britain: Boats and support

Daemon Hunter · Sep 17, 2022

The 1930s is largely considered to be the calm before the storm. A prelude to the second dark ages, as some historians, have popularized. A large focus on this time period highlights the various indicators of what was to come, the first of which was the rising stock market bubble in the United States. While some historians claim that the first indicator was a notable one-day drop in stocks in 1929, the majority believe that it was the 1934 bill by Herbert Hoover that indicated the soon-to-collapse market.

However, most historians focus on the relationship between the US and Europe, and how a variety of factors caused the United States to not get involved in World War 2. With Black Wednesday in April of 1936 causing the country's GDP to drop precipitously, the nation was unable to recover in time to even consider a lend-lease program to Britain or the Soviet Union. Combined with a rise in Nazi sympathizers and a focus on taming China by Japan, this meant there was no true casus beli for the American public to rally around, meaning that intervention would be intensely problematic.

Military historians primarily focus on three conflicts during this time: The Sino-Japanese war, the fall of Poland, and the Fate of Czechoslovakia. In eastern Asia, Japan found itself facing notable resistance in China after the Rape of Nanjing galvanized the Chinese populace to resist. Unfortunately, due to a lack of international support, and the collapse of the American economy, Japan was able to focus entirely on Asia, resulting in horrific genocides that would last until the mid-1980s. More Euro-centric historians tend to focus on Hitler's invasion of Poland in May 1936. The unholy alliance with the Soviet Union meant the country of Poland stood little chance of survival, doubly so when both Britain and France elected to use this to appease Hitler.

Unfortunately, this led to the formation of concentration camps within the nation, resulting in the population of Poland dropping precipitously. Rumors of these, when combined with the Anschluss, resulted in Britain and France issuing hard lines that Hitler could not cross, one of these was the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1940, which is when Britain and France declared war on Germany.

World War 2 as described by historians has a few main focal points: the fall of France, the Blitz, the Eastern Front, the African Campaign, and the Pacific. The first stage of World War 2, the fall of France took place from May 9th to June 15th of 1940, where mismanagement and poor tactics by the French army resulted in a rapid conquest of the nation by Germany. While there were notable resistance forces that continued operation till even the 1980s, unfortunately, the nation was unable to escape the heel of the Axis powers.

The Blitz and African Campaign, on the other hand, are closely tied together, with Germany focusing on both until June 1941, when Operation Barbarossa was launched. During this time, Britain was mainly focused on securing their airspace as German pilots continuously bombed them. At the same time, the German and British navies fought in the eastern Atlantic, which did result in the German navy being severely mauled, for moderate losses amongst the British. The African campaign meanwhile was a long drawn-out endeavor that lasted till 1946. While the initial conflict went well for the British, the capture of Malta and Gibraltar by the Italian army meant that the British fleet struggled to contribute further, as well as supply lines were grossly extended, limiting the mobility of British units. However, the Third Reich was unable to ever take the Suez, partially due to drawing more and more assets to the eastern front to face the Soviets.

The eastern front began in June 1941, when Germany launched Operation Barbarossa. These battles were some of the largest in the war, with the Battle of Stalingrad, and the Fall of Moscow resulting in the deaths of over a million men. In large part due to the lack of equipment and the recent purge by Stalin, the Soviet army was unable to hold as long as they may have. However, massive partisan activity and the Battle of Gorky allowed the Soviet Union to largely retain its borders with the Germans when they signed a peace treaty in 1946. However, the war in the east was primarily characterized by its stunning brutality.

One of the defining features was the mass execution of prisoners and civilians, entire Soviet towns were depopulated, and in 1945, the Soviets had begun conscripting women for frontline combat roles. Meanwhile, the majority of the German army met their end in Russian territories, with Hitler having stated that the only reason Lebensraum was so behind schedule was a lack of bodies by which to guard the concentration camps. Casualty estimates vary, but it is largely believed that 14 million German soldiers lost their lives in the fighting. However, the Soviet Union came out far worse, with over 100 million soldiers and civilians having lost their lives in the fighting. Moreover, many Soviet artifacts and historical sites were destroyed, the most famous of which was the destruction of the Kremlin.

The Pacific front is far less recorded, largely due to a lack of technology on the side of the various Asian nations, along with the rather violent actions performed by Imperial Japan. Primarily focused on securing various British, French, and Dutch territories, the Axis were able to take most of southeast asia along with multiple minor Soviet islands. Only stopped in Burma by British Raj forces, Japan largely came out of the war in high spirits, already working on ways to conquer Australia.

Over the next few years, the various nations began to recover, some of the more notable points of interest included the Soviet Union, the United States, a small stretch of territory in Normandy that Britain was able to take on D-Day, and the genocides that began in earnest. Thanks to the vast level of destruction suffered by the Soviets, recovering was not an easy process, with the late 1950s primarily being defined by large food shortages and famines. Large levels of mobilization were maintained solely to ensure food production was able to feed the populace, while steps were taken to deal with the gender disparity, where for every one man there were three women. Largely a mixed bag, while starvation was prevented, and the agricultural sector somewhat improved, the sheer level of damage meant it would be a decade-long project for the Soviet Union to recover.

Meanwhile, the United States sitting out of World War 2, but still suffering from the Great Depression managed to begin climbing out when in 1948 the next president started construction of a vast rail and road network in order to stimulate the economy. Largely successful, the nation was able to slowly rebuild its GDP, and the resulting infrastructure did help with economic growth over the next few decades, especially the highways that led to the Mexican border.

In Europe, while Britain and Germany did recover somewhat, the main focus was on Free France, where the majority of the French government resided. A strip of coastline in Normandy, it was small, but the population rapidly grew with French resistance fighters, resulting in it being a constant thorn in the Third Reich's side for the next few decades.

In 1952, after years of protests and demonstrations, India was able to achieve independence from Britain. Thanks in large part to nonviolent movements and the lack of money among the British government, the split was somewhat amicable, with the British taking care to avoid causing ambiguous borders, focusing heavily on ethnic borders to ensure a somewhat peaceful transition of power. Partially successful, while there has been conflict, it is intermittent, and the exception rather than the norm.

On a far more somber note, the genocides in Eastern Europe by the Nazis, and genocides in Asia by the Japanese began to ramp up, with millions dying in concentration camps and through indiscriminate use of poison gas and airstrikes.

In the Pacific, in 1963, Japan proceeded to invade Australia. Able to hold it primarily thanks to air power, the Japanese were unable to secure large portions of the nation, finding themselves ill-prepared to deal with the Australian Outback and the creatures within. However, this only served to allow some of the more skilled survivalists to survive, as Imperial Japan worked to genocide the continent while continuing to do so in east Asia, where large guerilla movements were beginning to cause notable losses to the Japanese forces present. Notably, they began to be supplied by British weaponry, imported through India.

Technologically, the Third Reich developed the nuclear bomb in 1950. Only a handful were made, in large part due to the declining German economy. Then in 1965, Germany was the first to use nuclear weapons in anger. On themselves.

In 1965, Himmler conducted a coup, which resulted in the death of Hitler. During the ensuing civil war, the Fourth Reich proceeded to nuke three of their own cities to destroy opposing military forces. While this did secure the nation, it also devastated their economy, which continued its downward spiral. Moreover, both Italy and Japan dissolved their alliances.

Meanwhile, numerous revolts began in Africa, supplied with Japanese equipment, the various groups worked to force decolonization, something which proved much harder, in large part due to COIN operations conducted by the various colonizing nations. However, losses began to mount, and would only increase as Japanese equipment sales climbed.

The United States meanwhile was dealing with an increasingly large number of Nazi sympathizers. Due, in part, to a lack of direct conflict with Nazi Germany, racism ran rampant, with the KKK growing considerably. This in turn set back civil rights movements by decades, resulting in notable groups like the Black Panthers being attacked by military forces at times.

Over the course of the early 1970s, it was becoming increasingly clear that the Nazi model of government was unsustainable in the long term. Constantly focusing on wonder weapons, while they did launch the first satellite into space in 1973, the Fourth Reich was heavily mocked due to its inability to feed its citizens, with the Soviet Union, in particular, holding a rather large set of propaganda over it.

