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I've been thinking about a Coalition GB corps. Personaly I don't see why the Coalition would completely ignor the value of a GB so I decided to attempt a write up for the formation og a GB corps for the CS. So far I don't have much I plan to avoid standard GB's however and focus on more versatile variants. I have yet to even think of a good name for the prototype though. Anyway this what I have so far... Creative criticism would be helpful.

Coalition Glitter boy Corps
CGBC

The Coalition Glitter boy Corps is still in the early development phase. Col. Nikolai Grigoriy is the master mind behind the formation of CGBC. Col. Grigoriy was exposed to the power of the Glitter boys early in his military career, and he always felt an attraction to the power they wielded. Throughout his career in the military Nikolai longed for the chance to pilot a Glitter boy. Once he achieved the rank of Colonel, Nikolai began a campaign in an effort to convince Coalition high command of the value of a coalition Glitter boy corps. Nikolai’s proposal met with stiff resistance however. Many of his opponents argued that the cost of fielding a Glitter boy corps would be better spent on SAMAS power armor. For the time it seemed the proposal was defeated, Nikolai however refused to give in.

In an effort to convince the high command of the value his Glitter boy corps, Nikolai used his personal assets to fund production of a prototype Glitter boy. Through his contacts in Free Quebec, Nikolai had a working knowledge of various Glitter boy variants. With this information in hand the (place holder) Glitter boy was born. The (place holder) GB was designed to be smaller then a standard Glitter boy. And while the weapons do not pack the same punch as a standard GB, their effectiveness cannot be denied. Nikolai hoped the smaller design and reduced cost would make the (place holder) GB more appealing to the high command. Nikolai arranged for the (place holder) GB to be tested in secret. Initial field reports of the (place holder) GB, combat actions proved promising. Once the field reports were in Nikolai once again renewed his campaign for the formation of a Coalition Glitter boy Corps. Once again opponents voiced their disapproval of the project, however the (place holder) GB was impressive enough that Nikolai was granted permission and funding for the formation of a CGBC.

The coalition doesn't have the resources or technology to build glitterboys, specifically their armor. They think that the glitter boys being made in quebec are ones that quebec found. They don't know that FQ has access to a pre-rifts plant that can produce them and as far as the CS know, only the NGR have that kind of tech.

The coalition doesn't use GB's because they're in such limited supply, not because they underestimate their power. They, being a fairly smart military, would rather train their troops to pilot power armor and robots they can produce and keep in steady supply rather than a power armor that they might run out of in one or two decades.

Tags wrote:I've been thinking about a Coalition GB corps. Personaly I don't see why the Coalition would completely ignor the value of a GB...

Here's one reason why:
From Peace Was at the Mercy of an Accident,
an essay by Braden Campbell


"...The Emperor is a student of history. And as such, he knows better than most just how much these machines [Glitterboys] remind people of the world before the Rifts. However, as we can begin to see, Karl Prosek's vision of a human North America is not just a rebuilding of what existed before, but an entirely new society of his modeling and design. Because of this, things of the past cannot fit into this vision, unless they are transformed into something new. The Deadboy armour and the SAMAS are good examples. He used Golden Age technology, but changed the entire motif, making the original unrecognizable. The Glitterboy however, carries such a place in people's minds, that it could not be changed. So it had to be gotten rid of."

The Glitterboy is a symbol of Golden Age America, which is not what Karl Prosek seeks to build. So if the average CS citizen were to start seeing Death's Head Glitter Boys in action... how long until they began yearning for other Americana... like free elections, and the right to bear arms?

The only thing that I would disagree with is that this Colonel using his personal money to build a prototype Glitter Boy under the nose of the CS. The only place I could see this being built is in Chi-Town, and once the authorities got wind of it, it's not going to go over to well.

Maybe a alternative is that you write this up as a "Last Command" type deal - the Colonel commands the last Glitter Boy unit within Chi-Town in the early PA and it's his crusade to see them last. Fleshing out history like that is always great.

Another possible idea - the Colonel went up against Glitter Boy's in the CS-FQ war, and gained his respect for them that way. Now trying to convince the CS High Command of the value of fielding the GB's they ship him to the New German Republic to serve as a liason officer within their Glitter Boy units.

Braden Campbell wrote:The Glitterboy is a symbol of Golden Age America, which is not what Karl Prosek seeks to build. So if the average CS citizen were to start seeing Death's Head Glitter Boys in action... how long until they began yearning for other Americana... like free elections, and the right to bear arms?

Your argument goes both ways. With the propaganda machine at his hands Prosek could put any spin on it he wants. The Coalition is the savior of man kind. So it's right and true that the Coalition fields the GB, those rogue GB's are being mis-used by enemies of the CS.

