Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Wimopy]

Can someone please make a game about civil war era troops fighting retro sci-fi aliens with less effective tech than we have currently?  Because I want this in my life.

I've already hinted at this once in this thread.

Behold the power of mods!

Knights! Cavalry! CHARGE! *mutons charge the cavalry, and punch the horse and rider in the air*

Sounds like it would be about dealing death by a thousand cuts. Probably effective against unarmoured enemies. Power armour won't give much of a damn about blades made of inferior metals.

[Rolan7]

Or maybe primitive weapons are surprisingly effective, if power armor has developed to resist their own best weapon tech.  An arms race between plasma and alien alloys/shields.  But less effective against "inferior" weapons like metal slugs or melee.  Pretty sure that last part was a thing in Dune, with those ballistic shields which stopped bullets (and blasters?) but swords were too slow to detect, or something.

It doesn't make perfect sense but would make aliens vs low tech less unbalanced.  Also there's an alt history book I haven't actually read where aliens invade during WW2 and face unexpected resistance.  Stuff like Germany's Big Bertha cannon taking down UFOs.

[Dorsidwarf]

Or maybe primitive weapons are surprisingly effective, if power armor has developed to resist their own best weapon tech.  An arms race between plasma and alien alloys/shields.  But less effective against "inferior" weapons like metal slugs or melee.  Pretty sure that last part was a thing in Dune, with those ballistic shields which stopped bullets (and blasters?) but swords were too slow to detect, or something.

It doesn't make perfect sense but would make aliens vs low tech less unbalanced.  Also there's an alt history book I haven't actually read where aliens invade during WW2 and face unexpected resistance.  Stuff like Germany's Big Bertha cannon taking down UFOs.

Wasn't the Big Bertha railway gun from WW1? I dont remember that one surviving to WW2 like some of the others

[Graknorke]

There were some very big railway guns in WW2 still though. Mostly for taking shots across the channel.

[Rolan7]

Hm I don't remember since I didn't actually read it, but I was thinking of the "Worldwar" series by Harry Turtledove.  I do think it was a railway gun though, yeah.

[Wimopy]

Heh... WW2 Germany vs Aliens. You start off with some untrained, badly-equipped infantry. Then you get the tanks. Your final task is to develop the Ratte or Dora (that's the HUGE railway gun) the Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster to finally obliterate the enemies. Not XCOM-style infiltration, no. A big damn superweapon to shoot down a big damn target.

Personally though, I can't wait for a Medieval Army vs Aliens mod.
A WWI or so era cavalry charge is definitely something I want to try though.

[IronyOwl]

Why not go all the way? Cavemen vs Space British Explorers. Lightning stick scary, but only roar once before needing rest!

[GrizzlyAdamz]

Hmm
-swords
-bows/crossbows (low-damage, 30-round clip that can't be reloaded, low acc)
-firebombs
You'd rely on the firebombs at first, and then the sealed PA clittons would wreck yer shit.
Unless you could get one of them anti-cavalry slings & lead shot. Might break something through their PA, maybe. But I'd bet PA is designed with minimizing fall (blunt force) damage, so maybe not. Probably a 'unified chassis', and the alloys aren't going to deform so the force will be distributed & negated by in-suit shock absorbers.

I don't think you'd be able to do moving units justice. Best I could think of is hit & run with a high movement, limited moblity (doors/obstacles should block more, no ladder-horses), & a large target debuff.

[Orb]

Give more damage to cavalry the farther they move in a turn. This is what Endless Legend did to simulate cavalry charges.

[Rolan7]

Man, futuristic power armor is too cool.  I made a post about bashing damage being the best bet, but then remembered that power armor is very heavy.  So not only will impact force spread over the armor surface, it would be tough to knock the target backwards or even over.  Maaaybe a couched lance.

And obviously slashing will only work at all if there are, for some reason exposed bits of sensitive flesh or mechanics.  And there doesn't need to be, even medieval full plate had armor hang over the joints.  This is like that except encumbrance is far less of an issue.

So I guess piercing would be the best bet...  But then you're going up against advanced alloys with mere bronze or steel.  Hopefully high calibre bullets, which should work relatively well.

