Situation Foxtrot (SAO/Foxhole) [COMPLETE]
- Thread starter 7734
- Start date
- Crossover
[X]Plan Greatest Warden Railroad 3: Tokyo Drift
If we don't know how to handle the mortars the planning is quickly gonna be squandered by avoidable mistakes and chaos. Better everyone knows the basics instead of having a well rehearsed plan that promptly goes up into smoke if we get punched hard enough, like last time.
If we don't know how to handle the mortars the planning is quickly gonna be squandered by avoidable mistakes and chaos. Better everyone knows the basics instead of having a well rehearsed plan that promptly goes up into smoke if we get punched hard enough, like last time.
- Location
- New England, State of Confusion
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- She/Her
[X]Plan Greatest Warden Railroad 3: Tokyo Drift
- Location
- parker colorado
[X]Plan Greatest Warden Railroad 3: Tokyo Drift
Regimental Labels and Taxonomy
7734
Trust and verify.
- Location
- Philmont
Since it comes up in the Discord, I figure I might as well explain the breakdowns for Regimental Labels and Tags- which should probably come in handy at some point.
First up is the biggest distinction: is the Regiment a Combat Regiment or a Noncombat Regiment? For Noncombat Regiments, they break down into two categories: Logistics, and Supporting Arms. Logistics units are any unit dedicated to the production and transit of supplies, which Supporting Arms are any unit that does not specialize in producing war material. Most Logistics regiments are Sustainment or Transshipment based, although most of the former don't distinguish themselves in the labeling system further.
Then comes the Combat Regiments, which in turn break down into three categories: Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry. Artillery is the simplest, as it breaks down into two divisions first, along with the general-purpose and cross-branching Line Artillery type; Direct Fire and Indirect Fire. Direct Fire artillery then breaks down thrice further: into Anti-Tank Artillery and into Flying Artillery. Indirect fire, meanwhile, breaks down into Tactical Artillery, Siege Artillery, and Strategic Artillery. Practically speaking, the only one of note is Strategic Artillery, which requires the operant regiment have conducted a Storm Cannon fire mission once in the last week. Cavalry and infantry, meanwhile, breaks down along a spectrum, and multiple terms may describe overlapping unit compositions that will be detailed in the list. Overlaps in equipment are deliberate: regimental buffs are in large part chosen on regimental doctrine, and thus a Motor Rifles (Motorized infantry, 2x AC/company) can overlap Dragoons (Motorized infantry, 2x AC or APC/company) have the same equipment needs but fight radically differently.
As with all things, this is subject to change as new regiment types come up from new conditions, forcing diversification in naming from speciation in doctrine.
Regiment
-Noncombat
--Logistics
---Sustainment
----Research
---Transshipment
----Teamsters
----Ferrymen
----etc
--Supporting Arms
---Intelligence
---Signals
---Engineers
-Combat
--Artillery
---Direct Fire
----Flying Artillery
----Anti-Tank Artillery
---Indirect Fire
----Siege Artillery
----Tactical Artillery
----Strategic Artillery
--Infantry
---Leg infantry (None mounted)
---Motorized Infantry (Infantry mounted)
---Mechanized Infantry (Infantry mounted w/ Halftrack Support)
---Motor Rifle Infantry (Infantry mounted w/ Armored Car Support)
---Grenadiers (Infantry mounted w/ organic artillery support)
---Jaegers (Infantry dismounted w/ Long Rifles)
---Naval Infantry (Infantry mounted or dismounted, attacking from landing craft)
---Marines (Naval infantry w/ gunboat support or attached amor or artillery)
--Cavalry
---Uhlans (Mounted cavalry)
---Dragoons (Mounted cavalry w/ Armored Car support)
---Cuirassiers (Armored Cars w/ halftrack support)
---Hussars (Light tanks w/ or w/o Armored Car support)
---Chasseurs a Char (Cruiser tanks w/ or w/o other support)
---Armored Cavalry (Assault tanks w/ or w/o other support)
---Cataphracts (Destroyer tanks w/ or w/o other support)
First up is the biggest distinction: is the Regiment a Combat Regiment or a Noncombat Regiment? For Noncombat Regiments, they break down into two categories: Logistics, and Supporting Arms. Logistics units are any unit dedicated to the production and transit of supplies, which Supporting Arms are any unit that does not specialize in producing war material. Most Logistics regiments are Sustainment or Transshipment based, although most of the former don't distinguish themselves in the labeling system further.
Then comes the Combat Regiments, which in turn break down into three categories: Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry. Artillery is the simplest, as it breaks down into two divisions first, along with the general-purpose and cross-branching Line Artillery type; Direct Fire and Indirect Fire. Direct Fire artillery then breaks down thrice further: into Anti-Tank Artillery and into Flying Artillery. Indirect fire, meanwhile, breaks down into Tactical Artillery, Siege Artillery, and Strategic Artillery. Practically speaking, the only one of note is Strategic Artillery, which requires the operant regiment have conducted a Storm Cannon fire mission once in the last week. Cavalry and infantry, meanwhile, breaks down along a spectrum, and multiple terms may describe overlapping unit compositions that will be detailed in the list. Overlaps in equipment are deliberate: regimental buffs are in large part chosen on regimental doctrine, and thus a Motor Rifles (Motorized infantry, 2x AC/company) can overlap Dragoons (Motorized infantry, 2x AC or APC/company) have the same equipment needs but fight radically differently.
