[X] Establish the Ordnance Office - Developing an arms industry from scratch will take time and effort. An Ordnance Office will allow us to delegate some of that work to specialists. (Constant Investment.)
[X] Establish the Carabinieri Oversight Office - No one really keeps an eye on the paramilitary police force that keeps watch over the nation. If the force is to be reformed and re-established in a new role, then oversight is needed at the very least. (Constant Investment.)
[X] Establish a Veterinary Oversight Office - Bringing hundreds of horses into Reewiin and establishing breeding programs will require extensive oversight, administrative effort, and coordination. (Constant Investment.)
[X] Enlarge the NCO Cadre - Reewiin lacks an effective base of experienced sergeants and corporals. Improving this will improve the Army overall. Choose one:
[X] Increase Recruitment (6 Months remain) ☑☑◻◻
[X] Write-in: Promote promising, experienced enlisted soldiers, especially those overlooked due to not being Somali.
Kismayo-Turkana Line:
Progress, Kismayo-Marsabit: 70% (Est. completion June 1932)
Progress, Marsabit-Turkana: 31% (Est. completion October 1933)
Arisaka Rifles, Orders, and Production:
Progress, Rifle Deliveries: 30% (Est. completion June 1932)
Progress, Rifle Factory: 3 rifles per day
[X] Production Licensing: Rifle - Build a factory to produce a licensed version of a currently available rifle design. Write in the weapon of choice. ☑☑☑☑
[X] Doctrinal Reform: Army Drill - Dispatch the Army Training Detachment to spend time with each Carabinieri force, improving and formalising aspects of their training methods. These troops will be better suited as a wartime reserve and as partisans. ☑☑☑
[X] Equine Acquisition: Donkeys & Mules - Buy partially resistant donkeys and mules for service en masse from South Africa. This sturdy stock will immediately enable us to improve our logistical and supply services while being somewhat resistant to AHS/ASS. ☑
Army Training Group Report on Recent Activities
The Army Training Group (sans the machine gunners, who have been training on the new Hotchkiss) has returned from their time with the Carabinieri. They report that they have mostly been engaging and organising with the regional training formations each carabinieri group maintains. Marksmanship and small unit cohesion have been a focus, allowing each patrol group to operate effectively even with half of their numbers away from duty stations.
Veterinary Office Report on Recent Equine Acquisition
Rural Bur Gaabo has become a land of horses, donkeys, and mules. Many new ranches have been established under the direct oversight of the Combined Defence Council Veterinary Office, housing the many thousands of new animals being shipped into the region. Organising these beasts of burden into logistical task forces will take longer, but they are here and ready for work.
Ordnance Office Report on New Rifle Factory
The First Reewiin-built Arisaka Type 38 rifle has come off the lines. It will not be issued to any local troop–instead, it will be assessed first by Japanese officers in Reewiin and then shipped with thirty or so of its siblings to the Japanese home islands. Once it has passed certification, issues to the Army and later to the Carabinieri will begin.
The current production rate is around three rifles per day and will not expand until Japan declares the weapons fit for purpose.
Ordnance Office Report on a Weapon in Service: Perino mod.1908 Machine Gun
Calibre: 6.5×52 mm
This is a heavy, water-cooled machine gun. It has a magazine capable of holding five 20-round feed trays, which can be fired without interruption. Shorter bursts are also possible. The magazine can be continuously reloaded while the weapon is firing, allowing extremely long bursts with a minimum of training. The water cooling jacket is of a very advanced design that condenses water for reuse, reducing water consumption.
The Carabinieri and Army have six each, acquired from Italy. Reports about the machine gun are mixed, as it is reliable and accurate, but also very heavy. The 1st (Reewiin) Regiment noted that while re-training their machine gunners to operate the Perino machine gun was simple, field maintenance was significantly more complicated than the Type 3 HMGs it replaced. They also maligned the additional logistical burden of supplying the weapon with water.
Procurement of ammunition has been problematic, with lots not bought directly from arsenals having noticeably compromised precision. There is a significant problem with the machine guns' 6.5×52 mm round being confused for the 6.5×50 mm round also in service, which has resulted in damaged rifles and minor personal injuries.
Ordnance Office Report on a Weapon in Service: FIAT Revelli mod.1914 Machine Gun
Calibre: 6.5×52 mm
This is a heavy, water-cooled machine gun. It is capable of firing 50 rounds from a large, unusual magazine in one long burst. Shorter bursts are also possible. The water cooling jacket is of a very advanced design that condenses water for reuse, reducing water consumption.
The Army has 32, acquired from Italy. Reports about the weapon are mixed, as it is lightweight but less reliable than other machine guns in service. It is probably the most mechanically complex machine gun in service, complicating field maintenance training.
Procurement of ammunition has been problematic, with lots not bought directly from arsenals having noticeably compromised precision. There is a significant problem with the machine guns' 6.5×52 mm being confused for the 6.5×50 mm round also in service, which has resulted in damaged rifles and minor personal injuries.
The Chikuma, a capable but outdated protected cruiser, is on its way. For now, she will remain under the command of a Japanese captain, but that will change as soon as the Defence Council decides what to do with her:
[ ] Have her laid up in ordinary.
[ ] Dock her and assess her alongside.
[ ] Assemble a scratch crew of Reewiinites and take her out for sea trials.
[ ] Attempt to persuade as much of the Japanese crew to stay on in Reewiin service as possible and assess her.
The ship should, of course, be renamed. As the first ocean-going vessel of Reewiin, she must carry a name that is traditional, forward-looking, inspiring, reliable, and cannot be deliberately mispronounced as a rude word.
[ ] Write in: What should the ship be named?
The Defence Council currently has 1 investment point to be spent on Armaments, 1 investment point available to be spent on Breeding and Working, and 1 investment point to be spent on Reforming the Carabinieri. Unavailable votes are struck through, but still visible.
Armaments
[ ] Modernise The .43 Egyptian - Reewiin's single ammunition factory is dedicated to producing .43 Egyptian for the Carabinieri's Remington rifles. Expanding production and modernising the round to use smokeless powder will offer immediate dividends at a low cost. (
3-Month Investment. Initial production will be low-rate, and improve over time.)
[ ] Weapon Testing: Machine Guns - The Ordnance Office will buy a handful of machine guns from around the world and test them until they break. Afterwards, they will make recommendations to the Defence Council on the topic of machine gun licensing. (
6-Month Investment. Recommendations will be made at the end of this process.)
[ ] Production Licensing: Machine Guns - Attempt to buy the rights to produce a machine gun design. Include a weapon available in 1931 as a Write-In. Some will be easily acquired, others will be immediately refused. (
12-Month Investment. Initial production will be low-rate, and improve over time.)
[ ] Restructure the Ordnance Office - Reduce staffing in the Ordnance Office to retain oversight of programs in progress and free up capital for investment elsewhere. This does not cost an investment point and can be done at any time. (
3-Month Investment.)
Breeding and Working
[ ] Equine Acquisition: Purchase Arabians - Buy Arabian horses for service en masse from Egypt. They will be monogender, and we will not be able to maintain the line if they're used for breeding stock. They also may not be resistant to AHS/ASS. (
3-Month Investment. Sufficient mass of horses should be available in as little as one year.)
[ ] Equine Acquisition: Stud Farms - Buy a small number of Arabian studs from the United States. These will make good breeding stock for future programmes. (
3-Month Investment. A breeding programme can begin within the year.)
[ ] Government Action: Push for Equine Conscription - While pastoralism is not exactly a major industry in Reewiin, there are a large number of animals that could be put to wartime use, were they assessed in a proper census. (
6-Month Investment. Implementation will occur at the government's pace.)
[ ] Restructure the Veterinary Office - Reduce staffing in the Veterinary Office to retain oversight of programs in progress and free up capital for investment elsewhere. This does not cost an investment point and can be done at any time. (
3-Month Investment.)
Lanes, Trains, and Automobiles
[ ] Road Expansion: Somali Coast - Build some metalled roads connecting major towns and cities. (
6-Month Investment. Construction will begin during this time.)
[ ] Road Expansion: Inland Networks - Improve the unimproved road network to be more extensive and less vulnerable to flooding in the wet season. (
6-Month Investment. Construction will begin during this time.)
DCIRRO
[ ] Establish the Information Review Team - This group will be tasked with drafting reports on various arms of the internal structure of Reewiin. (
12-Month Investment. Will enable additional work in this specific area, including write-in Information Review requests.)
[ ] Information Review: Government - Determine what the civilian government wants out of their armed forces. (
3-Month Investment.)
[ ] Analysis: Ethiopia - Long-term analysis of the optimal army to defend Reewiin against our eternal enemy, Ethiopia. (
6-Month Investment.)
[ ] Analysis: Britain - Long-term analysis of the optimal army to defend Reewiin against our eternal enemy, Britain. (
6-Month Investment.)
[ ] Analysis: Italy - Long-term analysis of the optimal army to defend Reewiin against our eternal enemy, Italy. (
6-Month Investment.)
[ ] Analysis: The Foreigners Have Some Good Ideas - Send observation teams overseas to take the best ideas from foreign nations. (
6-Month Investment.)
Reforming the Carabinieri
[ ] Organisational Reform: Police Force - While the Carabinieri is responsible for internal security, its position as a military force can compromise that. Each Region should have a specialist policing force subsidiary to its larger military formation. (9-Month Investment.)
[ ] Organisational Reform: Wilderness Rangers - The Carabinieri is responsible for massive tracts of rural land. A specialist ranger unit trained in long-distance patrol and survival would be useful to the force as a whole. (
9-Month Investment.)
[ ] Reinforce the Somali Border - Diverting funds to the North-Eastern border will better protect against any future Italian aggression. (
12-Month Investment.)
[ ] Reinforce the Ethiopian Border - Diverting funds to the North-Western border will better protect against any future Ethiopian aggression. (
12-Month Investment.)
[ ] Reinforce the Kenyan Border - Diverting funds to the Southern border will better protect against any future British aggression. (
12-Month Investment.)
[ ] Restructure the Carabinieri Office - Reduce staffing in the Carabinieri Office to retain oversight of programs in progress and free up capital for investment elsewhere. This does not cost an investment point and can be done at any time. (
3-Month Investment.)
Reforming the Army
[ ] Manoeuvre Training - The Army Review has determined that Reewiin's standing military is not currently fit for the task. Field manoeuvres will begin to improve this. (
Unavailable: the Army Training Corps is busy.)
- [ ] Optional: Request Japanese support for this program, improving impacts and benefiting from IJN institutional knowledge.
- [ ] Optional: Request Japanese support for this program, improving impacts and benefiting from IJA institutional knowledge.
[ ] Rifle Training - With an average of twenty rounds per man per year, marksmanship is of very poor quality. Regular range training will begin to improve this. (
Unavailable: the Army Training Corps is busy.)
- [ ] Optional: Request Japanese support for this program, improving impacts and benefiting from IJN institutional knowledge.
- [ ] Optional: Request Japanese support for this program, improving impacts and benefiting from IJA institutional knowledge.
[ ] Cavalry Training - The Cavalry are loath to conduct operations en-masse, leaving them poorly equipped for the field. Deployments into central Reewiin will begin to improve this. (
Unavailable: the Army Training Corps is busy.)
- [ ] Optional: Request Japanese support for this program, improving impacts and benefiting from IJA institutional knowledge.
[ ] Enlarge the Officers Corps - The Army of Reewiin lacks many things, one of which is small officers. While this is not a significant issue at the high level, it leaves the junior officers seriously overworked. Beginning a major drive to recruit and train new officers will shift this issue towards the positive. (
12-Month Investment.)
[ ] Enlarge the NCO Cadre - Reewiin lacks an effective base of experienced sergeants and corporals. Improving this will improve the Army overall. Choose one:
[ ] Increase Retention (
6-Month Investment.)
[ ] Write-in: How?
[ ] New Uniform Standard - The current issued uniform barely qualifies and is only truly standardised amongst the officers and the cavalry. Order new, standardised uniforms and web gear for the whole army. (
6-Month Investment)
[ ] Write-in: What do you order?
[ ] Confine Idle Soldiers to Barracks - We can't have the Army tarnishing its image by gambling and causing trouble on the streets! Confining the soldiers to their barracks when they don't have leave will keep them from being a nuisance. (
3-Month Investment).
[ ] Give Council Position to Army Liaison - By letting an Army liaison vote on Council matters, we can reassure the Army that their concerns are given due weight. (
3-Month Investment).
A New Ship
[ ] Form a Naval Service: Carabinieri Maritime Policing Unit - The former Chikuma could most easily be subsumed into the Carabinieri, since they already have a boat section for policing Lake Turkana. (3-Month Investment.)
[ ] Form a Naval Service: Reewiin Army Navy - The former Chikuma could be put into service under the oversight of the new Army HQ, allowing easy acquisition of trained officers and NCOs, although not necessarily ones trained in maritime warfare. (6-Month Investment.)
[ ] Form a Naval Service: Reewiin Navy - The former Chikuma could form the nucleus of a true Navy for Reewiin, raised mainly from Reewiinite merchant sailors and fishermen. (9-Month Investment.)
You are more than welcome to ask questions about what is acceptable as a write-in vote.
There will be a 6-hour moratorium on voting to encourage discussion. The vote will close in three days.
