> One more thing to keep in mind: sometimes there are other constraints > on the vehicle.
And spacelifting will be even worse than ships or rail. But the idea will be to get as much combat power as possible into a small mass and volume, and in most cases tanks will win :-( > The German Panzer Tanks could be driven to the front lines. They were capable of rail transport, too. Anything else wore them out too fast. > If the mechs can fold themselves down when not in use to a smaller > size than the equivalent tank, that could be a huge logistics factor. > Especially if it meant that a cargo plane could hold more mechs than > tanks or if helicopters could air lift them to the destination. Mecha probably can't fold themselves into a smaller volume than tanks, but perhaps they could get a more convenient shape. Tanks have long gun barrels sticking out front. A Mecha with an oversized rifle could drop it for transport and take it up again without special tools or delay. Also, a suitably designed Mecha might be able to fold into the shape of a standard shipping container. > One should also keep in mind that the US Army doesn't have planes, > which is one of the reason they have so many helicopters. It is the > Air Force and Navy that gets to use planes. I don't know if other > nationalities have similar artificial constraints on which branch of > the military can use what vehicles. Combined forces doesn't mean > combined budgets. Most other nations don't have that many services. Only the US can afford three or four air forces. There could also be international arms reduction treaties limiting conventional AFVs and aircraft, with Mecha being left out because they were not practical weapons at the time. That could leave competing nations free to build as many as they please, but of course this explanation isn't what I'm looking for. _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