As with all things, this is subject to change as new regiment types come up from new conditions, forcing diversification in naming from speciation in doctrine.
Regiment
-Noncombat
--Logistics
---Sustainment
----Research
---Transshipment
----Teamsters
----Ferrymen
----etc
--Supporting Arms
---Intelligence
---Signals
---Engineers
-Combat
--Artillery
---Direct Fire
----Flying Artillery
----Anti-Tank Artillery
---Indirect Fire
----Siege Artillery
----Tactical Artillery
----Strategic Artillery
--Infantry
---Leg infantry (None mounted)
---Motorized Infantry (Infantry mounted)
---Mechanized Infantry (Infantry mounted w/ Halftrack Support)
---Motor Rifle Infantry (Infantry mounted w/ Armored Car Support)
---Grenadiers (Infantry mounted w/ organic artillery support)
---Jaegers (Infantry dismounted w/ Long Rifles)
---Naval Infantry (Infantry mounted or dismounted, attacking from landing craft)
---Marines (Naval infantry w/ gunboat support or attached amor or artillery)
--Cavalry
---Uhlans (Mounted cavalry)
---Dragoons (Mounted cavalry w/ Armored Car support)
---Cuirassiers (Armored Cars w/ halftrack support)
---Hussars (Light tanks w/ or w/o Armored Car support)
---Chasseurs a Char (Cruiser tanks w/ or w/o other support)
---Armored Cavalry (Assault tanks w/ or w/o other support)
---Cataphracts (Destroyer tanks w/ or w/o other support)
TortugaGreen
Constantly out of the loop
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X]Plan Greatest Warden Railroad 3: Tokyo Drift
The only difference between the top two plans is training (in this one) or op planning (in the other one) and training is the more lasting advantage.
The only difference between the top two plans is training (in this one) or op planning (in the other one) and training is the more lasting advantage.
TortugaGreen
Constantly out of the loop
- Pronouns
- She/Her
trains definitely done with is nice and hooker not yeeting yet is extra nice. the wild ride is soon, but... not that soon, yet.
4.4
7734
Trust and verify.
- Location
- Philmont
[X]Plan Greatest Warden Railroad 3: Tokyo Drift
-[X] Expand your bunker base with additional infrastructure to sustain larger troop numbers.
-[X] Extra work shifts
--[X] More Mines: Get everyone to do more rounds on the component mines and oil wells. Components mean R-mats, R-mats mean flatbeds, and more importantly: trains (Begins work on GWR Request)
-[X] Commit training!
--[X] Artillery Training: It is time to actually learn what the limitations of these guns are. It'll be expensive, but you need to know to keep mistakes from happening.
-[X] Go out and get yourself a lieutenant! (You may have one per twenty Regiment members, minimum one)
--[X] Teach them the way of the builder, as much as you know how that works. (Adds one action to Bunker)
-[X] Go talk to someone specific/Meet a Specific Regiment
--[X] Call in Zairman, and get him ready for this next dance- and maybe see how he'd feel about working with you on a permanent basis.
-[X] Expand your bunker base with additional infrastructure to sustain larger troop numbers.
-[X] Extra work shifts
--[X] More Mines: Get everyone to do more rounds on the component mines and oil wells. Components mean R-mats, R-mats mean flatbeds, and more importantly: trains (Begins work on GWR Request)
-[X] Commit training!
--[X] Artillery Training: It is time to actually learn what the limitations of these guns are. It'll be expensive, but you need to know to keep mistakes from happening.
-[X] Go out and get yourself a lieutenant! (You may have one per twenty Regiment members, minimum one)
--[X] Teach them the way of the builder, as much as you know how that works. (Adds one action to Bunker)
-[X] Go talk to someone specific/Meet a Specific Regiment
--[X] Call in Zairman, and get him ready for this next dance- and maybe see how he'd feel about working with you on a permanent basis.
"Here comes the sun, doo do do-do doo!" Silica sang energetically, kicking her feet over the side of the bunker base. "Here comes the sun!"
"I get it, you're glad that the dark days of ushankas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner are over with," you shot back from where you'd stripped down to just an A-shirt and your pants to hose the salt from The King off your Drummond. "Just remember we're still not off the hook yet."
"La la la I can't hear you," Silica chanted. "Everything's going fine for once!"
Coming out of the bunker core, Calico looked at you with a deep sigh, before looking up at Silica with an odd look. It passed quickly, before she came over to you, protecting her clipboard full of papers from your hose. "Hey, uh, boss?" she asked. "I got a question."
"Shoot."
"So, we got a radio call from the GWRR team. They're done, and we ended up with a lot of extra comps for them. They want us to tell 'em what to do with the extra."
"Where are the comps at now?"
"Most of 'em haven't left our base yet. There was a lot of dead time on the mines recently for some reason."
"Weird," you muttered. "Well, stack 'em up in a corner of the yard for now. We'll need 'em if we want to concrete anything else up."
"Alright. Landry wanted to talk to you later, by the way. Something about base math."
"Well, send her out," you replied, stretching your jaw out as you went to get a mop. "I've still got to scrub this thing down."
