Lighthearter
President of the United States
First there came the Enlightenment.
Then the Cold War.
Now, the Cold War is over. Now, the fate of the world lies in the hands of a circle of nuclear-armed nationstates.
Can you rise to dominate the world? Or will you be thrown aside by the march of time? Will you resort to utilizing the ultimate weapon?
Time will tell.
___
Welcome, all, to IOTMAD, the sequel to IOTE2 and IOTCW2, the greatest installments of the Era IOT Series. I'm LH, your GM.
To get a few things out of the way: No being a jerk, no spamming, please keep anything in this thread relevant to this thread, no metagaming, no violating the forum rules, no ignoring GM decrees, etc etc. Punishment will be summary kicking from the game for violating any of my rules, though I will typically give you at least some warning. However, my definition of "warning" may not match yours, so play nice just in case.
Now, with the unpleasant bits done: shall we deal with signing up?
The Map:
Pick five provinces - that are at least mostly contiguous, I will ban a nation with one province on each continent unless they can give me a damn good reason for it - and then specify your color, nation name, and anything else you like. The more detailed, interesting and well-written your roleplaying is at any point in the game, from the signup to the final turn, the better bonuses you'll receive.
You start with one base each for your Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as one Intelligence Center. Place those around your provinces - only one base per province. Or, I'll randomize things. If you are a landlocked country, you do not start with a Naval Base, as they must be placed in coastal provinces.
You also start with 2 Guards Battalions, which you'll see details of under the Military Subsection. These will enable you to expand by invading neighboring unclaimed provinces.
You must also pick your Superweapon, which will be mentioned later. You may make this choice in private if you wish to maintain secrecy.
Lastly, pick one trait each from the Military and Economic submenus.
Military:
Militaristic: 15% Land Combat bonus
Seafaring: 15% Sea Combat bonus
Airborne: 15% Air Combat bonus
Strategic: Command Units provide 30% bonus instead of 20%
Economic:
Industrial: Any province with 3 Factories gains a 4th for free
Commercial: Trade gives 2IP to both nations. If both are Commercial, 3.
Covert: 15% Espionage Bonus
Constructive: All construction costs -1IP(Factories excluded)
Trade:
For simplicity’s sake, and the fact that freighter ships have much larger cargo capacity than land or air cargo carriers, trade must be done at sea. Every nation has 5 Trade Routes. You can only trade with a nation once – thus, look for five separate trade partners. You must specify which provinces you are trading between – or they will be chosen for you by the GM. This information can be used to blockade the trade routes, so choose wisely, and if you mean to be a trading power, invest in your fleet!
Military:
The military is handled relatively simply. To start with, there are three service branches and three types of military unit in each. The service branches are the Army, Navy and Air Force. The unit types are Tier 1, Tier 2 and Command Unit. Land and Air units exist in a nebulous pool and can be deployed anywhere in your nation’s interests – with a few quibbles. Sea units, on the other hand, are represented on the map. Each sea unit type has a different icon.
In order to acquire units, you have to first build bases to gain Supply. Unlike some other IOTs, Supply in IOTMAD is treated as what could also be called a “pop cap”. Every base you build gives you +5 Supply for its respective branch – Army Bases for land, Naval Bases for sea, Airbases for Air and Intelligence Centers for Spies. Please note that although every province can support two improvements, you can only place one Base in a province. Intelligence Centers are a partial exception: they can coexist with any other building type. So an Intelligence Center and a Fortification is allowed, and an Intelligence Center and a Naval Base, or a Naval Base and an airfield – but not two Intelligence Centers, or an Army Base and an Airbase. Factories are counted separately from other infrastructure.
Air Unit Note: Aircraft can only be deployed to territories that are 4 or fewer provinces away from a province that is controlled by you or an ally and has either an airfield or an airbase built in it. Aircraft can either be used to assist ground and sea forces in battle much like other units, or they can bombard enemy province improvements and industry. As a third option, they can perform “logistical strikes” where they attempt to damage a province’s infrastructure so badly that for one turn, no units can move into or out of it.
