mechaerik
Tuturuu!
☢ ☢ ☢ Two Minutes to Midnight ☢ ☢ ☢
“Peace is the one condition of survival in this nuclear age.”
Adlai E. Stevenson II
“Si vis pacem, para bellum.”
Latin proverb
All rules subject to change at my discretion.
☢Basic Rules:
Spoiler :
1. Do not flame, troll, or personally insult any other player OOC or IC. At all. You may comment on certain things negatively, but don't take it further than that.
2. Stay on topic. Make sure all comments are relevant to the fictional world of the current IOT and have nothing to do with your personal religious/political beliefs.
3. Your posts should actually consist of something relevant to your nation and not just one-liner comments. Do not spam.
4. Long diplomatic discussions belong to the realms of Social Groups or visitor and private messaging, not the Game Thread.
5. No powergaming. By definition, powergaming is making your country surpass every other country by all terms including armed forces, technology, etc.
6. The GM is supreme. He reserves the right to change game rules, ignore or modify orders, impose restrictions on players, disband player nations, and so on.
7. Above all else, RESPECT THY FELLOW FORUMERS.
8. If you have an issue with the way I GM this game, PM me with your issue before making a big stink about it.
9. Posting in this thread or the claims thread, PMing a player of this game for any IOT-related reason, or performing ANY sort of interaction with this game WHATSOEVER is declaring that you have read and understood the rules to the letter.
I'll usually warn players first if they break the rules. If they break the rules repeatedly, then I'll apply this:
1st Strike: Player is suspended from the game for one turn.
2nd Strike: Player is suspended from the game for three turns.
3rd Strike: Player nation dissolved, and the player banned from ever rejoining.
I reserve the right to ignore this policy for players who really piss me off, and kick them out of the game instantly.
Inactivity Policy:
Inactive players risk facing the wrath of the GM (WoG). The first turn you are inactive, half your income is lost, the other half banked. The second turn, all your income is lost. The third turn, I will disband your nation. If you are going to be inactive for a period of time, tell me and I can automate you without penalty during that period.
2. Stay on topic. Make sure all comments are relevant to the fictional world of the current IOT and have nothing to do with your personal religious/political beliefs.
3. Your posts should actually consist of something relevant to your nation and not just one-liner comments. Do not spam.
4. Long diplomatic discussions belong to the realms of Social Groups or visitor and private messaging, not the Game Thread.
5. No powergaming. By definition, powergaming is making your country surpass every other country by all terms including armed forces, technology, etc.
6. The GM is supreme. He reserves the right to change game rules, ignore or modify orders, impose restrictions on players, disband player nations, and so on.
7. Above all else, RESPECT THY FELLOW FORUMERS.
8. If you have an issue with the way I GM this game, PM me with your issue before making a big stink about it.
9. Posting in this thread or the claims thread, PMing a player of this game for any IOT-related reason, or performing ANY sort of interaction with this game WHATSOEVER is declaring that you have read and understood the rules to the letter.
I'll usually warn players first if they break the rules. If they break the rules repeatedly, then I'll apply this:
1st Strike: Player is suspended from the game for one turn.
2nd Strike: Player is suspended from the game for three turns.
3rd Strike: Player nation dissolved, and the player banned from ever rejoining.
I reserve the right to ignore this policy for players who really piss me off, and kick them out of the game instantly.
Inactivity Policy:
Inactive players risk facing the wrath of the GM (WoG). The first turn you are inactive, half your income is lost, the other half banked. The second turn, all your income is lost. The third turn, I will disband your nation. If you are going to be inactive for a period of time, tell me and I can automate you without penalty during that period.
☢Joining:
Spoiler :
Start by claiming any five territories, either contiguous or on a coast. It is highly recommended that they be contiguous. Please provide the following information in your join post: a map of your claims with the capital marked, the name of your nation, a flag (optional but nice), your form of government, and the name of your capital.
☢International:
Spoiler :
Expansion:
Military Districts:
Manpower:
Armies and Land Warfare:
Ships and Sea Warfare:
Missiles and Missile Warfare:
Spoiler :
There are two kinds of expansion, Economic and Military. Economic expansion costs 1 for a 33% chance. Highest bidder goes first. Military expansion involves you sending armies to conquer the province. Note that provinces are not undefended; each province has a single army. As NPCs, they receive a -2 combat penalty. If you are defeated by the province, they will not counterattack.
