Deathlands Sci-Fi Series by James Axler, Gold Eagle Publishing, Wags and Weapons

Weapons & Wags

Wags Wags : Or commonly known as vehicles consisted of all shapes and sizes, running on all types of fuel. Most wags favored by those that had access to fuel were rebuilt small cars and trucks, lightly armored, easy on fuel. Motorcycles were used as they were light. could be taken off road, easily fixed and light on fuel. What Ryan and the vrew used was usually vehicles found in the redoubts that were still in prime shape and fuel could be found. These would have consisted of Light Armored Vehicles (LAVS), Hummers, Jeeps and transports. Most likely the Trader also used these type of vehicles to run his trains, probably consisting of LAVS and Light transport vehicles and maybe even fast attack vehicles like the one below.

Something in this design would have allowed scouts, reconnaisance and fast movement among the wags protecting the wags with the trade goods. Allowing also for the fact that most roads 100 years later would be seriously overgrown, crumbled, destroyed or missing, these type vehicles could move around easier than the larger vehicles designed for road use. Even the small cars and trucks would have problems once off the road. Vehicles like the Hummers seen below would be perfect for the time and terrain.

Since we know the army was using the Hummers in the late 1990's it would be a good guess that many of the vehicles around in the year 2001 would be of the similiar type. Seeing the versatility of the hummer makes it a most likely vehicle to be stored and used in redoubts. There was also mentioned swamp buggys, personal carriers and bicycles. A unit like the one below was used by the crew when traveling to Graceland.

Also mentioned was six and eight wheeled buggys that could travel over most terrain and crush small trees that got in the way. These vehicles usually know as LAVS would also have been vehicles kept in the redoubts and used for transportation of personal and goods. Something like the one below and the jeep were also vehicles that may have been foeund in redoubts. So little is said about what vehicles were actually used that it is left up to the reader to decide what the vehicle would look like. I hope these pictures help to give a better idea to those readers that have not had the experience with the armed forces type vehicles.

For those who are wondering about other modes of transport that exists in this era, there are many choices for those who have no access to gas. There are still horses and horses can draw wagons, pull logs, be ridden, used for plowing, et. There are also places where there is enough train track to have the old coal and wood burner locomotives running. The use of wind and steam power is back in as trees are once again plentiful and the wind is always more of a problem than a help but can be utilised for pushing wagons, carts, ships and kites. Also there is the bicycle which is favored for its mobility and you can always carry it around obstacles. Water travel is done by boats, most utilising oars or wind to propel them and the old type windjammer ships are back in use. The rest I will leave to your imagination or better yet to the story teller as there are descriptions of the vehicles in the books, best read for yourself.
Weapons

Weapons : Weapons in Death Lands consist of every type gun, knife, blade, arrow, bow, etc. that can be either developed by the people or found in redoubts, houses, villes etc. Most weapons that are around are decayed poorly kept up "blasters". not having names but known to kill, as long as it shoots use it. As long as it cuts, slice it. Ryan and his crew though have access to more weapons and ammunition than the average person. Since they travel from redoubt to redoubt they are able to access the store rooms in those redoubts still having stores in them. This is a big advantage as it seemd where ever they end up there is always a "chilling" time. Below are some pictures and explanations of the weapons the crew carried and a few weapons that would have been easily found around. Remember though that the weapon itself could always be found, it was the ammo that was hard to find.

Ryan Cawdor : Ryan carries a Panga knife, a Sig-Sauer P266 hand gun, a Heckler & Kotch G-12 caseless rifle and a scarf with weighted ends that would make a good garrot and has. In my research I found that the G-12 was a weapon yet to come as Heckler & Kotch make a G-11 but even that rifle was no longer built. It would be the predecessor to the G-12 though and the picture below is actually the G-11.

H&G G-11

SS P226

flensing knife

H&K G-11

Panga on left Krysty : Krysty carries a Heckler & Kotch P7A-13 hand gun and a small dirk type knife hidden in the small of her back. She also has the erath power of Mother earth or known more as Giai. She also wears a pair of cowboy boots that have chiselded silver toe peices added that have been sharpended and are very deadly.

H&G P7A-13

Typical dirk J.B. Dix : J.B. is a walking arsenal. He carryed the Mini Uzzi through all of the series but for a while traded it off when rounds for it became to hard to find going back to it later as his preferred weapon. About his body he always has concealed small peices of plas-ex, grenades, wire, ammo, knives, maps and a hand gun. He carried a Heckler & Koch HK54A (research shows that the HK54's name was changed to the MP-5) submachine gun for a while as did Hennings and Finnegan when they were around. With J.B. you were never certain exactley what he had but always sure he would back you up in any fight. He preferred the sub guns like the Uzzi and the MP-5 because of poor eyesight, beleiving that if he couldn't see enough to make the first shot kill, the ten shots following would. Later he also carries a M-4000 shotgun with revolving magazine capable of firing flechettes.

H&K MP-5

MP-5

M-4000

Mini Uzzi. flensing knife Tekna

Doctor Theopolis Tanner : Doc carried only two weapons and neither was his brain compacity (little joke) and they were a 1856 Le Mat Hand Gun probably made in England or the USA and a sword cane. The weapon is a restored version of the original. The original Le Mat was bored for a .40 and a .60 (18 gauge) rounds. The gun had two barrels one above the other with the lower barrel firing a single .60 round and the other barrel capable of firing 9 .40 rounds on a revolving mechanism. Towards the end of the Civil war the Le Mat had been rechambered for a .35 cal and .50 cal rounds but still never matched the ammo common to that time. By the end of the Civil war the Le Mat could fire a .36 cal and a .44 cal round. These were the commonest bullets available and easier to get ammunition for it. Docs gun has been rebored to take a .38 cal and a 12 gauge. Both easy to find in Death Lands.

Le Mat

Sword Canes Jak Lauren : Jaks preferred weapons are his knives. Although he carries a .357 Magnum he is most lethal in hand to hand combat and knife throwing. He wears a vest that has razors sewn into it so that anyone grabbing him will most likely be cut up. He has ten leaf bladed throwing knives on his person, the handles taped for maximum balance.

357 Colt Python Revolver

Leaf bladed Throwing Knives Mildred Wyeth : Mildred is a doctor and as a doctor has taken the oath to preserve life. In Death Lands she has learned how to kill and kill with out regret or remorse. She carries a Czech made ZKR 551 38 cal target revolver and a small knife something like Krysty's. She is by far the best shot in the crew and before the war hit in 2001 she won the Gold medal in the Olympics in the year 2000 for target shooting.

ZKR 551 target pistol

Small dirk Dean Cawdor : Dean is Ryans son and is only 12 years old but is able to handle a weapon with the ease of any adult and can handle himself in most fights but like all young kids he is still growing and is sometime careless and lax. This has almost gotten him killed a few times. His weapond of choice is a Browning 9mm high power pistol and a turquoise handled knife given to him by Sharonna.

9mm Browning High Power

Turquoise knife

For more information on weapons used in Death Lands you will find more detail on the capacities, bores, weight etc by visiting either

The Official Deathlands Fan Club Home Site at

or go to the Deathlands Home Page at

. Both sites are very good and have a lot more specific information than I have gathered. If you are interested in seeing more on the weapons then visit my links page for the Home Pages of the Arms Companies mentioned here.