They can carry one backpack each. They are automatically immunized to any middle-earth diseases, cured of any current infectious diseases, and know Westron fluently with decent Sindarin.
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
Average body build, athletic for short periods of time.
No known allergies or medical conditions (bar slight deafness in one ear).
Has learnt some military discipline and skills and can fly somewhat (despite lack of any aerial vehicles). Studying for a Ph.D in biological sciences in the hope for working at Porton Down NBC warfare laboratory. Can help in technology e.g. metal work or carpentry and good at physics and chemistry but not upto bio level.
Can fire weapons, is not too good at stripping or cleaning.
Ando, many of your concerns are already addressed in the scenario setup. We can speak their language and we are fully acclimatized/immunized already. This will greatly simplify diplomacy. And since we have foreknowledge of what Sauron is and what must be done, we're already more familiar with the scenario than many of the locals in some ways.
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
weemadando wrote:Oh yes, very smart. Then a Valar rocks up, says: "No you're not." and frags us all with magic.
And why would they do that? They don't seem to be stepping in to stop Sauron, do they?
Arrgh, for the sake of the scenario let's keep any gods or demigods out of this since it will boil down into wondering why the hell they do nothing and what they would do and so on.
weemadando wrote:Oh yes, very smart. Then a Valar rocks up, says: "No you're not." and frags us all with magic.
And why would they do that? They don't seem to be stepping in to stop Sauron, do they?
Arrgh, for the sake of the scenario let's keep any gods or demigods out of this since it will boil down into wondering why the hell they do nothing and what they would do and so on.
Us vs. them, no interference.
Precisely, which is why you could pretend to be gods. Hell, Gandalf claims to be a sort of god, and the people of Middle Earth accept this based on his parlor tricks and his knowledge.
Well, I'd say that our technology would qualify as quite a neat parlor trick, and we know about Middle Earth very well.
And you may ask yourself, 'Where does that highway go to?'
Brotherhood of the Monkey - First Monkey|Justice League - Daredevil|Late Knights of Conan O'Brien - Eisenhower Mug Knight (13 Conan Pts.)|SD.Net Chroniclers|HAB
Oh, yeah. Basically, the cut-off is 1141. If you have 1141 or more posts, you're in the top 75. There are two or three inactive (banned, left, whatever) members in that list though, so we could possibly bump a few up.
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
Darth Wong wrote:
And why would they do that? They don't seem to be stepping in to stop Sauron, do they?
Arrgh, for the sake of the scenario let's keep any gods or demigods out of this since it will boil down into wondering why the hell they do nothing and what they would do and so on.
Us vs. them, no interference.
Precisely, which is why you could pretend to be gods. Hell, Gandalf claims to be a sort of god, and the people of Middle Earth accept this based on his parlor tricks and his knowledge.
Well, I'd say that our technology would qualify as quite a neat parlor trick, and we know about Middle Earth very well.
I doubt we'd fool the elves or others like them, the guns we have are merely more powerful bows and arrows, they still kill using projectiles.
We'd have to pull some serious shit to convince them otherwise, if we had a single gunship then we could show them how we could really fight.
A single gun should would win the whole campaign. We could simply mercilessly bombard Mordor from afar. They can target individual people with those things.
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
Admiral Valdemar wrote:I doubt we'd fool the elves or others like them, the guns we have are merely more powerful bows and arrows, they still kill using projectiles.
We'd have to pull some serious shit to convince them otherwise, if we had a single gunship then we could show them how we could really fight.
Hmmm, silently start placing explosives in one of their towns the night before. Move in the next day, and with the stroke of your hand, summon the mighty fire of your anger to ravage the town!
But, it's unlikley you'd be able to sneak into an Elvish villiage, seeing as how they have super sight and hearing, they had no trouble detecting the Fellowship when they firts showed up.
Durandal wrote:A single gun should would win the whole campaign. We could simply mercilessly bombard Mordor from afar. They can target individual people with those things.
