The Equipment Sharing and Advice Thread

In this thread, post your ideas for things that are of consequence in your works. Be they Cool Cars Cool Planes, a weapon, an inconspicuous cardboard box, anything that has consequences and importance both to your plots and your 'verses.

Basically this is the Character Sharing and Advice Thread BUT WITH THINGS.

Please keep it to no more than a few things per post, as much as we may love your designs too many makes for an unreadable post.

I'll begin.

A-16 Light Attack Helicopter

Terran Reporting Name: A-16 "Yousei". More colloquially referred to as the Fairy.  ^*

Dimensions: 8 meters in length from tail to nose, 2 meter wing length on forward fuselage. 5.5 meter total wingspan. Rotor radius: 5 meters
Powerplant: 2x microfusion thrusters providing 6,000 kg of maximum thrust in total.
Maximum Velocity (Never exceed speed): 300 km/h (~186 mph)
Crew: 1
Weight/Mass: 2000 kg fully fueled and loaded.
Countermeasures/Active Protection Systems: 4x Counter-Drone countermeasure UAVs deployed from a rear pod below the engines. Missile interception/evasion/jamming success rate: 30% maximum under ideal conditions.
Armament: 1x 20mm 3 barrel Minovski Particle Gatling cannon mounted in an under the nose turret. 900 rpm fire rate. 2x external hardpoints for either 70mm unguided rocket pods (18 rockets per pod) or 120mm Longsword Anti-Armor Guided Missiles (4 missile tubes per rack module).

The A-16 "Yousei" more colloquially referred to by Terran and Preyaran crews alike as the Fairy is a light attack helicopter used by the Preyaran military in close air support missions. Small yet light, nimble and quite speedy compared to the space-capable A-18 Tengu transport/heavy gunship platform, Fairies are used in a wide variety of missions from armed reconnaissance to search and destroy. Fairly inexpensive to produce, the Fairy is widely used across a number of planets on a large number of bases. It's main advantages in combat are it's hard to hit stature owing to its relatively small size, rapid acceleration capabilities, and ability to lay down a surprisingly dangerous combat load worth of 20mm fire and explosive ordnance. It's main disadvantages are its slow speed compared to A-22 Mirai fighter aircraft and poor armor compared to A-18 Tengu transport gunships. To make up for the poor armor, Fairies are usually deployed in groups frequently referred to as "fairy swarms" ranging from 4 aircraft per group to as many as 32 in a single group.

Terran counters for this aircraft beyond establishing aerial supremacy over the combat zone include but are not limited to utilizing light anti-aircraft gun platforms like the 20mm M-2 Heavy Machine Gun  ^*

mounted in either defensive positions or on certain vehicles and 20mm M-32 Gatling cannon mounted to Vulcan UCVs or utilizing guided missile platforms like the FGM-255 Javelin anti-armor/anti-aircraft radar-guided missile and its UCV platform known as the Avenger.

edited 29th Nov '10 8:56:52 PM by MajorTom

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

I have a hard time believing that a bunch of hardened military types would call a piece of equipment something as flamboyant as 'the fairy'.

Hellsing-pattern Springfield rifle

Altered by Nikola Tesla for Father Franklin "Shadow Seraph" Kennedy, the Hellsing-pattern Springfield rifle features a pulse-ignition firing mechanism. Rounds are activated via a battery-powered  ^*

burst of electricity, reducing the amount of moving parts in the rifle to significantly reduce recoil.

The mechanism is designed, in particular, to use Nikola-designed silver .30 rounds.

Swordsman Troper — Reclaiming The Blade — Watch

^^ It's not quite so different from other reporting name schemes. For example, calling the Ohka guided missile the "Baka" from World War Two.

Really, it makes more sense in context of the Theme Naming inherent to the Reporting Name scheme.

But also that thought makes for entertaining conversation possibilities later down the road, like a "why do/did we give it this name?" type stuff.

