Also I see that whatever successor to the USA formed in New England still keeps Maine around as some sort of administrative unit. Convenient I guess, if not very revolutionary.
I can easily see any successor entity to the United States keeping these sort of names around as administrative zones or even just as regional colloquialisms. It's engrained culturally to think of where you're from as the state. I don't say I live in the Rocky Mountains because it's a useless thing to say, same as saying "I live in the Midwest".
I wonder... how big a deal is the security around the rocket box factories, exactly? Sure, we don't want anybody getting in and setting off the entire stockpile. But as for making improvised weapons- we're giving them out to high schools and middle schools across the world. Pretty easy for one to fall of the back of a truck at some point, and I'd also be worried about some delinquent deciding to turn one into a ballistic weapon as a "prank".
I wonder... how big a deal is the security around the rocket box factories, exactly? Sure, we don't want anybody getting in and setting off the entire stockpile. But as for making improvised weapons- we're giving them out to high schools and middle schools across the world. Pretty easy for one to fall of the back of a truck at some point, and I'd also be worried about some delinquent deciding to turn one into a ballistic weapon as a "prank".
I imagine, given the level of partisan activity, that a not-insignificant number of rocket motors are being repurposed into primitive bombs. APCP and packed black powder can both be used to make a mediocre grenade if you scrape it out of the motor and put it inside a sealed container that'll fragment appropriately, and each rocket box comes with a convenient igniter as well. If you want to make things that're a bit scarier, you could probably use it as the secondary for a larger ANFO bomb (idk if it'd be enough though, tbh - ANFO is pretty insensitive).
The words on everyone's lips in New Delhi, it seemed, were "Free American States".
The partisans in North America had managed to breach Chicago during the last quarter, and the fighting there was threatening to burn the whole region to the ground. It wasn't quite clear where they had gotten their material or their manpower - though it certainly didn't take much thinking to have a few guesses - but at this point it most certainly didn't matter. The fact of the matter was that, on the 12th of October, they had declared themselves a free and independent country, utterly at odds with "the lies of socialism, communism and anarchism".
Naturally, they were currently at war with all of their neighbors, who, respectively, practiced one or more of those systems of economic and social organisation. There were whispers of old American nuclear weapons being seized by the FAS, of atrocities committed against communists and socialists and anyone the Statists didn't agree with for reasons from orientation to pigmentation. You weren't quite sure which, if any, were true, but you didn't like the thought of any of them.
So, with that little specter in the back of your mind, you met with the world's leaders, to discuss the movement of resources and personnel…
Active Major Parties
The Internationale (Marxist-Leninist) - (The Internationale's Marxist-Leninist wing, primarily formed from the former Soviet Union. They lean more authoritarian than most of the other major factions, given their ideological bent, but are also heavily pro-industrialization and trending towards shedding the -Leninist side of their ideology.
The M-Ls are currently running a campaign to electrify Eastern Europe fully, and seeking allies in the endeavour. The militant arm of the party is still celebrating their victory over Imperial holdouts earlier in the year, especially the trial and execution of Field Marshal Rommel. There are grumblings about embarking on an expedition to North America to engage the reactionaries there on an official level, rather than individuals or small groups of fighters traveling overseas on their own.
The Internationale (Debsist) - The Internationale's Debsist wing, primarily popular in Anglosphere regions and particularly in America. Less authoritarian than the M-L wing, they are also somewhat reserved on the topic of transitioning to a fully non-hierarchical society due to their roots as a socialist movement.
The Debsists are currently under siege by the Free American States, and are desperate to scrape together any support they can acquire from the Council. The UWF stand with them, but between the two of them they number slightly less than the Marxist-Leninist wing of the Internationale. They would very certainly appreciate any help they were offered.
The Internationale (Councilist) - The Councilists are the largest faction of the Internationale by a small but significant margin, advocating for the devolution of power into the hands of locally- and trades-based councils, thus their name. This is the faction most comfortable with non-hierarchical society and anarchist teachings.
The Councilists are currently focused mainly on building up the productive forces in Eastern and Western Asia, being the base of their power. South American Councilists are growing increasingly concerned with the resurgent capitalist and fascist forces to their north, but beyond that are interested in a high-tech industrialization effort driven by a space center akin to Mogadishu in order to diversify the industry in the region.
United Workers' Front - The UWF is something of a vanguard party, regularly getting into brawls with SDL members. Their numbers include many of the people fighting to keep the forces of capital and authoritarianism from rising again, and as such their main focus is maintaining enough security funding to allow local community defense organizations to fend off guerrillas and partisans, which are still active in much of the world. They are relatively non-hierachical in bent, but tend also to be somewhat more socially conservative. They are the smallest of the major parties, but they are not without weight.
