Rifts "Up Close" Armor and Weaponry Megathread

[T-Willard]

Into one of the harshest environments ever conceived the forces of NEMA not only had to handle refugees who were faced with starvation, lack of drinkable (potable) water, disease, and a destroyed infrastructure, but they had to face off against creatures from beyond space and time, many of them supernatural threats that could absorb as much damage as a First World state of the art main battle tank or light armored vehicle, and could put out the damage potential of the same.

It was into this environment that the RG-14A4 "Boom Gun" was fielded and saved the day again and again, often defeating overwhelming odds and creatures that seemed to shrug off lighter weapons. NEMA had two version available, the MA-14A4E 60mm Magnetic Acceleration Combat System on the M-10A5 Power Armor Assault Suit nicknamed "Harbinger" from the old field trials and top secret design phase (Sub-Project Harbinger) that had resulted in the "Chromium Guardsman" power armor, and the RG-14A4A, RG-14A4B, and RG-14A4C railgun systems.

These systems were built to handle the most extreme environments. From the theorized Lunar battlefields, Mars exploration and defense, and to even allow troops to fight after a Third World War, where it was assumed that orbital strikes, nuclear exchanges, chemical and biological weapons would have been unleashed. This meant that off all the power armor systems, the Chromium Guardsman and the Harbinger Assault Suits were best qualified to fight on this terrible battlefield. Possessing a full suite of weapons, enhanced sensor systems, the ability to perform rescue operations and refugee operations, and designed to survive not only the battlefield, but inside the very fireball of a nuclear detonation and the world after World War Three.

The RG-14A4 systems were deployed by the surviving members of NEMA and the North American and Mexican military in a combination of the post-Third World War battlefield and the "enhanced battlefield" where demons took the place of enemy tanks and power armors. The NEMA forces had logged literally hundreds of man-hours of combat against power armor and robot combat vehicles under terrible conditions over the last several decades, commanders who had overseen operations under various conditions for decades, and armor that had undergone repeated revisions to fix errors discovered under combat conditions.

Premier among the NEMA arsenal were the Chromium Guardsman and the Silver Eagles, pound for pound hardier, more versatile, and packing a harder punch than any other weapon system in the world, and the RG-14A4A was the weapon system of the Chromium Guardsman that could defeat even the strongest creature from the Rifts. Keep in mind that the PPE level of Rifts Earth at the time of the Great Cataclysm were of a magnitude higher than 108 PA, with most of the rifts being permanently cycling open to bleed off PPE and the ley-lines themselves lit up with such power that they could be seen from miles away and actually created electrical discharges around them all of the time. This meant that supernatural creatures were present on Great Cataclysm Earth that could not manifest in the comparatively weak PPE environment of 108PA. Creatures recorded on Battle-ROMs and other video and written recordings have never been seen since and have not been identified by even the most learned multiverse traveling researcher. More than a few creatures were able to still fight while withstanding the concentrated and massed fire of entire brigades of Chromium Guardsman and Harbingers, a level of fire that would destroy even the most tenacious foe now.

Problems with the RG-14A4A were not unexpected problems, but with the loss of the repair and maintenance facilities, supply depots, manufacturing plants, and War Stocks meant that what had been assumed to be "acceptable performance loss" when resupply and maintenance could be expected meant catastrophic failure for weapon systems not designed with extended operations in high threat environments. Thankfully the RG-14A4 had been designed to operate for months without even the most basic of maintenance, with potentially years of operation with only the minimum of maintenance.

