alt.War: Turning Anger into productiveness

[Username17]

Magic
“There are things that can be done that cannot be made sense of.”

With changes in combat mechanics, it seems inevitable that there would be rules changes that affect the way magic works. And indeed there are. Most changes have to do with drain management, damaging spells, and Immunity to Normal Weapons. Because those are the parts of the magic system that directly impinge on damage, which has been scaled.

Spells
“You point the finger. The finger has pointed.”

Direct Combat spells inflict damage to a complete creature or object and cause damage that looks to the untrained eye as if the target had shattered all over rather than that it had been struck by something in particular. When a Direct Combat Spell targets a living target, it is resisted and if the caster achieves more hits than the resistance, the target suffers damage equal to the net hits plus half the Force of the spell (rounded down). This means that yes, if you hit a person with a Force 8 Mana Bolt, that the only possibilities are that they will take no damage at all (if they completely resist) or that they will suffer a Deadly wound (since there must be at least 1 net hit for the spell to succeed, and 8/2+1 = 5, which is Deadly). When targeting people, spell forces higher than 8 are generally pointless except for the purpose of overcoming Background Count (and capping total hits, if it comes to that).

Direct Combat spells that target inanimate targets are applied against the Object Resistance of the target instead of having a Resistance Test. The hits on the spellcasting test are simply reduced by the Object Resistance, and if there are any net hits, unresisted damage is inflicted equal to half the Force (rounded down) plus the net hits, and minus the Mass of the target. Direct Combat spells can be targeted against smaller parts of the subjects in order to contend with less Mass. A spellcaster can choose to Powerbolt a door (Mass 0) instead of the entire building (Mass 6), for example. Area spells ignore the Mass of the target if the target fits into the radius of the spell, but if the target extends beyond the size of the spell, the spellcaster can choose to have the spell ground through entire objects and contend with their entire mass, or to limit their spells to only affecting those parts which are within the area in order to ignore Mass. The latter option is best exemplified by the movie Akira, where everything within arbitrarily defined spheres shattered simultaneously, and things outside the globe were unaffected.

Indirect Combat Spells are handled like ranged attacks, with the Magic + Spellcasting test acting as the Attack roll, and targets are allowed Defense rolls as normal. Indirect Combat Spells have a normal base damage equal to their Force and are soaked normally. Indirect Combat Spells have some sort of Elemental Effect (even if that effect is merely a blast of force), and in most cases they penetrate half of the target's armor but are resisted by the target's full Hardened Armor (if any). Visibility and Cover apply to an Indirect Combat Spell exactly as they would to a gunshot. In the case of Area spells, cover applies as the worst of the line of the caster to the point of origin of the spell, and the point of origin of the spell to the target. Visibility does not affect area Indirect Combat Spells at all.

Drain is also somewhat different:

• Stun Bolt: ½F-1
  Stun Ball: ½F+1
  Mana Bolt: ½F
  Mana Ball: ½F+2
  Power Bolt: ½F+1
  Power Ball: ½F+3
  Wrecker: ½F
  Urban Renewal: ½F+2
  Smoke Bolt: ½F
  Smoke Ball: ½F+2
  Fire Bolt: ½F+1
  Fire Ball: ½F+3

Indirect Combat Spells now cost the same drain as their physical Direct counterparts. Spells otherwise follow the standard rules from Street Magic for designing a spell. -1 Drain for Stun-only, +1 Drain for Physical effects, +2 Drain for Area Effect. The Wrecker and Urban Renewal spells are like Power Bolt or Power Ball respectively, but do not affect living targets, and have the -1 Drain for limited targets.

Magic Healing
Healing spells work a little differently from most other spells. The drain is based on how much damage the target has suffered, not on what force the spell is cast at. The base Drain is simply one more than the damage level the target is operating under. So that looks like this:

Wound Boxes	Drain
0	1 (why?)
1-2	2
3-5	3
6-9	4
10	5
Dying	6

Since the Drain level is not dependent upon the Force, but the maximum number of healed boxes are, Heal is normally only cast at two Forces. Either Force = Magic Attribute, or Force = Double Magic Attribute. The higher force can potentially heal more boxes, but the Drain it causes is lethal damage.

Wounds caused by drain cannot be healed by magical spells, but the filled wound boxes still count for calculating Drain when using a healing spell (presumably to heal other wound boxes). A set of injuries can only be healed one amount. If you cast second healing spell on the same injuries, it only heals any wound boxes if it achieves more hits than the previous healing spell. The Stabilize spell has constant Drain, and converts a character from Deadly to Incapacitating injuries. This can be used before casting a Heal spell to reduce the base Drain from 6 to 5.

Limited versions of the Heal spell exist. The spell Treat Injuries is a Heal spell that can only be used within an hour of the injuries being inflicted. The spell Wholeness of Body is a Heal spell that can only be used on living targets with no implants or spiritual possession. In either case, Drain is calculated like for Heal but one less. For example: Using Treat on a newly acquired Moderate Wound would have a Drain of 2. Expanded versions of the Heal spell also exist. Distance Medicine is like Heal but can be used out to LOS. Health Snap is a Heal spell that becomes Permanent in just a single round. These expanded Heal spells have a Drain one higher than the norm, for example using Distance Medicine on a Moderate Wound across the street would have a Drain of 4. Some magical field medics know several versions of Heal in order to adjust their use of magic to the situation.

[Fatum]

So yeah, I've been working on dumpshock as well, writing about Russo-Yakutian war. Since there things seem to be dead, here I am.
Here's my draft so far, think it may come in handy?

[Username17]

Where the Guns Are
“Say, you want a revolution? Well you know, you're gonna need a lot of guns.”
Posted by: Kangean

A modern engine of war has an incredible number of big ticket items in it, and if the past is to offer us any guide, the future will require even more. It used to be that you could roll up your sleeves and hand out some swords to some guys and call it an army. But time and competition has ensured that such simple force no longer exist as a meaningful threat; and what has crowded them out is militaries which require tanks, planes, ships, artillery, and matrix nexuses to keep going. And that stuff is really expensive, and usually there are only a few suppliers world wide. When the Salish-Sidhe wanted an APC, they couldn't just will one into existence, they had to either purchase them from someone who had them or could make them, or invest in a public-private partnership with Mesometrics to produce their own – them choosing the latter is where the Warrior is from.

The sales of military vehicles, missiles, matrix infrastructure, and other primary military hardware is big business and puts a lot of Nuyen into the account of a small number of providers. But tracking the high level suppliers is actually bigger than I have space for in this essay. After all, many of those suppliers only produce one thing on a military's shopping list. The Salish make a APC your army might want, but if you want self propelled artillery you have to go elsewhere (mostly in Asia, as the biggest producers of self propelled artillery happen to be Vietnam, Russia, and Korea). These sales are actually fairly infrequent, governments and corps try to keep their multi-million Nuyen penis extensions going for as long as possible, and individual deals are generally news worthy. Tracking high end arms deals have their own board on the Morgue, and you can check it out if you want.

But for the purposes of a war that is going on right now, the primary concern isn't the big ticket items – navies rarely buy a new aircraft carrier in the middle of an ongoing conflict – it's the little stuff. A military needs ammunition, explosives, guns, body armor, fuel, food, and clothing on a constant basis. They need these things during peacetime to maintain readiness, and they need them in war even more so. So when the shit hits the fan, every participant in a war is going to need to go shopping for stuff like assault rifles, grenades, food, and power packs. And while the latter can be had from open market sales almost anywhere, the former are restricted and usually require high-level state or corporate cooperation, or smuggling. Most armed forces get supplied by a little of both. To get to the bottom of how any armed forces keep themselves in bullets and guns to fire them with, it's first important to understand where guns come from.

