Aztec 1935-2 Report

[TacCovert4]

TLDR;

Finish 2 Colonial IC, Start 2 Colonial IC

Complete HMS Royal Sovereign
Build 6 x 500t Submarines

1 new Land Point, 1 new Air Point

[Kaiser Kirk]

The biggest, meanest ship in the world is completed !
I'm a bit envious :)

[TacCovert4]

It is.  I noted a bit tongue in cheek to Snip that Spring of 36 is when the Romans would be in a bit of a newspaper panic, with the RAN completing the first 'Super-Fast BB' and the RAF and RNAS beginning to take delivery of things like the Corsair, the Liberator, and the Lightning.

[Kaiser Kirk]

I was thinking of finding time for some press outrage over the Parthian navy not having anything close afloat. I have deliberately kept the Imperial family out of naval affairs, so the Emperor quizzing the naval staff might make a good bit. But then I've got several unfinished scenes partially written, and more presents to wrap...

[TacCovert4]

I was thinking of finding time for some press outrage over the Parthian navy not having anything close afloat. I have deliberately kept the Imperial family out of naval affairs, so the Emperor quizzing the naval staff might make a good bit. But then I've got several unfinished scenes partially written, and more presents to wrap...

I'm having fun with the colleagues/friends thing between Princess Anacaona and Prince Piotr. 

I'm going to do something on the Corsair roll-out, with it being the 'ensign eliminator' and the other historical problems of the early F4U models making it at once the most potent fighter in Aztec service and the most dangerous one.  Especially since it's entering service alongside the now well-seasoned Sea Hurricane models and directly comparing with the Spitfire models that are also now getting quite mature.  The Typhoon being something of a disappointment as an air superiority fighter, the issues with the Lightning (especially when compared to the much less modern but also much more maneuverable Mayan fighters) and so on will be the impetus for the Hawker Tempest in the future.....to have a Spitfire replacement that gives the full package of performance. 

I'll probably have Princess Shirin putting her foot down on the headstrong Ali trying to qualify on the Corsair or something, and show him segueing from his 'fighter jock' persona into a more mature royal. 

I'll also continue the competition between the RAF and RNAS, and showcase the differences in philosophy between the two.  The RAF and its focus on being able to intercept Mayan or Roman bombers as well as do its own bombing, and the RAF's stepping into the Maritime Patrol role, with the RNAS focus on CAP capabilities.  I've already discussed that a bit, talking about why the RAF has gone to the 12mm MG and will shortly be introducing the 20mm cannon as a primary fighter armament, while the RNAS has chosen to go with more numerous 8mm MGs on its fighters.  The logic of both is sound, as the 12mm and 20mm are better at killing bombers, while having 8 x 8mm on the Hurricane and soon to have 10 x 8mm on the early Corsair is based around maximizing combat endurance and ammo count for performing CAP with more limited fighter numbers.  Of course moving into the 1942 tranche of aircraft, 8mm is finally recognized as just wholly insufficient and the mature Corsair will make a drastic shift while staying with the concept of needing larger round counts.....a quartet of 12mm MGs for sustained dogfighting, with a move to an even more powerful 30mm cannon pair to give 'telling shots' on priority targets to put them down in just a couple of hits.  Ultimately by the late 40s tranche of aircraft the 30mm will be found to be too much gun and not enough ammo, and will only remain on the late model corsairs that are functionally ground attack and naval strike fighters, and all air superiority aircraft of that era and beyond will be equipped with a quartet of 20mm cannons.

In that vein I am fiddling with research into the Aztec 40mm quad-barreled rotary autocannon, which is now finally getting the bugs worked out after years in service......and could result in my early jets and late model Lightnings (aircraft with nose-mounted guns) shifting to a 20mm gatling as primary armament (not the RoF of the M61 Vulcan though).

[Kaiser Kirk]

Most of my partially-written tales are meant to be illuminating about how Parthia and it's peoples get along. I was going to follow a group of young people from youth to national service and then different paths- Army/Air/Navy, but also civil engineer, scientist, colonist, and 'Eye of the Flame' - a non-governmental national neighborhood watch that leads to tip offs. I have also long planned to showcase how Parthia deals with high up malfeasance, with 'official corruption' being right up with treason.
However, I am slow and clunky as a writer, and try to do far to much at once.

Those articles on tank development is typical. Took me a long time to get to, wanders on about details most don't care. But establishes the storyline that Parthia takes it's time to get things right before rushing into production. You see that with a number of my ships, where I build/start a lead vessel first. Or my naval guns, where I pay to research two versions of critical new turrets/mounts.

Anyhow, I also want to do a Royal tour or somesuch, but haven't managed it.

I rather expected you'd be showcasing aircraft, and I decided to not delve to much into that, I just could not do it as well. I do want to establish the G-1 Reaper > P38 > F7 > Saab21 > DH100 Vampire sequence, and I might describe my naval aircraft. For me the soviet rotary and GAST weapons will be my aerial guns. Any of those planes with a twin 23mm GAST on centerline would make for a good shooter. A ShVak style 15mm would make a good flexible mount.

[TacCovert4]

Yeah, on aircraft I tried to stick mostly with American, but had been using some british so kept a couple of british manufacturers in my stable.  I specifically selected by manufacturer, to highlight that while the Sultanate is putting a lot of investment into airpower, it is limited to a degree by its size and position, which is why I kept away from Grumman, Boeing, and some of the other more prolific aircraft manufacturers.

I think I'll shortly be developing a 4 barrel rotary 20mm in the main tech tree, as the 40mm is getting the kinks worked out and a 20mm rotary would be considered a potentially superior option to a single-barrel 30mm for light AA purposes.  That should segue into a variant of this gun being tested and later adopted as an aircraft cannon.

[Kaiser Kirk]

The US equipment started decent and wound up excellent. In Wesworld I played the Netherlands and so used the Dutch and Belgian manufacturers.  I've long found it interesting that at the November 1936 Paris air show, the twin-boom central pod G-1 went on display. Then in February 1937 the USAAC put out the specification that led to the twin-boom central pod P-38. That is also the time the P-39 specification was put out, and the mid-engine Koolhoven FK55 mockup was also shown in late 1936. The specifications don't force those arrangements, but I've wondered if there was an inspiration there.