I bought a bunch of Dirtside miniatures a while ago and I am in the final leg
of my assembly line approach of making them tabletop worthy. They are
all from Geo-Hex and for the most part they are good minis. The only
problem I had was a lot of the vehicles had so much flash on the back of the
hulls that it obscured any detail that was originally there. I ended up filing
a lot of the backs flat and gluing on bits of plastic card and drilling holes
to give them detail. Anyone else had the flash problem?
Anyway, that isn't the reason I posted to the list. A couple of the miniatures
I bought share the same hull. Namely the HELLBAT Grav SP
Gun-FWA06 and (I think) the SIMBAT Grav AA Tank-FWT42.
The thing is that they both have a thing on the front that looks like a 55
gallon oil drum. I am getting ready to paint both of them and that detail
struck me as odd. For those of you who haven't seen the miniatures I am
talking about or just want to play the home version of this game, imagine a
grav tank with a soviet style external fuel tank bolted to the front.
The big question is what could they possibly be? And, before you all give me a
bunch of goofy answers, realize that I am looking for PSB explanations here. I
am fully aware of the possibility of sending a force in with beer kegs mounted
onto the front of their tanks as incentive not to get hit (as if you really
needed one).
Lurker First Class,
> Ndege Diamond wrote:
Yep -- most of my DSII figures are Geo-Hex "Future Wars", and there has
always been a surprisingly large chunk of flash on the back ends of the
vehicles.
> The thing is that they both have a thing on the front that looks like
Why, it's obviously part of the grav-field generator!
The AFV manufacturer, BAT Industries, sub-contracted the grav engines
for those vehicles to Constellar Planetary Engine Works. CPEW was one of the
leaders in developing grav technology, and those vehicles used the
Type-42
Dual-Vector Anti-Grav Propulsion System, their first generation of grav
engines.
The Type-42 Dual-Vector engine (42DV) consists of two anti-grav devices;
one pointing downward which creates the "levitation" effect, and one pointed
forward which creates velocity. When the forward anti-grav device is
activated, it creates a miniature gravity well in front of the vehicle, into
which the vehicle is constantly "falling" as it moves forward. Deceleration is
accomplished by reversing the field, and turning the vehicle is accomplished
by pivoting the field generator inside the "barrel".
The "barrel" is an armored container for the forward anti-grav device.
The downward anti-grav device is contained in a similar barrel below the
vehicle. Due to the nature of the forces involved in generating
anti-gravity
fields, BAT Industries decided that the crew would be best protected by
mounting the anti-grav devices outside the vehicle. The more recent
versions
of anti-grav AFVs use better shielding for the crew compartment, which
allows the grav engines to be mounted inside the hull.
Later generations of grav engines use the Multi-Vector Anti-Grav
Propulsion
System, which combines all the necessary anti-grav devices into a single
generator.
> In a message dated 5/12/99 8:32:55 AM EST, rick@esr.com writes:
<< Why, it's obviously part of the grav-field generator!
The AFV manufacturer, BAT Industries, sub-contracted the grav engines
for those vehicles to Constellar Planetary Engine Works. CPEW was one of the
leaders in developing grav technology, and those vehicles used the
Type-42
Dual-Vector Anti-Grav Propulsion System, their first generation of grav
engines.
The Type-42 Dual-Vector engine (42DV) consists of two anti-grav
devices; one pointing downward which creates the "levitation" effect, and one
pointed
forward which creates velocity. When the forward anti-grav device is
activated, it creates a miniature gravity well in front of the vehicle, into
which the vehicle is constantly "falling" as it moves forward. Deceleration is
accomplished by reversing the field, and turning the vehicle is accomplished
by pivoting the field generator inside the "barrel".
The "barrel" is an armored container for the forward anti-grav device.
The downward anti-grav device is contained in a similar barrel below
the vehicle. Due to the nature of the forces involved in generating
anti-gravity
fields, BAT Industries decided that the crew would be best protected by
mounting the anti-grav devices outside the vehicle. The more recent
versions
of anti-grav AFVs use better shielding for the crew compartment, which
allows the grav engines to be mounted inside the hull.
