Mantido

The Age of Steam

WilsonTurner said
And nothing will do me any favors, regardless of what I do. I make a character that trained well over two decades in anything that has a blade, and suddenly I can't beat a 15-year-old with a bladed stick. What I say doesn't do crap. I just keep saying because eventually, someone will listen to me about SOMETHING. Almost everything I say goes into the 'denied,' 'ignored,' or 'absolutely rejected' categories. I'm just stubborn enough to hope that maybe someday, I'll say something that'll please somebody.

I don't feel that this is relevant in any way. You made a bad suggestion that did not fit the setting or what the other players were doing, and it was treated as what it was. This is not tied into a roleplay with other players and GMed by someone else. Do not make a mass of bad suggestions, concentrate on making a few of your suggestions good. You will not get far with me, or many others, by living by the phrase ,,A broken clock is right twice a day’’. I think you'll find it will help your case immeasurably if you change this attitude.

The Age of Steam

WilsonTurner said
The US plant was an imported crop from England. Originally, it was supposed to be another crop, like corn or something. Then Colonel Johnson, the guy who really started importing it, planted it everywhere... and it just spread. Everywhere.

I don't think anyone cares. The verdict has been handed down. Drop the grass subject, I doubt it will do you any favors to keep talking about it.

The Age of Steam

Side note: since I had one trait point left over I didn't know about, I removed Never Been Out of the Village. Thanks, Gowia!

The Age of Steam

First off, could I have like a huge chunk of the south? I can rewrite some of the geography stuff. Seriously, huge chunk. This is Russia we're talking about.

Commodore Robot said
Just to weigh in on the musket rifle thing, am I wrong in assuming our time period here? I've been assuming that breechloading cartridge rifles would be the go-to for modern militaries as opposed to muzzle-loaders of any type. Is this 1870s steampunk or like 1840s steampunk I guess is what I'm asking.

I was going to say the same thing. For their muzzle-loadering rifles (which were standard issue at this point), the British had been using paper cartridges with the ball lubed in (I believe) a mixture of pork and beef grease to lessen the reload time even decades before. Even if we were doing the 1840s you had weapons like the Dreyse needle gun, which, although very rare and expensive, were bolt-action breach-loaders. We're hardly any time away from the widespread advent of bolt-action guns anyway.Hell, I believe the first officially-adopted bolt-action rifle that fired more than one round before a reload was a modification of the existing French bolt-action rifle, the Chassepot, in 1874. It was also standard-issue I believe. They gave it an integrated magazine, which meant there was no reloading in between shots. You just had to work the bolt, which for a very experienced and very rushed soldat could take right around one second.

The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) demonstrated how obsolete line infantry was at this point, in part because of the advent of bolt-action rifles. Line infantry was becoming obsolete as far back as the Crimean War (1853-1856) and the American Civil War (1861-1865) in which line infantry tactics were used only for the death count to be astounding. The advent of indirect fire artillery also played a huge part in the rapdily-changing face of warfare, which is in part why my nation is going to be focusing a whoooole lot on artillery. Massive guns (at least eventually), and with the Bureau of Chemical Science I mentioned in my description, more reliable and powerful propellants. Erste Weltkrieg wasn't called the chemist's war just because of gas. That's not to say you guys shouldn't play with obsolete tactics, because a lot of people had a very hard time growing out of the Napoleonic mindset in the 19th century. At the same time, we're closer to the Boer Wars than to the Crimean War is all I'm saying.

The Age of Steam

WilsonTurner said
I think, based on the apps, most of the continent will be mountains, with a good deal of islands.

Not in my case. Vast forests and plains all the way.

Also a lot of mountains though, yeah.

The Age of Steam

Update: http://grist.org/news/no-genetically-modified-grass-isnt-killing-cows-with-cyanide/

The death is brought from eating the grass. It does not emit gas. From the article:
"The culprit, though, is poor livestock management, not a scientific Frankenstein that took it upon itself to gas cattle."

The Age of Steam

WilsonTurner said
If you search 'poison grass,' you won't find it. I've already left a message for my grandma [she's 70+ and she's taking care of her half of the ranch better than we are, and voluntarily] inquiring after the name. However, it IS real. I assure you it is, I am not making it up. If I wanted to make anything up, it would be Bovril, that adorable little creature trying on the mustache in the interest check.

If we're going UNCOUNTERABLE NATURAL DEFENSES, then why shouldn't we all have some kind or another? That's just silly. You don't see me saying I'm surrounded entirely by tundra that will freeze people from the feet up if they walk on it, but there's a well-defended highway for people to use instead. A lot of it is a balance issue. Even if this stuff is real and even if it wasn't GM, it'd still wreck the balance because you're essentially in an unassailable fortress.

The Age of Steam

Asura said
Gentlemen, please, place thy e-peens back within thy e-pants. The thread has yet to even begin.

But mine is so big and thick, and it shatters air and ground forces equally well.
(My e-peen is an autocannon.)

The Age of Steam

WilsonTurner said
In exchange for food and gold, I will provide support. Air support, mind you, since the soldiers I plan to use are very defensive. Professional, trained, but defensive. Complete crap at offense.

I'm not making any arrangements before the thread itself starts. You'll have to bring that up with Yermak.

The Age of Steam

duck55223 said
Pseudo-Russia, I will fucking you

Pseudo-Russia with a professional and well-supplied army. Try it, I dare you.