HOME | DD
AlexanderDeath β Cataphract Final Version By S2ka
by-nc-sa
#131 #battlemech #battletech #mechwarrior #sldf #death_knights
Published: 2015-03-22 18:31:56 +0000 UTC; Views: 2599; Favourites: 78; Downloads: 53
Redirect to original
Description
I think the name says it all! Kudos to S2ka and ObsessedPerfection for another great piece of work! Comments are welcome, and look forward to seeing this great piece of work in the first online book to be published: Field Manual 3067: Dawn of the Jihad. Cheers!Related content
Comments: 58
One of my favorite mechs in the game! Davion all the way! 2 UAC/5s and 2 PPCs.
π: 0 β©: 0
Thank you!
π: 0 β©: 0
She is Regimental CO of the 131st Death Knights, and 3rd in command of Battlegroup 2 (aka the Death Knights - in honor of the original regiment that bore the name). I may change that name though, if it starts to get to confusing...
All this will be detailedΒ in the first book, titled "Field Manual: 3067: Dawn of the Jihad", followed by the second book "Field Manual: 3071 -Β the Protectorate Wars", then the book "XTRO: Skunkwerks" and finally "Field Manual: 3095 - Hail the Commonwealth". Cheers!
π: 0 β©: 0
Yep! When you get in to the guts of the technology you find out that the tech in ALIENS isn't much more advanced than BattleTech. In fact it's almost a step backwards. considering how advanced their gauss and laser technologies are. My best friend though was a huge fan of ALIENS, and we would watch I over and over while playing game after game of BattleTech. One of the first projects he had initiated in game, was to improve the usefulness of your basic foot soldier when Powered Armor wasn't available.Β Enter thee Pulse Rifle, amongst many other products.
π: 0 β©: 0
battletech is freakin awesome XD
sure, in real life, future battlemechs probably wont get much bigger than most of mechwarrior's light mechs, but it's still cool as heck to stomp around in an assault mech, blazing away at anything that moves.
π: 0 β©: 1
The bigger they are, the harder they fall. right? But the size in BattleTech comes from the weight of some of the firepower and the need to deploy it.
π: 0 β©: 1
yep, plus battletech has some relatively realistic designs as well.
π: 0 β©: 1
The No.1 complain from people was usually the range - they felt it was unrealistic, but the writers gave pretty satisfactory reasons why certain weapons seemed to have meager ranges compared to modern counterparts.
π: 0 β©: 1
yeah, agreed. heck, even in MWO, the missiles in particular are quite weak and short ranged, but fire in huge volleys. however, this actually makes perfect sense in that universe, swarms of small, cheap missiles with small warheads that require multiple hits to kill a mech are capable of overwhelming point defense weapons mounted on some mechs. a handful of expensive, long range cruise missiles could be easily intercepted, nullifying their effectiveness entirely.
π: 0 β©: 2
Well, You may be correct about the missiles, but The armour of mechs as well as their cannons/lasers are of a bigger question. Typically, one would want as much sloped armour as possible. Which is lacking in most mechs. And A single gigantic laser/cannon would be better than using a few small ones. Overall, Id consider the Catapult, Stalker and Jagermech to be the most logical mechs. Also, a bipedal mech has no advantages over a mech with 6 or 8 legs.
π: 0 β©: 0
Well surprisingly. it seems futuristic CIWS's weren't as effective at shooting down missiles as a modern version. My understanding of why missiles are designed the way they were had more to do with the invention of Industrial Carbon Diamonds and their use in modern armor. Missiles also have the advantage that they can be fired indirectly at a target from the other side of hills and such, can be laser or beacon targeting, and have a plethora of different kinds of warheads they can be outfitted with that weren't conventional to put on your standard aerospace fighter pylon mount (Though fighters can still use those kinds of missiles). That's also why modern tank cannon's fell out of use - they couldn't compete with newer autocannon design's which used Carbon Diamond in the ammo composition. Given the actually game differences between chucking an Arrow IV Artillery missile and a good ole'fashion Tomahawk? Give me the Bill Clinton Blue plate Special any day!
