Artillerie!

"Most people use the guns and armor analogy: one side gets a better gun, the other side gets better armor, which inspires a still better gun, and so on. The truth is that a better gun inspires a chemical counterweapon, which inspires a telepathic strike, which then brings about an artificial intelligence guiding the weapon. The pressure of war does bring about growth, but it is never the neat, linear growth that you learn about in the classroom."
- Arcturus Mengsk
(StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade)





Mengsk brings about a point with his quote. Much like jumping the gun in dares (e.g.: going from a "double dare" to a "triple dog dare"), you can't expect any kind of force in warfare to merely counteract something done by their opposition. Sometimes some clever outside-the-box thinking is necessary (and sometimes crucial) in developing a weapon or piece of technology to better yourselves against an adversary.

The guns and armor analogy doesn't just apply to rudimentary warfare or anything involving the military - such principles can also be applied to aspects of daily life. Information security is a prime example - with financial saboteurs and thieves scouring the world for some juicy prize, it's necessary to create something that can't be cut open or be decrypted. In turn, these people develop software that can crack the toughest codes or make a portable water jet cutter. The process goes on and on and on.

Of course, sometimes a group doesn't have the luxury of creating something that can respond to the latest threat they've received. While some will fret and accept defeat, others will instead modify something to the point where they can make their own threat for the opposition to respond to. Once that happens, you get a standoff situation, and in some cases that's all the time you need to create something to tip the scale.



So what does all that have to do with today? Well... aside from it being something used in daily life, I thought it'd be a clever tie-in to some of my personal projects. As the thoughtful readers have probably guessed, it's my Lego work again.

The problem with a typical infantry company is that they usually lack the firepower necessary to take on harder-shelled opponents - reinforced bunkers or tanks, for example. Typical personal weapons lack the punch to even severely dent whatever they're shooting. Thus, the infantry have to get fire support from something heavier - be it a weapons platoon carrying a grenade machine gun, some kind of gunship designed for close air support, or indirect fire from field artillery stationed somewhere else.

While the notion of a grenade machine gun currently seems implausible in terms of current Lego pieces (or third-party custom creators like BrickArms), gunships - particularly the helicopter kind - and field artillery seem workable enough.



With Lego, everyone seems to have their own style of creativity.

A... "gun?" (Photo found on Google.)

Some just slap pieces together until it superficially resembles whatever we were attempting to make (something we all did as children).

Holy shit. Don't let your tank get in front of this bad boy. (Photo also found via Google.)

Others will work a painstaking amount of hours and go through a gazillion not-so-common pieces just to make a small part of a big set work the way they want it to. Oftentimes the end result is something pretty badass.



Now, I'm not saying I'm a genius or anything. While I'd love to make something as amazing as that World War II PaK 40 pictured above, I lack the time and pieces (and more importantly, the patience) to do so. So instead, I go with a method that I find to be highly workable: using what I have to make something that instantly informs the viewer the basics of what the model is supposed to be, and possess enough detail to make it seem like a Lego-styled version of a real-life thing.

Presenting the NoxFeld M20b "Liberty" artillery gun, the first choice for Sereclellan artillery crews.
Hee, it looks cool. =D

Like this artillery piece I fashioned last night, for instance. The gun crew was so happy that I was able to make 'em something that they wanted to take an "action" shot of them at work!

Side profile shot of the M20b. And to think it only took a mere 20 pieces to make...

Technically speaking, the M20b is a light artillery gun. In a sense, its primary characteristics were for it to be light (most of the chassis and parts, minus the gun itself, was constructed out of aluminum)) and very portable to boot. The wheel carriage (and the wheels itself) easily carry the brunt of the weight. A two-man team can roll this thing about. While it won't pack the punch necessary to destroy the most armored of targets, this artillery piece is sure to provide enough support for the infantry to break through other opposition. (I mean, consider the size of the bore...)



Of course, I had other ideas.

The Trevoc S90 "Flechette" light artillery gun.

This was a light artillery piece in the sense that it's a smaller caliber. The design principle I had in mind was that it would be a gun that fired shells with enough kinetic energy to punch through reinforced targets. As such, a smaller caliber can be used, which explains the smaller diameter of the gun barrel.

A Sereclellan soldier posing next to a Flechette gun to show off scale.

Though not as portable (and more importantly, not as cool-looking) as the other artillery gun I designed, it still holds a place in the hearts of artillery personnel.

A Flechette gun mounted on the underside of the XRW-1 "Guinea" walker.

The gun itself has already been field-tested on an experimental reconnaissance walker to great gusto. Able to fend off heavily armored ambushers, the walker crews report the weapon system as "surprisingly lethal."



And then in true fashion with the whole "skipping the linear method of the guns and armor analogy" issue, instead of developing tougher armor, some crazy bastard decided to create an experimental gun that would fire massed energy of all things...

The experimental XM-636 "Azula" artillery gun designed by Pacem Industries.
All technical specs on this mysterious weapon are classified.

This was actually one of the first heavy weapons systems I ever designed, and to date it's the oldest surviving of those models. I knew I'd want to use some kind of experimental design...

Pay close attention to those... canisters?... that the artilleryman is using. Something doesn't seem right...

...and apparently, experimental ammunition. I don't know the whole of this yet, but from the looks of those trans-blue canisters, I don't think it looks good. For whoever it hits, at least.





Well, I've got things to do today (amongst designing more fun things), so I'll be taking off now. I'll catch y'all tomorrow with another 1,000+ word entry. Ciao!