[quote]humes spork wrote...
[quote]Maxster_ wrote...
This is false.[/quote]
http://masseffect.wi...ps_and_VehiclesEmphasis mine.
ME2 codex entry:
[quote]...Rather, its massive element zero core powered an electromagnetic field suspending a liquid iron-uranium-tungsten alloy that shaped into armor-piercing projectiles when fired.
The jet of molten metal, accelerated to a fraction of the speed of light, destroys targets by impact force
and irresistible heat.[/quote]
ME3 codex entry:
[quote]The Thanix's core is a
liquid alloy of iron, uranium, and tungsten suspended in an electromagnetic field powered by element zero.
The molten metal, accelerated to a significant fraction of the speed of light, solidifies into a projectile as it is fired, hitting targets with enough force to
pierce any known shield or armor. The gun can fire reliably every five seconds.[/quote]
Are we done here?
[/quote]
No, we are not.
[quote]
[quote]This is nonsense, based on a false statement.[/quote]
Actually, no, the statement to which you respond here isn't dependent upon the truth-value of my statement. Even
if we accept your assertions as complete, inexorable truth, you still concede thanix weapons still have a thermal component...a component which is correspondingly less effective in atmosphere, because atmosphere provides a medium for heat transfer that does not exist in vacuum.
[/quote]
It of course doesn't matter, because reapers
kinetic weapons(Thanix cannon), main guns in that context - are much more powerful than SA or others dreadnoughts guns. Like 130-450 kt TNT impact explosions.
Heat component is insignificant, especially with tungsten-iron-uranium alloys, which melting temperature is less than 3600K(for tungsten).
Therefore, even if heat damage is reduced, it simply does not matter.
I guess that heat component is somehow helps to partially bypass kinetic shields.
And given the speed of projectile, which is 4000km/s for SA dreadnought main gun(for reapers it is obviously higher), entire lower amosphere is bypassed in far less than 1 second.
[quote]
[quote]False conclusion, based on false data, and pure nonsense.[/quote]
From the codex entry on body armor, again emphasis mine:
http://masseffect.wi...ment#Body_Armor[quote]The inner layer consists of fabric armor with kinetic padding.
Areas that don't need to be flexible, such as the chest or shins, are reinforced with sheets of lightweight ablative ceramic...
Armored hard-suits are sealable to protect the wearer from extremes of temperature and atmosphere.[/quote][/quote]
That's just pathetic.
How does relate defense from energy weapons(heat included) to a kinetic impact weapons? It does not.
So, back for your post, and why your conclusion is false.
[quote]
Thanix weapons, and the Reaper weapons from which they're reverse-engineered, are thermal
weapons.
[/quote]
False statement.
[quote]
Their damage is precipitated largely upon conducting massive
amounts of heat into the target; the impact force is largely for armor-
and barrier-piercing.
[/quote]
False statement.
[quote]
Fire such a weapon in vacuum, and you've little problem. The projectile -- and its target when hit
-- can only lose heat by way of radiation, while heat conducts through
the intended target's structure and continues weakening it over time,
especially the longer the weapon is trained on its target (and the more
heat is dumped into it).
[/quote]
False conclusion based on false statements.
[quote]
Firing such a weapon in atmosphere is a
whole different bag of cats, since heat can be (very rapidly) conducted
and convected away as well,
which means such a thermal weapon would be
dramatically less effective in an atmosphere than in vacuum since
targets can sink heat much faster in atmosphere than in vacuum, perhaps
even weaker than a corresponding mass driver the entirety of its
destructive power lies in impact force.
[/quote]
False conclusion. Thanix is not a thermal weapon, heat damage is insignificant compared to impact impulse.
[quote]
And to think some of you may
wonder why that Alliance cruiser in the prologue had such a slugfest
with a Reaper when in later scenes in space they get instagibbed.
[/quote]
Lore errors and lore-butchering nonsense of ME3, which is full of it - is unrelated to a topic.
[quote]
Where
do Thanix missiles fit in this? Well, if they're anything like
contemporary high explosive anti-tank warheads, they have a shaped
penetrator charge followed by a secondary charge upon which the weapon
relies to actually deal its damage. In this case, the secondary charge
would be the "thanix" (i.e. thermal) portion of the weapon, allowing the
missile to dump all its heat directly into the target's internal
structure opposed to its external armor, thereby circumventing the
drawbacks of using thermal weapons in atmosphere; i.e. loss of heat via
conduction and convection into the atmosphere.
[/quote]
That is failed attempt of justification of that lore-butchering nonsense, which is "thanix missile".
[quote]
What about Shepard
on Rannoch, and how the protagonist can more or less stand next to a
destroyer's cannon shot? A direct hit notwithstanding, with which we can
safely assume Shepard is gibbed by impact force alone, body armor in
the MEU is made of high-density ceramics. Ceramics, of course, being
outstanding thermal insulators. All that Shepard has to worry about is
heat transferred through the atmosphere and ground, when they're already
wearing a suit of armor that is resistant to heat.[/quote]
False conclusion based on false statements.