Part 35: 1969-71 - Resurgence
1969-71 - ResurgenceFor detailed information regarding the events of the last three years, please consult the attached minutes from our last general performance review.
To make sense of it all, let’s look at some graphs.
Overall Performance Retrospective
With the campaign nearly through, most the major trends have set in. The Americans are handed domination over the markets by virtue of their strong starting position, but even with that the AI still sort of stumbles its way to the top of the pile instead of leaping it in a single bound. A less privileged start like ConAir’s can still produce a strong portfolio, but not one immune to pressure from smaller competitors. A bad spot like 1950s Russia presents a situation which the AI has no idea how to deal with, where it is easily crippled and left to limp along in obscurity for the next twenty years.
Wedged in between there us. Under mass goon control we got off to a quick start, and tended to have more ups than downs. However, as the midgame settled in the board had trouble finding ways to build upward momentum. This was far from helped by the limitations of the LP’s planning and budgeting formats, which made it difficult to lay long-term plans, and the fact that roughly all of the voters hadn’t the slightest clue how to AeroBiz, as illustrated here:
My actions during this span were fairly straightforward: adding a jet to our trans-atlantic line, upgrading some old Doug-routes, getting into Australia, and hooking up some solid midrange cities. Having the freedom to enact those plans at their own pace helped ensure a smooth rollout, but there is only so much smooth that we can roll.
We are not in a position to win, but for a game started in from one of the hardest positions and run by folks who’d gladly piss away a year’s budget on Chinese Yachts, we’ve come out rather well. We won’t come out of this on top, but we can sure as hell drag everyone else down with us. For the final years of Scenario 1, I have two goals:
1. Claim North America
The Islamabubble has delivered us the temporary insult of being outdone in our home region. We will repay this.
With the current spread of passengers, the addition of 3-5 Juniors running daily flights out of Chicago will be enough to close the gap between us and the Americans. Everything east of the Rockies is within Jr’s range and carries opening fees of less than twenty million per city. With a few strong steps we can bring them down a peg.
2. Defeat ConAir
ConAir has not held the top spot in their home zone for years. Everywhere that we compete, we have overtaken them. It is time we took away their final hiding place. A swift thrust into the heart of Oceania will drain their numbers in a twelve thousand passenger market where they’ve long reigned supreme. There are currently eleven thousand passengers between our scores. Combining that with out offensive in America should be exactly what we need to get them underfoot and claim our rightful place as the second greatest airline in the world.
1972 Is upon us. It is a good year to fly.