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Framed

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WeaponsOf The Late3RD Millennium

Gold is for the mistress тАУ silver for the maid тАУ
copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.

'Good!' said the Baron тАУ sitting in his hall,
'But Iron тАУ Cold Iron тАУ is master of them all.'

тАУKipling
 Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html




Firepower

The most effective weapons of the late 3rdMillennium werepowerguns . They worked on the principle
that metallic atoms of a fixed linear magnetic orientation could be converted directly into energy by the
application of heat, pressure and intersecting magnetic fields.Powerguns used cartridges of copper-cobalt
aligned in a wafer ofmicroporous polyurethane.Powerguns released a flash of energy and plasma that
struck in straight lines at light speed. Short iridium barrels were used to protect the firer from scatter. The
barrels were cooled with liquid nitrogen but even so had limited life spans.

Powergunscame in all sizes from 1-2 cm infantry weapons to 15-25 cm heavy tank guns. Starships and
planetarydefence systems used similar weapons of up to 100 cm diameter. Quick-firing guns of 1-3 cm
could be manufactured and these were commonly grouped into multi-barrelled, anti-personnel and air
defence weapons,gatlings or calliopes. One tactical quirk is thatpowergun shots released all their energy
on the first thing they hit, even soft cover could be protective to a target, at least for the first shot.
Powerguns were expensive and difficult to manufacture but were the standardTerran military weapon.




Fig. 3.HeuvelmanIA17,2cm Infantry
Powergunwith magazine tube waiting to be loaded (JohnTreadaway )



High intensity lasers wereutilised in much the same way. They had less destructive power thanpowerguns
, were expensive to manufacture, and were more delicate but they had one major advantage for colonial
warfare in that they did not require ammunition.

Kinetic energy weapons of various sizes, from infantry weapons to heavy tank guns, and various levels