π: 0 β©: 1
And when it comes to (admitadly rare) space combat, missiles are still pretty good, for an entirely different set of reasons. Firepower, versatility, long range, low thermal emissions, and accuracy to name a few. When it comes to overwhelming point defense, my two favorite strategies are macros style missile massacres, and the longer ranged, though more expensive cluster missiles (MIRVs.) I'd also program the missiles to adopt a randomized flight pattern, consisting of various corkscrews, zig zags and sharp turns to throw off point defense even further. The MIRVs in particular could be fired from millions of kilometers away, and unleash their payloads just out of range of point defense lasers. At closer ranges, my smaller ships would be armed with railguns, coilguns and pulse lasers. My larger ships would be armed with casaba howitzers, bomb pumped grasers, and emp weapons. Directed energy weapons (lasers in particular) would be kept to a minimum on any ship not designed specifically to use them in order to improve heat management capabilities.
π: 0 β©: 1
Yeah - missiles do definatly have the upper hand in space combat. We also came to realize that their indirect fire abilities could be used to saturate areas with cluster mines, preventing fighters from using meteor belt to hide or for cover. That trick used to drive my friends nuts - I'd constantly deny them any place to move with these big massive minefields that were technically meant for deterring ground units and Battlemechs.
π: 0 β©: 1
have you ever heard of a casaba howitzer? if not, you should really look into those. im thinking maybe some sort of possibly unmaned gunship dedicated to delivering those things.
π: 0 β©: 1
Weren't they alsoΒ called PomPon Guns? Either way I will make it a point to look it up. I find it ironic that a lot of the weaponry we take fore granted today. like Flak Guns, have so much use in the BT universe, and if its one thing we had as a unit priority for our researchers, especially after they formed the SLDF and got access to ComStar's record, it was to dig through the wars of the past and find weaponry that could be adapted and useful for the modern battlefield. Sadly, some of the best weapons designs to every stride the battlefield, came from the more horrific of enemies: The Nazi's.
π: 0 β©: 1
the germans during WWII had prototype weapons such as surface to air missiles, a nuclear bomb, and even a coilgun.
as for casaba howitzer... a nuclear shaped charge. it's basically a nuclear directed energy weapon where it detonates a nuke and directs it's entire blast in a single lance of explosive energy. www.projectrho.com/public_htmlβ¦
scroll down a bit till you find nuclear shaped charges
π: 0 β©: 1
I thought they had discontinued that research, stating it was far to risky. And just from reading that site, I can see why. They really don't say what they would do to the remaining radioactivity, or how they would develop a material strong enough (Or homogenous enough likeΒ Steel) to contain that sort of a blast.
Still in all, not the kind of weapon you'd see anyone but the Word of Blake using, and even then it would only be their ultra radical units like the Manus Domeni.
π: 0 β©: 1
casaba howitzer in space = practical. all that scary radiation is now harmlessly dissipated, and the sheer destructive force makes it the 1 hit kill weapon that will triumph in most space combat scenarios.
π: 0 β©: 1
True, well mostly true - some of the radiation will dissipate easier in to space, but most of the more lethal kinds will stick to the metal of a ship like glue until its had time to be shed. And if you have to fire the weapon more then once before the weapon has vented, or a ship have to carry more radiation shielding, then its already made itself an even more expensive weapon. Besides, the Aries convention strictly forbids the use of nuclear weapons unless under specific conditions.
π: 0 β©: 1
yeah, the partial test ban treaty makes it unlikely that we'll see them being used in the near future. however, being a nuclear shaped charge, it doesnt necessarily have to explode coming right out of the barrel of the launcher mechanism. if they wanted to, they could probably put that thing as the warhead of a homing missile of some sort, or even just fire it as a shell, and have it explode once it's within a certain distance of the target. still not as much range as a laser, but much better than the (relatively speaking) knife fight range it would be used at otherwise, and means the radiation wont be much of a problem either. the lance of nuclear flame is actually pretty long, as i remember it being said that a blast from low orbit would still retain enough energy to cause catastrophic damage to a ship the size of an aircraft carrier, and that's through an atmosphere as well.
