Quest Deep Periphery Quest (Battletech Sandbox Empire Builder)

[Winter_Wind45]

[X] Sign the Military Expansion Act of 3020
[X] Sign the Artisanal Regulatory Reform Act of 3020

 

[kashim3]

[X] Sign the Military Expansion Act of 3020
[X] Sign the Artisanal Regulatory Reform Act of 3020

 

[LordSunhawk]

Turn 90 - For All The Wisdom Of A Lifetime

The competition in the Pan-Griffon Games is quite intense and very entertaining. You take the time to meet with the athletes, with a full calendar of appearances and events scheduled. You do take time, however, to take a trip to Calliope III.

You land at one of the major research outposts and are taken on a brief tour of the place. While there, the local Rex pair who claims the territory wanders by with their baby, accompanied by the pack of raptors which accompanied them around. You still find it rather amusing how the giant Rexes playfully make use of the observation towers and industrial mechs of the outpost as methods of getting their backs properly scratched. You know, you inveigled yourself into the cockpit of one to provide the proper scratching.

You did have one surprise while you were there, although you’d halfway expected it given how clever the raptors were. Despite the security, despite the guards, and despite the presence of Sekhmet, a pair of young raptors managed to pop up in your guest quarters to play ‘pounce the newbie’. They managed the initial pounce and playful growl, only to get the surprise of their young lives when Sekhmet pinned them under her paws and gave them the patented Grifftiger ‘oh look, a chew toy!’ look, which led to frantic whining and a pair of little raptors doing their best ‘Who me?’ impersonations as they tried to pretend to be utterly innocent in this entire affair and certainly hadn’t the foggiest idea why the giant cat was looking at them like that.

You can’t help it, you start giggling, which leads to Sekhmet chuffing and relenting, although not before bestowing a big slobbery lick on each of her ‘victims’. Who promptly do the only sensible thing available to them and try to hide behind you from the big scary cat. You, being your great grandmother's great granddaughter, promptly pick them up and subject them to the indignity of being cuddled.

You leave Calliope III with a few additions to the family menagerie.

You do realize something, raptors are as smart as dogs, and have obviously come to several conclusions about humans. First, they have the Hands That Feed and, possibly more important, Hands That Throw The Ball. You mentioned that to the staff of the outpost, who admit that the Rexes are not immune to the magic of the Ball, that they have specially made extra tough balls sized for being thrown by the industrial mechs and that the local Rexes all love playing ‘chase the Ball’.

When you get back to Calliope IV you introduce the pair of raptors to your daughter, and the scaly little fellows immediately appoint themselves Guardians Of The Crib (so long as mom doesn’t throw the Ball and sends them to happily chase it, after all, bringing back the Ball leads to the Scritchies and the Treats, so is obviously a noble calling!).

You hold this year's budget meeting remotely, making use of the dedicated HPG links available on the Royal Yacht.

General Jenkins leads things off. “Your Majesty, the refit programs continue as we work on bringing all of our Armies equipment fully up to spec. The development of the new Ferro Fibrous alloys has been very welcome, with a number of our heaviest tanks gaining additional space for new equipment due to mass reductions with the superior armor. We have completed the transfer of the obsolete equipment to our allies, our ASF forces continue to grow. With that being said, General Bradley?”

The Army CO takes over the briefing. “We continue to be in solid shape, Your Majesty, and the SLEP programs are proving their value. We do foresee future requirements for more Ferro Fibrous and Endo Steel strategic material production, so will strongly recommend that we continue to build up that capability.”

She brings up a simple chart to illustrate the army's budget requirements. You are quite glad that so far there is relatively little of the interservice rivalries that have in the past led to wasteful competition for funding, making your life so much easier.

• Imperial Griffon Army
  • Production
    • Upgrade all Endo Steel and Ferro Fibrous orbital factories
  • Procurement
    • 22 Garrison Regiments
    • Add 22 Militia Rating

Admiral Romanov is joining you remotely from the Aerie. “Your Majesty, your aerospace forces are in excellent shape. We have been in consultation with the navy for the future, especially some of their plans for future fleet carriers, and are structuring our planning in that direction. That being said, most of our procurement requests this year are for units that will be deployed as planetary garrisons across the Empire.”

• Imperial Griffon Aerospace Force
  • Production
    • New Strategic Materials
      • Ferro Aluminum Orbital Factory - Griff’s Leap
    • Upgrade all Ferro Aluminum and Double Heat Sink factories
  • Procurement
    • 30 Heavy Carrier Wings
    • 30 Medium Fighter Wings
    • 20 Fighter Wings

Admiral Fisher is actually with you for this meeting, along with Sims. “We’re still trying to sort things out, it’ll be a few years before the new designs are in service and we have actual warships, not some schoolboys wet dream masquerading as a warship with far too many penis substitutes.” His expression is as irascible as ever. “So brace yourself, we’re in a hole thanks to too many people thinking with the wrong head, and we need to drag ourselves properly out of it as quickly as we can.”