Major Powers
“If you want the best, you buy from the best”

Having a major arms industry and being a major international supplier of the means by which a man might kill another man is practically a prerequisite for being part of the Security Council. It might not say that anywhere in the bylaws, but there isn't a single country on that list that doesn't sell rifles around the globe. And they don't sell them everywhere at the same price, either. One of the simplest ways for a major power to spread influence is to sell weaponry to friendly countries at a lower than expected price. France sells guns at a deep discount to Luanda, the Caliphate sells guns at a deep discount to Albania, and Imperial Japan practically gives guns away to Peru to keep their government from bing overwhelmed by rebels or annexed by the big As. There are several megacorporations that are also deep in the thick of it as regards arms sales. Ares, Saeder-Krupp, Shiawase, and Aztechnology all have huge arms industries and again sell all over the world.

But of course, the biggest players are also in the harshest spotlights. None of them want to be caught selling weapons to the next Winternight, and if they think you're a terrorist organization (or state sponsor of terror or whatever), they aren't going to be willing to sell things to you. At least, not openly. And of course, agencies with global concerns have enemies as well as allies. I'm not really sure what the Caribbean League would have to do to be allowed to purchase military supplies from the CAS, but so far it just ain't happening. And the spotlights aren't just a problem for the sellers. A lot of weapons are purchased for the secondary market or to supply secret military actions, and for those getting a public record of first sales of firearms is not optimal.

Central African Empire
“In the darkest places where no one ever looks, the darkest deeds are done.”

The CAE is a hell hole that most people don't even know exists. It's North of all the excitement in the Congo, it's West of all the starvation in Ethiopia, and it's mostly South of the Sahara. And no one cares about it, because it doesn't have much in the way of resources. But here's what it does have: French speaking impoverished people and a total lack of international oversight. And it is here that ESPRIT does most of their weapons manufacture. And where they make as many of their arms deals as they can. Under the watchful eyes of no one, amongst the largely inhospitable jungles and deserts of that ghost forsaken land, ESPRIT's puppet government can set you up with surprisingly high tech weaponry. And they will. The lack of record keeping in the CAE is so severe that I doubt even they know who they are selling to. As a result, the Congo warzone fills up with ESPRIT weapons on every side.

Czechoslovakia
“The 'Br' in 'Bren Gun' stands for 'Brno'.”

The Czechoslovakians go through countries and borders as often as a lady changes her hat, but two things above all stay constant: the beer stays good and the Bohemian and Slovakian regions produce reliable streams of firearms for export. The city of Brno has been a source of man portable weaponry since they were manufacturing arquebuses for the Holy Roman Empire, and as the fickle winds of Central European politics have blown back and forth, the guns of Czechoslovakia have fed the war machines of Central Powers, Allies, Nazis, Soviets, NATO, Euroguard, Jihadists, New Soviets, Crusaders, and Polsky-Litvak Solidarity forces. And that's just them caving to the demands of their neighbors. They've also been shipping weapons over seas to whoever is willing to buy. Weapons with the “Czeska”, “CZW”, “ZB”, or “Br” designation on them have graced battlefields in South America, East Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Czechoslovak weapons are best known for their automatics. Submachine guns and machine guns of Czechoslovakian origin have a “name” and are in high demand. But they do produce everything from light pistols to anti-material rifles. And they don't seem to care who they sell it to.

Israel
“If an irate xenophobe dies alone, no one cares. But if an irate xenophobe holds off all comers for over a century, people want to buy his guns.”

Israel has been under siege since the British declared its existence in the forties. The nineteen forties. While Jihadists have invaded Europe several times, it is important to remember that in every case, one of the primary targets of any of the New Islamic Jihads (at last as far as the Caliphate is concerned) has been the conquest of Jerusalem for Islam. When the Modern Crusade gets a bit too candid they tend to let slip that their intention is not merely the conquest of Europe for Christendom, but the conquest of Jerusalem as well. And despite this, Israel has broken every invader. Now admittedly, part of that is a willingness to use nuclear weapons on Libya, and the fact that they've managed to maintain overall good relations with the Ottomans despite heated rhetoric is a big deal, but their production of high quality weaponry helps too.

Israelis produce weapons for sale all over the world, but maintain a strict policy of not pissing in their own backyard. Israel does not sell guns to Middle Eastern or Eastern European countries. But Uzis and other IMI weaponry is shipped to East Asia, South Africa, and the Americas constantly. It is difficult to find a military sniper rifle that matches one made by the Israelis. They take precision craftsmanship and long range accuracy super seriously, and people remember that.

Korea
“Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep, and you weep alone.”

Before unification, Korea was the most militarized region on Earth. It's still way up there. While the North no longer employs half the male population in military service, it is still a highly militarized region. Having two A-ranked militaries on their border that both have poor relations with them, the Koreans haven't ever given up working on their automated defenses. Korean military drones are second to none, and their mine-covered borders seem like something out of the Middle East.

Korea mostly sells its second and third run remote weapons systems all over the world, but it really dumps them in countries that are in conflict with Russia or Japan. In this way it behaves very much like one of the Security Council members, and is in no small part why a lot of people are surprised that Korea is not a member of the Council and Pakistan is. But it's important to stress: Korean drones from two or three years ago are still totally in demand because they better than most other people's drones.

• The Korean government also exports some top notch flame throwers and needle guns. But yes, people mostly want the turrets and spider mines.
• Kerrigan

Vietnam
“You say a grenade didn't solve your problems? Have you tried twenty grenades?”

Vietnam uses its arms industry as a Keynesian economic stability system. When unemployment is high, they automatically order a bunch of guns from KC Arms, putting people to work on a contract basis. When workers become scarce, they cut back on orders. But let's be real here: unemployment is a problem a lot more than overemployment is. So Vietnam has a lot of guns on its hands. And while it seems to actually need them, with being in wars on a near constant basis, even on that basis they have huge weaponry surpluses. And they keep their cashflows positive by selling some of those surpluses to whoever is buying.

Vietnamese arms dealers provide some of the most trusted names in mortars, artillery, and hand delivered explosives on any continent. Lanka and the Caliphate lead the world in suicide bomb technology, but if you're looking for man-portable homicide bombs, the Vietnamese point of origin is a mark of quality. They don't sell to any “Awakened Nations” or NGOs with similar mission statements, but otherwise they are open for business.

Weapons Markets
“There's nothing better for an arms dealer than a combination of disgruntled soldiers and warehouses full of weapons.”

Guns don't just come from the major international dealers of course, there are a number of unscrupulous producers of weapons who unload them for money wherever they can. But whether you're looking for Romanian knock-offs of Russian and Euroguard weapons or Henan replicas of PRC grenade launchers, your best bet is to go to weapons markets that act as clearing houses of gray market weaponry. The most famous weapons markets are Hong Kong, Dubai, and Lagos. But did you know that perhaps equally shady night markets and auction houses are available in Atlanta, Vladivostok, Honolulu, and Ho Chi Minh City? Now many of those operate in countries which are nominally “real” and pay attention to the UN and stuff, which means that the weapons fairs in, for example Atlanta operate under strange legal fictions like pretending that everything being bought and sold is merely “replicas” of functional grenades. But I don't think the Confederate Marshals are paying that one more than lip service. I've never even heard of someone walking out of an Atlanta weapon show with a crate of goods getting those goods tested for being “real”.

