By William S. Frisbee Jr. Guns, blades and bombs are often the center of physical combat.
Many writers do an excellent job of devising interesting sounding new weapons and equipment.
Blasters, phasers, disrupters, lightsabres, ect. However, many writers do not consider the full impact of the weapons in a combat environment. A weapon that fires once and takes a minute or two to recharge before it can fire again is little better than a seventeen hundreds era musket. Even worse if they have to face someone with a submachine gun. In devising a 'new weapon' a writer must consider how it is better than what we have today.