Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Have +5 to your next fuels roll.
And you can have a +5 to a Politics roll of your choice.
Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)
- Thread starter Shadows
- Start date
- Original
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
Do we have a Public Relations Office or someone who can show our progress to various authorities and the public? Has technology advanced to Television in people's homes or it is more Community based? Are cinema's and newsreels popular?
Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It was just actually voted on to make one this turn! So, yes.
Some people have TVs, there are broadcast stations, and yeah, cinemas and newsreels are still in vogue.
trooperist
Cinnamon Roll AI
Construct a Sounding Rocket 95/40 Launch 65
T&O Complex 66/60
RCC Development 60+33+20 = 113/100
Research Program Outreach 10/120
Publications Office 59
A Helping Hand 67+10 = 77
People's Program 61+10 = 71
Outreach Program 98+10 = 108
Lots less dice here than other quests use that's for sure, so I'm unsure if this is even needed.
But we have some decent progress. And apparently a really good outreach program.
T&O Complex 66/60
RCC Development 60+33+20 = 113/100
Research Program Outreach 10/120
Publications Office 59
A Helping Hand 67+10 = 77
People's Program 61+10 = 71
Outreach Program 98+10 = 108
Lots less dice here than other quests use that's for sure, so I'm unsure if this is even needed.
But we have some decent progress. And apparently a really good outreach program.
Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Thanks for the mathpost!
It will likely be more needed in the future, when the program is more than just slightly better than a bunch of folks putting together rockets in their garages.
trooperist
Cinnamon Roll AI
Thinking on it further, do bonuses affect quality dice, like the +10 in politics affecting our programs? Because some quests sometimes treat quality dice as different and separate things.
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March 31st, 1951//Q1 Results
Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
MOGADISHU, EAST AFRICAN AUTONOMOUS REGION - The Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative has begun a large expansion campaign in the balmy African region, seeking to capitalize on their successes in sending rockets past the edge of space…
SIOUX TERRITORIES, GREAT PLAINS - The Sioux peoples have begun working with the local immigrant population to introduce them to their ancestral methods of living with the land…
FRANKFURT, GERMAN FREE REPUBLIC - Reconstruction of Frankfurt continues apace as the radiation levels in the area decrease according to predictions made by scientists at the…
SIBERIAN TERRITORY, NORTHEAST ASIAN AUTONOMY - Bandits continue to plague trains moving across Siberia to the port city of Vladivostok. They are thought to be affiliated with Russian nationalists of several descriptions…
—
Penelope chuckled as she set her paper down. The IEC was in the news for the second time since it had been created!.. on page 20, behind the funnies. But, still, it was nice to be noticed. There would certainly be far more to talk about, if the IEC had its way. The facility was expanding at a breakneck pace, visible from her window, a collection of low-slung buildings made of local brick with roofs topped with metal to prevent damage from falling rocket debris, and constant road construction was just part of the way things were these days. She couldn't see them from here, but she knew that nearby the production facilities stood in the sun, corrugated metal prefabs that would be dreadfully hot when the summer came despite the massive fans that fought to circulate the air inside.
Maybe they would be able to improve those in the future. For now, they'd make do.
Resources: 85 + 55/turn
60 Political Support
Facilities:
1 Launch Stand (0-5 tonne) (+1 Operations die)
1 Assembly Complex (+1 Build Capacity)
1 Engineer's Hall (+2 Engineering Dice)
1 University Affiliate (+2 Science Dice)
1 Materials Lab (+5 bonus to projects tagged [MATSCI])
1 Chemical Plant (+5 bonus to projects tagged [CHEM])
1 Electronics Cooperative (+5 bonus to projects tagged [AVIONICS])
1 Construction Union Hall (+1 Facilities die)
Q1 1951 Results
[] Construct a Sounding Rocket 95/40
-[] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) 65>50 SUCCESS
The engineers and technicians at the Mogadishu complex spent a decent chunk of their time this quarter throwing together another sounding rocket. A near-identical copy of the last, with the only major difference being a somewhat… checkered paintjob, that they told you was helpful for gauging the speed of the rocket when combined with high-speed cameras. The scientific payload here was a geiger counter and a barometer, to record radiation levels by altitude. The rocket launched on a cool morning in late February, streaking into the sky on the first attempt and vanishing off into the east. Once they had determined that it had reached its maximum height and had begun falling, they listened for the tone that would indicate a successful separation of the nosecone bearing the instrument package - and got it.
