On the planet of Vovorum Luminosa[1], at the beginning of the 308th year after the Galactic Apocalypse, arose the Regime of the Fivetown Empire.
A small and warm planet, Vovorum Luminosa had been classified as Siwa[2] and had proven to be a vastly successful and popular colony of the Galactic Republic.
At its height it hosted 4.4 billion souls, crammed into vast megacities that covered the great plains.
One of these cities was the original metropolis of FiveTowns. As one of the initial settlement locations on the planet, this area had originally played host to five competing corporate colonies. Over the course of time, these colonies grew, competed and fought with each other, each of them eager to grow in commercial might and wealth.
As more and more colonists arrived however, the colonies eventually began to overlap and merge, leading to the founding of the FiveTowns council, a meritocratic system which promoted the interests of its civilians through a strong bureaucracy and community activism.
When the fall came, it was devastating for all of the peoples of the vast Galactic Republic and FiveTowns was no different. Chaos and Starvation were rife and the population of Vovorum Luminosa collapsed down to a mere 2.2 million people.
Now, most of the old metropolis is in ruins, but the bonds of the citizens in FiveTowns were strong and a core has remained organised and alive through all the depredations of the Apocalypse. Much of the knowledge of the golden age is now lost, and there is much to discover anew. With this in mind, the militia forces of the now Fivetown Empire are prepared to venture out to claim new territories and begin their revival!
This is a starting location with almost unlimited potential. We are surrounded by ruins that hold 100’s of thousands of scavenging units and there is only a single other Minor Regime that is bordering us (The Lafarar Territory to the North East).
Our first action is to use our current military forces (2 units of Infantry and 3 units of mixed mechanised infantry, with some scout bikers and ancient artillery mixed in).
Our forces expand to the North, East and South. In the North we find a wondrous discovery, an ancient automated factory whose Industry Points will be invaluable as we seek to grow our nascent Empire.
The other points of interest are a large town of Free Folk to the North East (inside what is currently territory claimed by Lafarar, but not for much longer..) and a unit of unaligned forces to the South. These forces are centered on the small Free Folk camp of “Eureka”, and are likely armed mercenaries who may or may not prove to be an issue as we expand past them.
There are only a few issues that are in need of our immediate attention at this point. We add a specialist unit of Commandos to the 1st Fivetown Militia and promote our core belief of Meritocracy in our Ascension speech. We also encourage the formation of a small recon group that will be used to explore the lands around us and increase our recon knowledge.
An outburst of Paranoia in the leadership causes some unease and Fear in the populace, but this is countered by the arrival of a set of Travelling Teachers who set up a private school in the town.
We also take the time to review our current staff and specialists and are not displeased by what we find. The current governor of Fivetown, Conan Sirius, is very capable and has an exceptionally strong talent for Administration. He is also currently unaligned with any internal factions, which may make him easier to manage in the future.
Speaking of the internal politics of Fivetown, it is currently dominated by two factions, each with 50:50 control of our proportionally elected Senate.
The Armed Party is strong on Enforcement and Democracy, ethics which run counter to our core values as Leader. But neither of their major personnel are in significant office, which I may wish to ensure stays the case.
The Popular Union, by contrast, matches our ethical preferences well, and with both our Strategic HQ and our Command Council headed by their members, this is very much the force that I would like to see winning future elections.
There is little else that we have time to cover at this point[3] and we end the turn and allow the other forces of Vovorum Luminosa to take their actions.
There is nothing much to report from our opponents’ actions at the start of this turn. There is a hint at some forces hiding in the forests to the East, but no confirmed sightings.
As usual, my secretary has laid out on my desk a number of issues that I may wish to make decisions upon[4].
My Militia forces are vital at this stage, so I choose to support their parade with 200 credits. I leave the National Budget untouched and happily accept the Popular Union’s new candidate into my leader reserve (they are the faction I want to focus upon, so I’m happy to get new potential leaders from them).
