Traveller-digest       Monday, August 23 1999       Volume 1999 : Number 999



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: HEPlar lives!
Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)
OT but interesting Keith Bro. note
Re: Hudson-class Lander (GTL9)
Re: Low ship weight
Re: Grav deck plates.
Re: Low ship weight (and Grav Plates too)
Starship Combat Tweak
Re: Bureaucrats
Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #998
Re: RE Squad Leader LONG
Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)
Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)
Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)
Re: Grav deck plates.
Re: Shirt picture favorites? (Was Hats off.....)
Off topic - Insulting Leonard
Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)
Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)
Re: Shirt picture favorites? (Was Hats off.....)
Re: Slings and Outrageous Fortunes of War
Re: Andre Norton Followups...
Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)
Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)
Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)
Re: Cloning (was Hard Science) 
BITS and delays in response
Re: The Heritage Trilogy
Re Slings

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 09:12:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Anthony Jackson <ajackson@molly.iii.com>
Subject: Re: HEPlar lives!

Leonard Erickson writes:

> Well, how about "large" deep holes? :-) 

As long as by 'large deep holes' you mean 'wider than it is deep' sure.  A
typical free trader would probably make a crater some 20-30m deep and 50-100m
across.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 09:18:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: Anthony Jackson <ajackson@molly.iii.com>
Subject: Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)

Tom writes:

> > *cough*.  If you really want people toasting small cities with their 
> > engines, go for it.  HEPlaR has a power output of roughly 15 megawatts
> > per  newton of thrust -- your average free trader, at something like 20
> > million  newtons thrust, generates the equiva
> > lent of a 50 kiloton nuclear weapon every second...
> 
> Just curious, but isn't this why most downports have landing pads separated
>  from living quarters?  Some of them with high earthwork walls? ...or am I
>  missing the point?

Yah, you're missing the point.  You have the equivalent of a strategic nuclear
weapon going off every time a ship lands or takes off, this will destroy the
landing field in a single landing (in fact, it will also tend to destroy the
ship) and destroy the entire port in short order.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 12:15:54 -0400
From: Michael Peters <travelleri@home.com>
Subject: OT but interesting Keith Bro. note

Just thumbing through Cinescape magazine and noticed an article about a
new Dune novel. It's being written by Brian Herbert (son of Frank) and
Kevin J. Keith. Since this book (actually first of a trilogy) is a
prequel to the classics, it might have some further insight into the
classic Dunes Imperial politics, maybe fodder for 3I politics?
- -- 
Mike Peters
travelleri@home.com

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 18:23:37 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Hudson-class Lander (GTL9)

>> OK, OK, we'll play "Flight of the Valkyries" while we approach, "Will ye
>no
>> come back again" after we land.
>>
>
>Awwww, not "Flight"  It's been done to death, can't we have something
>original?


Isn't that *Ride* of the Valkyries?

Although I seem to remember that the direct translation is "The Valkyries"
so it might well be a cross-pond translation thing.

NB

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 18:29:09 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Low ship weight

>I read somewhere (I think it was an issue of Challenge) that if cargoes of
>greater than standard density (ie 1 ton per cubic meter) were carried, the
>ships performance should be re-calculated if it was likely to take the
ships
>mass over 15 tons per cubic meter.


Yep.

But then, I tend to recalculate the ship's performance every time we change
the cargo load, so I'm more twisted than most players.

NB

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 18:31:39 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Grav deck plates.

>But if you are along a wall (or the floor or ceiling) you'll *also*
>stay right there unless some force moves you.


Under AG you're pushing against the floor with enough force to accelerate
you upward at 1 gee, at least momentarily. Unless you can adjust that force
perfectly to match the decrease in AG (which you probably can't if it's
instantaneous and comes without warning) then you'll push yourself off.

NB

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 18:35:40 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Low ship weight (and Grav Plates too)

>Got me thinking:  Is 20 tonnes per displacement ton the maximum deck
>loading?