Sims fires up the projector, looking as zen and patient as ever.

• Imperial Griffon Navy
  • Production
    • New Orbital Shipyards
      • Bari
      • Pieklo
      • Awha
      • Nya Kopenhamn
    • Expand all existing Orbital Shipyards
    • New Escort Yards
      • Nowa Warszawa
      • Kainga
      • New Castor
      • New Pollux
      • Skala
      • Pieklo
      • Bari
      • Nya Kopenhamn
      • Okusawa
      • Nowy Wrocław
    • New Small Warship Yards
      • New Port Royal
      • Okusawa
      • New Capricorn
    • New Medium Warship Yards
      • Griffon
      • Calliope
      • Nowa Warszawa
    • Expand all Refit & Repair Yards
  • Procurement
    • Standard Dropships
      • 50 Bainbridge-class Parasite Destroyers
      • 40 Long Beach-class Parasite Destroyers
    • Large Dropships
      • 30 Saipan-class Parasite Carriers
      • 20 Canopus-class Parasite Battleships
    • Jumpships
      • 8 Windjammer-class Jumpships
    • Escorts
      • 10 Fubuki-class Destroyers
      • 20 Lyr-class Corvettes
    • Small Warships
      • 12 Dido-class Light Cruisers
      • 2 Vestal-class Repair Ships
    • Medium Warships
      • 2 Scharnhorst-class Battlecruisers
      • 3 Canarias-class Heavy Cruisers

Elizabeth Lee is also teleconferencing in, you reflect that you are rather glad that you own the HPGs that are being used, because the data costs would be prohibitive otherwise.

“Your Majesty, our investment teams have a number of recommendations. For focused development, we’ve evaluated all relevant systems to determine where the most good could be had, and for the Core worlds we believe focusing on Nowa Warszawa would yield the greatest benefit, while for the Periphery we recommend Griff’s Leap. There are some excellent investment opportunities on Skala, specifically a rather interesting startup company focusing on innovative meal services for small households using a dedicated multifunction smart oven. Our analysts believe that this could be a very profitable venture and recommend investment. On a wider scale, there are several worlds where improving local industrial and commercial opportunities would yield long-term benefits, specifically Skala, Awha, New Phoenix, New Castor, and New Pollux.”

“In terms of survey work.” She brings up the latest charts. “We recommend sending expeditions to GX-I22, GX-I20, and GX-G25. This will allow us to fill in our borders, and possibly get additional readings on that HPG interference we’ve been suffering up that way.”

She checks her notes. “Finally we strongly recommend constructing at least a half dozen new commercial stations across the Empire to grow our economy, as well as installing additional HPG capacity. Both of these directly benefit us in many ways and would be highly beneficial.”

Leila is with you in the conference room. “Your Majesty, since we’re doing the Pan-Griffon Games we really don’t have all that much in terms of cultural programming to recommend. Diplomacy wise, apart from the Bourbons being annoying, especially those from Picardy, we have nothing to request.”

Your Political advisor is back home on Griffon, joining you via HPG. “We’re also in a good place over here, Your Majesty. While Parliament has a bit more influence than before, they are nowhere near the point of causing issues for us, and we have solid bases of support in both chambers. If the budget permits, however, I would recommend further expansion of the Civil Service.”

Grace is up next, also via HPG. “Your Majesty, I’ve got four research teams ready and eager to go. We’ve been focusing quite a bit on military matters for some time, so we strongly recommend shifting focus to more civilian applications.” She smiles a bit and brings up a chart, showing the proposed research areas.

• Life Sciences
  • Genetic Engineering (Lvl 3)
    • Focuses on increasing food yields without impacting health and nutritional value, by strengthening resistance to common diseases and widening environmental comfort zones for common crops and livestock
  • Improved Elder Quality of Life (Lvl 1)
    • Develops treatments aimed squarely at allowing our more elderly citizens to live comfortable, meaningful, lives in their twilight years
  • Improved Anti-Aging Treatments (Lvl 1)
    • It is said that one drawback of expanding lifespans is that the extra years are at the end, where they can’t be enjoyed all that much. This research seeks to change that by slowing the actual aging process rather than merely extending lifespan.
• Industrial Engineering
  • Industrial Mechs (Lvl 8)
    • Make use of the latest in material, power, and electronic engineering to create more efficient and effective industrial mechs.

General Messerschmidt had accompanied you to Calliope. “Your Majesty, I do have several reports from within the Bourbon Empire. One of our agents has caused us all to do a collective facepalm, in order to discover more of what is going on he simply visited a bloody bookstore and bought a history book.” You are not the only one who facepalms at that. “We have only the most cursory of details, but it appears that the Bourbons have long been at war with a group they simply call the Rouges Noir. There are at least a dozen back and forth invasions between the two, the books claim that this Rouges Noir always starts it, but we are taking that with a healthy grain of salt. The Nouveau Breton system appears to be the most common battlefield on the Bourbon side of things, with an occasional Battle of Nouveau Paris thrown in for variety's sake.”

