Nervos Belli
Don't think this means you've won!
- Location
- Murica
Definitely wasn't written by a Maoist, with the whole religious practices bit. Probably something from Gordon's clique.
Attempting to Fulfil The Plan: ISOT Edition
- Thread starter garphield
- Start date
- Alt. History
-
- Tags
- plan quest
Cannon Omake: The Red Dog's Lions
- Pronouns
- he/him
Caniseus used to be a farmer. Six years ago, at a spritely young age of sixteen, he used to toil away under the auspicious gaze of a priest named Aristeus, who had him whipped when he couldn't pay all his taxes for the stupid wanax. And he cursed him and wished that the gods would strike him down. And then the Americans drove away the Wanax, and Aristeus had to 'languish' under their 'yoke' as he couldn't force Caniseus to work more than he wanted. Three years ago he used to work for that same priest, who couldn't whip him anymore, but used stealthier ways to abuse him. "Inspections" and lengthy lectures, he still expected genuflection and to be called by his old title, at least when someone from the council wasn't around. And Caniseus cursed him, and wished that the gods would strike him down.
But then that Minister of the Red Lion caught the priests trying to poison her fellows, to stop their liberation, because they couldn't handle their cattle being lifted up above their station. They wanted to hoard their knowledge, so when the council announced their classes to teach their writing, of course Caniseus joined. Mostly out of spite.
But then Caniseus learned. He learned how to read his own language, then he learned the horrid and complex language the Americans spoke, English. He read the horrid and complex theories and philosophy of Karl Marx and his friend Engels, and he understood their anger, why they were upset at these capitalists even as his eyes glazed over at the thought of… linen. It was the same anger he held at the priests and the wanax, who forced him to toil for his life, and gave nothing back but orders!
And he learned the horrid and complex history of mankind. To think, for four thousand years men had toiled, in one form or another, for one reason or another, not for themselves but for rulers who thought they deserved more, just because they could tell people what to do with force. Because they thought themselves better, and had hoarded the means and power to enforce it!
It filled him with righteous fury as much as jubilation! Because now the toilers of the world have the means to set things right before they will ever go wrong!
That's why he set his eyes to the north, because even in the past the Americans are weighed down by their future. They remember a time where they ruled, a vast empire of steel and violence built off the backs of those like him. And to the north there were slavers, deserving of divine and righteous punishment! So he packed his bags with food, and stole a rifle with ball and powder, and set himself north.
But when he snuck past the border, evading arrogant soldiers and beleaguered thralls, he was unprepared. He had read of the cruelties of slavery in the old land of Dixie, and the rank vitriol of racism, but he had despaired when he saw its true desires. As he traveled he stuck out like a sore thumb, not just because of his rifle, which he did his very best to hide from patrols. His cheeks were full, where father's were hollow in their futile efforts to feed their children. He held his head high and proud with subconscious confidence while men walked with a hunch, as if the land itself had a weight pressed upon their backs.
Seeing this he knew he'd never survive in Attica. The slavers would see one of their 'lessers' think of himself as more than a mere tool for their advancement and luxury and hang him for the temerity. So he decided to go west.
And in the west he preached. He preached the good word of Marx and Engels in the face of oppression and starvation.
In the hinterlands northeast of Delphi is where Caniseus would stop and begin to lay his roots. He used his rifle sparingly, he went from village to village, in some places met with scorn, the poor folk scared of the retribution of the American Spartans. He spit when he thought of them, at least they named themselves accurately, even if it was disdainfully self-aggrandizing. They wouldn't name themselves Confederates after all, that would be too on the nose.
He had memorized his speech, when he was allowed to give one. "Comrades! Come rally!" He enjoyed that line, taken from the internationale, it was an excellent call to gather. "Look around you, look at yourselves! Do you see the state you live in? You and your children starve, and you languish! Toiling away for masters who steal your land, your crops, your very livelihood so that they may live in halls of decadence! Do you not boil with anger at this injustice? Do you not wish to strike back against the boot on your neck?" At this point they would ask what he would have them do. The Americans would kill them, they can't fight when they're starving. Or perhaps they would cheer, hearing said what they're all thinking, it didn't matter. "You have heard what happens to the people who rightfully rise up against you ungrateful masters! You worry, like an abused dog at a bone, at whether it is worth it to bite the hand that beats you, or to starve silently as it crushes down like a stone upon you, but comrades, there is a third option!" That always brings them up short, they see themselves wasting away and see but two options, fight or die. But there is a third, there is always a third.
"Organize!" Caniseus shouts, "You, comrades, are not alone! Join together under the noses of the haughty slavers, who expect you to be cowed and beaten! Men, you who don't have families any more, who have had them taken from you by starvation, join us, the Red Lions! We fight so that you may never have masters ever again! So that the men who made you slaves may never again walk upon the earth, and the Harvest you Sow is one You Yourself may Reap! No Masters, No Slaves, Only Brothers!"
He had made a band of angry men with his speeches, and had gathered a network of safe villages to refuge in, and in return, after ambushing small tax caravans to steal food and weapons, his rifle, a godsend, had set up a sizable rebel camp. He gave back food to the villages, not too much, just enough to feed it so that it couldn't be taxed again, or the village decimated. And along with the food he spread a message of a better world, one where this will never have to happen again.
A Socialist world, where Brother may share freely the Harvest he Sows!
But then that Minister of the Red Lion caught the priests trying to poison her fellows, to stop their liberation, because they couldn't handle their cattle being lifted up above their station. They wanted to hoard their knowledge, so when the council announced their classes to teach their writing, of course Caniseus joined. Mostly out of spite.
But then Caniseus learned. He learned how to read his own language, then he learned the horrid and complex language the Americans spoke, English. He read the horrid and complex theories and philosophy of Karl Marx and his friend Engels, and he understood their anger, why they were upset at these capitalists even as his eyes glazed over at the thought of… linen. It was the same anger he held at the priests and the wanax, who forced him to toil for his life, and gave nothing back but orders!
And he learned the horrid and complex history of mankind. To think, for four thousand years men had toiled, in one form or another, for one reason or another, not for themselves but for rulers who thought they deserved more, just because they could tell people what to do with force. Because they thought themselves better, and had hoarded the means and power to enforce it!
It filled him with righteous fury as much as jubilation! Because now the toilers of the world have the means to set things right before they will ever go wrong!
That's why he set his eyes to the north, because even in the past the Americans are weighed down by their future. They remember a time where they ruled, a vast empire of steel and violence built off the backs of those like him. And to the north there were slavers, deserving of divine and righteous punishment! So he packed his bags with food, and stole a rifle with ball and powder, and set himself north.
But when he snuck past the border, evading arrogant soldiers and beleaguered thralls, he was unprepared. He had read of the cruelties of slavery in the old land of Dixie, and the rank vitriol of racism, but he had despaired when he saw its true desires. As he traveled he stuck out like a sore thumb, not just because of his rifle, which he did his very best to hide from patrols. His cheeks were full, where father's were hollow in their futile efforts to feed their children. He held his head high and proud with subconscious confidence while men walked with a hunch, as if the land itself had a weight pressed upon their backs.
Seeing this he knew he'd never survive in Attica. The slavers would see one of their 'lessers' think of himself as more than a mere tool for their advancement and luxury and hang him for the temerity. So he decided to go west.
And in the west he preached. He preached the good word of Marx and Engels in the face of oppression and starvation.
In the hinterlands northeast of Delphi is where Caniseus would stop and begin to lay his roots. He used his rifle sparingly, he went from village to village, in some places met with scorn, the poor folk scared of the retribution of the American Spartans. He spit when he thought of them, at least they named themselves accurately, even if it was disdainfully self-aggrandizing. They wouldn't name themselves Confederates after all, that would be too on the nose.
He had memorized his speech, when he was allowed to give one. "Comrades! Come rally!" He enjoyed that line, taken from the internationale, it was an excellent call to gather. "Look around you, look at yourselves! Do you see the state you live in? You and your children starve, and you languish! Toiling away for masters who steal your land, your crops, your very livelihood so that they may live in halls of decadence! Do you not boil with anger at this injustice? Do you not wish to strike back against the boot on your neck?" At this point they would ask what he would have them do. The Americans would kill them, they can't fight when they're starving. Or perhaps they would cheer, hearing said what they're all thinking, it didn't matter. "You have heard what happens to the people who rightfully rise up against you ungrateful masters! You worry, like an abused dog at a bone, at whether it is worth it to bite the hand that beats you, or to starve silently as it crushes down like a stone upon you, but comrades, there is a third option!" That always brings them up short, they see themselves wasting away and see but two options, fight or die. But there is a third, there is always a third.
"Organize!" Caniseus shouts, "You, comrades, are not alone! Join together under the noses of the haughty slavers, who expect you to be cowed and beaten! Men, you who don't have families any more, who have had them taken from you by starvation, join us, the Red Lions! We fight so that you may never have masters ever again! So that the men who made you slaves may never again walk upon the earth, and the Harvest you Sow is one You Yourself may Reap! No Masters, No Slaves, Only Brothers!"
He had made a band of angry men with his speeches, and had gathered a network of safe villages to refuge in, and in return, after ambushing small tax caravans to steal food and weapons, his rifle, a godsend, had set up a sizable rebel camp. He gave back food to the villages, not too much, just enough to feed it so that it couldn't be taxed again, or the village decimated. And along with the food he spread a message of a better world, one where this will never have to happen again.
