The Nightstar Zoo

is going to be harder then our favorite Sgt thinks.
Even if he see's it - will he be able to compensate for the rotational effects? The sniper is using highly specialized gear to be able to hit them.

I've got a feeling with the gun Schlock is using, "close" might be more than good enough. Also with that ROF he doesn't need to have a first shot hit, he just needs to walk the rounds on target.

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Forum Weapon: Andreyasn Epaulets Special. I dont know whats in them, but I''m just gonna throw them and teraport a few light minutes away.

Skeptomania - Rationally discuss irrational stuff

Yes, but causing that much collateral damage may reflect ...unfavourably upon the Toughs. They are here on a humanitarian (sophontarian?) mission, after all.

Plus that journalist has all that footage of Schlock to use as ammunition against them.

A pity that "Schlock sneaks up on and eats the sniper whole" isn't an option

Sneaking no, but he might be able to run him down. Schlock is a lot faster then he looks.

And today's strip addresses the question from yesterday.. I'm not sure if Howard is psychic, just that good, or we're predictable in what questions we ask.

The problem is that Schlock is using a smart (but not smart enough) sight, when he should be using smart ammunition. I wonder in Sclockoverse tech just how small one can make a laser-guided projectile? I'd think for space mercenaries, with the recurrent problem of compensating for differing planetary gravity, not to mention the possibility/probability of combat under various forms of artificail gravity including but not limited to the rotational variety, such a thing would be standard issue. Of course, maybe it is for single shot sniper weapons (like our unseen friend is using) but doesn't suit Schlock's taste in collateral damage.

I'm more curious as to why the sniper is STILL shooting from the same position after it is abundantly clear that he has failed to have an effect. Only a dumb sniper shoots from the same position twice, especially when your target ISN'T DYING. The sniper can surely see that Schlock is largely unaffected and his motion indicates that he is looking for the sniper, so why is the sniper not relocating?

Ironically, I think the Plasma Cannon would have had LESS collateral damage.

The sniper probably believes they are out of range of Schlock's weapon and if he moves Schlock will defiantly see him.

As for still shooting, the last shot was close to Schlock's Eye, (s)he may be trying to inconvenience the Sgt.

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Hamilton Ksos, Wielder of the Squeeky Wheel of Injustice

The best way to learn something is to explain it to an idiot.

The biggest problem with that is not the guidance, it's containing onboard propellant and thrusters which can adjust the trajectory of the projectile. A smart sight you only have to pay for once. Smart bullets you have to pay for every time, and you'll be able to fit less in the same space.

I think you've got it.



Also, sophonts without brains are probably vanishingly rare... the sniper may believe that (s)he just hasn't found Schlock's yet.

It's still dumb to hang around to apply trial and error, especially when Schlock is looking so unconcerned and returning fire, but I think our sniper is probably not too bright.

Or, here's a thought, the sniper may be an autonomous drone or remote-control rig with no concern for self-preservation.

Well, we did see one panel featuring a finger on a trigger, but that doesn't necessarily rule out an android sniper controlled by remote, like the Dayson shipwright bots...

My first thought was "What? Tagon's buying guns that can't even compensate for Coriolis effects on the bullets? That's really dumb, in exactly the area in which Tagon isn't very dumb."

Though, on reflection, I guess in a world with cheap, ubiquitous gravy, the reaction to rotational artificial gravity is likely to be "Dude! What do you think this is, the 21st Century? Are you Amish or something?"

Why is Schlock looking unhappy about the need to "walk" the target?
That's a tried-and-trusted method of long-range targeting, going all the way back to 19th-century battleship duels, if not before.
And you get to fire your weapon lots and lots!
Its not like the Sgt will be paying for the ammo...

He might not be paying for the ammo, but he does have a limited supply, and 500 round per minute is the low end of the handcannon's rate of fire.

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"Misery loves an escape pod so that it can watch from a safe distance as company is vaporized by overwhelming force."--Vexxarr

Running out of ammo always makes one sad. Especially if the job is not completed yet.
Running out of ammo in the midst of a fire fight is a time tested method for getting oneself dead.

However, we have still, as yet, only seen glimpses of the level of violence Sgt. Schlock is capable of in unarmed combat. I'm wondering, if we gave him an e-tool , could he take down a tank?

And as stated before, Schlock is a lot faster than he has any business being.

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WEKM
there's a whole new Monster out there

You can never kill someone too dead, you can never blow something up to much. (but I sure am having a great time trying)

WAAAGH! ANTIMATER WARHEADS! We're being shot at by CRAZY PEOPLE!

With a 500 meter+ head start, Schlock just won't be fast enough to catch anyone. Also, even if the sight is trying to correct for corealis effects, one has to keep in mind that in the habitat, not only is everything completely backwards from what the sight may expect (after all, they're inside, not outside the spin), but the relatively puny diameter will grossly exagerate all of the effects.