He pauses, takes a sip of water, which encourages everybody else to do the same. “Armed with that name, we then found more, filed in the bloody sports section of their papers.” You shake your fist at him after the epic simultaneous spit take from around the room. “Which explains why we never noticed it before. The wars with this Rouges Noir have become so routine and so predictable that they don’t really take them all that seriously, viewing them primarily as a magnificent sport and a wonderful opportunity for dashing young Bourbons to prove themselves on the field of honorable combat against a dastardly foe. Preferably with attractive members of the appropriate sex on hand to witness their unspeakable bravery in person, no doubt.”

That… is such a Bourbon thing to do, you are surprised that you aren’t more surprised. General Messerschmidt makes a few comments about not really needing any more budget this year, thank you very much and try the veal, which causes you to throw a napkin at him.

Finally it is Martina’s turn. “Your Majesty, we are starting to see what may become an issue in the near future, but isn’t one yet. The maximum security orbital prison complex in the Griff’s Leap system is becoming full. It’s not there yet, the Imperial crime rate, especially of the sort of crimes that would see a person put in that prison, is extremely low thanks to our solid social welfare system, our excellent educational system, and our quite capable law enforcement groups. Most crime in the Empire is either financial or far too petty to merit the maximum security complex, but in any population you will have a few maniacs and psychopaths, and even the Department of Periphery Studies can’t help them all. Those are the ones who generally wind up in the Griff’s Leap complex, and with the sheer size of our population that subgroup is growing as well. We would like to get on top of things before we need to scramble, therefore we are requesting that an addition be built to the orbital prison.”

 

[ShadowArxxy]

You check the deployment history and find that HMS Exeter requires nearly constant resupply and has never deployed more than a single jump away from a logistics node due to that requirement. Even a mechwarrior like you can tell that this is not precisely a desirable quality in a warship. After discussions with both Admiral Fisher and Rear Admiral Sims you agree that it appears that the privately designed ships the Navy is currently using have very sharp teeth, but completely lack any sort of integral ‘tail’, making them very short-legged indeed regardless of what the paper statistics say. Sure, they don’t need to refill their fuel tanks all that often, but the stores lockers are something they shouldn’t need to refill on a daily basis.

I will point out here that this is a direct consequence of the players collectively voting for the "most powerful" ship regardless of secondary/fluff capabilities 97 times out of 100, and for the cheapest one the other three times.

[X] Sign the Military Expansion Act of 3020
[X] Sign the Artisanal Regulatory Reform Act of 3020

 

[Trashman.exe]

I will point out here that this is a direct consequence of the players collectively voting for the "most powerful" ship regardless of secondary/fluff capabilities 97 times out of 100, and for the cheapest one the other three times.

I mean that’s to be expected when most of the time all we have to really base our decision off of is the stats and expense of what the options are.

 

[Jarow]

[X] Plan: Shifting towards civilian issues
-[X] Procurement [$ 1,723,654,098.68 ]
--[X] Lay Down Major Unit [Construction - $153,551,090.00 ] (95)
---[X] 40 Long Beach [95]
---[X] 50 Bainbridge [95]

---[X] 30 Saipan [95]
---[X] 20 Canopus [95]

--[X] Lay down Jumpship [Jumpship Construction - $25,164,073.17 ] (75)
---[X] 15 Windjammer*
---[X] 4 Galleon*

---[X] 8 Windjammer [75]

--[X] Lay down Warship [Warship Construction - $511,520,429.33 ] (80)
---[X] 5 Fubuki*
---[X] 20 Fletcher II*

---[X] 10 Dido*
---[X] 3 Cleveland*
---[X] 2 Wichita*
---[X] 3 Vestal*
---[X] 6 Wichita*

---[X] 4 Scharnhorst*
---[X] 2 Exeter*
---[X] 2 Exeter*
---[X] 2 Exeter*

---[X] 10 Fubuki [80]
---[X] 20 Lyr [80]

---[X] 12 Dido [80]
---[X] 2 Vestal [80]

---[X] 3 Canarias [80]
---[X] 2 Scharnhorst [80]

--[X] Purchase New Units [ $ 22,478,958.00 ] (90)
---[X] 20 Fighter Wing [auto]
---[X] 30 Heavy Carrier Wing [90]
---[X] 30 Medium Fighter Wing [90]

---[X] 22 Garrison Regiments [90]

--[X] Increase Militia Rating of System [$ 10,939,548.18 ] (85)
---[X] 22 Militia Regiments [85]

--[X] SLEP [$ 1,000,000,000 ] (100)
---[X] SLEP all Mech Units* [->8]
---[X] SLEP all Conventional Units* [->8]