Thanks to this embarrassment, the various Nazi groups in the United States began to lose power, with slight improvements to civil rights occurring during this time. Meanwhile, Italy truly embraced the idea of fascism, when in 1974 it declared war on Spain for having committed war crimes in the past. While this was heavily mocked by various countries, it nonetheless ended in an Italian victory, with the thirty years of peace having been enough time for the Italian military to turn itself into a dangerous fighting force.

In the Pacific, losses among its military forces led to Japan losing its hold on Southeast Asia. Unable to deal with stiff guerilla fighters, the nation withdrew to their islands, finally allowing China and other nations to begin rebuilding. Notably, Korean refugees that had fled to India, the Americas, and the Soviet Union returned, along with other nationalities. Resettling ancestral homes, they heavily documented the crimes that had taken place.

All told, nearly 300 million people had lost their lives in east Asia, roughly amounting to half of the population. Notably higher than the 100 million lost in Eastern Europe (roughly 90% of the population), the vast number of records and footage still has not been fully analyzed due to the sheer amount present.

In Africa, numerous nations began to form, with European nations losing hold of their colonial states. These nations swiftly formed mutual defense agreements, primarily due to fear of nuclear weapons being launched by the Fourth Reich.

In the Americas, the United States began to conduct military operations on their side of the ocean. Using a combination of economic benefits and military operations, they did manage to bring most of the two continents within their sphere of influence and began to create the foundations of what we now know as the American Treaty Organization.

The Soviet Union meanwhile had continued to recover, with its economy growing, and focusing more and more on trade with various groups. Primarily a weapon supplier to various nations, they competed primarily with Japan in the nations of Africa and the Middle East. Primarily used against German soldiers in the various Muslim nations, the Soviet Union did provide steep discounts due to their severe dislike of the Fourth Reich. During this time, there was a minor nuclear incident in the nation, where a reactor went critical. Thankfully it was minor, and the ensuing increase in cancer rates was simply a lesson to move reactors out of cities.

In the early 1980s, the United States enjoyed considerable economic growth thanks to close ties with its nearby neighbors. Combined with the relative prosperity, the nation began to look externally for further growth. Meanwhile, Italy had begun to court Britain over various lands held by Germany, and how they surely were Italian lands. These conversations were leaked, resulting in Germany declaring war on Italy, after which Britain and the Soviet Union declared war on Germany, and Japan declared war on the United States, looking to take advantage of the nation's small military budget to take numerous islands. Meanwhile, a number of rebellions broke out in Africa, with various groups taking advantage of World War 3 to break away and form their own nations.

The war itself lasted from 1982 to 1985, during which 32 nuclear weapons successfully landed, with almost double that number having been sabotaged, shot down, or intercepted. The most famous of which was done by the Soviet Union, which managed to prevent 12 of the 16 nuclear weapons using its advanced rocketry capabilities. The Fourth Reich meanwhile was hit with 8 nuclear detonations by Soviet forces and was swiftly rolled up by the Italians, British, and Soviets. London itself was hit by a nuclear bomb after a fleet of Luftwaffe managed to pierce their air defense grid. In the Pacific, the United States was slow to mobilize, but thanks to massive industrial advantages, and nuclear weapons, were able to conquer Japan, admittedly with major logistical, manpower, and informational support from various Asian nations, many of whom fought with impressive fervor. During this conflict, a full 20 nuclear missiles successfully hit various Japanese cities, resulting in major increases in radiation that to this day cause high levels of cancer.

In the aftermath, the horrors of the genocides in Eastern Europe and Asia began to be published, horrifying the entire globe. In the ensuing years, the majority of the Japanese officer corp was executed, while the German officer corp was spared due to the Italian Operation Paperclip, which prevented the majority of trials, instead having the Germans join as advisors and researchers within Italy, much to the fury of the Soviets and rest of the world. It was also at this time Italy began occasionally referring to itself as New Rome.

In the Americas, the United States began to see a series of megacorporations start forming. Mainly enabled by a lack of regulation, as well as near monopolies established with Central and South American nations, the nation saw the stock market soar, even as wages remained stagnant. Moreover, in 1997 the Civil Rights Act was signed by the President, while the first video game was coded in 1992, with further games following shortly.

In Africa, various nations saw significant growth, with industrialization allowing for large economic growth to occur. Meanwhile, in China, the nation began its long road to recovery, with the decade being the first time in decades that the population increased. The Soviet Union was in a similar state, continuing its slow recovery, this time helped by improved relations with the US. In fact, it was during this time that a joint space station was built by the US and USSR, something that would become the ISS we know today.

This decade saw the proliferation of computers, with the Americas being the bleeding edge of development in the field. Taking advantage of the increasing digitization that occurred in the banking sector, several large corporations worked to switch financial records into a fully virtualized system. With silicon valley in the United States, this allowed the US to gain a rather large level of control over the banking industry in Central and South America, something that would ironically result in a drastic loss of control over its allies.

Meanwhile, the spread of electronics allowed the world to grow far more connected. The African Union was created in the continent in question, much of a confederacy with many interlinked platforms, there was nonetheless quite a bit of independence between each of the nations. Yet, the development of their nuclear program nonetheless made them something to fear. Meanwhile, East Asia saw a proliferation in Bollywood films, as well as Korean Aeni. Both media were heavily influenced by the other, rather expected considering the close ties between the Indian and Korean communities.

Britain itself saw a revival in these years, a nation whose prestige had diminished for decades since the second world war, the increasingly authoritarian government found itself revitalizing the navy, creating the next generation of ships and submarines. These vessels were later used during freedom of navigation exercises west of the Iberian peninsula, something which in turn caused the Italians to double funding to their navy. However, this did result in the African Union beginning to buy vessels from the island nation in order to build their own navy, a far easier choice than creating their own naval programs from scratch.

Then there was the Italian invasion of Turkey, a process that took two years, and famously resulted in the Soviet Union's ambassador having to be physically restrained after Italian denials that an invasion was taking place. While the invasion took thrice as long as expected, in part thanks to massive waves of Soviet equipment entering the nation, there was little the country could do against the superior Italian military.

Over the next decade, the African economy continued to develop, with the continent's products beginning to be seen more and more internationally. In part helped by British shipping, the isles found themselves unexpectedly working with African nations once more, this time in an equal role. Helped in part by the growing communication infrastructure, thanks to the continued development of LEO satellites, the continent did see the move towards a much larger level of unity.

With the development of GPS, numerous major geopolitical events occurred. The most pressing of which were actions taken by the Italians. While their build-up of their German client state was expected, what was not expected was what they did with their military during it. Using the greater ability to traverse unknown terrain, Italian special forces began making raids in the Caucusus, targeting infrastructure, leaders, and military forces. While this did lead to several near escalations, the most notable of which was a Soviet submarine making it through Gibraltar, the international community was by and large unwilling to risk World War 4, allowing the low-level conflict to continue.

Meanwhile, seeing the possibilities joining the integrated East Asian economy could provide, Australia and New Zealand both took steps to join. After years of discussion, the last holdouts were China and Korea, which demanded one thing. The cessation of trade with Japan. With annual trade with the extremely poor nation a pittance, and the level of wealth available within East Asia being massive, both Australia and New Zealand accepted, resulting in a drastic rise in ultranationalists within Japan itself as the nation's economy nosedived once more.

The decade was defined by three major events. The first was the drastic shift in American relations. Over the 2010s, South America chaffed under the older treaties made, which resulted in the United States pulling back on the more problematic ones. This then resulted in significant GDP growth for the South American nations, which in turn caused an economic rise in the US. Emboldened by this, the South American nations pushed further, and the US gave in. With the rise in GDP, the various nations in the Americas found their partnership growing far more equal, with talks over a universal currency beginning.

The second notable event was the Shangai terror attack, where a group of unidentified terrorists rammed two airplanes into two skyscrapers. Compounding this was the fact that the planes themselves were filled with a deadly gas that had remained in a hidden stockpile within Burma. Resulting in a total of 18 thousand deaths, the Chinese government is currently in the process of organizing an international response, and it is highly likely they will be declaring war on Japan, due to three of the eight people involved having Japanese citizenship.

