Argument Thread OOC Future Tech Only

[EternalNight]

At least I now know where this came from, CC:



Or is this some kind of sick coincidence? On a different note, who uses mechs as tank replacements, which is silly because mechs are slower than tanks and bigger and can't carry as much armour and guns.

We have man-sized powered armor units, but for armored vehicles we use contra-gravitic tanks and APC's. Much higher maneuverability then any mech could ever have.

[Solar Communes]

An organization that has as its flagship a Von Neumann toroid-shaped spacecraft with 1km of diameter armed with either a spinal Gamma Ray Laser built with Boson-Einstein condensate lenses that can destroy big things at light seconds away or with a spinal gigantic missile with a Large Hardon Collider inside it(ZOMG Einstein Rolls over Grave dis iz unrealiztic Black Hole weapons) that can exterminate clichéfleets that are positioned like if they were 1800s ships in an ocean rather than spacecrafts in space, and where such spacecraft is painted as Longcat, isn't to be taken seriously.

Because the PN/b/ has the most powerful "fleet" in Solar Communes, as of now.

Followed by the PAF, by Vitriol "We trade furries for humans with Mekanta. And proud of it" INC and then by the "official" Solarian Defense Contract.

Obviously, they are not very easily put to work together.

Nor some of them are actually trained for war, only "trained" for the LULZ.

[Otagia]

Nor some of them are actually trained for war, only "trained" for the LULZ.

"We trained him wrong. As a joke!"

"I am bleeding! Thus, I am the winner!"

[Feazanthia]

How about 'my nuts to your fist style'?

[Otagia]

On some planet, I am sure your style is very effective. However, it has one fatal flaw: THIS IS EARTH.

[Capsule Corporation]

At least I now know where this came from, CC:



Or is this some kind of sick coincidence? On a different note, who uses mechs as tank replacements, which is silly because mechs are slower than tanks and bigger and can't carry as much armour and guns.

I just haven't found use for ground units much at all, my gunships are armored enough to play an urban role.

But, back in the days of the OLD Capsule Corp (about... 4 years ago?) I used what I called SkaterMecha... they run on the Robotech Idea that if you put engines in the 'feet' of the mecha, and engines in a backpack, then it can hover and fly around the battlefield... making it far more mobile than a tank

Mecha

The Following 2 Mecha are also known as "Skatermecha" after their characteristic hovering abilities:


Legolas Class Battlemecha



This is a 1 or 2 person mecha, capable of walking, skating, jumping, or maneuevering slowly in space (though it can not re-enter the atmosphere by itself).

It has 2 Arms with limited-use hands, 1 Plasma-Bolt Cannon, 3 Gauss Rifle (2 Medium, 1 heavy), and 2 Farad Beam Cannons. The right arm also comes with basically a giant swiss army knife, with all sorts of little tools, including a cutting LASER.

An engine cluster on each foot, and on the back of the pod, in combination with the mechanical motors for the moving parts, all powered by a chlorophusion powerplant, give the Legolas the following speeds:
Walking speed is up to 160 km/h, Skating Speed (hovering with foot thrusters, propelled by rear thrusters) is close to 600 km/h, and can jump up to 100m. Vernier thrusters allow it to maneuver slowly in zero-gravity.

Height: 7.5m
Armor: Medium, LASER Resistant
Total Weight: 25 tons

Price: 35 million


Samson Class Battlemecha


a 1-man mecha with the same speed stats as the Legolas, but armament is 1 Heavy Gauss Rifle, 1 Farad Beam Cannons, 2 20mm automatic cannons, and 2 fully functional arms with hands which can hold almost any mecha weapon. The right arm also comes with basically a giant swiss army knife, with all sorts of little tools, including a cutting LASER.

Height: 8m
Armor: Medium, LASER Resistant
Total Weight: 23 tons

Price: 25 million

I don't use these anymore, but they sure were fun! ^_^

[Feazanthia]

Legged mecha will always, ALWAYS be inferior to tanks.

I draw your attention to the thread of NSDraftroom, which lays it out no uncertain terms.
http://z4.invisionfree.invalid.com/NSDraftroom/ ... topic=5347

Power armor: Good
Tanks: Good
Mecha: Lolwut


By the way: You can paint your ships whatever way you want. It will make no difference. If someone's close enough to see your paint job, they're either friendly or really really screwed.

