Heavy machine gun (SLASH'EM)
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | heavy machine gun |
| Appearance | heavy machine gun |
| Damage vs. small | 1d2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d2 |
| To-hit bonus | -4 |
| Weapon skill | firearms |
| Size | two-handed |
| Base price | 2000 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 500 (200 in Hack'EM) |
| Material | iron |
- For the weapon in dNetHack and its derivatives, see heavy machine gun (dNetHack).
A heavy machine gun is a type of weapon that appears in SLASH'EM, SpliceHack, SlashTHEM and Hack'EM. The heavy machine gun is a two-handed launcher that uses the firearms skill and is designed for use with bullets. It is made of iron.
In Hack'EM, it appears as a "strange broken crossbow" when unidentified, similar to the item in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack.
Contents
Generation
Heavy machine guns are generated differently across variants.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, heavy machine guns are not randomly generated, though they can be wished for or found in bones.
Lieutenants have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with a heavy machine gun and 3 different stacks of 3–52 bullets as ammo for it.[1] Captains have a 1⁄4 chance of being generated with a heavy machine gun and 3 different stacks of 3–62 bullets as ammo for it.[2]
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, heavy machine guns are not randomly generated, though they can be wished for or found in bones.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, heavy machine guns 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 heavy machine guns. Gun stores have a total 1⁄20 chance of generating a heavy machine gun on each square.
In addition to generation details for monsters in SLASH'EM, stormtroopers have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with a heavy machine gun and a stack of 3–52 bullets as ammo.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, heavy machine guns are not randomly generated, though they can be wished for or found in bones.
Gun stores can stock heavy machine guns, and have a 1⁄20 chance of generating a submachine gun on each square.
Stormtroopers have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with a heavy machine gun and a stack of 3–52 bullets as ammo. Lieutenants that have not been given racial monster weapons and are generated at the Castle have a 1⁄3 chance of being generated with a heavy machine gun and 3 stacks of 3–62 bullets as ammo if they are not generated with an auto shotgun.
A heavy machine gun can be created at a forge by combining an iron chain and a submachine gun.
Description
The heavy machine gun has a range of 20 squares with a base rate of fire of 8, but has a -4 to-hit penalty.
In Hack'EM, the heavy machine gun's weight is reduced to 200 aum.
Rate of fire
The impact of a heavy machine gun's enchantment and the hero's firearms skill on its rate of fire is detailed in the table below:
| Enchantment | Unskilled/basic | Skilled | Expert |
|---|---|---|---|
| -7 to -6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| -5 to -3 | 8 | 8 | 1d2+7 |
| -2 to +2 | 8 | 1d2+7 | 1d3+7 |
| +3 to +5 | 1d2+7 | 1d3+7 | 1d4+7 |
| +6 to +8 | 1d3+7 | 1d4+7 | 1d5+7 |
| +9 | 1d4+7 | 1d5+7 | 1d6+7 |
Strategy
The heavy machine gun is generally not a viable weapon across most of the variants it appears in, primarily due to its immense weight being on par with a loadstone. In SLASH'EM, it will take up around half of a hero's maximum carrying capacity—in variants such as SlashTHEM (where the maximum carrycap is set to 4000) or Hack'EM (where the item's weight is decreased) it may be worth considering in theory for its superlative rate of fire, but in practice its two-handedness still renders it quite inconvenient.
Assault rifles appear in the same variants as heavy machine guns, and offer a comparable rate of fire with smaller to-hit penalties for less than 1⁄10th of the heavy machine gun's weight (or exactly 1⁄5, if playing Hack'EM).
Origin
A heavy machine gun (or HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns and has more formidable firepower, but are typically too heavy to be carried by one person: HMGs usually require mounting onto a weapons platform in to be operably stable or tactically mobile, and generally require a team of personnel for operation and maintenance.
Historically, the term "heavy machine gun" refers to machine guns that are weighty and cumbersome enough to prevent infantrymen from transporting them on foot, and are typically chambered in standard full-power cartridges; examples of historical HMGs include the Maxim machine gun and M1917 Browning machine gun. The modern definition refers to "heavy caliber" machine guns that are designed to provide increased effective range, penetration and stopping power against vehicles, aircraft and light fortifications far beyond that of both the full-power cartridges used in battle rifles and medium or general-purpose machine guns, as well as the intermediate cartridges used in assault rifles, light machine guns and squad automatic weapons.
In contrast to the higher rate of fire demonstrated by the weapon in variants of NetHack, real-live heavy machine guns have a much lower rate of fire than their lighter and smaller counterparts: in return, they are capable of firing heavier ammunition more accurately at longer ranges, and can do so for days on end, mainly in fixed defensive positions to repel infantry attacks. A tripod-mounted and water-cooled HMG with a well-trained crew can fire nonstop for hours given sufficient ammunition, replacement barrels and cooling water.
