The Human Empire uses a series of weapons based on propellant-accelerated projectiles, essentially the same type of bullets used in the early 21st century reality. The propellant is a fictional compound, called Cordite III, which allows for more velocity of large rounds which generates more kinetic dump (hitting power) and range. Following the Red Lake Campaign, the Ministry of Defense conducted an exhaustive study to improve the overall effectiveness of the weaponry of the military. The result new rifle and pistol cartridges, as well as changes to doctrine involving the use of heavy arms. One big difference between Human Empire weapons and those used in contemporary Earth is the use of wood in the weapon stocks. Wood is used for two reasons. First, the wood used by the Human Empire is a native wood called “Lightwood,” that is remarkable resilient and durable during close-quarters combat with Dark Towers’ weaponry. Secondly, the use of wood instead of polymers adds heft to the weapons when they need to be wielded as melee weapons. The discussion of small arms will be broken into two categories: 1) the primary small arms used by the military, and 2) common weapons used by civilians, including local law enforcement.
I. Primary Military Small Arms
The basic infantryman is issued an assault rifle, four throwing grenades, pistol, and sword in addition to the extra bayonets and utility knife that are considered part of the basic load. The assault rifle currently issued is the Assault Rifle (Military)-Generation Five, or ARM-G5. Most soldiers just call it the G5. The G5 uses a roller-delayed locking action similar to the one used in Heckler and Koch’s G3 and MP5 lines. It is a reliable system that easily translates to different weapons and can handle the more powerful loads of the Human Empire. It can fire in either semi-automatic mode or fully automatic mode. The G5 has a superficial resemblance to the FN FAL with a long twenty-four inch (61 cm) barrel. Under the barrel run two side-by-side tubes. One is the gas tube that works the action. The other is a built-in extendable spear. When the release is hit, springs extend the tube out to forty-eight inches (122 cm) topped with a releasable bayonet and locking boar forks. This allows the infantryman to keep an orc from closing to close-quarters range. With the physical disparity between the Dark Towers’ creatures and humans, this is considered a necessary survival tool. The G5 is encased in a wood shell with only the dorsal and ventral accessory rails peeking through. A fold-down carrying handle is mounted on hinges on the right side, just forward the ejector port. The stock has a thumbhole style pistol grip stock. To assist the infantryman in hitting orc-sized targets at 500 meters (the maximum engagement range), the G5 is equipped with a 1-10x scope. The G5 feeds from a twenty-round box magazine and is chambered in 6 mm HP.
Military hand grenades are designed on the “baseball” design known the Grenade Throwing (Military) – Generation Three, or GTM-G3. The grenades come in High Explosive (G3H), fragmentation, (G3F), white phosphorous (G3T), concussion (G3C), and smoke (G3S). Typically, an infantryman will carry one explosive, one white phosphorous, and two smoke grenades, but these can be easily switched out depending on the current mission or commanding officer’s desires.
The sidearm for the military is the General Pistol (Military)-Generation Five, or GPM-G5, better known as the GP-5. The GP-5 is designed so that the shooter can shoot the weapon or use it as a blunt weapon. Maximum engagement range for the pistol is twenty meters. The pistol has a large rounded hardened-steel slide that dominates the top of the weapon. The slide has a “forward lock” that prevents the slide from being pushed out of battery during close-quarters combat. There is no slide release – the moment a loaded magazine is inserted, the slide is released and a round is chambered. The GP-5 has a grip safety and slide-mounted decocker/safety lever. There is an accessory rail under the barrel, but most soldiers never use it. The GP-5 is chambered in 10 mm HP and feeds from a ten round magazine.
The sword used by the infantry is technically classified as General Sword Military – Generation Two, but most soldiers just call it the gladius. The gladius is constructed out of Damascus steel with a rope and leather grip that is easily adjusted for each soldier. In addition to the sword, the soldier also carries three replacement bayonets and a utility knife. The bayonet is designed to stick into the enemy and keep the wound open, hence the ability to be released from the end of the spear. The utility blade is known as the Utility Tool Military – Generation Three, but is known by its generic term of Leatherman.
In the basic infantry squad, there are a few variations to this basic load. The APC crew will usually be armed with the carbine version of the G5 known as the G5C. The G5C retains the same action as the standard G5, but it has a greatly shortened barrel of sixteen inches (41 cm), and completely eliminates the extendable spear. This reduces the engagement range to 300 meters, but the change makes the G5C a much thinner weapon than its bigger brother. The other changes include the changing of the wood shell to end at a simple pistol grip so that the carbine can accommodate a folding polymer stock and a 1-5x scope.
