From: valends3@gmail.com   
      
   On Monday, February 19, 2018 at 2:42:37 PM UTC-5, Thomas Koenig wrote:   
   > Which part of "your enemy obliges you by not dodging" was unclear?   
      
   While I can't speak for Nuny, I imagine it's the part where "dodging" is a   
   realistic option for bodies moving at multiple km/s.  For my own part, I've   
   been assuming we're talking about spacecraft which obey the laws of physics,   
   and not about Technology    
   Indistinguishable from Magic, powered by Jedi Knights and/or the wonders of   
   friendship.  If that's the case, then anything goes.  Guns, lasers, tentacles,   
   over-sized swords...just pick whatever happens to be the current fad in soft   
   SF.   
      
   > ammunition which changes its shape a _lot_ depending on the    
   > acceleration simply makes no sense.   
      
   Who cares what shape the ammunition is?  Its purpose is to travel through a   
   vacuum and deliver its kinetic energy to the target.  Throw cylinders at them;   
   throw spheres; throw dodecahedrons; it doesn't matter!  All this stuff has to   
   do is collide with a    
   high-velocity target.  And fortunately, in space every target counts as   
   "high-velocity".   
      
   > Alternatively, if you plan to stick around, you could try ice    
   > or dry ice pellets. They would evaporate over time, but their    
   > mechanical strenght would be much lower than that, for example,    
   > of steel.    
      
   A given volume of ice pellets is definitely lighter than a given volume of   
   ball bearings, so at least from a weight-saving perspective, ice would be   
   preferable.  But don't fool yourself into thinking it's "safer".  Remember: no   
   matter what you hit the    
   target with -- ice or steel or nukes or lasers or whatever -- the target   
   itself is going to become a big ol' pile of Kessler Syndrome.  If somebody   
   insists on turning outer space into a battlefield, that's just the price   
   they'll have to pay.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)