Minis Showcase: Misc Warhammer

Just a few experiments I did with painting and color schemes.

I had just watched a video on creating a rust look, and this was the result of that. I went out and bought a single Necron metal blister to try it out. I figured they should look a little rusty after being buried for so long. Highlighting the face white was another experiment. The head should be the center of the miniature, to show the emotion (or lack thereof). Still the gun pulls the attention away, but I like the head being slightly different from the rest of the body.

The experiment here was the basing, which this would be one of my best base jobs ever. I saw a video mention using baking soda for snow instead of expensive hobby snow flock, and it blew me away. Sometimes the best solutions are the cheaper ones. Also I have always thought Grey Knights were some of the greatest looking space marine variations, so it was an absolute pleasure to paint this guy.

This miniature came in the special collectors edition box set of Warhammer Online: Age of reckoning. The set included an awesome artbook and comic book, and this mini. My college roommate had bought the set, and gave the mini to me because he didn't ever want to get into painting miniatures. It would take me many years before I worked up the courage to paint it, and then I gave it back to him. He graciously received it.

Star*Drive Saturday: Conventional Armor

Last week I finished up the entries on weapons. This week we get into:

CONVENTIONAL ARMOR

Just as weapons improve over millenia, various types of armor emerge over time to protect the vulnerable hero from the deadly array of arms they might encounter. Armor isn't impervious, but it's better than nothing, and a complete suit can guard its wearer against all but the most well aimed blows.

Conventional is referred to as any of the basic non-powered armor. Some of it is meant to be easy to don and doesn't require any special training to use. They don't all offer full body protection, but give the wearer something to have without drawing too much attention. The Special line provides additional rules if any that apply while wearing the armor. Next week I will be getting into the much heavier armor.

Alien Armors
Most manufacturers make these armors for the common sizes and shapes for humans. Generally this means that fraal and mechalus don't have a hard time finding pieces that fit. The more exotic aliens, like t'sa and weren need theirs special made or special ordered. This generally increases the cost of the armor by about 25%. Same goes for sesheyan, but it is rare to find sesheyan wearing any armor at all.

Battle Vest
Cost: 220 cr
Protection: L
The vest uses strong ceramic alloy plates sandwiched in a weave of kevlar. It's meant to be pulled over anything worn and is very lightweight and cheap.

CF Longcoat/Shortcoat
Cost: 300 cr
Protection: M
Designed to resemble a well-made duster or jacket, the CF coat uses extensive weaves of resistant carbonate fibers to defeat slashing weapons and projectiles. The longcoat almost touches the ground, and it can pass for a duster or overcoat of some kind. The shortcoat comes down to the waist and can be worn as a simple jacket.

CF Softsuit
Cost: 500 cr
Protection: M
Special: Easily hidden underneath clothing.
Using the same materials of the CF coats, its woven tighter and thinner to make a body-tight undergarment that can be easily hidden under normal clothing.

Deflection Harness
Cost: 1,000 cr
Protection: --
Special: When active it grants the user a +1 to action checks vs. attacks, but only lasts 10 rounds before running out.
The deflection harness creates a powerful nondirectional gravitational field around the wearer. Physical objects are deflected away from the protected character, and even energy-based attacks may be bent enough to miss the user. The deflection harness is built in several different styles generally worn around the belt. Unfortunately due to its power usage it has a limited active time before the battery back needs replaced or recharged.

Ptokh K'se (T'sa Battle Vest)
Cost: 250 cr (the cost does not need to be increased for fitting a t'sa)
Protection: --
Special: When worn by a t'sa, it increases the t'sa's natural armor rating to M instead of L.
The t'sa version of a bulletproof vest or shortcoat. It consists of a dense weave of extruded alloy wire, woven into a heavy cloth and sandwiched between tough artificial weaves.

Bellweyn Sil (Fraal Longcoat)
Cost: 400 cr
Protection: M
A protective garment that embodies some of the elegance and aesthetics of the fraal species. It consists of a light arming of engineered molecular weave. Over this layers of stiffened molecular weave are fashioned into soft, overlapping bands that vaguely resemble ancient human armors. Richly adorned with embroidery and metallic finishes, the bellwyn sil is a spectacular garment suitable for many diplomatic or formal affairs. Fraal leaders, guards, and emissaries often wear this garment when dealing with less developed species. It just looks weird on anyone else though.