Even if it is then it's possible to build a specialised cradle to spread the
weight of particularly heavy cargoes. The maximum deck pressure wouldn't be
much of a problem for properly packaged and loaded freight, but it could be
if the players are trying to recover a relic grav tank or something....


>On a vaguely related thread, suppose you drop a huge cargo container onto
>you deck plate from a height of a few metres.  How much damage would it do?
>Would it screw up the grav plate?  (I ask purely from interest of course,
my
>character would never actually have done such a thing to her ship...)


Well, taking current ships and aircraft as a basis, that's would utterly
knacker your floor, probably requiring expensive repairs and maybe even
making a hole. A couple of metres is a long way to fall under 1g. The grav
plate? Well, I'd say that's pretty much up to the GM.


NB

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 12:31:26 -0500
From: Kenneth Bearden -- Walker Jane Productions <dreamer@brokersys.com>
Subject: Starship Combat Tweak

First, I want to thank everyone who answered my Starship Combat
question.  All of you really made me think about the nature of starship
combat at very close ranges.  There were several thoughts that I
probably would not have come up with on my own (in fact, I know I
wouldn't have thought in some directions at all).

Thanks.

You've been a big help to my game.

I LOVE this freaking list.



RANGE MODS:

Anyway, I've simplified the thoughts, and I've come up with a simple
addition to CT starship combat.

I'm just adding two different range modifiers to the to hit throw.
These were derived from your comments and the two range modifiers
already printed in the CT rules.

Range to target 5,000 km or closer?     +2 DM

Range to target 2,000 km or closer?      +5 DM



HEX/RANGE BAND SIZE:

For the close ranges in this boarding scenario, I've changed the
hex/range band size to 1,000 km each.



LENGTH OF ROUND:

To coincide with the internal combat going on inside the ships, I'm
changing the starship combat round for this scenario to a 6 second
round--just like the personal combat round I'm using.

I'll probably run 3-5 rounds inside the ship, then 3-5 rounds outside,
keeping everything constant.



ROF:

Looking at T4's Starships book (imagine that!  I used it!), I see that
most lasers on small scale ships have an ROF of 10 (for the 10 minute T4
combat round).  With extra power, those all can easily be boosted to 100
ROF.

Doing the required math, those weapons will fire exactly once per 6
seconds (with the ROF 100 figure).

That's perfect.  In this very close range scenario I have, these two
ships carving away at each other should turn out to be a meatgrinder of
an encounter.

That's exactly what I want.

Thanks again, to all.

Kenneth.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 10:37:30 -0700
From: "Kelly St.Clair" <kellys@efn.org>
Subject: Re: Bureaucrats

Of course, with your average group of PCs, this will last for about five
minutes before someone decides to show the offending bureacrat his "special
authorization", aka the business end of a firearm...



- --------------
Kelly St.Clair   "At last we will reveal our pants to the Jedi.  At last we
kellys@efn.org    will have revenge."

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 10:40:52 -0700
From: "Mike Linsenmayer" <mlinsenmayer@symantec.com>
Subject: Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #998

Can someone send me a e-mail if they see this in the post...
Still having problems posting....
mlinsenmayer@symantec.com

I have some new artwork.. not good as Jesses though  ;)

http://www.bigbailey.com/vspace/art/picture-b.htm

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 18:43:15 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: RE Squad Leader LONG

>>Note that lasers, can paint targets for guided munitions at darn near any
>>range in SL terms. (Unless you've got 16 boards stuck end to end. <grin>)
>
> Thus, if a squad can keep a LOS on a target, that target
> could be hit almost all the time at TL 9 (roll 11- on 2D?).


35 hits out of 36 with laser-guided munitions?

Are you American, by any chance? <g>

NB
- --
(Before y'all flame me - I'm kidding...)

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 18:44:44 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)

>> Just curious, but isn't this why most downports have landing pads
separated
>>  from living quarters?  Some of them with high earthwork walls? ...or am
I
>>  missing the point?
>
>Yah, you're missing the point.  You have the equivalent of a strategic
nuclear weapon going off every time a ship lands or takes off, this will
destroy the landing field in a single landing (in fact, it will also tend to
destroy the ship) and destroy the entire port in short order.