The Front, like the Debsists, are currently locked in combat with the Statists in North America. They have exactly one request for the Council: "Guns, ammunition, advantages. Any order will do." Beyond that they have few concerns, save for calls to ban the SDL from the Council. While there are more than a few sympathetic ears to that call, none are willing to undergo the schism that would bring at this time.
Free Workers of the World - The FWW formed from the Industrial Workers of the World following the end of the Revolution. Growing to encompass all trades and occupations, from steelworkers to chemists to prostitutes, the FWW relentlessly campaigns for greater rights and protections for anyone performing work that society values.
The Free Workers are, as befits their scattered nature, somewhat concerned with everything everywhere. Most of their efforts are social - they are fighting to enshrine the rights and respect for people of orientations other than straight, for one thing, which is why Dr. Turing is a card-carrying member - and less concerned with physical infrastructure as as a general rule. They are, however, still largely comprised of factory workers, and as such are firmly in favor of getting additional industry and electrical infrastructure built, as they can recruit from those workers easiest.
Social Democratic League - Having the middlemost numbers of the major parties, the SDL draws under its banners everyone who wants a seat at the table but isn't aboard with either a transition to full communism or socialism, wishing to see a limited return of capitalist thought. Some members are considerably more extreme, to include monarchists and populist authoritarians.
The SDL is currently being viewed with a distinctly non-zero amount of suspicion by the other parties, especially by the UWF. Brawls between the two's supporters have been a near hourly occurrence at the Council, though fights between the Councilors themselves have been far rarer, with only one in the entire period of the Council session thus far. Their current concerns are continuing to build up the populous and wealthy regions as had been the case prior to the Revolution, especially in their strongholds in Western North America, Australia and Western Europe.
Colonized Peoples' Advancement League - The CPAL is another middleweight party focused on providing restitution and assistance to those peoples crushed by the weight of Imperial (and imperial) oppression across the world. Their major foci are on building equality of opportunity, infrastructure and industry in places that had been extracted from by the world's powers.
The CPAL is currently trying to keep too much funding from being hovered up for use in rebuilding the colonizer nations or thrown into the fighting in North America. In the latter case there is a full understanding of the need to deny the reactionaries a base of operations from which to assault the free Peoples of the World, coupled with a certain grim amusement at the situation as a whole. Their going concerns are building up Africa and the Pacific Islands.
Total Councilors: 5000
Stances on IEC (Strongly Favor/Somewhat Favor/Somewhat Oppose/Strongly Oppose)
Here you can spend and gain PS advocating for policies, pursuing programs, and performing tasks for the WCC.
Funding Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Accountants
Current WCC Budget: 26,000RpT//104,000RpY
Current IEC Budget (without extras): 195RpT//780RpY (0.75%)
Current PS: 35
[ ] [FUND] 0.25% - Returning to your initial funding levels would, without doubt, be painful. However, if need be it could be done... (-130R/turn, +15 PS)
[ ] [FUND] 0.5% - Reducing your funding share will somewhat constrain your ambitions this year, but would be seen as a good faith gesture in light of the Rocket Box fiasco. (-65R/turn, +5PS)
[ ] [FUND] 0.75% - Keeping your current funding levels would be a no brainer… but you did fail to keep a promise. It was clearly a close thing, but there are people who aee less eager to see you get resources that could be spent elsewhere. (-5PS)
[ ] [FUND] 1% - A whole percent of the budget would certainly see your capabilities grow, especially now that you are looking to build Facilities around the globe. It would be something of an ask, however, given the relatively limited nature of your accomplishments this last year.. (+65R/turn, -15PS)
[ ] [FUND] 1.5% - The IEC requests truly major funding in order to crash build a whole lot of infrastructure, employ lots of scientists and engineers, and generally throw its utmost at Space Access. All eyes would certainly be on you…(+195R/turn, -40PS, all parties move 1d20 steps towards Oppose)
Promises All promises are intended to be kept within the year - from Q1 to Q1.
Kept in 1952:
Complete Weather Studies (Phase 3)
Build Computational Research Facility
Do not expand to more than 2 Facilities Dice
Do not pursue Spaceplane research
Failed in 1952:
Complete Rocket Boxes (Phase 3) (-5 PS)
Must take at least two.