Riot Shield
Cost: 100 cr
Protection: --
Special: Grants a +1 to your armor roll when being attacked from the front while aware. Occupies at least 1 hand for use.
A lightweight full-body gripped shield that has a number of combat applications.

Particle Screen
Cost: 1,500 cr
Protection: --
Special: While active it degrades the attacks damage rating one step (V becomes M, M becomes L, etc.) before making an armor roll. Only lasts 10 rounds before running out.
Working differently than deflection harnesses, particle screens interpose a wall of subatomic matter contained within a magnetic field. Incoming attacks are scattered and absorbed by the particles, attenuating the attack. Like the deflection harness they have limited time of use before running out of power. Worn as a backpack unit.

Adventures of a C.P.A. (Episode 1)

It was Flint's first day on the job at Nightfall LLC, and he had to do a lot more than just balance their books. Even though this is our first game, the rest of the group is assumed to have been working together for several months now.

It is new year's day 2012, and Kent gets a heavy rap on the door. A Chicago policeman came seeking us because we work with unusual cases. A small airport reports that a small Cessna plane crashed on their tarmac during a red eye flight. The problem is, there is no plane, and no wreckage, nor its 6 passengers. Two pilots and a family of four. Upon investigation of the crash site, Flint notices a boot print. But this isn't any normal boot print the police forensics would have noticed. First off the boot print is about 4 feet long, and it's only visible by those aware of magic. We find the foot prints lead into a small grove of trees off the tarmac.

Upon entering the grove, we find ourselves in a seemingly endless forest. Due to the overpowering sense of magic all around us, it is likely that only those aware would have ended up in the same place once they walk through the grove of trees. The boot trail becomes invisible because the magical resonance of the forest overpowers our sense of it, so we are forced to follow other tracks, like the pieces of the fuselage of the Cessna wreckage.

The track brought us to an abandoned church in a clearing in the woods. Kody, the ex-army ranger, sneaks up to get a closer look. Once he gets back and tells us it is occupied, we devise a plan. Hank comes up with the idea to disguise himself as a lost wanderer, seeking water. Hank is a professional make-up artist and actor, whose primary career is with film production, and is a pretty good looking man, with slightly effeminate features. He played the part very well, getting into character, and collapses in front of the cabin door, moaning for water. The door smashes open and we get a sight.

What could be described to us as probably the ugliest man we have ever seen, about 12 feet tall, looks like he dressed for a Renaissance fair, and sports a massive mean axe slung across his back. He leans down over the prone actor and in a deep scottish accent, yells "Looks like we be havin' Elf tonight!"

Kent doesn't want to risk anything, and is very much a shoot first, ask questions later kind of guy. As the giant of a man picks up Hank and says "We'll eat this one first!", Kent lets off 3 precise shots from his rifle into the skull of the giant. Of course the likelihood of 3 penetrating shots to the cranium anyone would survive are astronomically low. The giant drops like a rag-doll, but right on top of Hank. The door slams shut.

At this, Kody comes bursting out of the forest into the clearing and barrels into the body of the dead giant to roll it off the struggling Hank. Kody musters his unique magical skills, and shapeshifts into a 12 foot tall, 1500 lb. Kodiak bear. As he burst into the door and knocks it off its hinges, he notices another giant waiting for him holding a crossbow more akin to a ballista, and lets a bolt off. It injures the bear, but he will endure. He ducks back out of the doorway.

Flint (my character), has been watching this all from the sidelines, mouth agape. But he had the presence of mind to prepare a special sticky note. He had written a well crafted incendiary spell on the sticky note. He rushes up to the cabin without standing at the doorway and gathers his nerve. Kody the Kodiak bear knows better than going through the door again, so he decides to go through one of the windows at the side of the cabin. The giant inside finds himself suddenly assaulted from a huge bear bursting through the window, and drops its crossbow. Flint notices this, and slaps the sticky note down on the weapon. It bursts into flames as though it was soaked in kerosene.

Kent with his rifle, and Kody with his bearclaws finish taking out the giant. It falls down on the burning crossbow and catches fire. Kent had noticed a third giant inside who was about to lower 4 bodies into a pot of boiling water, and with a precision headshot, takes him out.