• Honolulu is an excellent place to purchase or sell stolen property. It's about as far from vengeful authorities as you can get without going to Lemuria, and it's an island paradise full of mysterious pork substitute and happy endings. Would go again.
• HugMonster

[Username17]

OK, so I've gone through the stuff from Fatum and Diogo a little bit. The Yakut stuff clocks in at nearly 20k words. There's only about 6k on the Aztlan Amazonia war. And those numbers are padded with edit comments that aren't even intended to be in the final draft. Both are pretty rough and would need a lot of polishing. Especially the Russian one, which is a shame because it is also the longest.

I had never intended to do anything more than give excited fanboys some sagely advice and then let them go at it, but I ended up sort of inheriting the entirety of the SEAsia warzone and the whole advanced combat rules. If you guys want, I can cobble some pieces into my work on "other ongoing conflicts" with a section from each to have a bit of a piece on the Amazonia-Aztlan conflict and a bit on the Yakut-Russia conflict. I don't know that there's room in there for 14k words of final draft material on the subject, but I could do that.

Alternately, these things could still be broken off into one or more additional sections if that's what you want to do. I wasn't involved in the early stages and am just seeing this stuff for the first time. How do you want to play it?

-Username17

[Fatum]

Actually, I'd say my draft is at about 30% readiness, topic-coverage-wise (and yeah, obviously, English being my second language, I understand that it's very far from being perfect in a literary style, so there's a lot of work to be done with that, too).

That is, if I write up everything I've planned (which you can see there, in each chapter, written in short in red), it'll be around twice or thrice larger (if not more, since the actual "war" part can be inflated to any imaginable size with shadowtalk).

So, if anyone's interested in the end result, I believe it could become a section (or a booklet, or something) of its own. If not, I'm ready to write up a short facts-only version, without the whole description of Russia in the 70ies, Russian weapons, comprehensive and not self-conflicting Russian history, and such.
My players, for example, were pretty excited about the getting the stuff from the Gear chapter; which kinda makes me wonder if its contents are balanced...

[Orion]

Fatum, when you're happy with the content of the chapter, I can put my BA in literature to work polishing your english, if you'd like.

[Fatum]

Oh, that'd be very nice of you (although, I must warn you, it looks to be a hellish task).

[Lokathor]

Given that the end results will be entirely electronic, there isn't much of a concern about "fitting things in". The bigger concern is keeping it all related to the subject at hand.

Information on the warfare readyness of russia and shadowrunning in russia would be most interesting.

[Fatum]

I'm going strictly by canon sources (ones I am aware of, anyway), unlike some War!-writing jokers. However, I'd say the books are rather concise about Russian situation, and it's not really tied to any large metaplots. So I have to improvise a lot, and sometimes, I'm afraid, go a bit too far; please feel free to point that out :3

[Username17]

I'm going strictly by canon sources (ones I am aware of, anyway), unlike some War!-writing jokers. However, I'd say the books are rather concise about Russian situation, and it's not really tied to any large metaplots. So I have to improvise a lot, and sometimes, I'm afraid, go a bit too far; please feel free to point that out :3

There's a lot of leeway in the Russia situation. The original 1989 timeline called for Eurowars between NATO and the Soviet Union in the 2030s. Obviously that's been backpedaled, but it has been variously presented as there being Neo-Soviets and an aggressively imperialistic regime of Russian kleptocrats like Putin and co.. Obviously those ideas are not completely incompatible, but it's in much more of a "If you talk about it, you have to fix it" situation than the South East Asia section I am working on is. It literally calls for the existence of a fucking Soviet Empire shooting people in the Eurozone and then takes that back and then reinstates it and takes it back again.

Any post hoc rationalization you make is just that: a post hoc rationalization. Personally, I favor a Neo-Soviet Russian movement that is more concerned with reenacting Soviet land holdings than even paying lip service to Soviet economic or social policy. I think that squares the disparate versions best. But honestly since the stuff doesn't add up as-is, you're well within your rights to just flat out ignore some of the shit you don't like. Call it inaccurate reporting or Eurowar hysteria or something.

-Username17

[Username17]

Vehicle Stats
“This is a tree. It will take you from 60 to 0 in zero seconds.”

Vehicles need attributes too. They don't have Agility or Willpower, but there are things about them that make them distinct.

Speed
People rarely push vehicles to their actual maximum speed. And traveling at maximum speed isn't good for vehicles anyway. So the “speed” is simply the highest speed before things start to rattle. Skilled or insane drivers can push vehicles to higher speed by flooring the accelerator or flipping on the afterburners, or whatever it is that their vehicle does to go faster, but for simplicity's sake this absolute maximum is considered to be proportional to the normal speed at which the vehicle can travel.

Acceleration
Acceleration is usually a purely academic concern. It takes you 2 seconds instead of 4 to have to slow down because the guy in front of you has engaged hands-free GridGuide, so what? In a chase across the desert or the ocean, it won't much matter who has the faster acceleration rate, because max speed is pretty much the whole of the answer as to who catches or does not catch whom. But drag racing does exist, and more importantly people chase each other in traffic and confined spaces all the time. In those instances it usually doesn't matter how fast your vehicle could go, it only matters how quickly your vehicle can change speeds.

In heavy traffic or other “tight” terrain, whichever vehicle has the higher Acceleration is considered “faster” during a Chase.

Handling
Different vehicles handle better or worse than others. It's a complex measurement of turning radius, responsiveness, breaking, and gear shifting for land vehicles and even more complex measurements of an airborne vehicle's ability to stay aloft with sudden shifts in direction and speed. Practically however, it's a number that modifies the driver/pilot's dicepools when they are making complex maneuvers or engaged in Chase tests in tight terrain. Handling has no effect at all on how fast your vehicle goes in a straightaway, and does not modify chases in open terrain.

Body
Vehicles roll damage resistance tests too. A vehicle's Body attribute is the number of dice it rolls for that purpose.

Mass
Things which are very big relative to humans are more difficult to destroy with human sized weapons. A vehicle's Mass is subtracted from the damage inflicted upon it in a similar manner that damage is reduced by Hardened Armor.

Mass also affects how much damage the other party receives in a crash.

Armor
Vehicular Armor is hardened by default. If you want to give a vehicle more damage resistance dice, it is usually a good idea to just give it a higher body.

Seating
Seating is simply a measure of how many people can sit in a vehicle and still get seatbelts. Obviously if the passengers are very good friends they can sit on each other's laps. And in large vehicles there may be room to stand if things get desperate. Also seats may become overcrowded if the people involved are 3 meters tall or whatever.

Pilot
Pilot is the measure of the vehicle's ability to operate itself. In the 2070s, most vehicles can drive themselves from point A to point B. These systems aren't actually intelligent and are designed for a vehicle operating under normal circumstances. When a vehicle is damaged, subtract its injury modifier from its Pilot rating. So for example: a vehicle that had suffered Moderate Damage (3 boxes) would have its Pilot reduced by 2, while a vehicle that had suffered Serious Damage (6 boxes) would have its Pilot reduced by 3. A vehicle whose Pilot has been reduced to 0 may still try to drive itself, but will likely as not drive into a wall instead of getting anywhere useful.

It is important to note that the Pilot is not merely a program that tells the vehicle what to do, it is the actual hardware that allows the electronic commands of the software to translate into the vehicle doing real things in real space. The Pilot rating acts as an attribute if the vehicle performs autonomous tasks (using software such as Clearsight and targeting programs as a skill), but the rating itself caps what the vehicle is capable of doing autonomously or under the direction of a rigger.