^ I assume caseless ammunition? Also, is it a self-loading pattern like a semi-automatic or fully automatic design? If both, I like.

edited 8th Nov '10 8:48:51 AM by MajorTom

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

@Alex: Isn't most of the recoil in a gun caused by the bullet being propelled forward which causes a force backwards (on the person firing)?

"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." Twitter

^ To a degree. While it is true that simple mechanism systems like a bolt-action rifle produce the greatest amount of recoil (owing to no way to vent or relieve pressure as seen in gas, recoil or blowback operated firearms) the mechanism can impair accuracy.

Case in point, the AK-47 uses a long-stroke piston to work the action. The piston is on top of the barrel. The gas port into the barrel is not very far from the muzzle thus the delay between the bullet exiting the barrel and gas impinging on the piston is quite small in firearms terms. The gas port reduces the reverse recoil owing to less gas expulsion all at once, however the piston moving back in that position creates a synergistic effect on muzzle climb actually worsening it. This is because a piston on top causes the center of gravity to shift much greater during firing than if it were below the barrel or using a different action.

Reducing the shift from moving parts can in many ways reduce some forms of felt recoil.

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

^^^ Caseless. It's self-loading, too.

^^ Yeah, but Rule of Cool.

edited 8th Nov '10 9:03:39 AM by MadassAlex

Swordsman Troper — Reclaiming The Blade — Watch

being wrong on forums with reasonable people is so much more informative than reading wikipedia.

also, yeah, Rule of Cool. It was modified by Tesla. I mean jegus, that's all you need.

edited 8th Nov '10 9:04:39 AM by ch00beh

"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." Twitter

If you want Rule of Cool, forget making it fire by electric ignition, fire by electromagnetic induction like a railgun or coilgun.

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

From my Firefly story, we have a simple revolver, since Revolvers Are Just Better:

Epsilon Model 1013 - Revolver, 11mm caliber, six-shot cylinder. Ventilated barrel rib, in various barrel lengths - 75mm, 100mm, 120mm, 150mm and 175mm (3 to 7 inch approximately for us Americans). Can use either 11mm rimless ammunition with moon clips or, rarely, 11mm rimmed ammunition. Epsilon was in the market for high-quality revolvers, mostly double-action models, in calibers larger than 9mm/.38-caliber, all the way up to a five-shot 13mm hand cannon used mostly for hunting. I based the basic line of weapons off of some high-quality revolvers made in Germany, by Korth Waffen.

The particular example of this weapon in my story has been gone over by a gunsmith to smooth out the action and also adds a relief scope for long-range shooting.

Firefly gave us a lot of western-looking guns - some crap about how civillians weren't permitted access to military-grade hardware, and could only have archaic weapons - or archaic-looking, anyway. Somethign like that, maybe it was just Rule of Cool. I kind of shrugged and went with it. I wanted a high-grade revolver that was worth a prety penny for my protagonist, as he places a high regard on accuracy, and reliability, but due to a bad shoulder, he can't use a long gun.

Another gun, Sigma Arms Model 10: Whereas Espilon makes top-notch revolvers, Sigma falls smack-dab into the "Saturday Night Special" category. The Model 10 is a 10mm semiautomatic, with a 100mm barrel and ten-shot magazine - hence the Model 10 nomenclature. Double-action only. The protagonist liked the chrome job on it when he was young and stupid, and snatched it up for a song. The design itself was okay, but it had a botched gunsmithing job and ended up being horribly inaccurate and went click instead of bang, so he ended up getting rid of it. Might have been bad ammunition, something that is easily worked around, but he protagonist had had enough. Sigma also makes a line of small-caliber revolvers as well, that despite the stigma associated with much of their cheap semiautomatic lineup, are fairly reliable.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

Thing is, both are highly difficult to mod into an existing weapon-of-choice; pulse ignition is basically a hammer replacement. So while I use Rule of Cool to justify the things that don't add up to a knowledgable audience, it makes enough sense that your average punter will swallow it whole.

Swordsman Troper — Reclaiming The Blade — Watch

The M61 Vulcan uses electric-fired primers, also. Is that similiar to what you had in mind? Less moving parts, just make sure you got enough juice in your battery. I think the M41 Pulse Rifle in Aliens was electric-fired and caseless, too.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

Yeah, the pulse rifle is the exact inspiration for the Hellsing-pattern Springfield.