A Socialist world, where Brother may share freely the Harvest he Sows!
Cannon Omake: Creation of the PCDC
- Pronouns
- he/him
Abby really liked her job. Sure she'd rather be in a little village helping some poor folks with their cattle, but she'd settle for helping teach people basic nursing certifications. But that's what happens when you're a vet in the apocalypse, she'd learned that from zombie movies. You're not going to be near a hospital, so you won't die to zombies first.
Though, there were no zombies in this apocalypse. Instead it was just humans doing their human thing, fighting for survival just like any other animal…
But she didn't like to think about that. She left that behind in Anatolia, so there was no use dwelling on it.
Now she was a nurse, knowing more about how to help someone injured survive than the next hundred nearest people! Other than Ms. Tyler, of course. She actually went to medical school. So, sure Abigail knew more about how to treat an egg-bound chicken better than she did delivering a pregnant woman, but that just meant the farmers she taught paid more attention when she told them the curriculum!
She was in the middle of teaching a class how to clean, dress, and disinfect a wound when a commissar walked in. Well, he wasn't really a commissar, because that wasn't his job title, he was an administrative liaison, and he doesn't do things like shoot people for thinking the wrong things. If the Republic had had that sort of thing Abby wouldn't have convinced her family to move here.
He walked in with a grave look on his face, "Comrade Abigail Harrison? You're required at the ministry, there's an emergency." Abby paled. It's never a good thing when the government wants you, and it's even worse when they want you during an emergency! At least there aren't any guards, so she knows she hadn't done anything wrong, or was being arrested.
"Ok!" Abby clapped her hands together and turned to the class with a fake smile. "Well, I guess that's the end of it today! See you tomorrow, maybe!" She gathered up her things and haphazardly shoved them into her filing cabinet, then rushed to follow after the ministry guy.
She followed after him with hurried footsteps. She'd really like to ask him what's going on and why it needs her help, but he's walking just fast enough that she can't really spare the breath to speak.
When they get to the ministry building, the converted old palace of the wanax, she's rushed into a room with a table surrounded by the twenty figures of the Council of the People's Republic of Mycenaea hunched over, the American councilors spreading their obvious worry through the Mycenaean members. She stood with nearly a dozen other Americans all glancing at each other wondering what they did to get summoned before the Council. She recognized most of the other people standing there as fellow Americans with actual medical experience.
Which had her understandably worried. She racked her brain for what sort of emergency needed this many medical professionals. But as she stood there, silently gnawing at her nails, a bad habit she knew, the last few people streamed in with their personal liaisons, including Ms. Tyler.
Chairwoman Sophie Shaw stood and clapped twice, bringing the quiet murmurings to a hush. She looked at the group of the Republic's best medical professionals with grim severity. "Citizens, I'm sure that you're all wondering what you've been called here for. What sort of emergency requires you to be called from your classes and lives before this body." Abby and her fellows looked at each other with uncertainty and nodded.
Shaw took a deep breath, "We have just received reports of smallpox appearing in Babylon."
Oh. Oh, shit.
The gaggle of doctors were stunned before a susurrus started to crescendo, panic briefly taking hold before Chairwoman Shaw called for order. "Quiet!" she shouted, "all of you are the best medical minds he have." Abby was screaming internally, she was completely unprepared, fuck she wasn't even vaccinated for smallpox! It was wiped out! Where'd it even come from!? She was one of the best medical minds of the Republic!? "As such you are hereby the leading committee of the People's Commission for Disease Control. Your first task is to create a working plan in conjunction with Deputy of Chemical Industry Natasha Tyler for the full vaccination or inoculation of the population of the Popular Republic of Mycenaea. You are going to be given full material support to ensure this plague cannot and will not take root. You may vote amongst yourselves your leader. Good luck to you, and may you triumph for the people. Dismissed."
That was it!? Fuck!
Though, there were no zombies in this apocalypse. Instead it was just humans doing their human thing, fighting for survival just like any other animal…
But she didn't like to think about that. She left that behind in Anatolia, so there was no use dwelling on it.
Now she was a nurse, knowing more about how to help someone injured survive than the next hundred nearest people! Other than Ms. Tyler, of course. She actually went to medical school. So, sure Abigail knew more about how to treat an egg-bound chicken better than she did delivering a pregnant woman, but that just meant the farmers she taught paid more attention when she told them the curriculum!
She was in the middle of teaching a class how to clean, dress, and disinfect a wound when a commissar walked in. Well, he wasn't really a commissar, because that wasn't his job title, he was an administrative liaison, and he doesn't do things like shoot people for thinking the wrong things. If the Republic had had that sort of thing Abby wouldn't have convinced her family to move here.
He walked in with a grave look on his face, "Comrade Abigail Harrison? You're required at the ministry, there's an emergency." Abby paled. It's never a good thing when the government wants you, and it's even worse when they want you during an emergency! At least there aren't any guards, so she knows she hadn't done anything wrong, or was being arrested.
"Ok!" Abby clapped her hands together and turned to the class with a fake smile. "Well, I guess that's the end of it today! See you tomorrow, maybe!" She gathered up her things and haphazardly shoved them into her filing cabinet, then rushed to follow after the ministry guy.
She followed after him with hurried footsteps. She'd really like to ask him what's going on and why it needs her help, but he's walking just fast enough that she can't really spare the breath to speak.
When they get to the ministry building, the converted old palace of the wanax, she's rushed into a room with a table surrounded by the twenty figures of the Council of the People's Republic of Mycenaea hunched over, the American councilors spreading their obvious worry through the Mycenaean members. She stood with nearly a dozen other Americans all glancing at each other wondering what they did to get summoned before the Council. She recognized most of the other people standing there as fellow Americans with actual medical experience.
Which had her understandably worried. She racked her brain for what sort of emergency needed this many medical professionals. But as she stood there, silently gnawing at her nails, a bad habit she knew, the last few people streamed in with their personal liaisons, including Ms. Tyler.
Chairwoman Sophie Shaw stood and clapped twice, bringing the quiet murmurings to a hush. She looked at the group of the Republic's best medical professionals with grim severity. "Citizens, I'm sure that you're all wondering what you've been called here for. What sort of emergency requires you to be called from your classes and lives before this body." Abby and her fellows looked at each other with uncertainty and nodded.
Shaw took a deep breath, "We have just received reports of smallpox appearing in Babylon."
Oh. Oh, shit.
The gaggle of doctors were stunned before a susurrus started to crescendo, panic briefly taking hold before Chairwoman Shaw called for order. "Quiet!" she shouted, "all of you are the best medical minds he have." Abby was screaming internally, she was completely unprepared, fuck she wasn't even vaccinated for smallpox! It was wiped out! Where'd it even come from!? She was one of the best medical minds of the Republic!? "As such you are hereby the leading committee of the People's Commission for Disease Control. Your first task is to create a working plan in conjunction with Deputy of Chemical Industry Natasha Tyler for the full vaccination or inoculation of the population of the Popular Republic of Mycenaea. You are going to be given full material support to ensure this plague cannot and will not take root. You may vote amongst yourselves your leader. Good luck to you, and may you triumph for the people. Dismissed."
That was it!? Fuck!
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Cannon Omake: Total War: Age of Rust: Sicilian Rebellion Units
Chimeraguard
We do deserve to exist.
Total War: Age of Rust: Sicilian Rebellion Units
Dual Kingdom of Crete & Mycenae
Hoplites
Though not the Hoplites of Uptime history, these men and women will still carry the tradition of citizen-soldiers with pride.
The rank and file soldiers of the Dual Kingdom's were nicknamed hoplites, and like most armies of the era, were primarily composed of levied conscripts rather than full-time professional soldiers, owing to the need to avoid completely depleting the labor pool of the nation's workforce. The equipment of the Hoplite constantly changed as Crete's technological level advanced, but at the time of the Sicilian Rebellion, the vast majority of Hoplites were armed with either matchlock or flintlock muskets, with small contingents using blackpowder shotguns to drive off enemy shock troops that got too close.
By late 11 AE when the rebellion began, many Hoplites had been stationed in garrisons and smaller battalions across Sicily, ensuring the compliance of the recently conquered population and mopping up the few remaining holdouts of resistance. Despite this, few were at all prepared for the sheer size of the uprising, and such isolated units often had to fight for their lives until reinforcements from the homeland could relieve them. In this at least, they were well-equipped to do so, laying into their Sicilian opponents with volley after volley of drilled gunfire.
Hoplite Pikemen
A rapidly aging class of warrior, the pikeman still finds use in keeping the rampaging horde away from the musketeers.
The other half of Crete's Pike and Shot formations, Hoplite Pikemen trade muskets for iron armor and long pikes, meant to keep enemy combatants away from their more vulnerable comrades who make up the bulk of the army. As muskets quality improved and bayonets proliferated, the pikeman became superfluous, leading to their eventual phasing out. Sicily would be the pikeman's final campaign as part of the Cretan army, as the expectation was that there would be a great many enraged enemy melee combatants to be kept at bay.
Palermo Warriors
The warriors of the only loyal Vassal Kingdom, ready to fight to preserve Crete's rule.
