Your Nation's Main Battle Mech (No Tanks)

by **Nekoland** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 6:50 pm

About time there was a mech thread!

by **Cyprum Xecuii** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 7:45 pm

tag, but of course, our mainland had used the "MAWLR" mechs, and prototypes were invented for a one-man tracked non-tank vehicle, but the project failed because the design was..........

by **Nekoland** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 7:49 pm

Cyprum Xecuii wrote:tag, but of course, our mainland had used the "MAWLR" mechs, and prototypes were invented for a one-man tracked non-tank vehicle, but the project failed because the design was..........

(Image)

Nice drawing by the way

by **Cyprum Xecuii** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 8:05 pm

Nekoland wrote:
Cyprum Xecuii wrote:tag, but of course, our mainland had used the "MAWLR" mechs, and prototypes were invented for a one-man tracked non-tank vehicle, but the project failed because the design was..........

(Image)

Nice drawing by the way

I thank ye, but I've done much better through the ~~years~~...months...obviously the sig tells, but nevertheless, I have to come up with a feasible design to support our ground infantry.

by **Ularn** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 3:27 am

Cyprum Xecuii wrote:I thank ye, but I've done much better through the ~~years~~...months...obviously the sig tells, but nevertheless, I have to come up with a feasible design to support our ground infantry.

Making the design feasible was one of my problems designing the Heinlein. I didn't want to build a mech which would fulfil the same job as a tank because I didn't think that was a realistic possibility. Instead I went for a sort of super-heavy infantry type unit intended to hop around the battlefield with hit-and-run tactics while being sufficiently well armoured that only enemy heavy weapons had a great chance of killing them. It's not really a tank-equivalent; more like the power armour from Starship Troopers (the book, not the ~~film~~ blasphemy) which is why I named its development Project Heinlein

Nekoland wrote:About time there was a mech thread!

(Image)
Characteristics

Height 4.81 meters
Weight 8.26 metric tons (9.25 metric tons in Flight-Enabled Version)
Power Source Yggdrasil Drive, Energy Filler

Design Features

Landspinner propulsion system (高機走駆動輪 lit. High Mechanical Run Driving Wheel)
Optional Air Glide Wing System
Cockpit Ejection System
Radiation Wave-based shielding

Armament

1x Katen Yaibatou (廻転刃刀, Katen Yaibatou) (lit. "Revolving Blade Sword")
2x Shoulder-mounted Machine Gun Turrets
1x Hien Souga-type Slash Harken (飛燕爪牙, lit. Flying Swallow Nail Fang - スラッシュハーケン, Surasshuhāken) (Left-Chest mounted)

Optional Armaments

1x Left (or Right) Arm-mounted 2-barrel Hand Gun
1x Right Arm-mounted Bazooka (in rare cases)
Right Arm-mounted Radiation Wave missiles x3
12-tube Missile Launcher x1 (sometimes equipped to its Air Glide Wing System)

(Image)
Characteristics

Height 4.49 meters
Weight 7.82 metric tons (8.81 metric tons in Flight-Enabled Version)
Power Source Yggdrasil Drive, Energy Filler

Design Features

Landspinner propulsion system (高機走駆動輪 lit. High Mechanical Run Driving Wheel)
Optional Air Glide Wing System
Cockpit Ejection System

Armament

1x Katen Yaibatou (廻転刃刀, Katen Yaibatou) (lit. "Revolving Blade Sword")
2x Shoulder-mounted Machine Gun Turrets
1x Hien Souga-type Slash Harken (飛燕爪牙, lit. Flying Swallow Nail Fang - スラッシュハーケン, Surasshuhāken) (Left-Chest mounted)

Optional Armaments

1x Left (or Right) Arm-mounted 2-barrel Hand Gun
1x Right Arm-mounted Bazooka
Right Arm-mounted Radiation Wave missiles x3 (in rare cases)
12-tube Missile Launcher x1 (sometimes equipped to its Air Glide Wing unit)

Think those need to be heavier if you want them to have any sort of armour - more like ten to twenty tons at least. The Heinleins are going to be nearly forty when I've finished them and they're only 3.5m tall, albeit a fair bit stockier than your models.

by **Nekoland** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 3:40 am

Ularn wrote:
Nekoland wrote:About time there was a mech thread!

