Joseph Riggs wrote:
Given the specific series cited (i.e. Macross), I think an exception
can be made for at least the Spartan. Having a unit that can pick up
a Zentraedi might be useful. But otherwise, yeah.
And I think it's important to note that the only melee weapon in
Macross is improvised (specifically, the piece of metal that gets used
by Britai to smash the head of Hikaru's Valkryie). The hands on the
Valkyries are only ever used to hold the gunpod (something that could
be done without hands), to retrieve personnel, and a couple of almost
certainly not-planned-for activities onboard a Zentraedi flagship.
Hand to hand fighting almost certainly wasn't something that was
planned for in Macross.
Ya, Gundam had better examples of using hands for weapons (all manner of
guns, bazookas, swords, shields). I would say it has some advantage in
terms of being able to switch weapons and re-arm itself (vs. needing a
crew of guys to load more missiles onto hardpoints, for example, a mech
with hands could just as easily pick up the missiles and attach them to
their mounting points).
But short of someone from the future telling us how the idea of limbed
mechs in combat was tried multiple times and they never really panned
out strategically I don't understand the certainty that some people seem
to have that the basic idea is idiotic. It's too soon to tell. The
idea of planes shooting down other planes (WWI) was not even conceived
of at first, and the idea of planes being used to destroy battleships
(WWII) was initially considered idiotic. I'm sure the first
metal-hulled ship idea was considered idiotic as well.
Alfred.
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"Success is not no violence."
- President Bush, on trying to find a way to be able to claim future
progress and success in Iraq without having to achieve the
complete victory he used to state as the only acceptable goal.
Alfred Urrutia - Digital Domain - 310.314.2800 x2267 - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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