We have had rail links through RZs since we tied the Himalayas back into GDI's logistical system in the first Plan. The Korea-Himalaya link goes outright through a glacier. Establishing a logistical link from Chicago to the US west coast is something well within GDI's capabilities already, the Border Offensives are not needed for it.
Yeah, but those rail lines to BZ-18 are so hilariously expensive to maintain that if there were literally any other way to sustain that Blue Zone, we'd be using it.
I'm pretty sure it would have only limited benefits for us now, though it
might be worth it given that we can now largely avoid the question of Nod being able to cut the rail line as it passes through a Yellow Zone.
I am not overestimating the scale of what is required for the Border Offensives and Super Glacier Mines. I simply do not believe that sticking to two factories, which would likely be enough to relieve ZOCOM of their none-RZ duties, is enough for GDI's needs, especially with Nod now so clearly proliferating Gana backed by heavy vehicles, and with power armoured infantry where necessary.
Yeah, but at that point you're factoring in considerations that are unlikely to be decisive and a Big Deal until 2062 or later.
GDI's land forces can still beat Nod, biomonsters and all, in an open-field battle. The biomonster threat does not demand
immediate heavy investment in zone armor
this year if there are other priorities like "fulfilling Plan commitments we promised to the legislature" and "SADN so we don't have critical facilities get nuked the moment Nod gets twitchy" on the table.
I am quite sure we'll have a mandate to build plenty of zone armor factories in the
next Four Year Plan... But that is a problem for 2062-65.
1) GDI and Nod are not at a notably greater risk of strategic exchange than they were previously as long as GDI does not notably press the front line. Nibbling away at the front lines to site better defenses or establish logistics links is not the same as a full on offensive to claim as much land as possible, and Nod is aware of this.
2) I am aware that Nod would love to nuke major facilities. I also agree that SADN is important. That does not mean I consider SADN more important than finishing up the CVE and frigate roll outs, boosting ZA production, developing and integrating new ZA models and supporting equipment, and finishing up and rolling out some of our developments. SADN is definitely nice to have this plan, but I'd rather do SADN early next plan if we can't squeeze it in between the CVEs, frigates, ZA and develpment rollouts on top of the still extant military goals.
3) GDI existing is a risk factor in a strategic nuclear strike. The entire Regency War having happened is a risk factor for a strategic nuclear strike. The fact that GDI hands down won that war is a risk factor for a strategic nuclear strike. The only thing that will make Nod not nuke GDI is GDI not existing.
(1, 3) The thing is, Nod just lost their buffer zone- the territory they can write off without dire strategic consequences. For Gideon and Reynaldo, it's beyond that; they've lost enough power to cripple their influence and relevance to the global war. Nod has reason to
fear GDI action in a way they did not back in 2059, because Nod is now more vulnerable. Mistakes made now will not just result in GDI tearing off a slice of defended-in-depth, cleared-of-strategic-industries land. They're going to result in GDI hitting the
important stuff. This means that Nod is considerably more likely to push the nuclear button now than they were in 2059... which means SADN has a higher priority than it otherwise would. We have to take that threat seriously.
2) I think we'd be much more seriously inconvenienced by a salvo of nuclear cruise missiles hitting some place than we would by Ground Forces having to wait another 6-12 months for the first Zone Armor factory to come out. What,
exactly, is the urgent emergency-tier need for zone armor that requires us to prioritize zone armor factories over SADN?
Heavy Industry (5 dice) 125R
-[] Advanced Alloys Development (New) (Tech) (Progress 0/120: 15 resources per die) 1D
-[] Isolinear Chip Foundry Anadyr (Progress 85/320: 50 resources per die) (+4 Capital Goods) (-2 Energy) 1D
-[] Continuous Cycle Fusion Plants (Phase 7) (Updated)(Progress 67/300: 20 resources per Die) (+16 Energy) (-1 Labor) 3D
It is a bad idea to only put one die on Anadyr this turn. Because on the one hand, we might need to spend as many as four more dice on the project... and on the other hand, we don't want to overspend.
If we spend one die now and it rolls low, we are likely to face the need to roll only one die per turn
all year and be biting our nails worrying about whether the last die completes in Q4, or worse yet feel compelled to spend wastefully on a second last-minute Anadyr die.