The third major event, and arguably the most important was the 2029 Battle of Georgia, where Soviet soldiers successfully isolated an Italian special forces team. While this would have normally been a notable victory, the Italian Major stationed on the Turkish border escalated matters by deploying an armored column with air support to retrieve the special forces soldiers. While the Soviets were caught off guard and took major losses, and the unit was extracted, this did lead to notable condemnation from the international community, although it did abate after a number of financial concessions were provided by the Italian government.

Less importantly, but somewhat notable was the growing concern among environmental scientists, who had been claiming that the planet was warming at an unsustainable rate. Sadly for them, due to radiation issues in Europe, the general focus on ensuring wartime readiness, and general fear that World War 4 was about to begin, few countries gave them much attention.

Daemon Hunter · Sep 17, 2022

Number of Designers: 001 (able to work on one small project at a time, small is non-naval craft)
Number of Scientists: 001 (able to work on one non-exotic prototype technology at a time ie Extremely Stealthy Systems, Extremely Fast Vehicles, etc)
Average Designer Experience: 6.4 years
Lead Designer Experience: 24 years
Average Administrator Experience: 6.4 years
Average Technician Experience: 6.4 years
Average Marketer Experience: 14.2 years
Turnover Rate: ~10%
Company Culture: Innovative Center, Stay Here a While, Security Checkpoints, We're All Friends Here, Corporate Boot-Camp
Designer Tool Quality: Decent
Test Equipment Quality: Above Average
Computing Assets: Supercomputer
Production Facilities: Decent Prototyping Facility, Goliath Fabrication Facility
Other Assets: 100 person special forces PMC 'Winter Tigers', on-site nuclear bunker, heliport
Liquid Assets: $0.045 billion
Annual Revenue: ??? million (2 billion per year until start of 2039)
Annual Expenses: $519 million
Expected Evaluation: $10.000 billion
Debt: $5.156 billion

Basic Experimental Production Equipment
University Programs
Material Science Laboratory
Computing Laboratory
Signal Lab

Adequate Quality Housing and supplies for 800 people for 10 years (600 people required to operate at full capacity, 200 unemployed individuals)
Small Industrial Center
4 Zettabytes Data Storage (20% human knowledge)
Seed Vault
Military Facilities
BSL-3 Laboratory
EMP Shielding

A large improvement over the existing MANPAD design of the United American military, it saw its first units be shipped out in early 2033. Utilizing an advanced guidance system that made use of both IR guidance and RADAR guidance, it was able to achieve a reliability rating of 90%. Moreover, capable of targetting aircraft at a 5km range with a 3km ceiling, and weighing a mere 35 pounds, it boasts impressive stats. However, it is somewhat dragged down by the poor display, which takes months for soldiers to achieve familiarity. Additionally, the barrel itself wears off rather quickly, necessitating higher maintenance costs than normal. At this time, the United American military is planning to build 100 thousand systems.

As of 2037, the system was updated with modern electronics allowing it to network with United American battlespaces.

An evolutionary upgrade over the prior SINCGARS in use by the United American military, production saw the first units shipped in 2035 after a lengthy legal battle between A3 and The Telecommunications Grid. The device itself utilizes a homomorphic encryption technique along with a channel switching rate of 64 channels per second. Capable of matching the existing design with a 10 km range and 50km boosted range, along with a 16 kbps transmission speed, the M-SIRS excels in its adaptability, ruggedness, and encryption standards. Encrypted to a level requiring dedicated SIGINT facilities to crack, it is a useful method to shut down one avenue of cyber warfare. Additionally, a hydrophobic coating combined with a hexagonal lattice reduces the weight to 3 kg while also making it notably more rugged than the prior device, allowing it to handle essentially any operating condition.

An evolutionary improvement over the United American Model A. The Model C is capable of detecting a broad range of hazardous biochemical weapons as well as quantifying radiation levels. While exact accuracy varies, for the intended use cases it is capable of achieving over 99% accuracy. Housed in a plastic shell with a hydrophobic coating, the device itself masses a kilogram and is somewhat bulky. Additionally, production costs are a quarter of the Model A, now at $600 per unit, thanks to using 22nm transistors and having component tolerances in the 15% range. The true draw of the Model C however, remains its modular API and hardware ports. Due to the wide number of physical ports and a direct PHY tunnel, it is capable of connecting to virtually any electronic device, leading to an unprecedented level of battlefield connectivity.

Daemon Hunter · Sep 18, 2022

[X] The United Americas - An isolationist mixture of nations, the Americas have taken care to remain uninvolved with global affairs, with World War 3 being the only break in the policy ever since the first world war. With the civil rights act passing only in the 1990s, and Nazi political parties having a great deal of power from the 40s to the 80s, internal tensions remain high, even as the promise of wealth ensures the corporations remain international on this side of the ocean. A kleptocracy in all but name, the military force is almost entirely focused on coastal defense, with the navy second only to the British in quality. With a relatively lackluster army, the nation primarily has focused on exotic technologies, as well as beginning a modernization of anti-air systems.
[X] A Newcomer - You're a new team in the field, perhaps you provide designs in fields not particularly focused on by the nation. Perhaps you simply have new ideas, or perhaps you simply valued your independence. *Bonus to novel designs, malus to development, less oversight*

The United Americas, a set of nations tied together by geography and common economic interests. Over the last twenty years, the balance of power within the nations has begun to shift, leading to minor internal tensions that are alleviated by greater wealth disparities. The vast majority of wealth resides in a handful of megacorporations, as you know. The military-industrial complex in the nations is one of the better ones, even with only three companies controlling essentially all production of military equipment.

Anvil-At-Arms, or A3 as it is colloquially known, controls all ground equipment production for military forces. From small arms to tanks, A3 produces it, acting as the sole supplier for the militaries of the western hemisphere. In recent years, it has begun to compete directly with Lone Star, the corporation in charge of personnel security that also provides the vast majority of police gear. Next is White Water, the naval juggernaut that controls the production of all ships in the Americas. Holding a near monopoly over the industry has allowed them to remain exceedingly comfortable and secure, with the stockholders complacent and conservative by the nature of the continuous wealth coming in. Largely considered a dull and uninteresting company, they have in recent years created a spin-off branch intended for exotic technologies, but there is little interest at this time due to poor expectations. Lastly is Clear Skies, one of the two main aerospace companies. But while Air Lift Solutions facilitates the civilian sector, Clear Skies focuses primarily on combat applications. Famed for their long-lasting products, few can compete with them.

And it is within this atmosphere that you have created a corporation. A rather ambitious idea, one that is certain to result in no end of issues. That is unless you find a way to get around the problem. Perhaps by entering a niche that has yet to be fulfilled?

For that matter, where have you based this new corporation? What is it that you wish to focus on for now?

[] San Diego - The center of advanced naval technologies, White Water has created a new corporation just for this. Perhaps you can compete against them and secure a mutually beneficial deal? *Local experience base for novel naval technologies. Direct wealthy competitor.*
[] Norfolk - The oldest and largest naval shipyard, White Water holds a near dominance on the area and shipyards. Setting up here is all but guaranteed to put you on their radar, but perhaps you have an idea? *Local experience base for naval production. Draws the attention of White Water.*
[] Sao Paulo - A major city with a large A3 and Lone Star presence, both have major production firms in the area. Setting up here is a strange choice, but would allow for negotiations with both groups. *Local experience base for infantry gear. Draws the attention of A3 and Lone Star.*
[] Boston - The main city for research into unmanned platforms and AI, a fair few development firms are located here. A corporate battleground would let you be unnoticed overall. *Local experience base for unmanned systems and computers. Would be entirely under the radar.*
[] Quito - Located on the equator, this city holds the United American space agency. With space acting as a new frontier entirely, a few corporations have appeared to compete. *Local experience base for space-based systems. Many competitors and attention of the United American space agency*
[] Buenos Aires - A major center of A3, almost all armored vehicles for the United Americas are built here. Deciding to base here would draw a lot of attention. *Local experience base for ground vehicles. Draws A3 attention.*
[] Los Angeles - A major center of aerospace, the city is closely tied with the test facilities in Arizona and Nevada. A major part of Clear Skies' earnings come from here. *Local experience base for rotary aircraft. Draws Clear Sky's attention.*
[] Salt Lake City - Similarly, the city is home to numerous air bases for testing new aircraft, and Clear Sky holds a major presence. *Local experience base for fixed-wing craft. Draws Clear Sky's attention.*
[] Anchorage - Home to testing facilities within the Alaskan wildlife, A3 has never truly reached into the field of R&D, leaving it to a multitude of smaller companies. *Local experience base for novel infantry gear. Notable competition.*
[] Quebec City - A major center for theoretical aviation work, the city is home to several firms specializing in the design and testing of novel aviation assets. *Local experience base for novel aerospace assets. Notable competition.*
[] Mexico City - One of the largest concentrations of veterans, if you want a PMC, this is where you can find the talent needed for it. Of course, everyone realizes this as well. *Local experience base is filled with veterans. Large competition for said experience.*

Of course, there's more to your firm than just location. The next question is how did you find the funds for this business?