At the end of the last turn I had asked my Secretary to begin the formation of a new Economic Council. This is one of the 9 central councils and it is now time to choose a leader for that council from my available reserve of leaders.
Ace Pollux, whom I just accepted from the Popular Union has not been nominated for the role (nominations are submitted for my approval by my staff, I may choose to spend some of my PP to dismiss their choices, at the risk of offending the nominators and nominated alike), but he has very little suitability for the role anyway, being more of a Charisa focussed leader.
Of my other two choices, both have reasonable capability for the role as they have decent skills in the Intelligence field, but Maia Oldwaste is a member of the Armed Party, and I’m happy to keep her out of the council for now. So the role goes to Connor Robinsight.
I immediately task him to produce new research discoveries and to send teams out into the zone to find potentially exploitable resource sites.
There is one more bit of administration that we should engage with this turn, and that’s with our Covert Ops function. Our Supreme Command Council has delivered a potential stratagem to embed spies into an enemy zone. Given that we have very little knowledge of our surroundings, it feels prudent to attempt to gain more knowledge of the Lafarar zone to our North East.
Somewhat incredibly, given our native skills and the limited espionage infrastructure in our Minor Regime neighbour, Cobb is forced to report back that we failed in our attempt.
This is an unfortunate, but not catastrophic turn of events. It certainly puts me in the mind that I should prioritize the establishment of a Foreign Office council sooner rather than later however!
So, to our tactical situation. As it stands, none of our forces have strayed so far from our SHQ that they can’t fetch and carry their own supplies. This is likely to change in this turn however as I ask them to push out further into the unknown.
The 2nd Guards pushes directly North and cuts the Larafar zone in two whilst the 1st Mobile Battalion proceeds North East to bring the large Free Folk settlement of Seehaus into our territory. Whilst doing so we gain eyes on a degraded reactor, which could prove a useful asset. However we also see that it is guarded by multiple Lafararian units. We choose to fall back slightly to keep a respectful distance and also to protect our supply lines.
In the South, we still have very little Recon knowledge of that unit of non-aligned forces in Eureka. To try and get some better info, the 1st Recon that we formed last turn is sent to take a look.
And we find that the defenders of Eureka are a group of Rifle Militia (a very weak Infantry troop, but which is very much a threat in large numbers). Our reports are that there’s 2700 troops there, but we only have limited recon on that hex still (42) and so should take all that we see with a pinch of salt.[5]
The 3rd Mobile maneuvers through the ruins to the East, moving slowly to ensure that there’s no surprise forces there, whilst the 4th Guards moves into the ruins to the South. Finally, the 5th Mobile swings around to the West to begin sweeping up the last of the ruins of our once huge home metropolis.
Finally, our thoughts turn to construction and preparation for the future. With the Automated Factory working in conjunction with the efforts of the people of Fivetown, we are in a good shape for generating IP and so we choose not to construct an expensive new Industry Asset immediately. Instead, we fund the laying of some dirt roads to the North East to assist our forces in that direction with their logistics and then authorise the expansion of the Bureaucracy within Fivetown to assist our Councils with their work.
As we move into Late Spring we receive some concerning reports of enemy movements.
In the South West, the Eureka forces have made an assault on our recon detachment. They were repulsed easily as our armed buggies skirmished away from them taking 300 lives in the process.
Of more concern is the North East. Three units of Lafarar forces have emerged from the reactor and have pushed back around our Mobile battalion. I am glad that I did not leave them within range! However, as our spy failed to penetrate the zone last turn, we have very little knowledge of what is approaching us. Discretion is the better part of valour, and our central plan for this turn must be to ensure that our forces are capable of defending Fivetown and preventing any great incursion from that vector.
To that end, the 4th Guards relieves the 1st Recon near Eureka, freeing that group up to quickly traverse the ruins to support the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Militia in drawing up a defensive line on the edge of the Ruins. The 5th continues its mission and secures the Western edge of the zone ruins.