Of the three Vassal Kingdoms Crete formed to rule most of the island in its stead, only the Kingdom of Palermo, the westernmost one, remained loyal to the Dual Kingdom during the rebellion. Even it was not immune to unrest, with large-scale peasant uprisings and numerous defections even amongst its warriors, but the King and enough of the nobility remained loyal. Those remaining loyalist warriors were the few Sicilians fighting on the Dual Kingdom's side, and along with the local Cretan garrisons in the west, fought a desperate battle for survival against rebels both within the kingdom's borders and without.
Cretan Mortars
Powerful but unstable, Cretan mortars are the perfect avatars of their creator.
While Crete's artillery park, the personal creation of Yun Shi-Eun, includes cannons just like most other Age of Rust militaries, it has also housed a number of mortars, even before gunpowder weapons became ubiquitous across its ranks. Using a mix of pre-event explosives and black powder shells, mortars were devastating against enemy formations or plunging fire over walls, but they were also very unstable, and poorly handled could be more of a threat to their crews and the surrounding soldiers than the enemy. Nevertheless, the firepower they brought has made them worth the risk in the minds of most Cretan military leaders.
Cretan Balloons
Though unarmed and defenseless, a scouting balloon can provide a general with information worth thousands of riflemen.
Hot Air Balloons are a recent addition to the Cretan military, having only just been introduced when the Conquest of Sicily began in 10 AE. Though lacking any real offensive capabilities and effectively static due to needing to be tethered to the ground, the balloons provided a vital aerial reconnaissance element to Cretan armies, spotting opponents from far beyond what any ground-based scouting element could hope to cover. Such balloons also proved an effective psychological warfare device against the local tribesmen, to whom it must have seemed that they were facing an enemy who ruled over the very sky.
Sicilians
Mob
Starvation and hatred can drive the mob to surprising heights, so long as the chance exists to strike back against their tormentors.
The vast majority of the rebel Sicilians were not warriors, but instead hungry and angry civilians who assembled into mobs such as these for the purpose of venting their fury on their occupiers. Lacking anything even remotely resembling military training and armed with farming tools and other improvised weapons, such mobs could prove surprisingly dangerous in the right circumstances, as many Cretans fatally discovered in the early stages of the rebellion. Most notorious was the Great Riot of Syracuse, where thousands of enraged laborers massacred most of the Cretan population, including the priestess assigned to administrate Sicily. The few survivors, including the local military garrison, were forced to barricade themselves in the half-completed palace and await rescue by the main Cretan army before the city could be reclaimed.
Sicilian Axemen
Axes, regardless of material, are always useful for carving through flesh and bone.
Outside of the most elite, pre-Event Sicilian warriors were largely equipped with stone weapons, the most well-known of which were axes made from either basalt or greenstone. The wielders of these weapons were not full-time soldiers, but rather levies drawn from the workforce of local villages and towns. During the initial Conquest, the extended period in which these warriors were levied was one of the factors that resulted in the Sicilian Famine, as many who should have been farming were instead fighting and dying against the Cretan army. Ironically, it was the same famine that would see units of axemen be mustered again in rebellion against Crete. While these men couldn't hope to face Cretan Hoplites on anything even remotely resembling an open battle, in the cases where numbers, terrain, ambush tactics, or simple good luck allowed them to get close, these levied warriors could still exact a bloody toll on their enemies.
Slingers
Humble pieces of rock become instruments of bloody murder with a good sling.
Though the sling has always been both a tool for hunting and weapon of war since the stone age, it became particularly popular in Sicily during the Sicilian Famine, where thousands took to using crude slings to hunt game in hopes of supplementing the poor harvest. When the famine escalated into open rebellion, many of these amateur slingers turned to hunting Cretans instead, hurling munitions ranging from simple stones to lead projectiles fashioned from stolen musket bullets, preferably from the cover of an ambush. Over the years and generations that followed, the sling would become one of the iconic weapons of Sicilian resistance against Crete, with the weapon's construction and usage becoming increasingly refined among the Sicilian population, going from amateur hurlers with crude tools to skilled hunters with well-crafted weapons. Slinger attacks became so endemic that there were even suggestions that any Sicilian found in possession of a sling should be imprisoned as a suspected enemy combatant, though such policies were never implemented due to the equally vast proliferation of the sling as a hunting tool.
Royal Guards
Once loyalists to Crete, the warriors of the Vassal Kingdoms now fight to drive their island's occupier back into the sea.
When Crete formed its Sicilian three Vassal Kingdoms, it also took the opportunity to offload a good amount of outdated military surplus from the Achaean campaign to arm them, primarily consisting of iron polearms, hand weapons, and armor, along with crossbows for ranged weapons. Such wargear was far superior to anything Sicily had before, but primitive enough to not pose too much of a threat to Crete in case of a revolt. The warriors formed the full-time professional portion of the Vassal Kingdom armies, and of the roughly thousand such soldiers, over three-quarters of them became part of the rebel forces. Though by design still no match for the full might of the Cretan army, they were quite capable of defeating their loyalist peers and overrunning isolated garrisons, particularly when supported by a large enough throng of levies and tribesmen.
Sicilian Guerillas
A complete inability to defeat your enemy in a fair fight is merely an incentive to never offer one.
Even before the Sicilian Rebellion began, holdouts against Cretan rule remained even after the conquest was declared over, stubbornly refusing to accept defeat. As the revolts escalated, these veterans became rallying points for other rebel tribesmen. Unable to face Crete in open combat, they took to guerilla tactics, striking from the cover of forests and hilltops with bows, slings, and traps, or attacking during the rain when Cretan guns wouldn't fire. Most present within the hills and mountains of the Sicilian interior, guerilla fighters would continue to be a constant nuisance for Crete well after the rebellion was put down, with the inland sulfur mines being a particular target for harassment.
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Turn 6 (11AE Trimester 3): Producers, Let Us Save Ourselves Results
Turn 6 (11AE Trimester 3): Producers, Let Us Save Ourselves Results
250+5+5+15+10 Trade=285 Resources Per Turn, 45 In Storage
59+5+5-5-15=49 Political Support
Mycenae, 11 AE
The past few months have been extremely eventful. Crop yields have been low, as expected following the recent drought. While we are likely to survive it without any significant starvation, other states have been far less lucky. This has led to considerable unrest across the Mediterranean. Many of the Sicilian territories recently conquered by Crete have risen up in rebellion, although due to their complete lack of modern weapons this is expected to be suppressed. In the USAF Northern Command, an attempted coup by a group of revolutionary officers and enlisted failed to seize control of the entire government but did manage to gain the allegiance of several units as well as much of the civilian American and downtimer population. The country is now embroiled in an extremely intense civil war, with reports of massive amounts of irreplaceable Uptime materials being expended as well as massacres of those accused of supporting the enemy. We have managed to contact a few representatives of the rebels, calling themselves the New Pueblo Revolutionary Army, and while we are unable to give them much material assistance as of right now we have begun sharing intelligence with them.
However, the largest and most bizarre development to happen abroad occurred in the New American Republic and New Washington. A cult led by a teenager claiming to be the younger brother of Jesus, the Vanguards of Christ, has somehow managed to gain the support of large numbers of both Americans and Downtimers in much of Anatolia. While tensions between the Vanguards of Christ and the governments of both the NAR and New Washington have been building for years, a fight between a senator and the boy's sister in the capital of the New American Republic brought things to a head. The Vanguards of Christ have taken the capital, Globe, which has been renamed back to Sfard, and also much of the countryside, although much of the NAR's military is still loyal to a new government based out of Metropolis led by Dean Baker.
The situation was further complicated by New Washington. The recent elections were extremely contentious following repeated failures by the government, such as the loss of Malta. Votes were roughly evenly split between the social-democratic Labor Coalition, the neoliberal Progressives, conservative Republicans, and the Conservative Bloc, a coalition of various religious extremist and fascist groups. Claiming that the votes were illegitimate, the Conservative Bloc attempted a coup which was swiftly defeated in the capital, but supported by some segments of the army and planter class who believed that the Labor Coalition were far more radical than they actually are. Believing that the Vanguardist Christians would be a useful support base, they declared loyalty to the prophet and his new state, Christ's Kingdom on Earth. This promptly backfired on many of the planters, as the cult is apparently fairly progressive to those who believe in it and strongly opposes the enslavement of those it defines as Christians. This led to widespread lynchings of planters and other elites in areas outside of government control by their Vanguardist Christian slaves and workers, with most of the defecting army units refusing to step in, either out of fear, solidarity with their fellow cultists, allegiance to the various fascist ideologies claiming that Indo-European Downtimers are more admirable than "degenerate" American elites, simple hunger for power in this new state, or a combination of the above.
While war has consumed much of Anatolia, there is a far larger threat that promises to consume the entire world. For the past few months, there have been rumors of a new and deadly disease spreading in southern Babylonia. One of the king's advisors in Babylon itself managed to deduce that this is nothing other than smallpox, and its advance shows no signs of stopping, with recent reports of it killing the king of Assyria right after he completed a successful campaign against tribes to the north, as well as hundreds of thousands of unknown and unnamed workers and peasants who their government cares far less about.
