Only One Can Win The Eurasian War! Soviet IC Thread

Simpli · Sep 4, 2016

Ceslas said:
"You do raise a good point. What should I do in the meantime/"

"It might sound less glamorous than showing off the fruits of our labor...but I think we need a serious inspection of the Red Army and Air Force .", looking down at the papers before her she says:
"It might be a personal preference, but I tend to think that getting your own personal impression, as well as having the chance to speak with the people affected by our policies and those that have to use the tools we design is a great source of...inspiration. If you wouldn't mind to spend a part of the next month travelling from one command to the other, we might not only gain a clearer picture of the forces of the wider Soviet Union but also gather ideas and wishes from the soldiers to implement into our own plans later."

Ceslas · Sep 4, 2016

Simpli said:
"It might sound less glamorous than showing off the fruits of our labor...but I think we need a serious inspection of the Red Army and Air Force .", looking down at the papers before her she says:
"It might be a personal preference, but I tend to think that getting your own personal impression, as well as having the chance to speak with the people affected by our policies and those that have to use the tools we design is a great source of...inspiration. If you wouldn't mind to spend a part of the next month travelling from one command to the other, we might not only gain a clearer picture of the forces of the wider Soviet Union but also gather ideas and wishes from the soldiers to implement into our own plans later."

"Very well, I will do that."

Estro · Sep 4, 2016

Mathis chucked his list of options on the pile. The Belgian looked at the debate, yanked his proposals back, and furiously edited a section.
Social: We're Socialists. The Socialists. And as such, we need a country wide system of free socialised healthcare and hospitals., to ensure that the entire country need not fear whatever people feared in the 1930s. Probably still Cancer. And Polio. Polio was big, wasn't it?

Research: Systemic Anti-biotics. Should give a lovely boost to life span and surgery success, especially combined with the new healthcare. And we are only a year away from when Prontosil was discovered in the OTL

Design: An APC. With mount for a machine gun. Make sure the mount can accept multiple diffrent guns, I don't want to be stuck with old tech.

Production: Mechanised Farming shall improve our crop yields! Or at very least mean we need less labour there and we can send more to the industry. Or the front lines.

Military: To assist with the on going inspection of the Red Army and the Air Force, me and my assistants shall conduct and audit of all supplies issued to the army. Any man (or woman) found to be flagrantly engaging in thievery, corruption and bribery shall be summarily shot. And the corpses shall then be uses to train our new doctors. Ah, the sweet smell of progress. Something like formaldehyde, no

DaLintyGuy · Sep 4, 2016

Simpli said:
Casting her eyes back at the writer of the report, she said softly: "What about it also ending up giving away a soldiers position after each shot with the dust it can kick up thanks to the recoil? Furthermore its nearly useless in a frontal position against enemy armor and that was against German Tanks...not the cheated things the Draka are fielding.", shaking her head lightly she says:
"While it might be a worthwhile stop-gap measure till we are able to secure better anti-armor capabilities for our troops, I think our current situation calls more for a designated marksman rifle than anything else. With the current border skirmishes -you seem to have in mind- being our current conflict zones a lighter anti-infantry rifle would be far better suited for the task than an Anti-Material Rifle."

Shrugging lightly she adds: "Of course you could say that the Mosin Nagant is sufficient for this already...but I think spending our time on a sniper rifle that's not only easy to aim but also useful for urban fighting, would be worthwhile."

Comrade

It is heartening to see that others are interested in my projects. However, your complaints are overly focused on the negatives. For example, that the only use for such a weapon is against frontal arcs of enemy tanks. This is hardly the main use for such a weapon. Instead of trying to dent the hardest targets on the field, a task suited for antitank guns when we develop them, they are for picking off soft targets: primarily, enemy APCs and motorized transports. The issue of kicked up detritus as well; the backblast of the muzzle brake should be cut down by mats set down by the shooter or his team. As well, there is the psychological impact to consider. Such a massive round, and worse if it were to be enhanced for tissue damage in the vein of frangibles or hunting rounds, would tear apart bodies: any torso hit would be nearly certainly fatal.

However, it is true that this is not an antiarmor option. That, I'm afraid, will have to be picked up by towed antitank guns and eventually the semi-mobile system utilizing hydraulic recoil absorbers to allow for high caliber guns on the field.

Simpli · Sep 4, 2016

DaLintyGuy said:
However, it is true that this is not an antiarmor option. That, I'm afraid, will have to be picked up by towed antitank guns and eventually the semi-mobile system utilizing hydraulic recoil absorbers to allow for high caliber guns on the field.

"How about a Recoil-less system skin to the Panzerfaust that OTL Germany fielded? That might be something we are able to build with current technology and easy enough to use for our conscripts. The true challenge would lie in finding a fitting warhead...but if we think of what Comrade Maçon is currently planning, I could see some synergy with the Acid Grenade additional to standard shaped warheads."

Shrugging lightly as her comrade seemed to be intent on his project...and there would be some use to those guns surely... she instead mused for a moment:

"When it comes to the AA and AT guns I would like to see if we can acquire the plans for the 8,8 mm Flak from the Germans or the Swedish and then scale them up to the late war 12,8 mm version. That together with the Radar would hit through even the heaviest armored Draka planes and it might also give us a better chance in penetrating their heavy tanks - after all they do have a head start there too."

DaLintyGuy · Sep 4, 2016

Simpli said:
"When it comes to the AA and AT guns I would like to see if we can acquire the plans for the 8,8 mm Flak from the Germans or the Swedish and then scale them up to the late war 12,8 mm version. That together with the Radar would hit through even the heaviest armored Draka planes and it might also give us a better chance in penetrating their heavy tanks - after all they do have a head start there too."

"Flak is a very inefficient way of damaging air craft. Radar directed ones would be something to see however. Eventually, I'd actually like to try to make a bastardized SAM utilizing a combination beam rider and passive radar seeker. Of course, that is if we ever need to counter high level strategic bombing campaigns."

Simpli said:
"How about a Recoil-less system skin to the Panzerfaust that OTL Germany fielded? That might be something we are able to build with current technology and easy enough to use for our conscripts. The true challenge would lie in finding a fitting warhead...but if we think of what Comrade Maçon is currently planning, I could see some synergy with the Acid Grenade additional to standard shaped warheads."

"A recoilless shaped charge weapon? I can see the potential. I doubt an acid warhead would be a good one though, as it would not do enough damage after it gets through the armor to be notable."

Estro · Sep 4, 2016

"I'd suggest we get missiles as soon as we can, but rocketry isn't that developed in this time period."

Happerry · Sep 5, 2016

"Friends, one of us need to see what this Rasputin wants, but other then that I fully agree with the need to make the Draka regret their taunting and attempts to break our troops spirit. Let us make weapons that will let our troops make their opinions clear on this matter."

"...Also, I must admit that an acid warhead is something I find of interest. Though I think such a thing would probably be of more use to the artillery then to tanks given current technological realities."

Luka Popov/Happerry's Actions

Social Action : Investigate Rasputin in an attempt to find out what he wants, who his allies and patrons are if he has any, and where he came from...
Research Action : We need to know what our enemies will be bringing against us to properly design countermeasures to said enemies. As such, Luka will assist the examination and reverse engineering of the 'Raptor' fighter the Draka were so kind to lend us.
Design Action : Ah, comrades, have you heard the news of how the Draka seek to break the fighting spirit of our men? In response, let us design a High Power High Accuracy Sniper Rifle so that the men may make their opinion of the Draka clear. Preferable this gun should be able to work well in all weather conditions with minimal maintenance, with special focus to it working in the snow and mud that often visits our fair lands.
Production Action : While it is good that many are paying attention to setting up better resource harvesting, logistic networks, and fortresses, all of that is useless if no one knows where things are needed. As such, let us design a Telephone Network, Comrades, such that the needs of one location may be known to those able to help.
Military Action : While our troops are brave patriots, one and all, bravery alone is less then useful without equally brave leadership... whom actually know how to read a map. Let us establish an Officer's Academy to make sure we have a general staff able to do its job with excellence, and that our men are not let down by those they follow.