Perhaps shamed by their failure last turn, our Supreme Council presents us with a new plan for dispatching covert operatives, and this time they succeed in infiltrating Lafarar. We will get their initial intelligence reports next turn.
Our bout of Paranoia at the start of the game caused a visible drop in the morale of the populace of Fivetown. This is recovering now, but the Armed Party would like us to confirm that we will achieve a solid increase in population happiness.
Given that this metric is on the bounce anyway, I view this as a good opportunity to solidify my position as a strong, trustable leader and I vow to achieve this goal.
With my bureaucrat offices under construction, I take this as an opportunity to recruit a new junior member of staff via a Strategem (Totor Banks, a moderately capable diplomat joins us). I then place a call to my Secretary and ask them to present me with a decision on the creation of a new Council of State.
Given that both Ace Pollux and Totor Banks are diplomacy focussed, I choose to set up a new Foreign Affairs Council with the intention of positioning one of them at it’s head at the start of next turn.
Finally, I placed a quick call to the Governor of Fivetown and asked him to increase his recruitment of potential soldiers. I have the feeling that I am going to need them!
The confidence with which the Lafararian troops have pushed forward is concerning, but I am confident that they will not enter the ruins of Fivetown this turn, and I look forward to seeing what our spies have to report!
A good, if ominous sign.
The Eureka forces are jumpy it seems. I am very happy that they continue to make poor decisions! More concerning is the apparent size of the Lafarar forces to the North East. Also, some of the territory to the South East (“Armed Mercs” land) has left my ownership, hinting at a potential threat there as well.
But first, I am eager to see what my spies have to report about Lafarar!
Somewhat surprisingly, we find that there is no actual city nor built up area in the whole zone. The forces arrayed against us are a large group of mutants, presumably corrupted by living in close proximity to that degraded nuclear reactor for all these years! This puts paid to any plans I had of using diplomatic channels, the only words they respect are those that come from the end of a rifle!
To confirm this belief, I consulted my staff on how difficult it would be to successfully use the Propose Peace stratagem on these Mutants. A roll of 472 on a modified D100 is a challenge that is certainly beyond my staff’s abilities!
Technically, we are at an Unclear status with the Lafarar faction, an uneasy position where we’re not technically at war, but there is also no respect for each other’s borders. At this point however, I can see no point in continuing the sham, so we prepare the relevant articles.
Only my newly appointed Economic Director is against the plan (he has a level 2 aversion to the Fist Profile), and I am more than willing to take this minor hit to proceed with my plans.
The borders change colour to show that there is an active relationship with that Regime (war is as strong a relationship as Peace in many ways!). And I position my Recon Battalion and 3rd Militia to support the flanks of the 2nd Militia for a potential assault.
The arrows here show the potential attack vectors in this turn for this unit.
I also bring the 5th Militia over to support the Northern flank of the front, and their presence gives me enough Recon Points on both Mutant positions to make some moderately educated plans of attack.
The Force to the North West is stronger (approx 18 power) and well prepared to fight (74 Readiness), but is not entrenched and seems to have very low morale (15).
The force to the South East however has two units of approx 11 power each, but neither is particularly ready for battle. They seem to have better Morale though.
In this situation I make the call to assault the South Eastern grouping. My reasoning being that they seem to be ill-prepared, and I have 3 units that can attack that hex, each coming from a different vector, giving a good assault bonus.
The odds certainly seem to be in my favour. Not the bonus being given by my SHQ Commander and the +40% bonus from the concentric attack. I order the assault immediately.
A successful operation, but not one without surprises or costs! Rather than being 1000 strong, each unit of Mutants was actually 1800 deep and we lost both of our elite commandos from 1st Battalion. The buggies of the 1st Recon really show their worth as an attacking force, causing the vast majority of hits and kills. Being able to maneuver well when assaulting a static force is a huge boon.
