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HFQ Official Snippet #23

This fascinating series is a combination of historical seafaring, swashbuckling adventure, and high technological science-fiction. Join us in a discussion!
Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by anwi   » Sat May 02, 2015 5:18 pm

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Kytheros wrote:
runsforcelery wrote: You take the right cardstock, now, and you bind one end into a brass cup t’ hold the primer, and all you’d have t’ do’d be to —”

anwi wrote:Anyone with me in expecting that this storyline continues with "BOOM"?
And I'm talking about a serious BOOM, martian style...

Weird Harold wrote:Nope, no earth-shattering kaboom here. That's the way shotgun shells have been made in the real world almost since breech-loaders were invented.

I think he means that he thinks that Mahldyn is being interrupted by something going BOOM.


Of course. Something major, along the lines of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marvin_the_Martian.svg.
It'd fit with the "foreshadowing", the rather long exposition in the snippet and the preferences of the author. And then the interesting bit will be, whether good Howsmyn and Mahldyn survive the bonfire or not...
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by n7axw   » Sat May 02, 2015 8:37 pm

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anwi wrote:Thanks for long snippet. Now, a lot of exposition for the phase after the current war, I guess, and some raising of steam. Now, while locomotive drive systems make for interesting discussion, I've another question:

runsforcelery wrote: You take the right cardstock, now, and you bind one end into a brass cup t’ hold the primer, and all you’d have t’ do’d be to —”


Anyone with me in expecting that this storyline continues with "BOOM"?
And I'm talking about a serious BOOM, martian style...

As an aside: Ahlverez might be wandering in the wilderness after Pentecoste, still. :)



It kinda feels like Ahlverez needs to be put out of his misery...

Don
When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by AirTech   » Sun May 03, 2015 1:57 am

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anwi wrote:Thanks for long snippet. Now, a lot of exposition for the phase after the current war, I guess, and some raising of steam. Now, while locomotive drive systems make for interesting discussion, I've another question:

runsforcelery wrote: You take the right cardstock, now, and you bind one end into a brass cup t’ hold the primer, and all you’d have t’ do’d be to —”


Anyone with me in expecting that this storyline continues with "BOOM"?
And I'm talking about a serious BOOM, martian style...

As an aside: Ahlverez might be wandering in the wilderness after Pentecoste, still. :)


A unitized mortar round is a small step from this too, as the propulsion cartridge of a mortar round is basically a large shotgun cartridge filled completely with powder. (Ditto ejection seats but that is a step or three beyond where we need to be now).
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by EdThomas   » Sun May 03, 2015 10:41 am

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AirTech wrote:A unitized mortar round is a small step from this too, as the propulsion cartridge of a mortar round is basically a large shotgun cartridge filled completely with powder. (Ditto ejection seats but that is a step or three beyond where we need to be now).

You'd have to change the projectile to include some way to engage the rifling. Maybe something like a giant minie round. I don't recall a description of the fuses on the mortar round but I wonder if they would preclude an expanding base type of round. :?:
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by Thrandir   » Mon May 04, 2015 6:56 am

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Joat42 wrote:Shotguns! :)

Thanks for the snippet!


I think this is an understatement ... :lol:
Have a feeling the first CoGA soldiers to be on the receiving end of these plus any of the other little toys coming are going to be wondering how in the hell did they get into this mess.


Thanks RFC for the snippet.
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by AirTech   » Mon May 04, 2015 8:37 am

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EdThomas wrote:
AirTech wrote:A unitized mortar round is a small step from this too, as the propulsion cartridge of a mortar round is basically a large shotgun cartridge filled completely with powder. (Ditto ejection seats but that is a step or three beyond where we need to be now).

You'd have to change the projectile to include some way to engage the rifling. Maybe something like a giant minie round. I don't recall a description of the fuses on the mortar round but I wonder if they would preclude an expanding base type of round. :?:


Modern mortars are not spin stabilized. That's what the fins on the back are for. (If you look at a mortar round the stub holding the fins has holes in it - that is where the gas escapes from the launch charge that fits inside.) Modifications from Charis's current practice would involve fitting a firing pin in the base, removing the flint lock action and plugging the touch hole, but new build may be cheaper.
BTW the original shotgun cartridges used brass shim not paper for the cartridge (brass is water proof) as did some of the early large bore cartridges with a shorter drawn base, I have seen some with a steel base and brass sides. (The case doesn't seal on the base but rather from having the long sides blown against the chamber).
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by EdThomas   » Mon May 04, 2015 9:41 am

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AirTech wrote:BTW the original shotgun cartridges used brass shim not paper for the cartridge (brass is water proof) as did some of the early large bore cartridges with a shorter drawn base, I have seen some with a steel base and brass sides. (The case doesn't seal on the base but rather from having the long sides blown against the chamber).