Another successful launch for the books.
(+ scientific data on radiation loads by altitude (+2 to your next roll involving living creatures going to space))
[] Construct a Hardened Tracking and Observation (T&O) Complex 66/60
At this point in time, the greatest danger your rockets posed to your scientists was one of shrapnel - when they exploded, they tended to send it everywhere. When you graduated to larger and more powerful rockets, however, the primary danger would shift from shrapnel to overpressure, making them like bombs in that regard. (Not that the shrapnel from a detonation wouldn't still kill you, of course.) With that in mind, your people took into consideration what it would take for a T&O complex situated roughly two kilometers from the planned orbital launch site, and about one from the sounding rocket stand, to survive the explosion of several hundred tons of fuel and oxidizer.
Now, with the concrete set and almost fully cured, the new T&O complex has received its instrumentation packages and should be ready to use in the upcoming quarter.
[] Regenerative Combustion Chamber Development (Tech) [MATSCI] 103/100
The biggest problem plaguing Empire-style rocket engines was their lack of ability to deal with the heat generated by their own combustion reaction in the combustion chamber. This, of course, lead them to literally watering down their propellant in a bid to lower the temperature - and, thus, the efficiency of the rocket overall. The Soviets, however, had managed to make a prototype of a rocket engine using corrugated copper sheeting directly attached to the walls of their combustion chamber, where their fuel would flow through and absorb the heat before being pumped into the chamber to be burned.
Your engineers, with a great deal of effort expended, managed to replicate the feat in three months, thanks to one-half breakneck effort and one-half managing to acquire enough Soviet research notes to fill in the blanks. Now the trick would be improving upon the research already performed to further improve performance.
For that, they needed a test stand.
[] Research Program Outreach 10/120
Your research program outreach efforts were… lackluster, this quarter. Letters sent weren't returned, phone calls were missed, meetings were missed for one reason or another. Your scientists were rather put out by their colleagues' lack of matching enthusiasm for the prospect of space science. They resolved, however, to continue when they were given the go-ahead.
[] Publications Office 59/40
The Publications Office was situated in a corner of the administrative building closest to the mail room. There, a flock of clerks and librarians kept tabs on the small but rapidly-growing amount of correspondence between the IEC's scientists and the various journals and scientific organizations to which they reported their findings. In addition, the Publications Office also maintained the IEC's subscriptions (though it was more of a mailing list these days) to those same journals, to make available to your science teams the latest research from around the world.
(+1 bonus to all research fields, +1d2 yearly for increase)
[Note: the 1d2 is a roll on whether or not the bonus increases. A roll of 1 does not, a roll of 2 increases your bonus by 1. Later on, you will be given opportunities to improve this.]
[] Outreach Program (Rolled 98+10=108) 98/40
The Public Affairs Office hit the ground sprinting.
Before the paint was even finished in their new office space, the former PR guys had barnstormed your science and engineering crews, trying to find out 'Hey, what would have made you, as a kid, excited about space?' Then they went to the clerks, the librarians, the janitors, the technicians, asking them the same question, and others.
Then, they put together what they termed, "the Rocket Box".
Each of them was a repurposed wooden weapons crate from the demilitarization lockers, already heavy and stout for transit, in which could be found dozens of half-meter cardboard tubes, pre-cut cardboard fins, nosecones, pre-packed black powder rocket motors and twelve-gauge steel rods for guiding the rockets. Instructions, too, were printed and sent with the crates, along with illustrated prints of fantastic rocket ships out of science fiction, with blurbs describing facts that would amaze young minds - the furthest star known, what a galaxy was and how big it was, and so on. Once packed, the crates went to schools around the world, starting in Africa and working their way out from there.
