Quest Deep Periphery Quest (Battletech Sandbox Empire Builder)

Jarow

Well-known member
[X] Boosting Basics and Flying High

Doesn’t have coast guard (another two turn gdp boost), but other than that a lot like what I would have put together
 
Turn 13 - Results

LordSunhawk

Das BOOT (literally)
Owner
Administrator
Staff Member
Founder
Turn 13 Results

Economic Roll - N/A
Health Roll - 4 degrees of success
Stability Change roll - 2 degrees of failure

Stability Rolls

-Political - No event
-Research - No event
-Economic - Negative Event 1 - Black Friday (-5% GDP Growth this turn overriding any other modifiers, all actions that increase GDP fail this turn, do not make an Economic roll)

Meta Event Roll - 96 - -5% GDP
Dynasty Luck Roll - 63 - No event

Crown Influence Roll - 3 - 1000 Windfall
Lords Influence Roll - 2 - fail
Commons Influence Roll - 1 - fail

Expand Military Academy - Advanced Tactical Training Annex
Target - 85
Roll - 35
Result - SUCCESS

Develop Wulfen heavy IFV
Target = 95
Roll - 98
Result - Bare FAILURE, automatic success next turn

Purchase Military Units - 1 flight Roc aerospace fighters
Target - 60
Roll - 31
Result - SUCCESS

Recruit Complex Entrance Team
Target - 70
Roll - 98
Result - FAIL

Planetary Resource Survey
Target - 45
Roll - 34
Result - SUCCESS

Promote Hovercraft Racing League as being more exciting than any drug
Target - 65
Roll - 69
Result - Bare FAILURE, automatic success next turn

Infantry Support Weapons lvl 1
Target - 105
Roll - 75
Result - SUCCESS

Power Generation lvl 1
Target - 80
Roll - 69
Result - SUCCESS

Improved Agriculture 1
Target - 75
Roll - 69
Result - SUCCESS

TRAINING RESULTS
Griffin’s Roost Garrison - Automatic Success
Rapid Reaction Force - Success
Griffin’s Roost AeroForce - Critical Success

-----

Your name is Jeremy Desmond Griffith.

You are 8 years old.

You are the Crown Prince of Griffin’s Roost.

You are in the 3rd grade.

And you are currently in the lead of your heat in the Pee Wee Hovercraft Racing League.

Your racing nemesis is currently on your tail, almost bumping up against you as you come down the back straight heading back to the beach.

You are traveling at over 56 kilometers per hour.

You are in control.

Then right as you make the transition you aren’t in control anymore.

Peter must have hit you, you are spinning, and he sails past you.

More racers streak by.

You get control back, after bumping into the side barrier.

Your mom isn’t going to be happy with you.

You aren’t happy!

You gun the gas to rejoin the race, but this was the last lap, and instead of winning you come in last.

You are certain that Peter deliberately spun you out.

What do you do?
[] Write-In

---

You yell furiously as you see your son spin out of control on the last lap of his heat. From where you are sitting he was clearly spun out by the boy who wound up winning. Willis is shouting right next to you, as are several other parents who saw the accident.

Evidently the race stewards are blind. They saw nothing.

What do you do?
[] Write-In

---

The economy is finally starting to come out of its slump by the end of the year, unemployment numbers are trending back down rapidly, but the year has been a complete bust in terms of any actual progress or growth. Many businesses have failed, but many others have weathered the storm and new businesses are already rising to take the market niches of those now departed.

Of course the year wouldn’t be complete without something bizarre from the Department of Periphery Studies. You receive a hand-written (in many different shades of crayon) and illustrated petition that looks surprisingly well done despite the materials involved declaring GRIFFTIGER LIVES MATTER and making a list of completely incoherent demands including ‘free chocolate shakes for life for all who are licked by a Grifftiger!’, something about ‘Double house points for winning the Quidditch Cup.’ whatever that is, and raving about how Sekhmet should be made to wear a great big cowbell so that she can’t sneak up on people and lick them.

Sekhmet just snorts in amusement and you can’t help but wonder just what sort of imbecile would think the lives of massive apex predators the size of railroad locomotives didn’t matter.

Or think that a cowbell that size would be anything but annoying.

Words fail you.

They fail you a second time when you get the results of the training exercises that year.

