'Odin' and Stalin's Secret Committee

[roverS3]

The 16th of October 1942, Vologda, 1,3°C, 10 am Moscow Time,

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten-day period between the 7th and the 16th of October 1942,

by 'Odin'

Army:

Two Regiments of 152mm & 122mm Artillery have been delivered, 153 AP to 161 SD, and 154 AP to 100 SD, XV SK, 4th Army Group, Odessa HQ. (Romanian Border)​

12. Garnizon Brigada (Garx2) is ready for defensive operations, it is now patiently awaiting transport to Norway in Leningrad.​

Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):

Front line troops: 714 / 2.142.000​

Support troops: 390 / 390.000​

Total fighting troops: 1.104 / 2.532.000​

Headquarters: 65 / 65.000​

Total Army Personnel: 1.169 / 2.597.000​

Officers: 109.047 + / 115.020 needed / 0 POW / 160 KIA / 94,807 % +​

Active Leaders: 294 / 2 POW / 202 more available​

To secure our hold on Narvik, another Garx2 Brigade has started training.​

Another Peace-Keeping Brigade (Gar, Pol) with Soviet weapons is also in the pipeline, it's job will be to secure Industrial infrastructure in Lillehammer.​

The People's Militia of 2 DOp have started receiving heavier weaponry as two of it's three Regiments have started the transition into regular Rifle Regiments.​

Army Leadership:

Red Army MajGen. Romanov M.T., SK1, DD, was called out or retirement to lead the new 12. Garnizon Brigada, which is still waiting for a troop transport to take it to Kristiansand or Stavanger.​

Air Force:

No changes to the Air Force or the Navy Air Fleet in the last 10 days.​

Navy:

No changes to the Navy in the last 10 days.​

Politics / International:
Battle of Britain & the Atlantic:

We have not be able to ascertain progress of the battle of the Atlantic beyond the fact that the Allies seem to be winning the convoy and submarine war.​

Strategic Air Command continues to hit German industry.​

France:

All is quiet with no active insurgencies in all of France.​

Yugoslavia:

Yugoslavia is now also void of revolts as the final, homegrown, revolt was crushed by Axis forces.​

Greece:

The British expansion in Greece seems to have been halted for now.​

North Africa & Med:

The Italian advance continues with Axis forces now flanking Tobruch. The Port city remains in British hands, but only Bardia still links the city to the rest of the British 1st Army.​

South East Asia:
Indonesia Front:

On the Northern coast of Java, the IJA took the hills of Tegal, they are now only 100 km from the current capital of the Dutch East Indies, Semarang.​

There has been no more progress on Sumatra, nor on Borneo, where an SNLF unit is slowly starving to death just south of Tarakan.​

Malay Front:

Japanese forces all but completed their conquest of Malaysia with only Singapore yet to fall.​

The Naval war continues to claim vessels, and lives. Skua's and Albacores from HMS Glorious sinking the submarines of 10 Sensuikantai. The IJN was able to even the score as heavy cruiser Aoba sank 3e Torpedobootjager Smaldeel, a flotilla of 4 pre-war dutch Destroyers of the Admiralen-Class.​

The convoy war continues, though once again precise data is not available.​

With production on the first unit starting in 1926, the type J1 class of submarines are 'cruiser' submarines with a displacement of nearly 2.800 tons submerged. Powered by a pair of MAN 10-cylinder 4-stroke diesel engines (6.000 hp) and two electric motors (2.600 hp), the J1 class can reach 18 knots on the surface, and 8 knots when submerged. They have a gargantuan cruising range of over 24.000 nautical miles at 10 knots (only 2.600 in-game) and are manned by a complement of 68 total. The armament consists of two 14cm Type 11 naval guns (one fore, one aft), 8 533mm torpedo tubes (6 fore, 2 aft), and 20 type 95 torpedos. (Pictured below: Submarine I-1)​

(Pictured above Destroyer HrMS Van Ghent) The Admiralen-class was the first class of destroyers to be built for the dutch Royal Navy after the great war, with construction starting in 1925. With a displacement of nearly 1.700 tons fully loaded they fall inbetween the Royal Navy's V-class and Tribal-class in size. The main armament consisted of two 75mm naval guns and 4 12cm Bofors No.4 multi-purpose guns. This was supplemented with 4 Vickers 40mm and 4 Browning 12.7mm machineguns. Aditionally, there are 6 533mm torpedo tubes to launch Whitehead type II torpedos, 4 depth charge launchers with 12 depth charges, and 24 naval mines. Two Parsons steam turbines combined with three 3-dum Yarrow biolers produce a total of 31.000 hp propelling the ships to a top speed of up to 36 knots. A total of 149 sailors and officers make up their standard complement, with 4 ships making up a flotilla.​

Pacific Front:

There were no major naval engagements, no territory swapped hands, and very few US convoys are being sunk. I guess that's the silver lining of the Americans losing every pacific island to the West of Hawaï.​

Industry:

238 = / 434 = / 536 - (base IC / domestic IC / total available IC incl. LL)​

18 Infrastructure improvement projects have been delivered, 25 new ones have started. (see Infra update)​

A Radar station has been constructed on Mythiléné (Level 1 & 2), and the one in Sevastopol was expanded (Level 2). 5 sets of Radar equipment have been ordered to eiter expand existing Radar Stations or create new ones.​