We also utterly misread their preparedness! But causing them to retreat in this assault will certainly leave us in a good position if we follow up the attack in subsequent turns.
Given this obvious failure of intel, we choose not to try an assault with our infantry in the North West. Instead we settle for sending a scattering of artillery shells their way, just to test their morale somewhat!
We don’t cause much damage, but at least one of the sub-formations didn’t appreciate the incoming fire! I am very sceptical about reading too much about these numbers however, given our provably poor recon in the previous battle.
Whilst these were victories, they weren’t particularly decisive, and I should never be expecting anything so definite from Militia forces. They are brave and certainly very capable when defending entrenched positions, but they will always be outclassed by professional regular soldiers (as was shown by the Independent Buggy group in the earlier battle).
If I am to continue to press the attack against the mutants, and still maintain a reserve to defend against the potential of assault from the forests in the South East, I’d like to raise and maintain a full Brigade of Infantry with their own Operational Headquarters.
As it currently stands, I could potentially raise a Light Inf or MG Inf Brigade this turn (you need to be able to raise 50% of a formation to bring it to the field). But I’d rather have a full equipped group from the off rather than have them awaiting new recruits to fill their ranks.
Looking at my 1st SHQ stockpiles, I can see that I have enough Metal and IP points, but even with increased recruitment from Fivetown, I won’t have enough (5500) troops available to deploy until two turns have passed. To counter this, I use a couple of precious PP to contact the Governor of Fivetown and ask him to raise targets for new recruits to 2000 per turn at least in the short term. If we can bring that large Free Folk settlement into our fold, then their numbers should more than cover this.
Whilst I have his ear, I also assign 52 credits of the public budget to be dedicated to the people of Fivetown each turn. This will assist the morale of the general population and will help me reach the target of 84 happiness that I proposed last turn.
With Military matters settled, I turn to my economy.
My Bureaucrat Offices have finished construction and will start providing resources to my administrative core from next turn. Also, my Economic Council appear to have found hints of something interesting in one of the ruins to the North of Fivetown.
My secretary informs me that my Foreign Affairs Council is ready to start operations. I am offered a choice of Totor Banks (Unaligned, 27 Suitability) and Maia Oldwaste (Armed Party, 1 Suitability). The choice is trivial and I task with focussing on generating an even mix of strategems in preparation for whatever regimes we’ll meet in the future.
Our final concern is a small domestic matter in Fivetown, where a band of Roaming Thieves is causing trouble and disturbing the population.
I choose to donate some of my Political Points to the cause and support the governor in his attempt to deal with the situation.
It goes about as well as we could expect! Some of our stocks were raided, but the issue appears to have ended with no long term impact.
To end the turn, I consider whether to start construction of a new recycling facility in the Ruins to grow my Fuel and Metal income, but I don’t want to risk not having the Industry Points available to raise my Infantry Formation next turn, so I decide to delay.
In their turns, my current enemies seem to all choose to pull back, away from my forces.
The Mutants will need following to ensure that they keep moving, and I’m not so desperate for Eureka that I want to abandon my defensive positions in the Ruins in the South. I am still concerned about the slowly decreasing border in the South-East however.
But first, to the news ticker. No decisions to make this turn, but a few interesting items appeared on the vidscreen reports. Firstly, the Economic Council has a new idea for a building. Something called a “Barracks”.
A useful thing for helping maintain order in the city.
And then, a hubbub arises from the depths of the excavations in the ruins underneath Fivetown! A wonderous pieces of LosTech!
Time to start printing me some new people!
And finally, some new Strategems from my councils. I don’t have a valid minor to make into a Client state yet, but that’ll come in handy in the future, as will the shadow diplomat when deals need to be made. The Medal of Merit will strongly boost my relationship with a staff member, and might stave off a revolt in the coming years!