Indeed.

Which is why (okay, I use the TNE rules) I assume ships take off under
contra-grav (air bouyancy) and occasioanl low-thrust puffs from the engines
for directional control.

NB

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 10:52:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: Anthony Jackson <ajackson@molly.iii.com>
Subject: Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)

Nick Bradbeer writes:
 
> Indeed.
> 
> Which is why (okay, I use the TNE rules) I assume ships take off under
> contra-grav (air bouyancy) and occasioanl low-thrust puffs from the engines
> for directional control.

Oh, certainly, as long as you have ships with both CG and HEPlaR, and only use HEPlaR in space, you're fine -- however, standard designs frequently don't have contragravity.  HEPlaR is a fast way to commit suicide in any sort of atmosphere, or near the ground.  Incidentally, contragravity is capable of doing directional control without any use of thrust anyway.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 18:57:23 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)

>Oh, certainly, as long as you have ships with both CG and HEPlaR, and only
use HEPlaR in space, you're fine -- however, standard designs frequently
don't have contragravity.  HEPlaR is a fast way to commit suicide in any
sort of atmosphere, or near the ground.  Incidentally, contragravity is
capable of doing directional control without any use of thrust anyway.


Well, every single ship in Brilliant Lances (that's all the classic designs)
has contra grav, except for the Lab Ship, Donosev, Chrysanthemum and Aurora.
All those four are unstreamlined, and thus not atmosphere-capable.


I thought CG could only change the magnitude of your gravitational vector
(ie reducing it by up to two orders of magnitude), not affect the direction
of it. If it can affect the vector's direction, has it not just become a
thruster plate?

NB

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 14:07:52 -0400
From: Juliean Galak <jg42@cornell.edu>
Subject: Re: Grav deck plates.

At 01:03 AM 8/23/99 -0800, you wrote:
>In mail you write:
>
> > That was my solution in a (forgive me, I have sinned... I was young,
> > naive...) Star Trek game once.  After the bad guys transported to our
> > bridge.  Hold on to the console, and just flip the AG on and off.... as
> > everyone floats off the deck and then crashes back down.
>
>Not-so-silly question.
>
>Why would they "float off the deck"?
>
>Seriously, this is *the* single biggest error in damn near every movie,
>TV program and even *story* that deals with zero-g.
>
>If you are in the middle of a compartment in zero g, you'll stay there
>unless some force pulls or pushes you out of that location.
>
>But if you are along a wall (or the floor or ceiling) you'll *also*
>stay right there unless some force moves you.
>
>Removing gravity *won't* make you "float up". But your muscles mighgt
>push you off gently.

Well, at that particular moment, the bad guys (can't remember who they were 
now...Cardassians maybe...)  had just transported aboard and were in the 
process of running around the bridge disarming the crew, shouting at 
people, and generally swaggering a lot (on second thought, maybe they were 
Klingons...).  It seemed to me that chances were good that most of them 
were in the process of taking a step as the gravity shut off, and would 
thus be flung away from the floor.  Even those that were standing perfectly 
still, would still automatically shift their weight when the gravity was 
released and be unable to regain balance quickly enough to avoid falling.

IMHO, this would certainly not work against any Traveller combatants, who 
are routinely trained for Zero-G operations, but remember that these were 
_Star_Trek_ villains... And at least until Star Trek 6, there's been almost 
no evidence that anyone in that world could fight in Zero-G.  Well, Spock 
maybe....

           -- Juliean Galak (a.k.a. Falcon)

- --
jg42@cornell.edu        "I do not agree with a word you say, but I will
                          defend to the death your right to say it."
                                              -- Francois Marie Voltaire
#include <disclaimer.h> "Imagination is more important than knowledge"
                          			     -- Albert Einstein
for PGP public-key and
more quotes, finger: jg42@gerfalcon.tzo.com
WWW Page: http://www.cadif.cornell.edu/~falcon/                

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 13:15:00 -0500
From: "Smart, David J (David)" <dasmart@lucent.com>
Subject: Re: Shirt picture favorites? (Was Hats off.....)

