Militias and Rifles

The quality of militia will be directly related to where they are from. 
If
they
live in a nice safe enviroment or urban area (the police must protect
me,
right?), they will have little knowledge or practice with weapons.  If
they
come
form a rural area (it will take hours for the police to show up to deal
with
the
problem) with life threatening predators (as in crocodiles, lions,
bears,
etc.
deffinately not Aliens aka the movies), then they will use weapons as a
tool
in
everyday life and be very proficient with them...  In my FT/DSII/Stellar
Conquest rules militia quality related to the habitability of the
planet,
the
more habitable, the lower the quality...

** Not solely. Training can make a difference as can how active they
are. If
their militia frequently sends units to active duty, they'll be better.
If
they spend a bunch of money training, they'll be better than they
otherwise
would in urban/safe settings. 

The US military is working on a "super weapon" again.  It's as bad if
not
worse
than SPIW.  Those troops better start doing a lot of push up, because a
15
pound
weapon system with 5.56 assault rifle, 20 mm grenade launcher, and very
exotic
targeting computer/sight is coming...  I wonder what it is going to do
to
all of
those good shots withs experience on light weight rifles...

** The problem (IME) with the FN was it was heavy in a way that was
torque-y
on you as you stood there - the center of mass was not close enough in.
The
OICW, though heavier than I'd want it, looks like (I don't know for
certain)
it moves the mass back in close to the body where the arm muscles can do
the
work without straining. It may be far more manageable than its mass
suggests.
Or not. Time will tell. 

Thomas Barclay
Software UberMensch
xwave solutions
(613) 831-2018 x 3008