Dustin Fireblade wrote:Maybe a alternative is that you write this up as a "Last Command" type deal - the Colonel commands the last Glitter Boy unit within Chi-Town in the early PA and it's his crusade to see them last. Fleshing out history like that is always great.

Hmmm... that could work. Just need to work the Variant GB's in somehow...

Revised the back story a bit. I'm working off the dates in RUE.

It looks great! Go ahead and write it up! Submit it! I think there is room for something like this in Rifts. Although it scares the heck out me as a player knowing the CS could have your new corp operating as soon as you get it published.

A least it will keep life interesting. ;>

I agree with Artemis, the CS does not have the technology to produce the super-dense laser-resistant armour used on Glitter Boys. The CS doesn't use Glitter Boys and declared them illegal for everyone else simply due to the fact they couldn't build them. Free Quebec is the only known power in North America that can build them, Archie-3 being another but a hidden power, and the Republicans have the knowledge but not the facilities. Other places might have stockpiles of the armour material (probably very limited in size, scavenged from destroyed units). And unless the New German Republic/Triax is willing to break their agreement with Free Quebec, they aren't going to give the armour manufacturing process to the Coalition States. See page 72 of World Book 27: Free Quebec for this. And relics of the past can be seen as just that, relics unsuited for greatness now. Emperor Prosek considers the Glitter Boy to be archaic (page 21 free quebec) and unsuited for 'his' army.

Pretty much the reasons why the CS doesn't use Glitter Boys boils down to ego and resources. And Prosek's ego will trump everything else in the CS, we've seen it happen before, especially in regards to Free Quebec and by extension, the venerable Glitter Boy.

And a nice shiny Glitter Boy totally flies in the face of the CS motif. Dark, menacing, sinsiter.... and a nice shiny, happy GB standing in the middle. Which of these things is not the like the others? Even a redesigned GB is not going to fit the motif, not without losing the chrome armour.

Just my 15cred on the subject...

Tags,

I have to agree with some of the posters here. There is no way for the CS to retrofit the GBs because they can't reproduce the laser resistent alloy that is used in the making of GBs.

And here I thought Rifts inspired creativity.

I'm writing because I like the idea. If I do submit it, and it gets published... great if not what ever. I just want to make sure it's good, and everything is balanced. Hell at least Dustin Fireblade had some worth while criticism and I think it's turned out for the better. Like I said, I just want to make sure everything is balanced and reads well.

At any rate I've seen plenty of stuff Rifters, that I wouldn't have anything to do with if my life depended on it, but would my opinion realy keep them from submitting it... doubtful. And since this is here...

Tags wrote:I'm writing because I like the idea. If I do submit it, and it gets published... great if not what ever.

Keep in mind the folks here, whether it comes across that way or not, are ultimately trying to help you.

Tags wrote:And here I thought Rifts inspired creativity.

As Marrowlight said, we are trying to help you. If your material goes against everything that has been said in the books, it is quite unlikely to see print, even in the Rifter. This is why I have a pile of Rifts books about 3ft tall next to my desk right now. I check everything against everything to make sure I am staying within the lines. And I like helping other people do the same thing. Kevin himself has said that the CS is his private playground. The closer to it you play, the more rules you have to deal with; the further you get from the CS, the more leeway you get. It's been pointed out many times in the books that the CS does not have the ability to create, modify, replicate the laser-resistant chrome armour of the Glitter Boy. Page 72 of Free Quebec points out in the very first paragraph that even before the "end of Dark Ages, Chi-Town gave up on the Glitter Boys and had adopted other means of defense and making war." That is a direct quote.

If you want to write a piece of fan-fiction placed in an alternate version of the Rifts setting, fine. But don't throw it in our faces when we try to help you with a setting that we all love, since if we didn't love it, we wouldn't be offering you some tough-love comments. But telling us we aren't helping when we point out something that is blatantly against what has been said in the books and most people will raise their hands in the air and walk away and not help you again. This may sound mean of me, but this is a comment made by a professional author at a con last year and it applies here too. "If you can't take any criticism, you better get out of the writing business." This author went on to comment on writers having to have the thickest skin around, since everyone is going to needle them over something, fans, editor, everyone.

So if you want some constructive criticism, by 102 PA, the CS will have not used GBs for well over a century. So either Nikolai somehow has been active in the CS army for longer than Karl Prosek has been alive (making him the Methuselah of the CS) or somehow he is part of a rogue CS military unit using banned technology (without orders or consent). In the first instance, his ramblings about GBs being the best will be seen as the prattling of an old man. In the second instance, he would be put on trial for dereliction of duty, AWOL, treason, found guilty of crimes against the Coalition and the Emperor, and subsequently executed.

