Of Miniguns and machinepistols...

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.