Gideon020 · Sep 10, 2016

jacobplm said:
Social: Establish the Bureau of Modernization, an organization dedicated to industrializing Russia and modernizing it for the future.

Result: Minor Success

There are teething problems, particularly the fact that the Bureau has attracted people seeking graft and other ways to acquire kickbacks and amass private wealth.

But so far, it should work. Although you'll have to clean the Bureau out before long.

(Bureau of Modernization established. 1 random Infrastructure will be built per turn.)

Research: Pre-Fabricated Buildings, for easier construction.

Result: Success!

Steel and concrete slabs, arranged and locked together to make floors, walls and ceilings, built high with steel beams to reinforce the walls. Grey, ugly, utilitarian...

Cheap. For the price of one structure built via conventional methods, you could build 2 using properly-laid pre-fabricated walls, floors and ceilings, which will help immensely with modernizing Russia and it's territories.

And since that frees up valuable time, it means that more attention can be paid to other important production tasks.

(+1 Production action for all players.)

Design: Acid and Incendiary Grenades.

Result: Nat 100!

The research teams presents you with the data on the Sulfur and Acid grenade projects and the news is very heartening.

As it turns out, the 'Acid', now codenamed Comrade Green, makes a mockery of conventional steel plating. In a film presented to you and the others, a scientist explains that Comrade Green can only be safely stored in ceramic containers, the only material that Comrade Green doesn't simply eat through faster than a man can blink.

In the video, the substance is poured onto a stack of twenty-seven steel plates with a dead pig underneath. It takes seconds for the acid to go through all twenty-seven plates and then the dead pig, so fast that you do in fact miss it when you blink. And then one of the researchers has the bright idea to make a rocket-propelled version and fire it at a T-26 brought in for testing.

The results are illuminating and horrifying; the acid, when propelled by an explosive charge as a jet, punches through the armour, slows into a bubble, and then splatters into the crew spaces, often at high enough speeds that some of the acid punches out the other side. The state of the test pig carcasses inside is...gruesome.

Next, the acid is detonated as an aerosol and the cloud quickly melts another pig carcass into bloody, bubbling sludge. However, it is here that protective clothing is figured out; thick and heavy cloth is mated to rubber and ceramic plates, allowing a soldier wielding a high-pressure sprayer to potentially survive the pressurised acid they're carrying if the storage is breached by a bullet.

The Sulfur Grenades are more straight-forward; once the grenade detonates, it sprays the burning sulfur-gel to splatter across targets, burning fiercely and with very high temperatures, and the resulting flames are impossible to extinguish without a neutralizing chemical mixed with water as straight water does nothing to douse the fires sparked.

In terms of roles, Acid Grenades would be perfect for anti-infantry and armour roles while the Sulfur Grenades could clear rooms and bunkers as well as be used to sabotage fuel and ammunition supplies due to high hot the flames burn.

Both would be perfect for the Red Army's troops.

(New Technology Unlocked: Acid Grenade)
(New Technology Unlocked: Acid Rocket-Grenade)
(New Technology Unlocked: Sulfur Grenade)
(Generic Infantry Battalion can be upgraded!)

Production: Infrastructure: Fortress-Towns

Result: Success!

Using the new pre-fabricated building materials, border villages, towns and cities all along the Drakan-Soviet Border are rebuilt and built up into semi-sunken walled fortresses centered around pre-set killing zones and firing zones allowing the inhabitants to fend off assaults from potentially thousands of incoming Janissary hordes. While potentially being starved out is a problem, Red Army planners all believe that the Fortress-Towns will be cracked open long before a siege situation starts, since the Draka would never allow 'Ferals' to exist behind their lines.

In fact, based on their psychology, Red Army planners believe that so long as a single Fortress-Town is standing, the Drakan advances will slow, if not halt, in order to deal with any upstart defenders unless a commander forces them to starve the defenders out.

In full view of the Domination, town after town is replaced with clusters of drab grey buildings. The inhabitants of the new towns call their new homes 'Tombstone Villages' because from a distance, the towns look like a cluster of tombstones.

Russian humor, such a dark thing.

(Fortress-Town network established along the entire Drakan-Soviet Border.)
(The Drakan High Command in Castle Tarleton have taken notice of your efforts. Expect a possible increase in probing attacks.)

Military: Establish a military academy for the training of our officers.

Result: Success!

The Red Army needs officers capable of leading the men of the Motherland, commanders who can think in a crisis and aren't entirely deluged with Party propaganda, just enough to know that they should praise Stalin and the Motherland at least twice a day to satisfy the NKVD and the Commissars.

Time will tell if these young men, and some women, will be up to the task of taking the fight to the hated Drakan snake.

(Military Academy established!)

Happerry · Sep 10, 2016

Gideon020 said:
In full view of the Domination, town after town is replaced with clusters of drab grey buildings. The inhabitants of the new towns call their new homes 'Tombstone Villages' because from a distance, the towns look like a cluster of tombstones.

Wait, the Draka can still see our towns? Comrades, this can only mean one thing. Our defensive fortifications aren't big enough, nor do we have enough defensive depth!

Quick, we need more concrete and landmines!

Gideon020 · Sep 10, 2016

Simpli said:
M.M.M's Actions:

Social Action:
Whatever happened at the Dyatlov Pass has to be investigated. In the best case we might find a lead on the special Resources Rob has promised to us and in the worst case....ROBs tend to love mixing things and shaking them around a bit to get more interesting results. Its better if we have a warning rather than non at all.

Result: Success!

The troops and scientists sent to Dyatlov Pass discover that the nearby mountains have been torn open as if by some kind of underground collapse of incredible proportions, before descending into the largest rent where a glow can be seen.

At the bottom they make an incredible discovery; a massive facility of clear non-human design has experienced some kind of explosive breach and cracked open the mountain to reveal it. As they investigate, they find a machine wildly producing a constant supply of metallic-yellow bricks of crystal, crystal which matches the reports of agents in the United States and Germany of a material called 'VK'.

The machine is swiftly brought under control and the base made safe, providing the Motherland with an infinite supply of this alien super-material.

([CLASSIFIED] now revealed as VK)
(+70,000 VK)

Research:
Let's take a look at the 'Raptor' Fighter our heroic forces downed at the border. With its frame nearly intact we should take it apart as careful as possible to find out as much about Draka airplanes as possible - with them having some of the most modern technology around, this might be quite the inspiration for our own technicians.
Additionally the NKVD should be asked if they have found any technical equipment or manuals on the pilot, which they can give our engineers to inspect.

Result: Success

The Raptor Fighter is clearly the rumored new all-metal monoplane fighter from January's reports. Using a powerful turbo-compound in-line engine that vents the cooling exhaust into a turbine that forces the pistons to continue pumping to increase power and fuel efficiency, the Raptor would be impossible for Russia's abysmal Frontal Aviation Corps to face off in their biplanes, pilot bravery notwithstanding.

But while the engine is exceptionally complicated and requires facilities that Russia does not have to reproduce, you can duplicate the airframe and from there create a new fighter, all metal and monoplane, that could face off and defeat the Raptor in the air.

And luckily, the NKVD kept the pilot's possessions, including a full package of technical and training materials. Clearly this Raptor was a test model that some idiot Citizen pilot thought he could beard the Russians with. Too bad your AA Director broke after that barrage of shots...

Now all you need is an engine, weapons and how to armour it and you can thank the Draka for their contribution to Soviet science. Too bad that the 13mm machineguns were destroyed in the crash but thankfully the 16mm Super-heavy Machinegun survived, so that could offer a valuable first step.

