So, what are people planning for their nations?

[Valles]

Not necessarily militarily, but socially. Let's make this thread a place to yammer on about what each of us plans to do, so that we can look at things and work out our expected interactions ahead of time. Anything and everything you've come up with can go here, to inspire others to consider their own answers to whatever questions are raised, and to help work out what's plausible, and what isn't, and what's cool enough to do anyway.

So, here's my rant.

After the failure of the initial colony site at Footfall, the largest continent on World was renamed, with no small irony, to Croatoa. Of the initial scatter of first-wave Cities that was established, one, the largest, was placed only a few miles offshore from the vine-choked ghost town.

Despite the grand ambitions of the settlement's architects, few settlers chose it as their new home - its placement was seen as either ill-omened or overly at risk from wildlife, and, despite standard-setting defensive measures, the only demographics greatly attracted to the location were the dreamers and the ambitious, those foolish or determined enough to still look to the continent as 'The Future'.

Given the population's joking awareness of the scale of their task, it was perhaps unsurprising that a popular vote selected 'Roanoke' as the City's final name.

By the modern era, the state of Croatoa has filed legal claim to the entirety of the continent from which it takes its name, and founded a scatter of secondary settlements along the northwestern coastline. Roanoke is one of the World's 'alpha cities', a center of culture, industry, and of what the rest of the world regards as a thoroughly quixotic quest.

Roanoke is laid out as a perfect circle, a planform dictated by the fact that the entire city is contained within the largest geodesic dome ever constructed by human hands. Within this dome are two Lower Wards, five Middle Wards, and three Upper Wards; although only the last were originally designed for residential use.

Both Lower Wards, the Inner and the Outer, are located below the 'waterline' of the city. The Inner Ward was built to hold the environmental and power facilities that support the entire city, while the Outer Ward has become a center of heavy industry and chemical processing. Even in the modern era, few people live in the Lower Wards, preferring to commute.

The Middle Wards were originally intended to be used as 'open cycle' farm and parkland, but were gradually converted to hydroponic and other uses as the population grew. The street level in the modern era is considerably higher than it was originally, as almost all buildings in the North, South, East, West, and Center Wards have conjoined greenhouses in their basements. Particularly of note, and the first sight most visitors have of the interior of the city, is the West Ward, which contains the City's harbor.

The Upper Wards are 'high rent' cultural and residential sectors, whose physical layout - enormous skybridges supported a hundred meters above the Middle Wards - is the key factor creating Roanoke's reputation as a fairy-tale city. The Red, Green, and Gold Wards each occupy two of the six 'bridges' linking the great central Axial Tower to the outer curtain wall, and are replete with a distinctively airy and open architectural style.

Although none of Croatoa's subsidiary cities even approach the sheer scale of Roanoke, all of them are constructed under similarly sealed domes, permitting their citizens to live out their lives free to enjoy at least an approximation of the open air despite their proximity to the savage jungles of the continent.

The Croatoan armed forces, though no more accustomed to fighting other humans than anyone else on World, were for much of their history the closest thing the World had to a standing military, even if one continually involved in the ongoing struggle to clear the land. At the time of game start, the Croatoans field, besides small customs boats, the following military equipment:

Model 3 Rifle - a typical heavy game gun, the M3 is a semi-automatic bullpup weapon chambered in 10mm High Speed (10x75mm) with a detachable ten-round box magazine. The M3 has drawn criticism as being unwieldy in sudden charge scenarios, but is famously accurate at long range and is still the 'default' weapon of Croatoan heavy infantry.

Model 4 Machine Gun - an air-cooled, belt-fed machine gun of conventional design, the M4 fires the same 10mm HS round as the M3. The M4 is designed to be able to break down for man-portable use as well as permanently mounted. A four man team can carry the components of barrel, receiver, tripod, and ammunition supply without assistance. Extra barrels are typically not issued, since there is judged to be no need for extended fire in bush clearance operations.

Model 7 Shotgun - this 21mm-bore shotgun is based off of the design of the Model 3, and shares its semi-automatic action and detachable box magazine, although the larger ammunition is only single-stacked and contains only five rounds. It is issued as a supplementary close defense weapon to both heavy and light infantry units.

