As a weapon system ages its refined …and cheaper to produce with each passing TL
General The infantry laser problem
- Thread starter Carlobrand
- Start date
Okay, but now I want to make one.
That is something that is not really modeled in Traveller (but offers plenty opportunity for rules tinkerers.) Technically a Tommygun from 1921 and a CS/LS7 from 2021 fall under the general description "SMG"; and they are both shoulder-fired automatic weapons firing standard pistol rounds at a high rate from a 30-round detachable box magazine.
I've been considering the idea to extend the idea that weapons get lighter and more compact at higher TLs to other weapon types than high-energy artillery in Book 4...
Spinward Flow
SOC-14 1K
Loser: I fight HARDER.
Winner: I fight SMARTER.
My rule of thumb is that ATR/anti-material/LAG type weapons get upgraded each TL by having penetration equal to their TL. So a TL 14 ATR type weapon would be pen 14- troublesome against top tier BD but good enough for the earlier armor.
This is based on the TL6 ATR followed by the LAG.
We’ve had VRF Gauss guns and mass drivers since way earlier, let’s spice this up and say electromagnetism has reached its limit by TL14, these are grav propelled rounds.
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Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
In terms of asymmetricalism, it's Sword Worlders versus the Imperium.
My guess is, highly trained, highly motivated units to take on their armies and Marines.
My guess is, highly trained, highly motivated units to take on their armies and Marines.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
That’s actually how I got into the reflec wavelength problem, figuring out what goggles to avoid blinding to equip with. Turns out, it depends on what wavelength, wrong coverage no good.
I’m therefore inclined to equip most troops with a default helmet that is entirely armored, no vision slits, and internal screen. Maybe an emergency visor function at most.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Ever wonder why snub weapons would be banned in Solomani space?
en.wikipedia.org
I would imagine there will be a treaty to prevent lasers being used to blind, perfectly acceptable to burn through your head though.
Saint Petersburg Declaration of 1868 - Wikipedia
I would imagine there will be a treaty to prevent lasers being used to blind, perfectly acceptable to burn through your head though.
"Wait, forever? Man, these army doctors suck!"
Not in Kansas opportunity, cybernetic or force grown replacements standard military medical practice.
“Ya Joe., no big deal, I won’t be blind long. This will be my third set counting the originals. And I got new colors this time, wife picked em out.”
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Crazy dragon eyes
I worked for the British Transport Police for 5 years, we saw a number of them, mostly used by the paddies.
While they are used in conventional weaponry fairly often (I believe the yanks have some howitzer fired EFPs now), the great successes that made them the 'bane of our existence' were mostly as IEDs or similar asymmetric weaponry.
As I've said before I don't doubt that lower TL troops can achieve kills on TL14 battledress. I think people need to be realistic about the expected casualities though.
As Rupert says:
There needs to be a suitable amount of fanaticism in your troops for this to work (not necessarilly religious, the KPA and PLA both had (and may still have) the required political indoctrination in the communist cause to continue assaults after 60% casualties)), unless you indend for a long guerilla type war.
This is true, while the PGMP and FGMP definitely provide enough advantages for you to want to hang around your APC for eight hours every 100 shots, laser weapons do not.
In police engagements where you have (usually) a highly trained professional team of combatants vs (usually) one or two untrained, ill-equiped opponents shoot times will be short - almost always less than a minute.
In warfare the answer is something akin to how long is a piece of string. Some firefights last 30s others involve exchanging fire for hours. It's the latter that worries me when it comes to lasers - the fact that you have to change backpacks every 100 shots. We have firefights in recent history where tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of rounds were fired. If you are in the FoB and can plug yourself in this is fine - if you're the assaulting force it's not optimal.
Yeah, those guys were the tier one of IEDs, most declassified intell links the rise in the proficiency Al Fatah / Hamas / Hezbollah with complex explosives to the cross training with the PIRA at the camps in Libya and Yemen. I also believe the PIRA was present in Lebanon for a time.
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Spinward Flow
SOC-14 1K
Trick question.
How many rounds were fired per weapon on the scene ...?
What were the rates of fire of the weapons involved?
My point being ... I don't those 10-100k rounds were being pushed through a single weapon (while everyone else used harsh language).
To be fair I stole it from Dave Nielsen who wrote they were skipping over the subject because how would it be to play a perfectly healthy character except they were blind. A VR type full face helmet would be a solution, though what would that mean when the high TL unit takes on a low TL one and just decides to blind them all, pretty grim game there.
This is a valid point, but I suspect (though I do not have the data to hand) that each rifleman was expending more than 100 rounds of ammunition.Trick question.
How many rounds were fired per weapon on the scene ...?
What were the rates of fire of the weapons involved?
My point being ... I don't those 10-100k rounds were being pushed through a single weapon (while everyone else used harsh language).
I’m sure there actually is data. From my own anecdotal experience from a recent pistol requalification (joys of living on the 38th parallel) you can burn through 60 rounds fairly quickly - even having to reload every ten rounds.
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