On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 7:00 PM, Eric Funk (antispam)
<[email protected]> wrote:

>> Exploding Pigeon: TL8

>>  Self-Destruct:
>>   50mm, normal, HEDP. 0.5 lbs, .01 cf, $15. Damage 4dx20(5) [4d]
>
> Average damage is 280(5)[14] which could penetrate DR1400, and kill the
> average person.

As was pointed out last post, I made an error in the damage here. Let
me fire up GVB and see what I can get:

TL8, 50mm, warhead size Normal, HEDP, Self-Destruct

Weaponry      Malf Type Damage       SS Acc 1/2D yds Max yds RoF TL
Self-Destruct Crit Exp  4dx20(5)[4d] -  6   0        0       -   8

... Hm. Maybe I got it right after all. Okay, let's compare that to a simple HE:

Weaponry      Malf Type Damage   SS Acc 1/2D yds Max yds RoF TL
Self-Destruct Crit Exp  6dx8[4d] -  6   0        0       -   8

... that gives an average damage of 168[14]. Hm, that's actually lower
than the HEDP even before adding the armor divisor - weird.


>> Surface:
>>  Armor: Laminate, standard, DR 1: 0.947 lbs, $9.47, .003 cf
>>  Blackout paint: $0.758
>>  Waterproof: $7.58
>
> would biomorphic surface be an option?

"Pigeon" isn't meant to be any more literal than an F-22 "Raptor". :)


> otherwise perhaps composite armor

That would halve the armor cost, saving about $5 - not really a big difference.


> what about shaped cosmetic features (from Robots)?

To make it 'Attractive'? I suppose that's doable; can you think of any
reason a 'flying bomb' should have a bonus to reaction rolls?


> to cut down mass and costs, what about light or extra-light structure?

Structure strength is already super-light. :)


>> Coaxial Rotor, Folding: 0.448 lbs, $116, HP 1.
>
> coax rotor, not ornithopter? :)

See previous line on F-22. :)


> If you don't have camouflaged features, perhaps add 2sf of solar panel to
> generate .02kW...

Thought about that. But 2 kW to fly means it takes 100 seconds of
solar-collection for 1 second of flight-time; it seems much more
useful to have the energy-generation done elsewhere, where it can be
done more efficiently.


> Also consider that the radios can be detected by RDFs -- how about laser to
> its nearest?

I'm at least going to write up a laser-comm module. Haven't decided
whether to make lasercomm the standard for ordinary Pigeon comms -
that could add troubles with losing comm by losing line-of-sight
rather than by jamming.

As for detecting them - well, if you think there are any overhead, the
answer is pretty much going to be, "Yes, around 50,000 of them. And if
you shoot at one, a dozen more will zero in on you...". ;)


> Also, do you need 140mph? you can get more endurance with less speed...

That's just the speed that results from using a CAR drivetrain with 20
lbs of lift.


> you might also be able to get away with making the computer Dumb to save
> $/mass.

Thought about that - but Computer Navigation, which seems the minimum
necessary to allow these things to fly around a city without crashing,
is complexity 2. As jamming has been raised as an issue, it seems a
bad idea to /require/ these things to have external control to be able
to fly.


> have you looked at the networked computer rules?
>
> perhaps the rat king rules from THS?

I haven't pulled out my GURPS books in a while; have you got any
page-references for either of these?


Thank you for your time,
--
DataPacRat
lu .iacu'i ma krinu lo du'u .ei mi krici la'e di'u li'u traji lo ka
vajni fo lo preti
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