Ash adherence was a known problem that thankfully the RG-14A4A was designed to counter-act. So where other power armor's weapon systems were beginning to suffer "fusing failure" the RG-14A4A had counter-measures to keep it combat operational. However ash caused filter clogging in the air systems, and performance suffered. The loss of the the War Stocks and the maintenance depots and parts depots resulted in either the filters being cleaned and reused, or taken from other vehicles. A particularly enterprising mechanic discovered that the Nissan Trueflight hovercar's primary intake filters would work just fine of the RG-14A4A. A Canadian mechanic discovered, before communications with Quebec went down, that taking the linear rails in the hands of the Glitterboy and flexing it into a 14 degree angle bow at 230 psi over a period of 45 seconds would result in the volcanic glass shattering free. The circular superconductors could be cleaned by spraying it with cryo-fluid (commonly scavenged from civilian air-car blade coolant systems) and then hitting it with a teflon covered sledgehammer, which would shatter the glass. This was entered into the "Maintenance Database" in the Cold Storage database and is still used this day to clean the coils. For degausing a mechanic with NEMA Third Armored Division discovered that running a second set of power leads to provide a reverse feed, and then "pulsing it" in alternating currents by activating first the primary sets and then the installed sets at 0.5 second intervals for 6 seconds would provide acceptable degaussing. This field modification was done to all operational M-14A4A weapon systems, and the degaussing method was added to the weapon and the suit's functions.

Aerogel proved to be particular susceptible to ash clogging. Blowing it out with compressed air (usually at 215 psi) would work, but broke the microfibers as well as caused microfractures. After close to ten cleanings the aerogel would be shredded and almost useless. However a civilian mechanic discovered that standard mattress stuffing soaked with standard fire retardant foam from civilian building tanks and then baked in a civilian conventional oven for three to four hours at 500 degrees, and then put on high in a 450 watt microwave for 120 minutes would create an acceptable substitute that would need replaced far less often. This procedure is the one that survived the Great Cataclysm, and indeed, many robot repair facilities as well as legacy Glitterboy power armor pilots use to replace the shock padding.

Superconductor failure became an issue several years into the Great Cataclysm, for two reasons. The constant sub-zero temperatures, combined with rapid reheating by a fired round and then sub-zero air being used to clean and flush the system caused micro-stress fractures from thermal fatigue. While the superconductor power-leads were specially designed for the Boom Gun, in order to provide the high powered 20+ MACH "war-shots", the much less power-intensive MACH-Two limit made it so that superconductor taking from the motor windings of civilian electrical cars and hovercars. This scavenging technique was put into the Maintenance Database and in the Cold Storage database.

Internal heu-tungsten sections also suffered thermal fatigue and vibration fatigue, however a desperate mechanic from the US Army 8th Infantry Division noticed that nearly anything could be used for the structural systems, including simple carbon steel, providing that any ferrous metals be lined with anti-magnetic coating. This coating could be found in any stocked electronics or automobile mechanic garage. Additionally the components were a close match to the Mitsubishi-Ford Sternhauser cargo truck's forward fan guidance assembly and could be adapted to use within 20 minutes of work for anyone with a high school machineshop. This information was put out as quickly as possibly, and once again was put into the Maintenance Database.

Molycirc failure was extremely low, but one component that became known for failure was the radar "tracking and identification system" within both the weapon and the armor. As the armor's system was considered priority, the weapon's computer circuitry was removed and used to replace the armor's systems. As those failures did not start occurring until approximately Year Six (With some units, roughly 19%, and 80% of those manufactured in Germany by the Triax Corporation) through Year Fifteen, the second set of failures did not happen until Year Fifty through Eighty. By that time the Tier 3 Maintenance Shop for 2nd Armor Division out of Fort Hood had identified that the tracking module for police and ambulance hover-vehicles was not only as capable as the military-grade system (with some reprogramming) but would fit with some adjustment to the housing in the weapon and the removal of some shock dampening material inside the Glitterboy. Additionally another mechanic (who was well over 140 but still considered late middle-age thanks to Pre-Cataclysm longetivity medicine) formerly with 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force discovered that with several component adjustments as well as a copy of the firmware from the Deep Storage Module, the circuitry for game AI's out of late generation gaming consoles could be used to replace the system without the removal of the shielding. These molycirc systems were actually able to be manufactured by anyone with a "Bubble Circuitry Forge" in several hours, and the Bubble Circuitry Forge could be crafted by a nano-forge that most home computers used to create easy to craft systems. By piling these together the aging woman was able to start the manufacture of Glitterboy molycirc systems that, while they didn't perform to military specifications, manage to get within 70% of NEMA standards.

