ME-PA-59 'Bear Armour': Forenia's Tiger Armour is a great invention. Unfortunately, it does not provide total protection, and it encumbers the wearer with its weight. Also, tigers are more of an Aratam thing. We need Bear Armour.
To start, Bear Armour is a thick, full-body suit of metal armour- consisting of overlapping scales, thicker than Tiger Armour, offering protection against weapons that would pierce through it, and more or less complete invulnerability to small-arms fire at all ranges. Cunning design of the scales gives the armour a decent range of movement, whilst still providing near complete protection. The hands have a small plate over the top, with the palm and fingers covered by only the inner lining, so that the user can still operate weaponry and suchlike.
It is possible for a human being to move Bear Armour at a surprisingly fast speed- faster than an unaugmented human- thanks to the Electrogel motors located on the inside of the armour, and the armour's ability to stand upright without assistance. This means the user bears almost none of the weight of the armour, and has their strength amplified to the point that not only can they move the armour with ease, but they can also lift and move far heavier objects than an unaugmented human. The armour opens up to let the user get out, and to let technicians replace the electrogel motors with fresh ones.
Bear Armour is insulated and climate-controlled (by a combination of heaters integrated into the inner lining, and a cooling unit in the back that can blow cold air throughout the armour), and the helmet has a basic filter in the breathing unit, giving the user protection not only against gunfire, but also environmental threats, to a degree- especially ICE, which is the number one thing it is protected against, after bullets.
The helmet features a large, tinted visor of bulletproof glass. A transistor radio is built into the helmet, and a number of small lights and dials above and below the visor provide status updates on various things. Small headlights are installed upon the helmet to aid in nighttime operations. All electronics are controlled by buttons under a small panel on the left wrist. Oh, and there's a strip of velcro inside the helmet for the soldier to scratch their nose on (this is critical).
Bear Armour features integration with a number of different weapon systems. Mountings on the back can hold a large tank of ICE, with a heavier pressuriser providing longer range, the weight bearable thanks to the wonders of electrogel. Alternatively, they can wield a Velociraptor Autocannon, because why not?*
*Note: Bear Troopers may not actually be able to wield Velociraptors. Depends on the dice/GM interpretation.
Design: ME-PA-59 'Bear Armour'Normal: (1+3) = 4: Below Average
Most of our work here went into the inner mechanisms of Bear Armour. Specifically, developing an implementation of Electrogel and Electrogel motors that
don't rip a person's limbs off. For most of this year, testers dreaded being assigned to Bear Armour testing duty. But the unceasing march of technology stops for
nobody.Bear Armour is best seen as a vehicle, really. It may (vaguely) look like and walk like a person, but it's more than just armor. Though it has less armor than the Tiger, it's much bigger thanks to the motors; its height reaches [7 ft; ~2m].
The back plates are manually removed from the outside in order to exit/enter the suit as well as to perform maintenance on the Electrogel motors, which require relative frequent replacing in order to keep the suit charged. The inside is actually pretty comfortable, as it uses a removable fur lining in order to insulate itself (even if it doesn't have a powered climate control system). Getting in and out is an endeavor, and the difficult maintenance of the Electrogel motors force our soldiers to use it reactively in the field.
When enemies are sighted or imminent combat is expected, soldiers pilot Bear Armour; when combat is over, they disembark and the armour is sent for maintenance. More extended use is very possible, but discouraged as it costs extra time in maintenance and can increase the chances of charge loss during combat.
Armor-wise, it's vaguely similar to a slightly lighter version of Tiger Armor but with more coverage. In order to facilitate the space taken by the Electrogel and motors, armor thickness and the like had to be decreased in numerous places. But even though we spent most of our time on the motors, the existence of Tiger Armor really helped us here.
It can stop standard pistol bullets at point blank range, and can
severely reduce the effectiveness of regular rifles at Medium range to the point of
near- uselessness, and help prevent rifles from being lethal at Short range and closer. Sight is done through a small viewing slit. The whole body (barring feet and hands) is covered in plating, though the joints do offer frequent (relatively) small gaps in the plating.
Speed and agility is the most impressive thing here. Soldiers in Bear Armour are
faster than their unarmoured counterparts. The increased speed is barely notable, but this is a huge improvement over the clumsiness of Tiger Armor. Agility is still lower with the suit on, but is still
very respectable and doesn't present a particularly notable disadvantage at the moment. Enhanced strength unfortunately is not a feature of the suit, as the motors are just designed to handle the weight of the suit (and occupant) itself and nothing more.
Headlights can be toggled by a switch on the wrist, and a mount on the side exists for the easy use of a WALK-TALK while in armor (though it's not integrated). A velco strap is placed inside the helmet to maintain soldier sanity. A mount for an ICE Thrower pressure tank is placed on the back, and we can fit a somewhat larger tank on the suit than for regular infantry. Soldiers assigned to and trained for Bear Armour also tend to have their skin dyed blue as a side effect from the Electrogel. Bear Armour pilots proudly display their uniquely-colored arms and legs as a badge of their statuses.