The squad sharpshooter carries the G5S, which is a mix of the standard rifle and the carbine. The G5S looks more like the standard, but doesn’t have the extendable spear and has a longer thirty inch (76 cm) barrel. The G5S has an engagement range of 800 meters.
The platoon grenadier carries a standard G5 with the Grenade Launcher (Military)-Generation Five (Underslung). The GLM-G5U is a single-shot, side-loading 30 mm grenade launcher capable of hitting out to 200 meters. It can fire 30 mm versions of the hand grenades with additional loads of armor-piercing, armor piercing discarding sabot, flechettes, and canister. The last two are close-range shells that either fire sprays of small darts or small balls.
The squad heavy gunner carries the G5M, but it’s better known as the Squad Automatic Weapon, or SAW. Although classified as an assault rifle, the G5M is actually a light machine gun designed for sustained fire. Like all G5 variants, the SAW uses the same roller-delayed locking action, but it looks very different than the others. The triangle of barrel, gas piston, and spear are naked with a bipod attached to the lower accessory rail. The usual carrying handle is removed and a new one is placed closer forward so that it can double as a barrel changer. The magazine well has a longer throat to accommodate the sixty-round magazines.
The squad’s dog handler usually uses either a sub-machine gun or a shotgun. The current sub-machinegun is the Machine Pistol (Military)-Generation Five (MPM-G5), more commonly known as the MP-5. The MP-5 uses the same roller-delayed locking action as the G5. The field model looks very much like a slightly smaller version of the G5C. The MP-5 has an engagement range of 50 meters. The MP-5 is chambered in 10 mm HP and feeds from 30-round box magazines. The MP-5 has a built-in adapter so that it can feed from GP-5 magazines.
The current shotgun in use is the General Shotgun (Military) – Generation Three – GSM-G3 – but generally just called a scattergun or shotgun. The G3 shotgun is a gas-powered semi-automatic with a slide-action backup. The slide action also allows for the manual feeding of specialty loads. The shotgun is also very different from other small arms in that it uses very little wood in its construction. The barrel and extendable spear run naked down to a metal receiver. The forward handgrip that is also the cocking handle for the slide action is the only wood used in the shotgun. The receiver ends in a rubber pistol grip. The stock is metal and can flip on top of the weapon. The shotgun is chambered to handle 15 mm shells and feeds from a seven-round detachable box magazine. Depending on the load, the shotgun has an effective engagement range of ten to thirty meters.
Beyond the mechanized infantry squad, the Imperial Army has several man-portable weapons used by specialized fire-teams in light or heavy infantry or platoon heavy weapons fire-teams. The most common is the General Purpose Machine Gun (Military) – Generation Four, better known as the Gimp. The Gimp is similar in construction to the SAW, but scaled up to handle the much larger 8 mm HP cartridge. This heavier cartridge gives the Gimp an effective range of five hundred meters. Unlike the SAW, the Gimp can feed from a box magazine or a disintegrating link belt. The Gimp is usually equipped with a bipod or tripod.
Another common weapon is the Military Recoilless Rifle – Generation Five – MRR-G5 – which is often referred to as the bazooka. The bazooka appears to be a long metal tube with a pistol grip and forward hand grip attached to the bottom with a scope at the ten o’clock position. The bazooka fires a 60 mm rocket that can carry a variety of warheads including high explosive, fragmentation, armor piercing, white phosphorous, and smoke. Ranges are anywhere from four hundred to a thousand meters depending on warhead type and size. The bazooka has two feeds. Single rounds can be fed by a chute on the underside of the weapon, or a gravity rack can be attached to the top allowing the user to fire up to six rockets before needing to reload.
In use by snipers are the two versions of the Military Precision Rifle – Generation Five (MPR-G5). The most common is the MPR-G5L, known as the Scout. The Scout is based on a highly tuned bolt-action with a free-floating, heavy thirty inch (76 cm) barrel. The receiver and conformal magazine are encased in a wood shell with thumbhole type stock. Accessory rails line the top of the receiver and the forward half of the foregrip. A 4-24x scope is usually mounted on the dorsal rail with a folding bipod attached to the lower one. The Scout is chambered in 8 mm HP which allows it an engagement range of a thousand meters. The MPR-G5H is a larger version of the Scout designed to fire the 12 mm HP cartridge. This larger cartridge comes in anti-personnel or anti-materiel versions, although the rifle is primarily used in the anti-materiel role.