(Image)
Characteristics

Height 4.81 meters
Weight 8.26 metric tons (9.25 metric tons in Flight-Enabled Version)
Power Source Yggdrasil Drive, Energy Filler

Design Features

Landspinner propulsion system (高機走駆動輪 lit. High Mechanical Run Driving Wheel)
Optional Air Glide Wing System
Cockpit Ejection System
Radiation Wave-based shielding

Armament

1x Katen Yaibatou (廻転刃刀, Katen Yaibatou) (lit. "Revolving Blade Sword")
2x Shoulder-mounted Machine Gun Turrets
1x Hien Souga-type Slash Harken (飛燕爪牙, lit. Flying Swallow Nail Fang - スラッシュハーケン, Surasshuhāken) (Left-Chest mounted)

Optional Armaments

1x Left (or Right) Arm-mounted 2-barrel Hand Gun
1x Right Arm-mounted Bazooka (in rare cases)
Right Arm-mounted Radiation Wave missiles x3
12-tube Missile Launcher x1 (sometimes equipped to its Air Glide Wing System)

(Image)
Characteristics

Height 4.49 meters
Weight 7.82 metric tons (8.81 metric tons in Flight-Enabled Version)
Power Source Yggdrasil Drive, Energy Filler

Design Features

Landspinner propulsion system (高機走駆動輪 lit. High Mechanical Run Driving Wheel)
Optional Air Glide Wing System
Cockpit Ejection System

Armament

1x Katen Yaibatou (廻転刃刀, Katen Yaibatou) (lit. "Revolving Blade Sword")
2x Shoulder-mounted Machine Gun Turrets
1x Hien Souga-type Slash Harken (飛燕爪牙, lit. Flying Swallow Nail Fang - スラッシュハーケン, Surasshuhāken) (Left-Chest mounted)

Optional Armaments

1x Left (or Right) Arm-mounted 2-barrel Hand Gun
1x Right Arm-mounted Bazooka
Right Arm-mounted Radiation Wave missiles x3 (in rare cases)
12-tube Missile Launcher x1 (sometimes equipped to its Air Glide Wing unit)

Think those need to be heavier if you want them to have any sort of armour - more like ten to twenty tons at least. The Heinleins are going to be nearly forty when I've finished them and they're only 3.5m tall, albeit a fair bit stockier than your models.

I favor mobility over defense,though their armor can stop anything smaller than a 20mm cannon.For heavier ordinance they use energy shielding,that should give them about the same endurance as an MBT as long as it remains online(their weapons are exposed to damage while they fire though).A direct from a 120mm gun,like an Abrams' cannon, would cause the shield to either shatter or come extremely close to failing.

by **Ularn** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 3:50 am

Using shields makes it less of an issue, but even for stopping 20mm rounds on the armour, I reckon you're going to want at least ten tons. It's hard do slope mech armour like you can with a tank's which means you need to apply a lot more armour just to achieve the same protection.

by **Nekoland** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 3:58 am

Ularn wrote:Using shields makes it less of an issue, but even for stopping 20mm rounds on the armour, I reckon you're going to want at least ten tons. It's hard do slope mech armour like you can with a tank's which means you need to apply a lot more armour just to achieve the same protection.

Actually a 20mm gun would pierce the armor or at least blow it off.Though I suppose you're right,adding a little tonnage may not hurt at all.

by **Kusthet** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:08 am

Ruskarkand wrote:Oh, and this is why I love the Atlas so much, it's just "one of those" Mechs, thought I'd share my thoughts.
Note: That's a Timberwolf (Or a vulture, it's pretty banged up, difficult to tell), getting it's pilot canopy being smashed in by the Atlas' fist.

Vulture. The arm mounts go straight down and connect to the missile pack. Judging by the commentary painted on the arm, probably an IS model.

