I recently finished a book entitled "Information Warfare", by a guy whose name
I have since forgotten, and it inspired me to create a new
weapon system for DSII: The HERF (High-Energy Radio Frequency) Gun.
Also known as the EMP gun, or, more familiarly, as the Pulse Cannon.
HERF guns are able to shoot a high powered radio signal at an electronic
target and cause it to malfunction. The result of this assault can range from
a reasonably simple system failure, forcing the user to reboot, to actual
physical damage to the target system, literally burning it out. AFVs in the
DSII background are assumed to be electronics heavy, and such a weapon could
be most useful against them.
Thus....
**The HERF Gun**
Range: 12" (Short), 24" (Medium), 36" (Long)-This is likely a
conservative guess as to effective ranges, but I would rather err on the
side of caution. Damage: This is the weird part. There are three levels of EM
shielding, each of which give the defender a particular defensive die. None
(d4), Level 1 (d6), and level 2 (d8). None is, naturally, the default. The
defender rolls his defensive dice as normal, and the attacker rolls his
attack, again as normal. The attacker then draws the
following number of chits, counting ALL Chits at short range, RED and YELLOW
at Medium, and RED only at Long Range: Light HERF Gun: 2 Chits Medium HERF
Gun: 4 Chits Heavy HERF Gun: 6 Chits. The numbers on the valid chits are then
totaled, and compared to a roll
made by the defender using the proper Shielding die-d4, d6, or d8, as
appropriate. If the attacker's total is higher, the target vehicle suffers a
systems failure, precisely as described by the DSII rulebook, which may be
recovered from as normal. If the total is equal to, or less than, the
defender's roll, the target is unaffected.
I do not see this as being a particularly popular weapon on the battlefield,
but it could make for some interesting scenarios: "Capture
X number of enemy vehicles, intact." "Stop the President from escaping the
board, but DO NOT kill him." You get the idea. In addition, the
HERF Gun could be used by local police forces-the author of "Information
Warfare" envisions it being used to intercept drug smugglers, whose planes
mysteriously crash into the ocean, never to be seen again, after their
electrical system suddenly shorts out.... I have not bothered with a point
cost for the HERF Gun or for the shielding, as we don't normal use point
values in any case. If anyone has any suggestions, though, I would not mind
hearing them.
> At 08:49 06/08/98 PDT, you wrote:
> For the FT campaign I wrote I came up with a Stargrunt weapon
I had also figured on designing a man-portable version of the HERF
gun, identical to the Light version with an abbreviated range. Realistically,
EMP weapons SHOULD have an effect on the average
soldier--Helmet HUD's, backpack AI's, and what-have-you--would certainly
be effected by the loss of their systems. Gamewise, though, I just don't feel
like dealing with it. Give the popcorn a break, they need it!
The PA troops, on the other hand, would be immobilized after a zap from a HERF
gun. I'd still let 'em shoot, though, 'cause I'm a nice guy.
> At 08:49 06/08/98 PDT, you wrote:
> Thus....
For the FT campaign I wrote I came up with a Stargrunt weapon similar to this
based on a book called "Unknown Soldier" by Sean Williams and some other bloke
who I can't remember. E.M.P. Rilfe Firepower d4. Impact automatic Troops in
full light armour (d8), any powered armour that are hit or are potential hits
are automatically down and count as wounded. Vehicles that are hit count as
systems down. There is no penetration roll. No effect against other troops.
Might just be the solution to Waynes problem. I also came up with an FT
equvialent in that the battries were costed and massed as normal but that
every hit (calculated as per normal beam rules) caused a threshold check that
was failed on a 6. For FB make that for single hits and that 6 gets a reroll
and the threshold test is failed on a 5 or 6.
Tom spake thusly upon matters weighty:
> The PA troops, on the other hand, would be immobilized after a
1. You're talking about a mega-cannon here. Pretty unbalancing it
seems. 2. Why wouldn't it affect the targetting and weapons control circuits
in PA? If it'll stop PA, then it'll stop PA's weapons rig. 3. I would only
imagine the PA would be shielded against such threats. Perhaps this thing
should have a penetration that applies versus shielded targets of D10 or
something and PA should roll its armour die against that (assuming it has EMP
shielding).
