Errata Discussion: Mercenary Overview of Equipment

[DonM]

My question basically is, reviewing the "Overview of Equipment" chapter in Book 4 - Mercenary, did anything published by GDW for CT conflict with, correct or change this chapter.

I've used this chapter for years as basic guidance for how to equip soldiers at various TLs, along with private security teams, mercenaries, etc.

And as far as I know, nothing in CT ever broke it, but I could have missed some equipment implications along the way, so I thought I'd ask that question of the more learned members of our august assemblage...

 

[McPerth]

I've never had access to Sriker, so maybe that was corrected there, but I miss some equipment (mostly for lower TLs) in Mercenary:

• flamethrower
• mines (both antipersonnel and antivehicle)

 

[jec10]

The basic problem was CT/Merc and CT/Striker implied that squad automatic weapons stopped evolving at pre-stellar TLs and that man-portable plasma and then fusion weapons took over as squad support weapons.

The problem is that PGMPs/FGMPs are not rapidfire weapons in Traveller canon. They are really more like replacements for RPGs or flamethrowers.

Later CT canon and MegaT created the Assault Rocket Launcher (ARL) as another wrinkle on the support weapon idea. This isn't anywhere in the CT/Merc writeup.

But what was needed was a Gauss SAW. The existing VRF Gauss Gun was way too big and bulky for squad work.

 

[aramis]

Striker's weapon list is slightly different from Merc's Ironmongery chapter. The unit organization lists are comparable.

 

[DonM]

Ok, this gives me several points to work from.

Thanks!

 

[Hyphen]

But what was needed was a Gauss SAW. The existing VRF Gauss Gun was way too big and bulky for squad work.

I looked up the Weapons tables on my website, and saw that Ken Pick added a few high-tech squad weapons:

PICK, Ken, "Missing Links", Challenge 64, GDW, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1992, pp 22-3.
PICK, Ken, "Advanced Lasers", Challenge 66, GDW, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1992, pp 26, 29.
PICK, Ken, "Personal Weapons", Challenge 67, GDW, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1993, pp 22-3.

My personal favourite is the man-portable <*ahem*> I should say battle dress-portable Light Rapid-Fire (LRF) Gauss Gun:

http://members.tip.net.au/~davidjw/tavspecs/maint/combat/wpnsheet/lrf_gaus.pdf

Just don't give it to your PC's - unless they really, REALLY need it(*).

(*)i.e. if they need this, they are knee-deep in trouble... ;-) ;-)

Under my Miscellaneous Military tables, I have these notations that you may want to investigate:
Stats for Flamethrower and Mines are taken from:
BRINES, Michael, "Mercenary Supermart", Challenge 68, GDW, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1993, p 20.
Stats for most Spooktek weapons are converted from GDW's "House System" stats presented in:
ANDRON, Roman J., "Spooktek", Challenge 61, GDW, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1992, pp 8, 9.
Stats for Taser are taken from:
BARRY, Kevin, "Taser", Challenge 40, GDW, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1989, p 33.
Stats for the M-100 SOF are converted from GDW's "House System" stats presented in:
MULKEY, Capt. Thomas E, "Murder Century", Challenge 61, GDW, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1992, p 10.

And of course you have all the alien weapons scattered around, that the human-centric Mercenary doesn't cover...

 

[McPerth]

I looked up the Weapons tables on my website, and saw that Ken Pick added a few high-tech squad weapons:

PICK, Ken, "Missing Links", Challenge 64, GDW, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1992, pp 22-3.
PICK, Ken, "Advanced Lasers", Challenge 66, GDW, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1992, pp 26, 29.
PICK, Ken, "Personal Weapons", Challenge 67, GDW, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1993, pp 22-3.

IIRC all of them are for MT, not for CT/Mercenary but they can be a good place to start...

 

[Piper]

There are references in the ironmongery section to "cavity-A" and "cavity-B" armor and the use of masers as anti-aircraft weapons.

Frankly, I'd hate to see these changed even though these concepts were abandoned and replaced with the systems developed in Striker.

To my mind, they were intended as inspiration and, as such, are still valid.