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Old 10-10-2018, 01:52 PM   #1
Phantasm
 
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Default LF: Stats of the EM50 from Stripes

The old movie Stripes (w/ Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John Candy, Judge Reinhold, and a few other big names - before they were big) had a vehicle called the EM50 Urban Assault Vehicle, basically "one heavily armed recreational vehicle" with armor guards that came down to protect the windows and several weapons all over it. This is a vehicle which would fit in nicely in my Marvel Reboot Shadowguard game as something SHIELD would field. Anyone ever cook up stats for it?
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Old 10-10-2018, 05:43 PM   #2
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Default Re: LF: Stats of the EM50 from Stripes

The base vehicle for the movie was a ~1976 GMC Motorhome. You might use that for some of the basic stats.

Of course, once SHIELD's done with it, real-world values for horsepower and so on are out the window. And it could fly if you wanted, much like Lola. The retracted armored window louvers could have DR anywhere from lucky to stop a handgun (real-world) to impervious to tank rounds because vibranium. With a Furious amount of Starkly phlebotinal technology available, stats become one of those "what do you want it to do" questions.
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Old 10-10-2018, 06:14 PM   #3
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Default Re: LF: Stats of the EM50 from Stripes

Let's start with observed capabilities from the movie.

I know it's pretty much impervious to AK-74/AKM fire, but I can't quite make out the various weapons it has mounted.
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"Life ... is an Oreo cookie." - J'onn J'onzz, 1991

"But mom, I don't wanna go back in the dungeon!"

The GURPS Marvel Universe Reboot Project A-G, H-R, and S-Z, and its not-a-wiki-really web adaptation.
Ranoc, a Muskets-and-Magery Renaissance Fantasy Setting
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Old 10-10-2018, 07:31 PM   #4
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Default Re: LF: Stats of the EM50 from Stripes

Fair enough. Here's an excerpt of the combat scenes involving the EM-50.

We've got:
- at least one, probably twin because of symmetrical ports, machine guns in the front. These don't look like actual US vehicle-mounted weapons to me. Could be either 7.62 or .50.
- Twin flamethrowers on each side (Again, symmetry and appearance of the ports when they're not operational. We only actually see one employed.)
- A roof-mounted rocket launcher with 6 rockets, which are good for blowing up wooden towers. I'd guess they're meant to be HE, not ATGMs.
- One rear-mounted anti-tank cannon

The Internet Movie Firearms Database has a page on "Stripes". Alas, it does not cover the EM-50s armament. But it does cover the Soviet / Czech forces. We could assume they were carrying AK-47s, since that's what viewers are supposed to think. IMFDB identifies the rifles as the Valmet M71S, most likely the 5.56mm version, though it was also available in 7.62x39. They also had an occasional Uzi, both real and a modified MAC-10. The EM-50 takes fire from an assortment of small arms. Going by the literal depiction on film, it's proof against 5.56mm. Going by the spirit, I'd make it proof against 7.62 -- say DR 25 minimum, maybe up around 50 so you can confidently ignore rolling.

The Internet Movie Car Database (I love fans) ID's the Russian tank dispatched by the EM-50 during the Hulka rescue as an M60A1 Patton, which looks about right. Given the period, it's probably meant to be a T-64 or perhaps a T-72. Going by the spirit again, the EM-50s rear cannon ought to be sufficient to take out a main battle tank of its own era. The tank never gets to fire a shot, so we don't really know whether the EM-50 is supposed to be able to withstand main tank armament. (Even by the spirit, I'd go with "no", since it's an IFV. An uber SHIELD Uber might stop mundane tank rounds, calling for alien tech to hurt it.)

The electronics ought to be suitably high-tech and impressive for the era of the setting. Is that 2018, or 1981, or some other year?
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Old 10-10-2018, 08:14 PM   #5
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Default Re: LF: Stats of the EM50 from Stripes

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
Fair enough. Here's an excerpt of the combat scenes involving the EM-50.

We've got:
- at least one, probably twin because of symmetrical ports, machine guns in the front. These don't look like actual US vehicle-mounted weapons to me. Could be either 7.62 or .50.
- Twin flamethrowers on each side (Again, symmetry and appearance of the ports when they're not operational. We only actually see one employed.)
- A roof-mounted rocket launcher with 6 rockets, which are good for blowing up wooden towers. I'd guess they're meant to be HE, not ATGMs.
- One rear-mounted anti-tank cannon

The Internet Movie Firearms Database has a page on "Stripes". Alas, it does not cover the EM-50s armament. But it does cover the Soviet / Czech forces. We could assume they were carrying AK-47s, since that's what viewers are supposed to think. IMFDB identifies the rifles as the Valmet M71S, most likely the 5.56mm version, though it was also available in 7.62x39. They also had an occasional Uzi, both real and a modified MAC-10. The EM-50 takes fire from an assortment of small arms. Going by the literal depiction on film, it's proof against 5.56mm. Going by the spirit, I'd make it proof against 7.62 -- say DR 25 minimum, maybe up around 50 so you can confidently ignore rolling.