Field expedient fabrication and repair techniques were refined over the decades, and pilots were trained by their parents or mentors on how to repair the systems from easily scavenged or purchased materials. Several towns gathered up all the techniques and gathered the repair materials from nearby ruins before beginning to offer Glitterboy Repair Systems to those who many had come to view as "humanities saviors" during the long decades. Up until 85 PA the CS supplied those repair facilities.

However several towns found out they were able to order repair parts from irregular caravans coming out of the American South-East. These parts were all Pre-Cataclysm, still in the original packaging, and many people figured someone had hit upon a maintenance depot containing a large store of parts. Investigation shows that these parts caravans stopped in 90 PA after CS investigations tracked them to near the location of the American Empire Fort Bragg.

Several scavengers have located parts of Pre-Rifts manufacture in old ruins, and while most of them looked as if they had been stored there Pre-Cataclysm, one scavenger knew for a fact that the bunker had been cleared by his father over sixty years before.

Examination of lots of the parts have shown that while they bear all the proper markings and manufacturing marks, as well as original packaging, certain discrepencies have shown up in those components. The largest ones is that the superconductor accelleration systems were manufactured in a gravity environment by the use of advanced manufacturing centrifuges to simulate a Zero-G environment. The hyperalloy for the chassis also use several materials that are found in North America, where Pre-Cataclysm systems used an element only found in Central Africa that was not as high performance but much cheaper and freely available.

Companies that produced flechette ammunition for the Boom Gun did so either by careful manufacturing, Pre-Cataclysm computer nano-forges or 3D Printers, or by using a scavenged RG-14A4C ammuntiion hopper. More than a few Legacy Glitterboy Pilots used "The Ammo Machine" in the barn of their homestead, completely unaware it was the Emergency Ammunition Fabricator Unit taken from the M-14A4A and set up as a standalone system.

Next, on Armor and Weaponry Up Close, the US Army M-14A4E and the differences between the M-14A4E and the RG-14A4A, including the built in support systems, and what happened to the surviving M-14A4E's when they were "repaired" by mechanics after the Great Cataclysm.

[T-Willard]

I'll be taking the weekend off. The US, Mexican, and Canadian military's version of the weapons are ugly. I will warn you that armed with old military war-shot, these versions of boom guns are just plain sick. I will admit that the few times I've allowed a Glitterboy player to have the weapon he or she was extremely careful with what kind of shots they fired, because they didn't want to try to make them themselves or give someone else the schematics to build the weapons. My advice, if you aren't willing to put these weapons in your game but still want to use the histories, is to have them incapable of being manufactured without Zero-G production facilities, and any Pre-Cataclysm versions found has suffered from age. Filament debonding, polymer degredation, and monopole magnet drift could easily destroy the weapon.

A normal Boomgun firing a low-powered "urban warfare shot" does 3d6x10.
A US Army Harbinger firing an armor piercing discarding sabot fin stabalized depleted uranium density collapsed round at a "hard target" (MDC structure) would do more than the Boomgun.
A Mexican Army "Muerte Cabeza" (Death's Head) firing a "Enhanced Explosively Forged Penetrator" round will strike for roughly the same amount as the Harbinger.
A Canadian Army Bastion firing a density collapsed penetration rod enhance frangible round at a hard target will strike the target for signifigantly more than the Boomgun and cause damage to the front mounted systems and to anything/one within 20 feet radius in front of the target.

Note the different types of basic loads they carry, as well as the naming conventions, show a lot about the country.

The US Army stuck with their tried and true discarding sabot anti-armor technique that they've held since the 1970's. The Mexican Army prefers to use the explosively forged penetrator system. Canada prefers to use the density collapsed penetration rode in the middle of a frangible round. All of them have close to the same performance, and perform the same task.