π: 0 β©: 1
Well definatly won't be using it to make my jiffy pop! LoL.
I think the consideration of radiation is less for the ship - and more what the cannon hits. Sometime ago I participated in a class were we discussed how radiation effects technology in near zero-g environments, and my instructor told me that in a setting like warfare, its very unrealistic they will use weapons with radiation overspill because when you get down to it, a machine you destroy with that sort of a weapon, turns the remains of said destroyed object in to many destroyed objects, all with varying degrees of radioactivity, and in some cases, toxicity. Eventually when it gets pulled in by a planetary gravity well, it risks that planet being a habited world (as after all, who fights for an uninhabited one)
π: 0 β©: 1
hmm... true, but with a nuclear shaped charge, even a relatively small charge, even one 50 times smaller than the hiroshima bomb would still easily have enough power to give an enemy cruiser a large viewport in it's hull, minus the glass. if you still want to go big while still minimizing radioactive hazards, you could use a mostly fusion device, or possibly a pure fusion bomb when that technology becomes available.
π: 0 β©: 1
It would make it an interesting alternative to the traditional way of thinking of a Fusion beam. HAHA... could have WoB use it as a suicide weapon, and have them fire off Cobalt-Thorium-G Warheads... they would "salt" everything around them when they fired, and definatly "salt" any target they hit with uncleanable radioactive fallout.
π: 0 β©: 1
oh, ever heard of bomb pumped lasers? a nuclear bomb powered gamma ray laser is capable of firing dozens of beams each with enough intensity to vaporize meter thick armor plating with ease. and somehow i see a nice overlap with project orion and nuclear shaped charges.
π: 0 β©: 1
I've seen similar non-nuclear versions in several anime. Most notably Macross were the Zentraedi seemed to have deployed just such a missile during the assault and siege of South Ataria Island. It's one way past defenses designed for maximum protection against conventional solid ammo based weapons. The kind of weapons you are recommended though would, or could, only be used in game the same way one might think of all the Nazi Super Weapons. Some got deployed, but generally most sat in hangers and labs, un-field tested
π: 0 β©: 1
these would be extremely expensive weapons to field that would have to be deployed strategically to make cost efficient use of them. so, yeah, pretty much what you said.
π: 0 β©: 1
I guess that depends on the foundation of the economy of the army with whom those weapons are being deployed, and the manufacturing base of that same government. I'd actually make it a frontline, first strike weapon. Made in to smaller delivery packages so that your basic units could use them, it would help an army more quickly overcome their enemies frontlines, along with helping that same army adjust its tactics after seeing how well those weapons work against their enemies.
π: 0 β©: 1
perhaps, but i somehow dont see infantry running around with self destructing, single shot bazooka like lasers as anti tank weapons. though soon it may be necessary considering the fact that future tanks (and bleeding edge present day ones like the Obrum PL-1) could have a nasty combination of ambient temperature regulated stealth armor and active anti missile point defense weapons that make it invisible to some guided weapons and able to intercept others. anti tank (laser) rifles may just be making a comeback sometime soon. or not considering the heat dissipation required for them. power wont be much of a problem with access to carbon nanotube super-capacitors, but it may be more practical to use such pseudo-capacitors in scaled down coilguns instead. a coilgun's recoil is dampened somewhat due to the gradual acceleration of the shot, so unlike a powerful, large caliber conventional rifle such as the barret .50 cal (which is infamous for it's incredible stopping power and penetration), a coilgun based sniper or anti tank rifle may not even require the user to brace their weapon before firing to prevent injuries.