So yeah. Battleships painted as Longcat are just win.

[Capsule Corporation]

By the way: You can paint your ships whatever way you want. It will make no difference. If someone's close enough to see your paint job, they're either friendly or really really screwed.

So yeah. Battleships painted as Longcat are just win.

Says you... we're more than capable of getting up close and personal even on friendly encounters... Our rule is "why probe, when you can shake hands?"

[Trailers]

I DISAGREE WITH EVERYTHING SAID THUSFAR

[L3 Communications]

At least I now know where this came from, CC:



Or is this some kind of sick coincidence? On a different note, who uses mechs as tank replacements, which is silly because mechs are slower than tanks and bigger and can't carry as much armour and guns.

I just haven't found use for ground units much at all, my gunships are armored enough to play an urban role.

But, back in the days of the OLD Capsule Corp (about... 4 years ago?) I used what I called SkaterMecha... they run on the Robotech Idea that if you put engines in the 'feet' of the mecha, and engines in a backpack, then it can hover and fly around the battlefield... making it far more mobile than a tank

-snip-

I don't use these anymore, but they sure were fun! ^_^

Real men use Glitter Boys.

[Capsule Corporation]

I DISAGREE WITH EVERYTHING SAID THUSFAR

That's not arguing, that's just denial.

[Feazanthia]

Says you... we're more than capable of getting up close and personal even on friendly encounters... Our rule is "why probe, when you can shake hands?"

I know you're not supposed to attack a ship with point-defense weapons...but it is, on occasion, hilarious.

[Capsule Corporation]

Says you... we're more than capable of getting up close and personal even on friendly encounters... Our rule is "why probe, when you can shake hands?"

I know you're not supposed to attack a ship with point-defense weapons...but it is, on occasion, hilarious.

Hehe I just watched that episode the other day ^_^

Seriously, I don't see why so many of these advanced FT nations don't have some ability to match their velocity vector with another object! Either with massive engines or short-range FTL or something like that, shouldn't be too hard.

[Otagia]

Real men use Glitter Boys.

Free Quebec ftw?

[Kilrany]

My ground armour is mainly more conventional looking APC/IFVs, tanks and whatnot, but I have one 'mech' based off the mechwarrior universe. I realize its not the most tactically sound thing in the world, but if we were to do all this with all seriousness, you'd have no ground army at all because your enemy could just pick them off from orbit, and if orbit is still contested, then landing troops would be near suicidal.

[Polish Worlds]

Too bad I lack the skills to draw the Power armored cavalry. Also, it's more like:

Power armor: Good
Tanks: Good
Mecha: Lolwut
Tripods: Awesome

http://drzeus.best.vwh.net/wotw/other/matthews.jpg

This is the foundation of Polish Worlds military forces. And of all significant military forces in Earth after 1953.

Yeah it's an interstellar civilization in the 1950s - 1970s. Retro-futurism at its finest.

As for their space forces, it's "WW2 IN SPACE!" taken as literally as possible.

[Capsule Corporation]

I just use these for ground/air/space assault... so versatile.

RA-X18 Kumen


Developer: Raysia’s AdamWorks Group
Classification: Multirole Gunship
Crew: 1 Pilot, 1 Gunner
Length: 28m
Dry Weight: 50 Tons
Max Takeoff Weight: 125 Tons
Cargo Capacity: 12.6m x 2.5m x 3.3m
Powerplant: OZP Control Chamber
Propulsion: Virtual-Vacuum Drive System (VILE)
Ideal Operational Environment: Low-Altitude Atmosphere
Top VILE Speed: Mach 0.95
Other Areas of Full Operation: Any Fluid Environment
Transatmospheric Operations: 3 Minutes worth of Hypergolic Rocket Fuel
Vacuum Operations: With onboard Fuel Supply, VILE acts as Ion Drive
Armament: 4 Dual 30mm cannons, 2 EM Cannons [2kg x 10,000m/s], 6 Missile Hardpoints

[The Cosmic Balance]

Legged mecha will always, ALWAYS be inferior to tanks.

I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take issue with this statement, but for reasons that you might not expect.