When we get to listing the power armors, it isn't going to be a massive difference in MDC for the weapons. Sure, the GB has a whopping 770MDC main body, and the military grade ones have roughly 850 MDC on the main body, it represents less than a 15% increase in armor protection, which means older Harbingers will have the same MDC as a Glitterboy, because they wouldn't replace the Harbingers unless it was a major protection increase.

No, what will be dangerous s the support systems built into the armor in the hands of competent and intelligent players.

Sure the Harbinger Main Gun has a massive increase in firepower compared to the Boom Gun, but it's the weapon, computer, communication, and sensor equipment that makes it the most dangerous.

We'll go through it, however. As well as why you don't see Harbinger Power Armors all over the place.

Because the US, Canadian, and Mexican Armies do not retreat and do not surrender, and unlike all the zombie movies and crappy novels where the military ran off, for Rifts Earth, the military fought to the bitter end.

[abtex]

However several towns found out they were able to order repair parts from irregular caravans coming out of the American South-East. These parts were all Pre-Cataclysm, still in the original packaging, and many people figured someone had hit upon a maintenance depot containing a large store of parts. Investigation shows that these parts caravans stopped in 90 PA after CS investigations tracked them to near the location of the American Empire Fort Bragg.

Several scavengers have located parts of Pre-Rifts manufacture in old ruins, and while most of them looked as if they had been stored there Pre-Cataclysm, one scavenger knew for a fact that the bunker had been cleared by his father over sixty years before.

Examination of lots of the parts have shown that while they bear all the proper markings and manufacturing marks, as well as original packaging, certain discrepencies have shown up in those components. The largest ones is that the superconductor accelleration systems were manufactured in a gravity environment by the use of advanced manufacturing centrifuges to simulate a Zero-G environment. The hyperalloy for the chassis also use several materials that are found in North America, where Pre-Cataclysm systems used an element only found in Central Africa that was not as high performance but much cheaper and freely available.

You will tell us where the parts came from and how they got to North America? Please, when the time comes for that part of the history.
Right?!?!?!

[T-Willard]

However several towns found out they were able to order repair parts from irregular caravans coming out of the American South-East. These parts were all Pre-Cataclysm, still in the original packaging, and many people figured someone had hit upon a maintenance depot containing a large store of parts. Investigation shows that these parts caravans stopped in 90 PA after CS investigations tracked them to near the location of the American Empire Fort Bragg.

Several scavengers have located parts of Pre-Rifts manufacture in old ruins, and while most of them looked as if they had been stored there Pre-Cataclysm, one scavenger knew for a fact that the bunker had been cleared by his father over sixty years before.

Examination of lots of the parts have shown that while they bear all the proper markings and manufacturing marks, as well as original packaging, certain discrepencies have shown up in those components. The largest ones is that the superconductor accelleration systems were manufactured in a gravity environment by the use of advanced manufacturing centrifuges to simulate a Zero-G environment. The hyperalloy for the chassis also use several materials that are found in North America, where Pre-Cataclysm systems used an element only found in Central Africa that was not as high performance but much cheaper and freely available.

You will tell us where the parts came from and how they got to North America? Please, when the time comes for that part of the history.
Right?!?!?!

Actually, I can tell you exactly where it came from.

ARCHIE.

Plain and simple.

[abtex]

Actually, I can tell you exactly where it came from.

ARCHIE.

Plain and simple.

Ok, then more on ARCHIE's Central African operations or is it just trade. What he is doing with supplying NEMA power armor parts?. When you have time. I can wait more time to think about your postings.

[ZINO]

holy cow epic man just epic KS and PB look out man you rock !!!

[T-Willard]

New job keeps me cracking, but I have about half the write-up for the ammunition types for the Boom Gun and the military version done.

[abtex]

Work first, Write when you can. Enjoy it when it's done.

[T-Willard]

All right, I think I'll be skipping the ammunition, since it's turned into a HUGE datafile, where I'm cutting and adapting data from various modern army sites.

So, shall I skip the military grade "Boom Gun" and the GB version used by the US Army "Harbringer" and just move to the NEMA version of the Glitterboy.