-[X] General [$ 19,338,228,869.20 ]
--[X] Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station New Pollux Nadir* [90]
--[X] Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station New Phoenix Nadir [->3]
--[X] Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station Awha Zenith [->3]
--[X] Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station Bauernparades Zenith [->3]
(Expanding and reinforcing the recharge network)
--[X] Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station Okusawa Nadir* [->2]
--[X] Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station New Capricorn Nadir* [->2]
--[X] Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station Edelsteine Nadir* [->2]
--[X] Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station New Castor Nadir* [->2]
--[X] Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station New Eden Nadir* [->2]

--[X] Infrastructure Upgrades - Nya Kopenhamn III* [75]
--[X] Infrastructure Upgrades - Nya Kopenhamn IV* [75]
--[X] Expand High Security Prison - Griff's Leap [90]
(Don't want any issues form insufficient prison space)
--[X] Focus Development on Core World Nowa Warzsawa [70]
--[X] Focus Development on Peripheral World Griff's Leap [70]
(More money is helpful)
--[X] Survey GX-I22 [80]
--[X] Survey GX-G22 [80]
--[X] Survey GX-G25 [80]
(3 northern border systems, will hopefully help us figure out HPG issues)
--[X] Expand Civil Service [80]
(Extra actions are always helpful)

--[X] Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
--[X] Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
--[X] Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
--[X] Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
--[X] Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
--[X] Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
--[X] Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
--[X] Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
--[X] Economic Investment Skala [90]
(Money is useful)

--[X] Build Orbital Shipyard Bari [105]
--[X] Build Orbital Shipyard Nya Kopenhamn [105]
--[X] Construct Escort Yard Kainga [90]
--[X] Construct Escort Yard Nya Kopenhamn [90]
--[X] Construct Escort Yard New Castor [90]
--[X] Construct Escort Yard Pieklo [90]
--[X] Construct Escort Yard Skala [90]
--[X] Construct Escort Yard New Pollux [90]
--[X] Construct Escort Yard Kainga [90]
(Ships are important)

--[X] Expand Orbital Shipyards [105]
(Expanding everything increases total amount of dropships for minimal action cost)
--[X] Build New Material Factory (90)
---[X] Build New DHS Factory Chuma [90]
---[X] Build New Endosteel Factory Griff's Leap [90]
---[X] Build New Ferro Fibrous Factory Skala [90]
---[X] Build New Ferro Alumnium Factory Griff's Leap [90]
---[X] Build New Naval Armor Factory Griff's Leap [90]
(Much more action efficient than upgrading production)
--[X] Build Light Warship Yard New Port Royal [80]
--[X] Build Light Warship Yard New Capricorn [80]
--[X] Build Light Warship Yard Okusawa [80]
--[X] Build Medium Warship Yard Nowa Warzsawa [80]
--[X] Build Medium Warship Yard Calliope [80]
--[X] Build Medium Warship Yard Griffon [85]
--[X] Upgrade Refit & Repair Yard [105]

-[X] DoME [$ 50,000,000,000.00 ]
--[X] Initial Catachan Terraforming* [->5]
--[X] Build Naval Shipyard Complex - Dragon's Eye* [45]
--[X] Construct Major Army Base - New Phoenix* [->1]
--[X] Construct Major Fleet Base - New Phoenix* [->3]
--[X] Colonize Kaiyo* [80]
--[X] Orbital Radiation Shield - Pieklo* [->5]
--[X] Terraform Awha - Stage 0* [->3]
--[X] Terraform Bari - Stage 0* [->3]
--[X] Terraform Pieklo - Stage 0* [->3]
--[X] Terraform Skala - Stage 0* [->3]


-[X] Research [$ 28,060,000,000.00 ]
--[X] Advanced Compact Core Theory V* [->2]
--[X] Advanced Compact Core Design V* [->2]
--[X] Advanced Compact Core Construction V* [->2]
--[X] Improved Germanium Refining Lvl 2* [95]
--[X] Advanced Communications (Advanced) Tier 5 [90]
--[X] Power Transfer (Advanced) Tier 5 [90]
(Finishes up a tier to get more clantech)
--[X] Industrial Mechs Lvl 8 [->1]
(Makes building things better/easier)
--[X] Improved Anti-Aging Treatments Lvl 1 [->1]
(Makes our civilians happier)
--[X] Assault Quad Mech* [100]
--[X] Advanced Ferro-Aluminum Armor* [->3]

-[X] Miscellaneous [$ 10,112,858,632.00 ]
--[X] People Purchase [100,000,000]
--[X] Local Olympics [200,000]
--[X] Training Boats [12,658,632]
--[X] Phoenix Base [10,000,000,000.00]

$27b leftover. Feel free to take and modify.

 

[Thors_Alumni]

I want to start eventually pushing the borders north to eventually surround the Bourbons. that way they can't squirm their way out of being subsumed by our big blue blob.

you get a KUDOS if you get the reference.
Hint: Its on Sufficient Velocity.