The Naval bases in Bornholm and Mythiléné have been doubled in size (Level 2), they can now handle twice as much cargo, and can each house 12 Red Navy units. Work continued in Mythiléné (Level 3), but not in Bornholm, where nearby Copenhagen provides a better Red Navy base, and the current size of the port is more than sufficient to supply the Air Base and the Garrison.​

Lend-Lease from the us was reduced slightly, with deliveries now hovering around 103-104 IC instead of the previous 105-106 IC. The average was brought down to 104 IC over 10 days, for a total of 1.040 ICdays, or 19% of total production.​

IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )​

Upgrades: 7,21 / 9,71 - The amount of units waiting for upgrades was down to 19.​

Reinforcement: 37,57 / 37,89 - The need for reinforcements varies wildly but remains over 20 IC.​

Supplies: 61,60 / 59,62 -​

Production: 397,42 / 403,3 + A small increase as newly ordered transport ships and heavy bombers start production.​

Consumer Goods: 32,16 / 32,16 - The reduction in demand for consumer goods reflects the reduction in imports from the US under Lend-Lease.​

Stockpiles:​

Energy: Maximum tonnes +​

Metal: 96.876 tonnes -​

Rares: 49.254 tonnes +​

Crude: 98.058 cubic metres +​

Supplies: 46.987 tonnes +​

Fuel: 99.728 barrels -​

Money: 1.355 +​

Intelligence:

Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)​

France (Supporting our Party / Covert Operations): 5 / 0 / 0 / 0​

{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 }​

{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }​

{ UK (/) : 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }​

Sweden (Support our Party): 10 / 1 / 1 / 0​

Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 1​

Total: 15 / 1 / 1 / 1​

Reserves: 2​

Spy training leadership expenditure: 1,37 = (a new spy every 5 days)​

A spy from Slovakia, and a spy from Germany were caught in the Soviet Union (see upcoming narrative). One of our spies in Sweden was caught, he was replaced by a reserve operative.​

Research:

The VVS's theorists have delivered their new and improved Ground Attack Tactics (Level 4) doctrine. They continue to improve the doctrine (Level 5) based on reports from the front.​

Leadership distribution:

Research: 21 =​

Espionage: 1,37 =​

Diplomacy: 0,10 (+0,04)​

Officers: 12,50 (= / 75 Officers/day)​

Total: 34,98 (+0,04)​

Statistics:

National Unity: 83,220 - Seems some foreign spy activity may have reduced our national unity ever so slightly.​

Neutrality: 0,00 =​

Dissent: 0,00 =​

Manpower:​

Available: 2.079.000 (-18.000) Filling the ranks of new units and replacing casualties takes it's toll, but it's a cost we can bear for some time to come.​

Men To reinforce(need): 12.900 +​

Men To mobilise(need): See above​

Monthly gain: 73.500 Men + (1 fully mobilised Infx3, Art, AT Division every 5,16 days)​

No changes in Party Popularity and Party Organisation​

This Information is accurate on the morning of the 16th of October 1942, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'

 

[nuclearslurpee]

All hail the top of the page!

Pacific Front:
There were no major naval engagements, no territory swapped hands, and very few US convoys are being sunk. I guess that's the silver lining of the Americans losing every pacific island to the West of Hawaï.

They say there is nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing left to lose. Unfortunately, we have no men in the Pacific only AIs, so hopes remain not high.

If I recall correctly the next update will be further murder mysteries, to be published sometime this Spring (), however I do wonder about the status of the fronts as in the strictest of terms there is technically a war on after all.

 

[roverS3]

Always a pleasure to see the old General back in action! At least it is for me, I cannot say the same for Lyadov et al!

He does muddy the waters quite a bit for our NKVD duo.

Clearly a lot of fun to drive, and it seems like we have an awful lot of fast drivers in this story rampaging through the streets of Leningrad...

If we do not get at least one car chase before the jig is up, I shall lead the thread in revolt.

There is definitely potential for a car chase here, but it does have to make sense. No promises, though that revolt does look awfully scary.

A complex series of events and a lot to unpack, many threads to resolve. And thus far, precious few clues as to the possible identity of this mysterious murderer, such that Odinatsat remains the prime suspect due simply to lack of any others at hand!

Maybe I should have brought more suspects into the story? I'm not answering that one before we reach the resolution of this case.

A very nice rework of an authentic map, the changes also look quite authentic and I'd be hard-pressed to recognize that it was alti-historical were it taken out of this AAR context!

I had planned to make it look even more realistic by emulating the same line pattern, but I found that I would to do a lot of fiddling with line types in autocad to get there, so I decided against it in the name of expediency.

Someone should tell Paradox this.

I have heard some echoes from the strange and wonderful world of the new HOI4 DLC and it's logistical system. At first, I was overjoyed. You can see the trains riding over the tracks! But then, when I noticed people found transport planes and lorries to be better in almost every single way than to improve the railways, I started wondering what exactly went wrong there.

That being said, progress is made in that direction regardless, and as far as climate change I think the real benefit will come from transferring the problem towards the power generation sector which is doing much better in terms of clean renewables and/or nuclear sources than I think most give credit for, particularly the efficiency of the latest generations of solar materials are incredibly competitive and only getting better.

