Mark F. Cook · 23 June 1991
In note 2441, Metlay writes:
> ON ARCOLOGIES: Paolo Soleri was a really weird old coot (and may still be,
> I don't know if he's kicked it yet)
I think he's still alive. If so, he'll be 72 years old next month.
> ON TECHNOLOGY: I watched a movie on TV last night, something I rarely do these
> days. It was a Schwarzenegger shootemup flick I'd missed in the theaters the
> first time around, called "Predator." ...
>
> 2. One weapon which I'd heard about but never seen in action before the film
> was the 30mm MiniGun, a gatling weapon firing huge shells at a high rate
> of fire and capable of rendering just about anything into taco filling, up
> to and including armored vehicles. The drum-loading grenade rifles were
> also quite interesting, but not as much so since they have an equivalent in
> the Traveller rules. What I want to know is, why no MiniGuns in Traveller?
> They're heavy and noisy, but really efficient compared to lasers and early
> high-energy weapons. Hmm, time for another article in the MTJ....
Hmmm, time to put on my "Ye Olde Weaponsmith" hat. The weapon carried by
Blane (Jesse Fortuna) in "Predator" was a modified General Electric M-134
minigun, and is 5.56mm (.223 caliber), not 30mm. As such, it does much
less damage (using the same round as an M-16). While it can make chopped
chard out of plants and people, it is significantly ineffective against
armored vehicles (whereas a 30mm gatling gun, like a GAU-8A Avenger, is
most certainly not). With variable fire rates from 2000 to 6000 rpm, the
M-134 doesn't stay loaded very long, once the trigger is pulled. I read
that Blanes backpack supposedly held 1000 rounds. Assuming a conservative
ROF, that's 30 seconds worth of ammunition. But, boy howdy! Talk about
rock 'n roll!! Sure beats the hell out of Ginsu Knives (tm). :-)
>From an MT combat standpoint, the M-134 is just a 5.5mm Gatling Gun-8 (pg.
77 - MT Players Manual) but with a much higher ROF. (The ones in the manual
are unrealistically low anyway.) Even the 30mm Avenger could be treated as
a VRF Gauss Gun, but with a smaller ammo capacity. The Pen/Atten and
Damage are about right. However, I'd jack the Autofire targets *way*
up to, say, 20 or 30. Sound excessive? Well, that's an Avenger for you. :-)
> Well, that's enough for now; the mini-machine-pistols from Total Recall aren't
> in the rules either. I guesss we need an Arnie supplement for the rules. |->
Those pistols in "Total Recall" were Calico M950 9mm semi-autos, modified
to full-auto for the movie. The horizontal rotary clip they mount on top
of the receiver holds 50 rounds. Needless to say, they got reloaded a
*lot* between takes. Calico also makes a .22 caliber version that accepts
either 50 or 100 round clips. None of them are full-auto capable however
(sigh). Maybe, some day, I can afford that $3600.00 H&K MP-5. Gotta win
the state lottery! :-)
BTW, Firefight 1.0, the personal combat rules for TDR, easily accomodate
both of these weapons. Iain Fogg and I had intended to redraft the rules
to correct some of the first round omissions, as well as streamline it
a bit. I haven't heard from Iain since the beginning of the year, but
I expect he's been as busy as I have. Maybe we can get something going
again this fall, when the TML revs back into slightly higher gear.
Later,
- Mark C.