Unfortunately, I'm not up for digging through almost 350 pages at the moment.
Also, when did I call it the ultimate anything? It'll most likely be better than the autocannon in any role and that's more than enough. I was thinking of installing them on the AA mountings or mechs in order to overcome the mobility disadvantage.
But we should have a heavy weapon available to our troops, and hey, why not get the best we can.
For all we know, completing portable missiles could've been synchronized with AA mountings, leading to rudimentary SAM installations.
Hell completing missiles would've at least given us a stronger anti-armor capability should we need it and with much greater mobility than when lugging around an autocannon become cumbersome. On the other hand, long range artillery, of questionable accuracy, would be next to useless when we're hemmed into a tight clustered forest on a deathworld
If missiles are "bottle rockets", then field guns are water balloon catapults.
That's actually what the project will be since the feed mechanism will be based off your SAWs. You're basically just upscaling the SAW design, having the option of loading in explosives in addition to inert penetrators, and mounting it on a chassis. The project is a greater engineering challenge than what I described, but it will already be able to fire automatically. From there you will get projects for bigger weaponry, faster firing ones, etc.
Oh no! Instead of bottle rockets we have no use for we only get an upscaled and more flexible version of our fastest firing, most penetrating, and by far most successful weapons system while opening up even more advances in our proprietary tech tree!
The missiles lack the ability to threaten Authority air assets, we have yet to see any suggestion of anything requiring more portable anti-armor capability than our multipurpose SAWs already provide, and AAA is going to be static on a world where mobile operations are conducted in a forest of quarter-kilometer battleship-armored trees. -and hey, missiles like forests, right?
Oh no! Instead of bottle rockets we have no use for we only get an upscaled and more flexible version of our fastest firing, most penetrating, and by far most successful weapons system while opening up even more advances in our proprietary tech tree!
The missiles lack the ability to threaten Authority air assets, we have yet to see any suggestion of anything requiring more portable anti-armor capability than our multipurpose SAWs already provide, and AAA is going to be static on a world where mobile operations are conducted in a forest of quarter-kilometer battleship-armored trees.
And how many research projects is that/how long would it take? If we spent 1-4 separate projects building OMGHAX AA autocannons that could blast gunships out of the sky, we could for the same effort, build OMGHAX SAM sites that could blanket the skies in a Macross Missile Massacre. Except the latter has the advantage of guided munitions as opposed to inert flak, and actually producing a weapon that's versatile enough to use on the ground even a little bit (portable missile launchers) as opposed to a useless weapon for our current theater of war. (Field guns.) Hell if we need artillery, missile artillery could be a viable alternative.
And how many research projects is that/how long would it take? If we spent 1-4 separate projects building OMGHAX AA autocannons that could blast gunships out of the sky, we could for the same effort, build OMGHAX SAM sites that could blanket the skies in a Macross Missile Massacre. Except the latter has the advantage of guided munitions as opposed to inert flak, and actually producing a weapon that's versatile enough to use on the ground even a little bit (portable missile launchers) as opposed to a useless weapon for our current theater of war. (Field guns.) Hell if we need artillery, missile artillery could be a viable alternative.
Zero research projects, quite likely. These are the sort of high-powered EM AAA that were mentioned as being necessary. How many research projects are you expecting to sink into the derivatives of the weapons we are building monkey-copies of due to lacking the fundamental technologies to design them ourselves before they are useful for anything at all?
Gee whiz, if only we had overpaid for a bunch of mechs which could be used to wield mech-scale SAWs in mobile operations.
-and missiles just love forests, right? I mean, all that long range unobstructed targeting and those sparkling clear flight paths.
If you do things right a 6 or even a 5 are possible. Do things wrong and you will either stabilize at about an 8 or go extinct. Although with enough adaptation tech the personal standard of living can drop lower even if there will be some higher end stuff infrastructurally .
As long as we don't ever get into crippling ourselves with stupid policies and practices that make logistics, education and industry harder I think we could manage with a lower tech level to defeat a superior technological force.
Well I never said we'd replace the SAW's. Missiles would be a complement to them. Hell, we wouldn't even need to splurge on them nearly as much as the LAC's and SAW's.
As opposed to ballistic artillery, when your blocked by the tree-line and need to calculate trajectories in the hopes of landing a shot.
