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Message no. 1
From: The Deb Decker <RJR96326@****.UTULSA.EDU>
Subject: Ammunition
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1993 14:48:36 -0500
OK, here's my revised ammo options. Everything I could think of, plus
a few things from the rules. Mod as you see fit.

Design: Consolidated Ammo
Author: J Roberson
E-Mail: RJR96326@****.utulsa.edu
Description: Consolidated Ammo provides an alternate set of rules for
both ammunition mentioned in the game and left out of it, including:
AP, APDS, Explosive, HEAP, Hollow Point, Flechette, Teflon-coated, and
Depleted Uranium.

>>>>>[Even the greatest pacifist in the modern age is aware of who
manufactures
guns in the world. Names like Ares, Colt, and Fichetti have become synonimous
with Death by Kinetic Energy. Police reports, the news, and other media have
always give the manufacturer with the name of the gun. But who can name the
maker of the bullets themselves? Without bullets, those big names would be
so much dead weight on dead meat. Today we've put together a report on
Consolidated Ammo, Inc, supplier of small arms munitions the world over
and considered a leader in the industry and the standard against which all
others are compared.. Our guide is Wesley Neville Smith.

"Call me Wes"

Very well. Could you describe your ammunition to us?

"Certainly. Here's a copy of our pamphlet,"See Dick Die".

Odd title.

"It's meant for kindergarteners, to introduce them to the wonderful and
colorful world of handguns. It's quite successful."

Armor
Let's talk about armor, shall we? Today's armor is measured in both
its ability to stop high-speed kinetic damage and any sort of edged penetration.
These are the Ballistic and Impact ratings of armor.
Ballistic armor is made of a high-tech polymer that is woven together
to for a mesh. Imagine cloth, which consists of a number of strings woven
together. You can't poke a whole through it very easily with a pencil
eraser, not unless you poke very hard. But a knife will slip through with
little pressure. Ballistic armor is the same way; only very powerful
bullets can smash their way through the weave, but sharp objects like
knives and arrows will slip through with no trouble.
That's why they add Impact armor. This is hardened plates that
work like traditional armor; they offer a solid barier that cannot be
penetrated easily. It's weakness is its rigidity; at a certain point, it
will shatter or fail. Bullets tend to have the speed to punch holes through
this stuff, which is why you have ballistic armor to spread their energy out
over the surface, resulting in less force per square inch.
This lecture on armor waas brought to you so that you can see why
some of the rounds below work the way they do.


Standard round
List Damage

The standard round is made of lead. It can be cased or caseless.


General Armor-Piercing round
-2 Ballistic

This is different from APDS (described below). Instead of firing a saboted
sub-calibre round, the bullet is made of denser materials (Tungsten or
Depleted Uranium) and given a sharp point. It does not splatter as easy as
lead bullets. resulting in less of its force being spread out by ballistic
armor.


Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS)
Goes against Impact rather than Ballistic

This is a sub-calibre round. Imagine a tungsten-carbide nail held in
place by plastic that flies away in flight. It flies like a small high-
speed arrow, thin and pointed to go right through ballistic armor. It
is resisted with Impact armor. Similar to Needle rounds in NAGRL, but
effective against up to 5 points of Impact. Useless vs vehicles.


Flechette
+1 wound level; Resist with higher of Ballistic or double Impact.

This is a number of tiny flechettes, like pellets from a shotgun. Unlike
APDS, they do not have penetrate armor efficiently because they have a
very erratic trajectory and little individual mass. They shred unarmored
people, but who doesn't wear armor these days?

Additionally, Flechettes don't fly as far as normal bullets. Treat them
as having a choke setting equal to the Power of the standard round. (SR2
p 95).


AP Flechette
+1 wound level; resist normally.

These work exactly like flechettes, but are stabilized in flight and
made of denser materials. They don't lose power as easily and consequently
don't have as difficult a time with penetrating armor.


Explosive
-2 Power; Special

An explosive warhead is mounted in the bullet. It detonates on contact,
adding slightly to the power of the bullet. If it detonates in meat, woe
be the casualty of war.

Conduct the attack normally. Then, make a a test for the explosive. If
the target rolled a Clean Miss (staged the initial attack down with Combat
Pool) then the attack is 6M. Otherwise, the attack penetrated and the damage
is 6S. Impact Armor applies to explolsions that did not penetrate; no armor
can be used against an internal attack.

This round is considered brutal and is not used by many nations and corps,
and is banned by the Geneva Convention and similar agencies. It is very
popular among terrorists, rebels, and other groups who like to maximize
their destructive potential.


High-Explosive Armor Piercing (HEAP)
Special

The explosive is placed behind a more stable penetrator, negating the
-2 Power for the inital attack. It is otherwise the same as the regular
HE round.


Hollow Point
+1 wound level, +2 Ballistic Armor

There is a myth that Hollow Point is the standard round of our century.
Given that they are relatively ineffective against armor, that is simply
not the case. When they hit, air is compressed in the bullet tip, which then
expands the round, increasing the surface and resulting in greater damage.
However, the wider surface's kinetic energy is more easily absorbed by
armor.


Tungsten/Depleted Uranium Core
+1 or +2 power

This option is already assumed for AP and APDS, and would be counter-
productive on exploding and hollow point rounds. The size of Flechette
makes their material moot. However, standard bullets can be forged of
Tungsten or DU for a general increase in power. Unlike AP, they are not
brought to a point. Tungsten is +1, DUC is +2.


Teflon coating
Halve Ballistic, -1 wound level.

This coating keeps the bullet from losing it's shape, making ballistic
armor much easier to penetrate. However,it also tends to continue
traveling in a straight line, meaning it doesn't tumble and spin as much,
which is what causes so much of a bullet's damage. It goes right on through.
It may only be applied to standard, Tungsten and DUC rounds.


Incendiary Rounds
+2 Ballistic; Special

Theses contain a hot chemical that continues to burn, even after
penetrating the body. The effect continues for 3 rounds. At the start of
each round, roll Body dice (no combat pool) against a 6L attack.


AP Incendiary Rounds
Special

As above, but no penalty vs armor


Silver Bullets
Double Ballistic; Silver Allergy

Very popular with paranormal hunters and certain magical groups.


Well, that's certainly a good-sized array in your arsenal of democracy.

"Capitalism. We defend the free market now, not free government."

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Ammunition, you may also be interested in:

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