Internationale (Marxist-Leninist)
[ ] Build a scientific facility in Eastern Europe by Q4 1954 (+5PS) (Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Conduct Jet Research (Phase 1) (requires Spaceplane Hangar and Spaceplane Runway) (+5 PS) (Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 towards Oppose)
[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in Western or Eastern Europe (+5 PS, Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Campaign for the Marxist-Leninists (Unlocks a political action) (Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)
Internationale (Debsist)
[ ] Conduct Jet Research (Phase 1) (requires Spaceplane Hangar and Spaceplane Runway) (+5 PS) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)
[ ] Build a Launch Facility in North America by 1955Q1 (+10PS) (Int(D) moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Conduct 4 Spy Rocket Launches in North America (+5 PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose) (Military)
[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (+5 PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Campaign for the Debsists (Unlocks a political action) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)
Internationale (Councilist)
[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) (+10 PS, Int(C) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Establish the Advanced Concepts Office (+5 PS, Int(C) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Build an engineering facility in Eastern Asia by 1954Q4 (+5PS) (Int(C) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in Asia (+5 PS, Int(C) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Campaign for the Councilists (Unlocks a political action) (Int(C) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)
Free Workers of the World
[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 3) (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Build a military rocket factory in Mediterranean/Saharan Africa (+5 PS, FWW, Int(D) and UWF move 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion) (Military)
Infantry Rocket Factory (0/250, 15R, +1 Security for every 2 military factories
Artillery Rocket Factory (0/300, 15R, +1 Security for every 2 military factories
[ ] Employ 10 dice worth of Facilities and Operations personnel by 1954Q1 (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)
[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Electrification in the Pacific or Africa (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)
[ ] Campaign for the Free Workers(Unlocks a political action) (FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)
United Workers' Front
[ ] Share the schematics for the Stormchaser with the UWF (+5PS, Int(D) and UWF move 3d10 towards Favor, CPAL moves 2d10 Oppose and SDL moves 4d10 towards Oppose) OR
[ ] Build Stormchaser Plants for the UWF (+10PS, Int(D) and UWF move 6d10 towards Favor, CPAL moves 3d10 Oppose and SDL moves 6d10 towards Oppose) (Military)
Stormchaser Plant (0/300, 15R, +1 Security for every 2 military factories, +1 Operations dice from additional Stormchasers for IEC use
[ ] Share the schematics for the R-1 Beden with the UWF (+5 PS, Int(D) and UWF move 3d10 towards Favor, CPAL moves 2d10 Oppose and SDL moves 4d10 towards Oppose) OR
[ ] Research M-1 Beden Reconnaissance Rocket for the UWF (+10 PS, Int(D) and UWF move 4d10 towards Favor, CPAL moves 3d10 Oppose and SDL moves 3d10 towards Oppose) (Military) OR
[ ] Research M-1 Beden Reconnaissance Rocket and outfit Recon Rocket Factories (+15 PS, Int(D) and UWF move 6d10 towards Favor, CPAL moves 4d10 Oppose and SDL moves 6d10 towards Oppose) (Military)
Artillery Rocket Factory (0/300, 15R, +1 Security for every 2 military factories
[ ] Campaign for the Front (Unlocks a political action) (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)
Social Democratic League
[ ] Do not pursue Spaceplane research (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Do not pursue Rocketry research (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Do not conduct military rocket launches or research (+10 PS, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in industrialized regions (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Campaign for the League (Unlocks a political action) (SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)
Colonized Peoples' Advancement League
[ ] Do not expand to more than 3 Facilities Dice (+5PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor) OR
[ ] Spend at least 2 Facilities dice per turn on projects in colonized lands aimed at assisting the indigenous population. (Mogadishu doesn't count) (+5PS, CPAL moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Do not conduct military rocket launches or research (+10 PS, CPAL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor) OR
[ ] Only produce military items in colonized nations (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor) (overrides Steps if otherwise indicated by other options) (Military)
[ ] Build a Launch Facility in South America by 1955Q1 (+10PS) (CPAL moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in colonized regions (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Campaign for the Colonized Peoples (Unlocks a political action) (CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)
Requests
[ ] More Union Tradesfolk - You will probably end up with a Union Hall at every major facility, but right now you just need more able hands for the unions already working with the IEC. (+1 Facilities Dice, -5 PS, -5R/turn)
[ ] Experienced Hands - You do need more people to build stuff, but you need them to have some experience under their belts. (+1 Facilities Dice, +5 to Facilities dice, -10 PS, -10R/turn)
[ ] Masters of the Craft - When you say they need experience, youd prefer it if they had like, a lot of experience. The cream of the crop. The absolute best workers in the world. (+1 Facilities Dice, +10 to Facilities dice, -15 PS, -15R/turn)
[ ] Research Support - You have a network of scientific institutions to whom you send a variety of data and perform experiments for. By putting a little extra pressure on those institutions, you can get some help for your internal purposes. (-5PS, +1 to all Science and Engineering dice until 1954Q1)
[ ] Redirect Funding to the IEC - By pulling on the right strings, you can get funding redirected to the IEC beyond the percentage allotment.