Working on something power armour-ish for FT kusthet, similar to a mix between a battletech protomech and a WH40k space marine dreadnaught. Complete with being piloted by a dead man's mind. Probably looking at a base torso unit that looks like something the strogg would build, with assorted weapons and utility arm pieces that can be swapped out. The role would mainly be for heavy support in different fields from infantry to artillery, Like boarding types that are shot from magnetic accellerator cannons to tear open a hole in the other ship's hull for the drop pod to crash through

by **Ularn** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 5:06 am

Foreign spies have managed to steal images from Project Heinlein's earlier design stages:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z167 ... an0001.jpg
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z167 ... an0002.jpg

Hate the size limits on these images.

That scribble on the right of the front profile in the first image is a USN Marine for size comparison. Preliminary Stats for the prototype are:

Name: Mk 0.1 Heinlein Super-Heavy Powered Armour
Height: 3.6m
Weight: 37.4t
Crew: 1
Max Speed: 48kph (running) 180kph (jumping)

The pilot controls the mech through a chip in their brain which allows it to move their mech's limbs like their own while they sit in the cockpit effectively paralysed from the neck down. Test pilots have reported the experience as being so natural that even after leaving the cockpit they've had embarrassing moments where they've tried to hop over an obstacle while forgetting they can no longer leap eight-hundred metres in a bound.

Weapons can be mounted to the hardpoints on its shoulders and forearms. Favourites include Heavy Gauss Autocannons, Medium Railguns and various missile launchers, though a more specialised flamethrower-type weapon is also being worked on. Claymore mines are mounted to the legs to act as a hardkill countermeasure against missile attacks as well as wiping out any infantry which get too close. The defence proveded by its heavy frontal armour is supplemented by smoke, chaff and flare launchers and the sort of ECM suite you'd find in a fighter plane.

Anyone have any thoughts or comments? I know they're a bit vague and sketchy at the moment but hopefully you get an idea.

by **Bears Armed** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 8:17 am

What's the power supply? Nuclear fission? You're not [realistically] going to run those on any sort of chemcial fuels without ridiculously large fuel-tanks...

by **Ularn** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 8:39 am

Bears Armed wrote:What's the power supply? Nuclear fission? You're not [realistically] going to run those on any sort of chemcial fuels without ridiculously large fuel-tanks...

I was thinking some sort of fission/fusion drive, or possibly just some sort of FT super-battery with a crazy-big power supply that would last it for maybe six hours of sustained combat.

by **Risen Britannia** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:14 pm

Ularn wrote:
Bears Armed wrote:What's the power supply? Nuclear fission? You're not [realistically] going to run those on any sort of chemcial fuels without ridiculously large fuel-tanks...

I was thinking some sort of fission/fusion drive, or possibly just some sort of FT super-battery with a crazy-big power supply that would last it for maybe six hours of sustained combat.

i would go for batteries, as im not sure that a fission/fusion reactor would enjoy being flung around a battlefield

PS: (i am happy you when for a "realistic" battery life)

by **OMGeverynameistaken** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:19 pm

Russian powered armor (eh, close enough to mechs) comes in three primary divisions:
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/9122 ... hussar.png

Colors vary based on regiment. This particular unit is from the Lifeguard Hussars.

Hussar armor is light, maneuverable and generally designed for hit-and-run, raiding, recon and other such tasks. It is composed primarily of artificial muscle fibers over a frame designed to assist the operator in bearing additional load from the greater weight the suit is able to lift, as well as absorbing the shock of landing from a 300 meter long jump. Hussar units, as with other powered armor types, come with individual shielding units, albeit light variants. They also feature an armored pellise (the cape looking thing on the left shoulder), designed to provide additional protection in the melee, as well as from conventional ballistic and energy weapons.

A hussar's primary weapon is the powered saber, ranging from two and a half to three feet in length. Powered sabers, when 'powered', are sheathed in a matter disrupting field which is quite capable of slicing through any conventional material with ease. They are, however, notoriously ineffective against shielding on their own, and any hussar attempting to pass through a kinetic shield while wielding a powered saber is likely to have it torn from his hands. Of course, the obvious choice is simply to turn the power off and use it as a regular sharpened bit of metal, in which role it is quite effective.

