Star Wars: Beam-Tubes & Pulse-Wave Blasters(Legends)
By Wolfrazer 13 Comments
So another blog surrounding Star Wars tech, this however going over the precursors to the modern Blaster that everyone uses(or just about everyone) in the SW Galaxy. But make no mistake, the Beam-Tube and Pulse-Wave weapons were still plenty powerful, just not as powerful as the Blaster but more powerful than Slugthrowers, so lets get into it!
Link to Slugthrower & Blaster Blog= https://comicvine.gamespot.com/profile/wolfrazer/blog/star-wars-the-slugthrower-and-the-blaster-legends/130988/#comments-block-1872986
=======
Beam-Tube
The ancestors of handheld blasters were beam tubes, which gradually displaced heatbeams and plasma cannons(both which used lasers to heat plasma) because they were safer to carry and wield and required less maintenance.
- Taken from Essential Guide to Warfare
Pretty straightforward really, they displaced heatbeams and plasma cannons, being easier and safer to use.
Advantages of the Beam-Tube
Over twenty thousand years ago during the days of barbarian warlords such as Xim the Despot and long before the rise of the Old Republic, projectile guns and magnetic accelerators ruled the battlefield. Despite numerous limitations, the first Beam Tubes changed the balance of power on those legendary battlefields. Their energy-particle beams easily defeated the armor of the day, which had been designed to protect the wearer against the high-velocity projectiles, not energy beams.
- Taken from Essential Guide to Weapons & Technology
They changed the balance of power on the battlefields, easily destroying armor that was protecting against projectile and accelerator weapons.
The entire system snaps onto a heavy blast vest that is padded with several layers of composite ceramics to absorb and dissipate kinetic energy from high-impact projectiles.
- Taken from Essential Guide to Weapons & Technology
The whole system snaps onto a heavy blast vest, which has several layers of ceramics to protect against high-impact projectiles.
This beam tube's power system includes the backpack type power cell, a recharge port and a small refrigeration unit(to keep the cell within safe temperature levels.)
- Taken from Essential Guide to Weapons & Technology
Has a refrigeration unit to keep the power cell within safe temperatures.
The vest includes a reserve power cell and a comlink with a four kilometer range. A switch next to the comlink antenna activates an emergency homing beacon to guide rescue crews.
- Taken from Essential Guide to Weapons & Technology
It also includes a reserve power cell and comlink with a homing beacon to guide rescue crews.
Disadvantages of a Beam-Tube
The Emperor-4 beam tube is powered by a massive backpack power cell that weighs over 30 kilograms but delivers less than one hundred shots. The weapon itself severely restricts the soldier's mobility because it must be fired two-handed and weighs over fifteen kilograms.
- Taken from Essential Guide to Weapons & Technology
The backpack cell weighs over 30 kilograms while the weapon weighs over 15 and needing to be fired with both hands and fires less than 100 shots.
In pounds that would be 66 pounds and 33 pounds respectively, so the trooper is lugging around a total of 99 pounds in just weapon equipment, this isn't even including any means of armor.
Another design limitation is manifested in the sensitive internal refinement tubes, which are easily thrown out of alignment, re-configuring them takes nearly 4 hours.
- Taken from Essential Guide to Weapons & Technology
The tubes(which there's 12 of them) can easily be thrown out of alignment and fixing that takes nearly 4 hours.
The Emperor-4 requires several seconds to process enough power for a blast, with an optimal range of twenty meters and max range of fifty. Because of the beam tube's limited ammunition and need for recharging, squads often carried a large power generator on a repulsorlift sled.
- Taken from Essential Guide to Weapons & Technology
It takes several seconds for a blast, the range is only up to 50 meters and with limited ammunition and needing for recharge, squads often carried large power generators.
The wasteful energy conversion process generates tremendous heat. The beam tube's sensitive electronic components are protected by twelve cooling motors, although they direct the hot air into the soldier's face, making it quite uncomfortable to use.
- Taken from Essential Guide to Weapons & Technology
The wasteful energy generates heat, which while the weapons electrical components are protected, the wearer gets a hot air blast in their faces making it uncomfortable.
Side Note: Heatbeams
Xim Droids were virtually unstoppable in their day. The warlord was one of the first individuals to perfect mechanized combat, entire star systems surrendered in the face of his ruthless automated armies. Even by modern standards, the robots are remarkably resilient and impressively lethal.