Their focus wasn't just on the kids, however. The PAO designed leaflets for the adults, extolling the virtues of space, and was in early draft on a short television series that would lay out a vision of the future the IEC would like to usher in - once you had that mapped out, of course.
They also acquired the services of one Walter Cronkite, who agreed to be the IEC's first choice for any televised rocket launches. A respected journalist, Cronkite was currently anchoring news broadcasts in the New England area.
(+5 Political Support, gain Public Affairs Office (PAO), gain Outreach actions, Future ???)
[] A Helping Hand (Rolled 67+10=77)
The search for an assistant went about as well as could be expected - no major hiccups, and a list of candidates hit your desk fairly quickly. You'd have to pick carefully who to extend the offer to…
[] [ASSIST] Sergei Korolev - A scientist and political dissident from the former USSR, Korolev has the credentials and the knowledge to be able to work with your science teams more directly, as he 'speaks the language'. He is quite passionate about his safe liquid fuels and rather dislikes hypergolics(+5 to Science and Engineering rolls (unless researching [HGOL][FUEL] projects, then it becomes a -15), +1 Science dice, +1 Engineering Dice. Request: Build an Orbital Rocket within 5 years; build a Scientific Complex in former Ukraine within 10 years.)
[] [ASSIST] Alan M. Turing - A computer (of the electronic variety) scientist of some renown, Turing was persecuted by the monarchist government of the Unired Kingdom prior to the revolution for his sexual preferences. He comes highly recommended by your entire avionics team. (+10 to AVIONICS- and COMPSCI-tagged projects, +2 Science dice. Request: invest in improved Computer facilities and technologies within 5 years; build an unmanned Orbital satellite within 10 years.)
[] [ASSIST] Jack Parsons - A formerly-American chemist and rocket engineer, he founded Aerojet and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory prior to the Revolution. Word has it that he was even briefly a Marxist. What we do know, is that he likes the occult, and he likes things that go boom. Maybe a bit too much. (+10 to FUEL, ENGINE and MATSCI rolls, +1 Engineering Dice, +1 Science dice. Request: Build a Test Stand within 6 months; finish Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 4) within 2 years; build an Engine Development Center within 10 years)
[] [ASSIST] Yao Xia - A Chinese rocket engineer who studied in the Empire under Werner von Braun, Xia is new and relatively untested but has an innate knack for aerodynamics and lightweight structures. She is fascinated by the idea of a spaceplane, and wishes very much for the IEC to pursue the idea to evaluate its worth. (+10 to AERO, MATSCI and Vehicle development rolls, +2 Engineering Dice. Request: Build a Hangar and Runway within 4 years; build and fly a Spaceplane within 10 years.)
[] [ASSIST] Aretas Abdul - A Palestinian fighter pilot who had won some great renown, flying first for the Royal Air Force and then for the Palestinian People's Front during the Revolution, he is credited with enough air to air kills to grant him the title of 'greatest fighter pilot alive'. He also, as it happens, is a huge fan of science fiction and one of the biggest reasons the IEC was formed by the World Communal Council - after all, when the Lion of the Mediterranean, the man who shot down the Luftwaffe's greatest ace and killed the Empress, wants something… (+10 to Political, Outreach and CREW-tagged projects, +1 Political dice, +1 Outreach dice. Requests: Conduct high-speed high-altitude crewed flight tests of a vehicle within 5 years; Perform a crewed spaceflight within 10 years.)
[] The People's Program (Rolled 61+10=71)
"The capitalists and the imperialists advantaged themselves and, to a lesser extent, their home countries by stealing from those at the edges, ladies and gentlemen. We cannot repeat this same mistake. We must give back to them the opportunities that have been denied them."
Those were the words you had left the hiring teams working to expand your ranks with, and, for the most part, they had delivered what you'd asked for. While significant portions of your scientific and engineering teams were still white, European or American, the overall ratio had vastly improved thanks to their efforts. It would, of course, be an ongoing process, and you would need to push the WCC to make the kinds of investments into schools and infrastructure necessary to get aerospace engineers and astrophysicists out of places like Somalia that had been systematically deprived of those resources to get full benefit from it, but the effort was being made. For now, that is what mattered.