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I'm of the school of thought that the best place for terrorists is gathered together in large groups in the middle of nowhere. Preferrably while recieving laser target designation.

well... guess 08/17/08 answers my question. (welcome back story narrator - thought shlock had killed you in a friendly fire incident....)
He has a couple of cases of ammo so this should be fun


If the sniper is smart he will notice the walking fire and move away
but as previous stated the sniper does not seem to acting smart



Amateur Sniper - never send one (even well equiped) to do a professionals job.

I wouldn't say Schlock is a creature without a brain. Schlock is arguably made up of entirely brain, minus the eyeballs. The problem is that most sophonts aren't designed with brains anywhere near as massively redundant as Schlock's.

That makes me wonder just how smart Schlock is, because he's never seemed dumb, maybe simple in some ways, but he always gets the results he wants. Being all brain Scholck could be insanely smart, but due to his personality you just never really see it, because he doesn't need to use it. He has made massive amounts of money on stocks, enough to buy the company even. He simply enjoys solving problems with violence.

And the narrator has begun giving Schlock advice again. I thought those days were over. I love it! It's funny how someone just mentioned how the strip used to be more fourth-wall breaking, and then this stuff came up. Howard, are you really writing the buffer that far ahead? No, wait, I get it...you've got the FORUM on a buffer too! You are some kind of webcomicking wizard!

Fourth-wall gags only work well if they're done irregularly, and if there is other humorous material to support them. I try never to "resort" to them in situations where I have no punchline (though I've done it before.) Instead I use them when they're better (and funnier) than all the alternatives.

Without going into an extensive deconstruction of this strip and it's punchline, let me just say that I knew "walk my shots" was last-panel dialog at least 110 days in advance of the strip airing. Framing the rest of the strip around that dialog was kind of painstaking, and I was frustrated to find that breaking the fourth wall really was the best way to support the joke. I guess that's because I feel like every time I break the fourth wall I'm required to do it again in short order, and then restricted from doing it again for months at a time. It's like adding a cymbal crash in a piece of music. You can't have just one, but you can't have too many, either.

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Creator and Cartoonist, Schlock Mercenary

Back in the storyline where Schlock obtained his new eyes we learned that Schlock was "born" with adult knowledge but a child's personality, so he may mature in time, but... Ok, he probably won't, but you see what I mean.
As for intelligence, it depends on how much of him is for data storage VS how much is for processing power.

Heh. Or a kettledrum stroke. And just like Hayden's Surprise Symphony, we love it when the KABOOM hits.

You know old Symphony 94-quiet leadup. You've got your woodwinds playing slow, your violins and double basses creating an atmosphere of European aristrocratic blue-bloodedness. You've got your brasses putting out mellow notes. And you've got one smirking kettledrum player sitting in the back.

The entire first movement goes by, the kettledrum player is just standing there with his arms crossed...you pretty much forget he's there. Second movement begins, and you're sorta just drifting off to this masterful composition--ahh, it's repeating, even quieter than the first time, it's--
KABOOM!

Your eyes snap open and flash to the kettledrum player...his arms are crossed again. The same melody is repeating from the strings, do you dare take your eyes off of him?

It's always fun to see the characters learn from an experience they've never had.

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Fandemonium!
August 3rd, 4th and 5th, 2012

"I am a machine. I am a weapon of war. I am a destroyer of life in the service of life, the sword and shield of my human creators." Bolo Invincibilus, Mark XXIII, Model B (Experimental) 0075-NKE "Nike".

Howard is always harder on himself than we will ever be, but that's why his strip is still great after all these years. Can't change it, and wouldn't if I could.

What's complicating matters more is the fact that schlock's gun has, for whatever reason, a really low muzzle velocity. 610 m/s is right at 2000FPS, which is between 400FPS and 1,200 FPS slower than most assault rifle rounds today go. if his gun had a higher MV, he'd have to correct less for drop and everything else.

The low MV comes from the short barrels, can't do much to get around that, with that size projectile, no matter what the propulsion method.

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Fandemonium!
August 3rd, 4th and 5th, 2012

"I am a machine. I am a weapon of war. I am a destroyer of life in the service of life, the sword and shield of my human creators." Bolo Invincibilus, Mark XXIII, Model B (Experimental) 0075-NKE "Nike".

This weapon is for taking a hostile, charging crowd (read: riot) and turning it into chutney. Big rounds offer stopping power, and the low ROF (when set that way) is perfect for hosing down the entire front row in one sweep... and then passing back across the crowd to drop the next row while not expending too much ammunition in the process.

It's not a NICE weapon. It can be loaded with non-lethal ammo, but Schlock didn't grab any of that.

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Creator and Cartoonist, Schlock Mercenary

Fie on you! It's never been said - or implied - that Schlock lacks a brain.
Rather, being descended from organic information storage units, it's been at least implied Amorph brains and nervous systems are the exact same thing - their brain runs throughout the entire body. And with holographic memory, it's likely that any disruption caused to whatever information was in the areas the bullet goes through is minor at best - no doubt, the whole memory itself is copied over several times in multiple areas and the Amorph immune system has ways and means of restoring mental damage caused by objects moving through them at speed.