Turn 106 - When You Said Goodbye
In several of the smaller cities that are under siege in Nouvelle Picardie food riots have begun, with Ducal forces being forced to split their attention between manning the defenses and putting down rioting civilians who’ve been on increasingly short rations as the fighting grinds on. The sheer brutality displayed by the Ducal forces turns your stomach, and you have reports that in several instances your own forces, upon seeing this, had pressed all out assaults on Ducal lines, smashing through in several cases. Casualties are heavier than they had been during the more methodical phase of the operation but you suppose you really can’t blame your soldiers.
Pro-Ducal media sources are spinning this as war crimes by your side, playing the victim and generally spouting the Ducs talking points verbatim. But increasingly there is a sense of surreality to it all, as the siege lines tighten more and more. The broadcasts from the Ducal bunker are becoming increasingly unhinged, with the Duc now openly claiming to be the rightful King of the New Bourbons and that his ‘ever victorious’ forces would soon put every single ‘traitor and scoundrel’ to death. Considering that he spent several hours of his ranting describing in intricate detail exactly what he wants to do to you and your family…
You send orders for the RRF to double down on their psyops campaign. They have now deployed a new weapon in their arsenal of mockery and insult, a CGI rendition of the Duc and his most ardent propagandists doing Caramelldansen with subtitles drawn from the Ducal rants and propaganda as the background burns and the floor turns into lava. The best part is that they’ve managed to use the extensive voice samples to synthesize the Ducal voice singing the damnable song.
Admiral von Falkenrick deployed the Grand Fleet to Arvum on a hunch that something was about to happen, based on the behavior of the Black Steel, and sure enough a large assault force jumps in just hours later. Your analysts and admirals are getting much better at predicting Black Steel attacks.
The ensuing battle is hard fought, ranging from the jump points all the way to the orbital defenses, but the Black Steel attack is stopped cold in the end. Losses are extensive, unfortunately, but slightly less so than before. Admiral von Falkenrick reports that it is his belief that this was a spoiling attack, citing the use of primarily lighter ‘new build’ units around a core of the Black Steel’s latest vessels, with no ‘antique’ ships to be seen. He believes that this is proof that you are close enough to one of their major bases for them to decide to pull it back and that this attack is meant to ensure against any interference with the movement.
- Third Naval Battle of Arvum
- Friendly Casualties
- Heavy Cruisers
- 15 Prinz Eugen-class Heavy Cruisers
- 1 Wichita-class Heavy Cruiser
- Battlecruisers
- 1 Scharnhorst-class Battlecruiser
- Light Cruisers
- 20 Dido-class Light Cruisers
- Destroyers
- 65 Fubuki-class Destroyers
- Corvettes
- 50 Lyr-class Corvettes
- 35 NRI Pilum-class Corvettes
- Parasites
- 68 Canopus-class Parasite Battleships
- 20 Meteor-class Parasite Missile Battleships
- 40 Aetna-class Parasite Missile Battleships
- 50 Saipan-class Parasite Carriers
- 165 Long Beach-class Parasite Missile Destroyers
- 100 Bainbridge-class Parasite Destroyers
- Enemy Casualties (estimates)
- Capital Units
- 10 Brawler-type 2 million ton battleships
- 5 Sniper-type 2 million ton battleships
- Screen units
- 45 Shield-type 1.25 million ton heavy cruisers
- 50 Sword-type 1 million ton cruisers
- 100 Screen-type 500k ton destroyers
- Non-warship losses
- Approximately a thousand drone parasite dropships similar to the CASPAR drones of the SLDF
- Approximately 500 wings of drone ASFs of the Voidseeker and BlackWasp type
In terms of total tonnage it was a relatively one-sided battle, although the casualties did hurt. Admiral von Falkenrick has sent in a request to the Admiralty to evaluate the effectiveness of the
Long Beach-design due to a suspected design fault, as many were lost to damage that shouldn’t have been fatal according to the Admiral. Admiral Fisher has promised a full review of the old design, stating that he suspects it was due to the large magazines of subcapital missiles used by those ships.