Pilot	Capabilities
0	Cruise Control
1	Point to point travel with explicit map path or GridGuide support Trigger basic functions such as locks and windshield wipers
2	Sensor assisted navigation in uncontrolled environments Perform strength-requiring functions such as opening doors or targeting weaponry
3	Adjust for the motion of the vehicle in order to utilize devices For example: targeting a weapon while moving
4	Perform functions given symbolically such as going to a place where someone is rather than to a specific coordinate.
5	Perform multiple body problems. For example: firing different weapons at different targets while moving.
6	Classified.

Sensor
The sensory feed at a vehicle's disposal is represented by its Sensor attribute. More than simply duct taping a video camera to the top, the Sensor is a set of hardware that integrates a series of cameras, motion detectors, and whatever other sensory feeds into a coherent picture of how the vehicle is operating and what is around it. Of course, a vehicle can be outfitted with specific sensors that do specific things without adjusting its Sensor Rating. And these additional sensors may or may not be integrated into the vehicle's sensor array and control system. You still totally can duct tape a video recorder to the top of a car if that's what you want to do. However, when a vehicle comes with a sensor rating,you can assume that certain sensory capabilities have already been included based on its rating:

Sensor	Usually Has...
0	Speedometer Fuel Gauge
1	Camera GPS
2	Microphone Motion Detector
3	Sonar System Thermosensor
4	Radar Laser Range Finder
5	Magnetic Analyzer Density Scanner
6	Classified.

Cost
Vehicles below are listed with a cost, but not an availability. The cost is how much a vehicle costs to buy it new from whoever the dealer is. Buying a used or stolen vehicle will obviously cost very much less. In its first year, a vehicle loses 15-20% of its value, and continues to lose value forever, albeit at a slower rate, from that point on (assuming that it is still running at all). If a vehicle continues to be serviceable and kept in very good condition for 40 to 50 years, it becomes a “classic” and suddenly becomes valuable again, but that is not something that is worth thinking about over the course of a Shadowrun game. A vehicle's value to a chop shop is usually about 7% of its purchase price (which is by the way, what a chop shop in 2011 in Prague will pay for a new stolen car).

Due to the nature of vehicles and how they go on roads and get checked regularly by GridGuide and all that, there really isn't the kind of shadow market that there is for other equipment that Shadowrunners use. There is no “availability” rating for vehicles. You either find a seller for whatever it is you're looking for or you don't.

[Diogo Salazar]

About the Amazonian stuff I think I can add more things to it. How many words you think is ok? 10k?

What about Maracaibo? Since it was a single city I didn't delve too much into it like people did with Bogota, but I think I can add more stuff there too.

[Username17]

OK, here are the rules for some of your favorite crazy weapons. Even that ended up with a slightly smaller "kill radius" and slightly larger "casualty radius" than a real frag grenade - but it's only 1 meter in either direction so I think it's probably good enough.

Special Weapon Systems

Lasers
While photopressure exists, from a practical standpoint a laser weapon is recoilless. The Strength requirement of a laser weapon does not increase when it is fired on automatic firing modes. These are beam weapons, so there aren't literally dozens of little pellets of light. The firing modes of FA and HV actually refer to your ability to move the beam into and across targets. Laser weapons are not considered “normal weapons” and creatures with Immunity to Normal Weapons have no special resistance. Laser beams travel from the weapon to the target at the speed of light, and their “time of flight” is essentially zero at any distance combat takes place in that is not in space. Lasers use sniper rifle range, but extreme range is line of sight. Laser weapons are at a disadvantage in areas of fog, smoke, or other light-obscuring medium. In light fog/rain/mist/smoke, reduce the damage of the laser by 1 for each range increment beyond short. In heavy fog/rain/mist/smoke, reduce the damage of the laser by 2 for each range increment beyond short. If the base damage is reduced to zero in this way, the laser is ineffective.

Flame Weapons
Flame throwers project and ignite fuel (usually in liquid or powdered form). This generally comes out of an adjustable nozzle, and can come out as a cone or a stream. This is treated as Full Auto, but the adjustment of the nozzle determines which Full Auto option is used. So a user must use a change firing mode action to use a wide burst if their last attack was a walking fire action. Flame thrower streams expand to fill available space, and essentially ignore cover entirely. Literally seeing the target is not especially necessary, and the penalties for obscured visibility are halved when using a flame weapon. Flamethrower fuel used in the 2070s is pretty sticky, and anyone hit by it will catch on fire. The scenery around the flame thrower operator and target can be expected to catch fire too.

Electrical Weapons
Tasers and other shock weaponry have the ability to temporarily scramble things which require organized electrical impulses to function properly. That includes most machines and living creatures with a functional nervous system. Which means it includes metahumans and their drones, but not spirits or trees. Electrical weapons do Normal damage (which is not very effective against non-living targets), but a susceptible target must resist damage a second time, with the second soak causing no actual damage but paralyzing the target for a number of rounds equal to the amount of wound boxes that would have been filled in. The second soak test has a base damage 2 more than the base damage of the electrical weapon, but is not increased by net hits from the attack roll. The target also gets to add their Willpower to the soak test's dicepool. Note that drones don't have any Willpower and are often reset for several rounds by heavy shocks.

Explosives
Explosions from things like grenades and plastique are different from bullets in ways that make them difficult to model as instantaneous attacks of fixed strength. An explosion is not dependent upon an attack roll by any specific person. A highly agile demolitionist does not inflict any more damage than a clumsy one once the explosion goes off. Explosions also do not “miss” characters in their blast radius, and there are no defense rolls permitted. Each explosion rolls 4 dice as an “attack roll” against everything within their blast radius, with each hit raising the damage before soak. However, 0 hits is not a miss, it is simply adding 0 to the base damage. Explosions attenuate with distance, with every doubling of the distance from the target to the explosion reducing the base damage by 1.5 (round reduction down), with the initial damage being good out to 2 meters. If the base damage is reduced to 0 or less, the explosion does nothing at all and does not stage itself up. Explosives can also be stacked virtually limitlessly. If you use three times as many explosives (such as using a burst of grenades or mortar shells), the base damage is increased by 1 (and the blast radius expanded appropriately).

Distance	Damage
0-2m	Base
2-4m	-1
4-8m	-3
8-16m	-4
16-32m	-6
32-64m	-7
64-128m	-9
...	...

Cover is very effective against explosives. The cover modifier is subtracted from the dice the explosion rolls to stage itself up, and an equal number of dice is added to the target's soak roll. If characters are aware of the danger and in heavy cover, they may make a Defense Roll, with the hits being added directly to their soak roll (the explosion still does not “miss”). Modern armor is also very effective at dealing with blasts, and the Coverage of the armor is added to armor rating of the armor (up to a maximum of doubling the armor's protective value). If the armor is Hardened, the increase from the armor's Coverage is also Hardened.

• Example: Simba is caught with his figurative (but not literal) pants down as a frag grenade lands 10 meters away from his position. The fragmentation grenade has a base damage of 5, but at 10 meters out the base damage is reduced to 1. The grenade rolls 4 dice and scores 2 hits, so Simba must soak 3 damage. Fortunately Simba is wearing armor clothing. That has an armor of 3 and a coverage of 2 so it provides a total of 5 soak dice. Combined with his own 5 soak dice from his own strength, he rolls 10 dice, and gets 3 hits. The unsoaked damage is 0 and Simba is not wounded. The guard dog closer to the center was less lucky – being within 2 meters of the blast, the dog was confronted with 7 damage, and with no pants to save it, the dog is chunky salsa.

