Thanks for this omake Chimera, I always wondered just how the nazi pirates became such a thread to quick. Didn't know about the Mycenean settlements in Italy. Clearly a showdown between them and the Popular Republic is in order.
It took a lot of digging to make sure that the Mycenaean settlements had actually happened yet, since their heyday seems to have been a century or two down the line. But Scoglio del Tonno site seems to correspond to the right part of the timeline, and was apparently pretty developed.
Fun fact, researching on it led to me discovering that most of the local metallurgy there was noted for its unusually high tin content, which implies they had relatively easy access to it. Which has some pretty significant implications given how rare tin is.
Crete proved reluctant to be too aggressive in its attempts to interdict ships heading to Taras, particularly those loaded with civilian immigrants, whose destruction would have likely enraged virtually every American still living in Anatolia
I dont understand this, why not just interdict and then excile/deport or better yet just take in the american settlers. I dont understand what reason could crete have not to just anihilate the colony. i get that they had a rebellion on their italian colony, but a simple patroling action to sustain an embargo on the settlement would pay for itself with the spoils. Hell, if we did some diplomacy and jointly decided to issue an embargo, given the coastal nature of ships in this age, the nazis are done. Honestly i expected their position to be much stronger than what it is, but barely cracking a thousand uptimers with a ridiculously rebellious underclass what sort of development could they even manage in that amount of time?. The nazis are not a threat, they are a nuisance.
I dont understand this, why not just interdict and then excile/deport or better yet just take in the american settlers. I dont understand what reason could crete have not to just anihilate the colony. i get that they had a rebellion on their italian colony, but a simple patroling action to sustain an embargo on the settlement would pay for itself with the spoils. Hell, if we did some diplomacy and jointly decided to issue an embargo, given the coastal nature of ships in this age, the nazis are done. Honestly i expected their position to be much stronger than what it is, but barely cracking a thousand uptimers with a ridiculously rebellious underclass what sort of development could they even manage in that amount of time?. The nazis are not a threat, they are a nuisance.
I had to be talked down from significantly over a thousand, possibly multiple thousands depending on which unreliable source you believe on account of that making the Zeroth Reich too powerful actually. Those are a thousand or so American settlers with not just Uptime guns, but US military grade Uptime guns with assault rifles, LMGs, and the occasional infantry mortar. Plus still a minority but a notable proportion of the population of Indo-Europeans who get to be armed as well.
And well, the thing is that Crete hasn't shown the ability to interdict the Nazi Pirates effectively. Heck, just last turn, the Nazis basically went on a a raiding spree across the South Aegean (the primary focus was Naxos, but they also hit some of Crete's smaller islands), and the Cretan navy wasn't really able to stop them.
If it came down to a fight between the average Cretan navy patrol ship and a shipful of Apulian immigrants (with at least a few Nazi escorts with military-grade weapons), Crete isn't sure if it would win.
I had to be talked down from significantly over a thousand, possibly multiple thousands depending on which unreliable source you believe on account of that making the Zeroth Reich too powerful actually. Those are a thousand or so American settlers with not just Uptime guns, but US military grade Uptime guns with assault rifles, LMGs, and the occasional infantry mortar.
And well, the thing is that Crete hasn't shown the ability to interdict the Nazi Pirates effectively. Heck, just last turn, the Nazis basically went on a a raiding spree across the South Aegean (the primary focus was Naxos, but they also hit some of Crete's smaller islands), and the Cretan navy wasn't really able to stop them.
If it came down to a fight between the average Cretan navy patrol ship and a shipful of Immigrants (with at least a few Nazi escorts with military-grade weapons), Crete isn't sure if it would win.
yes but not every ship is going to be armed to hell and back, especially traders from other polities (which is the real problem as the nazis only really sustain an economy due to being a trading post). we dont interdict their raiders, you interdict the illyrian grain traders so that the famines in nazi town get worse.
sidenote, the effectiveness of machineguns in naval combat i find particullarly suspect, unless youre talking some really big calibers,a ship with a decent complement of cannon should match one with rifles and machineguns especially if theres big waves to counteract the accuracy advantage. simply put, assault rifles are very bad weapons to sink ships with, and id like to see someone try to hit a moving boat with a mortar while they themselves are on a boat.
its not that i find that its impossible for this scenario to happen, just somewhat unrealistic given that if they had such an uptimer compliment, their natural expansion route would be to conquer their way north of the peninsula where they could bring all of their advantages to bear without the giant sword of damocles that is having a 2 city polity separated by sea controlled by a hostile naval power.
