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Kraken
Federated Suns
Marshal
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2755
Location: United States
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 Posted: 03-Oct-2008 13:24 Post subject: Testing some personal gear items |
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(note that these are all rough ideas so I don't have all the stats figured out yet)
Field-Expedient Rations
Soldiers on the go still need to eat, but standard MREs or equivalents are often too bulky to carry in number and/or too slow to eat properly. This ration type solves the problem. It consists of a chocolate-covered protein bar, a packet of nutrient-enriched applesauce, a stick of pasteurized-process cheese, a packet of electrolyte drink mix that can be had warm or cold, and a piece of cornbread or hardtack. Three of these weigh as much as a single standard ration or MRE.
Game effects: if the player doesn't stop to heat up the drink mix, the entire thing can be consumed in 30 seconds' time. The drink mix provides a temporary surge of adrenaline and nutrients through the body, making the character more alert for d6 + 6 minutes after drinking it.
"Trench-Digger" rifle.
An odd hybrid of a rifle and a machine gun, the "Trench-Digger" is designed so that each squad can have the support of a machine gun without having to actually have a full-sized weapon. The weapon, ammo, and tripod (optional) can easily be carried and operated by a single person, unlike a traditional machine gun which sometimes requires a two-man crew. The trade-off, however, is that the rounds are smaller as well; it's excellent against infantry and fixed structures, but only marginal against vehicles and power armor. Its name comes from the lever mechanism, which is positioned beneath the weapon instead of above it; when set down on the tripod, it occasionally kicks up some of the soil beneath it.
Game effects: As it's a machine gun on a rifle chassis, characters who have skill in Rifle but not Support Weapons may use it but at a +2 penalty to all checks. The weapon is based on the Colt-Browning M1895.
Poor Man's Rations
(I created these as rations for poorer militaries. Each ration consists of a can that has a mix of meat, rice, and vegetables; this is the main meal. Supplementing this is a small container of hot sauce (mostly to kill any bacteria in the meal), a small amount of hardtack, and some weak coffee or tea. It's enough to keep a character alive, but barely; even at three of these a day, a character will still lose a pound a week that they live off these.)
"Back-Breaker"
Although initially created as a heavy machine gun, a surprising use was discovered during early field tests: it has a range comparable to that of purpose-built sniper rifles. In fact, the design of the fire mechanism is such that a soldier could easily fire one round at a time. This has proven a great tactical advantage, as soldiers carrying one of these weapons can provide both suppressive and sniping fire. As a result, purchasers can order a factory-installed scope; some shooters have developed clamp systems that let them mount other types of scopes as well.
Range (meters): 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600
Damage: 1 pt. BTech
Feed: belt mechanism, 50 or 100 rounds to belt.
Game Effects: Due to the size of the weapon, simply carrying the weapon itself requires a strength of 3; with ammo, it's a minimum strength of 4. Any character wishing to snipe with it must have both the RIfle and Support Weapons skills. This item is based on the M2 Browning, which was indeed used as a sniper rifle in the early days of the US Marine Corps' sniper program.
_________________
"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." -Edgar Allen Poe"I knew there was something special about you, but I never realized you were really a cat." Wolfwood to a random cat (Trigun)
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CO_17thRecon
Kell Hounds
Major
Joined: 10-Sep-2002 00:00
Posts: 1297
Location: United States
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| Posted: 03-Oct-2008 13:46 Post subject: Testing some personal gear items |
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Sounds good. The FE Rations seem standard, and probably are the standard across the IS, Clans and Star League. The Star League also apparently had nutirion pills, but those were emergency only, since while they could keep you alive, they didn't do anything for hunger, which kept you uncomfortable.
The Trench-Digger is nice. Probably something I'd consider issuing to my men, depending on the situation. Against the Clans it's a bit pointless, but during the Succession Wars, such a light anti-infantry weapon would go over well.
PM Rations: Oy. Makes sense, but even the periphery militaries would have long moved past this. Only pirates would use them today, though they likely had a place during the grinding, horrific Succession Wars.
