Dropping this one today to push things over the ten thousand word count point. Next will be two days off from now and that ratio will continue on until the sixth or seventh year is posted, depending upon if the latter is finished by that point in time.
To answer the question Slephnir posted in a review, most of the designs are based off of real world weapons designed during the first world war and interwar periods of real world history (including the Death Ball, if you can believe it. Look up the Panjandrum if you don't believe me), though with some variance. There do exist a couple exceptions (see: the assault rifle), but as a general rule of thumb, that is the case.
Note for the four of you who had seen this earlier: I had deleted and reposted this chapter, as for some unknown reason, the listing as to when this had updated never changed for some unknown reason, and despite the chapter seemingly being viewable, the update date still listed the 14th rather than the 15th. I have no idea what the hell happened, but it seems removing then reposting has fixed whatever was going on.
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UF-SIR-39 'Ballista': This new development of Forenian arms takes the venerable Horsekiller round's new form, the 15mm War Horse cartridge, and applies it to our firearms. A gas-operated closed-bolt semiautomatic battle rifle, the Ballista is intended to give the average infantryman the large degree of firepower needed to confront the new threat of the Grimm. There is a detachable box magazine on the bottom, in front of the hand-grip. There was an attempt to make it hold 20 rounds, but the weapon was far too unwieldy, so it has been reduced to 6 rounds. The barrel is long, but not long enough to make it unwieldy, and the rifle is powerful and fairly accurate at range. There is a simple sighting system on top, with a rail for sniper scopes or other optics, if desired. The stock is carefully shaped and padded to help the soldier endure the expected recoil, and there is another rail system on the bottom of the barrel, allowing for a couple different variants of foregrip to be attached, and/or a bayonet. The recoil is still admittedly immense so not every soldier can use it, but a majority are able to in varying degrees of fire rate.
UF-ART-39 'Thunder Drum': A development of the Thunder Gun, the Thunder Drum includes the hydro-suspension accidentally forgotten in the original design allowing for an increase of accuracy at range. No other aspects are modified. This update will also be applied to the one mounted on UF-SPG-38s.
UFAF-GAFB-39 'Firebird':The Firebird Ground Attack Fighter-Bomber is the newest plane in the United Forenian Air Force. It is equipped with a large V12 engine, 4 AS-AC18s, and 3 bomb mounts capable of carrying 500kg of bombs each, air-brakes, aluminum reinforcements, and the cockpit and canopy being armored more than usual for a plane this size. The engine is weak enough that loading up the bomb racks with more than 500kg of bombs total means the plane cannot get off the ground, the air brakes don't engage when you want them to half the time or when they do engage, wind up either sheering off or refuse to disengage, someone screwed something up that means firing the AS-AC18 for too long sets the aluminum on fire, and some smart guy decided armoring the canopy more meant putting armor over all the glass. The plane is a trainwreck and not a single pilot within Forenia will fly the thing. Even the ones considered insane by everyone else in the military.
UFN-DD-39 'Guardsman': Based on the Footman, the Guardsman moves the guns, mostly to the centerline of the vessel: Two forwards ('B' turret superfiring) and two aft ('C' turret superfiring) mounting B2 Destroyers and two amidships on either side of the superstructure Bumblebee AT/AA. Electrical assisted rotation systems allow for better tracking speed, but the capabilities of the ship itself to turn quickly are reduced enough that it has a similar rate to the Footman when it performs a ship turn assisted tracking maneuver. Chairs and beds are insulated with either wood or rubber, to prevent the electrocution of sleeping and sitting crewmen.
UF-AVRE-39 'Wild Boar': The Wild Boar uses the hull of a T33 with much of its armor and the turret removed, the latter able to be replaced by a small crane, an excavator, or a heavy-duty winch attachment. The tank also has mountings for a dozer blade, ground braces for armored vehicle recovery and the removal of impediments like trees, and areas to mount racks to carry additional materials and supplies. The ammunition is remade into a general storage area for demolition/satchel charges, materials, AS-1911 8cm Mortars, and assortments of tools for construction. A few personal defense weapons are added to the cabins and in the storage area. The weight is generally less than a T33, giving a lot more discretionary power from the engine, meaning it is capable of bulldozing and clearing burned-out areas far quicker than before.