Flint was feeling pretty good having disabled the crossbow, but he didn't notice the first giant outside the doorway stand up again. With little effort it backhands Flint and flings him across the room. He had never been in a fight before, so he ends up dazed, crippled, prone, with an asthma attack, and essentially demoralized. How could he fight such an awesome force in a world he knew so little about?

Kody confronts the giant outside, but its different this time. It's now 30 feet tall, even uglier, had grown tusks, and super pissed. It severely cripples John with a 'HULK SMASH' like maneuver. Hank checks up on Flint who had just used his inhaler for the asthma attack. He gets a grin on his face, and asks Flint "You ready to be a hero?" Before Flint could respond, he teleports the both of them outside and right behind the giant. Flint prepares another incendiary sticky note, and with his last reserves of strength he leaps up and slaps it on the giant. With a combination of Kent emptying his clip into the monster, Kody's vicious bear attacks, and my severe ignite spell, the creature falls.

Having vanquished our foes, we prepare to lick our wounds and wrap up this case. Unfortunately we weren't able to save everyone. The father of the family of 4 was sold off to another giant who had left and ate him, and the pilot was already consumed by the 3 giants we just killed. The co-pilot, mother, and two children were now safe.

From what they told us though, it sounds like the father was specifically targeted and sold off for food. Exactly why, though, we don't know yet.

Star*Drive Saturday: Heavy Range Weapons

Last week I covered the lesser category of range weapons, Small Range Weapons, this week it is:

HEAVY RANGE WEAPONS

For destructive power, heavy weapons are unmatched. This category of weapons are generally military grade, and almost always illegal for civilian use (except maybe for within Austrin space). Their advantage is in the ability to penetrate armor and general stopping power, but they are heavy, cumbersome, expensive, and impossible to conceal on a person.

Heavy weapons cover indirect fire (like bantam and grenade launchers), and direct fire (like cannons and heavy version of the standard range.) These weapons cannot be concealed, they require 2 hands to use, and generally have limited load capacity. The load capacity is described in the Load line, and is how many shots the weapon can take before it needs to be reloaded. Generally players with this sort of firepower aren't going in with at least a few other loads strapped allover their body, and wont bother to hide it anyway. The Special line describes any rules unique to the weapon.

Flamethrower
Cost: 800 cr
Range: Short
Damage:V
Load: 10 (cannot reload, backpack needs replaced)
Special: Ignore up to 50% cover on targets of flamethrower attacks.
Commonly referred to as 'Flamers' in slang. It's fuel tank is worn as a backpack unit, and its high volume, high pressure discharge can ignite even the most flame-resistant objects and personal armor. While it doesn't have the range of many other heavy weapons, in close quarters there are few weapons that match the sheer terror and destructiveness.

Grenade Launcher
Cost: 800 cr
Range: Long
Damage: as grenade type
Load: 5
Grenades are small explosive or utility devices. They can either be thrown, or launched from a grenade launcher. The type of damage and effect of the round depends on the type of grenade loaded and what the character brought. It takes a full round to switch to a different grenade type. All grenade types below are not assumed to always be readily available on the launcher, as the player has to buy and load them separately. NOTE: The following grenades can be thrown by a character. They are activated on a 3 second timer by simply popping a cap and pressing a button.