You know what this argument isn't going to end either way. We're far off from shooting down Authority gunships, so now it's just a case of bottle rockets vs water balloon slingshots.
Well I never said we'd replace the SAW's. Missiles would be a complement to them. Hell, we wouldn't even need to splurge on them nearly as much as the LAC's and SAW's.
What you said? The troops can only carry so much warload, and if they're carrying missiles they aren't carrying SAWs- no, y'know what? Don't change the subject. The issue is the missiles being wasted research on a weapon system with no niche to fill.
As opposed to ballistic artillery, when your blocked by the tree-line and need to calculate trajectories in the hopes of landing a shot.
Indirect fire of any sort short of automated drones is a losing proposition in the forest.
You know what this argument isn't going to end either way. We're far off from shooting down Authority gunships, so now it's just a case of bottle rockets vs water balloon slingshots.
The EM Cannons give the ability to shoot down Authority aircraft, which is what the group seems obsessed with (and the specific reason the missiles were chosen), as well as a powerful weapons system which takes advantage of our ample supply of mechs. The missiles give us nothing. We don't need either of them, but from any perspective short of missile fetishism the EM Cannon was the less awful choice.
[X] Seek more immigrants from the Free Volunteers populations
[X] Talk with the Machine Heads
[X] No Fourth or Fifth Military Action for extra Personal Action
[X] Upgrade Military (SAWs)
-[X] 96 SAWs (4800C)
[X] Command Centre Design
[X] Drill Militia
[X] Shattersaw - Multi-Purpose Teaching and Research Complex (200C)
-[DF] Hydroponic Farm
-[504] Chemical Refinery
[X] Attempt to flip the agent (504s at -40 offensive intelligence rolls and -10 defensive rolls ifsuccessful) (0.9x)
[X] Do an internal sweep - You should probably check that your own internal security is not compromised
[X] Internal Investigation - Investigate Grave Tenders
[X] Artificial Intelligence I
[X] MRP - Plasma Cutter Refinement 10/300
[X] EM Field Gun Design
[X] Try to work with Mirande specifically
[X] Meditate on the alien knowledge
[X] Run for Shattersaw president (100C personal wealth)
Cost: 6600C
Rolled 98 + 38 = 146
Great success!
All the effort you have been putting into things has crystallized for this moment. In the midst of campaigning and trying to get everything else done, you have unlocked not just the cultural components, but in your efforts towards helping Mirande you have also unlocked the elements about the psychic powers. There is a lot you do not understand and in fact will probably never understand, your brain and senses simply are not designed for it, but you think you have enough to really help out Mirande with learning to use her powers now. While you can intrinsically tell that she is not as powerful as the aliens and never will be, a lot of the information you got was intrinsically conservative in its approach.
The alien culture - the Eldar - revels in psychic power, but the specific alien you met was opposed to this approach, finding it hedonistic and self-destructive. While still a powerful psychic, the alien prefers to use focus elements rather than drawing directly on the powers of the Warp. In this the alien language is immensely useful in that it provides a wide variety of symbols with a variety of subtle and contextual meanings that allow them to serve as excellent mental focuses for psychic powers, even when not made out of psychically active materials. While the psychically active materials are not available, you do learn that in a pinch more base materials with certain superlative features can be made to work: gold, silver, platinum, and diamond all had uses because of their material properties. Apparently any crystal could have an effect, but the more ordered and physically durable the material the better, hence diamond being considered the best if you have to use normal materials.
While this doesn't exactly help you out right now, you also recover enough of the general training techniques that you can definitely introduce them into the work you are doing with Mirande.
Eldar Index upgraded to Unlocked (+3 Learning, +1 Willpower, +15 Diplomacy Rolls w/Eldar, +5 Combat Rolls vs. Eldars)
Mirande gains +1 chance to increase her Willpower when you take an action to assist her
Rolled 97 + 40 = 137
Crushed it, avoid gain Proud Trait Gain Humble Trait!