[X] Plan: Shifting towards civilian issues

 

[darkcloudt2]

[X] Plan: Shifting towards civilian issues

 

[Havalt300]

[X] Plan: Shifting towards civilian issues

 

[Yacovo]

[X] Plan: Shifting towards civilian issues

I want to start eventually pushing the borders north to eventually surround the Bourbons. that way they can't squirm their way out of being subsumed by our big blue blob.

As long as we do not try for a Personal Union, those tend to end with a surprise heir popping up at the last minute right before the ruler dies. That or the Space Habsburgs will win the Space Burgundian Inheritance and set us back a decade.

 

[Rukatin]

[X] Plan: Shifting towards civilian issues

 

[The Whispering Monk]

[X] Plan: Shifting towards civilian issues

I don't want a unification with the bourb's as they stand. I'm OK with an alliance, but nothing that joins us yet. They have issues we don't want to import.

 

[mmgaballah]

I don't want a unification with the bourb's as they stand. I'm OK with an alliance, but nothing that joins us yet. They have issues we don't want to import.

I would put forth the idea of turning them into a client state as their internal affairs looks like a hot mess I would rather not deal with , worse still that mess seems to backed by a strong established culture that would require centuries to erode and alter before the problems it causes stop , them being a client state neatly sorts the mess out

 

[LordSunhawk]

Turn 90 - Forever Young

Spoiler: Event, Luck, and Rating Rolls

Pieklo	Econ	0
	Health	0
	Event	3
Nya Köpenhamn	Econ	0
	Health	0
	Event	2
Bauernparadis	Econ	0
	Health	0
	Event	1
Awha	Econ	1
	Health	3
	Event	5

Spoiler: Action Results

Plan: Shifting towards civilian issues
- Procurement [$ 1,723,654,098.68 ]
-- Lay Down Major Unit [Construction - $153,551,090.00 ] (95)
--- 40 Long Beach [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 88
Result - SUCCESS

--- 50 Bainbridge [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 55
Result - SUCCESS

--- 30 Saipan [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 41
Result - SUCCESS

--- 20 Canopus [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 39
Result - SUCCESS

-- Lay down Jumpship [Jumpship Construction - $25,164,073.17 ] (75)
--- 8 Windjammer [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 74
Result - SUCCESS

-- Lay down Warship [Warship Construction - $511,520,429.33 ] (80)
--- 10 Fubuki [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 33
Result - SUCCESS

--- 20 Lyr [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 46
Result - SUCCESS

--- 12 Dido [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 41
Result - SUCCESS

--- 2 Vestal [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 70
Result - SUCCESS

--- 3 Canarias [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 1
Result - Critical SUCCESS

--- 2 Scharnhorst [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 3
Result - SUCCESS

-- Purchase New Units [ $ 22,478,958.00 ] (90)
--- 20 Fighter Wing [auto]
--- 30 Heavy Carrier Wing [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 14
Result - SUCCESS

--- 30 Medium Fighter Wing [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 77
Result - SUCCESS

--- 22 Garrison Regiments [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 2
Result - SUCCESS

-- Increase Militia Rating of System [$ 10,939,548.18 ] (85)
--- 22 Militia Regiments [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 54
Result - SUCCESS

-- SLEP [$ 1,000,000,000 ] (100)
--- SLEP all Mech Units* [->8]
--- SLEP all Conventional Units* [->8]

- General [$ 19,338,228,869.20 ]
-- Construct Oasis II Heavy Recharge Station New Pollux Nadir* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 28
Result - SUCCESS

-- Infrastructure Upgrades - Nya Kopenhamn III* [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 34
Result - SUCCESS

-- Infrastructure Upgrades - Nya Kopenhamn IV* [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 38
Result - SUCCESS

-- Expand High Security Prison - Griff's Leap [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 59
Result - SUCCESS

-- Focus Development on Core World Nowa Warzsawa [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 44
Result - SUCCESS

-- Focus Development on Peripheral World Griff's Leap [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 80
Result – Bare FAILURE (automatic success next turn)

-- Survey GX-I22 [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 76
Result - SUCCESS

-- Survey GX-G22 [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 29
Result - SUCCESS

-- Survey GX-G25 [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 67
Result - SUCCESS

-- Expand Civil Service [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 2
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 73
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 27
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 80
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 10
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 30
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
Target - 85
Roll – 96, Jarow reroll - 45
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 81
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build New Commercial Space Station [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 41
Result - SUCCESS

-- Economic Investment Skala [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 90
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build Orbital Shipyard Bari [105]
Target - 105
Roll - 38
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build Orbital Shipyard Nya Kopenhamn [105]
Target - 105
Roll - 44
Result - SUCCESS

-- Construct Escort Yard Kainga [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 45
Result - SUCCESS

-- Construct Escort Yard Nya Kopenhamn [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 87
Result - SUCCESS

-- Construct Escort Yard New Castor [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 75
Result - SUCCESS

-- Construct Escort Yard Pieklo [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 89
Result - SUCCESS

-- Construct Escort Yard Skala [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 37
Result - SUCCESS

