When we do build up the space forces to eject the Pirates, it needs to be done right.
Wait for the DC jumpship to leave the system so the space force can clear out the pirates and be ready to seize the jumpship when it comes back.
The DC splitting forces means possible to defeat in detail. Destroy space force then clear out ground forces at leisure, massing forces to obliterate any enemy force on either planet.
Is it really wise to build orbital infrastructure while our home system is contested? Wouldn't it be better to focus on ASF and Dropship production, expansion, and securing the system?
The thing is, building these factories will give us the ability to make much more effective ASFs and dropships - it's a bit of a risk, but the reward is definitely worth it. DHS is the game-changer tech for improving unit quality.
Meta Event - 48 - no event
Dynasty Luck - 33 - Profitable natural disaster
Approval - 7
Approval Change - 3
Politics - -4 - -4 Approval Change
Research - 4 Free research QM choice (ER Large Laser)
Economy - 3 - +1.5%
Economic Rating - 0
Health - 6
Crown - 6
Lords - 7
Commons - 1
After Action Review [75]
Net Result - No Change
Reorganize Military-Industrial Complex [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 49
Result - SUCCESS
Purchase New Units
-2 Flight of Rocs [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 63
Result - SUCCESS
-3 Flights of Eagles [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 1
Result - CRITICAL SUCCESS
-2 Flight of Goshawks [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 44
Result - SUCCESS
-2 Lances of Ambush Battlemechs [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 14
Result - SUCCESS
-1 Lance of Pathfinder Battlemechs [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 25
Result - SUCCESS
-13 Platoon Weasel IFV [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 68
Result - SUCCESS
-13 Companies Mechanized Infantry [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 26
Result - SUCCESS
Build Drop-port on Castor* [auto]
Expand Factory 4 (Defiant) [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 54
Result - SUCCESS
Expand Factory 8 (Harris) [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 16
Result - SUCCESS
Build Orbital Factory DHS [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 25
Result - SUCCESS
Commission toys based on AFGR fighters, mechs, and tanks [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 92, Omake Reroll ShadowArxxy - 99, Omake Reroll Lightwhispers - 91
Result - FAIL
Town Hall Meetings [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 39
Result - SUCCESS
Build Relations with House of Commons [60]
Target - 60
Roll - 11
Result - SUCCESS
Build Relations with House of Lords [60]
Target - 60
Roll - 59
Result - SUCCESS
Medium Bipedal Battlemechs* [70]
Target - 70
Roll - 11
Result - SUCCESS
Enhanced ER-PPC [50]
Target - 50
Roll - 65
Result - FAIL
XL Fusion Engine [50]
Target - 50
Roll - 83
Result - FAIL
Train SWAT Teams [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 67
Result - SUCCESS
Design Success Roll - Trooper Medium
Roll - 1
+2 Attack/Defense/Base Health
The newspapers are almost depressing to read, with many of the more fiery populist commentators roundly condemning you for ‘incrementalism’ for not banning leveraged buyouts and spreading, quite frankly, false information about how they work. Some of these demagogues don’t seem to have a clue, a few seem malicious, and all of the mess distracts from the initial issue that you actually did address with the reforms you pushed through.
Politics sometimes just isn’t fair.
Jeremy is starting serious Battlemech training this year. He’d already passed the basic piloting class to learn how to walk from point A to point B without introducing the mech’s face to the pavement. In his third year he’ll be learning how to actually operate the thing in field conditions.
According both to his letters, the far more reliable letters from Alita, and your contacts at the Aerie, he actually managed to pass his basic mech proficiency course without face planting a single time, although there were some comic moments indeed.
Including several butt plants. Backing up is apparently quite challenging at times.
Tai-sa Gustavson has requested a face-to-face meeting, either with you or a designated representative.
You have absolutely no intention of going yourself. Sergeant-Major Ngo would sit on you, or even shoot you somewhere non-vital but painful to keep your royal ass planted on the planet far away from the Tai-sa. That’s assuming Sekhmet doesn’t simply pin you down and bathe your face to wash away such silly ideas.
You are tempted to send the Eldest as your representative, just for the pure intimidation value of facing the giant cat, but that would require you to reveal the existence of your dropships.
So, who to send, who to send.
[] Isoroku Nikishina - He’s your foreign minister, after all, and this is by default in his wheelhouse
[] Jane - Who better to troll the dragon than your favorite Special Branch operator, and who is more likely to survive and turn the tables on any treachery.