I immediately bring the cloning facility online in Fivetown and then check to see whether the governor was able to raise the recruits I requested last turn. He has! So I immediately request the formation of a Infantry Brigade with an MG support unit.
I don’t have a lot of choice of how to make up that unit right now. I haven’t got a Military Design Council online yet, so just have my basic unit types. They’ll do for now though, so I Raise the Formation and they appear in Fivetown, ready for deployment next turn.
My upcoming issue will them be finding a leader to lead the Operational HQ (OHQ) of that unit. I don’t really have a natural military leader in my reserve pool right now, but I do have a Raise Leader Strategem that I can save up my PP to execute in the near future (I only have 18 of the required 52 right now).
I have 160 Industry Points remaining after raising the formation, and I commit 125 of them and one of my 4 Machine resources towards building a new recycling facility in the ruins where we found signs of uncommon riches earlier. It will need those resources again next turn (it takes 2 rounds to build and needs that full set of resources for each of those rounds). I don’t think I’ll be able to make those payments in full, but my workforce are intelligent enough to pro-rata the work meaning that it could well be complete 3 rounds hence.
Finally, I push my Militia forces forwards and attempt to keep pushing back on the larger Mutant force.
No losses and 400 kills is a decent return. With a kill for the Irregular Artillery a pleasant surprise!
I’m content with where we are at and allow the round to end.
First up, a bit of good news as I keep my word (a genuine delight for a politician) and raise the happiness of the population in Fivetown to exceed what I promised to the Armed Party. This boosts both my relationship with that Faction and also the strength of my word for future negotiations.
On the regional stage, the Mutants have spread out to oppose my advance but the Merc Militia near Eureka has bugged out of my recon range. I’ll probably move forward to take that settlement this turn.
Firstly though, we move our new 1st Infantry Corps to the North East, in preparation to replace our Militia on the front line vs the mutants.
Perhaps knowing that they are due to be replaced, the Militia forces launch assaults all across the front, pushing the mutant forces back and scattering several of their sub-units.
They even manage to bring Seehaus and the damaged reactor under the control of Fivetown!
As an added bonus, with Eureka militia falling back, our Militia there is able to bring Eureka under our control without having to give up it’s fantastically well dug in position! 245 Entrenchment points is not easy for any of the ragtag forces down there to dislodge.
In other news, I agree to take on another Leader from the Popular Union and postpone the appointment of an OHQ commander until I can find a suitable candidate.
My last bit of major news is much more intriguing! Explorers have found an intact piece of the old facilities that Fivetown is mostly built on top of. I am not exactly enamoured with my choices! Quarantines are in place for reasons!
I admire the faith of Totor Banks, but also question his sanity. There are actually decent odds for my Governor to make the science roll required to learn more about the location, but I would prefer to use the PP elsewhere right now. In the end, I opt to delay the decision and leave the door closed for now. I can come back to this situation at any point in the future that I feel more confident about exploring this facility safely.
My work crews completed 90% of their assigned work last turn, and it looks like I’ll generate about 120 IP this turn. So the recycling centre is on target for completion by the end of the year, as expected.
Finally, I notice a report from my Economic Council saying that they’ve found a buried horde of Metal from the pre-apocalypse. It’s just outside the city ruins, so maybe it was a rubbish or recycling centre of some sort? Either way, we know it’s there now and we can make plans to build a Metal Mine to exploit it. That is, if our private economy entrepreneurs don’t get there first!
Let’s take a look at the vid-screen reports for what’s going on in our Regime as we come to the end of our first year.
We are currently living during a period where the zeitgeist is towards expanding the bureaucracy. Practically, this means that our BP production is being boosted for a period of time. At the end of this period, we’ll enter a new zeitgeist, with a new (not always so obviously positive) effect and we’ll gain Fate Points to reflect the growth of our civilization.
And our Economic Council keeps rolling with a new idea that we may choose to spend our research efforts actualizing (I’m actually going to keep the researchers looking at the Barracks idea however).
