posted 23 January 2000 12:44 AM
Much of the following information derived/borrowed from http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/Nwfaq/Nwfaq.zip. 10 KT Atomic Warhead
Model: Imperial Munitions Type 1B Nuclear Fission Warhead
Type: Mass destruction weapon
Scale: Character (for easy conversion - people will be most affected by nukes)
Skill: Demolitions, missile weapons, etc.
Availability: X
Range: Depends on launcher
Blast Radius (airburst at 600 meters): 0-1.6/2.8/4.8km
Damage: 20D/10D/5D
Game Notes: Side effects of nuclear blasts include mushroom clouds (see below)
and electromagnetic pulses (treat as Blast Radius: 0-250/500/1000m, damage:
10D/6D/3D (ionization), damage increases the higher the blast is)
1 MT Thermonuclear Warhead
Model: Imperial Munitions Type 2A Nuclear Fusion Warhead
Type: Mass destruction weapon
Scale: Character (for easy conversion - people will be most affected by nukes)
Skill: Demolitions, missile weapons, etc.
Availability: X
Range: Depends on launcher
Blast Radius (airburst at 2440 meters): 0-6.0/10.5/16.1km
Damage: 20D/10D/5D
Game Notes: Side effects of nuclear blasts include mushroom clouds (see below)
and electromagnetic pulses (treat as Blast Radius: 0-250/500/1000m, damage:
10D/6D/3D (ionization), damage increases the higher the blast is)
20 MT Thermonuclear Warhead
Model: Imperial Munitions Type 3C Nuclear Fusion Warhead
Type: Mass destruction weapon
Scale: Character (for easy conversion - people will be most affected by nukes)
Skill: Demolitions, missile weapons, etc.
Availability: X
Range: Depends on launcher
Blast Radius (airburst at 2440 meters): 0-22.5/43.5/56.3km
Damage: 20D/10D/5D
Game Notes: Side effects of nuclear blasts include mushroom clouds (see below)
and electromagnetic pulses (treat as Blast Radius: 0-250/500/1000m, damage:
10D/6D/3D (ionization), damage increases the higher the blast is)
10 KT Neutron Warhead
Model: Imperial Munitions Type nA Nuclear Fission Warhead
Type: Organic mass destruction weapon
Scale: Character (for easy conversion - people will be most affected by nukes)
Skill: Demolitions, missile weapons, etc.
Availability: X
Range: Depends on launcher
Blast Radius (airburst at 600 meters): 0-0.5/1/4km
Damage: 20D/10D/5D (organic only)
Game Notes: Neutron radiation is not stopped by walls or other structures, nor
does it destroy said structures. It only affects living things.
---
Nuclear Blast Effects
The first thing bomb victims experience is the intense flux of photons from
the blast, which releases 70-80% of the bomb's energy. See the Hiroshima-
Nagasaki file for first hand accounts. The effects go up to third degree
thermal burns, and are not a pretty sight. Initial deaths are due to this
effect.
Then next phenomenon is the supersonic blast front. You see it before you
hear it. The pressure front has the effect of blowing away anything in its
path. Heavy steel girders were found bent at 90 degree angles after the
Japanese bombings.
After the front comes the overpressure phase. It would feel like being under
water a few hundred metres. At a few thousand metres under the sea, pressurised
hulls implode. The pressure gradually dies off, and there is a negative
overpressure phase, with a reversed blast wind. This reversal is due to
air rushing back to fill the void left by the explosion.
The air gradually returns to room pressure. At this stage, fires caused by
electrical destruction and ignited debris, turn the place into a firestorm.
Just like Dresden in WWII. It is estimated over fifty thousand died in the
first few days of the Hiroshima bombing.
Then come the middle term effects such as keloid formation and retinal
blastoma.
Genetic or hereditary damage can show up up to forty years after initial
irradiation.
The following diagram is of blast zone radii, courtesy of Outlaw Labs.
Note that damage from blast pressure falls off as a function of 1/r^3.
---
Nuclear Blast Zones (attached)
---
The Mushroom Cloud
The heat from fusion and fission instantaneously raises the surrounding air
to 10 million degrees C. This superheated air plasma gives off so much light
that it looks brighter than the sun, and is visible hundreds of kms away.
The resultant fireball quickly expands. It is made up of hot air, and hence
rises, at a rate of a few hundred metres per second. After a minute or so,
the fireball has risen to a few kilometres, and has cooled off to the extent
that it no longer radiates.
The surrounding cooler air exerts some drag on this rising air, which slows
down the outer edges of the cloud. The unimpeded inner portion rises a bit
more quicker than the outer edges. A vacuum effect occurs when the outer
portion occupies the vacuum left by the higher inner portion. The result is
a smoke ring.
The inner material gradually expands out into a mushroom cloud, due to
convection. If the explosion is on the ground, dirt and radioactive debris
get sucked up the stem, which sits below the fireball.
Collisions and ionisation of the cloud particles result in lightning bolts
flickering to the ground.
Initially, the cloud is orange-red due to the formation of a mixture of nitric
oxides (NOx - cf car smog). This reaction happens whenever air is heated.
When the cloud cools to air temperature, the water vapour starts to
condense. The cloud turns from red to white.
In the final stages, the cloud can get about 100 km across and 40 km high,
for a megaton class explosion.
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EXCELLENT pictures: http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/Library/Effects/index.html.
If you want more stuff, I'll whip it up - just let me know...
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- Armage Bedar
The STATS Man
Administrator, SW-RPG HoloNet Discussion Forums
Imperial Technology Systems