I don't think we were given any Doras or Big Berthas. A cruise missile system would be nice, but a single gun isn't going to win the war unless that gun is named Grable.
Health: Good, but have corrective lenses and hayfever (kept under control with simple anti-histamines).
Fitness: Not wonderful, but decent.
Skills:
-About to finish Arts Degree majoring in History, Ancient Civilizations and Political Science.
-Can pick up languages fairly quickly.
-Decent amount of first aid skill.
-Hold NASDS Advanced Open Water diver qualification.
-Reasonable martial arts abilities.
-Basic agricultural and "bush" self-sufficiency skills.
-Basic Firearms skills.
-Some skills in mechanics and electronics, but nothing amazing.
Shinova wrote:Having no practical experience, no military training whatsoever, and fairly weak physically, I'll probably sit in some corner and just watch.
Hey you can still reload shep's MG-42.
You think I'd want to be within twenty feet of Sheppard when he goes gun-crazy!!??
With tripod mounted machine guns you normally have a stake on each side sop your don't sweep your fire over friendly positions. That also makes it hard to hit the loader.
A water-cooled machine gun is better though. We don't need absurd rates of fire, but we do want to conserve barrels during full auto. An MG-42 needs a change every 200 rounds.
"This cult of special forces is as sensible as to form a Royal Corps of Tree Climbers and say that no soldier who does not wear its green hat with a bunch of oak leaves stuck in it should be expected to climb a tree"
— Field Marshal William Slim 1956
Cpt_Frank wrote:
Hey you can still reload shep's MG-42.
You think I'd want to be within twenty feet of Sheppard when he goes gun-crazy!!??
With tripod mounted machine guns you normally have a stake on each side sop your don't sweep your fire over friendly positions. That also makes it hard to hit the loader.
A water-cooled machine gun is better though. We don't need absurd rates of fire, but we do want to conserve barrels during full auto. An MG-42 needs a change every 200 rounds.
That's why I proposed the Browning, that or we use a water cooled Vickers, they last for bloody ever! They once had one firing for a whole week non-stop without fail until one dud round blocked it.
Ando brings up a good point. Would all of those of us with defective eyesight and corrective lenses be granted properly-working eyes? 19 years is a long time to go without a new prescription on my contacts. How an immunization to allergies or something along those lines, too?
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
Durandal wrote:Ando brings up a good point. Would all of those of us with defective eyesight and corrective lenses be granted properly-working eyes? 19 years is a long time to go without a new prescription on my contacts. How an immunization to allergies or something along those lines, too?
I'm sure the Elves could help here unless anyone has some real good nanotech.
weemadando wrote:To diverge slightly towards the SB version of the thread.
What do people think our standard weapon load should be?
I mean, M4s are shiny and all, but is 5.56 really enough stopping power when dealing with orcs and uruk-hai?
G-11s with at least 5 mags each, a USP .45 with two mags and some frag grenades and a combat utility knife.
We couldn't reuse cartridges, nor create new ammo for them in any form. And high penetration is not what we want, thus defeating much of the G-11's point. Maintenance would also be near impossible. We want stopping power, 5.56 or 7.62 NATO are far better choices when firing JHP, which will easily get through the armor of the time.
Few people can shoot a .45 well, and since your more likely to accidently shoot yourself then the enemey, going with a 9mm that won't take your leg off is a better option. Firing JHP it is sufficent for any close rnage encounters.
"This cult of special forces is as sensible as to form a Royal Corps of Tree Climbers and say that no soldier who does not wear its green hat with a bunch of oak leaves stuck in it should be expected to climb a tree"
— Field Marshal William Slim 1956
Durandal wrote:Ando brings up a good point. Would all of those of us with defective eyesight and corrective lenses be granted properly-working eyes? 19 years is a long time to go without a new prescription on my contacts. How an immunization to allergies or something along those lines, too?
I'm sure the Elves could help here unless anyone has some real good nanotech.
They do have laser surgery, you know.
