Re: [HoE] Caseless ammo and modern weapons

[Allan Seyberth <darious@darious.com>]

At 11:56 PM 10/21/1998 -0400, you wrote:
>One thing about modern technology and its viability and affordability.  I
recently
>saw the new infantry weapon written up in (I think) Popular Mechanics
magazine.  I
>once was talking to someone in Boston who was shocked by a similar
write-up of the
>Stealth fighter.  When he next saw his uncle, who worked in the Skunk
Works, he
>asked him why the US government allowed people to publish such specific
>information about our most advanced weapon systems.  His reply:  "Oh,
that?  I
>remember seeing plans for those back in the 1970s."

Well - yes.  The Army has been talking about new ammo for over 8 years now.
   Haven't seen it yet.  Probably has something to do with the arms
manufacturers not wanting to shift their ammo over.

But - a hundred years is a LOT of time.  Take a look at the weapons around
in the 1890s.   Since then, advances in physics and chemistry have improved
the weapons.

The function is the same - hammer/pin --> chemical  -->  boom  -->  flying
projectile.  But today's weapons are more accurate, have greater range, are
generally lighter, more powerful , more reliable, and reload faster.  You
can still find cap and ball weapons that function, but would you want to
take it against someone armed with a Bernelli semi-automatic shotgun?

I would give all of the high tech weapons in HoE a base +2 to hit and
probably add +1 point of damage per die.  This is to differentiate it from
the baseline weapons found in Deadlands.  I wouldn't give 'em any more
bonuses, because there is a point of diminishing returns and there is no
benefit to any more improvements.

Now, as people learn to cope, and the lack of a manufacturing base
indicates the loss of weapons with less functional components, these
bonuses should be removed to show the loss of high technology.


-------------------
Allan Seyberth
darious@darious.com

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Robert Burns:
Fair Fa Your Honest Sonsie Face
Great Chieftain O' The Chicken Race
The blackened road 'ahind ye said
Ye best run quick ere ye be deid!