[Username17]

Grenade Launchers & Mortars
Weapon Name	Damage	AP	Mode	Ammo	Skill	Strength	Availability	Cost
Ares Antioch-2	Grenade	Grenade	SS	8 (m)	Heavy Weapons (Grenade Launcher)	3	8F	600¥
ArmTech MGL-6	Grenade	Grenade	SA	6 (c)	Heavy Weapons (Grenade Launcher)	5	10F	1500¥
ArmTech MGL-12	Grenade	Grenade	SA	6 (c)	Heavy Weapons (Grenade Launcher)	4	10F	2000¥
Enfield GL-67	Grenade	Grenade	SS	20 (d)	Heavy Weapons (Grenade Launcher)	3	14F	4000¥
M-12 Portable Mortar	Mortar	Mortar	SS	1	Heavy Weapons (Grenade Launcher)	-	16F	2250¥
IRA Remote Mortar	Mortar	Mortar	SA/BF	10 (m)	Gunnery (Artillery)	-	20F	5000¥
Vehicular Weaponry
Weapon Name	Damage	AP	Mode	Ammo	Skill	Strength	Availability	Cost
Ares Firelance (laser)	8	-half	HV	500 (battery) External power source	Heavy Weapons (Machine Guns) Gunnery (Energy Weapons)	-	25F	400000¥
Ares Fogger Glop Cannon	special	-	SA	50 (belt)	Heavy Weapons (Assault Cannon) Gunnery (Artillery)	-	15R	10000¥
AZT Itzcoatl Gauss Cannon	12	-8	SS	50 (belt) +external power source	Heavy Weapons (Assault Cannon) Gunnery (Ballistic)	-	30F	600000¥
Fleche Barrage Rocket Launcher	Rocket	Rocket	Special	20	Heavy Weapons (Rocket) Gunnery (Rocket)	-	25F	20000¥
GE Vigilant Light Autocannon	7	-3	FA/HV	200 (belt)	Heavy Weapons (Machine Gun) Gunnery (Ballistic)	-	15F	10000¥
GE Vanquisher Heavy Autocanon	8	-4	FA/HV	200 (belt)	Heavy Weapons (Machine Gun) Gunnery (Ballistic)	-	20F	20000¥
GM Light Cannon	9	-6	SS	50 (belt)	Heavy Weapons (Assault Cannon) Gunnery (Ballistic)	-	18F	50000¥
GM Heavy Cannon	11	-7	SS	50 (belt)	Heavy Weapons (Assault Cannon) Gunnery (Ballistic)	-	22F	100000¥
Lone Star FlashFlood Water Cannon	3N	-half	FA	200 (tank) external water source	Heavy Weapons (Machine Gun) Gunnery (Artillery)	-	10R	5000¥
Shiawase Microwave Cannon	Special	-half	HV	200 (battery) external power source	Heavy Weapons (Machine Gun) Gunnery (Energy Weapons)	-	20R	25000¥
SK Taurus Gauss Cannon	10	-8	SS	50 (belt) +external power source	Heavy Weapons (Assault Cannon) Gunnery (Ballistic)	-	25F	200000¥
Winter Systems Mercury Laser	10	-half	HV	external power source	Heavy Weapons (Machine Guns) Gunnery (Energy Weapons)	-	30F	1000000¥
KC-Arms 155 Howitzer	Mortar	Mortar	SS	10 (m)	Heavy Weapons (Grenade Launchers) Gunnery (Artillery)	-	20F	120000¥

[Username17]

Africa
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
Adal	E	D	F	C	D	B	C	C	E
Anyi	F	D	E	D	E	F	E	E	T
Asamando	D	C	B	D	D	E	C	A	C
Asante	F	D	C	E	D	F	E	D	T
Azanian Federation	C	B	B	B	C	C	C	B	B
Bangalla	F	E	C	E	F	E	C	A	F
Benin	F	D	D	E	E	E	E	C	F
Central African Empire	E	B	E	B	F	B	E	B	E
Congo	D	D	B	C	E	F	F	B	T
East African Protectorate	C	B	C	B	C	A	A	A	B
Ethiopia	E	D	E	C	D	C	D	B	D
Ifni	D	D	E	D	D	E	E	C	D
Ivory Coast	E	D	D	D	D	E	E	D	T
Kamen Bornu	D	E	F	D	F	F	E	D	T
Kitara	D	C	B	D	F	E	F	A	C
Luanda	D	C	E	C	D	C	E	C	C
Madagascar	D	B	C	D	B	B	C	B	T
Mali	F	D	D	E	E	F	F	D	F
Mutapa	E	D	C	D	D	E	E	D	E
Nigeria	D	C	E	B	C	B	A	C	C
Oyo	F	D	D	D	F	E	E	E	F
Presteria	F	E	E	E	F	E	C	D	F
Sheba	F	B	E	B	E	C	D	E	E
Somaliland	E	D	D	D	D	F	B	A	T
Songhai	F	D	C	D	D	D	D	C	E
Tanganyika	E	C	D	C	D	C	C	B	D
Tuareg	F	E	E	D	F	F	E	D	F
Tutsitia	E	D	D	D	F	E	D	C	E
Zanzibar	E	C	E	D	C	D	C	C	E

[Username17]

The Yakut armed forces are still in red text, so I just put them in the chart as I imagine them to be. If anyone is working on the landwar in Asia bit, I haven't heard about it. So here is my list of countries from South America and East Asia:

South America
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
Amazonia	A	A	A	A	A	C	C	A	A
Argentina	D	C	D	C	C	C	B	C	D
Bolivia	E	C	E	D	E	A	D	C	D
Chile	D	B	D	B	D	C	C	B	D
Ecuador	F	D	D	D	E	E	E	C	E
Paraguay	F	D	E	E	F	E	D	D	F
Peru	D	C	E	B	C	C	D	C	D
Uruguay	F	D	D	D	D	E	C	B	F
Val Verde	F	D	E	D	E	E	D	D	F
East Asia
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
Canton Confederation	C	B	D	B	C	B	C	D	C
Formosa	C	B	E	B	B	C	B	B	B
Gansu	E	D	D	C	F	F	D	C	T
Guangxi	E	D	E	D	D	D	E	D	T
Henan	C	D	D	D	F	C	E	D	D
Imperial Japan	A	A	B	A	A	A	A	C	A
Imperial China	D	C	E	B	F	A	D	C	D
Korea	A	B	D	A	A	A	A	B	A
Manchuria	D	D	B	C	D	F	E	A	T
Ningxia	E	A	F	A	F	C	A	B	D
Shaanxi	C	B	C	A	F	A	A	C	B
Sichuan	B	C	B	C	F	D	D	C	B
Yakut	D	E	C	E	E	F	F	A	E
Zhejiang	D	D	D	B	B	C	B	C	D

[Username17]

Here's a different section of the chart. Europe and South Asia are in, so I just clipped the whole section rather than taking them out individually.