If I do move on to the GB, should I do the whole data-writeup as per the Boom Gun, with the problems, trials, and differences between early versions and later versions?

[Aramanthus]

Nice to see you adding to your other material. Please keep it coming when you have the chance.

[T-Willard]

I lost my damn login for a while. I swear, the Glitterboy is cursed.

I'm thinking I might need a break from the Glitterboy for awhile.

I'll probably reserve a couple of posts here to come in and do the data later, but the whole Glitterboy system has taken up a LOT Of space, and we aren't really even all the way to it yet.

I'm currently toying with two different datasheets, one for the Pre-Rifts "Jane's Defense Systems" entry and one for the PA 100+ knowledge.

Then there's the four different versions of the armor. Yes, there are subtle differences, but at the same time the Pre-Rifts version of the military grade suits are almost all gone, so I might just put it in PA terms as possibilities that they might have once been.

But first, what's the difference between a Chromium Guardsman and a US Army Harbinger?

The NEMA Chromium Guardsman was designed for a wide range of work, from rescue operations to famine relief to limited short sharp engagements.

The US Army Harbinger (and the suits from Mexico and Canada) were designed with four things in mind.


Can this destroy the enemy?
Can this survive on the NBC battlefield?
Can this operate on the integrated modern battlefield?
Are they cost effective?

Militaries are primarily concerned with number one. Yes, military forces can and do engage in nation building, but when you get right down to it a military's primary objective is to destroy enemy forces, infrastructure, and break their will to fight.

The nations of Pre-Cataclysm Earth were engaged in another Cold War, and this meant they were preparing for a type of war that made the Siege of Tolkeen look like two kids arguing in a playground.

Remembering my old Cold War briefings and doing some extrapolation there would have been tanks, powered armor, robot power armor, jets, hovercraft, Fast attack vehicles, light armored vehicles, communication and sensor system manuevering.

The whole thing is, most of the Harbinger and related armors would have been downgraded to the Chromium Guardsman by attrition on the armor systems. The modular points would have been removed as the modular combat options would have no longer been manufactured and damaged during combat.

That and the majority of Harbingers ended up being "used until destruction" during the Cataclysm.

And, rereading the thread, instead of jumping to a new book, I'll be going back to the Core Book and doing the rest of the robot power armors, especially the UAR-1 Enforcer.

And we'll once again see the return of the shadow MOC, and maybe hints into their sinister plans.

[abtex]

Welcome back again.

Does your notes go into the Sidekick version?

[rat_bastard]

The rough trail to the Glitter Boy

In the mid to late 20th Century the limits of chemical firearms was reached. Bullets could only be so large, and there could only be so much propellant before the law of diminishing returns took effect. For the the Cold War embroiled nations this meant looking a little further. The Soviet Union, hampered by decades of mis-management in their scientific warfare department, got off to a later start, and mainly focused on directed energy and enhancements to standard conventional weapons. The United States, with its NATO partners, began research into "magnetically accelerated weapons". With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, most programs were put on the back-burner. However, the DARPA, with funding from the US Army and US Navy began to manage some breakthroughs.

I think you are off in this, Russian Rail guns are almost exclusively pound for pound the best in the world with the "Boom Gun" being the only exception. Simply put they do the same damage for half the ammo, which is huge.

[T-Willard]

The rough trail to the Glitter Boy

In the mid to late 20th Century the limits of chemical firearms was reached. Bullets could only be so large, and there could only be so much propellant before the law of diminishing returns took effect. For the the Cold War embroiled nations this meant looking a little further. The Soviet Union, hampered by decades of mis-management in their scientific warfare department, got off to a later start, and mainly focused on directed energy and enhancements to standard conventional weapons. The United States, with its NATO partners, began research into "magnetically accelerated weapons". With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, most programs were put on the back-burner. However, the DARPA, with funding from the US Army and US Navy began to manage some breakthroughs.

I think you are off in this, Russian Rail guns are almost exclusively pound for pound the best in the world with the "Boom Gun" being the only exception. Simply put they do the same damage for half the ammo, which is huge.