(Drakan technical and training manuals acquired: Bonus to Fighter Squadrons against Draka.)
(New Research Unlocked: New Model Soviet Fighter)
(New Research Unlocked: Super-Heavy Machinegun)

Design Action:
We should looked into getting some new machine-guns ready for production. The Maxim might be reliable and strong enough to be produced for a few more years, but we desperately need a lighter machinegun that can be carried around by a single infantryman. Something like the DP in our time line or maybe we can even skip a step or two? This might be a good moment to see if we can find Vasily Degtyaryov to put him into this project....

Result: Success!

Comrade Degtyaryov is delighted to be working on another weapon for the Red Army and gets to work with creating the new weapon.

When he is finished he presents to you the DM-32 light machinegun; chambered for the same cartridge as the Mosin-Nagant, the DM fires at approximately 820 rounds per minute from a large helical magazine that carries about 230 rounds of ammunition. It is fitted with a folding Bipod to allow a Red Army soldier to brace themselves against cover when firing, and is made out of stamped steel and cheap wood like the PPD-32 allowing for fast and cheap construction in Soviet factories.

The DM-32 performs well in testing and the helical magazine fits into a recess that makes the weapon quite slim in profile. Painted rear and front sight posts provide easier aiming, and the sights are easily adjusted by hand to account for range.

About the only flaw is that the weapon is quite heavy when loaded, so it should be issued to strong men.

(New Technology Unlocked: DM-32 Light Machinegun)

Production:
A Radar Network along the borders and through the whole Union might proof invulnerable in the case of a defense and would allow us to be able to warn defending forces through the country should enemy planes converge on them. Lets build it!

Result: Success!

All across the vast territories of the Soviet Union, a network of squat buildings with the facilities partially built into the Earth is constructed with spinning steel and wire constructs on top of them, telephone lines linking to regional command centers and from there to STAVKA, who collate the information into records of aerial movements and predictions of enemy action.

The system is already paying it's worth; a flight of Drakan fighters was detected heading for the border with the intent on strafing one of the Fortress-Towns as a provocation to the Border troops, but the anti-air crews, forewarned by the new radar installations concealed in forests and lonely hills, damage two planes and shoot down another to send it crashing on the Russian side of the border.

In full view of the Draka, the Red Army troops savage the Citizen pilot and force him to march back to Drakan lines by way of the minefields.

He makes it half-way before he steps on a mine and the soldiers cheer according to the report from the local commissar. The wrecked fighter is left where it crashed, a trophy and insult.

(New Infrastructure built: Radar Network)

Military Action:
I should start a program to once more bring the spirit of comradeship into the army - in the Red Army neither ethnicity nor seniority should give you the right to lord over your fellow soldiers and right now we are still in a phase where the officers of the Red Army are malleable and less stepped in traditions. We need a firm military - but at the same time it should breath the spirit of having officers and soldiers being comrades - respected but still comrades. This will not only make it easier to propagate a system of promotion by merit instead of social standing or education, but also hopefully stop national tendencies and rivalries in the military itself - we have enough enemies already.

Result: Nat 100!

From the Officer Training Film 'Nikolai and Ivan: How To Be A Good Officer, How To Be A Good Comrade'

Hello Comrades! You are here today to learn how to be officers in the Red Army, let me be the first to say 'Congratulations'! By joining the Red Army, you will help strengthen our great Motherland against the perfidious evils of The Draka and their vile Janissary slaves!

An animated image of a beautiful, too beautiful, human with a hungry and cruel leer appears, flanked by brutish and ape-like thugs armed with rifles while the human is armed with another, bulkier rifle before they wave and the ape-thugs begin attacking a Soviet village.

But how can you defend our Motherland against the Drakan Yoke? How can you protect your families and homes against forces that would seek to turn you into slaves? Simple! Comrades, meet Nikolai and Ivan!

Two animated men in Red Army uniforms appear, one looks noble and friendly while the other looks shifty.

Meet Nikolai!

The cleaner man waves.

Nikolai has just joined the Red Army with Ivan. Say hello Ivan!

The shifty man sneers at the narrator.

That is not the right attitude to have, Ivan. Comrades, this is your first lesson; in the Soviet Union good manners are the foundation of being a good Comrade!

The 'Nikolai And Ivan' movies are your masterwork of propaganda and honest educational material, meant to educate new recruits and officers alike on the dangers of discrimination based on background and class, the consequences of attempting to abuse the system, and the benefits of being flexible, trusting and respecting.

As Nikolai's honest and respectful ways garner him better equipment and promotions while Ivan's self-centered tendencies gain him punishments and at the end of every film a gruesome death or slavery under the Draka, classes are held alongside the films by Commissars and officers to help firm this new spirit of meritorious achievement, loyalty to the State, flexibility and cleverness, and above all the realisation and acceptance that all men, and women, are comrades and that every soldier marches with the might of the entirety of the Soviet Union behind them.

As each film always ends, "Remember Comrades, Victory Comes Only With Brotherhood!"

And the effect is soon apparent. The Red Army begins to gain a new level of professionalism and morale steadily improves as newly-trained officers and troops rotate into their ultimate test, the harsh and psychologically harrowing Border Defense Posts opposite the Draka with their daily scenes of torture, rape and impalement...

They hold. Indeed it is all the Commissars can do to make sure that the officers don't charge off to face the Draka, because they know the men would follow them and it would snowball into a war faster than anyone can blink.

When the news of the improvement of the Red Army reaches Stalin, he actually reacts with some measure of pleasure.

Hmm, perhaps something of that brutal, yet pragmatic tyrant still exists in this depressed shell...

(Red Army morale massively boosted!)

Gideon020 · Sep 10, 2016

DaLintyGuy said:
Social Action: Continue the industrialization program, focusing on the needs that infantry require. Steel, woodworking, uniforms, and ammunition.

Result: Success!

New factories go up, housing is built, people are forced off the streets and onto the assembly lines, Russia is modernizing and it's masters don't care how much of a struggle it's stubborn citizens put up.

It is now that the first oil derricks and refineries for the Siberian Oil Field are established, and mines for other resources are established or upgraded. The cry goes out from the throats of Party Bosses in every village to volunteer and make Mother Russia great, only through brotherhood and toil can the Rodina be restored to glory!

(+400 in all catergories except Electronics, Radioactives and VK)

Research: Doctrine is the backbone of any military. At the moment, the most recent combat experience Russia had (or maybe would) have is it's internal revolutions and part of the Great War. Neither of which are good indicators of how modern warfare should be fought. As such, begin tightening the Red Army's doctrine and that of the other branches of warfare to be better able to utilize new technologies and work towards a combined arms doctrine.

Result: Success

Despite the lacking numbers in tanks and aircraft, the wargames to begin forming a proper combined arms doctrine goes ahead smoothly as the Iron Curtain of the Hermit Kingdom and the massive size of the nation means that it is impossible for enemy spies to find the locations of men, tanks and aircraft working on prototype tactics, communication protocols and formations.

Tanks and infantry have good synergy, as expected and the tactic of Tank-riding where infantry grab hold onto a tank to ride it closer to the combat area for increased mobility is considered a good way to reduce the reliance on slow, unreliable steamtrucks while the Frontal Aviation biplanes are still more than suitable for providing ground-attack support rather than try to face off against Drakan fighters like the Raptor.

By the end of the wargames, you have some happy Generals at STAVKA, a list of everything you need to begin integrating infantry, armour and airpower, and troop morale has increased thanks to getting some practice.

(New Technology Unlocked: Early Combined-Arms Doctrine)

Design Action: The Draka are openly contemptuous of our border stations. If our soldiers could reach out and touch them, perhaps they would be less so. An anti-material rifle is, by it's nature, a very big gun for an infantryman. This translates to a very large effective range against enemy soft targets, and moderate effectiveness at close range against early enemy armor. The Rodina could use a production model of this sort of weapon.
-Basically the PTRD, although with the option to use telescopic sights and a longer effective range.

