Combat for 946Moskurg makes the first fumbling steps towards modernizing their antique ballista artillery to something that can compete with Arstotzka's magically powered cannons. Named the "Thundergun" after the thunderous *crack*-ing noise it makes when fired, this new artillery piece is essentially an over-sized coilgun. Firing round iron slugs out of a greased Adamantium barrel, it uses three dozen sequenced copper coils along the twelve foot muzzle for propulsion via a phenomenon known as the "Hayat Effect". The cannon uses thirty-six Wands of Thunderbolt packed into a single cartridge and an open-latch loading breech, and the timing mechanism is controlled via vacuum tubes (also invented by Hayat). The gun can reach out to BLOS+1, but is inaccurate (even with Lucky Strike) beyond Extreme Range - likely due to the unaerodynamic ammo and smooth-bore barrel. Both their design phases were spent getting a working prototype and a functional unit they can put out on the field, and the revision was spent making sure it wouldn't break every time it fired. It doesn't quit obsolete ballistas just yet, as it can't fire unique ammo, hit accurately, or be moved easily, but it has plenty of promise.
Arstotzka similarly spends this year trying to match their opponents area of expertise. Their Avenger has been given plenty of care and attention this year, with a brand-new design known as the Lightning. Fast, stable(-ish), and cheaper than its predecessor, it uses a brand-new magical energy generator known as the Aether Reactor. Unlike the previous generation Reactor, it doesn't explode quite as violently, and manages to output more energy for the same volume via an ingenious radial-battery design. The turret has been upgraded from 14 mm's to 20, giving it considerably more punch. It's still single-fire and unpowered, but it does draw energy from the reactor so that a mage isn't required to operate it. In fact, it can be operated entirely by non-mages! The first design was spent making the generator, the second was spent making the Lightning, and the revision was spent upgrading the propulsion system to improve acceleration. They once again elect to not spend their expense credit.
The border between the Taiga and the Jungle sees the most pitched fighting this year, and most of it occurs above the tree tops.
Moskurgs new cannons are...difficult to place. More inaccurate than ballistas but with more range, it is used primarily on the ground to do the exact same thing Arstotzka has done to Moskurg for the past few decades; barrage enemy lines from an untouchable distance. The round iron spheres don't really do much damage, though - they're too inaccurate to reliably hit enemies (even with Lucky Strike) and near-misses are non-fatal since the ammo doesn't explode. The miserable range on teletalk wands means it can be difficult to get real-time feedback on barrage accuracy, which surprisingly makes Arstotzkas flare system more useful in this case. Even worse, each cannon goes through a heavy 36-pack of Thunderbolt Wands in addition to every cannonball fired, and much in the same way Arstotzka suffered from supply issues when their HA1 went to the field Moskurg is unable to barrage non-stop. Still, it's a longer stick than anything Arstotzka has, and even if they can't fire it all the time, or accurately, they can at least fire it without mages - something Arstotzka has been struggling with for
decades and Moskurg figured out in a year. Compared strictly to the HA1-b "Mundane", it's a little better since it can fire more often (provided it has available ammunition) and can hit further.
Arstotzkas new Lightning has made the Phoenix impossible to use at all. The 20 mm gun can knock out engines pretty easily, and it has enough handling that it can get into position for the gunner to fire off multiple rounds. There's even enough of them that they can do more than single strike missions, but Moskurgs Skyskiffs still outnumber them. Sadly, the Lightning doesn't fulfill the "dogfighter" role as envisioned, as the turret doesn't track targets fast enough nor even fire more than once every six seconds. Skyskiffs (or even lone "carpet" riders) can reliably knock out a Lightning if they can get close enough. The Lightning has better range and better speed, but can't hit the small Skyskiffs. The Skyskiffs have better killing capabilities, but their primary offensive ranged armament is the short-ranged Thunderbolt Wands and the pilots can't operate at the high speeds the device is capable of due to the open-cockpit design (and utter lack of seatbelts). Moskurg can usually drive off Lightnings, since the Lightning can't operate in groups thanks to Moskurgs weather control and they're still outnumbered by the Skyskiff. The Skyhawk must operate in tandem with numerous defensive fighters, but it can at least take a couple hits before going down and still operates in a slightly reduced capability.