"Alright…"
Swinging the mop against your car with vengeance, you almost missed when Landry came out. If not for the change in Silica's out of tune rendition of the Beetles changing from 'Here Comes the Sun' to 'Let it Be'. As it was, you still nearly brained her with the mop handle, but that's what helmets were for.
"Hey, Colonel."
Rolling your eyes, you put the mop back in the bucket. "Landry. You needed to see me?"
"Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about laying out a new base."
Shrugging, you got the hose out again, working off the soap. "Well, I know this base was put together kind of terribly, but walk me through why we need a new one."
"Well, the biggest problem is we don't have defenses," Landry said, rubbing her shoulders. "And I was talking to some of the old salts on the radio, and they're getting worried. Our field guns are towed, so it stands to reason all the field guns are towed."
"That's not an unreasonable assumption."
"Yeah, except the Colonials get a 120mm field gun as their basic artillery piece."
The hose stayed focused on the door handle of your Drummond for a solid minute while you processed that. "Fuck."
"Yeah. So I was thinking, draw up and design a new base from the ground up, then build it where we can have some peace and quiet."
"In Clanshead Valley, or will this be after the operation in Weathered Expanse?"
Landry paused, before scratching her cheek. "Well, I'd like it to be in Weathered Expanse, but I don't know. I still have to draw it out."
Shrugging, you scratched your chin. "If I gave you a team of builders, could you take over bunker development on a more permanent basis?"
"Without a question."
"Good," you said, making up your mind. "If you can get the current bunker expansion done inside a week, I'll get you a promotion and a permanent team."
The new bunker expansion was done by Wednesday. On Thursday, Landry joined your officer corps.
////
Of course, with the train done, that meant there was now time for fucking about to happen if you weren't a perenial hard-ass. The words of George MacDonald Fraser went through your mind, backed up by what you were starting to recognize as the System Assist helping jog your memory.
The Colonel, that kindly, crafty old gentleman gave sound advice before we set out. "Work 'em stupid," he said. "Every parade - reveille, first inspection, cook-house, company office - must be on the dot, just as though you were back in the Battalion. Anyone drags his feet by as much as a second - nail him. I don't care if half the detachment's on jankers. But if you let 'em slack off, or have time to be bored, they'll be sand-happy before you know it. It can happen well inside a month; ennui has undermined more outpost garrisons than plague or enemy action, take my word for it." And he went on to tell me harrowing tales of Khyber forts and East African jungle stockades, called for another whisky, and assured me it would be great fun, really.
Considering Fraser's time in the Burma Campaign, you took it as decent advice. While The King, Quietus, and Allsight didn't suffer from a haze of ennui, it was easy to see in the languid nature of the Pike, and more importantly in parts of the Great Warden Dam when you last visited Loup. You could imagine factory queues sitting empty, unloved, while people sat around drinking away rations of gin without a care in the world.
Aside any philosophical musings on the nature of boredom, though, was the fact you had forty mortar tubes sitting in inventory and zero people who knew how to use them. Getting shells for them wasn't too hard- a few stockpiles had slipped to public in the King- and soon enough, you had your most reliable troops digging ditches out in the middle of nowhere to start learning how to mortar things.
A few conclusions came up fast, starting with 'holy shit, mortars chew through ammo'. A standard six-man team, rolling four mortars, could chew through a truck of ammo in about a minute to a minute and a half. A two-man one-gun team could stretch a truck to about five minutes, if you were lucky, but the fact of the matter was shells were going to get spent like water in a mortar unit. The one attempt at a grand battery- twelve guns, one spotter, four ammobearers- however resulted in a completely and utterly decimated target, with several small craters forming in the terrain.
The next, more concerning conclusion, was that it was a bitch and a half to actually correct fire. Spotting from the battery was excellent at getting the distance corrections down, but God forbid your people need to calculate a deflection due to wind. The best result there was actually a spotter some distance from the battery, who would then guide the guns in on deflection while the battery organically corrected for range.
The final, and most frustrating, conclusion was that shell dispersion was directly tied to shell velocity on a nonlinear scale. It was actually Asuna who figured this out, doing math at a frantic rate with much Japanese muttering, but as a rule of thumb, scatter was actually a normalized distribution with a linear expansion of the scatter area- with the caveat being that the higher the muzzle velocity, the less normalized the scatter was.
This was a little beyond your math classes, though, so you needed it broken down into simpler words. Dispersion worked in two parts. The first part was the area of dispersion: the total circle of "where can the shell theoretically fall", even if it was really more of an oval at certain points of fire. This expanded linearly with muzzle velocity, which meant there was a nice, simple equation to graph it. The second part was normalization, which was a measure of which percentage of shots landed where in the area of dispersion. In systems assist range, 50% of all shots landed inside a second, smaller circle of dispersion that had 1/3rd the radius of the maximum circle of dispersion. Increase that to two notches of muzzle velocity instead of one, and that went to 35% of all shots landing in the same 1/3rd radius inner circle of dispersion. Crank it up to three notches of muzzle velocity, and that became 50% of all shots landing in a smaller circle of dispersion that was 1/2 the maximum circle of dispersion: and since the maximum circle of dispersion had gotten significantly larger, this meant the density of mortar bombs per square meter had gone way down.
At full muzzle velocity, it was completely randomized where the shell landed in the three thousand, two hundred, and fifteen square meter circle of maximum dispersion. You know, a plat of land big enough to fit an entire fucking storm cannon battery.