A specialist variant known as 'horse jaeger' armor exists, which specializes in recon and sniper missions. It eliminates the shield unit in favor of optical camouflage and adds various visual enhancement devices to the unit's headgear. Horse jaegers are often ill thought of by other hussar units, as they are seen as lacking the dash and daring associated with blithely charging through a hail of linear musket fire in a brightly colored suit of 'soft' armor. They do, however, get just as many girls back home when they mention their hussar status. As one might guess, hussars are considered the most dashing of cavalry units, being composed primarily of young nobles and suchlike, they are often headstrong, overly brave and difficult to control on the battlefield. In the hands of an effective commander, though, they are quite useful.

I don't have lovely MSpaint art for dragoons, so here's Teddy Roosevelt as a space marine:
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3962/r ... marine.jpg
Unlike Hussar armor, dragoon armor is universally dark green, with regimental colors on the cuffs and collar of the unit, and regimental numbers on the pauldrons.

Dragoons are Russia's all-purpose "mounted infantry", who's variable role in the battlefield requires an adaptable armored platform capable of performing, amoung other tasks, fire support, assault, battlefield construction, and demolition. In the first role, dragoons typically wield various lightened versions heavy weapons normally employed in emplacements, such as the rotary 'gatling' cannon, 6lber cannons and so forth, being referred to in this role as 'horse artillery'. Being considerably faster to deploy and pack up than conventional artillery, horse artillery's role is typically to find a good position, fire a few shots, and move on quickly before counter-battery fire or an infantry/cavalry assault can be made on their position. However, they may also be called upon to defend fixed positions in this role alongside infantry and fixed artillery units.

In the assault role, dragoons shine. Being enclosed in reinforced ceramic 'hard' armor, capable of withstanding (to a limited degree) linear musket fire, equipped with their own shielding units, and generally being rather intimidatingly large, they are well suited to the job. The primary weapon of the dragoon is the powered palaash, a four to six foot broadsword designed with weight in mind as much as cutting edge. As dragoon armor significantly enhances the users strength (past even the point of hussar armor), they are quite capable of wielding these devices with the ease that an unarmored swordsman uses a conventional saber. Their ranged weapon is the fearsome 'dragon', the unofficial nickname for the large-bore linear carbines and pistols employed by the dragoons, which range from 1 to 2 caliber and fire a variety of shells.

The more skilled dragoons often wield powered mauls, large, hammer-like weapons designed to take down fortifications, smash through armor and otherwise, crush, destroy, or at least seriously maim anything unfortunate enough to get in their way. Even with the added strength of their armor, the sheer weight of these weapons means that the user must be skilled in managing the momentum and weight of his weapon, else he leave an opening through which is foe can strike. The hammer is also used in the construction and demolition roles, where the dragoons often assist sappers and engineers in the field.

Dragoons compose the largest part of the Russian cavalry, as their armor, being less complicated than Hussar armor to produce, is the cheapest, the easiest to train in. Dragoons are regarded as the least desirable sort of cavalry to be in, and their ranks feature many serfs and common sorts. They are, however, much more dependable than the hussars and more expendable than the cuirassiers.

Assault Dragoons are specialized for the close combat role, with heavier armor and systems specialized for close combat.

http://img859.imageshack.us/img859/3940/cuirassier.png
Cuirassier armor. Virtually all cuirassier units employ the black-on-white color scheme, with regimental colors as a highlight. The exceptions are the Borian Cuirassiers and the Red Chevaliers of Mars, who's distinctive crimson armor makes them easy to spot anywhere except Mars.

Named for the large armored plate which covers the front of the unit, cuirassier armor straddles the line between 'heavy powered armor' and 'light mech'. Cuirassier armor is the most advanced in the Russian inventory, featuring the best of everything available. As such, despite its ponderous appearance, it can attain some speed once it has had time to accelerate, and besides its artillery, the charge of a regiment of 2,000 cuirassiers is one of the most fearsome weapons the Russian army can deploy. It is often joked that the noise of 2,000 armored feet hitting the ground in unison is enough to cause defending armies to fall.

