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[Comrade P.]

I've been thinking about armor lately.

There are basically two types of protection - passive and active, right? Our passive protection is now represented by hexsand, hexbug, milnoplate, CD longcoat and ye olde armoring alloys. Our active protection is usage of various amplifiers. I hope I get it right.

So here's a thought: maybe it would be possible to create a (electromagnetic?) field of a sort around armor plates in order to disperse laser beams' energy and mess up Gauss rounds' trajectories when they come close? Exact effectiveness depends directly on energy input, so you can give those to a soldier with power generator which allows field to handle laser rifle/Gauss rifle, while applying that to a battlesuit with an upgraded power source can stop more powerful conventional weaponry.
IF such a thing is possible, it has some advantages before hexbug/hexsand - you don't need to combine two elements and make layers, you have to manufacture a single device, and then all you need is a power source and a soldier to carry it. And besides, it can be used along with any other protection. It also doesn't rely on any space magic, which is always good.
Although this thing might not be quite possible. I'm not too good around physics.

[syvarris]

Although this thing might not be quite possible. I'm not too good around physics.

Neither am I, but that never stopped me!


Sounds like it might be feasible-ish.  It would probably be really expensive, and I doubt it would be very effective against lasers, but it's certainly an interesting idea.  It would be a good project to look into when the tinker threads are unfrozen.

Also, automanipulators (not amps- amps are the devices in infantry's heads) aren't really efficient enough to count as a standard form of protection.  Yes, they can protect you, but using space magic to do so is generally more expensive than just buying armor that can do the same thing.  Really, using automanips to do anything that can be done with mundane tech is generally more expensive.  IIRC, the only places the UWM uses space magic for protection are capital ships, and for micrometeorite protection.

[AoshimaMichio]

I've been thinking about armor lately.

There are basically two types of protection - passive and active, right? Our passive protection is now represented by hexsand, hexbug, milnoplate, CD longcoat and ye olde armoring alloys. Our active protection is usage of various amplifiers. I hope I get it right.

So here's a thought: maybe it would be possible to create a (electromagnetic?) field of a sort around armor plates in order to disperse laser beams' energy and mess up Gauss rounds' trajectories when they come close? Exact effectiveness depends directly on energy input, so you can give those to a soldier with power generator which allows field to handle laser rifle/Gauss rifle, while applying that to a battlesuit with an upgraded power source can stop more powerful conventional weaponry.
IF such a thing is possible, it has some advantages before hexbug/hexsand - you don't need to combine two elements and make layers, you have to manufacture a single device, and then all you need is a power source and a soldier to carry it. And besides, it can be used along with any other protection. It also doesn't rely on any space magic, which is always good.
Although this thing might not be quite possible. I'm not too good around physics.

Redirecting Gauss rounds with electromagnetic field is gonna be night impossible without automanip and then user would be twisted into knots. IRL bullets cannot be really redirected with our strongest magnets, and I think gauss rounds are few orders of magnitude heavier and faster. Strength of magnetic field required to do that will do lots of bad things to user, I believe.

[Wolfkit]

I've been thinking about armor lately.

There are basically two types of protection - passive and active, right? Our passive protection is now represented by hexsand, hexbug, milnoplate, CD longcoat and ye olde armoring alloys. Our active protection is usage of various amplifiers. I hope I get it right.

So here's a thought: maybe it would be possible to create a (electromagnetic?) field of a sort around armor plates in order to disperse laser beams' energy and mess up Gauss rounds' trajectories when they come close? Exact effectiveness depends directly on energy input, so you can give those to a soldier with power generator which allows field to handle laser rifle/Gauss rifle, while applying that to a battlesuit with an upgraded power source can stop more powerful conventional weaponry.
IF such a thing is possible, it has some advantages before hexbug/hexsand - you don't need to combine two elements and make layers, you have to manufacture a single device, and then all you need is a power source and a soldier to carry it. And besides, it can be used along with any other protection. It also doesn't rely on any space magic, which is always good.
Although this thing might not be quite possible. I'm not too good around physics.

Redirecting Gauss rounds with electromagnetic field is gonna be night impossible without automanip and then user would be twisted into knots. IRL bullets cannot be really redirected with our strongest magnets, and I think gauss rounds are few orders of magnitude heavier and faster. Strength of magnetic field required to do that will do lots of bad things to user, I believe.

But guass slugs are ferromagnetic and bullets generally aren't. Also, guass slugs being bigger won't make them much harder to deflect, speed is the real problem.

[Comrade P.]

Yeah, the speed of them is gonna be a problem.

Can someone give me an idea of combat laser frequencies? Because I have that idea where I can imitate hexsand effect using conventional tech. You see, certain chemical bonds can resonate with certain frequencies, effectively reducing the wavelength coming through them. This is used in infrared spectroscopy for chemical analysis nowadays IRL, and it is an undestructive method, which means that the material exposed to those waves is not doesn't suffer at all. In ER I thought in can be used for conventional tech of laser protection, say, we synthesise a polymer with various bond types to cover some spectrum of wavelengths, and apply it over regular armor to decrease wavelegnth. That would only work if laser frequencies match frequencies some chemical bonds consume, which I doubt, though.