Then there's alternate possibilities they might not have planned for:
Ink over the oculars.  Hope they instinctively smack themselves in the face.
Soft ground, use that weight against them.  Or if they aren't heavy, bashing becomes practical again
Lots of fire.  Without a venting system, they'll eventually cook.  High specific heat could make that take a sustained effort, though.
Ballista/cannons to overcome their mass advantage
Trigger an avalanche or mudslide, preferably to shove them over a convenient cliff
land war in russia

[kilakan]

Or maybe primitive weapons are surprisingly effective, if power armor has developed to resist their own best weapon tech.  An arms race between plasma and alien alloys/shields.  But less effective against "inferior" weapons like metal slugs or melee.  Pretty sure that last part was a thing in Dune, with those ballistic shields which stopped bullets (and blasters?) but swords were too slow to detect, or something.

It doesn't make perfect sense but would make aliens vs low tech less unbalanced.  Also there's an alt history book I haven't actually read where aliens invade during WW2 and face unexpected resistance.  Stuff like Germany's Big Bertha cannon taking down UFOs.

Yes that was exactly the premise of things in dune, the power shields were designed to stop energy blasts from plasma and lasar weaponry as well as really high velocity metal projectiles from railguns.  But they had to be able to not harden against low-impacts to allow the wearer to move/breath.  As such swords, bows and low impact ballistics still worked.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

Well, alien alloys are famed for their light weight. And high specific heat. (and of course strength)
So you'd be able to knock them over if not for their being 400-lb meatbags.

[Aklyon]

Or maybe primitive weapons are surprisingly effective, if power armor has developed to resist their own best weapon tech.  An arms race between plasma and alien alloys/shields.  But less effective against "inferior" weapons like metal slugs or melee.  Pretty sure that last part was a thing in Dune, with those ballistic shields which stopped bullets (and blasters?) but swords were too slow to detect, or something.

It doesn't make perfect sense but would make aliens vs low tech less unbalanced.  Also there's an alt history book I haven't actually read where aliens invade during WW2 and face unexpected resistance.  Stuff like Germany's Big Bertha cannon taking down UFOs.

Yes that was exactly the premise of things in dune, the power shields were designed to stop energy blasts from plasma and lasar weaponry as well as really high velocity metal projectiles from railguns.  But they had to be able to not harden against low-impacts to allow the wearer to move/breath.  As such swords, bows and low impact ballistics still worked.

Didn't the dune shields also cause nukes if you hit them with certainly high-powered weapons though?

[Wimopy]

Alien alloys are similar to adamantium, in that they are hard and light, generally. (Not THAT hard and THAT light, of course)

I think a strong enough spear might be able to go through it. Besides that, I think aiming for weakspots is the only option. It's probably easier than using a gun. Also, find a naturally crashed UFO and use the hull parts as a shield or smaller pieces as weapon parts. I think normally non-heavy plasma shouldn't blow it up in a few shots, so it should be enough to get in close. Go Roman with alien alloy shields used in phalanx. Sure, the berserker will probably knock it apart and the first nade might destroy it, but with some luck, you'll still get close enough to use javelins/swords/what-have-you.

[forsaken1111]

Or maybe primitive weapons are surprisingly effective, if power armor has developed to resist their own best weapon tech.  An arms race between plasma and alien alloys/shields.  But less effective against "inferior" weapons like metal slugs or melee.  Pretty sure that last part was a thing in Dune, with those ballistic shields which stopped bullets (and blasters?) but swords were too slow to detect, or something.

It doesn't make perfect sense but would make aliens vs low tech less unbalanced.  Also there's an alt history book I haven't actually read where aliens invade during WW2 and face unexpected resistance.  Stuff like Germany's Big Bertha cannon taking down UFOs.

Yes that was exactly the premise of things in dune, the power shields were designed to stop energy blasts from plasma and lasar weaponry as well as really high velocity metal projectiles from railguns.  But they had to be able to not harden against low-impacts to allow the wearer to move/breath.  As such swords, bows and low impact ballistics still worked.

Didn't the dune shields also cause nukes if you hit them with certainly high-powered weapons though?

In the Dune universe a shield hit with a lasgun would detonate both the shield and the lasgun with the power of an atomic explosion.

Also shields were almost useless on Dune because they drove sandworms into a frenzy.