I don't believe high frequency emissions are 1. that easy to generate 2. that
healthy to generate (can you say cancer, Mr.rifle bearer?) 3. that healthy to
be the target of 4. something that military minds of the future would be
unaware of as a threat, hence shielding, fields that block it, weapons that
use its own emissions as homing targets, etc. would all be developed. I don't
necessarily think such a weapon would be such a runaway success as it seems
that people might want to imagine.
Let's just think how many times people have said "This is the ultimate weapon"
or "This will make infantry obsolete" or whatever. Most of the time, a counter
is devised, and such predictions are in grave error. It may be a tool in the
arsenal of the future soldier, but it is not the tool that renders him
obsolete, of that I am certain.
Just my 0.02.
Tom.
I do have to agree with Tom in most respects here. I like the idea of an
EMP weapon - it fits in with a sublethal force doctrine, but that
doesn't seem a very common doctrine (I personally think it's a bad idea
outside of crowd control, and that's not what armies are for, regardless of
current
American thought - my ESU Field Police units, however...). While I do
like the idea of EMP effects, i don't use them in my systems, because
everything is optical by that point. Older systems may be more susceptible,
but a laser or MDC kills 'em just as dead as a particle beam (my favorite way
of inflicting soft kills), if not better. Anyway, the current militaries
don't seem to be all that worried about EMP weapons - it's the financial
institutions (who don't design their systems to survive a nuclear battlefield)
who are worried. EMP is actually rather easy to generate, but it requires a
lot of power, and may or may not have detrimental health effects. The standard
context in which it is studied is atomic blasts, and the health effects of
those outweigh that of an EMP emission:).
Noah
[quoted original message omitted]
> 1. You're talking about a mega-cannon here. Pretty unbalancing it
I don't think so. Not at all. See below.
> 2. Why wouldn't it affect the targetting and weapons control circuits
Because, as I said, of a whim on my part. Yes, the armor would be down but I
figure that personal weapons would still function. I simply don't
feel like assigning a firing penalty for them. I like keeping the paperwork to
a minimum.
> 3. I would only imagine the PA would be shielded against such
It depends. In a game with an Ogre background, hell yes. There's enough Nukes
flying around to make shielding mandatory. Under normal circumstances, I think
that the d4 will do just fine. In my background,
Nukes are a definate No-No (not enough habitable planets to allow
indiscrimate use of such things), so I am not concerned.
> I don't believe high frequency emissions are
Not at the moment. But, as I mentioned, this is based on a real proposal, and
the author seemed to be pretty confident that it would work.
> 2. that healthy to generate (can you say cancer, Mr. rifle bearer?)
*Shrug* Can you say lead suit, Mr.Rifle Bearer? And no, this would'nt
be a rifle. It would be a (barely) man-portable, modular weapon. It
would require a three or four man team to carry the bits and put them
together. Obviously not the kind of thing that everyone is going to carry.
> 3. that healthy to be the target of
It's not to be used as a non-leathal weapon system. It's to be used as
a non-destructive one. "We want to capture the prototype. Intact. The
crew are more than expendable."
> 4. something that military minds of the future would be unaware of as
It's not going to be a particualrly effecitve or common weapon. Just think:
which would you, as a soldier, rathter do? Destroy the enemy tank, or
temporarily knock it out so that it has a pretty good chance of
powering back up and nailing your ass in the near future? Me, I'd want to blow
it up.
> Let's just think how many times people have said "This is the
I certainly wouldn't call it an "ultimate weapon". Frankly, I wouldn't even
call it a particularly effective weapon.... I designed it
for the use in specific scenarios, something to add a particular flavor to the
game. Personally, I would not have more than one or two such individual
weapons on the board during a game. And I would, depending on the Tech levels
involved, make it more or less effective against some
forces. Anyone remember how useful EMP was in Turtledove's "Worldwar"?
And highly advanced aliens might not even use electrical systems. Frankly, I
intend to use it just for flavor. As I mentioned, I first read about it being
proposed for use by the DEA, but I can see a desperate enough planetary govt.
making use of anything that it can find.
> You wrote:
> It depends. In a game with an Ogre background, hell yes. There's
In the modern world Nerve Gas is a definate no-no, but modern tanks are
still (and will be for the forseeable future) equipped with overpressure
systems. Once you get EMP projectors to the point where they do more damage
than you would achieve by dropping the generator on
someone (the current state of the art--loading the generator necessary
onto a catapult and hurling it at the enemy has more effect than firing the
weapon) you will get hardening. A certain amount of hardening is possible and
is done in installations intended to survive nuclear attack.