-[] Write-in (1PS=5R/turn)
[ ] Redirect Funding to Africa - The homeland of the IEC is ever in need of further investment, industrialization and modernization. The stench of centuries of imperialist exploitation can only be washed away with the wealth that was stripped from it being returned. (Adds extra rolls per turn for Stat increases)
-[] Write-in stat category (e.g., Electrification) (-5 PS per time taken, can be taken multiple times)
Graduates
Each Graduate pick adds 1 dice to the sector you picked. You have a maximum of 4 picks this year. Picking fewer Graduates than are available will add additional background rolls per quarter to increase the world's stats, such as Industry or Electrification. E.g., taking 1 fewer dice adds 1 additional roll per quarter for stats.
Each can be picked up to two times. Each pick comes with a cost of -5R/turn.
Funding Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Accountants
Current WCC Budget: 26,000RpT//104,000RpY
Current IEC Budget (without extras): 195RpT//780RpY (0.75%)
Current PS: 35
[X] [FUND] 0.75% - Keeping your current funding levels would be a no brainer… but you did fail to keep a promise. It was clearly a close thing, but there are people who aee less eager to see you get resources that could be spent elsewhere. (-5PS)
Promises
Internationale (Debsist)
[ ] Conduct Jet Research (Phase 1) (requires Spaceplane Hangar and Spaceplane Runway) (+5 PS) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)
[ ] Build a Launch Facility in North America by 1955Q1 (+10PS) (Int(D) moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Conduct 4 Spy Rocket Launches in North America (+5 PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose) (Military)
[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (+5 PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Campaign for the Debsists (Unlocks a political action) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)
Internationale (Councilist)
[X] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) (+10 PS, Int(C) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
[X] Establish the Advanced Concepts Office (+5 PS, Int(C) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
Free Workers of the World
[X] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 3) (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
[X] Build a military rocket factory in Mediterranean/Saharan Africa (+5 PS, FWW, Int(D) and UWF move 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion) (Military)
Spoiler: Infantry Rocket Factory
Spoiler: Artillery Rocket Factory
United Workers' Front
[X] Conduct 4 Spy Rocket Launches (+5 PS, UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)
Colonized Peoples' Advancement League
[X] Spend at least 2 Facilities dice per turn on projects in colonized lands aimed at assisting the indigenous population. (Mogadishu doesn't count) (+5PS, CPAL moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)
[X] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in colonized regions (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
Requests
[X] More Union Tradesfolk - You will probably end up with a Union Hall at every major facility, but right now you just need more able hands for the unions already working with the IEC. (+1 Facilities Dice, -5 PS, -5R/turn)
[X] Redirect Funding to Africa - The homeland of the IEC is ever in need of further investment, industrialization and modernization. The stench of centuries of imperialist exploitation can only be washed away with the wealth that was stripped from it being returned. (Adds extra rolls per turn for Stat increases)
Graduates
Each Graduate pick adds 1 dice to the sector you picked. You have a maximum of 4 picks this year. Picking fewer Graduates than are available will add additional background rolls per quarter to increase the world's stats, such as Industry or Electrification. E.g., taking 1 fewer dice adds 1 additional roll per quarter for stats.
Each can be picked up to two times. Each pick comes with a cost of -5R/turn.
I feel there's a lot to recommend promising no military research to both the CPAL and the SDL so we can take that +20PS and spend it on a boost to some kind of science or engineering we want to get down for our long term goals. It means forgoing some levers for dealing with the FAScist situation and somewhat less straight PS then leaning into the war effort but avoids a lot of more polarizing opinion effects and dividing the parties on us.
Edited down from a stronger post in favor because I'm still chewing on it.
I'm not inclined to staying on SDLs good side, but I can see ideological reasons why we wouldn't want to develop weapons - in which case I think spy launches are a good middle-ground. Beyond that, we need to build a facility in Ukraine anyhow, right? Plus building up more in S. America and Africa seems fairly uncomplicated, politically speaking.
AKA: The African Freedom Arsenal
AKA: Fuck the SDL in particular
This plan focuses on helping with the Partisan conflict in NorAm while building up the means of production in Africa, with an eye on essentially using the military necessity to pay for a bunch of infrastructure we can use after the war, while not overstraining our ability to deliver on our promises.
