Cannon Companion had a sister book, made apparently only in German, called Arsenal 2060.
Inside this book is pure gold.
All stats are in the back, there are detailed paragraphs about the guns, along with a picture for each gun, and Shadowtalk! Not to mention at least 12 new guns...Including the HK Urban Combat Sniper rifle, a apparent sister to the 121. But I don't know German!
Anyone know of a translated version?
Full Version: Arsenal 2060
| QUOTE (Seven-7) |
| Anyone know of a translated version? |
As Arsenal 2060 is the (somewhat expanded) German translation of Cannon Companion there's no re-translation to English.
Most of the book (including the weapon descriptions) is a direct translation of the English original.
Changes are:
- Almost every firearm now has a picture (some of them drawn for this book, many others reused from previous books), all firearms have Shadowtalk.
- All gear tables are in the back of the book instead of spread over all chapters.
- Several items were added, some of them entirely new, others taken from previous German books. In total there are 42 items (quick count in the gear tables) not found in the English book, most of them firearms.
Hm, the best thing about the german version was, that it contained all items from the core book - saved some time for searching.
But the german weapons are often a powergamers wet dream - for example the SMG that has everything (easier to hide than most heavy pistols, Recoil Comp 3, Sound Suppressor, 7M Damage, much ammo, all firing modes) AND is undetectable for MAD Scanners. Hey, powergamers would even buy it if it wasn't undetectable, because it's the best available SMG.
So personally, I wouldn't really advise someone to allow these weapons into his group, they're simply "over the top" and almost always extremly more powerfull than the original weapons.
But the german weapons are often a powergamers wet dream - for example the SMG that has everything (easier to hide than most heavy pistols, Recoil Comp 3, Sound Suppressor, 7M Damage, much ammo, all firing modes) AND is undetectable for MAD Scanners. Hey, powergamers would even buy it if it wasn't undetectable, because it's the best available SMG.
So personally, I wouldn't really advise someone to allow these weapons into his group, they're simply "over the top" and almost always extremly more powerfull than the original weapons.
| QUOTE (Irian) |
| So personally, I wouldn't really advise someone to allow these weapons into his group, they're simply "over the top" and almost always extremly more powerfull than the original weapons. |
True.
But not all German guns (not even all of the HK Urban series) are "uber" - and those that are, like much of the silliest elements of the German SR setting, can be blamed on the time of their creation and the creators himself.
IMO the FanPro people working on SR in those days (early to mid 90s) simply didn't take the game and its background very seriously. The early German releases are full of silly, over-the-top stuff yet with some gems among it.
It seems that while those authors' idea of the background world was dark, violent and somewhat cyberpunk at the same time their idea of the typical campaign was larger-than-life action/comedy movie - their motto "weird = better".
This is very evident in the early 90s German SR novels - nice stories at their cores but buried under stereotypic characters, loads of clichés and downright misconceptions and -understandings of the setting.
Unfortunately that's what most of the world knows about SR's Germany as only the very first sourcebook was ever translated (or better: rewritten) to English and for years forums and newsgroups were filled with horror tales about completely munchkin equipment and silly/warped setting mostly by people who loathed the AGS setting in general and never bothered to look into the younger books.
Yes, you're right. My favorite example is the (very old) "HK Urban Combat" (which was in the first (german) "Deutschland in den Schatten" and afaik never made it into the translation of this book "Germany Sourcebook").
Perhaps these early experiences are the reason that I never really came to like Germany as location for Shadowrun, I always preferred Seattle (and would really like to play in Denver and/or Hong Kong in the future)
So let me rephrase it: Be carefull what you allow in your group, some of the (esp. older) weapons are "over the top".
Perhaps these early experiences are the reason that I never really came to like Germany as location for Shadowrun, I always preferred Seattle (and would really like to play in Denver and/or Hong Kong in the future)
So let me rephrase it: Be carefull what you allow in your group, some of the (esp. older) weapons are "over the top".
| QUOTE (Irian) |
| My favorite example is the (very old) "HK Urban Combat" (which was in the first (german) "Deutschland in den Schatten" and afaik never made it into the translation of this book "Germany Sourcebook"). |
Actually, the whole equipment chapter was left out of the Germany Sourcebook.
Kind of a pity, even if some things were very much overpowered, some basic ideas were rather nice, for example the complete packages for headware/cybereyes, would like to see more of that.
| QUOTE (Irian) |
| Kind of a pity, even if some things were very much overpowered, some basic ideas were rather nice, for example the complete packages for headware/cybereyes, would like to see more of that. |
True.
I thought it was a nice nod to those times that among the examples for "cybersuites" (implant packages) in SR4's Augmentation were Zeiss eyes and Audiotek ears...
I've actually liked the AGS setting ever since reading the original Deutschland in den Schatten back in '93 or '94 - it wasn't some city on the other side of the world, it was home. My own country, 60 years in the future.
Yes, there is a lot of silly stuff. But there is also a lot of stuff I like - the North German League, Aldi-Real and Aldiburger, Autobahn-Duels...
Perhaps that's the problem: My girlfriend also likes that "Playing in my home country" feeling, she even liked playing in our hometown - but for me, it simply felt to much "today" (and our hometown is much to small for that, imho). I can much more easily imagine the future/Shadowrun in a location I don't know.