(+5 PS, unlocked options to influence WCC infrastructure funding)
[NOTE: to make things a bit easier on everyone, please wait to vote for your assistant until the Turn 2 vote opens. I will retroactively apply their bonus to anything that would have taken it that quarter.]
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Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Nope. Not yet, anyway.
[] [ASSIST] Jack Parsons - A formerly-American chemist and rocket engineer, he founded Aerojet and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory prior to the Revolution. Word has it that he was even briefly a Marxist. What we do know, is that he likes the occult, and he likes things that go boom. Maybe a bit too much. (+10 to FUEL, ENGINE and MATSCI rolls, +1 Engineering Dice, +1 Science dice. Request: Build a Test Stand within 6 months; finish Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 4) within 2 years; build an Engine Development Center within 10 years)
This one is suprt strong getting us a nice amount of dice and bonus and we were all gonna do this stuff anyway and the test stand super soon anyway so it gonna be super easy for us to do so no worries
[] [ASSIST] Yao Xia - A Chinese rocket engineer who studied in the Empire under Werner von Braun, Xia is new and relatively untested but has an innate knack for aerodynamics and lightweight structures. She is fascinated by the idea of a spaceplane, and wishes very much for the IEC to pursue the idea to evaluate its worth. (+10 to AERO, MATSCI and Vehicle development rolls, +2 Engineering Dice. Request: Build a Hangar and Runway within 4 years; build and fly a Spaceplane within 10 years.)
got to do it for the spaceplan memes
This one is suprt strong getting us a nice amount of dice and bonus and we were all gonna do this stuff anyway and the test stand super soon anyway so it gonna be super easy for us to do so no worries
[] [ASSIST] Yao Xia - A Chinese rocket engineer who studied in the Empire under Werner von Braun, Xia is new and relatively untested but has an innate knack for aerodynamics and lightweight structures. She is fascinated by the idea of a spaceplane, and wishes very much for the IEC to pursue the idea to evaluate its worth. (+10 to AERO, MATSCI and Vehicle development rolls, +2 Engineering Dice. Request: Build a Hangar and Runway within 4 years; build and fly a Spaceplane within 10 years.)
got to do it for the spaceplan memes
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- Pronouns
- She/Her
[] [ASSIST] Sergei Korolev - A scientist and political dissident from the former USSR, Korolev has the credentials and the knowledge to be able to work with your science teams more directly, as he 'speaks the language'. He is quite passionate about his safe liquid fuels and rather dislikes hypergolics(+5 to Science and Engineering rolls (unless researching [HGOL][FUEL] projects, then it becomes a -15), +1 Science dice, +1 Engineering Dice. Request: Build an Orbital Rocket within 5 years; build a Scientific Complex in former Ukraine within 10 years.)
THE CHIEF DESIGNER HIMSELF!
Korolev's big bonus is that his bonuses apply to EVERYTHING. Every Science and Engineering roll is boosted, no matter the area. And since we don't have to worry about military applications, we don't actually need to pursue hypergolics, so it's not like his malus is going to hurt us.
[] [ASSIST] Alan M. Turing - A computer (of the electronic variety) scientist of some renown, Turing was persecuted by the monarchist government of the Unired Kingdom prior to the revolution for his sexual preferences. He comes highly recommended by your entire avionics team. (+10 to AVIONICS- and COMPSCI-tagged projects, +2 Science dice. Request: invest in improved Computer facilities and technologies within 5 years; build an unmanned Orbital satellite within 10 years.)
Another big name! Alas, while his bonus is impressive, Turing's focus is tad too focused, and is likely to be a touch wasted at this point in time. Not to mention that we may not want to push autonomous satellites too hard if we want to have a thriving manned program...