Swordsman Troper — Reclaiming The Blade — Watch

So that brings up a very minor but niggling question. How does it maintain self-loading? Gas-operation? Recoil? Electric firing system also handles self-loading without relying on gas or cartridge pressure at all?

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

-shrugs-

Any of the above.

Basically, I'm just trying to justify giving the pulse rifle's granddaddy to an early 20th century Catholic cowboy/witch-hunter/scholar of linguistics with a hit list from God. Any option will do.

Swordsman Troper — Reclaiming The Blade — Watch

^ Ok then I'll just let people commit to their Wild Mass Guessing as how it works.

Anyways new things from my 'verse. (Since I'd just eaten and cannot yet go outside and exercise lest I pull something stupid while doing so and get sick)

A-22 Starfighter

Terran Reporting Name: A-22 "Mirai"  ^*

Dimensions: 20 meters in length, 6.6 meter height landing gear down, 15 meter wingspan
Powerplant: 2x fusion thrusters providing 50,000 kg thrust each.
Maximum Velocity (terrestrial): Mach 3.2
Maximum Velocity (space)  ^*

^{Maximum safe speed for maneuvering}

: 220 km/s. 250-300 km/s possible with orbital slingshot.
Maximum Range (terrestrial): 1,500 km
Maximum Range (space): 350,000 km assuming shipboard launch
Crew: 1 pilot
Weight/Mass: 16,000 kg empty, 22,000 kg loaded
Armament: 4 x 30mm Minovski Particle autocannon mounted on the inner wings. 1200 rpm each gun. 24 x A-122 Sabre missiles stored in internal weapons bay below and to the rear of the pilot.
Countermeasures/Active Protection Systems: 12x Counter-Drone countermeasure UAVs deployed from a rear pod above the engines. Missile interception/evasion/jamming success rate: 30% maximum under ideal conditions.
Sensors/Radar: 1 x forward internal radar/sensor array able to detect and differentiate a fighter sized spacecraft from background objects at a distance of 10,000 km in space. Larger objects such as starships can be detected by this system at 100,000 km.

The A-22 "Mirai" as has become widely reported and adopted by both sides of the Endless Conflict is the frontline starfighter and primary strike aircraft of the entire Preyaran Lancer Corps. Among the best fighter aircraft in the conflict second only to the SF-4 Talon Strike Fighter in terms of maneuverability and speed. Even then, second by only a small margin.

The A-22's biggest advantages it brings to the conflict are it's high performance and multi-role capability from air superior fighter, to ground attack aircraft, to spatial interdiction and/or destruction of assorted vessels. Armed with multiple cannon and a decent complement of missiles, these craft can destroy entire armored columns on the ground and engage any fighter aircraft that come to challenge them in the same mission. This versatility extends into space as well since Mirais are extremely dangerous in groups even to the most well-defended Terran and Feyline capital ships.

Pilots of these craft are selected on a volunteer basis and plenty of applicants from across the Lancer Corps apply to become qualified to fly these aircraft should the mission need more air support.

It should be noted that the Terran Reporting Name "Mirai" is one of the few departures from the Theme Naming in the entire Preyaran arsenal be they named after Japanese Youkai and spirits as is the case with armored vehicles and most terrestrial capable aircraft or various types of swords as is the case with guided munitions.

edited 8th Nov '10 12:35:15 PM by MajorTom

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

^^ Since the rifle is inspired by Tesla, then it would make sense for it to be electrically-cycled, with a manual backup option. Electromagnetic solenoid or something similiar, maybe. Not a big deal, but it sounds neat.

Just have a spare battery pack handy.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

SEF Mark IV

Dimensions: 829 m tall (per unit), with a total floor space of 3, 332, 000 sq. feet (approximately)

Power Source: Condensed antimatter

Security: A full outfit of military police and an anti-aerial defense grid guard each SEF unit from any and all outside attack

Details: The SEF unit (short for Spacetime Enclosure Field) is a mass matter transporting device, capable of moving entire cities into small pocket dimensions. It was conceived during World War III as a defense mechanism against nuclear attack. Nearly every major super-power was outfitted with a number of them to safeguard the most important places and people in the country.