If it were strictly a matter of physics, your statement would be absolutely true. But it's not. NS != RL, and so we have to be carefully with arguments based solely on science. Mind you, I'm a big proponent of scientific realism; yet I also understand that RP here is largely a literary matter, and literary truth trumps scientific truth in NS RP - or should, anyway.

I see the Mecha vs. Tanks debate as a reflection of the ST vs. SW debate; utlimately, the science involved is less important than the recognition that there are important SF traditions at stake that must be respected. In the case of Mecha, what's at stake is the integrity of the tradition of Japanese Manga-based SF. The Japanese like Mecha because they appeal to the Japanese esthetic, especially in so far as the conjure up images of the romantic era of Japanese history (the Isolation), with its samurai and the duels among them. Tanks battles just aren't as thrilling as duels between armored titans who very closely resemble the mythical heroes. Realistic or not, it's a literary form that has great power; the wankishness of it is therefore acceptable for purely esthetic reasons.

As much of a hard SF fan as I am, I am therefore willing to accept that Mecha are equal to tanks - indeed, that they can even beat tanks one on one (that's how "heroic" they are); but the price of this is cost. If you want your mech to be able to be equal to ten tanks in battle, you'll have to pay more that ten times what a tank costs, and you'll have to be willing to have less than a tenth as many as your enemy has tanks (the reason it's not a simple tenfold scaling is due to the multiplier effect of force concentration). And if I show up with an OGRE, it's even-up regardless of the physics, more or less on a basis of the "boss" rule (all "bosses" are essentially equal).

[Feazanthia]

Seriously, I don't see why so many of these advanced FT nations don't have some ability to match their velocity vector with another object! Either with massive engines or short-range FTL or something like that, shouldn't be too hard.

Well, in my own case, it's because I don't have artificial gravity or inertial dampeners outside of futuristic G-suits, acceleration couches, and drugs. So my ships' acceleration is pretty much limited to what the meat-bags inside are capable of withstanding.

[Feazanthia]

Mechs have their uses. Just recognize the fact that, when designed with equal tech levels, you're pretty much always going to be able to put a bigger gun and thicker armor on the tank, even if you're ignoring the obvious speed and ground contact issues mech legs would have.

The uses being the fact that they tend to scare the utter piss out of a populace, which makes it easier to lockdown a planet. And because you pretty much should never land ground forces without first having control of the skies, this makes mechs somewhat useful.

[Capsule Corporation]

LOL I play SF pretty hard, but the idea of artifical gravity had to be a given... there was NO WAY I was going to send people on space campaigns on the most advanced ships I've ever heard of, without so much as a gravity toilet? "Yes, you have the most powerful weapons known to man, you can travel faster than light, you will see and conquer many new civilizations... but you must piss into this tube and have your poop scraped into a bag"

Uhhh no... I'm going to say I don't have tractor beams or inertial dampeners, but I have -somehow- managed to get artificial gravity.. it's one of the few things I'm soft on.

[Kilrany]

Heh, well if we did everything in a 100% realistic manner, we'd just be playing PMT, and no one would have FTL.

[Capsule Corporation]

Heh, well if we did everything in a 100% realistic manner, we'd just be playing PMT, and no one would have FTL.

Realistic is fun, Hard Sci fi is fun,.... but there are a few things that need to just be assumed....

[The Cosmic Balance]

HST and I once talked about a "slowboat" FT campaign: PMT weapons and STL travel via ramdrives...

EDIT: My plan had been that we would use either the real near-star map or a randomly generated one in conjunction with tools like ChView and Celestia to create a region of space that everyone would be (relatively) familiar with. Players would then "colonize" worlds, establishing a new NS puppet for each individual colony (the population numbers produced by the NS engine would then make more sense: You start with 5M colonists and then your population grows steadily from there [uterine replicators and seed banks explain the early fast growth rates]). Calculators could be used and would be available to help guide players in describing the speed at which their new colonies would terraform their new worlds.

The "turn cycle" would, of course, be in years or even generations. I was thinking that a time scale of 1 RL Day = 1 RP Year, but with some flexibility for the resolution of combat. I never had the time to work it all out, but maybe sometime during the next year, I will...

[Capsule Corporation]

I don't use these anymore, but they sure were fun! ^_^[/quo



Real men use Glitter Boys.

Whoa! You found it!