No heavy weapons and bases in novels ?

[Terror]

ehm... they don't use lasguns right? (shields and stuff). And i don't know about the rocks, can you prove it? i mean, they can build buildings on them.. and as far as i can see in the miniseries, there's enough space around the palace to get some vehicles. even 1 tank would mean a huge difference.

[nemafakei]

In general, shields aren't used on Arrakis anyway... aside fromt the worms, the weather makes them difficult to use.

Remember that lasguns are probably the widest-used weapon.

Besides, what do you suggest the tanks fire? APDS?

[Terror]

what's apds?

anyway... then you just give shields to the tanks. No person with laser guns would think of attacking that one.

[Acriku]

Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot, used to pierce through armor, like tanks I guess?

[Scrinlord]

maybe around the shield wall, surrounding the palace, you could have a few tanks, but they would be useless. a lasgun would decimate a tank in very short order, and a perrson with a lasgun could hide and fire from cover, while a tank is stuck out in the open.

and to respond to another weapons question that was at the beginning of this thread, I think.

Scientists in the Duneiverse cannot make a weapon to pass through or defeat sheilds, because no one knows how a sheild works. the top scientists, and I think maybe even Holzman himself, said (Paraphrase) that I dont know why the Holtzman effect works, but it does

people can build a shield, but they dont know why it works, so they dont know how to counter it.

[Terror]

hmmm i still think it to be illogical not to have tanks with a powerful explosive weapon that can decimate entire ranks of harkonnen troops

[Usul]

If a tank was shielded it wouldn't be able to fire and if it wasn't it would be fired at by lasguns.

[Terror]

why would someone fire with a lasgun on a shield? it would mean death to everyone..

[Acriku]

Luck of the draw actually, may just kill the wearer, or the wearer and the shooter, or the whole damned planet. If it's your last option, take it.

[neonext]

from how far can lasguns be shot at a target and still hit?

[vidiware]

from how far can lasguns be shot at a target and still hit?

IF its laser!:

(a small mathematics, i dont know the exactlly lightspeed but i think its: 3 60 000 000 m/s)

Im very bad at mathematics without calculators and other things...But i can say:

You are good if you can race from the light, but it is possible in dune... or?

The laser have a range on X meters before it is too weak to do any harm...

(The longer away from target you are, less damage you take).

(You cant escape from a laserbeam if the shooter have aimed at you and presses the button when you are pointed at)

(A lazer Gun can be VERY dangerous!!!, it will be invisible to the human eye... so if you shoot noone can see that you shoot, execpt with infrared or UV googles)

[Ghosty_Square]

I had the impression the lasbeam is visible. In the books it is described as "white-hot".

[nemafakei]

If the beam is powerul enough to start with, the laser will excite air paricles as it passes.

[Terror]

hmm, it's not a laser that is realistic anyway... i mean.. a laser will not create a nuclear blast, not matter what it hits.. It's just one of Frank's fantasies

[Mahdi]

1) There is an article int he article section about lasguns, I beleive.

2) It is not a nuclear explosion.

[Mad Rhetoric]

still i agree with earthnuker, it doesn't realy make sense.. they can make shields but nothing that can penetrate them... except for slow pojectiles. Why can slow projectiles pierce it but fast ones not ???

Think of the shield like a bee that is hovering near you.If you make a quick sudden move,the bee will think you are attacking it and sting you.However,if you walk away slowly,then it will not bother you.

[Terror]

hmm that has to do with intelligence. A shield has no intelligence.

[Acriku]

It's in the Butlerian Jihad book, and explains it. I posted it somewhere, will look for it.