Result: Success!

Thankfully, the Soviet Union has a large-caliber cartridge in the 14.5x114mm which was created during the Great War to defeat early tanks. However, the anti-tank rifle designs of the era are clearly too expensive to produce to be of any usage so you begin working on a more cost-effective Heavy Sniper Rifle for the Red Army.

The result is a long, single-shot bolt-action rifle that is loaded for the 14.5mm cartridge, capable of mounting a fixed-power telescopic sight capable of shooting out to a mile with a steady aim and some practice. The heavy, large bullet makes it supremely effective against infantry and against the thin armour of Drakan autosteamer trucks the NKVD snipers who are tasked to test the weapon report being able to put two bullets in the same hole.

Despite the increasing modernisation of Russia, you won't be able to make something more compact and sophisticated without some dedicated research. So you consider the PTRD-32 ready for service.

(New Technology Unlocked: PTRD-32 14.5mm Heavy Sniper Rifle)

Production: Combined Rail-Road Logistical Network (Infrastructure). Men march on their stomach and can only fight with munitions. Both of which have to come from the heartland... Which is thousands of miles away from the front lines. Increasing the efficiency of our transportation network will increase all aspects of this crucial task of supplying our troops.

Result: Success!

The Combined Rail-Road Network uses rail networks to connect from loading yards at major manufacturing and central supply depots to military stations where road transports, in this case autosteamer trucks hauling trailers behind them, can then take them to villages, Fortress-Towns and military bases.

The entire system quickly reaches across Russia as existing rail networks are integrated into the new construction, and while the lack of depots to hold goods is a problem along with the slow speed of the steam-powered trucks, the networks work and once these other two problems are dealt with, it will allow Russia to supply it's troops easily within its borders and provide the jumping off point for logistical lines should Russian forces move across the border into Drakan territory.

(New Infrastructure built: Combined Rail-Road Logistics Network)

Military Action: Undertake a general inspection of the Red Army. Knowing what we have to work with, how things are currently done, and who is doing their job right versus who is an incompetent armchair general will be critical to the future wars we will wage.

Result: Critical Success!

Your inspection tears through the ranks of STAVKA as you root out incompetent and corrupt officers in the general staff, including many that Stalin had personally installed, but with the Comrade Chairman seemingly insensate except for meals and other parts of his daily routine, that information means little as STAVKA is replaced by actually-capable officers, many of whom are rapidly promoted from the new military academy in Leningrad.

As expected, Stalin doesn't even twitch.

(STAVKA cleaned out! Red Army effectiveness drastically improved!)

Gideon020 · Sep 10, 2016

Ceslas said:
Social: Industrialization must continue to take advantage of the new resources discovered last year. We must strive to equal the capitalist powers. Be sure to give out incentives to work units who are most efficient and to copy their methods for use by others elsewhere in the Union.

Result: Critical Success!

The new incentive programs and studies are an immediate success as methods that improved productivity and exceeded quotas were directly copied followed by the gifting of vodka, cigarettes, bread and meat, fruit and chocolate to the factories that allowed for such advancements.

As the improvements take place, the steady advancement of the Soviet Union continues inexorably, irresistibly forward.

(+300 to all categories except Electronics, Radioactives and VK per turn.)

Research: T-34 development must begin. We shall attempt to perfect the technologies needed to produce a tank with sloping armor, a powerful diesel engine and a 76.2 mm gun.

Result: Critical Success!

The new tank borrows much from the lessons of the T-28 and T-26 along with a cursory examination of the stolen German Heavy Panzer, allowing for the creation of a Medium Tank with sharply sloped armour and a rounded, relatively low-profile turret mounting a high-velocity 76.2mm gun that should be capable of standing off against the Drakan Hond and whatever the Janissary Legions will be armed with.

The engine is an almost-direct copy of the Heavy Panzer's diesel engine, while the crew is also 4 people except that the tank, to save on steel, is quite...snug, in terms of space.

While the armour is about the same as the OTL T-34, the shape should be more than sufficient to protect it against Drakan guns and with the improved industries of the Soviet Union, it is possible to make the the tank out of single-cast constructions rather than welding or riveting everything together, reducing the number of weakpoints in the armour.

(New Technology Unlocked: T-32 Medium Tank [OTL T-34])
(New Unit available: T-32 Medium Tank Company)

Design: Using our own data from the Federovs, the T-6, the PPD-32, and the new American automatic plus our own knowledge of the AK-47 we shall attempt to design our own automatic rifle based on AK-47. Comrade Vladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov, the inventor of the Federov rifle, will lead this effort with the assistance of Comrade Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. I would employ Kalashnikov but he is only 14 right now. Better leave him to his adolescence.

Result: Nat 100!

Federov and Simonov quickly and readily get to work, using the massive amount of review data for Federov's original weapon along with a surprising artifact, a British Great War-era Farquhar-Hill semi-automatic rifle that they also borrow from as well as a Drakan T-6 Assault Rifle.

The resulting weapon astonishes you when presented by the two men; the Federov-Simonov Automat-32 (FSA-32) is a gas-recoil operated automatic rifle with full-auto and semi-auto selector functionality that uses a rear-mounted magazine like the original Federov, but in this case the magazine is a large 85-round spiral drum that uses an ingenious and simple clockwork spring to force the bullets into the rifle's feed system. The drums are machine loaded at the factory but the spring is left loose and is then shipped to the troops.

The soldier would then use a folding handle to wind the spring until it locks into place with a click that can be heard and felt before folding the handle back into storage position. While the process of hand-loading loose ammunition into the drum is laborious, the compact conical drum is easy to carry and can be carried in relatively generous amounts to allow a Red Army soldier to be able to fight for long periods of time.

And to your equal shock, Federov and Simonov have managed to make the rifle as robust as the AK-47; various tests ranging from water and grease immersion to thick, gritty mud demonstrate that the rifle is capable of firing accurately even when caked in dirt and sludge.

The two men are handsomely rewarded for their efforts and the rifle is made ready for final production approval.

(New Technology Unlocked: FSA-32 Automatic Rifle)
(Generic Infantry Battalion can be upgraded.)

Production: In an effort to increase our production and make our factories capable of evacuation in times of need I will pursue the development of semi-modular factories throughout the USSR.

Result: Success

Across the Soviet Union, old machinery is replaced with newer machinery, machines capable of being partially converted by swapping certain components and equipment to build a wide variety of products, not just war material, to create the first generation of semi-modular factory, facilities capable of being rapidly retooled to meet important production quotas and to meet the demand of the Soviet citizenry.

Tank factories can become tractor factories and back again, factories to make cutlery can make bullets and rifle parts, just one factory can build ten different products.

What could the future hold?

(Semi-Modular Factory built)
(+500 to Industrial Capacity, Supplies, and Ammunition per turn)

Military: Go on a personal inspection tour of the units along the border. We need to better understand the strengths, weaknesses, and morale of the army.

Result: Nat 1. I'm sorry.

*Bang*

"Sniper! Get down!"

The sniper was a good shot, you died instantly.

Gideon020 · Sep 10, 2016

Estro said:
Mathis chucked his list of options on the pile. The Belgian looked at the debate, yanked his proposals back, and furiously edited a section.
Social: We're Socialists. The Socialists. And as such, we need a country wide system of free socialised healthcare and hospitals., to ensure that the entire country need not fear whatever people feared in the 1930s. Probably still Cancer. And Polio. Polio was big, wasn't it?

Result: Success!

The new healthcare system is widely adopted, not that the various hospitals and doctor's offices have any real choice when a Party official with grim-faced Red Army soldiers is delivering the proclamation in person. Still, the new system quickly proves it's benefits as the free healthcare and new hospitals are subsidized and paid for by changes in the taxes that the peasants and factory workers pay.