Land/Sea Unit Note: In order to move land units across oceans, you must deploy ships to form a solid, unbroken chain from your home continent to the target. Once you have a province on this other continent, the need vanishes, but this means that cross-Pacific amphibious assaults become horrendously naval-intensive. If the enemy breaks the chain with their own fleet or air force on the turn you attempt an amphibious assault, half your land units are instantly killed, and you receive a stiff combat penalty in the battle. Don’t try it without comprehensive naval and air superiority, and preferably a local island base nearby!
Naval note: All ships can move 6 Seazones per turn.
Tier One: These units have 1 Strength and cost 1IP. Land T1s are called Militia, Sea T1s are called Frigates(and represented with a simple white box bordered with national color), and Air T1s are called Close Air Support, or CAS.
Tier Two: These units have 4 Strength and cost 3IP. Land T2s are called Guards, Sea T2s are called Submarines(and represented with a national color/white checkerboard pattern), and Air T2s are called Strike Planes.
Command Units: These units have 1 Strength on their own and cost 4IP, but add a 20% Strength bonus to your force. Land Command Units are called Generals, Sea Command Units are called Carriers(and represented by a national-color box with a white cross inside) and Air Command Units are called AWACS.
Spies and Espionage:
What vaguely Cold War themed game would be complete without it?
Build up your Spy Supply with Intelligence Centers. Then train Spies for 2IP apiece. Spies have a default 25% chance of success, increasing by 10% with each additional Spy. You can do several things with Spies:
Bribery – orders your Spies to attempt to convince enemy units to disband, desert or simply flee, as well as sabotage or scuttle their planes or ships.
Sabotage – orders your Spies to sabotage enemy Industry.
Fund Rebels –orders your Spies to attempt to incite a rebellion in the target province.
Disarm Nukes – orders your Spies to attempt to lower your enemy’s Nuclear Strength.
Raid – orders your Spies to attempt to destroy an enemy Province Improvement.
Infiltrate – orders your Spies to attempt to seize copies of all important documentation they can find. If successful, you will receive part or all of the enemy plans for the turn.
All of these actions can be performed while at peace or at war.
DEFCON:
DEFCON is a simple way to track your country’s preparation for war. There are five spots along the DEFCON meter.
DEFCON Five: Total peace. +50% Industry, -10% Combat Penalty.
DEFCON Four: Elevated tensions. +33% Industry.
DEFCON Three: Military readiness. +10% Industry, 15% Combat Bonus.
DEFCON Two: Open war. +25% Combat Bonus.
DEFCON One: Nuclear war. No bonuses. Superweapons available. Nuclear weapons available.
You cannot go below DEFCON three while at peace, nor above DEFCON 4 while at war. You can change DEFCON states once per turn, with two exceptions. If you declare war or are attacked, you may immediately set the DEFCON meter to Three or Two, respectively, and if you use your Superweapon at DEFCON One you are automatically redirected to DEFCON Three the next turn.
Supeweapons:
There are five Superweapon options to choose from. They can only be activated at DEFCON One, and are immensely powerful – if used correctly, they can end wars.
Your faction must pick one of these powers at game start. You cannot change Superweapons later, and it will be your Superweapon available when you reach DEFCON One, every time. You may keep your choice secret, however, if that is your desire.
Tactical Nuclear Strike – Fire a tactical nuke at a province you expect there to be a battle in this turn – attack or defense. Every unit and improvement in the province, except one unit on your side(so you can take the province or hold it), will be destroyed instantly, including Industry(it reverts to 1). If two factions both tactical nuke the same province on the same turn, they both maintain one surviving unit, which then set to dueling for the province. This ability is harmless if not paired with ground troops, either on defense or offense. Affects air and sea units.
EMP Assault – Detonate nuclear bombs in the atmosphere above five contiguous enemy provinces to create a massive EMP surge. All Industry and non-Base improvements are wiped out instantly, and the enemy loses their DEFCON bonuses for the next turn.