New rule: no firing mortars at maximum range unless you had literally no other option.
Either way, your mortar training had the desired result: everyone knew how to mostly adequately use the mortars, and had gotten experience in accounting for their idiosyncrasies. You had also found out the hard way that Mihey had actually been in a militia IRL- he had a tendency to yeet the shell down the tube, completely forgetting these short mortars actually had a firing trigger instead of a fixed firing pin at the bottom of the tube. As funny as it was, though, what wasn't funny was having to send three sets of dog tags back to base after accidents in positioning resulted in pretty bad injuries, and one case of dipshit standing up at the correct time to catch a mortar shell in the back. Soon enough, everyone was yeeting the shell down the tube and getting hands and arms clear- even if it tended to jostle their aim a bit.
Still, with a little over five hundred rounds expended, you were willing to call it a good start, and began putting in orders for more shells. While it wasn't set in stone, you were willing to consider using these tools in the coming offensive as a first line asset now. A dedicated two gun and truck setup would be a very easy way to distribute panic button firepower to the units, and the ability of mortar crews to hide in emplacement trenches and foxholes would increase their survivability in case of the Colonials suddenly counterattacking. Again. The motherfuckers.
If nothing else, a barrage of frag might scare them off next time.
///
Like many of your eccentric decisions, it was about nineteen hundred in the evening, after a sound dinner, that you decided it would probably be a good idea to visit Zairman. Dropping in to the radio center, you started crawling the frequencies. You were about halfway to despair when Silica wandered in, yawning as she stared at you plapping away at her radio set and the too-short stool.
"Melanie," your friend's assistant asked, her pajamas covered in little radio handsets. "What are you doing."
"Looking for the 62e Infantry radio codes."
"Can't you just send a telegram?"
You stopped dead. "Uh."
Silica slapped her head, nearly upsetting the Phyrgian cap perched there. "I'll send a telegram. What do you want the message to be?"
"To Colonel Zairman, I would like to visit to discuss matters regarding a War Bureau offensive. Please provide a date and time to visit as well as the location of your main base. With best regards, Colonel Orr Melanie."
"Okay," Silica muttered, yawning again as she set the radio. "Lesse, the Pike doesn't normally have a ton of traffic. Set to the radio-telegraph repeater station code, get the key out… and here we go."
From there, a staccato noise almost like machine gun fire started up, as Silica pounded your message out. Once she was done, the littlest sergeant shut down her radio, and stumbled back out. "I'm gonna go back to bed," she muttered.
You felt rather foolish for the entire affair, especially when a courier Drummond came in an hour later with a return telegram from Zairman.
To Gen. Orr Melanie, 15. Flying Artillery 'High King's Valkyries'
I would be delighted to host you for a few days- it seems cruel to make the drive from Clanshead to Reaching Trail for but a few hours of your delightful company. Come at your own convenience, with any officers you feel necessary to get to work. I've heard rumors of that rakehell, Hooker, and his plans for a mass offensive. While I would not work for him, your previous arrangements in Morgen's Crossing have assuage my confidence in your unit.
With all best regards, Col. Zairman, 62 Infantry 'Silent Breakers'
Well, that was a telegram. Still, it was getting late, so you could ship out in the morning. When morning came, though, it was to the unhappy stares of all your officers, especially Asuna.
"Really, Melanie?" the auburn-haired girl asked, flicking her braid idly. "You're just running off to go talk to a friend?"
"I wouldn't mind, but it's all the way in Reaching Trail. You'd be there for days!" Calico said, hands tapping the table nervously. "We wouldn't have enough people to run the base!"
Rolling your eyes, you grabbed a reindeer sandwich, before taking a bite. Man, the cook must be pissed if she was breaking out the reindeer meat and garlic sauce from B-rats. "Listen, it's three days. One day to drive out, one day to visit, trade notes, do prep, all that shit. One day to drive back. All I need is a driver."
"That's still too much," Landry argued. "I need the drivers if I'm going to unscrew some of our logistics, and it's not fair to who you take."
"Okay, first of all, I'm taking one driver. If I need to, I'll ask Mihey, he'll do it in a minute," you growled. This display was getting old, fast. "The only important manpower that'll be missing is me, and Asuna can hold down the fort in my absence. Second of all, this is going to be a very important meeting for getting our part of the assault on Weathered Expanse together. I trust the 11e Infantry, but I don't want to risk not having enough manpower. We've got the rails and radios to make this a big push, and I don't expect Hooker's naval landing to work. Tepes and us are where this next offensive is going to come down on, and I trust the 62e. I want us to have the ability to pound the Colonials flat, and it's going to be an alley fight."
Taking your sandwich and grabbing a fresh cup of coffee, you stormed out of the bunker core and over to the map room. With the coffee on an internal beam as you finished off the sandwich, you tossed the wrapper in the trash before grabbing the chalk and got the map of the advance.
"This is the line through The Weathering Halls, into Shattered Advance," you explained. "At its narrowest point, it is a kilometer and a half wide canyon mouth. I don't need to be psychic to tell you that pass is going to be filled to the brim with concrete, advanced bunkers, and goblins ready to try and use us as a nice relaxing warmup for when the Navy shows up."
