Re: Los thoughts on breaching

G'day folks,

Ok, a few thoughts on the discussion - breaching and future
construction...

Construction:

I think this discussion is *seriously* underestimating the likelihood of
200 years of technological development producing methods of building
construction that are a) a whole lot stronger and safer than the ones we
use, and b) really inexpensive and simple to use, in their own context.

For example, here in Toronto there is a comapny called Royal Plastics
that
has developed a method of housing construction that could shake the
construction industry.	They produce large extruded plastic panels that
are
hollow and interlock.  An inexpensive extruded aluminum frame is set up
where you want your house, you lock together these big panels like a
giant
lego set using the frame as a guide, and then pour concrete into them. 
The
concrete hardens, the roof is put on, and voila, finished structure.  In
a
demonstration, they put up a small single family home using a team of
four
unskilled labourers over the course of a single weekend.  For different
climates, stuff like insulation can be pre-mounted on/in the panels.  So
can wiring/electrical/phone/cable and plumbing.  They can come
pre-painted.
 Windows are a snap-in piece.  Etc etc etc.  The problem with this
method
is that it can build a house using four labourers in a weekend... and so
would put the construction industry out of business overnight.	There is
no
jurisdiction in North America that is willing to grant the bylaw changes
necessary to allow this construction method - the economic destruction
would be staggering.  So, the company is now marketing the stuff as a
means
of putting up quick housing in disaster-struck areas, in the developing
world, etc.  The method is far less expensive than conventional
construction, is very quick, and uses less resources.  Granted, it is by
no
means *perfect* in every way - there is something to be said for good
stone
and brick...  but still - it's a great example of innovation
here-and-now
making things a lot different.	And that would produce *concrete* houses
-
a much bigger headache for the crowbar croud.

How about this:  the firm of Bloggins and Sons, a large NAC construction
firm, is given the contract to put up a research complex for an
engineering
company developing new military equipment.  They arrive on site, clear
the
area and lay the foundation using fast-setting perma-crete.  Sets up in
five minutes, and you can apply it perfectly flat with a special piece
of
construction equipment.  The plans for the walls, etc are laid out in a
holographic grid for the engineers to check, and then the construction
robots go to work.  They extrude walls at the correct height and
thickness
using a variety of adjustable forms, using a quicker setting version of
perma-crete that is suitable for internal walls.  It sets up in 20
seconds
at the thicknesses used (only 4 cm thick needed for internal walls
because
that is plenty for weight-bearing structures... no need to use the
slower
setting 20cm thickness like in the foundation).  No wiring, because of
course everything is wireless - ok, maybe some power conduits or
something.
 Water is provided, as is waste disposal.  Heat and light are generated
by
conductive panels flush mounted with the wall.	Or whatever.

The 2,000 square meter facility is completed in five days, with
fit-and-finish taking an additional three days.  The move-in, scheduled
for
the following day, is interrupted by the arrival of the ESU special
operations team, who got their dates wrong and turned up exactly one
week
early.	Oops.

Luckily for them as they go crashing around inside the beautifully
finished
but empty complex, they are carrying the newly developed Glonnex
Industries
entry charges, freshly stolen from New Buckingham...

Breaching:

Same comment from above applies here.  Los has given us examples of the
clever types of breaching charges being developed *now*.  Well, 180
years
from now, Glonnex Industries launches their "Sure Entry" specialist
explosive entry product series.  The centerpiece of the system is an
explosive charge launched from a standard 25mm GL.  Remember that NAC
(for
example) rifles (and presumably all their other weapons) use laser range
finders and air-burst fused grenades - and this would be common to
everybody.  The Glonnex charge works by exploding exactly 2m from the
surface you want to breach.  The projectile sprays out a roughly
rectangular pattern of a liquid chemical, which forms a web-like pattern
on
the surface aimed at.  This chemical sticks to the surface, and foams up
after 1/2 second contact with air.  The foaming process takes only 10
seconds to complete, and the chemical increases in volume significantly,
forming strips of material on the target surface approximately 1.5cm
thick.
 The outer 5mm of this material, in longest contact with the air,
solidifies into an extremely hard surface.  The inner material, in
contact
with the wall, does not solidify quite so solid.  The hard outer surface
loses it's explosive properties as it solidifies.  Detonation of the
now-formed breaching charge is controlled by (whatever - a hand held
remote, a deployed timer that goes with the projectile and is set before
you fire it, a chemical process that just happens after a certain period
of
time, whatever).  The explosive goes off, and the outer surface, now
*really hard* gives a tamping effect, so the explosive is effectively
shaped.  The explosive cuts though the offending surface in a 2m x 1.5m
roughly regtangular pattern, with the material inside the pattern being
shattered into 20cm square pieces.  Danger radius of the explosion is
2m.  

The process takes 11 seconds from firing to explosion.	In go the
assaulters.

And there are different varieties of the projectile, for heavier and
lighter (or maybe I should say stronger and weaker) surfaces.  Different
dispersal patterns accourding to how you set the projectile.  Etc etc.

Maybe it works just fine in vaccuum.  Maybe it is applied by a hand-held
pistol sized applicator which also has a "trigger it" button.  Maybe
there
are more specialized engineer-carried versions for all the complicated
types of materials you might encounter, and the infantry are issued only
a
couple of "standard" versions based on what they are likely to find in
the
target area, etc etc etc.   Whatever.

My point in all this is that we're debating how breaching should work in
FMA by making reference directly to modern-day construction and
breaching
methods.  That makes sense to a degree...  But while it is perfectly
reasonable to say that 200 years from now, construction may go to the
lowest bidder and use low-cost construction methods - there is NO reason
to
think that the "low-cost, simple" construction methods THEN would bare
*any* relation to what we use now.  Or maybe they do.  Same with the
breaching charges.  

The real issue is that we should just decide on the game effect we want,
and then make up some PSB to cover it.

Game effects I think are reasonable:

1.  Breaching charges come in 2 types, 1 that the engineers carry that
can
cut through *anything* (except the wonder material that the person who
writes the scenario says you can't get through, because for scenario
reasons you have to get the key or find the guy with the code or
whatever).
  The second type is the general issued type that fires out of a grenade
launcher, and can get through most common doors and walls.
2.  The charges are clever, and can be used by someone in the same room
as
the explosion, with NO danger of injuring the user, except sitting on
the
thing as it goes off (in rules terms, you have to be 2" away from the
explosion or something bad happens - what I haven't really thought about
-
someone else can suggest an appropriate effect - maybe a d8 impact hit
on
any figure within 2" when the explosion goes off).
3.  Being on the other side of the explosion should be bad, but not for
more than 3" or 4" in game terms.  Perhaps if a figure is within 4",
they
take a d10 impact hit.	The charges are designed to cut/shatter a
roughly
1.5m x 2m hole (or bigger if you're using the special PA size versions -
remember you can dial-in a different spray pattern on the grenades), so
people can go through.
4.  It takes 1 action to prepare the charge (you have to set the pattern
and prepare the timer), and 1 action to use.  It fires, and *wham*,
there's
a breach.
5.  Firing one doesn't make a lot of noise, but the explosion sure does.
6.  Firing one doesn't produce enough smoke to cause smoke effects in
game.

Ok, now write PSB to fit...

I really don't think it should get any more complicated than that, or
else
we'll end up with a page of rules covering different material types,
different breaching charge types, rules for danger distances and effects
on
the firers' side of the wall, rules for danger distances and effects on
the
targets' side of the wall, etc etc etc.

********************************************

Adrian Johnson