Mass Insurrection – Cause a massive wave of popular unrest in the opposing nation. Choose three contiguous provinces. They, and 25% of the enemy’s air and land forces, will immediately defect to form a new NPC nation allied to you. If they do not have an Army Base and an Airbase, one of each will be provided at random. If they are given more units than they can have Supply for, units will begin disbanding 2 per turn until they are at their Supply level, starting the turn after the initial Uprising.
Nationwide Draft – Impress a massive portion of your population, either directly into service or into work battalions and construction teams. You instantly gain 100% of your normal income or 12IP, whichever is higher, to supplement your income for the turn.
Foreign Legion – Volunteers arrive to bolster your army from around the world. For one turn only, you can build troops regardless of your Supply Level. The turn after this ability is used, any excess units will begin disbanding, 2 per turn. You can control which units disband, if such is your wish, but if you do not do so random units will be chosen.
Nuclear Weapons:
Simple. 1IP into Nuclear Strength gives you 100 Nuclear Strength. The higher your Nuclear Strength is, the more devastating the results will be if you fire.
To fire your nukes, simply reach DEFCON 1. Instead of firing your superweapon, simply state you press The Button and fire your nuclear weapons. The enemy will automatically do the same if they see your missiles coming, so be sure you have a higher Nuclear Strength rating than they.
Detailed explanation of Nuclear Strength:
Province Improvements:
There are several kinds of Province Improvements. You can build two per Province, with the exception of Industry – you can have an unlimited amount of that.
Industry - +1IP from the province. Cost 3IP.
Fortifications – 6STR province defense. If it is the only defense in a province, the province will fall automatically, but the enemy might take losses. Cost 3IP.
Airfield – can base airplanes. Cost 2IP.
Army Base - +5 Land Supply. Cost 4IP.
Naval Base - +5 Naval Supply. Must be built on coast. Cost 4IP.
Airbase – can base airplanes. +5 Air Supply. Cost 4IP.
Intelligence Center - +5 Spy Supply. Cost 4IP.
And that's about it. Join the MADness!
One post reserved.
-L
Then the Cold War.
Now, the Cold War is over. Now, the fate of the world lies in the hands of a circle of nuclear-armed nationstates.
Can you rise to dominate the world? Or will you be thrown aside by the march of time? Will you resort to utilizing the ultimate weapon?
Time will tell.
___
Welcome, all, to IOTMAD, the sequel to IOTE2 and IOTCW2, the greatest installments of the Era IOT Series. I'm LH, your GM.
To get a few things out of the way: No being a jerk, no spamming, please keep anything in this thread relevant to this thread, no metagaming, no violating the forum rules, no ignoring GM decrees, etc etc. Punishment will be summary kicking from the game for violating any of my rules, though I will typically give you at least some warning. However, my definition of "warning" may not match yours, so play nice just in case.
Now, with the unpleasant bits done: shall we deal with signing up?
The Map:
Spoiler :
Pick five provinces - that are at least mostly contiguous, I will ban a nation with one province on each continent unless they can give me a damn good reason for it - and then specify your color, nation name, and anything else you like. The more detailed, interesting and well-written your roleplaying is at any point in the game, from the signup to the final turn, the better bonuses you'll receive.
You start with one base each for your Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as one Intelligence Center. Place those around your provinces - only one base per province. Or, I'll randomize things. If you are a landlocked country, you do not start with a Naval Base, as they must be placed in coastal provinces.
You also start with 2 Guards Battalions, which you'll see details of under the Military Subsection. These will enable you to expand by invading neighboring unclaimed provinces.
You must also pick your Superweapon, which will be mentioned later. You may make this choice in private if you wish to maintain secrecy.
Lastly, pick one trait each from the Military and Economic submenus.
Military:
Militaristic: 15% Land Combat bonus
Seafaring: 15% Sea Combat bonus
Airborne: 15% Air Combat bonus
Strategic: Command Units provide 30% bonus instead of 20%
Economic:
Industrial: Any province with 3 Factories gains a 4th for free
Commercial: Trade gives 2IP to both nations. If both are Commercial, 3.