"Three rows," Asuna corrected. "They've got three rows of cured concrete, and then a row of concrete that's still curing, then the standard tier two stuff."
You stared, and she grinned a little. "And you know this… how?"
"Friends in the Commandos."
"Well then. Presume five rows of concrete to smash through, then," you grumbled. "We're going to bleed like dogs unclogging that, and we can't do it slow. Since I'm not a tactical genius, we're going to do this in waves. One regiment forward, overwhelming bombardment to try and break up the bunkers, then the troops get in and demo what we can't. Bring a new regiment and the guns up, then we do it again. Our only real advantage is they won't have anything better than a trench before that pass. The decay zone is the only thing protecting us here."
Calico and Landry started looking a little pale. "Are- are you sure we can do it?" one of them asked.
"Honestly?" you asked lightly, "Yes. This isn't going to be a stream of mammon rushes into the teeth like some noble idiots. What we're gonna do is a creeping advance: suppress the bunkers with anti-tank that can shoot my guns with emplaced machine guns, shoot everything else with Wolfhounds, and anything we can't reach or need to smother right the fuck now we have mortars for. The only problem is the infantry needs to trust we'll be on the ball with that."
"And, as much as I think Colonel Zairman is being a little too hospitable, he and his trust General Orr to a T," Asuna added. "Probably thinks you're an easy lay or something."
"What?!"
"Please, all of Great Warden Dam is talking about you and Takamachi!" Asuna said, rolling her eyes. "Someone nearly called the traffic wardens with how loud you were!"
Your face went through the rainbow, before you started tugging on your braid. "This doesn't leave the room," you snapped.
"It doesn't have to," Asuna grumbled. "Because that ship sailed when you walked out of a factory with forty mortar crates."
"Fine, then my reputation's shot anyway, and nobody will care if I go unchaperoned."
"Fine!"
As Asuna stormed out one end of the bunker, you left the other. Zairman had invited you over without any issue, so it was time to go.
\\\
The sun was well past high in the sky and starting to set, when you pulled into the 62e's bunker base in The Cairns. Lines of W-pattern forts surrounded the tall rock spires, nestled in and about with a few Albatrosses spread here and there. Pulling into the parking lot through the gate, you could feel the eyes of the troops tracking your Drummond. A traffic guide flagged you down quick enough, and soon your vehicle was parked and you stepped out of it. Sword on one hip, pistol on the other, kepi on your head, four pointed stars on your shoulders. You were the model of an officer, and as you walked up to the core the men of the 62e were the model of a panicking regiment. Frantically, they ran to get Zairman, who looked quite shocked to see you there.
"Ah- General Orr!" he said, coming up to smile at you as his face warmed. "You came much sooner than I expected!"
"I decided not to wait," you admitted, trying not to rub the back of your head. "It's a very well-appointed base, I must admit. You have an excellent architect."
"Thank you, and come in. We can discuss that, and more, once we have some food in us," Zairman said, leading you into the bunker core. It was quite homy, with a well-worn Warden flag on one wall. As you and he sat down on a well-worn table, a plate of fresh bread was brought out, as well as a salt cellar. Breaking the bread, you took it and dipped it in the cellar, taking a bite.
Eating, soon enough a soup course was brought out: borscht, warm and filling. You ate your fill, and soon enough you were talking shop with Zairman.
He'd managed to balloon his regiment up to four companies now- no small feat- and was working on a permanent doctrine to adapt with coming tech. More importantly, though, was after dinner a short conversation in the motor pool, behind the bunker core.
"Can I tell you something, Orr?" he asked, looking at a series of armored cars.
"I think we're familiar enough to move to first names, but yes."
"Then call me Tymur," he said, before patting one of the armored cars. "I've been trying to make this into a cavalry regiment. I've got some of the armored cars, but I have to integrate them into the regiment and I don't have enough. I think I make up a Dragoons regiment in theory, but we need to fight as such to get the ability to switch over."
"So what do you need my help for, then?"
"Anything, really. More armored cars, Relic Tanks if you find any, spare guns so we don't need to translate through the officers again- hell, if you learned any Ukrainian, I'm fairly certain my people would try to get us hitched, they'd be so happy!"
You grinned. "I'll do my best, Tymur. You're with me, now."
"Was it ever in doubt?" he asked back, curious. "I wasn't kidding about you learning a little of our language- I can send a liaison over to help teach it."
"That's, well, a large step," you said carefully. "And you're committing pretty hard to this little brigade of mine."
"You're the only horse worth backing in the race."
Stuttering, you waved your hands frustratedly. "Really? You're serious? I'm a sixteen year old girl, Tymur! I'm in so far over my head the air bubbles sink! I barely keep the rest of my people from starving, we get shot to pieces every time I run into the field, and my bunker base is a hot mess!"
"And I'm an eighteen year old Russian who has to use the jankiest VPN in the world to actually play a decent game because the internet by the Amur would get routed through the fucks in Vladivostok and can barely speak his home language because his parents got stolen away and sent across Siberia because some madcap dictator wanted to watch the world burn and could die any minute when a farmer runs over an internet line," Tymur said, smiling grimly.
"Oh."
"If it makes you feel better, Melanie, I've got no real clue either," Tymur admitted bashfully. "If this wasn't a game, we'd be dead by now though, so just take it one day at a time- and get a full night's sleep. It helps."