You're not gonna have a famine in Apulia (unless you've got weather so bad there's a famine everywhere that's not Egypt and the Nile), that place is like the 2nd most fertile part of the Italian mainland (1st being Po Valley.)
That's the big problem. By the time anyone else noticed the Zeroth Reich, they were already entrenched and more or less self-sufficient. It wouldn't be pleasant being cut off from trade, it never is, but it also wouldn't be fatal. That's why you have the leadership of Rhodes worrying that Apulia might decide to go independent or start giving orders to Rhodes instead of the other way around.
Plus, Rhodes (and Apulia) has its own navy as well. An actual, serious navy that is maybe not quite as powerful as Crete's, but is still potently armed with cannons of its own by now, and probably the single deadliest marine force in the world ATM.
Turn 14 (14AE Trimester 2): Set Every Heart Ablaze Results
440+50+85-5+25 Trade+25 Precious Metals=620 Resources Per Turn, 30 In Storage
70-5+5-10 = 60 Political Support
Foreign Affairs
Our allies in the National Democratic Front and elsewhere have managed to largely eliminate the police state in Troy, with the city itself being taken after a lengthy siege and battle near the end of July. Unfortunately, a small pocket of the enemy remained along the coast to the northeast, and they managed to strike some sort of deal with the Air Force juntas, with troops from New Monthan, Western Command, and the 79th Rescue Squadron landing there just two weeks after the fall of Troy, which they have stated is the first step on the path towards reuniting the American diaspora. New Monthan has publically stated that they will be taking no prisoners, and their conduct matches their words. Despite valiant resistance by their opponents, the massive superiority in hardware and training has led the Air Force to victory after victory, and in addition to their actions near Troy they have launched several raids on the island of Lesbos and are likely to invade it fairly soon. Over a thousand people from both nations have already fled to our shores, and many have been agitating for our government to provide assistance to allow more of them to escape the fascist menace.
[]Maximum Effort: Even if we completely ignore the moral aspect of it, the opportunity to have several thousand more Americans and educated Downtimers come to the Republic is too good to pass up. Every available ship must be commandeered to bring in refugees, as the long term benefits will be far greater than a temporary decrease in trade volume for a few months. (+5 Political Support) (-40 Resources per turn for the next two turns)
[]Moderate Assistance: While we do of course want to save as many people as possible, we do need ships to support our domestic economy and ensure that we can continue building up our military industries. Still, we can divert a decent portion of our ships for the evacuation effort. (-5 Political Support) (-15 Resources per turn for the next two turns)
[]No Encouragement: It will be unpopular, but we simply cannot afford any disruption to our economy when there are so many threats to the survival of the Revolution. We will welcome any refugees who arrive on our shores, but they will have to come on their own. (-20 Political Support)
The aggressive actions of the various juntas has made it clear that they are a threat not only to our allies but to us as well. While they will likely be busy in Anatolia for some time, it is quite likely that we are fairly high up on their list of future targets for expansion. Therefore, many have proposed the shifting of resources towards a military buildup, although others have opposed it.
[]Military Focus: With the invasion of Anatolia by a fairly united group of Air Force factions, it is clear that a far more modern army needs to be built as soon as possible to defend the revolution, as we may well be the next target of the juntas. This will come at the cost of growth of the civilian economy, but it is better to be poor and free than even poorer slaves. (Shifts dice from Light Industry, Agriculture, Free Dice, Liberated Territories, and Bureaucracy to Military) (Plan Commitments changed to 15% Increase in Agricultural Production, 125% Increase in Consumer Goods Production, and Thorough Modernization)
[]Do Nothing: While the current panic is somewhat justified, an invasion is still far enough away that general economic buildup is more desirable than a short-term shift of resources towards military production without the industrial base to make it sustainable. (No Change)
The unexpected invasion of the Troad may be the most shocking event of the past few months, but it is not the only important event which has taken place. The NPRA have won several victories over Northern Command, seizing several towns and a fairly large amount of territory. Christ's Kingdom on Earth has defeated several armies from its opponents over several months, nearly causing the American Republic of Turkey to collapse, seizing large amounts of territory, and securing several coastal ports including New Limberlost. While there is significant guerilla resistance to the Vanguards of Christ in their newly conquered territories, it is still a major victory on their part. The repeated defeats have caused the government of the American Republic of Turkey to agree to joining New Washington, however, which has made the repeated defeats less of a loss for that state. The encroachment of the Air Force on top of these victories will likely make both sides more seriously consider a ceasefire to at least temporarily end the conflict.