Then we also get a couple of nice finds amongst the ruins of our Zone. Firstly, a decent sized stock of liquid energy (aka credits). And Then:
Fancy Guns! This is the kind of find that can really add some punch to an early game army. Those new recruits will be green, but their kit is much more powerful than the slugthrowers that most of the units around here are equipped with.
Approximately 5 times as effective. These guys can’t be replaced though, so I do need to take some care of them and not just throw them into the fight unsupported.
To that end, I move the 1st MG Infantry Brigade up towards the Mutant Combat line and continue pushing them back with the mobile elements.
My main concern here is that the recycling plant is taking up all my IP reserves, meaning that I have no stock to use to extend my road network towards these units in the North East. This might mean some shortages of Food, Ammo and Fuel up there next turn. Not ideal, but as this is very much a mopping up operation now, I can afford to wait and allow them to restock.
The other news on the Military front is that I now have 53 PP, enough to consider using my Hire Merc stratagem to get a leader for the 1st MG’s OHQ. However, I want to use 4 PP to send a new spy out into the Western Zone of Pedalion and I need 1 more to make a decision around an antique statue.
I am not particularly attached to either of the Political or Societal effects here, so I just decide to take the cold hard cash now rather than wait for the PP to pay off over time. I’m left with 48 PP, which should grow to be more than enough next turn.
With this in mind, and given that we’re currently in a zeitgeist that supports the bureaucracy (and therefore the councils), I call my secretary and ask him to commence the setup of a Military Research Council.
Given that we’re not currently strongly threatened by any major, organised forces, now would be a good time to get started researching some new weapons and armour so that I can upgrade my troops at leisure. Indeed, if it comes to it, I’ll happily postpone the recruitment of the OHQ commander even further if I need to search for new, more scientifically capable staff.
The last act of the year is to spend some of that credit windfall from earlier with zone traders to bulk up some of my stockpiles whilst market prices appear to still be low.
A New Year comes with a couple of achievements for our Regime. Firstly, we gained the Regime Feat of “National Pride”. Our dominant Psychology of “Heart” has led to this award, meaning that our troops now fight with increased pride in our new Nation and we also gain the possibility of gaining the Hold The Line Strategem.
The second achievement is that, by expanding to our 4th Council, we are now recognised as having the next level of Administrative Functionality. This is rewarded with a new Fate Pack of Stratagems. These special types of Stratagem use the “Fate Points” currency and feature both new abilities and units and the possibility to incite drama at Fivetown in return for some additional FP. Whilst all the above are tempting, we’re in a place with Fivetown that I can afford to delay their resolution until I know which will be the most useful.
One other item of note is that we also gained the Mystic Priest stratagem. This Priest of the Mystic Temple cult can be attached to a unit to give them an additional edge in battle. I send these guys out to immediately assist our GR Grade Infantry.
These guys did not come from the work of my staff councils, but rather from the presence in the zone of the Cult. There are a few different primary cults operating in the post-GR apocalypse and, mostly, they hate each other. I am quite content for the time being to leave the Temple unmolested and untroubled by any other sects.
As predicted at the end of last turn, our Logistics infrastructure wasn’t good enough to fully supply my front line units. However, they do still have enough for a decent punch. So, with upcoming plans to ensure a greater supply throughput, I commit my GR Infantry and lead 1st MG elements to engage some Mutants.
This was the first test for this unit, they passed with flying colours.
Now, to sort out those supply issues. Using the Industry Points that I now have in stock following the completion of the recyc facility in Termo, I build a Dirt Road out to the East, terminating just outside Seehaus and well within reach of all my forces out there.
Additionally, back in Fivetown, I commence construction of a publically owned Truck Station. Up until now my Logistics has been supported by a private industry partner. Now is the time to commence the building of a fully integrated supply stack however.