Cuirassier armor is the ultimate shock weapon of the Russian cavalry force, equipped with 5-6 foot straight swords, pistols and various personal weapons, the cuirassiers role is to charge headlong through whatever is thrown at them. For this reason, their suits feature two heavy shield generators, the aforementioned forward armored plate, and a reinforced shell around the pilot. Essentially the only cavalry unit capable of charging a formed unit of infantry, the devastating results are often quite plain as the regiment passes over anybody foolish enough to stand in their way. Seldom to they have to wield their swords on the first ranks, for a multi-ton suit of powered armor steps where it will.

Cuirassiers are composed of older nobility, veterans, and the survivors of hussar units who reenlist. Their character is typically somewhat grim, steady and often heavy with the 'do or die' attitude which comes of the intense competition between cuirassier regiments, particularly of those within the Guard. This attitude is exemplified by the account of the 1812 invasion of Russia, where competition between the Lifeguard Horse and the Chevalier Guard saw to it that both of them constantly wore their full dress uniforms whenever possible, despite the difficulties of cleaning their pure white uniforms after a day's marching.

by **Ularn** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:25 pm

Risen Britannia wrote:
Ularn wrote:I was thinking some sort of fission/fusion drive, or possibly just some sort of FT super-battery with a crazy-big power supply that would last it for maybe six hours of sustained combat.

i would go for batteries, as im not sure that a fission/fusion reactor would enjoy being flung around a battlefield

PS: (i am happy you when for a "realistic" battery life)

You're right; batteries make more sense, especially since a similar but smaller version (about the size of a 1l bottle) already gets used in my marines' regular power armour. It lasts longer - up to about a day, but it also powers their antigrav parachutes on combat drops. After slowing the marine from terminal velocity to something approximating a safe landing speed the battery's nearly drained and usually has to be replaced as soon as the marine can find decent cover. The ones in a Heinlein suit would be about three shoeboxes big but last a lot shorter because the suit drains more power and is constantly bouncing around on an antigrav-based jumpjet.

by **Kusthet** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 2:11 am

Rough drafts of the 'Ancestor' mech's torso unit, complete with ptiful soul neither alive nor dead trapped within, fed upon a thin paste of nutrients and biological matter that sustains the human body, forced to stay alive indefinately by electric currents and replacement organs, as much as the near-paste that remains of their vitals can be replaced. The visor is a purely cosmetic accessory, an attempt to imply to those who serve alongside the Ancestor units that the body within is some kind of voulintary pilot, when really they are the fatally wounded and unrecoverable remains of those lost on the battlefield. It lasts about as long as it takes for something to crack the armour over the 'cockpit' and expose the dead ragdoll flopping within to shatter the illusion, not that the 'pilot' actually cares, with their body locked in stasis while their mind and soul will serve the Kusthet Commonwealth until complete obliteration, brainwashed into thinking that the ceaseless servitude was a voulintary act.

The torso unit is equipped with many variable-output attachment points for a variety of limbs and weapon kits. The most common arrangement will see a pair of thick, supportive legs and pure weapon mounts on the shoulders, with back-mounted ancilliary kits, though those who serve in combat engineer brigades may have bridging units or crane arms, or field guns and missiles on those who come from an artillery background. The mech is designed around cross-utility, and sees service in many roles, though mostly fire support and construction/demolition.

The mind within is trapped permanently, though telepresence units allow them some form of personal interaction while on base, they shall never again know the touch of a lover or the feeling of simply being human. (Insert mad scientist laugh here)

For obvious reasons, the Ancestor is occasionally nicknamed the 'Prison sentence' 'coffin' 'Iron maiden' 'Torture device' or 'retirement home', and is pretty much exemplary of FT-kusthet, with horrible biotech abominations hidden behind a sleek veneer.

by **Cyprum Xecuii** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:54 am

IC: looks like a great design, super-soldierish

OOC: you draw much better then me +1 but if this isn't your drawing... +1 for tricking me ＼(^o^)／

by **Ularn** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:16 pm

Looks cool but I'm slightly put off by our two mechs sharing a basic hull shape - like they showed up to the dance wearing the same dresses or something!

by **Kusthet** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:52 pm

Ularn wrote:Looks cool but I'm slightly put off by our two mechs sharing a basic hull shape - like they showed up to the dance wearing the same dresses or something!

