Hello everybody, here is the next part of my replies: Bret replied to Travis: > Or better yet, send out a signal to have the mines deactivate and gather > for collection. > > They are smart-mines, right? If they are able to move in order to fill > gaps int the field, they should also be able to gather for collection.
There are different definitions of smart mine. One simply means a smart trigger, no mobility and standoff ability. Standoff is probably the next step up. Mobility and standoff capability is a loitering drone, not really a mine. And consider this: The charge/weapon of the mobile mine must be large enough to damage a battlesuit, a suit-sized warbot, or an AFV, but the mine should be smaller and cheaper than the target. So the mine can be damaged by a small charge, on a smaller and cheaper 'mobile mine-hunter' -- at some point 'kamikaze drones' become self-defeating. Unless the minefield has 'protective anti-hunter mines', much like anti-personnel mines protecting anti-tank mines. But how many defensive mines for each offensive one? Troy wrote: > I remember a segment on "FutureWeapons" where the "minefield" was a > multi-shot mortar. It launched a small munition at valid targets > coming into it's protected area. It could be turned off for > friendlies to pass. What if the target has point defense? BTW, that could generally put a crimp into any sort of standoff mine with a projectile weapon, from SEFOP to shells. Zan wrote: > The best way to clear an enemy mine field might be to troll a tasty > target through the field. This is probably some kind of ECM target so a > small drone pretending to be a tank, or a convoy, or battlesuits or > whatever else the mines may be set to target. The drones may be small > and tricky enough with ECM to survive or dodge a few hits so that you > hopefully do not need to use drones equal to mines. A small target drone without weapons could carry more armor. > At the worst case every hard object > that could be a mine can be excavated and neutralized. The entire field > could be plowed and all rocks removed. Ah, now it gets tricky. * How to detect every hard object? Ultrascanners from VXii18, chemscanners, geophones plus some sort of 'thumper'. Would gravscanners work? * How to dig it out? Would the digger be large enough to expend a mine on it? * You could also scatter little, dumb mines to prevent clearance. > Then of course the minefield might be under remote control by an > operator either human or AI who is smart enough to realize the > difference between mine clearing and actual targets. Before beginning a > mine clearing operation it might be a good idea to take control of all > the area that has sight lines to find and neutralize observers and > search for communication emissions and buried fiber optic lines. That means you have effectively breached the obstacle. The neutralization can be left for later. Roger wrote: > I still remember the Pentagon a few years back, proudly announcing > that every piece of equipment in its inventory would now carry RFID > tags. > > It took less than an hour for someone to point out "hey, great, now I > can build landmines that only explode under American soldiers". It might also mean that the mines have detectable emissions. Thomas wrote: > I also understand that land mines are sometimes used as means to terrorize > the civilian population, Those mines probably won't be dense enough to stop a military force, unless you get real lucky and put them right under the chosen location for an observation post. > and that some doctrines take them as part of the > defense of a location. Mining dead ground around your base, or mix mines with the wire. > For the latter purpose I would think that automated > guns would be the better option. The gun would need a decent field of fire, which means that once it opens up it can be engaged. Sentry Guns won't last long. Anthony wrote: > I would assume that all TL 9+ military trucks have power outlets, > networking plugs, and mounting brackets in their cargo bays; it's a trivial > expense > and makes the vehicle significantly more flexible. A dedicated computer is > also cargo. Microbots can't keep up with a moving vehicle, and if you're > parked you just open the door for access. Gaps between the cyberswarm hives? That reduces the payload. > > I tend to agree, but Anthony doesn't. I'll think about it some more. > > It's case of 'absent contragravity, this would be useful'. Contragravity > obsoletes a whole lot of stuff. For movement, sure. But for work you might want feet firmly on the ground. ---------------------------------------------------------- My impression so far: * Engineer squad carriers, for people, cyberswarms, and gear, possibly with a bulldozer blade. * Contragrav earthmovers (bulldozers and power shovels) to level landing fields. * Armored bulldozers to smash through barricades under fire. If I can get something as tough as a typical battlesuit for reasonable weight. All three bulldozer roles could be the same vehicle, or specialized ones. * Mine delivery systems. Could also emplace sensors and sentry guns. * Countermine systems. No idea how to build them. Explorer and Devourer swarms? Those could be roles for the squad carrier, too. * A digger to excavate bunkers, and a dump truck to move spoil. No good 3E rules for dump trucks, however. * A crane for general construction. With CG, it won't have a boom. The hardest question is if I have missed a role ... Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
