I never thought I would hear someone suggesting to gulag ghosts...
Not sure myself, but that is honestly a good question.
If the ghosts come back, could we send them to the gulag?
Attempting to Fulfill the Plan MNKh Edition
- Thread starter Blackstar
- Start date
- Alt. History Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Not sure myself, but that is honestly a good question.
If the ghosts come back, could we send them to the gulag?
On the other hand, BT-7M has an unnecessarily complex chassis (By now we should have threads good enough to not need a dedicated road mode), and Christie suspension means reduced internal volume (That bit is true for T-34 as well, unfortunately).
And continuing production means we don't get to use Kharkiv Tractor Plant to build all the T-34s (or whatever other tanks of theirs we're going to accept into service).
T-40/60/70 would be preferable in that regard, as those had better suspension and could be quickly put into production in factories other than Kharkiv and Stalingrad Tractor Plants.
By the way, these rolls sure are something. Let's hope that they're not all about Spanish Civil War...
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Location
- his hidden lair
If there's something strangeI never thought I would hear someone suggesting to gulag ghosts...
Not sure myself, but that is honestly a good question.
If the ghosts come back, could we send them to the gulag?
In the Cooperative
Who you gonna call?
The nearest re-education center to remove all this revisionist religious brainwashing
Why can't we have military rolls like that?!
Turn 21(1938 1st Half): We are the March of History Results
- Location
- The United States
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Turn 21(1938 1st Half): We are the March of History Results
Resources per turn 640+20+15+ULAG=675+ULAG with 40 in storage.
Party Support 60-5+5-15=45
Current Status of ULAG:
Population: 983,000 (I'll round to the nearest 100k)
Attitude: Stable
Food State: Hearty Meals, -75 Resources Per Turn
Guard State: Intensive Monitoring, -25 Resources Per Turn
Resource Income: Construction focused, 150 Resources Per Turn, Additional Actions
Infrastructure
Buildup of Rail Stock (Diesel, Western Regions): The final part of the great Dieselification effort must be undertaken to finally break away from the old inefficient coal trains underutilization all over the Union. This is the last step of the effort and will involve converting the last rail lines using older steam locomotives. This final change-over will also standardize the bulk of the rails on three separate locomotives models, allowing for a considerable degree of commonality and ease of maintenance. Still, this last step is expensive, and when done, any further improvement in rail capacity will involve the massive construction of new massive lines. (618/550) (Completed)
The massive focus on the construction of new engines can finally be declared a great victory for the Soviet worker. With the Union's industrial focus and the need to modernize the rail networks, all planners and laborers have risen to the challenge and replaced the old coal-powered trains with new modernized diesel engines. Overall, over a decade, the average speed on rail lines has more than doubled, and cargo loads on trains have also increased considerably. Still, the rail network needs further expansion in the number of rails present on critical cargo routes to ensure that the steady march of progress can continue all over the Union as more and more cargo must be delivered. The new far easier to construct infrastructure for the new models of trains will also go a long way to cut costs for rail-way expansion due to the lack of necessary coaling and watering stations, allowing the far cheaper construction of rail lines.
Create Bus Lines: With the new road systems constructed in many cities, it is time to create a new series of buses to optimize the workers' ability to travel. Despite the minor increase in fuel use, these would represent, they will allow the bulk of the people of the Union to travel far farther for work and food, allowing for more extensive and more distributed factory complexes. These will also enable people to move and be transported between cities far more efficiently, hopefully increasing the workers' happiness. (222/200) (Completed)
With the experience in the production of many trucks and the need to transport workers, multiple bureaus take the challenge of designing the Unions new bus. The majority of the designs proposed are simple four-wheelers containing a massive number of seats with some basic heating systems. Despite the simplicity, however, they are rapidly put into production as adequate designs for most cities. Bus routes are also mapped out based on local managers' opinions to ensure that workers can easily commute from any point of the city to any other in an hour by bus. While the network has not changed much about the number of workers appearing to work by any considerable margin, a substantial amount of time has been freed up for the bulk of workers.
Heavy Industry
Magnitogorsk Planned City(Stage 5): The further expansion of the planned city will be one of the most extensive efforts undertaken by the Union. The complex will nearly double in size and become the premier steel production installation in the world. The alloying vats will be further expanded with more steel blends tested out to improve quality, and another metallurgical university will be constructed. The goal of this final level of expansion would be to create an industrial complex nearly half a million strong focused on the production of steel for the Union, creating a true paragon city for industrialization. (15 Party Influence upon completion, 20 Resources per dice (977/1200)) (Nat 1) (+20 Resources per Turn)
The great industrial city's construction continues as an additional fifty-two NKPS labor divisions are assigned to the project. More than a dozen engineering attachments are transferred over to sites near the construction itself. The sheer effort needed for the construction and the quantity of material that needs to be supplied causes some rail schedule delays. Still, overall the tempo on the project sets new records as steel foundry after steel foundry is constructed. The far more replaceable work crews' casualties are relatively heavy as they are not protected in the already built large scale housing, but they still mostly accomplish the job set out for them. Altogether, the bulk of the labor system comes together to put the massive refinery complexes into position and prepare block after block of homes and industrial loading sites to ensure the largest steel complex in the world can work with one plan to supply the Union with steel. Stalin even manages to pay the city a visit and is highly appreciative of the workers' performance, declaring that the complex will be finished in just another six months as a symbol of the Soviet worker.