The Rapid Reaction Force managed to complete their exercises AND rate up AND do it without any spectacular accidents or shenanigans? You are tempted to call shenanigans on that by itself.

The garrison forces have put in good solid work and have been rated as Veterans now, and you are quite proud to say that you put in your time in the training rotation, although in your case the company you now command was one of the trainer/opfor units.

The AeroForce though… you are shocked, amazed, and astounded at the sheer brilliance of their performance. They not only blitz all of the training objectives, they blow past them so hard that they left the trainers carefully reviewing everything to make sure there were no hacks or software exploits in the sim software.

They took a scenario that was supposed to be impossible and utterly whupped it. The training staff is now evaluating their procedures to keep this from happening again, but it is clear that the AeroForce has flown right past mere Veteran status, with the Falcon wing being upgraded to Crack.

They’ve also expanded by a flight of Roc fighters, so have become even more potent. Your skies are growing well defended.

The Aerie itself has been successfully expanded. The new Advanced Tactical Training Annex is a massive facility located right outside Huế mới and gives the Aerie the ability to provide basic training to Mechwarriors. The size of the new campus and the advanced simulator equipment gives rise to a number of proposals for additional wings to the Annex which would improve initial training for the various branches of the service.

The development of the Wulfen heavy IFVs has been delayed by a few months due to a combination of shortages from the flu outbreak and heavy storm activity in the testing area.

Unfortunately the recruitment efforts for the jump infantry component of the Complex Entrance Team has not gone all that well. The initial recruitment pitch occurred just a day before the quarantine was imposed and nothing had gone right since. You shake your head at the litany of failure and wonder if you had just found the next generation of the Rapid Reaction Force.

Adding to the litany of woe, the campaign to start promoting the Hovercraft Racing League stumbles out of the gate and winds up being delayed due to a miscommunication between the League, the Ministry of Culture, and the media outlets who were supposed to carry the campaign. The dates got completely scrambled up and now it looks like the campaign will happen for next season, not this season.

But other than that all is going rather well. For certain values of well.

You get the opportunity to test out the new support weapons. The tripod mounted .50 cal machine guns remain the primary large machine gun, but now manpack SRMs have joined the light recoilless rifles that had been the previous anti-armor mainstays. You spend an enjoyable afternoon getting qualified with the new weapon and are very pleased to sign the orders for mass production and introduction.

The infantry, from all reports, love their new toys.

In addition the R&D teams from the University have finished their work on improved power conditioning hardware, transmission gear, and other related technologies. Nothing drastic, but it does solve the last little problem that had bedevilled the people working on making a self-propelled mount for the Thumper artillery piece.

Finally the agricultural sciences folks have introduced a revolutionary new ‘vertical farm’ making use of hydroponic technology that permits very high yields on very small footprints with surprisingly little resource usage. This has significant immediate applications in the bustling Griffsport area, and is even welcomed on Capricorn as a way of preventing sprawl.

Finally the resource survey is highly successful. There are economically significant deposits of rare metals and ores on both Castor and Pollux in the mountains of both continents. Extraction operations will have to wait until the areas are surveyed on the ground and actual ports are built, along with the infrastructure needed to exploit the resources themselves.
 

kelgar04

Well-known member
Ok here is my idea for the write-in and at least out military gained more experience.

[X] He spun you out keep calm and head toward the finish line and raise a complaint with the race steward in a calm and measured tone don't rise to the bait if anyone calls you a sore loser.

[X] Gather the parents who saw the accident and head to the race steward to raise the complaint of foul play on the part of the winner as well as dangerous conduct.
 
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Jarow

Well-known member
[X] Kelgar
Sounds Good to me.

Tel Janin Aman, this is one part of a long series of missions needed. We need to build the FOB first, which requires building the ports on Castor/Pollux (can't remember which right now), which requires scouting the continents to be done (which just started this turn). This gives us ~8 turns to recruit and train the entry team. We decided to start recruiting early, so we could start training early; but failing now doesn't really impact our plans much.
 

Jarow

Well-known member
Sunhawk just warned us on Discord of trouble ahead. So I think we need to plan for trouble during the next turn.
I'll probably be around for turn making again by the time next turn rolls around, but probably a good idea to add Fortifications research to people's plans, and maybe build some orbital defense platforms.
 