[] The Federal Government - While you had some money to begin with, the rest came from the federal government. Needless to say, this does tie you to them. *The federal government watches over you. Required to work on federal projects for 20 years.*
[] Independently Wealthy - You were born rich, and now you have decided to invest your wealth into something lucrative. Perhaps your connections will come in handy. *Your funds are limited. Does have useful connections.*
[] Private Investors - While you were able to put forth half the funds, you did need to reach out to private investors for more. Sadly some business oversight will remain. *Investors oversee some business aspects. They are invested in your work.*

Daemon Hunter · Sep 19, 2022

[X] Anchorage - Home to testing facilities within the Alaskan wildlife, A3 has never truly reached into the field of R&D, leaving it to a multitude of smaller companies. *Local experience base for novel infantry gear. Notable competition.*
[X] The Federal Government - While you had some money to begin with, the rest came from the federal government. Needless to say, this does tie you to them. *The federal government watches over you. Required to work on federal projects for 20 years.*

Putting 50 million dollars into the company, the federal government provided an additional 150 million, in exchange for having you act as their personal R&D firm for 20 years. Of course, if you went bankrupt, that may change. Of the 200 million, 50 million is needed to set up a variety of buildings and test facilities, while the rest is needed to hire a variety of engineers.

As it is, Anchorage is not a large city, meaning you will need to large upfront initial investment in regards to labor as well. With only 300 thousand inhabitants, there are not enough engineers and STEM majors to hire. Of the other 12 R&D firms, they hire on average a thousand engineers and thousands of workers. While the workers can be found locally, the majority of the engineers had to be relocated, a process which cost on average twenty thousand per engineer. And if you want quality workers, you need to hire more.

There is more to a company than just engineers, however. Technicians are the next notable group, along with administrators, and a sales and marketing department. Each of these will cost money, and while there is a small pool of talent available, truly experienced personnel will need to be brought in from other areas unless you are willing to accept poorer quality work in the initial years as the workforce gains experience.

Moreover, a wide variety of facilities are desirable, and while you may not be able to produce fabrication facilities due to the cost needed, and testing facilities are unneeded, supercomputers and prototyping technology are always useful. There are many choices, and only so much money to work with.

Overall Funds 200 million
[X] Basic Engineers - A thousand engineers is the baseline needed for the engineering projects. To have less would be foolish.*-20 million in upfront cost. -80 million annual wages.*
[X] Basic Facilities - Basic facilities such as an office complex, software licenses, CNC agreements, and basic equipment. A necessity for small-scale prototyping. *-50 million in upfront cost. -20 million annual upkeep.*
[X] Basic Support Staff - While it isn't ideal, you could recruit technicians, marketers, and administrators from the local populace. The available workforce isn't particularly skilled, however. *-60 million annual wages.*
[] Experienced Engineers - Generally, experienced engineers are difficult to recruit, as they demand high wages and have high job security. But it would be rather worthwhile. *-20 million in upfront cost. -80 million annual wages. *
[] Senior Engineers - While recruiting a large number of them would be impossible, it would be possible to hire a small group to form the core of the experience base. However, they are not cheap. *-5 million in upfront costs. -25 million annual wages.*
[] Poached Engineers - With the number of firms nearby, trying to find engineers experienced in desired areas is difficult. Unless you include engineers already hired. Then it just gets expensive. *-50 million in upfront costs.*
[] Quality Utility Devices - Spending extra on CAD, word processing, and other software would improve productivity. However, the return on investment is difficult to quantify. *-25 million in upfront costs. -25 million annual upkeep.*
[] Quality Basic Test Equipment - Spending extra for technical support on equipment and on higher quality equipment would reduce time spent on debugging the systems. *-25 million in upfront costs. -25 million annual upkeep.*
[] Experienced Technicians - Similarly to engineers, an experienced technician is incredibly useful. However, they are also almost always already employed. *-10 million in upfront costs. -30 million annual wages.*
[] Experienced Administrators - While administrators can have a limited effect on business costs, they can often find new ideas. And the more experienced they are, the better. *-10 million in upfront costs. -20 million annual wages.*
[] Experienced Marketers - Creating a marketing program is difficult, and often needs to be done using experienced individuals. As such, spending extra to hire them is a rather wise choice. *-10 million in upfront costs. -20 million annual wages.*
[] Supercomputer - While a supercomputer may be of limited utility for some projects, projects with many processors or encryption would find the additional processing power almost necessary. *-20 million upfront costs. -10 million annual upkeep.*
[] PMC Testers - With military veterans valuable in regards to testing, and the government test facilities not providing them by default, bringing in your own group would be valuable. However, PMCs are not cheap. *-40 million in upfront cost. -10 million annual upkeep*

But with your company, one detail is needed that has been forgotten, a name. What are you called?

[] Write-in

GM Note: Next update will be the actual vote on what you wish to design first. I'll also have a more polished set of rules for it. As for debt, you can go into it. Generally, the rule is you can go into as much debt as 5 times your annual income. However, at the start your income is 0, so your initial 200 million is a hard limit for upfront costs.

Daemon Hunter · Sep 20, 2022

[X] Plan: Marketing, Machines and Seniority with a side of Glados
-[X] Basic Engineers - A thousand engineers is the baseline needed for the engineering projects. To have less would be foolish.*-20 million in upfront cost. -80 million annual wages.*
-[X] Basic Facilities - Basic facilities such as an office complex, software licenses, CNC agreements, and basic equipment. A necessity for small-scale prototyping. *-50 million in upfront cost. -20 million annual upkeep.*
-[X] Basic Support Staff - While it isn't ideal, you could recruit technicians, marketers, and administrators from the local populace. The available workforce isn't particularly skilled, however. *-60 million annual wages.*
-[X] Senior Engineers - While recruiting a large number of them would be impossible, it would be possible to hire a small group to form the core of the experience base. However, they are not cheap. *-5 million in upfront costs. -25 million annual wages.*
-[X] Quality Utility Devices - Spending extra on CAD, word processing, and other software would improve productivity. However, the return on investment is difficult to quantify. *-25 million in upfront costs. -25 million annual upkeep.*
-[X] Quality Basic Test Equipment - Spending extra for technical support on equipment and on higher quality equipment would reduce time spent on debugging the systems. *-25 million in upfront costs. -25 million annual upkeep.*
-[X] Experienced Marketers - Creating a marketing program is difficult, and often needs to be done using experienced individuals. As such, spending extra to hire them is a rather wise choice. *-10 million in upfront costs. -20 million annual wages.*
-[X] Supercomputer - While a supercomputer may be of limited utility for some projects, projects with many processors or encryption would find the additional processing power almost necessary. *-20 million upfront costs. -10 million annual upkeep.*
-[X] Name: Innovation Institute

Number of Designers: 001 (able to work on one small project at a time, small is non-naval craft)
Average Designer Experience: 1 year
Lead Designer Experience: 20 years
Average Administrator Experience: 1 year
Average Technician Experience: 1 year
Average Marketer Experience: 8 years
Turnover Rate: No data available
Company Culture: Non-existent
Designer Tool Quality: Decent
Test Equipment Quality: Above Average
Computing Assets: Supercomputer
Production Facilities: Decent Prototyping Facility
Liquid Assets: $45 million
Annual Revenue: N/A
Annual Expenses: $265 million
Expected Evaluation: $2 billion

2030 Internal Report - Summation of Annual Plans

With the foundation of our company, Innovation Institute, we have entered a lucrative, if competitive business. Currently, a variety of equipment is being set up in our facility in Anchorage, and over the course of the next month, various engineers, technicians, and administrators will arrive to fill up a variety of positions. At this time, we have not seen significant cost overruns, nor indications for delay, both crucial aspects for the initial onboarding process. However, the main equipment has yet to be set up, and due to how inexperienced some of the personnel are, there are significant risks concerning if timelines for the setup of the various equipment. For now, our CEO Asher Rayes will take over the writing of this report.