Model 8 Pistol - the design of the basic semiautomatic pistol hasn't changed much since long before any colonist ever left Earth; the Model 8 features double-stack magazines and the venerable 10x25mm round.

Model 9 Submachinegun - produced as an attempt at a close-range supplement to the Model 3, the M9 is another variation on that gun's design, making it effectively more of a pistol-caliber carbine than a true submachinegun. Its magazines are typically either thirty-round boxes or forty-round drums. The M9 is the standard issue arm for Croatoan light infantry, and shares ammunition with the M8.

Model 11 Flamethrower - the M11 Defoliant Projector carries its fuel in a single large vertically oriented back cylinder, worn slightly offset to balance the weight of the smaller compressed-nitrogen propellant tank. Ignition is via an integrated piezoelectric lighter. M11s are issued only to heavy infantry.

Model 20 Autocannon - a full-mounted, belt-fed 25x125mm autocannon, guaranteed to stop even the largest charging beastie, and anything smaller besides. The M20 is mounted by Croatoan customs boats and the V-5 Lynx.

V-4 Wildcat - this six-wheeled personnel transport mounts an M4 machine-gun and light armor. Fully amphibious, it has all of the usual environmental protections and can easily swim rivers or short sea distances. V-4s are issued as transports and fire support for light infantry command detachments, having been replaced in that role for heavy infantry by the V-5.

V-5 Lynx - an upgrade, upgunned, and uparmored revision of the V-4 chassis, the V-5 was ordered after a series of units where migrating megagrazers panicked and crushed several Wildcats and their associated troops before they could bleed out from the wounds inflicted by the non-explosive machine gun and rifle rounds. Too heavy to float, the V-5 does come equipped with a deep-wading snorkel.

[Carthaginian]

Hmmmm... will have to get back to you on the story of my nation- but I really like where you are going with this.
I'll say that, from firing a semi-auto .50 BMG rifle, that nothing chambered for >/=12.7mm should be considered a primary infantry weapon unless you are using Clanner Elemental troops as infantry. ;) They are, frankly, too heavy to hump. Anything in the .30 caliber7.62mm neighborhood will be sufficient for most beasties, especially since there will be no prohibition against using expanding/exploding ammunition against the wildlife. :P I might also add that recoil from a .50 BMG rifle is, even with careful damping and high weapon weight, equivalent to that of a 12 gauge 3 & 1/2" Magnum round.

The rest of the weapons I like... though that Zippo lighter on the flamethrower might prove hard to maintain.
Good flavor text about an APC being crushed- I LIKE that. :D

Will try and come up with a history for my Order while I'm working today, and post it when I get some free time tonight after work.

[Valles]

I'm kind of skeptical about the capability of conventional Earthly hunting rounds, given the mere existance of the concept of an 'elephant gun' and the fact that, from what Rocky's said, we're looking at a biosphere that would consider a terrestrial elephant a small and placid herbivore.

That said, I suppose it's my fault for taking the mention of '.700 WTF' seriously. Would, say, 10x75mm be more workable, or is that still too large?

I was actually thinking of one of those butane kitchen lighters for the flamethrower mechanism, but a Zippo-like arrangement may be better; worst case, the operator can just carry spares.

[Carthaginian]

LOL... yeah, the .700 WTF was a bit of a joke post... though I do intend to have a vehicle-mounted .75 caliber MG in my arsenal.
The Flamethrower would most likely use a Piezoelectric Igniter rather than a conventional 'striker/flint' setup. The latter are just too darn delicate for a military application. A Piezoelectric igniter is the kind of thing used to light a modern gas grill, or in a gag device like a 'shocker pen.'

Expanding ammo... well, the Winchester Ranger hollow points that I use in my Glock 23 are pretty wicked. They are .40 S&W carts, but they have the capability to expand to roughly .70" upon impact with ballistic putty. I fired one at a whitetail deer once (the smaller Southern variety) and will never, ever make that mistake again. I have seen .30 caliber expanding rounds literally amputate limbs from even larger whitetail deer, and produce permanent wound channels that you could stick 2-3 fingers into.
Here's a good page showing some excellent illustrations of wound channels from conventional rounds.
http://ammo.ar15.com/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/index.htm
Realize that these are against something that simulates the density of human tissue... but the illustrations on wound channels should give you an idea of just how deadly a can be, even in small caliber and non-expanding varieties.

