I have both Transhuman Space and Robots and would love to try this out. I'll see how it goes and try and get something for you by Monday Steve.

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Friday, July 25, 2003 - 09:22 pm: Edit

I was thinking the other day about a new weapon...or more accurately a new old weapon.

In the ST:TOS episode where the Klingons and Feds were fighting with sword Kirk explains that the Klingons have a long tradition of swordfighting.
But perhaps they don't.
There is an Ancient weapon used by Australian Aboriginies called a "Nulla Nulla" ( If you happen to have the Encycolpedia of Weaponry by Ian V. Hogg, you can find a bit about it on page 10 ) which was also used in Indonesia and some pacific islands.

Perhaps the Klingons didn't use swords as such but rather a kind of Nulla Nulla.

The Nulla Nulla is shaped like a boomerang and held like a boomerang, with the top arm being considerably shorter than a on a boomerang and the lower arm being considerably longer. At the bottom of the lower arm is carved a handle.

Orginally the weapon was blunt with it's primary attacks being to strike downward and crush in the top of the skull or break the collarbone of the target.
The Klingons naturally developed the weapon prefering havier metals as they became more advanced. There are currently two forms of Klingon Nulla Nulla ( although what the Klingons call it is unsure ); one using an aluminium and copper alloy which has a cross section like a sword and the other using an alloy of carbon chromium and iron with a cross section rather like an axehead. The lighter Aluminium version may well be only for training but it is assumed that some Klingons use it in actual combat because some have been found with the rear surface cut to a very fine edge which is something that does not occour on the heavier version.

The prefered Klingons attacks are the traditional downward srikes, particularly as the edged weapons have been known to completely seperate arms when striking the shoulder as well as the more lateral attacks that pass from below the target's right side of it's jaw bone to the left colar bone ( decapitating the victim ) and the almost totally lateral attack against either upper-leg.

By Robert Herneson (Rherneson) on Friday, July 25, 2003 - 10:06 pm: Edit

I am developing a whole series of archaic weapons for the Klingons (some tied with a respective martial art) & hope to have it ready to submit for GPDK.
First MPA though.

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Friday, July 25, 2003 - 11:22 pm: Edit

MJC's Nulla Nulla is effectively the same as the Kukri blades used by the Gurkas, and any student of military history knows how dangerous these were. Klingon considerations aside, there is a good writeup as to the reasons for their lethality at http://www.ec21.net/co/a/arms/pgroup.html?grp=8

I could see Klingons using a weapon of this class, but not as an everyday weapon. Perhaps reserved for use by a specifi group, such as the ESS?

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Saturday, July 26, 2003 - 02:01 am: Edit

---

Quote:

Kukri blades

---

By Richard Wells (Rwwells) on Saturday, July 26, 2003 - 02:37 am: Edit

Kromm included notes on the Kukri that list it as being variously knife, butterfly sword, or fine axe depending on size which can be thrown with the respective throwing skill.

Nulla nulla: I must be looking at different sources than you. Metal nulla-nullas might well fall into the Mace or Tomahawk equivalents depending on size.

No katana rules please. Just because a weapon is exotic should not make it powerful.

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Saturday, July 26, 2003 - 02:55 am: Edit

Well the Nulla Nulla in the traditional sense is a club rather than a sword...I just like it `cause I don't like the idea that Klingons are fine and traditional practioners of the Sabre and Claymore...it's too euro-centric.

---

Quote:

as the more lateral attacks that pass from below the target's right side of it's jaw bone to the left colar bone ( decapitating the victim )

---

By Robert Herneson (Rherneson) on Saturday, July 26, 2003 - 05:09 am: Edit

Also, remember that the term 'Klingon' is being used in a homoganised way, there are many colonies, continents, and so one that all might have different styles & weapons, no one being 'Klingon'.

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Friday, August 01, 2003 - 05:14 am: Edit

Does anybody have a design for a weapon that fires ionsed Hydrogen gas and then ignites it or fires plasma at a target?

I think these two systems would make great weapons for the Orions being the Orion Blaster Pistol and Orion Blaster Rifle respectively.

I think the text about these weapons would as follows.


Unlike most earlier civilisations the Orions did not make their first leap into energy weapons by developing lasers ( although earth made it's leap into energy weapons with the development of man-portable guass rifles long before their laser pistols came to pass ) and developed what are known as Orion Blasters.

There are two forms of Orion blaster and they opperate rather differently.

The Orion Blaster pistol is a large and heavy weapon ( about the size of shoebox with a pitol grib extending below ). It passes Hydrogen gass ( which is held compressed in cylinders ) through a pair of eletric plates which "ionise" the gas molicules, then the gas is accellerated through a set of solinoid electromagnets and projected at its target...finally a weak laser is fired at the gas ( timed for the range that has been dialed into the weapon ) and sets the gas on fire. The resulting explosion ( although it's usually just a fire ) can be very deadly, although invisible.