The Department of Periphery Studies continues their obsession with being tramps, and are now organizing trips to several heritage railways in order to sneak onto box cars and do what they fondly believe to be ‘tramp things’. The hardworking staff of the Department has ensured that said railways are fully compensated for their cooperation in this latest madness, and people seem to be taking it in their usual good humor.
Then it’s budget time! You still quite enjoy sinking your teeth into the budgets, so you have a bit of a spring to your step as you head into the primary briefing.
Amaunet is up first, lounging behind the podium and looking quite relaxed. “Padrone, it is good that you have arrived.” she says, and if you are any judge of grifftiger expressions you are pretty sure she’s smirking slightly. “We will be continuing to focus mainly on the backend of things, specifically increasing our strategic materials output as much as possible. We will also be continuing to expand shipyards, logistics factories, and ASF production capacity. General Bradley will also have a preliminary report on the post-Nouvelle Picardie revisions to the Army. General?”
General Bradley takes the stage at this point. “Your Majesty, we continue to desperately need to increase Ferro Fibrous and Endo Steel production levels if we want to make full use of our industrial capacity. We also recommend continuing to boost our logistics footprint as much as possible.”
She looks over her notes. “Many of our Battlemech units have performed below expectations in the Nouvelle Picardie campaign, likewise our battle armor has shown varied deficiencies related to their ammunition dependence, our combat vehicles have likewise shown numerous faults again centered around logistical impact and the overly aggressive deployment of the Hyper-Assault Gauss system on platforms unable to support a sufficient ammunition load for the weapon. We have begun evaluating testbeds to determine the best way forward from here and are working with industry on the problem.”
“Now, I know you’ve seen this chart before, but it is a good visualization of where we are in regards to strategic materials. The situation is improving, but hardly anything that could be called ‘good’. With the new, more compact endo-steel the strain on ferro-fibrous supplies will be growing even stronger due to many of the proposed mech designs now making use of that armor composition.”
“In terms of procurement and budget this year, Your Majesty, we request the following.” the General concludes, bringing up the graphic on the screen.
- Imperial Griffon Army
- Production
- Strategic Materials
- New Orbital Factories (5 each)
- Double Heat Sinks
- Ferro Fibrous Armor
- Endo-Steel
- Expand Orbital Factories
- Double Heat Sinks
- Ferro Fibrous Armor
- Endo-Steel
- Logistics Factories
- New Logistics Factories (5 each)
- Shin Tōkyō
- Porto Milano
- Nuova Fortezza
- Nowe Mazowsze
- Neuthüringen
- Procurement
- Conventional
- Garrison
- 14 Garrison Divisions
- 14 Militia Divisions
Amaunet chuffs softly as General Bradley sits down. “I’ve been putting a bug in Grace’s ear about looking for ways to increase production rates of various materials, Padrone, so this doesn’t become a constant thorn in our side, but no promises.”
General Romanov is absent, attending a conference with her opposite numbers from the NRR and NRI. Her deputy however is present.
“Your Majesty, we continue to see the need for increased production of fighters at this time. In addition, we have been reviewing the performance of the
Sunderland in patrol duties and our analysts have determined that while it is extremely effective, even at 100 tons it is struggling with the long range endurance requirements. We will be soon sending out requests for proposal to industry for a larger, small craft scale patrol bomber to supplement the
Sunderland.”
- Imperial Griffon Aerospace Force
- Production
- New ASF Factories
- Awha
- Bāṛi
- Bellaterra
- Glorreich
- Landprettig
- Novolar
- Platzregensburg
- Pryyemnyy
- Pustina
- Shin Tōkyō
- Procurement
- 90 Fleet Defense Wings
- 10 Heavy Carrier Wings
- 10 Strike Wings
Amaunet just twitches her tail, looking wise.