Oh, and I want my TI-89 calculator along with me, as well as all my physics and math text books, with my notes, too.
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
Darth Wong wrote:Don't forget porno. We'll need porno.
Well, you may. I don't imagine you'd cheat on Rebecca during your term in Middle Earth. I, on the other hand, will be chasing every hot piece of Elvish ass I can find.
However, porno would be prudent. Of course, we'd have to make up some sign for our quarters so that something like this doesn't happen:
ME (opens door to LORD WONG's quarters): Lord Wong!
WONG (hastily zips up pants, startled): WHAT?!
ME: The enemy is approaching, sir! We need to mobilize immediately!
WONG: Did you see anything?!
ME: No, sir! I didn't see you playing with your balls again!
WONG: GOOD!
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
Admiral Valdemar wrote:As for the bioweapon or chemical weapon, I was thinking something of a prion disease that could be used. We could have a vaccine for the elves no problem, the disease itself would be a modified protein much like CJD, fast, effective and transimissable. It also is a bugger to get rid of. It could be made to put the soldiers out but not kill them which would clog the enemy up with diseased.
Nerve agents can probably be made too, sarin or VX are the best bets, but I'd be well behind the lines if using that stuff with no NBC.
I'm not exactly fond of using biological weapons upon the enemy; I'm paranoid about it's ability to spread beyond it's target. We certainly don't have the resources of USAMRIID or the CDC to work with here.
Admiral Valdemar wrote:As for the bioweapon or chemical weapon, I was thinking something of a prion disease that could be used. We could have a vaccine for the elves no problem, the disease itself would be a modified protein much like CJD, fast, effective and transimissable. It also is a bugger to get rid of. It could be made to put the soldiers out but not kill them which would clog the enemy up with diseased.
Nerve agents can probably be made too, sarin or VX are the best bets, but I'd be well behind the lines if using that stuff with no NBC.
I'm not exactly fond of using biological weapons upon the enemy; I'm paranoid about it's ability to spread beyond it's target. We certainly don't have the resources of USAMRIID or the CDC to work with here.
...killjoy...
It's not like I was gonna make HIV or anything, c'mon, we can make at least something to poison their water supplies, Cholera per chance? Just a weeny bug, nothing major.
If not, you better believe I want my VX or orbital UV satellite system.
Shinova wrote:
You think I'd want to be within twenty feet of Sheppard when he goes gun-crazy!!??
With tripod mounted machine guns you normally have a stake on each side sop your don't sweep your fire over friendly positions. That also makes it hard to hit the loader.
A water-cooled machine gun is better though. We don't need absurd rates of fire, but we do want to conserve barrels during full auto. An MG-42 needs a change every 200 rounds.
That's why I proposed the Browning, that or we use a water cooled Vickers, they last for bloody ever! They once had one firing for a whole week non-stop without fail until one dud round blocked it.
Sounds like a warping of an event at the Somme. Over one week ten guns fired off one million rounds, while going through a hundred barrels and hundreds more gallons of water. The peak was one twelve-hour period in which one gun fired 10,000 rounds an hour.
You couldn't fire one for a week straight, you'd need to change barrels even with water-cooling. Maybe one hour, an M1917 fired for forty-five minutes non-stop during trials, expending over 20,000 rounds. But I doubt the barrel could ever be used again.
The Maxim 1910 is actually likely the best choice, the German Maxim 1908 and British Vickers are basically lightened copies, but that massive construction comes in handy since we'd pretty much only ever be moving them via hummer anyway. Plus it was first demonstrated in 1887, so the tech level to make parts shouldn't be beyond us. The M1917 is a good gun, but not as good as the above for ultra long-term reliability.
I don't know if any of them have even been modified to fire 7.62 NATO, but the change shouldn't be that hard if we could do it before we start.
"This cult of special forces is as sensible as to form a Royal Corps of Tree Climbers and say that no soldier who does not wear its green hat with a bunch of oak leaves stuck in it should be expected to climb a tree"
— Field Marshal William Slim 1956