Quote:
Originally Posted by Stoob
Flamethrowers can be used out of the front in 5e, up to the limit if 24", but that is in all directions. I too find this a bit hard to swallow.
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Stoob,
God help me, I though of a way this could be possible.
We tend to think of flamethrowers as being the variety largely unchanged since WWI. However, these have some disadvantages in that the range is very limited (much less than 3600', or 24 scale inches). Plus the fuel was dangerous and limited; some dedicated flamethrower tanks towed fuel trailers to give them a useful combat load of fuel.
Recently, the flamethrower was replaced in western arsenals by rocket launchers (1-shot or reloadable) firing a projectile containing red or white phosphor that either burns on impact or exposure to oxygen. Examples would be the 1-shot HAFLA DM34 "Flammepatrone" and the reloadable US M202A1 "Flash" (Flame Assault SHoulder Weapon; actually used by Rae Dawn Chong in the move "Commando").
http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/...DM+34&offset=0
http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-...r-Germany.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M202A1_FLASH
The "flamethrowers" in Car Wars are most likely related to the incendiary cartridges used in the more modern M202A1 and not the classic napalm-spewing M2 flamethrower of the past.
The CW flamethrower is relatively small cartridge about the size of a 35mm HALFA DM34 round. It contains napalm and an igniter, white or red phosphorous, or TPA (Thickened Pyrophoric Agent, which is an aluminum compound that spontaneously erupts with contact to air) along with a bursting charge. Perhaps with some kind of sabot that drops away to improve accuracy and velocity.
True to the not overly lethal nature of commercial dueling weapons, there is just enough flammable material to effect a small area, like a small part of a car's armour or a person. Not swaths of stadiums, roadways, buildings, forests, etc. Also, this small amount of burning material explains why you simply can't set large areas ablaze so your opponents must drive through them and set their wheels and under armour on fire.
Although previous CW artwork and preconception would suggest firing a flamethrower would result in either a long line of liquid or a burst of flame and smoke, it would probably more look like a small rocket that trails a line of smoke and explodes in a blossom of smoke and fire where it hits. Visually, throwing out "fireballs" visual as opposed to squirting a "flame blast".
I can't recall if firing a flamethrower causes a smokescreen or not, although I don't think this is the case in CW5e. If so this could simply be an effect of the propellant, or if it's a phosphor round the burst of smoke when fired is a side effect of the flammable material being exposed to air.
Tony,