• Frag Grenade - Damage: X Special: Deals X damage to all within Short range of target. Cost: 30 cr for a load of 5
• Designed to explode into lots of tiny deadly pieces of deadly shrapnel.
• Concussion Grenade - Damage: V Special: The target and all within Short range of target get knocked down. Cost: 30 cr for a load of 5
• It doesn't have any fragmentation pieces but its an explosive tightly wrapped, granting an explosion of concussive force.
• Plasma Grenade - Damage: V Special: Everything within Short range of the target that can ignite on fire does. Cost: 50 cr for a load of 5
• Contains a highly combustible chemical that ignites and throws shrapnel which continues to burn. 
• Gas Grenade - Damage: -- Special: Fills an area around the target with a Short radius of toxic gas that incapacitates unshielded or unprotected targets. Cost: 40 cr for a load of 5
• Considered a crowd control weapon, the gas grenade is filled with some sort of tear gas or irritant that has adverse effects to those not properly protected in sealed suits or masks.
• Smoke Grenade - Damage: -- Special: Fills an area around the target with a Short radius of thick smoke, providing 75% cover. Cost: 30 cr for a load of 5
•  A unique blend of chemicals ignite, not to deal damage, but provide a thick plume of smoke. Often used for quick cover or getaways.
• Stun Grenade - Damage: X (non-lethal) Special: Deals X (non-lethal) damage to all within Short range of target. Cost: 40 cr for a load of 5
• Releases a concussive wave of compressed air or special gas that has the capability of instantly knocking targets out without a lethal explosion.
• Pulse Grenade - Damage: -- Special: All electronics within Short range of the target get knocked out unless they are properly shielded against electromagnetic pulses. Cost: 60 cr for a load of 5
• Also known as an EMP grenade, it contains a powerful electromagnetic capacitor that releases a wave that's deadly to electronic equipment.
• Tracer Grenade - Damage: V Special: +2 to attack roll and deals V damage to all within Short range of target. Cost: 80 cr for a load of 5
• Known as a smart grenade. When launched it immediately seeks the nearest moving target and explodes like a frag grenade.

Bantam Launcher
Cost: 600 cr
Range: Extra Long
Damage: as load type
Load: 4
This portable launcher fires miniature bantam rockets. It is braced on the shoulder and is lightweight and easy to use. It contains 4 chambers to be loaded with any type of rocket, and the pistol grip contains 4 triggers. It can be loaded with a variety of different rockets, which need to be purchased separately. With a laser-guidance system, this weapon is accurate at long ranges.

• Anti-Air - Damage: X vs vehicles and extra heavy armor, but fatal against personnel. Special: +2 to attack rolls vs aircraft. Cost: 70 cr per rocket
• Contains additional lift and guidance systems to follow and attack low-flying aircraft. It can be either laser or heat guided.
• Anti-Personnel - Damage: V to personnel, and ineffective against vehicles, aircraft, and structures. Special: Hits all creatures within a Medium radius of target. Cost: 80 cr per rocket
• This rocket deals a low level radiation burst designed to inflict maximum damage on people while leaving buildings intact.
• Anti-Vehicle - Damage: X vs vehicles and extra heavy armor, but fatal against personnel. Special: +2 to attack rolls vs vehicles and structures. Cost: 70 cr per rocket
• Designed to destroy vehicles, but can also be used against bunkers and other hardened installations.

Heavy Charge Machine Gun
Cost: 700 cr
Range: Long
Damage: V
Load: 10
Special: -1 to attack rolls unless it is using the tripod mount.
Taking standard charge weapon technology and increasing its firing rate with a higher caliber shell makes this a deadly suppression weapon.

Arc Gun
Cost: 900 cr
Range: Medium
Damage: X
Load: 5
Special: Usable only in atmosphere. +2 to attack rolls against grounded targets.
This weapon is capable of delivering a powerful electrical shock in the form of a lightning bolt. It uses a built in low-power laser beam to ionize the air between the weapon and its target, creating a path for the electrical arc.

Stutter Cannon
Cost: 800 cr
Range: Medium
Damage: V (non-lethal)
Load: 5
Special: All within Short range of the target are also effected. +1 to attack rolls when it is using the tripod mount.
A heavy weapon designed to disperse or handle a crowd without the use of lethal force. It produces compressed sonic waves that deliver hammerlike blows against targets.

Mass Cannon
Cost: 1,000 cr
Range: Long
Damage: X
Load: 5
Special: Targets hit are stunned for a round. +1 to attack rolls when it is using the tripod mount.
A much larger version of the mass rifle. Has a longer range and more powerful shot.

Plasma Gun
Cost: 1,200 cr
Range: Long
Damage: X
Load: 5
Special: Ignites the target on fire regardless of any damage dealt. +1 to attack rolls when it is using the tripod mount.
Using a powerful electromagnetic accelerator, it throws blasts of superheated plasma generated by the delivery of an electric shock to a large electrochemical shell.

Quantum Mini-Gun
Cost: 2,000 cr
Range: Extra Long
Damage: X
Load: 5
Special: +1 to attack rolls when it is using the tripod mount.
Where most heavy weapons are larger versions of their counterparts, this is a miniature version of a ship mounted particle beam. It uses a small accelerator to fire subatomic particles at a target.

