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Old 10-09-2018, 10:11 PM
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helbent4 helbent4 is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChalkLine View Post
Should the project use automatic weapons?

The sheer lack of ammunition available seems to counsel against using weapons on 'sprinkle'.
Hi Chalk,

You can argue that Project members would be trained to use semi-auto fire most of the time, at least with rifles, if not submachine guns and support weapons. That might go a ways in cutting ammunition use.

This is addressed in the following section in 4th ed. (italics mine):
Each regional base has a medical bay, with a doctor and
assistants, plus machine shops and a repair bay with
mechanics and electronics technicians.

These bases were also logistics centers, with extensive
amounts of ammunition, parts, and other supplies for
the field teams,
plus large stocks of supplies and equipment
to help with reconstruction efforts.
Classic TMP (3rd. ed.) seems to adhere to this pattern. I assume this to mean caches are only for teams that are somehow isolated from the Project supply chain, which is implied by mention of regional supply depots, bases. Specialty (Logistics) teams, etc.

In fact the behind-the-scenes rationale for using common military calibres is that the Project is intended to operate in conjunction with the US and Canadian governments, and this could augment its supplies. Bear in mind as well the Project is intended to provide assistance as a cadre. It is not optimised for a role like that of a PMC or security contractors, and hopefully it is not a military force that would be fighting a war or counter-insurgency and thus be expending a massive amount of ammunition on a regular basis.

My own personal view is that the Morrow Project was perhaps not intended to operate in the aftermath of a full-scale nuclear holocaust where there is little surviving industrial infrastructure. Otherwise it would have been organised much more optimally in terms of concentration of teams in remote areas, etc. Rather, the expected scenario might have been after a limited nuclear exchange, where there is at least something of a surviving industrial base. Bear in mind that in TMP the future timeline has been deliberately and profoundly altered not just once but twice by a powerful time traveler (Bruce Morrow). He wasn't able to control the future, which seemed to change. (This is why he needed a second kick at the can, and look how that turned out!) Who knows what he was originally planning for? But this is just personal speculation.

If the lack of ammo is a problem, ammunition is not difficult to manufacture. It can literally done in your garage! Include a cache with an ammo press with millions of primers, and equip all teams with brass catchers. Problem (mostly) solved!

Tony
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