War Horse Update: The War Horse is lightened by a kilogram. A bit more ammo can be carried.
Hornet Update: A variant of the Hornet is made with a landing gear that can be dropped with a flick of a switch. Flipping the switch has fifty-fifty odds of whether or not the landing gear actually gets dropped. Pilots of the Forenian Air Force call for an investigation of whether the Department of Engineering is on drugs. Official response by the Ministry of the Public Police Service is "Of course they are."
UF-IFR-38A1 Model 4.1 Radio: The Model 4 while Successful in its main aim has found some flaws in it's design in the field. To minimize these flaws The case has been reinforced to make it more durable and less fragile but still keeping it man portable. Internally some insulation has been added for the electronics to help protect it from water getting inside and water logging the electronics and to overall improve reliability in bad weather. An intern corrects the slight mistake in naming that would mean there would be two things referred to as the Model 4 Radio
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The various designs produced by the Department of Engineering help the Forenian forces greatly n the battles over the year. The UF-IFR-38A1 Model 4.1 Radio is of sufficient quality to be able to replace both the Models 3 and 4 radios and coordination ability has never been better for the forces. The UF-SIR-39 'Ballista' grants most standard infantry a weapon capable of killing several Grimm in only a few shots and at range, and the ability to mount scopes means that snipers once more get the ability to kill Grimm at their preferred ranges, and the tweaks to the War Horse allow a bit more ammo to be carried by soldiers that are able to use the weapon. The improvements of the UF-ART-39 'Thunder Drum', and the side-effect creation of the UF-SPG-38A1 that wields that rather than the former Thunder Gun, greatly assist in increasing the accurately shelling Grimm. The greater firepower of the UFN-DD-39 'Guardsman' boost the Forenian capabilities on the naval front lines, though if it was designed to use the Thunder Gun or new Thunder Drum, its effects may have been greater. While the UF-AVRE-39 'Wild Boar' is rare, infrastructure construction upon the frontlines is boosted, and it is able to occasionally recover some tanks that would otherwise have been lost due to too much damage preventing it from returning for repairs or by dragging them out of unforeseen obstacles. The Forenian Air Force is generally pissed at what they were given, but what they do have is still good quality. It's just a shame that these didn't help enough.
The military is now dealing with areas where either the Grimm are not as depleted as be as before, or, in the minds of some conspiracy theorists, the creatures had been reinforced. A majority of the population rejects these ideas, but those that do pay attention to this do note that there is one supporter of this theory that had predicted the Battle of the Embassy at the end of the Great Continental War. Whichever the case, if it was only the original species of Grimm, the military would have been pushed back a bit, but they would be able to have relatively held the line. However, unlike the prior year, many new species of the creatures are encountered. Alpha Beowolves that seem to give regular Beowolves a greater level of coordination in order to make it through the Artillery barrages so more survive to slaughter infantry, and Ursa Major that, while not having the same durability, have far greater maneuverability than the Death Stalkers while being close to as destructive to armor, vehicles, and infantry. UF-SIR-39s and War Horse weaponry are somewhat effective at killing these stronger variants, but if the creatures get close, which they do on a fair number of occasions, and the soldiers having only limited defense from the small pillboxes or open trenches when they do have something, they are often slaughtered.
