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Yansuf

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Posts posted by Yansuf

  1. Homo Sapiens and their guns

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Homo Sapiens and their guns

     

    Wow, basic training must have gotten much tougher than when I was in.

    Yes, the training methods have gotten much better, but for the US Army you do not get any significant training with many of the things mentioned in basic. If you are including AIT (Advanced Individual Training) in Infantry, that is another matter, but that doubles (or a little more, I have checked recently) the length of time in training.

     

    BTW, I question the build of 18 points for +3 HtH and +3 Ranged; I thought that would cost 30 points.

     

    To get back to the original question, it depends on the level of the campaign.

    If the heroes are "world class" like the JLA, I wouldn't expect a "normal" with small arms would be a significant threat, unless the normal was very highly skilled, and thus, arguably, not normal. In a campaign with 200 point plus disadvantages heroes, this may not be as true, but still should usually be for a handguns and the like. (Of course, some heroes defense against guns is "you cann't hit me!" which may not work if they are completely surprised.)

     

    But unless the heroes/villains are "Galactic Champions" level, I don't think very many could survive an open battle with the military, unless the military is heavily constrained against using heavy weapons by worries about collateral damage. The "you cann't hit me" boys will have trouble resisting area attacks, like explosions or electric powered gatlings, the "bullet bouncers" will have trouble with anti-tank weapons. They may be able to out maneuver a TOW, but a APDSDU round from a 120 mm gun travels at about one mile per second. And tank fire control systems are very good today; they can hit "point" targets.

  2. FW vs AoE Attack

    in HERO System 6th Edition Rules Questions

    Posted

    In the FAQ, one says:

     

     

    No. The target hex is the target hex chosen by the attacker — the FW doesn’t change that. The GM might explain the special effect of the character’s FW protecting him as “it kept the grenade from exploding right next to you,” but in rules terms having a FW up doesn’t alter the target hex of an attack.>

     

    Does this mean that a FW completely surrounding the hex a character is in cannot stop an AoE attack aimed at the character's hex? The statement above seems to say that, but that would seem to contradict the statement in the rules that you need indirect to attack through a FW, except by breaking it.

     

    Thank you.

  4. Desolidified

    in HERO System 6th Edition Rules Questions

    Posted

    Normally a desolidified character cannot effect another desoidified character, unless they have the same special effects.

    What if a character wishes to have an attack that will effect desolidified characters while he is desolidified, but that will not effect normal characters?

    Does he have to buy it as "effects normal world" +2 and "effects desolidified" +1/2; or will "effects desolidified" +1/2 do, if it can only do so when the character is desolidified?

    Thank you.

  6. Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

     

    One of the main story elements is that the fey (except for the Iron Lords) are allergic/susceptible to iron and steel. Therefore they have to develop technology without it. This means bronze, brass, silver, and magic.

     

    My questions for the group are –

     

    What does the Western empire use for weapons for its armies? The Brits had the Enfield Rifled Musket in 1855. Could a musket (especially a rifled one) be made without iron? What about artillery?

     

    What about steam engines? Can they be made without iron? What about railroad tracks? Telegraph lines? Other technologies of the time?

     

    What would be worthwhile magical substitutions for these or other technologies that require iron? I see industrial magic as the creation of enchanted items in an assembly line fashion. The assembly line workers would have to be fey while the gadgets themselves are made for use by non-fey. What would an industrial magic economy look like? How can magic and science co-exist or interact?

     

    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

     

    Without using magic, bronze alloys can be made that are adequate for 19th century firearms. Iron and steel originally replaced bronze because they were cheaper.

    I'm not sure of the required processing, but current copper-beryllium alloys have impressive strength, ductility, toughness and incredible hardness. While they are not as strong as the best steel available today, they are far stronger than the best steel available in 1900.

    Various nickel based alloys can replace steel for most things, but are more expensive.

    Current aluminum alloys are far stronger than steel that was available in 1900, but aluminum is hard to process without electricity. For use in firearms you would also have to pay close attention to cooling, since aluminum cannot take as much heat as steel or bronze.

    Of course, with magic completely new alloys are possible.

  7. Rail gun damage?

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Rail gun damage?

     

    If you wish "realism", a rail gun can have any amount of damage.

    Their advantage is they can fire shells at higher velocities than "gas-expansion" weapons. Right now the best gas expansion guns (like on the M1A2) can attain a muzzle velocity of about a mile per second; the current experimental rail guns can double that.

    So if the railgun is firing projectiles the size of a 0.50 cal HMG, it would have between 2 and 4 times the damage of the HMG. (There is still an argument over whether damage is more closely related to kinetic energy or momentum.)