Turn 14 - Fluff and Story

LordSunhawk

Das BOOT (literally)
Owner
Administrator
Staff Member
Founder
Turn 14 Fluff and Story

[X] He spun you out, keep calm and head toward the finish line and raise a complaint with the race steward in a calm and measured tone don't rise to the bait if anyone calls you a sore loser.

[X] Gather the parents who saw the accident and head to the race steward to raise the complaint of foul play on the part of the winner as well as dangerous conduct.

<Jeremy’s POV>

You reach the marshalling area and undo your helmet, managing to keep from looking angry. Peter and his friends are celebrating the win, while other kids are clambering out of their machines around you.

You grit your teeth, climb out of the hovercraft, and look around for the closest race steward. You were deliberately spun out, you are sure of it. You were slewing around to take the inside line at a drift just like they’d taught you to, and suddenly you were spinning with Peter *right* on your quarter where he’d have had to have hit you.

The steward sees you coming and has the temerity to smile down at you. Stupid adults.

“Let me guess before you say anything, Mr Griffith.” he preempts you. “You wish to register a protest about being spun out by Mr Colsen, yes?”

You nod and are about to speak further when he preempts you again.

“You were at the transition from surf to turf, sliding into a drifting slew turn in order to keep the corner as tight as possible, and instead spun, you saw Mr Colsen on the inside line as you spun.” he continues.

“Yes! He hit me in the left rear and spun me out.” you finally get a word in edgewise.

The steward nods. “And you are wondering why he didn’t get a penalty?”

<Your POV>

You take a moment to talk to the other mom’s near you about the accident before you march over to the race steward currently talking to your son. Willis is at your shoulder, but the damn man isn’t saying anything.

You arrive just as the steward asks your son about wondering about the no penalty call.

“That is something I am also curious about.” you say a bit flatly.

The steward simply nods. “Indeed, and I don’t fault you for your concern.” he says, then takes out a large tablet. “We have the track fully equipped with cameras to catch these sorts of things, shall we watch the recording?”

He doesn’t wait, pressing play. On the screen you see your son's hovercraft making the shift on to the beach and starting the skidding slew turn you’d seen it do every lap. You lean in, watching for the point of impact… and there isn’t one. There’s a good six inch gap between your sons hovercraft and Peter’s.

“How then…” your son asks, sounding genuinely confused.

“Simple, remember the training materials on how unpredictable the handling of a hovercraft gets when making the transition between water and land?” he asks, getting a cautious nod. “And how the condition of the ground can affect that unpredictability?”

He gets another nod, and you are pursing your lips a bit.

“Hovercraft have no mechanical traction whatsoever in their own right. However the skirts do interact with the ground or water to provide transitory traction.” he lectures slightly. “So you have to rely on your thrust alignment and think well ahead of the vehicle in order to keep it in control. Which you had been doing. Now look at the beach in that area from just before you started your turn…” he went back to show the ground, which was looking a bit torn up and uneven. “And look at it from one lap back before you started the turn.” he rewinds further, showing that the last time your son had passed this spot it had been completely smooth.

He then shows the spin frame by frame. Your son's hovercraft hits the disturbed spot as it begins to turn, the raised sand impacts the right front skirt of the hovercraft, disrupting it enough that the craft dips slightly, and the craft starts to spin.

Your hackles raise a little. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Hardly, as soon as the vehicle starts spinning it rapidly loses inertia, especially since the increasing grass thickness and height of the terrain in the run off area disrupts the plenum to cause the skirts to drag, that stabilized the vehicle, allowing the lift fan to return to full efficiency, and the rotating vector to be fully cancelled out.” he explains. “On the vehicles we use in the Pee Wee leagues we’ve tested them fully, they are far more responsive to the little rills and bumps than the bigger ones used in higher leagues, but that is because they are so low on power, therefore the consequences of losing control are limited to a spin and loss of time rather than anything else.”

You look over and see your husband talking to your eldest, hands waving about describing something. You sigh, as your husband starts going into full Fighter Pilot Mode as he explains things in his own inimitable way.

“... and remember…” Willis is saying, then the two say together one of your husband's favorite little phrases. “Expect success, plan for failure.” and the two high five.

Boys.

-----

There’s a minor crisis to start the year, as a small hamlet established to cut trees to feed the exotic lumber trade had to be hastily evacuated before it got trampled into dust by a massive herd of deathopotamusaurus.

