Re: OFFICIAL - GZG: Vacuum and zero/low gravity combat…?

On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 1:47 PM, Jon Tuffley <jon@gzg.com> wrote:

>
>
> So specialised "vacuum grenades" - hand or launched - would be
optimised
> for maximum frag effect, possibly with a smaller explosive charge
packed
> around with more, but smaller, fragments - designed to cause multiple
suit
> punctures (harder to patch several small holes in time…) rather than
> necessarily to inflict major shrapnel wounds on the person…..
>
>
​Grenades are already optimized for maximum fragmentation effect. The
explosive is what tears the metal case apart into fragments, as well as
determining how far away the fragments go. You might be able to reduce
the
explosive in order to limit the range, but you can't reduce it a lot due
to
the need to tear apart the case.

And you might *really* want to go in the other direction and give the
troops *bigger* grenades. One of the limiting factors in hand grenades
is
the distance you can throw it. On the moon, with it's lower gravity and
lack of atmosphere, you can throw a bigger object a greater distance.
Grenade engagement ranges go up (though you'd have to increase fuse
length;
assume some sort of smart chip to detonate the grenade at the optimal
time).

On the other hand, if you're going to make your hand grenades way more
powerful, you will want to split them into offensive and defensive
grenades
(defensive grenades are for closer range work).

The next thing to decide is the protection factor on the space suits.
You
want to perforate your enemy's suits. At the same time, you want your
own
suits to be protective.

Lunar suits already had to have some protection against tears and wear
during the Apollo program. It turns out that moon dust is really
abrasive.
Working in moon dust is like working on sand paper. The later Apollo
missions, with their longer EVA times, saw a great deal of wear on their
boots, etc. They also ran into problems with joints seizing up. If you
want
your lunar soldiers to be able to trudge across the moon for more than a
few days before replacing their suits, they are going to need more than
just fabric and kevlar. Then it's possible that you can't just use
normal
fragmentation grenades, but instead need something with specific
anti-armour capability. Maybe you want a grenade that has tiny bomblets
that explode out, "stick" to a suit, and then detonate in such a way as
to
rupture the outer layer.

On the other hand, you probably don't have to spell this out for anyone
in
a game setting. Assume there is some armour capability built into the
suits
and some puncture capability, define the range and blast area and you're
good to go.

-- 
Allan Goodall		 http://www.hyperbear.com
awgoodall@gmail.com