To the project leads, welcome to Innovation Insitute, a firm that will become the main R&D branch of the United American military force. Each of you was brought on board due to the experience you have built. We have engineers from A3, White Water, and Clear Skies, but we also have a Soviet engineer that worked on reverse engineering Italian equipment. With this, I want to not only accelerate the development of novel technologies, but I also want to create designs that even the Italians could not.

At this time, the bonus structure is still being reworked, but current projections by the marketing staff indicate that due to our low liquidity, compensation packages for high-ranking staff will remain in the seven digits for the time being. With our current ties to the federal government, we expect that to reach eight digits within the decade. Speaking of these ties, with them we have the remarkable opportunity to have 20 years of business. During this time, we should work on expanding our capabilities and building up infrastructure. Profitability is a secondary goal, as the federal government will continue to supply us with funding thanks to the People vs White Water case. As such, we have two options available to us.

The first involves designing quality products at this time and attempting to secure a longer contract with the federal government or A3 based on our performance. This, however, would be a risky proposition as it leaves us without a fallback plan. The second option is as I suggest, which involves intentionally rushing out products and using federal money to build up our infrastructure. At this time, I have yet to make a decision, so ask for advice.

2030 Internal Report - Onboarding Memo

I'll say it right now, there's no chance we're getting a decent product out in less than three years. There's not enough talent for this, a large part of our workforce just graduated, and we're going to be spending a full quarter just getting them trained on some of this software. The technicians are also overworked, and underskilled, we're trying to have them work on three setups at once, and it's just not happening. With all the delays, we're going to be spending the next three quarters just setting up the electronics. Hell, IT is going to take a full quarter to get some basic issues squared away.

We're also seeing issues with diversity. As with all engineering projects, we're seeing a much larger proportion of men in STEM positions. Moreover, due to the demographics of Anchorage, we're seeing a much higher hiring rate among Caucasian individuals, and have notably smaller percentages of Hispanics, Latinos, and African-Americans. Overall, while we do meet the industry standard of 30% women engineers, we are notably behind on minority groups, with a much smaller 10% overall. Thankfully, we do not expect lawsuits, due to neighboring firms having similar issues, but should their demographics change, we will be forced to pivot rapidly.

In regards to the capability of various projects, we can either work on something simple and get it over with as soon as possible, or accept it'll be shit. I recommend the former, as the first product will color perceptions among the federal liaisons, which may cause issues in the upcoming years.

2030 Internal Summary - Meeting Summary with Federal Liaisons

Initial meetings with the federal liaisons have gone well. With the relative simplicity of their jobs and the expectation of some new designs, they are expecting novel technologies to be prototyped and tested within around 5 years. Thankfully, they do seem to have low hopes over the capabilities of Innovation Institute, as well as our competitors, allowing us some leeway for the first product.

Based on discussions, at this time the United American military is looking for redesigns to the following infantry weapon types: pistols, squad automatics, shotguns, medium machine guns, heavy machine guns, RPGs, and MANPADs. Furthermore, they have begun looking for next-generation infantry armor, including a variety of innovations such as exoskeletons, advanced armor systems, and handheld UAVs. While these are large-scale projects, there are also several more niche proposals, which simply do not involve as much funding, and as such are nonviable for us at this time.

There are also a few different projects related to the navy, with their desire to begin experimenting with underwater combat suits. Likely a dead-end project, but it nonetheless would pay well. Similarly, the air force is looking into next-generation flight suits for pilots. Likely focused on survivability, this would be outside our experience base, but is also likely a project that few would take up. Overall, direction is sought for the company.

[] Service Pistol - With the current pistol having been designed in 1962, there is a considerable push towards a new design. *Ideal Timeframe 2 years - Contract Income: $150 million*
[] Squad Automatic - A 1952 system, while it has managed continuous modernization packages, it has reached the end of its service life. *Ideal Timeframe 2 years - Contract Income: $200 million*
[] Shotgun - A 1950 system made by the same designer as the current squad automatic, while it has held up, it cannot go further. *Ideal Timeframe 2 years - Contract Income: $150 million*
[] Medium Machine Gun - A literal 1940s design, while it is surprisingly capable, designing an upgrade package would cost more than a new design. *Ideal Timeframe 2 years - Contract Income: $250 million*
[] Heavy Machine Gun - A literal 1940s design, while it is surprisingly capable, designing an upgrade package would cost more than a new design. *Ideal Timeframe 2 years - Contract Income: $250 million*
[] Rocket Propelled Grenade - A pre-World War 2 design, there was simply never a desire to try and create a new one due to a lack of infantry combat. *Ideal Timeframe 2 years - Contract Income: $100 million*
[] MANPAD - A hilariously out-of-date system, the current design requires a team of four to fire it, has a reliability of 25% against stationary helicopters, and cannot fire upon moving targets at all. *Ideal Timeframe 3 years - Contract Income: $500 million*
[] Next-Generation Helmet - While a new helmet is less ambitious than what the army wants, it is also a quick project. *Ideal Timeframe 1 year - Contract Income: $250 million*
[] Next-Generation Armor - A modern suit of infantry gear is mainly focused on small arms protection and camouflage. But it can be more. *Ideal Timeframe 2 years - Contract Income: $700 million*
[] Exoskeletons - A complex theoretical piece of gear. The military is spending considerable sums on this project. *Ideal Timeframe 5 years - Contract Income: $1.5 billion*
[] Handheld UAVs - With the conflict in the Caucuses, low-cost drones have helped the Soviets hold off qualitatively superior forces. The United American military wants this capability. *Ideal Timeframe 1 years - Contract Income: $300 million*
[] Underwater Combat Suite - Trying to arm an individual underwater is all but guaranteed to be a dead end, but the navy is willing to pay for the attempt. *Ideal Timeframe 1 years - Contract Income: $300 million*
[] Flight Suit - An extremely difficult project, yet one that the air force would be willing to pay exorbitant sums for. *Ideal Timeframe 2 years - Contract Income: $800 million*
[] Write-in (As I cannot think of every possibility, feel free to suggest ideas, I'll let you know the timeframe and contract income)

GM Note: As mentioned, this post covers the way R&D works. However, there is another aspect as well, that being complexity reductions. The way that works is that if you work on extremely advanced technology, such as lasers, the complexity at this time would be around 20. Doing well on that design will reduce the complexity for later designs that use lasers, up to a varying minimum.

Daemon Hunter · Sep 21, 2022

[X] MANPAD - A hilariously out-of-date system, the current design requires a team of four to fire it, has a reliability of 25% against stationary helicopters, and cannot fire upon moving targets at all. *Ideal Timeframe 3 years - Contract Income: $500 million*

2030 External Communication - DoD Specifications

This document hereby describes the desired design requirements. Minimum reliability of 80% against stationary airborne targets, a minimum range of two miles, a minimum altitude ceiling of 5000 feet, and a maximum weight of 20 lbs. Additionally, due to political considerations, it is strongly encouraged that this design is made using A3 proprietary components. These requirements are not hard limits, however, rather they are to be used as a guideline for the desired outcome of the design itself. Furthermore, the design will be classified as confidential United American technology, and as such cannot be sold to other countries without the express approval of the United American government.

2030 Internal Communication - Chat Logs Between CEO Asher Rayes and CFO August Hill

Asher: While the current financial situation is not ideal, and we are expecting to incur 250 million dollars in debt over the next three years, this time will allow for the experience base among the company to continue to build and for the company culture to settle. As such, it is recommended that you do not worry, due to the income provided, we are able to take up to $830 million in debt.

August: And where's the money for raises coming from? Without them, we'll lose most of our workforce.

Asher: It's fine, we have something they don't. Lawyers.

August: With absolutely zero respect, that's a dumb idea. Either give them raises, or accept the fact that we're losing people.

Asher: Fine, just be vague around the office.

2030 Internal Communication - IT Report

Due to delays, it is expected that the office will only be fully online in June, with the supercomputer following at the end of the financial year, and the prototyping centers midway through next year. Productivity is expected to be rather poor as a result.