Eh, that's just a basic front plate. Most of them will be customised throughout their career. Consider it the 'redshirt' model if you will, like an unmodded space marine dreadnought without any of those fun bits and pieces.

Beyond that, it's a very efficient shape that provides a great deal of internal space and a highly capable and variable arrangement around it. (as efficient as mechs CAN be, at least) On the battlefield, the sheer variatioin of parts should help to limit the similarities. I doubt your heinlein can mount a pair of arm-mounted 220mm howitzers, a quad-leg mobility suite, and an MRLS shoulder system alongside radar and power extender packs. Which can then be swapped out by battlefield mechanics for a wheeled mobility system, missile target beacon, a close-combat MG and a manipulator arm.

Not that any deployment actually WOULD do that, but the possibility is there.

by **Ularn** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:13 am

Actually, with the exception of the Howitzer (we reckon having one that big is just silly) and the extra legs those a re pretty much all options I had in mind for the Heinlein

ICly it's still in final testing though, with four units dispatched to a low density conflict to see how well they perform outside of a lab. So while most of these options will be available eventually they'll take some more development time.

by **Kusthet** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:30 am

Ularn wrote:Actually, with the exception of the Howitzer (we reckon having one that big is just silly) and the extra legs those a re pretty much all options I had in mind for the Heinlein ICly it's still in final testing though, with four units dispatched to a low density conflict to see how well they perform outside of a lab. So while most of these options will be available eventually they'll take some more development time.

Dear lord. They say great minds think alike, but this isjust plain kooky. (yes, we also think 220mm is plain silly. AWESOME, but silly.)

Anyway, here is one example of an ancestor-class mech;

Featuring four autocannon (Two firing AP/I shells, and two firing a buckshot-like ammunition), a radar extender array, several secondary and tertiary optical sensors, a customised frontal plate, rear-mounted grenade launchers, remote-operated viewing drone, and digitgrade legs, Ancestor Devries started his service as a suppression gunner for the commonwealth fleet. A tragic mishap where Commonwealth marine forces landing ships were grounded by hostile fire saw him crushed from the waist down under billions of tonnes of durasteel and high-temperature ablative armour. He was selected for the Ancestor programme due to his well-known stubborness and refusal to back down. He terms his new role as 'vehicular, gunship, and power armour suppression', and believes that he excels at the role.

The basic arrangement of the Ancestor-class is visible here, as a majority of this class, especially those who work in tandem with infantry forces, choose to deploy in similar arrangements, the digitgrade legs providing balance and mobility, at the cost of a reduced final payload, and the pod-based armament containers currently holding 25mm autocannon are compatible with most infantry support weapons.

((No, the crucified image on the front of his mech is not because he believes he's the messiah. He's bigger than jesus, by at least 6 feet.))

by **Nekoland** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:09 am

Kappa II Amphibious Assault Mech

General Characteristics

Height 4.76 meters
Weight 6.06 metric tones
Power Source:Yggdrasil Drive, Energy Filler

Design Features

Cockpit Ejection System
Hydro Jet Pack
Landspinner propulsion system
Optional Float System

Armament

2x Chest-mounted Slash Harkens
4x Torpedo launchers (Head-mounted OR Shoulder-mounted)

Optional Armaments

1x 120mm cannon OR 1 x 40mm Assault Rifle

by **The Anglo-Saxon Empire** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:18 pm

Suddenly BigDog.

by **Nirvash Type TheEND** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:28 pm

The Anglo-Saxon Empire wrote:Suddenly BigDog.

GAH! Kill it with fire! Lots of fire.

by **The Anglo-Saxon Empire** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:44 pm

Nirvash Type TheEND wrote:
The Anglo-Saxon Empire wrote:Suddenly BigDog.

GAH! Kill it with fire! Lots of fire.

Hey that is the closest thing to a practical mech IRL.

Your Nation's Main Battle Mech (No Tanks)

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