π: 0 β©: 1
Exactly where is the Coilgun from? I want to read more about it from the source material. The longer you have talked to me about it, the more curious I have gotten about it. It would make an interesting "Secret Weapons of the Jihad" kind of thing. Definatly worth looking in to for the objective of a scenario, wouldn't you say? I mean this new SLDF (My SLDF to be clear) has made the enforcement of the Aries Conventions of War one of their top priorities.
π: 0 β©: 1
The coilgun is a close relative of the railgun, it uses electromagnetic coils to propel a metal slug at high velocities. Its sometimes called a gauss gun.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=TWeJsaCiβ¦
π: 0 β©: 1
Well.... that's a Gauss Rifle, no doubt there...
π: 0 β©: 1
and this is a more powerful, single shot variant: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ljnhhβ¦
it's so powerful, it punches through an F-22 with a single shot XD
π: 0 β©: 1
Cute. But as the family member of a bunch of Engineer's I am always skeptical of these home made devices. Especially since I am the one who gets made fun of for thiking they night be realΒ
π: 0 β©: 1
heh, i once made an extremely basic variant of one of these that could launch a paperclip with enough force to throw it a few feet. ok, it wasnt much more than a mess of copper wire wrapped nails and D batteries. my version wont be shooting down aircraft anytime soon, models or otherwise. still, i assure you these things work XD
π: 0 β©: 1
Well the question is: If people can do all this stuff in their home, then why is NATO keeping the railgun such a secret? See my angle?
π: 0 β©: 1
secret? there are test fire videos of full sized variants all over youtube.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXF0n6β¦
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBnoM3β¦
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hqm-9β¦
π: 0 β©: 1
Ah yeah, the rail gun, that's.... well its different in that its a different name, lol. ButΒ an EM gun by any other name, is a rail gun just the same.
π: 0 β©: 1
actually, a coilgun is slightly different from a railgun, but the general concept is very similar. still, close enough. they're real, they're deadly, and they're gonna be arming plenty of warships in the near future.
π: 0 β©: 1
Plenty of soldiers too, once those exo-frames are perfected.
π: 0 β©: 1
yeah, powered armor is going to be awesome. the funny thing is that both powered armor (i think that what your referring to as exo frames) and hand held EM weapons are both more or less dependent on advances in power supply technologies which are pretty much right around the corner with how carbon nanotube supercapacitors are coming.
π: 0 β©: 1
Never seen the Fusion plant they are constructing in Scotland? It was actually used as the "Warp Core" in Star Trek: Heart of Darkness. Yeah, I say 2025 and they will have a space worthy candidate, especially considering how the new engines NASA and JPL are testing have come along. Plus you have Virgin, Lockheed and Northrup-Grumman also experimenting with new kinds of engines.
As for the "Exo-Frame".... eh, yeah sort of. Powered Armor implies a whole suit, where as this is justΒ a frame that augments the basic human bodyΒ - less like Starship Troopers (The Book), and more like Elysium (the movie).
π: 0 β©: 1
yeah, fusion power is actually now on the verge of becoming a viable source of power. we can now create fusion reactions with a net power gain, in a few decades, we could be powering cities off of fusion.
π: 0 β©: 1
A lot sooner then that, I imagine. Special I saw on PBS a few months back claims that all that's really left to do, is finding a way to harvest the energy created from the atomic collision and then storage medium to save it for use over long periods.
π: 0 β©: 1
hmm... wow, we're really moving along, eh?
π: 0 β©: 1
I think rich people who are nerds begat progress, because notice that one is not causing the other, but is the reverse. Isn't reality heinously wonderful?
π: 0 β©: 1
yeah, the world has an odd sense of humor. the awful irony is that... for all the "progress" politicians talk about... they seem to be the ones most opposed to making any.Β
π: 0 β©: 1
Generally they try to stand in the way of Big Industry and Corp.'s actually getting any control over the Government... the job they do is generally lackluster though due to the Corporations lining their pockets with gold.
π: 0 β©: 1
| Next =>