2030 Internal Communication - Design Documents

After much deliberation, the following features have been included in the design guidelines. Due to the current requirements, we expect that special focus must be placed on ensuring the system is lightweight, and that the proprietary parts are used.

[X] A3 Proprietary Parts - Using A3 parts will limit us but is a necessity. +1 Complexity
[X] Lightweight - By removing certain parts, we can decrease weight. +2 Complexity
[] Advanced HUD - Including a better HUD would be difficult, but would allow for easier usage. +2 Complexity
[] Increased Ceiling - By improving missile thrust, we can increase the flight ceiling. +2 Complexity
[] Increased Reliability - Using a more complex guidance system will ensure greater reliability. +2 Complexity
[] Increased Range - Switching to higher energy fuels will allow for greater range. +2 Complexity
[] Low Profile Missiles - By reducing the cross-section of the missile, we can increase how difficult it is to see. +2 complexity.
[] Second Stage Booster - By having the missile split into multiple darts, we can increase accuracy and counter maneuvering attempts. +3 complexity.
[] Counter-countermeasures - Including a more advanced guidance system would allow some ability to defeat missile countermeasures such as flares and chaff. +3 complexity.
[] Integrated Battlespace Comms - Allowing integration among additional radar systems will increase range and accuracy. +4 Complexity
[] Optical Guidance Backup - By using an optical guidance system as a backup, manual intervention can prevent countermeasures from working. +4 complexity.
[] Multiple-Guidance Systems - While IR is the default, we can integrate a radar guidance system as well. +4 complexity
[] Integrated Triangulation (Requires Second Stage Booster) - By including separate guidance systems in each dart, we can increase accuracy dramatically. +8 complexity (Prototype)
[] Low Yield Nuclear Warhead - By incorporating a kiloton nuclear payload, we could turn this into a more devastating anti-air weapon. +20 complexity (Prototype)
[] Additional Guidance System - By including additional guidance systems (radar, laser, optical, sonar, etc) it would make the system very difficult to defeat. +2/4/8/16 complexity per additional guidance system
[] Sonar - A novel idea, by tuning the MANPAD to certain sounds, we could strip out much of the guidance system. -4 complexity
[] Laser-Guided - Removing the IR guidance system, and requiring the user to paint a target with a laser would allow it to be more accurate against stationary targets. -2 complexity
[] Unreliable - By increasing tolerances, we can accept poor performance in exchange for easier designs. *-2 complexity.*
[] Unintuitive - By requiring a higher degree of skill to operate, we can simplify various aspects. -2 complexity
[] High Maintenance - Replacing difficult-to-shape materials with weaker ones would make the design simpler. - 2 complexity
[] Write-in

GM Note: For reference, UA infantry weapons average 5-10 complexity. Italian infantry averages 20, Soviet infantry averages 3-5, African Union 20, East Asian 5-10, and Britain 8-14.

Daemon Hunter · Sep 22, 2022

[X] Limited Complexity, Greatest Innovation without Sonar
-[X] A3 Proprietary Parts - Using A3 parts will limit us but is a necessity. +1 Complexity
-[X] Lightweight - By removing certain parts, we can decrease weight. +2 Complexity
-[X] Increased Ceiling - By improving missile thrust, we can increase the flight ceiling. +2 Complexity
-[X] Increased Reliability - Using a more complex guidance system will ensure greater reliability. +2 Complexity
-[X] Increased Range - Switching to higher energy fuels will allow for greater range. +2 Complexity
-[X] Second Stage Booster - By having the missile split into multiple darts, we can increase accuracy and counter maneuvering attempts. +3 complexity.
-[X] Unintuitive - By requiring a higher degree of skill to operate, we can simplify various aspects. -2 complexity
-[X] High Maintenance - Replacing difficult-to-shape materials with weaker ones would make the design simpler. - 2 complexity
-[X] Multiple-Guidance Systems - While IR is the default, we can integrate a radar guidance system as well. +4 complexity

2030 Internal Report - Q3 Design Report

Over the last year, the majority of our efforts were turned towards designing a MANPAD for the United American army. At this time, we are behind schedule in terms of quality targets. It was hoped that we would have completed the first iteration of the guidance systems. However, due to delays with the supercomputer and equipment installation, these systems are currently two months away from completion.

Additionally, we have experienced notable delays with the missiles themselves. Due to the attempt of creating a multi-warhead missile, a small explosive plate was included to enable separation. However, due to the relative fragility of our rocket motors, in roughly 40% of cases, the warheads fail to maneuver after separation. Moreover, due to the relative complexity of the guidance system, there is a considerable lack of space within the missile, limiting fuel storage, and thereby lowering range. Furthermore, this same lack of space has resulted in less feed flowing to the rocket engines, which in turn reduces the maximum ceiling we can achieve in addition to maneuverability, although the latter is a minor issue overall.

There are also two major points that should be brought up. The combination of guidance systems has resulted in a rather unintuitive display, which requires the user to set a variety of parameters during operation, a task that can be done in 10 seconds by an expert but can take an unacceptably long time for untrained individuals. Moreover, the tube itself does need to be replaced every 300 missiles, primarily due to additional pressure as a result of our engine orientation, rather than the 1500 of comparable designs.

2030 External Communication - Conversation between CEO Asher Rayes, VP of Hardware Lincoln Simpson, Federal Liason Benita Gomez

Benita: You're 30 pounds over the requirement, this isn't acceptable.

Asher: I apologize, but while we can improve, we can't make it 20 pounds.

Lincoln: We can get it to 38, maybe 32, but 20 isn't happening. Even the Italian MANPAD is 35 pounds.

Benita: Fine, get it below 35 pounds then, or we'll have lengthier conversations.

Lincoln: Why did we even have this meeting? It took less than a minute.

Asher: Because I wanted a break, and we can spend the next two hours drinking, then come out and claim we changed the requirements.

2030 Internal Report - Explanation of Nonviability of Second Stage Boosters

At the moment, we would need to direct nearly all our efforts towards mass reduction in order to properly achieve the desired target. While we should be able to continue development in the upcoming years thanks to our prototyping facilities, there is considerable concern that we may be unable to further improve upon the product's mass. If we are to aim for this, it is strongly suggested that we redesign the missile to use a standard single-stage system.

The reason for this is twofold. Due to the need to spend considerable time on the second stage booster's reliability, we do not believe we will be able to meet mass and range targets as well. As a result, we are left with the decision of choosing what we wish to sacrifice. Due to the primary focus of the United American military remaining on mass and reliability, it is the opinion of the majority of engineers at Innovation Institute that we replace the second stage booster with a more conventional design.

2030 Internal Report - Cybersecurity Q4 Report

No hacking attempts were detected during the quarter. We have switched encryption methods of secure data in accordance with requests from A3 and the federal government. During the quarter, a total of 14 incidents occurred, which have all been investigated. As of the writing of the report, 13 of those cases are closed without further action. The last case resulted in the termination of an engineer that copied pictures of the disassembled missile to show his son. The federal government's investigation has indicated that while no transfer of data took place, it was an egregious enough action to levy a $10,000 fine on the individual in question.

2030 Internal Report - Q4 Design Goals

At this time, there are four main avenues for Innovation Insitute to work on to complete the design. With the current mass of the launcher being a full 30 lbs over the intended target, and 15 lbs from the maximum accepted, considerable work needs to be done to achieve this. While it is possible we may be able to improve further with the construction of prototypes to test, it is expected that this testing will at best allow for a 6 lb reduction. It is even possible we may not see any improvement, although that is unlikely.

In addition, minor work does need to be done on the guidance system. Admittedly this will detract from efforts to resolve other issues, but it is nonetheless a notable consideration of our efforts.

When it comes to the ceiling and range, one of the main suggestions seems to be continuing to make efforts to improve them further by spending considerable effort redesigning the motors to use higher energy fuel and improving the detonator's reliability to compensate. While this will increase the range and the ceiling, it will also require considerable effort.

The last major topic is the second stage booster. While a novel idea, and something the United American military has agreed to the possibility of a contract covering the system, it is also entirely new and difficult to manage. At this time, it is expected that it would take all available effort to resolve the issue caused by the explosive plate, something that when combined with other issues renders us with the suggestion of having to remove it entirely.