-[ ] Conduct 4 Spy Rocket Launches in North America (+5 PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose) (Military)
-[ ] Conduct 4 Spy Rocket Launches (+5 PS, UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)
These have the same requirements, so it makes sense to double dip on them. They can also be done basically immediately in place of our regular sounding rocket launches. By expanding our Ops dice (see below) we can also generate enough slack to account for failed launches and do these launches without sacrificing our heavy sounding rocket launches.
-[ ] Only produce military items in colonized nations (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor) (overrides Steps if otherwise indicated by other options) (Military)
-[ ] Build a military rocket factory in Mediterranean/Saharan Africa (+5 PS, FWW, Int(D) and UWF move 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion) (Military)
-[ ] Build Stormchaser Plants for the UWF (+10PS, Int(D) and UWF move 6d10 towards Favor, CPAL moves 3d10 Oppose and SDL moves 6d10 towards Oppose) (Military)
-[ ] Research M-1 Beden and outfit Military Rocket Plants (+15 PS, Int(D) and UWF move 6d10 towards Favor, CPAL moves 4d10 Oppose and SDL moves 6d10 towards Oppose) (Military)
Ok, so this is the meat and potatoes of this plan. Basically we build a Stormchaser factory while researching the militarized Beden, then build a factory for that.
Honestly the HSR launch pad is the only pressing thing we want to finish that affects our primary mission right now in the Facilities section. Things like the wind tunnel are a nice to have, not a must have.
The Stormchaser factory also gets us a free Ops dice, so we can then do both the Spy Launches, and our HSR launches at the same time.
Also, consider what this gets us. Military rockets have to be launched in great numbers, so this is basically rocket mass production research and infrastructure for us, wich is the #1 easiest way to make cheaper rockets. And we get to throw these rockets into harsh conditions which will reveal all sorts of failure modes and ways we can improve them!
AND when the war is over, who do you think is going to sweep in and acquire all that juicy rocket manufacturing infrastructure? (It's gonna be us.)
Now, at 300 points a pop, 3 dice x 4 turns only gets us 50/50 odds of completion. So we're going to have to pump up our facilities dice to generate extra slack and allow us to finish our HSR pad. More on that below.
-[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 3) (+5 PS, Int(C) moves 1d10 steps towards Favor)
This is the only really pressing project in the Science section, so it makes sense to just take it. And this is only a Phase 3, so we're unlikely to be burned by bad rolls like we were with Rocket Boxes.
An easy ask, since we don't have a lot to occupy us in the Politics section right now and we were going to do this anyways.
-[ ] Establish the Advanced Concepts Office (+5 PS, Int(C) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
This +5 PS is nice for offsetting one of the -5PS dings per dice that construction will take, and getting this ASAP will be good for getting in on the ground floor of rocket reuse, which is absolutely critical long term. Actually the GM has said that a LOT of stuff is gated behind this, so I think it's worth taking now.
The orbital rocket research is going apace, and we have more than enough slack in that timeline to accommodate this. The whole reason we even started that project so early was to have something to spend our dice on while no other more pressing projects existed in Engineering.
-[ ] Do not pursue Spaceplane research (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
Starting PS: 40
ΔPS from Promises: +65
ΔR from Promises: 0
Requests
-[ ] Masters of the Craft - When you say they need experience, you'd prefer it if they had, like, a lot of experience. The cream of the crop. The absolute best workers in the world. (+1 Facilities Dice, +10 to Facilities dice, -15 PS, -15R/turn)
We've got a lot of Facility work to do this turn so grabbing the highest bonus pays extra dividends.
-[ ] Redirect Funding to Africa - The homeland of the IEC is ever in need of further investment, industrialization and modernization. The stench of centuries of imperialist exploitation can only be washed away with the wealth that was stripped from it being returned. (Adds extra rolls per turn for Stat increases)
--[ ] Security (-5 PS)
--[ ] Infrastructure (-5 PS)
--[ ] Electrification (-5 PS)
We're going to have to beef up infrastructure to move material around (like better docks at Mogadishu for shipping the rockets up the Gulf of Aden and through the Suez and across the Atlantic).
Electrification will help with actually powering the rocket factories.
And security to make sure that material won't go missing. We're already going to bump up security by one from building two rocket factories, so I figure more dice rolls here will be enough to bump it up so that it's equal to the Partisan value.
ΔPS from Requests: -30
ΔR from Requests: -15
Graduates
Each Graduate pick adds 1 dice to the sector you picked. You have a maximum of 4 picks this year. Picking fewer Graduates than are available will add additional background rolls per quarter to increase the world's stats, such as Industry or Electrification. E.g., taking 1 fewer dice adds 1 additional roll per quarter for stats.
Each can be picked up to two times. Each pick comes with a cost of -5R/turn.