Military Districts:
Spoiler :
A key feature of Weapons of Last Resort. Unlike other systems with individual units or a worldwide pool of armies, Military Districts (MDs) are regions, each consisting of 10 provinces. Units are pooled within these provinces. Units can move between one MD an adjactent one once per turn. MDs are not static, however. If you have a land border with a province in another Military District, and have four or less provinces in that MD, it is automatically incorporated into the bordering MD. This is done so that being across multiple MDs does not force you to split your forces too much. If a province is lost, it defaults back to its original MD, unless the conqueror also meets the requirements to incorporate it. Non-contiguous territories are treated as an individual MD.
Manpower:
Spoiler :
It is not possible to have unlimited amounts of soldiers, which can then all be completely replaced at a moment's notice. There is a cap on how many armies you can recruit, equal to twice the number of provinces you own.
Economic costs are not the only ones associated with army recruitment; there are only so many warm bodies willing or able to join. Recruiting an army costs 1 Manpower. Manpower is capped at a number equal to the number of provinces you have, but it does replenish if below that. Each province produces a quarter of a Manpower point per turn. The total Manpower through the country can be modified by Home Front Tech.
If your army limit dips below your current army count, then a desertion event occurse, with a random number of troops may desert per turn until your max army count equals your current one.
Economic costs are not the only ones associated with army recruitment; there are only so many warm bodies willing or able to join. Recruiting an army costs 1 Manpower. Manpower is capped at a number equal to the number of provinces you have, but it does replenish if below that. Each province produces a quarter of a Manpower point per turn. The total Manpower through the country can be modified by Home Front Tech.
If your army limit dips below your current army count, then a desertion event occurse, with a random number of troops may desert per turn until your max army count equals your current one.
Armies and Land Warfare:
Spoiler :
Armies: Armies are pooled in an MD, but not worldwide. An army in North Africa cannot transfer to Beijing immediately. Army movement varies; an army can move 1 MD at a time in its own (or allied) territory. In enemy territory, armies can move up to four provinces. You can only recruit armies in MDs connected to your capital or unblockaded overseas MDs.
Armies cost 2EP and 1Manpower.
Land Warfare: The most basic thing you need to understand is that every army participating in a battle contributes a value between 1 and 10, determined by RNG and then boosted by any modifiers applicable. Losing armies are not likely to be totally destroyed, and may retreat. For an in-depth explaination of the mechanics of land warfare, please see here:
Armies cost 2EP and 1Manpower.
Land Warfare: The most basic thing you need to understand is that every army participating in a battle contributes a value between 1 and 10, determined by RNG and then boosted by any modifiers applicable. Losing armies are not likely to be totally destroyed, and may retreat. For an in-depth explaination of the mechanics of land warfare, please see here:
Spoiler :
Each army gives 1d10 roll, which is then boosted by any modifiers applicable. The rolls are added up, and the one with a lower total number loses the amount of units equivalent to (WinnerTotal-LoserTotal)/10, rounded up. For every casualty the loser takes, the winner has a 50% chance of losing one of his own armies. The winner will always have at least one surviving army. Any survivors from the losing army retreat deeper into the MD they were in. If all the provinces of the MD they are in are taken, they will retreat into any adjacent friendly MD. If the only way out available is through sea, half the surviving armies surrender (rounding up), and the rest escape to an overseas MD. If there is no sea access or a blockade is in effect, the surrender is total.
Ships and Sea Warfare:
Spoiler :
Ships: There are three kinds of naval units, Warships, Transports, and Submarines. Warships are the main combat ships, used to engage other ships and blockade ports. Transports are used to ferry your land units across the sea. Transports have an upgradeable base capacity of 2. Units go into a Transport until the Transport is filled, they cannot be distributed among multiple Tranports. Submarines cannot be built until you have completed the SLBM project. They are essentially just a naval Missile, and will be covered further under the Missile category.
Warships cost 5EP.
Transports cost 3EP.
Naval Warfare: Similar to land combat. Ships have a greater chance of being sunk than land units have of being killed. Transports, particularly empty ones, have a greater chance of being the casualties.
Warships cost 5EP.
Transports cost 3EP.
