New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Support

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New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Support

Unread post by slade2501 »

Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Support Vehicle

Chipwell Armaments has made its name on bargain price, battery powered equipment. In response to popular demand, the company has recently begun producing a rugged, light megadamage truck carrying a nuclear power supply to easily reach and recharge Chipwell products. As a bonus, the truck is also equipped with an Universal E-clip charger, capable of all earthly manufacturers E-clips, canister clips and rechargeable equipment. Also has adapters for some alien tech (Naruni, Kitani, etc).

The vehicle is a closed cab short truck with all terrain mega damage tires and light armor. The vehicle has several mounted spotlights but no weaponry, and is often painted in dark or muted camouflage colors to avoid drawing attention.

Model: Chipwell Armaments MESV
Class: support truck
Crew: two
MDC by location:

.D.C. by Location:

* Cab – 75
* Rear Doors – 25 each
* Armored Tires (4) – 15 each
* Directional Spotlights (4, 2 per side) – 5 each
** Main Body – 120

*are all small targets, -2 to strike on a called shot

**Destroying the main body destroys the vehicle and the nuclear power supply.

Speed:
Land: 50 mph (80 km) maximum.

Statistical Data:
Height: 11 feet (3.4 m).
Width: 8 feet (2.4 m).
Length: 18 feet (5.6 m).
Weight: 2 tons.
Cargo: small space for tools, food and water.
Power System: Nuclear; average energy life is 6 years.
Cost: 750,000 credits. Fair availability, and very popular.

Power Supply System (PSS): the purpose of the vehicle, its reason for being, is its nuclear fueled power distribution system. The power supply system (PSS) is a robust, multi-tap power system capable of recharging any Chipwell power system (all of their power armors) as well as vehicles with electric engine systems, jetpacks and E-clips of all shapes and sizes.

E-clips: the PSS can handle six e-clips at a time, and recharges them in 1 hour (long or short). Canister slips take 2 hours.

Batteries for the Chipwell Challenger armor, Vampire Combat armor MKI and II, Sky Power Armor and Land Roamer armor can be recharged four at a time and recharge in one hour. The Warmonger suits can be hooked up three at a time, and charge in two hours.

Vehicles: any vehicle with electric/battery systems can be charged one at a time and take 1d4+1 hours per vehicle.
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taalismn
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Re: New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Supp

Unread post by taalismn »

Little TOO advanced for Chipwell....I'd make the 'lightweight' pure advertising drivel.....make the truck x2 heavier because of the use of cheaper, bulkier, shielding materials like straight lead on the nuke powerplant. Or give it a greater chance of spreading radiation contamination in event of a critical hit. Or the system leaks enough stray radiation that it's more easily detected and tracked.
Mind you, I'm not trying to demonize Chipwell, but make them 'low price, cut rate, and it shows' in the use of shortcuts to speed production and keep prices on the cheap.
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"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
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For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
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slade2501
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Re: New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Supp

Unread post by slade2501 »

I like it. I should have put in a nuke leak rule if it takes too much damage, and the weight is a great idea.
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Re: New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Supp

Unread post by taalismn »

Chipwell should be good enough that the CS can hand it off to conscript d-bee soldiers and dirt-level mercs and militias, but not good enough that it presents a serious, or at least competent, threat to the CS. To more experienced players, it should be painfully obvious that using the stuff without caution and big dollops of commonsense is not going to lead to a long life.

When I think Chipwell in charitable terms, think of the cut-rate weapons developed during WW2 to equip guerillas on the cheap, like the Liberator Pistol, or the early model Sten guns, which used lots of cheap metal stampings, had lousy range(some British commandos claimed that they saw their bullets bounce off German heavy overcoats), and were meant mainly as stopgaps until enough time was bought for the users to acquire better weapons.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
Shark_Force
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Re: New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Supp

Unread post by Shark_Force »

taalismn wrote:Chipwell should be good enough that the CS can hand it off to conscript d-bee soldiers and dirt-level mercs and militias, but not good enough that it presents a serious, or at least competent, threat to the CS. To more experienced players, it should be painfully obvious that using the stuff without caution and big dollops of commonsense is not going to lead to a long life.

