Widebeam blasters?

OmegaGuy · Post by **OmegaGuy** » 2006-05-04 11:39am

Just wondering, are there any references at all in the canon to handheld blaster or disruptor weapons that spread out in a wide beam? I mean weapons that do this and are actually strong enough to kill people, not like Trekverse widebeam stun phasers that could easily be stopped by armor or defensive Force powers. The only thing close I can think of is the Geonosian sonic weapon, but that moves pretty slowly. I'm thinking a lightspeed, or at least relativistic, powerful widebeam weapon would be an excellent tool for fighting Jedi or Sith, since they couldn't block the whole thing with a lightsaber and would be forced to dodge.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2006-05-04 11:42am

A nice side-effect would be that it would be excellent for fighting anything that isn't a Jedi/Sith. Too excellent, in fact...if such existed, I would question why they're not in common use.

OmegaGuy · Post by **OmegaGuy** » 2006-05-04 11:43am

Maybe the power requirements are too large for a handheld weapon?

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2006-05-04 11:44am

You do see the problem with a weapon with such an application...right?

Literally the reason they would be used is the giant honking energy source you would need to make said weapon effective. And woe to the fucker who has to holster that fucking thing.

Or to put simpler...this is why we use grenades.

OmegaGuy · Post by **OmegaGuy** » 2006-05-04 12:08pm

Well maybe instead of being used by a human or organic being it could be built into a battle droid as a main weapon.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2006-05-04 12:21pm

OmegaGuy wrote:Well maybe instead of being used by a human or organic being it could be built into a battle droid as a main weapon.

Why?

If I can equip said droid with four guns, I will already do with that what you concieveably do with one shot, but they do not have to be in a clositered formation.

A wide spread gun is used...we call it a shotgun, and there is a reason it isn't used in mass warfare.

OmegaGuy · Post by **OmegaGuy** » 2006-05-04 12:56pm

I never said the droid couldn't have other weapons as well.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2006-05-04 01:04pm

OmegaGuy wrote:I never said the droid couldn't have other weapons as well.

You're also not getting that

1. There are things that can accomplish the supposed wide blaster in more efficency.

2. You need a power source accordingly...which is size, and mass...all of which is taken from somewhere.

The idea is stupid because until we have a way to circumvent economics of size and energy, you're talking about a weapon that is both redundant and an obvious target with little to no advantages over current design.

OmegaGuy · Post by **OmegaGuy** » 2006-05-04 01:05pm

Eh, I suppose you're right.

Vehrec · Post by **Vehrec** » 2006-05-04 01:22pm

Asside from the power issues, such a weapon would be vulnerable to the Square inverse rule of energy propegation. At a range of 50 meters or more, a lethal beam would prehaps have dwindled to a tickle. And if you intensify the power levels, then you add issues like cooling the weapon, increase maintainence, and finnaly increse the cost by a huge amount. Just because you can create a weapon that can blow through a mans chest and both layers of his polymeric armor, is no reason you should.
Besides, such a weapon might have an interferance pattern at range. Not very good if 1/4 the targets are missed because of the quantrum mechanical effects of filling an area with energy.

freker · Post by **freker** » 2006-05-04 04:26pm

but on the short range the weapon would have the effect of a (sawn off) shotgun, it would be a good defensive weapon. the gungans in tPM could have used it

nightmare · Post by **nightmare** » 2006-05-04 05:52pm

freker wrote:but on the short range the weapon would have the effect of a (sawn off) shotgun, it would be a good defensive weapon. the gungans in tPM could have used it

At extremely short range and only initially when the B-1s penetrated the shield. You may notice that they did use a small area effect weapon, boomas.

As one can expect, people in the SWU have no use of CCW on a battlefield against armored troops. If they do have need of short range area effect weapons, they have specialized weapons, like the arc caster, concussion rifle, flechette launcher, and grenades. Otherwise, they simply use the equivalents of submachineguns like the E-11.

A wide-range blaster would by their very nature be very weak compared with the standard thing (which, incidently, is the second inherent problem of shotguns), or drain a lot of power, which means more to carry to compensate.

NRS Guardian · Post by **NRS Guardian** » 2006-05-04 09:54pm

In JKA's first Jedi Academy book one of Moruth[sic] Doole's henchmen has a double-barreled blaster that has an effect similar to a double-barreled shotgun. Also, SW has trando ACP guns and flechette launchers that do shotgun duty.

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2006-05-04 11:20pm

NRS Guardian wrote:In JKA's first Jedi Academy book one of Moruth[sic] Doole's henchmen has a double-barreled blaster that has an effect similar to a double-barreled shotgun. Also, SW has trando ACP guns and flechette launchers that do shotgun duty.

Though apocryphal, the Jedi Knight games include the "Golan Arms II Flechette Launcher," which is a solid-based shotgun, and in game is the premier weapon to kill a Jedi with.

Ryushikaze · Post by **Ryushikaze** » 2006-05-05 12:09am

I recall an RPG source book (and I think it was in a comic book or two as well) which had a a widebeam blaster with exactly the same practical limitations described here (short range, heavy power consumption, etc), colloquially called a deck sweeper. It was designed for boarding actions where the wide dispersal would make up for the lack of range, but it never gained widespread acceptance from the military. It was apparently favored by raiders and the like who would attack luxury cruisers with it stuck to stun, since it was an easy way to down the targets with very little effort.

DesertFly · Post by **DesertFly** » 2006-05-05 05:48am

Qwerty 42 wrote:
NRS Guardian wrote:In JKA's first Jedi Academy book one of Moruth[sic] Doole's henchmen has a double-barreled blaster that has an effect similar to a double-barreled shotgun. Also, SW has trando ACP guns and flechette launchers that do shotgun duty.
Though apocryphal, the Jedi Knight games include the "Golan Arms II Flechette Launcher," which is a solid-based shotgun, and in game is the premier weapon to kill a Jedi with.

I'm almost positive that that weapon also appears in the New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology. That very implement. As prone to errors as that book series is, it still is considered C-Canon.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2006-05-05 05:57am

Flechette launchers first showed up in Han Solo's Revenge by Brian Daley. They've been in the canon for a long time.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2006-05-05 12:42pm

freker wrote:but on the short range the weapon would have the effect of a (sawn off) shotgun, it would be a good defensive weapon. the gungans in tPM could have used it

If the Gungans had a half dozen blaster type machine guns, able to sustain several hundred RPM or more they could have totally decimated the trade Federation infantry force. That’s far more realistic and practical then any kind of ‘wide beam’ weapon.