Later generations of grav engines use the Multi-Vector Anti-Grav
Propulsion
System, which combines all the necessary anti-grav devices into a
single generator.
-- Rick Rutherford >>
I stand in awe Rick. i am so impressed. Have you applied to the Star Trek
producers for the technospeak writers. Whenever a script writer has need of a
tech explanation for something they just write "Technogibberis" in the space
and editors create the needed dialogue within established parameters for
their imaginary technology. You are amazing! My congratulations!
> On Wed, 12 May 1999, Rick Rutherford wrote:
> Ndege Diamond wrote:
nonsense! my good man, you are clearly thinking of the late-series BAT
F5 armoured reconaissance vehicles, which did indeed use a laterally mounted
preventral field coil housing. this was because the F5s, being rather light,
were unable to provide enough damping to allow the coil to operate smoothly in
the 44 GHz range. thus, a heteromodal external field unit was added to allow
this band to be employed.
the device which LFC diamond is puzzled over is the Type 1415 Intermediate
Altitude Holographic Maser Imaging Array (IAHMI), deployed on both the FWA06
SPG and the FWT42 SPAA. the Type 1415 is a compact, robust sensor
system developed by Philips for sale to mass-market arms integrators and
subsequently adopted as a cheap improvement to a range of armoured vehicles
built by BAT.
the Type IAHMI is a high-resolution short-range radar, capable of
producing virtual holographic images suitable for analysis by any normal
vector signal processor, such as you might find in an armoured vehicle,
missile or one of the cheaper types of microwave oven. the device is
cylindrical to accomodate the multiple concentric masing tubes, which employ a
Holt relay, where each tube feeds the tube inside it, to produce very short
pulses of coherent microwave radiation. a constant beam of
maser energy is produced either end, and it is here that active-field
emitters are used to split the beams, one being directed into the target area,
and the other retained for use as a reference beam in constructing the
hologram.
in the case of the FWA06, the Type 1415 is used primarly to track outgoing
rounds in the vicinity of the element, so that the fire-control system
can judge the wear on the gun barrel and the alignment of the firing
receptacle (the FWA06 uses the notoriously wobbly PF-4H howitzer
mechanism, and is only rescued from mediocrity by the excellent Intel TapStar
smart rounds). with the aid of this information, the FCS is able to compensate
for material defects in the gun and so achieve better performance.
the FWT42 uses the Type 1415 in its more obvious role, as an instrument
for directing anti-missile fire. the capability to track all visible
objects in the target area, subject only to processing limitations, makes it
the ideal choice for this task, as not only can a potentially large number of
inbound warheads be tracked, but it is possible to identify and discriminate
between the various penetration aids (decoys, chaff, etc) which modern
missiles deploy in flight. furthermore, IAHMI devices are able to track the
stream of rounds fired by the vehicle's own cannons: the FWT42 uses this
information to make rapid and tiny corrections to the orientation of the
Moulinex K440 autocannon system it carries, thus optimising the stream's
trajectory and improving interception time by as much as 5%.
so there.
Tom
> I bought a bunch of Dirtside miniatures a while ago and I am in the
We all have, but it's getting better. I just filed it more or less flat and
was content.
> Anyway, that isn't the reason I posted to the list. A couple of the
I asked the list this very same question, about a year ago, when I was
prepping those same models for painting. I eventually decided that it was just
a barrel of water; you can never have too much water, right?
However, in the spirit of PSB artists everywhere....
The "drum" is the Argus class ECM suite, specifically designed (due to weight
and cost considerations) to be a modular device that could easily be added to
existing vehicles. When activated, the Argus will continually scan for sensor
pulses, and when it detects them it will generate a series of
EMPs intended to confuse incoming missiles and disable their targeting lock.
The Argus has been the salvation of many a tank, and crews are prone to
painting small eyes all over the housing -- for luck.
Either that, or it contains a platoon of freeze-dried marines.