Admiral Fisher looks profoundly irritated as he takes the stage. “We’re completely freezing procurement of the
Long Beach, if I thought for a moment that scrapping them wouldn’t cause a minor mutiny I’d do it in a heartbeat. The review isn’t complete, but the early indications are that it is indeed the damn magazines making them light up like fireworks rather than fighting ships. They may be critical for countering the big teleoperated missiles that the Dracs developed, but we’re not seeing anybody else using the damn things and they’re deathtraps otherwise. I’ve got my design teams working on a better solution that won’t kill more of our crews than the enemy does. Otherwise, we need to continue to grow production, we’ll be getting a few new
Potemkins this year, which is excellent for shifting around large numbers of dropships but little else. In a few years we’ll start seeing true big iron coming online.”
- Imperial Griffon Navy
- Production
- Orbital Shipyards
- Construct new Orbital Shipyards
- Porto Milano
- Nuova Fortezza
- Nowe Mazowsze
- Neuthüringen
- Upgrade Existing Orbital Shipyards
- Refit & Repair Yards
- New Refit & Repair Yard
- Upgrade all existing Refit & Repair Yards
- Escort Yards
- Kurortas
- Olej
- Pinball
- Pustina
- Raj
- Steingarten
- Glorreich
- Grand View
- Novolar
- Pryyemnyy
- Landprettig
- Bellaterra
- Nubifragio
- Platzregensburg
- Shin Tōkyō
- Porto Milano
- Nuova Fortezza
- Nowe Mazowsze
- Neuthüringen
- Small Warship Yards
- Nya Kopenhamn
- Kainga
- Edelsteine
- New Capricorn
- Pieklo
- New Phoenix
- Large Warship Yard
- Griffon
- Calliope
- New Pollux
- Nowy Warszawa
- Procurement
- Standard Dropships
- 165 Bainbridge-class Destroyers
- 90 Wright-class Dockable ASF Platforms
- 50 Trenton-class Transports
- Large Dropships
- 20 Meteor-class Parasite Missile Battleships
- 40 Aetna-class Parasite Missile Battleships
- 30 Saipan-class Parasite Carriers
- 19 Mikasa-class Parasite Battleships
- Jumpships
- Escorts
- 30 Fubuki-class Destroyers
- 30 England-class Frigates
- 40 Lyr-class Corvettes
- Light Warships
- 30 Dido-class Light Cruisers
- 10 Guiseppe Garibaldi-class Light Cruisers
- 4 Hosho-class Carriers
- Medium Warships
- 20 Prinz Eugen-class Heavy Cruisers
- Large Warships
- 2 Dreadnought-class Battleships
- 2 Jean Bart-class Battlecruisers
- Fortress Command
- Black Tower
- Chuma
- Skala
- Pieklo
- Steingarten
- Pustina
- Kurortas
Amaunet clears her throat. “Padrone, I strongly recommend the Escort yard construction, primarily because the small boys have been doing yeoman’s work opposing the Black Steel and we barely have enough of them to properly screen anything due to the heavy losses they take.”
Elizabeth Lee takes over at that point, although Amaunet remains lounging where she was. “Your Majesty, needless to say, the Ministry of the Interior is fully prepared to assist with any construction required by the military. We also have a number of our own recommendations as well.”
“To start with, our analysts have determined where we can best direct Imperial funding and investment in the most efficacious manner to benefit the Empire as a whole. In general we are focusing on those systems which are falling behind the others in the hopes of building up a broad base of economic support that is resistant to economic shocks and downturns.”
- Economic Focus, Investment & Zoning
- Economic Focus
- Major Investment
- Investment
- Infrastructure & Industrial Zones
- Bohren
- Kurortas
- Landprettig
- Skala
- Arvum
“Next,” she continues as she checks her notes. “DoME has seven teams free, and we have had several requests for their services above and beyond terraforming activities. Not that we are neglecting that, the Bāṛi is economically ready to be reclassified as a Core world, but due to the inability of the planet to support its population without external assistance we still need to complete more terraforming work, as an example.”
She smiles slightly. “So we’ll begin with the terraforming and optimization projects, of which there are four.”
- DoME Terraforming & Planetary Optimization
- Optimization
- Terraforming
“Non terraforming related DoME projects are as follows, the first by general consensus and the second at the request of the military for a base from which to manage the campaign against the Black Steel.”