If we spend two dice now, we have much more confidence of being free of the need to spend on Anadyr
later, or of being able to decide to make that amount of spending in Q2 or Q3 while we still have some time for wiggle room.
Light and Chemical Industry (5 dice) 55R
-[] Chemical Fertilizer Plants (Phase 2) (Progress 276/300: 15 resources per die) (+4 Consumer Goods, +4 Food, -1 Energy) 1D
-[] Civilian Drone Factories (Progress 104/380: 10 resources per die) (+2 Logistics, +1 Health, +4 Consumer Goods) (-2 Energy) 4D
I think four dice might be overkill, but I don't have a strong opinion on that point.
Services (2 dice) 145R
-[] Hallucinogen Development (Tech) (Progress 0/60: 15 resources per die) 1D
-[] Pinhole Portal Early Primitive Prototype Construction (New) (Tech) (Progress 56/180: 100 resources per die) 1D
-[] Professional Sports Programs (Progress 0/250: 10 resources per die) (+2 Consumer Goods, -1 Health, -1 Labor) (+10 Political Support) 3D
In contrast to Anadyr, portal research is an area where we almost certainly don't need to roll more than two more dice. Skipping portals in Q1 is unlikely to stop us from finishing the project in Q2, Q3, and Q4 when we have more money. Whereas skipping the second Anadyr die in Q1 increases the risk of us being forced to spend wastefully on two Anadyr dice at once in Q4 in an admittedly unlucky scenario.
Military (8 dice, 3FD) 180R
-[] Skywatch Telescope System(Progress 64/95: 10 resources per die) (High Priority) 1FD
-[] Railgun Munitions Development (Progress 38/60: 10 resources per die) (Very High Priority) 1D
-[] Ablat Plating Deployment (Stage 5) (Progress 54/200: 10 resources per die) (Very High Priority) 2D
-[] Escort Carrier Shipyard
--[] Nagoya (Progress 171/240: 20 resources per die) (-5 Energy, -2 Capital Goods) 1D
--[] New York (Progress 0/240: 20 resources per die) (-5 Energy, -2 Capital Goods) 2D
-[] ASAT Defense System (Phase 4)(Progress 36/220: 20 resources per die) (Station) (High Priority) 2D
-[] Orbital Strike Regimental Combat Team Stations (Phase 3) (Progress 5/295: 20 resources per die) 2FD
I have no actual objections to this, except that the urgency of getting our Military targets done, combined with the need for SADN since Nod is on the brink of nuking us...
Well, let's just say I'd be a lot happier if you took the Free dice from Bureaucracy, cut the portal research, and used some of the R thus freed up to fund a second Anadyr die and some more Military dice.
Hmm. For Tiberium I'm not sure how advantageous it is to go for phase 2 of Harvesting Tendrils before the end of the Plan. Weighing it against things like more Vein Mines, Inhibitors or Border Offensives.
I say we worry about that question in Q2 after we see how close we are to completion of the project. If we roll very well, Phase 2 might be close to within reach, in which case we might as well go for it. If we roll badly, we'll have to sweat over it more.
Though it'd certainly be
convenient if Phase 2 of the project is
juuuust on the ragged edge of completion and we can tap it over the line with a couple of dice in 2062Q2. If we do enough other income-boosting stuff during 2061, I don't think the rest of the government will even mind!
One thought I had was putting 2 dice on phase 2 for the remaining turns of the plan with the intent to have it right on the border of finishing ready for the first turn of the new plan. Though such a move is pretty scummy and seems like something that would get parliament not to renew the lunar exemption, which would be 100 RpT as well, so no real change, except for ticking parliament off during Reallocation.
The thing is, we're inevitably going to have SOME combination of income-granting projects ready to roll out quickly in 2062Q1 and 'Q2. By this point that's an expectation. If it's not tendril harvesters it'll be glacier mines or vein mines or who knows what all.
One thing we do want to do before the end of the Plan is deploy the currently available YZ and RZ inhibitors. Additionally, we want to roll out as much of the Red Zone Border Offensives as possible to pave the way for the early Plan rush. Maybe also finish off the Refits if we have a spare die lying around.
With that said, all this is correct.