Covert: 15% Espionage Bonus
Constructive: All construction costs -1IP(Factories excluded)
Trade:
For simplicity’s sake, and the fact that freighter ships have much larger cargo capacity than land or air cargo carriers, trade must be done at sea. Every nation has 5 Trade Routes. You can only trade with a nation once – thus, look for five separate trade partners. You must specify which provinces you are trading between – or they will be chosen for you by the GM. This information can be used to blockade the trade routes, so choose wisely, and if you mean to be a trading power, invest in your fleet!
Military:
The military is handled relatively simply. To start with, there are three service branches and three types of military unit in each. The service branches are the Army, Navy and Air Force. The unit types are Tier 1, Tier 2 and Command Unit. Land and Air units exist in a nebulous pool and can be deployed anywhere in your nation’s interests – with a few quibbles. Sea units, on the other hand, are represented on the map. Each sea unit type has a different icon.
In order to acquire units, you have to first build bases to gain Supply. Unlike some other IOTs, Supply in IOTMAD is treated as what could also be called a “pop cap”. Every base you build gives you +5 Supply for its respective branch – Army Bases for land, Naval Bases for sea, Airbases for Air and Intelligence Centers for Spies. Please note that although every province can support two improvements, you can only place one Base in a province. Intelligence Centers are a partial exception: they can coexist with any other building type. So an Intelligence Center and a Fortification is allowed, and an Intelligence Center and a Naval Base, or a Naval Base and an airfield – but not two Intelligence Centers, or an Army Base and an Airbase. Factories are counted separately from other infrastructure.
Air Unit Note: Aircraft can only be deployed to territories that are 4 or fewer provinces away from a province that is controlled by you or an ally and has either an airfield or an airbase built in it. Aircraft can either be used to assist ground and sea forces in battle much like other units, or they can bombard enemy province improvements and industry. As a third option, they can perform “logistical strikes” where they attempt to damage a province’s infrastructure so badly that for one turn, no units can move into or out of it.
Land/Sea Unit Note: In order to move land units across oceans, you must deploy ships to form a solid, unbroken chain from your home continent to the target. Once you have a province on this other continent, the need vanishes, but this means that cross-Pacific amphibious assaults become horrendously naval-intensive. If the enemy breaks the chain with their own fleet or air force on the turn you attempt an amphibious assault, half your land units are instantly killed, and you receive a stiff combat penalty in the battle. Don’t try it without comprehensive naval and air superiority, and preferably a local island base nearby!
Naval note: All ships can move 6 Seazones per turn.
Tier One: These units have 1 Strength and cost 1IP. Land T1s are called Militia, Sea T1s are called Frigates(and represented with a simple white box bordered with national color), and Air T1s are called Close Air Support, or CAS.
Tier Two: These units have 4 Strength and cost 3IP. Land T2s are called Guards, Sea T2s are called Submarines(and represented with a national color/white checkerboard pattern), and Air T2s are called Strike Planes.
Command Units: These units have 1 Strength on their own and cost 4IP, but add a 20% Strength bonus to your force. Land Command Units are called Generals, Sea Command Units are called Carriers(and represented by a national-color box with a white cross inside) and Air Command Units are called AWACS.
Spies and Espionage:
What vaguely Cold War themed game would be complete without it?
Build up your Spy Supply with Intelligence Centers. Then train Spies for 2IP apiece. Spies have a default 25% chance of success, increasing by 10% with each additional Spy. You can do several things with Spies:
Bribery – orders your Spies to attempt to convince enemy units to disband, desert or simply flee, as well as sabotage or scuttle their planes or ships.
Sabotage – orders your Spies to sabotage enemy Industry.
Fund Rebels –orders your Spies to attempt to incite a rebellion in the target province.
Disarm Nukes – orders your Spies to attempt to lower your enemy’s Nuclear Strength.
Raid – orders your Spies to attempt to destroy an enemy Province Improvement.
Infiltrate – orders your Spies to attempt to seize copies of all important documentation they can find. If successful, you will receive part or all of the enemy plans for the turn.