The Republic of Hattum has managed to stabilize somewhat, reclaiming much of the authority it gave away to rebelling warlords by charm and intimidation. The recent defeat of the modernized parts of the Egyptian army in Nubia has apparently significantly damaged the authority of the Pharaoh, and an attempted coup by disgruntled nobles and one of the Pharaoh's younger brothers took place. While the rebels in Avaris were defeated within a few days, they did manage to kill several important governmental and military figures, and fires caused by the fighting have burnt down a significant portion of the city due to the extremely lacking water network there. Crete has also founded a port at the future site of Carthage, and reports from one of our merchants state that the town already has substantial fortifications and a population somewhere around a thousand.
Infrastructure
Port Facilities (Stage 4): Building docks and shipyards in the Liberated Territories will enable them to be integrated into the rest of the Republic's economy, increasing the standard of living for our citizens there and increasing overall output. (10 Resources per dice (0+102/375))
Work has begun on new or upgraded docks at sites throughout the Liberated Territories, with the largest being either at existing cities or new mines. Ground has also been broken on additional smaller shipyards at Dyme and at the Piraeus near Athens. While there is still a lot of work left to do, progress is being made in this area.
Peloponnese City Modernization (Stage 2): Further expansion of the new housing developments and utility grids in the cities of the Peloponnese will enable several thousand more citizens to experience the benefits of modernity, as well as increase domestic labor efficiency in various aspects. (10 Resources per dice (38+79=117/175))
Coal gas plants and the associated pipe networks have been expanded across the Republic, with many more streets and apartments now lit during the night than just a few months ago. Progress is also made on yet more three-story cinderblock apartment buildings, although they will take some more time to finish due to the nature of construction.
Telegraph Network (Stage 3): In addition to connecting yet more locations to the network, increasing the number of connections between major cities will expand throughput of information and enable more coordination across the Republic on various projects. (10 Resources per dice (0+62/175))
Additional wires have been laid along existing routes, some of which are now actually insulated with some of the first PVC produced in the Republic. Still, more work must be done to finish all of these routes and create new ones.
Hydroelectric Power (Stage 1): While the lack of any kind of long-range power transmission infrastructure means that only rivers right next to cities can be used, that is still some amount of electricity generation that should not be put to waste. Small turbines and generators can be installed in pre-existing dams, letting the flow of water be used in a far more efficient and practical fashion than previously. (10 Resources per dice (78/50)) (Further stages locked for the foreseeable future)
New generators using windings insulated with something better than dandelions have been installed in the planned locations, producing almost twice as much electricity as initially predicted due to better efficiency. Unfortunately, hydroelectricity generated outside of the immediate location where it is used will require at least some local electricity grids, limiting power for the foreseeable future.
Heavy Industry
Kópos Coal Mine (Stage 3): With coal demand increasing constantly, more must be mined to keep the fires of industry burning. A better world shall be ripped from the heart of Gaia herself, one swing of the pick at a time. (10 Resources per dice (174+93=267/200)) (Complete, Stage 4 67/275) (+25 resources per turn from ending coal shortages)
The mines at Kópos have been significantly expanded, now producing nearly two thousand tons of coal per day at their maximum. This has significantly reduced the current coal shortage, enabling many more factories and furnaces to reach their full capacity. Still, further expansion of this or other mines is desirable in the fairly near term to make sure that shortages of fuel do not impact production to this extent again.
Thríambos Ironworks (Stage 4): With the liberation of New Arizona set to increase our population by nearly two hundred percent, it is only natural for steel production to be increased by a similar amount to serve their needs. Half a dozen Bessemer converters will spill out over a hundred tons of molten steel every day, serving to feed the ever growing needs of the Revolution. (15 Resources per dice (107+160=267/450)) (+5 Political Support on completion)
Work has now begun on all six of the newly planned Bessemer converters, as well as much of the planned new metalworking equipment and supporting structures. The question has been raised if an open-hearth converter should be built as well for specialty steels, as while it will be fairly expensive and have a much lower throughput than a Bessemer converter it will also allow for much better control over the steel produced.