There is an alternate solution proposed by a group of engineers. That is to expand the missile and launcher size in order to convert it to a vehicle-mounted system. The United American military is accepting of the suggestion, as after decades without a MANPAD, the current group of infantry isn't sure such a system would be useful to their efforts. Overall, we are faced with a few options available to us.

[] Continue with the current MANPAD design
[] Remove the second stage launcher (if this is chosen, don't spend points below)
[] Redesign the MANPAD to be a vehicle-mounted system (if this is chosen, don't spend points below)

You have 6 points
[] Reduce mass by 3lbs, currently 50 lbs (-1 point, repeatable)
[] Increase Range by 500m, currently 4800m (-2 points)
[] Increase Range by 1100m, currently 4800m (-4 points). Cannot be taken with the above.
[] Increase Ceiling by 300m, currently 1800m (-2 points)
[] Increase Ceiling by 700m, currently 1800m (-4 points). Cannot be taken with the above.
[] Increase Second Stage Booster reliability by 10%, currently 60% (-2 points, repeatable)
[] Improve Reliability by 5% by Improving the Guidance Systems and Tolerances, currently 85% (-3 points)
[] Improve Reliability by 9% by Improving the Guidance Systems and Tolerances, currently 85% (-4 points). Cannot be taken with the above.

Mass: 14
Ceiling: 40
Reliability: 97
Range: 41
Second Stage: 3
IR Guidance System: 92
Radar Guidance System: 97

Development Rolls: 82, 5, 73, 13, 56, 82

GM Note: Please vote using plan format.

Daemon Hunter · Sep 23, 2022

[X] Remove the second stage launcher (if this is chosen, don't spend points below)

2030 Internal Report - MANPAD Engineering Status

With the removal of the second stage and subsequent simplification of the design, we have been able to improve the performance of the design by leaps and bounds. With the removal of the explosive plate, the failure to guide issue that occurred due to the detonation breaking the rocket engines is no longer an issue. As a result, the design already exceeds the reliability requirement. Furthermore, the removal of the second stage engines, explosive plate, and additional gyroscopes has allowed us to reduce the mass of the MANPAD by a full 12 pounds, even accounting for adjustments made to improve the ceiling and range. Those improvements primarily cover the rocket engines and fuel tanks. By removing the second stage, we were able to combine the fuel tanks, leading to greater storage efficiency, as well as shifting one of the rocket engines from the second stage to the first stage, thereby providing it with further thrust, thereby enabling improved maneuverability and increasing its operational ceiling.

At this time, we currently have a design that weighs 38 pounds, has an operational ceiling of 2500 meters, and a range of 5900 meters (apologies for mixing imperial units with metric units, unfortunately, there were conversion issues). While the weight is 3 pounds higher than the accepted minimum, and a full 18 pounds above the desired goal of 20 pounds, it is acceptable. Currently, the engineering team is warning that it may be difficult to improve the design further, so they recommend working using the prototyping facilities. Unfortunately, as these facilities are only mostly complete, we expect there to be teething issues during the initial prototyping next year.

2030 External Report - United American Military Development

During the past year, 3 major projects completed development. The first is heavily classified, but reports indicate that the device or vehicle was tested in Area 58 near Salt Lake City. This likely indicates it was some sort of prototype aircraft or aircraft system, but the military is keeping a tight lid on the topic.

The second was a new Missile Range ship. Featuring a fully redesigned electronics section, and incorporating a radar as powerful as those used on large land-based installations, the vessel has a radar guidance range approximately twice as large as the prior iteration. Furthermore, the vessel does incorporate a full CIWS system with damage control systems that involve individual health monitoring systems for every crew member. Overall a powerful upgrade to the United American navy, its only limitation is the lack of ability to project force away from naval ports due to its poor engine reliability.

The final development was a FAC. While not typically a part of naval doctrine, advancements in stealth capabilities, speed, and engine technology allowed for a smaller, stealthier, and faster design that was also better armed and armored. Featuring the equivalent of a small hardpoint for a frigate, the navy seems to be considering the possibility of further shrinking the vessel and automating it entirely in order to create an additional point defense screen for vessels.

While not a development, we do expect the rate of development to accelerate in upcoming years, primarily thanks to the 2025 bill doubling investment into research and development. As such, current expectations are for the rate of development to almost double.

2030 External Report - Italian Military Development

While the Italians do produce the finest equipment in the world, they also are somewhat tight-lipped about some of the more esoteric aspects of their developments. That being said, they do still love bragging about various features of their technology.

The first is a new service pistol, which is priced at an astonishing $60 thousand. While the price tag is absurd, considering they would have to spend $120 billion equipping their forces with it, it's also a remarkable piece of technology. During demonstrations, a silenced variant registered at a mere 70 decibels when fired. While remarkable on its own, it was also able to consistently fire at 20% further ranges than standard, displayed remarkable resilience to mud, and weighs 30% less than the previous generation Italian pistol.

Secondly, is a new military command and control aircraft. Notably, the Italians refused to share details of the interior, instead demonstrating the ability to continuously fly for a full 48 hours without refueling.

The last was a heavily classified project, that was only known due to Soviet soldiers in Georgia managing to shoot one down using a self-propelled howitzer. The resulting destruction of the special force's helicopter ignited a battle over the remains, and while the Italians successfully recover the wreckage, Soviet soldiers managed to take pictures that indicate the helicopter is armed to the teeth, with at least six different weapon systems. While there are likely other features, the soldiers were unable to find them in the brief time they had.

2030 External Report - Soviet Military Development

The only notable event was the embarrassing failure of the new Soviet submarine, which the nation announced had sunk during its shakedown cruise.

2030 External Report - East Asian Military Development

The newly forming military R&D firms in East Asia experienced mixed results over the last year.

The first design for a sniper rifle was acceptable. Rather uninspired, and a near copy of the last generation African Union sniper rifle, it does nonetheless perform its job adequately.

The second design was a light utility vehicle, which while acceptable, lacks any real innovation, and instead seems to be primarily a testbed meant to train the engineers.

The final design was a disaster. Involving a self-propelled gun, the vehicle was extremely ambitious, and at multiple points during the design process, the East Asian Confederacy attempted to higher Italian engineers for the task. This resulted in abject refusals and severe spikes in tension with the Soviet Union. Moreover, during the initial testing, the barrel ruptured, causing the shell to land a full 10 kilometers off target.

2030 External Report - British Military Development

As usual, the British are very hesitant to share details about their military developments. All we have been able to confirm is that they have a new military cargo ship, a new range ship, and a new heavy aircraft transport. Notably, they have begun selling range ships to the African Union, which has caused a diplomatic incident as the Italians are refusing to allow them to travel through the Strait of Gibraltar.

2030 External Report - African Union Military Development

With the surging economy of the African Union, the nation has begun expanding a variety of facilities across the nation. Primarily focusing on ensuring MAD capability in the event of nuclear war with two superpowers, they have spent considerable effort on the task at hand, even buying range ships from Britain to help guide launches for short ranged ICBMs.

Moreover, the African Union recently demonstrated an extremely advanced piece of technology, a self-propelled howitzer that cost approximately 2 billion each, it has acted as a test bed for multiple firms in Africa and allowed for valuable experience to be gained by the nation with large scale projects, something that will likely allow for further improvement.

2031 Internal Report - Analysis of Development

At this time, the various developments are reflective of rising world tensions and of continuous increases in funding for novel technologies. Generally, the projects noted are multi-billion dollar contracts that take years and have teams with decades of experience at the helm. As such, the fact that Innovation Institute is not at this level is not a cause for concern, rather it should be a goal to achieve.