When I think Chipwell in charitable terms, think of the cut-rate weapons developed during WW2 to equip guerillas on the cheap, like the Liberator Pistol, or the early model Sten guns, which used lots of cheap metal stampings, had lousy range(some British commandos claimed that they saw their bullets bounce off German heavy overcoats), and were meant mainly as stopgaps until enough time was bought for the users to acquire better weapons.


alternately, they can also be useful in sufficiently large numbers as well.

i mean, just because one guy in a chipwell armour is less effective than one guy in a samson, that doesn't mean the same will hold true if for some reason you are able to get 10 guys together while the person with the samson has only themselves.

i do think the best chipwell gear is actually fairly decent. but i think to get a good "chipwell" feel out of the mobile energy vehicle, i'd give it a long-lasting battery instead of an actual power plant. as in, maybe it charges things up just as quick, but you're still drawing from a limited supply, say, 200 e-clips worth or something like that, and give it a way to generate power (probably a gasoline-powered generator or something like that) but it isn't going to handle full capacity, probably only enough to provide power to one thing at a time (they're best used by having more than you need, and recharging them in between). given access to a larger power source, the vehicle should also be able to recharge there and then head back to the front lines.

to me, that would feel like a chipwell adaptation of a good idea done a lot more cheaply. they don't exactly build nuclear reactors for anything else, i'm not even sure they would have the equipment to manufacture them for a recharging vehicle.

you might even have the vehicle forgo some battery capacity for conventional ammo storage... of the 3 weapons in the original chipwell suits, one is a mini-missile launcher and another is a machine gun. i don't know that their typical customers would reasonably be expected to spring for a good quality laser rifle, or even a poor quality laser rifle :P
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Re: New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Supp

Unread post by eliakon »

taalismn wrote:Chipwell should be good enough that the CS can hand it off to conscript d-bee soldiers and dirt-level mercs and militias, but not good enough that it presents a serious, or at least competent, threat to the CS. To more experienced players, it should be painfully obvious that using the stuff without caution and big dollops of commonsense is not going to lead to a long life.

When I think Chipwell in charitable terms, think of the cut-rate weapons developed during WW2 to equip guerillas on the cheap, like the Liberator Pistol, or the early model Sten guns, which used lots of cheap metal stampings, had lousy range(some British commandos claimed that they saw their bullets bounce off German heavy overcoats), and were meant mainly as stopgaps until enough time was bought for the users to acquire better weapons.

Which is a nice visual...
...but the game stats don't actually support it.
Other than the Warmonger the rest of the Chipwell tech is actually pretty decent.
It is in fact arguably BETTER than Northern Gun.
Yes, you heard me, better.
They make some of the top tier light power armor on the market.
Seriously, look at the CAI-50, now look at the competition, the NG Gladius.
Hmmmm
The Chipwell suit has 120 MDC to the Gladius 180 sure. But lets look under the hood
Chipwell tires at 20%, Northern Gun at 30%
Chipwell has Targeting Laser, Telescopic and Passive Nightvision, polarization and a short range radio Northern gun... has nothing
Chipwell can run on its battery, or E-clips Northern Gun can only run on the battery system
Chipwell costs 90,000 Northern Gun costs 150,000

So your paying 1,000cr per point of MDC on the main body to get a suit that is inferior in virtually every other aspect.

Heck, Chipwell right now produces the ONLY suit of flying power armor on the market that explicitly flies silently and can prowl in flight.

Yes, Chipwell is cheaper stuff. But its not all Warmongers. To many players look at the Warmonger, figure that its useless in a 'real' battle and write of the entire company as a joke.
Chipwell gear is good, solid gear. It may not be as good as the "elite top tier" products like the CS, Triax, Naruni, Atlantis, or the best of Northern Gun. But it is certainly in the same league as Iron Heart, Golden Age, Wellington, and the rest of the 'second tier'
A lot of players though have a hard time remembering that not everyone has unlimited budgets to buy the best gear found in any book ever published. From a 'real world' perspective of actual military units in North America, Chipwell gear is a very good, solid investment. Sure, it might not be the absolute best gear that an adventurer could find...
...but that's not the point is it.
The rules are not a bludgeon with which to hammer a character into a game. They are a guide to how a group of friends can get together to weave a collective story that entertains everyone involved. We forget that at our peril.

Edmund Burke wrote:The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
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Re: New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Supp

Unread post by slade2501 »

I seriously agree. I am a hobby historian, and in all honesty, the power requirements for a Chipwell Challenger suit are no worse than the food and water requirements for the troops themselves. Any group of men, away from a settlement or a supply line must carry any required gear with them (food, water, ammunition, parts, spare clothes, etc). If the troops are mechanized (riding in vehicles or troop transports) then there was always a desperate need for fuel supplies on top of food, water, ammunition, medical supplies, communication gear, etc.

