01-04-2018, 07:15 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Kenai, Alaska
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Logistically Viable Weapons AtE
It's an After the End Falloutisk scenario and I'm a tactically adept warlord trying to arm my conscripts with a cheap to manufacture, reliable, easily maintained weapon as we try and build an Autocratic state out of the ruins of america.
Considering barely trained conscrips armed with this weapon will be the bread and butter combatant my PCs will be facing I'm not looking for a weapon that's "good", ideally it would be reliable and cheap at the expense of other traits like wounding ability, accuracy, and weight. Two ideas I've had so far have been a stripped down basic bolt action rifle, and the TRW low maintenance rifle. Though I want the gun to start off on the low end of effectiveness, I'd also like it have plenty of room to improve through play, either becouse the players have taken a liking to them and want to improve the design or becouse this faction has grown and can now provide a better weapon. |
01-04-2018, 07:23 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia
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Re: Logistically Viable Weapons AtE
Training, morale, and logistics will be a lot more important than equipment. If you can put together a small force of highly disciplined pikemen with some cavalry and sniper support, you will roll over most forces that have crude firearms.
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Compact Castles gives the gamer an instant portfolio of genuine, real-world castle floorplans to use in any historical, low-tech, or fantasy game setting. Last edited by DanHoward; 01-04-2018 at 07:29 AM. |
01-04-2018, 07:45 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Logistically Viable Weapons AtE
For Fallout:New Vegas fans that would seem to be part of the doctrine on Caesar's Legion - mostly armed with melee weapons and javelins but have been able to conquer huge areas with superior organisation and aggression.
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01-04-2018, 07:58 AM | #4 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Logistically Viable Weapons AtE
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Historically the flintlock rifle displaced most everything else because it could be repaired (and copied!) by village blacksmiths, so I think that's the lowest level target - a tolerably accurate firearm that can be manufactured by craftsmen who probably aren't skilled enough to make a sword or other fancy pre-gunpowder weapons. The issue with bolt action rifles isn't so much the gun - they need tighter tolerances than the flintlocks, but if your society has machine shops at all it can make useful numbers of them easily enough - it's the supply of cartridges which are rather intricate chemical and metallurgical machines themselves.
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01-04-2018, 08:54 AM | #5 | |
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Re: Logistically Viable Weapons AtE
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01-04-2018, 10:54 AM | #6 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Logistically Viable Weapons AtE
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"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
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01-04-2018, 10:54 AM | #7 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Logistically Viable Weapons AtE
Well, the first question is whether you have stockpiles of pre-End weapons and ammunition; if so, you may be able to spend quite a long time running through them, and thus your weapon choice will be determined by what you have (checking around, the top 5 ammo types in the US are 9mm, 5.56mm, .45 ACP, 12GA shot, .22LR). If you want the PCs to feel awesome, the warlord has a big stockpile of .22LR.
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01-04-2018, 11:25 AM | #8 |
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Kenai, Alaska
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Re: Logistically Viable Weapons AtE
There are definitely stockpiles of prewar ammunition scattered about. It's the reason I'm not strongly considering flintlocks. My initial idea is to have whatever weapon chosen be chambered in 5.56 NATO, but at least initially the conscrips are using low quality ammunition made in this warlords factories. I'm thinking carbine length rifles so for 5.56 that would be 4d+2 pi, acc 4 by default. 3d+2 pi-, acc 3 when using the bad ammunition.
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01-04-2018, 11:37 AM | #9 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Logistically Viable Weapons AtE
If I were planning on making low quality ammunition, 5.56N would not be high on my list of choices. Assuming you even have the capability to manufacture TL 6+ ammunition (kind of tricky to do), 7.62x39 is much more suited to low quality manufacturing.
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01-04-2018, 02:03 PM | #10 | |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Logistically Viable Weapons AtE
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You don't see trained pike being fielded against even green preadolescent children armed with AKMs in the conflicts in central Africa, for example, and the suggestion that you should seems ... unsound. During the 19th century trained spearmen like Zulus and Comanche abandoned spears for firearms all over the world. Presumably they had sound military reasons to do so. Last edited by sir_pudding; 01-04-2018 at 02:09 PM. |
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