[]Approve the change: Action changed to 267/525
[]Do nothing: No change
Laurion Mines (Stage 1): Now that some mining activity has resumed, the intensification of production beyond the levels being achieved under the New Arizonian government can begin. The introduction of explosives and the construction of more furnaces will achieve that, increasing the availability of more non-ferrous metals by a large degree without needing much more additional labor. (10 Resources per dice (69+36=105/125)) (Liberated Territories dice can be used)
Further work has been done on expanding the new floatation and smelting plants for refining ore into useful metals, although safety concerns owing to the poor state of the mines under the slavers have meant that expansion of the mines themselves has been going slower than planned. Still, improvements in efficiency and output are already starting to become obvious from the improvements.
"The Americans say that magic isn't real, but what else would you call the ability to separ ate ore from gangue with nothing but air and water?" - Poliwos son of Turios, miner
Semicoke Plants: By hot pressing lignite into briquettes before firing, lignite can be turned into solid coke or semicoke briquettes instead of just powder. This is not only useful for metallurgical work, but also to for more general use, as the semicoke is far more energy dense and does not have any risk of spontaneously igniting in storage. Tar, ammonia, and various light organics will also be produced in large quantities as useful byproducts, and produces far less harmful smoke when burned indoors. (10 Resources per dice (75+75=150/150)) (Complete, Paved Road Construction, Cement Facilities Expansion, Mine Production unlocked)
The planned coking furnaces, briquetting machinery, tar distillation columns, and other elements of the semicoke production plants have been completed, massively increasing the availability of relatively dense and clean fuel alongside dozens of byproducts. Already, proposals to use these in everything from roads to explosives have been drawn up, although applications towards use in pesticide production have been blocked by certain reactionary members of the government.
Light Industry
Textile Industry (Stage 4): Now that most cloth and clothing production in the Peloponnese has been mechanized, work must begin on bringing the Liberated Territories up to the same standard as the rest of the Republic. This stage will construct several large textile mills in Athens, Thebes, and Delphi, providing massive amounts of fabric and clothing for our new citizens. (10 Resources per dice (78+68=146/275)) (+5 Political Support on completion)
More work has been done on the new textile mills in Attica, although substantially more must be done before most of the new factories can begin production. Some proposals for synthetic fabrics have also been floated, and while this will likely be impractical for the foreseeable future outside of possibly rayon and acetate a small budget has been given for experimentation.
Consumer Goods Production Mechanization (Stage 3): While new factories for goods like various musical instruments and art supplies can be built, expanding already existing factories for things such as cardboard, paper, ceramics, and furniture is just as high of a priority. Attacking this challenge on all possible fronts will grow our economy and increase standard of living in many areas. (10 Resources per dice (100+94=194/225))
Many existing workshops have been expanded further, although most of the entirely new factories still need some last touches. Most of the easily replaced artisans in the Peloponnese have already been driven out of work by this point, and while further development in consumer goods will not become a net labor sink for some time it will mainly function as a way of increasing quality of life and export income instead of as a method to free up new labor.
Complex Goods Production: While it may not outwardly appear as critical as things such as pharmaceuticals and weapons, producing goods such as timekeeping devices and optics on a substantial scale is extremely important, even if it will require retraining Americans for many tasks due to the complexity involved if we want to start making progress on it before the secondary schools start to produce significant numbers of graduates. (25 Resources per dice (0+7/100))
Work has begun on setting up production of precision components at some scale, but it has ran into substantial problems. Many of the Americans have no experience with this kind of work, and while they may be more flexible and knowledgeable than pretty much any Downtimer it still takes a lot of time and effort to train a highschool dropout into a clockmaker. Still, it should eventually pay off, if much slower than desirable.
Chemical Industry
Glass Production (Stage 4): While many countries have established some kind of glass industry, none are anywhere close to reestablishing the production of float glass. This will enable the mass production of large, high-quality glass panes, making many projects such as the construction of large greenhouses for exotic crops more viable, give the Republic a worldwide monopoly on high-quality window glass, and prove the superiority of the socialist economic system. However, building a hundred-meter long hydrogen filled kiln, a vat of molten lead as long as an Olympic swimming pool, and other parts of the production line will be quite expensive. (15 Resources per dice (194+56=250/250)) (Complete, quality dice 53, Greenhouse Construction unlocked) (+10 base resources per turn, +15 from trade)
The massive kiln and associated equipment have finally been completed, and large quantities of high-quality plate glass are now being produced around the clock. In addition to their obvious uses in construction and exporting to other countries, the large quantities produced have also opened up the possibility of building a large number of greenhouses to produce specialty crops.