Power Production Campaigns(Stage 3): Further construction of more power plants is still needed all over the Union, as multiple future projects necessitate more power. At the same time, civilian power consumption is going up continuously as more cooking implements are issued out. Still, the heating and cooking effort should save some coal, as the electric systems are far more efficient than their older coal-based alternatives. This stage of constructing more thermal power plants will also allow the construction of multiple new factories and aluminum working facilities with their new supply of power. (302/250, Completed Stage 3) (52/500 Stage 4)
With a new supply of labor and effort, the power production effort is a complete success as all of the planned thermal power stations come online. The current amount of power will not be enough for the future, but the production will stabilize the current state and prevent most brownouts. As long as further energy-intensive expansions of production are not initiated, this power should be enough for the Union for at least a few years of further electric implement proliferation. The next step of these campaigns calls for a near doubling in the number of power stations to supply enough power for yet more industry and to introduce redundancy into major industrial grids.
Light and Chemical Industry
Baku Oil Refineries(Stage 3): With the plans to nearly totally utilize the oil deposits in Baku, there also needs to be a plan to refine the massive quantity of oil products. However, these industrial facilities would necessitate a high cost of production with little return on spending. These would further improve the number of oil products available to the Union for larger military projects and secure the position of the Union as the source of Eastern European oil. (5 Party Influence) (326/300) (Completed) (+15 Resources per Turn)
The expansion of the Baku refinery complex goes well with multiple additional separation towers constructed. So far, the fuel that numerous sectors of the Union most need is Diesel, and much of the production is focused on making more of it to supply the rapidly expanding truck and train fleet. Still, gasoline has proven to be extremely useful, especially in many applications needing lighter engines. Thus, local universities have initiated new projects towards higher octane fuel to allow for a greater compression ratio to be used in engines. The bitumen production of the plants also is rapidly railed away from the production sites to be used on the ever-expanding paved road networks.
Expanded Radio Plants Further: Given the significant coordination issues of military units in Spain, further radio production is needed. This current proposal for improving radio access will be targeted towards the company level, with a new standardized truck mounting a large scale radio unit made. The advantage of such a setup is that the truck can power its own radio-unit and haul the fuel needed to run the generator while providing a mobile platform for coordinating the infantry. The production of such a quantity of radio, especially with the degree of mobilization, will pose a massive challenge, but the challenge can be overcome with time and labor. (30 Resources per dice (131/500))
A small expansion occurs with the radio-production further expanded to supply the military's lower levels with communications equipment. These radios are all mounted into refurbished Zis-5 trucks and combined with generator units to ensure that fuel can be most efficiently used all over the Union. While the command staff like the trucks, only the new officers know how to precisely best utilize them, creating a gap in the officer corps on their use. Still, given the speed of promotions necessary for the military expansion, the older officers should mostly be promoted into positions where they can rely on other personnel for their radio messages.
Agriculture 4 Dice
New Socialist Towns(Stage 5): The further expansion of the last stage of the new towns will be the triumphant moment of the Union, as the conversion will indicate that all planned agricultural and rural communities have adopted the new model. While some have fought, the prices have broken most of their will to fight back, and just the last holdouts need to be converted. Over time, these towns may shift over into far larger installations, but this step has allowed a clean break with old peasants. (5 Party Influence upon completion) (Think Moshav with more propaganda) (10 Resources per dice (431/500)
The construction of additional farming infrastructure goes well with many old peasant farmers happy to go back to new jobs focused on growing food instead of city work. However, the openings for town positions are far fewer than the number of people wanting them, giving the state some ability to select for the best to be transferred to the program. Its full implementation will take a bit more resources, but already all Soviet agricultural land has been reformed into proper agricultural systems, delivering yields unheard of before the revolution. Maybe even, in a generation, hunger in the Union can be nothing but a memory of the past.
Expand Factory Farms: Given the demand for meat products and the current surplus of fodder crops that can be used in animal farming, it would make perfect sense to authorize the construction of more factory farming complexes. These would primarily be focused on milk and beef production, but smaller, more local installations will be made for the mass production of chickens. (15 Resources per dice (43/200))
Some progress is made with the construction of additional warehouses to store a large number of chickens and pigs. While the bulk of the systems have yet to be implemented, the iconic cages and feed troughs are already installed. Still, nearby meat-processing plants are in desperate need of expansion, as high-intensity factory farming takes up much of their capacity. New sausage plants near the site of the farms are already planned out and prepared to make delicious sausage for the rest of the Union to enjoy.
Services
Technical Colleges: With the current massive pool of workers, and the need to train them properly on a wide variety of small scale repair and machinery tasks, it has become the concern of the Union to expand schooling systems further. Not all students in the Union can qualify for university positions to study the sciences, but knowledge and experience are still needed in the workforce. Thus, a comprehensive system of technical colleges should be established for those graduating from primary schools without qualifying for any other form of higher education. (492/500) (Close Enough, Completed)
The construction of a new massive number of colleges and educational facilities goes well. Many experienced construction workers, welders, electricians, and plumbers transferred over to teach the Soviet youth how to do their jobs. While to some, this extra educational imposition is unnecessary, it should allow most people to be trained for their jobs preemptively, possibly in time enabling the dissolution of the inefficient apprenticeship system in favor of only qualified candidates getting transferred over. The construction and opening of these facilities have caused a minor shortage in the technical professions as many of the best personnel have been transferred over to teach. While this can cause some issues in the short term, the newly trained, experienced cadres will make up for that.