Tell that to the Belgian government. We have a Green party energy minister who is pushing for the closure of our nuclear powerplants, to replace them with natural gas units, because we all know that nuclear is very bad, and we wouldn't be able to build enough renewable capacity in time. Meanwhile the gas power plants aren't getting built because the Flemish government's environment ministry has refused to issue the required permits because building these gas power plants would go against the Flemish plants for reducing carbon emissions. (ironically lead by a liberal/flemish nationalist minister) There is also no talk what so ever about building new nuclear plants, and our existing nuclear plants need a major overhaul to continue running past 2025 (so the question is, do we spend a couple billion extending the life of the nuclear powerplants, or do we spend a couple billion to build new gas power plants resulting in higher electricity prices, more CO2 emmisions, and an increased dependence on Russian Gas). I foresee a situation where only part of the replacement (natural gas)capacity gets built, and we end up importing power from France at a premium, produced by one of their new nuclear power plants. Now, you would think that record floods this year due to changing rain patterns (linked to climate change) might have urged matters along, but this was vain hope really. I'll be amazed if they don't just rebuild those villages right at the bottom of the flood plain, ready for the next flood. The plan for reconstruction is slow to come, and people are already fixing up what's left of their homes.

The thing about cars is that they are inefficient, but also the most flexible mode of transportation.

Right up until the point thousands of people need to go to that same place you need to go (or near it), and suddenly there is no space to put (park) your massive metal/plastic box on wheels anywhere near your destination. (except for the cycling path, which is an 'alternative' to a 'parking space' that seems to curry quite some favour with Brussels automobile drivers, especially delivery drivers.)

I suspect it was a case of "Buy American" which unfortunately plays extremely well with the voters even at great financial cost. Not sure why Alstom et al did not try to rework their plan to use American contractors to convince the politicos since that seems to have worked in Texas, California is rather beyond my own wheelhouse and I can't speak much to what goes on out there.

They don't necessarily put much emphasis on it, but Texas High Speed rail has actually gotten a lot of input from RENFE, the Spanish railway company that runs all of Spain's HSR. An international Renfe subsidiary will also be handling maintenance, signalling, and operations once the line is built. Even if the trains are Japanese, all the other systems will actually conform to European standards, and I find it hard to believe that RENFE wasn't involved during the planning and selection stages in some way. It would have been wildly irresponsible to not at least get their opinion considering they were involved in building the impressive Spanish HSR network etc. Some humility in this area will go a long way towards affordable and efficient HSR in the USA.
Of course, it is entirely possible that Alstom et al. were looking to make it very clear that french companies were running the show, with a lot of US-based sub-contractors of course. This would not be out of character for these kinds of ventures. Look at the Moroccan high speed rail line, the 'Al Boraq', to get an idea of how that might have worked. Their somewhat understandable aversion to French Chauvinism still didn't preclude the people in charge to ask the Japanese, the Koreans, the Spanish, or the Germans (beyond the trainsets) for help behind the scenes. Before they announced the route and started building.

Many in the US would argue this quite strongly, I don't think it is a question of who is right or wrong as much as it is the cultural imperatives that have led to the present states of affairs in different places. Suburbia in America is in some significant part a result of people who wanted to move away from the cities, yet be close enough to continue commuting and working there (necessitating certain degrees of density) combined with the desire to own "property" including a nice spacious yard and some distance from one's annoying neighbors.

At some point there need to be some trade-offs. As the US population increases and is (sub-)urbanising, the dream of owning such a property anywhere near a major metro area (where most of the jobs are) is less and less realistic for most Americans. (see increasing real estate prices in 'insert major US city here')
The question then becomes not so much what is the ideal, but what is realistic. Maybe if you settle for a semi-detached home with a short one-car driveway and no garage, you can have a back yard, and a more reasonable travel time commuting to and from your job on an average salary? I know you Americans love driving, but is your ideal home worth it if you end up driving three hours to work and back every day? When are you going to actually enjoy your dream home? People with 6-figure salaries live in camper vans in Silicon valley because zoning laws make it so that these people simply cannot afford a home that they can reasonably commute from to their high paying jobs every day.

Speak of, the top of the page awaits...

I seem to have taken the bait. This is definitely a dangerous precedent.

They say there is nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing left to lose. Unfortunately, we have no men in the Pacific only AIs, so hopes remain not high.

Sure, the US lost those islands, but they didn't loose anywhere near as much of their navy compared to OTL. (3 DD, 1 CA USS Pensacola) There was no Pearl Harbour, just a declaration of war followed by the slow and incremental loss of one pacific island after another, and now the Philippines. Maybe the US is still a bit too lethargic, maybe they would rather concentrate on the Atlantic and Europe and they aren't in a hurry to get those islands back without such a big need to avenge Pearl Harbour.

If I recall correctly the next update will be further murder mysteries, to be published sometime this Spring (), however I do wonder about the status of the fronts as in the strictest of terms there is technically a war on after all.

Yes, yes, I do remember there being a war on. The committee is following that closely, but 'Odin' et all are planning on a revised reporting format over a longer timeframe (30 days). The next GPW reports will thus span the period between the 30th of September and the 30th of October 1942. When this will be published remains to be seen, but I have played ahead to the 30th so I can start planning those when I want a change from the narrative updates. (and from all that other stuff that's part of a strange thing called real life)

 

[nuclearslurpee]

I have heard some echoes from the strange and wonderful world of the new HOI4 DLC and it's logistical system. At first, I was overjoyed. You can see the trains riding over the tracks! But then, when I noticed people found transport planes and lorries to be better in almost every single way than to improve the railways, I started wondering what exactly went wrong there.

Well, the first thing that went wrong is that Paradox released HoI4. From there it is a long series of comic errors all of which have "Paradox" in the names.