- General DoME Projects
- Expand Shin Tōkyō Arcologies
- Establish Major Army Base - Arvum
- Establish Major Fleet Base - Arvum
Dr. Kamoto is up next, looking quite inscrutable at his first meeting as head of the Foreign Ministry. “Your Majesty, the diplomatic corps has been busy reassuring our allies of our commitment to the alliance, as well as preparing for the next Olympiad.”
You blink at that, there’s been so much else going on that you haven’t had the time to pay attention to the Pan-Griffon Games, which have been running for the past several months. Dr Kamoto smiles slightly at your expression. “The games are scheduled to be hosted on New Port Royal next time, so we are already preparing the ground for things. Other than that, the Foreign Ministry has no significant budget requests at this time.”
You nod and turn your attention to Tiberius, who’s wearing the most god awful eye-searing tie-dye toga you’d ever imagined, courtesy of his youngest kids and your youngest kids who conspired to create that abomination against good taste and ocular health. “Boss, the Political Office has got two asks for you this year, first that we expand the Civil Service some more, and second that we continue boosting the Parks & Recreation budget. The Imperial park system has been garnering some excellent reviews and are heavily used by the citizenry, plus the management contracts for individual parks have become hotly contested by local small businesses.”
Grace is up next. “We’re still trying to figure out methods to boost strategic material production that won’t break the bank, Your Majesty, but until then we do have several research proposals.”
She brings up a chart for you to review.
- Research Recommendations
- Non-Military
- Improved Automation lvl 9
- We are ready to improve automation technology across the Empire, with all attendant economic benefits. Above all else, it will increase our long-term efficiency in terms of our upkeep expenses
- Improved Education lvl 9
- Further improving our educational system is crucial to avoid societal issues related to improving automation technology. Our greatest advantage as an Empire has long been our excellent educational and research infrastructure, so despite the expense it is heavily recommended that we continue this tradition
- Military
- Improved Orbital Drop Cocoons
- Due to the extreme risks involved, units that are not themselves equipped with jump jets are as a matter of military doctrine not used in the orbital insertion role. Improving the drop cocoons with more reliable and better integrated landing thrusters as well as built-in ECM systems may allow for more intensive orbital drops on target with more than simply LAM units.
- Improved Escape Pods & Lifeboats
- The current generation of escape pods & lifeboats are substantially better than their Star League era ancestors, however there are proposals allowing for even more efficient use of volume and mass in order to allow the same number of pods/lifeboats to handle more people in an extreme emergency
- Full Head Ejection System
- We have long noted the very high probability of injuries and death from Mechwarrior ejection systems. Fundamentally, this is due to the extreme circumstances surrounding such ejections, as well as the obviously low initial altitude involved. Ejecting the entire cockpit assembly, rather than simply the seat and Mechwarrior, would eliminate the most common sources of such injuries.
General Messerschmidt is up next. “Your Majesty, interrogations of captured pirates continue, and I would like to request permission to dangle the possibility of not being spaced for their crimes as a means to incentivize greater cooperation. As it stands, we are developing highly concerning intelligence related to Rouges Noir involvement with the pirate leadership. We may very well soon have a three front war on our hands.” He looks grim as he speaks.
[] | Action | Result |
[] | Permit the offer of life imprisonment rather than death to captured pirates who cooperate |
- Potential intelligence developed related to the Rouges Noir and the pirates
|
[] | They’re pirates, they’ll lie if they think it’ll help them dodge the rope just as much as they’ll lie to avoid torture. No deal. |
- Potential intelligence developed related to the Rouges Noir and the pirates
|
Finally Martina takes the podium, looking rather stressed out. “Your Majesty, I know this will not be welcome, after we had to spend a great deal of funds to expand the IGMP last year, but we need to continue to grow it, they have barely any margin available to cover all of their responsibilities throughout the Empire right now, and any growth will see them overstretched again. In addition we would like to request greater funding to the Special Branch.”