The 'elephant gun' as a concept is largely an outdated one. Though 'the bigger and better' is a great concept when you are hunting something elephant... elephant guns are generally unnecessary since we have left the days of cast bullets.

[Valles]

I think I'll keep with 10x75mm anyway. In-character, this is mostly the result of what might be delicately called 'psychological factors' - a combination of politics, marketing bumf, and troops liking the 'safety blanket' effect of the larger and more powerful round in their primary job as 'bush shooters'. It also lets me still get away with not having a second HMG round, since it's intermediate between 'conventional rifle' and 'anti-material' rounds.

Out of character, I'm strongly attracted to round numbers. ^_^

[The Rock Doctor]

I like your idea, Valles.  Look forward to seeing it in action.

I'm mulling over ideas for NPCs at the moment.  I expect some will be pleasant, some will not be pleasant, and some will really not be pleasant.

[Carthaginian]

ATM... this is a vague layout of the Culture that I'm proposing.

In 1050, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John was present in the Holy Land, fighting the enemies of Christendom, protecting those who made pilgrimages to Holy Jerusalem and ministering to the Poor, the Sick and the Destitute. The most terrifying sight for a Saracen, or the most welcome one for a Pilgrim, was a black surcoat with a white cross emblazoned on the breast. The Order performed these duties throughout the Holy Land and Europe for hundreds of years, outliving first their Templar brothers, then all others, to become the last remaining Order of Crusaders. The Hospitallers were pushed out of the Holy Land by Saladin, then out of Rhodes by Suleiman, the Knights remained on the Island of Malta untill almost 1800, when Napoleon Bonaparte finally ended their claim to the island.

The final order of Holy Brothers which had fought for Jerusalem was no more.

Or was it?

Quietly, humbly, the Knights Hospitaller- now and forever to be known as the red surcoated Knights of Malta- rebuilt themselves as one of the most benevolent groups of healers on Earth-That-Was. They oversaw institutions devoted to ministering to both the spiritual and physical needs of those who's bodies and souls cried out for help. Answering only to the Holy Father in Rome and to Almighty God, the Knights continued to protect those too weak to protect themselves.
Even more quietly- first in Normandy, then in forgotten halls and secret chambers under their age-old stronghold in Malta (returned to them many years later)- another side of the Order moved. These men, known only unto the highest and most privileged of the Order and to the Holy Father himself, wore the black surcoat of the men who struck fear into the Saracen hordes of the Holy Land. They were seen nowhere off the island- but they saw combat in every corner of Earth-That-Was when the enemies of the Church stood against the enemies. The unexplained destruction of an Al Qaeda camp, the assassination of a Tamil Tiger, the death of a dictator who denied God... these were their work. In the uniforms of a dozen nations, giving credit to every organization which bore arms- except for their own- they continued the Crusade. Through the death-throes of Earth-That-Was, they fought, keeping safe those who feared God... ever present, but never there.
When the Exodus was announced, the Holy Father prepared- many of these men were planned to join the mission, for the Faithful would need protection in this new and dangerous world. Though stringent testing, it was said that no one who had higher allegiances than 'the mission' would be allowed aboard; this was circumvented by the fact that (according to Order estimates) at least 10% of those conducting the tests were acting under orders of the Holy Father. When Earth-That-Was was left behind, the Order was represented well in both military and benevolent Brothers.

After the failure of the initial settlement at Footfall made one thing painfully aware to the Order- that this new world was no Eden- it was decided that for Humanity to be able to grow strong and righteous on this new world, it must have a strong base. The revolt was a truly bloodless affair- a shifting in assignments here, a few immigrations allowed and a few emigrations forced there- more a realignment of Talents than a battle in truth, fought with pen and paper. The Grand Master of the Order took control of the city, renaming it Malta, and organizing the Brothers into a coherent City-State. Little expansion took place early on, as the Order concentrated upon ministering to those who would listen and aiding those in need. As the numbers of those in the Laity grew, however, expansion became a necessity and other cities- Rhodes, Acre, and Antioch- were founded.