While smallpox is one of the most destructive diseases in human history, it is fortunately fairly easy to protect against. Cowpox is fortunately fairly widespread among cows in the Republic, and vaccination via pricking the skin with a needle coated in a mixture of cowpox-containing pus and glycerin is a fairly safe, effective, and cheap method of inoculation. Preventing the disease from killing our population is now the highest priority of the government, and a commission for disease prevention has been convened with extraordinary powers to deal with the pandemic as they see fit.
Vote By Plan:
[]Immediate Vaccine Rollout: While some may want to wait longer for workers to be trained in basic medicine, the fact remains that mixing pus and glycerin, dipping a needle in the mixture, and stabbing someone with said needle is not very hard. While throwing all available resources at vaccination as soon as possible may have negative economic effects, those pale in comparison to a quarter of our population being killed by a preventable disease. (-20 Resources next turn, Smallpox Vaccinations (Stage 1) Complete)
[]Quarantine: While it will spread to our territory eventually, we can buy time by reducing our contacts with foreign traders. Shutting our ports to anyone from abroad, save a few diplomats and other exceptions that will instead be quarantined, may give us the time we need to make the outbreak merely catastrophic instead of apocalyptic. (No RPT from trade + additional -10 RPT until quarantine lifted)
[]Harsh Quarantine: While the moderate quarantine proposed is a good start, it is still unacceptably risky. With the deployment of troops to enforce a ban on crossing the border and all unapproved sea travel, contact with the outside world can be reduced yet further. (Requires Quarantine, additional -15 RPT until lifted)
[]Vaccination Verification: The process of inoculation with cowpox creates an open sore, which when healed leaves behind a fairly distinctive scar at the site of inoculation. By having all vaccinations happen at a standard, easily visible location, such as the back of the right hand, it will be easy to know who has and has not been immunized. This will allow for checkpoints to be set up at cities, river crossings, and other heavily trafficked locations to ensure that all citizens have been vaccinated, and forcibly vaccinate anyone who has not on the spot. (-10 Resources per turn until lifted)
[]Vaccination Incentives: While vaccination must be mandatory, giving incentives to the vaccinated will decrease popular backlash and lead to a more effective program. Non-vital factories and workshops can be tasked with producing more consumer goods such as tableware, utensils, and clothing, which will be given to people on vaccination. (Requires Vaccination Verification, -10 RPT until vaccination campaigns are completed)
[]Enforced Compliance: With the recently completed list of addresses, we now know the exact locations where most of the Republic's citizens live. Parts of the People's Army can be mobilized several months before the invasion of New Arizona and sent door to door in every village to ensure that all citizens have been immunized, with trained personnel brought with them to vaccinate anyone who does not have a scar on their right hand. However, this will take a significant amount of labor away from farming, right before the harvest. (Requires Vaccination Verification, -10 RPT until next harvest)
Infrastructure
Derveni-Zapantis Canal: A navigable canal to connect the Gulf of Corinth to the city of Mycenae and the Aegean as a whole will massively decrease the difficulty of transporting goods to our capital. Work has begun on a series of locks, reservoirs, and pumps to enable the movement of small barges between the Derveni and Zapantis rivers, but this requires a vertical climb of close to a hundred meters. However, even with its massive cost, it must be worth it for the Cretans to have built a similar canal. (10 Resources per dice (477+81=558/975), loss of political support if less than 50 progress/turn) (Makes most other projects cheaper) (+25 Political Support on completion) (+25 transport)
Significant progress has been made on the canal, with the reservoir to provide water for the highest locks in the canal complete. Most of the pumping stations have also been completed, and at the current pace of progress it may be complete within two to three years. With the mines at Kópos turning out yet greater amounts of coal which must be sent to Mycenae, this is a welcome sign, as current transportation routes are already beginning to be stretched to the limits.
Port Facilities (Stage 2): While much has been done to improve the state of the Republic's port capability, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Shipbuilding has seen even less progress, with the vast majority of boats currently being built being barely any different to pre-Event designs. This stage will expand the ports of major cities further, build a few new ones at strategic locations, and create a shipyard in Mycenae capable of building ships that are merely centuries instead of millennia out of date. (10 Resources per dice (131+45/200)) (Fishing Fleet, Merchant Marine, and Creation of the Red Navy unlocked on completion) (Nat 1)
While the planned expansions to the Republic's shipping and shipbuilding capacities had been nearly completed, celebrations had to be called off after a fire started in the new shipyards in Mycenae. While the flames were able to be put out before the wider city was threatened, much of what has been built has been destroyed, requiring large amounts of rebuilding to take place before it is functional. As to the fire itself, several theories have been proposed for how it started, ranging from everything from stray sparks to saboteurs.
Heavy Industry
Kópos Coal Mine (Stage 2): While coal mining has begun, the Republic still lacks sufficient fuel for even current levels of consumption, let alone future expansion. The expansion of coal mining is one of the highest priority tasks for the continuation of industrial progress. (10 Resources per dice (0+185/175)) (Complete) (Stage 3 (10/250)) (Kópos Planned City unlocked) (+5 Resources per turn)
Coal production has increased yet further due to the toil and sacrifice of the workers. Every day, over a kiloton of fuel is ripped from the earth, ready to feed the constantly expanding forges and furnaces that are pushing the red tide ever further forwards. While the mass adoption of explosives has increased attrition per day, the corresponding increases in productivity have caused casualties per ton to actually decrease over mining with hand tools alone when combined with better training and equipment. Housing has also become an issue, with log cabins no longer being sufficient for the thousands of miners and their families.
Bessemer Converter Experiments: While it is far more complex and expensive compared to puddling furnaces, the Bessemer process has at least an order of magnitude higher throughput, and produces steel instead of wrought iron. An experimental converter will be built in the Thríambos ironworks, where if all goes well it will have ready access to molten pig iron for conversion into steel. (20 Resources per dice (0+31/50)) (Possible +5 Political Support on completion)
While progress has been made on the construction of a converter, it has not yet born fruit. Consistent issues have arisen with the ability of the structure to handle being filled with several tons of molten pig iron, nearly causing catastrophic failure on several occasions. Progress has been paused in order to test the properties of various refractory materials, with several promising candidates being identified and construction scheduled to resume shortly.
Light Industry
Pulp Mills: With the pulping and bleaching of wood on a mass scale now possible, the possibilities are endless. Planned to be built in Dyme due to the proximity to chemicals and wood, plants for both thermomechanical pulping for uses such as newsprint and sulfite pulping for writing paper and toiletries will be constructed, increasing the Republic's paper production by an order of magnitude in just a few months. (10 Resources per dice (5+137=142/80)) (Complete, +5 Political Support, unlocks Newspapers and Expanded Book Production) (+5 Resources per turn)
Mills for both sulfite and thermomechanical pulp production, and even larger factories for turning the raw pulp into useful products, have been constructed in Dyme, employing over a quarter of the town's entire workforce and drawing in many from the countryside. While production of books, pamphlets, and posters have picked up, far more is used in the many applications of paper that few even thought about before the Event - cardboard boxes, tar paper for construction, and cleaning supplies being just a few of the most important.
Lime and Brick Kilns: With the coming availability of more coal, we can expand the production of bricks and lime. These would be built in every major town, with extra concentration in Mycenae itself and near the Kopos coal mine. (5 Resources per dice (1+49=50/50))
Several large kilns have been built for the production of lime and bricks on previously unknown scales, with some steam machinery being installed for tasks such as mixing clay and crushing limestone. More specialized kilns are also created for the production of pottery, ranging from utilitarian goods like glazed terracotta sewer pipes to faux porcelain, although due to the lack of sufficiently pure kaolin this is actually just stoneware with a white tin glaze.
Chemical Industry
Coal Experiments: Lignite is an absolute dogshit grade of coal, but it is all we have. While previous attempts at coking have universally led to it disintegrating into a powder, it may be possible to either use a binder or briquetting process to prevent that, or figure out how to make use of powdered coke. Coal gas production would also be a huge boon, as it is far easier to use for lighting and heating than bulk lignite, and many of the harmful impurities can be easily removed by scrubbing the gas before use. Both of these would also generate considerable amounts of tar, enabling the bulk production of innumerable organic compounds and tarmac roads. (10 Resources per dice (49/30)) (Complete, quality dice 27) (Basic Organic Synthesis and Portland Cement Experiments unlocked, Thríambos Ironworks (Stage 3) changed)
While lignite still has massive issues, processes have been developed to work around this. Gasification is the simplest of these, as the poor qualities of the coal simply lead to less efficient production of gas with more sulfur-containing contaminants. Some hoped that a method of coking lignite into solid briquettes or chunks could be developed, but this appears to be essentially impossible. Instead, work has focused on making use of the powdered coke that is produced, with experimental furnaces for the production of pig iron using briquettes made of powdered coke, ore, limestone, and small amounts of tar as a binder.
While a few systems making use of these processes have been installed, as of yet they involve but a tiny fraction of the Republic's total coal use. However, even small amounts of coal produce enough organic byproducts to manufacture useful quantities of simple pharmaceuticals from. While none of them will be directly useful in fighting smallpox, the massive reductions in disease transmission and lethality promised by substances like sulfanilamide, aspirin, and DDT means that beginning production is an extremely high priority.
