Technology of DiE

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MagusZeal
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Technology of DiE

Postby MagusZeal » Tue Jan 08, 2013 4:04 pm

Technology – Steamtech

In the years before the Draconic Alliance struck technology in Equestria was slow to advance as there was little need for it. Most devices could be powered either by ponies themselves or a few could be powered with the magics of certain unicorns. With the sudden invasion and the painful introduction of firearms that has all changed. Those ponies able to have began to construct all manner of steam engine driven devices while others turn their intellect to understand the weapons of their foes.


Trains – A short few months ago most trains were pulled by teams of earth ponies and a select few long distance models using coal, now with every able bodied pony needed for defending Equestria most trains have been converted to a standard steam engine, though a few magic powered ones exist. Due to their heavy load capacity trains have become the main way for Equestrian's to move both themselves and goods over long distances.

While Equestria relies on it's trains to move troops and goods, the DA has taken to destroying them when and where they can.


Airship – Once the plaything of the rich and bold Airships have now been shown to provide a valuable platform above the battlefield by the DA. Currently Equestria is scrambling to build more of airships even as the DA holds their fleet back from the front line preferring to force attackers to risk flying over their territory to reach them. Currently there are only a handful of Airships in service in all of Equestria, most still owned by private individuals. Though most airships available to Equestria are of the dirigible design instead of the newer bladder less type such as the Daffodil and Black Mako.

With only two bladder less airship's owned by the Peacekeeper Navy and a single combat refit of a dirigible the Equestrian airships are lightly armed conversions as none of these ships were designed for combat(At the end of ch 2, all but one of the bladder less ships were destroyed on an attack on Palomino). All Equestrian type ships use belt feed balista's with explosive tips as currently nopony has devised a way to keep cannons from misfiring or loosing their munitions as the ship banks. Rumors persist that a number of companies are scrambling to build new airships, but the details of this aren't public knowledge.

As for the Draconic Alliance they all use a single unified design for their engines, hull and power source, while the individual crew and captain are allowed to arm the ship as they desire. This causes many of the Alliance ships to vary widely in their tactics and options. Unlike Equestria though the Alliance have devised ways to load and fire cannons from their airships allowing them to arm their ships in a more destructive manner.


Firearms – The biggest invention the DA have brought to the fight is the firearm. Virtually unknown in Equestria before the DA started hostilities the weapons were familiar to those from other lands. Using unrifled barrels these weapons have an accurate range of 100 yards for rifles and a mere 50 yards for the pistols with both using either flintlock or wheelock firing mechanisms. All use a standard paper cartridge which consists of a premeasured amount of power and the shot itself wrapped in a paper which is coated in tard or beeswax to make it water proof. Loading both types of guns is accomplished by shoving the paper cartridge into the barrel and using a rod to ram the cartridge down to the bottom of the barrel. A trained rifleman can keep up a rate of fire of nearly 4 to 5 rounds a minute.

Of note the difference between guns designed for gryphons and ponies vary heavily. With gryphons able to use either and those ponies without magic unable to use most weapons designed for gryphons without great difficulty. Another note is pony pistols are designed to held and fired from the mouth while refiles require a rearing stance to be fired accurately if magic is not used.

Beyond the standard rifles and pistols there are a few other types of guns available, namely artillery cannons, the crank operated gatling gun, and early style revolvers using wheelock triggers. Of these three the cannon is the most common site on the battlefield as the complex gearing of the gatling gun causes it to break down during most fighting conditions, though they're use on airships has been noted by a few.

The last type of weapon the revolver is a new device able to fire 4-6 rounds before reloading is needed. Extremely expensive and with few knowing how to build them these weapons are considered extremely rare with few having seen one, let alone two of the weapons in any ponies hooves. While the ability to fire mutliple shots before reloading is popular with most the weapons do have a drawback. Namely the problem provided by trying to reload the weapon requires the user to first dismantle the weapon completely to disconnect and reload the cylinder. Something that often takes 5 minutes to do outside of a battle.


Radio – A recent invention before the war was the radio, currently the devices have proven to be too expensive for anypony but the military to use. These large and clunky devices allow for nearly instantaneous communication between locations hundreds of miles away.

A secondary device based off the design of radios known as the Teletype has become popular with the Equestrian military as their airships, and major bases posses these devices. Unlike a radio these transmit text to other locations where a message is printed out, where it can be either relayed to the next station or sent off by courier to its intended recipient.

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