A hand with sand please.

[Delerium]

Shall I cut and paste the arguments over sand on TML over the years? To say this topic has been done to death is the understatement of the century!

Not sure if this topic was deliberate trolling or not?

Next we'll have Phil reviving his Vilani topics (no Phil, this is most definitely not an invitation!)

Thanks for all the responses exept the one above which is not only short-sighted but accusing. I don't even know or care what "TML" is. I would of thought any sensible person would understand my intention from the thread title alone.

I am still not wholly convinced about these sand guns though. I think most ships would prefet to rack up on good old firepower.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Do I dare mention launching a Sandcaster round in let's say a Starport, and asking what effect that would have?

(Actualy, I think Striker back in the CT days addressed that. In short, it was treated like a big flak cannister. I think. Or maybe like a big shotgun. I forget which way now)

Actually, I think the rules address this. There is a 10:1 ratio between Starship and vehicle damage and again between vehicle and personal damage.

So, a sandcaster would do 100D6 damage to a person or 10D6 damage to a vehicle...

 

[rust]

I am still not wholly convinced about these sand guns though. I think most ships would prefet to rack up on good old firepower.

I share your doubts, and therefore I do not use sandcasters in my set-
tings, although anti-laser aerosols once existed in my campaign's back-
ground, and were the main reason why laser weapons are no longer
used in that universe's planetary combats.

On the other hand, sand is a part of most Traveller universes, and if
I "visit" one, I just accept that sand works according to the rules used
by the GM.

I mean, if I can accept jump drives and Vargr, why not sand, too ? :lol:

 

[Gentleman John]

While most Traveller universes may allow civilian vessels to get away with firepower, others may not. Sand offers an extra layer of defence against laser-armed opponents and would probably be legal for most merchant vessels to carry even under quite restrictive law levels.

Also, adapting sandcaster technologies to other settings could be interesting. Just think what it would be like if instead of ablative crystals, the sand was a cluster of nano-satellites capable of receiving and retransmitting incoming signals? Sounds like a high-tech version of "window" to me.

 

[Supplement Four]

Hmm. Not quite. As I remember things, the sand cloud had a velocity based on the initial velocity of the launching vehicle The tactic then was to come in behind the sand and allow it to degrade laser fire from an enemy in a known position. No need to know when your enemy is going to fire. But you do have to worry about it blocking your fire.

Yep, in Mayday and Book 2 CT, a sandcloud has the same velocity as the ship that launch it. In Mayday, there are sandcloud counters that move, in a straight line, after being deployed.

I spoke with LKW one time about sand back when I used to participate on the TML. He said that the sand was Marc's idea, and that he envisioned their use kinda like depth charges, adapted for space.

So, cannisters are launched. The sand explodes and spreads. And, it's up to the pilot to keep the ship between the sand and the enemy ship.

Note that this isn't that hard to do given the distances involved in space combat. You don't need enough sand (volumn) to cover the entire ship. You've just got to get enough out and away from the ship to put a barrier between you and the far, distant, way-the-hell-out-there enemy.

---Ship-----------Sand---------------------------------------------------Enemy

If you hold your thumb up towards the sun, you can block it out. Same principle for the sand. The enemy is so far out there that you only need a little sand to block all incoming fire. If the enemy shifts position, it will take him a long time (minitues to hours) to change the angle so that his shots won't pass through the sand--giving the defensive ship plenty of time to make adjustments.

If you really want to go with sand being a last minute thing for laser fire, the answer is obvious. Just have a laser capable of operating in two modes: a low-power mode to paint the target and a high-power mode to damage it. If you detect the paint, you know you're about to be hit and launch the sand.

What I've said above is the "CT" way of handling sand. Other versions of Traveller have speculated that sand is used in a different method (TNE used the point-defense model, for example).

I prefer the CT explanation. It makes some sense. It's simple and practical. And, I think it's fun to have the sand marker on the hex map. (Or, I just assume the sand is between the ship and the enemy if using Range Band movement).