Rubber Production Experiments: While there aren't any rubber trees for thousands of miles away, a few references have been found to dandelions producing a rubber-containing latex, and an experimental program by the Soviet Union to use them to develop a domestic supply of rubber in the 30's. Expectations for labor efficiency and quality of the end product are not high, but even poor quality and expensive rubber would be useful for nearly limitless purposes. (10 Resources per dice (0+9/30))
While the tests needed to establish if we have any useable methods of obtaining rubber are not very difficult or laborious when done in the hands of qualified personnel, those are in short supply. When combined with the refusal of Citizen Grey to let any "rank amateurs" touch any of our actual Uptime chemistry equipment for fear of breaking them, we have been left with a few random Americans with no relevant education or resources besides some half-opaque glass cups and a copy of Wikipedia, who understandably have not accomplished much. However, they at least managed to extract fairly pure seeming latex from harvested dandelions, providing the necessary raw materials for further experiments.
Glass Production (Stage 1): While both quality and quantity are massively limited, the production of items such as bottles, beakers, cups, and small pieces of window glass can finally begin on a significant scale. These will have massive variations in quality and dimensions due to using barely trained glassblowers and essentially no machinery, but it is still far better than nothing. (10 Resources per dice (0+23/75))
Several production halls for glassmaking have begun construction, as well as the furnaces themselves. Developments in coal utilization promise to allow for production to proceed without the need for charcoal as a fuel, but that is still in the future. As of now, there is still much work to be done before production can begin.
Agriculture
Dams (Stage 2): Many more dams can be built to allow for more irrigation of farmland and more consistent flow of rivers through the season. This will benefit not only agriculture, but also transportation and industry. However, despite being fairly simple to construct, they do require very large amounts of soil and rock to be moved. (5 Resources per dice (112+44=156/200))
Construction of dams has restarted after the end of the harvest, with a decent amount of work having been completed. While none on its own is too large, when complete the dozens of dams under construction will significantly increase the Republic's resilience to drought as well as allowing for more irrigation, mills, and canals.
Rural Address Assignment: While most urban buildings have had addresses assigned to them, very few rural structures do. While this will probably not get all of them and be incredibly messy, assigning an address to most rural houses will make everything from mail delivery to taxation to conscription far easier. (5 Resources per dice (0+133/100)) (Complete)
In a truly astonishing effort, with the assistance of the village cadres a majority of dwellings in the Republic now have an assigned address, clearly visible on signs set up in front of the buildings as well as recorded in the mass of papers and spreadsheets that are buried within various bureaucratic buildings. This will make numerous tasks such as taxation, census collection, and ration distribution far easier, as well as allowing for village dwellers to now send and receive mail.
Services
Primary Schools (Stage 2): Previous progress in education has been a great boon, but it is not enough to even theoretically educate a majority of our urban children. After this stage is complete, enough educational capacity will be available to start education outside of major population centers, but for now efforts will continue to be focused on cities. (5 Resources per dice (51+200=251/200)) (Complete, +5 Political Support) (Stage 3 (51/300))
The promise of a glorious future, where every worker shall be more knowledgeable than any Wanax or priest, has enabled the mass construction and staffing of schools throughout the Republic. Classes that now educate a majority of the children of the Republic's cities began after harvest, often in houses or other rooms as the schools themselves were not complete. With much of the task of caring for and feeding children now being done by schools, a significant increase in the amount of women being utilized for non-domestic labor has already been observed. Work has now begun on schoolhouses in some rural villages, although classes there will not begin until next year.
Adult Literacy Campaigns (Stage 3): While progress has been made, there are still many urban citizens who are illiterate. This stage will not totally eliminate illiteracy, but will make it so a solid majority of working-age urban adults will at least be able to write their own names. After this, resources will be shifted to building a more formal education system, as educating people as children will work better than stopgap attempts with adults. (5 Resources per dice (82+98=180/250)) (+5 Political Support upon completion)
Efforts in educating adult workers have expanded further, stretching the educational capacity of the Republic to near its limits. Hundreds of workers now receive certificates of literacy each month, with the total number issued recently exceeding ten thousand. While the struggle against illiteracy may not be won worldwide for centuries yet, within the Republic itself it is going quite well.
Military
Cannon Production (Stage 3): Expansions of the People's Army, as well as the possible creation of an actual navy, require the massive expansion of artillery manufacture. The promised increase in steel production and quality will enable the switchover of 12-cm guns to steel from bronze, increasing their durability and decreasing their cost. (15 Resources per dice (2+57=59/100))
Work on new foundries has restarted after a period of inactivity in preparation for the coming war against the slavers to the north. All new 12-cm guns are now being made with steel instead of bronze, with the bronze formerly used for them now planned to be used to cast a series of truly massive siege bombards.
Infantry Equipment Production: A soldier needs more than just a weapon to fight well. If we want our army to be more than a glorified mob, then issuing everything from uniforms to shovels to backpacks en masse is an absolute necessity. (10 Resources per dice (0+168/75)) (Complete, quality dice 86)
Production of a truly standardized uniform has finally begun. The standard uniform consists of boots and a jacket, red for mass levies and a mixture of green and brown for Guards units, with pants being left to the soldier to provide himself. In a stroke of luck, we were able to obtain several hundred car tires scavenged from Tucson, giving us a sufficient stockpile for each soldier to be given boots with soles made of actual rubber instead of hobnails and leather. In terms of visible gear, they are also issued a standardized backpack, folding shovel, canteen, and Mangalloy helmet. While the helmet itself is insufficient to block even a .22 bullet except at a glancing angle, they are cheap, provide some protection against small fragments and melee blows, and are expected to make our soldiers feel more protected and therefore more aggressive.
Less visible but arguably more important equipment is also being issued en masse. An increase in paper production has allowed for the adoption of paper cartridges, making loading both faster and more precise. Foot wraps, tourniquets, bandages, tincture of iodine, and potassium permanganate tablets for water disinfection are also issued to every soldier, hopefully reducing attrition and irrecoverable casualties in any conflict. Production of all of these goods is proceeding at a high enough pace that every soldier should be provided with a full kit several months before the war is scheduled to start.
Recruit Downtimers To Ministry: Even if they don't have much of a formal education, there are thousands of intelligent, motivated, and literate downtimers in the Republic. These people are capable of doing lower-level administrative work, and will learn more with time. Having more of them in our government will also bring us closer to a true people's democracy. (5 Resources per dice) (Larger effect the more dice are spent) (Increases dice allocation) (40) (+1 Dice to Services)
While many workers were hired by the Ministry, the many other tasks requiring literate workers have sapped the pool of available labor. Furthermore, the recent news of a smallpox epidemic have forced many of them to be reassigned elsewhere shortly after hiring, reducing the gain in capacity even further. However, we still have managed to make at least some progress on the issue.
Diplomatic Efforts: We are currently a very isolated nation, with only limited trade with the Republic of Naxos and miscellaneous smugglers. However, it may be possible to work out trade and fishing agreements with some other states in the Aegean and on the coast of Anatolia, and maybe even the Dual Kingdom of Crete and Mycenae. (DC 10 for Lesbos, 30 for Corfu, 40 for Andros and American Republic of Turkey, 50 for Dual Kingdom, 60 for New Washington, 70 for Emergency Government of New America) (-5 Political Support to attempt) (Max 2 dice) (81) (+10 Resources per turn from trade)
Diplomatic outreach efforts with neighboring states have been surprisingly successful. Recognizing the threat posed by reactionary states such as New Arizona and the Vanguards of Christ, the need to work together against smallpox, and the benefits of trade, diplomatic relations have opened with all targeted states, along with non-aggression pacts. Embassies have begun construction in both Mycenae and their respective capitals in order to ensure a constant line of communication between our states. The announcement of a Cretan embassy has caused some unrest, with few having forgotten their invasion just a few years ago, but demonstrations seem to have started to calm down without any violence breaking out. While trade has already begun to bring in economic benefits, it will likely need to be suspended soon due to the risk of smallpox spreading.
Push for a Preemptive Strike: While a poor harvest will hurt us, it will hurt New Arizona far more. As the People's Army is projected to have a nearly sufficient supply of firearms by next year's harvest, and New Arizona will have yet another year of chaos thanks to famine and the efforts of the SSD, we will be in a good position to liberate the peoples and resources of Attica that cannot be allowed to go to waste. (-15 Political Support, DC 70 for invasion if not taken, DC 25 if taken) (Must be taken this turn) (30/25 passed)
While it faced substantial opposition from moderates, pacifist agrarians, and even some intensificationists, in the end it was agreed that preparations should begin for the liberation of New Arizona after the next harvest. Given the constant string of industrial accidents in the Republic, the current plan is to blame some of those on saboteurs from New Arizona, therefore providing some sort of justification for the invasion to those abroad. The optimal strategy is still being debated, with some favoring focusing the entire army on Attica and the main enemy army while others propose sending small detachments to peripheral areas such as Euboea and Aetolia in order to secure them early in the war, with a smaller but still quite large army tasked with taking Attica.
