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Post by hardlec on Nov 28, 2019 21:21:02 GMT
True, but I am interested in AbbyNormal having some items it can produce easily and make money from.
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Post by hardlec on Nov 28, 2019 21:18:51 GMT
They look great.
I also am looking for a ATR (Anti Tripod Rocket)
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Post by hardlec on Nov 25, 2019 5:29:33 GMT
Abby Normal can offer some products that should be popular for games outside of AQMF as well as good offerings for the game.
Motor launches of 3, 4, 5 and 6 inches. Common deck houses, an outside boiler/engine, and mounts. Deck guns on pedestal mounts. Rocket launchers on pedestal mounts. It may be possible to make kits for the weapons to be on either pedestal mounts or carriage mounts. 3 or 4 inch launches could be towed on trailers and launched on lakes. There are thousands of miles of navigable waterways in the Midwest, with the criteria of 6 feet deep all year round. (Mark Twain is the term for 6 foot depth.) The railroads could not build bridges across a navigable river without permission, so many waterways were declared non-navigable when they were. Marvin has recycled most bridges, but the rivers are open. Lots of options for a few models. And there are the models from paper terrain.
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Post by hardlec on Nov 22, 2019 22:21:15 GMT
I have left vampires, werewolves and zombies alone without regret for a long time.
Lobototons can be controlled many ways. A brain works through chemicals. The Martians may be able to remotely operate humans chemically. With the aid of Martian communication that resembles telepathy, they could do this easily. To a Martian, human prey is not that different from a bison or steer, intelligence-wise.
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Post by hardlec on Nov 22, 2019 18:18:58 GMT
A decent tentacle can be made by taking a series of ball in socket joints with attachment points. Attach cables to the joints. (Sorry for the crude description.)
The problem is the complexity of control. In the movies, tentacles were done with stop action.
Now, it really not too much suspension of disbelief to put some type of mechanical arm on a clamp tank. Yes, part of me wants to make one that works.
Part of me says get a bass guitar strings and attach a claw to it. Cool is the fuel.
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Post by hardlec on Nov 22, 2019 18:04:40 GMT
Embed the magnets in the bases. Glue a small steel washer on the bottom of the figure. Better but more work: cut the points out of thumbtacks. Flatten them a bit, and use these vice washers. Use a hold punch and punch out pieces of magnetic sheet or, if you can find it, thin steel sheet.
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Post by hardlec on Nov 17, 2019 17:57:44 GMT
Arms are unnecessarily complicated in most cases. Rather than a general purpose arm, it is usually better to have a specialized item.
Ultimately, there is little difference between a crane and a scoop lifter (steamshovel.) The specised items are common. The "Tentacle" type arm is technologically possible, and creates a possibility for human vehicles to engage in close combat with Marvin.
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Post by hardlec on Nov 14, 2019 23:14:48 GMT
Questions for all, answers greatly desired:
Would some deck guns be desired for people to put on their own boats?
Would some boats be useful? What sizes? Would a paddlewheel steamer be desirable (Yes, I want one.)
This one is for Scott and faithful readers of his books: Can a wire-guided rocket fly over water?
Scenarios for boats:
Raid from the river Evacuate Civilians at the river Defend the Bridge Martians must stop the convoy, but the convoy is afloat
Other ideas welcomed.
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Post by hardlec on Nov 14, 2019 23:08:21 GMT
Warlord has a fairly recent game out called "Cruel Seas." It takes place at the interface between land and sea, where iron men used wooden ships and do so to this day. The basic idea of big boats/small ships fighting on inland waterways or where the land meets the sea has much potential in AQMF. I'll leave Warlord's game for WWII. I have all I need for AQMF to go down to the sea in ships.
Since the end of the Civil War and until WWII, Farmers in the Midwest would harvest grain, build simple barges of wood powered mainly with the current, float their grain downstream to New Orleans, sell their grain, sell their boat for the wood, knock back a sazerac, then take the train home. Even post Katrina there are neighborhoods in New Orleans where very simple and cheap homes are made of this wood.
The Missouri Rivers is one of the greatest rivers in the world, ending in St. Louis but traveling all the way to the Rocky Mountains. It is part of a complex network of rivers that supply the Midwest with water. Boats are often the cheapest way of getting bulk products to Market, cheaper, and faster than the trains in many areas. The Eastern part of the US is held together with a complex network of canals. Armed boats have been used for war pretty much since there was war. Only after WWII did there exist a network of paved roads and railroads sufficient to replace the canals. This was done for speed. Track could be laid faster than a canal could be dug.
Marvin can, and will, tear up railroad tracks to use them for raw materials, but even Marvin can't stop the rivers. Build a dam, and the river will just find another way to "just keep rolling along."
By 1910, the paddlewheelers were being replaced with propeller driven craft. Gasolene and diesel were replacing steam, but slowly. Even so, a Swede by the name of Ollie Evinrude was selling new-fangled outboard motors as fast as he could make them. Unpowered barges were plentiful, and tow boats (even though they mostly pushed the barges) were the engines of commerce.
Now enter a US Navy eager to get some skin in the game and more than able to bring the fight to Marvin.
