First to address Onno's comment about arms. I hadn't bothered to think too much about it. Early on I had envisioned them as an entrenching tool and debris clearing tool. But after that I mostly just put them there because I only used two legs. The multiple limbs has always struck me as one of the few advantages "mecha" have over tanks. If you blow a limb off the mecha it can still move, if you track a tank however it is done until you can get out and fix it. And fixing track-type undercarriage outside of a repair bay is not fun believe me - it isn't even much fun inside of a repair bay. Quad track vehicles somewhat mitigate this advantage - but these have problems of their own.
[email protected] wrote on 06/11/2009 04:57:10 PM: > > On Sun, Jun 7, 2009 at 8:18 AM, Onno Meyer<[email protected]> wrote: > >> The M-CCM1 (Manned - Command and Control Mech 1) > > > > I had never even thought of dual control rooms. Two crewmen > > are better than one, but even two are a small crew for a C3 > > vehicle. We're talking about a 30-ton vehicle, more than > > most present-day APCs ... > > > > > > What good are those arms? Sure, a proper mecha needs arms, > > but a C3 vehicle doesn't. > > Onno > And now for Chris's comment about Warstrider. I've heard good things about this, but have never read it. My first experience with William Keith's work was on some of the old Battletech novels. And I really didn't like his Battletech novels (but I really did like Stackpole's). I have always liked the walking tank idea of battlemechs - and when he was having them doing shoulder rolls into kneeling shooting stances it really bugged me. In the game a mech could take significant damage from just a bad stumble - I hesitate to think what a shoulder roll would do to one. And as big of an Otaku as I am, I hate Japanese mecha anime. For much of the same reasons (plus the fact that in these shows a transforming mech almost always is better than a specialist mech despite all the equipment needed to transform it). Gaseraki is one of the few exceptions to this (and that would probably have been better without the psychic dancing kabukimen - or the last episode). But every once in a while I think about giving the Warstrider series a try anyway. > Makes me think of one of the mecha in William H. Keith's Warstrider > series. It was one of the heavier mechs in the setting and it was > designed as the unit commander's mecha. It had a crew of three: > pilot/primary-gunner, secondary gunner, and the unit-commander. In > normal configuration, the pilot controlled the legs, arms, and the > main weapon. The gunner operated all the secondary weapons > (counter-measures, missiles, anti-infantry). The unit-commander was > in a direct 3D virtual-reality suite commanding all the other mecha in > the field. > > The big thing in the setting was that all mecha were controlled via > nanogrown cyberlinks and the command mecha could be changed out so > that any of the 3 crewmembers could take over operation of any of the > systems. > > --- > Chris J. Whitcomb > "I try to keep an open mind, but my brain keep falling out!" > _______________________________________________ > GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> > http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l I've been working on another drone. This one intended for direct combat. Almost half its mass is dedicated to the best armor available - but it still looks like a thin-skinned APC. Unfortunately I haven't had time to finish it. Maybe next week. Clint _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