South Asia
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
Assam	E	D	C	E	F	E	D	C	D
Bahmani	D	D	E	D	D	E	D	D	D
Bihar	B	D	E	E	F	F	F	E	E
Goa	F	C	E	D	C	C	D	D	F
Gujarat	C	C	D	B	B	C	B	C	C
Khalistan	E	D	F	E	F	F	F	E	F
Mysore	E	C	D	D	B	C	D	C	D
Nagaland	E	E	C	F	F	F	E	B	E
Nepal	D	B	D	D	F	C	E	C	D
Orissa	D	D	B	D	C	D	E	D	E
Pakistan	B	B	E	A	B	A	D	D	B
Sri Lanka	C	D	B	D	D	C	C	C	C
United Bengal	C	C	D	B	A	C	D	B	B
Vijayanagar	A	A	D	A	A	C	B	B	A
Southeast Asia
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
Cambodia	D	C	E	C	C	C	B	B	D
Chin	F	E	D	E	F	F	D	D	E
Hainan	F	B	E	A	B	A	B	A	D
Karen	F	E	C	F	F	E	E	E	F
Laos	E	D	D	E	F	E	E	F	E
Malaysia	D	B	D	D	D	B	A	C	D
Montagnard Confederation	E	F	A	F	F	F	F	A	T
Myanmar	C	E	D	D	D	C	C	C	T
Nag Kampuchea	D	F	B	E	F	F	F	B	T
Pattani	F	E	E	E	E	C	C	D	T
Shan	E	D	D	D	F	E	E	E	T
Siam	C	C	E	D	C	B	A	C	C
Singapore	F	A	D	E	E	E	B	D	F
Vietnam	A	C	D	B	A	A	B	B	B
Yunnan	E	E	C	B	F	D	C	A	T
Central Asia
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
Abkhaz	F	D	E	E	F	E	E	E	F
Afghanistan	D	D	E	D	F	F	E	D	T
Georgia	E	D	F	C	D	E	C	C	E
Mongolia	E	B	C	E	F	C	D	C	E
Russia	A	A	D	A	A	A	A	B	A
Tibet	F	F	A	F	F	E	F	F	E
Tuva	F	C	C	E	F	C	E	D	F
Turkestan	C	C	D	B	F	A	B	B	C
Europe
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
AGS	C	A	E	A	D	C	B	D	C
Albania	F	D	E	E	E	D	E	C	F
Austria	E	C	D	C	F	D	E	B	D
Bosnia	F	D	E	E	F	F	E	D	F
Croatia	F	D	D	E	E	D	E	E	F
Czchoslovakia	E	C	B	B	F	E	C	C	E
Dalmatia	F	E	C	F	E	F	E	C	F
France	C	A	D	A	A	B	B	B	B
Greece	D	D	C	D	D	D	C	B	D
Hungary	C	C	D	B	F	D	D	C	C
Italy	C	B	D	B	C	D	D	B	C
Lithuania	D	C	D	D	D	C	C	B	D
Macedonian Republic	F	E	D	D	F	F	E	C	F
Macedonian Federation	F	D	E	E	E	E	E	D	F
Malta	F	E	D	F	E	E	E	D	F
Moldavia	E	D	D	E	E	F	F	D	E
Monaco	F	F	C	F	F	D	B	B	F
Navarre	F	E	E	E	F	E	D	C	F
Ottoman Empire	B	B	E	C	A	C	B	B	B
Poland	C	C	E	C	D	D	D	B	C
Portugal	E	D	D	C	B	C	D	C	E
Ragusa	F	E	D	A	E	E	E	A	E
Romania	D	C	B	B	D	C	D	A	C
Ruthenia	D	B	E	B	D	E	C	B	D
Scandinavian Union	F	A	D	A	B	B	A	B	E
Serbia	D	D	D	D	F	C	B	B	D
Slovenia	F	D	D	D	E	E	C	D	F
SOX	F	F	C	F	F	F	F	A	T
Spain	D	C	E	C	C	D	D	C	D
Switzerland	C	C	D	C	F	C	B	B	C
Tir na nOg	F	E	B	E	E	F	E	D	F
United Kingdom	C	B	C	A	A	A	D	B	B
United Netherlands	E	A	D	A	A	C	A	C	D

[Username17]

This section includes the major corporations with standing armies. If I left out your favorite corp, I can probably squeeze them in. I think Gunderson's and CROSS' armies have been dispersed, so they aren't on the chart.

Middle East
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
Algeria									E
Arabian Caliphate	A	C	E	B	C	A	C	D	A
Egypt	B	D	E	B	D	C	B	C	C
Israel	C	B	D	A	D	B	B	B	B
Kurdistan	E	D	C	E	F	E	E	D	T
Morocco	E	D	E	D	E	F	E	E	F
Palestine	F	E	E	F	F	F	F	D	F
Persia	B	C	E	B	B	C	B	B	B
Tunis	E	D	D	E	E	E	D	C	E
Oceania
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
Australia	C	B	E	B	B	C	C	C	C
Bali	E	D	C	E	E	E	E	D	F
Dayak Council	B	D	C	D	D	F	F	D	T
Javan Republic	C	D	D	D	C	E	D	C	D
Kingdom of Hawaii	F	C	C	D	C	A	C	C	E
Lemuria	E	A	D	A	A	E	C	A	D
Micronesian Federation	F	E	E	E	E	D	D	E	F
New Zealand	E	B	E	C	B	B	C	B	E
Papua	E	D	E	E	E	E	D	C	F
Philippines	C	D	E	C	D	E	E	D	E
Samoa	F	E	C	E	C	F	D	D	F
Sumatran Alliance	B	D	E	D	B	E	E	C	C
Tasmania	F	B	E	D	D	C	C	C	F
Timor	F	E	C	F	D	D	D	B	F
NGO: Corporate Entities
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
Ares	C	A	B	A	A	A	C	B	A
Aztechnology	B	A	A	A	A	A	B	B	A
Eastern Tiger	E	C	C	B	D	D	B	D	D
EVO	C	B	B	A	B	A	C	B	B
ESPRIT	D	A	D	A	A	C	B	B	B
Horizon	E	E	D	B	E	B	A	A	E
Ifrit Services	D	D	B	D	A	F	C	A	C
Khouang Combine	C	C	E	B	D	C	D	D	C
KITT	C	D	D	D	E	D	C	C	D
MCT	D	A	B	B	A	C	A	C	B
Monobe	E	B	D	D	B	D	D	B	D
NeoNET	E	C	B	A	C	B	A	A	D
Proteus	D	A	E	A	A	A	C	D	C
Renraku	D	B	D	B	B	B	A	D	C
Saeder-Krupp	C	A	B	A	A	A	B	A	A
Sandstorm EC	D	C	E	A	B	C	C	A	B
Shiawase	C	A	D	A	A	A	A	B	A
Shibata	E	A	E	A	B	A	C	B	C
ShinSiam	E	D	E	D	E	B	A	E	E
Universal Omnitech	C	A	E	C	A	A	B	C	B
Vedacorp	C	C	B	C	D	D	C	D	C
Wuxing	D	C	B	A	A	C	C	D	C
Yakashima	D	D	C	D	D	C	D	D	D
Zeta Imp-Chem	E	C	E	C	C	F	C	D	E

[Username17]

NGO: Policlubs
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
Alamos 20000	F	E	C	F	F	E	C	D	T
Antifa	E	E	D	E	E	E	C	B	T
Apep Consortium	F	E	B	F	E	D	C	B	E
Aristocrat League	F	C	D	C	F	C	D	F	T
Atlantean Foundation	F	E	B	E	E	F	C	B	E
Children of the Dragon	D	E	B	E	F	F	E	B	T
The Enclave	F	F	D	D	A	F	C	B	T
Fourth Reich	E	A	D	D	C	D	E	F	D
Green War	E	B	C	E	B	E	C	B	T
Human Nation	C	D	E	C	E	F	D	E	T
Knights Templar	F	A	B	D	D	D	C	A	E
Lincoln Brigade	F	C	D	B	E	E	C	B	F
Middle Kingdom	D	E	D	D	F	D	F	F	D
New Islamic Jihad	A	D	F	B	C	F	E	F	T
New Revolution	D	C	E	A	A	B	D	E	D
Red Star Faction	E	C	E	B	C	F	E	F	T
Terra First	F	E	C	F	D	E	C	B	T
Universal Brotherhood	E	F	B	F	E	F	F	D	T

[Username17]

OK, Mercenary groups are the most open of all. Mostly the books don't even bother mentioning which mercenary armies are acting, only that some are being hired. Also, I'm sure I'm missing some. So if you want some extras included, I can swing that.