-[X] [GRAD] Facilities (-5 PS)
Two more dice in facilities for a total of 5 in order to be sure that we have enough slack to fulfill all our promises without delaying our space program.
Make that 4 dice in facilities, as Dessart has pointed out, 5 turns out to be overkill.
I also removed the second grad dice to drop us into back into the black at 0.75%.
ΔPS from Graduates: -5
ΔR from Graduates: -5
[ ] [FUND] 0.75% - Keeping your current funding levels would be a no brainer… but you did fail to keep a promise. It was clearly a close thing, but there are people who aee less eager to see you get resources that could be spent elsewhere. (-5PS)
Assuming an average dice spread as follows:
2 ops x 15R*
4 facilities x 15R
3 engineering x 15R
3 science x15R
3 politics x5R
*(We have 3 ops dice, but we can afford to let one lie fallow or spin it up as needed, we have a 75 R buffer to insulate us from the extra expenditure)
ΔR Per Turn (Dice): -180
ΔR Per Turn (Expenses): -20 (Grads and Masters of Their Craft)
Current R Income: +195
Need: 5 Income
New PS: 50
New Net R Income / Turn: -5
I'm having us operate at a slight loss this year because we have a 75R nest egg to get through, and it's cheaper PS wise to just wait until next year for our funding to rise naturally.
Now I'm not saying we should build a nuclear research facility in Ukraine, but I'm not saying we shouldn't, either.
[ ] [FUND] 0.75% - Keeping your current funding levels would be a no brainer… but you did fail to keep a promise. It was clearly a close thing, but there are people who aee less eager to see you get resources that could be spent elsewhere. (-5PS)
I'm in favour of this. We didn't use up our entire budget last year, although we'll be doing more costly programs this year. Let's deliver on our promises before we start asking for more.
[ ] Build a scientific facility in Eastern Europe by Q4 1954 (+5PS) (Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
Rocket Reels, for context, is a 120-point political action that gives us a constant trickle of political support. I think this is smart. We'll want to do it sooner rather than later, since the bonus increases over time - it's, on average, 0.5 PS/quarter/quarter and 0.5 PS/quarter/launch once completed. I think this is a good promise if we don't make other, large political promises (none of which I see right now)
[ ] Conduct Jet Research (Phase 1) (requires Spaceplane Hangar and Spaceplane Runway) (+5 PS) (Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 towards Oppose)
Normally, I'd not be a huge fan of this; jet engines aren't particularly useful to us. However, this promise shows up twice; we could get +10 PS and 2d5 favour with both the MLs and Debsists. It'd require a spaceplane hangar and spaceplane runway, though, so it's competing with other projects that take up facilities dice, like the Ukrainian science facility or more launch sites.
[ ] Conduct 4 Spy Rocket Launches in North America (+5 PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose) (Military)
This would dramatically eat into our launch tempo for weather studies and general rocket development... is this wise? If we don't do it, we can take the +10 PS options further down for not getting involved with the military. It's also only +5 PS for what could be a year's worth of rocket launches.
[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) (+10 PS, Int(C) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
[ ] Establish the Advanced Concepts Office (+5 PS, Int(C) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
We are on MR2 right now. Promising something that will eat all our science dice for the entire year seems like it'll cause the Rocket Boxes problem again, even if we do want to do lots of matsci. If we take MR4, then we should do the science [GRAD] option.
Likewise, the ACO is a huge investment.
[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 3) (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
More tepid, but I think we could get Phase 2 and Phase 3 done in a year? I'll have to run the math (thankfully it's not politics, damn that reroll mechanic). It'd also help improve our rockets.
We have two facilities dice. If we're going to be doing military actions, I think it'd be better for us to invest in more rocket production (i.e., building launchpads so we get more ops dice) so we can do the spy rocket launches. I am strongly against this.
[ ] Employ 10 dice worth of Facilities and Operations personnel by 1954Q1 (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)
We're at 4 right now. If we commit to expanding facilities and ops, we could make this work. This synergizes well with the facilities dice requests and the [GRAD] options, and would leave us in a strong position for building an orbital rocket in 1954 (and presumably won't eat up science or engineering dice we need for actually designing that rocket). It'd also let us get the reward from [ ] Build a Launch Facility in North America or [ ] Build a Launch Facility in South America, since those would give us 1 dice (each?).
Kind of figured FWW and other interested parties could already view schematics at their leisure. Anyways, I like that Swords to Plowshares thing you have going on, so I'm inclined against active militarization, but I'm not opposed to at least tossing schematics around.
My take on this is that a little militarization now to prevent the Partisans from establishing a Reactionary NorAm is worth a lot of pain later. That would certainly lead to the Council having to maintain a larger military which would exert more influence on us in the long term.
