Mercenary: Underwater Weapons ?

[rust]

Could someone please tell me whether there are any man-portable
underwater weapons in Mercenary (like, for example, gauss har-
poons or sonic weapons) ?

Thank you !

 

[Court Jester]

Nope

 

[rust]

Well, that was to be expected, I think.

Thank you for the info !

 

[Beastttt]

lasers could be tuned to work underwater
also accelerator rifles snub pistols should work
as they are self powered to work in space
sonic weapons will in effect become grenades as water is a much better conductor of sound
I'd say rocket launcher will work also

a shark stick is just a shotgun round on the end of a stick with a special trigger

 

[far-trader]

lasers could be tuned to work underwater

At a significant reduction in range yes, limited to several tens of meters maximum, probably only effective at a fraction of that though, perhaps 10 meters.

also accelerator rifles snub pistols should work
as they are self powered to work in space

Not because they are meant to "work in space"* but because the rounds are self propelled I agree they would work to a degree.

* (longish rantish )...

Any modern firearm (by which I mean anything not using a matchlock) will "work in space" presuming you mean a vacuum (or underwater). Air is not needed for guns to go bang. ARs and Snub Pistols are designed to work in zero-g by putting the kick (or most of it) in the round after it leaves the barrel.

In reality the felt recoil of any small firearm is not going to be a problem in zero-g as long as the firer is braced. Even if unbraced there would be no difference in aiming a shotgun or an accelerator rifle, at least for the first shot. And if you have to aim at a different target that action is going to impart more spin on you than the kick from a shotgun.

Zero-g combat is more about knowing how to move, not so much how to manage recoil. Recoil effects can and should be all but ignored for small arms imo, as insignificant (unless you're raised on Hollywood post '50s with all the idiotic gun kick stupidity and insist it's real).

If you have Zero-g skill you can operate normally (you know enough to brace yourself or how to move). If you don't have Zero-g skill it won't matter if you're shooting a 50 caliber rifle or a laser carbine (a true zero recoil weapon in some versions), you will be drifting and tumbling out of control in no time unless you are secured to something. And it won't be due to recoil. If you're secured you're not subject to zero-g penalties.

(end longish rantish, we thank you for your attention, this will be on the final exam... )

In fact low powered weapons like pistols and handguns will work, marginally, underwater without modification. And there have been modified versions of guns that work better. Such as:

http://world.guns.ru/assault/as69-e.htm

I'd also think gauss weapons would work pretty well, though with a range reduction (and/because of needing to reduce the speed) , due to the finned dart projectile being well suited to water.

sonic weapons will in effect become grenades as water is a much better conductor of sound

I don't think so. Unless you mean centered on the firing person

I'd say rocket launcher will work also

Probably, yes.

a shark stick is just a shotgun round on the end of a stick with a special trigger

Yep. But how to model the attack?

Which for all of these seems to be more the answer that rust is looking for. Game stats for underwater combat. He just has to hope it comes in a future supplement I guess. Or make it up himself

 

[rust]

Which for all of these seems to be more the answer that rust is looking for. Game stats for underwater combat.

Yep, that was what I was looking for.

My setting already has a number of underwater weapons, like gauss har-
poons or blue-green lasers, or a copy of that Russian assault gun.

I just wanted to know whether Mercenary has similar weapons, so I could
bring the stats I use in line with the stats of the Traveller combat system.

But thank you all none the less for the many interesting informations.

 

[simonh]

In a starship there are enough handholds and walls and such that you should be able to brace ok. In fee space, recoul will be a major problem. Any recoul at all will impart at least some spin. The best approach would be to brace the weapon against your centre of gravity, but you are goign to start slowly moving backwards. I suppose advanced manoeuver packs should be able to automaticaly compensate for this sort of thing fairly easily.

Simon Hibbs

 

[Silvereye]

I'd say rocket launcher will work also

Especially if you replace the word missile/rocket with torpedo. Gyro pistols (fires a self propelled missile) could also be modified similarly.

Spear guns just use compressed gas or a bungee to propel the projectile. Easy enough to replace that with a gauss mechanism.

Heat/high energy weapons will be considerably more ineffective underwater as the water itself will absorb and dissipate the energy. Lasers will probably also be worthless underwater as there is too much debris (small particles of organic and inorganic matter, micro-organisms) suspended in it, and the water will just diffuse the beam. Especially if you use dyes defensively to cloud the water up further.

You can probably justify modifying a slug thrower into an underwater anologue (does not work in air). Fires specially shaped and weighted bullets with a gauss/compressed charge.

Remember concussion from explosions (or concussion grenades) will be massively amplified underwater, or in a confined space like a habitat.

No idea what is in Mercenary as I've not got it yet.