18

Dec 2013

Minerva: Chapter Two - Ambush

Posted by / in Comic / 19 comments

And here is the cover to Chapter 2. Our buffer is nice and large now (all of Chapter 2, most of chapter 3, a lot of 4 and 5), but I have exams and Christmas travel in the next couple of days, so the pages might not update each day until things get a bit less hectic for me (Monday latest).

  • Adriano #WR

    Wow, this is EPIC ! :D

    Maybe I’ll wait before looking at the next chapter :3

  • Awesome! Great title page. I’m finding this really engrossing.

  • Morgenstern

    Looking at the original discussion and this art I have two immediate suggestions for folks interested in presenting realistic powered armor over needlessly anthropomorphic comic-armor.
    First - dump the trigger on the gun. If its a suit-specific weapon it should be controlled by electrical interlocks. If its a multi-role weapon it should still be controlled electrically while carried by power armor. Mechanical triggers are a needless variable in shooting in a powered system and having your ability to activate your armaments depending on the most vulnerable, least armored parts of the whole suit is just poor planning. Just brushing up against a wall could wreck the fingers. At the very least, put a full armored handguard over it so stray rounds don’t end up ‘nesting’ in the folds of all those tiny exposed phalanges.
    Second, like most systems that aspire to have the operator’s legs stuffed down in the suit legs, the inner thighs are limited to extremely thin armor (if any) due to range of motion and not breaking the user’s pelvis. Add a short “loincloth” along the lines of a lead-lined x-ray protective drape at the dentist cut in much the way a tabard is slung over armor and you can add some soft damage absorption without impairing mobility and the added benefit of denying enemies the ability to see and precisely target the second weakest point of protection (after the hands). People don’t walk around naked in a fight for reasons other than modesty - power armor shouldn’t look like an anatomy exhibit either :).
    (I’d also be concerned about the contouring on the abdomen and those pectoral plates - looks like you’ve got a couple bullet traps just waiting to get you perforated by hits that could have been deflected. Any forward facing concave pit should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.)
    Looks like good stuff. Looking forward to reading more.

    • Woah, these are some awesomely in-depth thoughts! The problem is none of us on our team are THAT mechanically/engineering minded, so while we try for realism, we fall short. What we need are more consulting experts to help us make it work.

      @sebastinpriz:disqus, you should check out these suggestions for later armor versions. They’re some pretty good stuff :)

      And @disqus_gzmdxFg7Za:disqus, please, continue to share your thoughts with us :D

      • Morgenstern

        Most of the challenges of armoring the human form have already been worked out and field tested at length - the outer sheathing is likely to be very similar to medieval armor (which in many cases could shed direct hits from early firearms). In particular you might consider the keel-shaped ridge down the front which deflects all manner of impacts away to the sides. Plus most late period gothic plate is just kinda visually badass :). Consider also the importance of over-garments in protecting the armor against light wear. Its always preferable to scuff up an easily exchanged “coat” in the course of light duty than to have to grind down and re-polish the plating because you clipped a building or vehicle while stomping around the base on patrol.

        Something to consider for plot grist is that power armor also essentially renders the user numb - which is why scraping up against wall can be so destructive - the user doesn’t get the kind of detailed tactile feedback they’re used to. For example, during a firefight you could be inadvertently leaning an arm against an exposed, burning gas line and have no knowledge of it until the heat has completely saturated the outer plating and turned the suit-arm into an oven that will main or kill the operator even if they pull away the moment they notice the rising temperature from inside the suit. All the little mishaps that cause people with full body numbness to suffer (far) shorter average lifespans apply double to armor-operators in combat conditions. You’d have to expect the buddy system and mutual visual inspection of the armor by buddies to be crucial at all times.

        • These are going to be some very helpful thoughts for the next version of Tenzin’s armor. Hmm, maybe the constructors of it will cite a “Professor Morgenstern” for some of their armor ideas ;)

          Also, RE tactile feedback, we’re probably going to go the route of an advanced “living” skin that can sense “pain”/damage. This will make more sense post the current chapter or so with some more character pot development.

          • Morgenstern

            If Prof Morgenstern could have one thing on his armor that’s not obvious or heroic sounding, it’s be some very firm but not actually rigid/brittle rubber bumper strips - horizontal across the top of the buttocks/lower spine, one on either side of the spine near the shoulder blades, and a good sized dollop on the back of the head. Possibly just above the elbows along the triceps. In the course of combat it becomes pretty much inevitable that at some point you’re going to get knocked on you keister or thrown fully on your back. These locations are the ground contact points of a prone suit and landing on something more forgiving than solid metal plates is going to be a “luxury” worth investing a few pounds of combat load in. Plus it’ll cut down on those squeaky armor-against-ground grinding sounds that tell your enemy you’re trying to pick yourself back up again :). These kinds of materials don’t hold up well against weapons fire, but there’s a reason troops stencil “this end towards enemy” on the front of helmets - they shouldn’t have that many free shots at your rear aspect.

            On the tactile skin - if you’re at that point in your tech curve, its still likely that earlier armor didn’t have it and certain traditions would grow up around that older gear and be passed down to later operators. You can get some interesting tension between when those traditions are on the cusp between good combat wisdom and outdated thinking depending on the individual’s opinions/beliefs. The evolution of your armor is rich with stories.

          • Oooh you’ve given me the perfect excu…reason for why stupid stuff sticks around for too long :D

            And for how sudden changes can happen when different people are in charge of building the armor :D

            Those rubber bumpers are a great idea!

            So, do you have military experience/engineering know how, or are you just awesome?

          • Citrus Reaper

            I’ll just throw my two-cents in, although I’m sure that the time to implement feedback on the armor is long past at this point. In any case, in the current (Gen-2?) suit of armor, there’s a lot of flat faces where there could easily be hard angles with the purpose of deflecting a whole lot of shots, as Prof. Morgenstern touched upon. The notable area on my once-over of the armor is the shins. If you look at a lot of medieval armor, that’s a very hard angle, so that weapons can’t get a grip. The armor looks heavy enough, so I doubt this is too much of a big deal, but if the armor is contoured to encourage ricochets, that also negates a lot of the kinetic shock of a direct hit from a bullet, which can cause considerable damage to people on its own. And I’m not sure if this is already a feature or not, but some onboard fire suppression system is almost certainly a necessity on these things. It would be simple as attaching some high-pressure capsules of suppression foam that will melt under heat and put out nearby fires. Again, this is probably waaay too late, but it’s fun to talk about this kind of stuff anyways.

          • Nah @sebastinpriz:disqus and I always appreciate feedback. We’re still designing version 3 of the suit, so you aren’t too late ;)

          • Citrus Reaper

            Yay! I was mostly reiterating points and throwing in some stuff from my own clumsily-designed power armor, but whatevs.

          • You design power armors? what for?

          • Citrus Reaper

            Oh, I write mostly crappy stories and such things. It’s rare if I make one public, but I have a severe backlog of (I think) badass ideas to use in them.

          • Nice! Do let me know if you ever publish something :)

          • Citrus Reaper

            Will do!

          • NickDA

            You sir/madam are awesome… Honestly, I’d love your feedback on this: http://demonarchives.com/extras/science/ This armor suit is what we are calling 1st gen. The story obviously calls for some enhancements, and we want the 3rd gen suit to be as scientifically, militarily, and mechanically sound as possible… would love your feedback.

  • Glad you’re enjoying it! 6-Commando is fave of mine too XD