Mines, detection of

    Pardon the rambling, but a wee bit o' background is in order for 
this latest addition to my mine house rules.

    Mine detection (other than the tried-and-true probing method) was 
born in the mid-20th century with the invention of the handheld metal 
detector.  This device had a number of drawbacks, including inability 
to be mounted in a vehicle (necessitating vulnerable and slow 
dismounted use), and basic stupidity of the device, in that it would 
'ping' on non-mine metalic objects and ignore mines without major 
metallic content.  The Soviet Union was producing wooden mines even 
before this device became common, and by the 1980s mines were in 
existence sensitive enough to explode when a metal detector passed 
within a foot of them (those nasty Italians!).	Countermine technology 
got it's first real developments in the early 21st century when the 
Americans adopted a ground-penetrating radar mounted on a light utility 
vehicle.  (Under development today, to be perfected Real Soon Now [tm]) 
 This technology was also crude and prone to false alarms, but over the 
suceeding century and a half the race between mine makers and mine 
detectors has been roughly equal.  With the 22nd century's capability 
to produce computors intelligent enough to sort out rocks from 
legitemate explosives, a good sensor suite can be a lifesaver in a mine 
warfare environment.  They are still light enough to mount in a light 
utility vehicle (4 capacity points), though they often are mounted as 
part of a complete engineering package on a larger, more survivable 
vehicle.  Comes in three rough technology levels, basic, enhanced, and 
superior.  Also the operator quality comes into play--veterans shift up 
a die, green units shift down.	Their use is only possible at low speed 
(1/2 the unit's max in terrain scanned) and has a mere 200m (2 inch) 
range.	Mines may also be manufactured at basic, enhanced, or superior 
concealment technology levels.	Note that both rolls should be made be 
referee, and the mine field owners MUST be kept secret, so he doesn't 
know whether "You don't detect anything" means "I built a barbed wire 
fence to make you slow down and scan it" or "Your idiot operators 
couldn't detect it if they were driving through an ordnance dump".

Hand-held distance mine detection is possible, but requires a unit to 
be equipped with this stuff and nothing but (close combat weapons only, 
IOW, no other fun gear), and produces another die shift down.  Yes, 
that means that a green unit using basic gear rolls a 1d2.  No, 
hand-held shouldn't be cheaper than vehicle mounted--miniaturization is 
expensive.  This is obviously a lot harsher than the simple metal 
detectors of today, but you're talking a combination of sensors and the 
expert computor systems to sort out granite from C-15 (or whatever 
they're up to by then)

John M. Atkinson
And no, the M. doesn't stand for "Mine-crazy"