Tascelt@aol.com posted:
>
>Damn it Jesse!!  Tim and I have been suggesting shirts to you for years and

>NOW your're going to do it?  
>
>TAS

Ah, but *I* made a critical success roll on my Sucking Up skill.

;-)

David

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 17:01:45 +0100
From: Matt Clonfero <Matt-C@aetherem.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Off topic - Insulting Leonard

Phil Kitching wrote:

>Interesting.
>
>I thought asterisks represent bold or emphasis.
>
>Also that underscores represent underlining, which represents italics.

*Bold*

_Underline_

/Italic/

Aetherem Vincere
Matt
- -- 
Matt Clonfero: Matt-C@aetherem.demon.co.uk    | To err is human, To forgive
My employer and I have a deal - I don't speak | is not Air Force Policy.
for them, and they don't speak for me.        |   -- Anon, ETPS.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 11:37:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: Anthony Jackson <ajackson@molly.iii.com>
Subject: Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)

Nick Bradbeer writes:
 
> I thought CG could only change the magnitude of your gravitational vector
> (ie reducing it by up to two orders of magnitude), not affect the direction
> of it. If it can affect the vector's direction, has it not just become a
> thruster plate?

Well, it can only get a limited fraction of local gravity perpendicular to gravity.  Contragravity is like a thruster plate, except that it can only be used close to a planet, since its thrust is reduced proportional to the local force of gravity.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 19:44:44 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)

>> I thought CG could only change the magnitude of your gravitational vector
>> (ie reducing it by up to two orders of magnitude), not affect the
direction
>> of it. If it can affect the vector's direction, has it not just become a
>> thruster plate?
>
>Well, it can only get a limited fraction of local gravity perpendicular to
gravity.  Contragravity is like a thruster plate, except that it can only be
used close to a planet, since its thrust is reduced proportional to the
local force of gravity.



Where does it say this? I only have access to CT and TNE canon.

Nick

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 11:52:27 -0700
From: Bruce Johnson <johnson@pharmacy.arizona.edu>
Subject: Re: Shirt picture favorites? (Was Hats off.....)

Replying late to this thread, but I'd _dearly_ love to see:

 Scout base on Gas Giant Moon 
 Starport Cover Outtake
 Empress Marava in port
 Highport with Free Trader



- -- 
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 15:26:30 -0400
From: "Jory Earl" <j-man@iname.com>
Subject: Re: Slings and Outrageous Fortunes of War

>Actually, it sounds more like a human powered trebuchet...


Yes, but they did exist..
___________________________________________________________
 J-Man
 ICQ# 2843475
 New Hampshire - U.S.A.
 Email : j-man@iname.com
 Home Page : http://www.geocities.com/~jman037/
___________________________________________________________

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 16:17:52 -0400
From: "Terry Carlino" <carlino@home.com>
Subject: Re: Andre Norton Followups...

>Also, you can go *nuts* trying to tie Norton's books together. I
>believe that Catseye (or one of the other books dealing with Forerunner
>artifacts) has a passing reference to the Caverns of Arzor. Which ties
>that book/series to the Hosteen Storm books. Only problem is, in the
>latter series, Earth has been rendered uninhabitable. Yet I can show
>links equally good to books like The Last Planet. :-)

The Last Planet was the ***first*** real book I ever read, as well as the
first novel and first science fiction book.  I've always imagined that the
books take place against a multi-millennium long background.  Humans
discover spaceflight by time mining the secret of spacetravel from Foreunner
technology. They start exploring space and colonizing. Eventually they meet
other races and eventually supplant them almost entirely. Over the centuries
the location of Earth is entirely forgotten, though the legend lives on.

If you figure that the stories are generally separated by centuries it's
much easier to accept the inconsistancie.