Military
(Authors note: Most military efforts will have quality dice rolled after they are completed, which will affect the quality of the buildup/equipment/information)
Trial New Heavy AA Guns: With the steadily increasing age on the M1931 76mm AA guns and their inherent altitude limitations, it is likely time for their replacement. However, the issue is that a new shell is needed to improve performance as the aging system cannot deliver the loading rate or velocity required. The changeover of production to new calibers of shells will be a reasonably costly conversion, as both the shell factories and the gun plants need to be changed over. (107/40) (Completed) (Military Dice, 43)
The trial of new dedicated anti-aircraft guns capable of reaching aircraft flying at high altitude and accomodating timed detonation shells starts well with many calibers tried. All of the participants in the trial demonstrate their guns in relative comparison to the old 76mm gun. So far, though, a single contender has emerged as the next step in designing anti-aircraft guns. A 76mm gun with an enlarged breach and barrel in the new 85mm caliber is trialed and demonstrated to exceed the old gun's performance in all categories and is even mounting compatible with it. Thus, it is rushed into production with it planned to slowly replace out the older smaller guns.
Trial New Divisional Guns: With the poor previous results for a true universal gun, a new, less ambitious program is needed on a more simple dual-purpose gun. While this gun does have far tighter guidelines on weight and payload, the dropping of the anti-aircraft mount should significantly improve capability. Still, the military has already been burned by such guns once, and another failure could just see the design thrown away. (92/40) (Completed) (Military Dice, 17)
A massive effort is committed towards the creation of a new, far more functional divisional gun. While the current applications have not been promising, there is an improved variant of an old gun that was rejected in the last phase of trials that could be viable. The F-22 gun is relatively expensive to build and does not promise far increased velocity as was expected, but it still functions at a decent range. The army, though, holds its feet on adoption, preferring the 122mm howitzer by far if some form of decent anti-tank gun can be developed to make up for the 122's shortage in that role.
Trial New Interceptor(Polikarpov): Given the poor performance of the I-16 against the new german types of fighters, a new program for a second-generation monoplane interceptor is needed. While the other OKB's are working on designs with higher power theoretical engines, Polikarpov has a functional design on paper utilizing the M-63 engine. While this fighter may be a bit worse than upcoming aircraft using more powerful engines, it should provide a good sink for the use of old 9-cylinder engines as further modernization occurs. (82/40) (Completed) (Military Dice, 52)
Despite the small office taking charge of the design project, the I-16 fighter's successor is rapidly mocked up and prepared for flight testing. The fighter is an open cockpit machine with a frontal windscreen, but multiple innovations have been incorporated into the design. With the new higher power engine and far thinner wing design, top trial speeds have reached almost 570 kph with yet higher likely possible with improved propellers and by mounting the 14 cylinder engine. In terms of armament, the small interceptor is equipped with two Berezina in the wings and two in the engine cowling, allowing for an impressive forward armament. While the plane is incapable of being used in a fighter-bomber role, it is cheap to manufacture and uses a far lighter engine than any other contemporaries. However, there are issues with the project itself as the Polikarpov OKB only exists in an office building and lacks dedicated development facilities, necessitating a new plant to be built.
New Actions:
New Moscow Aviation Plant (30 Resources per Dice 0/150)
Modernizations of the Gorky and Moscow Plants (30 Resources per Dice 0/100)
Trial New Scout Tank: New recon and light support assets are desperately needed, given the current examples of fighting in Spain. The region's poor terrain has had heavier armor consistently bogged down, and lighter scouting forces have had consistent heavy casualties. Thus, with the creation of a light and fast armored vehicle, a large portion of losses can be avoided. (34/40) (Completed, Rushed) (Military Dice, -8)
The start of the program for the scouting tank was brought to completion reasonably quickly. The docket called for a simple two-man tank, capable of performing forward recon and mounting a 12.7mm machine gun. The problems with such a setup amounted quickly as the tank commander is responsible for most of the tank's actions, from firing the gun to commanding the situation. Thus, the turret operator was instead made the gunner, and general command was transferred to the driver to ensure optimal workflow. However, such a change has limited the commander's visibility, relying on reports made by the gunner. Still, the tank is cheap to produce in mass and necessitates minimal adjustment.
New Actions:
Moscow Tank Plant (25 Resources per Dice 0/100)
Trial New 45 Ton Tank: With the recent experience on the plains of Spain, necessitating far heavier armor against German and Italian anti-tank guns. It would be prudent to initiate a program for a heavier tank. However, the tonnage limitation for such a design will be the bridges in the Union, limiting the design to forty-five tons. While such a new tank will be somewhat expensive, the heavier armor should prevent a considerable number of losses, saving a substantial amount of resources in the long term. (56/40) (Completed) (Military Dice, 82)
The heavy tank trial is heavily guided by a multitude of reports from the Spanish war on the performance of the T28, which are extensively analyzed for any form of commonality. It is rapidly found that the leading cause of destruction has been enemy anti-tank guns rather than any other weapon. Simultaneously, the frontal turrets of the T28 have proven to be minimally useful, with hull-mounted guns proving themselves too inaccurate to utilize. Taking Spanish war experience into account, the tank has an angled 75mm plate frontally and a curved cast three-man turret above the hull. The tank mounts a supercharged variant of the V-2 engine previously deployed on the BT-7M, and with its torsion bar suspension, the tank can achieve almost 40 kph on decent terrain. In terms of the gun, the old soon to be retired 76mm M1931 Anti Aircraft gun is mounted in the turret as it provides acceptable anti-armor and anti-infantry performance. The tank is also equipped with a coaxial Berezin and intercom system, a feature set standard on all trial designs.