The Back-Breaker I like. It'd make a good battle armor weapon. It also reminds me vaguely of the M249 from Counter-Strike. Fire slow, and you can snipe. But if you have a clear shot, just clamp the trigger and try to fight down the recoil.
Looks good to me idea wise, but I never got a chance to play Mechwarrior RPG, and can't comment on balance.
_________________
Jarylan Blackwell
"What the...?! Where did you get THAT?!"
"Creative aquisition."
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Kraken
Federated Suns
Marshal
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2755
Location: United States
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| Posted: 03-Oct-2008 17:36 Post subject: Re: Testing some personal gear items |
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| CO_17thRecon wrote: | | Sounds good. The FE Rations seem standard, and probably are the standard across the IS, Clans and Star League. The Star League also apparently had nutirion pills, but those were emergency only, since while they could keep you alive, they didn't do anything for hunger, which kept you uncomfortable. |
In real life, a few years ago the US military realized that the MREs were so bulky and often so slow to eat that troops in the middle of a hot area often didn't have enough time to stop and eat properly. As such, a field-expedient ration was proposed that consisted of an energy bar, some applesauce, some caffeine-laced gum, and a little bit of drink mix.
| wrote: | | The Trench-Digger is nice. Probably something I'd consider issuing to my men, depending on the situation. Against the Clans it's a bit pointless, but during the Succession Wars, such a light anti-infantry weapon would go over well. |
There's also the Chaos March to consider; the different planets involved are largely back to Succession War tactics and methods.
| wrote: | | PM Rations: Oy. Makes sense, but even the periphery militaries would have long moved past this. Only pirates would use them today, though they likely had a place during the grinding, horrific Succession Wars. |
I had this idea while assembling a novel I'm working on. Part of a particular character's back story was that he once led a small unit of soldiers that were part of a much larger peacekeeping mission, but since this one unit bore the brunt of all the fighting they ended up having to use supplies taken off the deceased OPFOR because they were running out of their own.
I was considering having him mention, as one of his stories, how after a while he noted that all of the OPFOR had rations; specifically, the ones mentioned above. That bugged everyone, because it meant that the OPFOR - who were supposed to simply be guerrillas - had a definite supply chain. Turns out that the leaders of the OPFOR had cowed the owner of a food processing company into providing them with rations or else said owner's family would be killed. Ensuring the safety of the guy's family would thus mean cutting off the flow of rations to the OPFOR.
However, I'm not sure if I'm going to actually use this story after all.
| wrote: | | The Back-Breaker I like. It'd make a good battle armor weapon. It also reminds me vaguely of the M249 from Counter-Strike. Fire slow, and you can snipe. But if you have a clear shot, just clamp the trigger and try to fight down the recoil. |
I just got through reading a bio on Carlos Hathcock.
When Hathcock spent time as an MP and doing other such tasks, he noted that the M2 had a longer effective range than the sharpshooting rifles that were available. After he got tapped to help organize the Marine Corps sniper organization, he and his commander devised a system of clamps that could mount onto the M2; this would allow the snipers to transfer the scopes from their rifles onto the M2.
The logic was that if the snipers carried M2s with them, then they could also provide cover fire for whatever unit they got assigned to. Not only would this improve the tactical flexibility of the snipers, it'd also be a boon in regards to selling the program.
_________________
"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." -Edgar Allen Poe"I knew there was something special about you, but I never realized you were really a cat." Wolfwood to a random cat (Trigun)
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ralgith
Blighted Sun Battalion
1st Company
"Ralgith's Renegades"
Colonel
Joined: 18-Aug-2003 00:00
Posts: 2021
Location: United States
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| Posted: 03-Oct-2008 18:48 Post subject: Re: Testing some personal gear items |
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And as I recall it worked quite well. Also, what is being discussed is REAL sniping with it, not single fire pot-shots like you'd get from the M249 you mentioned 
_________________
Colonel Ralgith t'Mayasara
Blighted Sun Battalion
1st Company 'Ralgith's Renegades'
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