Guest Schwarzwald Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon I liked the phasers when they looked like guns and not a weird combo of electric shaver/sextoy. I really liked the bigass pistols used in the otherwise awful 'final frontier' movie. Kill someone and get rid of the corpse with one pull of the trigger, how can you not love it? As to weapons that weren't mentioned before, how about the puppeteer disintegrator, the double barrel version that caused a massive explosion when it hit matter? Then there's the Genetic Infantry Assailt Rifle from the "Rogue trooper" series. Gotta love a sentient assault rifle. I liked the judge dredd lawgiver even tho I hate the judge dredd series, a weapon with variable warheads like that rocks. As far as looks, the laser pistoles from the original battlestar galactica were beautiful looking and had cool effects, mostly. The pistols from the new bsg with the caseless 5mm auto and the mini grenade launcher under it are nice and could be done today. In general I like gyrojet weapons with advanced multiple warheads, especially now that nanotech warheads may be coming soon. In closing, and I know I'm gonna get buckets of XXXX over this one, but how about the pitchfork shaped chrome laser from 'the rocky horror picture show' that was "capable of emitting a beam of pure anti matter." that looked like red lightning bolts and were deadly to groupies and transvestites but not so effective on creatures created by mad transvestite scientists? Only proble with it was how the hell do you holster it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon Well' date=' the cone bore rifle won't really work well.[/quote'] Why not? The cone bore rifles in David Drakes THE FORLORN HOPE are very high tech with diamond barrels and everything, but the basic high-velocity "squeeze bore" technology was invented back in the 1930's by the German army. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaplayboy Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon I like the cone rifle with tac nuke warhead from Paranoia...because the blast radius of the warhead was larger than the firing range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Schwarzwald Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon A game called 'bloodtree rebellion" had 'microtherm' rifles that fired 8mm bullets using tiny deuterium crystals, a one shot nanotech laser and a capacitor that had a maximum yeild of .5 kilotons. Holy hiroshima, batman! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marketeer Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon Although they wouldn't be my favorite sci-fi weapons, Warhammer 40k lasguns just feel right for the universe: cheaply made, effective, mass-produced like blazes, and designed so that they can be recharged from pretty much any power source. They give the right tone for a universe where the Imperium of Man is so sprawling that things need to be simple and highly adaptable to local conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yansuf Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon Why not? The cone bore rifles in David Drakes THE FORLORN HOPE are very high tech with diamond barrels and everything, but the basic high-velocity "squeeze bore" technology was invented back in the 1930's by the German army. And the Germans found many problems with them. A simple level answer why: you have to compress the projectile (or its sabot) which is absorbing energy which you want to go into kinetic energy. (There are more reasons. but that one alone is a killer.) The Germans tried many ideas in WWII, they "shotguned" their R&D, trying everything any fool thought up. They had some good ideas, most of them are still in use. They had bad ideas too, this "cone bore" was one of the bad ones. The idea was to increase muzzle velocity, but in any gas expansion weapon the muzzle velocity is limited to something well under the rate of detonation of the propellent. The Gauss Gun does not have such a limitation. Modern tanks use smooth bore barrels to minimize friction, which decreases the lost energy and thus increases muzzle velocity. The "cone bore" idea wasn't abandoned because it was a good idea, it was abandoned because it was, in fact, a really silly idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaplayboy Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon And the Germans found many problems with them. A simple level answer why: you have to compress the projectile (or its sabot) which is absorbing energy which you want to go into kinetic energy. (There are more reasons. but that one alone is a killer.) The Germans tried many ideas in WWII, they "shotguned" their R&D, trying everything any fool thought up. They had some good ideas, most of them are still in use. They had bad ideas too, this "cone bore" was one of the bad ones. The idea was to increase muzzle velocity, but in any gas expansion weapon the muzzle velocity is limited to something well under the rate of detonation of the propellent. The Gauss Gun does not have such a limitation. Modern tanks use smooth bore barrels to minimize friction, which decreases the lost energy and thus increases muzzle velocity. The "cone bore" idea wasn't abandoned because it was a good idea, it was abandoned because it was, in fact, a really silly idea. from wikipedia: Armour-Piercing, Composite Non-Rigid (APCNR), the British term, is based on the same projectile design as the APCR - a high density core within a shell of soft iron or other