Pharmaceutical Production (Stage 3): With the most critical antibiotics now being produced in sufficient quantities, other classes of medications can now be made. Finally, anti-parasitic drugs, beta blockers, propofol, gabapentin, albuterol, metformin, and omeprazole can begin mass production, giving an option to treat many common but previously untreatable chronic conditions. (20 Resources per dice (100+77=177/125)) (Complete, quality dice 83, +10 Resources per turn from trade, Stage 4 52/200)) (Basic Foodstuff Fortification, Export Medication Production (Stage 1) unlocked)
The planned expansion of pharmaceutical production to include more advanced drugs has been completed, with many more chronic conditions and diseases becoming treatable even by barely trained "nurses". Further efforts on producing biologically-derived drugs and vaccines has also begun, while parallel efforts on mass producing simple drugs for export and on fortifying staple foods with whatever vitamins and minerals which are are in our ability to mass produce.
Polymer Production (Stage 1): Plastics were arguably one of the most important inventions of the 20th century, and restoring production of them is a very important step on the road to a developed state. While currently planned production will not be all that much, even small amounts of PVC and polyvinyl formal will be extremely important in various electrical components. (20 Resources per dice (0+133/100)) (Complete, quality dice 61) (Stage 2 (33/150)) (+15 Resources per turn)
Capabilities for vinyl chloride, acetate, and derived monomers, as well as pressurized polymerization reactors for solution and suspension processes have been massively expanded over the past few months. This has been made possible through the production of large amounts of acetylene from coke and limestone, which is then fed through an arc furnace to form calcium carbide which is reacted with water to form the acetylene. This does consume a very large amount of power, but recent expansions in generating capacity have assured more than enough for these operations.
Agriculture
Agricultural Mechanization (Stage 2): While modest gains have been made thus far, at significant costs, agricultural mechanization will free both the peasant from hard labor and reduce the threat of starvation. Further production and distribution of agricultural machinery, as well as the importation of draft animals from abroad, will increase labor efficiency yet further. (10 Resources per dice (14+305=319/200)) (Complete, Stage 3 119/300) (Granary Modernizations (Stage 1), Rural Cadre Mechanical Training unlocked)
Yet more animals have been imported from Egypt to be used for new agricultural machinery, which have been enthusiastically adopted by the peasants lucky enough to receive them. Still, the amount procured is nowhere near enough for every village in the Peloponnese to have a sufficient amount, let alone those in more peripheral areas. The creation of mutual aid teams to enable multiple families to share the benefits of one draft animal or mechanical device has also ran into issues ranging from unfair hoarding of the resources by one family to no one having any experience with machinery to the teams simply not having enough of the new animals and devices for everyone to be able to use them, and while these issues are both not fatal to the project and likely solvable with enough time and effort it is still causing issues. Projects for the construction of cooperatively owned modern granaries to reduce spoilage and for training rural cadres basic mechanical skills have been brought up, although they may not yet be worth it compared to further immediate efforts in mechanization.
Services
Peloponnese Primary Schools (Stage 4): With one final push, the ability to at least theoretically give every child in the Peloponnese a basic four-year education will be in place, although mandatory education will likely have to wait a bit longer. This will be a great victory for the worker's state, and may let us start to work on increasing the quality and length of education, so that the people may know more than just the bare essentials of literacy and arithmetic. (5 Resources per dice (86+246=332/325)) (Complete, Stage 5 7/350) (+6k primary student slots)
At long last, even the most isolated villages in the Peloponnese now have access to some form of schooling, even if it is just a one-room schoolhouse with a barely literate teacher several miles away. Due to more rural locations being involved in this stage of the push towards education, a significant amount of the students are being taught in the Korakou language, which has necessitated the printing of translated versions of textbooks in that language as well as ensuring that the cadres assigned to those villages speak the language as well. Still, as demonstrated by the old American state, access to education or healthcare is not the same as everyone being able to actually use it, and more investment in rural education is needed before education can be made entirely mandatory and universal.
