Head of Mission Communications and Locomotion -

The District Heads of Communication will meet at the Locomotion Map during the Specialisation Phase. The Head of Communications role is a difficult one where, all of their options are affected by the labour or whim of the other District Players.

The Voice of the City -

The primary resource of the communications arm of the Task Force is a colossal antennae that has been produced, specifically to enable the kind of wide band communications needed to keep in contact with the digger and DeepEye Mission. Installed aboard the "Voice of the City" locomotive, the antennae has to be in near enough proximity to the digger, in order for communications to be established and maintained. The Communications Players, must ensure that the way is clear for the train to move about the city, unhindered and to report messages back and forth between the surface and the digger crew.

The “Voice of the City” has been specially refitted as a communications train which can follow the DeepEye’s movements on the surface, using the city’s rail lines to move about. The closer that the train is to the DeepEye’s approximate location, the better communications quality will be with the crew, for that turn. Players from each district must repair and control a series of switches to help make sure that the train can move and keep up with the digger crew, all the while avoiding infrastructure damage in the city.

The Communications team Specialisation Phase will be broken up into several key steps;

• Observe which switches have been damaged in the previous round.

• Use information from the Science team and the digger crew to estimate the DeepEye’s rough location.

• Use funding to purchase additional train cars, power the train system, and repair damaged switches.

• Use system power to change the switches orientation and determine a route for the ‘Voice’ antennae to take, accounting for the damaged sections.

• Send the Train on the chosen route and navigate any dangerous sections.

• Determine signal integrity for the proceeding turn, i.e. how close to the DeepEye’s position that the train managed to travel.

At the start of the Specialisation Phase, Comms Players will need to observe the state of the rail network. Depending upon what was damaged in the city in the preceding turn, Control will update which routes are available and which are currently damaged. Using any information from the District Chief Scientist Players, as well as the Digger team’s previous reports, Comms Players must estimate the current location and depth of the DeepEye digging platform on the map. The depth of the digger will also affect communications quality for the current turn and will determine how close the train must be in order to pick up their signal. Science can give this information in some cases but it is likely that relying on the digger crew's own reports will be more accurate. Once all of this information has been synthesised and discussed, the Comms team must determine on what they will spend any of their funding for that round.

The Communications Team Players will each start the turn with one point of funding known as their ‘Grant.’ The City Councillors collect taxation for their district and will have access to more funding which they must share out between their team’s specialisations. It is in the Comms team’s interest to try and secure as much of that funding as possible in order to have the greatest number of options available to them. With funding, the Comms Players may repair broken sections of track, purchase system power to adjust the train network switches, and purchase additional cars for the 'Voice of the City' antennae train, in order to increase it’s potential range. Each District Player is in control of their own funding and may choose to spend it however they like. In addition the network switches in their district’s territories are under each of the District Players control, making collaboration essential and skulduggery, very possible.

Possible options to spend funding on at the Locomotion Map table are;

• 1 point of funding for; 5 Actions that require Energy, e.g. -
  • Repairing a section of track = 1 Action
  • Changing the direction of a junction switch = 1 Action
• 1 point of funding for; adding or removing a train car from a train -
• Control can also price custom actions that can justifiably use funding or energy to come about. These must be discussed with Control before other actions are affecting the Locomotion Map in a turn.

Information Management -

The Communications team’s funding is solely reliant on each of the District Councillor to provide them with enough support and funding, in order to develop the Communications team’s capability in logistics. The Communications Players are advised to stay on top of their communication with their own teams, as well as the other specialities, making sure to keep the information and funding flowing, and the DeepEye in contact. Funding does not have to come from a Player's own district.

Additionally, the Communications group have access to the city's own communications signal. They can block any announcement, or transmit any information that they would like during the Organisational Phase.

Signal Integrity-

Once the Locomotion Map adjustments are made, the train(s) will follow the assigned route and attempt to get as close to the intended destination as possible. The DeepEye traverses the city map on the hex tiles illustrated on the map while the 'Voice' travels on the lines between the hexes. Depending on the depth of the digger and the proximity of both vehicles at the end of the train’s movement, Control will set a signal integrity level varying from 'Out of Contact,' all the way through to 'Sustained Two Way Speech.' This will affect how well the DeepEye can Communicate with the surface, as well as vice verse, for that turn.

Locomotion -

The train moves in the same turn that the Comms Players attend the Locomotion Map. Once all changes and purchases have been made, Control will progress the train(s) along the Player's indicated route, which must be locked in before the train moves.

Directions for the route must be given in 'left,' or 'right,' and how many places format. E.g. Left 2, Right 1, Straight, Left 1, etc. Control will interpret the list literally, meaning that any miscommunications will be played out as if they were intended. Players must work together to define a single string of commands to send the train in the correct direction. If junction switches are misconfigured, or a section of track is broken along the way, Control will rule the result as it becomes relevant.

Both The DeepEye and the Voice train will have moved by the time of the Communications Phase and Control will set a Signal Integrity once the final turn location of both vehicles is established.

Obstacles and Inter-turn Damage -

While attempting traversal of the city the ‘Voice’ antennae train may encounter impassable parts of the rail network. These are denoted in the form of broken rail switches and are created by the crises which occur on the Crisis Map. They will be updated between turns and Comms Players should attempt to repair or circumvent them before the train begins to transit. If the intended route becomes unpassable while the train is in motion, the train will be stopped and has a small chance to sustain damage, unable to traverse again that turn.

When the train grows long enough in rail cars, damage to parts of the track can occur midway along the train’s length, during the transition between turns. In this event, all train cars that are behind that point, in reference to the train’s direction of travel, will be considered damaged and removed from the map. Additional train cars can still be purchased with funding, so long as the switch section that was damaged is repaired first, or the additional cars are placed to traverse a different, undamaged route at the point from where the damage occurred.

System Power -

All of Arclight City’s great marvels are powered by arcano-tech, using the Vortonite mineral for an energy source. Such power is in, increasingly limited supply during the crisis. With constant disruption to the city’s infrastructure it requires funding invested to both pay for the fuel that powers the train line network, as well as to grease a few rail worker's palms in order to get the system configured, in a hurry. Each point of funding spent on System Power gets the Player five actions worth of energy, or 'actions'. An action, which consumes one point of System Power, will include events such as changing the orientation of a rail switch, or repairing a damaged section of track. Railcars cannot be purchased with System Power and require one point of funding each to purchase. Surpluss Energy is discarded at the end of a turn, whereas, any remaining funding can be retained between turns.

The Communications Phase -

During the last Phase of the round, both vehicles, above and below, will have moved to their resting position for that turn. The Communications Team will be informed about what Signal Integrity level that they have achieved with the DeepEye crew and can begin using the available methods to transmit and receive communication. Every Communications officer Player may communicate with the digger independently. If they are in vocal range and wish to send a private message, they may step away from the other Communications Players to do so. Likewise, written messages can be sent surreptitiously, or anonymously. Keep in mind that any message sent to the digger crew may potentially be shared with everyone on board. Any messages sent from the digger crew, to the communications team, will be accessible by all Communications Players.