alloy. The difference is in the gun that fires it which has a tapered barrel, either a taper in a fixed barrel (Gerlich design in German use) or a final added section as in the British "squeeze -bore" (Littlejohn adaptor). On firing the round is full bore but the outer shell deforms as passes through the taper. Flanges or studs are swaged down in the tapered section, so that as it leaves the muzzle the projectile has a smaller overall cross section. This gives it better flight characteristics with a higher sectional density and the projectile retains velocity better at longer ranges than an equivalent weight shell. As with the APCR, at impact, the kinetic energy of the round is concentrated at the core. The Germans deployed their 28/20mm PzB 41, their initial taper barrelled design, as a light anti-tank weapon early in the war, but although HE projectiles were designed and put into service, the limiting of the shell design to the muzzle bore reduced their mass to only 85 grammes and hence effectiveness. The British used the Littlejohn squeeze-bore adaptor which could be attached or removed as necessary, to extended the usefulness of their QF 2 pdr gun in armoured cars and light tanks which could not take a larger gun. Although it meant that a full range of shells and shot could be used changing the adaptor in the heat of battle was highly impractical. The APCNR was superseded by the APDS design which was compatible with straight bore barrels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Carman Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon Drake's cone-bore rifles (not really "rifles" I think) were more man-portable antiarmor gear than standard military small arms. I got the impression that that mercenary company was a bit specialized in the sort of jobs they did. They were a defense force for a military HQ, not field troops. The engagement (cone-bore cannon against laser-armed tanks) near the end of the book was pretty interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yansuf Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon Drake's cone-bore rifles (not really "rifles" I think) were more man-portable antiarmor gear than standard military small arms. I got the impression that that mercenary company was a bit specialized in the sort of jobs they did. They were a defense force for a military HQ, not field troops. The engagement (cone-bore cannon against laser-armed tanks) near the end of the book was pretty interesting. Actually they were standard (but very powerfull) "rifles", or standard shoulder weapons, because of course you are correct, they weren't rifled. In "Hammer's Slammers" here are sections discussing other weapons besides the ones that the Slammers use, the cone-bore rifles are discussed there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon There is a new show on the Discovery Channel about future weapons. The seires premier was pretty interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Carman Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon Actually they were standard (but very powerfull) "rifles", or standard shoulder weapons, because of course you are correct, they weren't rifled. In "Hammer's Slammers" here are sections discussing other weapons besides the ones that the Slammers use, the cone-bore rifles are discussed there. I think standard infantry weapons are generally antipersonnel. It was explicitly stated in the first few pages of Forlorn Hope that the cone-bore shoulder arms were designed to penetrate/smash armor (vehicle not body) and brick. Of course, hypervelocity osmium penetrators will kill troops right through light/medium cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale A. Ward Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon In closing' date=' and I know I'm gonna get buckets of XXXX over this one, but how about the pitchfork shaped chrome laser from 'the rocky horror picture show' that was "capable of emitting a beam of pure anti matter." that looked like red lightning bolts and were deadly to groupies and transvestites but not so effective on creatures created by mad transvestite scientists? Only proble with it was how the hell do you holster it?[/quote'] HOLSTER IT?!? Who wants to holster it?? Mwahahahahahaha!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catsman Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon Well for me it depends on how I feel at that particular moment. But some of them are... The Lightsaber. can't go wrong with the classics. Of course, the Jedi training to go with it is a must. The Phaser type II. the multi-tool of the sci-fi world. The Atom Blaster from Blade Runner. Nothing sez lovin like hyper acclerated .44 caliber rounds. The Time bombs from Strontiom Dog. It causes the target to be frozen in time for a split second. Of course by the time the target comes out of it the planet has moved and they are stuck in space. Any weapon from the Aliens movies (god I'm an Aliens movie geek) The Staff weapons from Stargate The Suit from Greatest American Hero Mal's Gun and Vera From Firefly. The Lasers for Battle Star Galactica TOS Oh oh oh... I almost forgot the Servo. Gary Seven's kewl pen like weapon from Star trek TOS episode Assignment: Earth and many many more to numberous to mention Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