    For the spinal mount on a warship, it should realistically be be much more powerfull than a modern tank cannon, since your advanced tanks will probably have railguns with more power than current guns.

    If you want point defense, etc. then anywhere from 4d6 to 12d6, probably with AP, is reasonable. If it is the ships secondary battery, it should be over 12d6 (personally, I would make it quite a bit over), and if it is the main battery, the sky is the limit.

  9. Evil Corporations

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Evil Corporations

     

    They could be using those inner-city payday loan shacks and check-cashing stands as recruiting stations for agents.

     

    A guy comes in who looks able-bodied, the clerk slaps an extra hundred down on the counter and says, "Plenty more where that came from. I got your attention? Good. How'd you like to make more money than you ever made in your life, and crack a few well-deserving heads in the process?"

     

    But the PCs find out about it through some street source and the investigation is on.

     

    I like it.

    But what evil deeds do the use the agents for?

  12. help with ship clasifications

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: help with ship clasifications

     

    Since on our planet aircraft an order of magnitude faster than capital ships (and have been since WWII) they have advantages over surface ships. Unless the small fighters are much, much faster than the capital ships, it is unlikely they will be very usefull.

  14. U.N. Armament

    in Dark Champions

    Posted

    Re: U.N. Armament

     

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot

     

    I just found out about this yesterday while watching a documentary:eek:

     

    Why is it that stuff like this doesn't get taught in high school history?

     

    BTW, that seems like a perfect explanation for a Fascist America setting...

     

    I must admit to finding that hard to believe.

    It is hard to stage a military coup without the support of the military. Anyone who has real experience in US forces knows the US military are not about to support a military coup. Robert Heinlein (who was a professional Naval Officer in the early 30's, before he got sick and was medically retired) also ageed with that, so it was apparently true in the time period under discussion by Butler.

    Plus, in the 1930's I believe the National Guard far outnumbered the regular military. And America is an armed society. So I find it highly unlikely that a coup could have worked.

    Of course, the "backers" may not have realized that.

  15. U.N. Armament

    in Dark Champions

    Posted

    Re: U.N. Armament

     

    AK47 isn't just cheaper, it's also more reliable. Not that the M16 is unreliable, they just made different design decisions. It's a weapon that basically can't be maintained for too long without training in how to strip and clean it. The AK47 can be used by illiterate, uneducated peasants, with minimal training.

     

    Also the larger diameter bore has less fouling. The AK74 is less reliable than the AK47.

  16. What if: Japan won World War 2?

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: What if: Japan won World War 2?

     

    I really don't see anyway the Japanese could win in the sense megaplayboy does, Admiral Yamamoto for one knew that was impossible. The logistics are against them.

    But their definition of a win was making a peace treaty with the US that accepted their supremacy in the western pacific. That was possible.

    If the Japanese had won at Midway, they might have been able to defeat the US in the south pacific. While it is unlikely that the US would have agreed to a negotiated peace, it is possible.

  23. A Thin Moral Line...?

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: A Thin Moral Line...?

     

    I feel compelled to point out that stopping a crime in progress is NOT being a vigilante. It is fully legal anywhere in the US.

    In the above, killing the criminal is also legal, if (and only if!) the court (or the grand jury) agrees that it was neccessary to stop the crime, AND the crime involved potential death or serious injury to any innocent person.

     

    Being a vigilante involves going after someone who you believe (rightly or wrongly) to have committed a crime, and punishing them for it.

    Dictonary definitions do not agree on whether someone who, without law enforcement authority, hunts down someone accused of a crime, captures them and turns them over to the police, is a vigilante. Since if the person above does it for a reward, they are called a bounty hunter rather than a vigilante, I do not consider anyone a vigilante unless they take it on themselves to punish the criminal (or alleged criminal) rather than turn them over to the legal police.

     

    With the above in mind, I cannot think of many classic comic book heroes/superheroes who are vigilantes. I am sure a number of examples of "heroes" who are will be posted in reply to this, but I expect the number will still constitute a small minority.

     

    In fact, if I remember my old western comics (it's been many years) The "Vigilante" was not really a vigilante; he did not punish his foes. But I admitt my recollection may be colored by JLU.

  25. The Cadfael session

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: The Cadfael session

     

    The river was the best way to dispose of bodies.

     

    Personally, I find the TV and book series to be great insights into day to day life at the time. Things we take for granted are what life hinged on - respect of authority and the church, everyone knowing everyone else, the full social lives of basically, peasants in general.

     

    Actually, the TV/movie series are considerably more historically accurate than the books. Ellis Peter had (she is dead) some expertise on a much later period of English history, and didn't realize that the period of Cadfael was very different.

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