Current Economic Issues:
Transportation: Severe bottlenecks
Fuel: Surplus
Iron: Sufficient, demand rapidly increasing
Copper: Slight deficit
Wood: Sufficient
Construction Materials: Lime and bricks sufficient, sufficient lumber
Food: Likely sufficient for next year, even with poor harvest
Cloth: Sufficient
Rural labor (varies by season): Essentially infinite after October
Urban labor: Sufficient
Literate workers: Sufficient
HS educated workers: Sufficient
16 Hour Moratorium
250+5+5+15+10 Trade=285 Resources Per Turn, 45 In Storage
59+5+5-5-15=49 Political Support
Mycenae, 11 AE
The past few months have been extremely eventful. Crop yields have been low, as expected following the recent drought. While we are likely to survive it without any significant starvation, other states have been far less lucky. This has led to considerable unrest across the Mediterranean. Many of the Sicilian territories recently conquered by Crete have risen up in rebellion, although due to their complete lack of modern weapons this is expected to be suppressed. In the USAF Northern Command, an attempted coup by a group of revolutionary officers and enlisted failed to seize control of the entire government but did manage to gain the allegiance of several units as well as much of the civilian American and downtimer population. The country is now embroiled in an extremely intense civil war, with reports of massive amounts of irreplaceable Uptime materials being expended as well as massacres of those accused of supporting the enemy. We have managed to contact a few representatives of the rebels, calling themselves the New Pueblo Revolutionary Army, and while we are unable to give them much material assistance as of right now we have begun sharing intelligence with them.
However, the largest and most bizarre development to happen abroad occurred in the New American Republic and New Washington. A cult led by a teenager claiming to be the younger brother of Jesus, the Vanguards of Christ, has somehow managed to gain the support of large numbers of both Americans and Downtimers in much of Anatolia. While tensions between the Vanguards of Christ and the governments of both the NAR and New Washington have been building for years, a fight between a senator and the boy's sister in the capital of the New American Republic brought things to a head. The Vanguards of Christ have taken the capital, Globe, which has been renamed back to Sfard, and also much of the countryside, although much of the NAR's military is still loyal to a new government based out of Metropolis led by Dean Baker.
The situation was further complicated by New Washington. The recent elections were extremely contentious following repeated failures by the government, such as the loss of Malta. Votes were roughly evenly split between the social-democratic Labor Coalition, the neoliberal Progressives, conservative Republicans, and the Conservative Bloc, a coalition of various religious extremist and fascist groups. Claiming that the votes were illegitimate, the Conservative Bloc attempted a coup which was swiftly defeated in the capital, but supported by some segments of the army and planter class who believed that the Labor Coalition were far more radical than they actually are. Believing that the Vanguardist Christians would be a useful support base, they declared loyalty to the prophet and his new state, Christ's Kingdom on Earth. This promptly backfired on many of the planters, as the cult is apparently fairly progressive to those who believe in it and strongly opposes the enslavement of those it defines as Christians. This led to widespread lynchings of planters and other elites in areas outside of government control by their Vanguardist Christian slaves and workers, with most of the defecting army units refusing to step in, either out of fear, solidarity with their fellow cultists, allegiance to the various fascist ideologies claiming that Indo-European Downtimers are more admirable than "degenerate" American elites, simple hunger for power in this new state, or a combination of the above.
While war has consumed much of Anatolia, there is a far larger threat that promises to consume the entire world. For the past few months, there have been rumors of a new and deadly disease spreading in southern Babylonia. One of the king's advisors in Babylon itself managed to deduce that this is nothing other than smallpox, and its advance shows no signs of stopping, with recent reports of it killing the king of Assyria right after he completed a successful campaign against tribes to the north, as well as hundreds of thousands of unknown and unnamed workers and peasants who their government cares far less about.
While smallpox is one of the most destructive diseases in human history, it is fortunately fairly easy to protect against. Cowpox is fortunately fairly widespread among cows in the Republic, and vaccination via pricking the skin with a needle coated in a mixture of cowpox-containing pus and glycerin is a fairly safe, effective, and cheap method of inoculation. Preventing the disease from killing our population is now the highest priority of the government, and a commission for disease prevention has been convened with extraordinary powers to deal with the pandemic as they see fit.
Vote By Plan:
[]Immediate Vaccine Rollout: While some may want to wait longer for workers to be trained in basic medicine, the fact remains that mixing pus and glycerin, dipping a needle in the mixture, and stabbing someone with said needle is not very hard. While throwing all available resources at vaccination as soon as possible may have negative economic effects, those pale in comparison to a quarter of our population being killed by a preventable disease. (-20 Resources next turn, Smallpox Vaccinations (Stage 1) Complete)
[]Quarantine: While it will spread to our territory eventually, we can buy time by reducing our contacts with foreign traders. Shutting our ports to anyone from abroad, save a few diplomats and other exceptions that will instead be quarantined, may give us the time we need to make the outbreak merely catastrophic instead of apocalyptic. (No RPT from trade + additional -10 RPT until quarantine lifted)
[]Harsh Quarantine: While the moderate quarantine proposed is a good start, it is still unacceptably risky. With the deployment of troops to enforce a ban on crossing the border and all unapproved sea travel, contact with the outside world can be reduced yet further. (Requires Quarantine, additional -15 RPT until lifted)
[]Vaccination Verification: The process of inoculation with cowpox creates an open sore, which when healed leaves behind a fairly distinctive scar at the site of inoculation. By having all vaccinations happen at a standard, easily visible location, such as the back of the right hand, it will be easy to know who has and has not been immunized. This will allow for checkpoints to be set up at cities, river crossings, and other heavily trafficked locations to ensure that all citizens have been vaccinated, and forcibly vaccinate anyone who has not on the spot. (-10 Resources per turn until lifted)
[]Vaccination Incentives: While vaccination must be mandatory, giving incentives to the vaccinated will decrease popular backlash and lead to a more effective program. Non-vital factories and workshops can be tasked with producing more consumer goods such as tableware, utensils, and clothing, which will be given to people on vaccination. (Requires Vaccination Verification, -10 RPT until vaccination campaigns are completed)
[]Enforced Compliance: With the recently completed list of addresses, we now know the exact locations where most of the Republic's citizens live. Parts of the People's Army can be mobilized several months before the invasion of New Arizona and sent door to door in every village to ensure that all citizens have been immunized, with trained personnel brought with them to vaccinate anyone who does not have a scar on their right hand. However, this will take a significant amount of labor away from farming, right before the harvest. (Requires Vaccination Verification, -10 RPT until next harvest)
Infrastructure
Derveni-Zapantis Canal: A navigable canal to connect the Gulf of Corinth to the city of Mycenae and the Aegean as a whole will massively decrease the difficulty of transporting goods to our capital. Work has begun on a series of locks, reservoirs, and pumps to enable the movement of small barges between the Derveni and Zapantis rivers, but this requires a vertical climb of close to a hundred meters. However, even with its massive cost, it must be worth it for the Cretans to have built a similar canal. (10 Resources per dice (477+81=558/975), loss of political support if less than 50 progress/turn) (Makes most other projects cheaper) (+25 Political Support on completion) (+25 transport)
Significant progress has been made on the canal, with the reservoir to provide water for the highest locks in the canal complete. Most of the pumping stations have also been completed, and at the current pace of progress it may be complete within two to three years. With the mines at Kópos turning out yet greater amounts of coal which must be sent to Mycenae, this is a welcome sign, as current transportation routes are already beginning to be stretched to the limits.
Port Facilities (Stage 2): While much has been done to improve the state of the Republic's port capability, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Shipbuilding has seen even less progress, with the vast majority of boats currently being built being barely any different to pre-Event designs. This stage will expand the ports of major cities further, build a few new ones at strategic locations, and create a shipyard in Mycenae capable of building ships that are merely centuries instead of millennia out of date. (10 Resources per dice (131+45/200)) (Fishing Fleet, Merchant Marine, and Creation of the Red Navy unlocked on completion) (Nat 1)
While the planned expansions to the Republic's shipping and shipbuilding capacities had been nearly completed, celebrations had to be called off after a fire started in the new shipyards in Mycenae. While the flames were able to be put out before the wider city was threatened, much of what has been built has been destroyed, requiring large amounts of rebuilding to take place before it is functional. As to the fire itself, several theories have been proposed for how it started, ranging from everything from stray sparks to saboteurs.
Heavy Industry
Kópos Coal Mine (Stage 2): While coal mining has begun, the Republic still lacks sufficient fuel for even current levels of consumption, let alone future expansion. The expansion of coal mining is one of the highest priority tasks for the continuation of industrial progress. (10 Resources per dice (0+185/175)) (Complete) (Stage 3 (10/250)) (Kópos Planned City unlocked) (+5 Resources per turn)
Coal production has increased yet further due to the toil and sacrifice of the workers. Every day, over a kiloton of fuel is ripped from the earth, ready to feed the constantly expanding forges and furnaces that are pushing the red tide ever further forwards. While the mass adoption of explosives has increased attrition per day, the corresponding increases in productivity have caused casualties per ton to actually decrease over mining with hand tools alone when combined with better training and equipment. Housing has also become an issue, with log cabins no longer being sufficient for the thousands of miners and their families.
Bessemer Converter Experiments: While it is far more complex and expensive compared to puddling furnaces, the Bessemer process has at least an order of magnitude higher throughput, and produces steel instead of wrought iron. An experimental converter will be built in the Thríambos ironworks, where if all goes well it will have ready access to molten pig iron for conversion into steel. (20 Resources per dice (0+31/50)) (Possible +5 Political Support on completion)
While progress has been made on the construction of a converter, it has not yet born fruit. Consistent issues have arisen with the ability of the structure to handle being filled with several tons of molten pig iron, nearly causing catastrophic failure on several occasions. Progress has been paused in order to test the properties of various refractory materials, with several promising candidates being identified and construction scheduled to resume shortly.