input.jack Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon I liked the "Glaive" from Krull. It looked awesome, it had retractable blades, and it could hit people who just looked like they were adjacent to each other ! Lightsaber...gotta get me a lightsaber....(and the Jedi training to go with it) Im also kind of partial to Hal Jordan's Power Ring ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gewing Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon The tommy gun is only controllable in full-auto because it's milled out of a block of steel and is therefore extremely heavy. I'd take the MP5 over a Thompson' date=' and I'd take the UMP45 over the MP5. Although I don't know of a drum mag available for the UMP45.[/quote'] Also the UMP 45 can handle .45 SUper loads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted May 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon I liked the "Glaive" from Krull. It looked awesome' date=' it had retractable blades, and it could hit people who just [i']looked[/i] like they were adjacent to each other !While I think it's an interesting weapon, I don't know if I'd call it a Sci-Fi weapon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon Likewise, I don't think a Tommy Gun is. I have no idea why anyone would associate the movie King Kong with science fiction, either... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon Also the UMP 45 can handle .45 SUper loads. I didn't know that. Brutal! But is it controllable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuSoardGraphite Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon The Lightsabre of course and all the variations from other fictional sources, such as the Blood Swords from Margaret Weis Star of the Guardians series. Ashandari: From the RPG Battlelords of the 23rd Century. This weapon is a long dagger with a button on the handgrip. When the dagger is plunged into the opponents midsection (the stomach is optimum) and the button is depressed, the dagger will then shoot dozens of barbed monofilament wires deep into the target. The attacker then yanks the knifeblade free and the monofiliament wires as well as the opponents innards... the ZF-1 from 5th Element (of course) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon Ashandari Sounds like the borrowed the idea of the Harlequin's Kiss from the first edition of Warhammer 40K. Where a wrist-mounted housing had an almost katar-like spike. It was jammed through armour (or a hole or joint) and a whiplike monofilament would then be injected and whipped around inside the armour at high speed. The usual result being that when the armour was opened later, the wearer would pour out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Schwarzwald Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon Ashandari Sounds like the borrowed the idea of the Harlequin's Kiss from the first edition of Warhammer 40K. Where a wrist-mounted housing had an almost katar-like spike. It was jammed through armour (or a hole or joint) and a whiplike monofilament would then be injected and whipped around inside the armour at high speed. The usual result being that when the armour was opened later, the wearer would pour out. There's really no similarity between the eridani "life snatcher' in battelords and the harlequin's kiss from 40k. The life snatcher uses a big blade with explosive charges to fire out fish hooks attached to wires once it's imbedded in the enemies vitals. The harlequin's kiss used a coiled spool of monowire to liquify the victim's interior. Very different weapons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon The Lightsabre of course and all the variations from other fictional sources' date=' such as the Blood Swords from Margaret Weis [b']Star of the Guardians[/b] series. How would the Blood Sword be coded in the Hero system? (for those who have not read the Star of the Guardians series, it is a hideous species of light-sabre. When the user picks it up, five needles insert themselves into their palm. You see, the blasted thing runs on human blood. As you fight the blood loss makes you weaker and weaker, so don't waste time.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRavenIs Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon These because of the adaptability. The servo of Gary Seven. The ring of any Green Lantern. The sonic screwdriver of The Dr. These because they are cool, and they work. These are not single weaopns other than the light-sabre of Star Wars. The weapons of the new BSG. The weapons of the origional BSG. The weapons of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. The weapons of Space 1999. The weapons of SG1. The weapons of Star Trek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted May 4, 2006 Report Share Posted May 4, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon These because of the adaptability. The servo of Gary Seven. The ring of any Green Lantern. The sonic screwdriver of The Dr. The sonic screwdriver is primarily a tool, not a weapon. The servo is a borderline case. If the sonic screwdriver qualifies, then one should also include Varian's "universal tool" from The Fantastic Journey or the tuning fork thingy that REM used in the tv series Logan's Run. Go to http://www.projectrho.com/SSC/crew.html and scroll to the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inu Posted May 4, 2006 Report Share Posted May 4, 2006 Re: Favorite Sci-Fi Weapon The sonic screwdriver is primarily a tool' date=' not a weapon. The servo is a borderline case.[/quote'] Captain Jack's sonic pistol, then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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