Guns and Mercenaries

[Mr Frost]

Originally Posted by rasimus

...I think it was the main GT book that mentions the option of building a small contragravity unit into heavier weapons...

Actually , the contra-grav unit in weapons made little sense and would have done worse than nothing to counter recoil in "real life" .

In zero-G , weapons will still have full recoil and any muzzle rise {and likely other recoil effects} will be worse because gravity not only counters muzzle rise {by pulling down on the barrel} but the downwards accelleration provided by gravity gives a very slight counter-force to recoil .
A weapon rendered effectivly weightless by contra gravity would have higher recoil , not lower {someone didn't think it through when they wrote that one up} .


The origonal traveller mechanism was "inertial dampers" . If those are too "superscience" for you though , you could just consider the weapon to incorporate a specialised reactionless thruster unit that provides a force equal to recoil in the opposite vector .
I simply froze the damage progression by TL for PGMPs and FGMPs incorporating it at the TL of introduction {of the inertial compensators for each weapon} and simply considered it incorporated into the weapon design without the extra weight etc {which meant PGMPs and FGMPs without it were more powerful than those with it at a given TL} . It worked well enough .

For the Battle Dress with limited contragrav , just wear a grav belt instead of a backpack mounted full flight pack {the belt won't be enough to fly with , but will counter weight quite nicely and just handwave the specifics} .
No Traveller material {untill Star Mercs , whos' Commando Battle Dress apparantly was an invader from an over the top Japanese Manga} ever really suggested the technology was incorporated into the suit and it might change some of the "Traveller feel" of the technology for many if done so .

Not that you should change what you like or enjoy , but just to give some input :)

[Mr Frost]

Originally Posted by nik1979

If every soldier PC uses an exo skel (giving an athletic PC a light enc. of 90lbs vs 48lbs) what are the negative consequences in the doctrine of ground forces?

Every soldier eusing an exoskeleton {as opposed to true Battle Dress} would be quite unusual I would think , though I could see it if facing higher TL opponents that are wearing Battle Dress and they need the extra ST to hump heavy enough weapons to bring them down .

The bulk would be a big problem . For starters , unless those suits were slick designed , they should give a +1 to spot the soldier {bigger object that is less "organic" in shape . It would make going prone or hugging walls/terrain less effective too .

Seating in combat vehicles {or civilian vehicles for that matter} would have to be significantly enlarged thus less troups per battle taxi/IFV .

Doorways could be a problem {sure you have the strength to smah through the surrounding wall , but do you have the structural strength in the suit to avoid damaging it doing this ?} as would narrow passageways etc .
The concept of them {or battle dress} making you more than half a foot taller is false {some people actually think they would : you couldn't fit a 5'9" opperator into a 7' suit unless it had non anthropomorphic bits sticking out of the top like Ripleys' loader in Aliens} but for an already very tall soldier it might make many normal rooms etc very uncomfortable to be in {He has to either crouch or bow/tilt His head constantly whilst in their and standing} which would be fatiguing {even unarmoured exoskeletons would need thicker soles than normal footwear to incorporate the motors that enhanced overall foot strength otherwise you would be overstraining the muscles in your feet every time you used the suits' extra strength in the legs , and likewise the head would need some sort of substantial support if neck muscles were strengthened which would be wise in a suit that was meant to be used in a rough environment and this both would add a few inches to height} .

Agility suffers a penalty in exoskeletons if I'm not mistaken thus your troops would either have to train harder or compensate with tatics to not only deal with lower weapon accuracy , but also what would be slightly lowered mobility . Unless your armour is good enough to bounce most of what the enemy has , you might need to fight from ambush and/or well chosen defensive possitions {selected so they must get close before they can engage and you can be dug in} more so than a non powered unit or work with an equal sized or larger non-powered unit .

Exoskeleton and Battle Dress are a sort of mini vehicle and in ground warfare vehicles that are not supported by enough infantry are supprisingly vunerable . Battle Dress can get away with it through excellent armour , sensors , stealth options and the enabling of powerful weaponry {which makes up for the drawbacks of the suit} but an exoskeleton lacks the armour , sensors and stealth options {I think true Battle Dress would incorporate active sound dampening even} which significantly limits the advantage Vs. the drawbacks . Perhaps a militarised version that has sensors and stealth options {plug and play :)} could be more viable {worn with decent combat armour .

[nik1979]

http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread...865#post827865

I guess it all depends on how the load out is and mission specific. This load out is designed at less than $40k and has a broader tactical use.

Doors and Walls: would be taken care by explosives or
Super Fine Vibro Boarding Axe with ST11+4: 4d+1(5) cut (ST15 2d+1, sw+4, 1d vibro).

Agility and Exo skeletons: battle suit skill Caps DX based athletic skills. Although it really depends on the situation IMO.

Strategically speaking, they have their roles- Battle Suits are for very short operations which requires a close logistical base.
On the other hand- what the Expedition load out lacks in capability it makes up in operational endurance, versatility-flexibility and cost.

Operational Endurance is rarely emphasized in games (except for a high tech dungeon crawl), and Battle Suits are not the best for such missions.

There is also the Infrastructure base considerations in order for a civ to maintain battle suits.

Then there is also the Technological Dependency elements. EW, EMP and the varied problems the come with a high tech dependency in operations. at 68lbs, worst case scenarios allows a lot of tactical flexibility.

The use of Tactical Shields and Tacsuit and available Cover allows the load out mentioned survive most infantry weapons in ultra tech.