Going through the information, even in its confused state, you also recognize just how bloody arrogant the Eldar are. While you have to admit that they are objectively much better than humans in just about every way, they take that superiority to mind boggling levels. The 'friendly' one held you in contempt but also recognized that its peers were the sort to hold that they could do no wrong, and found no reason not to do anything they found pleasurable as much as they wanted to. Which was what they were doing on the planet, the ones fighting the Authority: indulging in their whims. The species was practically wired for war and found nothing so pleasurable as moving fast and letting the blood of others spray over them in passing. The ones on Dandriss were young ones, still not yet so jaded that they could only find release in pushing themselves against others of their own species, but that was little comfort in how deadly skilled they were physically and psychically, even if they were basically just civilians rather than anyone with actual military training or equipment.
Rolled 32 + 38 - 10 UA + 10 Eldar Knowledge = 70
Barely successful
Mirande reports that the training, the mental discipline you are trying to imbue in her, appears to be working, that she is finding it easier to sort through her own sensory input now. She can 'feel' the past and the future and even distant things, but it is easier if she uses some external focus to try to sort through them.
Aside from the psychic training you are doing quietly on the side, you are also working to help her in other areas.
You have been working with Mirande on...
[] Kindness (good chance of gaining trait, low chance of no effect)
[] Humility (good chance of gaining trait, low chance of no effect)
[] Ambition (good chance of gaining trait, low chance of no effect)
[] Focus on Patience and Diligence together (???)
Rolled 74 + 14 - 10 UA = 78
Holding
For your other daughters, you are trying to keep them all in line, but it is tricky. Surprisingly Victoria has become 'A hero of justice!', deciding that she is going to make the world a better place as only an eight year old can believe so. Anna on the other hand is managing to hold her bitterness in over your continued focus on Mirande, although she clearly seems to be withdrawing a bit, growing a bit cold over what she clearly sees of as self-evident favouritism, and to be honest you're not entirely certain that she's wrong on that front.
Victoria gained Just Trait!
Anna
Rolled 94
Mirande
Rolled 3
Then again, considering an "incident" at school, you can at least say that at least Anna still cares about her sister, even if the manner in which she shows it is a bit over the top in its implementation. While the good news is that no one is dead or pregnant, the bad news is that fire was involved. You're not entirely certain you want to know the specifics since not all of the participants involved were clothed at the time and there is a mental block towards your teenage daughters being involved in anything like that somewhat similar to the circumstances of how your own parents conceived you. Suffice to say, one boy decided to attempt to seduce Mirande for political reasons, Anna found out and counter seduced him, and the end result was pubic hair being used as a wick for high proof alcohol. No permanent damage done, and an embarrassing set of lessons learned all around.
Well, except for Anna, the brat. She of course cannot stop sashaying about in savage joy at her actions. Mirande on the other hand has gone a bit quiet of late, more careful with who she trusts.
Maxwell of course could not stop laughing as the whole story was detailed out to him.
Anna gained Brave Trait!
Mirande gained Paranoid Trait!
This does bring you to a bit of an unpleasant moment of how to respond to this.
You...
[] Scold them for not coming to you for help (1.2x)
[] Praise Anna for her initiative in looking out for her sister (0.7x)
[] Counsel both of them to be more careful (1x)
[] Remind them that kindness goes much further than cruelty (1.2x)
Also, to clarify the argument you have been having: the EM guns in the AAA mount have the best chance of hitting any Authority craft while the missiles by far have the best chance of causing damage if they hit.
[X] Focus on Patience and Diligence together (???)
These are a really good combination. The ability to constantly work at a problem, and be willing to accept a gradual advance over leaps and bounds are incredible for a Psyker, as what usually kills one is reaching too far, too fast.
[X] Remind them that kindness goes much further than cruelty (1.2x)
"Now, rule one of being in charge. Remember that people are people, and hold long grudges, one of the best ways of keeping those to a minimum is to not be involved in creating them. Politeness and courtesy cost little, and save you a great deal of headaches in the long run."
Anyway, was that "Just made it" roll for the extra WP that we unlocked by decoding the Index?
I wouldn't mind praising Anna for her intentions (if not her execution), but I'd also want to find a way to tell Mirande not to worry so much. After all, Anna's always looking out for her.
Well, we got some useful information out of that. Diamonds being a good focus is useful to know- those are fairly easy to produce if you know what you are doing. Artificial diamonds stand out in two ways, they are too perfect and they sometimes contain nitrogen which causes them to go yellow.
[X] Focus on Patience and Diligence together (???)
[X] Remind them that kindness goes much further than cruelty (1.2x)