In a message dated 5/12/99 10:50:25 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> thomas.anderson@university-college.oxford.ac.uk writes:
> << > Ndege Diamond wrote:
nonsense! my good man, you are clearly thinking of the late-series BAT
F5 armoured reconaissance vehicles, which did indeed use a laterally mounted
preventral field coil housing. this was because the F5s, being rather light,
were unable to provide enough damping to allow the coil to operate smoothly in
the 44 GHz range. thus, a heteromodal external field unit was added to allow
this band to be employed.
the device which LFC diamond is puzzled over is the Type 1415 Intermediate
Altitude Holographic Maser Imaging Array (IAHMI), deployed on both the FWA06
SPG and the FWT42 SPAA. the Type 1415 is a compact, robust sensor
system developed by Philips for sale to mass-market arms integrators
and subsequently adopted as a cheap improvement to a range of armoured
vehicles built by BAT.
the Type IAHMI is a high-resolution short-range radar, capable of
producing virtual holographic images suitable for analysis by any normal
vector signal processor, such as you might find in an armoured vehicle,
missile or one of the cheaper types of microwave oven. the device is
cylindrical to accomodate the multiple concentric masing tubes, which employ a
Holt relay, where each tube feeds the tube inside it, to produce very short
pulses of coherent microwave radiation. a constant beam of
maser energy is produced either end, and it is here that active-field
emitters are used to split the beams, one being directed into the target area,
and the other retained for use as a reference beam in constructing the
hologram.
in the case of the FWA06, the Type 1415 is used primarly to track outgoing
rounds in the vicinity of the element, so that the fire-control system
can judge the wear on the gun barrel and the alignment of the firing
receptacle (the FWA06 uses the notoriously wobbly PF-4H howitzer
mechanism, and is only rescued from mediocrity by the excellent Intel TapStar
smart rounds). with the aid of this information, the FCS is able to compensate
for material defects in the gun and so achieve better performance.
the FWT42 uses the Type 1415 in its more obvious role, as an instrument
for directing anti-missile fire. the capability to track all visible
objects in the target area, subject only to processing limitations, makes it
the ideal choice for this task, as not only can a potentially large number of
inbound warheads be tracked, but it is possible to identify and discriminate
between the various penetration aids (decoys, chaff, etc) which modern
missiles deploy in flight. furthermore, IAHMI devices are able to track the
stream of rounds fired by the vehicle's own cannons: the FWT42 uses this
information to make rapid and tiny corrections to the orientation of the
Moulinex K440 autocannon system it carries, thus optimising the stream's
trajectory and improving interception time by as much as 5%.
so there.
Tom
> [quoted text omitted]
You people have too much time on your hands....<sigh> David McElhannon
> In a message dated 5/12/99 11:12:23 AM EST, john1x@hotmail.com writes:
<< Either that, or it contains a platoon of freeze-dried marines. >>
Not-Freeze dried Marines - frozen Marine augmented commando embryos
which can be force bred to maturity (one at a time because of the confines of
the
self-contained unit) in six hours. This allows the attached infantry
platoons to replace losses. These guys are fully equipped and label DM
############ on
their foreheads in neon green (D.umb. M.arine number such-and-so) as
they do
not enjoy civil rights in any non-military compound.
> On Wed, 12 May 1999, Thomas Anderson wrote:
> The device which LFC Diamond is puzzled over is the Type 1415
I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. The Type 1415 IAHMI array is smaller, and
mounted co-axially with the AFV's gun barrel, so that the array can
"see"
what it's shooting at. In some AFVs, the IAHMI is mounted on the front of the
turret, and in others it is mounted on the turret roof.
BAT Industries was the first manufacturer to incorporate the IAHMI array into
their AFVs, but unfortunately the early versions of the array were quite
vulnerable to enemy fire. The glass tubes in the cylinder shattered whenever
the vehicle was hit; when this happened, the tank crews said that they were,
"as blind as a BAT.":)
> ScottSaylo@aol.com wrote:
When ordering from BAT industries, remember to quote their stock number for
the marines: GW40K. Many NAC units are discontinuing the use of these marines,
due to their excessive cost and poor combat performance. They are, however,
readily available.
Due to the sub-standard cranial cavity on these marines, they
have a tendency to charge at the nearest OpFor, resulting in heavy casualities
from both heavy weapons and sniper fire.
