Due to recent ventures into planetside rp of mine, some reads about companies producing Non-space combat equipment (including but not only Military Vehicles), and Swallow's thread of an alternative freelancer mod, I would like to start a thread about what might there be about Planetside warfare equipment in the Discovery scenario.
I would say to give some thought on planetary vehicles that might be produced or being developed, and disregard any topics regarding infantry warfare, but I guess there is possibly very little about both subjects to not make this thread too board.
So, if you know something about faction x, House Y, or Mercenary group G weapons and vehicles of choice, share with the rest of us here. I want to know what is out there already in use.
My limited forays into ground-based stories (usually around Leeds) have left me with a few assumptions:
1) Likely, most service weapons are going to be based off of laser/plasma technology, given how effective they are in space and how long we've had the technology and the ability to miniaturize it.
2) Vehicles can vary wildly, and it depends on your wish to go with the "rule of cool" or not. Mechs in a limited capacity are certainly an option, although I strayed away from them during my tinkering with Royal Flush, in favor of the good old treaded assault vehicles. Given that we likely have hovercraft technology, I'm sure you could come up with light assault vehicles or the like that utilized such technology, but keep in mind that most modern militaries would likely also employ heavier vehicles using more traditional systems, as they're probably more reliable and less likely to have problems out in the field.
3) Atmospheric craft would probably still be developed independently from spacecraft, if only because the theories behind the two vessels are wildly different (Sure, Star Wars shows us X-Wings taking off from planets and being able to handle atmospheric combat just fine, but beyond some F-4 Phantom level aerodynamics of "put enough engines behind it and it'll fly", I highly doubt its in-atmosphere effectiveness). Spacecraft would probably work well enough in-atmo, but things like helicopter analogues (probably now powered by some high-power jet engine or something) would still be present, especially for logistics.
Watercraft aren't really something I've dived into (wow nice pun m8) but similar rules probably exist; weaponry would be based off of plasma/laser technology, probably using designs for minimizing radar and sensor efficiency (a la https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zumwalt-class_destroyer). Oh, and a caveat to 1) - any super long range weaponry (sniper rifles, primarily) would probably be using ballistics of some kind, either a traditional slugthrower or something akin to a Gauss rifle. Laser/plasma weaponry for something meant to be visibly covert is probably out of the question, given the fact that every round is essentially a super-bright tracer that would give away your position.
ed: Oh, and yes, everything on Atomic Rockets is great to read if you're diving into SF writing, although it is a bit lacking for this specific scenario.
Guess I did had read in some spaces about rp for weapons and equipment development.
So far I found the Auxesia Armory and the Ingenuus Droid research threads. Still have to search for more threads and stuff.
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We in Detroit Munitions kept meaning to do product development roleplay for a new type of mecha, but the people who promised they'd write it... never did so.
Rule of cool demands that hover-tanks exist, like they did in TRIBES.
Though personally I prefer ballistic weaponry, it's more interesting to write about in RP supposing a firefight is going down or something. A bit dated I guess in the current day and age but it's my own preference.
When it comes to surface warfare I prefer drawing inspiration from the first installment of the Supreme Commander series, mainly for unit capabilities and diversity, for production I'd rather roleplay home-made units delivered onto the scene with reinforcements arriving, than on-scene manufacture. Though I'm thinking about mobile microfab factories too, something akin to the carriers in Homeworld: Deserts of Karak. Regarding resource management, besides supplies arriving, salvage operations of opposing sides competing with eachother, possibly resulting in salvage warfare, can be expected to be a thing as well.
I never really dived too much into smaller details like individual arms, armor and equipment technology yet.
Might I also recommend http://futurewarstories.blogspot.com/ as well. It's got the "Seal of Approval" from the guys behind Atomic Rockets, and from what little I've read so far, it's very well versed in the idea of trying to bring military tactics and science fiction together.
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