It costs
4 Ore and
1 Oil - costing a bit more ore and oil than Tiger Armor due to the increased coverage, motors, and Electrogel. It's
Expensive with our current resources.
Transport Capacity: 1
Resources: 3 Ore,
1 OilWeapons- "Stalwart" Rifle: A semi-automatic rifle with mediocre accuracy at Long range and good accuracy at Medium (and useless accuracy further).
[Cheap] 1 Ore - "Heartstopper" Pistol: A 2-round semiautomatic pistol semi-accurate up to Short range. Has enormous stopping power. Pride of the Merethan army.
[Cheap] 1 Ore - UF-AC-41 Velociraptor: This autocannon is a revision of AC18, with several improvements. The gun is a little more tolerant of different ammo weights and the shells have been modified so that mixed ammo belts are possible. The use of more advanced materials has allowed some parts to become lighter, while a heavier bolt and stronger spring allows a rate of fire of 750 RPM, with a final gun weight of 48kg. In infantry use, it has noticeably more recoil, but this is less of a concern on vehicles.
[Cheap] 3 Ore
- AS-AC18: An advanced primer ignition autocannon, which ignites cartridge primers before the round is fully chambered. It fires the new, large, 20x100mm round, fed from a top-mounted 25 round C-shaped magazine with a powerful spring, usually armor piercing, about 600 times per minute. The weapon is quite large with a simple action but heavy barrel, weighing over 40 kilograms, and it requires being mounted to a carriage, foundation, or vehicle to fire with accuracy, although recoil is reduced by the nature of its action. It is dependent on a careful balance between the force of the shell and the force of the action, which means that different ammo types cannot be interchanged without recalibrating the gun. It has a terrifying ability to punch through armor and emplacements.
[Cheap] 3 Ore
- UF-MRL-40 'SARUKH': The Sarukh is a multiple rocket launcher, which fires rockets one meter long to deliver 6kg warheads at a maximum range of 12000 meters. The rockets have impressive destructive power, compared to shells they do not need thick metal casings, so most of the weight of the rocket is either warhead or propellant. The rockets are launched electrically off of rails, and the rails are in a 4x2 array. The rockets can be fired all at once, but it takes about four minutes to reload the whole launcher, so the sustained rate of fire is not better than regular artillery. However, a rocket array is extremely light compared to a cannon, and can move very quickly, firing all at once and retreating before fire is returned from the enemy. Accuracy is poor compared to shells; to reliably hit a single target with a volley they should be used within 8km. Currently available as a truck trailer.
[Expensive] 1 Ore, 3 Oil
- ICE (Intense Chemical Endotherm) Rocket: A rocket for the Sarukh equipped with an ICE non-explosive warhead that induces extreme cold. Instant lethalities within 5m, very high fatalities within 10m, serious injuries (and occasional fatality) along with (usually temporary) vehicle non-operation to 50m. The cold dissipates quickly outdoors.
- ICE Thrower: A 20m-ranged pressurized ICE thrower that can rapidly cool an area in front of the operator to (eventually) lethal levels or outright kill/severely harm those directly hit by ICE. The ICE doesn't naturally react until roughly 10m out from the barrel, though it can hit other things in its way and react with whatever it hits. Prolonged use is discouraged, due to close proximity with ICE and ICE-affected areas being very dangerous even with the extensive insulation operators wear.
[Expensive] 2 Ore, 3 Oil
Underground Vehicles- UT-56 Burrower: A tracked medium-sized heavily-modified tunnel boring machine, most notably using GOFAST-fuel. Can go down to Shallow depths, moves at Very Slow speeds while underground and at Moderate speeds aboveground. Possesses limited (but notable) agility underground. Contains space for 6 soldiers and small amounts of equipment of the equivalent amount of cargo in the back, in addition to the 2 crew in its cockpit. Light armor. Equipped with the ME-SM-57 'Earth Ear' for basic subterranean navigation.
[Expensive] 3 Ore, 3 Oil; Provides 1 Ore.
- ME-CM-56 'Instant Roads': A very fast-acting sprayable concrete mixture very useful for reinforcing tunnels when sprayed by trailers hooked to a Burrower. Has to be re-applied occasionally to maintain integrity. Allows for use of Burrower tunnels for force movement and logistics.
Provides 1 TC.
Air Vehicles- UFAF-F-41 Lightning Streak: A single-engine jet fighter, with a large aT-J20 jet taking up most of the fuselage. The aT-J20 is a low-bypass turbofan; some of the air taken in by the compressor blades passes around the engine core and is not combusted; the bypass system provides useful cooling. The Lightning Streak has a relatively fat fuselage, which widens out in the middle after the intake and narrows again at the exhaust, there there is a rudder and two tail wings directly on the fuselage. With the round glass canopy (using 15mm of heavy laminated glass) the aircraft has sort of an egg shape, with thin swept wings. The wings have no bomb mounts and are as light as possible for speed and maneuverability, it is armed solely with three AC41 Velociraptor cannons in the nose above the intake, with somewhat limited ammo. It also includes airbrakes on the body near the tail, and hydraulic controls. Since it was designed as an absolutely dedicated fighter the speed and maneuverability are remarkable.
