So EU4 is coming out in the middle of August, and so far, it looks good.  They're basically taking the mechanics from the third game, polishing them up a bit, then implementing them in the same engine they used for Crusader Kings 2, which looks fantastic, and runs just as well.
Thing is, Paradox is running a referral program, Call to Arms, around the EU4 newsletter.  If you get enough people to sign up, you get some fairly nice (digital, game-related) rewards- some free DLC, a strategy guide, and the like.  I was hoping you guys could help me out with that.
I've been signed up for a Paradox newsletter for months, and they haven't spammed me.  I get one message a month, basically.  If you don't mind that sort of thing, just go to the link below, and follow the instructions.  It only takes a minute.http://signup.europauniversalis4.com/r/8fa5b0696fd
I've got two friends of mine signed up already, and should be able to get 2-3 more, with luck.  Three would get me the first free DLC, and five people would get me the second one.  If I hit ten people, they give me a free copy of Europa Universalis 3- which I already own, and would be glad to give to one of the people who helped out.  Just let me know if you do sign up for the newsletter, so I can keep track of who's in the running.
Thanks in advance!

To: shooterslist@Gunfen.com
From: Ford.Sierra@Friggarock.fen

Subject: Full-time Heavyarms
Date: Dec08 2023
--------

Hey all

So, as most of you long-term list-member know, for the last few years I've had this little Hobby Thing called Ford's Heavyarms.
Only now, it's starting to get beyond a hobby. I was always warned never to make a business out of something you do for fun
but I'm faced with the choice of either cutting back on my work-rate to meet my normal obligations, or going full-time.

Half the work I do on Frigga involved maintaining Survival Shot firearms anyway.

So, I've decided to go for it. Officially, full-time, open for business.

That means two things:

1) Lead times may drop on some projects as I have more time to dedicate to them

2) I need to hire someone to help meet the workload.

First and foremost, this won't affect any on-order stuff. At most, it'll arrive earlier. It also means I can get full PEPPER clearance
and certification.

Either way, here's what I can offer the discerning collector. Or someone interested in something just that little bit different.

----------
Built to order

1) Caster Gun Replicas. Available in .50BMG, or 20MM Vulcan, with or without driver coil compensation. POA.

Supplied in display case with training, armour piercing and armour piercing incendiary rounds.

2) Compensated Long-Lance 20mm rifle. 20mm Vulcan, semi-automatic rifle with full driver coil compensation and integrated
GJ-compliant smartgun system with cyberlink. POA. Supplied in display case with training, armour piercing and armour piercing

incendiary rounds.

3) Plasma Pistol. 7 Round Magazine, .45 calibre. Based on similar technology to the Cosmo Guns. 1000 cr Base Price. Quirk free ignition.

Similar to M1911 in capability and handling. Reliable and accurate, with modulating ignition power to minimise overpenetration.

4) Plasma carbine. 20 round Magazine. 20 inch barrel. Polymer Stock, and grips. Semi-automatic only. 1800 cr Base Price. Quirk free ignition.

Reliable and accurate with modulating ignition power to reduce the risk of overpenetration. Smartgun compatible.

5) .45Pl Ammunition, Box 40 Rounds. Standard ammunition for Plasma pistol and Plasma Carbine. Gel-backed .45 Calibre copper-jacketed lead bullet.

.45Pl Armour Piercing. Box 20 Rounds. Armour Piercing variant of the above. Steel core round.
.45Pl Safety. Box 20 Rounds. Frangible round. Designed to shatter without penetrating spacecraft skin.

.45Pl blank. Box 40 Gel slugs. Allows the fusion igniter to fire and cycle the weapon's action.

All .45Pl rounds are certified as Cook-Off proof and vacuum ready.

6) 20mm Vulcan ammunition. All standard rounds to order singularly. Price on Asking. Check local reg's before purchase.
There can be a lead time as my supplier in the US likes to wait until they have a large enough order before shipping.
20mm Vulcan N-Pinch Stun round developed with the help of Roberta Cisneros. Compatible with driver-coil equipped weapons only.

Capable of non-lethally stunning most standard humans for an average of ten minutes.

20mm Vulcan Explosive Radio Detonated. Law Enforcement only. Details on request.

----------
Production

1) FR15 Rifle. Ar-15 clone with gas-piston action. Constructed almost entirely from carbotanium fibre composite with an integrated structural battery and smartgun control
Manufactured by Catgirl Industries using their latest carbon process, this is the same weapon currently used by Survival Shot. Uses standard 5.56 NATO rounds, with adapters

for simmunition included in the case. Base: 1500 Credits

Discounts for law enforcement and registered mercenaries ordering in bulk.

Options include full datalogging. Knockdown kits and individual components also available. All components are compatible with most AR-type rifles.

----------
Reconditions

1) Steyr AUG A1. As used by Survival Shot. These are taken from the arsenal here and reconditioned to an almost-new state. All weapons include smartgun systems
with datalogging, and adaptations to use Simmunitions. Base: 1000 Credits. Limited availability.