"Thanks," you admitted, before a cool gust blew in, pushing you just off ballance enough to knock you into Tymur. Blushing, you tried to bounce away from him, before your sword snarled with his dirk's frog, and tripped you up hard enough to send you down. Still, your companion was fast, grabbing you and holding you upright, the fall and catch twisting you about as you flailed at his chest until you caught something.
There you were, joined at the hip with Tymur, his jet-black hair starting to billow in the wind with your own, and as you felt his long body rubbing on your hips, you started to flush. Once you got your feet under yourself, though, and stood up to untangle sword and dirk, Tymur grinned a hint.
"We've got an old one-by-three you can use," he said, jumping into the aforementioned bunker. "It's one of my old bunkers, so if you find something that, uh, shouldn't be there… just leave it on the chair."
"Thanks," you said, smiling for a minute.
"It's nothing," Tymur said, before thinking about something and flushing a little. "Well, no. If anything happens to your regiment, you can trust me to hold the colors while we get you back. And I trust you to return the favor."
"And I'll trust you to bring my body back, next time it ends up laid out on the field," you joked, left hand drifting to where a pair of bullet holes used to decorate your chest. "Since it seems to get left there too often."
"I will," Tymur promised, bowing low. "Good night, Melanie."
"Good night, Tymur."
////
VOTES
One-off: Helping Zairman (Choose One)
[] You've got spare comps and that'll build him at least a few more armored cars. They're not amazing, but getting extra metal into his regiment can't possible be a bad thing if he wants to go cavalry.
[] It might not be more armored cars, but you have and will continue to have more guns than you know what to do with. A half dozen mortars and a pair of Wolfhounds will make him well stocked for fires.
[] Passing around more languages is never a bad idea: even working out some kind of creole can speed up calls for fire. Accepting some aides and doing temp transfer training can't hurt.
[] Keep an ear to the ground and burn some of your political capitol: the "High King's Valkyries" should have some weight to it, and it might shake something out you don't know Zairman needs.
BUNKER
(Choose
[] Expand your bunker base with additional infrastructure to sustain larger troop numbers.
[] Expand your bunker base with Defensive Patterns (Requires techniques, vote to begin development)
-[] With small patterns
-[] With medium patterns
-[] With heavy patterns
-[] With artillery firing positions
-[] With infantry fighting positions.
-[] With Modernist patterns
-[] With Utility Patterns
[] Begin developing Concrete (Write-in base to begin concrete development on)
[] Develop a new bunker base in a better location
-[] Write in hex and town/Relic, as well as distance to front line or intended purpose.
[] Gift, Assign, or Abandon a bunker base.
-[] Write-in base by location.
PERSONNEL
(Choose
[] Go and recruit more personnel
-[] Mass recruitment: whatever you can get, get more of it! (Recruits 4d10+4 White personnel)
-[] Selective recruitment: Look for people who aren't clueless. The Logistics Union has a lot of folks. (Recruits 3d10+3 Green personnel)
-[] Picky recruitment: Get people who are at least as skilled as you are! (Recruits 2d10+2 Yellow personnel)
-[] Frontline recruitment: Go to the front and snag some blueberries! (Recruits 1d10+1 Orange personnel)
(You cannot recruit units of higher rating than yourself.)
[] Commit training!
-[] Vehicle training: Teach everyone drive good. Car goes on right hand side of road, revolutionary concept. Might as well also learn to drive a flatbed, or your Drummond if you're feeling nice.
-[] Rifle training: Everyone will spend time practicing the fine art of "bullet go plink"
-[] Administration Training: Basic delegation has been mastered, but the more officers you have the more the parts move. Therefore, figuring out how to grease the gears is important.
-[] Infantry Training: You've spent some time on the front, it sucks. Get better so it sucks less.
-[] Mobile Warfare Training: You know how to fight out of a truck bed. Now it's time to get good at that.
[] Extra work shifts
-[] More Scroop: Get everyone to do more rounds of scrooping at the scrap fields. You do your part, and more importantly, can use the B-mats to get useful stuff like more trucks or dedicated equipment.
-[] More Mines: Get everyone to do more rounds on the component mines and oil wells. Components mean R-mats, R-mats mean flatbeds, and more importantly: trains
-[] More Building: Put everyone to work on getting your bunker upgrades planned. If you don't have some planned, the bunker will get what the troops think it needs.
-[] More Logistics: Put everyone to work on hauling more truckloads of stuff from point A to point B. Whoever's manning the bunker base at the border to Weathered Expanse will be very happy to get more gear for the inevitable offensive.
-[] Frontline Support: Put your people in the trenches on secondary duties: terminal logistics, machine guns, fortification, and other 'mostly safe' jobs to stiffen them up.
[] Begin operational planning for Something Big
-[] Write-in Something Big. May generate Billets.
[] Begin Operation Planning (+1 to all rolls when the next operation starts)
UPGRADES
(Choose
-[] Teach them the way of the builder, as much as you know how that works. (Adds one action to Bunker)
-[] Teach them the way of the talker, so you don't have to do that crap! (Adds one action to Personnel)
-[] Teach them the way of the organizer, so you have more time to put out more fires (Adds one action to Upgrades)
[] Find a, uh, techmaid, and get some prototype kits by hook or by crook.