Minis Showcase: Warhammer 40k T'au

Before I started building my Dwarf army for Warhammer Fantasy, back in college I started building a T'au army for Warhammer 40,000. I have a lot of it built and painted, but only played it once. I played them against a Chaos Space Marines army and was steamrolled with little hope of survival. It was my very first game, and the opposing player was more concerned about stomping me than teaching me how to play. That was my first and last game of 40k. But I hold no ill will, these were fun to build. Since it was my first army, a lot of the painting is pretty shameful, and several of the pieces are broken over years of storage, but here are a few of my better turn-outs. I may have to dig through and find more to show.

I already showcased some of this army, in the form of the Lizardmen Kroot.

It is no lie that Games Workshop is expensive. And about this time I had already started to feel the effects of it on my student wallet. So I saw somewhere on the internet how a guy made his own stealth-suits, and tried to emulate it. A box of Fire Warriors converted to Stealth Suits was cheaper than buying an equal amount of Stealth Suits.

I really love the look of the crisis suits, but I wasn't opposed to spicing them up a bit. The cables on the sides are piano wire. In college there was no shortage of that lying around.

Star*Drive Saturday: Small Range Weapons

Last week was Melee Weapons, continuing with weapons and technology, this week it is:

SMALL RANGE WEAPONS

Advancements in the firearm is one of those things that never slowed down in development and progress. Since ancient humans figured out they could kill from afar, conflict was changed forever. Laser and other energy weapons began making the scene around the time of earth's gravity age (the time since meeting the fraal.) But before that slug weapons made a dramatic shift around the fusion age (the time after the invention of the fusion reactor) into the charge weapon. The mechanical firing pin was replaced by a contact delivering a massive shock to the cartridge, and gunpowder was replaced by an electrochemical compound that upon firing changes into a white-hot plasma that expands more powerfully and smoothly than a chemical explosive. Thus charge weapons have more muzzle velocity and accuracy than earlier firearms. Charge weapons require a clip of shells like an older weapon, but in addition to that a battery is required. However thanks to advancements in superconductors in the gravity age, battery life is significantly higher and much more powerful than the old devices of the information age (modern time for us.) A player shouldn't have to worry about battery life when it comes to charge weapons, only the clip size, if the referee wishes to keep track of those things. Even with powerful lanthanide cells, energy weapons require much more power per shot so they can drain quickly. Again like melee weapons, the referee should choose a number of shots available to any weapon to keep track of things easier. 10 works great in this case, as in after 10 shots from any gun, the battery (for energy weapons) or clip (for charge weapons) needs to be replaced.

The following is a list of popular small range weapons you can find in the Verge. The Special line describes any rules unique to the weapon. The Hide line tells whether the weapon is concealable or not for purposes of hiding it. Only pistol weapons can be fired one-handed, all other weapons listed are assumed to be occupying both hands.

Charge Pistol
Cost: 200 cr
Range: Medium
Damage: M
Hide: Yes

Charge Rifle
Cost: 250 cr
Range: Long
Damage: M
Hide: Yes
Special: Has both semi-auto and fully auto settings.

Zero-g Charge Weapons
For an additional 50 credits, the charge weapons can be outfitted with a sophisticated anti-recoil system to neutralize the gun's movement. It allows the user to fire the weapon in weightless conditions without throwing himself into awkward tumbles and turns.

Autoflechette Shotgun
Cost: 300 cr
Range: Short
Damage: V(short), M(medium), L(long)
Hide: No
Special: At Medium range the damage is M, and at Long range the damage is L.
The autoflechette gun fires a 25mm round that contains a bundle of tiny, razor-sharp aerofoils. A single hit can carve an unarmored person to ribbons.

Sabot Pistol
Cost: 400 cr
Range: Medium
Damage: V
Hide: Yes
Special: Holds only 5 rounds, and knocks any un-anchored target down upon hit.
This small handheld electromagnetic accelerator hurls a special, discarding-rocket slug at hypersonic velocities. The round fired by this weapon is a miniature scramjet that ignites soon after leaving the muzzle and quickly accelerates to incredible speed. Due to its extremely high velocity, the rocket round is designed to splatter against any appreciable resistance to transfer as much kinetic energy as possible to the target.