Naval Warfare: Similar to land combat. Ships have a greater chance of being sunk than land units have of being killed. Transports, particularly empty ones, have a greater chance of being the casualties.
Spoiler :
Warships have a combat value of 1d10, and Transports of 1d5. Ship sinking uses a similar formula to land casualties, but since there is no retreat, casualties are greater. The formula for ships sunk is (WinnerTotal-LoserTotal)/5, rounded up. The winner's casualties are calculated the same as army casualties. For every casualty, there is a 75% chance it is a transport, if applicable. Empty Transports are sunk first, then a partly filled one.
Missiles and Missile Warfare:
Spoiler :
Missiles: Your Weapons of Last Resort. Missiles are unique in that they are built by province, not by Military District. Once built, it is very expensive to move them.
If the province a Missile is based at is captured, the Missile is captured as well. If the captured missile is of a higher technology than ones the captor can make, the captor can choose to disassemble it, which gives a 25% chance per turn of advancing one level in the WMD tech line until the captor reaches the same technology level as the missile. Additional disassembled Missiles give another 10% chance.
Missiles automatically upgrade to the highest tech level you have in their respective category. They can be sold, but they cannot be used until the turn following the transaction.
If the SLBM project is completed, missiles can be built in the ocean at an additional cost. Unlike land based missiles, submarine based ones cannot be captured. If the MIRV Upgrade project is completed, each missile gains an additional warhead, which means each missile can have not one, but two targets. The Suitcase Systems project allows you to build warheads in foreign territory. Unlike missiles, warheads can only target the province they are built in, can't take advantage of the MIRV Upgrade, and do not trigger Fail-Deadly. Every turn the warhead is there, there is a chance it is discovered by the host nation. This chance is modified by the difference in Intelligence Spending.
Missile Warfare: Missiles come in three flavors: Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear. Chemical weapons do relatively high damage to armies. Biological weapons heavily damage the Manpower pool behind the armies, and stunt its recovery. Nuclear weapons do very high damage to Infrastructure, and are the only missile that can destroy other missiles. All missiles target Military Districts, and by default have a 100% chance to hit their target. They may be intercepted by ABM Batteries in the target MD or SDI, although the MIRV Upgrade project negates ABM Batteries.
If the province a Missile is based at is captured, the Missile is captured as well. If the captured missile is of a higher technology than ones the captor can make, the captor can choose to disassemble it, which gives a 25% chance per turn of advancing one level in the WMD tech line until the captor reaches the same technology level as the missile. Additional disassembled Missiles give another 10% chance.
Missiles automatically upgrade to the highest tech level you have in their respective category. They can be sold, but they cannot be used until the turn following the transaction.
If the SLBM project is completed, missiles can be built in the ocean at an additional cost. Unlike land based missiles, submarine based ones cannot be captured. If the MIRV Upgrade project is completed, each missile gains an additional warhead, which means each missile can have not one, but two targets. The Suitcase Systems project allows you to build warheads in foreign territory. Unlike missiles, warheads can only target the province they are built in, can't take advantage of the MIRV Upgrade, and do not trigger Fail-Deadly. Every turn the warhead is there, there is a chance it is discovered by the host nation. This chance is modified by the difference in Intelligence Spending.
Missile Warfare: Missiles come in three flavors: Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear. Chemical weapons do relatively high damage to armies. Biological weapons heavily damage the Manpower pool behind the armies, and stunt its recovery. Nuclear weapons do very high damage to Infrastructure, and are the only missile that can destroy other missiles. All missiles target Military Districts, and by default have a 100% chance to hit their target. They may be intercepted by ABM Batteries in the target MD or SDI, although the MIRV Upgrade project negates ABM Batteries.
☢Domestic:
Spoiler :
Economy:
Technology:
Infrastructure and Projects:
Espionage:
Stability, Events, and Roleplay:
Spoiler :
Economy: Every province produces 1 Economic Point. Economic Points can be used to recruit armies (1EP/army), build navies (3EP/transport, 5EP/warship), fund your intelligence program, expand peacefully, increase stability, or to research tech. EPs can be banked and traded.
Technology:
Spoiler :
There is a basic technology tree in this game. Technology can roughly be classed into three categories: conventional warfare techs, the Home Front Technology line, and the Weapons of Mass Destruction branching tech line.