Right up until the point thousands of people need to go to that same place you need to go (or near it), and suddenly there is no space to put (park) your massive metal/plastic box on wheels anywhere near your destination. (except for the cycling path, which is an 'alternative' to a 'parking space' that seems to curry quite some favour with Brussels automobile drivers, especially delivery drivers.)

I've to be honest only found this to be an issue in cities as far as the US goes, both the major urban centers and the denser downtown zones in smaller regional cities. In these cases usually the best solution is indeed a robust public transport infrastructure and most cities I've visited do in fairness invest into this along with (paid) parking for the out-of-towners to stop off at before bussing about town. Of course this is where the American driving culture is most at odds with the optimal solution as many people prefer the "independence" of driving even though it is frankly a waste of time in these cities.

With suburbanization though it becomes much more prohibitive to maintain a reasonable public transport infrastructure beyond a fairly local (say, downtown center) network, as aside from major arteries in and out of the cities (usually in the US the state highway and/or Interstate system makes this up) you have traffic going every which way and crossing municipal boundaries in all directions. On the flip side I will say that generally outside of peak commuting hours the traffic, parking etc. is not really a problem in the suburban context in my experience, though doubtless it depends on where one lives.

Finally on the total flip side we come to the rural areas which are arguably a significant driver for American car culture, while of course Europe has plenty of rural areas of its own the scale is really quite different, leading to the famous joke about how Europeans think 100 miles is a long distance (and Amerians think 100 years is a long time, etc. etc.).

The question then becomes not so much what is the ideal, but what is realistic. Maybe if you settle for a semi-detached home with a short one-car driveway and no garage, you can have a back yard, and a more reasonable travel time commuting to and from your job on an average salary? I know you Americans love driving, but is your ideal home worth it if you end up driving three hours to work and back every day? When are you going to actually enjoy your dream home? People with 6-figure salaries live in camper vans in Silicon valley because zoning laws make it so that these people simply cannot afford a home that they can reasonably commute from to their high paying jobs every day.

Ultimately it is a problem of inertia at this point, in simple terms the houses have already been built largely and no one is terribly interested in smashing them down to build more economical dwellings. There is also the problem of when new developments for compact housing go up, these almost uniformly are put up by the rental companies so there is no hope of property ownership of such units as long as the local Big Landlord stands to make money renting apartments instead. Certainly I think a lot of people in the under-40 generation would not mind seeing smaller, more affordable housing become commonplace if it meant they could get a share of it, but that is much easier said than done given the forces arrayed.

That being said, the rise of remote work is an interesting counter-trend and the awfulness of commutes in the most congested areas is a strong driving force to keep remote work relevant despite the worst efforts of the middle management caste. This aside, I will note that the degree of bad commute depends strongly on where one lives and works, San Francisco for example is a horrible place for this reason while my friend who works in or near Seattle rarely has cause to complain despite all of the big tech companies having major campuses in that area. This is more broadly one of the difficulties in trying to discuss American work, housing, and commuting culture, really it varies so wildly from one region of the country to another that it is impossible to generalize.

I seem to have taken the bait. This is definitely a dangerous precedent.

Very much so, if you become too attached you open your AAR to delays caused by TBC, Wraith, and similar such top-of-page-stealing hooligans, although strangely I notice that AARs most afflicted by top-of-page-itis also tend to be the slowest to update in an odd correlation, certainly this AAR would be no exception as it is lapsing dangerously close to slower-than-real-time territory: his AAR was introduced to these boards some 1,765 days ago and has since covered some 2,112 days of in-game action, granted this is still a buffer of several hundred days but is much closer to the line than most AARs get.

 

[Wraith11B]

The main driving force (pun not initially intended, but I like it) regarding the size and positioning of homes here in the States is, from experience, the desire to hear and deal with ones neighbors less. If the homes were built well that I didn't hear it at all when they were traipsing to the bath or flushing their toilet, or engaging physically with their SO (in various ways...), I'd be more inclined to live with it. That said, there are more issues that could cause it to be less than ideal.

I have the benefit that I drive a "company" car, and get to take it home. So a work commute doesn't impact me the way it does others, though.

 

[RustyHunter]

Very much so, if you become too attached you open your AAR to delays caused by TBC, Wraith, and similar such top-of-page-stealing hooligans, although strangely I notice that AARs most afflicted by top-of-page-itis also tend to be the slowest to update in an odd correlation, certainly this AAR would be no exception as it is lapsing dangerously close to slower-than-real-time territory: his AAR was introduced to these boards some 1,765 days ago and has since covered some 2,112 days of in-game action, granted this is still a buffer of several hundred days but is much closer to the line than most AARs get.

We are on dangerous territory, but perhaps we can continue the car/housing debate long enough to push for the next page.

In my opinion, part of the problem is conflict between the 'American ideal' and economic reality now. Personally, I grew up in a rural area and would like to continue living in a similar way, even if not identical (have a house, yard, cars, etc.). However, many of the best jobs are in big cities where suburbs are pretty much my only choice to have something similar. I'm personally not into the urban lifestyle, so suburbs are the best compromise I can find, and I suspect my position isn't too far off most Americans.

I do hope remote work continues to be an option on some level as nuclearslurpee noted, just for the sake of avoiding awful commutes if nothing else! He also makes a very good point about extreme differences by region. I absolutely refuse to live in California since there are serious cost of living problems, but there are urban areas throughout the Midwest and South that are actually very affordable and livable.