All of these actions can be performed while at peace or at war.
DEFCON:
DEFCON is a simple way to track your country’s preparation for war. There are five spots along the DEFCON meter.
DEFCON Five: Total peace. +50% Industry, -10% Combat Penalty.
DEFCON Four: Elevated tensions. +33% Industry.
DEFCON Three: Military readiness. +10% Industry, 15% Combat Bonus.
DEFCON Two: Open war. +25% Combat Bonus.
DEFCON One: Nuclear war. No bonuses. Superweapons available. Nuclear weapons available.
You cannot go below DEFCON three while at peace, nor above DEFCON 4 while at war. You can change DEFCON states once per turn, with two exceptions. If you declare war or are attacked, you may immediately set the DEFCON meter to Three or Two, respectively, and if you use your Superweapon at DEFCON One you are automatically redirected to DEFCON Three the next turn.
Supeweapons:
There are five Superweapon options to choose from. They can only be activated at DEFCON One, and are immensely powerful – if used correctly, they can end wars.
Your faction must pick one of these powers at game start. You cannot change Superweapons later, and it will be your Superweapon available when you reach DEFCON One, every time. You may keep your choice secret, however, if that is your desire.
Tactical Nuclear Strike – Fire a tactical nuke at a province you expect there to be a battle in this turn – attack or defense. Every unit and improvement in the province, except one unit on your side(so you can take the province or hold it), will be destroyed instantly, including Industry(it reverts to 1). If two factions both tactical nuke the same province on the same turn, they both maintain one surviving unit, which then set to dueling for the province. This ability is harmless if not paired with ground troops, either on defense or offense. Affects air and sea units.
EMP Assault – Detonate nuclear bombs in the atmosphere above five contiguous enemy provinces to create a massive EMP surge. All Industry and non-Base improvements are wiped out instantly, and the enemy loses their DEFCON bonuses for the next turn.
Mass Insurrection – Cause a massive wave of popular unrest in the opposing nation. Choose three contiguous provinces. They, and 25% of the enemy’s air and land forces, will immediately defect to form a new NPC nation allied to you. If they do not have an Army Base and an Airbase, one of each will be provided at random. If they are given more units than they can have Supply for, units will begin disbanding 2 per turn until they are at their Supply level, starting the turn after the initial Uprising.
Nationwide Draft – Impress a massive portion of your population, either directly into service or into work battalions and construction teams. You instantly gain 100% of your normal income or 12IP, whichever is higher, to supplement your income for the turn.
Foreign Legion – Volunteers arrive to bolster your army from around the world. For one turn only, you can build troops regardless of your Supply Level. The turn after this ability is used, any excess units will begin disbanding, 2 per turn. You can control which units disband, if such is your wish, but if you do not do so random units will be chosen.
Nuclear Weapons:
Simple. 1IP into Nuclear Strength gives you 100 Nuclear Strength. The higher your Nuclear Strength is, the more devastating the results will be if you fire.
To fire your nukes, simply reach DEFCON 1. Instead of firing your superweapon, simply state you press The Button and fire your nuclear weapons. The enemy will automatically do the same if they see your missiles coming, so be sure you have a higher Nuclear Strength rating than they.
Detailed explanation of Nuclear Strength:
Spoiler :
Province Improvements:
There are several kinds of Province Improvements. You can build two per Province, with the exception of Industry – you can have an unlimited amount of that.
Industry - +1IP from the province. Cost 3IP.
Fortifications – 6STR province defense. If it is the only defense in a province, the province will fall automatically, but the enemy might take losses. Cost 3IP.
Airfield – can base airplanes. Cost 2IP.
Army Base - +5 Land Supply. Cost 4IP.
Naval Base - +5 Naval Supply. Must be built on coast. Cost 4IP.
Airbase – can base airplanes. +5 Air Supply. Cost 4IP.
Intelligence Center - +5 Spy Supply. Cost 4IP.
And that's about it. Join the MADness!
One post reserved.
-L