Environmentally sealed armor is mostly a luxury in Rifts earth. There are very few gas weapons, almost no radioactive hot-spots, or ABC ( atomic, biological, or chemical) hazards. Fire is a serious threat, but to any soldier in the last thousand years, fire has always been a threat. Average soldiers are SUPPOSED to dodge or take cover from dragon fire, instead of tanking it on the MDC armor and maintaining fire.
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Re: New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Supp

Unread post by taalismn »

eliakon wrote:[
Yes, Chipwell is cheaper stuff. But its not all Warmongers. To many players look at the Warmonger, figure that its useless in a 'real' battle and write of the entire company as a joke.
Chipwell gear is good, solid gear. It may not be as good as the "elite top tier" products like the CS, Triax, Naruni, Atlantis, or the best of Northern Gun. But it is certainly in the same league as Iron Heart, Golden Age, Wellington, and the rest of the 'second tier'
A lot of players though have a hard time remembering that not everyone has unlimited budgets to buy the best gear found in any book ever published. From a 'real world' perspective of actual military units in North America, Chipwell gear is a very good, solid investment. Sure, it might not be the absolute best gear that an adventurer could find...
...but that's not the point is it.



I stand corrected then...I guess the later Rifts Mercenaries changed CI up from what it was introduced as, which seemed to heading for 'Kludge-o-dynamics'.
So I guess the CS is going to have to find some new source for kamikaze armaments for their cannonfodder.

Still, the low cost aspect can be justified in-game/design by one or all of the following:
-cheap/slave labor
-Heavily automated production lines
-Large scale production (multiple factories producing in bulk)
-Lower Quality/less advanced materials(including bulkier)/technologies/less intensive production methods(metal stampings rather than machining)
-Shortcuts(shorter operational lifespan of systems, more pronounced vulnerabilities, design flaws covered by low probability/designed-in obsolescence).
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
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Re: New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Supp

Unread post by eliakon »

taalismn wrote:
eliakon wrote:[
Yes, Chipwell is cheaper stuff. But its not all Warmongers. To many players look at the Warmonger, figure that its useless in a 'real' battle and write of the entire company as a joke.
Chipwell gear is good, solid gear. It may not be as good as the "elite top tier" products like the CS, Triax, Naruni, Atlantis, or the best of Northern Gun. But it is certainly in the same league as Iron Heart, Golden Age, Wellington, and the rest of the 'second tier'
A lot of players though have a hard time remembering that not everyone has unlimited budgets to buy the best gear found in any book ever published. From a 'real world' perspective of actual military units in North America, Chipwell gear is a very good, solid investment. Sure, it might not be the absolute best gear that an adventurer could find...
...but that's not the point is it.



I stand corrected then...I guess the later Rifts Mercenaries changed CI up from what it was introduced as, which seemed to heading for 'Kludge-o-dynamics'.
So I guess the CS is going to have to find some new source for kamikaze armaments for their cannonfodder.

Still, the low cost aspect can be justified in-game/design by one or all of the following:
-cheap/slave labor
-Heavily automated production lines
-Large scale production (multiple factories producing in bulk)
-Lower Quality/less advanced materials(including bulkier)/technologies/less intensive production methods(metal stampings rather than machining)
-Shortcuts(shorter operational lifespan of systems, more pronounced vulnerabilities, design flaws covered by low probability/designed-in obsolescence).

The problem here is that CI never was "kludge-o-dynamic"
That's the problem.
People look at the Warmonger and say "oh look, its junk"
No one bothers to look at the rest of the Chipwell Line and say "Oh gee, this stuff is actually pretty good stuff if your a soldier and not an Adventurer who has unlimited funds and wants the best gear found in 50 books"
But that's the problem. People are trying to compare them to the absolute top of the line suits and claim they are junk.
Its like saying that a Toyota Corolla or VW Bug is a kludge because its not a Porsche or Lamborghini.
But those Toyotas and VWs were never meant to be top tier sports cars in the first place.

The CAI-50 Challenger? Yeah that is found in Mercenaries. So right there, in their first incarnation they had one of the best deals in North America available. The VW bug of the power armor world. But to many people are complaining that its not a hotrod.
The rules are not a bludgeon with which to hammer a character into a game. They are a guide to how a group of friends can get together to weave a collective story that entertains everyone involved. We forget that at our peril.

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Re: New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Supp

Unread post by Shark_Force »

i would agree that some of the corners chipwell cuts are fairly minor. environmental isn't often needed (although you'll really regret not having it when you do need it). that said, environmental is not a major cost... look at the plastic-man armour. it isn't exactly breaking the bank.

the real cost-cutting measure is primarily in the power supply. and to me, that should stay fairly consistent... chipwell has "pretty good" gear for what it is (i'm not convinced they're overall on a level equal to northern gun in terms of capability of building things, but i would certainly accept that they're almost as good, and a lot less expensive). in their area of specialty, they're quite good (that area being in how they cut corners). heck, they might even be an undisclosed subsidiary of some larger corporation that doesn't want their higher quality brand names being attached to lower quality product.

