Print

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

[Kashyyk]

A ballista can fire to Edge of LoS range, the thundergun can go one step further. Logically, the cannon is thus imparting more force than the ballista. It's also firing a cannonball rather than a bolt, so there's gonna be a helluva lot more momentum behind it. I think we can reliably assume it is dealing more damage than a ballista, and is optimistically in the "smash crystal to pieces" range rather than "repeatedly crack crystal".

We just need to make the balls shells, make them explode and fix the issues you mentioned.

[Taricus]

Well, in that case solving the reliability issues is the priority then. Can't wait to see the look on their faces when we're basically unstoppable at sea OR air.

Besides, we kinda need a new explosive for an explosive shell to be particularly effective.

[evictedSaint]

They're non-explosive, but they move at a much higher velocity.  So, it's a bit of a toss-up.

[NUKE9.13]

I dunno. Remember when we got our first ballistae? They were unreliable too. They were still quite effective.

I feel like an accuracy upgrade should come first- though I agree that solving the reliability issues is important. Next turn's revision could easily also be applied to the Thundergun.

Thundergun Shells: Our knowledge of airflow tells us that a sphere is not the optimal shape for a projectile. Rather, a helmet-shaped projectile works better. Some relatively simple modifications to the Thundergun will allow it to fire these shells rather than only iron balls, increasing accuracy (and thus effective range). The shells themselves are solid cast iron- although the potential for the shells to carry payloads is recognised, we haven't the time to develop such things now. Besides, a solid lump of iron should do plenty by itself.

Alternatively, since we don't need a flat base to our shells on account of them being pulled by electromagnets, not pushed by explosives or ballista cables-

Teardrop Shells: See Thundergun Shells, only the shells are teardrop-shaped.

[Detoxicated]

Hey how do you guys feel about mini handheld versions of that device.

[Taricus]

We're going to want more reliable guns to miniaturise at least. Anyway, the lack of accuracy beyond extreme rage isn't an issue compared to the reliability. Between us already reducing their range, these cannons should be used as-is as anti-armour weapons. A solid iron cannonball crashing onto their crystal should definitely be enough to shatter it.

[Detoxicated]

I agree with you but in a few revisions we could easily make hand guns.

[Taricus]

Definitely.

Also, we may want to just skip conventional shells if at this stage; a large fin stabilised dart or arrow with that amount of kinetic energy would suffice for being an effective and accurate round.

[NUKE9.13]

Hmm. I worry that making the shells too complex might limit their availability. I want to make them out of cast iron, and I'm not sure that cast-iron fins will work- they may be too fiddly to make molds for, or they might be so brittle that they constantly break off. I mean, I'm no expert on metallurgy. If someone with more knowledge than me reckons we can do cast-iron fins, we absolutely should.

We really need magnetic adamantium. Then we could make our shells do whatever the heck we like.

Hmm. Maybe that should be next turn's design? Crazyabe has been advocating for attaining more control over adamantium's properties. With a design, we could make translucent adamantium, conductive adamantium, magnetic adamantium, and whatever other properties we might care to give it.
If we want to do that, then yeah, we shouldn't do shells this turn, since we'd be making them obsolete almost immediately.

In which case, we'd be doing something like

Reliable Lightning Bulbs: Investigating broken or burnt out Lightning Bulbs has revealed a number of common issues leading to their failure. We have called in the al-Chemists (with explicit instructions to bring absolutely nothing explosive or flammable into the city) to help us design a process to create the perfect alloys from which to construct the metal components- by achieving the right 'thermal expansion properties' matching those of the glass, the chance of breakages should be reduced.
Sudden surges of power are another issue that leads to burn-outs. These can be avoided by slowly increasing the 'voltage' (a term coined by the new class of electro-engineers) using a 'thermistor' (don't even worry about it).

[evictedSaint]

I see a lot of proposals, but nor really any votes.

[crazyabe]

Reliable Lightning Bulbs: (1) Crazyabe
Thundergun Shells:

[NUKE9.13]

Reliable Lightning Bulbs: (2) Crazyabe, NUKE9.13
Thundergun Shells:

Fine, let's go for reliability first. Next turn, magnetic (among other things) adamantium, then adamantium shells.

[somemildmanneredidiot]

Reliable Lightning Bulbs: (3) Crazyabe, NUKE9.13, SMMI
Thundergun Shells:

Fine, let's go for reliability first. Next turn, magnetic (among other things) adamantium, then adamantium shells.

Sure

[Kashyyk]

Reliable Lightning Bulbs: (4) Crazyabe, NUKE9.13, SMMI, Kashyyk
Thundergun Shells:

All aboard the vote train! Toot toot!

[evictedSaint]

Revision: Reliable Lightning Bulbs [6]

After spending some time refining them, we manage to perfect these bulbs to prevent them from burning out too quickly.  They will still eventually fail, but they should be able to run continuously for weeks before that occurs.  We also apply this bonus to the regular "Lightning Bulbs", which can now draw a small amount of power from a thunderbolt wand to generate light.  Crews have taken to hooking up a lightning bulb to a 36-battery pack to illuminate the darker areas of the ships at night (though the battery pack is usually depleted by morning).  Additionally, we develop a small device that will limit electricity by "resisting" the incoming flow.  We're still trying to figure out how to make this invention useful, but we will surely figure out a use soon enough.

Where do we deploy al-Mutriqa this year?