Structure Hit is a term used in Bruce Sterling’s book “Heavy Weather”. It is a concept and terminology that could readily lend itself to THS. “Structure Hit” was originally a military term for the policy of targeting an enemy’s constructions rather than their population. By the mid-21st century the term had entered civilian parlance and […]
Tecs Tecs (aka Tex, Teks etc) are simple submachineguns designed for very easy production. Not surprisingly, perhaps, they often resemble sten-guns with a vertical magazine. Tecs use the 9mm MAX cartridge, widely available on the black-market. Tecs vary considerably with respect to details such as stocks, barrel shrouds, sights and other fittings. The chief division […]
Manufacturing a working firearm is relatively easy in 2100. Suitable ammunition may prove to be more of an obstacle. Convicts and others isolated from the local gun store have reloaded fired or homemade casings with compositions such as shaved match heads. How practical is this in a world where most ammunition is caseless? Military caseless […]
In some areas firearms may be difficult to acquire legally. Not surprisingly, in many of these regions there is a thriving trade in illegally manufactured or smuggled firearms. Some crime syndicates are known to encourage and fund gun control lobbies, well aware that restrictive firearms laws increase their business. Even in areas where firearms can […]
The 50 x 330mm Supershot autocannon is a modern real world weapon that is very likely to be encountered on the worlds of THS. It has recently been proposed as the armament of several heavy infantry fighting vehicles or armoured personnel carriers, competing with the 30/40mm Super Forty. It is also suitable as the main […]
The serpent or worm body form is very common in nature. The nematodes alone outnumber other phyla including the arthropods. This webpage describes five types of locomotion used by snakes. Snakes also have various techniques of climbing, burrowing and swimming. Earthworms add the technique of moving peristaltically to the repertoire of this body form. It […]
The Anapu is a military robot that is also used by some police forces and many security firms. The Anapu can be thought of as being intermediate between types such as the Kuros and the TNM. Kuros are effectively mobile weapon turrets, while TNMs are a militarized version of a simple labour model. The Anapu […]
The Katral TN-series are a relatively common mannequin-type android. Facial features are basic, just eyes and a speaker grill. TNs are five feet and four inches tall, a design feature intended to make them less intimidating and also save materials and reduce cost. TNs are typically used for tasks that favour a human body- form […]
“A conventional tank takes a couple of seconds to roll out of cover, fire and then roll back again. You can use that to your advantage. The Kuros, however…They pop out, fire and are gone again before you know it. And they can hide in a lot of places a tank cannot!” “The spider was […]
Today I was watching the Matt Helm movie “The Ambushers”. In one scene Helm runs out of ammunition, so unthreads his belt from his trousers. He holds the belt under a convenient stream of water and the belt becomes rigid so he can use it as a weapon. It occurred to me that a similar […]