NGO: Mercenary Armed Forces
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
10,000 Daggers	F	C	C	C	E	F	C	B	E
Black Flag Operations	F	D	D	F	C	F	E	D	F
Black Star	F	A	C	D	C	F	C	B	E
Combat Inc.	E	B	D	B	F	F	E	D	E
Extreme Measures	E	D	E	C	C	A	D	A	C
False Flag Holdings	F	C	E	C	F	F	E	C	F
Last Resort Corporation	F	C	F	E	F	F	E	C	F
MET2000	E	A	D	C	C	C	C	B	D
Military Intervention Systems	F	D	F	B	F	F	E	B	F
Optimal Solutions Services	E	C	D	C	F	F	B	B	E
Tsunami	D	C	D	D	D	F	D	C	D
Yǎnjìngshé	D	A	C	A	B	B	B	A	C

[CatharzGodfoot]

Holy shit. That must have been a pain in the ass to do.


Also, I like the energy weapons writeup. The change in damage rules meshes nicely with explosives.

[Username17]

Holy shit. That must have been a pain in the ass to do.

Oh yeah. I noticed that I hadn't even posted the North America section, here it is:

North America
Organization	Personnel	Mechanization	Magic	Air	Naval	Space	Matrix	Modernization	Overall
Algonquian-Manitou Council	F	D	C	D	F	D	D	B	E
Athabaskan Council	F	D	C	E	C	E	C	B	E
Aztlan	A	B	A	A	A	A	A	B	A
California Free State	E	D	E	D	D	C	B	B	E
Caribbean League	D	B	C	D	A	D	B	C	T
CAS	B	C	E	B	A	A	C	D	B
Denver	F	D	B	B	F	F	F	C	F
PCC	D	C	C	B	A	B	A	B	C
Quebec	E	C	D	B	D	C	D	B	D
Salish-Sidhe Council	E	C	C	C	D	D	D	C	D
Sioux	D	B	C	B	F	C	C	B	C
Tir Tairngire	E	C	B	C	D	D	E	D	E
Trans-Polar Aleut	E	C	A	B	A	B	C	A	C
UCAS	B	A	D	A	A	A	A	B	A

Note: I'm lumping Tsimshian in with Salish-Sidhe and Thule in with Transpolar Aleut.

Also, I like the energy weapons writeup. The change in damage rules meshes nicely with explosives.

It made me incredibly happy when I realized that with ideal explosive combination, it regressed to a little more than 2.5 times the explosives to add 1 to the power. Round it up to account for destructive interference or whatever and magically the math on grenade bursts became easy instead of intractable.

The next stupid gigantic chart I need are the vehicles. Serious question: what units would people like for Acceleration? It sounds stupid, because Acceleration is meters per second squared. But no one actually uses them in that form. A more useful (if potentially confusing) unit would be meters per round - as in literally how many extra meters you would travel if you started accelerating during a round (which would actually 4.5 times the meters per second number). Another useful measure would be simply how many seconds it took to reach the vehicle's maximum speed or some fixed speed (which is how car magazines measure acceleration).

-Username17

[Sir Neil]

While 0 to ... 97 km/h would be best for in-universe conversation, meters per round are the most useful in game. I'd go with them.

[Username17]

Cambodian Analysis
“On the other hand gentlemen, what if we threw a war and everybody came?”
Posted by: OrbSpider

• Possibly unsurprisingly, the Cambodian government relies on ESPRIT Industries to provide intelligence contractors. We'll be looking at a scenario for 'total war on the Nag Kampuchean borders' that was found on an ESPRIT 'secure' site in Montreal. Some analyst drew this up about a year ago, so some of it is out of date, but much of the prognostication has held up pretty well. ESPRIT Intelligence has a lot of scenarios coming out of the Prognostication Engine, and a lot of them are “worst cases”, so don't get too excited about conspiracy theories involving the death of Vasuki. To put things in perspective, here were the other scenarios that were put up on that server that day:
  • War over Suez between EVO and Sandstorm EC fought with Greece and Egypt as primary respective proxies.
  • Sichuan attempts to reform Shu, invades Yunan. Historical enemies of Shu Henan (Wei) and Canton Confederation (Wu) intervene.
  • New Orleans dissidents revolt and attempt to join the Caribbean League.
  • Ruthenia cuts off gas pipeline to Poland. Russia and Poland invade Ruthenia.
  • Malagasy pirates begin attacks on Goa. Vedacorp assumes anti-pirate functions in Goan waters.
  • Aztlan nukes Denver. PCC and CAS go to war with Aztlan.
  • Pyongyang Accords collapse. Nag Kampuchea, Siam, Cambodia, and the Montagnard Confederation go to war.
  • Mineral deposits confirmed in Congo, DBUO and S-K go to war with Azania and Kitara as primary respective proxies.
  • United Kingdom invades northern Tír na nÓg.
  • NIJ declares intifada on the western Hindu region of United Bengal.
  • Cod War VII breaks out between the fishers of the Thule Protectorate and Gaeatronics over the extent of fishing rights in the Atlantic.
  • Spain and France invade each other over annexation of Navarre.
  • Hungary invades Balkans to protect Christians from Ottomans. Ottoman Empire invades Balkans to protect Muslims from Hungarians.
• Orb Spider
• I'd love to see that last one, because I think that actually happened too.
• RingMaster

The Pyongyang Accords are an inherently fragile process that stalled almost as soon as the digital signatures were submitted. None of the principal players are particularly happy with the terms or the borders presently in place. It is reasonable to assume that a 'bloody shirt' of any sort raised by any party could collapse any portion of the Accords, up to and including the entire process. We must b prepared for war to break out along any border or all regional borders simultaneously. The first thing to consider are points of contention: places that one or more faction may hope to conquer or destroy in an upcoming war. The second agenda item is practical capabilities: the likely points and methods of invasion based on interested parties ability to do so. And finally, it falls on us to consider our own profit potential, both in terms of financial gain but also in global relative prestige.

• Why is he using finger quotes on 'bloody shirt?
• Groatster
• It's the practice of whipping up hysteria by drawing attention to the deaths of martyrs. So for example: Vasuki's death provided Nag Kampuchea a 'bloody shirt'. And they've been waving it around quite a bit.
• RageX

Points of Contention

It is no secret that Cambodia and Nag Kampuchea both claim to speak for all Khmer people and each hold it as self evident that they should be given 100% of the other's territory. But analysis indicates that there are much more specific goals that each country has, which would allow them to easily claim victory in any skirmish.

Roanapur
The city of Roanapur is one of the largest Khmer cities in the world and potentially one of the best medium freighter ports in the Gulf of Siam. It would be the second most powerful and influential city in any Khmer country it was in – but it is not in a Khmer country, it is in Siam. Back when Siam was still Thailand there was a couple abortive attempts by the military regime to murder all the civilians in Roanapur, so it can be assumed that any foreign power that took the city would be greeted as liberators. The creation of a proposed rail line connecting Roanapur and Phumi To Suk in Cambodia would effectively make Roanapur a part of Cambodia in all but name.