Liberated Territories Primary Schools (Stage 2): Some education now exists in at least the major urban centers of the Liberated Territories, but it is not entirely sufficient even for those areas, let alone the vast majority of the countryside. Building schoolhouses in and assigning teachers to the villages closest to major cities will help with this, even if the dream of giving every child at least a basic education is still a long ways away. (5 Resources per dice (180+59=239/200)) (Complete, Stage 3 39/350) (Nat 1) (-5 Political Support) (Liberated Territories dice can be used) (+4k primary student slots)
Schoolhouses have been built in all of the villages near the major cities of the Liberated Territories, and work has begun on the enormous task of bringing education to the countryside. While the dominance of Greek speakers is even more complete here than in the Peloponnese, around ten to fifteen percent of the population are native speakers of languages that seem to be related to Cretan and Korakou. However, they are not close enough to be mutually inteligible with either of those languages, and this seems to extend to several groups of these languages within the Liberated Territories being incomprehensible to each other as well. Since none of these languages have more than a few thousand speakers, and most people who do speak them also speak at least some Greek, the decision has been made to have instruction be conducted in Greek only, as the low population and diversity of the languages makes providing teachers and textbooks in those languages impractical. Some have criticized this for potentially erasing the cultures of these areas as time goes on, but this has mostly been brushed over with assurances that students will be free to speak their native tongues to each other and will not be punished for doing so.
Advanced Education (Stage 1): While it may not be practical to establish a full-on university yet when our nation's secondary school system is not even a year old, the creation of some sort of institute to enable the retraining of Americans and some downtimers towards more useful tasks such as medicine, engineering, and machining will be extremely useful, as it will enable an increased supply of personnel suitable for at least some complex tasks. Still, it will require the reassignment of significant quantities of the Republic's most useful personnel from other tasks, as well as providing incentives to attract and keep potential professors in the Republic. (20 Resources per dice (0+114/100)) (Complete, +5 Political Support, quality dice 20)
A small institute in Mycenae with a few dozen teachers has been established for the purpose of retraining Uptime high school graduates and a few especially well motivated and connected Downtimers on tasks critical for the survival of the Republic. While graduates from it will be in no way comparable in breadth or depth of knowledge to Uptime university graduates, even an incomplete education on medicine or chemistry is still far superior to none. Several hundred people are already being educated there, and while none have finished their courses yet some of those pursuing simpler goals should graduate within a year.
"I for one, shall pursue an English degree, for there is so much written in it that I can learn." - Ekhinos son of Poliwos, military officer
Liberated Territories
City Reconstruction and Modernization (Stage 2): While people may no longer be freezing to death in the streets of Athens and Thebes, most of the population still lives in deeply subpar dwellings that need to be modernized in order to reduce disease, increase productivity, and win over the population. (10 Resources per dice (0+38/300))
While the extreme destructiveness of the fighting for Athens and Thebes was horrible for the people living there, it has conveniently produced a large amount of space in the cities cleared of everything except for rubble. Now that said rubble has been removed, the space left behind is being used to build three-story cinderblock apartments much like those being built in the Peloponnese, although few have even had their foundations completed yet. Trenches for water, sewage, and gas lines are also being dug, and while they are a long way from the pipes being installed, let alone being part of a functional utility system, it is still a visible sign of progress.
"Well, the beautiful news is that my tales of our success have gotten us praise and thanks from Mycenae. The ugly news is that now we must actually succeed, and not merely have my tales of such things." - Sophie Peters
Liberated Territories Address Assignment and Postal Integration (Stage 1): While the postal system in the Peloponnese is acceptable, it is essentially nonexistent in the Liberated Territories. Assigning addresses to every building in the cities and setting up at least an embryonic postal service will significantly increase administrative capacity in the region, as well as provide an additional incentive to people to learn how to read. (5 Resources per dice (0+57/75))
Postal offices have been set up in all the major cities of the Liberated Territories, and a survey of existing buildings to assign addresses to them has been partially completed. Still, more work needs to be done for it to be complete even in the cities, let alone in the vast countryside.
Military
Rifle Production (Stage 3): Now that the production of the old pipe guns has stopped, a new weapon must fill their place. Rifled muskets, while not as flashy as more advanced weapons, can still be the weapon of our mass levies of infantry for the next decade or so - if we start massively expanding their production now. (15 Resources per dice (0+72/150)) (~+500 rif/turn)
Expansions to the rifled musket factory have been started, although substantial difficulties have arisen. Producing barrels of the required accuracy, as well as the caplock mechanisms, has proven quite difficult, being nearly as complex as what is required for the new submachine guns in some ways. This, combined with the increased threat posed by the Air Force factions to the north and the fact that muskets will be entirely inadequate to fight them, has caused some to question if further investment in weapons that are arguably already obsolete is a good idea.