Offensive and Defensive Tactics each give bonuses to conventional armies when attacking and defending respectiely; Naval Tactics gives bonuses to ships under both situations, in addition to increasing Transport Capacity by one each level. The combat bonuses for all techs is +1 for the first level, +3 for the second level, and +5 for the third level.
Home Front Technology grants boosts of 10%, 25%, and then 33% to your income and to your rate of manpower recovery. In addition, it also decreases the desertion rate.
The Weapons of Mass Destruction tech line is unique. Like the other tech lines, it has three ranks. Unlike the other tech lines, each rank unlocks another tech line. WMD Tech consists of Chemical Weapons, Biological Weapons, and then Nuclear Weapons. Once a tech in this line is unlocked, you are granted the first tier of the respective line you unlocked.
The three tiers of each weapon are Mustard Gas, Nerve Gas, and Black Smoke for Chemical, Plague, Anthrax, and MEV-1 for Biological, and Atomic, Thermonuclear, and Cobalt for Nuclear.
WMD Tech can be joint-researched, gifted, and sold. However, it is extremely expensive to develop. If two or more players who have already invested in WMD Tech decide to start a joint-research program, the player with the highest amount of points in it is used as the base. 10% of everyone else participating's WMD program is added to this base.
Non-WMD techs cost a base of 25EP for Tier 1, 50EP for Tier 2, and 100EP for Tier 3.
WMD techs cost a base of 50EP for Tier 1, 1000EP for Tier 2, and 250EP for Tier 3.
Offensive and Defensive Tactics each give bonuses to conventional armies when attacking and defending respectiely; Naval Tactics gives bonuses to ships under both situations, in addition to increasing Transport Capacity by one each level. The combat bonuses for all techs is +1 for the first level, +3 for the second level, and +5 for the third level.
Home Front Technology grants boosts of 10%, 25%, and then 33% to your income and to your rate of manpower recovery. In addition, it also decreases the desertion rate.
The Weapons of Mass Destruction tech line is unique. Like the other tech lines, it has three ranks. Unlike the other tech lines, each rank unlocks another tech line. WMD Tech consists of Chemical Weapons, Biological Weapons, and then Nuclear Weapons. Once a tech in this line is unlocked, you are granted the first tier of the respective line you unlocked.
The three tiers of each weapon are Mustard Gas, Nerve Gas, and Black Smoke for Chemical, Plague, Anthrax, and MEV-1 for Biological, and Atomic, Thermonuclear, and Cobalt for Nuclear.
WMD Tech can be joint-researched, gifted, and sold. However, it is extremely expensive to develop. If two or more players who have already invested in WMD Tech decide to start a joint-research program, the player with the highest amount of points in it is used as the base. 10% of everyone else participating's WMD program is added to this base.
Non-WMD techs cost a base of 25EP for Tier 1, 50EP for Tier 2, and 100EP for Tier 3.
WMD techs cost a base of 50EP for Tier 1, 1000EP for Tier 2, and 250EP for Tier 3.
Infrastructure and Projects:
Spoiler :
Infrastructure: A category of buildings built on a per Military District basis. If a Military district is folded into another, it is deactivated, but not destroyed. If a Military District splits into two, the Infrastructure stays in the original MD. Infrastructure includes: Barracks, Forts, Industrial Parks, ABM batteries, and Bunkers. Barracks raise the Army Limit by .5 for every province in the MD it is built in. Forts increase the defensive capabilities of units fighting in the MD by 1. Industrial Parks increase the EP output of a MD by 50%, which stacks with Home Front Tech. ABM Batteries give a 25% chance to shoot down incoming enemy missiles. Bunkers, on the other hand, protect from missiles that make it through. Military units have a boosted chance to survive, and chemical and biological weapons' effects on the populace will be slightly reduced. Bunkers do not defend Infrastructure or economic losses.
Costs:
Barracks cost 20EP.
Forts cost 30EP.
Industrial Parks have a base cost of 25EP.
ABM Batteries have a base cost of 30EP.
Bunkers have a base cost of 20EP.
Projects: There are several national projects that can be built. All projects have a technology requirement; some have additional requirements. All are very expensive, but have dramatic effects. Project costs go up as nation-size goes up. The Projects are the Strategic Defense Initiative, the MIRV Upgrade, Fail-Deadly, Suitcase Systems, Stealth Delivery Systems, and SLBMs.
