Pretty much yeah, a dirty bomb is usually better used as an actual bomb. If you just want to kill a bunch of people rapidly in terrifying ways then gases are your best guess. Almost all the real bad ones are shit you can just make yourself if you have the base chemicals. Phosgene gas for one is available commercially for industry. Colorless with a benign smell but fatalities are often long after exposure so you could start a pretty rowdy leak in a population center and unless they’re a WW1 vet most aren’t likely to know the smell. You’d have a ton dead near instantly and a lot of people going home and living their lives for up to like 5 days and all of a sudden you get real bad and drop dead kinda out of the blue.
Pretty much yeah, a dirty bomb is usually better used as an actual bomb. If you just want to kill a bunch of people rapidly in terrifying ways then gases are your best guess. Almost all the real bad ones are shit you can just make yourself if you have the base chemicals. Phosgene gas for one is available commercially for industry. Colorless with a benign smell but fatalities are often long after exposure so you could start a pretty rowdy leak in a population center and unless they’re a WW1 vet most aren’t likely to know the smell. You’d have a ton dead near instantly and a lot of people going home and living their lives for up to like 5 days and all of a sudden you get real bad and drop dead kinda out of the blue.