Interestinger and interestinger. Shotguns - how was the expanded brass shell casing extracted? I'm thinking the expanded sides would make extraction difficult.
Mortars - doesn't this create an extraction problem with the metal cartridge potions?
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by AirTech   » Mon May 04, 2015 6:29 pm

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EdThomas wrote:
AirTech wrote:BTW the original shotgun cartridges used brass shim not paper for the cartridge (brass is water proof) as did some of the early large bore cartridges with a shorter drawn base, I have seen some with a steel base and brass sides. (The case doesn't seal on the base but rather from having the long sides blown against the chamber).

Interestinger and interestinger. Shotguns - how was the expanded brass shell casing extracted? I'm thinking the expanded sides would make extraction difficult.
Mortars - doesn't this create an extraction problem with the metal cartridge potions?

The brass springs, so long as you don't try extract it before the slug or pellets leave the barrel...(machine gun issue), no problem if the chamber is smooth and preferably slightly tapered toward the breach.Some of the very early rifle cases did have issues with copper construction (copper doesn't spring well (too soft))(a fact a gent by the name of Custer (and many of the people around him at the time) became intimately, if briefly, aware of).
With mortar rounds the projectile takes the case with it (no extraction)(the combustion gas vents round the bottom of the projectile, and pushes it out of the barrel- its a high/low pressure system, high pressure in the cartridge and a low pressure pushing the projectile out).
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by mhicks   » Tue May 05, 2015 10:00 am

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n7axw wrote:Now on to the snippet...

First, the locomotive is interesting, although it seems a bit much to invest too much effort on it before the war is over. But given that conversation Sharleyan had with her advisors back in LAMA, it's not hard to see why she is interested in it.

Moving on, we now know where the the initial issue of M96es and their pistol counterparts went...to BGV! We already had hints of that before. And those who were worried about the ammo supply can feel at least partially vindicated even if our favorate industrialist seems acutely aware of the problem and is moving to rectify the matter.

On a more positive note, we see the EOC diversifying the locations of its industrial plant, in part to Emerald, so that a catrastrophe at one location doesn't completely shut things down.

Finally, the bad guys got more out of their intelligence haul than I expected. It turns out that the primary benefit didn't have to do with steam engines, but with blast furnaces and helping the church umprove their steel production... The question remains, however, if there will be time for the church to fully implement what they have learned before the AOG armies are taken out of play and the alliance closes in.

From the description of what the Dohlarans are up to, it certainly makes good sense to give a very strong priority to isolating Dohlar and knocking her out of the war.

Don


I believe the importance of the railroad will be seen when thy export it to the mainland to help keep the supplies moving fast on the main roads that run along the canals. the description of the roads and the fact that the elevation gain can't bee to steep for the locks to work for the canals means that the high roads are perfect for rails to be laid with little to no prep work other than a layer of gravel and the wood ties to hold the rails. The army will be able to lay miles of track a day once the product can be shipped or manufactured on the mainland. Think of how fast the rail roads will expand on the mainland next to all the canals and the roads that service them. No need to blast the mountains for footing, no need for tunnels, it was all prepared for by the arch angels them selves.
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #23
Post by mhicks   » Tue May 05, 2015 10:34 am

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McGuiness wrote:Thanks RFC for the insightful and very long post! It's always nice to see what Howsmyn has up his sleeve, and what new gadgets and weapons his inventive staff have in development.

It's nice to see that manufacturing is spreading across the Empire, especially the explosives. I'm not sure why there's a persistent rumor that there will be a major industrial accident in HFQ though. There has never been a major industrial accident in Charis during the entire war, although there has been a major case of sabotage.

Even Corisande is getting into the action, with its rubber being used in bicycle tires. Emerald is a good central place for manufacturing, and I've thought that its lack of mountains and water power must be the reason that we haven't seen heavy industrialization introduced there before, given that it's the third oldest member of the EoC and much closer to Charis than Chisholm. Steam engines are going to allow all sorts of manufacturing everywhere that coal is available, so the entire Empire should be pitching in soon. Of course that means the TLs will be sending samples and design specifications for all sorts of technology to Zion, which probably can't afford to build it! :lol:

Too bad the contents of the stolen briefcase are so useful in the CoGA's iron foundries...

So we will get railroads - after the war. Shotguns will soon be in the building queue, and after some early snafus in cartridge production (which makes me worry for BGV) the allies will have the church boys seriously outgunned. The damage those pistols will do when the enemy closes with the ICA makes me cringe! Those poor Harchongese... :twisted:


I don't see OWL or merlin to allow sabotage to happen to the manufacturing plants. I bet they have snarks on the look out for that ever sense the Go4 rakuri with the "lost" gun powder.

OWL did the safety inspection on all the parts going into the structures, so I am certain that he is monitoring them still for the war effort to keep going without catching a snag.
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