Post-Modern Arms and Armor

[Ar Kayon]

As armor increased coverage and became stronger and more ergonomic, effective combat strategy shifted its focus from accuracy to sheer power and volume.  Thus, a soldier's arsenal of the post-modern world consists of weapons that are big, have large magazines and oversized bullets, and high rates of fire.  (Any ideas on cool designs would be appreciated.)

1. 7.62 Combat Rifle - As the .556 assault rifle grew obsolete, modern ingenuity came up with a design that accommodated the force of the popular 7.62 assault rifle (analogous to the AK-47) but maintained the accuracy of the old .556.  Single fire and 3-round burst option.

2. .44 Magnum "Berserker" - Old handgun designs that utilized the .44 magnum round were simply too impractical for use in tactical combat; the accuracy was terrible, thus increasing the potential for collateral damage, and the magazine or chambers did not accommodate many rounds.  The "Berserker" design has a magazine capacity of 10 rounds, a specialized two-handed grip for control, and an effective recoil-dampening mechanism for single-handed firing.

3. 50 Caliber Sub-Machinegun - This weapon is a direct analogue to the real-world M4 Beowulf featured on the show "Future Weapons".   It is ideally designed for medium-range urban combat.  Single fire and 3-round burst option.

4. Roebenger 50 Caliber Shock Machinegun - Similar to an M60, this weapon is designed exclusively for shock combat units wearing specialized strength-enhancing armor.  The weapon is meant to be held up high like an assault rifle, except that it's so large it looks like the soldier is cocking a bow.

5. Roebenger 5mm "Bullet Hose" Shock Minigun - Even a soldier wearing a strength suit can't move very quickly while wielding one of these, but it probably won't matter because he's basically walking artillery.  The rate of fire is so high that accuracy is exponentially improved over standard machineguns. 
(An Outworlder siege unit will be composed of several shock troopers equipped with these weapons.  They will typically line up and pin well-entrenched combatants while close-quarters fighters attempt to penetrate barriers and attack from the flank.)

6. "Juggernaut" Combat Shotgun - This weapon is a direct analogue to the drum-fed automatic shotgun featured on the show "Future Weapons".

7. "MACR" Magnetic Accelerator Combat Rifle - This weapon is a rail gun designed to be used as an assault rifle for elite combat units.  Although the range, accuracy and kinetic energy of a magnetic accelerator round far surpasses that of any standard round, it overheats quickly, making the rate of fire low, it takes time to charge, and the rails need to be replaced often.  Thus, the MACR is not versatile.

8. Prototype Pre-Nevercast Magnetic Accelerator Combat Rifle - This design virtually perfected all of the flaws of the earlier MACR versions.  Not only is the heat sink much more efficient, allowing for a much more rapid rate of fire, but the carbon nanotube battery almost instantly supplies the energy required to fire the weapon.  Unfortunately, the exclusivity of the schematics combined with the sheer difficulty in acquiring the materials and technical expertise to produce makes the weapon nearly impossible to manufacture (a character's best bet is to steal one rather than buy or build).

[Locke]

cool.  don't forget smart artillery and grenades.  the problem with future weapons or future anything is that we don;t know how they will evolve. what about a guy who has a laser guided mortar on his back, self loading, maybe self propelled.  And a teammate targets using a laser sight.  boom boom. 

[Ar Kayon]

Yeah, it's a pain in the ass.  I also have to consider electric weapons for police forces and close-quarters tactical squads.

[Ar Kayon]

Weapon Stats

Maneuverability - This rating affects your speed attribute when aiming.  Firearms with long barrels have low maneuverability.
Strength - This rating, combined with the character's strength, determines melee damage when striking an opponent with the firearm.  Firing damage is located in the bullet stats.
Rate of Fire - This rating determines how many rounds you can shoot per combat action (single shot, repeated fire; short burst; medium burst; long burst).
Range - This rating determines the maximum distance you can fire.
Accuracy - This rating determines distance modifiers.
Magazine - This rating determines the round capacity of your firearm.
Reload Time - This rating determines how many combat actions it takes to reload the firearm.  Characters who are skilled in firearms may have reduced reload times.
Bullet Type - What type of round the firearm can accommodate.
Quality - This rating determines the likelihood of critical failures.

[Ar Kayon]

the problem with future weapons or future anything is that we don;t know how they will evolve.

I tried to introduce circumstances which would help me to determine the direction of arms development.  The Nevercast, for example: economies of every nation were drained and programs were slashed.  Urs Prime could not sustain as many military weapons development contracts anymore, and since no other nation had the financial muscle to keep up with the arms race, there was simply no need pursue it with such gusto; money was redirected towards infrastructure instead.

The most advanced military technology was created shortly before the Nevercast, but much of it is in the prototype stage or was never manufactured due to the unavailability of the exotic materials required (carbon nanotubes, for example).  Also, due to political circumstances, the majority of this new technology was hidden in the hostile Vanaq Ir region of the Des Xiac nations:
During the rise of the Progressivist school of thought, well-funded and well-organized Outworlder terrorists began raiding private weapons development firms, stealing technical knowledge and kidnapping engineers and scientists.  As a result, laws were passed that current laboratories of firms under contract to the Urs Prime government were to be dismantled and relocated to an undisclosed location within the hostile Irian Desert.  Naturally, the cost of development jumped up sharply.