Arstotzka still controls the ground thanks to their superior infantry. Their Protector is still garbage and useless in the uneven and densely-forested terrain, so troops can't use it as cover during melee advances. The Zephyr helps make up the difference in infantry combat, and as always is extra effective thanks to the heavily forested area with plenty of debris to throw around. Without the ability to land troops behind enemy lines and with al-Mutriqa leading the charge against them, Arstotzka is once again forced to cede ground to the southern invaders. Their Lightning gives them a foothold in the air, but until their ability to actually dogfight is addressed they'll continue to be beaten back at every turn. Similarly, Moskurgs artillery will need to address supply issues and lack of ammo types before it can be a major player on the ground, and more importantly it'll need to be miniaturized and made more accurate before it can be used by the troops on the ground or by the skiffs in the air.
Moskurg regains a foothold in the Taiga.Air power and artillery render infantry less useful in the plains.
Moskurgs artillery can hit the furthest, dictating the distance between trench lines. It's not accurate enough to hit anything
in the trenches, but it can keep Arstotzka's artillery at bay which is a prize all on its own. The Skyhawk still rules the roost when it comes to picking and chipping away at enemy lines, and Moskurg can more reliably bomb enemy emplacements from the air. Arstotzka returns the favor as best they can, but the Lightning doesn't have bomb mountings and the more primitive Avenger must be used, when they can even reach enemy lines. The Zephyr doesn't do much, nor does the Phoenix, but the HAC-1 likewise has little use here. Moskurg ultimately has the advantage with their air and artillery advantage, and the fact that they control the coastlines means they push Arstotzka back another section and continue their creep north.
Moskurg gains a section of the Plains.The Thundergun is hard to use in the mountains, much like the HA1 was. Too large and heavy to move easily, it's regulated primarily to airships and the ballista is used on the ground. Stone fortresses are little more than piles of gravel from the constant bombardment, and rain makes everyone miserable this high up. Life is lightning blasts, bombing runs, artillery barrages, and scrambling from one wet rock to another. The Lightning, frustratingly enough, can't aim downward, so its ground support role is non-existent. Moskurg's Skyskiffs are better suited for supporting infantry advancements up rockey trails, though the fact that Arstotzka has had time to dig in does not bode well for the tired troopers. HA1's hit pre-designated choke-points and slaughter dozens, only to be hit immediately after by Moskurg air forces. Skyhawks move carefully between mountain peaks, only to be ambushed by Lightnings that are then immediately driven off by Moskurg Skyskiffs. Melees on the ground usually go to Arstotzkans, who favor ambushes with their single-shot R1's. Arstotzka knows these mountains far better than their southern neighbors, and it shows. The fighting is brutal, grueling, and non-stop.
Arstotzkas pushes don't go so well, either. Without Close Air Support they can only fight (and lose) short battles with Moskurg air forces, and most of their Mages go back to standing in with troops to throw fireballs at Moskurgers when battles do happen. When Skyskiffs appear over head, however, all they can do is hide and hope they run out of ammo soon. Their crystal armor does a fair job at protecting them against most forms of injury, making it require multiple Thunderbolt strikes or firestorm grenades to knock them out of the fight. Myark fights hard, and is really the only one who can knock enemy pilots out of the sky by hitting them with an R1 during a banking maneuver. It's not much, but every little bit helps.
Ultimately, though the two sides are roughly even. After a year of combat, however, [heads=Moskurg, tails=Arstotzka: tails] Arstotzka manages to bleed Moskurg dry enough that they push the invaders back down the slopes. It was a close fight, and though they won Arstotzka only managed to do so by the skin of their teeth.
Arstotzka has regained the Mountains. If they hold it for a year, they may exploit it for resources.In the frozen northern seas, battles are fought and won in the air.