Laser Pistol
Cost: 300 cr
Range: Medium
Damage: L
Hide: Yes

Laser Rifle
Cost: 500 cr
Range: Long
Damage: M
Hide: Yes
Special: Has both semi-auto and full auto settings.

Mass Pistol
Cost: 600 cr
Range: Short
Damage: V
Hide: Yes
Special: Fires 5 rounds per battery, and targets hit are stunned for a round.
Utilizing the gravity induction technology also employed in shipboard weapon systems, the mass pistol throws an artificial short lived mass singularity at its target. The gravity point causes horrible damage through tidal effects to both animate and inanimate objects, but it is short-ranged and consumes an enormous amount of energy.

Mass Rifle
Cost: 800 cr
Range: Medium
Damage: V
Hide: Yes
Special: Fires 5 rounds per battery, and targets hit are stunned for a round.
Same as a mass pistol, but the rifle version is heavier and has a longer range.

Stutter Pistol
Cost: 150 cr
Range: Medium
Damage: M (non-lethal)
Hide: Yes
Special: Does not perform in a vacuum.
This hand-held pistol uses sonic energy - audible as a loud, low-frequency rumble - to incapacitate a target. Since the stutter pistol delivers non-lethal firepower, it is favored by riot response teams and those who seek to pacify rather than terminate opponents.

Render Rifle
Cost: 1,000 cr
Range: Long
Damage: L starting
Hide: No
Special: First round fired on a target it does L damage, each subsequent round it is fired on the same target, the damage steps up to M, then V, then X for every round after that.
This weapon utilizes gravity induction technology to strobe through a lighting-quick cycle of attraction and repulsion against the target. This action causes matter to literally tear itself to pieces. A lucky target may escape with bad bruises, surface abrasions, and a thorough battering, but a well centered hit by the render creates massive body trauma.

Movie bad. Game good.

The movie Battleship was horrible. It is a movie that should have never been green-lighted, but there is a lot of money in converting old toy and game IPs into Michael Bay-like movies and I don't think it will stop anytime soon. If you haven't seen Battleship yet, don't.

That being said, the movie edition of classic Battleship is actually really good. I don't think I need to explain what makes classic battleship so great, but the designers over at Hasbro have actually made it better. One of the main flaws with the game was how long it took. Each turn was one peg at a time, dotting the map, and things only got exciting when you found the route to destroying a ship. This game added a few extra mechanics to spice things up. Each player has a deck of spec-ops cards that make things interesting. You create a hand and play these cards. Most of the cards are simple like place 1 peg, place 2 pegs, and place 3 pegs. But there are others that do extra, like scan a row, reveal one un-hit coordinate, blitz a row or column, etc. Also there are Com Tower cards that add an extra sense of tension. Whenever you draw one, set it aside. The first player who collects all 4 Com Tower cards gets a special that auto-sinks a ship whenever he scores a hit. This new dynamic speeds the game up, but in a good way.

Now I will sheepishly admit that I did like the alien ship designs from the movie. And this game uses those to make some pretty cool looking battleship minis. You can play either the Aliens or the Navy, and the game case splits apart to create the 2 boards, making it very convenient for transport.

So the bottom line is if you already don't own a copy of classic Battlehip, pick up the movie edition, and try not to think of that abomination that actually made it to theaters while playing.

I scanned the reference card that shows what all the spec-op cards do.

Star*Drive Saturday: Melee Weapons

Last week was the last of the player options, Mutations. Starting this week I will cover several different types of weapons and technology available in the Star*Drive setting. From here on, I will try to do shorter posts about smaller subjects. I've done plenty of LONG articles. Today it is:

MELEE WEAPONS

Through Earth's history as the firearm developed, research into melee weapons went to their all-time lowest. Mostly finding its use as utility or ceremony, rather than first choice for assault. But you could never deny the simple stealthy effectiveness of a hidden blade. As powered weapons appear in increasing variety and power, the personal melee weapon is reborn as more and more combat occurs between units and small groups, and confined spaces on starships where a stray bullet can mean danger for everyone. As technology advanced, many nations ramped up their ability to ban firearms, but find it increasingly difficult to discern combat knife from kitchen knife, so for illegal activity, the melee weapon became easier to smuggle.