The antimatter power source works as one would expect an antimatter engine would, harnessing the energy created in an anti-matter explosion to fulfill the device's massive energy needs.

As to how the device itself works... I have no bloody clue. Fanwank something.

edited 8th Nov '10 5:08:44 PM by KSPAM

I've got new mythological machinery, and very handsome supernatural scenery. Goodfae: a mafia web serial

Modified F 15 E

On the outside a normal F 15 E. Flies like one, shoots like one and is controlled like one. With the exception of one minor detail.

If the pilot pulls the ejection cord, neither he nor the co-pilot will be ejected. At least not the normal way. Instead, the entire cockpit will detach just behind the co-pilot. Rockets will propel the now detached cockpit forwards like a missile for about thirty seconds (at that point it will run out of fuel and fall to the ground). The rest of the plane will be useless and fall to the ground.

And before you ask, the man who built it is not all that sane. Then again, neither are the guys who use it. Also, it was never built for any practical purposes. The designer just did it to see if he could.

A Small Flechette launcher worn on the wrist that used either a compressed gas system or a mechanical mechanism to fire a flechette that has tiny channel like grooves carved into that react to human blood by breaking down the blood cells and causing massive blood loss from a small wound in localized area.

A fuel air explosive hand grenade the size of one of those 4 servings soup cans that was basically disk charges around a main bursting charge and could be opened up and the disks separated and small timed detonator inserted in the middle (explosive puck)

A finely laser honed blade that had a series of ridges that ran from the top of the blade to just shy of the edge in a thick at top tapering out just before the blade. Carried in a specially designed magnetic knife sheath that held the knife blade by the sides so it didn't slice the sheath when it was drawn.

Countless explosive ammo types and hyper velocity weaponry using highly advanced chemical projectile rounds or pseudo rail gun that used the propellant to provide initial acceleration and a coil gun accelerator at the end to push it faster.

Who watches the watchmen?

Prototype Theta Energy Guantlet
A big green guantlet made by a group of villans who traveled back in time to try and hijack the timeline. Working on the same principle as Team Rocket's "Evolution Waves", the device can produce waves of "Theta Energy", which can force any Pokemon to temporarily enter "Object Forme", changing it into an inanimate object (usually some sort of weapon).

This isn't nearly as useful as it might sound. It takes hours to charge, and the attack can easily be dodged if you know it's coming. And since every pokemon has a radicly different forme, you'd really have to be a Jack of All Trades to master using it.

It's actually comparible to Disgaea 3's "Magichange", only it works on Pokemon instead of Demons.

The Tyrant is a "Q-ship" in my story. It belongs to Soot, the ancient crafted-person (think magical-android) mercenary. It's fairly unprepossessing; it's a steel side-wheeler paddle steamer, its boilers heated by three good-sized "fire doors" (gateways into a fire dimension, used for fairly easy access to intense heat and energy). Looks like an ocean-going ferry, harmless as a mouse.

Of course, it's not. What appears to be a front hold cover actually hides an 8-inch naval gun, something a cruiser might bear. It can only traverse a limited degree — perhaps 20 degrees either side of center — because its host ship could not take the force of a broadside, and it would probably capsize. It also means that the weight of a fully traversing turret isn't needed. There are four torpedo tubes in the bow, two each on the sides, and two in the stern. Smaller 4" guns are mounted on either side at the bows and stern and midships.

A brighter future for a darker age.

The Sentinel XM141.

Chambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge, the 141 is basically the Spiritual Successor of the M21.

Comes in two versions, a Designated Marksman Rifle and a Scout Sniper Rifle. Both can accept flash/noise suppressors, but they differ in several ways: The bayonet stud in the DMR is occupied by a folding bipod in the SSR, and the SSR has a longer barrel than the DMR

The Southpaw has no brakes!