The MIRV Upgrade, SLBMs, and Suitcase Systems are covered in the Missiles section of the ruleset. Stealth Delivery Systems grants players the option of a stealth launch, which bypasses SDI, although cannot take advantage of the MIRV Upgrade.
Fail-Deadly is a contingency plan; if certain conditions are met, a retaliatory strike is automatically conducted. The player can specify these conditions; by default, if a player with Fail-Deadly is hit, Fail-Deadly will automatically return fire, firing the same number of missiles to whoever initiated the attack. Note that Fail-Deadly reacts to Fail-Deadly, which can lead to both sides firing off their entire arsenals unless limits are specified. Missiles launched by Fail-Deadly have no negative impact on stability.
Requirements:
Costs:
Barracks cost 20EP.
Forts cost 30EP.
Industrial Parks have a base cost of 25EP.
ABM Batteries have a base cost of 30EP.
Bunkers have a base cost of 20EP.
Projects: There are several national projects that can be built. All projects have a technology requirement; some have additional requirements. All are very expensive, but have dramatic effects. Project costs go up as nation-size goes up. The Projects are the Strategic Defense Initiative, the MIRV Upgrade, Fail-Deadly, Suitcase Systems, Stealth Delivery Systems, and SLBMs.
The MIRV Upgrade, SLBMs, and Suitcase Systems are covered in the Missiles section of the ruleset. Stealth Delivery Systems grants players the option of a stealth launch, which bypasses SDI, although cannot take advantage of the MIRV Upgrade.
Fail-Deadly is a contingency plan; if certain conditions are met, a retaliatory strike is automatically conducted. The player can specify these conditions; by default, if a player with Fail-Deadly is hit, Fail-Deadly will automatically return fire, firing the same number of missiles to whoever initiated the attack. Note that Fail-Deadly reacts to Fail-Deadly, which can lead to both sides firing off their entire arsenals unless limits are specified. Missiles launched by Fail-Deadly have no negative impact on stability.
Requirements:
Spoiler :
Strategic Defense Initiative: ABM Batteries in all provinces, at least WMD Tech 3.
MIRV Upgrade: 10 Missiles built, with at least one from each type (Chem/Bio/Nuke).
Fail-Deadly: 5 Missiles built, not be the leader in missile count.
Suitcase Systems: WMD Tech 2 and have 100EP invested into Intelligence Spending. Successfully complete at least 3 Espionage missions undetected.
Stealth Delivery Systems: WMD Tech 3 and have 200EP invested into Intelligence Spending. Successfully complete at least 5 Espionage missions undetected.
SLBMs: Have more ships than armies, be at WMD Tech 2.
MIRV Upgrade: 10 Missiles built, with at least one from each type (Chem/Bio/Nuke).
Fail-Deadly: 5 Missiles built, not be the leader in missile count.
Suitcase Systems: WMD Tech 2 and have 100EP invested into Intelligence Spending. Successfully complete at least 3 Espionage missions undetected.
Stealth Delivery Systems: WMD Tech 3 and have 200EP invested into Intelligence Spending. Successfully complete at least 5 Espionage missions undetected.
SLBMs: Have more ships than armies, be at WMD Tech 2.
Espionage:
Spoiler :
There are several available Espionage missions: Incite Desertion, Destabilize Region, Incite Revolt, Counterintelligence, Infiltration, Steal Nuclear Secrets, and Disable Missile. To conduct espionage, you need to spend money on your Intelligence services. Intelligence Spending (IS) points are not spent when a mission is conducted, in fact you may actually gain IS points with a successful mission. Intelligence Spending may decay over time.
Incite Desertion targets a Military District, and triggers a desertion event. Destabilize Region also targets a Military District, making it more prone to revolts and dropping the overall stability of the owner. Incite Revolt, on the other hand, targets a province. That province breaks away, and a desertion event is triggered to see if any armies in the MD join the revolutionary cause. Counterintelligence feeds false information to the target, making it harder for them to conduct espionage against you and increasing the chance they are discovered. Infiltration reveals the location of the targets WMDs. Steal Nuclear Secrets grants you some points in your weapons research. Disable Missile targets a specific province, and destroys any Missiles in the province. If there is no Missile there, the mission autofails.
