Solomani Confederation (Military)

[Condottiere]

Longarm, assault barrel, thirty six starbux, thirty percent receiver weight, two dice, half a starbux, one hundred twenty five metres

Longarm, assault barrel, thirty two starbux, thirty percent receiver weight, two dice, half a starbux, one hundred twenty five metres

 

[Condottiere]

Longarm, handgun barrel, twenty seven starbux, twenty percent receiver weight, two dice, half a starbux, fifty metres, quickdraw plus four, penetration minus one

Longarm, handgun barrel, twenty four starbux, twenty percent receiver weight, two dice, half a starbux, fifty metres, quickdraw plus four, penetration minus one

 

[NOLATrav]

Hm. Are you delineating differences between the Clash and Ass? Poking holes in the design system? Clearly they are essentially equal except for a cost difference of a few starbux.

Traditionally Trav grants a bane in exchange for a boon. Risk vs reward and all that. What am I getting for my extra three or four or twelve starbux?

 

[Condottiere]

Actually, I'm working my way through the design sequence for a survival or hunting rifle, since when I was trying to get something concrete with the Clash, I realized I was lost.

You wouldn't think that a starship was easier to design, but it is.

The Clash represents a sort of frozen design, whether on the lines of it's good enough so why change, except at specific technological turning points as at level nine, or as it turns out, the government bureau doesn't didn't throw enough resources at it to substantially improve it.

The AssLite gets it's momentum from private enterprise, since the militaries have already moved on to gauss, so it's likely customer base is somewhat more demanding.

What surprised me was that material science changes at technological level nine, considering the advanced combat rifle is listed at ten.

Seriously, personal weapon design is a lot more complex than you think (in Traveller).

In terms of assault barrel for rifles, probably should stick to a handgun for effect over that range; the only thing I can think off is using it as a sleeve in a shotgun, to fire intermediate rifle bullets, one reason I'm going down these rabbit holes.

 

[Condottiere]

In terms of hunting rifles, an anti materiel gun with five dice is probably as far as you want to go, being bulky and all that, which can be compensated with a gyrostabilizer.

However, you probably need a license, at best, if it isn't outright prohibited.

Still, you could set up at one end of the corridor of your free trader, and it would be a surprising welcome for unwanted guests, without using something more indiscriminate, such as a bazooka.

 

[Condottiere]

The advanced combat rifle is listed at a thousand starbux, four hundred fifty range, three dice, three kilogrammes, forty capacity, 0.375 per bullet, automatic three, scope

electronic battlefield sight, incorporating both light amplification and passive IR, visual magnification and a laser rangefinder, which may also be used as a target painting device. The weapon is also gyroscopically stabilised during firing. A sling is provided and the muzzle of the rifle includes an integral flash suppressor and adaptor for launching a 40mm RAM shoot-through grenade

Which seems an awful lot to try and cram onto that platform, but that does seem to be the eventual goal for the Clash Nine.

In theory, the Clash Seven would be a default assault rifle, and the Clash Six a Sturmgewehr.

The question is how far are these features organic or accessories; I'm more in favour of keeping the Clashes simple, and using add ons, however, it may prove to be cheaper to have them organic.

 

[Condottiere]

Now that I think of it, the advanced combat bullets as listed have a twenty five percent discount.

 

[Condottiere]

It also just occurs to me, that intermediate rifle bullets, let's assume the same calibre, are not interchangeable between advanced and default.

That longer range comes from the increased explosion within the chamber, and I'll assume the assumption is that advanced material science increases the capability of the receiver to increased pressures, though you could use default intermediate cartridges in advanced receivers, since that's what the American Army is planning, essentially training rounds, and combat loads when the balloon goes up, to cut down on the wear and tear of the barrel.

 

[Sigtrygg]

The 'push' that the propellant gives to the projectile is down to two factors, initial pressure generated and barrel length.

The higher the pressure the faster the bullet will go, but, if the barrel isn't long enough some of the gas pressure is wasted as the gas expands out of the end of the gun without pushing the bullet.

If you fire identical rounds from a 14.5", 16", 20" and 24" barrel you get a faster bullet with each increase in length, faster equates to longer range and more energy.

Note if you fire pistol cartridges from longer barrels they likewise get an increase in energy.

 

[NOLATrav]

I've always felt the ACR shouldn't be TL10 but rather 8 as it seems like we could build one today. Make it TL9 for flavor. And it should be UCR as in Ultimate CPR Slugthrower.