With ships regulated to mostly support, Arstotzka and Moskurg air forces slug it out in viscous dogfights. If Arstotzka can take out airships, then Moskurg Skyskiffs have nowhere to land and will eventually go into the water (and quickly freeze to death). If Moskurg can knock out enough Lightnings, then Arstotzka will have no way to defend themselves against the airships overhead. Arstotzkas Lightnings are faster, so they can more reliably penetrate Moskurg perimeters. Killing the airships takes time, however, so Moskurg can often catch up and start blasting the Lightnings out of the sky. It's fairly even, but eventually [heads=Moskurg, tails=Arstotzka: heads] Moskurg shows their superiority on the high
seas air and pushes Arstotzka back another section of coastline. It's a close fight, and Moskurg airships are pretty ragged by the time the fighting is over.
Moskurg gains a section of shoreline in the Northern SeasREVISION CREDIT!!!As both sides advance their knowledge in the magical (or non-magical) arts, their ability to produce wondrous works that bend nature to their will has grown. From now on, both sides will gain a
permanent additional revision credit each year. This credit can not be saved and is subject to the same bonuses and maluses as a normal revision.
ESPIONAGE CREDIT!!!The years of war have begun taking its toll on Arstotzka. Cracks in the design team have become very noticable, and after plenty of forewarning infighting has occurred. A defector has come to the Moskurg design team, seething with anger. The growing factions in Arstotzka threaten the Kingdoms very existence, and this individual sees Bjorn as too weak of a leader to continue on after the King has passed. He comes to Moskurg asking only that once the war is over and Bjorn lies dead they will remember his Clan as one of those who sided with Moskurg, once it comes time to divide up the conquered kingdom. Moskurg gains an
Espionage Credit this year.
It is 947, the Design Phase.Northern Taiga: 3/4 Arstotzka, 1/4 Moskurg
Central Mountains: 4/4 Arstotzka, 0/4 Moskurg
Western Jungle: [color=red0/4 Arstotzka[/color], 4/4 Moskurg
Eastern Plains: 2/4 Arstotzka, 2/4 Moskurg
Southern Desert: 0/4 Arstotzka, 4/4 Moskurg
Northern Sea: 2/4 Arstotzka, 2/4 Moskurg
Western Sea: 0/4 Arstotzka, 4/4 Moskurg
Eastern Sea: 0/4 Arstotzka, 4/4 Moskurg
Southern Sea: 0/4 Arstotzka, 4/4 Moskurg
Sabre: Officer weapon. A single-edged Adamantium blade that favours cavalry combat over infantry combat. Requires training to wield, one-handed. Expensive.
Spear: General infantry weapon. Essentially an Adamantium dagger on a long stick. Very cheap, requires minimal training to use. Can be used double-handed, or single handed with a light shield. Cheap. Obsolete.
Halberd: An axe, a hook, and a spear all rolled into one. Does well against armor and in formation. Cheap
Buckler: General infantry equipment. A small Adamantium shield, held in one hand. Only protects a small area, but can be wielded alongside a shield. Moderate cost, requires training to wield properly. Cheap.
Pavise Shield: A large, thick, high-quality shield to guard against arrows. Can be staked into the ground, or slung across the shoulders. Needs both hands to use while on the move. Very Expensive.
Padded Armour: General infantry armour. Very cheap, just layers of cloth, but doesn't protect against much. Well ventilated in hot conditions, though. Worn under armor. Cheap.
Scale Mail: Officer armour. Scales of Adamantium on a leather backing. Expensive, but lighter than chain mail. Expensive. Obsolete.
Elite Lamellar Armor: All-purpose armor. Worn over padded armor. Thin plates of Adamantium sewn together with leather thongs, backed by more leather. High quality, decent protection against arrows and melee attacks. Adamantium is tailored to the temperature of the theater being fought in, preventing soldiers from freezing to death. Cheap.
Recurve Bow: General infantry weapon. A light bow composed of laminated wood and horn, curved backwards to provide more force. Inexpensive enough to equip many troops with, with very reasonable medium range and power. Can be wielded by horse archers.
Bodkin Arrows: Arrows with needle points. Can reliably penetrate plate armor at point blank range. Can penetrate less reliably further away. Now with Adamantium tips!
Arabian Horse: A light riding horse, from short-lived Iberian settlers in the past. Very fast and maneuverable, but not too strong. Expensive.