-[] Cremani Mortar: a 60mm field mortar, man portable and heavy enough to throw out your back with. Theoretically there's a uniform to make this less ass...
-[] Aalto Storm Rifle: a 7.92mm semiautomatic and fully automatic assault rifle persecuer. It's accurate, shoots easily, but has the mild devil of a time to keep it ballanced.
-[] O'Brien V.112 Highlander: A tracked variant of armored cars, with the same double-7.92mm light machine guns. Slightly more armor, actual off-road mobility, but definitely not a tank.
-[] 74b-1 Ronan Gunship: A naval fire support platform, with a short-barrel 120mm howitzer and a pair of twin heavy machine guns in a turret.
[] Requisition Material
-[] Logistics Support: Flatbeds, Fuel, and other nicities.
-[] Artillery Systems: 40mm guns, and 'soft' upgrades.
-[] Base Support: More concrete, more faster.
[] Get in touch with another regiment that does something you need (Discovers and improves relations with one random regiment inside the search group)
-[] Logistics
-[] Production
-[] Frontline Combat
-[] QRF
-[] Water Logistics
-[] Techmaids
-[] Partisans
-[] War Bureau
-[] Great Warden Railroad (GWR)
[] Find a way to get your guys some quality of life upgrades so things suck less out here.
[] Go talk to someone specific/Meet a Specific Regiment
-[] Check in with the Balfour Girls- you're not calling them the Bitches, even if it does alliterate
-[] Whoever the hell Kirito is, with 26e Commandos
-[] Write in named character or regiment number (this includes in-regiment characters)
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FC Error
Missileer
- Location
- Aware of where I am not
[X] Plan High King's Regimental Combat Team
-[X] Passing around more languages is never a bad idea: even working out some kind of creole can speed up calls for fire. Accepting some aides and doing temp transfer training can't hurt.
-[X] Expand your bunker base with additional infrastructure to sustain larger troop numbers.
-[X] Expand your bunker base with Defensive Patterns (Requires techniques, vote to begin development)
--[X] With Utility Patterns
-[X] Begin Operation Planning (+1 to all rolls when the next operation starts)
-[X] Commit training!
--[X] Infantry Training: You've spent some time on the front, it sucks. Get better so it sucks less.
-[X] Find a way to get your guys some quality of life upgrades so things suck less out here.
-[X] Go talk to someone specific/Meet a Specific Regiment
--[X] Whoever the hell Kirito is, with 26e Commandos
I'm honestly fairly ambivalent on the Zairman vote; donating comps, doing a language, or shaking the trees are all fairly good options, so if someone makes a solid argument for one of the above this plan may get edited.
As to the rest; Op planning because we're getting down to the wire on them dice; Utility patterns at home because while a new base to use as a launching-off point might be nice, it'd also be ass given the lack of time to develop it; Mobile Warfare training might be an odd choice, and we likely won't need it much if at all on this op, but idk when we'll have more training time so in it goes; QoL upgrades because our base might be a hot mess but that doesn't mean the mess has to be; and we've left Kirito's Obvious Plot Thread hanging long enough, let's go talk to Asuna's husbando and see what shakes out.
Edit: and more infra because we're still, AFAIK, relatively cramped as things stand.
-[X] Passing around more languages is never a bad idea: even working out some kind of creole can speed up calls for fire. Accepting some aides and doing temp transfer training can't hurt.
-[X] Expand your bunker base with additional infrastructure to sustain larger troop numbers.
-[X] Expand your bunker base with Defensive Patterns (Requires techniques, vote to begin development)
--[X] With Utility Patterns
-[X] Begin Operation Planning (+1 to all rolls when the next operation starts)
-[X] Commit training!
--[X] Infantry Training: You've spent some time on the front, it sucks. Get better so it sucks less.
-[X] Find a way to get your guys some quality of life upgrades so things suck less out here.
-[X] Go talk to someone specific/Meet a Specific Regiment
--[X] Whoever the hell Kirito is, with 26e Commandos
I'm honestly fairly ambivalent on the Zairman vote; donating comps, doing a language, or shaking the trees are all fairly good options, so if someone makes a solid argument for one of the above this plan may get edited.
As to the rest; Op planning because we're getting down to the wire on them dice; Utility patterns at home because while a new base to use as a launching-off point might be nice, it'd also be ass given the lack of time to develop it; Mobile Warfare training might be an odd choice, and we likely won't need it much if at all on this op, but idk when we'll have more training time so in it goes; QoL upgrades because our base might be a hot mess but that doesn't mean the mess has to be; and we've left Kirito's Obvious Plot Thread hanging long enough, let's go talk to Asuna's husbando and see what shakes out.
Edit: and more infra because we're still, AFAIK, relatively cramped as things stand.
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- Location
- United States
[X] Plan High King's Regimental Combat Team
[X] plan: prepping for trench warfare
Helping Zairman
-[X] Passing around more languages is never a bad idea: even working out some kind of creole can speed up calls for fire. Accepting some aides and doing temp transfer training can't hurt.