Below are several examples of common melee weapons you can find for adventurers in the Verge. The Special line describes any rules unique to the weapon. The Hide line tells whether the weapon is concealable or not for purposes of hiding it. Powered weapons mean they have charge clips. To keep it simple, the referee should declare each clip has a set number of charges (usually about 10 charges), as in after 10 uses of the weapon the clip must be replaced or recharged, or the weapon loses its special rules and its damage is one grade less (i.e. a V weapon becomes a M weapon).

Pulse Baton
Cost: 80 cr
Damage: M (non-lethal)
Hide: Yes
Powered: Yes
Effective for incapacitating targets, it delivers a non-lethal electric shock on contact, which makes it extremely useful against unarmored targets.

Chainsword
Cost: 150 cr
Damage: V
Hide: No
Powered: Yes
It's heavy and unwieldy, but extremely effective against heavier armored targets. A chain with serrated microengineered teeth run along it and spin at really high speeds, providing amazing cutting action against almost any normal material.

Gravmace
Cost: 60 cr
Damage: M
Hide: No
Powered: Yes
Special: +1 bonus to use
Consisting of a meter long handle with a gravitonic capacitor inside a striking head. Powerful capacitors manipulate the weapon's mass, making it strike like a sledgehammer while being swung like a willow switch.

Power Cestus
Cost: 80 cr
Damage: M
Hide: Yes
Powered: Yes
Special: Wielded as though you are unarmed.
Consists of an elbow length gauntlet of carbonite fiber weave, ending in a heavy fighting glove that covers the user's hand. Gravity technology allows the wielder to strike blows of astonishing power with a gloved hand.

Tri-Staff
Cost: 1000 cr
Damage: V
Hide: No
Powered: Yes
Special: +1 to action tests vs. range and melee attacks
An impressive looking weapon that is the Concord Administrator's badge of office and an effective means of self defense. It consists of a massive 3-pronged blade at the end of a 2 meter long staff. When the device is activated, it is capable of dealing out large amounts of energy damage-and it exudes a force field that grants the wielder a +1 to action tests vs range and melee attacks.

Ion Blade
Cost: 100 cr
Damage: L
Hide: Yes
Powered: Yes
Special: On a successful hit, roll a die. On a roll of 5 or 6, the target electronics are disabled.
The ion blade delivers a charge of electromagnetic energy on contact. While it's moderately effective against unarmored targets, its primary purpose is to neutralize powered body armor, robots, and cybernetics.

Zero-G Axe
Cost: 110 cr
Damage: M
Hide: No
Powered: Yes
Special: In zero gravity or microgravity environments it deals V damage.
The zero-g axe is a powered weapon specialized for use in boarding actions and microgravity situations. At the bottom of its haft, a counterweight compensates perfectly for the variable mass of its deadly carbonite blade.

TN Blade
Cost: 60 cr
Damage: M
Hide: Yes
Powered: No
TN stands for tungsten-neutronite. It's the toughest conventional alloy known, capable of punching through cerametal or vanadium steel like an iron crowbar through tinfoil. It's a large combat knife but far denser and heavier than a conventional blade, keeping it a one-handed weapon.

Chuurkhna
Cost: 150 cr
Damage: M
Hide: No
Powered: No
Special: When wielded by a weren, it deals V damage.
An ancient weren design and still favored by members of that race. Its a glaive or halberd with a haft about a meter and a half long. Its large and heavy, intended for chopping rather than thrusting. A weren can wield it one or 2 handed, but most humans need to use it 2 handed. Weren have been known to drive chuurkhnas through the heaviest of body armors.

Dait'sya
Cost: 60 cr
Damage: L
Hide: Yes
Powered: No
Special: When a t'sa wields 2, can attack twice in a turn with no penalties.
The dait'sya is a traditional t'sa weapon, a double-bladed dagger held in the wielders closed fist. They're always used in pairs. Combined with the lightning speed of most t'sa, the dait'sya is especially dangerous in close-quarters combat.

Tong Fe
Cost: 50 cr
Damage: L
Hide: Yes
Powered: No
Special: +1 to action tests vs. melee attacks (+2 if dual wielded)
The tong fe is a martial arts weapon that has become the fighting stick of choice for many police and security forces. Designed specifically for parrying, experts often wield two of these weapons at once.