This whole post may sound brutal and mean, but its meant to help you. All of the in-game info I've quoted is from the books; not ideas generated by fans, not something I came up with to shoot down your idea, they are the framework upon which everything else has to be built. Holding the attitude of "I don't like what you say so I'm going to ignore it" up as a defense just makes it look like you don't want to hear what people say, you just want them to hear what you say. And as to your comment of "Other stuff has been in the Rifter that I will never use" (to paraphrase you), the Rifter is full of unofficial, fan created material. I think for Rifts, the only official material so far has been the Titan Robotics article and Arzno (but this is my sleep deprived mind not catching everything from the Rifter right now). But you can go right ahead and submit this idea if you like, nothing is stopping you. But don't say that no one tried to help you make it fit in the boundaries already established in the setting.

The Raven wrote:I think for Rifts, the only official material so far has been the Titan Robotics article and Arzno (but this is my sleep deprived mind not catching everything from the Rifter right now).

Well, there's the Xiticix stuff, and the Russian Gods. Those are the only big ones coming to mind off the top of my head.

The Raven wrote:It's been pointed out many times in the books that the CS does not have the ability to create, modify, replicate the laser-resistant chrome armour of the Glitter Boy. Page 72 of Free Quebec points out in the very first paragraph that even before the "end of Dark Ages, Chi-Town gave up on the Glitter Boys and had adopted other means of defense and making war." That is a direct quote.

Tags - if Free Quebec can do it, with their overall tech level behind the CS, then Chi-Town should be able to do it as well. Granted FQ had a huge head start in this role.

Now the rest of page 72 in the Free Quebec book goes on to say that the "orginal stockpile was slowly destroyed in combat" and "the Coalition government outlawed the use of Glitter Boys in the States." Ok great except the Coalition didn't actually form until 33 PA according to the timeline in Seige on Tolkeen 1 and Rifts Game Master Guide.

So with that in mind my take is that yes in the late years of the Dark Ages, the Glitter Boy was still in use by Chi-Town at least up to 33 PA.

Another important note made on page 72 of Free Quebec is that the CS law enabled them to confiscate any Glitter Boy suit that they encountered.

Finally, yes also on page 72 of FQ, "Word that Triax had delivered on undisclosed shipment of new Glitter Boys....served only to spark new and heated debates over the possible merits of the Glitter Boy in the Coalition Military." This was prior to 105 PA of course. Now that the CS-FQ war is over, are those debates heating up again?

Another idea - The CS now has, according to Revised Source Book 1, 144 Triax/NGR Ulti-Max units. Perhaps there was a head to head competition done in the early years of 101 to 103 PA?

Personally, yes I think there's room for this story. Either as the "Last Command" from the early decade's of the PA calendar or something more recent.

Marrowlight wrote:

The Raven wrote:I think for Rifts, the only official material so far has been the Titan Robotics article and Arzno (but this is my sleep deprived mind not catching everything from the Rifter right now).

Well, there's the Xiticix stuff, and the Russian Gods. Those are the only big ones coming to mind off the top of my head.

The Madhaven stuff in issue 36.

Also, one of the femme fatales in the newest issue (the demon on the cover) is official material as well.

~ Josh

Josh Sinsapaugh wrote:

Marrowlight wrote:

The Raven wrote:I think for Rifts, the only official material so far has been the Titan Robotics article and Arzno (but this is my sleep deprived mind not catching everything from the Rifter right now).

Well, there's the Xiticix stuff, and the Russian Gods. Those are the only big ones coming to mind off the top of my head.

The Madhaven stuff in issue 36.

Also, one of the femme fatales in the newest issue (the demon on the cover) is official material as well.

~ Josh

like I said, big stuff!

Dustin Fireblade wrote:Finally, yes also on page 72 of FQ, "Word that Triax had delivered on undisclosed shipment of new Glitter Boys....served only to spark new and heated debates over the possible merits of the Glitter Boy in the Coalition Military." This was prior to 105 PA of course. Now that the CS-FQ war is over, are those debates heating up again?

Not to mention the fact that after the Juicerr up-rising the CS decided they could use Juicers in their army.

As I described it to one of our players... a Black Glitter boy with the classis Deaths Head, holding a CS flag. ;> I also like the idea of the CS un-veiling a new corps of GB's in a massive arms parade, after the fall of Tolkeen.