 

[El Pip]

A spy from Slovakia, and a spy from Germany were caught in the Soviet Union (see upcoming narrative). One of our spies in Sweden was caught, he was replaced by a reserve operative.

I am delighted that this thrilling and frankly utterly unforeseen event will be getting it's own narrative update. We are all well aware of the fearsome efficiency and reputation of the Slovak counter-intelligence agency, but to see an actual Slovak spy out doing something (even if it is just getting caught) is truly wonderful.

On the transportation discussion my own experience has been that when working on a Road project I inevitably find myself travelling by train, yet rail tunnel projects always seem to require that I drive to the client or site. You would think it would be the opposite, but it never quite worked out that way.

 

[nuclearslurpee]

On the transportation discussion my own experience has been that when working on a Road project I inevitably find myself travelling by train, yet rail tunnel projects always seem to require that I drive to the client or site. You would think it would be the opposite, but it never quite worked out that way.

It makes sense, really. If a road needs be (re)constructed, clearly you cannot drive on that road to get to the road, hence the train. Conversely, if a rail tunnel needs be (re)constructed, clearly you cannot ride the train along that rail to get to the rail, hence the automobile.

It is probably a good thing that sea and air transit routes do not require (re)construction. That could be tricky.

 

[El Pip]

It makes sense, really. If a road needs be (re)constructed, clearly you cannot drive on that road to get to the road, hence the train. Conversely, if a rail tunnel needs be (re)constructed, clearly you cannot ride the train along that rail to get to the rail, hence the automobile.

It is probably a good thing that sea and air transit routes do not require (re)construction. That could be tricky.

While this is true, the problem occurred on inspection jobs or even just going to the client's office. The Highways people had a city centre tower block and no parking, so we end up using train/public transport to get there, that sort of thing.

I met the people who do runway resurfacing (we were putting a tunnel under their runway) which is probably the closest you get to (re)constructing an air route. It is apparently a strange combination of entirely safe and utterly nerve-shredding, because it's all done over-night but the cost of a runway not being open on time in the morning is staggering.

 

[Finshades]

30-day war updates sound... scary. The 10-day ones are already pretty hefty at times.

The Pacific theater is a bit too quiet and I'm just hoping the Japanese don't conclude that their army simply doesn't have enough to do and attempt a push against the Red Army forces stationed in the Far East.

 

[roverS3]

Well, the first thing that went wrong is that Paradox released HoI4. From there it is a long series of comic errors all of which have "Paradox" in the names.

That does seem to have been the original sin.

We are on dangerous territory, but perhaps we can continue the car/housing debate long enough to push for the next page.

Don't say you didn't ask fot it...

I've to be honest only found this to be an issue in cities as far as the US goes, both the major urban centers and the denser downtown zones in smaller regional cities. In these cases usually the best solution is indeed a robust public transport infrastructure and most cities I've visited do in fairness invest into this along with (paid) parking for the out-of-towners to stop off at before bussing about town. Of course this is where the American driving culture is most at odds with the optimal solution as many people prefer the "independence" of driving even though it is frankly a waste of time in these cities.

Compared to Europe and Asia, most US cities have pitiful public transport infrastructure, and intercity public transport is even worse. To be fair there is more investment in these areas today than there has been for decades, but there is a hell of a lot of catching up to do. There is a big problem when the most efficient way to travel between two cities centres that are less than 300 miles apart is to drive.

With suburbanization though it becomes much more prohibitive to maintain a reasonable public transport infrastructure beyond a fairly local (say, downtown center) network, as aside from major arteries in and out of the cities (usually in the US the state highway and/or Interstate system makes this up) you have traffic going every which way and crossing municipal boundaries in all directions. On the flip side I will say that generally outside of peak commuting hours the traffic, parking etc. is not really a problem in the suburban context in my experience, though doubtless it depends on where one lives.

This is what happens when you build entire neighbourhoods around car usage, you get places where cars are the only option to move around because everything is so far apart and you have to cross 3 57-lane highways and walk/cycle on the grass along an 18-lane stroad to get to whatever destination you need to get to on foot/by bike if you even wanted to try. Something that isn't talked about nearly enough is just how expensive it is to run municipal services into an american-style suburb. You need so much longer residential roads, sewer pipes, electricity cables, broadband, gas tubes etc. per resident than in a denser village or sattelite town structure. Even without public transport, suburbs are ridiculously expensive to run and maintain for municipal services, which goes a large way towards explaining why US property taxes are so high in many areas.

Finally on the total flip side we come to the rural areas which are arguably a significant driver for American car culture, while of course Europe has plenty of rural areas of its own the scale is really quite different, leading to the famous joke about how Europeans think 100 miles is a long distance (and Americans think 100 years is a long time, etc. etc.).

Remote rural areas will always need cars, that's just the reality of things. Another reality is that fewer and fewer people live in remote rural areas. In the grand scheme of things, the vast majority of car driving does not happen in remote rural areas.

Ultimately it is a problem of inertia at this point, in simple terms the houses have already been built largely and no one is terribly interested in smashing them down to build more economical dwellings. There is also the problem of when new developments for compact housing go up, these almost uniformly are put up by the rental companies so there is no hope of property ownership of such units as long as the local Big Landlord stands to make money renting apartments instead. Certainly I think a lot of people in the under-40 generation would not mind seeing smaller, more affordable housing become commonplace if it meant they could get a share of it, but that is much easier said than done given the forces arrayed.