Turning to the sheaf of reports on my desk. It turns out that Maia Oldwaste is by far and away the most suitable appointee for the Military Research Council. With some regrets about her political alignment, I confirm her in post.
The other notable report is somewhat more dramatic. It seems that we have some unexpected private enterprise inside Fivetown, a slave trader has embedded himself into the markets there.
Now, slavery doesn’t really match up with our ethical preferences, so we probably need to do something about this and getting rid of this particular parasite seems to be the best overall option. To do that, however, will require a fairly decent roll by Conan Sirius against his Covert Ops skill.
To assist this, and to hopefully prevent any chaotic fall out of the operation, I attach a Shadow Spy to him, which grants a significant bonus to his next Covert Ops roll.
Indeed, with that operative’s assistance, Conan carries out a flawless operation. Not only does he dismiss the trader, but he frees several slaves and raises two of our societal profiles!
The last bit of news is a report back from the spy we sent out last turn. Pedalion appears to be another empty zone, with no major conurbation at all. They do point out the presence of a Walled Refugee Camp however, which would add a very nice bonus to the growth of Fivetown’s population. With the 1st MG now actively pacifying the mutant forces in the East, I’ve withdrawn my mobile militia groups to Fivetown with the intention of sending them West to see what they can find there.
As we ease into the year, our reseach councils continue to bear fruit, with High Velocity Guns being unlocked as a concept. We also get our first Posture stratagem, a training focus that could prove useful in the future if I’m training up a new Corps.
The Truck Station in Fivetown completes at the start of this turn, which will ease any concern about being able to carry sufficient arms and supplies to the front. A front that I’m keen on mopping up as soon as possible.
But for a relatively well ordered disengagement by the Northern-most Mutant force, we’d have probably succeeded this turn as well. That unit evaded to the North East, but the centre pair of units are rounded up and capitulate to a follow up attack.
I start to send the Mobile Militia out to explore the west, and the Infantry guarding Eureka moves forward and assumes a new defensive position in the mountains nearby.
Not much else is across my desk this turn, so I take the time to rebalance Fivetown’s zone orders. I reduce the intake of new recruits and withdraw the subsidy of the local private economy. I also decided to make an aesthetic change to the zone and officially rename it to Five Town.
From looking at my SHQ stockpiles and how the we are generating and consuming resources, I’m generally content at the direction of travel. Apart from one key element, Food. For now, we have more than enough reserves and the trade market value is low. I’ll need to start planning for where to situate additional food growing facilities in the near future however.
My final action of the turn is to request the formation of a second Independent Recon unit to assist in exploring the zones to the West and South.
Another fantastic find in amongst the ruins of Termo!
This ancient exosuit will give a great strength boost to a Leader. This will almost certainly find itself around the shoulders of whoever ends up as 1st OHQ leader!
We also find that there is a new burst of comradeship amongst our people!
On the military side, we finally mop up that last unit of Mutants in the North East, and the 1st MG Infantry spreads out and begins to sweep to the South East.
While in the West, we start to push back the borders using our new Recon unit, the Mobile Militia and the new unit of Militia Regulars that has just arrived for duty.
In order to support this expansion, I add a road heading South-West from Five Town to connect to Eureka and also a separate fork off to the West to supply the militia convoys. This was taxing on my IP reserves however, so I’ll need to start thinking how I’m going to balance the desire to expand and pacify with my ability to provide support and supplies to those units.
On the Political side, we successfully send a spy into the Armed Merc zone to the south and I make the call to use our new “Recruit Military” Stratagem to see whether we can find a suitable leader for the 1st MG Inf OHQ. At 10 PP rather than the 52 PP for Recruit Merc, this seems a safer bet that would still leave me a PP reserve for other activities.
I am not overly impressed with the new recruit. Gus Greenwaste shows a brave streak, but my Infantry brigade has very little use for his mobility focussed preference.