Horse Breeding Program: Mass amounts of horses available. Tend to do poorly in the desert, and aren't quite as high quality as the Arabian Horses. Cheap.
Lances: Essentially a heavily upgraded spear. Has a tendency to splinter after the first use. Cheap.
Sailing Ship: Wind-propelled wooden ship. Fast, requires minimal crew, cannot carry many passengers, but does carry at least one wizard - so long as they don't make puns. Very Expensive. Obsolete.
Sirocco: Ships made from lightweight and hardy junglewood and clad in glowing Adamanitium armor. Much more resilient and faster than Arstotzka's ships as of 935.
Ballista: Large siege weapon. Can fire javelins or stone shot great distances accurately. Reliable enough for consistent use. Can be mounted on ships. Wheeled. High-quality siege engineers.Expensive.
Firestorm ammo: Pots filled with Alwathnayu Mukafa'a - "Heathen's Reward". Explodes into sticky flame on impact. Incredibly lethal, incredibly dangerous. Nearly impossible to extinguish. Cheap.
Heathen's Reward: Alwathnayu Mukafa'a, a variant of Alnnar Almugaddasa. More reactive to open flame, tends to expand rapidly.
Fire and Thunder: Even more explosive Alnnar. Less flames, more boom. Can be put in an iron shell to cast fragments at enemies, although the fuse can be finicky.
Thundergun: Large siege weapon. Can fire rounded iron cannon balls through an Adamantium tube. Uses a series of copper coils to accelerate the ammo. Requires a 36-wand battery for each firing event, and uses a set of vacuum tubes to time the coils. Expensive.
The Pheonix: A giant tank of Alnnar, propelled into the air by dozens of Adamantium War Pegasi Scrolls. Requires multiple wizards to keep running. Armor is thick enough to withstand 14 mm's up to Medium Range. Features a turret on the bottom to spray the Alnnar on the poor fools below. Slow, highly explosive, but absolutely terrifying. Very Expensive.
Wand of Heroism: Makes a squad fight beyond human levels. A National Effort.
Moskurg's Apprentice Gramary for Inter-magical Competency: Trains some apprentices to Wizard-level. Does not provide more mages. National Effort.
Alsamma Safina: Sirocco, stripped-down and packed with War Pegasi for lift. Requires multiple dedicated mages to keep the carpets enchanted and in sync. Very Expensive. Obsolete.
Skyhawk: An Adamantium airship, with two ballistas and four jet engine clusters for lift and movement. Very Expensive.
Adamantium: Divine metal summoned from the aether. Comes in workable copper-soft and forge-able steel-hard ingots. Temperature can be permanently set. Cheap.
Teletalk: Short-ranged psychic communication between mystics. Enough beacons can be produced to outfit an army. Expensive.
Wand of Thunderbolts: Glass wand, painted with zinc and copper. Adamantium core. Good for a single modestly-powerful blast of lightning. Cheap.
Staff of Tubikh Rrahim Albarq: Area-of-affect spell. Prevents all magic from being cast within field of effect out to Long Range. Spell contained within a staff of ivory, field of effect controllable. Produces a glow. Expensive.
Dispell Enchantments: Dispells enchantments on items, including standard crystal weapons. Expensive.
Pegasus: Charmingly named, enchanted carpets. Levitate, can be pushed around with Gust of Wind. Limited height, duration, speed. Typically rolled up and equipped with a saddle. Has pretty tassels. Expensive.
War Pegasus: An even faster, higher, tamed version of the Pegasus. Requires each scroll to be broken-in before it can be used in the field, but now has its own form of locomotion. Enchantments now last longer. Made of Adamantium. Cheap. Obsolete.
Adamantium Jets: A rudimentary jet engine, made of concentric Adamantium tubes. High thrust. Cheap.
Skyskiff: A two-seater Adamantium canoe. Equipped with two Adamantium jets. Very fast, thick armor. Cheap.
Detect Ambush: Reveals non-magical ambushes prepared by enemy troops or physical traps.
Lucky Strike: Magical guidance makes a squad shoot or strike true far more often than usual. Expensive.