[] [ASSIST] Jack Parsons - A formerly-American chemist and rocket engineer, he founded Aerojet and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory prior to the Revolution. Word has it that he was even briefly a Marxist. What we do know, is that he likes the occult, and he likes things that go boom. Maybe a bit too much. (+10 to FUEL, ENGINE and MATSCI rolls, +1 Engineering Dice, +1 Science dice. Request: Build a Test Stand within 6 months; finish Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 4) within 2 years; build an Engine Development Center within 10 years)
A strong contestant, especially early on when we need to build bigger and better engines. He does seem a touch... odd tho.
[] [ASSIST] Yao Xia - A Chinese rocket engineer who studied in the Empire under Werner von Braun, Xia is new and relatively untested but has an innate knack for aerodynamics and lightweight structures. She is fascinated by the idea of a spaceplane, and wishes very much for the IEC to pursue the idea to evaluate its worth. (+10 to AERO, MATSCI and Vehicle development rolls, +2 Engineering Dice. Request: Build a Hangar and Runway within 4 years; build and fly a Spaceplane within 10 years.)
Alas, our girl Yao Xia is a spaceplane fan, which are... a decidedly sub-otimal way to get to space.
[] [ASSIST] Aretas Abdul - A Palestinian fighter pilot who had won some great renown, flying first for the Royal Air Force and then for the Palestinian People's Front during the Revolution, he is credited with enough air to air kills to grant him the title of 'greatest fighter pilot alive'. He also, as it happens, is a huge fan of science fiction and one of the biggest reasons the IEC was formed by the World Communal Council - after all, when the Lion of the Mediterranean, the man who shot down the Luftwaffe's greatest ace and killed the Empress, wants something… (+10 to Political, Outreach and CREW-tagged projects, +1 Political dice, +1 Outreach dice. Requests: Conduct high-speed high-altitude crewed flight tests of a vehicle within 5 years; Perform a crewed spaceflight within 10 years.)
If for some reason we want to become first and foremost a PR organization, I suppose we can pick him.
At the end of the day I think I'd pick Korolev. His bonus may not seem overhelming, but because it applies to such a wide array of actions I suspect it will see the most use.
THE CHIEF DESIGNER HIMSELF!
Korolev's big bonus is that his bonuses apply to EVERYTHING. Every Science and Engineering roll is boosted, no matter the area. And since we don't have to worry about military applications, we don't actually need to pursue hypergolics, so it's not like his malus is going to hurt us.
[] [ASSIST] Alan M. Turing - A computer (of the electronic variety) scientist of some renown, Turing was persecuted by the monarchist government of the Unired Kingdom prior to the revolution for his sexual preferences. He comes highly recommended by your entire avionics team. (+10 to AVIONICS- and COMPSCI-tagged projects, +2 Science dice. Request: invest in improved Computer facilities and technologies within 5 years; build an unmanned Orbital satellite within 10 years.)
Another big name! Alas, while his bonus is impressive, Turing's focus is tad too focused, and is likely to be a touch wasted at this point in time. Not to mention that we may not want to push autonomous satellites too hard if we want to have a thriving manned program...
[] [ASSIST] Jack Parsons - A formerly-American chemist and rocket engineer, he founded Aerojet and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory prior to the Revolution. Word has it that he was even briefly a Marxist. What we do know, is that he likes the occult, and he likes things that go boom. Maybe a bit too much. (+10 to FUEL, ENGINE and MATSCI rolls, +1 Engineering Dice, +1 Science dice. Request: Build a Test Stand within 6 months; finish Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 4) within 2 years; build an Engine Development Center within 10 years)
A strong contestant, especially early on when we need to build bigger and better engines. He does seem a touch... odd tho.
[] [ASSIST] Yao Xia - A Chinese rocket engineer who studied in the Empire under Werner von Braun, Xia is new and relatively untested but has an innate knack for aerodynamics and lightweight structures. She is fascinated by the idea of a spaceplane, and wishes very much for the IEC to pursue the idea to evaluate its worth. (+10 to AERO, MATSCI and Vehicle development rolls, +2 Engineering Dice. Request: Build a Hangar and Runway within 4 years; build and fly a Spaceplane within 10 years.)