[Valles]

...man, and I thought I was being wild for considering giving a cult leader with harem fantasies access to genetic engineering tech in Roanoke's backstory.

This planet is gonna be fun. Alpha Centauri, here we come!

[Nobody]

You know, now I'm kind of hoping that I'm not going to start anywhere near you two...

I also have absolutely no idea how I should name the country or the people, but I think we should at least agree to common names for the planet and the continents.

[Jefgte]

The name of my country "ll be probably "Nova Francia".

People from that Terra Nova Nation are comming from old Europe & about 75% are from France, other people are coming from Spain, Switzerland , Deutschland, Belgium & Italia.

1920/25 probably ships class
- BB Lyon - 1925 BB
- BB Normandie - 1922 BB
- BB Bretagne - T2x340 for 1921 coastal BB
- BB Courbet - T2x305 for 1920 coastal BB
- BC Gille
- AC Victor Hugo for model
- AC Dupleix for model
- Scout Cruiser 4500t (ex 1914 Scout Cruiser Lamotte Piquet)
-TB-Bisson-800t
-DD 1400t

[Carthaginian]

You know, now I'm kind of hoping that I'm not going to start anywhere near you two...

I also have absolutely no idea how I should name the country or the people, but I think we should at least agree to common names for the planet and the continents.

Meh- why?
Did every civilization on Earth use the same words?
We shouldn't have to... though it will make sense to standardize on it for the map at least.

Also... we view this as a way to get away with some ideas that we could have never pulled off on Earth.
While that isn't my only plan for a civilization, it is my personal favorite.

[Valles]

Plus, I don't think that either my nor Carth's people will actually be hard to get along with. The Templars might have a thing about 'Oppression Of The Faith', but other than that, their entire self-image is tied up in being white hats, and the only thing that Croatoa gets at all worked up over is of no interest to anyone else.

[Carthaginian]

The Hospitallers will have a problem with 1.) people who oppress the Faith, 2.) people who oppress the innocent and 3.) people who interfere with free commerce upon the seas. As long as those things don't crop up, they won't really have any problems.

After all, the Hospitallers were something of a business as well as a crusading order.

[Nobody]

I think we should at least agree to common names for the planet and the continents.

Meh- why?
Did every civilization on Earth use the same words?

No, but afaik the names of the continents at least are very similar in many languages, aren't they?

For one thing I think it would be nice not to have too many confusing names. Also I would think that the probes which were sent ahead to determine if the planet has an atmosphere about the right temperature, gravity, water and oxygen than I would expect that they also cartographed it a committee back on earth named all the most prominent feature even before sending people there.

[TexanCowboy]

The Swag Hipsters.

A long time ago, on an Earth-that-was, the Swag Hipsters developed out of an amalagation of the Rapper Union, the Swag Police, and all of the Orchestras, Wind Symphonies, and Klezmer musicians on the planet. Their leader was a brave, strong, and courageous man known as Wiz Khalifa. They quickly grew to dominate the urban centers on the planet, with a capital in Compton, California. Their presence was a major cause of the decline of Urban Civilization - nations fighting against the infiltration of the Swag Hipsters into their cities lead to urban warfare, destroying many major cities (Detroit was spared, because it's hard to destroy Detroit even more than it is already). When the call to evacuate Earth came, all Swag Hipsters were refused from the ship. However, many stowed in the pressurized cargo bay and hijacked Space Shuttles and Soyuz capsules that were attached to the ship via oxygen, food, and other lines.

When they arrived on Terra Nova, all of the Swag Hipster popped out of the pressurized cargo bays and hijacked capsules and were like "HA, WE ALWAYS WIN" and then they set up their own city, using stolen materials. The new cities name was "Vienna". The New Vienna Philharmonic quickly became the greatest orchestra on the planet, while members of the Swag Police quickly secured the region and created the new cities of "Kirov" and "Munich."











No, not really.
But that would be pretty swaggerific.