Looking at the THS timeline for two reasons.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

You'd probably want to note the premature attempt to introduce Virtual Interface Glasses. You might want to elaborate why this would be a better idea than just walking down the street while staring at your phone and texting people with your thumbs (which is basically what people decided to do instead of getting a Google Glass).

Also to be covered is getting your own digital assistant instead of everybody sharing Siri and Alexa.

Also when pod guns finally catch on.

[lachimba]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Also when pod guns finally catch on.

Do you know when they are introduced in THS?

I seem to remember reading (but I can't find) an article which said the author assumed NATO upgraded to new millimeter ammunition around 2050, but couldn't justify upgrading again because swarms.

I assume real world we won't change mm this side of 2100!

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by lachimba

Do you know when they are introduced in THS?

!

Pod guns came to Transhuman Space after they showed up in concept pictures for the US Army's "Future Warrior" initiative with a guy in a wetsuit and streamlined motorcycle helmet having a gun and mini-missile launcher mounted on his arm as if he were a BattleMech. The year after that the "pod" had sprouted a pistol grip and pod guns haven't been seen since.

We might already have changed standard ammo calibers with the new 6.8mm SAW if that works out. Migration to smaller calibers for rifle and machine gun ammo seems unlikely now though there are some interesting new pistol calibers under 9mm.

[lachimba]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Pod guns came to Transhuman Space after they showed up in concept pictures for the US Army's "Future Warrior" initiative with a guy in a wetsuit and streamlined motorcycle helmet having a gun and mini-missile launcher mounted on his arm as if he were a BattleMech. The year after that the "pod" had sprouted a pistol grip and pod guns haven't been seen since.

no, what year are they introduced in the THS timeline?

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

We might already have changed standard ammo calibers with the new 6.8mm SAW if that works out. Migration to smaller calibers for rifle and machine gun ammo seems unlikely now though there are some interesting new pistol calibers under 9mm.

yeah... nah

Look 2100 might have been me trying it on, but now with even more countries going into NATO, I can only imagine the drama to change over to a new ammo standard any time soon.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by lachimba

no, what year are they introduced in the THS timeline?
.

I don't believe anyone knows. Probably not even David. It's not really supposed to be a gunhead kind of place.

It's infested with other retro-ghosts of the 90s like P90-like PDWs too. The 5.7 caliber is sort of undergoing a minor renaissance in the US but it's for recreational shooting as a sort of high velocity .22 LR. No signs of military or home defense use.

If you were to start a new version of Transhuman Space with pure 4e game mechanics and a divergence point of c.2030 there probably are no podguns or P- PDWs. 6.8mm SAWs and 7.5mm Brno maybe,

[sir_pudding]

Pod guns make sense if you need your hands to be always free for some reason, and you are way less worried about flagging people than anyone who understands firearm safety in the real world. The latter may be from smart IFF safeties, but it's hard to explain the former. Why would you need free hands while shooting?

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

r. Why would you need free hands while shooting?

Even if you are using your hands ot anchor yourself in micro G wouldn't that point the guns in the wrong direction?

I could see putting the micro-missile launchers and maybe an electrolaser on a helmet that your were always wearing but bolting the pod to the side of your forearm makes little sense.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

It's infested with other retro-ghosts of the 90s like P90-like PDWs too. The 5.7 caliber is sort of undergoing a minor renaissance in the US but it's for recreational shooting as a sort of high velocity .22 LR. No signs of military or home defense use.

The big problem with 5.7 is that it's a solution in search of a problem; the role the PDW was supposed to fill appears to have been filled by the M4 carbine.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Anthony

The big problem with 5.7 is that it's a solution in search of a problem; the role the PDW was supposed to fill appears to have been filled by the M4 carbine.

It's just as well. The P90 (or more specifically its' SS190 cartridge) was focused on armor penetration which it achieved at a relatively high cost in general utility. Without the AP bullets of the SS190 it really does look like a high velocity .22 LR (or at least a .22WMR).