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!
Turn 7 - Winter 308 AA
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.
STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT EPISODE, "THE MYSTIC PRIEST"