Approved Ranged Weapon Farzian Gofan aka The Burning Hailstones

[Sahal Jai Azal]

Source.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Impact explosives. The small grenades thrown by the sling are armed by the g-force of the throw and explode on impact. A magnetic field is also triggered by the movement allowing them to stick to metal just before exploding rather than bouncing off.
• Simple design. The sling is of very simple design. The grenades are easy to mass produce in the lower tech environment on Tygara.
• Blast radius. The explosives hurled by the sling have a radius of about a metre where it is most effective.

STRENGTHS

• Concealed. The Gofan sling can be concealed about the body easily and by itself has no metal components. This makes it an ideal weapon for insurgents and scouts.
• Explosive. The primary ammunition is mini explosive impact grenades. These are extremely dangerous against unarmoured and lightly armoured target. As they have an area of effect, they can also hurt multiple targets or even be used against the ground or walls to cause panic and harm to groups.
• Adaptable. If the explosive grenades are not available, stones or metal can be used instead. This improvised ammunition is less accurate, but readily available providing essentially unlimited shots in the right location.
• Bombardment. With the use of the explosive grenade shot, accuracy is not vital, as a group of slingers and lob explosives at an enemy and let the blast radius and general confusion do their work.

WEAKNESSES

• Training. Using a sling requires training and practice. It is not something an untrained conscript can pick up and use within a day like a blaster.
• Armour. Heavy personal armour, vehicles and fortifications are too tough for the explosive grenades to harm. A hit in a weak spot might cause damage, but this is hard to target at range.
• Range. The Gofan is only very accurate at ranges of 200 metres or less, with range out to 400 metres with limited accuracy. This is good, but compared with a standard modern firearm it is lacking.
• Rate of Fire. A good slinger can put 5-8 shots down range per minute depending on circumstances. This is vastly inferior to blasters, or even older slug weapons.

DESCRIPTION

The sling is an ancient weapon, now mostly abandoned by the galaxy. In some pockets of space like Endor, the sling continued to be used as it's easy to make and ammunition was easy to come by.

On the planet Tygara though, the sling was once a very common weapon amongst the Qadiri. Over time though the advancements in bows, and then gunpowder, reduced their spread until only certain groups still used them. The island of Farzi off the coast of the continent of Ajustra is one of those locations. There, the island's plains, rocky hills and coastlands made it ideal for shepherds to use the sling to protect their flocks, and also to defend themselves. A tradition of slingers grew up as a common part of the island's light infantry, and they played an important part in the Queen's retinue. To be accepted into this unit they had to be able to hit a Qadiri-sized target at a hundred paces ten times in a row.

As times went on though, and the galaxy people came to Tygara, many forsook their old ways and took up newer arms or professions. The current leader of Farzi, Shazora Jai Vahal, was determined to keep these skills current, and so sought to make a modern version of the sling which was easy to produce and yet still useful. The result was the 'Burning Hailstones' ammunition, an impact grenade armed by the g-forces of the sling's acceleration. This simple mechanism, combined with a co-triggered magnetic field allowed the design of these explosive shots. The slings themselves were also updated to more durable synthetic fibres and launcher.

The effectiveness of these weapons varies; against tanks and heavily armoured infantry luck more than planning is required. However, against lightly armed or unarmoured troops, they could be deadly effective, even if just for suppressive fire. A slinger would have a kit of the explosive shots to use, but could also use regular stones or metal shot too to great effect.

During the war with Firemane to expel the galaxy people from Farzi, these slings proved very effective for disrupting, wounding and sniping at the invaders. Later battles against the Eldorai trying to invade Farzi and neighbouring islands were even more effective due to the lighter armour of those troops.

The key downside of the weapon is the long training time needed to be effective. Ideally, a slinger would have years of practice and training, having grown up with the weapon. At minimum though multiple months of constant training is required to hit anything, and more importantly with explosive shot, to not hit yourself! Despite this, it is an effective weapon, and already other Qadiri leaders have contacted Shazora to get the ability to make these weapons themselves….

 

[Krass Wyms]

Sahal Jai Azal

Nicely made

Approved