"Flechette" guns

Preacher

Swabbie
Banned
I just finished reading a number of the WC novels, and there's something I just don't quite "get": The "Flechette" guns. They served to "rip through" the enemies shield/armor/etc. In fact, they were responsible for a "kill" just about every time I read of 'em being used. While presented as a "gun" weapon, the description of how they worked seemed to softpedal that, and implied that they were more "released" (like chaff) rather than "fired". What I don't get is this: If they were simply released (as with a pack of chaff), they wouldn't have any significant velocity behind 'em, and therefore it seems they'd simply "bounce off" a fighter's shields, no harm done. Am I missing something, or were they actually "launched" (that is to say, released under power of a rocket or missile, etc.), and therefore logically would be as devastating as they turned out to be?... This would put 'em more in line with a type of "fragmentation'' grenade mechanism, and would be far more plausible. Thoughts?...
-Preacher
 
If they were being fired from a ship moving at any reasonable speed, that would be fast enough to do that kind of impact damage, just like a ship flying through space can be destroyed by micrometeorites.
 
Yeah, but that's the whole point of WHY shields would be needed for hi-speed spaceflight: Even "cosmic dust", at such speeds, would destroy a ship's hull. How much more so in combat--which is why all WC ships (even transports) have shields. Again, it comes down to how fast these bad boys (the flechette material) are traveling when they're released from the fighter: Are they propelled @ hi velocity, or are they simply "released"?
 
You also have to take into account how fast the fighter is moving too. These fighters move hundreds of kilometers a second. If the Flechette is sharp enough then it could concievable do it.
 
And dense enough. Flechette rounds would probably have to be launched. If they were simply released, they would just follow the course of the ship that launched them until it changed course.
 
I suppose they would be "released" like flak now a days with and explosive charge (or energy burst for WC) and would cuase kenetic damage to the shields and structrual damage to the hull after the shields were down.
 
I read the WC4 novelisation, if I recall the Flechette guns weren't guns that were armed on the fighters, they were hand held weapons the marines used.

Its been a few years, so correct me if I'm wrong.
 
In real life, a flechette "gun" fires a cartridge which releases a lot of tiny darts. It's sort of like a shotgun, but instead of unstabilized pellets, the darts fly straight at a high velocity, and therefore do more damage. As I recall, there were flechette launchers on ships and as infantry weapons in the various novels. As far as ships go, I would assume that it would create a large cloud of darts, which would bring down the shields fast enough to rip through the ship after the shilds were down.
 
Originally posted by Preacher
Yeah, but that's the whole point of WHY shields would be needed for hi-speed spaceflight: Even "cosmic dust", at such speeds, would destroy a ship's hull. How much more so in combat--which is why all WC ships (even transports) have shields. Again, it comes down to how fast these bad boys (the flechette material) are traveling when they're released from the fighter: Are they propelled @ hi velocity, or are they simply "released"?

I have a question. Wouldn't it take less effort to type 'at' rather than hold down shift and press 2? :D
 
Originally posted by redwolf
Originally posted by Preacher
Yeah, but that's the whole point of WHY shields would be needed for hi-speed spaceflight: Even "cosmic dust", at such speeds, would destroy a ship's hull. How much more so in combat--which is why all WC ships (even transports) have shields. Again, it comes down to how fast these bad boys (the flechette material) are traveling when they're released from the fighter: Are they propelled @ hi velocity, or are they simply "released"?

I have a question. Wouldn't it take less effort to type 'at' rather than hold down shift and press 2? :D

Yeah, but not as much effort as it took for you to point that out... ;-)
 
Wedge: The use of fléchette guns is described in the TPoF novel when the marines board the Princeton, for example.
 
Back
Top