I'd argue that you would simply need to modify zoning laws to get a better outcome over a few decades. Considering how large these minimum plot sizes are, you can simply transform these single family residential plots into two family residential plots. You allow people to add a floor to their home to rent out as an appartment, or you allow people to build a second home on their massive plots, or you allow people to sell half of their plot. In Brussels we have this system that pushes towards organic densification: In large parts of the city you are allowed to increase the height of your building, usually a row house, to a point where it is 3m higher than the highest building on the same street within a certain distance. You often don't need to tear down a building to densify by adding a floor or an extension, however in the US you probably would have to. (see my reply to @Wraith11B as per quality of US suburban housing) Basically, you don't need large developers to build appartment compexes, just allowing people to add a second residential unit to their own property as an investment would already go a long way.

That being said, the rise of remote work is an interesting counter-trend and the awfulness of commutes in the most congested areas is a strong driving force to keep remote work relevant despite the worst efforts of the middle management caste. This aside, I will note that the degree of bad commute depends strongly on where one lives and works, San Francisco for example is a horrible place for this reason while my friend who works in or near Seattle rarely has cause to complain despite all of the big tech companies having major campuses in that area. This is more broadly one of the difficulties in trying to discuss American work, housing, and commuting culture, really it varies so wildly from one region of the country to another that it is impossible to generalize.

The pessimist in me thinks that remote work will have the same effect that adding lanes to highways has, because not everyone can work remotely. If people don't commute to work every day, that frees up space on highways. Now you might say this is a good thing, but it's not because this space will inevitably be filled, probably because people, especially those who can work remotely several days a week, will then move further away from their jobs, eventually resulting in a new equilibrium with more miles being driven and just as much congestion. Induced demand as a proven concept has existed for at least half a century, and I haven't seen it disproven yet. So, instead of falling for the trap, just remove one lane from each highway that goes into the city and save some money on maintenance.

The main driving force (pun not initially intended, but I like it) regarding the size and positioning of homes here in the States is, from experience, the desire to hear and deal with ones neighbors less. If the homes were built well that I didn't hear it at all when they were traipsing to the bath or flushing their toilet, or engaging physically with their SO (in various ways...), I'd be more inclined to live with it. That said, there are more issues that could cause it to be less than ideal.

This is a chicken and the egg problem. The only reason you can get away with building your mcmansions out of matchsticks and papier maché is because your neighbour's house is a good 5-10m away at least. (Forgive the hyperbole, but American-style balloon-frames are the worst) And when you're only allowed to build a single single-family home on each massive plot, you might as well build the biggest single-family home you can, especially when you consider that matchsticks and paper are very cheap compared to the value of the land. And then, this becomes the norm, and what everyone aspires to. As for no one jumping to tear down houses that have already been built, don't worry, if you give them a good 30 years, many will fall apart on their own.

I have the benefit that I drive a "company" car, and get to take it home. So a work commute doesn't impact me the way it does others, though.

That's a problem in Belgium: People getting 'company cars' they take home, and because the company (+ government, stupidest tax deduction in existence) pays for the car, they use the car for everything because they would have to pay 'extra' to use public transport and the like... even though public transport is subsidised and fares are relatively low.
Of course when the alternatives are pitiful, a company car you can take home makes more sense, especially if it means you drive directly from your home to your client instead of going by the office.

On the transportation discussion my own experience has been that when working on a Road project I inevitably find myself travelling by train, yet rail tunnel projects always seem to require that I drive to the client or site. You would think it would be the opposite, but it never quite worked out that way.

While this is true, the problem occurred on inspection jobs or even just going to the client's office. The Highways people had a city centre tower block and no parking, so we end up using train/public transport to get there, that sort of thing.

This is hilarious, I would expect those true believers in highway construction to build their HQ right next to a massive cloverleaf intersection and with a wildly over-sized parking lot and two dedicated highway exits. Don't they want to see the great future they're building? Next you're going to tell me Network rail offices are located on some industrial estate off the A6. Our Belgian equivalent to network rail, 'infrabel' does have it's hq right next to one of the busiest railway stations of the country, so there is that.

I met the people who do runway resurfacing (we were putting a tunnel under their runway) which is probably the closest you get to (re)constructing an air route. It is apparently a strange combination of entirely safe and utterly nerve-shredding, because it's all done over-night but the cost of a runway not being open on time in the morning is staggering.

That's a bit like Japanese road works. When they resurface a road, they use a massive crew and they do the whole thing overnight as clearly any disruption to daytime traffic because of routine road maintenance is deeply dis-honorable. The monetary cost of failure might be lower, but the emotional and reputational cost is that much more significant...

Finally, I have found this youtube video to further stir up the discussion on transport with a bit of humour:

Very much so, if you become too attached you open your AAR to delays caused by TBC, Wraith, and similar such top-of-page-stealing hooligans, although strangely I notice that AARs most afflicted by top-of-page-itis also tend to be the slowest to update in an odd correlation, certainly this AAR would be no exception as it is lapsing dangerously close to slower-than-real-time territory: his AAR was introduced to these boards some 1,765 days ago and has since covered some 2,112 days of in-game action, granted this is still a buffer of several hundred days but is much closer to the line than most AARs get.

I fully expect us to reach a slower than real time average soon. If you wanted quick and snappy, you're clearly in the wrong place. As much as they sometimes annoy me, top-of-page-stealing hooligans can be a blessing in disguise, they might give the AuthAAR more time to proofread or enrichen their upcoming update.