Different people, different preferences
Different people, different preferences
I'm bored at the moment so here's a list of the stuff that's in Arsenal 2060 but not Cannon Companion:
Melee Weapons
Melee Weapons
- Athame - ceremonial dagger used by witches
- Ceramic Knife - not detectable by weapon scanners
- Rapier
- Sword Cane
- H&K P48 - burst-capable
- Glock-Mini Giftzwerg - fires special explosive ammo only, higher damage but only single-shot ("Giftzwerg" is a German cuss word that translates as "poison dwarf")
- H&K Caveat - light pistol that looks like a heavy
- Mauser Ladyline - small and lightweight, intended for women
- Altmayr SP - pistol-sized shotgun, able to fire special grenades
- Altmayr White Star - basic heavy pistol, used by Sternschutz Security
- Glock Drachentoeter - described as "Austria's answer to the Predator", very heavy and expensive, comes with a special aiming device ("Drachentoeter" translates as "dragonslayer")
- H&K Urban Fighter - lightweight, expensive, invisible to scanners
- Luger Modell 58 - retro pistol modelled after the real-world Luger 08
- Makarov V.22 - very expensive, comes with integral silencer and fires only "cold ammo" (see below)
- Mauser Gladiator - burst-capable, comparable to Savalette Guardian
- Walther Nova II - Predator-style heavy pistol
- Walther P-059 Futura - Predator-style heavy pistol
- Walther Secura - Predator-style heavy pistol, standard sidearm of German police and military
- Walther Secura Compact - size-reduced variant of Secura
- H&K Urban Tempest - invisible to scanners
- Ares Folding SMG - based on the real-world gun prototype of the same name, folds into an unconspicious shape
- H&K Urban Combat - the original Ubergun, invisible to scanners, silenced, recoil reduction, large magazine...
- H&K Urban Enforcer - advanced Ubergun, now with grenade launcher
- Steyr TMP 6 - based on the real-world Steyr TMP (now B&T MP9), not to be confused with the Steyr TMP machine pistol!
- Mannlicher Wilderer - scoped bolt-action rifle ("Wilderer" translates as "poacher")
- H&K Urban Striker - scoped, smartlinked, silenced, bipod, dual magazine-feed (allows to switch ammo types), not invisible to scanners (unless broken down and stored in a special case)
- Mauser SEK 41 - heavy, expensive, extended range
- H&K G9A4z - used to be the German army's standard rifle (apparently there never was a G36 in the SRverse) before the G12A3z
- H&K G61A2 - uses high-velocity rules
- Nitama Optimum - Japanese rifle with under-barrel shotgun, gasvent, smartlink, biometric safety
- Steinhardt StG 58/F Kammerjaeger - assault rifle with under-barrel flamethrower, intended to fight bug spirits ("Kammerjaeger" translates as "exterminator")
- Steyr AUG-A-CSL II - full-auto in SMG configuration, better gasvent, bigger magazine
- PJSS LNB/13 Schinderhannes - German license-build of the Boyd & Richards Desperado ("Schinderhannes" was a German outlaw of the late 18th century)
- TEC 603 Stier - folding stock, scope, semi-auto ("Stier" translates as "bull")
- Wirtz SW31 Demo Control - can fire shotgun shells, gas grenades and special concussion rounds
- H&K MG4/46 - scope and bipod
- Ruhrmetall SF20 - used by MET2000
- Ruhrmetall GPRL-alpha
- Walther-AGC Liquidator - DMSO-gun similar to Ares Squirt
- Walther PPD - DMSO-gun similar to Ares Squirt
- Cold Ammo - subsonic, reduced damage but makes silencers more effective
- Altmayr SP Ammo - special ammo, can only be used with Altmayr SP, available as slugs, shot or explosive
- Wirtz Ammo - special ammo, can only be used with Wirtz Demo Control, available as shot or concussion rounds
- Wirtz Gas Grenades - can only be used with Wirtz Demo Control, available with teargas or NeuroStun XIII
- Active Sound-Dampening Earphones - works like cyberear-dampener
- Automatic Explosive Anchor - climbing aid, uses a small charge to drive a bolt into a hard surface
- EVAC-Bubble - inflates to 2m diameter, air- and watertight, used in emergencies at sea
- Fashionable Hazard Suit - full chemical protection yet good-looking ("Huebner-Yamashita EnviroTex")
- Mini-Sonar - hand-held sonar for divers
| QUOTE (Seven-7) |
| Cannon Companion had a sister book, made apparently only in German, called Arsenal 2060. Inside this book is pure gold. All stats are in the back, there are detailed paragraphs about the guns, along with a picture for each gun, and Shadowtalk! Not to mention at least 12 new guns...Including the HK Urban Combat Sniper rifle, a apparent sister to the 121. But I don't know German! Anyone know of a translated version? |
Catalyst's SR4 book _Arsenal_ is not a translation of the German book, but will contain a bucketload of previously-existing Shadowrun gear, new stuff, illustrations [trying to figure out how to cram the most number of gear illos per page and have it look extra cool ...], information about buying on the black market, etc.
| QUOTE (MYST1C) |
| I'm bored at the moment so here's a list of the stuff that's in Arsenal 2060 but not Cannon Companion: |
That's damn near a full book! (by SSC standards at least)
It's been a while and my Arsenal was burned when my appartment caught fire. But I remember the HK Urban "Überguns" requiring special chemically sealed clips of ammunition. I balanced out the guns by making it extremely difficult and expensive to obtain large amounts of ammo for them. Helped that we were playing on a rather low level. When you're dividing a 10-20k¥ reward between 6 characters per run, players think twice before just covering everything in APDS, EXEx or those special clips.
| QUOTE (NightmareX) | ||
That's damn near a full book! (by SSC standards at least) |
Well, that's a compilation of the equipment from three individual German sourcebooks (some items left out, some new added).
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