I'm also not in favour of washing our hands of the conflict, there's an ethical dimension involved, and we should pitch in to kick the fascist's faces in.
Traditionally, militarization of space technology is tied into all sorts of ethically questionable politics like maintaining colonialist power and the influence of the rich and powerful, but in this case it's a pretty unambiguous ethical good because that's who we're helping to oppose.
Frankly, I think it's rather difficult to defend a position of enlightened pacifism in the face of a reactionary polity that is A) on the verge of taking over one of the world's most potent industrial heartlands and B) might have, or may soon obtain, literal fucking nukes.
I'm not necessarily saying we should immediately retool into strictly military research but until North America is secured for the revolution I cannot justify keeping our skills and resources out of this fight.
I am completely against militarization. If we want to help the conflict, I'd prefer to take a reduced budget and share our schematics so they can be used by actual militaries. Like. We asked for nuclear infrastructure. If we pitch all in on militarization... and we have nuclear research... that's just a can of worms I never want to open. And once we do some militarization, we're never going to shake that reputation no matter what we do afterwards. I wanna do the cool space stuff. I don't want people to fear us and our rockets-turned-weapons.
I know there's a lot of reasons to want to personally intervene here. But we're a scientific organization, and we do not, in fact, have wonder weapons. Is sucking up masses of global resources to use for rocket based weapons really the best way to fight the FAS(hists)? Or is it the best way for us to get in on the fight?
Really don't like the idea of building Scuds, it'll eat up a lot of our dice and we won't get a lasting benefit from it. We can help without turning into Raytheon by launching recon flights over the Midwest for a better overall PS gain and a stronger position in 1954 for our chance at reaching orbit. Also, if we do jet engine research, that'll be transferrable technology that helps with the war effort!
[ ] Plan: Helping in our own way
-[ ] [FUND] 0.75%
Ops:
-[ ] Conduct 4 Spy Rocket Launches in North America (+5 PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose) (Military)
-[ ] Conduct 4 Spy Rocket Launches (+5 PS, UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)
Facilities:
-[ ] Build a scientific facility in Eastern Europe by Q4 1954 (+5PS) (Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Conduct Jet Research (Phase 1) (requires Spaceplane Hangar and Spaceplane Runway) (+5 PS) (Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 towards Oppose)
-[ ] Conduct Jet Research (Phase 1) (requires Spaceplane Hangar and Spaceplane Runway) (+5 PS) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)
-[ ] Build a Launch Facility in North America by 1955Q1 (+10PS) (Int(D) moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Build a Launch Facility in South America by 1955Q1 (+10PS) (CPAL moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Only produce military items in colonized nations (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor) (overrides Steps if otherwise indicated by other options) (Military)
-[ ] Employ 10 dice worth of Facilities and Operations personnel by 1954Q1 (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)
Science:
-[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) (+10 PS, Int(C) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 3) (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[ ] Share the schematics for the Stormchaser with the UWF (+5PS, Int(D) and UWF move 3d10 towards Favor, CPAL moves 2d10 Oppose and SDL moves 4d10 towards Oppose)
-[ ] Share the schematics for the R-1 Beden with the UWF (+5 PS, Int(D) and UWF move 3d10 towards Favor, CPAL moves 2d10 Oppose and SDL moves 4d10 towards Oppose)
-[ ] [GRAD] Engineering
-[ ] [GRAD] Science x2
PS usage:
+35 initial
-5 funding
-15 Power in a Union (completed 3x during the year)
Projects that we need to complete this year under this plan:
Build R-2 x3 (/45)
Hangar Complex (/100)
Runway (/150)
HSR Launch Site (not necessary but it's underway, so...) (24/60)
HSR Launch Site in SA (/60)
Wind Tunnel (again, we started it, we should finish it) (37/80)
Design Studies (EOR) (we have to put a satellite into orbit in 1954, so we can't delay this) ( /400+ /500 estimated)
Materials Research (/200 + /250+ /300 estimated)
Jet Research (unknown)
Power in a Union x3 (4 ops dice currently, +2 from the HSRs, +1 from the runway(?), +3 to get 10)
Rocket Reels
Projects we can defer to next year:
Build scientific facility in Ukraine
HSR Launch Site in NA (/60)
EOR launch site?
Expected dice usage (over 4 quarters):
Ops: 3/8
Facilities: 9/8 (but we'll get 3 more during the year)
Eng: depends on how soon we get that wind tunnel
Sci: 15-18/20, assuming jet engines aren't too tough.
Politics: 8/12
I think 0.75% is enough, but I'm not entirely sure?