Alas, our girl Yao Xia is a spaceplane fan, which are... a decidedly sub-otimal way to get to space.
[] [ASSIST] Aretas Abdul - A Palestinian fighter pilot who had won some great renown, flying first for the Royal Air Force and then for the Palestinian People's Front during the Revolution, he is credited with enough air to air kills to grant him the title of 'greatest fighter pilot alive'. He also, as it happens, is a huge fan of science fiction and one of the biggest reasons the IEC was formed by the World Communal Council - after all, when the Lion of the Mediterranean, the man who shot down the Luftwaffe's greatest ace and killed the Empress, wants something… (+10 to Political, Outreach and CREW-tagged projects, +1 Political dice, +1 Outreach dice. Requests: Conduct high-speed high-altitude crewed flight tests of a vehicle within 5 years; Perform a crewed spaceflight within 10 years.)
If for some reason we want to become first and foremost a PR organization, I suppose we can pick him.
At the end of the day I think I'd pick Korolev. His bonus may not seem overhelming, but because it applies to such a wide array of actions I suspect it will see the most use.
trooperist
Cinnamon Roll AI
So we can recruit most of the unpicked Director options as assistant director. Neat. Except for de Alegria, but I'll just assume he's off doing important science stuff.
Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I was going to offer him but Turing took the Pure-Science slot. I imagine once you have a Chief Scientist slot, he'll be an option.
Dragontrapper
Homeless Draconis
- Location
- A Tower in the middle of nowhere
woot nothing going horribly wrong! Now that we proved that first launch wasn't a fluke, time to start moving toward grander things.
- Location
- USA
[] [ASSIST] Alan M. Turing - A computer (of the electronic variety) scientist of some renown, Turing was persecuted by the monarchist government of the Unired Kingdom prior to the revolution for his sexual preferences. He comes highly recommended by your entire avionics team. (+10 to AVIONICS- and COMPSCI-tagged projects, +2 Science dice. Request: invest in improved Computer facilities and technologies within 5 years; build an unmanned Orbital satellite within 10 years.)
My favorite so far- improved computer facilities likely are part of a backbone, so not the finished space flights themselves but does a lot to help various steps in getting those space flights up and running.
My favorite so far- improved computer facilities likely are part of a backbone, so not the finished space flights themselves but does a lot to help various steps in getting those space flights up and running.
This would mean we do not get their bonus dice until turn 3?
- Location
- Lake Wobegon
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I mean, we went hard on PR the first turn, we might just want to double down. And "after all, when the Lion of the Mediterranean, the man who shot down the Luftwaffe's greatest ace and killed the Empress, wants something…" reads like a threat we might want to neutralize.If for some reason we want to become first and foremost a PR organization, I suppose we can pick him.
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Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You get them next turn. Just saying that you get their bonuses the turn you vote for them.
bdun140
I have ideas. Sometimes they're even good.
Feel free to correct me seeing as my "expertise" comes from 5 minutes on Wikipedia, but what's the connection between Hypergolics and the military? All I'm seeing is that they are INSANELY unsafe, which to be fair is a pretty major disadvantage.
- Location
- Lake Wobegon
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
You want hypergolics for situations where you need to store the fuel in the rocket for long periods and have it reliably fire when you want it to. I.e., primarily for silo- and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
- Location
- NY
Personally leaning towards Korolev and Turning for our no.2. I like that Korolev is so versatile
Also deep space missions and maybe for RCS thrusters
- Pronouns
- He/They
Those were some good rolls overall - even the 10 wasn't in anything dangerous or quality-related - and it's nice to see we've got a good start in outreach. Those rocket boxes are a great idea, if very 50s.
It also looks like putting two dice on Regenerative Combustion Chamber Development was kind of pushing our engineers, so to minimize burnout we may want to avoid putting three on anything if we don't need to.