Yes, by PA Rifts. If you notice, I'm quoting 20th Century and 1990, the old SOVIET applied magnetic applications experiments, NOT the later Golden Age/Second Cold War advances they got.

[abtex]

I think you are off in this, Russian Rail guns are almost exclusively pound for pound the best in the world with the "Boom Gun" being the only exception. Simply put they do the same damage for half the ammo, which is huge.

Yes, by PA Rifts. If you notice, I'm quoting 20th Century and 1990, the old SOVIET applied magnetic applications experiments, NOT the later Golden Age/Second Cold War advances they got.

Do either of you have some light info on the Russian Rail guns? Are links to that info?

[T-Willard]

I think you are off in this, Russian Rail guns are almost exclusively pound for pound the best in the world with the "Boom Gun" being the only exception. Simply put they do the same damage for half the ammo, which is huge.

Yes, by PA Rifts. If you notice, I'm quoting 20th Century and 1990, the old SOVIET applied magnetic applications experiments, NOT the later Golden Age/Second Cold War advances they got.

Do either of you have some light info on the Russian Rail guns? Are links to that info?

Sadly, no, I don't have any links to the data or anything like that.

I used to have links to the results of the DARPA high energy and high velocity kinetic trials, but those links have long ago returned a 403 error.

As to why I haven't been posting, my publisher gave me a deadline for a book, and I'm about 200 pages behind and just found a major plot hole.

[abtex]

Thanks for the reply.
Will be waiting for the hole to be patched.
Get back to work. Later.

[Aramanthus]

I can wait for the new information until you get caught up on your other things.

[T-Willard]

I should have time this weekend. Like I said, I'm gonna ease off the Glitter Boy right now, it's been really frustrating.

[abtex]

Waiting for any and all addition to your megathread.

[Aramanthus]

Cool. We can wait on the Glitter boy until luck shines on you.

[T-Willard]

Power Armors are difficult because I like to talk about the sensor systems, the kinetic shock absorption sleeve, onboard medical systems, targeting systems, interlocking sensor system and fields of fire, and the variants that the US military fielded.

I'm seriously considering skipping the Glitterboy because it'll be a LONG entry, probably covering 3-5 posts, including the military grade Harbinger suits. I don't allow too many Harbinger suits in my campaign, and finding/aquiring a Harbinger is the goal of all GB pilots in my games.

What's the difference?

M-550 Harbinger Powered Assault Suit
Standard Infantry Loadout

Main Body: 1150
Head: 350
Legs: 750
Arms: 600
Feet: 325
Hands: 210
Stabalization Covers (Lower legs): 250
Frangible LInks: 25 MDC
Lower Leg SRM Case: 200
Forearm Vibroblade Casing: 200
Drone Launcher Assembly: 150
Commo Antenna: 20

The Harbinger is the state of the art US Army powered armor assault suit, replacing the aging Glitterboy Systems in 2097. Featuring advance war fighter technologies, enhanced systems, enhanced pilot survivability systems, and long term solo operational ability, the Harbinger was designed to work in squads, supported by multiple variations, and built for the Total Event Combat Theater.

Packing an advanced sensor system, neural jack interface system, vibrosheathing on the fingers, targeting and recon drone launching capability, interlink with BATNI, high threat target identification, and a high powered main gun capable of 1.5 rounds per second being fired at over MACH-20. The Harbinger had 12 different munition types, from the NEMA standard urban combat flechette rounds to the proximity detonating FASCAM system. With 2 4-pack rapid reload short range missile systems with top down attack profiles on the legs to provide indirect fire, the suit is designed to take on other robotic power armor systems.

The US Army had initially ordered 55,000 of the suits, mission configurable at Brigade level, but it was over a 5 year period phasing out the Mark VI Chromium Guardsman, so less than 32,000 suits were online when the Coming of the Rifts occurred.