Terry C

All that is Gold does not glitter
Not all who travel are lost

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 13:41:31 -0700
From: Edward Swatschek <edjs@bitslayer.net>
Subject: Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)

At 11:37 99/08/23 -0700, Anthony Jackson wrote:

>Well, it can only get a limited fraction of local gravity perpendicular to 
>gravity.  Contragravity is like a thruster plate, except that it can only 
>be used close to a planet, since its thrust is reduced proportional to the 
>local force of gravity.

This depends on the game system being used.  In TNE/FF&S, contragravity 
simply reduced the gravitational vector over a specific volume by 99%.  In 
an atmosphere, this might make the ship neutrally or positively buoyant, 
but no thrust is involved - that would be provided by HEPlaR or some other 
engine.


- --
Edward Swatschek - edjs@bitslayer.net

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 14:05:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: Anthony Jackson <ajackson@molly.iii.com>
Subject: Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)

Edward Swatschek writes:

> This depends on the game system being used.  In TNE/FF&S, contragravity 
> simply reduced the gravitational vector over a specific volume by 99%.  In 
> an atmosphere, this might make the ship neutrally or positively buoyant, 
> but no thrust is involved - that would be provided by HEPlaR or some other 
> engine.
 
Um...wrong ;)  It provided 10-20% of gravitational force sideways in TNE/FF&S.  In Striker it could provide any amount of sideways force.  I don't know about T4 or MT.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 16:10:22 -0500
From: Black ICE <wombat@premier.net>
Subject: Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)

Edward Swatschek wrote:
> 
> At 11:37 99/08/23 -0700, Anthony Jackson wrote:
> 
> >Well, it can only get a limited fraction of local gravity perpendicular to
> >gravity.  Contragravity is like a thruster plate, except that it can only
> >be used close to a planet, since its thrust is reduced proportional to the
> >local force of gravity.
> 
> This depends on the game system being used.  In TNE/FF&S, contragravity
> simply reduced the gravitational vector over a specific volume by 99%.  In
> an atmosphere, this might make the ship neutrally or positively buoyant,
> but no thrust is involved - that would be provided by HEPlaR or some other
> engine.

In FF&S2, page 18 (gravitic vehicle design sequence):  "Most of the
force is directed parallel to the gravity field (straight up and down),
but a fraction of the lift is available to provide thrust."

This sentence is repeated almost verbatim on page 65, dealing with
thrust agencies.

Under "Reactionless Thrusters" (also page 65, FF&S2): 
"...'Contragravity' at earlier tech levels can only interact with the
local gravitational field (and is hence limited to use near a planetary
surface)...."

Hope this helps....

- -- 
AuricTech Shipyards Journeyman Gearhead
"Gold-Plated [tm] solutions for copper-plated problems!" (r)
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/9776

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 16:28:37 -0400
From: "Keven R. Pittsinger" <jamstar@accesstoledo.com>
Subject: Re: Cloning (was Hard Science) 

> Tom wrote:
> > Perhaps this is one of the reasons that cloning never took off big in the
> > 3I, Ziru Sirka, or Rule of Man.  Surely the nobility in all three Imperiums
> > wouldn't want an emperor/emperess to live forever even in cloned form.  The
> > Moot would never stand for it.  OTOH there were alot of emperors in the 3I
> > that were suceeded by assassination.  Maybe they were looking in to the
> > forbidden(?) science of cloning?
> 
> Well, other than Cleon the Mad, and Strephon the Clone, the rest of the
> Emperors who died by 'right of assasination' were all Barracks Emperors during
> the Civil War. They all died not for experimenting with cloning, but
> experimenting with crowning themselves Emperor.;-)

You're forgetting the Empress that Cleon The Not Wrapped Too Tight whacked.  
<grin>

Keven

- -- 
tc++ tm+ tn t4- to ru++ ge+ 3i c+ jt au st- ls pi+ ta+ he+ so- vi zh sy
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Science-Fiction Adventure
                                                     In Reavers' Deep

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 19:15:59 +0100
From: SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com>
Subject: BITS and delays in response

Hi all,

DISCLAIMER - Not an official statement on behalf of BITS, but an explanation:

Some of you writing to us by email may have seen some delay in response
from BITS. Firstly, we aren't ignoring you! BITS is run by volunteers, and
at the moment we are pulling together the material for release at GenCon UK
99, preparing to run the trade stand, 3 RPGA tournaments and a number of
demonstrations, and dealing with real life(tm) (imminent fatherhood for
some people, major work projects etc). We only have a small active CORE
<grin> which means that time is being juggled.

