While looking over the stats and description for the Ares Protector, three things entered my mind:

1) Is this toy completely composed of polyresins ala the Puzzler, and if not, then why not? Doesn't putting a detectable gun in a briefcase sort of defeat the purpose of hiding the damned thing in the first place? Or maybe that's just me bitching.

2) Why didn't FASA simply say, "here's a briefcase you can hide a SMG in (with a list of usable SMGs)"? That'd seem to be much more sensible than well...making a SMG made to be hidden in a...no wait, my reasoning has hit a brick wall.

3) Who actually uses this thing?

never watched ghost in the shell i take it?

one thing you never must forget aabout metal briefcases or hell make it a metal briefcase coverd with imitation leather just for the hell of it

most of the time i guess its used with low profile bodyguards (you know the secret service type people in black suits and sunglasses) as they just look like a personal secretary or something...

if you have the licence in order for consealed weapons there should be no problem usign something like that. could prove to be troublesome in customs and so on but i guess its mostly designed for the licenced/registerd bodyguard, not the assasin with a spray and pray attitude. perfect ofr packing heat in public without showing it you know

It's also got great "Oh, yeah, sure, I'm unarmed, only my case here" value.

Nothing like throwing down a hail of gunfire while getting your ass out of a doublecross situation, not to mention the wonders of smartlink TM technology!

Also it's a cool toy. Just wish I could mod my HVAR into one of the cases....

Well, looking at the H&K pic, it looks like it attaches like most H&K scopes do. That makes the briefcase a top-mounted accessory, right?

Now imagine instead something more universal, like something to attach to weaver/picatinny rails, and all you need is the max concealability. Raygun says the H&K MP5K is Conc 4, and it fills the case pretty well, so we can say conc 4 for the briefcase.

However, I am positive Tiralee's HVAR would fit in a trombone case. You might look like an extra from Desparado, though.

I'm just thinking of the weirdness of the "assassin-on-the-go" baggage kit, mind you. In one hand, we have the Ares Protector SMG in its briefcase and in the other, we have a broken-down Ranger Arms SM-3 sniper rifle in another briefcase (and yes, it does come in a briefcase)...say we get them modified for full ceramic construction and dikote the cases to protect the investment. FASA kindly makes two weapons that fit nicely in briefcases somewhat undetectable by MAD scanners, and you can have two pieces of carry-on luggage in most Greyhound busses.

Coincidence? I think not.

Sorry, bad joke. OK, here's something I'd like to know, just an opinion, mind you. These briefcases, what else can you fit into them? How many clips of ammo? What kind of equipment? How many mounts does a Protector have available (not usable in the case, but outside of it...like a grenade launcher, for example)?

At least the protector's suppressed - the one thing I really hate about the HVAR is the whole "Ok, someone's in a firefirght" when I unleash hell.

Yes, I like the sneaky-sneaky option. But to be honest, when it breaks loose, the awful "He's carrying a WHAT?!" expressive descriptions make me smile.


Oh, and it's caseless too - hate to think of such an expensive piece of shiny-shiny as disposable.

Trombone...Yeah, that could work. I was thinking more along the lines of a foil flower arrangement with the HVAR in a couple of zip-lok TM baggies.

Ah hell - I think I'll stick to lobbing a couple of Superflash microgrenades into the lobby. Whoever though of those was a real sadist. Expensive that they are, they remain more than slightly fun.

Oh yeah.


And with a couple of month's training, I was looking forward to sourcing a Barret 121....caseless, SM2, of course. But, eh, money trickles away sooooo easily.

Disposable? You talking about tossing a gun because you left shells all over the place?

I look at it this way. Do power 1 city spirits really have anything better to do than follow your group's shaman around and pick stuff up and wipe things down?

Another idea is a briefcase shell that falls away when you wish to use the weapon. In Romeo Must Die , a goon does this with a very short barreled CAR-15. The carrying handle on the CAR was actually the handle of the briefcase. When he needed it he flipped a little release switch and the sides of the case fell away, revealing a ready to use mini-assault rifle. So unless you're really bent on firing the gun while it is inside the briefcase, I think that this is the way to go.

you allso see some very uzi like guns in gits (i guess everyone know what anime im talking about) that work just hte same way

Don't forget Desperado and the machine gun in the guitar case toward the end...

The Abstruse One

Well, those crazy mexicans were also seen packing a rocket launcher inside guitar cases…

This kind of gear is very useful for doing action movie stunts. One moment everything's calm, and the next all hell breaks loose. You should, of course, follow it with a lot of slow mo' takes of guys moving and jumping guns ablazin'… Never ever fails.

saw a flamethrower in the previews for the sequal

Disposable as in "Need to lose the weapon as the heat is on my ass and I'm not immune to launch-weapon damage."

Yeah, Like the Lonestar Heavies would be willing to let me go if I waved a poorly-forged permit for an Assault-weapon...and the bodies littering the place have been HVAR'ed to chunky goodness.

Caseless is useful, reduced evidence (Yeah, everyone's seen CSI a couple of hundred times) but with the gun smoking in my hands, well, I'd like some sense to reign in game.

Regarding caseless - I'd like to mention the "oh, Predators only have 15 rounds, he's meat now" assumption."

And tossing a gun is occaionaly necessary, especially when some high-level, connected NPC's have died due to weapons that you're well know to use. (Damn reps.)

According to the write up on the Ares Protector, the weapon suffers double the uncompensated recoil. This penalty might make a suitcase mounted HVAR useless since it's already a recoil intensive weapon. Especially since the HVAR cannot use barrel mounted accessories, so the only after-market recoil reducer you could use would be an underbarrel weight.

Ah come on, a briefcase-gun. Every elf can use a briefcase-gun. It's for whimps, whuzzies, pushovers!

Real man / orks / trolls use coffins! Nothing says "I am mean" better than carring your coffing around. Besides, you can hide anything short of a tank cannon in there. And make cool yokes.

Birdy