I wouldn't expect combat-worthy manipulators, though (and I don't remember the Tachikomas showing much strength in their "hands", though I might be forgetting something). What I'd be more likely to expect is something along the lines of the relatively small (when compared to the mecha) extendable manipulators that pop out of the wrists of a VF-1 Valkyrie, and that can be used for fine control of nearby objects. Since the Tachikomas are much smaller than a Valkyrie, their hands are probably about the same size as what I'm describing, and seem to fill a similar role.
With regards to the proposed lightsaber -
It looks cool, but a big portion of whether or not I would want to implement such a thing would depend on the cost versus the expected amount of use it would probably see. If melee combat were popular again, then by all means distribute them to the troops and mecha. But if not, then save them for the combat engineers. Infantry squads don't typically include a chainsaw on the list of standard equipment, and your ground troops and mecha probably aren't going to need a lightsaber either. Other environments may be a different matter, though. The game Jovian Chronicles features the Plasma Lance (a fusion blowtorch that, despite the name, has a physical component about the same size as a beam saber in Gundam), which is used by mecha in the setting to "gut" enemy spaceships from stem to stern while the mecha executes a high speed pass along the hull of the spaceship.
The overriding concern must always be cost versus effectiveness. If one out of a thousand of your combat losses occurs because an item isn't present, then the funds to fix that problem could probably be better spent elsewhere.
junior
---------[ Received Mail Content ]----------
Subject : Re: MS Designs - RE: [gundam] WTF: Gundam 00?
Date : Tue, 05 Jun 2007 17:05:11 -0500
From : Chris Campbell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To : [email protected]
Cc : <[email protected]>
At 04:45 PM 6/5/2007, Joseph Riggs wrote:
>Basic physics tells us that a manipulator, composed of fine motor
>components sheathed in a stronger alloy of some sort, will not be as
>strong as a solid piece of that alloy. Or multiple levels of
>layered alloys. The point is that manipulators require
>not-so-strong components in order to operate properly (i.e. gears,
>wires, or whatever you're using to allow the "fingers" to have
>precision movements), and those components are probably going to
>reduce the overall materials strength of whatever is on the end of your arm.
While true, that doesn't mean manipulators aren't desirable, even on
a combat platform. I wouldn't expect them to have any resemblance to
those on Gundam MSes, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be present
(I'd expect something either like a Tachikoma's legs or retractable
limbs on a more durable combat platform).
>As for your "Gee Whiz Aren't I So Smart to Evolve This Design Into
>Beam Blade!!1!" argument - I think I'll save the expense on a piece
>of equipment that will be rarely used (barring, once again, the
>development of a MacGuffin like Minovsky Particles), and save it for
>something useful like more mobile suits - maybe with mecha-sized
>sniper rifles.
Screw that. If you can manage to create a stable magnetic bottle that
can hold and manipulate a high-energy plasma, go for broke -- make
yourself a lightsaber and make it a standard personal defense weapon
for soldiers everywhere. Give it to your combat platforms as well, of
course, but more for use as a cutting tool than a melee weapon.
>I mean, seriously, what was the point of putting arms and hands on a
>Guntank? I like the design. But did the arms and hands do ANYTHING
>that justified the expense of putting them there?
Nope. Tachikomas are where it's at when it comes to personal mobile
armor. Everything else is sheer fantasy (and even the Tachs push it a bit).
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