Detect Thoughts: Read the mind of an enemy commander to determine their tactics ahead of time. Expensive.
Zen Inception: By putting enemy soldiers in a zen-like state, we can use their minds as a relay system to read minds further away. The spell is easy to disrupt, but simple to use.
Gust of Wind: Evokes physical force to create a heavy gust of wind, sufficient to disperse fog and most minor concealment, as well as disperse irritating swarms. Expensive.
Cyclone Shield: Protects the beneficent from most arrows and some blows with a sheath of wind. Expensive.
Storm Strike: Summons heavy rain and winds over the course of a day. Expensive.
Wrath of Allah: Calls upon Allah to allow lightning to rain down, even in snowy weather. Multiple mages allow faster casting of Storm Strike.
Clear Weather: Negates inclement weather within the given area. Nests within Storm Strike for protection.
Hammer of Allah: Induce lightning from summoned storms. Strikes indiscriminately, so can't be used in "danger close" situations.
Spear of Allah: Call down an individual bolt of lightning to target enemy commanders. Requires line of sight to target. Can be used in "danger close" situations.
Zephyr of Allah - Zephyric Destruction: Tornado cast by a single mage. Very powerful, goes out to Extreme Range. Lethal with debris, less lethal otherwise. Can pick up a soldier, if it passes directly over him. Expensive.
Heretics' Downfall: Greater control over lightning. Can 'persuade' lightning to travel down certain paths despite easier paths being available.
Winds of Ruin: A variant of Storm Strike. Allows the casters to lend their intent to the storm, allowing it to blunt the range of enemy artillery and cast weather attack spells beyond line of sight. Very Expensive.
Tubikh Rrahim: Area-of-affect spell centered around the caster. Prevents all magic from being cast within a short range. Cheap.
Dispell Enchantments: Dispells enchantments on items, including standard crystal weapons. Expensive.
Divine Desert Winds: Sends warm desert air north. Does not reach the taiga. Warms the area by one "level". Very Expensive.
Antichronic Reverbramancy: A trance that focuses on the branching nature of time. Locates "chokepoints" in the branches, where things will happen. Can only detect cataclysmic, nearby events, like artillery barrages, usually within 10-30 seconds. Tends to cause mages to be lost in the flow of time. Cheap.
As inspired by the "Behavior Rule" attached to Sensei's new Arms Race thread, I've decided to adapt them to Wand Race. Most of these are blatantly copied from his thread, and I expect them to be followed. After running this game for a few weeks now and following the last Arms Race, I'm aware that they're prone to attracting bad attitudes. Keeping the game smooth, on schedule, and argument free is probably a greater concern of mine than whatever you are arguing about: I expect you to be mature and adopt the same attitude.
1. Don't be salty! If at any time you find yourself having an urge to mouth off at another player, step away from the keyboard, go outside, and take a breath. Seriously. Players who repeatedly get angry or passive aggressive will be asked to leave. If you have an issue with the way the game is being run, DO NOT expect a tantrum to get you what you want.
2. Keep in mind that I am not a historian, so there will sometimes be mistakes and inaccuracies. Even in the best of circumstances, minor inconsistencies are a common occurrence. If some piece of equipment is imbalanced/unrealistic, I might consider changing it if you bring it up once -AND ONLY ONCE- and politely state your argument. However, I will err on the side of consistency with my own game, I do not like to go back and change things. Sometimes it is more important to simply keep the game running smoothly than other concerns.
3. Do not accuse me of being biased. Do not accuse me of being biased. I put a lot of effort into being objective and fair and being accused otherwise is pretty fucking irritating. On multiple occasions this has nearly derailed the game and made me want to abandon it all together. I have absolutely no more patience for this, and if you do it YOU WILL BE BANNED.
4. Do not spy on the other team's private thread. Trust me, playing fair is more fun for everyone! If you suffer from a lack of self-control and cannot stop yourself from spying, keep it to yourself. Do not use it to metagame. And do not post what you saw in the central thread. This has happened multiple times now, and if you do it you will be banned with no warning.
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Topic: Wands Race - [Moskurg] {COMPLETED} (Read 203811 times)