[Very Expensive] 5 Ore, 4 Oil
Navy- UFN-CA-41 Catraphract: The Cataphract is a cruiser built to rival Cannala's ships. It is armed with 3x3 150mm gun turrets, each using a fully electrified loading system based on the moderately-performing Overcompensator, except that the 60kg shells are moved in one piece. Each gun can fire 8 times a minute. It has an armored citadel with 300mm of nickel-steel armor (Heavy), and a torpedo belt as well. The deck is also heavily armored, at 120mm (Light) to defend against plunging fire, plus an extra splinter deck. The turrets are similarly armored. There is a central director in the con tower which controls all the electrically-driven turrets, though there is no advanced firing calculator. Additionally there are three turrets with two bumblebees on each side of the ship, capable of firing on aircraft or ships, and miscellaneous autocannons wherever there is room. It is powered by oil-burning steam turbines, and there are a lot of them though with its considerable armor it only musters moderate speed.
[Very Expensive] 5 Ore, 4 Oil
Other- Standard Uniform: A plain blue featureless uniform. The blue's mild enough that it doesn't really stick out.
- Tiger Infantry Armor: Infantry armor made of a forged manganese steel alloy. All of the armor plates are relatively thick for infantry, and the full suit weighs in at 36 pounds. The helmet is particularly thick, and fits round and close around the head, low over the eyes and down to the neck. It can be attached with a face mask, which allows a wide but very narrow viewing slit, while covering the neck. The breastplate is curved outwards for optimal armor angle. The backplate is thick, but flat. At the waist these plates end and there are flat curved single-piece taces to protect upper legs, below the knee the armor has no coverage. Pauldrons allow comfortable shoulder motion, and upper arms are covered by round fitted plates to the outside of the arm. While lower arms and legs, and sometimes gaps around the shoulders are exposed, most parts of the armor will stop a pistol bullet at point blank. The breastplate and taces will stop rifle bullets at all but very close range. The armor is tiring and cumbersome, troops cannot effectively crawl and kneeling is difficult, as is aiming down rifle sights while using the mask.
[Cheap] 3 Ore - ME-PA-59 'Bear Armour: "Infantry" armor based off of the Tiger suit. Boasts full (barring feet & hands) body coverage, albeit with fairly frequent gaps in the joints. Has lighter armor than the Tiger that can stop standard pistols at point-blank range and severely decrease the effectiveness of standard rifles at Medium range. Armor plating is manually removed from the outside from the back to enter/exit/perform maintenance, and the suit must have its Electrogel very routinely replaced to maintain full charge. Embarking/disembarking takes a relatively long time. It stands at [~7 ft/~2m] tall, and uses an eye slit for visibility. Pilots boast slightly increased speed and slightly decreased agility (but same strength) over regular unarmored individuals while in the Armour, and have their skin dyed blue from the Electrogel. Has mounts for a WALK-TALK and larger ICE Thrower tank, and a velco strip for maximum pilot comfort.
[Expensive] 4 Ore, 1 Oil - GOFAST-Fuel: A special type of more energy-dense and stable fuel. Greatly increases fuel efficiency of anything it's in, doesn't require an oxidizer, and can rarely leak out of compromised containers.
Adds 1 Oil to cost. - MXETE: Discrete transistor digital mainframe computer - 2 MHz CPU, 4 Mb of magnetic drum long-term memory, and an operating memory of 1200*32 bits. Takes up an entire (very big) floor on the Design Division and creating another one is immensely impractical. Punch card input, with a tightly-packed light matrix called a "screen" for output.
- WALK-TALK: The Wireless Audio Local Kommunicator-Transistor Assistance Lowers Kost Radio. A small hand-held two-way transistor radio. Production is hampered by the ever-persistant Union of Electronics Workers, making it Complex.
[Expensive] 1 Ore, Complex - Electrogel: A very thick blue gel that creates and transmits electrical current corresponding to the amount of pressure applied to it. Comes with the "Electrogel Motor" - a very small motor with embedded Electrogel that works with power corresponding to Electrogel pressure. A patch of Electrogel can last roughly 8 hours when powering its corresponding motor nonstop at max power.
- UF-SM-57 'Earth Ear': A set of small attachments to be put on all available sides of a subterranean vehicle. Vibration pings allow it to present a map of "where stuff is" and "where stuff isn't" via a very basic 3D projection in a small gas-filled glass cube. Only useful at recognizing the terrain and notable landmarks, and has a range of 10km in every direction from the device.
Infrastructure- Division of Unusual Chemistry: A fully funded department & lab under the Design Division specializing in more unusual chemistry.
Also vote on the last Forenian design to import. This revision will be the last thing you do before the start of the offensive.
Author
Topic: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1965 - Final Design Phase) (Read 83352 times)