Who knows, maybe I read some of your stuff.
Nah, I never wrote anything but software for the Army. I built the IED defeat trainer that the Army uses - the virtual stuff. We took real-world scenarios and put them into a virtual environment to give people the experience without any of the ...side effects. It was really quite effective, as we could run a unit through our training probably 20 times to every one time they'd be able to do it downrange. By the time they were done, their downrange training was substantially more valuable as they weren't going into it completely blind.
Part of me writing this software involved doing extensive training in what IEDs were used, insurgency tactics, counter-insurgency tactics, etc. I felt like I learned more just to
do my job than I would need to actually make the simulator work. But as a result, the simulator is phenomenal. Actually, if you go to any Army base in the world, you'll find varying degrees of the software I worked on. The basic level is just a bunch of networked laptops that run the simulation with a mouse/keyboard interface. The really good stuff involves full-body immersion in mock-up vehicles, firing real weapons that have been retrofitted to fire lasers instead of bullets. And the REALLY good stuff is over at Fort Riley, where the administrator is a former Green Beret who LOVES to create new mock-ups, like a mock-up Blackhawk for medevacs, simulated flares the soldiers throw, etc.
It's basically all good theater, but in order to make it effective, I had to learn way more about IEDs than I ever wanted to know. It's scary how easy these things are to put together - which is a great segue back to the topic.
The difficulty for some of the Demolitions tests are a little intense, but it makes sense. You shouldn't be playing with explosives unless you REALLY know what you're doing, at which point the thresholds start to become substantially more attainable. I like the idea of having some more pre-generated explosive options, but I still think the basic limpet mine and drone-with-a-grenade are still my go-to choices in Shadowrun.
A little off-topic though: I wonder what sort of defenses Shadowrun has for preventing IED attacks? I mean, the stuff we have now is pretty damn advanced, so much so that it blows my mind what those DARPA guys crank out. I can't even imagine half the things they've designed in the last 10 years, let alone what would be possible in Shadowrun's timeline. Would it be safe to assume that a VIP's vehicle might have some sort of exterior polarization that demagnetizes attached devices? What about gecko grip?
And to the OP - I know we've been talking a lot about anti-vehicle stuff. Do you want to focus on anti-personnel options, or anti-vehicle, or both? Generally anything that's anti-vehicle will hurt people, but might be less effective (smaller, more nimble target). And the opposite is true if you use anti-personnel munitions on a vehicle (less focused blast, less penetration).
Still, I think nothing beats a good ol' microskimmer drone with a block of C4 on top of it. Land or sea, the target will likely be destroyed.