With hospitals comes more chances for medical research, meaning that with time the Soviet Union can begin tackling the big medical issues of the age such as Polio in their own way.

(Free Healthcare system established)
(Quality of Life for Soviet Citizens increased.)

Research: Systemic Anti-biotics. Should give a lovely boost to life span and surgery success, especially combined with the new healthcare. And we are only a year away from when Prontosil was discovered in the OTL

Result: Success!

The labs that create the world's first Systemic Antibiotic Drugs do so under extreme secrecy due to the value of the drugs as treatments for illnesses that the citizenry are at risk at while the modernisation of the USSR is conducted. It's potential for military medicine is easily and rapidly recognized and instituted.

These new drugs, used responsibly, shouldn't result in drug-resistant illnesses yet, and there are still effective if older treatments available that are easily more affordable.

(Systemic Antibiotics invented.)
(New Infrastructure Unlocked: Pharmaceuticals Factory.)

Design: An APC. With mount for a machine gun. Make sure the mount can accept multiple different guns, I don't want to be stuck with old tech.

Result: Critical Success!

The new Soviet APC, designed to allow Soviet troops to be motorized and provide those same troops with fire support, is based upon the BTR-70 of the Cold War in terms of basic design; an eight-wheeled vehicle that after being lengthened and thickening the armour, can carry a driver and a gunner for the ring-mount system fitted to the top crew hatch of the vehicle, allowing it to be fitted with any infantry-level machinegun that will be developed by the Soviet Union.

With the lengthening of the vehicle, the APC codenamed the BR-2 can carry 12 men in the armoured fighting compartment, which has special socket-locks allowing for a man to fit anything from a Mosin-Nagant to one of the new Federov-Simonov's into place and shoot from the vehicle, meaning that the infantry inside are not entirely at the mercy of the enemy in the heat of combat.

The new APC, working in conjunction with Tank-Rider infantry, should allow the Red Army to better take advantage of the new Combined-Arms Doctrine.

(New Technology Unlocked: BR-2 APC)
(Generic Infantry Battalion can be upgraded.)

Production: Mechanised Farming shall improve our crop yields! Or at very least mean we need less labour there and we can send more to the industry. Or the front lines.

Result: Success!

The new tractors and harvesters are handed over to the farming communities of Russia with much fanfare; these new vehicles shall surely massively increase farming productivity and the mechanisation will provide invaluable mechanical skills as well as maintain a steady economic boost in supply and recycling scrap parts.

(+150 Supplies per turn)

Military: To assist with the on going inspection of the Red Army and the Air Force, me and my assistants shall conduct and audit of all supplies issued to the army. Any man (or woman) found to be flagrantly engaging in thievery, corruption and bribery shall be summarily shot. And the corpses shall then be uses to train our new doctors. Ah, the sweet smell of progress. Something like formaldehyde, no?

Result: Critical Success!

By some miracle, the incidences of corruption and profiteering in the Supply Corps is in fact very low, and the few perpetrators within the system are soon rooted out by your efforts with NKVD support, providing some fodder for the surgeons to practice their craft, both military doctor and civilian.

(+100 Supplies per turn!)
(Supply Corps cleaned out of corruption.)

Gideon020 · Sep 10, 2016

Happerry said:
Luka Popov/Happerry's Actions

Social Action : Investigate Rasputin in an attempt to find out what he wants, who his allies and patrons are if he has any, and where he came from...

Result: Success?

The investigation into Rasputin takes a very strange turn when all of your evidence points to one location; a forgotten grave where the infamous Rasputin of Russian history who manipulated the Czar was buried after being shot, poisoned, beaten, and then finally drowned. Upon reaching the grave, you order the NKVD men to dig it up to find a coffin wrapped in filthy but still solid chains.

The coffin is empty when you open it, only finding a yellowed piece of folded paper.

The message written inside is chilling.

'Do you believe me now, Comrade?'

(Rasputin has been verified. It's up to you what is to be done with him.)

Research Action : We need to know what our enemies will be bringing against us to properly design countermeasures to said enemies. As such, Luka will assist the examination and reverse engineering of the 'Raptor' fighter the Draka were so kind to lend us.

Result: Auto-Success

Design Action : Ah, comrades, have you heard the news of how the Draka seek to break the fighting spirit of our men? In response, let us design a High Power High Accuracy Sniper Rifle so that the men may make their opinion of the Draka clear. Preferable this gun should be able to work well in all weather conditions with minimal maintenance, with special focus to it working in the snow and mud that often visits our fair lands.

Result: Success

As it turns out, the best candidate for the new rifle is the AN-1 Battle Rifle; by using higher-quality parts and ammunition followed by a high-power telescopic sight while reducing the number of rounds from 30 to 10, it is possible to make a powerful semi-automatic sniper rifle that is easy to use and maintain.

The resulting weapon is labeled the ST-1 and made ready for production.

(New Technology Unlocked: ST-1 Semiautomatic Sniper Rifle)
(Generic Infantry Battalion can be upgraded)

Production Action : While it is good that many are paying attention to setting up better resource harvesting, logistic networks, and fortresses, all of that is useless if no one knows where things are needed. As such, let us design a Telephone Network, Comrades, such that the needs of one location may be known to those able to help.

Result: Critical Success!

The need for rapid long-distance communications is immense within the halls of STAVKA, and the first telephone lines are not laid for civilian usage, but for usage by the military and the Party, who set the lines up to connect to the offices of the Village Bosses who make sure the villages stay loyal alongside the local elders.

With these first telephone lines and the switchboards put in place stretching from Siberia to Central Asia, the Red Army can now more readily respond to attack from any location, with some particular attention paid to the Draka.

(New Infrastructure built: Telephone Network)

Military Action : While our troops are brave patriots, one and all, bravery alone is less then useful without equally brave leadership... whom actually know how to read a map. Let us establish an Officer's Academy to make sure we have a general staff able to do its job with excellence, and that our men are not let down by those they follow.

Result: Success

While a Military academy is already in operation, it provides only enough education to really allow each soldier to read, write, and do basic math. The establishment of an Officer's Academy where those with the intelligence, aptitude and adaptability can be further educated, synergises well with the new 'Nikolai and Ivan' education military cartoons being shown to help Red Army soldiers be encouraged to break down cultural and class barriers and regard each other all as comrades in arms.

(Officer Academy established, Red Army effectiveness is further boosted.)

Gideon020 · Sep 10, 2016

March, 1932

World News:
-Workers at a Ford Factory took part in a Hunger March to protest unsafe working conditions and criminally low wages despite the improving economy. The protest was broken up by Ford Security, leading to several minutes of violence before National Guard elements supported the police in restoring order. Eight people are confirmed dead.

-Great Britain and France have entered into trade agreements with the United States. Analysts are wondering if the British agreement could herald a thawing of traditionally icy US-British relations.

-The Royal Navy sails for Malaya to protect British colonial interests from Japanese aggression and encroachment.

-In a letter sent to the BBC Far East office, the infamous Chinese rebel leader known as Comrade Mao claimed responsibility for a string of sabotage, assassinations, and general violence committed against Drakan Citizens. Included were graphic images of Draka being raped, and several depicting scenes of torture and a film showing Comrade Mao personally flaying a captured Citizen alive.

-In response to increasing Chinese Rebel violence and brutality, the Draka have burned down no less than twelve villages, killing all inhabitants. Drakan Archon Sarah Palme declared the Chinese Rebels to be depraved animals, and that they would soon be crushed.

-Nikola Tesla's work concerning electrical transmission have been duplicated! With proof that the technology is feasible, Britain and France are quickly moving to adopt the technology which promises to be cheap and plentiful.

-The United States has moved additional troops and material to the mysterious cordon zone near Anchorage.

