Older members will remember that I’ve been trying for some years to build infantry for the radio-controlled battlefield. This is as far as I have got…
http://s236.photobucket.com/albums/ff13/sasquevaneach/?action=view¤t=100_0038.flv This is Otto. He is powered by a 3V Tamiya motor with a high-reduction gearbox. Technobots- the website I bought it from- said that you could operate it at 6V, and he moved at a good speed, but unfortunately he burned the motor out. 6V may work when you are using H-bridges which reduce the voltage, but with a simple on-off switch and the stresses of bumpy ground it’s too much. I’ve been wondering if I might get away with 4.5V. Any suggestions? Here he is from the front: http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff13/sasquevaneach/100_0039.jpg The motor and batteries are within the hollow wheels which makes for a low centre of gravity. The gap between the wheels is small, so the fact that there is little ground clearance doesn’t matter. I made the heads for the other figures whilst waiting for bits of Otto to dry and I sort of got carried away. I also wanted to try out papier mache techniques. ON THE ROLE OF INFANTRY ON THE RADIO-CONTROLLED BATTLEFIELD >From the point of view of a tank crew, infantry are virtually invisible when hiding on cover; easy to kill when moving; and dangerous when close. From the point of view of rc tank combat, that translates as equivalent to a self-operating mine- a stationery single- shot weapon with a degree of aiming- as envisaged in the rules. Trouble is though, I’m not interested in stationery infantry. I want them to move. I decided that mobile infantry must be able to do 4 things: 1. Move, cross-country, at a reasonable speed 2. Be able to attack tanks and guns 3. Be able to attack other mobile infantry 4. Look reasonably like a 1/6th soldier I eventually realised that they don’t have to be radio-controlled. Otto is operated by a toggle switch on his left-hand side. You can tie a string to that and set him off from a distance, or using a stick, so it is safe to operate him under fire. Other possibilities are a tripwire, which can be set off by friendly forces- a jeep, say, running over a tripwire behind him, or the tripwire can be run round to the front so Otto can leap out and attack enemy passers-by. Otto is armed with a sponge attached to his rife covered with paintball goo. He leaves a reasonable mark, as you can see on Nurse Nellie’s dress in the 2nd picture. If this hits an asset (including infantry) this counts as a hit. This means of attack breaks the rule that assets must not get within 5 feet of each other, but I think that’s OK- Otto is not going to damage a tank, or even another infantryman. Basically he is a land-based torpedo. I rate Otto as a partial success. He passes rules 2 & 3 in that he can theoretically score a hit, but he’s far too slow and on the “looking like a soldier” test gets a “just about” result in my book. He’s also not very accurate- my first attempts to demonstrate him went like this: http://s236.photobucket.com/albums/ff13/sasquevaneach/?action=view¤t=100_0036.flv I don’t think he’s a viable attack system, but can see uses for Otto on the battlefield- he can be carrying a vital message/missile activation code/baby’s bottle or whatever from A to B (in a straight line) and one side has to shoot him while the other defends. It’s a moving “take the flag” game. What do you think? Phil Palmer -- You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat
