-Prethread- NCNESIOT: Blackened Skies

[Crezth]

Sad to see you go.

In other news: the United Kingdom is now free - well, free as they can be with those fascist big bosses. Enquire within for further details. If you recently joined as a not-United Kingdom country and would like to switch (recently being defined as within the past week), that is acceptable.

 

[CivOasis]

I've been trying to put it off for a while, but for health and academic reasons, I'm going to try to take a break from CFC and general online presence for a while.

Sorry to drop, really is a fantastic game.

 

[Ahigin]

Allianz Bundesheer circa 1932 in pictures:

Bundesmiliz (Federal Militia):

Spoiler :

Feldinfanterie (Field Infantry) machine-gun support squad:

Spoiler :

Revolutionsgarden (Revolutionary Guard) stormtroopers:

Spoiler :

Feldartillerie (Field Artillery):

Spoiler :

Krupp-Daimler Geschützkraftwagen (Automobile Gun Platform) 7,5 cm Kw 19:

Spoiler :

Krupp-Daimler Kw.19 anti-aircraft self-propelled gun:

Spoiler :

Leichte Panzerkampfwagen I light panzer:

Spoiler :

Grosspanzerkampfwagen II medium panzer:

Spoiler :

3.7cm WD Schlepper 25PS and 7.7cm WD Schlepper 50PS tank destroyers:

Spoiler :

Arado Ar 65 single-seat biplane fighter:

Spoiler :

Heinkel He 112 monoplane fighter:

Spoiler :

Henschel Hs 123 biplane bomber:

Spoiler :

Dornier Do 17 light bomber and night fighter:

Spoiler :

 

[tobiisagoodboy]

Just for imformation, the reason why these things were called Traktor is because Germany was not allowed to build tanks. So they secretly did it and called them Traktor, since those were the only things that used such large engines at the time.

 

[Ahigin]

Just for imformation, the reason why these things were called Traktor is because Germany was not allowed to build tanks. So they secretly did it and called them Traktor, since those were the only things that used such large engines at the time.

Good point. Fixed.

 

[Crezth]

Announcement

Several players have asked for quotes on how much EP they can spend on this or that project. While I encourage this sort of behavior, I have recognized a pattern that I have decided to publish as an official rule:

Overhead: When determining the cost of a government action that is not explicitly economic, e.g. passing token legislation or subsidizing research or engaging in diplomatic missions, it is only necessary to spend an amount of EP equivalent to one to four times your Base Cost, called "Overhead." Spending closer to 4x Base Cost will be considered twice as effective as 1x Base Cost, but spending additional EP will not necessarily be helpful or desirable. Keep in mind this only applies to government actions that are more administrative than productive. If you are attempting to subsidize a nascent autocar industry, overhead will not be sufficient - but is a good "starting place."

This does not mean many of you that invested heavily into administrative projects wasted your EP, rather that I have determined a more consistent method for considering a "base amount" of government effectiveness. Heavy investment into anything will still pay dividends over time.

 

[Ophorian]

Looks like I've been drafted into playing as The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

 

[Crezth]

Announcement

Some players have asked about debt spending. I did mention in the rules how short-term debt is handled, but very large debt - such as is sometimes required for expensive things like wars - remains ambiguous. I have decided my response will serve as an important piece of errata:

Large debt:
If you're asking about massive debt (>200% spending EP), here's how that's going to go down:

1. Provide broad spending goals rather than specific spending goals.
2. Indicate which areas you want to focus on more than others. The more things you choose, the more diffuse the effort.
2a. As a rule of thumb, you can safely focus on a number of major areas equal to the number of your Action Potential.
3. Indicate where you're going to (try to) draw your credit from. Will you be issuing war bonds, taking loans from foreign banks, privatizing interests, printing money (dangerous), etc?

As such I hesitate to put a hard number/ceiling on your debt, just keep in mind these requirements become more prominent the more you choose to spend.

Announcement 2 - edit

Several people have asked me about outsourcing unit production to other countries, and Nuke and I have been waffling on this question because we weren't sure how to handle it. We have devised two new rules to handle unit production in general and the outsourcing thereof:

Maximum unit production: Your nation's IC represents the maximum amount of EP that can be spent per turn on military unit production. Spending more than this amount creates demand that can boost your industrial growth, but it will also result in production being staggered over several years.

Quantity focus: You may, for one turn, ignore the maximum unit production by issuing a commandment to focus more on quantity over quality. Doing so allows you to ignore the maximum unit production rule for 1 turn, but also permanently decreases your Equipment quality by one level.

Outsourcing: You can outsource production contracts to other nations, which in practical terms means you can use their Base Cost instead of your own for the purposes of building units, although you still use your own Reserves pool. You must obtain that nation's permission first, obviously, and pay whatever premium they request. In addition, units you build using their Base Cost in this way count towards their maximum unit production.

 

[Robert Can't]

Do you think we could have Stats or just some information about Nepal and Bhutan please.

 

[JohannaK]

I've decided to catalogue all the treaties in my first post in the thread. That is post #20. I aim to include all alliances, conferences and peace treaties. If you see one missing, please point it out to me and pretty please provide the link.

 

[Nuka-sama]

I'll add that to the front page

@RobertCan't look for them in this coming update

@All: I want to draw your attention to the updates pattern so far:

Update 0: January 31
Update 1: February 16th (16 days elapsed)
Update 2: March 12th (28 days elapsed)
Update 3: April 2nd (21 days elapsed)
Update 4: ???