Outside Scientific Discoveries:
-The Japanese have revealed a rocket-powered interceptor fighter for protecting the Home Islands and other important locations. Fitted with a single 30mm cannon, these rocket-fighters are designed to bring down fighters and bombers alike.

Internal Scientific Discoveries:
-VK has been discovered to possess highly energetic and malleable properties, able to be used as anything from a propellant for bullets to a powerful explosive and even an energy source. It could revolutionize not just explosives and propellants, but high-energy physics, chemistry, metallurgy and more.
(New Research Unlocked: VK Ammunition)
(New Research Unlocked: VK Explosives)
(New Ammunition Unlocked: VK Metallurgy)
(New Research Unlocked: VK Power Sources)

Military Movements:
-Border skirmishes between Drakan Security Directorate Forces and Imperial Japanese Army troops have broken out over Chinese Serfs attempting to flee into Japanese Manchuria or head for Mongolia and the Soviet Union.
-The Japanese 1st Pacific Fleet has been spotted near the Philippines.
-The Drakan Dirigible Fleet has begun heading back to the yards for decommissioning and modification for civilian service.

Income Report:
+3200 Manpower
+2700 Supplies
+4100 Ammunition
+1800 Industrial Capacity
+680 Fuel
+0 Electronics
+700 VK

Political Directives:
-Stalin actually shows some emotion. A member of his inner cabinet killed while doing his duty? Stalin wants the Draka to be sent a message; a senior Drakan officer must die in full view of their troops. Blood for blood, it is the only fair exchange.

Internal Troubles:
-The death of a member of Stalin's inner circle has incensed the officers of Near East Command. If this death does not go unanswered, they could potentially attack Drakan territory of their own volition, to hell what the Commissars say.

There are new intelligence reports!

Happerry · Sep 10, 2016

Gideon020 said:
'Do you believe me now, Comrade?'

(Rasputin has been verified. It's up to you what is to be done with him.)

Ah ha ha ha oh dear. Welp, I suppose the next thing to do is ask him what he wants besides just 'access to our fearless leader'.

The Bird · Sep 10, 2016

Social: We've already had luck with one Bureau, lets try another, yes? Establish the Bureau of Education and Social Advancement. The goal is to allow us to more easily enact social policy, while at the same time improving the quality of soviet life, both civilian and military.

Research: Industrial Uses of VK.

Design: Fortress-Towns are good, yes? They force the Draka to expend energy to capture them. Why not improve that? Design a possible upgrade for the things, a second, deeper layer, intended to be retreated into should the Draka break into the first layer, and force them to break into the fortress all over again. It should come with a hydroponics facility to provide food, of course, as well as generators.

Production 1: Infantry Battalions, to be stationed along the border.

Production 2: Pharmaceuticals Factory

Military: Support DaLinty's action

DaLintyGuy · Sep 10, 2016

Social: Lend oversight and support to the establishment of the BESA.

Research: Improve the AA fire director that was previously used to shoot down the Raptor. Two areas of use should be focused on: serving as the center of a battalion of flak guns, and as the sights for a rapid firing AAMG.

Design: Upgrade Generic Infantry Battalion to Mechanized Line Battalion: possessing integrated snipers (both anti-infantry and anti-material), a section for using Incendiaries (not Acid due to upkeep issues), infantry armed with the AN-1 semi automatic rifle and the SMGs (PPD-32?), and a support section of DM-32 LMGs. Transport is provided by BR-2s.

Production 1: 4 T-32 Medium Tank Companies.

Production 2: Oversee the setup of a new factory complex in the Urals, to produce armored vehicles for the Red Army as a whole.

Military: Using the newly produced T-32s, begin a series of Russian probing attacks on the Drakan forces on the far side of the border, supported by some of the border troops: they deserve the chance. Hit and run, don't get bogged down in fighting as you will be overrun by Drakan forces if you don't get back behind the defenses in time.
-We might even use this as an occasion to ensure the safety of escaping Chinese Serfs, as their pursuers are highly unlikely to be bringing along tanks or even antiarmor weaponry. This is a tertiary objective at best.
-Run this operation in support of the planned operation to try and sucker the Draka. After all, it is predicated on making them mad.

Simpli · Sep 10, 2016

Leaning backwards and slightly pinching the back of her nose as she shifted her glasses up a little, Lt. Mayakovskaya looked at the two fellow Councillors of their now rather shrunken organization with a small frown. Looking around their office she let out a small cough to get their attention, before rstanding up and lightly knocking against the surface of the table.

"If no one seems to be intent on doing more than throwing their plans on the table...", she said dryly with a gesture at the plains already laid out before them: "We should at least take a moment to think of our Comrade who fell to the bullet of a Draka sniper when inspecting the border....he might be safely back at home now...but the person he had taken over when he arrived might not have that luxury."

Letting a moment of silence pass, she looks at the other plans and says lightly: "If I may?", before grasping them and slowly reading through them, before pointing at multiple ideas:

jacobplm said:
Design: Fortress-Towns are good, yes? They force the Draka to expend energy to capture them. Why not improve that? Design a possible upgrade for the things, a second, deeper layer, intended to be retreated into should the Draka break into the first layer, and force them to break into the fortress all over again. It should come with a hydroponics facility to provide food, of course, as well as generators.

"While the Fortress cities themselves are not a bad idea, I'm not sure how much it is worth to fortify them even further - normal towns were already enough of a deathtrap to most armies...and now you want to make those towns even deeper? I'm questioning the merit of such an idea comrade...especially when it comes to "hydroponic facilities" - we are not trying to build a Vault and its unlikely that underground farms will be able to produce food fast enough and quick enough to be of any use in a siege. Trusting on our current modernization of the agriculture and stockpiling rations seems to be the safer bet.
If you really want to improve the chance of our cities to survive, you might take a look at the tank schematic we have aquired from the Germans and see if you can turn the maingun back into an heavy AA gun. Having those in enough quantities to defend our cities against bomber raids seems more prudent and useful."

jacobplm said:
Infantry Battalions, to be stationed along the border.

Giving him a slightly annoyed look as she read the short entry she asks: "How many comrade? And please do not forget that we are currently incorporating the new weaponry into our plans for Infantry Battalions. If you raise them now, they would end up using the old equipment and tactics. A pure waste of ressources...as long as you don't outright say that you want to produce the new Mechanized Line Infantry our comrade is planning - of course this relies on those plans working out."

DaLintyGuy said:
Social: Lend oversight and support to the establishment of the BESA.

"Might I ask what BESA stands for?", she asks simply as she turns towards the next report.

DaLintyGuy said:
Two areas of use should be focused on: serving as the center of a battalion of flak guns, and as the sights for a rapid firing AAMG.

"I have honestly no idea what you want to do comrade... I can understand that you want to make something with my fire director -an tool that helps our soldiers to calculate the bearing and future position of a high flying plane- but then I'm not sure what you are trying... Do you want to make a whole battallion of flak guns only able to shoot at one target?", she asks honestly confused:
"And how can a mechanical computer -which a fire director is- act as a sigh for a machine gun?", pausing for a moment she instead continues: "Maybe you should better try to combine our fire Director with a radar height finder that would allow our guns to be coordinated with the radar data we have on enemy planes."

DaLintyGuy said:
Military: Using the newly produced T-32s, begin a series of Russian probing attacks on the Drakan forces on the far side of the border, supported by some of the border troops: they deserve the chance. Hit and run, don't get bogged down in fighting as you will be overrun by Drakan forces if you don't get back behind the defenses in time.

Taking a deep breath she looks over at the offending comrade on the council ones more "Are you trying to get shot by Comrade Stalin?", she asks bluntly, before giving him a glare: "Not only are you proposing we send out military onto Draka Territory - a red line that might make Comrade Stalin intervene, even if he has given us the task to kill one of their senior officers- but you are also wanting to use the newly produced T-32 tanks....tanks the Draka don't even know about yet?"