-- Construct Escort Yard New Pollux [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 35
Result - SUCCESS

-- Construct Escort Yard Kainga [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 41
Result - SUCCESS

-- Expand Orbital Shipyards [105]
Target - 105
Roll - 99
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build New Material Factory (90)
--- Build New DHS Factory Chuma [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 70
Result - SUCCESS

--- Build New Endosteel Factory Griff's Leap [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 19
Result - SUCCESS

--- Build New Ferro Fibrous Factory Skala [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 87
Result - SUCCESS

--- Build New Ferro Alumnium Factory Griff's Leap [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 25
Result - SUCCESS

--- Build New Naval Armor Factory Griff's Leap [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 80
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build Light Warship Yard New Port Royal [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 43
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build Light Warship Yard New Capricorn [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 51
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build Light Warship Yard Okusawa [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 55
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build Medium Warship Yard Nowa Warzsawa [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 1
Result – Critical SUCCESS

-- Build Medium Warship Yard Calliope [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 43
Result - SUCCESS

-- Build Medium Warship Yard Griffon [85]
Target - 80
Roll - 52
Result - SUCCESS

-- Upgrade Refit & Repair Yard [105]
Target - 105
Roll - 67
Result - SUCCESS

- DoME [$ 50,000,000,000.00 ]
-- Build Naval Shipyard Complex - Dragon's Eye* [45]
Target - 45
Roll – 89, ShadowArxxy reroll – 88, General reroll - 50
Result – Bare FAILURE (automatic success next turn)

-- Colonize Kaiyo* [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 22
Result - SUCCESS

- Research [$ 28,060,000,000.00 ]
-- Improved Germanium Refining Lvl 2* [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 31
Result - SUCCESS

-- Advanced Communications (Advanced) Tier 5 [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 10
Result - SUCCESS

-- Power Transfer (Advanced) Tier 5 [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 24
Result - SUCCESS

-- Assault Quad Mech* [100]
Target - 100
Roll - 70
Result - SUCCESS

-----

You make one firm decision immediately after returning from Calliope. Your youngest cousins are no longer allowed to name anything, ever, and you will write this into an Imperial decree if need be. Because you are now the proud raptor mom to Sir Pounce-a-lot and NINJACLAWS (the capital letters are apparently important, because the little shit won’t respond unless you practically shout his name).

Plus you come home to some Periphery Studies shenanigans. You never imagined a marching band made up of kazoos, pot lids, and boomwhackers. Sadly, you no longer have to imagine it, because that is what the esteemed tenured faculty there have put together, and they are annoying everybody by enthusiastically marching around Griffsport performing such instant hit classics as ‘Oww my ears are bleeding’ and ‘Is there a mute button for real life, seriously?’.

Also you are pretty sure that your eyes want to take out a restraining order on whoever decided to allow them to learn about tie dye. And then provided them with that color palette. Because some things are not meant to exist in the universe, and that is one of them.

This pales when you need to adjudicate a Serious Diplomatic Incident when the representative from Kilburrough and the ambassador from the Bourbons get into a near brawl, apparently precipitated by the Bourbon ambassador deciding that the Kilburrough representative was mocking him by attending a formal party thrown by the Bourbon embassy which specified ‘fanciest dress’ and wearing something that, according to your great aunt, was right out of the sartorial stylings of Louis the XIV. Considering how androgynous the Kilburrough representative is, you still are not certain if they are male or female, and they’ve certainly never cleared that up, them showing up dressed in feminine style might have been a dig, or it might not have been, you just can’t be sure.

Needless to say, the Bourbon ambassador is demanding that you allow safe passage through your space for a ‘Fleet of Chastisement’, only to relent when shown the astrographic map and realizing that said fleet wouldn’t be able to reach Kilburrough due to the short range of Bourbon KF cores.

He’s still seething about the whole thing, the Kilburrough representative professing to be utterly confused by it all, take that for what it’s worth.

Your picket in the Awha system manages to run off a Black Steel Aegis with minimal damage, although they were unable to destroy the enemy ship before it jumped out. Reinforcements have arrived in the system but so far there has been no followup activity.

Intelligence reports out of Bourbon space indicate that a major offensive is planned against the Rouges Noir. Large Bourbon forces, from both the Imperial and various noble fleets, are gathering in Nouveau Breton for the operation.

You get some very welcome news, the yards where the new Canarias-class Heavy Cruisers have been laid down report that they were able to successfully repurpose substantial amounts of the material gathered for the canceled Kongo-class vessels in order to speed up construction of the new ships. As a consequence the three heavy cruisers should be in service a year ahead of originally scheduled, at a substantial discount in cost as well.

The rest of your naval building program goes ahead without any hitches or delays. Likewise your new garrison, militia, and ASF forces are fully in service.

The new Nadir Oasis II recharge station in the New Pollux system is online and operational, speeding up commerce and allowing for somewhat faster transit of military forces through the system.