[] Write-in
Thanh has gone off to the Aerie as a 1st year cadet, having passed Boot camp with excellent scores. You are extremely proud of your daughter, even if you’d been clashing a bit the last year or so over her wanting to graduate early.
The twins have earned a slot in next year's mid-grade Professional League, the DeltaCorp Cup. Neither of them won the championship in the Nollak Cup, but both were still in contention up to the final race and came very close to winning against a 3 time champion.
Sarah is the only one of your kids who’s home all the time now. You are missing the full dinner table and family time together, but your kids are growing up, and in a few years Sarah will be off to Griffin’s Roost University to study History, which she’s found a true passion for with her discussions with Sarah and the Eldest.
Oh well, grandbabies will come. You now understand ba much better.
There are no real changes in performance noted in the after action review, the engagement at the start of the year had been such a minor skirmish that they really didn’t have much to work off of.
Procurement is a high point, with every unit you had approved for purchase coming into service on time and, in most cases, precisely on budget. There were some… interesting… numbers out of the Eagle line that had the auditors at first concerned, but those had been the result of minor changes to streamline the line and increase interaction with the pilots who’d be flying the new birds. The end result is to speed production enough that barring a catastrophic accident new pilots transitioning to the Eagle will be able to do so in the very fighter they’ll be flying operationally, with some of the top pilots acting as transitional instructors.
(QM Note - after the 4th Critical Success on Eagle Procurement in a row, I’m throwing in the towel, Eagles no longer check for success in procurement, purchases are automatic successes)
A series of changes to military procurement and industrial relations give you far more flexibility in regards to industrial planning as the new procedures and regulations incentivize private industry to be more responsive to the needs of the AFGR.
Both the Defiant and Harris production yards have seen massive expansion, nearly doubling their capacity and enabling them to both complete the basic fabrication and fitting out of USS Defiant and USS Harris well before schedule. Both will be shaking down next year and will be available at that time.
The yards rework their contracts as well, now instead of having to pay for the ships in a lump sum the total cost of the vessel will be spread out over the period of construction.
A new orbital factory is constructed at L4 to produce double heat sinks. You are sure that the Kuritans are giving all this orbital activity a very dire look.
One of the marketing people in the Foreign Ministry had the bright idea of commissioning toy replicas of most of the AFGRs designs for sale, to raise funds while also boosting morale amongst the populace. Unfortunately they did this without first securing the licenses for the various designs, nor did they consult the AFGR about whether or not they wanted highly detailed toys of their latest and greatest equipment floating around.
Needless to say, the project is a near complete flop, saved only by the interest from some quarters in the end product. Negotiations are underway to actually iron out the issues involved.
On the political end the town halls have been successful, although they have reached a point of diminishing returns due to how many you’ve had in such a short amount of time. In addition, Jake’s schmoozing with the Commons and Lords has produced results, increasing your support in both bodies substantially.
Design work on Medium-class Mechs has completed with a great deal of success. The Trooper mech has already been seen out on the testing grounds ripping through targets with incredible agility and ease for a machine its size. The weapons fit has proven to be exceptionally accurate at all ranges, more so than normally seen with the types of weapons, and it appears that the designers had managed to hit a perfect sweet spot in the design balance.
Unfortunately work on the Enhanced ER PPC and XL Fusion Engine projects has stalled, simply because the projects are extremely complicated and difficult, with enormous technical challenges involved. Earlier optimistic estimates have been replaced with far more sober realizations that this is not going to be at all easy.
The new SWAT teams have been trained and have hit the streets (not literally, but you know what I mean). So far there hasn’t been any need for them...
[X] Isoroku Nikishina - He’s your foreign minister, after all, and this is by default in his wheelhouse
Although trolling the Dragon would certainly be more fun, all of Sarah's observations show that Gustavson has "put his money where his mouth is" to a substantial degree even when he cannot possibly imagine that we can see him. That is more than adequate proof that his offer of diplomatic negotiations to be in good faith, and even a limited cease-fire is greatly to our advantage.
OOC, despite how fun of characters our Royal Agents are, I *do* want to give diplomacy a chance, and that's fundamentally what this vote comes down to.