I am delighted that this thrilling and frankly utterly unforeseen event will be getting it's own narrative update. We are all well aware of the fearsome efficiency and reputation of the Slovak counter-intelligence agency, but to see an actual Slovak spy out doing something (even if it is just getting caught) is truly wonderful.

I love the enthusiasm, I really need to include more Slovaks in my narratives, even if only for Tiso and Tuka's sake.

30-day war updates sound... scary. The 10-day ones are already pretty hefty at times.

The hope is that information might be condensed thanks to the longer timeframe so that the 30-day updates would be less hefty than three 10-day updates... I also forsee it saving me time on the production of maps and graphics.

Even if the top of the page is reached, don't expect an update before the new year, but leave the space open as I have now experienced the draw of the top of the page, and this has proven added motivation to finish that last update. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year, as the song goes.

 

[nuclearslurpee]

I'd argue that you would simply need to modify zoning laws to get a better outcome over a few decades. Considering how large these minimum plot sizes are, you can simply transform these single family residential plots into two family residential plots. You allow people to add a floor to their home to rent out as an appartment, or you allow people to build a second home on their massive plots, or you allow people to sell half of their plot.

The rest I am avoiding touching as I don't see a productive resolution to the discussion. However this bit I must comment on as it is a massive oversimplification of the problem, simply put (heh) it is not a "simple" matter to modify zoning laws or indeed any laws. While America is not unique in this regard, we have certainly mastered the art of politicking such that if one well-meaning politician puts forth an excellent idea for a law you can be sure a dozen others will, in full awareness that this is the worse thing for the constituency, nevertheless immediately jump in to find ways to fight against this new law as a way to rile up their voter base and secure re-election. Ultimately to pass such a law you would need significant public pressure and support to get anything done, and right now to be frank the public is focused on other issues of the day for better or worse.

Admittedly there is also the cultural factor of most people not wanting to share their land with another person or family, regardless of if it is legally permitted to do so, which I think is somewhat distinctive for Americans as we are as a people notoriously bad at sharing. Ultimately it is a rather fruitless path to try and engineer a solution to a problem which is inherently based on people, not that this has ever stopped anyone from trying I suppose.

I fully expect us to reach a slower than real time average soon. If you wanted quick and snappy, you're clearly in the wrong place

Fortunately the only reason I am not the foremost proponent of slower-than-real-time AARs is because El Pip has not yet been offed by a treasonous Pipette. And also because I do not currently maintain an AAR on this board, yes, I suppose that is also a contributing factor. In any case quick and snappy is not high on my wish-list so you are quite all right.

 

[El Pip]

Fortunately the only reason I am not the foremost proponent of slower-than-real-time AARs is because El Pip has not yet been offed by a treasonous Pipette. And also because I do not currently maintain an AAR on this board, yes, I suppose that is also a contributing factor. In any case quick and snappy is not high on my wish-list so you are quite all right.

I would also suggest that the fact the AAR you do maintain in the other place has a frankly terrifying rate of progress, reaching almost 15 game days per day of real time after your last chapter. Fortunately you have taken a majestic pause recently so you are down to merely 10 game days per real day, even so this is not the body of work one typically associates with a proponent of slower-than-real-time.

At this point your only real hope is to spend the rest of the decade producing updates which advance the plot while not advancing time. Keep that up until late 2030 and you will be back on track.

 

[nuclearslurpee]

I would also suggest that the fact the AAR you do maintain in the other place has a frankly terrifying rate of progress, reaching almost 15 game days per day of real time after your last chapter. Fortunately you have taken a majestic pause recently so you are down to merely 10 game days per real day, even so this is not the body of work one typically associates with a proponent of slower-than-real-time.

At this point your only real hope is to spend the rest of the decade producing updates which advance the plot while not advancing time. Keep that up until late 2030 and you will be back on track.

I must counter-suggest here, an Aurora AAR must be subject to a slightly different standard due to the unfortunately greater pace of gameplay compared to HoI3, and elsewise frankly your own work in the other place could be accused of the same failing despite the inexact nature of dating used to obscure the frightening rate of progress.

Though I am considering an HoI3 AAR project once I am settled in the new year, if I can tear myself away from Aurora projects for long enough anyways, and this would assuredly be slower than real time, although not without effort as I will have to work out how best to drag out the first year and a half without resorting to quite Butterfly levels of timey-wimeyness.

 

[El Pip]

I must counter-suggest here, an Aurora AAR must be subject to a slightly different standard due to the unfortunately greater pace of gameplay compared to HoI3, and elsewise frankly your own work in the other place could be accused of the same failing despite the inexact nature of dating used to obscure the frightening rate of progress.

Can't be acused of making progress if there are no dates with which to judge the passage of time. Though I grudgingly conceded you may have a point.

Though I am considering an HoI3 AAR project once I am settled in the new year, if I can tear myself away from Aurora projects for long enough anyways, and this would assuredly be slower than real time, although not without effort as I will have to work out how best to drag out the first year and a half without resorting to quite Butterfly levels of timey-wimeyness.

Well this is excellent news, let us hope your considerations come to the correct conclusion and that you are quickly settled in enough for this to begin.

 

[nuclearslurpee]

Can't be acused of making progress if there are no dates with which to judge the passage of time. Though I grudgingly conceded you may have a point.

Unfortunately, while generally successful at obscuring the passage of time you have left in a reference to a change of doctrine between the "2010s" and "2220s" in one of the updates, though I suspect there is a typo in the former. This is all I will say as now we risk derailing the actual thread we are posting in, and while senseless derailing is an essential ingredient of Butterfly I suspect further talk of derailing would drive our train-loving authAAR mad.