Monitor Construction Campaign: The presence of a completed and operational Cretan ironclad and the continues threat of raids from Rhodes shows that we need the ability to defend the Republic on the high seas. While they are not expected to be very reliable or capable of traveling long distances, the construction of three Monitor-like vessels will enable us to destroy nearly any currently built ship with ease... as long as they don't sink before the battle. (20 Resources per dice (21+54=67/150)) (Finishes in approximately two years from start of construction, assuming steady funding)
At long last, the three planned ships have started to be laid down, with the keels and much of the hull already in place. Many parts for the boilers, steam engines, propellers, and turret have also been fabricated and are beginning assembly, although it will be some time before they are installed in the ship. Training for the crews has also begun, although this is hindered somewhat by the fact that no one in the Republic has ever been on a steam ship in their lives. Still, this applies for our enemies as well, so at least in this respect the playing field has been leveled.
"Ten years ago, the only iron we had ever seen was a few fragments in goods hawked by Hittite traders, and now we are using it to build great ships, as if it was as common as wood. Something so rare becoming so abundant is more amazing to me than the entirely new things brought by the Americans." - Hektor son of Makhawon, fisherman
Liberated Territories Military District Organization: Organizing military infrastructure and conscription rolls in the Liberated Territories will enable a significant increase in the size of the People's Army in the event of war, even if it will dilute our supply of officers yet further. (10 Resources per dice (0+38/100)) (Liberated Territories dice can be used)
Personnel have been assigned to the Liberated Territories to manage conscription in the event of a war, although substantially more work needs to be done before an acceptably complete list of how many men each town and village can field is done.
Creation of Dragoon Units: While the supply of sufficiently large horses is still small, it is sufficient for at least a few platoons of dragoons to be created. This will significantly increase the scouting and tactical abilities of of the People's Army as a whole, as well as enable them to maneuver far faster on a operational scale if detached from slower-moving troops. (15 Resources per dice (0+127/100)) (Complete, quality dice 70)
Several hundred people, mostly Downtimers but with a few dozen Uptimers that either had combat or equestrian experience, have been assigned horses and a hodgepodge of various weapons to begin training as dragoons. This includes the current chariot teams, which are slated to be officially dissolved in the coming months once the use of dragoons has been more established. We have also been lucky enough to find a few Downtimer mercenaries who have previous experience with somewhat similar tactics while in the service of Western Command in the past, serving as a valuable resource for training if nothing else. While only a small portion of our armies will be able to be transported on horseback, the existence of even this small force will significantly increase our screening capabilities and possibly allow for small operational advances at speeds several times higher than what is capable on foot.
Bureaucracy
Evaluate Replacements (Light Industry): It is apparent that some Ministers are too incompetent, reactionary, or both to serve the people well in their current positions. This would evaluate various people for a ministry position, followed by firing the current minister if they are judged to be more competent. (7)
While there are several people with more relevant experience in various fields than our current Light Industry minister, they are already working on tasks judged to be more important than the ability to produce higher quality consumer and specialty goods. For the time being, it looks like we are stuck with our current minister.
SSD Expansion: While we do have some intelligence on other nations, it is still far less than is optimal. Diverting a small amount of funds to expand our networks from everywhere from Egypt to Italy will give substantial rewards in the long term, as well as increase our influence over the nation's intelligence arm. (5 Resources per dice (0+50/50)) (Complete, quality dice 110) (-5 resources per turn)
With the allocation of more personnel within the Republic and bribes to various people abroad, our intelligence network has been greatly expanded in both breadth and depth. In a stroke of luck, a defector from Western Command walked out of a merchant ship into the port of Mycenae and asked to speak to someone in our government. In addition to revealing large amounts of new information about the Air Force cliques and confirming much of what we already knew, she also claims to have formerly worked in military intelligence, and while due to political security reasons we obviously aren't going to place her in a leadership role anytime soon the knowledge will still be extremely useful.