New Actions:
Leningrad Tank Plant (30 Resources per Dice 0/200)
Chelyabinsk Tank Plant (30 Resources per Dice 0/200)
Trial New Level Bombers: With the currently demonstrated effectiveness of large payload level bombers flying long distances, it would be a good idea to create a program aiming to do just that. A simple twin-engined bomber with a long-range and a reasonable set of defensive guns will be ordered to fill the army's needs. While such a plane will be vulnerable, its long-range should be a good propaganda win. (56/40) (Completed) (Military Dice, 49)
The new trial for an updated level bomber to replace the large quantity of SB's in service has a reasonably unambitious range focused result. The DB-3 is born as a compromise between many factors, creating a long-range bomber armed with a few defensive Berzerins and able to load up to a ton of ordinance. The plane itself is relatively expensive to make on a per-trial basis due to the precision needed for the weight-saving measures to be effective. Still, it is a viable combat aircraft and one of the longest ranged planes in inventory. While the model's production will likely never be favored, a sizable wing will be constructed as it is an upgrade in every field over the SB.
Trial New Sub-Machine Guns: With multiple foreign armies creating new fully automatic pistol-caliber weapons, it would be a shame for the Union to not join in on the trend. The new gun trials will open up for all engineers to design a new gun model suitable to the Union's needs in the reliable Tokarev cartridge. (24/40) (Completed, Rushed) (Military Dice, 59)
The priority for producing the sub-machinegun was entirely focused on producing a gun that would shoot at a high cyclic rate and be accurate to 50m. To accomplish this, Degtyaryov's prototype was picked up and put through trials, and after passing them, a slightly modified version was rushed into production. While there are some complaints about loading the drum magazine, the weapons mostly function and are a small amount cheaper to produce than the SVT.
New Actions:
Expand Degtyaryov Arms Plant (15 Resources per Dice 0/100)
Further Perm Plant Expansions(14 cyl): Given the problems experienced with the larger 18 cylinder engine's production, it would be prudent to start developing a lighter alternative. While such an engine will by design produce less horsepower, it should allow a far easier to mount platform to be made for many new types of aircraft. Despite the change in design, though, the basic M-63 engine's pistons will form the design basis. Cooling problems will also be alleviated with a far better design of cooling fins and far freer airflow between the pistons. (140/50) (Completed) (Military Dice, 74)
The new prototype 14 cylinder derivative of the M-63 engine manages to pass most of its required trials with flying colors. While the first M-80 prototype model is rejected for cost concerns, the rapidly made M-81 improved model is run through an additional set of trials, finding that while costs for the engine are higher, the cooling issues of the 70 series engines have been minimized with additional aluminum fins on the pistons. The engine itself has a slightly shorter mean time to failure than the M-63, but it is still a reliable and functional engine ready to be produced by the thousands for mounting into a multitude of new aircraft. However, the new powerplant's cost is almost half more than that of the previous engines, necessitating more expensive aircraft plants.
Gorky Artillery Plant: The production of new anti-tank guns and other high-pressure guns necessitates high-quality steel and a large industrial complex. Thus, creating a new secondary plant to the Gorky Machine-building plant must be constructed to make specialized, high-quality guns. While current production is sufficient for the current army, the planned expansion will require a large scale ramp-up. (178/100) (Completed) (Military Dice, 79)
The massive expansion of the Anti-tank factory progresses well ahead of schedule with resources allocated to ensure that the bulk of the army can receive up to date 45mm guns. While the guns' design does not change massively, the steady improvement in steel quality does allow for some minor weight savings in the gun carriage. Thus, new production is a small amount lighter and more convenient to use, as modifications from Spain are integrated into improved production models.
Bureaucracy
Normalize Eastern European Trade: With the current German maneuvers in Europe, it may be time to secure new relations with the powers around the Union. While many of these nations may be initially hostile to the Union, they are capitalist enough to allow markets to open given their circumstances. Thus, it should be viable to break into their regional exchanges and secure a considerable amount of currency and gold for further industrialization. (-15 Party Support) (DC 40/56) (+20 Resources per Turn, as long as nothing terrible happens to Poland)
With the Soviet economy's weight and forces, simple trade delegations are sent out to Eastern Europe to secure opportunities to exchange resources for material wealth. While Romania resists for a bit with trade offers rejected, the nations near the Union that know of the German aggression allow multiple export opportunities to be opened to secure yet more gold and hard fiscal goods. As a side benefit, through routing exports through their nations, a considerable degree of tariff avoidance is obtained with the locals also benefiting. There are far fewer tariffs on Polish goods than on Soviet ones.
Current Economic Issues:
Rail: Minor Surplus
Coal: Moderate Shortage
Aluminum: Massive Surplus (You aren't using much)
Steel: Moderate Surplus
Energy: Meeting Demand
Food: Major Surplus
Labor: Moderate Surplus
Resources per turn 640+20+15+ULAG=675+ULAG with 40 in storage.
Party Support 60-5+5-15=45
Current Status of ULAG:
Population: 983,000 (I'll round to the nearest 100k)
Attitude: Stable
Food State: Hearty Meals, -75 Resources Per Turn
Guard State: Intensive Monitoring, -25 Resources Per Turn
Resource Income: Construction focused, 150 Resources Per Turn, Additional Actions
Infrastructure
Buildup of Rail Stock (Diesel, Western Regions): The final part of the great Dieselification effort must be undertaken to finally break away from the old inefficient coal trains underutilization all over the Union. This is the last step of the effort and will involve converting the last rail lines using older steam locomotives. This final change-over will also standardize the bulk of the rails on three separate locomotives models, allowing for a considerable degree of commonality and ease of maintenance. Still, this last step is expensive, and when done, any further improvement in rail capacity will involve the massive construction of new massive lines. (618/550) (Completed)
The massive focus on the construction of new engines can finally be declared a great victory for the Soviet worker. With the Union's industrial focus and the need to modernize the rail networks, all planners and laborers have risen to the challenge and replaced the old coal-powered trains with new modernized diesel engines. Overall, over a decade, the average speed on rail lines has more than doubled, and cargo loads on trains have also increased considerably. Still, the rail network needs further expansion in the number of rails present on critical cargo routes to ensure that the steady march of progress can continue all over the Union as more and more cargo must be delivered. The new far easier to construct infrastructure for the new models of trains will also go a long way to cut costs for rail-way expansion due to the lack of necessary coaling and watering stations, allowing the far cheaper construction of rail lines.