Espionage missions are not set in stone, and if you have an idea not listed, ask and it may be possible.
Incite Desertion targets a Military District, and triggers a desertion event. Destabilize Region also targets a Military District, making it more prone to revolts and dropping the overall stability of the owner. Incite Revolt, on the other hand, targets a province. That province breaks away, and a desertion event is triggered to see if any armies in the MD join the revolutionary cause. Counterintelligence feeds false information to the target, making it harder for them to conduct espionage against you and increasing the chance they are discovered. Infiltration reveals the location of the targets WMDs. Steal Nuclear Secrets grants you some points in your weapons research. Disable Missile targets a specific province, and destroys any Missiles in the province. If there is no Missile there, the mission autofails.
Espionage missions are not set in stone, and if you have an idea not listed, ask and it may be possible.
Stability, Events, and Roleplay:
Spoiler :
Stability: Stability has many effects. An unstable country is prone to revolts and corruption, which eats a bit of income per turn. There are five stability levels: Collapsing, Unstable, Solid, Stable, and Very Stable. Your stability level is based on Stability Points, your exact number of which is hidden. Several factors can affect your SP count, including declaring war on an ally, conquering provinces militarily, losing provinces, firing WMDs, getting caught in an espionage mission, and integratinga new Military District. Events can also affect your stability.
Events: What events you receive are greatly influenced by your Stability; a stable country is more likely to receive beneficial events, and an unstable one likely to receive negative events. The flow of the game can also influence what events you receive. In times of distress, a population can unite. Conversely, in the absence of a greater threat, populations can fall victim to stagnation and internal disputes. So although a low stability may mean you get some bad events, a high stability does not completely insulate you from them. Events can have several different affects, from providing a boost to your research or Manpower pool, to raising or lowering your stability. If things get really good (or bad), you may get a free pass to do ordinarily stability-damaging actions with no penalty.
Roleplay: Highly encouraged. Good roleplay can influence events that occur to you and may give a small stability boost. Detailed battleplans may give a bonus to military action as well. How much your roleplay affects your country depends on its level of detail. Do try to go for quality over quantity.
Events: What events you receive are greatly influenced by your Stability; a stable country is more likely to receive beneficial events, and an unstable one likely to receive negative events. The flow of the game can also influence what events you receive. In times of distress, a population can unite. Conversely, in the absence of a greater threat, populations can fall victim to stagnation and internal disputes. So although a low stability may mean you get some bad events, a high stability does not completely insulate you from them. Events can have several different affects, from providing a boost to your research or Manpower pool, to raising or lowering your stability. If things get really good (or bad), you may get a free pass to do ordinarily stability-damaging actions with no penalty.
Roleplay: Highly encouraged. Good roleplay can influence events that occur to you and may give a small stability boost. Detailed battleplans may give a bonus to military action as well. How much your roleplay affects your country depends on its level of detail. Do try to go for quality over quantity.
☢Victory:
Spoiler :
Winning may not be everything, but losing isn't anything. There are four ways to win: Total Victory, Subjugation Victory, Hegemonic Victory, and Economic Victory.
The first two can be accomplished in a group; the second two are purely individual. Total Victory means you and/or your allies control every province in the game. Subjugation Victory involves you or your allies controlling at least three quarters of the provinces in the game, with everyone not in your alliance completely disarmed. The Hegemonic Victory requires you to control more than half the provinces in game personally, with at least half the world's WMD stockpiles and twice that of your nearest rival. Your army and navy must also be the largest in the world. Economic Victory requires you to control half of the world's income, and have at least twice the amount banked as your nearest rival.
The first two can be accomplished in a group; the second two are purely individual. Total Victory means you and/or your allies control every province in the game. Subjugation Victory involves you or your allies controlling at least three quarters of the provinces in the game, with everyone not in your alliance completely disarmed. The Hegemonic Victory requires you to control more than half the provinces in game personally, with at least half the world's WMD stockpiles and twice that of your nearest rival. Your army and navy must also be the largest in the world. Economic Victory requires you to control half of the world's income, and have at least twice the amount banked as your nearest rival.
Game launches Wednesday, unless there is a severe lack of interest, in which case it will be put off and reattempted later. Maybe.