2031 Internal Report - Annual Plans

Due to the various administrative overhead, a large portion of our possible flexibility is limited. Retention policies need to be written, the prototyping machines need to finish their setup, and the MANPAD design needs to be improved further. All of these are time-consuming projects, and as such, Innovation Insitute is limited in what it is capable of pursuing at this time. Yet there is some slack, and we should take advantage of this.
Choose 1. (Normally 4 but 3 are locked)
[X] Continue MANPAD Development
[X] Install Prototyping Facilities
[X] Write Retention Policies
[] Create the company culture rather than risk a toxic work environment
[] Set up meetings with A3, White Water, and Clear Skies for possible contracts
[] Look into external export licenses to allow for exporting technology
[] Expand the company (leads to a subvote as to how)
[] Conduct meetings with the federal government to try and understand what they want to see from R&D firms

Mass: 60
Ceiling: 27
Range: 89

Daemon Hunter · Sep 24, 2022

[X] Create the company culture rather than risk a toxic work environment

2031 External Report - The Caucuses War

The most prominent event in recent years was the escalation of the Caucuses Conflict, with the Italians escalating the skirmishing by bringing in another twenty thousand soldiers, bringing their numbers in the region to 80 thousand, and gathering their fleet in the Black Sea to begin shore bombardment. In contrast, the Soviets declared full mobilization, beginning the training of a full three million conscripts. While at this time only a small fraction are combat viable, the Soviet army in the Caucuses numbered 300 thousand when a limited war broke out.

Over the past seven months, the world has been entranced by the combat on display. While initial analysts predicted the Italian army to advance slowly, with an estimated rate of a kilometer a day, the actual advance averaged a mere fifth of that. Bogged down by absurd numbers of tanks and armored vehicles, various independent analysts indicated that the Soviet army had over thirty times as many armored vehicles as the Italians and approximately ten times the number of aircraft. While the Soviets still lost control of the skies in the fourth month of the war, their advanced SAM systems and the sheer number of vehicle-based anti-air system has allowed them to continue holding off the Italians, even if the casualty rates favor the fascist empire still. While the numbers are inexact, current estimates indicate twenty thousand Italian soldiers have perished, along with fifty thousand Soviet soldiers.

In response to growing support for escalation from their citizens, the Italian army has announced that they will be redeploying garrisons from Gibraltar, Sicily, and Greece in order to reinforce the front, along with suggesting the possibility of opening a new front in the northern Black Sea.

2031 External Report - Peruvian President Signs People are Physical Act

In a win for corporations in the United Americas, the Peruvian government caved to megacorp demands and passed a new law that clarifies what rights individuals have in regard to the digital space. The law in question specifies that people have the right to not have pictures taken without their consent to be posted in public spaces. However, it also specifies that this protection does not extend to the private storage of images, nor does it extend to information such as location data, search history, or message data. As a result, the stock prices of firms that specialize in collecting and processing this information have increased.

2031 External Report - Japanese Riots Kill Over Five Thousand

Following a terrorist attack on July 27th which resulted in the deaths of 20 civilians, the members of the East Asian Confederacy held a series of discussions on what was to be done. Investigations revealed that the perpetrators were part of a Japanese extremist group that demanded the reinstatement of the emperor. As a result, the various nations demanded the equivalent of 200 million dollars from the provincial Japanese government. Due to said government being made primarily of administrators from China, Korea, India, and Australia, the government agreed and transferred the funds.

With a lack of funding, and several major protests over what the people of Japan saw as the continued looting of the country began. These escalated due to aggressive police responses, which in turn led to low-altitude flights by East Asian aircraft in shows of force. While this resulted in some protests breaking up, it also triggered a series of riots. Over the course of the next week, these riots flared up before being brutally put down across the nation. When the situation stabilized a month later, over five thousand lives were lost.

2031 External Report - Italians Prevent African Union Vessels from Passing through the Strait of Gibraltar

With the British government allowing the sale of military vessels to the African Union, in September they sold thirty range ships to the nations of the union. While the ones stationed in West Africa made their journey without issue, the Italians threatened to open fire on them should they attempt to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Citing the need to ensure the safety of their own citizens, the Italian government declared that no vessels capable of assisting in the guidance of nuclear weapons were to be allowed through the strait. Over the course of October, a number of attempts were made to reach a diplomatic solution, but none of the parties involved were willing to agree to a resolution. Until the British told the African Union to sail through the Suez, which around half of the nations agreed to, while the other half of the African Union are still attempting to pass through the Strait.

2031 External Report - Planet Crosses 2 Degrees of Warming

A rather overlooked aspect of the climate, climate change has continued to build in the background despite the pleas of scientists for something to be done. However, due to a focus on military build-up, a general apathy on the topic due to radiation issues in Europe, and the idea that the climate will cool during nuclear winter, many people are unwilling to take it seriously.

2031 External Report - Turkish Partisans Threaten to Detonate a Nuclear Bomb

Turkish partisans in occupied Asia Minor recently released a statement claiming they had access to a suitcase nuke with a blast yield of 20 kilotons. They have threatened to detonate it in a major Italian city should their demands not be met. These demands include an end to the forced relocation of Turkish ethnicities, the release of 200 political prisoners, and the withdrawal of Italian forces from Turkish lands. While usually this would be considered an empty threat, various countries seem to have additional information.

A week after the demand, the Italian government declared martial law and set up military checkpoints in all cities. Additionally, several volunteer brigades were recruited and trained on how to perform first aid in the aftermath of a nuclear detonation. For the United Americas, the nation has moved to Defcon 2 and has stated it will remain here until the situation passes. Moreover, the country has passed a resolution providing an additional 100 billion to the nuclear deterrent arm, with plans to increase military funding further in the near future.

2031 External Report - Doomsday Clock Ticks Forward, Now at 12 Seconds to Midnight

2031 Internal Report - Administrative Matters

With world tensions rising, and the United Americas beginning to throw more funding into the military as a whole, it is easy to forget the administrative matters that are nonetheless critical. With the first year as a company now passed, one of the more important policies to codify is the retention policy. Generally, the standard raises provided by companies would increase overhead by $20 million at this time and would result in a retention rate of approximately 80%. However, there are quite a few other choices to choose from as well.

In addition, with HR having been tasked with modifying the company culture, there are a number of details to be considered. Unfortunately, some of these would cost additional funds. Thankfully with the current contract, we do have enough slack to allow for us to go further into debt. At this time, the finance department believes that at current rates, we can sustain operation for another 7 years without any issues even without income increases.

Retention Policy
[] Below Standard - By providing minor bonuses and raises, we can keep enough people without causing issues. *Experience growth slows by ~40%. -$10 million yearly*
[] Standard - By matching existing policies among other firms, we can remain rather competitive overall. *-$20 million yearly (will change over time)*
[] Above Standard - By providing bonuses above the norm, we can ensure retention beyond what would normally be expected. *Experience growth increases by ~10%. -$40 million yearly (changes with time).*
[] Well Above Standard - By providing immense bonuses and rapid raises and promotions, we can make Innovation Institute an attractive working environment. *Experience growth increases by ~15%. Attracts new talent. -$80 million yearly.*

Executive Bonuses
[X] Small Bonuses - While unfortunately low, it is nonetheless acceptable thanks to the current situation of the company. *-$50 million.*

Company Culture (Can Take Multiple, Note, cost overruns are very much possible)
[] The Standard Grind - Without intervention, the standard corporate culture will develop with various engineers struggling to connect with others. *No pros or cons*
[] The Innovative Center - By providing incentives to share ideas with other workers, we can improve innovation in general. *Bonus to innovative ideas. -$5 million annually.*
[] Stay Here a While - Through the use of free meals, an on-campus gym, and nap areas, we can get some employees to spend longer at work. *General bonuses to everything. -$20 million start-up cost.*
[] Security Checkpoints - By emphasizing the need for security, we can add a variety of measures to prevent information from leaking. *Makes infiltration more difficult. -$10 million annually.*
[] Regimented Days - Through strict monitoring and time-keeping, we can ensure employees are properly trained and disciplined. *Lowers retention effect by one step. +$5 million yearly.*
[] We're All Friends Here - By conducting various social events, we can ensure employees connect with each other and their bosses. *Increases retention effect by one step. -$20 million annually.*
[] Corporate Boot-Camp - Encourage employees to participate in more "military" exercises, condition fitness, and firearms training. If people don't understand how to use a gun or empathize with our soldiers in the field, how can they make the best products for them? *Improves softer aspects of weapons. -$10 million annually.*
[] True Patriots - By encouraging patriotism to the United American government along with instituting various events supporting this, we can please various groups and secure some form of support from certain political groups. *Increased opinion from the federal government. Possible racial issues.*
[] Write-in

GM Note: Please vote in plan format for this.

A World Turned Upside Down - A Military R&D Quest

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