This triggers a bit of a debate, with the representatives of the timbering industry demanding heavy military protection so they can clear cut portions of the jungles on Capricorn without needing to worry about ‘filthy wildlife’. Meanwhile the environmental lobby is calling for stricter restrictions on timbering to ‘sustainable’ levels within the existing protective envelope from the fortifications.

[] Side with the timbering companies. Let the chainsaws sing! One time +1% GDP boost, -5 Health, Up front 135 cost to recruit a dedicated motorized rifle battalion to protect the lumberjacks. (will not be available for planetary defense)

[] Side with the environmental lobby. Save the trees and deathopotamusaurus too! One time -1% GDP penalty, prevents future events related to deforestation

[] Side with neither.

The Commons are supporting the timbering companies, the Lords are supporting the environmentalists. Whichever side you decide to support will gain one level of support for the crown, the other will lose one level of support. If you side with neither you will lose 1 level of support in both houses.

Lumber of the sort being harvested on Capricorn is purely used for luxury furniture, as wood hasn’t been used as a structural material since your grandfather’s time. However said furniture is extremely popular right now amongst the middle and upper middle class layers of society.

A small group of animal rights activists shows up at the Griffsport Zoo to protest the existence of zoos as cruel and inhumane. In the process they cite the ‘imprisonment’ of the two grifftigers that call the zoo home.

The rally is generally peaceful, however several shouting matches do break out as the day wears on. When it comes time for the zoo to close, however, the activists refuse to leave in a bid to create an incident for the evening news.

When the police arrive to handle the situation, however, they find the activists rather hastily departing. One look at the situation and the cops have no problem seeing just why.

Two grifftiger sub-adults are at the entrance gate, having evidently objected to the activists causing a fuss in a place they consider their territory and distressing their humans.

A zoo spokesperson appears on the local news that evening explaining that the pair are on the zoo’s payroll as security specialists. You check the records and sure enough, they’ve actually gotten their security guard licenses. You and Willis laugh about this for several hours.

In much sadder news, bà is in the hospital. She’s in her nineties and is fading quickly.

You spend most of February down in Huế mới at the family compound, visiting bà as often as you can and making sure to bring all of your kids with you. You know how much she loves all the grandbabies, after all.

It’s a bit depressing, but you manage it. Until she finally passes away in her sleep with almost the entire extended family present.

A titan has fallen. Ngô Hương Thanh has passed into eternity. An Nghỉ.
 

Thors_Alumni

Well-known member
[X] Side with the environmental lobby. Save the trees and deathopotamusaurus too! One time -1% GDP penalty, prevents future events related to deforestation.

[X] Express through informal back channels that makers of a non-vital luxury good cannot demand that the Crown make expensive commitments of vital military forces for the sole purpose of bolstering their profits. Such a demand crosses the line of enriching themselves at the expense of the public, and is unacceptable.
 
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kelgar04

Well-known member
[X] Side with the environmental lobby. Save the trees and deathopotamusaurus too! One time -1% GDP penalty, prevents future events related to deforestation
 
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ShadowArxxy

Well-known member
Comrade
[X] Side with the environmental lobby. Save the trees and deathopotamusaurus too! One time -1% GDP penalty, prevents future events related to deforestation.

[X] Express through informal back channels that makers of a non-vital luxury good cannot demand that the Crown make expensive commitments of vital military forces for the sole purpose of bolstering their profits. Such a demand crosses the line of enriching themselves at the expense of the public, and is unacceptable.
 

Ridli Scott

Well-known member
Hello all! I finally managed to be up to date with this nice quest.

[x] Ask the grifftigers about that. Could be an excuse to try to contact an Elder grifftiger too.

We don't know shit about that continent yet we may fuck something important, like the source of food of the source of food of the grifftigers.
 

Atarlost

Well-known member
[X] Side with the environmental lobby. Save the trees and deathopotamusaurus too! One time -1% GDP penalty, prevents future events related to deforestation

Unless my recollection is wrong, the deahopotamusaurus is a major prey animal for the Grifftiger. Until we're sure they're nonmigratory even those outside the Grifftiger range need protection, as does their habitat. And at their size they're probably migratory.

Let's not have an accidental Grifftiger Holodomor.
 

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