Create Bus Lines: With the new road systems constructed in many cities, it is time to create a new series of buses to optimize the workers' ability to travel. Despite the minor increase in fuel use, these would represent, they will allow the bulk of the people of the Union to travel far farther for work and food, allowing for more extensive and more distributed factory complexes. These will also enable people to move and be transported between cities far more efficiently, hopefully increasing the workers' happiness. (222/200) (Completed)
With the experience in the production of many trucks and the need to transport workers, multiple bureaus take the challenge of designing the Unions new bus. The majority of the designs proposed are simple four-wheelers containing a massive number of seats with some basic heating systems. Despite the simplicity, however, they are rapidly put into production as adequate designs for most cities. Bus routes are also mapped out based on local managers' opinions to ensure that workers can easily commute from any point of the city to any other in an hour by bus. While the network has not changed much about the number of workers appearing to work by any considerable margin, a substantial amount of time has been freed up for the bulk of workers.
Heavy Industry
Magnitogorsk Planned City(Stage 5): The further expansion of the planned city will be one of the most extensive efforts undertaken by the Union. The complex will nearly double in size and become the premier steel production installation in the world. The alloying vats will be further expanded with more steel blends tested out to improve quality, and another metallurgical university will be constructed. The goal of this final level of expansion would be to create an industrial complex nearly half a million strong focused on the production of steel for the Union, creating a true paragon city for industrialization. (15 Party Influence upon completion, 20 Resources per dice (977/1200)) (Nat 1) (+20 Resources per Turn)
The great industrial city's construction continues as an additional fifty-two NKPS labor divisions are assigned to the project. More than a dozen engineering attachments are transferred over to sites near the construction itself. The sheer effort needed for the construction and the quantity of material that needs to be supplied causes some rail schedule delays. Still, overall the tempo on the project sets new records as steel foundry after steel foundry is constructed. The far more replaceable work crews' casualties are relatively heavy as they are not protected in the already built large scale housing, but they still mostly accomplish the job set out for them. Altogether, the bulk of the labor system comes together to put the massive refinery complexes into position and prepare block after block of homes and industrial loading sites to ensure the largest steel complex in the world can work with one plan to supply the Union with steel. Stalin even manages to pay the city a visit and is highly appreciative of the workers' performance, declaring that the complex will be finished in just another six months as a symbol of the Soviet worker.
Inexperienced labor on-site should be classed into a separate category from conventional NKPS units. The idiots cannot manage to even correctly install a simple brick wall, much less anything more complicated. The only bonus of utilizing such incompetents in construction is that they can at least not ruin anything far more valuable.
-Yaropolk Solovev, Commanding Engineer NKPS
After my arrest for agricultural sabotage, what could I do but go along with the verdict? I just waited to plow my field, that's all I did. I begged the judge to have some leniency. Fuck all that did, now I am on a train headed to god know's where. Hopefully, when we arrive, the person in charge can at least tell me what to do. Still, it could be worse. Apparently, they are shipping us out for some construction duty. My sentence is only four years. If it's only building things, I can at least see my son again before he gets too old. Maybe I'll even get some muscles, show off to Larisa a bit.
-Naum Mikhailov, Recovered Journal, Dead of Work-Sustained Injury
The complex's construction has been considerably sped up through additional commitments of newly arrested individuals from the various trials around the nation. The recommendation of the Statistical Commissariat is that these laborers should enter training on how to construct as efficiently as possible before their service starts.
-Statistical Commissariat, Proposal Dismissed due to Resource Usage.
-Yaropolk Solovev, Commanding Engineer NKPS
After my arrest for agricultural sabotage, what could I do but go along with the verdict? I just waited to plow my field, that's all I did. I begged the judge to have some leniency. Fuck all that did, now I am on a train headed to god know's where. Hopefully, when we arrive, the person in charge can at least tell me what to do. Still, it could be worse. Apparently, they are shipping us out for some construction duty. My sentence is only four years. If it's only building things, I can at least see my son again before he gets too old. Maybe I'll even get some muscles, show off to Larisa a bit.
-Naum Mikhailov, Recovered Journal, Dead of Work-Sustained Injury
The complex's construction has been considerably sped up through additional commitments of newly arrested individuals from the various trials around the nation. The recommendation of the Statistical Commissariat is that these laborers should enter training on how to construct as efficiently as possible before their service starts.
-Statistical Commissariat, Proposal Dismissed due to Resource Usage.
Power Production Campaigns(Stage 3): Further construction of more power plants is still needed all over the Union, as multiple future projects necessitate more power. At the same time, civilian power consumption is going up continuously as more cooking implements are issued out. Still, the heating and cooking effort should save some coal, as the electric systems are far more efficient than their older coal-based alternatives. This stage of constructing more thermal power plants will also allow the construction of multiple new factories and aluminum working facilities with their new supply of power. (302/250, Completed Stage 3) (52/500 Stage 4)
With a new supply of labor and effort, the power production effort is a complete success as all of the planned thermal power stations come online. The current amount of power will not be enough for the future, but the production will stabilize the current state and prevent most brownouts. As long as further energy-intensive expansions of production are not initiated, this power should be enough for the Union for at least a few years of further electric implement proliferation. The next step of these campaigns calls for a near doubling in the number of power stations to supply enough power for yet more industry and to introduce redundancy into major industrial grids.