[X] Isoroku Nikishina - He’s your foreign minister, after all, and this is by default in his wheelhouse
The current Drac commander doesn't seem like the guy to try and assassinate a foreign minister during diplomatic meetings, especially when they seem to think that there's a chance they'll convince GR to be at peace with them.
Well, the thing is, if his predecessors hadn't so royally screwed us over there would be a slight chance of both sides being content to simply ignore each other. The way things are now, however, mean that no amount of good faith shown by Gustavsson will change the strategic necessity of evicting the Dragon from the system.
Well, the thing is, if his predecessors hadn't so royally screwed us over there would be a slight chance of both sides being content to simply ignore each other. The way things are now, however, mean that no amount of good faith shown by Gustavsson will change the strategic necessity of evicting the Dragon from the system.
Given that the Combine's only presence in this system is the military forward base that they just built, and that ultimately we're not their mission, that may very well be negotiable.
Given that the Combine's only presence in this system is the military forward base that they just built, and that ultimately we're not their mission, that may very well be negotiable.
But is it? Because of them we have entered an unprecedented military build-up for a single planet periphery power; we have more than just one justification to attack them; and our presence, as beefed-up and growing as it is already constitutes a clear danger to their grand operations going off without incident. We are a rogue factor in a game that doesn't allow for the presence of such factors. If we were still same planet, development-wise, as a quarter of a century ago, that'd maybe be an option, simply due to the fact that we'd probably not even notice them. But we've spent the better part of the past decades arming up to locally overwhelm the Kuritans.
But is it? Because of them we have entered an unprecedented military build-up for a single planet periphery power; we have more than just one justification to attack them; and our presence, as beefed-up and growing as it is already constitutes a clear danger to their grand operations going off without incident. We are a rogue factor in a game that doesn't allow for the presence of such factors. If we were still same planet, development-wise, as a quarter of a century ago, that'd maybe be an option, simply due to the fact that we'd probably not even notice them. But we've spent the better part of the past decades arming up to locally overwhelm the Kuritans.
As far as they are aware, even if we're a potentially serious threat, we're an inherently contained threat because we lack JumpShips and it is *absolutely inconceivable* that we could ever construct any. None of the Periphery powers ever had any JumpShip yards, and the ones in the Inner Sphere were so heavily destroyed in the First Succession War that total production is estimated at around a dozen per year for the entire Sphere put together.
So no, we're not actually a threat to their grand operations. They know we can build a limited number of ASFs; ASF production makes producing or refurbishing DropShips conceivable (but grossly unlikely for a single planet that isn't even fully developed), but JumpShips are utterly inconceivable.
None of the Periphery powers ever had any JumpShip yards, and the ones in the Inner Sphere were so heavily destroyed in the First Succession War that total production is estimated at around a dozen per year for the entire Sphere put together.
Wait, really? I thought everyone had warship fleets before being conquered by the Star League, which would suggest they had shipyards.
Also, I had thought the current shipyard distribution was one/major periphery power and two/IS House; but that seems to be wrong too (seems like the distribution isn't quite that even in the IS and nothing in the periphery)
Regardless, they definitely don't believe a random planet in the deep periphery would be able to figure out how to build a JumpShip or a JumpShip yard, given no one's been able to figure out how to do the second in the IS with working examples. (Well, as far as anyone outside of Comstar knows, at least)
I'm not completely sure about that, but my impression was that this was one of the major advantages the Star League had over the Periphery; none of the Periphery states were able to build back up to the level of competing with the Great Houses, especially not the Terran Hegemony which was always the most advanced one.
That said, JumpShip production limits are a huge pile of FASAnomics, because the numbers supposedly produced are vastly too low to support the amount of interstellar trade that clearly continues.
Edit: The Periphery Worlds don't have WarShip or even armed JumpShip capability post Reunification War, because it's one of the terms of the treaties they were forced to sign. Obviously, those treaties are practically null and void after the fall of the League, but they don't have the economic capacity to even think about WarShips and armed JumpShips are largely pointless with the "hands off" rules followed post First Succession War.
Also, I had thought the current shipyard distribution was one/major periphery power and two/IS House; but that seems to be wrong too (seems like the distribution isn't quite that even in the IS and nothing in the periphery)
Shipyards vary, but they are mostly smaller and less capable ones that couldn't build JumpShips. That was a very specific capability, since K-F drives are pretty much space magic. Yard infrastructure was *heavily* targeted in the First Succession War.