I think this about finishes it... Other then a Deaths Head GB and the Hell Stalker, I can't see much use with more variants.

sigh...

i must be getting old...


when did GB's go from "Golden Gawds of RPA with super-rifles that can liquify lesser men..." to "over-armored, SAMAS without flight"?


last i looked (pre-tolkeen) i was seeing more "sneaky" CS troops (rangers, juicers, special ops, lighter/faster SAMAS units and GB Killers...)


why not just mount sonic insulation on a light SAMAS, reconfigure the wings to land and brace the gun, and give the bad-boy a proper Boom-Gun...


with a juicer at the helm, you're talking a unit capable of moving into position, land, fire, and be back in the air before the enemy's missiles even get within threat range...

heck, if the flight pack was mounted on the B-gun itself, the juicer could ride it like a rocket-sled and wouldn't even need RPA...

It still makes for a very interesting alternate universe of the CS.

sinestus wrote:sigh...

i must be getting old...

Didn't mention kids on your lawn once, so not too old yet.

Aramanthus wrote:It still makes for a very interesting alternate universe of the CS.

Well that is the idea. Even if it were to be published, it's still un-offical anyway.

Still debating what to do about the weapons... The Hell Stalker has no need for a large weapon however.

That is the reason I have been supporting your ideas!

Aramanthus wrote:That is the reason I have been supporting your ideas!

And I appreciate it...

However I need some opinions on the suit now. So I can balance it out.

sinestus wrote:when did GB's go from "Golden Gawds of RPA with super-rifles that can liquify lesser men..." to "over-armored, SAMAS without flight"?

Where does that leave the "Point GB", or the "Side Kick" then.

Tags wrote:
However I need some opinions on the suit now. So I can balance it out.

Drop the "gatling plasma guns" part. Give it a scaled to size Quatro Gun used by the CS Hellraiser and further fluff the design as being a companion unit to the Hellraiser. Other arm put a SAMAS style missile launcher (or a scaled Super SAM grenade launcher)

Also - I'd definately want it to be able to use the other CS power armor weapons like the C-40, CTT-P40 and CTT-M20.

I'd take Dustin's suggestions. But why not use the Special Forces mini missile launchers on the one arm.

I would suggest making at least one of the weapons use a d12 for damage. The poor d12 is the redheaded stepchild of dice. All it needs is for someone to show it they care.

Seriously, I like where you are going. I would make sure that it has multiple weapon systems, the CS seems to not like PA with just 1 gun.

Lets see then how about the forearm mini-missile system on the right and left arms... A Quatro in the right hand, with the option of carrying a large weapon...

It looks good, but something just seems off. Maybe it is the fact that it has no over the shoulder weapon. Maybe if you took the quatro gun and turned it into a back mounted weapon that can stowed when not in use and pulled over the shoulder (boomgun style) when needed. That would make the use of the plasma torch/flame thrower harder. Maybe split the quatro gun. Have the Heavy laser and pbeam be the back weapon and have the plasma torch and light laser (torch?) be a weapon similar setup to the plasma torch on the leviathan borg from Free Quebec. Just some thoughts.

It looks good. What about putting a missile launcher on the shoulder? Say a short range one. What do you think. Since the GB can carry weapons in its hands the quatro weapon might be fine in it's hands.

It may just be that I am a bit old fashioned, but it doesn't seem like a glitterboy without a big honkin' back weapon.

The Hell Stalker is just a varian... Similar to the point GB.

I'm not sure what would make a good weapon for the back, already has missile launchers on the forearms.

Tags wrote:The Hell Stalker is just a varian... Similar to the point GB.

I'm not sure what would make a good weapon for the back, already has missile launchers on the forearms.

Here's a thought: Move the missiles to a back launcher (that way you can use either heaver missiles of more mini missiles) and put vibro blades on the forearms. Another possibility would be to mount on a version of the Arc Charger from the lightning jet from Triax. If they got glitterboy tech from them, it is not too much of a stretch to get this as well.

Don't get me wrong, I do like your design.

Well with the missile launchers mounted on the shoulders, then a pair of vibro blades can be mounted in the forearms. And when the Quatro gun is not be used that can stored along the side... That should allow the pilot to use secondary weapons... Now maybe the Arc Charger could be mounted in the left hand...

That is a very cool GB! I think it looks great!

Ok well here is the finnal product. Preparing it to be submitted

Looks pretty cool! Great job!

Thanx, glad someone likes it.

I've always loved the Glitterboy PA! I have a lot of variants including some with a cavitation drive, some with contragrav drives and some aerodynamic shapings. I have a giant GB. I always believe in giving encouragement to people who want to create things!

Too each his own!

Only problem I can see is that the CS do NOT want their soldiers to be seen from kilometres away...that much chrome is going to be noticed at a VERY long distance.
Do you have any idea how far away something like that could be seen in open grassland, or how easily spotted in brush by an aerial observer? This sort of thing is exactly how SAR teams work in the real world.

Yea... It's already been submitted, and the GB's have have nbeen desgined to fit the coalition style, so it's time to move on.