Light and Chemical Industry
Baku Oil Refineries(Stage 3): With the plans to nearly totally utilize the oil deposits in Baku, there also needs to be a plan to refine the massive quantity of oil products. However, these industrial facilities would necessitate a high cost of production with little return on spending. These would further improve the number of oil products available to the Union for larger military projects and secure the position of the Union as the source of Eastern European oil. (5 Party Influence) (326/300) (Completed) (+15 Resources per Turn)
The expansion of the Baku refinery complex goes well with multiple additional separation towers constructed. So far, the fuel that numerous sectors of the Union most need is Diesel, and much of the production is focused on making more of it to supply the rapidly expanding truck and train fleet. Still, gasoline has proven to be extremely useful, especially in many applications needing lighter engines. Thus, local universities have initiated new projects towards higher octane fuel to allow for a greater compression ratio to be used in engines. The bitumen production of the plants also is rapidly railed away from the production sites to be used on the ever-expanding paved road networks.
Expanded Radio Plants Further: Given the significant coordination issues of military units in Spain, further radio production is needed. This current proposal for improving radio access will be targeted towards the company level, with a new standardized truck mounting a large scale radio unit made. The advantage of such a setup is that the truck can power its own radio-unit and haul the fuel needed to run the generator while providing a mobile platform for coordinating the infantry. The production of such a quantity of radio, especially with the degree of mobilization, will pose a massive challenge, but the challenge can be overcome with time and labor. (30 Resources per dice (131/500))
A small expansion occurs with the radio-production further expanded to supply the military's lower levels with communications equipment. These radios are all mounted into refurbished Zis-5 trucks and combined with generator units to ensure that fuel can be most efficiently used all over the Union. While the command staff like the trucks, only the new officers know how to precisely best utilize them, creating a gap in the officer corps on their use. Still, given the speed of promotions necessary for the military expansion, the older officers should mostly be promoted into positions where they can rely on other personnel for their radio messages.
Agriculture 4 Dice
New Socialist Towns(Stage 5): The further expansion of the last stage of the new towns will be the triumphant moment of the Union, as the conversion will indicate that all planned agricultural and rural communities have adopted the new model. While some have fought, the prices have broken most of their will to fight back, and just the last holdouts need to be converted. Over time, these towns may shift over into far larger installations, but this step has allowed a clean break with old peasants. (5 Party Influence upon completion) (Think Moshav with more propaganda) (10 Resources per dice (431/500)
The construction of additional farming infrastructure goes well with many old peasant farmers happy to go back to new jobs focused on growing food instead of city work. However, the openings for town positions are far fewer than the number of people wanting them, giving the state some ability to select for the best to be transferred to the program. Its full implementation will take a bit more resources, but already all Soviet agricultural land has been reformed into proper agricultural systems, delivering yields unheard of before the revolution. Maybe even, in a generation, hunger in the Union can be nothing but a memory of the past.
Expand Factory Farms: Given the demand for meat products and the current surplus of fodder crops that can be used in animal farming, it would make perfect sense to authorize the construction of more factory farming complexes. These would primarily be focused on milk and beef production, but smaller, more local installations will be made for the mass production of chickens. (15 Resources per dice (43/200))
Some progress is made with the construction of additional warehouses to store a large number of chickens and pigs. While the bulk of the systems have yet to be implemented, the iconic cages and feed troughs are already installed. Still, nearby meat-processing plants are in desperate need of expansion, as high-intensity factory farming takes up much of their capacity. New sausage plants near the site of the farms are already planned out and prepared to make delicious sausage for the rest of the Union to enjoy.
Services
Technical Colleges: With the current massive pool of workers, and the need to train them properly on a wide variety of small scale repair and machinery tasks, it has become the concern of the Union to expand schooling systems further. Not all students in the Union can qualify for university positions to study the sciences, but knowledge and experience are still needed in the workforce. Thus, a comprehensive system of technical colleges should be established for those graduating from primary schools without qualifying for any other form of higher education. (492/500) (Close Enough, Completed)
The construction of a new massive number of colleges and educational facilities goes well. Many experienced construction workers, welders, electricians, and plumbers transferred over to teach the Soviet youth how to do their jobs. While to some, this extra educational imposition is unnecessary, it should allow most people to be trained for their jobs preemptively, possibly in time enabling the dissolution of the inefficient apprenticeship system in favor of only qualified candidates getting transferred over. The construction and opening of these facilities have caused a minor shortage in the technical professions as many of the best personnel have been transferred over to teach. While this can cause some issues in the short term, the newly trained, experienced cadres will make up for that.
Military
(Authors note: Most military efforts will have quality dice rolled after they are completed, which will affect the quality of the buildup/equipment/information)
Trial New Heavy AA Guns: With the steadily increasing age on the M1931 76mm AA guns and their inherent altitude limitations, it is likely time for their replacement. However, the issue is that a new shell is needed to improve performance as the aging system cannot deliver the loading rate or velocity required. The changeover of production to new calibers of shells will be a reasonably costly conversion, as both the shell factories and the gun plants need to be changed over. (107/40) (Completed) (Military Dice, 43)
The trial of new dedicated anti-aircraft guns capable of reaching aircraft flying at high altitude and accomodating timed detonation shells starts well with many calibers tried. All of the participants in the trial demonstrate their guns in relative comparison to the old 76mm gun. So far, though, a single contender has emerged as the next step in designing anti-aircraft guns. A 76mm gun with an enlarged breach and barrel in the new 85mm caliber is trialed and demonstrated to exceed the old gun's performance in all categories and is even mounting compatible with it. Thus, it is rushed into production with it planned to slowly replace out the older smaller guns.