----------
Custom Work

Contact me for a quote. I can do anything from basic maintenance, repair and reconditions to custom modifications and manufacture.

---------
Shooting Range

77 Frigga has a full live-fire shooting range, with a full range of weapons available for rent at fair rates. Including examples of all of the above. Or bring your own, for a little fun

---------

Now then. Am I a fool for competing with Whistler? Maybe. But that never stopped me before

Applications for gunsmith position at the address attached to the headers. Send a Resume along with a quick cover letter explaining why your interested in the position and I'll try

get back to you within the week. Salary negotiable based on prior experience. Benefits include access to a shooting range, strong local security, a local apartment, hanger space and

healthcare.

Be sure to check my website out for more information on the above: www.FordsHeavy.fen/wp-index.php

Later
-Ford Sierra

------
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

Just tossed an image onto the wiki: Not-yet-Inspector Natsuko Aki, single-handedly foiling the first attempted bank robbery in Helium

http://www.fenspace.net/index.php5?titl ... pistol.png]
(click on image for larger version)

Now, there has to be a story to go with this... Does anyone want to tell it?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

In a while I think I'll be deleting some of the no-longer-necessary CoX topics and whatnot from this forum, like "CoH Weekly Strike Target".  In fact, now that I look, that might be the only one to go. 
If there's anything anyone doesn't want touched, tell me now.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

James Gandolfini has died.  I find it particularly disturbing that he was four years younger than I.  People shouldn't die that young in these days of modern medicine -- accidents, war and murder will always be with us, yes, but otherwise....
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

Spun off from the timeline thread, where I started talking about Chinese supers and how I see them:-

My own personal design for a national-grade Chinese superhuman has always been a giant growth guy named Great Wall. I've said that. And I'd love to see a giant growth guy by that name be included, whether it's my interpretation or someone else's. Doesn't matter. But the NAME is amazing, you know?

I figured I'll talk more about how I see Chinese supers being characterised, though. And why I think that way. Both government types, and non-government rogues.

Great Wall:

My own take on the subject is a burly broad-shouldered, somewhat hirsute man. A big guy even before his powers fully manifested. Formerly a farmer, he discovered his powers saving people from flooding - this is pretty much just for the mental image of a giant man wading waist or thigh-deep through what are actually torrential waters. Following which, he'd have volunteered to join the PLA - which is just as well, since there would have been no way the government would let him go about his own business to begin with.

At least in my mind, the character's intended to be a decent and regular guy - basically an ordinary joe, a natural-born 'mutant' who's signed up on his own accord...because it's the right thing to do. But at heart, he's just a farm boy, you know? A guy who's not quite comfortable with fame, a guy who's idea of a good time is to relax and have a few beers. Thing is, he's ended up a big deal, a big celebrity - because that's how it rolls.

Chinese Government Supers: 

There's a massive range of possible characterisation for Chinese characters, though. My thinking is that deliberately-bred Chinese "programme supers" must be some sort of mix between how China tries to groom real-world Olympic athletes, and the very real social and economic class divisions between regular folks and the country's elite.

I figure that China's leaders must know they're walking a dangerous path by breeding increasingly powerful supers. Plus, with that large a population, there's any number of powerful supers who could spontaneously emerge. Thus things must be engineered so that people with powers must genuinely believe the best thing for them is to serve the government. You don't want angry oppressed supers deciding they're better off going rogue, or worse, defecting. 

So being a successful powerful super in China must come - to some degree - with wealth, celebrity, and inclusion in the Party's elite, the highest echelons of the military, and so on. There's obviously thousands of supers who aren't...impressive enough to make that cut. But they can dream, they can think, hey, that could be me. 

On Chinese Supers as Antagonists

There's always the possibility of playing a Chinese superteam - but I wager for most IST-setting games, Chinese supers are likely to be antagonists. Or awkward allies at best. 

It's a spectrum. There's some Chinese supers who'd be genuinely decent folks, they just happen to be working for Beijing. That's my Great Wall. These are ordinary men and women, many of whom wouldn't have been products of the government's efforts to deliberately breed and train superhumans. Again, a population that large is going to result in many many naturally-emerging superhumans. 

But, yes, there's also going to be...egotistical entitled sociopaths who revel in the fact they were bred for incredible power. Power is their birthright, power is China's destiny. That sort of logic. It's not hard to imagine - a quick Google search will find you tons of examples of horrendous abuse of power by senior Chinese officials, and the sons and daughters of party elites. Communism is nice in theory, but...

To be fair, the folks at the absolute top in Beijing probably take a very dim view of any excesses, both in the IST context and the real world - especially since they know it makes them look bad. But these are the realities. 