I make the call to postpone this appointment, again, in order to see what Merc talents can be made available next turn.
A quick look at the trade market pricing shows that there’s a slight dip in the value of Food at the moment. I use the opportunity to restock my granaries, buying me more time before I have to commit to building my own Food network.
Another pleasing sight is that Private industry in Five Town appears to continue to grow well. These buildings provide important Quality of Life factors that improve the happiness and morale of our populace.
We seem to be entering a time of relative peace, and I’ll need to use this opportunity to ensure that my Regime is equipped to cope with any emerging future threats.
In a pleasant repetition, our diggers find yet more LosTech. This gravitonic collector, when brought online at Five Town will add another new source of Energy!
There were no sightings of any other forces in the last turn, but we did get a report back from our Spy in the Armed Mercs zone to the South. That is a big expanse of unclaimed land! There may still be more independent forces down there to contend with, but I’m more intrigued by that tongue of undiscovered country to the East of Five Town. Potentially another zone with a new Regime to encounter? I’ll be sending the 1st MG Inf that way to find out!
Thinking about that OHQ, I am somewhat glad that I haven’t burnt through my PP already as there’s a couple of interesting reports that will need my time.
The first one is some young turks from the MRC proposing to set up some sort of Skunkworks. However, I am in agreement with my councillors, and this initiative does not match at all with our Regimes stated ethical preferences. I turn down their request, preferring to prioritise the balance of the whole workforce (and gain 10 Heart Points in the process!)
Whilst the previous decision was very much just a social preference, this second dilemma proposes a real threat to the peoples of Five Town. I fortunately have a healthy reserve of PP, so I will certainly be lending my support to Conan in his efforts. However, a quick look at his skills shows that whilst he is a very capable Administrator, he does not have very much in the realm of Technician Skills, which is the skill that this task is rolling against.
In order to support him in this task, I place a Call to my Advisor Olly Beethall. Up until now, I’ve kept Olly somewhat sidelined as he is the leader of the Armed Party, whose interests I am trying to supress. However, he has a decent aptitude for Technician tasks, so I use the unique ability of the Advisor position and attach him to Conan Sirius in Five Town.
When attached, an Advisor will do the Skill Roll for the Leader he is attached too, if he or she has a higher Skill Level.
Conan does well. What is very much a Tragedy is prevented from becoming a disaster.
On the logistical front, the Blue and Black tabs show that my units in the East are struggling to get their required supplies. However I am unwilling to keep sticking a plaster on the issue by slapping down yet more new roads, so I pull back many of these units into supply range. They will receive a full top-up and I’ll then start sending them on shuttle runs to scout out new territory without them starving to death.
Given the issues I am having with maintaining a sufficient IP output to support the required infrastructure programs, I decide to fund the construction of a new Public Industry project. This will be based in Five Town and has the potential to become a powerhouse of our economy.
Given that this construction will sink most of my IP for the next 3 turns at least, I decide that now is the time to utilise that stock of PP and summon the awaiting Mercenary for my OHQ.
Ivy is not going to set the world on fire, but they are a capable commander, and suited to how I am planning to use the 1st OHQ. My cabinet agree, and they are instantly put to the front of the queue for potential commanders. I waste no time in making the appointment and assigning them the exosuit that we discovered previously.
My remaining units have pushed further West and South, but have nothing much to report this turn.
[1] The etymology of this name is lost. Post Apocalypse scholars are divided on whether it could be a variant of Novorum Luminosa (New Light) or Vivorum Luminosa (Living Light)
[2] Capable of supporting Human life
[3] PP, or Political Points, are a reflection of both the leaders stored up bureaucratic power and also their available time to commit to using that power.
[4] If the player can’t, or chooses not to, make a decision, then their secretary will do it for them. They may or may not make good choices...
[5] Unless you have 100 or greater recon on a hex, there is always some uncertainty in what is reported back. Engage if you wish, but it is never without risk.