"You said it yourself: they will get overrun if they get bogged down and the T-32 is a new design, we don't know what problems might arise and while our border fortifications might have made them wary of something changing in our policies, they don't know the extent and aims of our modernization yet. Your proposed attack would not only give them a good luck at the new hardware we are producing and that we are doing it at all...but it will also run the risk of them getting their hands onto our tanks to see for themselves that we are trying and have to some degree - gotten technological parity with them. That sending out our tanks alone and without support against the enemy, whose not only prepared for an attack, but also has combined arms he can bring to bear against us as well as obstacles, is tantamount to suicide if we aren't lucky should have come to your mind."

Sitting down once more and giving him a careful nod, she formulated a bit more...friendly: "But I'm sure your idea would have gotten the agreement of many officers on the border and I'm sure they would have done such a raid gladly. But can you imagine the distaster it would be for our border troops if Stalin should decide to have the officers shot or punished in other ways?"

"I propose something else - we know we have made the Draka curious and we know that they are trying to escalate violence on our borders to probe our readiness: as such we can soon expect a raid of their own. And I would propose: let them in - make the border appear weaker than it is and when they launch their offensive let our troops fall back and as soon as they are fully on our territory....use the new T-32s with the support of our bordergroups to encircle the complete enemy raid and destroy it. We will not only get to show the Draka that messing with us is a bad idea, we will not only get the chance to fulfill Comrade Stalins demands for one of their senior officer, We will not only get out pickings on a whole battlefield of Draka weapons and equipment....but we will do so completely and utterly: on the territory of the motherland and in the best case none of them shall return home and each of our fallen will fall on the earth of the motherland and safely transported home after the fight is concluded.

As such I propose we use the new sniper rifles and lang ranged weapon to haress their Defenders: to target officers and specialists to rile them up...and sooner or later they are going to feel like our man did and have no other choice but to surge forward to put us "ferals" into their place. If you would take care of provoking them into a attack, I shall organize the trap and speak with our miltiary commanders, so they will know what they will have to do.

What do you think Comrades?"

M.M.M's Actions:

Social Action:

Who would have guessed my study of archaeology in the real life would be useful for something in this strange world? Well: I'm going to organize an expedition towards the VK factory we have found inside a mountain and I'm going to take the infantry batallion that has stayed in Moscow with me. Both for security and potential labour force if I don't find enough workers....but also to get a feeling for the officers and the rank and file. At the mountain I will start to comb through the interior with a team of artists, engineers and architects, trying to get an overview about the installation, the way it is structured and built...with the intend of finding out more about it than simply knowing that it spits out glowing golden crystals that could revolutionize our technology.

Research:

VK Power sources

I would love to build oversee the creation of an engine for our new soviet fighter, but for now we should look into the properties of this new ressource, especially with the technological advancement the Axis have reached through it. As such our scientists should look for a way to use the VK as an energy source.

Design Action:

Leonid Kurchevsky - A fraud or an innovator? I'm not sure yet, but in our timeline he was one of the greatest inventors when it came to recoilless rifles and his death also stopped this particular research in the soviet union. Right now we should see if we can seek him or similiar researchers out to work on something new: a recoilless gun for the simple infantry man that should allow them the take out a tank. We alraedy have the acid grenade and shaped warheads shouldn't be that hard to come by. What we now need is a weapon to deliver them against the enemy.
- While the Carl Gustaf comes to ones mind, I should merely control the work from time to time - making sure that none of the researchers were too intimidated by the work....and that the product was still useable by an infantrist in the end.

Production I:

We shouldn't forget the civilian side of the Union, as we have already heard before -and with our or at least my idea to open up with splendor- and should do something about improving the living condition and the state of our cities. As such I will work together with the cities to see how we can polish them back up to the splendor they had in the past...this might be an opportune moment to give the city soviets a real task once more. That will make them feel more involved and give them some real duties.

Production II:

Our modernization of the infrastructure should not only be to the benefit of the military. If there are some capacities free, we should use them to establish civilian train routes and phone lines through the Soviet Union. We might have to start with "only" the larger cities, but we sure have to catch up to the rest of the world...

Military Action:

The Draka are escalating things on our border...and noticing that something is going on on our side. If our intelligence reports are correct they are preparing to march against the Japanese held territories of China and they might not be willing to leave us on their sides without a show of force. A large raid or a small offensive might be the tool they would use to intimidate and test us - this might proof to be useful to us.
I shall try to coordinate with out commanders at the border to prepare a trap for the Draka: we will let one part of the front seem weaker and undisciplined than the rest of it, while pulling forces away from it and towards the cities - or at least make it appear like this.
With the advent of the larger and semi-automatic long range rifles, our soldiers might have something to keep the Draka from harrassing them right infront of their eyes - lets promise a small reward for each Draka officer shot by our marksman to rise their tempers.
As soon as the Draka try to attack the border in force, our forces at that position should set up a valiant...but short defense, bleeding them in the fixed defenses to rise their tempers even more... before starting a fighting retreat into the space between the cities, luring the Draka after them by never really breaking contact - it will be hard and we will take looses...
But this will allow us to get that force right onto our territory...and then the trap will close with other attachments of the border guard closing the way the Draka took to come in and using the Radar and massed Flak units to keep Air support from getting to them. The aim will be to encircle the Drakan invasion force and destroy them before enemy reenforcement can jump them out. Their total annihilation or at least their surrender will be our aim...especially if we can get the Senior officer Comrade Stalin wants.
- This will also be a good opportunity to show off our new tank units - and as long we annihilate the Draka units completely, they can't send any word back home about them...and even if: that might be discarded as the excuses of weaklings that let themself get lured into a trap by mere "ferals"

DaLintyGuy · Sep 10, 2016

Simpli said:
"Might I ask what BESA stands for?", she asks simply as she turns towards the next report.

"The new Bureau of Education and Social Advancement."

Simpli said:
"I have honestly no idea what you want to do comrade... I can understand that you want to make something with my fire director -an tool that helps our soldiers to calculate the bearing and future position of a high flying plane- but then I'm not sure what you are trying... Do you want to make a whole battallion of flak guns only able to shoot at one target?", she asks honestly confused:
"And how can a mechanical computer -which a fire director is- act as a sigh for a machine gun?", pausing for a moment she instead continues: "Maybe you should better try to combine our fire Director with a radar height finder that would allow our guns to be coordinated with the radar data we have on enemy planes."

"Flak guns are a terribly cost inefficient method of attacking high level bombers, but it is a method that is almost impossible to actually destroy with aerial attacks. Setting several dozen guns to bracket a single formation increases the chance of damaging the planes in formation. If we're lucky, maybe there will even be a direct hit.
And if the director is so hopeless for knocking down planes, then how did the Raptor get downed?"

Simpli said:
"Are you trying to get shot by Comrade Stalin?"

"We aren't taking land: we're killing the enemy."

Simpli said:
"I propose something else - we know we have made the Draka curious and we know that they are trying to escalate violence on our borders to probe our readiness: as such we can soon expect a raid of their own. And I would propose: let them in - make the border appear weaker than it is and when they launch their offensive let our troops fall back and as soon as they are fully on our territory....use the new T-32s with the support of our bordergroups to encircle the complete enemy raid and destroy it. We will not only get to show the Draka that messing with us is a bad idea, we will not only get the chance to fulfill Comrade Stalins demands for one of their senior officer, We will not only get out pickings on a whole battlefield of Draka weapons and equipment....but we will do so completely and utterly: on the territory of the motherland and in the best case none of them shall return home and each of our fallen will fall on the earth of the motherland and safely transported home after the fight is concluded.

As such I propose we use the new sniper rifles and lang ranged weapon to haress their Defenders: to target officers and specialists to rile them up...and sooner or later they are going to feel like our man did and have no other choice but to surge forward to put us "ferals" into their place. If you would take care of provoking them into a attack, I shall organize the trap and speak with our miltiary commanders, so they will know what they will have to do.