I agree that Korolev's bonus looks great, but his penalties are probably the worst - I think, though it's vibes not any game analysis, that rushing for an orbital launcher in 5 years would give us a tiny and compromised one and make us neglect other areas somewhat. I'm also skeptical of writing off hypergolics completely when they're useful for orbital maneuvering and small/simple engines, and -15 is a big penalty. Basically, I think we'll need to fight him or he'll distort our program.
Parsons also looks great, and we'll be using his bonuses an awful lot, but unless higher stages of Exploratory Propellant Research are easier than stage 1, we'll need to put probably 1 die per turn into the field for the next four years, and probably pursue it past the point of diminishing returns. That said, still cheaper than what Korolev wants and we'll probably get along well as far as programs go.
Turing is cool and probably easy to keep on board with a well-balanced program, but I kind of want that extra Engineering die the other engineers provide. For Yao Xia, despite my omake, I don't actually favor going heavily into spaceplanes and again she provides a less balanced die pool. And for the pilot - we already have one non-technical leader, I just think the deputy should be technically focused.
Basically, unless there are compelling arguments for a specific strategy - a rush for an orbital launcher in 5 years, a focus on science or engineering over the other area, or a slow start focusing more on poltiics and education than on operations - Parsons seems like the best shot for a middle-of-the-road candidate. Unless we expect his eccentricity to cause major problems.
It also looks like putting two dice on Regenerative Combustion Chamber Development was kind of pushing our engineers, so to minimize burnout we may want to avoid putting three on anything if we don't need to.
I agree that Korolev's bonus looks great, but his penalties are probably the worst - I think, though it's vibes not any game analysis, that rushing for an orbital launcher in 5 years would give us a tiny and compromised one and make us neglect other areas somewhat. I'm also skeptical of writing off hypergolics completely when they're useful for orbital maneuvering and small/simple engines, and -15 is a big penalty. Basically, I think we'll need to fight him or he'll distort our program.
Parsons also looks great, and we'll be using his bonuses an awful lot, but unless higher stages of Exploratory Propellant Research are easier than stage 1, we'll need to put probably 1 die per turn into the field for the next four years, and probably pursue it past the point of diminishing returns. That said, still cheaper than what Korolev wants and we'll probably get along well as far as programs go.
Turing is cool and probably easy to keep on board with a well-balanced program, but I kind of want that extra Engineering die the other engineers provide. For Yao Xia, despite my omake, I don't actually favor going heavily into spaceplanes and again she provides a less balanced die pool. And for the pilot - we already have one non-technical leader, I just think the deputy should be technically focused.
Basically, unless there are compelling arguments for a specific strategy - a rush for an orbital launcher in 5 years, a focus on science or engineering over the other area, or a slow start focusing more on poltiics and education than on operations - Parsons seems like the best shot for a middle-of-the-road candidate. Unless we expect his eccentricity to cause major problems.
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- Location
- Lake Wobegon
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Turing and Parsons come with a problem somewhat less tangible than the bonus spread - they would be Anglo assistant directors under an Anglo directer (Carter), and picking them would kindof give the lie to the People's Program.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
We can just use mono-propellants for orbital RCS.
I think an orbital launcher in 5 years is very doable - remember we don't have to justify our project with military value the way IRL rocketry researchers did, so we can focus purely on an orbital launcher and not have to worry about the fact that the avionics can't target a city, or the fuels aren't storable, etc. We can, if all else fails, just make a bigger rocket.
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- Location
- NY
We can just use mono-propellants for orbital RCS.
I think an orbital launcher in 5 years is very doable - remember we don't have to justify our project with military value the way IRL rocketry researchers did, so we can focus purely on an orbital launcher and not have to worry about the fact that the avionics can't target a city, or the fuels aren't storable, etc. We can, if all else fails, just make a bigger rocket.
Their also isn't as big of a rush to build a rockets in the first place either since we have no need for them outside of scientific exploration. So what you will about the military, but they have a lot of money
Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Turing has the advantage of being gay, at least.
neutronium95
Mad Rocketeer
- Location
- The test site
- Pronouns
- She/Her
The first orbital launchers were all derived from ballistic missiles. I don't think that we'll be able to ge the same level of support that the OTL missile programs had unfortunately.