At present, we have four books in the last stages of preparation (you've
seen 3 advertised here, ACQ being the fourth) plus three tournaments (which
require nearly the same effort), and we're also doing the usual newsletter,
2nd hand material and website...

Hopefully, once GenCon is out of the way things will calm down, and we'll
go through the non-urgent mails. if you need to contact someone at BITS
(bits@bits.org.uk) urgently, mark your subject line URGENT, or copy me (for
example). I hope to see some of you in the flesh at GenCon UK 99, maybe for
a drink at the bar, or a game at the stand or the demo area. FWIW we are
actually in two locations this year - in the trade hall, and running demos
in the balcony above (GURPS Traveller & T4 as the standards, but I'm sure
we'll get volunteers for CT, MT and TNE as ever). As ever, we're happy for
anyone who wants to volunteer to try their hand at running a game/demo.

All the best,

Dom

- ----------Dom Mooney---dom@cybergoths.u-net.com------------
                       MiB - Marines in Battledress
   "Protecting the Imperium from the Scum of the Galaxy"
Rob Prior's Mac software @ http://www.bits.org.uk/ 

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 17:22:13 -0400
From: Juliean Galak <jg42@cornell.edu>
Subject: Re: The Heritage Trilogy

At 06:01 AM 8/23/99 -0700, you wrote:
>I started with the second one, Luna Marine. It's definitely a lot less
>jingoistic than the first, concentrating less on the UN as an evil empire
>and more on the ramifications of the "Hunters of Dawn". The "Hunters of
>Dawn" are dominate cultures that go around killing off lower tech cultures
>before they evolve enough technology to kill them. A very cool thought for a
>Traveller campaign.

Wasn't that the premise of Weber's Mutineer Moon/Armageddon inheritance 
series as well?

           -- Juliean Galak (a.k.a. Falcon)

- --
jg42@cornell.edu        "I do not agree with a word you say, but I will
                          defend to the death your right to say it."
                                              -- Francois Marie Voltaire
#include <disclaimer.h> "Imagination is more important than knowledge"
                          			     -- Albert Einstein
for PGP public-key and
more quotes, finger: jg42@gerfalcon.tzo.com
WWW Page: http://www.cadif.cornell.edu/~falcon/                

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 17:28:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net>
Subject: Re Slings

>William F. Hostman wrote:
>>
>> A staff sling is essentially a hand sling on a 2m pole... and is not
>> twirled, but used exactly like an atlatl, only much easier to do
>> successfully.
>
>Actually, it sounds more like a human powered trebuchet...
>
Trebuchets keep a cup fixed to the end of the arm, and the cup remains open.

Staff slings: the sling's cup is attached by two lines (3-4 feet long is
good). One of these is fixed to the pole near the end. The other string is
terminated in a loop small enough not to fall past the first one's
fixation, but loose enough to fall off if you point the tip down. The start
position is with the staff parrallel tothe deck tip behind you, with a
loaded pocket.Generally, you then (rapidly) bring forward the staff til it
is roughly 45 degrees from parallel in front of you. The second loop lets
go normally about when you stop the swing, but the cup is lagging. When the
string lets go, several things happen, including putting a spin on the
projectile, converting that rotational velocity into linear velocity, and
also opening up the cup to actually let the projectile go.

The thing can be used while kneeling (I've done it). In a Short trench, two
guys could work it easily.

Oh, and just for reference, a golf ball can occasionally be sent  over 200
m in flat terrain by a practiced stafslinger.

William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click
interface!"
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-
533
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis http://www.alaska.net/~mhaa
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+

------------------------------

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #999
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