I am completely against militarization. If we want to help the conflict, I'd prefer to take a reduced budget and share our schematics so they can be used by actual militaries. Like. We asked for nuclear infrastructure. If we pitch all in on militarization... and we have nuclear research... that's just a can of worms I never want to open. And once we do some militarization, we're never going to shake that reputation no matter what we do afterwards. I wanna do the cool space stuff. I don't want people to fear us and our rockets-turned-weapons.
I know there's a lot of reasons to want to personally intervene here. But we're a scientific organization, and we do not, in fact, have wonder weapons. Is sucking up masses of global resources to use for rocket based weapons really the best way to fight the FAS(hists)? Or is it the best way for us to get in on the fight?
It's a fair criticism, but it sounds like the reason doing Rocket Artillery and Spy Launches gives us a good amount of PS is because we are funnelling resources towards the fight that otherwise would not have gone there. In that sense, rocket artillery may not be the best weapon for this fight, but it's the weapon that can be put into the fight.
On the other hand, our rockets are all semi-cryogenic, which is a notoriously shit thing for a military rocket system. Hmm...
Speaking of, do we really want to encourage using these kinds of weapons? If we're building liquid-fuelled rockets, they're not Katyushas or precision weapons like HIMARS (not with our guidance, at least!), it's "pick a postal code and something in it blows up" terror weapons like the V-2 or nuclear theatre ballistic missiles like the MGM-5. The civilian casualties from using our rockets like this would be very high, and that legacy would follow us.
Speaking of, do we really want to encourage using these kinds of weapons? If we're building liquid-fuelled rockets, they're not Katyushas or precision weapons like HIMARS (not with our guidance, at least!), it's "pick a postal code and something in it blows up" terror weapons like the V-2 or nuclear theatre ballistic missiles like the MGM-5. The civilian casualties from using our rockets like this would be very high, and that legacy would follow us.
To clarify: the options that have you building rocket factories have been renamed to specify that the rocket you would be building is a reconnaissance rocket, much like the camera payloads your storm rockets take, simply ruggedized and standardized. They aren't artillery rockets as we know them.
Here's a set of calculations on the dice demands of various promises as a resource for plans. Dice totals for a promise are only provided where all of the dice would be in a single field (IE, all science). It's harder to come up with clear conclusions because there's more possibilities, except that Matsci 4 would be a huge, risky commitment.
Party
Promise
Project
Category
Current Bonus
Current Avg per Die
Optimistic Progress
Pessimistic Progress
Optimistic Avg Dice
Pessimistic Avg Dice
Notes
Internationale (ML)
Complete Rocket Reels
Rocket Reels
Politics
13
63
120
120
1.9
1.9
Complete Jet Research 1
Hangar
Facilities
3
53
100
100
1.9
1.9
Runway
Facilities
3
53
150
150
2.8
2.8
Jet Research 1
Engineering
13
63
150
250
2.4
4.0
Assuming PROP and engineering
Internationale (Debsist)
Complete Jet Research 1
See above
Internationale (Councils)
Complete Materials Research 4
Assuming that this gets MATSCI bonus, which isn't listed
6.7
20.1
Materials 2
Science
17
67
150
300
2.2
4.5
Materials 3
Science
17
67
150
450
2.2
6.7
Materials 4
Science
17
67
150
600
2.2
9.0
Complete Advanced Concepts Office
-5 PS Per Die
ACO
Engineering
9
59
99
99
1.7
1.7
Free Workers of the World
Complete Materials Research 3
Assuming that this gets MATSCI bonus, which isn't listed
4.5
11.2
Materials 2
Science
17
67
150
300
2.2
4.5
Materials 3
Science
17
67
150
450
2.2
6.7
Employ 10 dice worth of Facilities and Operations personnel by 1954Q1
Just noting that that using them would be at minimum 100R per turn, probably more
Build EITHER an Infantry or Artillery Rocket Factory
Infantry Factory
Facilities?
3
53
250
250
4.7
4.7
Artillery Factory
Facilities?
3
53
300
300
5.7
5.7
United Workers' Front
Build Stormchaser Plants
Stormchaser Plant
Facilities?
3
53
300
300
5.7
5.7
Research Military Beden
M-1 Beden
Engineering
15
65
80
150
1.2
2.3
Research Military Beden and build Artillery Rocket Factories
M-1 Beden
Engineering
15
65
80
150
1.2
2.3
Artillery Factory
Facilities?
3
53
300
300
5.7
5.7
Colonized Peoples' Advancement League
Spend at least Two dice per turn on facilities aimed at helping formerly colonized nations (not Mogadishu)
