Flamethrowers are a primitive anti-personnel weapon, projecting a cone of burning liquid hydrocarbon fuel, inflicting wounds through burns and anoxia.
Flamethrower-5
Weight 800g; tank 9000g. Length 600mm. The flamethrower first appears at TL 5 as an anti-personnel weapon. One or two tanks of flammable liquid hydrocarbon fuel are carried on the back; a manually operated pump mechanism projects the fuel down a flexible hose and out of a simple barrel. Ignition comes from a steel-and-flint spark generator, a pilot light or a primitive electrical lighter. Each pump of the lever fires one blast; one shot per round is allowed. A two-second blast is the usual optimum. Each tank holds enough fuel for about 60 seconds of flame - 30 shots standard. The weapon is very dangerous to use; the fuel tends to be very unstable and the pump tends to clog. Each shot, throw 8+ for a misfire; this will clog the weapon and requires a maintenance throw:
To repair a clogged flamethrower:
Routine, Flamethrower, Mechanical OR Dex, 5 minutes.
Referee: if the
weapon clogs and this task is ignored or fails, the result is an automatic
explosion (see below).
If a flamethrower operator is injured, throw 8+ for an explosion, DM +1 per die of the damage taken. Explosion is automatic if the hit is from explosives, flamethrowers or energy weapons. An explosion inflicts the normal damage of the flamethrower multiplied by half the number of seconds' fuel left in the tank (1-30 if not known). It is also very dangerous to use the weapon against the wind or up a steep slope; heavy rain badly degrades its performance. Flamethrowers can also be vehicle-mounted; a trailer containing 15-30 minutes fuel is usually towed behind for safety.
Flamethrower-6
Weight 1000g; tank 9000g. Length 600mm. The TL 6 flamethrower is marked by several improvements. The stability of the fuel is greatly increased, and the pump mechanism is improved, featuring fire-resistant one-way valves to prevent blow-back explosion if the operator fumbles the pumping operation (which is still manual). The ignition system is improved, resulting in fewer misfires; the misfire and explosion throws both become 10+. It is otherwise similar to the Flamethrower-5.
Flamethrower-7
Weight 800g; tank 7000g. Length 700mm. At TL 7 the flamethrower reaches its final development. The fuel pump is now powered by an internal battery and synchronised with the ignition system; this increases notably the range and power of the weapon. Improved fuels with higher stability and the addition of a self-sealing fuel tank make the weapon almost safe (misfire and explosion rolls are 11+). Towards the middle of the TL 7 period the invention of napalm renders the flamethrower basically obsolete, and no further developments are made. Occasional use of the flamethrower is still made, however, in some rare cases until TL 12 when the PGMP-12 completely replaces it. A field napalm projector sometimes appears in the late TL 7 - early TL 8 period, but the difficulties of projecting the chemicals a safe distance from the user make it fairly impractical.