Grenade launcher (SLASH'EM)
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | grenade launcher |
| Appearance | grenade launcher |
| Damage vs. small | 1d2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d2 |
| To-hit bonus | -3 |
| Weapon skill | firearms |
| Size | two-handed |
| Base price | 1500 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 55 |
| Material | iron |
- For the weapon in dNetHack and its derivatives, see grenade launcher (dNetHack).
A grenade launcher is a type of weapon that appears in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM. The grenade launcher is a two-handed launcher that uses the firearms skill and is designed for use with frag grenades and gas grenades. It is made of iron.
Generation
Grenade launchers are generated differently depending on the variant.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, grenade launchers are not randomly generated, though they can be wished for or found in bones.
The soldier stationed on the northern side of the wall in Grund's Stronghold has a 2⁄5 chance of an uncursed +1 grenade launcher being placed on their square at level creation.
Yendorian Army sergeants have a 1⁄5 chance of being generated with a grenade launcher, while Yendorian Army captains have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with a grenade launcher if they are not given a rocket launcher (for an effective 1⁄4 chance), and will also be given a stack of either 3–7 frag grenades or 3–7 gas grenades as ammo (with roughly equal probability) 3–7 rockets as ammo.[1][2]
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, grenade launchers are very rare and make up 1⁄1000 of weapons randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops.
Weapons outlets, used armor dealerships and gun stores can also stock grenade launchers. Gun stores have a 1⁄100 chance of generating a grenade launcher on each square.
Generation details for monsters apply as in SLASH'EM.
Description
A grenade launcher has a range of 6 squares with a base rate of fire of -3, and a -3 to-hit penalty is applied to grenades "thrown" or fired from it—this rate of fire renders multishot nearly impossible for the launcher without an incredibly high enchantment. Grenades fired from a grenade launcher will explode on their target square even if they were not armed beforehand.[3]
Strategy
Though grenade launchers are much lighter in weight than players might expect, the weapon is nowhere near useful enough to justify carrying one: they provide little benefit for any grenades fired from them, and being two-handed with a -3 to-hit penalty makes them incredibly inconvenient. Firing more than one grenade in a round is also incredibly hard to pull off, with a +9 grenade launcher requiring Expert skill in firearms to fire two grenades with a 1⁄6 probability. A hero wishing to use grenades is better off carrying stacks of them by hand and managing them carefully, especially if they want to wear a shield.
Origin
A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke or gas-based warhead. The term in modern times generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges—the most common type are man-portable, shoulder-fired weapons issued to individuals, although larger crew-served launchers are issued at higher levels of organization by military forces.
Grenade launchers are produced in the form of standalone weapons (either single shot or repeating), or as attachments mounted to a parent firearm, usually a rifle. Larger crew-served automatic grenade launchers such as the Mk 19 are mounted on tripods or vehicles. Some armored fighting vehicles also mount fixed arrays of short-range, single-shot grenade launchers as a means of defense.
Notably, the grenades fired by modern grenade launchers are not hand grenades: While devices to fire hand grenades have existed in the past, they were never terribly common, and were also more similar to a catapult or a mortar; SLASH'EM's tile appears to depict a standalone grenade launcher similar to an M79, which is a single-shot, shoulder-fired, break-action grenade launcher that first appeared during the Vietnam War, and fires a 40×46mm grenade which keeps recoil forces low via what the US Army calls the High-Low Propulsion System.
References
- ↑ makemon.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 308: launcher occurs independently of ammo
- ↑ makemon.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 335
- ↑ dothrow.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 1583