Shielded apertures built into the arms and hands housed various chemicals and energy weapons, including archaic heatbeams and particle discharges.
- Taken from Essential Guide to Droids
To put the Beam-Tubes in perspective, Xim the Depost's army was considered virtually unstoppable, entire star systems surrendered.
Han had just begun to let himself believe they were clear, when a yellow heatbeam flashed out of the night. It scored on a rock two meters to Bollux's right, throwing up sparks and globs of molten mineral.
- Taken from Han Solo and the Lost Legacy
A heatbeam strikes a rock, melting it.
Defenders that were sufficiently well armed were putting up stiff resistance with rocket launchers, grenade throwers, heavy weapons, and crew-served guns.
- Taken from Han Solo and the Lost Legacy
To put better in perspective, a large group of Xim War Droids were later awakened in a mining camp, it takes the miners with rocket launchers, grenades launchers, heavy weapons and crew guns just to put up stiff resistance.
Not counting the actual blasters involved(Han's, Gallandro's and Chewie's )
So the fact it took that kind of firepower, the Beam Tubes really did change the face of the battlefield since before they came around, it was just Heatbeams, plasma cannons, projectile and accelerator weapons.
=====
There are sadly no real showings for the Beam-Tubes, but just from description despite the flaws, they changed the battlefield and made way for the blaster.
So moving on to Pulse-Wave!
=====
Pulse-Wave Blaster
Beam-Tubes were replaced by Pulse-Wave weapons, which were imprecise and lacked range; further improvements resulted in the mass production of weapons similar to the modern blaster by 4,000 BBY.
- Taken from Essential Guide to Warfare
Straightforward, they replaced the Beam-Tubes and mass production of these soon saw weapons that were similar to the modern blaster by 4,000 BBY.
Advantages of a Pulse-Wave Blaster
Pulse-Wave blasters were the precursors to the modern energy weapons; they fired a packet of coherent energy that inflicted considerable damage to a target. Pulse-wave weapons operated much like disruptor weapons, causing the target's molecules to separate.
- Taken from Gundark's Fantastic Technology: Personal Gear
They were precursors to the modern energy weapons, operating similarly to disruptors where the damage was at a molecular level.
A pulse-wave pistol requires a power pack. After 100 shots, the power pack must be replaced. A pulse-wave rifle requires a power pack. After 50 shots, the power pack must be replaced.
- Taken from Kotor Campaign Guide
A pulse-wave pistol has 100 shots, while a rifle has 50. Compare this to the Beam-Tube which had less than 100 to the pistol, the rifle has less but it's more accurate and has longer range.
Although those pulse-wave blasters found today are ancient, many still work well enough and have been banned by most worlds.
- Taken from Gundark's Fantastic Technology: Personal Gear
Though ancient by the time blaster weapons are in full swing, they work well enough and have been banned on most worlds.
Disadvantages of a Pulse-Wave Blaster
Less powerful than blaster bolts, pulse-wave packets are nevertheless deadly at close range.
- Taken from New Essential Guide to Weapons & Technology
They aren't as powerful as blaster bolts.
The technological predecessor to the modern blaster pistol, the pulse-wave pistol was largely abandoned when blaster technology became common.
- Taken from Kotor Campaign Guide
Pulse-wave technology was pretty much abandoned when blasters came.
The pulse-wave blaster-the forerunner to the modern blaster-is virtually extinct. I've run into some worlds on the Outer Rim Territories where the natives are happy to get any kind of high-tech, no matter how primitive. There's good money to be made selling these archaic weapons to a bunch of nuclear-level warmongers.
- Taken from Gundark's Fantastic Technology: Personal Gear
It's virtually extinct and considered archaic/primitive by modern galactic standards, nuclear level societies are happy though in getting them.
=====
Pulse-Wave Blaster/Cannon Feats
So the first scan is a handheld Pulse-Wave blaster used by Naga Sadow to blow open a prison door(you'll see a decent sized hole in the door) along with sizeable holes in the mountain walls.
Second scan has a two manned pulse-wave blaster making a giant hole within the size of a mountain.
The first 2 scan shows ship mounted pulse-wave cannons(since recall the modern blaster hadn't yet been invented yet), showing some decent sized explosions and blowing apart buildings and statues.
The last scan showing warbeast mounted pulse-wave cannons also making some sizeable explosions too.
=====
So there you have it folks! The old energy weapons before Blaster Technology came around, kind of puts in perspective how powerful Blasters are when you realize that these weapons are powerful in their own right.