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Old 07-13-2010, 05:24 AM   #4
jeff_wilson
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Dallas, Texas
Default Re: Limpet mine damage

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Masters View Post
While I can see that a contact explosion should do a lot of damage, having it do the maximum possible strikes me as a bit extreme. It would certainly tend to make limpet mines into very scary weapons indeed (and inspire designs for Transhuman Space weapon systems consisting of medium-speed cybershells flying up to opponents and sticking limpet mines on them, because that's far deadlier than, umm, shooting someone with the same explosive shell). I tend to interpret that rule as being specific to characters heroically throwing themselves on top of a grenade and enclosing the entire blast to save their friends; the trick will only work if the charge is completely enclosed by the victim, and anyway, it's supposed to be a suicidally heroic gesture, damnit.
That's true, but it says "contact" rather than "well tamped between a human
body and the floor".

I'm not sure it's a valid to compare a limpet mine with an explosive shell. The manual placement lets you devote all resources to maximum damage in a fixed relative direction, while a shell has handle firing stresses and unknown angle of incidence. Isn't there a trick where you can give a satchel charge a metal backing to reflect some of the outward shockwave back into the target?

And I'd much rather be waylaid by cybershells that have to slow down and place a limpet mine on me so I can shoot them down, than to have one shower me with just the grenades at high speed from somewhere out of LOS, unable to return direct fire.
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