The Navy has a lot of guns that are well designed to bust Tripods. The USN used made-in-America 6-pounders, the gun that GB put in their tanks. Made to penetrate armored hulls and then explode, the 6-pounder would be a good Anti-Tripod gun. In WWII, a different 6 pounder would become a great anti-tank and tank gun. This model had better penetration but very little HE capability. Bigger and better would be the USN 3-inch gun. The Navy's 3-inch gun was in the Spanish American War and gradually improved on until, well, the Navy's 3-inch gun in 2019 is derived from this gun. I still wonder why the naval 3-inch wasn't used as a tank gun. It had better penetration than the 3-inch gun derived from an anti-aircraft gun, and had more explosive than the 75mm mark 3, making it better than each gun where one was better than the other. The answer I get repeatedly is that the Army didn't want to use the Navy's gun. The navy's 4-inch gun was another great gun, small enough for small craft yet big enough to threaten anything smaller than a battleship. The Navy needed guns to penetrate armored targets, the Army needed guns to heave high explosive rounds down range, as many and as fast as possible. Different missions needed different guns.
Before there were stovepipes, or even the hint of stovepipes, the Navy used rockets for signals, to launch lines to other ships, and for shore bombardment. So the Navy had the tools to do the job.
The Marines were more a part of the Navy prior to WWI. Now adept at shore landings, the Navy was ready to see USMC branded on to bits and pieces of Tripods.
Scott Washburn has given us a good gunboat as well as good "landing craft" made for inland waterways. I have used a couple of open=decked steam launches, about 5" long, to good effect. Main question: How can Abby Normal make money on inland waterway combat?
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Post by hardlec on Nov 14, 2019 20:06:27 GMT
Remember, a bit to the North and west, on the Kansas Rive and near the Missouri River, is Ft. Riley, Kansas. This post was built to help protect the Oregon Trail and other trails headed West, and was an important training base for Cavalry until the Army stopped using Horses. I believe the 6th and 7th cavalry Divisions were stationed there. In AQMF terms, this might still be used to make Marvin's stay unwelcome.
Junction City Kansas was adjacent to Ft. Riley and an important river port.
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Post by hardlec on Nov 14, 2019 19:31:56 GMT
If they could get ahold of some instruments, you have the perfect back-up band for your Elvis Demons.
Or is that too depraved?
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Post by hardlec on Nov 14, 2019 19:26:00 GMT
I should point out that the new owners might be leery of incorporating any significant input or idea from outsiders. In the current environment, it opens the door for litigation regarding the intellectual property. "Tis a sad but true effect of having plenty of lawyers with little to do (on both sides of the issue). In order for there to be peace on earth, First kill all the Lawyers. (Mark Twain) If a town has one lawyer, he will starve. If a town has 2 lawyers, both will prosper. (same) I would well and truly like Scott to read my "fan fiction" if only to coordinate times, places and names. He can't, because of copyright laws and intellectual property laws. I would dearly love to playtest the new rules edition but I can understand why I am not invited at this time. How do you tell a lawyer is lying? She's breathing. Lawyers cawn lie in their sleep.
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Post by hardlec on Nov 14, 2019 19:16:53 GMT
Dearest Moderators:
Please pin this post, close it to comments, and then remove this comment.
Let it stand as it is. It is awesome.
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Post by hardlec on Nov 14, 2019 18:54:41 GMT
1: Scott's Books are available as e-Books. As near as I know, Scott gets as much money in royalties from an e-book sale as a paper book sale. (The bible says "A workman is worthy of his wages, or, colloquially, pay the author, get more books.) I find the advantage of the e-book is that I get it almost immediately and anywhere I go I take my phone of tablet, and I wan sit in a waiting room, listen to music and read a good book. (Yes, I have more of Scott's books than his AQMF series, No, I do not work for or with Scott. Actual endorsements from a humble fanboy.)
2: Scott has a gunboat available well suited to the game. It is a complex model and I would A: print a copy in b/w on regular paper and build one for practice, because as even an experienced modeler I found I will make errors, and B: make some other models first, this is a bit too fussy for beginners
3: Excellent original thread, great discussion.
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Post by hardlec on Nov 14, 2019 18:35:04 GMT
A note about walking tanks:
Over the time AQMF has been played, players have noted one major drawback. The tripods are fragile, unstable, and their legs keep breaking. I have routinely had to reinforce the legs of my models. Great looking models, but the legs are weak. They are hard to build, hard to transport, and hard to use. That's just something I live with.
Point A: In a game setting, legged figures have almost always been at issue with the weakness of legs compared to the weight of the trunk and other extremities. This is doubly true when there are elaborate weapons, equipment, Maribus and other headdresses and such. (OK: What is a Maribu?) The walkers on Star Wars games are also notoriously fragile. Some games have sturdy legs, but they also look chunky and solid, not slim and fast. Tripod figures need legs, and sturdy legs are a welcome modification.
Point B: There is a reason why there are no utilitarian legged vehicles. Legs are very difficult to use on a mechanical device. Only after miniature computers became available has it been possible to make even experimental legged vehicles possible. The people who design prosthetic limbs have been working for a very long time, with lots of high tech and lots of passion, to help put real legs under paraplegics. The results from the point of view of the researchers and the patients is gratifying, but from the point of view of someone looking to make a utilitarian vehicle, legs are not a good option. Understand that a legged vehicle can have six legs. The vehicle can be stable on three legs while three legs are moved into position, then the weight is transferred from one stable position to another stable position. This is still slow and awkward for human technology, while an ant can run rings around it. Lots and lots and lots of processing power is used for a brain to direct an animal to walk. It does not exist in 2020, and most certainly it did not exist in 1910.
What is the upside? There are very few places where a wheeled vehicle or a tracked vehicle can't go, and faster and with a bigger payload, than a pedestrian. The most efficient machine currently known is a (trained) human on a bicycle, i.e. adding wheels to a person. In 1910, humans can fly. I'll take wings over legs any day.
I would leave legs to the Martians.
N O W:
In a world with liftwood, or cavorite, or some other form of unobtainium, Do it. There are games wit WWII tanks with legs, bipedal warrior robots, mechanical spiders and such and all are fun.
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