[Nikitian]

We should name them by designation, so Grazer-1, Grazer-2, etc...  Up until certain ships stand out and do notable things.  Then, we start naming the notable ones after people on the Wall of Remembrance.  So, Grazer-class ARMS Adrian.  The next three would be the Nekarios, Nikitian, and Neil.

This is especially a good idea if we go with U_P's idea, and give them each an AI.  You have to fight for a real name, and you must fight well.

But... is that a really good idea? I mean, it might be real tough for the crew serving on such a ship to build up espirit de corps. Especially since those 'names' sound really like call signs.
Furthermore, while it is really cute to honor the fallen this way, I don't think it is the best way to do so. While giving a ship, a regiment or something a title of a fallen ARM hero, i.e. naming it after him or her, it is clearly not the best idea to give that ship/regiment/else a name proper identical to that person's. At the very least, those who have 'earned the right to the name' deserve to have a name of their own (and have a chance of taking it into history books by their own accomplishments alone!).

As for AIs, no comment. Not until I get around to making one and figuring out the limits and possibilities.
By the way, I am not sure - have the organizational changes Simus announced to make have been enacted or not? I'd like to make an IC response to the invitation (now that we're finally back on board), but I am not sure 'it has been sent already'. 

[Toaster]

Do you want to serve on a ship named after someone who died by accidentally blowing themselves up?

[Nikitian]

Well, if that were, say, "Nekarious Aurea-Inanis Guards Grazer-class cruiser Furious" - definitely. That guy was so kind (and cool, certainly cool!) to have the whole mission solved in but one blazing instant!

[Devastator]

I'd rather not follow the USN ship-naming scheme, the resulting names are quite blah if you don't know the people involved, and sometimes quite blah even if you do.

I'd recommend, if you wish to persist in the fiction of fighting for freedom, to name your ships like Revolutionary France.

I'm also not sure where the whole 'serving' bit comes in, as none of the ARM ships are crewed, (except for the existing prisoner transports) nor will any new designs be crewed.  Steve runs everything.

[Nikitian]

That's the question that was nagging me - is there any crew on our ships? As in, even if Steve is at the helm everywhere, aren't there any technicians for maintenance and repair issues? Somehow, it feels that a horde of QEC-controlled repair-robots, while possible, would have at least been mentioned by now (aside from it probably being not very efficient  to clutter Steve's mind with mere repair tasks).

[Xantalos]

There are, we just haven't seen them much because we're quarantined from them.
For good reason, I guess.

[Empiricist]

So uh, has Simus' meeting started yet?

[Xantalos]

LLLLLIIIIIMMMMMBBBBBBOOOOOOOO

[Parisbre56]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure all ships not intended to act as stationary defences (by stationary defences I meant the ones in the Hephaestus system) are crewed. Even those protecting Hephaestus should have some sods to repair and defend them.

[syvarris]

But... is that a really good idea? I mean, it might be real tough for the crew serving on such a ship to build up espirit de corps.

Well, as Dev mentioned, there is no crew affected by morale.  Unless we have AI, but I don't think that's terribly likely.

Especially since those 'names' sound really like call signs.

I'm not really sure what you mean by this.  They are, mostly, actual names... 'Neil' or 'Adrian' doesn't really sound like a callsign to me.

Even if they do sound like callsigns, isn't that effectively what they're being used for, anyway?

Furthermore, while it is really cute to honor the fallen this way, I don't think it is the best way to do so.

Well, the intention isn't really to honor the fallen.  Honestly, if we name a ship Floki, people are gonna ask why we chose that name.  When they're told, I don't think the original Floki would feel terribly honored.

While giving a ship, a regiment or something a title of a fallen ARM hero, i.e. naming it after him or her, it is clearly not the best idea to give that ship/regiment/else a name proper identical to that person's.

Might be clear to you, but it isn't to me.  I thought that was generally how naming things after people worked.

Do you mean that it leads to confusion?  I don't think it would matter, since ships and infantry are talked about in very different contexts, and the infantry are already dead anyway.

At the very least, those who have 'earned the right to the name' deserve to have a name of their own (and have a chance of taking it into history books by their own accomplishments alone!).

Yeaaah...  I think the vast majority of the people who would be getting ships named after them, would not be happy if their notable accomplishments are what got them into history books.  "Oh, this man will be remembered forever as the first person to lose a fight over the remote control so badly, that his head ended up a smear on the ground."

"This man will be forever known as the defining example of what you shouldn't do with a manipulator.  His reckless actions managed to kill millions of innocents, and a significant portion of his team."

"This man isn't really notable, aside from being an idiot who got himself killed."

By the way, I am not sure - have the organizational changes Simus announced to make have been enacted or not? I'd like to make an IC response to the invitation (now that we're finally back on board), but I am not sure 'it has been sent already'. 

Pyro sent all the Heph people a meeting request, and then promptly disappeared.

So uh, has Simus' meeting started yet?

Nope.  We all accepted, though.  I'm guessing that means that Anton is currently sitting in a room with three inactive robots.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure all ships not intended to act as stationary defences (by stationary defences I meant the ones in the Hephaestus system) are crewed. Even those protecting Hephaestus should have some sods to repair and defend them.

Why give them actual sods?  All of the ships have QECs (I think), so we just need to staff them with bodies, and the bodies can be remotely puppeted by sods stationed on Heph or whatever.  That's probably way less expensive than designing them with stasis pods and nutrient supplies.