Giant variants of Nevermores fly through the skies and support their smaller and ground-based cousins through engaging aircraft, and forcing many planes to engage them, while killing several, through the simple fact that they are far more durable than their lesser cousins, to the point that some pilots question why they just won't die. This allows actual numbers of standard Nevermore and more land-based Grimm to reach infantry lines on major battlefields, the former raining down hails of projectiles down, while off major battlefields, they can prove to be the death of lone scouts or pairs. However, this problem does not extend to the Bumblebee AT/AA weapons, as while they do not have the Rate of Fire of the AS-AC18s so larger numbers or missed strikes mean it is harder to strike, when they do strike it often only takes one shot, two if the first was a glancing blow. Interestingly, some of these Giant Nevermores and a few of the standard variants seem to carry in large rocks or other Grimm to drop on Forenian lines, almost seeming to emulate the bombers so effective against their kind. The limited numbers are only of limited effect when there is significant Forenian air power, but these sudden attacks can be terrifying for patrols and convoys away from bases defended by the Bumblebee AT/AA and large numbers of AS-AC18s. All of this up against the Forenian military and the weak fortifications of their bases results in them being forced back to the Isthmus.
On the sea, the introduction of the UFN-DD-39 'Guardsman' proves to be slightly more effective at fighting the Sea Dragons than the UFN-DD-38 'Footman' thanks to the increased number and positioning of the turrets allowing it to manage to land the blows to the Grimm faster. The greater cost does mean that confrontations between the Guardsman and Sea Dragons is less than between the latter and the Footman, but when those battles are waged, the Guardsman are able to occasionally face off against two of the creatures and come out narrowly ahead. Electrocution is still a problem, but the presence of the insulated bedding and chairs means there can be a few more survivors. That is, when the creatures hit areas where it would arc throughout the ship to kill crew. It seems they have started to learn, and have begun to focus upon the turrets themselves. At first it may have been annoyance at those firing back, but then it seems they noticed that by doing so, the ammunition can be cooked off and large chunks of the ships can explode. For uncertain reasons, it seems this knowledge has slowly spread through the species and focused attacks are becoming more frequent. It is not enough to push Forenia back, but it is enough that they cannot secure more of the sea.
Back on the home front, the Cultural Preservation Society as a response to the calls for the preservation of old world history. The funding planned to be provided towards it is quite difficult to acquire, especially with the ongoing war effort that is turning for the worst. However, even without this, there would still be the significant backlog for the naming of locations and wings that has developed due to how many things get donated and the values skyrocketing as people want the long term legacy of the donation. As for what is donated, those who had been establishing large collections only donate a few of their items, especially as the backlog grows, in order to allow for their heirs and other descendants to have a supply to build the prestige of their families. In the aftermath, parties such as the National Forenian People's Party, the Moskurg Nationalist Party, the Arstotzkan Nationalist Party, the Forenian Socialist Party, and the Communist Party of Forenia begin spreading rhetoric that the culture of the world should not be held by these rich families for their own gain, eventually resulting in the five parties forming a political bloc known as the Nationalist-Socialist Alliance. Individual parties come to blows over what should be done on how to secure them and what is to be done in the aftermath, but for now they form a strong bloc on the issue and garner a fair amount of support from the populace.
However, when the elections that had been temporarily delayed by the mess that was the transition, a move which cost the United Forenia Party a great deal of support when the elections actually came, no party does quite as well as the Forenian Self-Defense Advocacy Organization. Their rhetoric of the rights of the populace to arm themselves fully combined with constantly speaking about the United Forenia Party not putting enough focus upon the defense of the homeland if the Grimm push back, something that grew massively in strength with the recent pushback, winds up netting them majority control. As a result, the Department of Engineering has pressure put upon them in order to boost the defensive capabilities of the military so Forenia proper is not invaded by the Grimm. Speaking of invasion, the Nationalist-Socialist Alliance and Forenian Self-Defense Advocacy Organization manage to rally upon another issue and bring it to debate within the Supreme Command Parliament upon what is to be done to boost the homeland defense in case the worst happens and Grimm make their way into Forenia proper. If the trained military is having a problem, prominent advocates tend to say, just how bad might it wind up being for the general population if the Grimm reach them?