Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Construction companies, probably under Imperial supervision, could use nuclear detonation charges for approved projects where there aren't any viable alternatives.
Imperial Law and Governance
- Thread starter travchao999
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sideranautae
Mongoose
Condottiere said:
Yes, I'd imagine that is quite common especially in mining uninhabited worlds. Nuc Dampers rapidly clean it up too.
Re star mercs and allowed weapons.
Two things will drive what ships and weapons starmercs will have - economics will typical drive them towards small escorts for convoy and plant protection work, also the cost of building, maintaining and paying the crew of a cruiser size warship is just too much for most star mercs.
The 2nd factor is imperial governance. If you were an Imperial duke, I would not allow serious warships that could challenge the Imperial navy in private or mega-corp hands.
The Traveller Digest 14 had quite a nice article about it - okay it applies to MegaTraveller and not MGT but the logic is sound:
Only licenced and approved companies, no black globes, no vessels over 5ktn without express permission, mo meson guns, no high factor particle accelerators, no nukes. They can also be brought into Imperial service during a crisis. All this makes sense if starmercs are there to fill in gaps in IN patrol coverage if a company or govt wants to spend some cash for the extra protection.
Two things will drive what ships and weapons starmercs will have - economics will typical drive them towards small escorts for convoy and plant protection work, also the cost of building, maintaining and paying the crew of a cruiser size warship is just too much for most star mercs.
The 2nd factor is imperial governance. If you were an Imperial duke, I would not allow serious warships that could challenge the Imperial navy in private or mega-corp hands.
The Traveller Digest 14 had quite a nice article about it - okay it applies to MegaTraveller and not MGT but the logic is sound:
Only licenced and approved companies, no black globes, no vessels over 5ktn without express permission, mo meson guns, no high factor particle accelerators, no nukes. They can also be brought into Imperial service during a crisis. All this makes sense if starmercs are there to fill in gaps in IN patrol coverage if a company or govt wants to spend some cash for the extra protection.
Condottiere said:
Nukes for demolition I can see, not sure I would want them for mining - uncontrolled debris + melting of the ore + radiation effects. Don't forget the traveller universe has plentiful and cheap energy. High powered lasers to slice up asteroids, fusion tunnelling to get at ore etc. Lot more precise than nukes.
Any nukes in civilian usage will be designed for such useage and will not be small enought / robust enough to be easily converted to combat use
sideranautae
Mongoose
RichardP said:
There is a minimum possible yield to a nuc. And that is big enough to use in combat. By its nature it is also small enough to easily deploy. Natural laws trump gov policies or wishes.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
1. Striker had californium rounds, or is it collapsing rounds?
2. Merc companies probably could get away with anything that could be vaguely defined as an armed merchantman, even one specifically built for an active military role. Patrol ships ...
2. Merc companies probably could get away with anything that could be vaguely defined as an armed merchantman, even one specifically built for an active military role. Patrol ships ...
Reynard
Emperor Mongoose
The collapsing round is californium. It's hollow and uses a high or hyper-velocity gun to cause the round to collapse against a hard target and induce critical mass. They have short half-lives and need to be stored in damper boxes are usually used on drones because of the high radiation and are prone to not functioning to full effect.
Rule 78 in Striker describes the Imperial Rules of War. A good read and the last paragraph specifically addresses nukes. Only Imperial forces hold the right to nuclear weapons and even they are adverse to their use.
Rule 78 in Striker describes the Imperial Rules of War. A good read and the last paragraph specifically addresses nukes. Only Imperial forces hold the right to nuclear weapons and even they are adverse to their use.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Impact could be simulated, but I resurrected this piece of information that suitcase nukes may now be tablet nukes.
sideranautae
Mongoose
dragoner said:
Absolutely. Which is why I put it in the post earlier along with Chem as a prohibited WMD.
Chemical agents are traditionally not included in the Imperial Rules of War. IMO, the rules aren't about killing people, but destroying worlds; and if I recall, it isn't as much about possession of nukes (fine as ship to ship weapons) but the use of them. Bio-weapons would be another thing altogether, you could infect an entire subsector by dropping a vial in an A class starport that was a major transit hub.
sideranautae
Mongoose
dragoner said:
No. possession of nukes is prohibited. Not just use. (it is extremely difficult for a civilian agency to get a permit to posses nukes) See Spinward Marches book for more details. Also, Bio can't destroy a world any more than chem can. It has to do with mass destruction of people. But, that is left up to the GM.
Reynard
Emperor Mongoose
From the decades of articles I have to say the Imperium is BIG and so is its military forces but those forces are still comparatively tiny to the vastness of the 11,000 worlds and the distances and communication/travel time between them. The Imperium may have overall claim but can never police every disturbance.
This is why the Imperium creates a series of rules for worlds and regions to follow pretty much on an honor system and that includes rules of warfare. They know there will be conflicts that erupt into war on local levels and let them 'blow off steam' rather than sending in fleets and armies to fight two sides as police actions. This is why there are rules of war so if someone escalates too far (WMDs) then it became the Imperium's business. I have seen the NO Nukes in several sources so this is a very important taboo possibly as well for chemical and biological agents used on civilian populations. Pocket nukes would be labeled a terrorist weapon since it's often meant to be used on civilians and highly unregulated and prime targets for intelligence and military agencies.
WMDs in Traveller should be plot devices rather than common player options.
This is why the Imperium creates a series of rules for worlds and regions to follow pretty much on an honor system and that includes rules of warfare. They know there will be conflicts that erupt into war on local levels and let them 'blow off steam' rather than sending in fleets and armies to fight two sides as police actions. This is why there are rules of war so if someone escalates too far (WMDs) then it became the Imperium's business. I have seen the NO Nukes in several sources so this is a very important taboo possibly as well for chemical and biological agents used on civilian populations. Pocket nukes would be labeled a terrorist weapon since it's often meant to be used on civilians and highly unregulated and prime targets for intelligence and military agencies.
WMDs in Traveller should be plot devices rather than common player options.
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