The Orion Blaster rifle is a much more deadly weapon. It consists of two sections, the long ( 2.3 metre ) rifle section and the backpack which supplies it.
The backpack has a small fusion plant in it and the hydrogen undergoes fusion to supply the power for the weapon.
Whilst undergoing fusion the balance between the number of protons and the number of electons becomes unstable ( as the protons that will become Neutrons start bonding with the electons on a quantum level ) such that some of the plasma ( H₂ gas, H ions and Helium ) is bleed off and passed along a tube to the breach of the rifle. Then a series of solinoid electromagnect accellerate the plasma to high speeds and throws the plasma out at the target.
The resulting combination of Hydrogen-combustion and burns and sub-atomic energy release ( some of the H ions are still undergoing fussion ) is increadible deadly.

Note that the Blaster Rifle was not developed for nearly a century after the Blaster Pistol...but whilst Orions have since adopted the Phaser Pistol in place of the Blaster Pistol but have not given away the Blaster Rifle as a heavy weapon, the Blaster rifle is a lot more oft encountered.

By Martin Read (Amethyst_Cat) on Friday, August 01, 2003 - 05:37 am: Edit

Walking around with a miniature sun on your back strikes me as rather like walking around with a sign saying "Shoot me with AP ammunition!"

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Friday, August 01, 2003 - 06:24 am: Edit

Well...okay so it's a little like having an unlicenced partical accellerator on your back...actually it's more like having a military issue partical accellerator mounted around your body...at least you can quarterise ( or was that vapourise ) your own wounds.

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Friday, August 01, 2003 - 11:07 am: Edit

I think the word you're looking for is cauterize, and no ... the bits left after the explosion would be way too crispy to cauterize.

Small bits. Tweezer-sized. Spread over a large area.

By Richard Brown (Richardb) on Friday, August 01, 2003 - 12:18 pm: Edit

Perhaps quarterise would be more accurate to the Blasters effects on your wounds, ie akin to drawn and quartered? Although the actual effect would be a great deal crispier.

By Robert Snook (Verdick) on Friday, August 01, 2003 - 01:56 pm: Edit

So what is that thing supposed to do when you're not firing it?

By Jonathan McDermott (Caraig) on Friday, August 01, 2003 - 05:44 pm: Edit

Make popcorn. =)

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Friday, August 01, 2003 - 08:13 pm: Edit

Turn pig-iron into slag rain.

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 03:36 pm: Edit

The ENTERPRISE episode last night had one good item in it: the hand-to-hand fight where the MACO did attacked a bad guy, and zapped him good.

It looked to me like a bayonet attack, so I'm calling it a shock bayonet. Anyone disagree?

I'd say same specs as a shock baton, but impaling damage instead of crushing. Two A cells or one B cell.

By Richard Brown (Richardb) on Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 03:47 pm: Edit

Nice idea, but will the liscence for SFU alow them to use such a thing in an official product? I thought they weren't alowed to touch materiel from the new shows.

By Robert Snook (Verdick) on Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 03:56 pm: Edit

I'm sure the GURPS system could have a shock bayonet in the Prime Directive arena. It wasn't defined in the episode and it is a piece of equipment that could be produced today, so they can claim that they got the idea from the real world. Kinda, sorta, like the WW/Underworld thing; they are using the already prevelant ideas, not stealing wholesale from the specific company.

By Xander Fulton (Dderidex) on Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 03:56 pm: Edit

I would find it very hard to believe Paramount bothered to copyright the idea of a 'shock bayonet'.

In any case, I'd be very suprised if you couldn't find precedent for it in some other SciFi literature LONG ago - it's a pretty basic idea. SciFi troops have energy rifles. Rifles have (historically) been capable of mounting bayonets. SciFi rifles would thus have energy bayonets.

By Scott Tenhoff (Scottt) on Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 04:22 pm: Edit

Uh, what would the point be for a shock bayonet?

If you are going to power a blade, and stick it on the end of gun.

Why not make it a vibroblade?

I mean, your already impaling the guy.

Why not impale to kill, instead of tickling him with a shocker?

By Matthew J. Francois (Francois42) on Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 04:35 pm: Edit

Gary: I didn't see anything different in that scene than what I picture the Stun Baton already doing. The item didn't actually stab the guy, IIRC, the Marine... er... MACO just jabbed him with the end of it and it shocked him. From the glimpses of it in the fight scene, it looked like a police nightstick painted silver... no sharp points.

I can't confirm this, of course, as I didn't tape the episode.

-Francois

By Robert Snook (Verdick) on Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 04:56 pm: Edit

Scott, maybe you want to capture him to interogate him later. I didn't see the episode, so I didn't see the circumstances it was used, but that could be a reason why you'd want to have a stun weapon.

By Scott Tenhoff (Scottt) on Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 05:01 pm: Edit

But a stun bayonet (that impales), compared to a stun batton (that's technically a club).

That is what I'm getting at.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 05:20 pm: Edit

I would have to say we're talking about a lot of things here.

If you actually stick a knife into him, the stun thing is just adding insult to injury. On the other hand, maybe the stun function is there for when he's wearing enough body armor that you aren't going to impale him and just want to light up his life a little.

Which brings up the amusing point that it might not have been stun at all, but lethal tazer. I doubt this as it would be dangerous to roll around with such a weapon. For that matter, it would be dangerous to roll around with a weapon with a stun bayonet.

A stun bayonet might be one that does no impaling dmage (no sharp point) and is intended for riot control and non-lethal attacks. Frankly, that battle didn't look non-lethal to me.