The majority of the suits were never powered up. In places like Fort Hood, Fort Lewis, Fort Bliss, Fort Dix, ley lines whipcracked through post. Eyewitnesses at Fort Hood saw the leyline rip through "Motorpool Row", blasting aside buildings, power armor, robot combat vehicles, combat vehicles, maintenance vehicles, and the personnel who were still scrambling to suit up and roll out due to the South American nuclear detonations.

Fort Hood possessed 5,400 Harbinger suits that were just gone in less than a second. Most of them were blasted apart, although a few were found around Central Texas, heavily damaged from impact.

Afterwards less than 8,000 suits were deployed alongside NEMA. War shot was depleted in less than 45 days, with police call becoming vital in recovering spend APDSFSDU rounds. Most Harbingers had to resort to flechettes by day 60, but by then there were less than 3,300 suits still in operation.

By the time the dust had settled after the Demon Plagues, the Harbingers were gone. Any left looked more like Chromium Guardsman than anything else. The loss of Zero-G manufacturing, advanced armor replacement, superconductor rings, and other problems made it so that the suits had to rebuilt according to Chromium Guardsman standards.

The suit was relegated to nothing more than a historical footnote in databases until 72 PA, when a mercenary group found 4 refit ones in New Mexico. Unfortunately the mercenary group thought they were merely upgraded Glitterboys and the toughness and firepower of the armors made them overconfident and they were destroyed.

In 89 PA the CS military recovered 24 of them, in unused condition, but any evidence to what happened to them is completely unavailable.

in 97 PA another mercenary group found a suit. The Glitterboy pilot eagerly suited up and was killed when the neural linkage slammed the emergency neural system through his skull to link him into the suit and his friends pulled him out of the suit before the onboard IRMSS could build him a neural link around the wound.

While Harbingers are largely extinct, little more than a curiosity in military databases.


OK, that's just the basic writeup, without data on the sensor systems, the fire control systems, the computer assisted targeting systems, the recon drone system, or the EFP design of the top down attack short range missile launcher.

Which is why the Glitterboy is causing me complete fits.

I mean, we're looking at 80 years from now of technological advancement, military equipment advances (Solid state drives orignally were designed for the military and literally cost tens of thousands of dollars), and everything else. Sensor systems that could track hundreds of targets, that were capable of ground surface terrain mapping, disginquish between automobile makes and designs, track pheromone signatures, and were able to stand up to the fireball of a 1.5 MT detonation.

So I imagine why you can see that I'm tempted to skip the Glitterboy.

[abtex]

Thanks for the post.

The antiques are fun to read about, as well as state-of the art designs.

Your thoughts on near future systems would be very welcome.
You could deal with the sections, as plug and use to suits. Not just a massive 'lump', although the whole is made up of the parts. While the parts make up the whole.

[abtex]

Power Armors are difficult because I like to talk about the sensor systems, the kinetic shock absorption sleeve, on-board medical systems, targeting systems, interlocking sensor system and fields of fire, and the variants that the US military fielded.

(clipped a little bit )

I mean, we're looking at 80 years from now of technological advancement, military equipment advances (Solid state drives originally were designed for the military and literally cost tens of thousands of dollars), and everything else. Sensor systems that could track hundreds of targets, that were capable of ground surface terrain mapping, distinguish between automobile makes and designs, track pheromone signatures, and were able to stand up to the fireball of a 1.5 MT detonation.

Which is why the Glitterboy is causing me complete fits.
So I imagine why you can see that I'm tempted to skip the Glitterboy.

Yes, I can see why.

M-550 Harbinger Powered Assault Suit
Standard Infantry Loadout

Quick list of non Standard Infantry Loadout?
Are were there any other versions?

[T-Willard]

I designed a bunch of different ones. The USMC LRRP version (lighter, faster, more drones, more ECCM/ECM, longer wearability, camo, sound baffeling, etc), the US Army Heavy Assault, Amphibious Warfare Model (USMC and US Army), Air Defense model, Urban Assault Version, Command & Control, Indirect Fire version, Anti-Armor version, Medic Version, and the Mech Infantry suit.

That's not counting the Goblin IV and Novastar VII armors, or the Frogstar III.

