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HFQ Official Snippet #23

This fascinating series is a combination of historical seafaring, swashbuckling adventure, and high technological science-fiction. Join us in a discussion!
Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by Randomiser   » Wed Apr 29, 2015 4:05 am

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Wow, infodump or what! 3918 words of info dump!

Am I right that we are still in March YOG 897, 41,000 words into the book? No wonder I sometimes feel that time is passing slowly on Safehold - it is! It was the delivery dates on the various supplies that set me checking. It seemed that we had been "2-3 months" away from deployment of smokeless powder, and "nearly finished" the next group of ironclads for a very long time. In fact we seem to be getting an awful lot of detail on March, so much so that I assumed I must have just missed a month marker or two among the snippets.
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by lyonheart   » Wed Apr 29, 2015 4:41 am

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Hi Thanatos,

Thanks so very much RFC !

My first post got eaten, so I'm trying to remember it all. ;)

Yup. I totally agree.

Given Delthak is well east of the convent, we might even get a few more vignettes of what's happening elsewhere [BGV etc] before we return to Merlin and Nynian discussing CC's journal that evening.

The dramatic increase in BGV's firepower, particularly the mortars, make Gorthyk Nybar and the rest of Wyrshym's best troops toast faster than previously expected.

Now that they have a standard engine, should we start picking RR lines?

The first major rail line would seem to be connecting Delthak to Tellesberg so Howsmyn can get there in two days not 5-6 etc, but Delthak accessing the north west coast ports to get stuff to Siddarmark much sooner [instead of going around 3+ sides of a square] will have priority in my opinion.

The effect of knowing about the M96 from the captured ship while BGV demonstrates to Wyrshym will be interesting.

What may even more interesting is how Kaitswyrth reacts to the news of Wyrshym's destruction, will he retreat further and blame it all on the even worse demon weapons?

Lots of possibilities here people. :D

L


thanatos wrote:I was hoping to hear more from Cody Cortazar but this too is just fine. I should note that RFC followed a similar pattern in BSRA when the diary of Jeremiah Knowles was revealed. First we had the scene with Merlin, Maikel and Father Zhon which ends with the quote from the US Declaration of Independence, then we had an utterly unrelated scene on Helen Island with two Charisians officers discussing the possibility of exploding shells and then it switched back to Merlin reading the Diary and cross-referencing the names on the databases in the Cave. So here's my fingers crossed for HFQ following a similar pattern.
Any snippet or post from RFC is good if not great!
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by chrisd   » Wed Apr 29, 2015 5:08 am

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" I am way behind on posting these, mostly because of Real-Life™. Among other things, I have been working 12 to 14-hour days finishing up the edit on a book that was supposed to be done two months ago."

A solution would be to revert to previous situations and "sub-contract" the snippeting out to a "trusted retainer"
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by phillies   » Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:13 am

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Corliss rotary valves. Accept no substitute. Adds astonishingly to the thermal efficiency.

Captain Igloo wrote:It was quickly found that slide valves didn't work with superheaters because the lubricants of the day couldn't protect such a great flat sliding valve under pressure (the steam pressure acted upon the valve even with balancing strips) at the superheated temperatures and valve seats were quickly worn and/or scored. In contrast, the steam pressure had no effect on the piston valve; it was completely balanced and it was much more easily lubricated. This factor, plus the port area, doomed the slide valve.

Regarding the use of slide valves on superheated engines, the superheated steam is MUCH hotter than saturated steam. The higher temperatures cause lubricating oil failure i.e it starts to break down by the splitting of the long hydrocarbon chains into shorter chains, These have much less viscosity and diminish the oil film's ability to carry load. Slide valve engines used common lubricating oil; superheated engines had to use oil specifically developed to not break down at the higher steam temperatures.
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by Captain Igloo   » Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:58 am

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runsforcelery wrote:...The new M97 mortars would help offset any small arms amunition shortages, as well, and while Lywysite wasn’t a very satisfactory shell filler....



M97 mortars????
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by JeffEngel   » Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:49 am

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lyonheart wrote:Hi Thanatos,

Thanks so very much RFC !

My first post got eaten, so I'm trying to remember it all. ;)

Yup. I totally agree.

Given Delthak is well east of the convent, we might even get a few more vignettes of what's happening elsewhere [BGV etc] before we return to Merlin and Nynian discussing CC's journal that evening.

The dramatic increase in BGV's firepower, particularly the mortars, make Gorthyk Nybar and the rest of Wyrshym's best troops toast faster than previously expected.

Now that they have a standard engine, should we start picking RR lines?

The first major rail line would seem to be connecting Delthak to Tellesberg so Howsmyn can get there in two days not 5-6 etc, but Delthak accessing the north west coast ports to get stuff to Siddarmark much sooner [instead of going around 3+ sides of a square] will have priority in my opinion.

I for one would be quite happy to see that kind of linkage between Howell Bay, Margaret's Bay, and Tranjyr Passage. I think it's probably better for wet passages (canals) for ocean-going vessels to use too, but railroads and transshipment provisions can work too, and it's entirely possible the ground is better suited to railroads than canals for all we know.