The Internet Movie Car Database (I love fans) ID's the Russian tank dispatched by the EM-50 during the Hulka rescue as an M60A1 Patton, which looks about right. Given the period, it's probably meant to be a T-64 or perhaps a T-72. Going by the spirit again, the EM-50s rear cannon ought to be sufficient to take out a main battle tank of its own era. The tank never gets to fire a shot, so we don't really know whether the EM-50 is supposed to be able to withstand main tank armament. (Even by the spirit, I'd go with "no", since it's an IFV. An uber SHIELD Uber might stop mundane tank rounds, calling for alien tech to hurt it.)
Thanks for this! I eyeballed the rear gun as a 40mm grenade launcher actually; it doesn't actually destroy the tank, but seems to blow a tread which causes the tank to swerve into the building. Going by spirit, a 40mm HEAT grenade launcher may be suitable for that.

Also, IIRC the 7.62x39 Russian rounds have comparable damage to the 5.56mmNATO, not the 7.62mmNATO. Fully proofed against 5d, so DR 30, possibly Hardened 1, seems right.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anaraxes
The electronics ought to be suitably high-tech and impressive for the era of the setting. Is that 2018, or 1981, or some other year?
The in-game month/year is currently August 1987, and it'll probably be late autumn or early winter by the time this thing is seen by the PCs. So giving it '00s computer tech/sensors isn't out of place.

As a reminder, SHIELD at this point is a division inside the FBI, charged with investigating federal-level super-crime, headed by a pro-super deputy director (Jimmy Woo, who founded the division back in '58), but Senior Agent Gyrich (who was placed in charge of SHIELD's own super-team, SPEAR) is quite anti-super himself, and has helped fill the ranks with like-minded folks.
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"Life ... is an Oreo cookie." - J'onn J'onzz, 1991

"But mom, I don't wanna go back in the dungeon!"

The GURPS Marvel Universe Reboot Project A-G, H-R, and S-Z, and its not-a-wiki-really web adaptation.
Ranoc, a Muskets-and-Magery Renaissance Fantasy Setting
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Old 10-11-2018, 11:49 AM   #6
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Default Re: LF: Stats of the EM50 from Stripes

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantasm View Post
Thanks for this! I eyeballed the rear gun as a 40mm grenade launcher
Not implausible. Makes more sense than a full-size tank gun. Though, earlier in the film, we do see them loading shells into the EM-50. They're roughly as long as a forearm, too long for grenades, and the cupped hand, halfway around grip makes the rounds somewhere around 80mm (judging by my own cupped grip).

As long as I'm being silly about it, I screencapped a shot where the EM-50 was backing into position to shoot the tank. I got 728 pixels across the width of the EM-50 (96 inches width in the real world, or about 3.35 mm per px) and 26 px as the interior diameter of the cannon tube -- conveniently enough, about 87mm.

How about a Carl Gustav recoilless rifle? (Or M3 MAAWS, as Sgt. Hulka would insist I call it.) 84mm, and used by US special forces. It has HEAT among its wide variety of ammunition. 400mm RHA penetration, so Wikipedia tells me, certainly capable of breaking tracks (and almost the front armor of a T-64). Vent the backblast out the roof where the rocket launcher lives.

Quote:
Also, IIRC the 7.62x39 Russian rounds have comparable damage to the 5.56mmNATO, not the 7.62mmNATO.
Good catch. I didn't actually go look up the damage :)

Last edited by Anaraxes; 10-11-2018 at 11:53 AM.
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Old 10-11-2018, 04:59 PM   #7
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Default Re: LF: Stats of the EM50 from Stripes

As for the base vehicle, would it be better to use the TL6 2 1/2 ton Truck or the TL7 Bus in Characters as the chassis before modifications? I can see arguments either way, though I'm leaning toward the "Bus" stats, adjusting the Locations to "G6W" of course.
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"Life ... is an Oreo cookie." - J'onn J'onzz, 1991

"But mom, I don't wanna go back in the dungeon!"

The GURPS Marvel Universe Reboot Project A-G, H-R, and S-Z, and its not-a-wiki-really web adaptation.
Ranoc, a Muskets-and-Magery Renaissance Fantasy Setting
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Old 10-12-2018, 02:30 AM   #8
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Default Re: LF: Stats of the EM50 from Stripes

There is a closeup of the barrel of the machine gun in the first video. Screencap. I'm not very knowledgeable about machine guns, but maybe someone else here is. :)
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Old 10-12-2018, 06:38 AM   #9
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Default Re: LF: Stats of the EM50 from Stripes

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bengt View Post
There is a closeup of the barrel of the machine gun in the first video.
Yeah, that was exactly the shot that made me think, "I don't know what that is, but it doesn't look like a US model". The flared muzzle isn't all that unusual, but the slotted barrel shroud vents (instead of circles) and the details in between just didn't match anything for me. But the forum has people way more expert in guns than I am.

This is a case where personally I'd overlook the visual evidence and just use the stats for whatever popular weapon would be mounted on a vehicle. The US Army would probably be putting the M240 or M2 Browning on the EM-50. (They're both old enough to have been used even in the original movie, as well as the game timescale; the M240 was even a cool new thing about the time the movie was being made. Not that their armorer probably went to half the trouble we have already in this thread :) A SHIELD version has more options, especially if it's an internal design.

But I'm still curious as to what that weapon was. Of course, movie armorers often just hack things up to look cool (like those MAC-Uzis), sometimes with recognizable bits underneath and sometimes not. So it might well have been just made as a prop.
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