> In a message dated 5/12/99 11:42:20 AM EST, rick@esr.com writes:
<< I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. The Type 1415 IAHMI array is smaller, and
mounted co-axially with the AFV's gun barrel, so that the array can
"see"
what it's shooting at. In some AFVs, the IAHMI is mounted on the front of the
turret, and in others it is mounted on the turret roof.
BAT Industries was the first manufacturer to incorporate the IAHMI array into
their AFVs, but unfortunately the early versions of the array were quite
vulnerable to enemy fire. The glass tubes in the cylinder shattered whenever
the vehicle was hit; when this happened, the tank crews said that they were,
"as blind as a BAT.":)
-- Rick Rutherford
> [quoted text omitted]
Absolutely, Mr.Rutherford. Mounting the targeting array on the fron of the
vehicle would be foolish unless it was a fixed firing gunnery mount as is
common on inexpensive "Tank Destroyers"which are rarely if ever Grav vehicles.
Why try to justify Grav suspension and speak the works "inespensive' Tank
Destroyer'" in the same sentence?
> Ndege Diamond wrote:
Hmmm, this sounds like rather over-enthusiasic gate cutting (where the
feed sprue joins the miniature in the mould) and I suspect may be down to
SimTac, who used to cast all the licence-made stuff for GeoHex; now that
KR
is moving to in-house production following SimTac's demise, I'd hope you
will see an improvement on this sort of thing as new moulds get made.
> In a message dated 5/12/99 12:11:46 PM EST, lesack@unixg.ubc.ca writes:
<< Due to the sub-standard cranial cavity on these marines, they
have a tendency to charge at the nearest OpFor, resulting in heavy casualities
from both heavy weapons and sniper fire. >>
Not to mention their tendency to turn to chat with their neighbors while they
still have the triggers depressed on their auto weapons.
> Rick Rutherford wrote:
> On Wed, 12 May 1999, Thomas Anderson wrote:
It sounds like a "Standard Issue Forward Mounted Contact Explosive Charge" or
SIFMCEC for short...8D
> Thomas Anderson wrote:
> > > The thing is that they both have a thing on the front that looks
An (expanding) Fascine, for dropping into deep ravines, which would otherwise
overload the Grav generator (which actually requires proximity to mass to
operate).
There. Nice, simple.
> all from Geo-Hex and for the most part they are good minis. The only
> plastic card and drilling holes to give them detail.
Are you sure this isn't the imfamous cammo net detailing, that looks like
outrageous detail obscuring flash but is actually *meant* to be there as
rolled up cammo net. I thought it was flash until I found out it was there by
design. My least favourite feature of the future wars range IMO.
How about:
The Mk IIIA bio-organic refuse recycling unit.
In an attempt to allow lower tech mechanized units more freedom of movement
away from logistical units, a third generation Organic-Mechanical
Processing Accessory (OMPA) unit was attached to units for extended
operations. The unit digests and processes organic matter and extrudes compact
bricks of organic
material suitable for burning in high-efficiency furnaces. This allowed
the
crew to fuel their vehicle from local sources. A by-product of the
process is water, which is commonly used as a working fluid to drive the power
turbines of the vehicle. Initially installed in the interior of the vehicle,
crews objected to the noise and smell of the unit which was then installed on
an external mount. Due to power plant ventilation requirements, the units was
mounted on the front of the vehicle to keep the vents clear.
--Binhan
> On Wed, 12 May 1999, Thomas Anderson wrote:
That's better than in initial acceptance tests. They retrofit them alongside
220mm HVCs and they lasted about 3 shots. They work much better with the new
synthetic monocrystalline optics, but they're still iffy except on recoilless
main guns.
- Sam
> At 08:41 PM 5/14/99 -0600, you wrote:
*sigh*
I think I will go with it being a beer keg after all.
It will be a Biphase Carbide thermal superconducting quantum monopolar
refrigerated beer keg though.
Lurker First Class,
> At 21:25 14/05/99 -0700, you wrote:
> *sigh*
Get out your finest brush and paint "Duff" on the side of it Rob