I currently work a full time job, and Crezth is writing/editing/defending his thesis/being a grad student, it's really difficult for us to update heavy stuff during the week. Ideally we want to get all of our orders in after a week+extra hanger days, and update that following weekend. If orders are in by April 12th we could see an update on the 16th-19th.

Please be courteous to your mods and fellow players, and be sure to get your orders in on time!

 

[Nuka-sama]

Wonderful, only 16 days between updates this time, great job all!

----

Since it's been asked and I've been meaning to post it, here is how elections in the USA work!

-There are 13 sovereign states in the United States that have voting powers. Canada, Japan, Cuba, and other US territories have no voting rights

-Presidential candidates are not directly elected! Every 4 years, the Governor of the state stands for election. The winner determines where his state's vote goes to. Because of this, there is alot of President/Governor campaigning together.

-The elections are determined by who captures a majority of states. There is no popular or electoral vote. 1 state=1 vote, a plurality is needed

-Senators are chosen by the state legislature from a list of approved candidates from the governor.

 

[Civ'ed]

-There are 13 sovereign states in the United States that have voting powers. Canada, Japan, Cuba, and other US territories have no voting rights

Wait what
The original 13 or what

 

[Ahigin]

Wait what
The original 13 or what

No, Nuke has listed all states in one of the posts in this thread. Scroll back a few pages, you'll find that.

 

[Double A]

-Presidential candidates are not directly elected! Every 4 years, the Governor of the state stands for election. The winner determines where his state's vote goes to. Because of this, there is alot of President/Governor campaigning together.

When someone is elected, who becomes governor in his stead?

 

[Crezth]

Announcement

Someone asked me to clarify the cost of espionage actions, and while I was answering him I realized there was a better way to do it:

Actually, I've completely changed my mind. Check the pricing tables: there is now an "Espionage Cost" that is a sliding scale from minimum effect to maximum effect. You use your own Espionage Cost for domestic/anti-spying, and the others' Espionage Cost for espionage actions versus them.

I'll announce the new rule in thread.

The way it works is it's a measure of how far money goes in that society (the cost of labor, which is not a pure cost but a holistic cost that considers environmental/non-fiscal elements; this is also why "Base Cost" is not directly GDP/pop) multiplied by the generalized efficiency score of the target government, notarized as "Action Potential". So, having a higher Espionage Cost is better, even if it is more expensive to maintain defensively, because others have to spend more against you.

 

[Ahigin]

Announcement

Someone asked me to clarify the cost of espionage actions, and while I was answering him I realized there was a better way to do it:

That's very helpful.

I also noticed in the pricing table that America can build rifle divisions at the cost of... ahem... 0 EP. Does it mean they can build it for a decimal value that got rounded down? Or can they literally spawn hordes of riflemen at will?

(Also, Tibet is VERY hard to spy on. Which is going to impact my foreign policy significantly, without a doubt.)

 

[Crezth]

That's very helpful.

I also noticed in the pricing table that America can build rifle divisions at the cost of... ahem... 0 EP. Does it mean they can build it for a decimal value that got rounded down? Or can they literally spawn hordes of riflemen at will?

(Also, Tibet is VERY hard to spy on. Which is going to impact my foreign policy significantly, without a doubt.)

Tibet being hard to spy on is an intended behavior. They aren't like other countries, much less highly industrialized western empires. Granted, their Espionage Cost is nominally as high as some governments' entire revenue, but in practical terms they won't be able to match their own Espionage Cost either, so on the balance they'd still be vulnerable to concentrated action.

America's Rifles costing 0 is an intended behavior, even if it wasn't particularly engineered in this case. They're in the sweet spot of population, government policy, and industrialization that makes them very efficient at mobilizing. As it happens, this was also a characteristic the real USA had. Considering very different politics and government structures and policies, this is curious. Hmm. Must investigate further...

 

[Ahigin]

Tibet being hard to spy on is an intended behavior. They aren't like other countries, much less highly industrialized western empires. Granted, their Espionage Cost is nominally as high as some governments' entire revenue, but in practical terms they won't be able to match their own Espionage Cost either, so on the balance they'd still be vulnerable to concentrated action.

America's Rifles costing 0 is an intended behavior, even if it wasn't particularly engineered in this case. They're in the sweet spot of population, government policy, and industrialization that makes them very efficient at mobilizing. As it happens, this was also a characteristic the real USA had. Considering very different politics and government structures and policies, this is curious. Hmm. Must investigate further...

I mostly wonder what they're going to arm their troops with? Even the cheapest rifle costs money and material to produce. Even if you arm your troops with wooden stakes, you still gotta spend money on some uniform. I'd understand if Rifle Divisions cost them 0.1 EP (a bit too cheap, but hey, why not). But literally 0... Not sure about it.

Anyway, it's your game, so I'll accept whatever decision you decide to stick by.

 

[Masada]

The mere fact I can do it doesn't mean I have the slightest intention of doing it. None of the people who have used my base cost have either. We all seem to have realised that it's a neat idea in theory, it's just not practical in game. The artillery, trucks and so on would also cost a lot more than the rifles/uniforms.

On the other hand, I'll freely admit I've thought about just building the equipment for say 600 rifle divisions at 0 cost and using all of that to triple the amount of trucks, radios, artillery, machine-guns, sub-machine guns &etc. That would be worth it.