Angkor
The city of Angkor is the capital city of Nag Kampuchea, and it is home to the most famous and sacred temple of Buddhism: Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat was featured on the flag of Cambodia until 2067. Angkor Wat now is featured on the flag on Nag Kampuchea. It is commonly thought that Nag Kampuchea cannot exist without Angkor, and it would be expected to fight to the last snake to preserve its ownership. The presence of the sacred temples makes direct strikes by Siam or Cambodia essentially unthinkable, but surrounding it and cutting it off seems to be highly desirable to any of Nag Kampuchea's enemies.

Boeng Pae Forest
Just on the other side of the border from Cambodia, the Nag Kampuchean region of Boeng Pae is a den of serpents and banditry. The area has much better connection to Cambodia than it does to the rest of Nag Kampuchea, and the Naga essentially do not police it at all. The result is a steady series of insults, skirmishes, smuggling, and raiding from the forest into Northern Cambodia. It is inconceivable that conflict could erupt without impacting Boeng Pae Forest.

Tonie Sap
The border between Nag Kampuchea and Cambodia runs straight through the Tonie Sap lake, with Angkor itself resting on the Northern shore. Nag Kampuchea understandably feels threatened by Cambodia having patrol boats on the lake, and would like nothing more than to seize the far shore of the lake and the dense forests on the Southern shore.

Lam Nang Rong Dam
Just over the border from Nag Kampuchea, the Siamese have a hydroelectric station. They generate a fair amount of power with it and decide when water does and does not go into Nag Kampuchea. This can seriously impact Phanom Rung, but beyond that the snakes want the electric power even if they don't admit it.

Phanom Rung
The extinct volcano that the Phanom Rung temple complex rests in has become a major seat of Nag Kampuchean strength, and is the regional capital of Burirum. Burirum of course used to be Siamese, and the province continues to have the highest ethnic Siamese component in Nag Kampuchea. The Siamese definitely want to take Phanom Rung.

Practical Concerns

The different armies have different strengths and weaknesses, and can be expected to handle different situations differently.

The Royal Armed Forces of Siam
In the years following the ousting of the Thai military junta in 2066, the military received substantial cuts in funding and a substantial purging of the officer corps by the new regime. After the 2069 incursions by Trollish Myanmar into the former Burmese province of Thaninthayi, military expenditures skyrocketed, and a substantial recruitment drive began. What the Siamese military has in numbers and equipment, they make up for in a lack of training and experience. Of the 350,000 men and women in the Siamese armed forces, less than 80,000 have more than 4 years of experience. The Royal Armed Forces of Siam are divided into five sections which each have their own command structure.

As a result of their newly acquired military expansion, Siam has military bases almost completely surrounding Nag Kampuchea, and they can attack from any direction. The most likely points of invasion would be from their bases in Kho Wang and Huai Thalaeng. Siam's airforce is composed primarily of old Japanese equipment, which can bomb at will in Nag Kampuchea or the Montagnard Confederation, but is badly outclassed by Cambodia's modern fighters. Any invasion of Cambodian territory would likely have to go the naval route, as the combination of air inferiority and the harsh terrain in Western Cambodia would make a poor situation for a land attack.

Naga Raja's Guard
The princes command disparate units of nagas and humans and have different tactics and supply chains. They also are heavily dependent upon deeply personal sorcerous powers that many naga develop. Practically speaking, this means that any large scale operations are a complete mess and virtually predestined to failure. But it also makes them very good at sabotage, skirmishes, and raiding. The naga are also partially aquatic as a species, so the forces should be considered to be entirely composed of brown water naval forces. Without the cover of heavy terrain, naga forces would be easy to pick off from far away, but in the dense canopy of jungle or within the protective embrace of murky river water, a naga can be considered more than the equal of even a well armed metahuman.

Of highest priority for naga attacks would be fixed positions that are on or near water. Initial hostilities against Siam would be the Lam Nang Rong dam, as it could be used to change the course of water in the West and potentially put their soldiers at a disadvantage. Initial hostilities against Cambodia would be expected to be at Battambang.

• Good call. Naga forces power balled sections of the dam to slag within hours of the announcement of Vasuki's death.
• ToyBox

Montagnard Confederation.
The Montagnards have little organization and poor equipment. However, their forest gods are very powerful – in the forest. It is our belief that the Montagnards are already overextended into Siamese farmlands, and that they would be unable to hold what they have on that border if it came to war. The situation on the Cambodian border is more attractive for them, as there are still places the jungle extends that they don't control. Expect Montagnard guerrillas to come over the border into Cambodia at the first sign of weakness.

• Right again. The servants of the elephant beasts were trashing up the place just two days after war was declared by Nag Kampuchea against Cambodia.
• Simba
• Makes me want to read their Balkan assessment even more.
• RingMaster

The Royal Armed Services of Cambodia
Cambodia's armed forces are magically deficient. A substantial fraction of awakened metahumans in Cambodia either defect to Nag Kampucha or drop out of the draft pool entirely by becoming monks. Historically, monks have been allowed to avoid military service, and there is no sign of the present administration removing that protection. Cambodia has an overall weaker army than Nag Kampuchea or Siam, but the air force is superior to either. Territorial gains can be made, but only with close air support paving the way.

• Is it pure cynicism on my part that I find it funny that ESPRIT, supplier of Cambodia's military aircraft, is stressing the idea that what Cambodia needs to win the war is... aircraft?
• Rataxes
• Yes. But I think I may have same cynicism.
• Solution

• OK, what is going on in that map?
• Groatster
• Good question. I think that the various flags are identified military bases of the appropriate countries. And the color splashes are projected invasion routes. But I find it difficult to imagine that Nag Kampuchea has no military bases in the Northeast.
• Green Ring
• Close. My bet is that the flags actually represent rally points for invasion forces. Siam and Cambodia have rally points in the interior of their countries because they have air forces, and can seriously conduct attacks from there. Montagnard and Naga forces have to walk or slither, so they are always going to be attacking from near the border.
• Rataxes

Making a Profit

Financial Profit Maximization

Risk Minimization

Positional Improvement

Reputation Protection

• Sorry kids, that's all we got. The links to the profit making sections go to an accounting server, which is totally different from the military analysis server. Sorry, our hackers are good, but not that good. They still only hack one access key at a time.
• Orb Spider
• You should get me to do it next time.
• Green Ring
• But there are supposed to be survivors.
• Orb Spider

[Fatum]

Uh, since when is Tuva its own country? Or Belorussia renamed Ruthenia?
Also, you'd think that a magocratic Yakut society'd have Magic a bit higher. I'm planning to make their magic and paranimals the basis of their fighting force, since in sheer numbers and tech development they hardly can stand up to Russia.

Also also, posted a bit of edits in my draft, into the Game Info chapter. Some new firearm accessories, military equipment (mostly explosives blatantly copied from RL), a single land vehicle (smoke screen deployer, again, RL prototype exists), an armoured train, some aircraft, a single vehicle upgrade to account for nanowarfare, a tacnet software option for wide front warfare, and a lone naval strike copter description.

All still yet without stats, since I mostly write those during transit or on my strictly offline workplace, and importing tables from MS Word to Google Docs just doesn't work for me.

Please let me know what you think if you read all that gibberish :3