If we're going to be working together a lot then learning the language is a worth while investment
BUNKER
-[X] Develop a new bunker base in a better location
—[X] Clanshead Tile, near/in the pike. It's going to be ammo storage for a the advance
If this ends up like a slugging match then let's get the supplies to ensure we can shove though. I'm not entirely sold on the pike but it seems safe enough. However I don't play foxhole so please tell me if I'm wrong and going to get everyone killed
PERSONNEL
-[X] Go and recruit more personnel
—[X] Selective recruitment: Look for people who aren't clueless. The Logistics Union has a lot of folks. (Recruits 3d10+3 Green personnel)
-[X] Extra work shifts
--[X] Frontline Support: Put your people in the trenches on secondary duties: terminal logistics, machine guns, fortification, and other 'mostly safe' jobs to stiffen them up.
More people and preparing them for what's to Come
UPGRADES
-[X] Requisition Material
—[X] Logistics Support: Flatbeds, Fuel, and other nicities.
-[X] Go talk to someone specific/Meet a Specific Regiment
—[X] Check in with the Balfour Girls- you're not calling them the Bitches, even if it does alliterate
Supplies are nice. Also if we get another regiment loyal to us that would be nice especially because they are a supply regiment
Helping Zairman
-[X] Passing around more languages is never a bad idea: even working out some kind of creole can speed up calls for fire. Accepting some aides and doing temp transfer training can't hurt.
If we're going to be working together a lot then learning the language is a worth while investment
BUNKER
-[X] Develop a new bunker base in a better location
—[X] Clanshead Tile, near/in the pike. It's going to be ammo storage for a the advance
If this ends up like a slugging match then let's get the supplies to ensure we can shove though. I'm not entirely sold on the pike but it seems safe enough. However I don't play foxhole so please tell me if I'm wrong and going to get everyone killed
PERSONNEL
-[X] Go and recruit more personnel
—[X] Selective recruitment: Look for people who aren't clueless. The Logistics Union has a lot of folks. (Recruits 3d10+3 Green personnel)
-[X] Extra work shifts
--[X] Frontline Support: Put your people in the trenches on secondary duties: terminal logistics, machine guns, fortification, and other 'mostly safe' jobs to stiffen them up.
More people and preparing them for what's to Come
UPGRADES
-[X] Requisition Material
—[X] Logistics Support: Flatbeds, Fuel, and other nicities.
-[X] Go talk to someone specific/Meet a Specific Regiment
—[X] Check in with the Balfour Girls- you're not calling them the Bitches, even if it does alliterate
Supplies are nice. Also if we get another regiment loyal to us that would be nice especially because they are a supply regiment
Should we have two Bunker actions now that we got ourselves a builder?
[X] Plan Feed Those Damn Mortars
-[X] Passing around more languages is never a bad idea: even working out some kind of creole can speed up calls for fire. Accepting some aides and doing temp transfer training can't hurt.
-[X] Expand your bunker base with additional infrastructure to sustain larger troop numbers.
-[X] Expand your bunker base with Defensive Patterns (Requires techniques, vote to begin development)
--[X] With Utility Patterns
-[X] Commit training!
--[X] Infantry Training: You've spent some time on the front, it sucks. Get better so it sucks less.
-[X] Extra work shifts
--[X] Frontline Support: Put your people in the trenches on secondary duties: terminal logistics, machine guns, fortification, and other 'mostly safe' jobs to stiffen them up.
-[X] Requisition Material
--[X] Logistics Support: Flatbeds, Fuel, and other nicities.
-[X] Go talk to someone specific/Meet a Specific Regiment
--[X] Check in with the Balfour Girls- you're not calling them the Bitches, even if it does alliterate
Infantry training because going through 5 layers of concrete in a choke point is going to suck. Frontline support because we need our people to be at least okay-ish close to the front as our artillery is direct fire and our mortars get much less accurate the farther they shoot. And then focusing on the last leg logistics to actually feed all 40 of those mortars, since we're going to need them.
Alternatives I'm considering are swapping infantry training for mobile warfare training or operational planning,
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7734
Trust and verify.
- Location
- Philmont
[x] Plan High King's Regimental Combat Team but with more asuna
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FC Error
Missileer
- Location
- Aware of where I am not
We've also been told that there's a point where a planning bonus can't do shit to help us if our unit isn't good, and that actions to up our skill level or color rating are better than a +1 bonus we get from an action sink though.
Spector29
It Only Gets Worse From Here
[x] Plan High King's Regimental Combat Team
We've got to pick up Kirito at this point. We'll want to be aware of him while this Op goes down. Also, I'd like to see how hardcore a Commando unit would be in a game where you actually die if you fuck up because there's no expectation of recovery.
We've got to pick up Kirito at this point. We'll want to be aware of him while this Op goes down. Also, I'd like to see how hardcore a Commando unit would be in a game where you actually die if you fuck up because there's no expectation of recovery.
- Location
- UTC -6
Some operations, by their nature, don't let us sit back and brainstorm expected problems: Like battering down pieces of wet concrete. Or defending major cities.
trooperist
Cinnamon Roll AI
So Zairman is from Green Ukraine huh?
Also we got the VIP welcome being given bread and salt. Culturally it means we're an important friend.
Also we got the VIP welcome being given bread and salt. Culturally it means we're an important friend.
Have everyone considered the possibility of trying to make contact with a second artillery regiment and bringing them into the fight? With three logistics Regiments, two of them boosted by the light rail, we will have 8 'logistical slots', which would let us do 3 infantry Regiments, 2 artillery Regiments and 1 regiment on QRF duty. Considering the small frontages we are planning to attack I think thatd work very well, no?