but the thing that stands out most about them is that everything runs on batteries. so, like i said... to me, a chipwell discount mobile energy support vehicle should have a high capacity battery, which can be recharged in a variety of ways, but not a built-in nuclear power supply. that alone should allow them to offer the kind of advantage their customers are looking for: for anyone who isn't expecting to be in a months-long offensive siege or marching for weeks on end, there isn't much of a difference between a sufficiently high-capacity battery and a nuclear power plant. and frankly, for a long-distance march, i'd expect most people to just use some sort of inexpensive vehicle to transport many of their suits at once (actually, a chipwell APC that transports troops with some method of only partially-powering the suits sounds like another useful product, come to think of it). and, because you're just using a high-capacity battery instead of a nuclear power plant, you can save a lot of money.
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Re: New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Supp

Unread post by dreicunan »

Chipwell has had nuclear powee plant capability since Chipwell was introduced. The Chipwell Assault Suit from Mercenaries had one good for five years and the suit only costs 250,000. A vehicle like this would seem to be entirely within their capability to produce.
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Re: New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Supp

Unread post by guardiandashi »

dreicunan wrote:Chipwell has had nuclear powee plant capability since Chipwell was introduced. The Chipwell Assault Suit from Mercenaries had one good for five years and the suit only costs 250,000. A vehicle like this would seem to be entirely within their capability to produce.

I agree that I always felt that chipwell was more of Talisman's take on their gear. its not bad stuff per say, but its cheap and they definitely cut corners, to be honest If you are familiar with battletech I felt that chipwell was rifts equivalent of quicksell. On paper their stuff isn't bad, (its not great either) but in actual practice its horrible. When I think of chipwell I think of stuff that sounds a lot better than it really is.

to go with the examples I would do with chipwell for the feel that I had.
you buy xyz equipment, and some of it is "decent" but a lot of it has issues because of cut corners.
for example:
almost all of it runs on batteries yay cheaper
some (most lines) are often missing parts, they may not be installed, or are not installed correctly.
for example a suit of armor is set for a person 5'8" tall that weighs 140lbs, and the adjusters that would allow it to be fitted for someone larger or smaller don't actually work, or are locked (bent or wielded) in that position, or are actually missing pieces. (or they are in the "spare parts kit" that was available with the same suit # ... for an additional fee. )
on some lines they aren't environmentally sealed... because all the seals (read gaskets) aren't there, the channels they WOULD install in are present, but chipwell never bothered to make (or provide) them.

with the "truck" I would actually give it one of the "self recharging" power packs that NG introduced. it holds enough power to recharge say 100 eclips or 10 suits of power armor, but is tied to (a very small) nuclear power source. with all kinds of danger do not open, radioactive, no user serviceable parts inside etc. logos. if anyone actually opens it... its a ng202 railgun power pack, (or the equivalent) hooked up to an array of batteries and eclip energy cells.
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Re: New Chipwell Gear: Chipwell Armaments Mobile Energy Supp

Unread post by dreicunan »

guardiandashi wrote:
dreicunan wrote:Chipwell has had nuclear powee plant capability since Chipwell was introduced. The Chipwell Assault Suit from Mercenaries had one good for five years and the suit only costs 250,000. A vehicle like this would seem to be entirely within their capability to produce.

I agree that I always felt that chipwell was more of Talisman's take on their gear. its not bad stuff per say, but its cheap and they definitely cut corners, to be honest If you are familiar with battletech I felt that chipwell was rifts equivalent of quicksell. On paper their stuff isn't bad, (its not great either) but in actual practice its horrible. When I think of chipwell I think of stuff that sounds a lot better than it really is.

to go with the examples I would do with chipwell for the feel that I had.
you buy xyz equipment, and some of it is "decent" but a lot of it has issues because of cut corners.
for example:
almost all of it runs on batteries yay cheaper
some (most lines) are often missing parts, they may not be installed, or are not installed correctly.
for example a suit of armor is set for a person 5'8" tall that weighs 140lbs, and the adjusters that would allow it to be fitted for someone larger or smaller don't actually work, or are locked (bent or wielded) in that position, or are actually missing pieces. (or they are in the "spare parts kit" that was available with the same suit # ... for an additional fee. )
on some lines they aren't environmentally sealed... because all the seals (read gaskets) aren't there, the channels they WOULD install in are present, but chipwell never bothered to make (or provide) them.

with the "truck" I would actually give it one of the "self recharging" power packs that NG introduced. it holds enough power to recharge say 100 eclips or 10 suits of power armor, but is tied to (a very small) nuclear power source. with all kinds of danger do not open, radioactive, no user serviceable parts inside etc. logos. if anyone actually opens it... its a ng202 railgun power pack, (or the equivalent) hooked up to an array of batteries and eclip energy cells.

Well, as Kevin S has often said, if you don't like something, change it, but canon says that Chipwell gear is in no way as bad as you've made it out to be. Once again, they've had nuclear capability since they were introduced. This truck is a rather logical extrapolation of what they might produce.
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