Light Industry
Pulp Mills: With the pulping and bleaching of wood on a mass scale now possible, the possibilities are endless. Planned to be built in Dyme due to the proximity to chemicals and wood, plants for both thermomechanical pulping for uses such as newsprint and sulfite pulping for writing paper and toiletries will be constructed, increasing the Republic's paper production by an order of magnitude in just a few months. (10 Resources per dice (5+137=142/80)) (Complete, +5 Political Support, unlocks Newspapers and Expanded Book Production) (+5 Resources per turn)
Mills for both sulfite and thermomechanical pulp production, and even larger factories for turning the raw pulp into useful products, have been constructed in Dyme, employing over a quarter of the town's entire workforce and drawing in many from the countryside. While production of books, pamphlets, and posters have picked up, far more is used in the many applications of paper that few even thought about before the Event - cardboard boxes, tar paper for construction, and cleaning supplies being just a few of the most important.
"When I heard the celebration coming from the Ministry headquarters, I thought they had managed to make some new weapon or other wonderous device. Instead, after managing to talk to someone I discovered that the thing which had caused so much excitement was simple toilet paper." - Citizen Wedaneus, clerk
Lime and Brick Kilns: With the coming availability of more coal, we can expand the production of bricks and lime. These would be built in every major town, with extra concentration in Mycenae itself and near the Kopos coal mine. (5 Resources per dice (1+49=50/50))
Several large kilns have been built for the production of lime and bricks on previously unknown scales, with some steam machinery being installed for tasks such as mixing clay and crushing limestone. More specialized kilns are also created for the production of pottery, ranging from utilitarian goods like glazed terracotta sewer pipes to faux porcelain, although due to the lack of sufficiently pure kaolin this is actually just stoneware with a white tin glaze.
"If I hadn't been assigned to this factory I'd be in a tough place right now - who will trade with the village potter when places like this can make better goods with far less labor?" - Poliwos son of Drakokardos, worker
Chemical Industry
Coal Experiments: Lignite is an absolute dogshit grade of coal, but it is all we have. While previous attempts at coking have universally led to it disintegrating into a powder, it may be possible to either use a binder or briquetting process to prevent that, or figure out how to make use of powdered coke. Coal gas production would also be a huge boon, as it is far easier to use for lighting and heating than bulk lignite, and many of the harmful impurities can be easily removed by scrubbing the gas before use. Both of these would also generate considerable amounts of tar, enabling the bulk production of innumerable organic compounds and tarmac roads. (10 Resources per dice (49/30)) (Complete, quality dice 27) (Basic Organic Synthesis and Portland Cement Experiments unlocked, Thríambos Ironworks (Stage 3) changed)
While lignite still has massive issues, processes have been developed to work around this. Gasification is the simplest of these, as the poor qualities of the coal simply lead to less efficient production of gas with more sulfur-containing contaminants. Some hoped that a method of coking lignite into solid briquettes or chunks could be developed, but this appears to be essentially impossible. Instead, work has focused on making use of the powdered coke that is produced, with experimental furnaces for the production of pig iron using briquettes made of powdered coke, ore, limestone, and small amounts of tar as a binder.
While a few systems making use of these processes have been installed, as of yet they involve but a tiny fraction of the Republic's total coal use. However, even small amounts of coal produce enough organic byproducts to manufacture useful quantities of simple pharmaceuticals from. While none of them will be directly useful in fighting smallpox, the massive reductions in disease transmission and lethality promised by substances like sulfanilamide, aspirin, and DDT means that beginning production is an extremely high priority.
Rubber Production Experiments: While there aren't any rubber trees for thousands of miles away, a few references have been found to dandelions producing a rubber-containing latex, and an experimental program by the Soviet Union to use them to develop a domestic supply of rubber in the 30's. Expectations for labor efficiency and quality of the end product are not high, but even poor quality and expensive rubber would be useful for nearly limitless purposes. (10 Resources per dice (0+9/30))
While the tests needed to establish if we have any useable methods of obtaining rubber are not very difficult or laborious when done in the hands of qualified personnel, those are in short supply. When combined with the refusal of Citizen Grey to let any "rank amateurs" touch any of our actual Uptime chemistry equipment for fear of breaking them, we have been left with a few random Americans with no relevant education or resources besides some half-opaque glass cups and a copy of Wikipedia, who understandably have not accomplished much. However, they at least managed to extract fairly pure seeming latex from harvested dandelions, providing the necessary raw materials for further experiments.
"Despite being shoved into a "lab" that would make a meth cook run in terror and given no help whatsoever, we managed to not only kill ourselves but actually make some progress. And yet that bitch Grey still refuses to let us touch her precious beakers." - Nicholas Simon, former marketing student
Glass Production (Stage 1): While both quality and quantity are massively limited, the production of items such as bottles, beakers, cups, and small pieces of window glass can finally begin on a significant scale. These will have massive variations in quality and dimensions due to using barely trained glassblowers and essentially no machinery, but it is still far better than nothing. (10 Resources per dice (0+23/75))
Several production halls for glassmaking have begun construction, as well as the furnaces themselves. Developments in coal utilization promise to allow for production to proceed without the need for charcoal as a fuel, but that is still in the future. As of now, there is still much work to be done before production can begin.
Agriculture
Dams (Stage 2): Many more dams can be built to allow for more irrigation of farmland and more consistent flow of rivers through the season. This will benefit not only agriculture, but also transportation and industry. However, despite being fairly simple to construct, they do require very large amounts of soil and rock to be moved. (5 Resources per dice (112+44=156/200))
Construction of dams has restarted after the end of the harvest, with a decent amount of work having been completed. While none on its own is too large, when complete the dozens of dams under construction will significantly increase the Republic's resilience to drought as well as allowing for more irrigation, mills, and canals.
Rural Address Assignment: While most urban buildings have had addresses assigned to them, very few rural structures do. While this will probably not get all of them and be incredibly messy, assigning an address to most rural houses will make everything from mail delivery to taxation to conscription far easier. (5 Resources per dice (0+133/100)) (Complete)
In a truly astonishing effort, with the assistance of the village cadres a majority of dwellings in the Republic now have an assigned address, clearly visible on signs set up in front of the buildings as well as recorded in the mass of papers and spreadsheets that are buried within various bureaucratic buildings. This will make numerous tasks such as taxation, census collection, and ration distribution far easier, as well as allowing for village dwellers to now send and receive mail.
"Eritha! Hopefully this actually manages to make it to you. I've managed to find a job at the steel mill - while it's hot and dirty work, it still seems like the forge of Haphaistios, with machines I'll probably never understand winching crucibles filled with ten times my weight of molten iron into position to pour into molds. They even let a few women work there - if you don't come soon, one of them might fall for my charms!" - Letter from Citizen Euruptolemos
Services
Primary Schools (Stage 2): Previous progress in education has been a great boon, but it is not enough to even theoretically educate a majority of our urban children. After this stage is complete, enough educational capacity will be available to start education outside of major population centers, but for now efforts will continue to be focused on cities. (5 Resources per dice (51+200=251/200)) (Complete, +5 Political Support) (Stage 3 (51/300))
The promise of a glorious future, where every worker shall be more knowledgeable than any Wanax or priest, has enabled the mass construction and staffing of schools throughout the Republic. Classes that now educate a majority of the children of the Republic's cities began after harvest, often in houses or other rooms as the schools themselves were not complete. With much of the task of caring for and feeding children now being done by schools, a significant increase in the amount of women being utilized for non-domestic labor has already been observed. Work has now begun on schoolhouses in some rural villages, although classes there will not begin until next year.
"I liked school a lot. The teacher was nice, even though he was teaching the alphabet which I already know but a lot of the other kids don't. What was weird is that he kept on giving me easy questions after I said who my parents are, even though even the hard ones were easy for me." - Julia Friexa
Adult Literacy Campaigns (Stage 3): While progress has been made, there are still many urban citizens who are illiterate. This stage will not totally eliminate illiteracy, but will make it so a solid majority of working-age urban adults will at least be able to write their own names. After this, resources will be shifted to building a more formal education system, as educating people as children will work better than stopgap attempts with adults. (5 Resources per dice (82+98=180/250)) (+5 Political Support upon completion)
Efforts in educating adult workers have expanded further, stretching the educational capacity of the Republic to near its limits. Hundreds of workers now receive certificates of literacy each month, with the total number issued recently exceeding ten thousand. While the struggle against illiteracy may not be won worldwide for centuries yet, within the Republic itself it is going quite well.
Military
Cannon Production (Stage 3): Expansions of the People's Army, as well as the possible creation of an actual navy, require the massive expansion of artillery manufacture. The promised increase in steel production and quality will enable the switchover of 12-cm guns to steel from bronze, increasing their durability and decreasing their cost. (15 Resources per dice (2+57=59/100))
Work on new foundries has restarted after a period of inactivity in preparation for the coming war against the slavers to the north. All new 12-cm guns are now being made with steel instead of bronze, with the bronze formerly used for them now planned to be used to cast a series of truly massive siege bombards.