 

[Bullfilter]

On the Northern coast of Java, the IJA took the hills of Tegal, they are now only 100 km from the current capital of the Dutch East Indies, Semarang.There has been no more progress on Sumatra, nor on Borneo, where an SNLF unit is slowly starving to death just south of Tarakan.

They will probably just stay there for the rest of the game, neither advancing nor retreating, even as the Home Islands are invaded.

I fully expect us to reach a slower than real time average soon. If you wanted quick and snappy, you're clearly in the wrong place. As much as they sometimes annoy me, top-of-page-stealing hooligans can be a blessing in disguise,

I never take the slightest bit of notice about the tops of pages, on my own or others' AARs! <shrugs> When the muse hits, you must post. None of this miserly or obsessive post-counting etc.

The hope is that information might be condensed thanks to the longer timeframe so that the 30-day updates would be less hefty than three 10-day updates... I also forsee it saving me time on the production of maps and graphics.

You can try, but it's harder than it seems at a safe distance!

Though I am considering an HoI3 AAR project once I am settled in the new year

Huzzah! Bring it on.

 

[roverS3]

The rest I am avoiding touching as I don't see a productive resolution to the discussion.

I was a bit on edge last wednesday and might have gone a little hard on several aspects of American suburbs and car culture. We'll just agree to disagree.

However this bit I must comment on as it is a massive oversimplification of the problem, simply put (heh) it is not a "simple" matter to modify zoning laws or indeed any laws. While America is not unique in this regard, we have certainly mastered the art of politicking such that if one well-meaning politician puts forth an excellent idea for a law you can be sure a dozen others will, in full awareness that this is the worse thing for the constituency, nevertheless immediately jump in to find ways to fight against this new law as a way to rile up their voter base and secure re-election. Ultimately to pass such a law you would need significant public pressure and support to get anything done, and right now to be frank the public is focused on other issues of the day for better or worse.

I realise this is easier said than done, but when the alternatives are continuing urban sprawl or expropriating entire neighbourhoods to densify them, I do think it is the least difficult option. Of course, one of the main reasons this is difficult is Nimbyism. Because not enough housing exists where it is needed, real estate values are very high, and any densification in the places where it makes sense will likely drive down prices. Considering home owners tend to have higher turnout in local elections, it isn't that surprising that politicians would push back on any legislation that might lead to increased density and a reduction of real estate values. That's also where the next statement comes in:

Admittedly there is also the cultural factor of most people not wanting to share their land with another person or family, regardless of if it is legally permitted to do so, which I think is somewhat distinctive for Americans as we are as a people notoriously bad at sharing. Ultimately it is a rather fruitless path to try and engineer a solution to a problem which is inherently based on people, not that this has ever stopped anyone from trying I suppose.

From a purely economic point of view it makes sense for people who own their own home and land in areas where there is a lot of demand for new housing to add resitential units to their property in order to extract revenue from said land. This is why I would consider such proposals to be less difficult to become accepted because you're actually increasing the economic revenue you can get from the land by allowing denser construction and those benefits go entirely to the current land-owners who are overwhelmingly the people that live there in the case of single family residential areas. The culture of not wanting to share your land, even if you could make a hefty profit off it definitely makes it difficult to pass such measures as the financial incentive may not be seen as sufficient compared to these intangible and cultural ideals of having your own place separate from others in a low-density neighbourhood. These cultural ideas are then often justified as preserving 'neighbourhood caracter' and the like.

Fortunately the only reason I am not the foremost proponent of slower-than-real-time AARs is because El Pip has not yet been offed by a treasonous Pipette. And also because I do not currently maintain an AAR on this board, yes, I suppose that is also a contributing factor. In any case quick and snappy is not high on my wish-list so you are quite all right.

Glad to hear it, though I am a bit worried about El Pip being offed by a Pipette now, something that hadn't entered my mind before...

This is all I will say as now we risk derailing the actual thread we are posting in, and while senseless derailing is an essential ingredient of Butterfly I suspect further talk of derailing would drive our train-loving authAAR mad.

As long as you're derailing threads and not trains we'll be all right.

I never take the slightest bit of notice about the tops of pages, on my own or others' AARs! <shrugs> When the muse hits, you must post. None of this miserly or obsessive post-counting etc.

I also don't really, except when commenting on The Butterfly Effect because I know that posting top of the page can easily delay the next chapter by weeks if not months, or at least it seems to do so, being a convenient excuse for @El Pip to take his time.

Huzzah! Bring it on.

I second that motion.

I wish you all a great 2022, may it be better than 2021.

 

[Bullfilter]

I also don't really, except when commenting on The Butterfly Effect because I know that posting top of the page can easily delay the next chapter by weeks if not months, or at least it seems to do so, being a convenient excuse for @El Pip to take his time.

I’ve never known him to need either excuse or justification to do so!

I second that motion.

I wish you all a great 2022, may it be better than 2021.

And I second that motion! Though it may be safer to expect the 2030s to be better than the 2020s, the way things are going. Though we can hope.

 

[El Pip]

I also don't really, except when commenting on The Butterfly Effect because I know that posting top of the page can easily delay the next chapter by weeks if not months, or at least it seems to do so, being a convenient excuse for @El Pip to take his time.

I’ve never known him to need either excuse or justification to do so!

Certain standards must be maintained, lest civilisation falls to the barbarians.