The two infrastructure projects in the Nya Kopenhamn system have been completed, providing a welcome boost to the local economy. It is still highly inadvisable for residents of the two planets to visit the other, as there remains a great deal of resentment, and the system has the highest violent crime rate in the Empire, but the situation is improving.

The prison expansion has gone well, with the new modules coming online in plenty of time. Teams have the luxury of being able to meticulously test the security systems in the new modules prior to moving inmates there, which is a definite benefit of planning ahead.

Economic development in the Nowa Warszawa and Skala system is moving ahead quite well, however a minor local corruption scandal hinders economic growth in the Griff’s Leap system. Ultimately it turns out to be more a case of perception than reality, a consortium of mining firms had been accused of influence peddling due to a rather inartfully worded statement by one of the CEOs made when she thought the microphones were off. The reality was she was being sarcastic after being bombarded with rather inane questions by a local journalist looking for a ‘gotcha’ who’d set up his recording equipment to show as ‘off’ when it was still recording. He then did some slight edits, releasing only the audio rather than the video to make it appear to have been said in the actual interview, and it took a full investigation to conclude that it was a complete nothingburger.

The new commercial space station complexes have been completed, boosting economic growth across the empire and having a positive effect on Imperial revenue. Likewise the civil service expansion has been quite successful, giving you greater flexibility in the future.

The survey mission to GX-I22 returns data of a highly hostile system, with no truly habitable planets. The third planet in the yellow star system is exceptionally rich in hydrocarbons, but has a reducing methane atmosphere that makes it hellishly difficult to exploit.

The mission to GX-G22 discovers a red dwarf with a single marginally habitable world orbiting it. The resources present are sufficient for local use, but the system would never be considered an industrial powerhouse. In general it is a fairly boring system, even the lone gas giant is a dull monochromatic color with nothing really of interest to it.

The mission to GX-G25 is a bit exciting due to the massive number of cometary objects whizzing through the system complicating any survey work. There is a planet in the habitable zone with a breathable atmosphere, but it would require extensive terraforming before being anything close to actually viable. The asteroid belts are moderately wealthy with ores and such, and there is evidence of abandoned and destroyed mining stations in the belts of unidentified origin beyond being extremely old.

The various yard expansions go extremely well. So well, in fact, that the Nowa Warszawa Medium Warship Yard gains two new slips rather than one thanks to some rather overly enthusiastic construction teams who got into a contest to see who could build faster. You reaped the benefits of a second slip, so you guess you don’t mind all that much.

Unfortunately cost overruns and shipping delays have pushed back the completion of the shipyard complex in the Dragon’s Eye to Q3 of next year.

The Kaiyo system has been colonized via the floating arcologies built by DoME. You fully intend to visit someday, perhaps on vacation, at least once the defensive grid there is up to the Imperial Guard’s standards. They’ve not forgotten what happened in that first major Black Steel attack.

New germanium refining technology has been fully deployed to all of your active refineries, boosting core production output significantly.

R&D work on the assault weight quad mechs has also been completed.

Finally, researchers report significant breakthroughs in fundamental understandings of power transfer and communications systems which should prove useful in the future.

 

[ShadowArxxy]

 

[Yacovo]

He’s still seething about the whole thing, the Kilburrough representative professing to be utterly confused by it all, take that for what it’s worth.

I find it funny that the two states with pompous nobles are having trouble with each other’s brand of pompousness

as there remains a great deal of resentment, and the system has the highest violent crime rate in the

Come to New Port Royal instead, we have the highest fun type of crime rate.

In general it is a fairly boring system, even the lone gas giant is a dull monochromatic color with nothing really of interest to it.

I vote we give the planet over to our ever expanding Civil Service. Maybe bring in some R&D groups for drying new coats of paint and some groups for growing new types of grass.

If GX-G22 is a boring system, we should work to make it as boring as we possibly can.

 

[Rukatin]

If GX-G22 is a boring system, we should work to make it as boring as we possibly can.

I vote the opposite! We should put another Periphery Studies Department there, that ought to fix it

 

[LordSunhawk]

Turn 91 - Baby Shark Do Do Dodododo

You love motherhood. Your daughter is an absolute joy, even though she keeps you up at nights since you refuse to allow the palace staff to do all the work raising her, and insist on good old-fashioned breastfeeding. Both you and Markus have gotten quite good at changing diapers as well. And despite the terrible names Sir Pounce-a-lot and NINJACLAWS are both very good at keeping Tamara distracted and occupied, and are excellent at making your little girl giggle. Earns the little shits a great deal of slack for their other antics.

Said antics include waking you up with the Raptor Time Trials, the Raptor Morning Chorus, and, of course, their constant sneaking into places where they don’t belong then looking cute and innocent when they manage to surprise you in the bathroom.