I can't see a Delthak-Tellesberg canal as a priority. I could see a semaphore line between them as very handy, and/or wyvern relays. Howsmyn himself can commission a steam yacht for showing off the tech and dashing back and forth as needed.

(I wonder too if electricity isn't something they'd love to be able to use for communications (telegraphy and later radio) nearly as much as for power. I suppose, with the war on, the Inner Circle's communication advantage and seijin "network" means telegraphs and radio would be too much in the Temple's relative benefit, even if Allied telegraphs and radio were great and Zion's crude. Still, it looks like a somewhat frustrated Industrial Revolution without them.)

I would think that the first railroads are likeliest to make the biggest differences in Chisholm, along particular routes that are obscure to me at least but probably tend to connect raw materials to industry to markets and let the Army nip around as needed quickly to keep restive nobles in line. Bringing about a popular Chisholmian national identity and a middle and industrial working class is icing on the cake.

With no internal communications yet developed to speak of, Silverlode is likely to have a lot of use for railroads from mines to ports, at least if they can connect relatively large mines or local areas with plenty of mines to a small number of ports. If it's small mines spread across Silverlode, it may be harder, but I don't get the impression that the silver resources are that dispersed.

Short but significant railroads are likely to have a lot of use in Tarot and Emerald, and possibly in Zebediah. And they may do more than anything else to transform Corisande into a united, industrial nation and the Empire's third large pillar, but that's likely to be some years down the road. (Although some from rubber plantations to processing nodes to ports may get the process started soon.)
The effect of knowing about the M96 from the captured ship while BGV demonstrates to Wyrshym will be interesting.

What may even more interesting is how Kaitswyrth reacts to the news of Wyrshym's destruction, will he retreat further and blame it all on the even worse demon weapons?

Lots of possibilities here people. :D

L


By the way - has anyone summed up the positions and even rough strengths of armies as of March 897? It's beastly hard for me at least to follow.
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by Kakai   » Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:51 am

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Thanks for the snippet! I was hoping for more Cody Cortazar, but who am I to complain...

Shotguns indeed... :mrgreen: I wonder whether they'd actually be ready in time for this war. I guess there's not much point mentioning them now if they are only used in the "twenty years later" arc, but then, with all that Howsmyn has on his head right now, the sheer time it will take to produce them in sufficient quantity (not to mention shipping them to the frontlines) could preclude them from appearing in HFQ.
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When in mortal danger, when beset by doubt,
Run in little circles, wave your arms and shout.

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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by Undercover Fat Kid   » Wed Apr 29, 2015 11:17 am

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PUMP SHOTGUNS!!! Why? For a number of reasons: they're ignantly simple. Childishly so, actually. Action dirty? Rack it harder. The ability to reload singles here and there mid combat is huge; I saw a guy that could fire about a round a second for as long as the rounds in his pocket held out. Not to mention they're very forgiving of ammo. With my rifle and pistol, I'm promising that machine that I will feed it a bullet with so much powder behind a slug that will weigh a certain amount. You don't promise that to a pump shotgun. You could fire heavy slugs, light shot, buck shot, salt rock, flechette, flame throwers, flares, explosive rounds, CS gas, door breachers, buck and ball, ball and cable, sabot slugs, tazer rounds, spit wads, kitchen sinks, M&Ms, skittles, tic tacs, thumb tacks, etc etc ad nauseam, all from the same gun, without stoppage, without adjustment, without failure. If it fits into the shell, you can throw it at a person.
That's why I get giddy about a pump shotgun :-)
.
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Death is as a feather,
Duty is as a mountain
This life is a dream
From which we all
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by dwileye13   » Wed Apr 29, 2015 11:22 am

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I expect the first RR line will leave Tellesberg and go to Crest Hallow to access the Westrock Reach thereby cutting the shipping time to East Haven by a substantial amount. ;) :idea:

I expect the second RR line will be be from the Duchy of Lantern Walk in Chisholm through the Duchy of Tayt, Halbrook Hollow, around Lake Megan to Maikelberg with a spur from Duchy of Lakeshore to Port Royal. ;) Shipping the first Automotive will require a decent sized Steam Barge. :?
I am not young enough to know everything!
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by dwileye13   » Wed Apr 29, 2015 11:30 am

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Kakai wrote:Thanks for the snippet! I was hoping for more Cody Cortazar, but who am I to complain...

Shotguns indeed... :mrgreen: I wonder whether they'd actually be ready in time for this war. I guess there's not much point mentioning them now if they are only used in the "twenty years later" arc, but then, with all that Howsmyn has on his head right now, the sheer time it will take to produce them in sufficient quantity (not to mention shipping them to the frontlines) could preclude them from appearing in HFQ.


May not be very difficult at all, the barrels are smooth bore, Stocks and trigger mechanisms are being produced, The Ammo is simpler and less metals dependent. A pump mechanism will help develop better shell ejection leading to semi-auto development. I cannot see a problem or much difficulty.
I am not young enough to know everything!
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