Push for Bases Abroad: While some may oppose it in the name of anti-imperialism, the foundation of ports along the coasts of Epirus and Albania as well as negotiating potential basing agreements with Corfu and Naxos will significantly increase our ability to defend ourselves as well as nearby Downtimers from colonization. (71) (-10 Political Support)
Despite opposition from several liberal Central Committee members on the grounds of anti-imperialism, the decision has been made to go ahead with founding bases for further expanding the Revolution along the Adriatic, with a deal already struck with the inhabitants of the future site of Vlorë to allow us to set up a port there. In a further stroke of good luck, the Intensificationists seem to have massively embarrassed themselves by their constant vacillating between anti-expansionist and pro-expansionist policies, and several of their people in the Central Committee have defected to the various other parties present there.
Current Economic Issues:
Transportation: Sufficient
Fuel: Sufficient
Steel: Sufficient, demand rapidly increasing
Copper: Sufficient
Wood: Sufficient
Construction Materials: Sufficient
Electricity: Surplus
Food: Sufficient
Cloth: Sufficient production
Rural labor (varies by season): Mostly occupied with agriculture
Urban labor: Slight deficit in the Peloponnese, large surplus in the Liberated Territories
Literate workers: Surplus
American educated workers: Slight surplus
Total student slots: 25k primary, 5k secondary, 0k tertiary
[X]Military Industrialization
-[X]Maximum Effort
-[X]Military Focus
-[X]Approve the change
The opportunity to grab several thousand irreplaceable Americans is priceless, especially since a lot more than usual will be favorable to our political ideology. There's also liable to be a bunch of people with valuable and rare pre-Event skillets among them.
As for focus, we're only ever gonna get stronger relative to WestComm due to our higher population, so if they want to strike at us, they'll want to do so soon. So we should be prioritizing the military for if/when that happens.
[X]Military Industrialization
Yeah, put the pedal to the metal with militarization. The air force is on the warpath, with intent to Rape Pillage And Burn and our close friend/ally of Lesbos is already in their crosshairs. The final anti-fascist struggle for the fate of the Aegean has begun and we need to act decisively if we wish to overcome their fury and uptime weapons.
Already, proposals to use these in everything from roads to explosives have been drawn up, although applications towards use in pesticide production have been blocked by certain reactionary members of the government.
Let me guess, translation: They don't want to wreck the biosphere that many peasants still depend on with DDT or whetever. But of course, our player character is a Maoists. Who else would so furiously call someone a reactionary for wanting to actually look before we leap with agriculture?
EDIT: How's the 79th getting involved, being lost up north as they are? Planes still working somehow? Riverine/coastal navy?
The 79th is sitting on the Danube, so they've got some access and contact. It's probably a very small force though. While we don't know the details, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't basically a mercenary arrangement, or just them getting rid of some internal dissenters by tossing them at New Monthan.
[X] Plan Moderated Restraint
-[X]Moderate Assistance
-[X]Do Nothing:
-[X]Approve the change
As someone who holds that we don't need to freak out and redirect everything into the military at this point, I'm making this alternative plan of action.
Could you be convinced to go for Maximum Effort even if there's no Military Focus? This is a golden opportunity to get a massive amount of American expertise, and the origins of the Trojan Rebellion and Lesbos as Left-Wing (or at least Left-Wing led) nations means we we'll be getting a much bigger immigrant intake than usual, particularly people who are skilled worker with pre-Event expertise. Like, we can snag a significant chunk of Troy and Lesbos's entire American populations here, and even Americans without specific skills are much easier to retrain for complicated industry jobs, or can be employed as schoolteachers.
Every American we take is also one less for New Monthan to make use of. And if we're not doing Military Focus, then the resource drain of Maximum Effort doesn't hurt as much, since most of our most expensive projects are in Military.
Yeah. While we might be able to defend Lesbos just by putting all our free dice into the military without totally shaking up the ministry (and totally shifting our plan targets on a whim may not be a good idea in general), leaving Americans in the hands of the air force reactionaries is NO BUENO.
[X] Plan Rescue And Restraint
-[X]Maximum Effort
-[X]Do Nothing:
-[X]Approve the change
Well I'm assuming that that refers to anyone who resists them (or is perceived as resisting them), rather than wiping out literally the entire population. New Monthan has ambitions of bringing all of Europe (and Anatolia) under American rule, and that'll be rather difficult if there aren't enough Americans.
Like, New Monthan is said to treat non-Military Americans pretty poorly, but it still has them. But either way, so many Americans are too valuable a resource to just let be placed into New Monthan's hands, especially if we can get them as immigrants and make use of them ourselves.