Also, to be clear, nationalism is a very real thing in our real-world China, and it's not all under the government's control at this point. A lot of folks think that China's leaders certainly have tried to encourage nationalism for their own purposes. Nobody really believes in Communism anymore, so nationalism's become the primary driver keeping support for the Party intact...the Party being characterised as the best people to defend China's interests. The trouble is, when you have people genuinely rioting in the streets because of perceived foreign meddling in Chinese affairs, it starts to severely limit your own decision-making options as a government.

So some Chinese supers are going to be real ultranationalists.

Then there's the pragmatists. They don't believe in Communism. They don't have any illusions about their government. They're disillusioned...but they don't care. They have a good deal, a better deal than their countrymen. Some of these people would certainly defect, but others may be happy to stay where they are. They're well-paid, after all. It's this last group that I see a lot of other superhero settings fail to address, for instance DC, Marvel, or other RPGs like Champions.

On Rogue Supers

The interesting thing about Chinese folklore is that it's overwhelmingly about outlaws and anti-authority figures. Sure, there are heroic generals and princes in folk tales, respected nobles and judges. But China's most famous heroes, from the Monkey God Sun Wukong to the 108 Stars of Destiny are...more akin to Robin Hood than King Arthur. They're criminals, they laugh in the face of authority...

Sometimes, legitimate authority isn't worth respecting.

Yes, the Chinese people are ultra-nationalistic. But at the same time, they also love the idea of a vigilante sticking it to the man.

If the USA can cheer on both Captain America and the Punisher - the same logic applies to China.

It's a relatively common thing for superhero settings to have a few 'rogue supers' who don't answer to the Chinese state, at large in China. It makes sense, when you have an authoritarian government. But what most writers don't realise is how deeply rooted this idea of a vigilante rogue is in Chinese literature and culture. 

And I'm not talking about a kind and fluffy Batman vigilante either, who doesn't, you know, actually killificate people.

My favourite Chinese folk hero is Wu Song. He's a true hero! You know he's a true hero, because he gets drunk and beats the hell out of innocent wildlife. Then his brother is killed by an adulterous wife, he goes ape, messily kills his sister-in-law (DISEMBOWLING FIST) and his sister-in-law's lover. Actually, according to some versions, he messes up and kills the wrong woman first, but it's okay, because he's a hero. Then he ends up in jail! Amusingly, for a crime he didn't commit, as opposed to the ones (see above) which he did. But it's okay, because he busts the hell out of jail, and then kills the corrupt policeman who sent him to jail! And the policeman's entire family. Then he gets drunk and...

Look, I'm just saying, China loves rebels. China really loves rebels. In the IST world, there's almost certainly a few independent Chinese supers out there who have ridiculous levels of popularity and notoriety...to the desperate and bitter chagrin of the authorities.

One of them may well call himself Wu Song. I like to think his power is getting drunk and punching through people.
-- Acyl

Literally, I just heard this. Tre Chipman, aka Ascendant, just passed away after being in the hospital for several weeks.
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

So I threw this together to answer a question on handwavium over on SB, thought you guys might find it interesting/useful. Comment as you see fit.

• Solid handwavium is used in the manufacture of power systems and electronics. It's grey to dark grey in color, has a sort of plasticy texture and is heavier than it looks. You can dissolve it in water or alcohol to produce liquid handwavium.
  
• Liquid handwavium is a grey liquid with the viscosity of a good quality engine oil. This is the stuff used as a base for just about everything when waving an object.
  
• Biomod handwavium is a greenish-grey paste with the consistency of mayonnaise or a thick salsa. If you're not looking to modify yourself keep this stuff a good distance away at all times!
  

• Harpo: This liquid strain is used on combustion engines and rockets. It's a lighter grey than standard handwavium, almost a silver color. Great for flying cars or space-capable vehicles.
  
• TelTran-5: If you own any commercial pre-waved gear, then you've already got some. This solid strain is a low-quirk one used for computer power cells and chipsets.
  
• Mary Rose: A popular strain in Europe, used for cameras and projector work mostly. It has a distinct pinkish tone to it. Comes in solid and liquid forms.
  
• Golden Sunset: If you're waving in the Americas, this is the most reliable handwavium on the market. Golden Sunset is an all-purpose wave developed by TSAB.
  
• DragonCon Guacamole: This stuff is everywhere. The original biomod handwavium, it's available in raw form or in a variety of sub-breeds.
  

• Music preferences
  
• Changes in color during operation
  
• Animalistic sounds
  
• Flaming wheels (not as dangerous as it looks!)
  

When playing the Dabo mini-game in STO, I always use the numbers 1, 4, and 9. 

I'm trying to identify a comic book I saw years ago that I was just telling a coworker about -- but I can't remember the title, the publisher or more than the rough period it came out.
It was an independent, black and white comic, very large format, whose entire content was two superbeings duking it out in a city and demolishing it thereby.  It had, to the best of my recollection, no or almost no dialogue, just sound effects.  I think it came out in the late 80s or maybe the early 90s.
Does this ring a bell for anyone?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.