BlackHammer Firearms 3: Ballistic Evolution

[HellHound]

From the archives of the BlackHammer Project comes the new state of the art in projectile weapon systems.

This is the third volume of BlackHammer Firearms - detailing a selection of military & paramilitary firearms that are outgrowths and adaptations of existing designs - extrapolated to the edge of the Progress Level 5 / 6 boundary.

The firearms in this document are illustrated, fully described (with full history, d20 statistics and descriptions of who uses them and why), and ready for use in a modern / future d20 campaign.
Although IMI stopped manufacturing the venerable and ubiquitous Uzi in 2016, other companies are still producing licensed copies... other gunsmiths are taking the old Uzi, however, and rebuilding it as a state-of-the-art submachine gun. Five different models of the SwanSong Armory Uzi retrofits are detailed - including the Uzi Support pictured above, with the attached 30mm grenade launcher - two models are illustrated.

A Chechen reduced assault rifle, based almost entirely on the classic M-16, the Insurgent is designed for close-quarter and house-to-house fighting common in urban engagements. The weapon is very short overall, and is treated more as a large submachine gun than as an assault rifle.

Heckler & Koch is one of the most famous manufacturers of military personal firearms in the modern age. The MP10 'slimline' subguns were developped concurrently with the BMP-9 series (below) and the UMP submachine guns. The MP10 line features a lower profile than the earlier MP-5s and UMPs and is available in a variety of calibers and two basic models. In all, 6 models of the MP10 series are described and detailed in this product, along with two illustrations.

The Heckler & Koch BMP-9 takes the classic MP-5 line and mates it with a helical magazine, allowing for extended autofire (or 'combat endurance'). Although somewhat awkward in weight and handling, the design allows for a 42-round box magazine to be used without significantly increasing the total height of the gun. 21 models of the BMP9 series are described and detailed, along with three illustrations.

The descendant of the Druganov SVD, one of the world's most famous sniper rifles, the Druganov PIR (Product Improved Rifle) is the new standard marksman rifle for the Russian military (in the classic 7.62x54mm chambering of the SVD) and Ministry of Internal Affairs (in the 9mmx39mm SP-6 chambering). In addition, a variety of export models are in production. 6 models of the PIR are described and detailed, along with an illustration.

 

[Crothian]

Black Hammer 3

Black Hammer 3

In the near future games many times the guys with the best gun seem to come out victorious. The gun has always been a fascination of gamers and the near future weapons seem to be especially popular since they represent the most powerful and cutting edge technology; even if most of it does not actually exist today. With the d20 game quickly adapting itself to each and ever genre out there is no surprise that these products are starting to real find their own niche. The New Tribes series represents EN Publishing dive into this newly forming market. Their Black Hammer series has filled the role nicely.

Black Hammer 3 is the third in the line of books about near future weapons. Each one has presented a few new and interesting weapons in the. They are all written by M Jason Parent giving them consistency in writing style. This fifteen page PDF is fully book marked, layout is good with some white space issues the whole series has, but the over all look of the books is really cool. It is like the first two well book marked.

The series has really grown since the first book. The page count on them is not high but considering there are over three dozen weapons in the book alone, one quickly sees that there is lots of information in these few pages. The weapons and technology behind them are all nicely described and they have nice information to use. These weapons are more then just stats on a page. The few pictures are of cool guns, and more pictures could be useful.

The power of the weapons seems appropriate for the time frame. The weapons are good and players will want them as they are nice upgrades from other items in d20 Modern for instance. Many of the weapons are also versatile and that just helps players to want them even more. But none of them strike me as something one would not want in one’s game. A small annoyance though is some of the items referenced here are to be described in the fourth series of the book which at this time is not out yet.

One of the great things about these books is they are actually useful in non d20 systems. While there are no conversions notes or anything like that in these books, they are detailed enough that someone familiar with d20 and another system appropriate for the weapons like Shadowrun should have no problems. The back ground material is easy to use in most cyber punk type settings and should be nice to offer something the players of the system might not be familiar with.

The Black Hammer books have really done a great job of presenting weapons in a new and interesting way. The background information is really the key for me and I really hope one day it will be expanded on so that readers can learn more about these companies. There is a lot of room to grow in the series and it does not always have to be the new and latest weapons though that does not hurt either. The series really fits well together and the more I read them all together the more I like them.