The reinforcements in the Awha system engage a small Black Steel raid, driving off an Aegis and two Essex class ships with minor damage on each side. A heads-up local commander immediately sent a dropship patrol sweeping down the vector between where the Black Steel ships had been and the planet and intercepted a half dozen nuclear-tipped missiles coasting inward. You make sure he gets a commendation for that.

You receive reports that the NRI has expanded again to a system they are calling Nova Galicia. This is accompanied by reports that the NRI successfully drove off a pirate raid on Nova Jupitereum, evidently by the same sort of pirates that had long plagued the NRI in the past judging by the equipment in use. They are requesting assistance in securing that frontier under your treaty.

[]	Dispatch a squadron of Dart and Dagger warships to patrol the frontier	Sends your Dart and Dagger forces, making them unavailable to deal with Black Steel raids Significant boost to NRI relations
[]	Send three Infantry Divisions to provide ground support on that frontier	Sends 3 Infantry Divisions Small boost to NRI relations
[]	Their on their own	Significant harm to NRI relations

You also receive word from your contacts in the NRR that they too have expanded, this time to the galactic south of Catachan to a system they are calling Uusi Grönlanti. Initial reports are that it is a garden world, similar in some ways to New Eden and Bauernparadis, but with slightly more industrial potential due to highly profitable ores in the local asteroid belts.

One of the benefits of your allies' growth is that trade is increasing between all three of your powers, effectively adding another trade route to the ones you are currently benefiting from. Industrial and commercial opportunities are growing as trade increases.

New Pollux has been officially designated as a Core World, as their economy and population have reached a level where continuing to consider that major military base world part of the Peripheral systems of the Empire is no longer warranted. As part of the festivities surrounding that announcement the local system government evidently decided to take a page out of the NRI Big Book Of How To Embarrass House Griffith and erected a 15 meter tall heroic bronze nude statue of yourself. They even hired the same damn sculptor that your grandfather’s cult in the NRI loved to use.

Wonderful.

The Department of Periphery Studies musical efforts have been, well, you wouldn’t want to call it ‘enhanced’ precisely, by the addition of the didgeridoo to their repertoire. To make your headache even worse, the kazoo players and the didgeridoo players have a massive rivalry going which has resulted in a… musical, you guess, civil war taking place on the streets of Griffsport. Earplug sales are up three hundred percent over last month.

A major investment bank in the Okusawa system has filed for bankruptcy after a number of bad calls resulted in significant losses. Actual investors are shielded thanks to the insurance schemes already in place, although they do take losses as well. The investment bank hopes to reorganize, shedding off the unprofitable portions of the business which had led to the bankruptcy. Regulators so far have found no actual improprieties nor any violations, they just got unlucky and zigged when they should have zagged.

Luckily this doesn’t have much effect on the wider investment climate, as the overall Imperial economy continues to grow at a steady, sustainable rate. Private shipbuilding is well up from even a few years ago and shipping costs are steadily trending downwards without reducing profitability.

Work on the HPG anomalies has progressed thanks to the additional affected stations. The station at Bauernparadis is slightly more significantly affected than the one at Awha, and both are more significantly affected than those at Chula, Waypoint 1, and Kainga. Indications are that it is not consistent, the interference appears to pulse in a predictable manner, and some researchers believe that it is an example of HPG transmissions at a different ‘band’ than your own causing interference, and are thus experimenting with that hypothesis in mind.

Observations from the Pinball system, the fond nickname bestowed on GX-G25 thanks to the massive number of comets present there, show that the HPG signal interference is greater than at Awha, about the same as that present at Bauernparadis. Triangulation appears to place the source at GX-E26, and based on the notes from your great-grandmother’s cryptic statements, you know that the Crimson Storm had come from around that direction, so something to do with Swedish meatballs is present.

Speaking of the Crimson Storm, you’ve received some communications from them indicating that they’ve confirmed the complete destruction of their rear guard elements, that they are settling in and have established their first shipyards, and both congratulating you on taking the throne and sending their condolences over the death of your grandfather. They’ve also sent baby gifts, including a rather neat light projector intended to produce patterns over your daughter's crib.

Several lawsuits have been filed by various design agencies against the Navy, specifically against Admiral Fisher, concerning his well known scorn for their work causing harm to their non-naval business. The Admiral is completely unrepentant, telling reports who managed to interview him that the quality, or lack thereof, of their work speaks for itself and that if they didn’t want to be known for utter incompetence than they should strive not to be utterly incompetent. The cases are not expected to survive motions to dismiss.

 

[Thors_Alumni]

[X] Dispatch a squadron of Dart and Dagger warships to patrol the frontier
Me thinks we might want to send a massive fleet to the GX-E26 system. both to wreck any Black Steel forces and to make contact with the Swedish Meatballs eating fiends.

 

[AlphaOmega]

[X] Dispatch a squadron of Dart and Dagger warships to patrol the frontier
Considering that those classes are effectively useless now against the BS we might as well find something productive for them to do. Also I have a correction.

telling reports who managed to interview him

reporters and add a 'the' between 'telling' and 'reporters'