^ I kinda like that. It takes into account the differing roles between a sniper and a designated marksman.

Finally got around to new stuff for mine.

M-1040 Urban Combat Vehicle (UCV)

Colloquial names: See Variants.
Role: Multi-purpose light tactical vehicle.
Dimensions: 4.8 meter length, 2.2 meter width. 2 meter average height with attached weaponry. 1.5 meters unarmed.
Powerplant: 1x fuel cell engine system and drive motor providing 1200 horsepower.
Armor thickness: Approximately 30mm RHA equivalent. (Resistant to hand grenades and rifle caliber small arms and machine guns) Actual thickness: Classified.
Maximum Velocity: 260 km/h (~163 mph) on good roads.
Crew: 1 driver, 1 gunner in topside turret.
Passengers: 3 in most variants. Up to 8 in Medievac configuration.
Mass/Weight: ~3600 kg unloaded. ~4500 kg maximum load.
Armament: See Variants.
Countermeasures/Active Protection Systems: None.
Sensors/Radar: Internal basic radar package covering 5 km of aerial traffic. 1 km maximum range in ideal conditions vs ground traffic. Mostly unused by crew.
Variants:

• Scout UCV: Basic package largely used by rear-echelon/security forces or as light vehicular reconnaissance/transportation. 1x pintle-mounted M2 15mm heavy machine gun in enclosed armored turret. (600 rpm firing high penetration/high range Minovski particle bolts. Maximum weapon range: 3000 meters)
• Vulcan UCV: Most common combat variant used in direct action scenarios and point air defense. 1x pintle-mounted, computer assisted 20mm Minovski Gatling Cannon. (2400-3600 rpm firerate. Maximum weapon range: 4000 meters vs aerial targets)
• Avenger UCV: Anti-vehicle/anti-aircraft variant, commonly deployed as short range air defense. 2x 90mm caliber FGM-255 Javelin anti-armor/anti-aircraft missiles on attached turret sides.  ^*
  ^{Vehicle variant of FGM-255 Javelin ATGM used by infantry}
  Maximum weapon range: 4000 meters vs ground targets in either direct-fire or top-attack modes. 6000 meters vs aerial targets. Secondary armament: 1x pintle-mounted M2 15mm heavy machine gun attached to the turret. All weapons are computer assisted.
• Commander UCV: Mobile command and control variant. Rarely used. No armament.
• Medivac UCV: Mobile medical evacuation and transport variant. Rear passenger seats removed to make room for up to 8 personnel being evacuated. Largely used away from combat zones.
• Ranger UCV: Special applications variant/light anti-armor variant used by special forces and extremely mission specific needs. 1x pintle-mounted M42 40mm Minovski Charge Cannon.  ^*
  ^{Vehicle mounted version of the personnel carried M42 Charge Cannon}
  2 second charge time. Armor penetration of the beam is equivalent to 600mm RHA, able to destroy most non-tank vehicles in an average of 2 direct hits or less. Secondary explosion radius from beam impact: 2 meters (lethal radius less than 1 meter)

The M1040 Urban Combat Vehicle or UCV as it is known across all variants is the Terran military's most prolific and most versatile light tactical vehicle for use on the ground. Containing a high ground speed, good mobility and reasonable armor protection against 9mm and 12mm (limited) small arms fire from Minovski particle based weaponry it is ideal as a first response platform in the myriad urban and open environments seen on Terran worlds. Fully modular in its design it can be swapped and adapted according to the needs of the mission in short order to one of its many variants and designations. It's modular design also means repairs and maintenance are relatively simple. All UCV variants are constructed with the same basic platform to save on costs. It's primary weaknesses are poor armor against light anti-tank weaponry like the M9 L.A.W. or the Preyaran A-29 bow-launcher and a lack of active protection systems against such attacks.

edited 26th Nov '10 5:06:54 PM by MajorTom

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

So is that a squishier version of the Humvee? Barring that, not bad. The versatility could make it a more useful Glass Cannon.

The Southpaw has no brakes!