Trial New Divisional Guns: With the poor previous results for a true universal gun, a new, less ambitious program is needed on a more simple dual-purpose gun. While this gun does have far tighter guidelines on weight and payload, the dropping of the anti-aircraft mount should significantly improve capability. Still, the military has already been burned by such guns once, and another failure could just see the design thrown away. (92/40) (Completed) (Military Dice, 17)
A massive effort is committed towards the creation of a new, far more functional divisional gun. While the current applications have not been promising, there is an improved variant of an old gun that was rejected in the last phase of trials that could be viable. The F-22 gun is relatively expensive to build and does not promise far increased velocity as was expected, but it still functions at a decent range. The army, though, holds its feet on adoption, preferring the 122mm howitzer by far if some form of decent anti-tank gun can be developed to make up for the 122's shortage in that role.
Trial New Interceptor(Polikarpov): Given the poor performance of the I-16 against the new german types of fighters, a new program for a second-generation monoplane interceptor is needed. While the other OKB's are working on designs with higher power theoretical engines, Polikarpov has a functional design on paper utilizing the M-63 engine. While this fighter may be a bit worse than upcoming aircraft using more powerful engines, it should provide a good sink for the use of old 9-cylinder engines as further modernization occurs. (82/40) (Completed) (Military Dice, 52)
Despite the small office taking charge of the design project, the I-16 fighter's successor is rapidly mocked up and prepared for flight testing. The fighter is an open cockpit machine with a frontal windscreen, but multiple innovations have been incorporated into the design. With the new higher power engine and far thinner wing design, top trial speeds have reached almost 570 kph with yet higher likely possible with improved propellers and by mounting the 14 cylinder engine. In terms of armament, the small interceptor is equipped with two Berezina in the wings and two in the engine cowling, allowing for an impressive forward armament. While the plane is incapable of being used in a fighter-bomber role, it is cheap to manufacture and uses a far lighter engine than any other contemporaries. However, there are issues with the project itself as the Polikarpov OKB only exists in an office building and lacks dedicated development facilities, necessitating a new plant to be built.
New Actions:
New Moscow Aviation Plant (30 Resources per Dice 0/150)
Modernizations of the Gorky and Moscow Plants (30 Resources per Dice 0/100)
Trial New Scout Tank: New recon and light support assets are desperately needed, given the current examples of fighting in Spain. The region's poor terrain has had heavier armor consistently bogged down, and lighter scouting forces have had consistent heavy casualties. Thus, with the creation of a light and fast armored vehicle, a large portion of losses can be avoided. (34/40) (Completed, Rushed) (Military Dice, -8)
The start of the program for the scouting tank was brought to completion reasonably quickly. The docket called for a simple two-man tank, capable of performing forward recon and mounting a 12.7mm machine gun. The problems with such a setup amounted quickly as the tank commander is responsible for most of the tank's actions, from firing the gun to commanding the situation. Thus, the turret operator was instead made the gunner, and general command was transferred to the driver to ensure optimal workflow. However, such a change has limited the commander's visibility, relying on reports made by the gunner. Still, the tank is cheap to produce in mass and necessitates minimal adjustment.
New Actions:
Moscow Tank Plant (25 Resources per Dice 0/100)
Trial New 45 Ton Tank: With the recent experience on the plains of Spain, necessitating far heavier armor against German and Italian anti-tank guns. It would be prudent to initiate a program for a heavier tank. However, the tonnage limitation for such a design will be the bridges in the Union, limiting the design to forty-five tons. While such a new tank will be somewhat expensive, the heavier armor should prevent a considerable number of losses, saving a substantial amount of resources in the long term. (56/40) (Completed) (Military Dice, 82)
The heavy tank trial is heavily guided by a multitude of reports from the Spanish war on the performance of the T28, which are extensively analyzed for any form of commonality. It is rapidly found that the leading cause of destruction has been enemy anti-tank guns rather than any other weapon. Simultaneously, the frontal turrets of the T28 have proven to be minimally useful, with hull-mounted guns proving themselves too inaccurate to utilize. Taking Spanish war experience into account, the tank has an angled 75mm plate frontally and a curved cast three-man turret above the hull. The tank mounts a supercharged variant of the V-2 engine previously deployed on the BT-7M, and with its torsion bar suspension, the tank can achieve almost 40 kph on decent terrain. In terms of the gun, the old soon to be retired 76mm M1931 Anti Aircraft gun is mounted in the turret as it provides acceptable anti-armor and anti-infantry performance. The tank is also equipped with a coaxial Berezin and intercom system, a feature set standard on all trial designs.
New Actions:
Leningrad Tank Plant (30 Resources per Dice 0/200)
Chelyabinsk Tank Plant (30 Resources per Dice 0/200)
Trial New Level Bombers: With the currently demonstrated effectiveness of large payload level bombers flying long distances, it would be a good idea to create a program aiming to do just that. A simple twin-engined bomber with a long-range and a reasonable set of defensive guns will be ordered to fill the army's needs. While such a plane will be vulnerable, its long-range should be a good propaganda win. (56/40) (Completed) (Military Dice, 49)
The new trial for an updated level bomber to replace the large quantity of SB's in service has a reasonably unambitious range focused result. The DB-3 is born as a compromise between many factors, creating a long-range bomber armed with a few defensive Berzerins and able to load up to a ton of ordinance. The plane itself is relatively expensive to make on a per-trial basis due to the precision needed for the weight-saving measures to be effective. Still, it is a viable combat aircraft and one of the longest ranged planes in inventory. While the model's production will likely never be favored, a sizable wing will be constructed as it is an upgrade in every field over the SB.
