01-15-2020, 05:55 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2017
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Depth Charges & Fire Barrels
So try as I might, I cannot seem to find stats for Depth Charges and I'm not even sure Fire Barrels (as used in AC4: Black Flag) really even existed in the Age of Sail.
From what I can gather, the first Depth Charges were developed during WW1, with the original concept emerging in 1911. While I've no doubt that the modern day Depth Charge (TL6.5+) is well ahead of the Age of Sail (TL4), I wouldn't call it a huge stretch of the imagination if an earlier design involving gun powder in water-tight barrels and water-proof fuses could have been created by enterprising individuals in a Fantasy Campaign setting, especially at the tail end of TL4 going into TL5. As for Fire Barrels (seen in AC4: Black Flag), I'm not even sure they actually existed during the real Age of Sail. However, my lack of finding any real information on Fire Barrels could be because of my poor internet searching skills. In any case, I'm at an impasse for both items. Are there are stats in any GURPS books for Depth Charges? If so which one? Does anyone know if Fire Barrels actually existed in the real Age of Sail? If so...again are there any GURPS stats on these? Last edited by Siliconhobbit; 01-15-2020 at 06:08 PM. |
01-16-2020, 06:27 AM | #2 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: Depth Charges & Fire Barrels
Can you describe Fire Barrels, or provide a link, for people unfamiliar with the franchise? I'm pretty sure they weren't widely used under that name.
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01-16-2020, 06:49 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Depth Charges & Fire Barrels
If you're interested in pre-WW1 depth charges, Hornblower and the Atropos (IIRC) includes something similar (used in underwater demolitions given that there was no submarine threat in that era) - and may give some idea of the challenges they were up against (air supply to the fuse, avoiding premature detonation … waterproofing, that sort of thing).
From what I can see, fire barrels seem to be some sort of anti-pursuit mine - I've never heard of them being used historically (not even by Thomas Cochrane who could well have been expected to love the idea) but they don't seem like a massive tech jump. You'd probably have to use a time-fuse and need the enemy to be alarmingly close before they could be deployed though. |
01-16-2020, 10:22 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Nov 2004
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Re: Depth Charges & Fire Barrels
Naval mines based on barrels or crates of gunpowder date back to 15th c. China, and were tried in Europe a couple centuries afterwards, but never saw much use.
Last edited by Dalillama; 01-16-2020 at 07:17 PM. |
01-16-2020, 10:32 AM | #5 |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Depth Charges & Fire Barrels
It took me a couple of days to even figure out that "AC4" is probably "Assasin's Creed 4". That still doesn't make me familiar with the source though I do tend to believe it's of low historical fidelity.
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01-16-2020, 11:06 AM | #6 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Depth Charges & Fire Barrels
Depending on one's sources it may not be obvious, but depth charges are not (and never were) weapons used against surface targets. They're anti-submarine bombs. Some video games will have you try to blow up boats or ships with them, and that might be technically possible but it's incredibly impractical and wildly off-purpose.
Because they are bombs, it's trivial to figure out their damage (see Explosions, Basic Set 414-415) based on the amount of explosive they contain, which you can probably dig up with a little search engine effort (and might find on Wikipedia). The Explosions In Other Environments box on 415 also covers the adjustment for blast damage underwater. Rules for resolving an attack with them, or things like fuse reliability or sink rate, I don't think are likely to be readily available. I don't think the video game staple of mines that are hastily dropped to deter or damage a close pursuit, as opposed to mines that are laid in advance to block areas or cause damage to non-specific future passers-by, has much real existence in history. (Though I think I've seen listings for an infantry model. Probably never actually used.) Quote:
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01-16-2020, 11:16 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Depth Charges & Fire Barrels
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I strongly suspect that they were created by the video game devs and thus did what those persons wanted them to. A GM who wants to include them in his world is in an analagous position.
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Fred Brackin |
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01-16-2020, 11:35 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Depth Charges & Fire Barrels
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Additional reasons to not even consider such a thing in reality that might escape notice in play include how basically terrible a life choice it would be to have a barrel of gunpowder in an exposed location during a naval battle...with fire right next to it, to make it even better. That stuff was confined to magazines for a reason!
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I don't know any 3e, so there is no chance that I am talking about 3e rules by accident. |
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01-16-2020, 01:46 PM | #9 | ||
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Depth Charges & Fire Barrels
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01-16-2020, 01:51 PM | #10 | |
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
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Re: Depth Charges & Fire Barrels
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RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. |
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