Regarding the Sturmgewehr, there is one on display here at the WWII Museum. I was surprised as it is larger than I expected, compared to the two or three AK47s I've seen in person. So that seems to gel with your Clash 6/7 ideas.

If the ACR is TL9 at TL10 we should get Gauss Rifles. Why they are TL12 and Laser Rifles are TL9/TL11 is also non-sensical and unsatisfying to me.

I know, neither here nor there with your endeavor. Best of luck play testing the design system lol.

Seriously I mean it, not being snarky. I've gone down the rabbit hole of trying to unify the T5 TL paradigm into a simple 5-step program applicable to MgT and it's definitely whack-a-mole. Don't have the bandwidth to tackle weapon design right now and I don't have the Merc set anyway. But one thing that helped me was defining the Standard - making a baseline item that the before & after can hang off of.

Using my simplified TL progression
Early : Clash Battle Rifle TL5 bulky, reduced ammo capacity, Auto2
Basic : Clash AR TL6 bulky, Auto2
STANDARD : Clash AR TL7 all accessories add-ons, Auto2
Advanced : Clash AR+ TL8 half accs integral, Auto3
Ultimate : Clash ACR TL9 all accs integral, Auto3

So it's IMTU house rules, not canonical but puts a method to the madness. Not sure that helps but a fun thought experiment. Good luck!

 

[Condottiere]

1. There is the barrel aspect, which is why you have a burn rate to optimize performance, but I don't think that's covered in the Field Guide, beyond lessening damage in shorter barrels.

2. Pistol carbine does have some overlap with the classic shortened rifle.

3. In theory, we could treat the Sturmgewehr as a prototype, but it has a fatter bullet, like the Kalashnikov Forty Seven.

4. I donno, I think I'll try out the easy options and work my way up.

 

[Condottiere]

1. Confederation military branches and Home Guards use gauss smallarms.

2. It's more maintenance intensive, but simplifies logistics across the board.

3. Assault rifles are considered quaint like Winchester repeaters, and not a threat to well protected law enforcement personnel.

4. However, they are recognized as having paramilitary potential.

5. Seemingly innocuous, the Confederation wants widespread distribution into the occupied territories and Imperium sectors immediately bordering the Solomani Rim.

6. Using Confederation standard ammunition.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederal Ammunition is a Solomani corporation specialized in manufacturing ammunition.

As assault rifles are not considered military grade, the standard civilian, and paramilitary, round is .222, compatible with both Clash Seven and Clash Nine receivers. The default damage is three dice using a standard rifle barrel.

If we give the assault rifle a very long barrel, we increase the range from two hundred to two hundred fifty metres, the same as a default rifle.

 

[Condottiere]

Modularization rule says one major component can be replaced or exchanged at no extra cost or weight gain.

I think they had in mind the stock, but I'm thinking the barrel, which means you could have a light assault to a heavy very long variant, depending on the tactical situation.

Full modularization would be something for the AssLite, since the user could completely customize it.

 

[Condottiere]

I'm trying to figure out how the advanced combat rifle achieves a range of four hundred fifty metres.

Advanced projectile only increase the range by twenty five percent, and that means default three hundred sixty metres.

So there's this gap between two hundred metres, and three hundred sixty metres.

 

[Condottiere]

Oops, it's base two hundred fifty to three hundred sixty metres.

That's a forty four percent gap that needs to be accounted for.

 

[Condottiere]

As for furniture, folding stocks are currently popular, especially while mounted inside vehicles, so that five percent weight gain and fifteen cost increase can be considered a reasonable investment, compared to a full stock at ten percent each.

You can stuff the cleaning kit inside, though not sure if that alters either cost or weight.

Monopod doesn't seem an option, though that could be a modified forward handgrip, with pop out legs for added stability.

 

[Condottiere]

At technological level nine, same as advanced projectile, you can add a gyrostabiliser at twenty percent receiver weight for three hundred starbux.

Useful while charging the enemy.

 

[Condottiere]

I'm going to assume that the advanced combat rifle has a Multispectral Scope [more advanced version of the combination scope uses a wider segment of the electromagnetic spectrum and offers enhanced image processing to assist target identification] plus six modifier to reconnaissance checks to spot targets and plus one to attack rolls at all ranges, in addition to the Scope trait, for six hundred starbux and an additional ha;f a kilogramme.

Add to that the laser pointer, at two hundred starbux and one tenth of a kilogramme; plus one to attack rolls under fifty metres.

 

[Condottiere]

At this point, the listed technological level ten advanced combat rifle looks like an absolute bargain, and that's before the bulk discounts.