A future without nukes; an apocalypse without fireballs...
Interestingly enough, a thermonuclear warhead was never dropped on any nation.  Before the Nevercast, nations were so economically intertwined that the cost-benefit analysis of war in general, let alone nuclear war, was grossly disproportionate.  Of course, economic interdependence is what allowed the Nevercast to happen in the first place.
Another peculiarity is that once the powerful Outworlder tribes went nuclear, not a single bomb was built.  Because of the native religion, Outworlders were deathly afraid of being annihilated by wrathful Ancestors of Nature for destroying their creations.  However, as the technology cults become more secular, there's a growing possibility of this happening.  And then there's that positronium gamma ray laser everyone's digging for.

[Mobius]

Do you have a post where you talk about the Nevercast, Outworlders, and Urs Prime?

I'm very curious to know what those are.

[Ar Kayon]

Mobius, you can find indepth setting information here, and general information about the game's mechanics here.

[horomancer]

I remember seeing a video of a new shoulder weapon that is currently in the works. It looks exactly like the Heavy Bolter from War Hammer 40k! It fires some large ordinance (I don't know what) but something akin to a large mortar or small artillery shell. When fired a large slug of some material is ejected out the back, acting as a shock absorber so that a person could fire the thing without dislocating their shoulder. The material doesn't get ejected to quickly, so as not to be a hazard to the operator or surrounding personal. My guess is it's meant to replace the RPG or bazooka for urban combat so it can be used in tighter spaces without risking friendlies.
Also, if super armour is going to be more common, I would imagine phosphorus rounds would see more use.
Does your system have an easy way to manage something like secondary effect damage?
Also, something that must be considered when applying your damage rules. New armour might stop a 50 cal round, but that doesn't mean the wearer will survive. Maybe if it's some fancy exoskeleton thing, but an inch of hightech ceramic and nanotubes won't dampen the shock from the momentum imparted by the round.

[Ar Kayon]

My reasoning is that multi-tiered damage protection will prevent the force from not only penetrating the target, but disperse the energy of the round so that concussive damage isn't inflicted and the plates don't shatter.

The overlay is composed of many overlapping ceramic plates, somewhat similar to the way they were in medieval plate armor (naturally, the torso will not be a single cuirass).  The logic is that the force will spread out amongst the other plates rather than be focused on the impact area.  The plate itself is strong enough to physically stop many small arms rounds from penetrating.

The remaining force will be dealt with by a weave underlay of high grade polymers or pre-Nevercast carbon nanotubes, much like how a net disperses the energy of a ball. 

So yes, military grade and fringe-tech armors are fancy exoskeletons.

I was thinking tungsten and depleted uranium rounds for armor piercing; I suppose magnesium-phosphorus rounds would also be used, but the Urs Prime government, which includes the Des Xiac regions, most likely wouldn't allow it.  Honestly, I need to do more research on ammunition in order to conceptualize how the tech will manifest in the post-modern world.

[horomancer]

Just out of curiosity how would you model a hit with supped up weapons and armour?
Lets say i have a spec ops type character in the best armour you can have without being in a Mechanically enhanced power suit. I'm guessing that with all the various materials, i would have about 2 inches of protection?
I take a direct hit to a strong point in the armour by a FMJ 50 cal rifle round, no fancy materials just fast moving lead and brass. How does this effect me?

[Ar Kayon]

Hitting a strong area would probably result in a "stun" or "hurt" effect (from concussive damage type).  These effects are not actual damage, but "hurt" can accumulate into real injury.

So let's say you hit directly on the torso at a +4 gradient of success.  You add 4 to the power of the weapon (I don't know, say 7), and subtract 12 effect resistance against penetrating damage.  The bullet is stopped.  However, the resistance against concussive damage is weaker at 8, so a remainder of 2 effect results in "hurt".  The target will lose combat actions for the round and his concentration effort pool will be reduced to zero.  "Gah, fuck!" would be a typical reaction to this type of effect.

I'm still going to have to mess around with the mechanics a bit so I can correctly model the interplay between different round and armor types, but that's the general idea.

[horomancer]

I see. You basically separate the damage into Lethal and Non-lethal aspects. The attack does the same value for both, but the armour differentiates between the two.

[Locke]

Don't forget neutron bombs,  they kill everything but don;t hurt the buildings and structure.  Or EMP's

[Ar Kayon]

I see. You basically separate the damage into Lethal and Non-lethal aspects. The attack does the same value for both, but the armour differentiates between the two.

What's great is that I don't actually have to specify whether an attack is lethal or not; it will be automatically determined by the total effect.  Certain damage types, however, have different thresholds of lethality.  For example, at 4 effect, concussive damage might knock you down and temporily incapacitate you, break a bone or cause some internal injury, whereas being stabbed would result in you slumping to the ground and dying after a certain period of time.  Effects are still a bit hairy at the moment, but by the time I'm done I plan on having very clearly-defined effects for each attack type and effect gradient without complicated tables.

[horomancer]

Rocket balls! http://news.softpedia.com/news/Rocket-Balls-Are-Pentagon-039-s-Latest-Weapon-98411.shtml