I also had a bad habit (well, my players didn't mind it) of making the Pre-Rifts tech way beyond Rifts Earth because of the loss of micro-gravity and zero-G manufacturing, as well as the loss of orbital mining, the loss of critical elements normally only found in Africa, stuff like that.

Even though the CS and Free Quebec and Triax had examples of micro-fusion plants capable of putting out terra-watt range power steadily and capable of handling 'load shock', they can't replicate it simply because they lack the infrastructure, manufacturing, and elements they needed.

I just might skip the SAMAS and Glitterboy for right now.

The UAR-1 appeals to me for some strange reason.

[abtex]

Thanks. Do what you can, when you are able.

[T-Willard]

Looks like because I was loading up these forums on 2 different computers at the same time (I'm using a linked home network with shared desktops) the Palladium servers listed me as a "BAND IP" and blocked me.

Until I can get that fixed, it isn't going to be much posting that doesn't take place using a proxy-server.

Since I'm thinking of skipping the GB and SAMAS, would anyone care to suggest the next suit of armor, or weapon, to be done?

Right now I have Sourcebook One and the Core Book available. Not much, I know, but that's something.

Taking suggestions.

[abtex]

Right now I have Sourcebook One and the Core Book available. Not much, I know, but that's something.

Taking suggestions.

There are some free previews of books Palladium releases here you do need to open an account. But the downloads are free.

If your Sourcebook One has vehicle design rules, create something write it up. Pick a vehicle or something and 'Rift' it there is enough in history. What's a future design, today is history by the late 21sin. Have some salvage agents find a battle site between two or three different vehicles, robots, whatever, and tell us about their shade tree mistakes upgrades or new vehicles.

That is a flying armor, from Northern gun? Titan?, non-CS, in Core book that you could play with.

[abtex]

If you still having problems, it may be taalismn's Hound dog

....Gotta hunt up the Redundancy Hound

Woof?

If not, will see you later.

[ZINO]

Power Armors are difficult because I like to talk about the sensor systems, the kinetic shock absorption sleeve, onboard medical systems, targeting systems, interlocking sensor system and fields of fire, and the variants that the US military fielded.

I'm seriously considering skipping the Glitterboy because it'll be a LONG entry, probably covering 3-5 posts, including the military grade Harbinger suits. I don't allow too many Harbinger suits in my campaign, and finding/aquiring a Harbinger is the goal of all GB pilots in my games.

What's the difference?

M-550 Harbinger Powered Assault Suit
Standard Infantry Loadout

Main Body: 1150
Head: 350
Legs: 750
Arms: 600
Feet: 325
Hands: 210
Stabalization Covers (Lower legs): 250
Frangible LInks: 25 MDC
Lower Leg SRM Case: 200
Forearm Vibroblade Casing: 200
Drone Launcher Assembly: 150
Commo Antenna: 20

The Harbinger is the state of the art US Army powered armor assault suit, replacing the aging Glitterboy Systems in 2097. Featuring advance war fighter technologies, enhanced systems, enhanced pilot survivability systems, and long term solo operational ability, the Harbinger was designed to work in squads, supported by multiple variations, and built for the Total Event Combat Theater.

Packing an advanced sensor system, neural jack interface system, vibrosheathing on the fingers, targeting and recon drone launching capability, interlink with BATNI, high threat target identification, and a high powered main gun capable of 1.5 rounds per second being fired at over MACH-20. The Harbinger had 12 different munition types, from the NEMA standard urban combat flechette rounds to the proximity detonating FASCAM system. With 2 4-pack rapid reload short range missile systems with top down attack profiles on the legs to provide indirect fire, the suit is designed to take on other robotic power armor systems.

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love more data on this love get an artist this really good man!!!!!!!!!!!

[Aramanthus]

Nice addition. I am looking forward to more new material.

[DevastationBob]

Right now I have Sourcebook One and the Core Book available. Not much, I know, but that's something.

Taking suggestions.

Flying Titan or Triax "Hopper"? Or the TX-Pump weapon line.