Trial New Sub-Machine Guns: With multiple foreign armies creating new fully automatic pistol-caliber weapons, it would be a shame for the Union to not join in on the trend. The new gun trials will open up for all engineers to design a new gun model suitable to the Union's needs in the reliable Tokarev cartridge. (24/40) (Completed, Rushed) (Military Dice, 59)
The priority for producing the sub-machinegun was entirely focused on producing a gun that would shoot at a high cyclic rate and be accurate to 50m. To accomplish this, Degtyaryov's prototype was picked up and put through trials, and after passing them, a slightly modified version was rushed into production. While there are some complaints about loading the drum magazine, the weapons mostly function and are a small amount cheaper to produce than the SVT.
New Actions:
Expand Degtyaryov Arms Plant (15 Resources per Dice 0/100)
Further Perm Plant Expansions(14 cyl): Given the problems experienced with the larger 18 cylinder engine's production, it would be prudent to start developing a lighter alternative. While such an engine will by design produce less horsepower, it should allow a far easier to mount platform to be made for many new types of aircraft. Despite the change in design, though, the basic M-63 engine's pistons will form the design basis. Cooling problems will also be alleviated with a far better design of cooling fins and far freer airflow between the pistons. (140/50) (Completed) (Military Dice, 74)
The new prototype 14 cylinder derivative of the M-63 engine manages to pass most of its required trials with flying colors. While the first M-80 prototype model is rejected for cost concerns, the rapidly made M-81 improved model is run through an additional set of trials, finding that while costs for the engine are higher, the cooling issues of the 70 series engines have been minimized with additional aluminum fins on the pistons. The engine itself has a slightly shorter mean time to failure than the M-63, but it is still a reliable and functional engine ready to be produced by the thousands for mounting into a multitude of new aircraft. However, the new powerplant's cost is almost half more than that of the previous engines, necessitating more expensive aircraft plants.
Gorky Artillery Plant: The production of new anti-tank guns and other high-pressure guns necessitates high-quality steel and a large industrial complex. Thus, creating a new secondary plant to the Gorky Machine-building plant must be constructed to make specialized, high-quality guns. While current production is sufficient for the current army, the planned expansion will require a large scale ramp-up. (178/100) (Completed) (Military Dice, 79)
The massive expansion of the Anti-tank factory progresses well ahead of schedule with resources allocated to ensure that the bulk of the army can receive up to date 45mm guns. While the guns' design does not change massively, the steady improvement in steel quality does allow for some minor weight savings in the gun carriage. Thus, new production is a small amount lighter and more convenient to use, as modifications from Spain are integrated into improved production models.
Bureaucracy
Normalize Eastern European Trade: With the current German maneuvers in Europe, it may be time to secure new relations with the powers around the Union. While many of these nations may be initially hostile to the Union, they are capitalist enough to allow markets to open given their circumstances. Thus, it should be viable to break into their regional exchanges and secure a considerable amount of currency and gold for further industrialization. (-15 Party Support) (DC 40/56) (+20 Resources per Turn, as long as nothing terrible happens to Poland)
With the Soviet economy's weight and forces, simple trade delegations are sent out to Eastern Europe to secure opportunities to exchange resources for material wealth. While Romania resists for a bit with trade offers rejected, the nations near the Union that know of the German aggression allow multiple export opportunities to be opened to secure yet more gold and hard fiscal goods. As a side benefit, through routing exports through their nations, a considerable degree of tariff avoidance is obtained with the locals also benefiting. There are far fewer tariffs on Polish goods than on Soviet ones.
Current Economic Issues:
Rail: Minor Surplus
Coal: Moderate Shortage
Aluminum: Massive Surplus (You aren't using much)
Steel: Moderate Surplus
Energy: Meeting Demand
Food: Major Surplus
Labor: Moderate Surplus
- Location
- The United States
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Do note the trade through Poland is well... all smuggling, with a healthy coat of propaganda
- Location
- The great frozen north
Looks like we need more coalfields again.
How exactly do military dice work? Given they rolled NEGATIVE EIGHT, I'm surprised that what we created is even functional. Sure, it's a really bad design, but it does work.
- Pronouns
- He/They
It's a bad design, but unlike the bad divisional artillery nobody knows how bad it is.
Yeah negative quality is a dogshit design that nobody knows is dogshit. We have to get that tank plant up ASAP so that people can learn how dogshit it is and never build one again, but we can't make that discovery until they're in production.
Solid income boosts though, back up to 745/turn (as long as nothing terrible happens to Poland).
Solid income boosts though, back up to 745/turn (as long as nothing terrible happens to Poland).
Chimeraguard
We do deserve to exist.
What's the worst that could happen Comrade? A German invasion?
The Sandman
So Zetta Slowpoke
- Location
- Wherever I am, which isn't where I'm not
Chelyabinsk Tank Plant is a priority for next turn. Coal is infuriating, but probably to be expected given Magnitogorsk; really want to get Zlatoust going though so that we have tungsten for the 1940-41 military design cycle.
Gonna be so glad when we hit the mid-50s and can start shifting power production to nuclear so we can use coal for industrial purposes.
Also getting light AA trials done will be nice, because the thought of what a proto-Shilka would do to German infantry fills me with schadenfreude.
Gonna be so glad when we hit the mid-50s and can start shifting power production to nuclear so we can use coal for industrial purposes.
Also getting light AA trials done will be nice, because the thought of what a proto-Shilka would do to German infantry fills me with schadenfreude.
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
Which means we need coal. Not being able to produce will also be embarrasing.
God, yes! Coal power is ridiculosly hazardous.
And maybe with our much higher educated populace, they won't make something they considered idiot proof, only to then prove that wrong...