Infantry Equipment Production: A soldier needs more than just a weapon to fight well. If we want our army to be more than a glorified mob, then issuing everything from uniforms to shovels to backpacks en masse is an absolute necessity. (10 Resources per dice (0+168/75)) (Complete, quality dice 86)
Production of a truly standardized uniform has finally begun. The standard uniform consists of boots and a jacket, red for mass levies and a mixture of green and brown for Guards units, with pants being left to the soldier to provide himself. In a stroke of luck, we were able to obtain several hundred car tires scavenged from Tucson, giving us a sufficient stockpile for each soldier to be given boots with soles made of actual rubber instead of hobnails and leather. In terms of visible gear, they are also issued a standardized backpack, folding shovel, canteen, and Mangalloy helmet. While the helmet itself is insufficient to block even a .22 bullet except at a glancing angle, they are cheap, provide some protection against small fragments and melee blows, and are expected to make our soldiers feel more protected and therefore more aggressive.
Less visible but arguably more important equipment is also being issued en masse. An increase in paper production has allowed for the adoption of paper cartridges, making loading both faster and more precise. Foot wraps, tourniquets, bandages, tincture of iodine, and potassium permanganate tablets for water disinfection are also issued to every soldier, hopefully reducing attrition and irrecoverable casualties in any conflict. Production of all of these goods is proceeding at a high enough pace that every soldier should be provided with a full kit several months before the war is scheduled to start.
Recruit Downtimers To Ministry: Even if they don't have much of a formal education, there are thousands of intelligent, motivated, and literate downtimers in the Republic. These people are capable of doing lower-level administrative work, and will learn more with time. Having more of them in our government will also bring us closer to a true people's democracy. (5 Resources per dice) (Larger effect the more dice are spent) (Increases dice allocation) (40) (+1 Dice to Services)
While many workers were hired by the Ministry, the many other tasks requiring literate workers have sapped the pool of available labor. Furthermore, the recent news of a smallpox epidemic have forced many of them to be reassigned elsewhere shortly after hiring, reducing the gain in capacity even further. However, we still have managed to make at least some progress on the issue.
Diplomatic Efforts: We are currently a very isolated nation, with only limited trade with the Republic of Naxos and miscellaneous smugglers. However, it may be possible to work out trade and fishing agreements with some other states in the Aegean and on the coast of Anatolia, and maybe even the Dual Kingdom of Crete and Mycenae. (DC 10 for Lesbos, 30 for Corfu, 40 for Andros and American Republic of Turkey, 50 for Dual Kingdom, 60 for New Washington, 70 for Emergency Government of New America) (-5 Political Support to attempt) (Max 2 dice) (81) (+10 Resources per turn from trade)
Diplomatic outreach efforts with neighboring states have been surprisingly successful. Recognizing the threat posed by reactionary states such as New Arizona and the Vanguards of Christ, the need to work together against smallpox, and the benefits of trade, diplomatic relations have opened with all targeted states, along with non-aggression pacts. Embassies have begun construction in both Mycenae and their respective capitals in order to ensure a constant line of communication between our states. The announcement of a Cretan embassy has caused some unrest, with few having forgotten their invasion just a few years ago, but demonstrations seem to have started to calm down without any violence breaking out. While trade has already begun to bring in economic benefits, it will likely need to be suspended soon due to the risk of smallpox spreading.
Push for a Preemptive Strike: While a poor harvest will hurt us, it will hurt New Arizona far more. As the People's Army is projected to have a nearly sufficient supply of firearms by next year's harvest, and New Arizona will have yet another year of chaos thanks to famine and the efforts of the SSD, we will be in a good position to liberate the peoples and resources of Attica that cannot be allowed to go to waste. (-15 Political Support, DC 70 for invasion if not taken, DC 25 if taken) (Must be taken this turn) (30/25 passed)
While it faced substantial opposition from moderates, pacifist agrarians, and even some intensificationists, in the end it was agreed that preparations should begin for the liberation of New Arizona after the next harvest. Given the constant string of industrial accidents in the Republic, the current plan is to blame some of those on saboteurs from New Arizona, therefore providing some sort of justification for the invasion to those abroad. The optimal strategy is still being debated, with some favoring focusing the entire army on Attica and the main enemy army while others propose sending small detachments to peripheral areas such as Euboea and Aetolia in order to secure them early in the war, with a smaller but still quite large army tasked with taking Attica.
Current Economic Issues:
Transportation: Severe bottlenecks
Fuel: Surplus
Iron: Sufficient, demand rapidly increasing
Copper: Slight deficit
Wood: Sufficient
Construction Materials: Lime and bricks sufficient, sufficient lumber
Food: Likely sufficient for next year, even with poor harvest
Cloth: Sufficient
Rural labor (varies by season): Essentially infinite after October
Urban labor: Sufficient
Literate workers: Sufficient
HS educated workers: Sufficient
16 Hour Moratorium
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- Pronouns
- he/him
[]Plan Immediate Action
-[]Immediate Vaccine Rollout
-[]Quarantine
-[]Vaccination Verification
-[]Vaccination Incentives
-[]Enforced Compliance
-[]Immediate Vaccine Rollout
-[]Quarantine
-[]Vaccination Verification
-[]Vaccination Incentives
-[]Enforced Compliance
Chimeraguard
We do deserve to exist.
Alright then.
[ ] Plan Touch the Cow, Do it Now!
-[ ] Immediate Vaccine Rollout
-[ ] Quarantine
-[ ] Vaccination Verification
-[ ] Vaccination Incentives
Okay, I want to do everything except the turbo-severe Quarantine and Enforced Compliance.
Enforced Compliance sounds nice and Decisive, but I feel I need to remind people that public opinion of our administration isn't the best right now. People are already grumbling about the high taxes after all. If we go for enforced compliance, I'm almost certain that we're going to have outright riots, maybe even rebellions. Also, it's taking away from the harvest when we're in a very delicate situation food-wise already.
[ ] Plan Touch the Cow, Do it Now!
-[ ] Immediate Vaccine Rollout
-[ ] Quarantine
-[ ] Vaccination Verification
-[ ] Vaccination Incentives
Okay, I want to do everything except the turbo-severe Quarantine and Enforced Compliance.
Enforced Compliance sounds nice and Decisive, but I feel I need to remind people that public opinion of our administration isn't the best right now. People are already grumbling about the high taxes after all. If we go for enforced compliance, I'm almost certain that we're going to have outright riots, maybe even rebellions. Also, it's taking away from the harvest when we're in a very delicate situation food-wise already.
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- Pronouns
- he/him
there needed to be at least one drastic proposal, it's what the pcdc would want, and i didn't take away the absolutely excellent plan name of 'touch the cow! do it now!'
Holy shit the world is going crazy now
Chimeraguard
We do deserve to exist.
Oh, another reason to not go for Enforced Compliance. Looks like making Vaccines is gonna require work from us to produce them all. So if we go for Enforced Compliance now, then even if we pick Immediate Vaccine Rollout, I bet we'll run out of Vaccines long before we run out of villagers we've dragged out of their homes to get vaccinated.
And they'll all be pretty pissed that we yanked them out for nothing, and be even less willing to go through this whole "vaccination" thing in the future.
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If we kick off civil unrest and/or a famine that'll probably kill more people then smallpox after a less harsh vaccine campaign on our part, yeah. Considering we can easily jab all our civil servants, probably most to all the urban population and all the men we will mobilize at one point or another thats already a huge dent since soldiers and the urban population are the ones most at risk, and earliest at risk.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well this situation seems uh...bad.
Chimeraguard
We do deserve to exist.
And yet somehow, we're actually better off than how most other nations are doing ATM.
Broadly accept Chimeraguard's plan regarding the smallpox issue.
The additional die from recruiting does make me wonder as to how much more times we can recruit people to the ministry.
The additional die from recruiting does make me wonder as to how much more times we can recruit people to the ministry.
Touch the cow! Do it now! Has to be the winner not just because of the name but because it makes the most sense
Nervos Belli
Don't think this means you've won!
- Location
- Murica
I wonder if an expanded quarantine could provide a convenient excuse to start mobilizing and deploying to the border ahead of the invasion without the Atticans recognizing invasion preparations for what they are.
Oh, smallpox, great. Everybody's favorite highly contagious airborne disease with a fatality rate anywhere between 15% and 50% among unvaccinated populations. Losing a quarter of our population is one of the more optimistic scenarios here, it's definitely an all hands on deck emergency. Unfortunately, while the Americans should pretty universally understand that, the downtimers will take less easily to aggressive martial law and forced cow-touching, so Chimera's plan to lean more on the carrot than the stick looks pretty good to me. We need to take every measure possible without causing violent backlash against the government, RIP plans for the services/medical sectors to do anything other than frantically spam vaccine distribution as fast as possible.
Well the good news is that as far as we're aware, the pox is mostly in modern day Iraq so we have time. As such we should stick to the carrot for now. When it gets closer and word that this is some serious shit starts to proliferate it should make people get more vaccines of their own volition and if we have to break out the stick ensure it's veiwed as us telling some stubborn dipshits to get the fukken shot for the public good rather than us oppressing half the countryside
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan Touch the Cow, Do it Now!
[X] Plan Touch the Cow, Do it Now!