What do you think Comrades?"

"That... Is not a bad plan, although I feel like a full scale offensive is unlikely, what with the shifting of snake assets towards Japanese China. If you could make it more likely to fulfill it's aims, I would support your plan."

Simpli · Sep 10, 2016

DaLintyGuy said:
And if the director is so hopeless for knocking down planes, then how did the Raptor get downed?"

Letting out a barely audible groan she shakes her head: "It is not the receiver...just the way you are planning to use it that eludes me: your first idea would mean that all guns of a formation share the same director, then they are all only able to shoot at the single target the director is currently calculating the trajectory for....all guns in the formation need their own director.
And using it as "sight" sounds as if you expect it to be something like a optical sight...which it is most surely not. Of course it would simply be that we have a misunderstanding and with AAMG you are not meaning a machine gun but a larger autocannon."

DaLintyGuy said:
"That... Is not a bad plan, although I feel like a full scale offensive is unlikely, what with the shifting of snake assets towards Japanese China. If you could make it more likely to fulfill it's aims, I would support your plan."

"I'm also less expecting a real Invasion than a particularry large raiding force. That would be in line with the Draka's character as culture and their history...and at the same time be another step of the escalation that is currently taking place.
I think we can increase the chances of this happening by talking with the commanders on the order to organize a trap -something I would gladly do- while at the same time organizing a hunt of officers to enrage them - maybe with our old or new sniper rifles. Furthermore we can use Chinese Insurgents to play false information into the Draka's hands to make them believe our defenses are weaker than they thought...and that showing is tje stremgth of their dominion, would pacifiy us for as long as they war against Imperial Japan takes."

Happerry · Sep 10, 2016

DaLintyGuy said:
Military: Using the newly produced T-32s, begin a series of Russian probing attacks on the Drakan forces on the far side of the border, supported by some of the border troops: they deserve the chance. Hit and run, don't get bogged down in fighting as you will be overrun by Drakan forces if you don't get back behind the defenses in time.

Comrades, whether or not it is wise to go on the attack, I would request that we do not show off our shiny new tank designs when we do. I want to give the Draka as little information as possible on how the glorious soviet army is evolving, not show off our new vehicle designs to them so they know we have new vehicles. The more they think we're just some stagnating hermit kingdom, the better.

Until, at least, we have the power to do more then just a Probing Attack.

Luka Popov/Happerry's Actions

Social Action : Welp, Rasputin is probably the real thing. On one hand, it's nice he isn't the tool of some modern faction. On the other hand, oh crap it is the historic Rasputin. Time to go stop trying to subject him to a microscope and just ask him what he wants/intends to do that he seeks access to Stalin. Of course, take some reasonable precautions such as doing this conversation with someone else listening over an intercom just in case, but try not to be consumed with paranoia enough that we just insult the man instead of offering due respect to his reputation.

Research Action : Research VK Metallurgy so we can see just how wonderful this wonder material really is. And then test the Hellsprout on the results.

Design Action : We have fire and acid, so time to see if they can be put to use together. Design the Hellsprout Sulfur Incendiary Projector, which uses our new Sulfur Incendiaries to design a flamethrower fit to give the Draka hell. Also, test the effect of the weapon on VK materials given that the Axis seems to be using it for armor.

First Production Action : Build Networked Supply Depots.

Second Production Action : Produce a Generic Artillery Battery. Combined arms is all well and good, and infantry may be the queen of the battlefield, but Artillery is the king. And we all know what the king does the queen. Either way, any doctrine we develop should take artillery into account, whether normal guns or rocket artillery. But without Artillery to play with, this is hard to do. That is why this Artillery Battery is being built.

Military Action : Just as the Officer Academy trains officers, and the Military Academy trains soldiers, let us build a Special Operations Academy for, well, Specialists in Special Operations. Snipers, Commandos, Paratroopers (once we get planes for them to jump out of), and so on.

Estro · Sep 10, 2016

Maçon waltzed into the room that had become their regular meeting place over the last few months. Two aide-de-camps were following him(her?), each carrying another four breifcases.

"This, this is one days paperwork. Bloody Rob. I've had enough. I will build a computer to do this for me if I have to drain the brainpool of the entire CCCP!"

With that declaration, Maçon collapsed. In the only breifcase he was carrying was his directives, with as usual a one page summery upon the top.

Social: Institute mandatory education for children from the age of Five till thirteen, focusing upon Literacy and Numaracy, as well as basic sciences. Ensure that schools are freely available, with a secondary option for further specialisation until eighteen. The tertiary education in this country will also be refocused upon research and further development of the base of Soviet knowledge. And if someone tries to push ideology instead of facts then murder the ever living fuck out of them.

Research: We have a new material. VK. Wonder what it stands for. As a crystalline non-ionic substance, it has a decent chance of being a semiconductor. And given the potency of Comrade Green, layers of this substance over Green etched silicon may allow for excellent transistors, all integrated into one surface.

Design: Victor Ivanovich Shestakov. Ahh, what a name. Logic gates are where he accelled. And given the more advanced state of computing, surely he can put his knowledge of Boolean Logic to use to develop a plan, just a plan, for a stored program device, fully capable of computation of a level comparable to... ATLAS (48 bit word size, 24 bit address space, 112 kilobits of storage space, and of course Turing Complete.).Just a design though. Notes and drawings. After all, with current technology, that would likely be the size of a city.

Production -1: Build a Battleship in one of our black sea ports
Production -2: Our source of VK cannot be left unguarded. Using the principles behind the Fortress Towns, fortify that pass until its as hard to take as Stalingrad! Well, okay, maybe not that hard. But it would be nice if it was.

Military: Create the committee on military intelligence, designed to amalgamate intelligence reports from all three factions of the military and the NKVD, and ensure greater sharing of information between groups.

Simpli · Sep 10, 2016

Happerry said:
We have fire and acid, so time to see if they can be put to use together.

Tilting her head lightly to the side, the blonde brushing through her hair once, before saying softly: "Actually Comrade...just out of interest? But what are you really oping to reach by combing an Acid with a Fire weapon...something that does not have to really react with one another and which works quite well when you keep them apart...together with an unknown material that has most likely been seeded by Aliens thanks to ROB?"

Tapping lightly against the table she clarifies: "I mean...what kind of weapon do you envision and what kind of role do you think this could take on teh battlefield? Because this sounds more like a test and a research project than an action which aims to design a finished product."

Shrugging lightly she adds: "As you seem interested in paratroopers...why don't you take a look at designing a transport Tilt Rotor Aircraft to land man and material behind enemy lines?"

Estro said:
Production -2: Build a Battleship in a port on the Baltic Sea.

"Excuse me Comrade....but maybe you should take a look at our currently available ressources?", waiting for a moment to get the mans attention after his sudden spell of weakness, she lightly tips against the reports on their fuel stores: "I fear we would be unable to build two battleships at once."

Estro said:
Military: Ensure that proper rotation of men is occurring at the Drakan border. These brave soldiers deserve to see their families. And by removing those who have been stationed there the longest, perhaps the risk of someone doing something rash will fall.

Gideon020 said:
The Red Army begins to gain a new level of professionalism and morale steadily improves as newly-trained officers and troops rotate into their ultimate test

"Not to critizie your plans Comrade....the Red Armies morale has after all reached peaks that haven't been known since the days of the revolution thanks to our care for the soldiers....but it seems that such a mechanism is already in place at the border. If I may....I would hazard a guess that the American Troop Movements to Anchorage could be interepretated as that being their source of VK....and the Pass seems to be our only one. Maybe your organizational talent might be of better use when it comes to organizing a security garrison for the factory...and use those ressources not in use by the second battleship to fortify the souce of this promising crystal?"

Only One Can Win The Eurasian War! Soviet IC Thread

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